Summary: Danny gets shot during the hostage standoff at Grace's dance. Steve panics. Alternate ending to 'Hana Komo Pae," episode 8 of season 7.

Hurt and Comfort in Hawaii

PenPatronus

Story 1

Stay With Me

Steve McGarrett's mind checked off the tasks on his to-do list at warp speed. The kidnappers were all on the floor, their weapons had been confiscated, and although the last gunman got a few shots off when he went down, none of the hostages were bleeding. Someone shouted, "Clear!" "It's over," Kono announced.

Steve flipped the safety on his weapon. Business tasks: check. He switched off that part of his brain and went into personal-mode.

"Grace," he croaked. Sweat blossomed from every pore. "Where's Grace…?" He scanned the room for a familiar face. "Where's Grace Williams?" he yelled. Steve's knees started to shake.

"Uncle Steve!"

A heavenly sound. "Grace!" Steve gasped at the sight of her jumping up, struggling not to trip in her heels and pink gown. Her arms went around his neck and her face burrowed into his shoulder. If he wasn't holding a semi-automatic, he would've scooped the teenager up into his arms and folded her against his chest like she was an 8-year-old again. Steve closed his red-rimmed eyes and struggled to steady his breaths.

He felt the blood before he saw it. Something felt too warm. Steve held Grace at arm's length and examined her left shoulder. "Gracie, are you hurt?" he gasped. "There's blood—are you bleeding? Baby, are you bleeding?"

Grace frowned at the blood on her skin. "I'm good," she insisted. Trembling hands clawed at the splashes on the left side of her dress. "It's not me—it's not mine!"

Steve's stomach dropped to his boots, and continued sinking into the floor. In his mind's eye, he saw the last gun shooting off rogue bullets. Of all the directions one bullet could've gone…

"No," Steve whispered. His own voice echoed in his head.

Grace put two-and-two together. She whirled around and would've catapulted herself at her dad if Chin hadn't appeared to hold her back. "Danno!" she cried.

Danny Williams was on his feet. He held his folded black tie against his chest, but the bandage didn't block the sight of the blood already pooled on the floor. "Grace, listen to me," he said in his best "dad" voice. "It's not as bad as it looks, monkey, ok?"

Steve set his gun down, sidestepped Grace, and put a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Sit down, Danny. Danny? I need you to sit down."

Danny didn't seem to hear him. "I'm all right, see?" he said, gesturing at his mostly clean shirt and his steady feet. "Now, I need you to go with Chin. Uncle Steve's going to patch me up and I'll see…I'll see you…" Danny swayed. "Grace, I'll see you soon. I love—I love you…" He teetered…

"Danny—Danny!" Steve wrapped one arm around his partner's waist and the other slid behind his neck.

The blood-soaked tie fell out of Danny's limp hand. Gracie started screaming. "Don't let her see me die, Steve," Danny begged in Steve's ear. "Don't let her see…"

"DANNO!"

"Chin, get her out of here!" Steve ordered. He landed hard on one knee as Danny collapsed against him. He gently lowered his partner to the floor while keeping his cheek cushioned against his chest. Grace's cries faded.

"She's so beautiful in that dress," Danny muttered against Steve's vest. "Isn't she beautiful? She's a knock…A knock out…" Danny's eyes slid shut.

"Dammit, Danny, stay awake!" Terror briefly clogged Steve's throat, and he had to cough to clear it. He patted Danny's cheek with shaking fingers. "Danny, come on. Danny—Danny!"

"I'm here, babe," Danny whispered. His eyes stayed closed. He took a deep breath like he was about to dive into water. "When Gracie gets married, I want you to walk her down the aisle. You hear me? I want it to be you."

Steve shook his head. "I can't do this. I can't have this conversation. I won't!" Someone—Kono, he assumed—shoved a thick wad of gauze into his hands. Steve held half of it against the entry point in Danny's back, and the other half over the exit wound in Danny's chest. His cargo pants were already soaked in his partner's blood.

"Paramedics are on their way!" Lou Grover shouted in the distance. "Clear out all these kids! Don't block the hallways!" Lou's voice faded to white noise in the background of Steve's attention.

Steve cleared his throat. "Here's what's going to happen, partner. This is what's going to happen, because it's what always happens. You'll go to the hospital, you'll feel better tomorrow, and we'll go back to chasing bad guys the day after that. Got it? Before you know it, you and I will be back in the car, arguing, driving each other nuts, and saving the world, right? All right?"

Blue eyes blinked up at him. The look on Danny's ghost-white face was almost…pity. "I'm sorry, Steve," he whispered. "Should've told you…"

"What?" Steve demanded. "Should've told me what, Danny?"

"I was going to tell you eventually…Thought maybe I could handle a couple more years in Five-0, then be a house-mouse desk-jockey for the rest of my life…" Danny coughed. There was blood on his lips.

An ambulance howled in the distance. Steve looked down at Danny's chest and saw that blood had already soaked through the gauze. He angled his left arm so that Danny could look into his eyes without straining his neck. "Danno…"

"Had my fair share of injuries, babe. Had them a little too fast, too soon. Poisoned, broken bones, ACL, got shot a few times…Stabbed…" Danny coughed again. Blood splattered against Steve's shirt collar. "Doc said it was getting to be too much. For my heart, you know? He maybe, kinda, sorta, might have mentioned that I should take myself out of the line of fire because the next incident might, well…My heart might not be able to handle it."

