Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any of the characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This story is thanks to Fifilla because she said I must write an episode tag for 5x18 once I mentioned I had an idea for one. I thought the episode deserved to be a two-parter so as not to rush the ending like I felt they did, and it definitely needed more bromance. So thank you to Fifilla for making sure I wrote this despite working on two other stories... Thank you also to Wenwalke for the super fast beta. Any errors that remain are mine alone.

Danny watched Grace walk back into her mother's house as he continued to sit on the little bench where they'd talked for almost an hour. Rachel had finally opened the front door and indicated Grace should come inside. Grace hadn't wanted to leave her dad's side, but Danny had urged her to go, promising he'd see her the next day. He sat and stared at the door long after it closed behind her.

"Danny, you okay?"

Danny swung his head around and squinted up at his partner. The setting sun made it difficult to see Steve's face and Danny momentarily flashed back to the Columbian prison, sprawled on his back and looking up into the faces of the menacing prison guards. He shook off the feeling and smiled a little, "I think I need a hand up."

Steve leaned down to gently grab Danny's elbow when the man didn't make a move to help himself up. Danny stood slowly, right arm gripped tightly to his side, and sweat dotting his forehead with the effort. Steve frowned when Danny couldn't stand straight up, "You sure you're okay?"

Danny nodded, "I'm fine. I just sat too long is all. Now I'm stiff and sore. I just want to go home and go to bed."

With much panting and swearing, Steve helped Danny into his truck, alarmed at the difficulty the man was having maneuvering himself into the vehicle. Steve shut the truck door once Danny was inside and jogged around to the driver's side, hopping in. He snuck a glance at his partner and worried about his suddenly pale complexion and how stiff he was holding himself. He'd seemed fine when he'd picked him up at the airport and on the ride over to see Grace, but now he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Just drive, Steven, I'm fine." Danny told him without opening his eyes. "I can tell you have aneurism face, but I'm fine. Really."

If anything, Steve's aneurism face grew, but without a word he started the truck and drove away from Rachel's. He thought about going straight to the hospital, but he wasn't entirely sure he could convince his partner it was necessary. He compromised with himself and decided on another plan of action. He glanced at his partner who still had his eyes closed and hoped the man didn't have enough fight in him to argue once he figured out what was going on.

Danny roused from a light sleep when the truck stopped and Steve killed the engine. He opened his eyes and blinked in momentary confusion as he realized where they were. He glared at Steve when his door opened and his partner reached in to help him out, "This isn't my house, Steve."

"No, it's my house," Steve helped position Danny's legs before helping the smaller man slide out of the big truck. "It's either this or the hospital, pal."

"I don't need the hospital, and I would be just fine at home. I don't need anyone babysitting me." Despite his protests, he allowed himself to be slowly led into Steve's house.

"Okay, whoa, this is good," Danny stopped firmly by the couch and refused to go another step.

"C'mon, Danny, the guest room is all set. You'll be more comfortable in a bed."

"Nope, this is good," Danny groaned as he let himself sink down onto the couch.

"You don't want to do the steps, do you?" Steve pointed to the stairs to the upper level of the house.

"You know I like your couch," Danny grabbed the blanket off the back and started to settle in. "And if you must know, no, I do not feel like going up the stairs right now."

"Alright, buddy," Steve helped Danny stretch out and made sure he was covered. "Just get some sleep. I'm right here."

Danny awoke with a start early the next morning. His heart pounded in his chest as the dream faded away. He tried to suppress a groan as he attempted to rise.

"Here, let me help you," Steve was by his side in an instant, helping him to sit up. "Take it easy. If you stand up right away, you're going to get dizzy. Just take it slow."

"I think slow is the only thing I can do right now, but I really need to get up if you know what I mean," Danny agreed. He tried to take a deep breath but stopped when pain flared. He waited another moment before nodding at Steve to continue.

"Nice and slow," Steve urged, concerned at the pain that flitted across Danny's face when he breathed.

Danny couldn't help but lean heavily on Steve as they made their way to the bathroom. Danny paused in the doorway, "I think I can do this on my own."

Steve thought about arguing that there was no shame or embarrassment needed in asking for help, even with this, but knew his partner's dignity had already taken a severe hit this week and spared him the unnecessary argument. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Danny to shuffle back to the door before Steve could rethink his decision, "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm swell," Danny nodded, looking down at his feet as they started to walk. "I'm sure the blood in my urine will be gone in a day or two."

"Danny, what?" Steve stopped abruptly but Danny just kept walking slowly down the hallway, forcing Steve to continue or lose his helping grip on Danny's arm. "That's not good, man. You should go to the doctor."

"Relax, Steven," Danny huffed out a breath as he finally made it back to the couch. "I'm assuming I should thank Joe for the military transport back and for having medical personnel on board to check me out. The medic had me on an IV all the way back and even gave me some of the good pain meds. He said my kidneys are probably bruised and it should resolve itself in a few days. If it doesn't, he said to go get checked out."

