A/N: So...here I go again. This is very much hurt/comfort/angst/bromance/family/friendship - and probably more adjectives that I haven't thought of yet. I hope you enjoy!

There will be references to one of my other stories, "Living Grace" - but it is not necessary to have read it for this to make sense.

Chapter 1

Danny would never live this down – he just knew it. But in his defense, it was something he abhorred for much of his first years on the island. However, like any devoted father, he would have done anything in his power to make Grace happy; and in doing just that, realized that he had found something that challenged his inner athlete, and that he was becoming damned good at.

Hearing Steve and Kono laughing behind him, he stealthily flipped them off with one hand while adjusting the awkward bulk with the other. Shaking his head against the raucous mirth, he plowed forward until the surf was up to his thighs.

"Okay, Monkey. Ready to shut those two up?" His eyes twinkled as he smiled down at his eleven-year-old daughter. Her pose mirrored his, only her surfboard was under her right arm, while Danny's was under his left.

"Danno, it's okay. You know they are your friends, right?" Grace was a little worried that her dad didn't get that Uncle Steve and Aunt Kono were just teasing him.

Danny bent to kiss the top of her head. "Oh I know they're just messing with me. But I'll show them, right? They don't know that I've been practicing just as much as you have."

Grace grinned, her dimples in full force. "And you're good, Danno. Really good."

Danny just winked as the two headed into the ocean. At first, Steve and Kono had chuckled when they saw Danny and Grace walking across the sand carrying their surfboards. They honestly couldn't reconcile that visual with Danny's countless protestations that surfing was an evil entity meant to trap unsuspecting souls into a lifetime of coconut oil and surf wax and declining brain cells.

Steve sat back and just shook his head as he watched Danny and Grace drop into a few smaller waves, just to get their sea-legs working, so to speak. Grace was still a little cautious, but even Kono pointed out that she had really good form, and if she kept it up, would soon rival native Hawaiians in her skill level.

It was Danny that neither Steve nor Kono could make sense of. He looked completely relaxed out there on the water. Whether it was natural athleticism, many hours of practice, or a combination of both, they couldn't tell. Whatever the case, though; Danny looked absolutely at ease on his board.

After about fifteen minutes on the water, Danny and Grace made their way back onto the sand and cheerfully flopped down on the towels next to their friends. Grace was just happy to be spending the afternoon with her favorite people, and Danny was happy because he had managed to shock Steve and Kono speechless.

"Ho, brah! That was some serious wave shredding that you did. I'm impressed." Kono reached out and lightly thumped Danny on the shoulder. He just winked at her in response and turned towards Steve. He was waiting for the teasing to begin…he figured Steve had plenty stored up and was just waiting to bust his chops.

He was surprised though, when his eyes met Steve's and all he saw on Steve's face was grudging respect. Although Steve was trying not to grin, eventually he failed; tipping his water bottle Danny's direction and nodding his head. "You looked good out there, Danny. Really good. I'm impressed."

Danny smiled as Grace nearly jumped on his back. "You should see him practice, Uncle Steve! He's really, really awesome. Like super good! Did we surprise you?"

Steve reached out and poked at Grace's ribs, causing her to melt into squirmy shrieks. "You did, munchkin. You really did."

Grace smirked as she gave Danny a fist bump. "See, Danno? I told you they'd like our surprise."

Kono checked her phone before turning towards Grace. "Hey, Grace? Uncle Chin is on his way to join us…do you think you could show him how good you are when he gets here?"

Grace grinned and nodded. "And Danno too, right?"

Danny groaned at being shoved on display again, but knew that he would do anything where Grace's happiness was concerned. "Danno too, Monkey."

Shortly after Chin arrived, Danny and Grace were back at it again. He, like the other members of the team, could not get over Danny's apparent comfort on the board. Regardless of what put it there, though, they were all just happy to see him so relaxed and carefree.

While they were all really enjoying watching Danny and Grace, they noted that the waves were slowly becoming more crowded, as Hawaii's picture perfect weather was on full display, calling many tourists to her magical beauty. It worried them a bit – especially where Grace was concerned. They saw that Danny was handling the increased crowd out on the wave break with his usual cockiness and Jersey attitude, but Grace was starting to look a little uncomfortable out there.

