Synopsis: When an argument between Danny and Steve spirals out of control and they both say things they don't mean, can one of them survive a deadly accident to apologize? DANNY!WHUMP and STEVE!ANGST. NO SLASH. Friendship only.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0 and am not getting any monetary gain for this story, just playing in CBS's sandbox for a while. These characters and storylines remain the property of CBS. No disrespect intended, just great characters that inspire their own stories.

Rated: T for violence and injuries. Not a Death-Fic.

Notes: Angst and Hurt/Comfort are kinda my thing and I haven't ventured into the Hawaii Five-O space yet…so here goes.

Please take a second and let me know if you're excited about the next chapter.

Chapter Two:

Twisted Metal

"Have you ever listened to yourself?" Danny cried. His hands flying all over the place as he gestured angrily. "I mean really listened to the words that come out of your mouth? Because that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." A large leaf fanned back and Danny shoved it out of the way so he had a better view of Steve's back as he trudged through the overgrown campsite.

Steve shakes his head and turns away from his partner. He's grateful Danny's okay and that they found the gun stash, but the argument that started earlier is still raging. Chin and Kono had actually stepped away to avoid getting drawn into taking sides.

They were pretty predictable as far as Danny was concerned. He supposed that it was a little like listening to 'mom and dad' fight. He wrinkled his blonde eyebrows when he wondered briefly which one of them was mom and which one was dad. He was pretty sure he knew what Steve would say about that. And that would start a whole new argument, so better to leave that one for later.

"How can I listen to anything other than your constant whining and bitching? Seriously, sometimes I think my ears are bleeding." Steve leaned over and picked up a piece of evidence dropping it into the clear protective bag. He clenched his teeth when his arm throbbed painfully; reminding him that he still had a bullet lodged in there.

Danny stopped and stared at him, hurt registering briefly in his slate blue eyes. "You don't get it do you?" He said quietly. When Steve remained silent, Danny pushed on. "I follow you because I trust you and I thought that you trusted me too." And that was where the conversation rushed into accusations about fatherhood and investigative skills. In truth, it was where they veered from the normal argument into unchartered angry territory. Territory where Steve accused Danny of being reckless and untrained and Danny had accused Steve of being selfish and over-confident.

They both heard the crack of thunder in the distance. It was like a herald of things to come and yet neither of them bothered to acknowledge it.

H50 H50

Steve watched from the top of the muddy road as Chin carefully descended on a rope line. They'd waited for conservation officers to get to their position before attempting to make their way down the slippery slope to the vehicle. It was so dark and wet and the car was smashed to such a degree that they couldn't even make out what type of car it was. The ambulance had pulled up and the paramedics were waiting for the rescue or the recovery, whichever this turned out to be. Kono looks over at Steve and shakes her head before handing him a bottle of water.

"You should try and stay hydrated. That hole in your shoulder is still bleeding." He thought about refusing, but he knew better than to get Kono going. That and he was feeling a little light headed.

"Thanks." He answered quietly and returned his gaze to the disappearing form of his friend. "Think Danny made it back to town yet?" Steve knew it sounded lame, but he needed some confirmation that when he finally made it to the hospital himself, he'd get the chance to talk to his partner. They'd had a lot of arguments over the years, but he couldn't recall Danny having ever driven off and left him at a crime scene. A small part of him was impressed that his partner could still surprise him after all this time. I kinda wish it had been with something else, Danno. The thought creeps into his thoughts and Steve shakes his head when the nickname announces itself without his permission. Emotions. Steve wasn't good at dealing with emotions and that was all that encompassed Danny Williams. Emotions.

Kono glances over at him. She can see the worry lines cutting deep creases into his forehead as he works through his thoughts. "I'm sure he's pestering the nurses as we speak." That gets a sad smile from Steve as he nods slowly.

"Yeah, you're probably right." His eyes flicker back to where Chin has disappeared into darkness. "Hey Chin? Can you make anything out?" Steve asks over the handheld.