"Where are your meds? You should take some."

"They're back at my place." Danny thought back to the quick visit to his place after Steve picked him up from Hickam. He'd hastily changed out of his dirty clothes and grabbed a quick shower before going to see Grace. He wasn't sure how he'd managed the shower, but he knew he wasn't about to hug his daughter in those filthy, torn clothes that only reminded him of how close he'd come to never seeing her again. It wasn't until after the excitement of his reunion with Grace that he'd felt every bruise and hit to his body he'd endured.

"I'll call Chin and have him pick them up," Steve pointed at him. "But you should lie down, and I don't mean here. I'll get some ice packs for your ribs; that should help, too."

"Alright, I think I can make it upstairs now," Danny decided. "I'm stiff, but I know I need to move more so let's do this."

Steve followed close behind his partner as he started up the stairs. Halfway up, Danny paused. Steve put a hand on his back for support but didn't say a word. It tore him up to see his friend in so much pain, and the guilt of not being there for him when he needed it most was almost crippling.

Danny wearily sank onto the edge of the bed in the spare room and tried to catch his breath without inhaling too deeply. He shook his head. "Moving shouldn't be that hard."

Steve chuckled softly. "C'mon, pal, get your shirt off, and I'll go get the first aid kit and a few more pillows.

Danny nodded as Steve left the room and started to unbutton his shirt. He started at the bottom and made it halfway up before his arms started to shake too much to continue. His hands dropped to his lap in defeat.

Steve came back in a minute later and tossed his cell phone and the medical supplies onto the bed next to Danny and took in his partner's partially unbuttoned shirt. "I called Chin. He's on his way to your place for the meds. You okay?"

"Apparently not," Danny admitted without moving. "I can't even unbutton my damn shirt."

"Let me help." Steve reached out and finished unbuttoning the shirt. "There, can you slip your arm out now?"

Danny tried to shrug his shoulders and slip his arm out of the sleeve, but as soon as he rotated his shoulder back, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder and down his back. He gasped and shook his head, "I can't."

"Okay, okay," Steve soothed. "Just let me try."

Danny closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing while Steve moved his arm as gently as he could and helped him slip the shirt off. Once his left arm was out, the rest was easy, but he was still clad in a tank top. He looked up at Steve, "There's no way I'm getting my arms up high enough to get this one off even with help."

"I can cut it off if you don't mind."

Danny nodded, staring at the floor, tears pricking his eyes out of frustration and helplessness.

Steve opened the first aid kit and took out the pair of scissors and began cutting away Danny's tank top. The farther he cut, the angrier he became. He cut the last away and tossed the ruined shirt onto the floor. He couldn't look away as he took in the many bruises covering his partner's torso. There was hardly an inch of skin untouched by purple, red and yellow bruising, "Oh, Danny."

"It's okay, Steve."

"My God, Danny, what did they do to you?" Steve wished he could reach out and touch the bruises and take the pain away for his partner.

"Who knew being a gringo cop in a Columbian jail would be so bad, huh?" Danny tried to deflect.

"Dammit, Danny, this is why you shouldn't have left me out of it. I should have been there with you."

"What would you have done, Steve?" Danny looked up into his partner's eye challenging him. "Huh? What would you have done? They would have done the same to you Super SEAL or not. There were hundreds of prisoners all wanting a piece of me, but the guards with the guns were the ones to really watch out for. They probably would have shot you, and I wasn't about to have that on my conscience, too."

"We could have fought back together," Steve's fists clenched at the thought.

"We did, pal," Danny assured him. "You fought back from here and got me out of that hell hole even if I didn't deserve it."

"Stop, Danny," Steve practically yelled as he paced the room. "Just stop. You did not deserve to be thrown into a Columbian prison and beaten."

"I killed a man, Steve." Danny stood, gripping the bed post to keep from toppling over.

"He was a drug dealer and scum bag."

"Drug dealing scumbag or not, I murdered him, Steve." Danny was fighting tears whether from anger, pain or guilty conscience, he couldn't decide.

"He killed your brother, Danny," Steve's tone was soft in understanding. "And he threatened you and your family. He threatened Grace. The way I see it, he didn't give you a choice. You did what you had to do."

Danny thought about it and part of him wanted to agree with Steve, but part of him still felt like he deserved to die in that South American prison. "Maybe some day I can look at it like that."

"Trust me, that's exactly how you should look at it. Don't let Reyes steal any more of your life."

Danny could tell by Steve's tone of voice that he was speaking from experience. Maybe he'd ask him about it, but he let it go for now, knowing neither one of them had the strength for that conversation today. He nodded to let him know he'd think about it and cleared his throat. "Thank you for looking after Grace when I couldn't."

"Of course, pal," Steve smiled. "That's what family's for."

"Yeah, I just wanted to protect her. I knew you'd figure out how to tell her what happened when I didn't come home."

"Danny, please." Since finding out Danny had waived extradition, Steve had been worried that his partner wouldn't make it back alive. He thought he'd overcome it but hearing his partner talk about it so casually was chillingchilling.

