Thank you all so much for all the great reviews you gave me for this story! It was a lot of fun to write and even more to hear how much you guys enjoyed it too! Mahalo everyone! **hugs** Bryce xx

H-5-0

Eleven weeks later...

Kono yelped in surprise as cold water hit the back of her T-shirt, soaking it through. Her arms flew in the air, but she didn't let go of the Super-soaker, and quickly turned on her heal and aimed.

"Run, Jersey-Boy," she yelled laughing as Danny sprinted away and ducked behind the nearest sand dune.

The team were all spending the day on the North Shore, with a picnic and loaded Super-soakers, trying to get one up on each other in a water fight.

"Danno!"

"Hold your position, Gracie," Danny told his daughter with a grin. He nudged her and pointed to the right where Steve was and Grace instantly aimed and fired.

Steve cried out, clutching his chest in a dramatic over the top and elaborate you shot me! action, before falling like a wounded soldier to the sand, arms and legs spread wide. Grace giggled and high-fived her dad.

He was happy. Danny was insanely happy... in fact he was the happiest father in the history of happy fathers!

But it wasn't always so, and Danny still shuddered when he thought about those dreadful forty eight hours, eleven weeks ago. The longest two days in his life... even longer than the lonely, depressive year he'd just lived through...

It had been two days since Steve had told Danny that he'd talked with Rachel, and that he'd persuaded her (and Danny still couldn't believe how the man had done that!) to rethink her decision to take Grace away from him.

Two whole days... forty eight hours... It wasn't a long time in the grand scheme of things, but fuck, it felt like an eternity. Danny vacillated between hope and despair the whole time, trying not to become too optimistic, but at the same time, trying his damndest not to sink into that spiral of deep and dark depression again. But the waiting nearly killed him. He was too anxious to sleep, too tired to appreciate the company of his friends when they came by to visit him. In short, he was a mess.

Steve, of course, stood by Danny and was that steady presence that he needed, and Danny was grateful for that.

It was like he was so, so close to happiness again, but it was still too far away and he couldn't quite reach it.

On the morning of the third day, when Steve came by, Danny had already prepared himself for another lonely, anxious day of what if, but when his friend walked into his hospital room with Grace's hand in his and a huge smile of his face, Danny was stunned into silence. He blinked up at Steve, not quite believing what he was seeing, but when Steve grinned wider and nodded, Danny knew... and tears pooled.

Gracie...

Quickly holding out his arms, his heart hammering in his chest, Danny's whole face lit up in a huge watery smile. "Monkey," he lovingly breathed and Grace rushed forward and eagerly moved into his hug, being really careful because her Uncle Steve had told her about her dad's really sore ribs.

"Daddy," she cried into his neck, her small arms wrapped tight around him. Danny held on to his daughter for a long, long time, stroking her hair and inhaling the familiar sweet coconut scent. He was home. He was finally home.

"Oh baby, I missed you," he murmured pressing kisses into her soft hair. His chest ached under her weight, but he didn't feel the pain at all... and he loved and cherished the simple feel of his little girl in his arms again. "God, I missed you so much..."

"Missed you too, Danno," Grace whispered pulling away only to plant a huge kiss right on his stubbled cheek. He lifted a hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, smiling up at Steve who'd been silently watching the scene with suspiciously moist eyes.

"Wow, you got so big, Monkey," Danny murmured softly, Grace ducked her head and grinned.

"Are you gonna be okay, daddy?"

"Yeah, baby, I'm going to be okay," Danny turned his smile to his daughter. "In fact, I'm feeling lots better now I've got you here."

Grace grinned and sat back, wiped her eyes and made herself comfortable against her dad's side. Danny wrapped his arm around, loving the feeling of her warmth again.

Steve perched himself on the end of his bed with them and gently rubbed a hand over Danny's leg on top of his blanket. The action got him another huge smile. God, Danny loved that man, that SuperSEAL, that amazing, annoying but goofy and sweet guy!

After a few moments, Danny cuddled closer to Grace and murmured, "Hey, baby, I'm so sorry for what I did to Step-Stan, okay? I'm so sorry you had to see that. I'm sorry it scared you, sweetheart. I'm sorry..."

Grace looked up frowning and shaking her head. "Why are you sorry, daddy?" she asked a little confused. "You save me from the bad man."

"Yeah, but I shot Step-Stan, baby, and-"

"You shot him safely, Danno," she interrupted with a look that was all Danny. Steve hid his smirk when Danny's eyes widened at her words. He threw Steve a look threatening to do bodily harm if he even opened his mouth before turning back to Grace.

"Grace, honey, there's no such thing as-" he grimaced, "shooting people safely. What I did was wrong, and I am very, very sorry for that."

Shrugging and rolling her eyes at Danny, Grace leaned in and gave him another kiss on his cheek. "Step-Stan doesn't blame you for it, you know, daddy. In fact he was the one who told me that you didn't really hurt him. It was that bad man that made you do it." A haunted look clouded her eyes for a moment and Danny pulled her against his chest. "He was a horrible man. He made you do that, daddy, but you saved me."

