A/N -The finale of Hawaii Five-O was painful, blood curdling and all shades of sad. I could not stand the thought of Steve and Danny being apart. I won't mess with the finale, because as painful as it was, I think it was kind of perfect. The way Steve and Danny spoke, Danny's tear-filled goodbye by sitting on the same chair where they had decided to grow old together, Steve's last backward glance at Danny, his indecisiveness, him telling Eddie that he needs to take care of Danno, it was all kind of imperfectly perfect.

When Dayui Mei calls Steve and tells him she had Danny, 'the person he cares for the most', those words kind of stayed with me. They were a representation of how much Steve and Danny's partnership evolved from partners, to friends, to best friends, to now brothers.

This is my version of how Steve returns to Hawaii.

Chapter -1

"Aloha, A hui hou." Steve said with unshed tears, and just like that, left with his bag on his shoulders.

After Steve left, the Five-O team reminisced for a while in Steve's house. Lincoln left a while back, saying that he needed to be somewhere.

"I can't believe Boss is gone." Tani said as she sat stuck to Junior, her eyes red due to crying.

"He'll be back." Junior said as he comforted her.

"Five-O will never be the same without him." Adam said as he too swiped at his eyes.

Quinn watched as she saw the tried to gather themselves in front of her. She was the newest edition to this team, and she still felt McGarrett's absence like a blow to her stomach. She couldn't even imagine what the team would be going through. Five-o was not just a task force, it was ohana, and McGarrett and Danny's pair was the glue that stuck them together. And she felt grateful to be a part of it. Her eyes sought around the room before she found her target outside in the backyard where a lone figure sat on one of the chairs with Eddie at his side.

Danny.

While the other team was hurting, Danny was breaking. She knew that because in the past year she had experienced and seen the kind of relationship Danny and Steve had.

Brothers from another mother.

Danny had been through an ordeal with Dayui Mei. Quinn had a newfound respect for the man, his endurance and strength was incomparable. But now, with Steve leaving without knowing when he was going to return, it was sure to break Danny.

"Where's Eddie?" Junior asked suddenly.

"There." Quinn pointed outside. "With Danny."

"Aw man, Danny." Lou said sadly. "If anyone is gonna miss Steve more than any of us, it's Danny, man. Those two…" Lou shook his head as he stood up. "I'll go talk to him."

"Hey Cap, Boss asked me to keep an eye on him and his meds. Said Danny usually skips them. Can you bring him inside?" Junior asked.

"I'll try." Lou sighed "You know how he is. Worse than Steve." He knew Danny. Danny knew Steve the longest. 10 years was not a small time. Even though their partnership was a forced event, they both had grown to care and love each other like brothers. Everyone knew no one can take Steve's place in Danny's life and Danny's place in Steve's life.

Lou made his way to where Danny was sitting and took a seat beside him.

"He left?" Danny asked softly.

"Yeah…about 10 mins ago." Lou said as he watched Danny gaze into the horizon.

"We are going to miss him like anything, man." Lou said shakily. Danny just nodded; his gaze unwavering.

"Danny…you okay?" Lou asked him, concerned with his friend's quiet behavior.

Danny sighed before shifting in his seat. "He is my habit, Lou." He turned to the older man. "In the morning, I wake up and there's Steve, I go to work with Steve, I work with Steve, I get a beer in the evening with Steve, for god's sake I live with Steve. For 10 years, I have seen him every day. My children love him to death, he's a huge part of their lives. And now, he's gone with no return date." Danny said and made a swiping motion with his hands.

"He'll be back soon, Danny." Lou tried to comfort him.

"It's not a goodbye forever, Danno. That's what he said." Danny said with a huffed laugh.

Lou shook his head. "You know him, man. You know him better than any one of us. You know he's not going to leave us like this." Lous reasoned. "He'll be back."

"I hope I'm not six-feet under, by then." Danny said and gave a bitter laugh.

"Hey, come on now." Lou chastised him. "Don't you be talking all depressed and stuff."

Danny composed himself but didn't reply.

"McGarrett gave your Camaro's keys to Lincoln." Lou said.

Danny laughed again. "That animal. How dare Danny Williams drives his own car, huh?"

Lou cracked a grin at that. "Seriously though, Danny. We are the oldest of the bunch here. We gotta keep the family together man."

Danny took a deep breath.

"I-I don't know if I can keep doing it without Steve, Lou." He said honestly. "He was the reason I came, more like got forced, into Five-O. With him gone, I-I just don't know. I can't replace my partner. How do you break a habit?"

