Synopsis: The road to recovery isn't as easy as Danny Williams thought it would be. Steve McGarrett is hiding inside his mile-high emotional wall and, without meaning to; he has started blocking Danny out. But when gun smugglers come searching for payback, will Steve be there for Danny? Or will his Jersey partner be forever silenced. 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 opened a can of worms in the first story, 'Words can Kill'. Here's the sequel.

Chapter Twelve:

Welcome Back Danno

No one believed him. Danny could tell just by looking at the Navy commanding officer that the man didn't think they had a shot in hell of finding Steve alive. But there was no way that he was dead; Danny couldn't buy into that, not now…not ever.

There had been three phone calls, since he'd been in Hawaii, which had scared the Jersey native to his very core. The first had come from Jenna Kaye and had resulted in an impromptu trip to North Korea. The second had been when Steve had called asking where Grace and Rachel were before the whole kidnapping thing. And the last had been the call from Catherine twenty-four hours ago when she had told Danny that the Taliban had taken the Steve.

And now as he stood in the command center and prayed to a God that he wasn't sure was even listening, Danny couldn't help the fear that threatened to overwhelm him. He listened as the team moved into position, he couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear it. A part of him still couldn't believe that his friend used to do this on a regular basis. Sure he'd seen Steve in action and truth be told? Danny was regularly impressed by the man's ability to walk away from damn near any situation.

But like everything, that luck was bound to run out at some point and the detective was praying that it wasn't this time. No American deserved to die like that, especially one that had served his country so honorably. He'd trusted Catherine and Steve when they'd taken off on this insane mission. Just like he'd trusted Jenna and Steve when they'd gone into North Korea and look how that had ended…with the analyst dead and Steve on the verge of disappearing into Wo-Fat's insane little world. They'd been lucky on that one and Danny wondered how much luck Five-0 could possibly have left.

Listening to the gunfire and the radio calls had given the cop a new respect for these men that put their lives on the line every day. And today it was for Steve. Even if he hadn't been a patriot, Danny would've rooted for these men to succeed.

He folded his arms and licked his lips as he listened to the team call in their progress. And then they said the magic phrase… "Package is secure."

The sudden release of stress had Danny doubling over and he finally blew out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He could hear the calls from the SEAL team as he waited inside the bunker's command center, but Danny wasn't listening anymore.

It had taken two hours, twenty-seven minutes for the team to arrive back at the base with Steve. And Danny had been there; waiting…seeing Steve come off that helicopter on a backboard, beat to hell, and not moving had been awful. But at least he was alive. Danny had quickly stepped forward to get a better look at his partner.

The bastards had beat the shit out of Steve, his eye was swollen shut and would need stiches and his torso was littered with nasty bruises and several serious looking contusions. So broken, or at the very least, cracked ribs were a foregone conclusion. It was difficult seeing his 'unbreakable' partner like that.

H50 H50

Danny carried a six-pack of long boards and a pizza…with fricken pineapple. Which was bullshit in his opinion, but he knew that it was Steve's favorite…so Danny had made the sacrifice and ordered it. But only on half the pizza, he couldn't quite bring himself to cover an entire pie in the nasty island fruit.

He didn't bother knocking. He never did anymore. Danny pushed the front door open and slipped inside McGarrett's home. He'd assumed that the still recovering SEAL would be hanging out in front of the television. He should've known better. Danny actually watched the television in Steve's house more often than the SEAL did.

"Steve?" He called out. Danny glanced around looking for signs of his friend.

There was a brief moment of silence before he heard Steve's voice. "Out back, Danny."

Okay, so that was the second place he should've looked, he shook his head. Danny stepped through the kitchen and onto the lanai. Steve was seated in a chair in the darkness. His cell phone was held loosely in his hands. But when he looked up, Danny's heart clenched. Something had happened since he'd dropped the man off and gone for food. Steve was broken in a way he hadn't been before. There were very few things that could put a look like that on Steve's face.

"Is Catherine okay?" Danny sank down into the other chair. He set the pizza down and grabbed a beer.

