I barely contain a sigh of pleasure as I settle into the Camaro's driver seat. Kinda wish I could open her up on the highway. I've been itching to drive it since returning to the island, but needed to stay with my Team until the mission was over. Now, though, the Op is over and we're all going to celebrate.

I've made it a tradition to celebrate the end of a mission – or a case – with a gathering, preferably with alcohol, since I started leading my own Teams. And a group of SEALs are certainly no strangers to the beach. But I've still never experienced a post-Op celebration quite like the ones I had with Five-0 at my father's house. Relaxed. With family.

And then, when we'd handed over the last of the survivors to HPD, I saw Chin turn to Danny and just say "Drinks at the house?". I said nothing and then we were all climbing back into the trucks to head back to Pearl and I finally felt myself really relax for the first time since arriving back on the island. Everyone was okay. Everyone was fine. My nightmare didn't come true. This time.

Then Costas told me Danny invited us 'round and I agreed before I even realized what I was saying. But my guys deserved it. And, not gonna lie, I really wanted to.

Now, I lead the convoy of SEALs and Five-0 to 'the house', which, though hadn't actually been clarified, I figured meant my father's house – Danny's house. I'd always wondered if he ever moved in. Until that Doris Conversation, I honestly had no way of knowing if he'd even stepped foot in the neighbourhood since I left them all at HQ six months ago. But I hoped I knew him. He would have wanted to, if nothing else, yell at me again before I left, even if I didn't give him the chance. And I knew he would do what I asked of him, even if it were only for Grace.

I pull up in what used to be my father's driveway, next to what used to be my truck, and turn off the engine. Two SUVs pull up behind the Camaro and Silverado and two Teams, mingled and spread out between the two vehicles, pile out. Danny and I stay in our seats. I drop my hands to my lap as I stare at the house. I hear Danny shift next to me.

"All right, babe?" Still with the 'babe'. It's kind of amazed me this whole week that he keeps throwing that around like nothing's happened. Like he's forgiven me. Like he misses me. I really don't get it. I close my eyes, listen to Danny's breathing, the scratch of his nails against his pants as he fidgets, the faint sound of crashing waves from the backyard.

"Yeah, I'm good." I open my eyes, toss him his keys. "Thanks," I say with a genuine smile, and reach for the door.

I follow Danny through the front door of the house and look around. There's more photos on the walls – all considerably less than twenty-odd years old. The living room furniture has been moved aside to accommodate the tent now in the middle of the room, spewing blankets out onto the floor.

Walking farther into the house, I see a small, open backpack slung over a dining room chair, some of its contents littering the table: a teen magazine, a novel, a sparkly purple pencil case, a notebook with pink hearts and flowers drawn on it. I don't even try to hide the grin that spreads across my face. As I look at the scene before me, Danny moves by me toward the table.

"Sorry about the mess. We've been non-stop since I dropped Grace of last time. I've barely been here to sleep."

I stop him with a hand on his arm. "Leave it, Danno."

Danny turns to me, and takes in my smile, questioning me with his eyes and a slight quirk of his eyebrow. "A family lives here, finally," I tell him. "A happy one. It's perfect."

Danny's expression changes and I'm pretty sure his silly, wide grin is a match to mine. "Goof," he says and I release him. He continues on to the kitchen to grab the beers and some meat for the grill. Five-0 heads out to the lanai and my team forms up behind me.

"Shit, this is your place?" As expected, Chin and Kono have been telling stories.

"Was," I nod. "My grandfather bought it just before the Pearl Harbour attack." We move out to join the others outside.

"You know, McGarrett, I always knew you were a bit crazy—"

"Thank you!" Danny says, as he hands out the first round of beer. "I've been telling him that for years. Maybe he'll listen to his fellow Army buddies."

"Navy, Danno," I say, taking the bottle from him with a nod of thanks. I'm falling into the banter like I never left. "Naaa-vy." He lets out an indignant snort and moves on. I just laugh and take a pull from the cool bottle, look back at Sanford. "'Crazy', huh?"

"Fucking right. You had a free beach front property in paradise, and a sweet civvy job with the Navy on the side. Friends like these? The best of everything. You drop it all to come back to this shit show? What the fuck, man? Definitely capital-C crazy. Why'd ya do it?"

Danny's eyes keep flicking over and he's trying to eavesdrop while carrying on a conversation with Kono and a couple of my guys. And I know... he'd like to know why, too.

We mingle, drink beer and eat good food. Share stories. At one point, the conversation drifts away from me. I take the opportunity to move away from the crowd, to the two chairs and the table, so in need of a paint job, sitting in the same place I left them. I settle into 'my' chair, close my eyes and listen to the ocean.

It's the same ocean as the one I listen to back in California, sitting on the sandy beach and closing my eyes, just like I'm doing now. It's the same ocean, but it doesn't calm me like it does here. It doesn't feel like...

It's just not the same.