Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm so sorry about the long wait. Real life between school, work, and family has been kind of hard and writer's block is mean. But now I'm on fall break and I'm hoping to get some writing done!

Thank you so much for hanging with me! Your support really does make a difference.

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Hawaii Five-O. If I did, things would be VERY different (this new season . . .).

Enjoy!

Chin followed Steve up to the main offices, watching as he moved to the center console and leaned against the side. His shoulders heaved and Chin knew that Steve was desperately struggling with the events that had just transpired. Even though he and Danny were safe now, they had still been in terrible danger earlier, and the stress was showing on the task force leader. His shoulders were slumped instead of their normal pristine straightness and his hands were clutching at the side of the table to hide their shaking. Chin instinctually knew that there would be dark circles under Steve's eyes and his hair, even from behind him, was sticking up and in need of a proper wash.

"Steve," Chin carefully said, moving closer to the ex-SEAL in a slow and predictable manner. "You alright?"

There was a pause as Steve gathered his thoughts, but all he could manage after a few moments was, "I'm fine."

Chin nodded. Moving up to stand next to him, he pushed, "I was worried there, for a second. When you just came in without saying anything and locked that door, I thought you were going to-."

"Kill him?" Steve asked, turning his haunted gaze towards Chin.

Chin could see it in his eyes. They were dark and serious, and there were, indeed, bags underneath. He could see the bloodshot nature that stress and lack of sleep had given them and he could see the way that there were slightly red from some earlier crying. But, more than anything, Chin could see the weight behind Steve's words and how he did want to kill Xander. The anger burned bright and the hatred was staggering in its depth and Chin was reminded of when he had first seen Steve after the death of his father. How that same hatred and anger had been there. However, since Steve had met Danny, that anger and hatred hadn't appeared very often. Even in all of Steve's dealings with Wo Fat, that anger hadn't quiet surfaced. And yet, now, here it was, directed at the man a few floors below them.

"Steve . . . Danny's going to be okay," Chin tried to reassure.

Steve shook his head and looked back down at where his hands were clutching the table. "He almost killed him, Chin. Xander almost killed Danny. He still hasn't woken up. He may never wake up. The doctors' don't know." Steve looked at the picture that was up on the digital board: a smiling businessman-looking Xander. "He doesn't deserve a prison cell."

"You don't believe that, Steve-."

Steve cut him off with a look that said exactly the opposite: Oh, yes, I do.

Chin, for once, didn't know what to say.

Looking down at the watch on his wrist, Steve moved towards the door. "I gotta get back to the hospital."

Snagging the ex-SEAL's arm with a firm hand, Chin stopped him in his tracks. "You have to have faith in Danny. Don't plan for the worst. He wouldn't want that. "

Steve smiled sadly, unhooking his arm and saying, "Danny is the pessimist, normally; not me."

He moved quickly and left before Chin could say anything else. Slowly pulling out his phone, Chin dialed the number of his cousin and put the phone up to his ear, pausing for a moment before saying, "Steve just left here . . . Yes, Xander's okay. He's just a little scared . . . I'm worried about him, Kono. If Danny doesn't pull through, we may have a serious problem . . . I have no doubt that he would kill him."

As Steve walked down the stairs of the Palace and left through the front doors, his mind wandered and kept returning to the image of Danny, unconscious and bleeding in his arms, as he fought to get them to some help.

Which is why he didn't see the suspicious looking men, sitting in a car in the parking lot. Nor did he see them starting their car and following him out onto the road as he turned in the direction of Tripler Army Medical Center.

Steve stopped for coffee on his way to the hospital and accidentally ordered two cups. It was habit, now, and, when he realized what he had done, he apologized to the barista for the way his hands shook when he took the cups. The barista simply smiled and said, "It's alright, sir."

When Steve got to the hospital, he passed one of the cups of coffee to Kono and pretended that he meant for that one to be for her the whole time.

"Have there been any changes?" Steve inquired as he moved to the side of the bed, laying a gentle hand on Danny's arm to reassure him that he was back. Whether he was reassuring Danny or himself, he didn't really know. Perhaps he was reassuring them both.

"Not really," Kono said, taking a sip from the bitter coffee. "The doctor was just here. He said Danny was holding, so that's good. He's not getting worse."

Steve nodded, looking at his partner's sleeping face. The dark bruising made him feel hollow and the split knuckles on the back of Danny's hand made him ache. Slowly reaching out from his standing position, Steve took his partner's hand and gently moved his thumb across the back, carefully avoiding the split skin. "I need him to wake up, Kono."

Kono nodded, remembering her and Chin's conversation.

"Do you think Steve would hurt Xander?"

"I have no doubt that he would kill him."

Those words hung heavily on her now. In the midst of the tenderness that Steve showed to Danny was the knowledge of what Steve could do to Xander. His hands, which were gentle and caring, now, could turn deadly and break bone in a matter of seconds. "He's going to wake up."

Moving in a swift motion, Kono stood from her spot next to the bed and moved to Steve's side, putting her arm around him in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "He's going to wake up. He just needs some time." She felt, rather than saw, Steve nod and moved away, towards the door. "I'm going to head back to the Palace; see if I can help Chin with all the paperwork that we have to do since taking down Xander's organization. She stopped in the doorway and held up the cup of warm coffee, smiling back at him and waiting until she caught his eye. "Thanks for the coffee, by the way."

Steve nodded and smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes and Kono knew that that was all she was going to get out of him. By the time the door had closed behind her, Steve's attention was already far away, back in the hallways of the compound that he and Danny had been held in.

As Kono left the hospital, she noticed two men walking in, looking a little too calm for people who were walking into a trauma ward. Her instincts told her that something was wrong and she paused outside, looking in as the two men rounded a corner and disappeared from her view. Ultimately, though, she dismissed it as paranoia and took a long swig from her coffee to settle her nerves and continued on her way towards the Palace.

What did you think? Please tell me with a review! I've been fighting with myself about whether or not to post this, but I finally decided that you all deserved something, so here we go! I hope that it made up for the wait! There will be more Danny soon, so just hang in there. Once again, thank you so much for your patience.

If you wish to follow me and my progress with writing fanfiction, visit my tumblr at .com. I'll try and get better about updating that more frequently, too!

Thanks again and have a great weekend!