There's a crackle before Chin's voice answers. "Not yet. Still too dark to see much. I'm almost there. Are the rescue teams here yet?"

A siren blares and Steve turns toward the road. "Pulling up now." He wipes the rain out of his eyes and waves the men over as they look for parking. The entire area is one big mud puddle and edge of the road is washing away in rivulets of rainwater.

H50 H50

Lt. Kelly loosens the line he's using to repel down the slippery face of the mountain. He's had to scramble over felled trees and the shattered trunks are like the edges of spears, they're so sharp. The headlamp that the conservation guys had lent him was bouncing off the wet leaves of the jungle and the rain was stilling falling in thick sheets.

The car had carved a deep swath down the mountain, decimating trees and plants as it rolled to its eventual resting place about thirty feet below his current position. He realizes that he's at the end of the rope before he's made it to the car a few moments later.

Chin debated for a fraction of a second before he disconnects the rope and moves the final few feet without the safety line. Steve would kill him if he could see him. One thing about Steve McGarrett, it was fine if he was in mortal peril, but if anyone he cared about was? That was a definite 'no go'. Chin knew that if the poor person driving the car was going to have any shot at surviving, he needed to get to that vehicle, sooner rather than later.

He slid a few feet on his butt, the mud caking his pants and riding up inside his boots. Despite the warm air, the mud was chilly and Chin shivered in response. And then all the air seemed to be pulled out his lungs. The light from the headlamp landed on the car and he recognized the black Camaro. No, no, no, no. The silent litany of 'no's' just kept coming as he made his way to the decimated vehicle.

"Ah no…Danny. Come on, Brah…" He breathed. And then Chin's a flurry of motion, he all but runs to the side of the car and drops to his knees by the passenger window. The whole roof of the car is smashed down and he's terrified of what he'll find when he can finally see inside. Chin prays to every God he knows that he won't find his friend dead. "Danny?!" He calls into the car as he places the lamp so it's shining inside. Tiny rocks dig into his palms and his knees are sinking in the mud, but he doesn't notice. All his focus is on trying to see inside the crushed Camaro. There's small light inside. His eyes flicker over and his breathing hitches when he sees Steve's face lighting up Danny's phone. The red battery signal flashes in the corner and he knows that the phones been on the entire time Danny's been in the car.

"Hey, hey, Danny? Can you hear me?" There's no answer.

Danny's hanging upside down, his seatbelt keeping him in place as blood drips off his fingertips and disappears as rainwater tries to wash it away. Fear cascades through Chin when the detective doesn't so much as twitch a muscle. "Come on, Danny. Let me see some of that Jersey attitude." He begs as he reaches inside and gently presses his fingers against the inside of his friend's wrist. Nothing. There's no pulse fluttering under his fingertips and it's horrifying. He's upside down Chin and has been for a while. Try his carotid. He thanks God for the small still voice that can access his years of training when his normal brain has completely shut down.

"Chin? What'd you find?" McGarrett's voice interrupts him and Chin debates for a moment before choosing to ignore the radio call. He didn't have any information to tell the commander and the last he wanted to do was give the man false hope or tell him his partner was dead. Oh god, I have to tell him its Danny. His eyelids drop closed for a moment while he deals with that piece of information.

The rain starts to let up and Chin swallows before pushing his body closer to the ground and crawling further inside the smashed car. He needs to reach Danny's neck. Mud pushes into his face and he spits when it creeps inside his mouth. Chin cringes when he sees the extent of the damage to their Jersey detective. The entire left side of Danny's face is covered in gashes and blood; Chin can't even tell how bad the damage is. His right arm is hanging at an odd angle, so definitely broken. The left arm has a nasty gash in it that bleeds sluggishly. He couldn't tell what was happening with the man's legs, they were hidden behind the steering column.

All in all, Danny looked horrifyingly terrible. Chin reached out and placed two trembling fingers at the base of the other man's jaw under his ear and waited. He barely heard his radio crackle again as he repositioned his fingers when he didn't immediately feel anything. "Come on, Danny. Don't do this." And then? There it was. The faint, erratic beat of Danny's stubborn heart.