Steve's face crumbled and he looked away from the concern in Danny's eyes. "She's not coming back."

The cop's eyebrow's shot up and he pulled in a long breath before sitting in the other chair. It was a clear night and the waves were rolling in a gentle crashing rhythm, while the moonlight danced across the black expanse of water. A barely perceptible breeze picked at Danny's hair. He handed one of the beers to Steve before he said anything.

Steve might appear to be a Neanderthal with no regard for human emotions, or an ability to express them like a normal person. But the truth was? Steve was the opposite. He felt things so deeply and with such a fierce devotion that it could freeze him and Danny understood that. He pulled his lower lip between his teeth and leaned back in the chair.

"You okay?" He knew the answer to that question. Steve wasn't okay. He loved Catherine and Danny knew that enough people had abandoned Steve in his life, that he wasn't expecting it from her.

Steve lifted destroyed eyes to Danny and shook his head. "No."

Danny pulled in a deep breath. He'd been where Steve was and he knew that eventually it would hurt less…but it would never go away, not completely. "Yeah…" He would give anything to save Steve from this, but he couldn't. "I'm sorry, babe." And he was. Danny knew exactly where Steve was at. He'd been there. He knew what it felt like to believe in one thing, only to have it ripped away from him by a choice that wasn't his. And he wouldn't wish that kind of pain on his worst enemy, let alone his best friend and brother.

H50 H50

The doctor that stepped into Danny's room barely spared a glance at Chin before moving to look at Danny's vitals.

The cop looked up and tilted his head to the side. "How's he doing, doc?"

After glancing at the monitor, the man turned toward Chin, a gun leveled square in the center of his chest. "He was going to make it." He answered matter of factly.

Chin's hands came up slowly. His gun was sitting idly on his hip. Chin glanced over at the detective. Danny was still unconscious…and so very helpless. Inside, Chin was raging, they'd been through enough over the last several weeks. Danny deserved a break.

The man tipped the nose of his pistol toward the sidearm. "Set it on the floor and kick it over."

"You're not gonna get away with this." Chin said. His anger was rolling just beneath the surface of his calm veneer. The man's lips pulled up into a harsh smile.

"People die all the time." His gaze flickered around the room, finally landing back on Chin and Danny. "It is a hospital after all. And he's not that healthy as it is." He stepped closer to Danny and Chin lunged to his feet. The pistol cocked and Chin ground his teeth together in frustration as he was again forced to stand down.

"He doesn't deserve this." He managed.

The man smiled. "He deserves worse than this." He held up the syringe and needle. "Unfortunately they frown on torturing the patients." He reached down and grabbed onto Danny's broken arm, picking it up and slamming it against the railing of the bed. Danny's heart rate monitor whined as his body reacted to the pain. He plunged the needle into Danny's arm…the bastard held his gun level on the older man as he started to depressed the dark liquid.

"What the hell are you doing? Leave him alone."

"it's just a little something for the pain. Plus I hear it clears clogged drains in minutes."

Draino? Chin couldn't believe that the asshole was poisoning Danny with common drain cleaner.

Chin was already rushing forward when the gun went off. A loud bang ripped through the air. He skidded to a halt and stared down at the brand new hole in his leg. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he should be feeling the fiery wash of pain, but his rage over ruled that and he sprang forward despite the bullet hole. Before the man could pull the rigger again, he tackled the guy, throwing him to the floor.

A fist crashed into his Chin's jaw and snapped his head to the side. "You son of a bitch!"

Chin ignored the man's cries of anger as he wrapped his arms around the torso of the other man. A nurse ran into the room and immediately scurried back out when Chin yelled at her. He managed to punch his attacker in the gut before another volley of strikes forced him onto his back. Chin's leg was bleeding and he knew that he didn't have much time before his body gave out on him.

"Danny?" Steve's voice broke up the fight for a moment, before his gaze landed on the blood on the floor. He rushed into the room and took in the scene. A large syringe was sticking out of Danny's thigh and his arm was now lying at an odd angle. One that suggested it was broken just above where the cast stopped. His blue-green gaze flashed back up and he didn't even think about his reaction. Steve ignored the frantic protests of his body as he jumped forward, throwing himself in front of Chin and grabbing the man's legs. He pulled as hard as he could, sliding the attacker under him and wrapping his fingers around the shocked man's throat.

