Danny looked from his watch to his phone – 7:30pm – still no message or call from Steve.

Five-0 had worked a grueling case over the last two weeks that had taken an emotional toll on all of them, so much so that the Governor had ordered them to take the weekend off. It all started when a case for a missing person was dropped on their laps. Malcom Walalai had been missing for twenty four hours and his son, Michael had gone to HPD. From the moment Five-0 took on the case, Michael had stayed with Steve, not having any other family in Hawaii. When Michael had told them that his mother had left them a few years back and that it was just him and his dad, Danny had seen the array of emotions in Steve's eyes; the understanding, the pain, the need to protect a kid who was so much like him at 16. From that moment on he knew that this was going to be a tough case for his partner, more so than for anyone else.

A few days into the case, Five-0 had found Malcolm's body and Steve and him were the ones who broke the news to Michael. Michael broke down in Steve's arms and Danny knew that this was going to be one of those cases that Steve was never going to forget. Michael's aunt had arrived in town to stay with him before she took him back to the mainland with her, but a few days after him and Steve had broken the news to him about his dad, Michael took his own life, leaving a letter behind apologizing to his aunt and to Five-0.

Everyone had taken the news hard, but they all knew that Steve was hurting the most.

"I saw a lot of myself in that kid Danny, I should have helped him more."

Nothing he could have said would have helped Steve in that moment, he had lived through the pain that Michael had lived through and he felt like he failed the kid, something Danny knew was weighing heavily on his best friend's mind. So when the Governor had told them to take the weekend off, he knew what he had to do. Lou had understandably wanted to spend every second of the weekend with his family, the cousins had a prior family engagement to attend to, and Rachel had offered to let Grace stay with him; this left Steve all alone. As much as he had wanted to spend an uninterrupted weekend with his little girl, Catherine had just left Steve again a few months back and with how close this case hit home for Steve, Danny didn't want Steve to be alone. Plus it seemed as though the two of them had been at each other's throats lately so a weekend together, to connect on a deeper level and help each other through a tough case, would maybe do them some good.

The duo had agreed to meet for dinner at Alan Wong's Restaurant at 7pm and then head back to Steve's for some beer and movies.

"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you but is your guest still planning on coming? I don't mean to be rude but we have a very long lineup outside and if your guest isn't coming perhaps we can move you to the bar?"

Danny looked up at the young waiter; any hostility or anger he would've normally felt completely eluded him as the pit in his stomach grew. Steve was rarely ever late, and if he was, he always called to let them know.

"Ugh, no it's alright I think I'll just get going," Danny stood up and pushed his chair in. If he wasn't so concerned for Steve he would've laughed at the look of pity plastered all over the waiter's face, probably thinking that he was being stood up by a date.

As Danny fiddled around for his car keys he tried Steve's cell again.

"You've reached Commander McGarrett..."

"Damnit Steve! Where the hell are you?"

As Danny pulled up to his partner's driveway he could see Steve's pick-up still there.

"Okay so he didn't get into an accident," he thought as he mentally checked that worst-case scenario off his list of potential reasons why Steve had not shown up at the restaurant.

He then took out his spare key, not bothering to knock on the door and not wanting to waste any time in case something was wrong.

"Steve?" Danny pushed his way through the door as he stood in the living room. He then made his way to the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Steve sitting at the dinner table.

Danny's relief soon turned to frustration as he saw the beer in Steve's hand.

"What the hell is the matter with you huh?"

Steve's head shot up as he finally realized that Danny was standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Danny, what are you doing here?"

Danny's eyes bugged out as his frustration turned to anger, he had passed up a weekend with Grace for Steve and this was how he thanked him?

"What am I doing here? Seriously Steven? We had JUST made plans like 4 hours ago to go to dinner, I was waiting there for half an hour while you drank your..." Danny's anger disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, being replaced by an overwhelming sense of concern as he spotted five empty beer bottles on the table to the left of Steve. He silently berated himself for even getting angry at his partner – that just showed how tense their relationship had been the last few weeks – Steve would never bail on set plans with him, and he should've known that.

"What's going on?"

Steve closed his eyes, silently cursing himself for forgetting about their dinner plans.

"Steve, is everything okay?" As Danny moved out of the doorway and pulled up a chair next to Steve he finally took a long hard look at his partner. In the light he could see the pale skin and dark circles that marred his best friend's face, as well the bruised and bleeding knuckles on Steve's shaky hand.

The fact that Steve wasn't saying that he was fine or trying to brush it off as nothing only served to deepen the pit that was growing in Danny's stomach. He was out of the chair as soon as he was in it, making a b-line to the freezer to grab an ice pack for Steve's hand.

"Here, ice that," he took a seat again as he handed the ice pack over to Steve. Looking up at his partner, whose head was lowered. "Talk to me man, you know I'm not moving from this spot till you do."

Steve looked like he was a million miles away before he finally locked eyes with Danny.

"I'm sorry I forgot about dinner."

Danny shook his head. "Don't even worry about that, we can go to dinner anytime, I was just worried something happened to you, you weren't answering your phone."

