Disclaimer: Do not own Hawaii Five-0. No copyright infringement intended.

Authors Note: Final thank you to praemonitus praemunitus and Wenwalke for the keeping the rookie in line!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"What's wrong?" Danny was staring at him.

Steve sighed, glanced over at his partner and then back to the road.

"Nothing."

"No, that's not the right answer. Something's bothering you."

"It's nothing, Danny. Leave it alone."

Even without looking, Steve knew the man was still studying him. But how the hell do you tell your best friend, Grace's father, that you—Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett—have managed to rip out his daughter's heart and stomp all over it. Because you let her down. You broke your promise.

"Why'd you leave the hospital?"

Steve almost drove off the road.

"What?"

"You heard me. First you threaten to have Lou come and sit on me to keep me there, and then you leave. Why? Why'd you leave?"

Steve raked a hand across his forehead, through his hair and ended up clasping the back of his neck before he could answer. He'd had no idea that Danny had been aware that he'd been gone.

"I had something I needed to take care of."

"What?"

"Just … something, alright? Can't you just let it go?" Steve's hand slapped against the steering wheel. He shifted in his seat. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Danny cock his head, still staring. And then his partner nodded.

"Okay."

"What?" Steve whipped his head around. Now he was the one trying to drill holes into his friend. Danny was looking out the passenger window of the truck. It was a good imitation of a brush off, but Steve wasn't buying it.

"I said, okay." Danny shrugged his shoulders and kept watching the scenery as they got closer to Rachel's.

Steve fidgeted even more, frowning as he turned to look back at the road.

"Good … fine …"

H50

Steve had left his partner with his arms firmly wrapped around Grace. Danny had agreed to call him when he was ready to leave, which wouldn't likely be for a while. So he'd headed back home, hopefully to get in a swim and, maybe, clean up the house. Swim first, house later, he'd decided upon walking in the door.

As he pulled through the water, his conversation with Grace, while Danny was still in the hospital, kept time with his strokes.

"She's in her bedroom. She's refusing to speak with anyone." Rachel had let him in, a scowl turning down the corners of her lips, though her eyes gave away her true emotions.

Steve had nodded towards the hallway, his request for permission clearly written all over his face.

"Yes, of course. Go ahead. I'll be in the kitchen if you or Grace need me. Maybe get her to go outside if you can."

Rachel had hesitated, as if she was afraid to ask the question.

"I take it he's home?"

Steve had nodded again.

"I'll bring him by after they release him from Queens. He's a bit banged up, but he wants to see her."

It was Rachel's turn to nod, before she'd turned and fled the room. Steve hadn't missed that her eyes had welled up, following his answer.

But then he hadn't even made it all the way down the hallway before Grace's bedroom door had burst open and the young girl had barreled towards him, throwing herself into his arms.

"Uncle … Steve!" She'd been already crying.

"We brought him home, hun. Danno's home. I promise."

He'd carried her out to the backyard, settling her in his arms when he'd sat upon the top of the picnic table, his feet on the bench. He'd given her a minute, her arms wrapped around his neck, still squeezing the daylights out of him. When she'd stopped hiccupping and pulled back to look at him, he'd beaten her to the question.

"He's okay. He's got some bruises and cuts, so he doesn't look all that great, but he's gonna be okay, Gracie."

"Can I see him?"

She'd been playing with the collar of his shirt, her gaze flitting up to his, then moving back to watch her fingers.

"Hey …" Steve had gently lifted her chin, waiting until she looked at him. She was still sniffling. "Yeah, you can see him. Just as soon as …"

"Does he know I called you? Did you tell him?"

He's almost choked, thinking, leave it to Danny's daughter not to question whether he'd heard her message. But when he'd tried to pull her into a hug, she'd locked her elbows and straight armed him. So he'd aborted the move, placing his hands on her forearms instead.

"No, I haven't told him … not yet, anyway."

She'd sat up straighter.

"You can't." Her head shook from side to side while she'd fisted his shirt, her eyes boring into his. "You can't tell him, Uncle Steve. He'll blame himself …"

"Grace, he'll figure out that I know about his phone call, all on his own. And it won't take long for him to guess that you'd probably try to call me after. Your dad's a smart guy and you know I'd never lie to him if he asked me. Neither would you. It's better if I just tell him, because he needs to know. I just wanted to come talk to you first."

They'd stared at each other then, almost as if they were weighing each other's guilt.

