A/N: Still going with "Skin Deep" my current Five-0 chapter story but I was inspired to write this one-shot as I wormed out the next installment for that chapter fic.

This one, where it came from I have no clue but I hope you all love it like I loved writing it!

I dedicate this to "Soldier On" and the individuals I know who are being helped by that organization.

Oz

"Horseradish."

Steve McGarrett looked up at his partner across the table from him and blinked.

"Uh... oysters?" he replied. Danny Williams finally brought his gaze up from the sandwich he was currently inspecting only to give Steve a crazed look.

"What?" the Jersey man asked in confusion. Steve shrugged as he stabbed another fork-full of his salad.

A short while ago they'd decided to grab some lunch before they had to drive back to Honolulu from the North Shore where they'd been interviewing a witness from one of their ongoing cases. Receiving their food moments ago, the need to eat had overwhelmed the need to communicate rendering them silent as their sustenance was consumed.

That was of coarse until a moment ago when Danny decided talking, once again was necessary blurting out a random condiment.

"I thought we were playing a word association game," Steve shrugged defending his response. "You say horseradish; I say oysters because they go together. So if I said rock you'd say..."

"Crazy," Danny replied immediately. Then he dramatically lifted the top bun of his sandwich showing the contents to Steve. "They forgot the horseradish on my sandwich... have you been seeing a therapist?" Steve jerked his head back.

"What? No, why?" he asked. Danny plopped his bun back into place and lifted his sandwich deciding to forgo his desired topping.

"Word association games Steven? Either you're seeing a therapist or you've got a bunch of crazy running around in that skull of yours and you SHOULD see a therapist," he replied. Steve just rolled his eyes shoving his fork-full of salad into his mouth deciding to focus on eating rather than incurring another rant from his partner. Danny decided against talking too as their interlude was quickly forgotten in favour of their stomachs.

After lunch they'd climbed into the car and were headed back to HQ. Ten minutes in Danny piped up again.

"So word games, is that how highly trained soldiers pass the time out in the field?" he asked. "Like there's four of you dressed in camo armed to the teeth sitting in the tall grass about to get into the mother of all fire-fights contemplating your loved ones and one of you says "Bumblebee"? Then it just goes on like that grunting out single words until someone fires a shot and you all have to go to war?"

"Can't exactly pull out a deck of cards, can we Danno?" Steve replied. He didn't want to admit but there had been one or two missions where he and his SEAL team buddies had gotten into a war of the words. Loser took point and was determined by who had the weakest response. It seemed silly now but it was little things like that that actually helped focus the mind and kept the soldiers alert and ready.

A moment of silence passed and Steve figured the conversation was done. He was wrong however as his partner turned a bit in his seat to look him in the eye as he drove.

"Well?" Danny asked. Frowning Steve glanced from the road to his partner and back again.

"Well… what?" he questioned. The detective shrugged and flailed his arms.

"Bumblebee," he said quite forcefully. Finally clueing into what was going on Steve smiled.

He grinned with a tickle in fact.

"Tuna," he replied.

"The hell?" Danny bellowed. "How would those two words EVER go together?"

"When I was a kid I got stung in the mouth by a bee that had crawled into my tuna sandwich," Steve shrugged innocently. "So it counts."

"Counts!? I'm sorry… You keep score with this?"

"Have too, otherwise what's the point?" Steve grinned. Danny's arms did a dance worthy of his expressive hands as he once again shook his head. However there was no denying a small smile was playing on his lips.

"Of course! Forgive my ignorance! We can't have a random meaningless word game without a score card," he said sarcastically. Steve chuckled but suddenly the child inside him found the urge to keep the game up.

"Green," he said. Danny pursed his lips deep in thought. "Come on. You can't think about it you just have to answer, Danny. Green," he repeated.

"Leaf"

"Tree"

"Forest."

"Park"

"Dog"

"Friend"

"Team"

"Guns"

"Ammo"

"Danger"

"Steve"

And so it went for the entire drive back to Honolulu. Steve and Danny continuously chucked words back and forth at each other. As they pulled into the parking lot it had gotten so ridiculous that the two men couldn't stop laughing as they tried to one up each other in their nonsensical game.

