Hello beautiful readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I got some time to write and update today, due to the fact that I had to have surgery and all I'm doing now is sitting around watching TV, but no worries. It's given me the time to update this story. I apologize for the time it's taken. School is ramping up and I am still working, so I've been pretty busy.

This chapter is more about the bond between Steve and Danny and I hoped I was able to adequately capture it. I had an idea of what I was doing, but I didn't want it to be too corny. I do hope that I succeeded.

Please let me know what you think with a review at the end.

Disclaimer: there is some language in this chapter. Nothing too horrible in my book and I tried to not make it anything they would say in the show, but I just wanted to warn everyone. Also, I do not own Hawaii Five-O. If I did, an episode would not go by without a Steve and Danny moment.

Once again, a huge thank you to AinsleyWright, the beautiful person behind this story! Thanks again!

ENJOY!

Steve McGarrett threw his truck into park and yanked the keys from the ignition, jumping out and running towards the doors of the hospital that Duke had named. It was of course Tripler Army Medical Center, the preferred hospital for all the Five-O members. Shortly after Duke's phone call Steve had received another call from the hospital itself, calling Steve because he was listed as Danny's emergency medical contact. "Detective Williams has been shot. We need you to come to the hospital."

Those words had almost caused Steve to crash his truck. When a doctor said that you were needed at the hospital, bad things had happened. Complications. That was the word they liked to use. Complications meant that Danny could be severely injured, dying, or dead. God, please don't be dead.

Running up to the nurse at the desk, Steve couldn't seem to get his words out quick enough. "My name is Steve McGarrett. I was called about my partner, Danny Williams?"

The nurse looked at him and realization lit up her face. "Commander McGarrett. Of course. Doctor Hanson is waiting for you. I'll call him out." She picked up a phone and spoke into it quietly for a moment while Steve waited impatiently. Turning back to him after she hung up the phone, she gestured to the doors at the end of the hall. "Doctor Hanson said that he will meet you at your partner's room. He said there was really no point in trying to make you wait out here." She smiled sympathetically at him and Steve's stomach clenched. Oh God, Danno. What have you done?

Going down the gestured hall, Steve walked until he got to the intensive care unit's nurses desk. "I'm looking for Danny Williams' room?"

A voice spoke up before the nurse could respond. "Commander McGarrett." A man in a white lab coat walked up and extended his hand. "My name is Doctor Hanson. We must really stop meeting under these circumstances."

Steve shook the man's hand, smiling politely. "Good to see you again, Doctor. But I must agree. The circumstances could be more desirable." Steve remembered the doctor from the other times Five-O members had been in the hospital. He was a good doctor and a good man, around the age of 55. His hair was gray and his green eyes were hidden behind wire frames. He always treated the team well.

The man smiled a sad smile and started to lead Steve to the end of the hall. "Detective Williams came to us with a bullet wound to the shoulder and extensive cuts and bruising. The cuts appear to have come from glass shards and some shards were even imbedded in the wounds. We were able to remove the shards and the bullet. The bullet had some complications. It was a hollow tipped bullet, so it caused some more severe damage than a normal bullet would and blood loss and shock further complicated the detective's prior condition."

Steve stopped him there. "What do you mean prior condition?"

Doctor Hanson sighed and adjusted his glasses. "The detective is underweight, malnourished, and suffering from exhaustion. These factors further complicated his injury and sent him into severe shock. The shock, in turn, affected his breathing and heart rate. We're closely monitoring him now and we hope that he'll stabilize."

Steve nodded his head in understanding and looked sadly at the doctor. "He'll make it, though, won't he doc?"

Doctor Hanson nodded. "Barring any other complications, like infection, the detective should recover, albeit slowly. He'll need a lot of support."

"No worries there, doc. Danny won't be alone."

The doctor nodded and gestured towards the room that they were standing outside of. "Detective Williams is in there. Try to keep him calm."

"I will. Thank you, doc." Steve said, shaking the man's hand one more time. With that, Doctor Hanson headed back down the hall, leaving Steve standing alone outside of his wounded partner's room. Guilt was eating away at Steve. If he had confronted Danny instead of letting him come around and tell him, none of this would have happened. Danny wouldn't be in that bed right now with a hole in his shoulder and a body covered in bruises.