"You and I both know I wouldn't have lasted more than a few more days in that prison," Danny told him. "I think the guards stopped short this time so they'd have more time to rough me up before they got tired of it, or maybe they wanted the inmates to finish me off so they were in the clear. I just know that I wouldn't have walked out of there if you didn't get me out, and I'd made my peace with that."

"Why would you be okay with that, Danny?" Steve argued. "Gracie needs you. The team needs you... I need you, pal."

Danny shrugged. "I know all that, but I figured Grace had all of you looking out for her so she'd manage. I called her to tell her I love her, and well, I guess to tell her goodbye if it came to that."

"You called her?"

"Yeah," a smile ghosted across his face. "The guards said they'd stop the other inmates beating on me if I gave them money. I told them I had to make a call to get it."

"And you called Grace," Steve nodded and pointed up and down at him. "And they did this to you."

"It was worth it."

Steve studied his partner a moment and then smiled, "I bet it was. C'mon, let's get you patched up a bit. Take off your pants."

"My pants?" Danny wobbled on his feet. "You're checking my ribs, Steven. Why do I have to take off my pants?"

"I want to check you out." Steve paused at Danny's look. "For injuries, Danno. For injuries. I saw you limping earlier so I know they didn't confine themselves to your torso."

"Fine," Danny gave in as his right hand fumbled with his pants while his left continued to hold onto the bedpost. "But if you ask me to take off my boxers I will beat you up. I don't know how, but I'll figure out a way."

"Relax, pal," Steve patiently waited for Danny, knowing he'd be pushing his luck if he offered to help.

"There, you happy now?" Danny let his pants fall and awkwardly kicked them away.

"Not really." Steve grimaced at the large purple bruise on Danny's upper right leg.

"Let's just do this, okay?" Danny sighed and grimaced as just that small movement caused a protest from his ribs.

For the next several minutes, Steve poked and prodded Danny's ribs eliciting gasps and groans every now and then, but Danny urged him to finish the job even as Steve apologized over and over for hurting him. When he was finally satisfied that none of the ribs were out of place and a danger to cause further damage, he grabbed the antibiotic lotion and slathered it generously over the cuts and scrapes he could find. He helped Danny settle onto the bed, strategically placing pillows around him to ease sore muscles and ribs. "How's that?"

"Yeah, good, thanks."

"Any time, buddy." Steve placed a gentle hand on Danny's shoulder, conveying his worry and relief more than words ever could. "I'll go get the ice packs."

Danny tried to relax as he listened to Steve go downstairs and soon heard voices, rightly assuming Chin had arrived. He heard Steve's voice get louder followed by Chin's softer, calming voice. That went on for a while making Danny wonder if he needed to get up to see what was going on. Before he could attempt it, he heard someone on the stairs.

"Hey, Danny, how ya doing?"

"Chin," Danny smiled. "Good to see you, but what'd you do with Steve?"

"He needed some time to clear his head so I told him to go for a swim or something."

"Good," Danny nodded. "I didn't think he'd take it right if I told him to beat it for a while, but it sounds like he had a rough couple of days."

"He's not the only one," Chin snorted, taking in Danny's bruises and carefully arranging ice packs around him and handing him the pain meds and a bottle of water.

"Look who's talking," Danny's eyes sought Chin's as he downed the pain meds. "I heard you didn't have an easy time of it either, buddy. I'm sorry helping me got you into trouble."

Chin grabbed a light blanket folded at the foot of the bed and covered Danny before pulling over a chair. He met Danny's gaze, "I would do it again if you needed it. I'm just sorry it didn't work out, and that I wasn't able to help get you out of this mess."

"You're a good friend, Chin Ho Kelly, and a good police officer. Don't let IA tell you any differently."

Chin snorted and smiled a little, "Coughlin thought he knew all about me, but he didn't have a clue. He scoffed at the idea that I gave you all that money without keeping any for myself. I don't think he could even look at that as a possibility."

"He obviously doesn't have any real friends then," Danny told him.

"That's basically what I told him," Chin nodded. "Now, what did he say to me? It was something like 'Detective Williams must be some kind of friend for you to help him like that', and let me tell you, Detective Williams, you are some kind of friend, you know that? You tried to protect everyone but yourself and now look at you."

"I'm alive," Danny pointed out. "Which is a lot better than I thought I would be there for a while."

"You had us all worried, brah," Chin pointed at him. "I understand what you did and why you did it, but you need to know that you're important to us as well. You've always been there for us, and now it's our turn. Get some sleep; you're safe now."

"Thanks, Chin." Danny smiled and reached a hand out of the blankets as far as he could. "I needed to hear that."

Chin clasped Danny's hand briefly and nodded. He watched as the pain meds took effect and Danny visibly relaxed and then fell asleep, looking peaceful for the first time in days, maybe even months. Chin stayed and kept an eye on him until Steve came back and then the two kept watch over their friend because that's what family does.