A/N: The lyrics are from OneRebublic's "Come Home". I highly encourage you to listen to the song while reading this chapter (it's available on YouTube) because it really speaks to the state of Danny and Steve's bromance in my little universe. More on the flipside; enjoy!
Everything I can't be
Is everything you should be
That's why I need you here
They watched each other curiously, muscles tense, guns drawn. Each waited for the other to make a move. Seconds ticked by. A minute. Two.
Steve was the first to lower his guard. That would have surprised Danny enough if Steve's SEAL-stern face hadn't crumpled at the same moment. Danny dropped his hands to his side as his…as Steve collapsed. He was crying. Crying.
"What—what happened to me?" Steve asked thickly. His bloody hands moved to cover his face, his frail body sagged under the weight he had finally allowed to crash down on him.
"I don't know," Danny whispered. Steve's head jerked up, as if he had forgotten Danny was in the warehouse. "I don't know."
"What?" Steve asked sharply. His eyes were still blurred with tears, but a glimmer of recognition seemed to light them. "What…who are you?"
Danny moved to sit nearer to the broken man, half-expecting him to attack again. Steve just watched him. "I'm Danny. Remember?"
"Danny…" Steve stared, his eyes narrowing in concentration as they seemed to trace Danny's face. He'd nearly given up hope of any recollection when those gray eyes widened once more. "Danny Williams? Danno?"
"Yeah."
Their gazes held for a moment longer before their arms were wrapped around each other, and Steve was sobbing into Danny's shoulder, and Danny was doing his best not to follow suit.
For that moment, the two men were removed from their surroundings, from their grim reality. The body of Wo Fat's henchman was not watching them through glazed, unseeing eyes. Chin was not dying. Steve was not a fugitive.
For that moment, the first such in too many days, Danny and Steve were at peace.
They were together again.
They were home.
So hear this now:
Come home
Come home
'cause I've been waiting for you
For so long
For so long
So come home
A/N: And there you have it. Steve and Danno, together again. T_T
But this isn't to say our story is finished. Not even close to it, my friends. Be on the lookout for the next installment of the trilogy, "I'm Coming Home", near the beginning of August.
For now, mahalo to everybody for the continuous support. It means the world to me to know that so many of you enjoyed my writing, and I can't wait to come back with now.
Aloha.