Kono especially, given her past, was becoming indignant over the behavior of some of the so-called surfers out on the waves at the moment.

"Did you see that?" She shouted towards Steve and Chin as they all made their way towards the edge of the water. "That punk on the blue board, green stripe on his suit, totally cut Danny off. He was in command on that wave but had to bail. And shit, that hurts when you have your leash on. You get bounced around so bad under the wave!" She was annoyed, and immediately caught Grace's eye, motioning her back into shore.

Steve saw the surfer he was talking about, and saw that Danny was close by. Danny had masterfully carved the wave, and had just pulled back through the foam. He knew that for all of his protestations, Danny was pretty good at this. He was a natural athlete, who had completely fallen at ease with surfing.

Danny controlled his board through a number of waves as things got more congested. Some of them he had to pull out short to avoid a collision, and Steve knew that he was probably cursing under his breath. As he watched, though, he wasn't sure why, for some reason the hair was standing on the back of his neck.

One of the guys standing next to him on the beach started spouting off. "Amateurs. Look at them. The fucking least they could do in a spot like this is learn the etiquette. They're not only ignorant, they're dangerous! Shit, look at that! The guy with the orange board!" he said, pointing toward the water. "He almost killed that guy!"

Steve looked out, and saw he was pointing to another couple of surfers. They were angling on the large wave for position, and Steve could almost hear the curses of the surfer who dove out so he wouldn't get killed.

Hearing Kono's shout over all the noise, Steve quickly turned toward the sound, catching the tail-end of Grace's rough wipe-out. She was under for a lot longer than any of them would have liked to see, but finally popped up again, choking and sputtering. She was alone in the water, as Kono hadn't reached her through the multitude of wannabe boarders. Steve knew that he needed to try and reach her as well, and immediately dove into the water, telling Chin to stay where he was and try to get Danny in.

Just then, one of the hotshots that the people on the beach were complaining about appeared on the wave, and shot across; the force heading him right towards Danny, who had seen what happened to his daughter, and was also desperately trying to get to Grace. Chin shouted to try to get Danny's attention, but things were just too loud that far offshore.

Steve's yell had Chin hurrying to meet at the shoreline, quickly unleashing Grace's board while Steve carried her in. She was crying and coughing, obviously shaken up.

"Oh my fucking God! He's going to kill that poor guy!" Another bystander caught sight of what was going on, and yelled.

Danny was focused on trying to spot his daughter, and had no idea what was headed his way and that he was that 'poor guy'. Without warning, the hotshot's board clipped Danny's, cartwheeling Danny into the water and sending his board sailing into the air before being yanked down onto the top of his head by the leash attached to his ankle, much like a slingshot. On top of that, the wave was so big, the force tumbled him like he was in a washing machine, leaving him dazed and unable to tell which way was up; eventually smacking his head against the stones along the bottom of the ocean.

He was under, and because their attention was on making sure Grace was safe, none of the rest of his team noticed that Danny was in a world of trouble.

Danny's board partially surfaced, but by the angle of it, it was clear that he was tethered underwater by his board leash, caught up somehow and unable to move.

Confused, Danny's body knew enough to fight, and he struggled ineffectually against the buffering tide. He knew he should do something, but the now-worsening concussion, combined with a lack of oxygen had him unable to figure out the simple task of reaching down and unhooking his leash from his ankle; thus releasing him from his confinement.

Back on the sand, Grace was shaking, coughing and crying, generally miserable and feeling like she wanted to throw up. Steve temporarily waved off the lifeguards, though, understanding that they needed to stabilize the chaos happening in the water. He had enough field medical training to feel comfortable having the lifeguards controlling the scene for a few more minutes.

She wiped at her eyes before looking plaintively towards Steve, shivering underneath the towel that Chin had wrapped around her. "Uncle Steve? Where's Danno? I want my dad."

