Ah! So sorry for the wait, life got in the way. I did not plan on updating tonight, but thought I would try from my phone. I apologize ahead of time if there are spelling or formatting errors. Just let me know in the comments or PM. Thank you!

"This one does not necessarily pertain to Hawaii." Danny said simply from his spot on Steve's bathroom floor.

"But it is still on there." Steve pointed out.

"Well, this one is really self explanatory, Steven." Danny said sitting up against the sink. "I just don't like running."

"How do you not like running?" Steve asked bewildered.

At this, Danny began flinging his arms. "What do you mean? My legs hurt, I'm out of breath, you get all smelly! There is absolutely no point."

"You hate swimming too right?" Steve asked.

"Yep."

"You hate swimming and running. What do you do for cardio?"

"Cardio?" Danny asked perplexed.

"Yes, Danny. Cardio."

"Why do I need cardio in my life?"

Now it was Steve's turn to flail his arms. "Cardio is an important part of exercise, Danny!"

"Why are you so passionate about my health now?" Danny asked.

"What do you mean now? I've always been concerned about your health!"

"You mean like all the times you get me shot at or tell me to jump off of buildings or get me in other ridiculous situations."

Steve sighed. He'd heard this argument plenty of times. "Danny..."

"Don't you Danny me, Steven! Look!" He said pointing to the wound on his side and the bump on the back of his head. "I come to stay with you and I get hurt!"

Steve dropped his mouth and pointed to the wounds. "You can't seriously blame me for those!"

Danny squinted his eyes at Steve and pointed at him. "Somehow, this is your fault. When you got the house you probably got the weaker windows to buy more additions of Guns and Ammo magazines."

Steve chose not to point out that he in fact had nothing to do with the choice of windows, instead letting his injured friend win. "Unbelievable." Steve said letting his arms fall to the floor. "You are unbelievable, my friend."

Steve and Danny sat in silence for a while before Steve decided to speak up. "If you hate running so much, then why did you do the Tough Mudder challenge with us?"

"You guys kind of forced me to." Danny explained.

"You had a choice." Steve said.

"Um... not really. You guys would not let me back down. Kono and you were both on top of me pressuring me to say yes. If I would have said no, what would you have done?"

Steve answered quickly. "I would have guilted you into coming." He admitted.

Danny gestured to him. "Exactly."

Steve tried to make up for his actions by complementing Danny. "We were real proud of you, buddy."

"Yeah, sprained ankle and all." Danny muttered looking at the ground.

Steve frowned. Where was this coming from? Their joking mood had suddenly turned sour. Surprised at Danny's quick reaction to his words, Steve decided to press on to find whatever was bothering his friend.

"Really, Danno. We were proud."

"Yeah sure, even though I am the 'weakest link'?" Danny asked looking up at him suddenly.

Steve looked at him shocked. He instantly remembered what Lou had said when they all were practicing for the race. They had all joked about it, Steve had no idea it was bothering Danny so much. "Danny, don't be sensitive." Steve said trying to deflect from his own guilt.

"'Don't be sensitive?' Really Steve? Do you remember what I told you when we first met?"

Steve smiled as he thought back to that day when they both met. So much had changed since then. So much tragedy and heartbreak, but also so many heartwarming moments between the two. "You said a lot of things, Danny. Can you be more specific?"

"Sure." Danny said aggravated. "I said that being a cop was one of the only things I was good at and that I liked being reminded of that. So how do you think it felt being told by one of your best friends that you were the weakest link?"

Steve was instantly guilty. "Danny, you got, to know you are not actually the weakest link. Lou was just joking with you."

Danny shook his head. "Really Steve? Look, I'll admit I've been away more often than usual because of family issues in New Jersey. You guys all seem to be doing fine without me."

"That's not true." Steve quickly defended.

Danny shook his head again. "Look Steve, it's fine. Let's just move onto the next one, okay? Forget I said anything."

Steve was not about to let it go this easy. "No Danny, you don't get to think that." Steve said adamantly. "Look, Lou was just kidding man, he meant nothing by it. And as far as getting by without you, we may be getting by, but it is NOT the same without you. Danny, as far as I'm concerned you are the heart of the team. You are, pal. Not Kono, not Chin, not Lou, definitely not me, but you. You have been there for all of us in our darkest hours. Even though you are a pain in the ass sometimes," Steve added making Danny smile, "You are the heart. We could not do this long term without you, buddy."

Danny looked at him, looked down and then looked back at him. "Thanks, brother." He said.

Steve, now satisfied that he had gotten his point across, smiled back at Danny. "You're welcome. Besides, who else would inform me of every mistake I make throughout the day."

Danny, sensing the joking, smiled and joked back. "That's my job Steven. Think of me as your inner conscious. The more rational side.

Steve snorted. "The day you become rational is the day pigs fly. You ready for the next one?"

"I'm ready, babe."

Steve smiled at Danny and looked down at the list, silently thanking the storm for letting him reassure Danny just how much he was needed on their small task force. What he said was true - there was no Five-0 task force without Danny Williams. Steve rationally knew that one day Danny might retire, die, or quit, but once that happened, Steve was sure of one thing...

There would be no Steve McGarrett either.

There was no way in hell he was doing this without Danny Williams by his side.

Steve thought that and smiled.

Preview of 'Chapter Eleven: Father Nauture' :

"Now that we're comfy, the next one on the list is nature." Steve said.

Danny looked at him. "Well that one is simple, I don't like the," Danny held up his hands in quotation marks, "nature" here in Hawaii."

"Why the fingers Danny?" Steve asked.

"Because, where I'm from, nature is the fallen concrete building that you get to play in and Central Park. Not the five million miles of forest, jungle, and mountains you have here." Danny said gesturing to the door with the wind blowing outside.

"But we went hiking together that one time..."

"And we found a body..." Danny countered.

Steve frowned. "Those were extenuating circumstances."

There ya have it! Again, apologize for any mistakes, just let me know and I'll fix them. Don't forget to comment or message me with any suggestions or ideas! I love hearing from y'all!

~StoneyT

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of their characters