"It's gonna be okay, brah. Just hold on. We've got you." Chin said quickly before pulling himself out of the car and grabbing the radio. "Steve? He's alive."

"Who? The driver?" Steve asked quickly.

Chin inhaled deeply and uttered two words he never wants to say again during a rescue operation. "It's Danny."

There's a long pause and then the radio crackles. "What's Danny? What are you talking about?" There's confusion in the other man's voice and Chin hates that he has to repeat this. He knows what it's going to do to their intrepid leader when he understands that it's Danny, their Danny in the destroyed car. And as strong as his reaction is to this situation, Steve's is going to eclipse it in ways that can't be measured.

H50 H50

Something inside Steve snaps awake and he looks over at Kono. Pressure builds in his chest and the air suddenly seems too thin. He couldn't have heard that correctly. Did he say Danny? He looks over Kono; her eyes are wide with shock.

"What's Danny? What are you talking about?" He asks. Because there is no way that that heap of twisted metal at the bottom of this mountain can belong to Danny Williams. No. Danny Williams was at the hospital getting his arm stitched up. Or he was at his house drowning his anger in a couple of longboards, but there was no way that he could be in that car. Steve can feel the ache of regret snaking it's way through his belly.

"It's Danny's Camaro. It's bad, Steve. He's alive. But if we don't get him out soon, he won't be." Chin relays the critical information. Danny's alive. But Steve doesn't hear it. His brain can't process past, 'It's Danny's Camaro'. Which meant that for the past two hours his partner has been lying in the wreckage of his car at the bottom of a ravine. How much of that time had he been aware of? Had he tried to call anyone? Steve looks at his phone. No missed calls. It's like a punch in the gut.

Kono stepped up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Steve blinked slowly and pressed the button on the radio a few times without actually saying anything. "I'm coming down." He finally managed.

Chin was quick to respond. "It's too dangerous, Steve. The terrain is trashed because of the storm and you can't navigate with that shoulder. You'll do more good up there." Steve starts to respond, but the other man cuts him off. "Danny needs paramedics and an extraction team. Focus on that." It takes all his self-control not to run down the side of the mountain without a safety line. But a sudden wave of dizziness reminds him that he's been shot and lost a lot of blood. He would be a liability, which could take personnel away from rescuing Danny.

Steve was nearly beside himself when the team finally hauls Danny's unconscious form up the mountain to the waiting ambulance. It had taken six men to get the detective out of the caved in Chevy and another two to help secure him for transport. The storm had grounded all air traffic, which meant that no one was flying out in medevac. Steve ignored everyone when they told him he couldn't ride in the ambulance with Danny. Because the moment he sees the other man, he isn't about to leave Danny alone.

Danny Williams is all movement and life. He can't sit still to save his soul. He's always gesturing with his hands or shifting his weight around. In the four years that Steve's known the detective from Jersey, he's only ever seen his 'still' a few times. All of which had been terrifying because they involved Danny being grievously injured or ill. And as Steve stared at the too still form of the smaller man, he wished that Danny were currently ranting at him. Hands flying in all directions, slicing through the air like fleshy knives, and demanding that Steve apologize for acting like an arrogant jackass. And then Danny would apologize for the things he'd said and they would move on like it never happened; at least until the next argument. This was their dance. The one they'd done since day one.

The paramedic shook his head in irritation when Steve used his position in Five-O to climb into the back of the ambulance and take the seat next to Danny's head. And it's the first time he gets a good look at the damage the accident did to his partner. Steve gulps back his initial reaction. He'd seen his fair share of men on the verge of death, but the state that Danny is in trumps anyone he's seen that was still alive. He clenches his fist in agitation and lets his gaze roam over the injured man, a lump forming in his throat when he sees the gash in Danny's left arm. The gash that he was supposed to be getting fixed at the hospital and he can tell that the other arm is broken. But it's the stained white bandage that has him focusing on inflating his lungs. He'd let Danny take off because they were both angry.

