Hard Headed SEAL

by wenwalke

Summary: When Steve receives a head injury he returns to headquarters looking for Danny forgetting that he's left Danny alone, and injured in the forest.

Disclaimer: I still don't own them, but I'm sure having fun with them.

A/N: I started this story back in November but work, a new grandson, and my recent illness got in the way of completing it. Finally wrote the last chapter a few days ago so I can now start to post it. Thanks to my fantastic beta rewob17 for once again finding the mistakes I missed, and to Irene Claire for reading and letting me know what she thought.

Chapter One

This was stupid; at least that's what Danny thought as he ran through the forest in pursuit of his partner. He hated forests because Steve always managed to find trouble whenever he dragged Danny into one, and Danny just knew that this time would be no exception.

They were in pursuit of Wally Fallen who was a suspect in the theft of $100,000.00 worth of diamonds from the jewellery store he worked for. They only picked this case up because Chin knew the owner of the store and Five-0 was slow right now, so he'd offered their help. Danny and Steve had tracked Wally to a cheap motel up on the NorthShore, and everything would have been fine if Steve hadn't threatened to shoot Wally when he refused to open the door. By the time Steve then broke down the door, Wally was out the bathroom window and entering the forest behind the motel.

"Steve, wait!" Danny grabbed Steve's arm in an attempt to stop him from following Wally out of the window.

"Let me go," Steve said as he shook off Danny's restraining hand. "He's getting away. I have to catch him."

"He won't go far, Steve. He's not the outdoor type. He'll be back soon, or we can let HPD go after him." Danny had moved in front of the window effectively blocking Steve's attempt to climb out. "You, my friend, have a doctor's appointment in your future."

"No. I don't. I've told you already, there's nothing wrong with me. Now move!" Steve aggressively shoved Danny aside sending him spinning into the bed. Before Danny could collect himself and jump back up from where he'd fallen onto the bed, Steve was out the window and running for the edge of the forest.

"Damn crazy SEAL!" Danny exclaimed as he climbed out of the window and raced after Steve.

Danny knew there was something wrong with Steve, and there had been for a while. He could trace the change in Steve back to an event that had occurred close to three weeks ago. Steve had tackled a fleeing suspect and they'd both hit the side of a building, hard. Both men were rendered unconscious and Steve sustained a severe concussion while the suspect was hardly injured at all.

It was the next day before Steve woke, unable to remember anything that had happened the previous day. Tests were run, CT scans were done, but nothing showed up, so the doctor released Steve, telling him he was to rest for two weeks as he'd rattled his brain hard and it would take time to heal. He was under orders to return to the hospital if he experienced headaches, memory loss, confusion or any other symptoms.

Danny had picked Steve up and driven him home, despite Steve's wish to go to headquarters. Somehow, Danny, Chin and Kono managed, for a week, to thwart every effort Steve made to go back to work. But four days ago that all changed when Danny came into work and Steve was already there and refused to leave. He seemed fine, said his head was better and there was no reason he couldn't be in the office. Of course Danny knew that Steve's version of 'being in the office' didn't mean staying in the office.

Now as he ran, Danny's mind sifted through everything that happened over the last four days. Yes Steve seemed fine, but Danny was sure he still got headaches, and he'd caught some confused looks on Steve's face that shouldn't have been there. Then there was the quick temper that reared its head with no warning. Kono had left in tears just yesterday when Steve had chewed her out about not being able to find Wally Fallen as fast as Steve thought she should. Danny and Chin had not been immune either; they had both been on the receiving end off Steve's temper in the last few days.

When Danny suggested Steve stay home longer, or go see his doctor and get checked out again, Steve simply walked away saying "I'm good. Leave me alone." Just that morning concerned for Steve, Danny called Steve's doctor at the hospital and explained Steve's behaviour to him. The doctor suggested that Steve should go in for more tests as the things Danny described could all point to an injury to Steve's brain that had not shown up in prior tests.

Danny spoke to Chin about the best way to coerce Steve into going in for tests, but before they could come up with anything Steve burst into Danny's office waving a piece of paper. "I found Wally up on the NorthShore. Let's go Danny." Without waiting for a reply Steve rushed out and Danny had to hustle to catch up with him.

Now Danny found himself in the forest, trying to keep his partner in sight as they chased Wally. This whole situation was not good. Steve had actually pushed him hard enough that he could have been hurt, if not for the fact he'd landed on the bed. Danny knew there was definitely something seriously wrong with Steve and he had to get him to the hospital soon, before anything else happened.

