Danny was aware of pain. All encompassing pain.

He was hot. Then he was shivering with cold.

But the pain was a constant. There was a presence by his bedside that was a constant, too. Sometimes, there was more than one, but he was never alone. And when the pain was at its worst, he was comforted with words and gentle hands.

Despite the comfort and desire to leave the dark place he was in, Danny again gave in to the pain and let the darkness take him where he was aware of nothing.

H

5

O

The pain was still there. The pain was still all encompassing.

He was still hot. Hotter than ever.

He felt the darkness tugging at him but this time he felt that the darkness was not a healing darkness as before. And there was noise. A lot of noise. He was so tired and ready to just be done with all the pain when he heard a voice. He trusted that voice. Would follow that voice wherever it led. The voice told him to hang on and fight.

He fought.

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5

O

Chin and Kono walked into Danny's hospital room to find Steve slouched in the chair at Danny's bedside. His eyes flew open as they entered.

"Hey, Boss," Kono greeted him. "How ya doing?"

Steve glanced at Danny, "Doc says he's holding his own now."

"I asked about you," Kono pointed out. "You've been here for almost three days."

"Yeah," Chin chimed in. "You should go home and get some rest. We'll stay with Danny."

The cousins were not surprised when Steve didn't go for the suggestion, "I can't leave Danny. Not after yesterday."

Steve's thoughts turned to the day before. He had been sitting next to Danny when alarms on the machinery hooked up to his partner had gone off. The nurses had rushed in followed by a doctor. All of Danny's vitals were crashing and once the alarms had been silenced, the doctor looked grim. He didn't expect Danny to last much longer.

Steve had assured the doctor that Danny was a fighter and he'd be just fine. Once the nurses and doctor had done their thing and left them alone again, casting sympathetic glances his way as they left the room, Steve had grabbed Danny's hand and leaned in so he was mere inches from his friend's face, "You fight, Danny. You hear me? You fight this and come back to us." Steve knew it was wishful thinking when he thought he felt Danny's hand squeeze his own.

"Hey, Brah," Chin broke into his thoughts. "At least go get something to eat."

"I will," Steve agreed. "In a while."

"When was the last time you ate, Boss?"

Steve shrugged, "I had something earlier."

"In other words," Chin pointed at him. "You don't remember."

"Well, if you won't go get something to eat," Kono patted his shoulder. "We'll go get you something, and you can eat it here."

Steve watched the cousins leave the room on their mission and turned his attention to his partner again. He studied the readings and though he was no medical professional, he knew enough to realize that Danny's vitals were looking better. Even as he watched, he saw Danny's pulse increase. When he looked at his friend, he could see his eyes moving behind his eyelids.

Steve stood and grabbed Danny's hand, "C'mon, Danno. I know you're in there. C'mon, Danny, you can do it."

Danny's stomach hurt. His chest hurt. He realized that his whole body hurt. It was dark and cold. Water! He remembered being thrown in the water. His hands were still cuffed behind his back. He couldn't swim - not with his hands cuffed like this. He felt himself sinking and the water rushed into his mouth and nose. He gasped and struggled for air.

Steve recognized Danny's distress and squeezed his hand tighter, "C'mon, Danny! Wake up. You're okay. I've gotcha. You're gonna be okay. Just wake up. C'mon, Partner."

Danny heard a voice and wondered why the voice was yelling at him. He couldn't breathe. He was drowning, but the voice kept yelling at him to wake up. Maybe if he tried to wake up the voice would quit yelling at him, and he could drown in peace.

Steve watched as Danny's eyes moved frantically behind closed lids. Suddenly, they popped open and Danny's body lifted off the bed a little as his mouth opened wide and he gasped for air. Steve leaned down closer, "C'mon, Danny, just breathe. You're okay. Just breathe. Take it easy. There ya go. Just breathe."

Just as Danny started to calm down, two nurses rushed into the room and quickly checked the monitors and their patient. "His pulse is really high and oxygen low." One nurse quickly adjusted an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose while the other adjusted the IV pain medication.

"You're okay, Danny," Steve soothed his friend and glanced at the nurses. "I think he was having a nightmare."

Both nurses nodded and the one adjusting his oxygen smiled at both men, "That's not uncommon. Thankfully, you were here to help him out of it."

Danny's eyes were still a little unfocused and darting nervously around the room. He started to claw at the oxygen mask but Steve's hand stilled him.

"Hey," Steve spoke much like he would to Grace. "Why don't you leave that on for now, Buddy?"