A cold chill had both Steve and Kono turning back towards the water, frantically searching the waves for any sign of Danny. They hoped against hope that he was out there, simply fighting the bottleneck on the waves.

Chin pulled his phone from their things and quickly called for emergency services and being told that the lifeguards had them en route already. Even if Danny was merely invisible to their eyes, he would certainly want Grace taken in for an evaluation.

It was Kono who spotted Danny's board bobbing about thirty yards from where she was. She whistled to get Steve's attention before diving in; ducking her head and swimming as fast as she could toward him; still avoiding the rogue body boarders who got in her way.

She had always been a strong swimmer, and fairly quick, but she couldn't swim fast enough in her mind. She dove through the waves that crashed over her, keeping locked on Danny's board out of the corner of her eye. Knowing she was close enough, she took a deep breath and dove under.

She opened her eyes against the sting, and saw him floating, eyes closed. Oh God. His tether on his leg was wrapped one extra time around his shin, and was wedged just right in between two fairly large rocks. She swam quickly to him and saw the blood flowing from the large wound on his head. She knew she had to release the tether, and quickly found his ankle. She loosened the Velcro and unwrapped the leash from his leg before she started dragging Danny toward the surface.

They popped up to the surface like corks, and Kono could see that his face was nearly gray from a lack of oxygen. Seeing that Steve was gaining on them, she gently turned his face toward her.

"Danny!" she screamed into his ear, hoping he would come around. "Danny!" He still wasn't breathing.

She knew she couldn't do efficient CPR yet, floundering out in the water, but she started rescue breathing to try to do something to help. He was bleeding profusely from the wound on his head, but she didn't care. She breathed four times into his mouth, then hooked her arm under his arm and around his chest and swam as fast as she could toward the beach. The waves broke over them, tumbling them both, but Kono held on. She breathed into his mouth as often as she could manage, all the while begging him to wake up.

Steve caught up to them and quickly took Danny's weight into a rescue hold. He did his best to protect Danny's neck, pausing once for Kono to give another series of breaths. They were getting closer to the beach, and when the water was low enough that she could touch the bottom with her feet, she regained her footing and took more of Danny's weight back from Steve.

She could see that Chin had moved Grace away from where they were working on Danny, and had lifted her into his arms. Her face was buried into Chin's neck, but Kono could tell by the distraught look on Chin's face that they hadn't been able to fully shield her from what was happening.

Shaking that worry aside for the time being, she focused on the job at hand. Just a few more steps, she thought, as she and Steve, along with the first lifeguard on scene, finally got him to a spot on the beach where she knew CPR could be performed, if necessary. They carefully lowered him onto the sand, and Kono felt for the breath against her cheek while Steve checked the pulse on his throat, dismayed when neither of them felt anything.

Steve immediately put his hands into the proper position and started CPR, not willing or able to wait for additional rescue services that he knew were en route. He started the first of his thirty compressions, grimacing at the feel of a couple of Danny's ribs breaking under the weight of his hands. It would be a small price to pay, though, if they could get Danny back.

As he neared thirty, he calmly told Kono "staying", keeping up the tempo of his compressions. She nodded as she leaned down to give the first of two rescue breaths, understanding that Steve was not tired enough to switch positions with her.

As she finished the second breath, Steve rechecked his hand position and started the cycle again. This continued for three full sessions with no change in Danny's condition. They would not stop, though – they couldn't give up on Danny. Round four found Steve on compression number thirteen before Danny suddenly shuddered, coughed out water, gagged, and drew in a shallow, ragged breath. But he hadn't opened his eyes.

"Thank God," Kono breathed, and her eyes filled with tears. Steve's did as well, but he forced his emotions down for the time being. Danny's breathing was still shallow and irregular, and he knew that there was probably more water in his lungs, and that he needed oxygen and a hospital, fast.

The lifeguard pulled his eyelid up and saw that his pupils weren't dilating normally and knew that at the very least Danny was marginally concussed. They didn't really want to risk rolling him to help drain the water until they were sure they could protect his neck and back, especially because there was no way of knowing what kind of injury Danny might have sustained under the water, although he had moved his extremities while coughing.

