Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Sorry for the delay in posting this next chapter, hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2

"He's out of surgery and stable!" Tani excitedly exclaimed as she walked towards Steve and Grace, who were still sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor of the hallway.

Both Steve and the younger Williams jumped up and ran towards Danny's room. Although Steve was relieved that Danny had made it through surgery, he knew that stable didn't mean completely out of the woods. But stable did mean that Danny was alive, and that was enough for now.

As Steve, Grace, and Tani approached Danny's room, Steve put a hand on Grace's shoulder.

"You go ahead with your mom Grace, I'm going to talk to Danno's doctor." As much as Steve wanted to stand vigil at his partner's bedside, he knew that too many people in the room wouldn't be good for Danny. Plus, he really did want to speak to Dr. Lea.

Grace nodded as she gave Steve a tight hug. Steve managed to glance into the room as Grace opened the door and slid in, his heart constricting as he briefly saw his injured partner's prone form on the bed. As he walked towards Danny's doctor, he took solace in the fact that Grace and Rachel were by Danny's side.

"Hey doc, how is he?" Steve asked as he rounded the corner.

"He's stable for now Commander, but he has an extensive list of injuries and the bullet came really close to his heart. He coded twice on the table but we were able to bring him back," Dr. Lea stated.

Coded twice. That sick-to-his-stomach feeling returned as Steve let those words sink in. Danny's heart had stopped…twice…he was grateful that Danny was stable but hearing that he had coded twice was not easy to hear. Steve took a deep breath, bracing himself for how the good doctor would answer his next question.

"What were his other injuries, aside from the gsw?" Steve asked as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"For starters, Detective Williams sustained severe bruising to his abdomen, a ruptured spleen that caused a fair amount of internal bleeding, two broken ribs, and a bruised kidney. The surgery to repair the damage caused by the bullet was successful, but we need to watch for scar tissue that will form close to his heart. He's not out of the woods by any means, and the next 48 hours will give us a better indication of his prognosis," Dr. Lea stated, acutely aware of the horrified look on Steve's face. She truly felt horrible for him. She, along with the rest of the hospital staff, knew how close Steve and Danny were and the special bond the two partners shared. She knew hearing all of this wasn't easy, and she didn't envy the two of them for what they had endured over the past few years; both partners being in and out of he hospital – with life threating injuries – on numerous occasions.

"Thanks Doc," Steve simply nodded, unable to piece together any other words after hearing the devasting list of Danny's injuries.

Tears welled up in Steve's eyes as he lowered himself onto a seat in the waiting room. Internal bleeding, ruptured spleen, broken ribs, bruised kidney…the gut-wrenching guilt he felt as Dr. Lea stated each injury was almost too much to stomach. This was his fault, Daiyu Mei took Danny because of him, tortured Danny because of him, and if Danny didn't make it – it would be because of him. This had all started with Wo Fat being responsible for his father's death, Hesse may have pulled the trigger, but Wo Fat had set everything in motion. If this ended with Wo Fat's wife taking Danny's life, Steve didn't know how he'd survive that. Danny was his partner, it was his job to watch his back, not get him tortured and possibly killed.

Steve was so wrapped up in his self-loathing guilt that he barely felt the hand that was now on his shoulder.

"Steve," Rachel started slowly, taken aback by the eyes that stared back at her. It wasn't hard to notice that the weight of the guilt that Steve was carrying was suffocating him. She also realized that letting Steve believe she was mad at him earlier was probably the worst thing she could have done, and the last thing Danny would have wanted. "Do you want to go sit with him for a bit? I'm going to take Grace and Charlie to grab something to eat."

Steve immediately stood up. "How is he?"

"He's resting, he hasn't woken up yet…I'm not sure if that's good or bad," Rachel replied concerned.

"The doctor said he's stable and vitals are good, so rest is probably good for his body," Steve reassured her with a sad smile.

Rachel smiled and nodded as she brushed passed Steve.