"Okay, okay," Danny chuckled as Steve turned off the car and they climbed out. "I win by the way." Steve stopped short and looked over the car at his partner incredulously while Danny closed his own door.

"How do you figure?" he asked. Danny smirked.

"When I said Banana you said tomato," he replied. "We were dealing with fruit at the time so that doesn't count. Thus, I win." Steve scoffed as he shook his head.

"A tomato is a fruit, Danny that counts."

"It's a fake fruit," Danny counteracted. "Thusly for the purposes of the game a game YOU instigated… it has been disallowed." Steve was going to start laughing and arguing right back only he curiously caught a sound of an engine much to close and getting closer. Forgetting all else, Steve's SEAL senses kicked in and he spun around just in time to see a motorcycle with two riders; one of the riders carrying a gun.

"DANNY GET DOWN!" In a move worthy of Steve's tall lanky body, he speared his partner into some bushes behind a short cement wall just as the bullets started flying. For a moment everything was chaos as ricochet's and chips of cement rained down on the two Five-0 members. When the bullets finally stopped, Steve, full of adrenaline jumped up and pulled out his gun ready to fire back. Unfortunately the bike was half way down the block and all Steve caught was its tail end as it zipped around the corner two H.P.D. cruisers right behind it.

Steve had been shot at many times before and he was sure he'd be shot at again in the future but that never made it any easier. He knew and hoped he'd never get used to the surge of adrenaline and the absolute survival mode that would kick into gear in his brain. At least most of the times he got shot at he was expecting it but this time it had come completely out of the blue and had his hands trembling slightly.

"I didn't get a plate number," Steve said holstering his weapon trying to breathe normally, "How 'bout you Danny?"

A feeling of absolute dread washed over the Five-0 Commander as his brain finally clued in that he was missing something at his side or rather, someone. Spinning around and almost dizzy with a new shot of heart pounding terror laced adrenaline Steve raced to back to the bushes. "Danny!"

The detective was right where Steve had left him, sprawled in the dirt blood running down the side of his face.

"Steve!? Danny!?" Chin's voice called out as Steve raced to his friend's side to check for a pulse. Thankfully he found one and it was holding strong.

"Chin! Call an ambulance! Danny's down!" he barked out. The man appeared his face etched with worry.

"Kono's on it," Chin said kneeling at Danny's other side. "We just heard the shots and came running... did he get hit or was it a ricochet?" Steve shook his head and sat back on his heels.

"Don't know," he panted. "I took him down but I wasn't paying attention."

"Understandable," Chin said with the utmost calm. In the distance they heard sirens as Kono jogged up to them.

"Helps almost here, I've got… Steve?" The Navy SEAL looked up at his teammate only to find her eyes wide and staring wide-eyed at something on his side.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

"You're bleeding," she replied and then pointed low and left. Steve brought a hand to his lower back side only to have it come back slick and bloody.

"Oh," he slurred. He had wondered why he was shaking so badly. As the adrenaline finally started to wear off, Steve felt his body list to one side. Kono's cry of surprise and Chin yelling at some paramedics to hurry was the last thing the Navy SEAL heard before everything went dark.

Waking up was an unpleasant affair but not something new to a veteran soldier like Steve. As his mind became more aware he realized the familiar sounds, smelt familiar scents and felt familiar sensations. The quiet beeping of a heart monitor, the smell on antiseptic and the dim light that still managed to jab uncomfortably into his eyes through his closed eyelids.

"Hospital," Steve thought as he forced away the last vestiges of unconsciousness. His second thought was to groan as his body became aware that he was in pain. It was a pain he could deal with but the revelation that he was hurting gave him what he needed to rejoin the world of the living.

A few blinks of staring at the ceiling and the SEAL remembered he could move his head only to find good old Chin-Ho Kelly standing right there waiting with a smile on his face.

"Chin?" Steve grunted.