"Look, Gracie. I know I promised I'd bring Danno home. And I did, we all did. But I couldn't get there fast enough to make sure your dad didn't get hurt."

"Uncle Steve, but you …"

"No, listen, okay? I didn't keep Danno safe like you needed me to … and I didn't keep my promise to your dad. He expected me to be around when you needed me and I wasn't. I let you down, Gracie, and I'm sorry."

Grace looked down at her lap, again not able to make eye contact with him.

"He knew he wasn't coming home, didn't he?"

Steve had needed to take a deep breath with that question. He hadn't been able to talk with Danny about his phone call to Grace yet.

"I think that's something that Danno needs to answer, Grace. But I do know that your dad always tries his best to make it home to you. Always."

Grace had lifted her head, meeting his gaze.

"I was afraid he was saying 'goodbye', Uncle Steve."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry you went through that on your own, Gracie. I should have been there for you."

Grace had squished her eyebrows together, squinting at him. A lone tear had trailed down her cheek as she'd wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her forehead against his.

Steve had closed his eyes and held his breath.

"No, I think you're wrong, Uncle Steve. Danno needed you more."

H50

"I tried to call Uncle Steve … after you called me."

They were sitting on Grace's bed, facing the windows, ignoring the rest of the world. Their hands were clasped together, his daughter's gaze focused on his thumb, the one that was tracing patterns across the ridges of her knuckles. It'd been a while since either one of them had spoken. They'd already talked about Reyes, about Danny shooting him. He'd answered as many questions as he could, as honestly as he could, figuring out pretty quickly that Grace had already seemed content with the information that his partner had given her. He owed Steve for that, could never repay him for being there to explain what was happening when he couldn't.

So he'd been waiting, making sure his daughter didn't have anything else she wanted to ask him when the softness of her confession made Danny feel as if he'd been sucker punched. His conversation, or lack thereof, with Steve in the truck though, at least made sense now.

"I'm sorry you couldn't get through to him, Monkey."

Danny knew she wouldn't have been able to talk to his partner after he'd called her from prison. Lou had filled him in about the cocaine, Steve and Joe staying behind to get him out, and blackmailing Anderson. Danny had badgered the man incessantly and finally worn him down.

Now though, he was afraid to move, because he might break the spell of Grace's confidence. So he stayed as still as he could and waited again.

"You said goodbye."

Danny barely heard the words because Grace was whispering, but what he had heard made him want to curl up into a little ball and just die.

But he couldn't. Grace's tear streaked face wouldn't let him. He blew out a breath, turned slightly more towards her and hoped the right words would come.

"I wanted you to remember, in case something happened …"

Grace gasped and looked up at him.

He shook his head, his vision blurred and his chest ached. He was saying this all wrong, but he had to keep going, try to fix what he'd broken. So he locked his gaze onto his daughter and tried harder, slowed every word to make sure she understood him.

"I needed to make sure that you knew, that you'd never question that your Danno loves you, and that I was going to do everything I could to make it home to you. But if I couldn't, if for some reason I failed, Gracie, I had to make sure that I could tell you … one more time, that I loved you."

Danny's voice had caught and he tried to smile.

"I still love you, Monkey, will always love you and I'll keep reminding you of that. I won't let you forget it or ever doubt it."

A slight smile tugged at his daughter's lips. He pulled her into a hug, ignored the scream of his ribcage as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed for all she was worth. His tears were flowing just as freely as hers now.

"I'm sorry that I scared you, Monkey," he whispered. "I didn't mean to. I'll try not to do that again, okay?"

Grace nodded, burying her face further into the crook of his neck.

"I … I missed you, Danno. I'm glad Uncle Steve brought you home to me."

"Me too, Monkey. I'm glad he did, too."

H50

They'd shown up at his home just about the time Steve had considered calling Rachel. He was worried. He'd been sitting out on one of the Adirondacks, nursing a beer, when he heard her call for him.

"Uncle Steve?"

"Yeah, out here, Gracie," he yelled over his shoulder. He got up, setting his beer on the arm of the chair when both father and daughter walked out onto the lanai and then headed towards him. Grace broke into a run, flinging herself at him. It was a bit like déjà vu, though Steve would take his niece's hugs any day of the week. He'd turned them so he could keep his eye on her father slowly making his way across the lawn. Even from a distance, Danny looked like shit.

