Hello everyone! How's everyone been? I hope well. I've been working a lot, so that's why I haven't been able to write/update a lot.

This story will be 2-3 chapters long and it is all thanks to AinsleyWright! She sent me a story request and it was fantastic!

Thanks, AinsleyWright! I hope you enjoy it!

I hope everyone enjoys it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-O. If I did, there would've been a meaningful conversation between Steve and Danny in the season finale.

ENJOY!

Danny stared down at the piece of paper in his hands. Great. Just what I needed, he thought, reading the words at the top one more time. NOTICE OF FORCED EJECTION DUE TO CONDEMNED BUILDING STATE. Putting the paper down on his counter, he took a deep breath and looked around. Memories of everything that had happened in this place rolled through is head. His daughter running through the rooms as she tried to get ready for her cheer camp, Danny sitting at the table with his head in his hands after learning that Charlie really was his son, of his team sitting at the table with drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces, and of Steve making himself at home on Danny's couch at all hours of the day and night. How am I going to tell Gracie? How is she going to understand? He finally had a home and now he was losing it again. His cheeks started to turn red at the thought of what his team-mates would say. No. They won't know. I'm not going to tell them.

Going to his couch, he rested his elbows on his knees and let his hands dangle. He dropped his head and allowed himself to just sit there and breathe for a few minutes. This was my last hope. I can't afford any of the other apartments on the island. Not on a cops salary. I could ask for a pay raise? I'm sure Steve . . . No. That would involve telling Steve. And Steve won't know. I'll get a second job.

Danny nodded, stood from the couch, and retrieved his computer from the counter where it normally sat. He opened up the search engine and first searched for a cheap storage facility. The storage space would be used to store his furniture and most of his clothes. The rest of his stuff would have to go in the trunk of his car. He'd be sleeping in the backseat of his car. He quickly found a storage unit that was cheap enough that paying the rent for it wouldn't be hard. Next, he searched for companies that were hiring night watchmen. It had to be a night position so that the other members of the team didn't get suspicious. But Grace. The thought pulled him from his search and made his fingers freeze in mid-air over the keyboard. Getting a night position would keep him from being able to watch his daughter. I can't keep her if I don't have an apartment. Who knows how long I'll be sleeping in my car. I'll never put her in that position. I can't let her know that her Danno is sleeping in the backseat of his car because he can't afford a proper place. She can't know either. I'll just have to wait to see her until I have enough money to rent a new apartment. Danny nodded and went back to typing, ignoring the tear that fell on his keyboard. Life was about to get a whole lot harder.

Steve noticed the changes gradually. Danny's shirts were more wrinkled than usual, his hair a little messier than normal. Then the dark bags under his eyes appeared and his coffee addiction went through the roof. Now he was drinking 5 or 6 cups a day as opposed to his normal 2. He started to smile less and his diet became atrocious. He never packed his lunch and his morning coffee was always the disgusting tarry slop they had in the office as opposed to his favored home brew. That and the Camaro started to accumulate more trash than normal, at least when Danny forgot to empty it. Steve sometimes caught him throwing handfuls of trash away in the morning on his way in. At first, Steve thought it was nothing, until they finished their case. It was a tough one, full of twists and turns and uncomfortable suspects. Danny's temper started to increase and Steve had to hold his partner back – literally – on several occasions over the course of the case.

After it was finished, Steve went to Danny's office, noticing that his partner was still there . . . at 8 o'clock at night. In the past week and a half, Steve had never seen Danny leave the office before him, and he hadn't left most nights until at least 9 o'clock. And Danny was always here in the morning before Steve and Steve normally arrived at 8 o'clock sharp. But Danny was still here. Pursing his lips, Steve walked over to the Danny's office and walked in without knocking, proceeding to make himself at home on Danny's office couch. It was a test . . . and Danny failed it.

Normal Danny would have looked at him and started to rant about personal property and personal space and how it was rude to just walk into someone's office and how he should knock and would then proceed to call him a Neanderthal Animal. This tired Danny didn't do that. This Danny just looked up at him and then looked at the couch and said, "Hey, Steve. Something I can help you with?"