"Hey brah, welcome back," the Hawaiian smiled. "How do you feel?" As Steve called on all his reserves to "compartmentalize" his pain he took a few deep breaths before looking at Chin again and giving the man a shrug and tired smile.

"Had worse," he replied. Chin rolled his eyes and gave a soft chuckle even though the humour didn't reach his eyes.

"True Special Forces response," he replied. "You are allowed to say "it hurts like hell" you know." Steve smiled a drug influenced smile as he settled himself into his hospital bed a little more.

"Not if I want to keep "man card"," he druggedly joked.

With a moment of thought, possibly several of sleep, Steve snapped his eyes open again and the adrenaline surge from the memory of what happened had him sitting up.

"Whoa!" Chin barked. Steve felt the man's hand on his shoulder urging him back into the bed. "Easy Steve, you're okay, it's alright, relax."

"Guns… bikes and guys with guns," Steve sucked in a breath. He looked at his friend and frowned angrily. "Chin… the hell happened?" The veteran police office sighed as he pulled up a well used hospital chair to sit at his leader's bedside.

"Kono's going over all the traffic camera's to try and nail the two riders," he said. "So far she and H.P.D. found they were waiting two blocks away for almost four hours before you got back to the office."

"They were gunning for us," Steve frowned. Chin nodded.

"Kono and I were catching up on paperwork so we ordered lunch in and didn't leave the building until we heard the shots," he explained. "It could have been aimed at any of us individually but we can assume it was definitely aimed at Five-0."

"Damn," Steve hissed as he adjusted himself again and silently wondered how he'd ended up so hurt.

Sensing his consternation, Chin decided to fill in some more details.

"You took a round through your left side," he said. "Actually it was more of a very deep graze that cracked a rib and made you lose a fair bit of blood. Which is impressive considering you fired back at the shooters and hadn't even realized you were shot." At that Steve just smiled proudly as if happy to have another scar that was considered a badge of honour.

Raising an eyebrow again, Chin ignored the smile and continued, "You also took a sizable chunk of cement shrapnel to the head, that's what knocked you out, you've got a concussion you and your "man card" buddies can be proud of."

Steve smiled again, almost laughed, but there was something missing in his teammate's words; something that was normally there when Five-0 played around or joked with one another.

Then and only then did Steve's drugged and semi-conscious mind realize something;

"Danny's pissed isn't he?" the SEAL asked. "He's not here so he's gotta be pissed. I didn't mean to knock him out Chin, tell me he's just at home resting and blowing off steam."

When the Hawaiian's face fell considerably, Steve's gut clenched and a severe dread washed over him.

"Chin…" he said very slowly. "Where's Danny?" What worried him even more was when Chin responded with more information and not answers.

"You've been out for about five hours, Steve, H.P.D. has been all over this and are pretty sure they have some suspects," the man replied. "Do you remember the Pala'ik'a case a month ago? The six less than desirable members of society who were trying to start an all-Hawaiian biker gang?" Steve couldn't help but smirk as he nodded. He remembered that case, it was six guys who felt they owned the world and that all owning a motorcycle meant was being into selling drugs, women, pirated DVD's and what Danny's favorite part had been was stolen main land food imports.

However, Steve also remembered they hadn't caught the last three men and that one of the ones they HAD captured swore up and down Five-0 would "pay" for this.

"Do we have anything to link this to them?" Steve asked. Chin nodded and pulled out his tablet turning it around to show the hospitalized man a picture of a particular blue Harley Davidson.

"Punks or not, those guys had nice rides and I remember seeing one of them riding this bike," the Hawaiian detective explained. "Kono sent me a good surveillance shot and I recognized it right away. Forty-five minutes ago H.P.D. found an abandoned bike just like this one off the Pali highway. Ten minutes ago, Kono confirmed serial numbers matched ones we took from the Pala'ik'a case when we'd first checked all the suspects."

Steve closed his eyes and used his less in pain side to bring his right hand to his face. Pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to shake off the pain and drugs, the Navy SEAL focused once again.

"Any leads on the last three we missed?" he asked.

"Some," Chin nodded. "Kono's heading up the investigation but don't worry, we'll get these guys. Clearly they aren't that smart and the entire police force of Oahu is looking for them right now. You just get some rest okay?"