It wasn't long before Steve caught up to Wally and Danny saw them both go down as Steve tackled him. Steve was the first to recover, though slower than he normally would, and by the time Danny reached them, Steve was beating Wally with his fists.

"Steve Stop!" Danny yelled as he reached the pair. Nothing happened. There was no reaction from Steve; it was as if Danny hadn't yelled at all, as if Steve couldn't, or wouldn't hear him.

Danny moved around in front of Steve to try again. He could now see blood on the right side of Steve's forehead where he must have hit it on something. That's all he needs, Danny thought, another hit to the head to make things worse than they already are.

Wally was already close to being unconscious, as Steve prepared to hit him again. Danny knew he had to intervene or Wally would be dead. "I said stop!" Danny yelled as he caught Steve's upraised arm in an attempt to stop the angry SEAL.

That turned out to be the wrong move for Danny. Steve reacted instantly to a perceived threat. He surged up and twisted Danny's grip on his arm to bring Danny's right arm up behind his back. Danny was sure he heard at least one bone snap and the pain was unbelievable. Then a solid punch landed on the left side of Danny's head and his vision greyed out briefly. Suddenly he was spun around and being used as a punching bag with fast blows to his body which took his breath away.

When Steve had surged up, Danny had seen his eyes and the right pupil was blown. That could only mean the fall had caused more damage to Steve's brain and Danny knew that he was in real trouble as Steve failed to recognise him.

Danny had learned to fight on the streets and knew he needed to find some distance from Steve if he was going to survive. So he dropped and rolled away, coming to his feet out of Steve's reach. The pain that roll caused to his arm almost made Danny black out, but he couldn't, Steve needed help and there was only Danny there to help him.

"Steve, it's me, Danny. Come on babe, stop this now." Danny was desperate to make Steve see who he was, not some threat, but his partner. The good thing was that at least Steve was not beating on Wally anymore. "Come on Steve. Listen to me please. You have a head injury and don't know what you're doing."

Steve advanced towards Danny with no sign that he recognised him, or even heard what he'd said. Danny figured that this was Steve in full SEAL mode and that was a very scary thing to see at any time, but when it was directed towards you?

Danny tried to figure a way to incapacitate his partner without hurting him, so to that end he eased his cuffs from his pocket as he slowly backed away. He certainly could not afford to hit Steve in the head and knock him out, that's for sure. When Steve grabbed for him, Danny managed to snap one cuff around Steve's right wrist before he was knocked to the ground by the SEAL.

The two struggled together, but Danny was at a severe disadvantage with a useless right arm. During the struggle the two rolled together to the edge of a gully where they were stopped by a stand of young trees. Steve took the brunt of the hit against one tree and was momentarily winded. Danny was able to disengage himself and drew Steve's right arm around a tree snapping the other cuff on Steve's left wrist just as he started to revive. It cost him though as he'd had to use his right arm and the pain intensified ten fold.

Steve roared in anger and struggled with the cuffs, but he was truly stuck. Danny figured there was no way Steve could get out of them and even if he stood, there was no way he could reach the key in his pocket.

Danny had moved away after he'd cuffed Steve, now he eased himself up, his ribs really hurt and he wouldn't be surprised if a couple weren't cracked. He held his right arm tightly against his body as he circled around Steve to reach Wally who was barely conscious. It was good that Danny had put his zip ties in his left pocket or he'd never have been able to put one around Wally's wrists. Not that Wally was going anywhere the state he was in. Once that was done, Danny sat down on a rock as a wave of dizziness overtook him. Everything hurt. His face from the hit Steve had given him, and he was pretty sure his cheek was split open because he could feel the warm blood as it trickled down. His arm definitely had at least one broken bone and he was pretty sure it was useless right now.

Steve had gone quiet and lay there watching Danny's every move. He still showed no sign that he recognised Danny in any way which was really worrisome. "I'm calling Chin for help, Steve," Danny said as he pulled his phone from his pocket, but one look told him his phone would never work again. The screen was broken and it was dead. "Great." Danny said in disgust as he tossed the phone away. "You owe me yet another phone babe."

Cautiously Danny pushed himself up and approached Steve. He could see Steve's phone still attached to his belt, apparently undamaged by the looks of it. He needed to check Steve's phone and he hoped that with his arms handcuffed around the tree, Steve would not be able to do anything. How wrong could he be! Danny soon found out that Steve didn't need his arms when he had two perfectly good legs. He had just put his hand on Steve's phone when a powerful kick from Steve flipped him into the air and he catapulted down the slope into the gully. He landed awkwardly on his feet and felt his bad knee go out. Then he couldn't stop himself from falling flat on his back where his head connected with a rock, and he descended into darkness.

TBC.