Hi everyone, long time no see! I am really sorry this chapter has taken so long but I have literally been buried in homework and schoolwork and I had my GCSE Drama Devised Performance today where I was a Schizophrenic who dies in hospital and I had a very powerful five minute soliloquy to learn (which I did in one day!). I also had to write a friend's monologue and a script for a scene but apparently my soliloquy was beautifully written according to my Drama teacher. I guess it's all this practising for you guys; after all, angst is my speciality! I chose my A-Levels yesterday-yeah, the big girl stuff, I still can't believe I'm going to be sixteen soon-and I'm doing all the sciences as well as English Literature and Language because it's got a lot of creative writing so it'll seem less of a chore. Anyway, enough with my boring life! All your reviews for last chapter were so lovely and I've been longing to write another chapter for you guys for months now! So I hope you can forgive me for my tardiness and enjoy the chapter! As always, please send me a review and tell me what you think!

A relieved smile ghosted his partner's exhausted, pale face "Hey Danno, happy birthday."

"Steve…?" Danny's voice was barely audible as he studied the SEAL on the bed, the rational part of his brain screamed at him that this was impossible.

Grace broke away from Danny's grip, leaping onto the bed and plunging her face into Steve's shoulder and wrapping her skinny arms tightly around his neck. Steve winced but clutched her tightly as well, holding her closely as she openly sobbed, her entire body rocking with the force of her anguish. Steve's eyes however didn't leave Danny's as he gently gushed comforting words into the little girl's ear and rubbed her back comfortingly. However Steve quickly whispered something into Grace's ear and she let go of him immediately, sliding off the bed and watching him with a frightened and concerned frown. Steve gasped aloud and dropped back onto the pillow, looking increasingly nauseous as he closed his eyes and clutched at his ribs before reaching subconsciously over to the call button and pressing it.

Danny staggered over and touched his friend's hand, as if checking he was real "Oh my god, y-you're actually…"

Grace tugged at Danny's other hand and shook her head as he looked back as if to say 'Don't mention it,' before beaming cutely at her Uncle Steve with an elation in her eyes that Danny couldn't dream of replicating.

"Nice to see you too Danno," Steve breathed wearily, giving him a faint but genuine smile "Do you mind pressing the button so I can sit up?"

"Uh…uh…yeah!"

Danny leapt out of his awed reverie with new energy, grabbing the remote control and pushing on the button so that the back of the bed slowly rose up to a gentle slant and Steve smiled gratefully, his eyelids drooping slightly with a mixture of pain and all-consuming tiredness. Now that Steve was actually awake, Danny was struggling to find things to say and instead kept opening and closing his mouth like a gormless fish.

Steve groaned and looked over his body, scrutinising the cast on his leg, wrist and the thick bandages wrapped around his torso "I hurt all over…how much damage did I do?"

"Umm…broken wrist, your leg and ankle…a couple of ribs and just generally a lot of bruising, I think." Danny spouted, feeling more and more like an idiot with every second that passed as Steve looked up at him.

"Sanchez really did a number on me then," Steve chuckled, glancing over to the dead body that Danny had almost forgotten in the commotion.

"Right there, partner." Danny sighed with relief, bringing Gracie up close to him as a nurse burst into the room and gave a startled squeak when she almost tripped over the prone form "Monkey, I need you to go with this nice nurse and go wait for Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono, okay?"

His daughter nodded surprisingly brightly and she bid a final- cheerful despite the circumstances and her still incessant shaking-goodbye to Steve before averting her gaze from the body lying on the floor and bringing the nurse with her.

Once she had disappeared from sight, Steve murmured "Do you mind…taking the gun out of my hand?"

It was only then that Danny noticed that his gun was still gripped tightly in his fingers. Carefully, Danny leant over and gently untangled the gun from the SEAL's hand and finding nowhere to put it just slipped it back into the holster at his waist. Danny then flashed his partner a hopefully reassuring smile and pulled up a chair, settling down beside him and putting his elbows up on the edge of the bed so that he was leaning in close.

"That's two I owe you, Steve." Danny sighed, patting his friends shoulder and feeling an unmistakable tremor beneath his fingertips "I have to say your timing is impeccable, if not just a little last minute but everything has to be extra dramatic for you. After all it is 'Super'SEAL; you need the extra finesse in your rescuing."

Steve chuckled and squirmed in bed, lifting his shaking hand and glaring darkly at it "I don't remember the last time I was left shaking this badly after discharging a weapon."

"Steven," Danny chewed his lip in slight annoyance, and frowned "You just woke up from a three day coma with a fractured skull and shot a guy. I think you can be forgiven for a little shaking, even by SEAL standards."