With a confident smile Steve almost, ALMOST allowed the drugs to pull him under and go back to sleep only to snap back to reality when he realized he'd been hoodwinked.

"Chin!" he spat in frustration. The Hawaiian detective looked back at him with a stoic innocence and, oh yes, something was very wrong. "Where. Is. Danny?" the Navy SEAL asked again in a no-nonsense tone.

For a second, Steve thought he wasn't going to get an answer but then Chin gave a heavy sigh and eased back into his chair.

"He's still in surgery," the detective replied quietly. Then after a heavy pause added, "The doctor's aren't sure if he'd going to make it."

Steve blinked; he opened his mouth, closed it then let it hang open again before twitching his head left and right.

"I, I, I don't… I don't understand," he stuttered out. His contused mind was going a thousand miles an hour. "I just… h, he just hit his head," Steve tried to make sense of what Chin had just told him. "How… how is… what? Chin…" finally the Commander found his words and put together a proper sentence as he said; "How bad are we talking?"

True to their friendship, the Hawaiian detective gave yet another heavy sigh and put a gentle hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Steve, there's nothing that can be done or said now that will help," Chin replied. "We just need to wait and see what the doctors say." An argument of who was right and who was wrong was cut off when a woman in scrubs walked in.

"Commander McGarrett, awake at last are we?" she smiled. "I'm Doctor Marie Proust, I've been looking af-"

"I want to know what Detective Williams' condition is, NOW," Steve cut in. Then with a firm look and a slightly surprised one from the doctor, the SEAL worked his jaw and added, "Please."

For a moment he thought he wasn't going to get anything but a chipper, "let me see what I can find out". Thankfully this doctor either had a good sense of when to not mess with people or she had heard of Five-0's strong bond with one another and knew the more answers she gave the better she could control them.

Maybe Chin had warned her.

"Detective Williams suffered a gun shot wound to the gut, the bullet had already splintered breaking three ribs, collapsing a lung and nicking an artery before a significant piece lodged worryingly close to his heart," Dr. Proust explained. She gave Chin a glance and had Steve been thinking clearly he would have recognized that as a sign of asking the Five-0 detective if he was sure how things should be handled at the moment. With a slight nod, the doctor continued pulling no punches. "His heart stopped once in the ambulance and once just before surgery but the last I heard it hasn't happened again and he's got the best surgeons available working on him at the moment."

The doctor stopped but held Steve's eyes, trying to visually read his condition as well before gently saying;

"They expect surgery to last another hour or so and I promise you the second I know anything you will too," she said. "I'd like to check you're vitals now if I may Commander."

Steve was too shocked to say no. He was too shocked to say anything as his contused brain tried to put together the events that lead to his partner in a life threatening situation. A bunch of wannabe punks had taken some badly aimed shots at them and now here he was lying in a hospital bed being told his partner, his best friend, might not make it?

"I don't understand," Steve repeated once the doctor had checked his vitals and tried to reassure him before leaving him and Chin alone once again.

"These guys are idiots who got lucky," the Hawaiian detective said confidently. "Considering the situation, we'll have them in lock down by sunrise." Steve nodded, agreeing with the sentiment but still not quite wrapping his head around the fact that Danny was very badly injured.

A moment later and it dawned on him, the deep wound to his back, the way he'd plowed the Jersey native into the ground in hopes of protecting him…

"The bullet…" he breathed.

"Steve…"

"It was the same one, wasn't it?" he asked. "The one that hit me… I tried to be a hero and save him but that shot nicked me and it went right into him didn't it?" The expression on his teammates face was all Steve needed to know that was exactly what happened. Trying to hold onto his resolve, Steve winced but propped himself up on his elbows. "Tell me what the doc's say happened," he questioned slashed ordered. Chin shook his head in mild frustration but understanding. At this point in their careers and relationships, their team knew just to be blunt and honest and not hold anything back.