Steve was shocked, but he put on his best poker face and tried to hide the fact that the was uncomfortably surprised. "I was just going to invite you over for a beer tonight. I feel like this case has kept us from getting to talk. Honestly, I miss my partner."

There was no quippy comeback or playful jab, simply a scared look for a fraction of a second. The flash was so quick, that Steve almost thought that he imagined it. But then Danny was smiling. "Sorry Steve, no can do. I got Gracie tonight."

Steve shrugged. "So? You know she's always welcome. Bring her along."

Danny nodded. "I would, but you know how it goes. It's Tuesday night. Grace has school tonight. She needs to go to bed so she can get a good job and not end up like us fools."

Warning bells went off in Steve's head at that statement. Danny had always wished better for Grace, but he had never considered himself a fool for being a detective. Danny had always been proud of his job. Before he could speak though, Danny rose from his desk. "I gotta get home to Grace. She may need help on her homework. The girl can solve high level math equations, but her civics grade is deplorable," Danny said, smiling. "Maybe over the weekend, Steve."

Danny tried to pass the ex-Navy SEAL on his way to the door, but Steve stopped him with a single strong hand on Danny's arm. Danny stopped and looked up at the taller man, feeling uncomfortable as Steve analyzed him. Steve's green eyes seemed to cut right through him like they always did. The way they looked at Danny, with only warmth and worry, made Danny feel bad for lying and almost made him spill the truth all over the floor. But he didn't. He held his tongue and waited for Steve to speak.

Steve said the silent war in Danny's eyes and saw the urge to remain silent inevitably win, so he simply said, "Goodnight, Danny," before letting go of Danny's arm.

Danny, for his part, hung his head as he quickly left the office, leaving his best friend standing alone in his office.

Steve sat back down on the couch and tried not to feel hurt and betrayed. But inside, there was a kid who had been abandoned by his mother and that kid was hurt. Setting his jaw, he shrugged and turned off the light in Danny's office before heading back to his own.

Danny woke up to the alarm on his phone blaring Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. The phone was set to wake him up with the local radio station, so the irony was simply hilarious. Sitting up, he banged his head on the roof of the Camaro. Rubbing his sore cranium, he looked around and realized that he was still sleeping in the backseat of his car. Every night, he dreamed that he was in an apartment with an actual couch and an actual bed and an actual shower.

Shaking the cobwebs of the dream away, he got out of the back-seat and went around to his trunk to grab a new pair of clothes.

As always, the employee showers were empty at 6 o'clock in the morning and he had no trouble finding an empty shower. The warm water helped to ease his cramped muscles and he tried to scrub the fatigue away, but that proved to be more stubborn than the dirt from his jobs. His second job proved to be much like his current one. He showed up at 11 o'clock P.M. and patrolled the tech company's building to make sure that there was no one trying to break in and steal "important software files". Then, at 3 o'clock A.M., he went back to his car and drove to a secluded spot in city hall's parking lot so no one important would see Detective Danny Williams of Five-O sleeping in his trunk. Then, at 6, he woke up to take a shower and eat a protein bar out of his trunk before driving around to the front and parking in his normal spot. Then the day began all over again. He liked to think that he was getting used to the routine of sleeping for 3 hours before waking up again, but, if he was being honest with himself, he was exhausted.

Danny finished toweling his hair and tried to style it with his fingers, but he was too tired to care, so it came out as disheveled at it had been for the past week and a half. He pulled a chocolate chip bar protein bar out of his trunk and deposited his dirty clothes before making his way around to the driver's side. He moved the car and was halfway up the steps of city hall before he managed to choke down the tasteless bar. After enough of the things, he couldn't even taste them. Throwing the wrapper in the trash, he entered the Five-O office and made a bee-line for the coffee pot. He set a fresh one on to brew and leaned heavily against the counter, allowing his eyes to close as the smell of fresh coffee filled the air.

"Good morning, Danny!"

The loud call startled the detective so badly, he jumped and spun around, his hand darting towards his gun.

"Woah there, Sundance. Take it easy. Didn't mean to scare you," Lou Grover said as he entered the office.

