Disclaimer: Nothing related to Hawaii Five-0 belongs to me. I'm just having some fun with Steve and Danno.

Ma'i

By: Vanessa Sgroi

Danny Williams watched as his ex-wife, Rachel, pulled up outside the headquarters for Hawaii Five-0. His daughter, Grace, slipped from the backseat, waved goodbye to her mother, and ran toward him full tilt, a bright smile on her face.

She launched herself at him. "Danno!"

"Hey, Monkey!" He hugged her tight before easing her back down to the ground. He gave Rachel a quick finger wave and watched her drive away. "I'm so glad your mom wanted to drop you off tonight instead of tomorrow morning!"

"Me too! Guess what…"

"What?"

"I made you cookies!"

"You did?"

"Uh huh. Your favorite too—peanut butter!" She patted her backpack. "They're in here."

"I bet they're the best cookies ever." Danny took his daughter's hand and led her into the building. "So, listen, I just have a couple of more things to wrap up and then we're outta here. We can go get dinner or something."

"Pizza?"

"Pizza? Again?"

"Pleeeease!" Gracie begged, wide-eyed.

"Okay, pizza it is. But no pineapple."

"Just a little bit of pineapple?" The little girl made a gesture with her thumb and index finger. "It's good!"

Danny gave her an exaggerated grimace. "Pineapple on half. That's my final offer."

Grace grinned. "Deal!"

After reaching Danny's desk, Grace ran over to both Chin Ho and Kono, greeting each of them with a hug. Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out the container of cookies, offering each of the task force members one. "These are for Danno but there's lots and lots." Returning to her dad, she asked, "Where's Uncle Steve?"

"He's in his office."

"Can I go say hi?"

"Sure. I'm sure he'd like that, squirt."

A little while later, Danny felt a tug at his white dress shirt. Looking away from the report he was finalizing before he could leave for the day as promised.

"Hey, Monkey," the detective pulled her into a hug, "I promise I'm almost done and then we can go, okay?"

Grace motioned for her father to bend down. "Danno, can I tell you something?"

"Of course, Doodlebug."

The little girl laid her head against Danny's side. "I think Uncle Steve is sick."

The detective's gaze flicked to Steve who was at his desk in his office. "What makes you say that?"

"After Mommy dropped me off, I went into his office to give him a cookie and say hi. He didn't want a cookie."

Danny smiled. "Monkey, maybe he's just not hungry right now."

"But he always takes a cookie. And when I gave him a hug he made this weird little noise then…then he made this face," Grace scrunched her face up, "like I do when I have a really bad tummy ache."

He gave his daughter a one-armed squeeze. "I'm sure he's just fine, sweetheart."

"But, Danno, he feels really, really hot. Like when I had sunburn that one time."

Danny frowned. "Tell you what, munchkin, how about I go into his office and check, okay? I'll make sure he's okay then we can go. All right?"

Grace nodded quite solemnly for such a little girl.

"How about you visit with Kono while I check on the big guy, huh?" The detective raised an inquiring eyebrow at his Five-0 teammate who nodded in agreement and motioned for Grace to come over to her desk.

Danny knocked, opened McGarrett's office door, and crossed the threshold in almost one simultaneous motion. He crossed the room and stood in front of Steve's desk.

Steve looked up from the papers in front of him his expression carefully neutral. "You need something, Danny?"

"Gracie seems to think you're sick." He studied his partner silently, taking in his pale, almost gray, complexion and darkish circles around his eyes. His blue eyes had a glazed sheen to them.

"Nice of her to worry, but I'm fine." McGarrett gave an abbreviated shrug and dropped his gaze.

"Uh huh."

McGarrett shifted in his chair and grimaced ever so slightly. "I'm fine."

"Prove it."

Steve looked up in surprise. "What? How the hell would I do that?"

"I dunno. Get up and go get one of Gracie's cookies and eat it." As Danny suspected, McGarrett's face took on a green tinge. Yep, his partner was sick.

"Okay," Steve pushed back from his desk and stood, "fi—aghhh!" The nagging pain in Steve's belly suddenly crescendoed. His legs gave way and he sank toward the floor.

"Whoa, whoa—" Danny lunged forward in an attempt to catch his partner. "Hey…"

McGarrett's knees hit the hardwood floor with a thud. He curled forward, one arm around his stomach, the other planted firmly on the floor to keep himself semi-upright. His fingers were white against the wood.

Danny knelt next to his partner. "Tell me what's goin' on, big guy."

"D-Don't know. H-Hurts," Steve groaned, shuddered.

The blond detective dropped his hands on Steve's shoulders, steadying him. He could feel the heat radiating through the other man's navy blue T-shirt. "Ah, shit—man, Gracie was right; you're burning up."

"S-Sorry…"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Only you would be sorry for being sick."

"'s s-stup'd." Steve gasped, squeezed his eyes closed.

"Listen—why don't we get you lying down before you face plant the rest of the way." He helped Steve lay down on the floor, but the minute the taller man tried to straighten and lay flat, he cried out and curled into a fetal position on his side. Danny patted his back worriedly. "Okay, time for the experts." The detective reached for his cell phone but it wasn't hooked to his belt. He remembered then that it was on his desk hooked to the charger. He stood and hurried to the door. "Chin, call 9-1-1. Steve's sick—we need an ambulance."

Danny returned to his partner's side and was joined a few seconds later by Chin who had his cell phone pressed to his ear. After answering a few questions, Chin Ho disconnected. "They're on their way."

"Good."

Steve thrashed a bit as the pain continued to worsen. He swallowed against rising nausea.

Chin dropped to one knee next to his boss. "Easy, brah, easy. Help's on the way."

TBC…