"The bullet slowed a bit and fractured when it hit you and cracked your rib. It went into Danny and tore him up pretty good," he explained. "That's what the preliminary observation from crime scene and the doc's are anyway." Shaking his head, Steve fished-mouthed for a second before turning back to his friend.

"I didn't see any blood on his side," he replied. "He just had a head wound, how… how did this happen?" Sympathetic eyes held Steve's gaze as his own drugs threatened to pull him under.

"I don't have an answer Steve," Chin replied honestly. "But Danny's strong, I'm sure he'll be okay. Believe that and get some rest." Steve wanted to protest, wanted to find out more and stay away until he knew his partner was going to be okay but his pain, emotional and physical, was too much and the pull of narcotics to strong. Blindly he reached out for Chin's hand and found it, that warmth being the last thing he remembered before drifting into a dreamless sleep.

Nine Days Later:

Many years ago, before he was Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, before he was even considering being a Navy SEAL and hell; before the determined young sailor had even become a "determined young sailor" Steve was simply known as Seamen Recruit McGarrett.

In every military, for any country the first step to being part of it was the dreaded "Basic Training". That first step into separating yourself from "civilian" to "soldier" and the same step that allowed you, without question or hesitation, to back out of what could be a potentially massively life threatening mistake to your life.

With his now storied career, Steve didn't remember much of his basic training but he did remember what he had done to survive it. It wasn't the anger he had toward his father for practically abandoning him after his mother's death. It wasn't his "all-American" quarterback need to prove he could love and protect his country better than anyone else; it was the simple urge to be something and know he was good enough, deserving enough to attain it.

Damn the consequences.

Two weeks from graduation in his basic course, Steve had severely twisted his ankle during an obstacle course. He'd gone down hard, writhing in pain and staring up at the rain-soaked grey sky wondering what the hell kind of masochist he was to be putting himself through what he was at that moment.

A moment later and his drill instructor was looming over him a smug grin on his face and asked one question;

"Are you DONE, McGarrett?"

Are you done? Those words would forever echo in Steve's mind with everything and anything he did in life. At this point there were more than enough moments when he silently felt like he just couldn't go on, that he wasn't good enough, strong enough or worthy enough but then he'd remember that question.

He'd remember blinking, climbing from the muddy pit he was in and barking out a "NO SIR!" before finishing the course with an average time. The next two weeks of his course he got better, he trained harder and he focused more ignoring any impediments to his potential success.

To this day Steve still wasn't quit sure what drove him so hard but he never regretted it.

Come the future Navy SEAL's graduation, Steve had actually been top of his Basic Training class; academically, physically, socially and intellectually. When his name was called on the parade square to accept top rewards, Steve maintained a stoic face, pivoted in perfect military fashion then with all the grace of a drunken elephant, face planted right into the pavement.

As he was told by the doctor while recovering in hospital later that day was that his severely sprained ankle was actually a break and he'd been tramping around on it for two weeks successfully turning it into a fracture with infection that led to a pretty decent fever.

His friends and fellow grads from basic thought it was the coolest thing in the world that he had been so damn tough to not even notice he was practically dying.

Some would argue stupidity or ignorance but Steve, he was convinced it was what allowed him to be the man he was today.

A man, who was recovering from a recent gun shot wound and concussion, was currently manhandling his third and final suspect into a squad car.

"Okay, okay you got me pig!" the gunman snarled. "Where's your girlfriend uh!? Heard he ain't doin' so good! Hope he bites it! Then we got one less of you on my islands!" Every fiber of Steve's tired and sore body wanted to slam his prisoner's head into the roof of the H.P.D. squad car before them but instead he restrained himself.

"Watch your head sir," he ground out as he guided the cuffed man into the police car. For good measure, knowing Danny would be proud, Steve leaned in once the man was seated and with a wicked smug grin added, "You have a nice day."

It had taken a few days to track down those responsible for injuring he and Danny but soon enough they'd been found. Thanks to all the friends Five-0 had in H.P.D. and in the community, the three fugitives had been alienated and ostracized from any help or any way off the island.

Steve, taking a break from his vigil at a certain detective's hospital bedside, had made sure he was the one to cuff and bring in the last suspect.