"Yeah, sorry about that too," Steve replied guiltily; he felt horrible for standing Danny up and felt even worse for making him worry.

"Would you stop apologizing already, what's going on, I know you, you rarely ever drink like this, is this about the case?" This is what Danny had been worried about, which was exactly why he had opted for this weekend together.

"No, well, it adds to it but no" Steve picked up the beer bottle and took another swig.

Danny was keeping a watchful eye, there was an entire unopened case at Steve's feet, and the fact that it was there instead of in the fridge, like it normally was, raised every red flag for him – something was very wrong.

"Babe, talk to me, I'm not a mind-reader I won't know how to help if you don't talk to me."

Steve took another swig of beer as his hands began to tremble even more.

Danny could see the pain etched in Steve's soulful eyes. They had been through so much together over the last few years, there was no way he was leaving until this, whatever this was, was resolved, and he knew that Steve knew that too.

"You can tell me what's going on, or we can sit here all night, up to you babe," Danny spoke up when Steve remained silent.

Steve looked up at his unwaveringly loyal partner and knew that there was no avoiding this conversation, and to be quite honest, he didn't want to avoid it, he was actually grateful that Danny was here.

After a few moments, Steve closed his eyes.

"Doris came by."

Time seemed to stand still as Danny swallowed the lump in his throat – that was definitely not what he had expected to hear. The fact that Doris dropped by was a shock but it wasn't earth shattering, they all knew she'd surface at some point, but what really concerned Danny was the state that she had left Steve in. He just knew by looking at his partner that, after this conversation, his level of hatred for that woman, was going to reach an all-time high.

"What did she want?" Danny's voice came out flat but Steve could hear the anger and resentment etched in each word.

"She wanted to talk about Wo Fat." Steve took the final swig of his beer and reached down to grab another when he felt a warm hand wrap around his wrist.

"Slow down babe, you said she came by two hours ago and you're already 6 beers in, just take a breather okay, I promise when we're done talking we'll both have a beer."

Steve wasn't drunk, but he was definitely feeling a bit of the effects and realized that Danny was right; he needed to slow down, so he put the bottle back in the case.

"Okay so what did Doris say?" Danny asked as he straightened up, preparing himself for the worst.

"She wanted to know what happened, how it all went down the day that…uh….the day that Wo Fat captured and tortured me," Steve said as he turned his head slightly to lock eyes with Danny.

Danny cringed as those words left Steve's mouth. The fact that Steve had been "captured and tortured" numerous times, twice by Wo Fat himself, still made Danny sick to his stomach.

"She backed up Wo Fat's story about how they knew each other, and what they uh," suddenly feeling completely and utterly vulnerable, Steve looked away. "What they meant to one another."

Danny could hear, and almost feel, the pain in those words as Steve looked down at his hands. He hated this, he hated seeing his partner in so much pain. As if the case wasn't emotionally draining enough, Doris had clearly taken away any emotional stability that Steve had left.

Steve took a deep breath before continuing, he knew what he was about to say was going to set Danny off.

"She thought that I should've handled it differently, she thought that I killed him when I didn't need to, that I could have brought him in and arrested him instead of shooting him."

Danny froze, completely at a loss for words. That woman was officially on the list of the top 5 people he hated the most in this world. The look of resignation on Steve's face broke his heart and Danny clenched his jaw as he slammed his fist down on the table.

"She does know that the maniac drugged you, water-boarded you and gassed you, she knows all that right!" Danny was physically shaking now. He could feel himself trembling wanting to punch something, preferably Doris.

"Yeah, I told her he had his gun aimed at me, that I had to shoot or be shot, and she told me that he wouldn't have shot me, that if he had wanted me dead he would've done it in North Korea, that he was just messing with me, egging me on."

Danny took a deep breath and closed his eyes, counting to ten in his head to try and calm down. It took him by surprise that the blinding rage he felt in that very moment was comparable to the rage he experienced after seeing Reyes roll out Matt's body in a barrel. Steve had been betrayed countless times throughout his short life, betrayed by people who were supposed to love him, care for him, and protect him.

"Talk about making someone feel worthless huh," Steve scoffed, knowing that was the booze talking and slightly kicking himself for showing such vulnerability; he shouldn't have drank as much as he had.

Danny's heart shattered. Steve was never one to admit when he was hurting, so to hear him say that he felt worthless, and to hear the pain behind them, it killed Danny.

When he finally locked eyes with Steve, what he saw took his breath away. Doris had made Steve doubt himself, had made him regret what he had done, regret that he had killed that venomous monster. Danny knew he couldn't keep quiet any longer, he wasn't about to stand by and let Doris McGarrett destroy his best friend from the inside.