"I'll always make sure you're safe, baby," Danny promised softly into her hair.

"I know you will," Grace nodded, "you're the best cop and daddy in the world!"

"And you're the best daughter in the world, sweetheart," Danny grinned, looking up when he heard Steve chuckle. He mouthed a silent thank you to his friend, and they spent a good while all talking together and catching up with what Grace had been doing at school and making plans for the future, when Danny finally got out of the hospital.

"Hey, Uncle Steve?" Grace sat up and suddenly asked.

"Yeah, Gracie?"

"Can you pass me my back pack, please?"

Steve smiled at her and handed her the pack, watching curiously as she rummaged around in it. When she pulled out a wrapped gift, his eyebrows raised and he smiled. She reached over and placed it in Danny's hands.

"What's this, Monkey?" Danny asked looking at the brightly wrapped gift. Grace snuggled back by her dad's side as Steve put the pack on the floor again.

"It's your birthday present, Danno. The one I didn't get to give you yet," she smiled up at him. "Are you gonna open it?"

Clearly stunned with emotion, Danny blinked as tears filled his eyes. His precious and beautiful, wonderful baby girl had got him a birthday gift after all. Grace wrapped her arms around him when the tears fell and cuddled him until they stopped.

It was a moment Steve would remember for a long time, and feeling like he was intruding on something special, he quietly stood up and started to leave when Danny reached out and stopped him.

"Where are you going, Uncle Steve," Grace frowned at him. Danny just patted the bed with a smile, and Steve smiled back when Danny mouthed the word Ohana at him.

The belated birthday gift now sat proudly on his desk at work, right next to his shell and glitter photograph frame of his baby girl. The clay model of a dolphin, with beads for eyes, a bright sunny smile, and painted light blue with (more!) glitter on its tail, always made Danny grin and was a reminder that his Gracie loved him and was still a part of his life each time he saw it.

Eleven weeks, three days and this morning later, he was spending another Saturday with his daughter at the beach, and cherishing every precious minute of it.

"You ready, Monkey?"

"Yeah, let's go get 'em," Grace laughed and jumped up from behind the sand dune, battle cry already screaming out as she and Danny charged the bushes where Chin and Kono were hiding.

The ensuing water fight was manic, filled with screams and laughter, and a lot of fun.

"Uncle Steve! Uncle Steve!" Grace shouted, giggling as she ran to hide behind his six foot plus frame. Kono was chasing her, deliberately keeping her pace slow, but Grace squealed with laughter as Steve knelt down and shielded her when Kono open fired and blasted the SEAL with a jet of cold water squarely on his butt.

He stood up and twisted around frowning at the wet patch on the back of his board shorts. Grace fell about laughing at the look on his face.

"Oh, this means war, Kalakaua," he grinned, aimed his Super-soaker and fired. Kono ducked, blew a raspberry at Steve, which made Grace laugh even harder, and sprinted towards Danny. Steve ran after her.

"Grace, c'mon," Chin nodded and she scurried over to him, fist-bumping before they both circled around to ambush the other three, soaking them all in a surprise attack when they popped up from behind a clump of tall grass.

Within seconds, everyone was wet through, covered with sand, but smiling.

"Right, food!" Steve clapped his hands together, and he and Danny headed to the Camaro, now fixed and as good as new thanks to Steve, for the picnic supplies.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded rubbing at his chest. His sternum was still a little tender, but he was otherwise one hundred percent better. He looked up and smiled, the happy expression lighting up his eyes.

"You look it, Danno," Steve agreed. After months of depression and stress, it was wonderful to see his partner finally happy again.

"I know I've said it before, but thank you," Danny murmured softly looking towards the beach where Grace was building a sandcastle with Kono. "Thank you."

Steve squeezed Danny's shoulder. "Anytime, partner."

Danny and Rachel had talked at length about what had happened over the past year. It hadn't been an easy conversation, but in the end, Rachel had told her ex-husband that she was sorry for suing him for full custody of their daughter and for the way she'd behaved. She'd realised how wrong she'd been in the way she'd overreacted to the whole kidnapping incident, and shortly after Danny had been discharged from the hospital, Rachel had had her lawyers revise the arrangement, and just like before, Danny had his daughter every second weekend and whatever holidays he and Rachel agreed to.

Knowing that Steve had been instrumental in Rachel's decision warmed Danny's heart, and he would forever be grateful to have a friend like Steve McGarrett, even if the man was annoying, insane, crazy... Danny wouldn't change him for the world.

Grabbing for the blanket, Danny playfully elbowed Steve out of the way with a huge grin. "You do know we won this first round, right?"

Steve hefted the cool boxes out of the car and glared at Danny. "You so did not!" he bleated. "I had you, hands down, Danno!"

