Author's note: So I'm jumping on the bandwagon with everybody else. We all know that Danny had to have gone to Steve after everything that happened. This has nothing to do with any of my other stories.

It's been a long day and all I've got to say is make it strong. It's been a long day and all I want to do is hide away. So take a leave of absence, tell me you'll be gone. I don't want to see your face. It's been a long day and I just want to hide away. ~Rosi Golan, It's Been A Long Day

It was the part of the job that Steve McGarrett had quite gotten used to dealing with. The aftermath, the debris and broken pieces that were left behind in the wake of a case. In combat, it was his job to cause the chaos and he sure as hell never stuck around long enough to see the consequences of his actions. After his mother's death he had been sent away before he could see the effects of her absence and his father's death had simply left him with a puzzle to solve. This was the first time he would have to deal with picking up the broken pieces and holding onto them while his partner tried to put his life and family back together.

As he dug through the cabinets looking for the bottle of hard liquor that he kept stashed away, Steve couldn't help but think how unfair it all was. Danny Williams was a good person. He was a loving father, a dedicate police officer as well as a devoted son and brother. He had done nothing in his life that would explain all the suffering he was forced to endure. All Danny had wanted was a happy, healthy family. All Rachel wanted was stability and status. Two people with conflicting dreams trying to make it work only to eventually realize it was never going to. So he rearranged his entire life to move half away across the world so he could spend a few precious hours with his little girl. To try to make it seem like he hadn't failed as a father because the one thing Danny Williams could not accept was failure.

It was why Steve had chosen him as a partner. Danny could have easily told him to go fuck himself and handed off his father's case to someone else who would have bowed down to Steve. But instead, he stuck with the case and suffered through the SEAL's crazy stunts because he did not want to admit that he failed in catching the man who killed Steve's father. At the time he had no idea who Steve McGarrett was and Steve was pretty sure that the Jersey native hadn't cared that he was the Lt. Commander that the Governor had handpicked to run her taskforce. All that mattered was that Steve was the victim's son and he deserved answers and closure. Well, now it was time for Steve to repay the favor.

Steve had his doubts about Matthew Williams from the start. The guy was just too charming, too cool and too perfect for him to be legit. But he couldn't tell his partner that. His reaction to the FBI's accusations was exactly what Steve had predicted it to be and he would be damned if he was going to make Danny think that he was doubting the detective again. Not after Mekka and not after Nick Taylor. The detective was fiercely loyal and always believed the best about the people he cared for. It also meant that he could be naïve as to what those close to him could be doing. He was a good person and so he surrounded himself with other good people, or at least who he thought were good people.

Steve cursed out the younger Williams brother as he set the half empty bottle of bourbon on the counter. He didn't understand how Matt could do this to his older brother. Danny was willing to risk his reputation and possibly his career to help his little brother through all of this and what had Matt done? He'd skipped out on his big brother, leaving him hanging. When the FBI agent had started making accusations at Danny, the protective side of Steve came out. He had to give his partner an out. So he played their good cop/bad cop game and prayed that Danny got the message.

It took everything in him to not going rushing out that door with his partner. He wanted to go along to make sure that Matt didn't get away with this. To make sure that he suffered as much as Danny had. But he knew this was something that Danny had to do alone. So Steve had left the hotel and headed back home to be there with a glass of something strong and whatever ever else Danny needed to get through this. Because while he may have been able to deal with the whole Stan fiasco by himself, this time Steve knew Danny wasn't going to be able to handle this all on his own.

It really wasn't surprising to Danny at all that he had ended up at Steve's house after leaving the airport. Because while Matt may have been the one to talk him off the ledge after his divorce, Steve was the one to show him that the ledge wasn't even an option. It was a strange turn of events recently that Steve was being the voice of reason to Danny's insanity but he welcomed it in a way. It was a release to have someone else worry about the damn consequences for once.

It had been instilled into Danny from an early age that he had to be the responsible one. He was not only the oldest child but the oldest son and he had been told for as a long as he could remember that it was up to him to set the example for his siblings. 'How are they ever going to know how to behave if you don't show them?' his mother used to tell him when he misbehaved. It was a lot of responsibility on a young boy but he had done his best. Lately though his best hadn't meant a whole lot. His life had been turning into a comedy of errors until Steve McGarrett forced his way in and refused to leave. Now, Danny didn't know what he'd do if the SEAL ever did decide to leave him.