"You're probably not going to like what I'm about to say but I'm done watching that woman take advantage of you and break your heart time and time again. I have held my tongue about your mother since she came back into your life because I knew how important she was to you and I didn't feel like it was my place, but now..." Danny shook his head looking at the ground trying to compose himself, he had to be careful with his words, he knew he had to speak out of love for Steve instead of out of hatred for Doris. "I can't do it anymore. I know that you know you did the right thing, the only thing you could, when you killed him, but I also know that somewhere deep deep down, what Doris said is eating away at you and a small part of you is wondering if you could've brought him in and not taken his life. Get rid of that thought right now Steve, I mean it, don't you dare think for even a second that you had ANY other choice but to kill him. He had his gun aimed at your head; whether or not he actually would have shot you, and I'm 99.9% sure he would have, we are trained to take that shot in that situation, .time. He had already tortured you for hours Steve, hours! He put you through hell emotionally and physically and there was no way you were both leaving there alive, and I know you know that."

Danny had noticed how intently Steve had been listening to him during that entire spiel. It was as if Steve had been waiting for this, had been waiting for someone to tell him that he hadn't done anything wrong, that he had done the only thing he could have done to survive. It hurt him that Steve even needed that reassurance, that Doris had made him doubt himself so much that he actually believed he was in the wrong when it came to Wo Fat.

Danny knew he couldn't stop here, he had to go for the 1-2 punch.

"You are not worthless. You are the best person I've ever met in my entire life Steven. I have NEVER in my life met anyone as fiercely loyal and self sacrificing as you; I have never met anyone who values another human life, over their own, as much as you do. You are incredible and don't you ever think otherwise. You are the best friend I could have ever asked for, and the way you are with Gracie, man she adores you, she literally worships the ground you walk on. You have so many people who love you. Doris does not get to come in here, after everything that she's put you through, and make you doubt any of that, do you hear me. She may be your blood but she is a poor excuse of a mother and a poor excuse of family. We're your family. You've been betrayed and lied to more times than I can even count, by people who supposedly love you and care for you, and Doris is at the top of that list."

Steve nodded as he looked away, tears threatening to pool over. That last line was like a dagger to his heart because it was the complete truth, but the rest of what Danny had said made him feel incredibly grateful and lucky.

"And I'll tell you one other thing, if you hadn't killed Wo Fat, I would have, and I wouldn't have even blinked."

Steve's head whipped up to once again lock eyes with his partner.

"Danny..."

"No I'm serious Steve, when I walked in there and saw you laying there motionless, not knowing whether you were alive or dead, I can count the amount of times on one hand where I have been that scared. If Wo Fat was alive and going to prison he would've gotten out, he would've come after you again and I wouldn't let that happen, I couldn't, not again," Danny shook his head. "So I don't care what Doris wanted or thought was right, if you hadn't put a bullet in Wo Fat I would have, so he'd be dead regardless."

Steve swallowed the lump that has settled in his throat. He didn't doubt Danny for a second, he had seen the lengths his partner would go to to protect or avenge a loved one; he had seen it with Peterson and he had seen it with Reyes. As much as Steve hated the idea of Danny taking anyone's life for him, he felt incredibly blessed that he had someone in his life who wholeheartedly loved him, wanted to protect him, and would do anything for him; the kind of devotion that Steve was definitely not used to. But he had also seen what killing Reyes had done to Danny. He had spent countless nights waking Danny up from haunting nightmares, countless hours talking Danny down from anxiety attacks, and countless weeks convincing Danny that he wasn't a monster.

Steve smiled a sincere smile as it finally hit him – he had done the right thing. He'd take Doris' anger and blame over Danny hating himself any day of the week, because Danny was right, they were his family, and not even Doris could take that away from him.

This was exactly why he had wanted to talk to Danny, because despite any problems they had, despite the tension and the fights and the misunderstandings, he knew that his partner was the one person who could bring him back from the depths of self-doubt and self-loathing that Doris had placed him in. Danny wasn't just his partner, he was also his best friend, his brother, and he knew that as long as he had Danny, he would make it through anything life threw his way – and it sure threw a lot.

Steve reached down between his feet and grabbed two beer bottles, handing one to Danny.

"Thanks Danno, I mean it, I don't know what I'd do without you man."

Danny smiled, knowing that he had gotten through to Steve and had vanquished that cloud of self doubt that Doris had planted in Steve's head.

"Right back atcha bud. And besides, I just did for you what you've done for me a million times," Danny stated matter-of-factly as he raised his beer bottle to Steve's.

Steve smiled as he cheers'd his partner. As he took a swig of his drink he got up and headed over to the couch.

"How about we watch a movie?"

"Sure, but is it one of your weird ninja crap movies?"

"It is not crap Danny!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever Steven, you get a pass today, we can watch whatever you want," Danny laughed as he took a seat beside his partner.

Both partners took a deep breath as a calm settled in between them; it was as if they could actually feel the positive shift in their relationship. As horrible as Doris' visit had been, and as painful as it had been for Steve, it almost seemed like a blessing in disguise. This was what they had needed – something so deep and so ruggedly raw that it brought out the foundation of what their friendship was built on; trust, loyalty, and love.

Steve sunk down a little on the couch as he slightly shifted his shoulders towards his partner's. Danny smiled as their shoulders made contact; understanding the warm gesture for what it was and feeling the strain of the past few weeks dissipating as an overwhelming sense of comfort and familiarity set in.

They were back, and they were stronger than ever.

THE END