Danny finally focused on Steve and quit battling with the oxygen mask, his breathing evening out a little.

"We've paged the doctor so he should be in soon," one of the nurses informed them as they prepared to leave. "Do you need anything else before we go?"

Steve shook his head, "No. Thank you." he returned his attention to Danny, "Hey, feeling better?"

Danny's eyes fluttered open and closed as he tried to stave off sleep again, but he nodded. His voice came out as a whisper, "Yeah. Thanks."

"You gave us a pretty good scare, Partner."

"Hey, look who's awake!" Kono and Chin returned with a carryout bag from a local deli that was quickly discarded on Steve's chair.

Danny smiled and weakly waved at his two friends.

"He just woke up," Steve informed them. "The doctor should be in soon."

Chin nodded and clapped him gently on the shoulder, "Good to see you awake, Brah. You gave us a scare."

"Yeah, don't ever do that again," Kono agreed as she leaned down to kiss him on the forehead.

"Sorry," Danny whispered, "Try not to."

"It's okay, Danny," Steve noticed Danny's eyes staying closed longer and longer as he blinked, "Get some rest. We'll be right here when you wake up."

Danny nodded without opening his eyes again and they barely heard his response, "Good."

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5

O

Several hours later, Danny's awakening was much less intense. He opened his eyes and looked around, momentarily confused as to what had happened. It all came back in a rush as he spotted his teammates nearby. Kono was curled up in the oversized hospital chair with Chin sitting with his back against the chair, legs outstretched in front of him and head tilted back on Kono's knee. Neither one looked particularly comfortable.

Steve was seated against the wall with his long legs bent in front of him, head cradled on top of his arms which were resting on his knees. Danny figured he'd had to sleep like that lots of time during his SEAL days.

Danny didn't want to wake his obviously exhausted friends, but he couldn't hold back the hiss of pain as he attempted to shift on the bed.

Steve was by his side in an instant, hand on Danny's shoulder, eyes crinkled with worry, "Danno, you okay?"

Danny nodded and managed to control his breathing, "Yeah, just hurts to move."

Steve relaxed a little, "The nurse said you can control your pain meds there," he pointed at the nearby button.

Danny waved that suggestion away, "It's not that bad. Besides, they'll make me sleep and I'm tired of sleeping. I don't even know how long I've been here... or how long I was on that damn boat."

"You were missing about 48 hours and you've been in the hospital going on three days now."

Danny shook his head and sighed, "In other words, I've had better weeks."

Steve smiled, "We've all had better weeks, Brother."

"So who was this guy?" Danny questioned. "I mean, other than some psycho who got off on kidnapping cops?"

Steve settled gently on the end of Danny's bed and filled him in on what they knew and what they had pieced together.

By the time Steve was finished, Kono and Chin had woken up, inserting bits and and pieces to the story as needed.

"So you think Officer Robertson will get the wrong idea if I send him a dozen roses?" Danny wondered.

The team laughed, "I think he'd settle for a thank-you." Chin said.

"And are these drugs totally making me loopy or did I not see Lori earlier?" Danny wondered.

Steve nodded, "She came back to help when she heard you were missing, but the governor made her go back to the mainland for some conference before you were even out of surgery."

"I talked to her earlier so she knows you're okay. She said she'll stop in when she's back in town." Kono told him.

Danny nodded, "Good."

"Hey, Buddy, get some sleep, 'kay?" Steve patted his leg.

"Yeah, Brah, get some sleep," Chin agreed.

"Glad you're okay," Kono kissed his cheek.

Danny looked around at each of his teammates. His friends. His family. "Thanks, guys, you're the best. I knew you'd find me somehow and get me out of that mess."

Steve stood and grinned right back at his partner, "We'll always have each other's backs, and next week will be a better week."

They all nodded and the smiles in that room alone was enough to light Oahu for the next year.

"Thanks," Danny said again. He settled back and let his eyes close. A moment later he remembered something that made him open his eyes and stare at his partner. "Did you jump out of a helicopter and into the middle of an ocean?"

Chin and Kono laughed while Steve simply smirked. Things were definitely getting better as they listened to Danny rant at his partner.

That's all, folks. Thank you to all who read, alerted, reviewed etc. I sincerely appreciate all the comments and kind words I have received for this story. I am so glad so many of you enjoyed reading it. I already have another story in the works and it better not take me as long to write as this one did. After a long hiatus from writing fanfic, I think I've finally got my feet back under me again and I have ideas starting to build in my head for several stories so I just have to get real life to cooperate and give me the time to write. Thanks again, everyone!