Taking a deep breath, Steve entered the room and took a look at his partner.

Danny looked small in his hospital bed. Small and sick. Several lines were running out of his arms and a nasal cannula was feeding oxygen to him. His left arm was immobilized in a sling that was secured around his rib cage, as well as over his shoulder, and his neck and arms were littered with small scratches. Dark bags hung under Danny's eyes and the sleep that he was experiencing was probably the deepest he'd had all week.

Which was why Steve didn't wake him. He simply sat in the chair next to Danny's bed and watched his partner breath. It's the little things in life to be truly thankful for. Steve smiled at his thought. Yes. Danny was a little thing to be thankful for in life. Little in height, massive in personality.

Steve looked up from his scrutinization of Danny's breathing as a nurse poked her head in. Steve put a finger up to his lips and gestured that he would join her outside. He didn't want to risk waking his partner. Steve had been there for about two hours now and the Jersey-Native had been sleeping peacefully. He didn't want to ruin that. Standing, he snuck out into the hall and looked down at the petite nurse.

"Sorry to bother you, Commander, but they demanded to see Detective Williams," she said, gesturing behind her.

Steve looked down the hall and saw two men standing at the nurses' station. They were wearing jeans, button up shirts, and one of them was wearing thick rimmed glasses.

Steve nodded and smiled down at the nurse. "Thank you. I'll handle it."

Walking towards the men, he was immediately met with indignant looks. "Who are you? We asked to talk to Mr. Williams."

Steve bristled. "That's Detective Williams. And sorry, but he's sleeping. I'm Commander Steve McGarrett, his partner."

One of the men looked up innocently. "Oh. Sorry. We weren't aware that the Mr. – I mean Detective Williams was married."

Steve had to suppress a mischievous smile and shook his head. "He's not. We work together at Five-O."

The two men nodded with simultaneous, "Ohhhs."

The first one, the one that Steve was starting to really dislike based upon his rude and pretentious attitude, spoke again and said, "Can you wake Detective Williams up so that we can speak to him. We need to talk about some things, like what the thieves were there to steal."

Steve crossed his arms and planted his feet. "Sorry, but no. I'm not going to wake him. You're free to come back later."

The man pushed his glasses up his nose and took a step towards Steve, entering what Danny called "his bubble". "Listen here," he began, his voice starting to rise in volume, "Detective Williams is our employee and as such, we have certain rights. Now, he is responsible for a broken wall that now has to be repaired. There are also police crawling all over the premise and the floor will probably have to be replaced because it is damaged and stained as well. Now, unless you want me to sue you and Detective Williams, you're going to go wake him up and let us talk to him!"

Steve couldn't exactly nail down what it was that made him snap. Maybe it was the way that he kept on saying Detective with a mocking, sarcastic tone. Maybe it was the way that he referred to the floor as being stained, never mind that it was stained with Danny's blood because he had protected their precious product. Or maybe it was simply because this man had the balls to threaten him and his wounded partner. Whatever it was, it made Steve grab the son of a bitch by the collars of his shirt and lift him a solid foot up off the ground and slam him against the wall. The nurse behind him was calling for security, but Steve didn't hear her. He was focused on the terrified eyes of the man in his hands.

"First off, threaten my partner again and I'll give you something to sue me over. Secondly, your floor is stained with my partner's blood, so be a little bit more respectful and sympathetic. Thirdly, you've worked him practically to exhaustion. So no, I will not be waking him up. Lastly, if you shout and wake up my partner, I will allow you to trade places with him and you will sleep for awhile. Understood?"

The small man nodded and had the decency to look contrite.

"Good." Steve dropped him to the floor and took a step back, waving at the security guards to signify that everything was okay. Making up his mind, Steve looked at the kinder of the two men and said, "Also, consider this Danny's resignation. He'll no longer be working at your establishment. I'll have him call you if he saw anything about the men who tried to rob you. My team will be on it, though, so if you have cameras, there probably isn't any point in bothering Detective Williams any more. Understood?"

The two men nodded.

"Very good. Have a nice day, gentlemen." He waited until they had passed through the ICU swinging doors before he apologized to the nurse, who simply smiled and waved off his apologies.

