Hello everyone! it's me again. I guess, like many of you, I'm somehow... disappointed by the last minutes of the finale. That doesn't include, of course, the farewell scene with each of the team members, (scene that I absolutely loved and made me shed a few... I mean, a lot of tears). I respect Peter Lenkov's comment when he says that fans can get to know the characters very well, but that he wrote them and, therefore, no one knows them better than him. Maybe this is the case, maybe not, but each one of us has the right to imagine our own scenario, don't you think?

That's why I decided to write this story, to heal my own heart and to show what, in my opinion, would be a perfect ending, with our boys finally together. Of course, I firmly believe that someone like Steve, deeply hurt by the loss, loneliness, and undoubted signs of PTSD, will need some time to heal. Perhaps, that's the reason why Lenkov thought Steve could hold onto a renewed romantic relationship with Catherine. I seriously disagree from that... second parts were never good, and they had previously admitted that they were better just as friends.

SPOILER ALERT! This story picks up some dialogue from some episodes of season 10, particularly 10x11, 10x19 and 10x22, so please be aware... and read accordingly.

This story will have, as always, a dose of angst and emotional hurt/confort, before our boys finally open their eyes and help each other heal.

I deeply appreciate you taking the time to read and comment on this story. Those who have read my work know that I never leave a story unfinished. This work is written in 90%, the details in each chapter need to be refined, so, as always, I will post them every two or three days. So, don't worry, I won't leave you hanging.

I thank my beta, Hugo, for his time and ideas. If you find a mistake, it's all mine, tell me and I'll be happy to fix it. Please, let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: All the characters and situations inherent in the Hawaii five-0 TV show, are owned by its creators and CBS. They are taken back for entertainment purposes only. No money or goods have been exchanged in the publishing of this story.

Enjoy reading!

PEACE IS WHERE HEART IS

Sumary: That feeling came back several times in the past few days, Steve seemed defeated and tired, but he didn't say anything... And Danny had let it go... Tonight he decided that not anymore...

Trembling, he got up from the bed and took the stick that rested next to the headboard. He walked slowly towards the door and went out into the living room. The house was dim, illuminated only by the faint moonlight filtering through the window. Carefully and quietly, Danny began to climb the stairs, step by step, as if measuring his own strength and afraid that it wasn't enough to reach the top floor.

CHAPTER ONE: I think… I'm done!

Steve was sitting there, looking through the window, letting his thoughts wander and be lost in the clouds that swirled outside, while Catherine held his hand and looked at him expectantly. He had felt so lost for the past few months but now… he was beginning to wonder if getting away would really solve that problem.

He had debated so much inside his head for the last week since the whirlwind of emotions that followed Danny's kidnapping. First, his focus was on rescuing his friend and the anguish built up as the minutes ticked by... a million images of the worst-case scenario he dared to imagine passed through his mind. There was a moment when he was sure Danny would die and, even now, he was unable to describe the pain he felt.

A terrifying laugh, mixed with the tears that were accumulating in his eyelids, had torn his throat as he watched Danny lie unconscious in his arms, while his truck flew towards the hospital. Anyone would say he should be used to all this stuff… after losing so many people, victims of his military past or the consequences of his mother's job. But nothing that would have happened before, could compare to this... to this overwhelming fear that seized his muscles and froze his will to fight... No... that was not going to happen... losing Danny was inconceivable.

In an attempt to escape from the constant, unsuccessful harassment in which Lou and the other team members had been engaged to comfort him, he slipped away into the silent dark chapel and knelt for the first time in a very long time. He really wished there was one chance to trade his life for Danny's. Anger came in an indefinable wave that mixed with fear... this fear that overwhelmed his brain and his heart. And when Cole asked for his permission to crack the cipher and figure out Daiyu Mei's location and intentions, he couldn't help but notice the indifference with which he listened to the guy... he really didn't care anymore... There was no point in worrying about finally solving the mystery that had haunted him for the past ten years… it would make no difference, no with Wo Fat and Doris... even when they were dead, they were still bent on taking everything good from him.

