AN: Welcome to a new story. It's an idea that came to my mind while watching episode 8x07. Fortunately for Steve, things didn't turn out as badly as he thought at first. But what would happen if one of our boys had to face the consequences of a terrible mistake, committed during the fulfillment of his duty?

It's a story that explores the risks faced by all those involved in the law enforcement, and the possibility, always present, that something beyond their control, happens and changes their life forever.

Thanks to my incredible beta, Hugo, for his time and his amazing ideas. Although we have checked several times, there are probably some spelling or grammatical errors. Please excuse me if you find any.

As usual, I'm going to publish the new chapters every 1 or 2 days. Thank you very much for reading and please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: All the characters and situations inherent in the Hawaii five-0 TV show, are owned by its creators and CBS. They are taken back for entertainment purposes only. No money or goods have been exchanged in the publishing of this story.

Enjoy reading!

A life changing mistake.

Chapter 1: An unexpected twist of fate.

The phone ring sounds, insistent, piercing his ears painfully. He can't move to reach it ... to end that sonorous torture which hurts him, tearing his brain. An indefinite mist surrounds him when he tries to open his eyes, but his heavy eyelids refuse to obey him. Finally, the sound stops and he sighs in relief ... lets the sleep knock him down again, trying not to think ... trying to forget, at least for a couple of hours, everything he has lost, what has been hopelessly broken inside of him.

The noise of his house front door when it closes, wakes him up again ... An intense light comes pouring through the window, hurting his eyes and indicating the time, it must be about noon. Listens to the unmistakable steps moving through the house and entering his room. He keeps his eyes closed, waiting in vain for him to give up ... to give up and leave.

He feels the mattress sinking when his visitor sits on the bed. Listens to his deep sigh of frustration ... he is tempted to open his eyes and argue against him ... to tell him to go away, to leave him alone with his pain ... He only wants to sleep because it's the only way not to think ... because he doesn't want to think.

"Do you really want to make me believe you're asleep?" The man asks in a soft voice. A hoarse growl is his only response, as he moves on the bed to turn his back and places the pillow over his head in order to avoid the sharp sting of light, intense and hot, that penetrates his eyes through his closed eyelids.

"Come on Danno! ..." Listens again to his friend's voice, soft, calm, without anger. That understanding voice that has come to awaken him every single day, since all that shit happened. The voice speaks again, "Gracie has come to see me this morning, Danny, she's worried!"

Feels when he gets up and hears him walking around the room.

He knows he's cleaning the mess of the night before; he doesn't need to look to see him pick up, as he has done every morning for the last two weeks, the empty bottles of beer, abandoned randomly on the floor of his bedroom.

At last a hoarse, expressionless voice. A voice he can't recognize as his, says, while rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands to ward off the intense headache, "Why are you coming to bother me, Steven? ... It's not like I have to go somewhere. "

Slowly he straightens up, sitting on the edge of the bed for a few seconds, stands up and limps to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Listens to his partner's voice saying, "Take a shower ... I'll make some coffee."

Opens the tap, waiting for the steam to invade the bathroom, while reluctantly takes his clothes off and gets in the shower. Allows hot water to hit his back and shoulders, and slide down along his body, until it disappears through the drain. He wishes it could take something else with it... He wishes guilt and despair would fade away as easily as the little swirl of water and soap foam.

A few minutes later, he comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair disheveled and deep dark circles around his eyes, sunken cheeks and sagging shoulders. He looks in the mirror of his room, the man who looks back is just a shadow of himself. Without wanting to, puts on some shorts and a faded T-shirt, and leaves the room walking slowly to the kitchen. Stands by the door, watching Steve serving two cups of coffee.

He sits in front of the counter, drinking small sips of the hot, bitter drink and says in an angry voice. "Listen to me Steve ... I appreciate what you're doing... I do... but I really don't need it ... Everything I want is to be alone."

Steve looks at him, standing in the middle of the kitchen with one hand resting on his badge fastened to his belt, and holding the steaming cup with the other ... "That's not going to happen Danno. I'm not going to leave you alone ... The last thing you need now is drop yourself into a nonsense depression. "

"Nonsense depression?" Danny lets the anger flood his voice. "How do you know if my depression makes sense or not? This didn't happen to you, Steven ... It happened to me and I'm the only one who can understand!. So I'll thank you for go away and leave me in peace, once and for all!" Furious, he throws the cup which crashes against the wall, breaking into a thousand pieces and splashing coffee everywhere.

Steve doesn't look surprised by his friend's reaction. Quiet, he places his cup on the counter and goes to pick up the pieces of pottery that have been scattered on the floor and takes a towel to clean up the mess, until Danny comes and takes him by the arm, more angry for his apparent impassibility. He wishes Steve would scream and get angry, because then Danny would have a pretext to vent. But his friend's calm attitude ends up exasperating him. "Stop cleaning! ..." He yells, "I don't need you to do this ..."

"So tell me, what do you need?" Steve firmly takes Danny's hand, pulling it away from his arm, but without raising his voice.

"I just need you to leave ..." Danny yells. "Don't you get it? I need to be alone."

"Don't do this, Danny!" Steve's voice sounds pleading.

"Don't do what, Steven? I'm furious! ... What happened was so unfair! ... Yes, I know I made a mistake and I screwed it up. I know all this was my fault! "

"I'm not blaming you, Danny ... I'm just trying to help you to get through this. Believe me, I understand what you're going through now ... "

"You don't understand a damn thing! ... You are the Super SEAL; the perfect commander and the people's hero! The one who never makes a mistake ... You have no idea what it is to face an error like this and have to live the rest of your life with it ... You throw yourself into danger every day without caring about the consequences! But I'm not like you, Steve ... The consequences of what happened are going to haunt me forever!" Danny's breathing is agitated and his face contracts with anger. "I don't even know who I am now ... This has completely changed what I was ... You have no idea about everything I've lost!"

Steve looks at Danny, trying to hide the pain his friend's words have caused in his soul, "You're a cop, Danny ... That's who you are!" He pauses, trying to calm his voice, "You have to face this and get over it."

"Well, maybe I don't want to be a cop anymore, Steve." Danny walks to the coffee table, where he threw his gun and badge last night. He bends and picks up the badge, stroking it gently with his thumb. A few seconds later, he feels a renewed anger and throws it against Steve, who leans to avoid the blow. "Here you are! ..." Danny shouts, "I'm not a cop anymore! Take it and get out of here, right now! "

Feeling a deep sadness, Steve leans down and picks up Danny's badge from the floor. He realizes this situation, far from helping his friend, is causing him more pain. He walks to the door while saying, "Okay ... I'll go now. But I want you to know I'm with you in this, you don't need to do this alone... No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you, okay? "

Danny looks down at the floor, trying futilely to hold back the tears which slide down his cheeks. As he passes in front of him, Steve places a hand on his shoulder, but Danny takes a step back and turns his face to the other side, so his friend can't see his tears. "I'll see you, Danny. If you need me, you just have to call me and I'll be here." Steve says softly, places the badge on the coffee table and leaves slowly, closing the door behind him. Danny opens the curtain slightly and looks out the window at Steve, who walks sadly to the Silverado.

Turns his back against the wall, slides until he drops himself on the floor with his knees bent and hides his face in his hands. Heartbreaking sobs escape from his chest as the vertiginous swirl of memories returns to his head, tormenting him ... Memories of the day when everything happened ... of the few minutes in which that unexpected twist of fate changed his life forever.