The following day was slow at work, far too slow for Steve's taste. There was not much to do but some paperwork, since the Governor had transferred most cases to HPD after the rescue of Congressman Freed, and to give Danny time to recover from his injuries.

Without anything more exciting to do, Steve spent most of the morning filling reports, supply requests and all kinds of paperwork while he abused the copy machine, the printer and his own computer. Before he could make any damage to the smart table, Chin intervened. "Alright brah, enough is enough. Why don't you just go talk to him?"

Steve shook his head, running a hand down his face. "I don't think that's a good idea Chin… You didn't see him last night; I've never seen him so pissed off…"

Just then Kono came out of her office. "Guys, I'm off to get us some lunch… Any requests?" She asked, looking at her teammates expectantly.

Chin gave Steve a look and turned to Kono with a pleasant smile. "Actually, we do have a request, Cuz…"

Before Kono came back from her errand, Steve got a call from the Governor, requesting his presence immediately.

They spent the entire afternoon reviewing protocols and tying loose ends on the report of Congressman Freed's abduction. Once they were done, Steve went back to HQ, hoping to find Kono and see how her errand had gone.

He hadn't even reached his office when he was practically assaulted by their rookie. "Where the hell have you been!? I've been calling you for hours!"

Steve raised his hands in a defensive position. "I was with the Governor!" He said in way of explanation. "Well, now I'm here. What's up?"

Kono rolled her eyes and started pushing Steve back towards the doors. "You've got to go see him! I got to his place just past noon and he hadn't took any of his meds, he was in pain, he probably hadn't eaten anything since last night and it looked and smelled like he'd had beer for dinner and breakfast! I left him some take out for lunch, but he didn't look like he was going to eat it…" She said in a concerned tone.

Steve frowned at the news. "Alright… I'm sure I'm the last person he wants to see right now, but enough is enough. I'll see you guys tomorrow, if I survive the night!" He said with a wave, before going out the door.

When Steve arrived at Danny's place, he found all the lights were out, but when he looked at Danny's parking spot, the Camaro was there. He debated whether to leave his friend alone, but he'd lost count of how many times Danny had dropped everything to help him, so he was not about to let Danny go through this alone, whether he wanted it or not.

Steve used his spare key to enter the dark apartment, the soft sound of snoring alerting him that the room was not empty. He moved quietly around the room, noticing the empty beer bottles and the bag of takeout that was still untouched. He reached the couch, where the soft snoring was coming from. He took a seat on the coffee table, studying his slumbering friend.

Danny was curled up on his side, his right arm wrapped protectively around his chest and a pained frown on his forehead. The dark shadows under his eyes and the restlessness of his sleep only served to reaffirm that he was not having such a pleasant nap.

Danny shifted in his sleep, wincing and breathing a pained moan. He opened his eyes to the sight of Steve's concerned face looking down at him. "What took you so long? I thought that once Kono gave you her full report, you'd be breaking in here in no time…" Danny muttered, while slowly sitting up.

Steve ignored the jab, moving to pick up the bag of meds on Danny's dinner table. "What time did you have your last beer?" He asked in a no nonsense tone.

Danny didn't answer Steve's question, not even moving from his place on the couch. "I want you out of here, now…" He growled.

Steve ignored him again, moving to get a bottle of water from the fridge. "You look sober enough, now take these…" He said, while trying to get Danny to take the pills and the bottle.

"Get those things off my face!" Danny snapped, slapping the bottle away, making it clatter to the floor but Steve managed to pull the pills away before they suffered the same fate. "I want you out of here right now or so help me…" Danny said, Standing up and moving in front of Steve.

Steve moved a couple of steps forward to get right in Danny's face. "Or what? Come on, tell me! What are you going to do, huh? You're in pain; you're exhausted and probably hung-over. Your ribs are killing you, your knee is barely holding your weight and since you took off the sling, your shoulder is screaming in pain…"

Danny was breathing heavily and starting to tremble, whether from pain or anger, Steve couldn't tell. "I want you to leave! I don't need or want your help!"

