Let's pretend I had a family crisis which is why I didn't update...not that I could NOT get this chapter to work how I wanted. Now, it isn't long but it is here so please, please tell me what you thought.

Rose xx

If Chin had thought the two hours it had taken to reach the cabin had been tense, they were nothing on the trip back. The first hour of the trip was sheer panic, with no phone reception he, and Kono beside him, could do nothing but wonder if the effort had been for nothing and Steve and died in the hours they had been out of reach. As Kono's phone lit up with a message from Danny asking how far out they were, Chin could suddenly breathe a bit easier with the knowledge their boss was not yet gone.

"How far to the turn off Kono?" The green whizzed by, hundreds of trees blurring into one canopy.

"Two miles on your right." He accelerated.

Danny Williams knew fear. He'd been a cop in Jersey. He'd been there while his wife screamed through labour. The screams were as loud as the silence when his baby girl had slipped into the world, no cries coming from her mouth and the umbilical cord wrapped around her tiny neck. Danny Williams knew fear, and this was it. The doctor had come in an hour ago and asked if Steve had any family they needed to contact. When Danny had replied there was only one who was hours away, the man had asked about friends on the island, anyone that might want to say goodbye. So, Danny had called everyone he knew. He started with Mary, briefing her about what was happening and comforting her through tears as she booked the first flight. A flight that would land hours after the doctor said Steve would die unless the got a cure. He called Kamekona. The older man, never one for holding back emotion, had promised to be there as soon as he could. Danny had worked through his contacts, hoping to surround himself not with people to farewell Steve but to ground him firmly to Hawaii. Danny hoped it would be enough.

It was six o'clock when the door finally opened. Danny looked up, mustering a smile when he saw who'd come through the door, offering a wave as her guardian left with a nod in his direction.

"Hey, monkey." For once the small girl didn't smile at the affectionate term.

"What's up, baby?"

she still didn't so much as twitch her lips, instead, making a beeline for the bed.

"Daddy is Uncle Steve going to die?"

Danny didn't have a chance to answer.

"No Gracie, he won't die." Danny startled, relieved to see the rest of the team at the door.

"Chin?" He asked, daring to hope.

"It was exactly where he said it would be." Danny stood, legs shaking and hugged the man. It was then he noticed the lack of doctors streaming through the door, the absence of life-saving medication being administered. The only sound was still Steve's ventilator.

"They have to test it, Danny, make sure it's actually going to help him and not just kill him instantly." He saw the look of pain on both Grace and Danny's faces. "Sorry. They should know for sure in a few hours."

Danny exploded. "Steve doesn't have a few hours! He had a few hours a few hours ago! What are they waiting for? It isn't going to make him worse and if it does they're only speeding up what would have happened anyway."

It was Kono who spoke up. "Danny Steve isn't the only person we need to think about. The need to analyse that sample, make sure it's safe and duplicate it so they can save Hani and Declan. They weren't given as man doses and they will probably hold on a few more days to make sure it's safe."

"What about Steve!?" Danny's chest was heaving, he could feel the colour rising in his face. "Steve is here because of those kids."

Kono stepped forward, showing restrain Rachel had never had in the face of Dann's explosive Temper, rested a had on his shoulder. In his fury, he didn't notice Chin gently leading Grace back into the hallway.

"Danny Williams. When Steve became a Navy SEAL he swore to be Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow and to Never Quit. On this case he has led us, he has followed our lead and now we need to trust that he will never quit. If Steve was awake he would never take his own life above those kids' and whether we agree with that or not we have to respect it. There is a team of lab techs that have slept less than us this past week and they are working to make sure the man in that bed will be back and protecting them as soon as is possible. There is a chance Steve will die. But I don't think he'll let that happen and I have faith he will fight. Maybe it's time you did too."

"Kono I-"

"Have a think about that Danny."

Danny spent the minute after Kono left staring at the door she had disappeared through. Finally, he exhaled, letting the breath leave with his anger and slumped back into the chair he had occupied for the past hours. He wasn't religious but if he was he imagined this is where he should pray.

"Uncle Chin is Daddy mad because Uncle Steve is going to die?" Chin looked at the girl drawing on the floor below him, catching a glance of several figures on the yellow line he assumed was Steve's private beach.

"I think your Dad is mad because Uncle Steve is trying really hard to stay here with us and Danno doesn't think he can help him."

"But he is helping him. When I'm sick and Daddy sits with me, it always makes me feel better."

"I know that, and you know that. Deep down, even Danno knows that. But when you're really scared sometimes you don't think properly."

The young girl looked aghast. "But Daddy's never scared."

"I know that's what he says, but I know he was scared when you had appendicitis. And I know he's scared now. Usually, when someone is mad Gracie, it's because they're scared deep down."

"But what can I do to make him not scared?"

"You could go back and sit with him. Stay with him so that even if he's scared, he doesn't have to be alone."

"Ok."

Chin sometimes wished he was still a child. That things were still as simple as two letters.

Danny had been dozing with Grace on his lap for close to three hours when the door suddenly opened, Steve's primary with no less than three nurses alongside him.

"It's been cleared and duplicated. We're ready to administer the antidote Detective." Danny thought he would cry, picking Grace up and backing up to allow the job to be done. Over in seconds, the injection into Steve's IV line was the most anticlimactic event of the day.

"We just have to wait now, detective. Wait and hope he has enough strength to fight it out until that kicks in." Danny shook the man's hand, aware he as giving him credit for the work of many others that were likely now curled up asleep in various positions in a darkened lab. It didn't dampen the gratitude his words followed to express.

While Danny waited at Steve's bedside like so many times before, Grace went home. Kono, Chin, Kamekona and others sat vigil in the waiting room. When Steve finally opened his eyes, Danny nearly missed it. The doctor had been in an hour before

"Hey there buddy. We've been waiting for you to open those eyes for a while now." Danny could feel the tears slipping down his face, but any care was long gone. "How you feeling?"

Instead of the smile he expected, Danny was met with panic and, for just a moment, terror.

Monitors began beeping and Steve flailed around, gagging on the tube in his mouth.

"Steve, Steve, calm down babe. Calm down. Help!" The last word was directed out the door.

"Come on Steve, calm down, it's alright."

Steve looked at him with confusion shining in his eyes. He settled back in the bed, but the panic didn't abate. When he caught Danny's gaze and pointed at his ears with a shake of his head, Danny suddenly realised where the panic had come from. And suddenly the fear in his partner's eyes was reflected in his.

So...? Let me know what you thought!

Rose xx