Steve didn't have to lie to the FBI. It wasn't his brother and it certainly wasn't his ass on the line and yet the idiot did it anyways. Danny really shouldn't have been surprised considering this was the same man who stole ten million dollars from an HPD evidence locker to save another one of their owns' life. A little white lie was nothing compared to that. But to Danny it was everything. It was an understanding, a trust, a form of love that Danny had at one time questioned whether or not existed. Steve McGarrett had lied to the FBI to give him time to find his brother first. And Danny had let him go instead.

Danny had watched the plane take off with angry tears in his eyes. Matthew got to fly away from his problems, taking life as they had both known it with him leaving Danny behind to deal with the aftermath of it all. As the plane had disappeared into the night sky, the eldest Williams brother swallowed his tears and got into the car, driving on autopilot to the McGarrett residence. He could have gone to any number of places. He could have gone home and screamed and yelled and thrown things until he fell into a fitful sleep. He could have gone to Rachel and told the whole sad story to her. But he went to Steve because he wasn't in the mood to talk right now. There'd be enough time for that later when all this shit hit the fan. Tomorrow he would be the responsible one again but tonight…tonight he just needed a release.

Steve was waiting for him on the back porch with two glasses and a bottle of bourbon. 'God he knows me too well'. Danny thought to himself as he settled into the other deck chair. Steve didn't say anything, just simply waited for his partner to speak.

"I lost him." Danny stated. Because somehow Steve knows that 'I lost him' means 'I let him go'. Steve, for his part, didn't look angry or surprised. If anything he looked satisfied. "You knew. You knew I couldn't do it. You didn't lie to the FBI to buy me time to find him and bring him in myself…you lied to give me time to say goodbye." Steve just sipped his drink slowly, still not saying anything. Danny wanted to smack the passive look off his partner's face because it's not fair for him to look so calm when Danny feels like losing control. The SEAL set his drink down on the arm of the chair and looked at his partner.

"What do you need Danny?" Steve's eyes are a darker shade than normal and Danny knows this is exactly why he ended up here tonight.

"I need a release. I want to let go of all these responsibilities and just let it all be somebody else's problem for once…I want to forget, Steve. Can you help me forget?" Steve picks up on the sense of desperation in his partner's voice and in that moment he would give anything to make the hurt just go the fuck away.

Danny doesn't say anything when Steve takes the glass out of his hand and certainly doesn't question when the other man pulls him back up to his feet by one hand. He has relinquished himself completely to Steve. It's terrifying, really, how much unquestioning faith he is putting in a man who risks his life on an almost daily basis. But Danny doesn't want to think about that right now. He doesn't want to think about anything right now except for the fact that there is a look in his partner's eyes that's promising to make everything go away if he just trusts him.

So Danny lets himself be pulled slowly into the house behind the dark haired man. He lets himself be directed up the staircase and down the hall to where he knows Steve's bedroom is. Danny makes no attempt to move, but instead waits patiently for direction from the other man. Steve opens his mouth but no words come out as he instead uses his lips to slowly capture Danny's. The blonde closes his eyes and sighs in relief. Steve separates their lips from one another and begins a slow trail down Danny's neck. Danny's head falls forward, resting on Steve's chest while the SEAL starts a trail of kisses up his neck to his ear.

"I've got you, Danny. You can let go. I'll put you back together, I promise."

Steve's words ghost across his ear with his warm breath. Danny's knees go a little bit weak but Steve's strong arms are there around his hips holding him up. He guides them over towards his bed where he lays Danny down.

"Just let go." Steve whispers again as he slowly removes Danny's tie.

The blue eyes that stare back up at him are so dull that Steve has to turn away. He turns his attention to the buttons on his partner's shirt. It's incredibly thrilling to have Danny so subservient, so pliable and yet at the same time, Steve hates it. Because a happy Danny is loud and boisterous and demanding. A happy Danny would be making snarky comments while fighting for dominance with him. Steve wants that man back but he knows it's going to take time and patience.

Steve's long fingers begin to dance across Danny's bare chest and down his arms taking the residual trembling away. Steve takes his hand and places feather light kisses to the fingertips and inside the palm. His delicate attention makes Danny forget that he had used that hand to point a gun at his younger brother. Danny remains open and vulnerable to his partner as Steve caresses his body slowly. The SEALs hands light but strong as they roam the smaller man's body looking for the cracks. Steve knows that Danny needs him to be strong right now. He needs to know that he doesn't have to be everybody's hero all the time.

Danny closes his eyes as Steve continues to lavish his form of comfort all over his body and the sight of his brother's face slowly fades from his vision. This is was why he came here tonight. Because Steve understands what it means to forget.