Danny relaxed and gave a forced laugh before turning back around and grabbing for the coffee. He needed it pretty bad, apparently. "Sorry about that, Lou. I'm a little jumpy this morning. I didn't sleep real well last night."

"Did you have Grace?" Lou asked, pulling down a large mug for himself.

Danny nodded and took a swig of the burning hot liquid. It scorched his tongue, but the pain helped to wake him up. "Yeah. She had a rough day yesterday, so there was a lot of girl drama. She wanted to talk. I didn't sleep well after that."

"I understand that one. Teenagers are the best, aren't they?" Lou said, eyeing Danny. Something was off.

Danny squirmed under the observation and made an excuse to escape. He didn't really know what it was, but he needed to get to the safety of his office. His team was starting to notice. I have to pull back. Can't let them know.

Steve sat at his desk, trying desperately to work, but his mind kept going to Danny. Something was definitely up, but he hadn't been able to find out what. Now, it was 9 o'clock at night, Danny had left the office, and Steve was left alone with his thoughts of what could be bothering his partner. Nightmarish thoughts about what kind of horrors could be coming back to haunt his partner for his actions to avenge his brother kept on coming back to Steve in both his waking and sleeping thoughts. What if someone's coming after him? What if it's worse? What if someone's threatened Gracie? What if . . . what if . . . what if-

RINGGGGG!

Steve jumped in his seat when his cell phone rang from its resting position on the desk next to him. A caller ID that he wasn't expecting appeared on the screen and he picked it up without another moment's hesitation. "McGarrett."

"Steve, it's Rachel."

"Good evening, Rachel. Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. I was hoping that you could answer that."

Steve's mind raced to a halt and he was instantly prepared for the worst. "What do you mean, Rachel?"

"Danny hasn't taken Grace in a little over a week now. He says that they are working on a really rough case, but I haven't heard anything on the news. Needless to say, Grace is starting to get very upset."

"What do you mean Danny hasn't taken Grace in over a week? He just had her yesterday?" Steve asked, slowly standing from his chair to pace his office.

"I don't know what Danny told you, Steve, but it obviously wasn't the truth. Here." There was a pause on the line before Grace's voice came over the phone. "Uncle Steve?"

"Hey kiddo! How've you been?"

"Alright," she replied. She sounded upset and tired. She also sounded confused, though. Steve felt a pang of anger towards his partner for doing this to his beautiful daughter. "What's going on with Danno?"

"I don't know, Gracie," Steve said, packing his pockets with his keys and wallet before turning off the light in his office and heading towards the stairs. "But I'm gonna find out. Tonight."

"Really, Uncle Steve?!" Her voice lifted by a few octaves and he could practically hear her smiling.

"Absolutely. So you hold tight. As soon as I find Danny, I'm gonna give you a call."

"Thank you, Uncle Steve. Please help Danno. We know him. He wouldn't do something like this unless something was wrong."

Steve nodded and said, "I promise, Gracie. I'm gonna get him back. He's gonna be ok. Now go study civics!"

Grace laughed and said her goodnight before hanging up.

Steve shoved his phone down into his pocket and stormed angrily down the stairs, cursing on his way to his car. "Damn you, Danny."

He made it to Danny's condo in record time and took the stairs two at a time. By the time he got to the door, he was so angry he was about to break the door down . . . until he saw the sign on the wood. TENANTS EJECTED DUE TO UNSAFE LIVING CONDITIONS.

Suddenly, all his anger dissipated and he used his key to let himself in. He hadn't gotten it from the management, so why would they come looking for it. The apartment was empty. Everything that had been Danny's was gone and it looked to have been empty for several days now . . . maybe over a week. "Danny. I'm so sorry."

He left the apartment and pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialing the first number on his speed dial. It rang before going to voicemail and Steve hesitated before saying, "Danny. It's me. I know, man. Call me back."

How was it? Did everyone enjoy it? I hope so. Please tell me with a review! I'm going on vacation tomorrow, so I don't know when I'll get the chance to update, but I wanted to at least get this out.

Thanks! Have a great week!