I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.

Notes: The weekend (Sunday) got a bit away from me. Sorry for not responding back to messages - I will try and correct that today and tomorrow! Thank you for the continuing great comments!

H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O*

Chapter Eight: Letters W - Z

Danny escaped down the short hallway of the ICU almost on Doctor Ramirez's heels. But where Ramirez took a sharp right hand turn for his office, Danny strode quickly though what should have been a confusing maze of divergent hallways and out the front door of the hospital. He came to a stop next to his car before briefly fumbling for his keys and hiding behind the wheel. It didn't matter that the car was hot or that he was drenched in sweat inside of seconds. He sat there motionless for a long time in the comforting silence trying to decide what to do.

He stared at the front of the hospital and then watched people coming and going about their business. He couldn't deny that he was still mad at Steve. His friend had weeks yet to go before he might be allowed to return to work. Weeks to prove that his heart and lungs were indeed fine and blemish-free. Danny was aggravated as he looked at the bright sky. Clouds were building again in the distance to compete with the sun and he could tell it would shower within the hour. It was getting windy, the clouds were moving fast, so the rain would amount to nothing more than a short downpour. It would probably do nothing for the humidity except make it worse. A bit unwilling to leave or go back to his apartment, Danny almost grudgingly turned the ignition just enough to roll down the windows. The strong puff of cooler air brought the scent of rain on his nose and it was instantly refreshing as he leaned back into the seat with his eyes closed.

"Now what." Danny sighed as he delayed making any one of a few dull choices before pulling out his cell phone which had been on silent mode in the confines of the ICU. He actually hadn't looked at in hours since Ramirez confirmed the timing for the next major event in Steve's recovery.

The last call he'd missed was from Governor Denning and he obediently listened to the message and took a chance on calling him back though the hour was becoming late. As luck would have it, the Governor was available and immediately interested in how Steve was doing. After assuring the Governor of his ever-improving health, Danny's own job made his decision for him as he mentally filed away new urgent details related to a high-profile case that the Governor wanted worked jointly with other official departments.

Danny would bring his able team-mates up to speed the next morning, but until that time, he continued to sit in his car while making a few calls. First to the FBI and then to HPD to request meetings and as much of the open file records as they currently had on hand. He was relieved for the renewed focus as he drove to his office to begin lining up the facts surrounding their next case. He stayed there for hours until his peers' offices closed for the day and no one else was feasibly available to speak with him.

Feeling genuinely tired, Danny locked up and went directly home to tumble into bed for a long, dreamless sleep. His rest was completely undisturbed and he woke towards dawn with plans to at least poke his head back into the ICU at TAMC before starting the work day. Danny's moderate mood began to weigh heavily as he parked his car in the lot. Each step back into the hospital and then through the ICU doors felt torturous though he knew Steve was improving.

Work and a decent night's sleep had helped but now, the antiseptic smells and this other reality came back much too quickly. His temper lurked as he said good morning to the older strict nurse who had argued with him so much and was once again on duty. He was in the ICU well before actual posted visiting hours, but she only smiled briefly before heading towards the main station.

"Hey, Kono. Good morning." He arrived in the room to find only Kono settled comfortably in a chair with her own steaming cup of coffee and Danny looked at her curiously.

"Chin and I went full round robin. But everything's fine." Refusing to rise to any bait as to why Danny had been gone so long, Kono was whispering in a very low voice. "I just got here too. Chin went home during the over-night hours after Steve woke briefly. He's doing great. The doctors are happy."

"Good. That's good news. What are you up to?" Kono was sitting quietly with her feet up on the edge of the bed juggling both her coffee and the same old magazine. Some notes were penned in the corner of the page and when he asked, she laughed softly about continuing the game.

"We're almost done, so I came up with the last few words." Making a funny face as she waited for his reaction, she threw out her next guesses. "W. Weapons-master."

"What is that? It sounds like a video game." She was right as Danny mocked her choice with a temperamental smile before drawling it out again. He mimicked her low whisper to not disturb Steve. "Weapons-master? Really, Kono."

"It fits." She insisted. "He's a warrior." At that, Danny rolled his eyes tolerantly towards the ceiling.

"No, Mister Guns Loves Ammo is only certifiably wacked. Coo-Coo .. lost his marbles." He made a round and round motion with one finger by this temple. The more Danny dwelled on the accident, the worse he felt and his anger sparked threateningly below the surface.

Not noticing his rising irritation, Kono grinned impishly before offering up another. "Yummy." That got Danny to come to a shocked halt before he even made it to the side of the bed.

"No, definitely NOT that." She only shrugged with a coy smile before going back to idly turning the pages of the well-worn magazine.

"To each, his own. What have you got that's better?"

"Actually, nothing. Denning called and I worked last night. We have an important case which I need to bring you and Chin up-to-speed on sometime this morning or later today. We have meetings lined up with both HPD and the FBI; I need your help." Kono frowned at his seriousness and then that he had truly worked late that prior evening. However, she wouldn't let him change the subject so quickly.

"Okay, but we have time for work since it's barely seventy-thirty in the morning! Come on, what do you have? We're almost done." Her challenge went unanswered. For a long time. Completely unanswered as a multitude of unintelligible complaints reached her ears from across the room. It was obvious that Danny had no interest in finishing the game out; he was only persisting now for her sake. She could have guessed what Danny would say as his face became pensive.

"Yahoo. He's a wacked-out yahoo of a Navy SEAL with zero sense in that bulldog-head of his." Danny made a rough noise in his throat when Ramirez's comment of Steve needing weeks to heal rang in his ears.

Kono tried to laugh him off but he was serious again and knuckling the foot board while staring at the heart monitor and then at the sleeping man. "Maybe to you but I'm sticking with yummy."

"Fine. Have at it." Danny wasn't relenting entirely but Kono managed to help him find a tiny smile.

"Oh, I just did! But give me one more, Danny, and then we're done. Zero doesn't count - and I honestly had nothing for the letter Z." She could tell that it was taking a great deal of effort on his part. Even with Steve slowly getting better now, something was up with Danny and she hoped she could blame it on the case he'd mentioned.

His final choice came out in an odd way and she realized what Chin had already guessed. Danny still needed space and was resentful about Steve's occasional spontaneous methods. Seeing his partner bedridden once more had rankled his mood. Kono finally realized that Danny was scarily bad-tempered as he came up with the last word or two in their originally benign little game.

"He'd better change his damned zebra stripes. I'm tired of working in his not-so, benevolent zoo."

~ to be continued ~