When the dust settled after Daiyu Mei's arrest and reality hit him one more time, Steve drove back to the hospital... to the chair next to Danny's bed… that chair and his friend's hand wrapped in his trembling fingers, would be his refuge for the next few days.

"Steve?" An insistent voice brought him out of his thoughts. Reluctantly, he turned his head to look at Catherine. She couldn't help but notice his deep frown and confused look.

"Sorry!" he whispered, "What were you saying?"

In response, Catherine looked at the pretty flight attendant, who was standing next to her, and who asked one more time in a sweet voice, "I was asking if you would like something to drink, sir."

"Oh!... no thank you. I'm fine…"

Without saying another word, he looked at the window again. He wondered, for the umpteenth time that week, if he was doing the right thing.

The way home from the hospital had been quiet. Danny was there... next to him in the passenger seat, his head back on the headrest and his eyes closed. Steve's mind was torn between concern for Danny and the crisis about Doris' latest messy attempt to give her children financial security that they didn't ask for or didn't need, as if all the gold in the world could replace her presence (or the lack of it) in their lives.

Slowly, he parked the truck as close to the entrance as he could, to ease Danny's walk. He ran to the other side and carefully helped the beaten detective out of the car, handing him the stick and taking the backpack and the plastic bag with the usual yellow bottles filled with painkillers and antibiotics that Danny should take over the next few days.

Steve held the weight of his friend, who was walking with difficulty, clinging to his waist as he moaned in pain. Steve shuddered again as he recalled the inventory of injuries that, in a professional voice, the surgeon had listed that day, as she walked with him to the room where his friend lay. In addition to the internal damage caused by the bullet, Danny's face had been used as a punching bag, causing a cut to his lip, bruises to his cheekbones, as well as a deep cut on his left eyebrow; He had two broken ribs and the old injury in his ACL had worsened again, when Danny made the acrobatic move to free himself from the chains and fell roughly on his knees

Slowly, they approached the door, which was quickly opened by a concerned Junior who moved to let them in. Without pausing, both friends walked to the room on the ground floor, where Danny had been sleeping since that fake mold story, invented as a pretext to be with Steve in his grief for his mom's death.

Steve let Danny to move at his own pace and slowly sit on the edge of the bed. When he was sure his friend had stabilized, he began to move around the room, arranging the pillows, unpacking the backpack, throwing the dirty clothes into the basket, and placing the meds on the bedside table.

"Please stop moving!" Danny whispered in a pitiful moan, "You're making me dizzy."

Steve stopped, turned to look at Danny and said apologetically, "I'm sorry ..." He looked at his watch and, frowning, mentally calculated the time, then said, "You must uh... you must take your meds in twenty minutes... I'm... I'm gonna bring you some water. "

Without waiting for an answer, Steve quietly left the room, feeling Danny's gaze pierce his back, but not daring to turn to meet those blue eyes that, more often than he would like, could effortlessly read his tangled thoughts. They had several conversations in the hospital, in which Danny tried, unsuccessfully, to ease the mood and prevent Steve from sinking into guilt. Over and over again, the conversation crashed into the inevitable phrase: "She used you, Danny... she used you to get at me... and you almost died."

A few minutes later, a thoughtful Steve entered the room with a tray in his hands. On the tray, there was a glass jug filled with water, a glass, an apple cut into thin slices, and a bowl full of pistachios. When he saw Danny's questioning gaze, Steve simply said, "The doctor said you shouldn't take the meds on an empty stomach, Danny, so don't complain and eat."

All week, Steve behaved like a mother hen. He made sure Danny ate, took his meds, and walked with him to the beach to spend some time in the sun and the breeze, as he cleaned up Danny's room.

Danny smiled sadly, as he watched his friend try to keep himself busy to avoid thinking, what he achieved, at least in part, during the day. They talked about trivial matters, had lunch together, and when Steve had to go out for a while, he made Kamekona or some member of the team stay with Danny.

But, as always, the night time was another story...