"Mom dropped us off. She said I could stay with you and Danno. You don't mind, do you? He's really hurting, Uncle Steve."

Grace was looking at Steve as if begging him to fix this, fix her dad and make him all better. Or maybe that was just Steve's interpretation, his need to hold onto the little girl that thought he could do anything, be her Super SEAL.

"Yeah, I'd love it if you guys stayed. Have you eaten?"

"No, not yet. I think Danno's too tired to really eat anything right now. He can barely keep his eyes open. I had to wake him up when we got here."

"Alright, let's see if we can head him off and get him to lay down inside while I grill us up some dinner. That sound like a plan?"

Grace nodded, untangling herself from his grasp and heading back towards her dad. She'd gently wrapped her arms around her father's waist, stopping him from moving further towards the beach.

"And what trouble are you two cooking up, Monkey?" Danny was smiling down at Grace by the time Steve caught up with her. The love his partner felt for his daughter was unquestionable and out there for all to see.

"Hey, no trouble, we're just figuring out what Gracie and I should make for dinner, that's all."

"You sure you don't mind? I get the feeling Grace just kind of invited us both over for the evening."

"For the night actually. And you know you're both welcome anytime, Danno. But let's get inside so you can lay down, while Miss Gracie here, helps me whip up something to eat." Steve had ruffled Grace's hair.

"Uncle Steeeeve …"

"Ah, see. I knew it. Conspiring to get me out of the way while you two damage some perfectly good steaks or something."

Danny's mouth may have been saying one thing, but Steve could read the relief and the thanks, because it was practically written all over his friend's face. Up close, Steve could see the red rimmed eyes and feel the slight tremor in Danny's body when he placed a hand at his partner's elbow. And Danny was hunching in on himself, unconsciously protecting his ribcage. Jesus, there was no way his partner should even be standing at this point.

Steve exchanged a worried glance with Grace and then nodded, smiling in encouragement to her. There was no way he was going to let these two down again. No way. This he could handle.

"Come on, Danno. Inside. Let's get you settled."

H50

"You erased her message, didn't you, Steven."

They were back on the Adirondacks. Grace had fallen asleep watching a movie, and neither man had been ready to move her to the guest bedroom yet.

"Yeah, Danny, I did. You didn't need to hear it."

"Shouldn't that have been my decision to make, whether I wanted to listen to it or not?"

Steve glanced over at his partner, held his gaze, making sure Danny understood the intent of his answer.

"No, not this time."

And Steve meant it. He'd erase it again, no matter what argument his partner might make to the contrary. Danny—the dad—didn't need to hear the fear of his daughter's voice in that message. The fact that his partner knew about the voice mail at all, meant that they'd already talked about it. Which made sense actually, helped Steve put more of the pieces together as to why his friend had done nothing but push his food around his plate throughout dinner. And why Grace had kept shooting nervous glances at her dad and then Steve. Hearing that message, hearing his young daughter screaming and then sobbing, that would kill Danny. Steve wasn't going to let that happen.

"She's a great kid, Danny. That's all you need to know."

"Yeah, well, certainly not because of ..."

"Don't."

Steve took a swig from his beer trying to gather his thoughts.

"She's a great kid because of you, partner. You're a fantastic father. You've no right think otherwise."

Steve glared at Danny, daring him to contradict what he'd said. To his friend's credit, he only nodded, and looked back towards the lapping waters.

The corners of Steve's mouth turned down when unbidden, the memory of the conversation with Joe outside of Rachel's came to mind. He tried to hide the frown with another pull from his bottle. His next thought was a bit of a non sequitur, but he knew his brother would get it. Danny knew him that well.

"You know, at some point, all kids figure out that their parents aren't perfect, Danno, and they go right on loving them anyway."

Danny was staring at him again. Steve could feel it, though his own gaze never stopped studying the moon bouncing light off the surface of the ocean.

"Doris?"

Steve chuffed at his partner's detective skills, knew he'd been right about the man figuring it out. A smirk graced his lips. Because Danny's declaration just about covered everything that he'd wanted to explain to his partner. Steve rolled his shoulders and sat back, taking another sip from his beer.

"Yeah."

Danny nodded and then tilted the neck of his water bottle towards Steve. The two containers touched, both men now looking out towards the waves.

"Mahalo, Steven."

"Yeah. Right back atcha, Danno. Right back atcha."

~the end~