"No worries. They were rather rude." With that comment, she returned to her work and Steve walked back down the hallway to Danny's room, smiling when he saw that Danny had not been bothered by his dispute with the two business men.

Steve settled himself back down into his chair and continued where he had left off: being happy with the fact that Danny was breathing.

When Danny finally did wake up, the sky outside had turned dark and the hospital lights had been dimmed. Steve was still seated in his spot, not having moved for the past several hours. It had been about 20 hours since Danny had been admitted to the hospital. Steve was going on three days with only a few hours of sleep, but he simply couldn't fall asleep. Each time his eyes closed, horrible images of Danny in a puddle of his own blood flashed through his mind and made him snap to alertness. So he had just watched and waited. The nurses occasionally had mercy on him and brought him cups of coffee and he'd been texting Kono, Chin, and Grover all day, convincing them not to come to the hospital. He had shared a few details with them, feeling that it was Danny's right to tell them everything if he wanted to.

Danny woke up slowly, the only thing that alerted Steve to the fact that he was waking up was when his hand clenched into a fist.

Standing up, Steve leaned on the rail on the side of Danny's bed and hovered over his partner. "Danny? Can you hear me, babe?"

Weary blue eyes opened and drifted for a moment before locking on Steve's face. "Steve?" Danny's hand unclenched and lazily lifted to pat Steve's chest before Steve locked the cold appendage in his own warm one.

A smile appeared on Steve's face and he held his friend's hand. "Hey, buddy. I've got you." The moment was reminisce of when they were trapped together under the rubble of the parking garage and the relief he felt was much akin to what he had felt then.

Danny's eyes studied Steve's face and a questioning look painted his features. "Are you ok, Steve?"

"You're the one lying in a hospital bed and you ask if I'm okay?" Steve shook his head in wonder. Classic Danno.

"You look tired." Danny responded in confusion.

Steve nodded. "I am tired, Danny. But trust me when I say that you look worse." Steve lowered his head to his arm, which was still perched on the rail, and prepared himself for what he was going to say next. I have to say something. This has gone on too long. I need to say something. Looking up, he looked into his wounded partner's face and saw something that made him stop. It's not my job to interrogate him. It's not my job to demand answers. It's my job to be there for him. It's my job to be what he needs right now. And right now, he just needs someone.

So, instead of demanding an answer to why Danny had hidden the truth from him, he instead smiled and squeezed his partner's hand, locking Danny's blue eyes with his own green ones and said, "I'm just really glad that you're ok."

Danny smiled and something shifted in his eyes. He relaxed and sank further into the pillow behind him, smiling warmly and genuinely at Steve. At that moment, Steve knew that he had made the right decision. So many times, in their relationship, they demanded answers from the other, and the answers never made anything any better. All the answers did was open a wound and, unfortunately, sometimes the wound became infected. It wasn't just between him and Danny; it happened in almost every relationship. Steve would be more worried if it didn't happen. If it didn't happen, then the relationship would be superficial and fake. What he and Danny had was real. They were partners, they were best friends, and they were brothers. Steve would get the answer eventually, but he didn't need it right now. Right now, he would pull Danny off of his path, let him heal, and, when Danny was healthy and strong again, he would tell Steve what had happened and he would explain to Steve why he had done what he did.

But right now, Steve just needed his partner. Giving his partner's arm a pat, without releasing his grip on his hand, Steve said, "Get some sleep, buddy. I'll be here when you wake up."

"You look like you could do with some shut-eye as well."

Steve winked and slumped down in his chair. Without saying another word, they both drifted off to sleep, hands linked in a brotherly grasp.

Danny dropped down out of Steve's truck, looking blearily eyed at the ocean front residence that Steve called home. He'd been napping in the car on the way there and the sun pierced his retinas like knives, but he could recognize this place even if he was blind. There was something about it. It filled a space in his chest and calmed all anxiety that he was feeling.