"Hey Steve," Rachel started as she turned to look back at Steve. "I'm sorry about how I acted earlier. I don't blame you for any of this Steve, no one does, least of all Danny."

Steve stood staring as Rachel as tears started to well in his eyes. He didn't know what he was expecting her to say, but it wasn't that. You should though, everyone should, especially Danny. Steve closed his eyes and looked at the ground before turning around and making his way to Danny's room.

With his hand on the door handle, Steve took a deep breath, not sure if he was ready for what was waiting for him on the other side. As he opened the door and made his way to Danny's bedside, three things instantly stood out. The first was the beeping of the machines – signalling to him that Danny was still very much alive. He stood mesmerized by the Holter monitor; watching as Danny's heart rhythm lines went up, down, and up again. He never realized how much power this one little machine had and wondered how many lives this particular one had destroyed by displaying that soul-shattering flat line. The second thing Steve noticed was how peaceful, despite the bruising, his best friend looked. Danny didn't look like he was in any pain at the moment, and for that, Steve was grateful. With all the injuries Dr. Lea had listed off, he knew that that would change pretty quickly once the meds wore off. The third, and probably the most painful thought of all, was how quiet it was; being in a room with Danny Williams was rarely ever a quiet event and Steve couldn't ignore how much he hated the haunting silence that surrounded him. All he wanted was to hear Danny's sarcastic comments, nagging, joking, hell – he'd even take Danny incessantly asking him what was on his mind. Sighing, Steve grabbed the chair from the side of the room and pulled it next to Danny's bed.

"Hey buddy," Steve began as he took Danny's hand in his. Looking up, Steve took a long hard look at the bruising on Danny's face; it killed him that what he could physically see was only the tip of the iceberg of the injuries that Danny had sustained. The extensive list of injuries that Dr. Lea had mentioned kept repeating in his head.

"I'm so sorry man…I'm so sorry," Steve repeated as tears slipped down his face.

For the next 30 minutes Steve sat there by Danny's side, holding his hand, praying for him to wake up, and wondering how he ever let things escalate to this point.

The first thing Danny realized, before he even opened his eyes, was the absence of the hand that was holding his. Even in his unconscious state, Danny could tell whose hand it was, and as weird as it sounded, he could also feel the pain and anguish radiating out of those hands.

"Hey," Danny weakly muttered as he came back to the land of the conscious.

Steve snapped his head up and pulled his hands away from his face. Danny was finally awake. "Hey…"

"Why'd you stop holding my hand?" Danny questioned. Although he was partly joking, a small part of him yearned for the closeness.

Steve stared at his partner for a brief second before letting out a relieved breath. Danny being…Danny…was the greatest sound Steve had ever heard. He moved closer again, taking Danny's hand in his.

"Are we fighting?" Danny joked, knowing that Steve needed this as much as he did.

"Buddy…I uh…I thought I lost you there man," Steve choked out.

"Nah, you can't get rid of me that easy," Danny smiled weakly.

Steve simply nodded, still letting it sink in that Danny was alive…and awake…and speaking.

"You know when a patient wakes up, you're supposed to – uh – be relieved. At least act happy a little bit," Danny jibed trying to lighten the mood in the room; a room that felt incredibly heavy at the moment.

"I'm happy," Steve replied solemnly. As much as he wanted to, he just couldn't muster up a smile.

"Yeah? Yeah me too," Danny smiled.

As silence filled the room once again, Danny took a second to really look at his partner. Steve's entire demeanor: the fearful eyes, the shallow breathing, and the monotone voice, was something Danny had only seen twice in the 10 years he had known his best friend. Once was after Joe White died, and the other was after Doris was killed. Steve looked emotionally and mentally exhausted. He also looked like he was about to start crying at any moment, and Danny knew that it was taking everything in Steve to keep his emotions at bay. Although Danny was the one recovering from a gunshot wound, he didn't envy what his partner was going through. He remembered what it was like being on the other end of this, with Steve in the hospital injured or fighting for his life. It was always worse being the uninjured party. Danny was also acutely aware that this situation was even more complicated, since Steve felt responsible, and the guilt was all over his partner's face.