Steve merely smiled and dropped his head back a little further with an exhausted sigh just as Chin and Kono came bursting into the room with their guns raised and Kono almost toppled over the body lying just behind the doorway. Kono gasped at the sight and just managed to steady herself against the wall as Chin came through the doorway behind her and hurried over to Steve, holstering his weapon when he saw there was no further danger. The Hawaiian man looked stressed as he gripped Danny's shoulder as if to check that the man was actually real.

"Danny, are you okay? Did Sanchez hurt Steve?"

"No," Steve murmured in reply, prying open one eye and bringing a hand up to fiddle with the edge of his bandage "You're a little late to the party I'm afraid."

Chin started in surprise, his eyes widening in shock and Kono rushed over to see Steve "Oh my god…Steve? You're awake?"

"SuperSEAL here woke up just in time to save my ass." Danny patted Steve amicably on the shoulder, his relief unleashing his previously lost humour "Is Gracie okay?"

"Doing better than both of you seem to be," Kono muttered in reply, gesturing with a slender thumb behind her "Duke's with her now but from what I saw she was more shocked than injured."

Steve and Danny looked to one another and sighed with identical relief, feeling a huge weight lift from their shoulders and they grinned eagerly, Danny overjoyed to see his best friend so active after all that had happened and they had come so close to losing him…twice. When the doctors surged in, neither were too bothered by the sudden attention; with Danny's head injury being treated and Steve being quizzed on the more basic aspects of his life by a horde of worshipping doctors and nurses, all overwhelmed by their patients miraculous recovery. Once all the tests had been cleared and Steve had none-to-gently dismissed the enthusiastic and inquisitive doctors, the two allowed themselves to be relocated to another private room-without any dead bodies or guns, much to the SEAL's disappointment-they resigned themselves to a quiet restful night as Chin and Kono raced around organising and completing all the appropriate forms. The doctors had-after much debate-been gracious enough to have let the two partners share a room; the beds opposite one another since Danny needed to stay in for observation anyway.

Now they rested alone in the dim light, the last of the dying sun's rays streaming in through the half closed blinds so that the white sheets were purified by the warm orange glow. Steve was sat up in bed, the bed slightly angled so that he could lean back comfortably with his head fitted into a thick pillow; his eyes stubbornly closed and breathing steady and even. Danny sat more upright, a contented smile on his face as he blissfully stared down at the top of his sleeping daughter's head as she curled up against him, head resting carefully on his shoulder and her arm wrapped loosely over his chest like he was a large, daddy-sized teddy bear. She was snoring softly, her breath tickling Danny's chest as she mumbled incoherently, obviously deep in a pleasant dream. Finally, Steve cracked open an eyelid lazily and shifted slightly under the sheets, groaning softly as he jostled his healing injuries from his earlier over exertion.

"What's up, Danno?"

Danny raised his head and quietly shushed the man half-heartedly "Didn't I tell you not to call me that?"

"You know you love it when I talk dirty to you," the SEAL teased gently, a smug smirk on his face as he rubbed off his sleepy expression "Besides, I saved your life…twice! And you admitted it, so now you can't deny it!"

"That I did; I guess you can be forgiven." Danny smiled wider, lifting his free arm and running it through his unruly hair with an exhaustive breath.

Steve nodded toward the dark haired child beside Danny with an affectionate smile on his face "She must be really out of it; not that I would blame her for it, near death experiences are draining and she's only young."

"Hmm," Danny hummed nonchalantly, his thoughts elsewhere as he twirled her sleek, shiny hair around his finger, careful not to disturb her peaceful slumber.

Steve frowned at his weak reply, concern welling within him as he assessed the detective's distant expression "Danny, are you okay?"

"No, I am not okay Steven." the remark was harsher than Danny had intended and he had to catch himself at the sudden release of emotion, feeling his voice crack "I am terrified."

"Terrified of what?" Steve asked quizzically, caught off guard by his partner's sudden change in demeanour as he pushed himself further upright, ignoring the aching in his bandaged ribs.

"I'm terrified that I'm going to close my eyes and when I open them…you're not going to be there." Danny lifted his eyes to meet Steve's, watching the clear surprise in his reaction "I've scared that I'm going to wake up and you're going to be dead, because I don't think I could…take it. And I know I sound all mushy and lovey-dovey but it's true Steve. You and Gracie and Chin and Kono, you're my family. I've lost a lot of people…my brother, Rachel, my old partner…practically everyone I've loved has been taken away from me; I don't think I could take losing you. You almost died, Steve. And it wasn't like all those other times…you almost died because of me-"

"Danny, don't do this to yourself." Steve interrupted sternly, his face hard like chiselled stone and fiery emotion in his eyes "I chose to put my life in danger when I took this job; I know every time I walk through my front door that I may not come back again. I'm your partner and I would give my life for yours without hesitation. I knew what I was doing when I pushed you out of the way; and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, if only to see the twinkle in Gracie's eye whenever she looks at her beloved Danno."