Steve came out from around the other side of the truck to stand next to Danny and smiled. All Danny could think is, He knows. He has to. Danny had been in the hospital for about a day when the doctors decided that he would feel more comfortable outside of the sterile walls and scratchy sheets. All he really needed was good food and sleep. Then he'd be right as rain. There was no sign of infection and the wounded muscle in his shoulder was mending nicely. He'd have to have so physical therapy and it would be uncomfortable, simply due to the fact that it had been a hollow tip bullet and the wound was a little larger than normal, but they hadn't seen any reason to confine the detective to a hospital bed for another day. So they'd released him. But on the way home, Steve hadn't asked if Danny needed to pick anything up from his house. That was the first clue. He'd just driven straight to his place. Before they even left the hospital, he'd managed to procure a pair of jeans for Danny and a t-shirt, but Danny didn't know where he'd gotten the clothes. The jeans felt like his, but the shirt was obviously Steve's, based upon the fact that it was at least a size too large. Danny didn't mind, though. The shirt was clean and worn in, so the cotton didn't bother the scratches on his neck.

Steve put a gentle hand on Danny's back and guided him into the house, putting a duffle bag that he had pulled from the backseat of the car by the stairs and heading for the kitchen. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable, Danny. I'm gonna get a beer. Want something to drink that's not alcoholic?"

Danny looked down at the floor, analyzing his shoes. These were his too, but the last time he had seen them was when he put them in the trunk with-.

He looked towards the staircase and realized that the bag Steve had put on the floor was actually his bag that he'd packed his clothes in when he'd been evicted. It had been in his trunk . . . Next to the protein bars.

He knows.

Moving into the kitchen, Danny leaned against the doorway and said, "I'm sorry."

Steve pulled his head out from the fridge, beer in hand, and looked at his partner, eyes squinting as he sought for a reason for the apology. "For what, babe?"

"For no telling you. I . . . I was so embarrassed. I thought that I could handle it, but," he looked down at his immobilized arm, "I was obviously wrong. I should've trusted you, but . . . you have so many problems of your own. I didn't want to burden you."

Steve shook his head and set the unopened beer down on the counter. "Your problems are my problems, Danny. They have been for 5 year, 11 months, and 21 days. You're always so willing to help people. You're always the first one to offer a sympathetic ear. You just need to learn that that is what I am here for you as well. I'm here for you, Danno. I'm here and I always will be." Gesturing towards the stairs, he said, "Come with me. I got something to show you."

Danny's smile turned to confusion as he followed his partner up the stairs to the guest bedroom and watched as Steve walked in. The Jersey-Native expected to see the room as it had always been, but instead, he was greeted by the sight of the bedroom with some brown, cardboard boxes littering the floor. He recognized his handwriting on the side, marking what was in them, and realized that these were the boxes he had put in his storage unit. "What is this?"

Turning around to look at his confused partner, Steve shrugged. "It can get kind of lonely being here all by myself, so I was hoping that you would consider being my house-mate. Room's yours if you want it. Grace, of course, would always be welcome and we can fix up the room next door for her. It's just holding junk right now, so it would give me an excuse to clean and clear it. All I would ask is that you help with the cleaning and the shopping. Plus, helping with some maintenance around the house and maybe splitting the utilities bills." Danny was staring at him with his mouth open, so Steve felt obligated to add, "I can promise that there are no bed bugs, though, and it's not haunted."

Danny's confusion soon turned to gratitude and he sputtered as he searched for words. "I don't know what to say, Steve."

Steve smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Please say that you're done sleeping in your car."

Danny's smile broadened, if it was possible, and he nodded.

Steve smiled back and clapped his hands together, much as he had done when he learned that Danny had won shared custody of Grace, and walked forward, throwing an arm over Danny's shoulders, being careful not to jostle his partner's wounded shoulder. "Alright, house-mate, let's celebrate. I'll get the grill going, you call Grace and the team."

Danny allowed himself to be led out of the room and looked up at his tall partner, both smiling so broadly that it hurt. "You do realize that this will only make the marriage jokes worse, right?"

How was it? I hope it was alright. Please tell me with a review. Also, you know what the end of this story means? STEVE AND DANNY ROOMMATE STORIES! I'll be brainstorming for awhile, but if anyone wants to send an idea with their review, I will most certainly give it a look!

Thank you to all my readers who stuck with me through this story and left beautiful reviews for the previous chapters. You're all so wonderful!

Thank you, everyone! Stay tuned for more! BYYYEEE!