Lou's heart skipped a beat as he heard the last bit. He kept quiet as Danny took out his phone and sent a text to someone. He knew Danny needed his rest for at least a month before he could join the task force. Dayui Mei had really done a number on him. Plus, the gunshot wound was worse than it looked. Danny had lost a lot of weight and strength in this past week. Without McGarrett there to help him, Lou knew it would take Danny a while to recover and get used to the new normal without Steve. He was brought out of his reverie with Danny's harsh coughing and wheezing.

Lou instantly stood up and moved towards him. Danny's forehead was lined with sweat and his knuckles were white due to the death grip he had on the chair.

"Hey Danny, come on, let's go inside. It's time for your meds." Lou said as he offered him a hand. Danny shook his head.

"No, no, I'm fine." He said with a shaky breath. "I just need to sit out here for a few more minutes."

"Uh Uh." Lou shook his head and grabbed Danny's arm gently. "You don't look too good. Plus, you got out of the hospital way too early than the Doctors would have preferred. Come on, man, don't do this to yourself. You know Steve would want you to be better. He would have hauled your ass up and in bed by now."

Danny smiled. Yes, he could count on Steve to do that. That man could be a smothering mother hen when need be. He slowly took Lou's hand and with his help, got to his feet. His chest felt like it was on fire.

"Come on, now, one step at a time." Lou guided him and slowly, they reached the house.

"Hey." Danny greeted everyone sitting inside. "What, having fun seeing an old man struggle, huh?" He tried to joke as Junior and Lou got him settled in an armchair.

"Old and you?" Tani spluttered mockingly. "Just wink at me once and I'll fall in your arms, my blonde Tarzan."

Danny smiled as others laughed. "You're too good to me." He spoke.

Junior came in with a glass of water and a few tablets. "There you go, Boss."

"I'm not your Boss." Danny said off-handedly as he took the offered medicines and swallowed them together.

"You okay, Danny?" Adam asked, concern lining his voice. Everyone could see the pale complexion and tiredness on Danny's face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Danny brushed him off. "Don't worry about me. You all should go home."

Everyone looked at each other and Danny rolled his eyes.

"Come on, I'm not a China Pot. I'm fine!" He said unconvincingly. After a few more tries of shooing them away, Danny finally succeeded.

"Hey man, call me anytime, you hear me?" Lou said as he patted Danny's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Lou, I got it." Danny said, grateful for the offer.

Junior stayed back as everyone left.

"You don't have to stay." Danny said to him. "Go with Tani."

Junior sat beside him and shook his head. "I spoke to her. I'll stay here with you."

"Why?" Danny frowned. "Don't you guys want to… you know…have some alone time or whatever it is that you millennials do? I mean I remember when I was in that stage with Rachel. We couldn't keep our hands off of each other."

Junior laughed as Danny spoke.

"Come on, what's it called these days? Netflix and chill?" Danny teased him.

"Yeah, yeah." Junior blushed. "And no, we are good. We had…um… enough of that. And this conversation is uncomfortable, I'm going to go feed Eddie." Junior said and ran inside.

"What, you do the deed but can't talk about it? What is wrong with you people?" Danny called after him. He could hear him puttering in the kitchen.

Danny took out his phone and looked at the messages.

Miss you already.

Read.

Danny smiled. He wasn't expecting a reply. Steve was a man of few words, exact opposite of Danny. It was like their arguments. Danny would rant and complain and curse Steve, but Steve, in return would just glare, grunt or say a few things. He usually let Danny tire himself out by talking.

Who's going to do that anymore, Steve?

He hadn't let his tears fall since he first heard of Steve's decision to go away. For a while, he had said. But who knows how long a while is?

Danny didn't know when he dozed off on the armchair. Junior shook his arm a little to wake him up.

"Hey Danny. Come on let's get you upstairs and in bed." He spoke. Those damn pills made Danny vulnerable and dopey and he hated every second of it. With Junior's support, he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes.

"You're burning up, you need a tablet for that?" Junior asked with concern. The doctor had told Steve that fever would be a common symptom of exhaustion and left it up to Danny to decide if he wanted any medicine for that or no.

Danny denied and gulped before settling himself in a position where the pain was the least.

"You need anything, just call, alright?" Junior's voice came as he covered Danny with a blanket.

"Hey." Danny grabbed his hand, his eyes half closed. "Thanks Steve." He mumbled and fell asleep.

Junior looked at the man sadly and gave his hand a little squeeze.

Miles away, in a plane, Catherine Rollins watched as Steve McGarrett's eyes moistened as he read the text from his partner for the 100th time. She knew he didn't know how to reply to that. She also knew that Danny would understand. Danny always understood.

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