He finished off his powerful speech with a casual wink and a bright smile, astounding Danny at the contrast from his previous expression "Anyway, I'm SuperSEAL remember; I'm practically immortal."

"Sure, Steve; whatever you say." Danny grinned back at his partner, glad to be able to share another happy moment with his brother.

Despite his happy attitude, Danny couldn't help but be struck by the irony of Steve's statement. After all, only hours before he had been begging the comatose man-attaching to all kinds of complicated machinery-fighting for his life and relying on others to keep his heart beating. Sure, Danny had seen Steve badly injured before-it wasn't an uncommon experience for both of them to end up with some medical practitioner after a large operation such as Sanchez's. Perhaps this was what Steve had felt like when Danny had been toxic chemical Sarin; utterly useless and weak as he watched on helplessly from the side-lines. At least Steve had been preoccupied with saving the island from the Sarin threat rather than his entire focus being on his dying partner. Danny had to suffer without a goal, no revenge he could take; he only had to trust in HPD, who had undeniably failed him when they lost Sanchez. The monster had almost killed Steve, hurt Gracie and HPD would have arrived far too late to assist them and in the end, the guy with a fractured skull had awoken from a coma to save them. It was times like this that Danny truly doubted the judicial system, and he wondered whether what they did was really worth it; if people like that could just break out of custody and ruin more people's lives. In the end though, Danny always came to the same conclusion. It wasn't them. He was just unlucky. Always had been and probably always would be. These things happened to him, the mistakes occurred so that others-less prepared and skilled than 5 0-would escape them and they could deal with the consequences.

There was a click and the familiar face of Doctor Atkinson popped through the door, looking tired but cheerful "Evening Detective, Commander."

"Steve, please." Steve smiled wearily at the doctor, waving his hand absently in greeting as Atkinson tiptoed into the room, casting a cautious glance to the snoring girl "As I understand it, I owe you my life. Thanks,"

"My pleasure. How are you both feeling?"

Danny subconsciously rubbed the back of his head, wincing as his fingers touched the sensitive lump "We're good, Doc; just a little tired."

Steve nodded earnestly in agreement as Dr Atkinson moved to the foot of his bed and examined the clipboard carefully, before moving over to Danny's and checking through his own records; casting a small, amused smile over the snoring Gracie as Danny tweaked her nose playfully, earning no reaction from the little girl, deeply entwined in her own dreams.

"Well, I'll leave you to get some rest then." Dr Atkinson stated plainly, nodding his head to both his patients "It's certainly been a hectic couple of days and I doubt the hospital-and myself-are going to see so much action and excitement for a while. Get a good night's rest and I'll see you in the morning; then we can look at the prospect of an early discharge."

Steve visibly brightened at the possibility of early release from his nightmarish prison-or second home as Danny preferred to dub it-and Danny snorted in amusement as the doctor laughed, heading over to the door.

"Goodnight."

"Night, Doc." the partner's chorused and Dr Atkinson sniggered under his breath before leaving the two once again in relative silence.

Steve reached out to the controls beside his bed and adjusted his position before lowering the bed so that he lay flatter "You heard the Doc's orders and I want to get out of here sooner rather than later. G'night, Danno."

"Night, Steve." Danny breathed deeply, settling into the soft, luxurious comfort of his cushions and feeling the dull ache of his stretched muscles as he finally relaxed; reassured that his best friend was safe for the time being.

They lay in silence, listening to the quiet whistling of the wind outside and the tiny puffs of Gracie's breathing and Danny found himself starting to drift off when a voice from the other side of the room whispered.

"Danny?"

"Yeah, Steve?"

"Thanks…and Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, partner."

So it's over. Our boys are together again, the whump is done, the team is fine. I hoped you liked my ending and the character's didn't seem too OOC; I haven't watched H50 for a while. Please review and tell me what you guys think and I am SOOOOOOOO sorry to have kept you waiting so long; I just get distracted very easily. Love you guys and thank you for reading! If you want you can check out some of my other stuff and I'll try to finish 'Separated' before Christmas (though don't get too hopeful with the amount of work I have at the moment ;( ) I've started the first chapter of another H50 fic but that won't be going up until I've written at least half the chapters but all you have to do is follow me to find out. If any of you want to talk plot ideas or anything like that just send me a PM cause I love talking with you guys and I end up reading a lot of your guys' stuff anyway xxx Anyway, thanks a bunch and I hope you enjoyed this short story xxxx Morgan xxx