Steve was not moving. "Well, that's too bad, because I'm not leaving!" He yelled matching Danny's tone. He took a deep breath to try to calm himself. "Listen, Danny… I only want to help…" He said, lifting his hands in a placating gesture.

"Oh, you want to help! Why didn't you say so sooner!? How many times do I have to say it… I don't want your help! You've done enough damage as it is!" Danny snapped, pushing Steve aside and turning his back on his friend.

Steve was really making an effort to keep his temper in check, but he'd had a bad week too. "You know what? Fuck you! What exactly did you want me to do, huh? Please, explain to me when do you think it would have been a good time to tell you about what happened? Was it when you just woke up in the hospital? Or maybe when you finally got out, and you were still in a lot of pain, a wreck emotionally and with Grace not wanting to leave your side? Come on! Put yourself in my shoes and tell me what the hell you would've done?!"

"I don't know!" Danny yelled back, stumbling towards the couch and letting himself drop to the cushions, burying his face in his hands. "I don't know, okay… I… I just don't know…" He finished with a hitched breath.

Steve's anger vaporized at the sight of his friend's pain. He moved to sit next to his partner, gently putting his arm around Danny's shoulder. "I'm sorry Danno…"

Danny shook his head tiredly, not lifting his head from its bent position. "No… it's not your fault… It's just… She's leaving, again… and I'd follow her to hell and back, but… this was just starting to feel like home… and it sucks to have to leave again…" He said in a hoarse voice. He continued with a trembling sigh "But I'm supposed to make things easier for her, and what do I do instead? I- I hurt her, Steve… I hurt my baby…" He finished, with a stifled sob.

Steve gathered his friend close, careful of Danny's injuries, trying to offer what support he could. He hated to feel useless, but he hoped that at least he'd help by being there.

A couple of minutes later, Danny sat up straighter, roughly passing his hand down his face. "Sorry, man…" He said, clearing his throat.

Steve patted him gently on the back. "Don't worry about it, buddy… I've always said you were too sensitive…" He said with a small smile, which made Danny breath a soft chuckle. "No, seriously… Grace is alright… She'll be alright in Vegas, and she'll have you there, so you'll both be alright… I heard that LVPD has a great homicide division. I'm sure we can get the Governor to make some calls…" Steve continued.

Danny shrugged, moving his arm to wrap it around his chest again. "Yeah? Well, at least I won't have to worry about my partner getting me shot or totally ignoring proper police procedure…" He said with a sad smile.

Steve noticed the move, so he reached out to pick up the discarded pills and the bottle of water, handing them to Danny. "Alright, you take these…" He said, standing up to rummage in the takeout bag. "While I see if I can rescue something from what Kono brought…"

Steve managed to get some noodle soup into Danny before the meds started working, and after that, it was a matter of poking and nudging him to get him into his bed.

"I can sleep on the couch…" Danny mumbled, while stumbling towards his room.

"I'm sure you can, Danno… But you'll be more comfortable in the bed." Steve muttered, while trying to keep Danny from bumping into the door.

They finally reached the bed, where Steve helped Danny into a faded shirt and well worn pajama pants. He found Danny's sling on the floor and with some grumbling from the half asleep man, managed to put it on and finally get him lying down.

Danny looked at his friend, blinking tiredly. "Thanks babe… Sorry for being an asshole…" He mumbled tiredly

"Don't worry about it, Danno… Next time is my turn!" Steve said with a smile, patting his friend's knee.

"Damn, I'm gonna miss you, Super SEAL..." Danny said with a sad sigh.

"That's just the happy drugs talking, buddy...! Steve said with a chuckle. "In any case, I promised Grace that I'd visit, so I guess you'll see more of my face than you'd wish..."

Steve sat by his friend until Danny was asleep, feeling relieved that the lines of pain on his friend's face were fading. He pulled up a chair and sat down, intent on watching over his partner. He would make sure that nothing perturbed his sleep, at least for the night.

TBC…

A/N: Well, this is not exacty a happy chapter, but at least they're friends again. And I didn't make Grace cry again... So I hope you're not hating me so much...

I'd really love to hear what you think of this chapter! Thank you all for reading!