Just then, two more lifeguards and one team of paramedics rushed over. While Steve was quickly telling them what had happened and giving his credentials as well, Kono saw over his shoulder that another team was with Chin and Grace. Kono tossed him a towel to dry off while he talked, keeping one wrapped around her waist as well.

"There was a likely period of oxygen deprivation for a few minutes before Kono got out to him. She started rescue breathing on the way in, but we couldn't begin full CPR till we got to the beach. We were into our fourth round of compressions when he started breathing. It has been very shallow, and I suspect he's still dealing with some water in his lungs. He was submerged for up to 5 minutes, although I'm not sure when he went under. We're not sure if the head wound is from his board hitting him, or him hitting the bottom." He watched relieved as they fit the oxygen mask to him, and confirmed Steve's guess of fluid still in the lungs, along with what they guessed was a moderate head injury - he had already bled through the hastily applied gauze pad. Right now, though, that was the least of their worries.

They strapped him onto the back board and secured the bolsters alongside his head, carefully rolling his body to the side. They all kept hands on Danny and the board to provide a more secure hold, and tilted him a bit at a downward angle with his head lower. Steve was relieved to see a little more water drain as he tried to cough weakly. He was alarmed, however, at the small amount of foam that seemed to accompany the water. Kono reached down and held the oxygen mask out so the water could fall away. The paramedic listened and relayed that his lungs sounded a bit clearer, although they weren't anywhere near fully cleared.

"Let's load him up and get him over to the hospital. Has he regained consciousness at all?" the paramedic asked Steve.

Steve shook his head, and gestured to the second paramedic team. "Do you know where they are heading? That's his daughter, and we need to see about her heading to the same place."

The paramedics started moving him away, telling him that they were all headed to Queens. Kono quickly threw their towels and things back into the large tote bags they had brought and dug through the bag until she found Danny's keys. "Chin's going with Grace. I'll bring Danny's car to the hospital, and we can arrange to get your truck later."

Steve nodded, knowing that everything of value or danger was locked up tight. "We'll see you there." With that, he climbed into the back of the ambulance as one paramedic shut the door, and the other hopped into the driver's seat.

Steve watched as they worked to further stabilize Danny's condition. Steve could tell by the numbers on the monitor that Danny's system was overtaxed by everything that had happened. His blood pressure was sky-high, as was his respiratory rate.

He blew out a breath as he watched the more senior EMT, Michael, increase the flow of oxygen to maximum. "Does Detective Williams have any allergies or other health concerns?"

Steve shook his head as Michael grabbed his stethoscope and listened to Danny's lungs.

"Good. I'm not thrilled with his breathing. I don't want to have to intubate unless we really have to, but his oxygen sats need to come up, and his respiratory rate needs to come down. Otherwise, I'm afraid he'll crap out and then we won't have a choice." Michael fiddled with the mask attached to Danny's face and wrote down another set of vital signs.

"I hope they can clear his c-spine quickly once he hits the ER. The sooner they can do that, the sooner they can get him on a CPAP set-up. It'll provide better support and make it easier for him to breathe, but he'll need to be in a more upright position. He's doing a bit of a balancing act right now, and I'd really rather he knocked that shit off and steadied those vital signs.

Steve could see Danny starting to surface into consciousness, and understanding Danny's dislike of tight spaces, tried to calm his best friend down. "Danny? You're in an ambulance, on the way to Queens. Grace is okay, too. Just relax, buddy." Steve reached for Danny's shoulder, squeezing it as Danny started to moan. "Danny? It's Steve. Can you open your eyes?" After a few long moments, his eyes finally fluttered open.

"Oww. Grace?" That was about all Danny could manage around the drum section keeping cadence in his head.

Steve was relieved, but could tell that Danny was getting upset because of the head injury and being strapped down with a mask over his face. "She's okay, Danny…you're in an ambulance. You got hurt surfing."

Danny's eyes were glassy below the pounding of his head, but he let loose with the first thing that popped into his mind. "Wipe out," he murmured before closing his eyes once again.