Every night, after bringing the water and watch Danny taking his meds, Steve said goodbye with a laconic "Good night, Danny. Sleep well." As he placed his hand on his friend's uninjured shoulder and gently pressed for a couple of seconds, then he went out and gently closed the door. Danny could hear Steve's quiet footsteps on the stairs and in his room, where he paced back and forth for a couple of hours. He suspected Steve was trying not to make noise... but Danny knew better.

He ran through his mind repeatedly, his conversation with Steve, when they both rode through the woods a few weeks earlier:

"You know what, I can, um… I can hear you at night."

"Why don't you get some earplugs?" As always, Steve tried to avoid awkward conversations. Danny wasn't willing to let him do that this time.

"No, I mean, I… I hear you walking around, pacing back and forth. I know you're not sleeping."

"So what?"

"I just... Maybe you want to talk, tell me what's going on."

"Uh, you just said it. I'm not sleeping right now. That's it. Nothing left to say."

True to his habit, Danny kept pushing, "But it's a new thing. I mean, when I moved in a couple months ago, it wasn't like that. So I wondered if maybe something changed, something going on…"

But Steve had interrupted him and said bluntly, "I got a lot on my mind. That's it. Okay?"

Finally, Danny had given up and with a slight sigh he said, "Okay. Well, like I said, I'm here if you want to talk, you know?"

Without looking at him, Steve had answered, "And even when I don't to, huh?" but then he had turned to look at Danny and couldn't help noticing the roll of his eyes, so, softening his tone he said, "I appreciate it. Thank you."

Dripping sarcasm, Danny simply replied "Uh-huh."

Things had gotten a little tense from there, so they had only been able to resume their conversation when the whole thing was over, and the horses had to return to the ranch. By then, Steve exuded sadness from every inch of his skin... suddenly, he stopped his horse, watched the sunset and said, "You know, I've always taken sunsets for granted. Probably 'cause I figured I'd see a million more… But just 'cause you see something every day, doesn't make it any less special, huh?"

Danny didn't dare interrupt his friend's conversation, so he remained silent and continued to listen to Steve as he continued to ramble on, "In fact, I think those are the things that you're gonna miss the most in the end, you know?"

He didn't like the turn the conversation was taking, so he just nodded, and tried to ease the mood, even knowing it wouldn't work, "You know, I-I think about sunsets… I think about, um, the sun setting, which means it's gonna go down, which means it's gonna be dark, and then… we'd have to sleep in the... in the woods here, which..."

As he had done before, Steve interrupted him, his frustration was palpable, when he said, "Can I... can I savor this moment? Just for a second…"

Danny mentally kicked himself, and replied, "You-you can have the moment… Yeah, take the moment." And he kept trying to make his conversation have a less disturbing tone, "You have the moment, I'll go find a squirrel to grill for dinner. Does that sound appetizing?"

Steve closed his eyes for a second, and resigned, decided to continue the game, "¿A squirrel? Ten years. You've been here ten years?... You ever once seen a squirrel, Danny?" as Danny shook his head, Steve kept saying, "No, 'cause there are none. How have you not learned that?"

Danny made one last attempt, pulling out of his own book a joke that has worked countless times before, "I-I guess I'm a slow learner. If I wasn't, I probably would have gotten a new partner a long time ago, you know?"

But Steve didn't take the bait; sadness tore through Danny's heart when he heard him lower his voice and say, "Admit it, Danny. You're gonna miss this when it's done."

That was the first time that fear, along with the feeling that Steve had finally reached his limits, had taken over Danny's heart; Sighing, he replied: "Yeah, maybe, but I would never say it out loud".

That feeling came back several times in the past few days, Steve seemed defeated and tired, but he didn't say anything... And Danny had let it go... Tonight he decided that not anymore...

Trembling, he got up from the bed and took the stick that rested next to the headboard. He walked slowly towards the door and went out into the living room. The house was dim, illuminated only by the faint moonlight filtering through the window. Carefully and quietly, Danny began to climb the stairs, step by step, as if measuring his own strength and afraid that it wasn't enough to reach the top floor.

A strange and ridiculous feeling of victory momentarily filled his chest, as he reached the top of the stairs and approached the door of Steve's room... timidly, he knocked the wood with his fist twice.