a/n Thank you for all the kudos and comments you've been leaving! The past two weeks have been crazy, but I think things are going to start settling down, so hopefully I can get back to posting twice a week.

Danny felt like the world's biggest ass. As punishment, he hadn't slept at all the night before. It was only seven in the morning but knowing Steve, this wasn't too early to come over. That was... if he actually knew Steve at all.

The previous afternoon, Steve had made his escape – strategic retreat? – just a few minutes after presenting the medals. Danny still hadn't been in any mood to talk to the SEAL, but even if he'd wanted to, he wouldn't have had the chance. He was the new head of Five-0 and the Governor wasted no time in pulling him aside, congratulating him again, setting up meetings to help him transition into his new role.

When the two men left Danny's office, the place was empty except for Grace, sitting on a chair near the smart table and playing on her phone with a sullen look on her face, and Rachel, standing next to her and casting worried glances between her ex-husband and their daughter. Denning said his goodbyes, surprising Danny by crouching down in front of Grace.

"Your Uncle Steve is a very good, brave man, Miss Williams. He's going to do a lot of good and save a lot of lives. You should be very proud of him."

"I am."

Rachel had another surprise for him. She suggested he take Grace out for dinner and shave ice, as long as she wasn't home too late. They talked about school, about her plans for the weekend. They talked about Steve. She wasn't angry, just sad, so Danny had to put his anger aside for those few hours.

"Uncle Steve's sad."

"Yeah, he is, Monkey."

"Then why is he going away?"

It was a long time before Danny could answer her, and the best he could do was, "I don't know."

When he arrived home from dropping her off, he tried to muster that anger he'd felt at Steve again, but he just couldn't do it. Instead, he thought back over the last week. His conversation with Grace. The look on Steve's face when he finally told him the news, and when he'd had to confront Grace. The looks he'd been throwing Danny all week, possibly without even realizing he was doing it. The way he had been acting the weekend before, both at the office and the cook out.

Steve did not want to do this. Danny wondered if his friend was even aware of that fact. He wondered what had brought him to this decision. How long had he been thinking about it? How had Danny missed the signs that he was planning on leaving, or that he'd been so unhappy? Sure, Danny had been dealing with a lot of his own shit lately, but that was no excuse. Would he have been able to stop Steve from leaving, even if he'd figured it out? Who could stop Steve from doing anything?

At one time, Danny kinda thought he and Grace could.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, his anger finally did resurface, but this time at himself. Something was wrong with his friend, his partner. Something that, perhaps, was making him run. Even if that weren't the case, Steve was leaving in just a few days and Danny had spent the rest of the day too angry to even speak. He had to fix this. Even if he couldn't stop him, he couldn't let Steve leave thinking he hated him. Danny had to make this right.

But maybe not at three in the morning.

So there he was, four hours later, knocking on Steve's door. He knocked again, rang the bell. There was no answer. Deciding that the other man might be out in the water, Danny let himself in with the key Steve had given him years ago. As he had done countless times before, Danny moved through the house to the doors leading out to the lanai. He swept his eyes across the beach and the ocean beyond, but he saw no towel draped over the chair, no Steve-shaped speck bobbing in the water.

Danny stared out at the empty beach for several minutes, contemplating what that might mean. Finally, he turned and walked back the way he came, stopping in the living room. For the first time since that fateful case five years ago, he looked at the space with the eyes of a detective. He realized one thing and it made him sick, his empty stomach churning.

This had always been a temporary gig for Steve.

This was nothing but John McGarrett's house, with only subtle changes from the first time Danny stepped inside five years ago. There had been post-shoot-out renovations, which almost matched the original decor; there was a missing pool of blood in the middle of the floor; the addition of Grace's hoodie folded neatly over the couch, along with her vampire book on the coffee table, that she must have left behind on some visit. There was no trace of Steve, at least not the adult, Navy SEAL Steve. Danny only now realized that there never had been; he had been a visitor in his own home for five years, as if this had just been a vacation house.

Danny's legs carried him up the stairs, though he didn't expect to find Steve there either, but something else had caught his attention – the scent of fresh paint. He peaked into the master bedroom – Steve's room, or his father's room that he simply occupied. As expected, it was empty, the bed made with the usual military precision and sheets Danny didn't remember ever seeing before. Granted, he didn't exactly spend much time in this room. Of course, he was familiar enough with both the room and Steve to know that the flat screen TV mounted on the wall over the dresser opposite the bed was new.

The only other open door on this floor was to the room Danny knew Mary used when she stayed with her brother. It was also the source of the fresh paint smell. Danny pushed the door open all the way and his eyes went wide at the sight before him.

Once institutional-beige walls were now seafoam; Mary's furniture was repainted white; the curtains sported dolphins and the bedspread looked like coral; the photo opposite the bed was a huge print depicting Steve's backyard at sun rise; the nightstand sported a framed photo of Grace and Danny; a brand new US Navy hoodie hung from the chair at the desk.

On that desk: Steve's keys, and a large envelope with 'Danno' written across it in Steve's scrawl.

"Goddamn your fucking letters, McGarrett."

He didn't want to read it. His anger teased the edges of his mind, threatening to return. Danny took several deep breaths as he thought about the newly decorated room he stood in; about all the things he'd told Grace last night. He didn't want to read it, but he needed to.

With a sigh, he picked up the envelope and sat on what, for some reason, was clearly meant to be Grace's bed. He was surprised at the legal documents inside, but ignored them once he found the letter he had been expecting.

Danny,

I hope you are reading this letter; that you're not so angry that you never even come by the house. I know you were angry with me. I'm sorry for how I handled everything with you and especially Grace. I should have told the two of you right away. I should have told you even before everything was finalized, but I guess I thought you might talk me out of it and I need to do this, Danno.

And honestly, I guess I don't even know how to say goodbye properly. I've never had anyone to say goodbye to before. Never had anyone say goodbye to me who meant as much to me as you and Grace. I love you two. I don't know why or how or even if I have the right, but you're the most important people in my life.

Something else you need to know: like I told Grace, I have no idea when, or even if, I'm ever coming back to this island. So there's no reason to hang on to my father's stuff. The vehicles are in your name, now. Sell them, use them for Five-0, whatever you need. And the house is yours, too, but I've got all the expenses covered for you. My hope is that you and Grace will move in here and finally make it a real home. Just like my grandfather wanted. At the very least, stay here when you have Grace. I know she loves the ocean and my beach.

Thank you for everything, Danno. Brother. You'll never know how much it means to me.

- Steve