Steve stretched his head straight back and glared daggers at the ceiling. "And when, exactly, did he tell you that?"

A pause. Danny sighed. "When I gave Charlie bone marrow…"

Steve snorted. When he lowered his head, he didn't even try to wipe away the tears streaming down his cheeks. "And after that you…You still gave me half of your liver…And now, and now this…"

Pain must have finally caught up with the shock, because Danny's entire body suddenly buckled and he smashed his nose against Steve's chest to stifle a cry.

Steve held him tighter. He lowered his forehead until it rested gently against Danny's. "Why are you telling me this now?" he whispered.

"You know why." Danny's left hand grabbed a fistful of Steve's black t-shirt and held on as if for dear life. "So you won't be surprised if my heart gives out because of this…" He nodded his chin at the bullet hole in his ribs. "Might not make it this time, babe…Gotta, I don't know…Prepare yourself or something…"

Steve's Adam's apple bounced in his throat. "You lied to me."

"Did not, you animal. I just didn't tell the whole truth…" Danny suddenly panted, went limp, and completely relaxed in Steve's arms. His hand let go of the cotton t-shirt, and it would've fallen to the floor, but Steve caught it, interlaced their fingers, and held Danny's hand with a vice-grip. Danny's voice dropped so low that Steve could barely hear him. "Don't give me 'aneurism face.' Don't hate me, babe."

"I love you, partner," Steve said immediately. He sniffed. Tears flowed freely. "Love you so much, Danny."

Tears welled up in Danny's eyes. "Love you, too, brother," he whispered. "So much. So much…" Danny shut his eyes. He chuckled briefly, then said, "You're firing me from Five-0, aren't you…"

"Steve, the paramedics are coming!" Chin announced. "They're in the building. Step aside, brah. Let them take care of him."

"Give me a second," Steve snapped. He hugged Danny as close as he could, and whispered in his ear, "You're damn right you're fired. But, I'll tell you what, you make it through this alive and I'll only suspend you, got it? You hear me?" Steve shook him slightly. "Danny, stay with me…" He touched blood-stained fingers against a cold, pale cheek. "Danny…?" he sobbed.

"Steve," Danny whispered, half a moment before he passed out.

48 Hours Later

Steve clawed his fingernails through his short hair. "Gracie, you are so very much your father's daughter. I know you're anxious, but I need you to stop pacing, baby, please."

Grace froze mid-stride. She stood in the center of the hospital room, at the foot of her father's bed. "How long does it take someone to come out of sedation?" she demanded. Tears flooded her eyes. "Is it a bad sign that it's taking him this long? It's a bad sign, isn't it!"

Steve covered his face with his hands, and then parted his fingers so that he could peek at his partner. More wires and tubes than Steve cared to count were going in and out of Danny's unconscious body. His entire torso was bandaged up tight and thick like a mummy and there was a cannula in his nose, but he was breathing on his own and his blood pressure was slowly rising. Steve braced his hands against his thighs and stood up. He stood up extra slowly, because several pints of his own blood were currently pumping through Danny's body. "Come here," he said to Grace. Steve lowered the railing of the hospital bed, and patted his hand against the mattress. "Come here and lay down beside him. Tell Danno you're here, alright? Just let him know we're here with him. That'll help."

Grace sighed and rolled her eyes, but obeyed. She wiped her eyes and adjusted her t-shirt. And then she curled up in the bed beside her father with both of her arms wrapped around one of his, adjusting his hand so that it rested around her waist. She pressed her face against his bare shoulder and started to speak. "Daddy," she whispered, "it's Grace. Grace and Uncle Steve. Kono and Chin, Will and Mr. Grover are in the waiting room with Mom and Charlie. We're here waiting for you to wake up and I'm…I'm missing chemistry right now." A sniff followed Grace's chuckle. "So, wake up. Uncle Steve promises you're not fired. And I want to tell you about Will, and tell you I'm sorry so, wake up."

Steve stared at Danny's fingers where they rested on Grace's shirt. His stomach suddenly tightened as if he was watching a bowling ball about to smash into his bellybutton. On instinct, he scooted his chair closer, wrapped his arm around Grace's back, and interlocked his fingers with Danny's. While Grace talked, alternating between telling her dad stories about Charlie's antics and begging him to wake up, Steve focused on squeezing and tapping on Danny's hand. He sent his own messages to his partner through a simple Morse code:

Wake up, Danno.

I need you.

Stay with me, Danny.

An hour passed. Two more followed. Grace fell asleep. Steve still sat in the chair, tap-tap-tapping.

Another hour passed. Three more followed. Steve kept his hand on Danny, but put his head down on the mattress to sleep.

At first, he thought that he was imagining the pressure of Danny's fingers against his. He was half-asleep, and it wasn't enough to wake himself up. But then that pressure turned into taps. Tap, tap, tap…

Wake up, super-SEAL.

I need you.

I'm with you, Steve.

McGarrett slowly lifted his eyes so that he could just see past Grace's head.

Glazed, blinking blue eyes greeted him.

A smile said his name.

The End