With an exaggerated look to the huge wet patch on the back of Steve's board shorts, Danny just shook his head and chuckled. "No way, Commander Wet Ass. Team Williams all the way," he grinned widely showing off his own mostly dry shorts. It didn't escape Steve's notice that Danny's T-shirt was soaked through and covered with sand though.

They locked the Camaro and made their way back to the beach, sharing the load between them.

"Rematch after lunch then?" Steve asked.

"You're on," Danny smiled back.

H-5-0

When Steve had read Danny's report about what had happened while he was missing, the SEAL still had at least a dozen questions... mostly, to Danny's dismay, about how the hell did the Jersey Slip work, and just who did he 'borrow' the pickup truck from?

"Seriously, Danny, a bong?"

"Yes, Steven. A bong."

And no matter how many times Steve had asked, no, Danny wasn't going to reveal just how he slipped out of a pair of metal handcuffs.

"Trade secret, babe."

Danny had laughed at Steve's pout for a good ten minutes.

They never did catch up with the surfer dude owner of the pickup truck that reeked of pakalolo, which was a shame because Danny didn't want to arrest him for the possession of illegal substances and a bong, he really wanted to thank the guy for letting him borrow his truck, and apologise for wrecking it.

He did, however, blow a gasket when he found out about the message carved on Alison Du Pont's body – by her own hand with a fucking scalpel! – and, as predicted, had laid into Steve for keeping that information from him. Steve, for his part, had valiantly refrained from smiling throughout the entire rant, even though, after missing Danny's entertaining tirades for so long, all he wanted to do was grin at him.

Everything was back to the way it should be, with the daily displays of attitude, malasada crumbs everywhere, rants, rants and even more rants, and impassioned carguments about the way Steve drove his beloved Camaro, and the team dynamic had healed like the last year hadn't driven a wedge between them.

The cases had steadily streamed in and were solved with their usual hard work and flare, and Danny and Steve quite often spent the evening drinking Longboards on Steve's private beach after a hard day's chasing perps around Oahu.

They talked more, and both made more of an effort to open up if something was bothering them, and Danny never again felt the need to drown his pain in a bottle of whiskey. And on the weekends he had Grace, Danny would spend Saturday afternoons at Steve's just like old times, much to the man's absolute delight.

Life, once again was good. Danny was happy... as long as he had his daughter and his ohana around him, Danny was happy.

Happy.

H-5-0

The early morning sun warmed Danny's skin as he ran steadily along the beach. It was nearly six AM, and the usual hardcore surfer dudes were already riding the rolling waves in the ocean. His running shoes kicked up the wet sand with each step, and the pleasant sensation of burning in his muscles warmed his thighs as he pounded through the surf.

He let his mind empty and concentrated on the rhythmic pace of one foot in front of the other, breathing the salty warm air deep into his lungs, enjoying the healthy way his body felt after more than a year of struggling. There was no mantra this time, he didn't need to do that anymore, and he smiled happily wiping the sweat from his brow.

His peaceful run was suddenly interrupted when another figure appeared beside him, keeping up with his steady pace with annoying ease.

"'Morning, Danno," Steve grinned, his sunglasses reflecting Danny's frown back at him.

"What the hell are you doing here, huh?"

"Thought I'd join you. Running's a great way to keep in shape."

Rolling his eyes, Danny waved a hand, "Didn't you, like, swim to Maui and back this morning?"

"Maui is about a two hundred mile round trip, Danny," Steve pointed out shaking his head. Danny wasn't swayed. This was SuperSEAL he was talking about.

"And?"

"No, I decided to run this morning instead, okay?"

"Huh," Danny said wiping his brow again. "And you decided to what, drive all the way here just to run this particular beach?" He knew ever since Steve had found out that he regularly jogged, it would be only a matter of time until the goof pushed himself into Danny's routine. Like Danny could ever have anything of his own... yeah right!

He was amazed it had taken Steve this long!

"I was passing through," Steve smiled. His Navy vest flapped in the ocean breeze as he turned and jogged backwards for a moment to look at Danny. "You don't mind me joining you, do you?"

"S'free country," Danny answered with an easy shrug. Steve turned again and moved a little closer, leaving footprints in the sand behind them that nearly overlapped.

"So, you wanna race?"

"Do I wanna race? What are you, twelve?" Danny blinked in disbelief, although he should've expected it. "No, I do not want to race, Steven! You go. Race yourself, okay!"

They ran for another minute before Steve grinned at him, smirking as his eyebrows waggled. Danny chuckled and shook his head. He wasn't going to race. He really wasn't...

But when Steve's pace increased, Danny suddenly grinned back and raced right past him, shouting, "Loser buy's the pizzas!"

"You'd better have your wallet, Danno!" Steve yelled back, and with a huge smile speeded up.

They both won.

~Fini~

2013 BryceWhite

Disclaimer-don't own the guys, much to my dismay, don't own 5-0 either, no money made etc. It's a cruel world indeed.