A moment from his past assaults him and Steve leans forward in frustration.

John McGarrett hadn't had too many rules growing up, mostly because Steve wasn't the kind of kid that got into trouble. But one rule he did have? Never leave things angry with a loved one. Life is short and there's always a chance you won't get to fix the mistake. Steve's jaw tightened as he remembered his father's words. "It's not worth spending your life wondering if it was worth it. Apologize, it's less painful." He'd always wondered if it had something to do with his mother's death. Of course now he knew that Doris hadn't died in an accident. But at the time? It had been a potent argument for civility and both he and Mary had listened.

Steve's blue-green eyes drop back to the blonde on the gurney and he shutters to think that he might not get the chance to make things right. "You shouldn't have been alone, Danny." Steve mutters. The guilt is almost palpable, hanging like a black cloud inside the emergency vehicle. It's starting to remind him of the day he listened to his father being murdered over the phone. He wasn't in the country when that had happened, but he'd still been responsible. And now as he looks at Danny, Steve can't stop the wave of despair that rolls over him. He was alone. Danny was alone. Danny should never be alone.

The first month they were partnered up, Steve had told Danny "Maybe you're not as alone as you think are." It was right after Rachel had threatened to reduce his visitation rights and the detective had nearly lost it. But for Steve? Seeing Danny's reaction to being left alone on this island had sparked a response and he'd gone to the Governor to ensure that didn't happen. And that moment when Danny had actually 'thanked him'? Steve could see the icy exterior of the New Jersey cop starting to melt, just a little. That fierce devotion to family was one of the things that Steve respected and admired about Danny…one of many things. He was pulled back from his musings when the guy across from him spoke up.

"You say something?" The paramedic asked as he placed another blanket over Danny's body. Steve shakes his head 'no'. Because those words were for Danno's ears only.

He's watching like a hawk as the paramedic goes through the motions of hooking up IV lines and taking vital statistics to pass onto the doctors. "How bad is it?" He finally manages to ask.

The brown eyes of the paramedic lift to meet Steve's hopeful gaze. "It's not good. His pressure is lower than I'd like and the O2 stats aren't where they should be. I can't say for certain, but the crash did a lot of damage and he was inverted for a long time. The doctor's will be able to tell you more." Steve simply nods, because really what else can he do? His own arm aches where the bullet's still lodged inside of the muscle. He ignores the pain, pushing it to the back of his mind.

The faint beeping of the heart rate monitor falls into a steady whine and the man jumps into action likes he's been shocked. "How far out are we?" He calls frantically to his partner.

An instant reply has Steve biting his lip in concern. "Ten minutes."

Steve watches as the paramedic pulls out the defibrillator paddles and sets them on the smaller man's chest with the intention of jumping Danny's heart back into a normal rhythm. It's all happening too fast. He's just watching as the best friend he's ever had barely clings to life. And it's killing him inside. "Better make it five. He's crashing."

"Come on, Danny. Fight this." Steve begs as he watches the electricity course through Danny's body. "Grace needs you." Their earlier argument pounds through his memory and he can feel the burn of tears. He blinks them away, because this is not the time to lose his composure. "You're her father. She thinks you can do anything, Danno. Don't make me tell her you're…gone. Please." Steve can't have the last thing Danny ever hears from him be angry resentful words that don't encompass how he actually feels about the New Jersey transplant. What he'd said earlier had been about fear, not about Danny's contributions to the Five-O task force. Choosing the angry detective that had threatened to shoot him in his own home, as his partner, had been the best decision that Steve had ever made. He'd never regretted that decision. Never.

TBC…

Author's Notes: Wow! Thanks so much for the warm welcome into a new fandom. You guys are awesome! And to say thank you, here's another angst-ridden chapter for you. Thank you to everyone that reviewed, there are several guest reviewers that I can't thank here, but know that I saw them and appreciate them. If you can a spare a moment, I'd love to hear what you think of the newest chapter.

PLEASE REVIEW: And I'll hurry with the next chapter.