Danny had survived his surgery; he'd made it past the crucial 48 hours and had steadily improved much to his doctor's amazement. A day and a half ago, the detective had started showing signs of waking up which the Five-0 team, Grace, Rachel and even Step-Stan had been overjoyed to hear.

The timing had been perfect as Steve had felt good enough about leaving his "brother's" bedside just long enough to nail down the bastards that had hurt him in the first place.

"Steve!" Just as the Navy SEAL had paused to think about reminding the officer who was taking his prisoner to lock up to drive over every pot-hole he could find, Kono came running up to him her face frantic but hopeful as she wielded her cell-phone like a knife. "The hospital!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Danny woke up!"

A few hours later, Steve once again sat beside his now sleeping, not comatose, partner reading over one of the reports from their arrest earlier. When he'd arrived at the hospital the doctor's assured him Danny was going to be okay but that he'd probably sleep a lot for the next several days so that his body could recover.

The SEAL was okay with that and happy to continue his vigil with the promise that it would not be for that much longer. Now sitting where he was, Steve smirked as he read that one of the idiot but dangerous suspects had once held up a bank with a cigarette lighter that looked like a hand gun. A security guard testified he'd seen the "made in Taiwan" stamp on it and, being a former high school line backer, took the perp down hard. A first of many arrests for the man Steve had the pleasure of locking the cuffs on for good.

Curiously though, the man had a college education gone wrong by a drug problem. There was only one word Steve could think to describe it and he couldn't help but say it out loud to the quiet room he now occupied with his partner.

"Waste," he muttered.

"Clean," a slurred voice replied. It took the Navy SEAL a second but his eyes snapped up and a smile grew across his face as he finally once again saw the colour of his partner's eyes.

"Hey Danno," Steve smiled, a great weight being lifted off his heart. "Good to see you buddy." Danny however didn't seem to want to accept that response as he repeated himself.

"Clean." A beat later and Steve clued into what was going on. Barking out a laugh of relief he shrugged.

"Room."

"B'nk beds."

"Roommates"

"P'rtn'rs…" Damn it all if Steve didn't tear up over his smile slightly at that one when the first word that came to mind was;

"Brothers." Maybe later, Steve would question the curious connection but at the moment his friend's response sent another shot of warmth and reassurance through his heart. That in mind he kept on, ready to go until he knew the detective would eventually succumb to much-needed sleep.

"Basic training," the Navy SEAL replied thinking of the "never surrender, never show weakness" attitude he'd developed during his initial training in effort to support those around him. Combined with the new family he'd come to know around him.

"Mil'tary," Danny slurred back as if reading Steve's mind. Still trying to control his chuckles of absolute happiness, relief and borderline hysteria Steve continued the game.

"Soldier."

"S'vivor," Danny grunted as his eyes opened a little more and he became more aware and curious of where he was and obviously wondering what had happened.

However his last answer sucked away all the humour and amusement from Steve's entire body as he leaned forward and firmly grasped his friend's hand. Grounding himself just as much as he hoped he was ground his brother-in-arms.

"You," he replied in firm honesty to the word before feeling the grateful heart-aching need to add; "Detective Danny Williams." A beat later and Steve allowed himself a victorious smile as his drugged, confused and sleepy partner's lips crept up into a smile.

"S'more'n one word," Danny muttered. "I win again… Y'suck at this."

While his partner fell back into a restful sleep, Steve couldn't help but feel his competitive streak light up once again. As quietly as he could he texted Chin with a simple message"Next time you're in, bring a thesaurus."

After sending the message Steve glanced up and was genuinely shocked to find his partner's drowsy lidded eyes staring back at him with a sparkle of amusement. Almost as if the detective knew what had been texted out from the Navy SEAL's phone.

An eyelid flutter seconds later and Danny Williams was once again down for the count but not before he clutched his brother's wrist and gave it a very firm reassuring squeeze.

A/N: I'd really like to hear reviews on this one. It meant something to me and I hope I captured my emotions well enough to write a story that you enjoyed.

Thanks for reading!

Oz