"She used you…to get at me. She almost killed you," Steve finally said out loud.

And there it was.

"Well she didn't, I'm right here, I'm chillin'," Danny pushed back.

"Yeah it's just…it feels a lot like what I went through with my father, that's all," Steve continued as he looked at the ground. "Danny, I'm so sor-"

"Hey...Super Seal…stop," Danny nudged Steve's hand as Steve looked up and locked eyes with his partner. Although Danny could feel the waves of guilt emitting off Steve, the sorrow and pain in his eyes still took Danny's breath away. Wo Fat had taken so much from Steve, caused him so much pain, and now his wife had added Danny to that list of pain. "I said this before and I'll say it again, this isn't your fault."

Steve shook his head and smiled remembering his conversation with Grace.

"You and Grace man," Steve started, shaking his head as he took the next few minutes to tell Danny about his conversation with Grace.

Danny smiled with pride. "She's right you know, Daiyu Mei using me to get to you, in no way is that your fault."

"I'm not so sure about that Danny," Steve replied sadly.

There was so much that Danny wanted to say, he remembered Daiyu Mei goading Steve, blaming Steve for his father's death. He wanted to tell Steve how badly he had wanted to kill her in that moment, how badly he had wanted to wrap his arms around Steve and assure him that nothing that had happened in his life surrounding Wo Fat was his fault. But Danny was tired, and everything was hazy. He knew that in order to have a proper conversation, a conversation deserving of the gravity of situation, he'd have to be physically stronger and not drugged up on hospital meds. So he prayed that Grace's words, and the few coherent sentences that he was able to string together, were enough to get Steve through until Danny was strong enough to pick up the broken pieces of his partner.

"Well, I am. If I had a dollar for every time you saved my life," Danny began and Steve looked up with a small smirk. "I'd have like 20 bucks."

"You'd – you'd have a lot more than that actually," Steve played along.

"Like 25 bucks," Danny retorted, excited to see a semblance of his partner's old self.

"Yeah," Steve smiled as his phone began to rang. "Hey, I'm sorry it's Cole, want me to take it outside?"

"Go ahead, answer it…put it on speaker would ya? I'm bored," Danny insisted, needing something to take his mind off of being stuck in a hospital bed.

"Yeah Cole, go ahead," Steve answered as he put his phone on speaker for Danny to hear.

"Steve we cracked it, it's called an ADF-GPX Cipher. The Germans were the first to use it during WWl," Lincoln began.

"The code your mother sent were coordinates for a cemetery on the island, we're sending you the location now," Quinn finished.

"Okay…oh my god…I know this place," Steve exclaimed as he stood from the chair. "I know this place, my dad used to take me here, this is where we thought my mom was buried," Steve looked up at Danny, silently asking him for permission to go and help Quinn and Lincoln.

"Go, go, go, go," Danny nodded his head.

"You alright?" Steve questioned wanting to make sure that Danny was okay.

"Yeah," Danny replied smiling.

"Okay, I'm going to text Rachel and tell her I'm stepping out, so she knows to come back. I'll be back soon, okay buddy," Steve reassured.

As Steve pulled up to the shipyard with the team, he had one goal in mind – capture Daiyu Mei. He had a feeling that she may have some answers to his past, and he wanted to know what she wanted with the cipher. Plus, if Steve was being honest with himself, he needed this distraction. The weight of what had happened to Danny, and the guilt Steve felt, was not just consuming it – it was drowning him.

Just as Steve was about to get out of the truck, his phone started ringing. Looking at his phone, Steve's heart sank as he saw whose name was flashing on the screen.

"Rachel…is Danny okay?"

The silence was deafening.

"Rachel?! What's happened?" Steve became frantic as he heard Rachel sobbing. The next words to leave Rachel's mouth brought Steve's world crumbling down.

"Steve…they just put Danny on life support."

To be continued...