There was nothing sane in Steve's eyes. Chin watched in horror and relief as his friend literally strangled the attacker. It wasn't until several HPD officers barreled into the room and hauled the SEAL off the man that sanity seemed to return. Steve blinked several times before lunging toward Danny's bed. He yanked the needle out and threw it across the room, before carefully grasping Danny's face and turning it toward him.

"Danny?" He asked quietly.

Several medical personnel hurried into the room as HPD cuffed the unconscious attacker in the expensive suit. They immediately went to Chin and got to work trying to stop the bleeding. That brought Steve's attention back to his friend. "Chin? You okay?" He asked.

The older man simply nodded as he was helped to his feet and set in a wheelchair. "I have a bullet in my leg, but yeah…I'll live." His brown eyes shifted to Danny. "He okay?"

"I don't know." Steve whispered.

"Keep me informed." Chin said as he looked down at Danny and then reluctantly allowed the nurse to wheel him from the room.

Steve turned back toward their Jersey detective and then swallowed as a wave of dizziness overtook him. He reached forward and steadied himself against the bed. The gentle touch of flesh had him forcing his eyelids open. Steve was rewarded with two steely blue eyes staring back. They widened in fear as Danny started to panic, the tube down his throat both scaring him and sending his claustrophobia into overdrive. He started to choke as pain and confusion rampaged around inside his head.

"Danny! Calm down, Danny." Steve ignored his own pain in an effort to help his friend. He carefully grasped Danny's left hand and pulled it against his chest. "You're safe, Danny." He stared down into the slowly closing eyes of the cop. "We made it, buddy."

The smaller man's eyelids dropped closed and he slipped back into sleep. With the adrenaline of the situation seeping out of him, Steve sank into the chair next to the bed. His vision was blurry and his head was pounding in slicing swaths of pain. Kono ran into the room and gasped at the blood on the floor.

She hurried over to Steve and sank down in front of him, headless of the blood that was staining her jeans. "Are you okay?" She could tell by the beeping of Danny's heart rate monitor that he was still with them. But Steve looked like death warmed over and Kono was worried about her friend and boss.

Steve took a shallow breath and looked over at her. "He woke up." It was a whisper, but it was the first hopeful thing he'd uttered since this whole debacle had started weeks ago.

H50 H50

Danny felt the unrelenting pull of consciousness. His body ached in ways that told him it was going to be a painful return. He swallowed and the scratchy fire in his throat made him want to avoid doing that again for a very long time. There was a gentle floating sensation inside his head that was the direct result of pain medication. Which meant that things had gone very badly for him recently.

Did I get shot? Damn…did Steve get me shot again? He wondered as he forced his eyelids open. He better freaking apologize.

The light pierced his eyes and he quickly slammed them closed. There was an uncomfortable tightness in his right eye that he knew only came from profuse swelling and stitches. So I got more than shot. The lack of memory was starting to concern Danny as he tried to piece together how he'd wound up…where the hell am I. Against his better judgment he forced his eyelids apart again.

Ah…hospital. He blinked once and then tilted his head to the right and it hurt. But there next to his bed was Steve. He looked terrible, like he hadn't slept in days. That worried Danny. He started to move his right arm and then hissed in pain. His arm was in a cast up to his shoulder. "Steve." He croaked out.

He winced when Steve sat up too quickly and jarred his bed. "Danny?"

"Hey, babe."

Just hearing Danny's raspy voice pulled a sad smile from Steve. "Welcome back, Danno."

TBC…

Author's Note: One more chapter and maybe an epilogue. We'll get some closure and learn who the man was that attacked Danny and Steve. And there will be a reunion between our favorite Five-0 team members.

Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed the last chapter, you guys are awesome!

PLEASE REVIEW: I promise, it'll only take a moment and I appreciate them so much.