Chapter 9

Almost a week later, Danny found himself still checking over his shoulder for Dr. Tric. After witnessing the man's boldness to walk right into Steve's hospital room, Danny wasn't taking any chances. His eyes followed a jogger in a bright colored workout suit who ran by. Did the man just look back at him? No, he was checking out the woman a few picnic tables away. But what about the man walking his dog? Danny squinted. The man seemed to be minding his own business, but that could all be a show. Maybe he was using car mirrors to watch him, or maybe he had cameras set up somewhere. Dr. Tric had shown how capably creepy he was. Maybe he'd even paid people to follow Danny and—

"Danno, are you all right?" Grace asked, pausing from enjoying her shave ice.

Danny turned his attention back to her. "Yeah, monkey I—"

Grace gave him a doubtful look.

"Okay, I'm just a little distracted today, but I'm focused on you now. What were we talking about?"

"Are you thinking about what happened to Uncle Steve?"

Danny folded his hands on the table. "Maybe a little."

"Were you really scared?"

Since that day Danny hadn't really talked about what happened other than from a case perspective. He knew Chin and Kono were trying to give him time, and he didn't visit Steve for long enough to talk about their experience. Maybe he'd been avoiding talking. Maybe he hadn't been thinking about it either. Other than constantly looking over his shoulder and the nightmares. Who was he kidding? He'd hadn't been thinking about anything else.

"Danno?"

Danny ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I was scared. Can we maybe talk about something else?"

"I was scared too," Grace said. "But I knew everything would be okay because you always make everything okay."

Danny smiled slightly. "I'm just glad you're still talking to me."

"I'm your daughter, talking to you is in my job description. And I take my job very seriously." She grinned. "Can we go by and visit uncle Steve?"

"Well, Uncle— he, has a of lot checkups from doctors and stuff going on this afternoon, so it might not be the best time."

"Tomorrow?"

"We'll see. Now you better hurry up and eat that shave ice or I'm gonna have to eat it for you."

#~~#~~#~~#

Five-0 and HPD had been searching for Dr. Tric for the past week, but still had yet to uncover any information about him. It was frustrating, especially for Steve who had been stuck in a hospital bed. Thankfully, that was all about to change today because he was going home.

The doctors and nurses made him promise to take it easy, and while Steve had been all promises inside the hospital, the second he stepped outside he tried to steal Danny's keys to drive himself home. But Danny stood his ground, refusing to let him have his way. Finally, Danny managed to shove him in the passenger seat and head in the direction of his house.

When they arrived, Danny jumped out of the vehicle, hurrying to open Steve's door. "Let me help you." He held the car door open as his partner stepped out. "I'll get your bag in a minute. Let's get you inside." Danny grabbed Steve's arm.

"I'm fine." Steve grimaced. "Danny, I appreciate what you're doing, but I can walk inside on my own."

Danny shrugged.

Steve looked around "Did you wash my truck?"

"Yeah, it needed to be cleaned."

"And you mowed my lawn?"

"I had some extra time. I'm pretty much unemployed right now."

"It'll all work out," Steve said, heading toward the house. "We'll both be back at work before you know it."

"You might be, but..." Danny trailed off as he fumbled to unlock the front door. He pushed the door open and allowed Steve to go inside first.

The place looked pretty much the same as when Steve had left, except the smell of lemon lingered in the air.

Steve turned to his friend. "Did you clean my house?"

"Yeah, I figured it was the least I could do."

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"None of this was your fault, Danny."

"Can't a guy do something for his friend? Lighten up, McGarrett."

Steve shook his head. "Danny, you can call me Steve. Nothing bad's gonna happen."

Danny looked away. "Should we order a pizza? I think that's a good idea."

"Hey, don't change the subject.

Danny absentmindedly started going through Steve's mail. "It's just..." He sighed. "Everytime I try to use your name, I can hear you scream. It's horrible." Danny looked up, his eyes moist. "I keep telling myself that none of this was my fault, but when I forgot and used your name, or I didn't move fast enough, it was my fault that you got hurt."

Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Are you the one who put me in that chair?"

"Well, no."

"Then don't you think the person who put me there is the one to blame?"

Danny sighed. "Logically, yes, but I still feel like it's my fault. It's just gonna take time."

Steve nodded. "I know what you mean."

"We will find him...Steve. I promise."

Steve smiled. "Yeah, we will, but not tonight. How about that pizza?"

"As long as there's no pineapple."

"How about we go half and half."

"You're really pushing it." Danny glanced at one of the letters in his hand. "Oh, no. Your electric bill is overdue." He opened it.

"I can open my own mail, Danny."

"I know that, it's just, maybe I should pay it for you—"

Steve put his hands on his hips. "What did we just talk about?"

Danny ignored him. "Do you usually get a letter with your electric bill?"

"What?"

"Maybe they heard you were in the hospital."

"Give me that." Steve snatched the letter from Danny's hand and read it. When he finished he held it out to his partner.

There was something in Steve's eyes that alarmed Danny. He took the letter and read its contents.

Dear Dynamic Duo,

It was so good of you to join me in my little experiment. It's a shame our time together was so brief. I did enjoy watching the fireworks during the grand rescue scene, and your escape through my secret tunnel was right out of the movies. I had a feeling you were both clever enough to survive.

I must say my only regret from the experience is that I was unable to observe Commander McGarrett in action. But then there's always next time...

See you both soon. It will be electrifying.

Dr. E. L. Tric

P.S. I hope you like the stuffed bear.

A/N: We've reached the end! Unfortunately, I have no plans for a sequel, which seems crazy with how this story ended, but it just wouldn't end any other way. I hope you enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts with me. :)