Had an idea for a little short... Kinda felt like Danny needed a bit more "street cred".

Steve always pulls the hard-core SEAL but what if Danny was almost as capable but is just happy being the man people depended on? A father any child could respect out right, yes?

Read and enjoy I hope!

Oz

Steve McGarrett wasn't one to be easily surprised or confused. He prided himself on staying ahead of the game and always being ready for anything. He was also a man who absolutely hated it when someone he cared about kept him in the dark.

At the moment he was so in the dark it might as well have been the inside of a forgotten lava tube. Moments ago he'd watched with curious fascination as a man dressed in full Marine Corps uniform walked into Five-0 and headed not for Steve's office but rather Danny's. The Marine carried a briefcase in his arms as though carrying a football to an end zone touchdown.

Stove had stood and gone to his own office door to try and see what was up. However the second the unassuming Marine got Danny's attention the detective jumped to his feet, closed his office door and pulled the blinds.

That had been twenty minutes ago and there had still been no word. Steve now stood at the computer table with Chin and Kono who had been equally as curious. The three had emerged slowly from their own offices. Steve understandably first then Chin followed shortly by Kono.

"I didn't know Danny knew anyone in the Marines," Kono finally said breaking any pretence of them actually getting work done.

"He never mentioned anything to me," Steve shrugged and that hurt, it really did.

"You think we should go in there?" Chin asked. Steve folded his broad arms against his chest and frowned. He had no idea what they should do. At the moment he was still trying to get over the briefcase the marine had been holding with the utmost care.

"Danny'll come to us if he needs it," Steve answered. And as curious as he was at the moment he knew that much was true.

As if on cue, Danny's office door opened. The Marine walked out but closed the door behind him. Danny was nowhere to be found. However the moment the Marine saw the others members of Five-0 he strode toward them case in hand.

"Lieutenant Commander McGarrett?" He asked.

"That's me," Steve replied. The quickly added, "Sir," when he realized the man's superior rank to his own and it wasn't all Steve noticed. The man with Colonel rank on his lapels also bore the patches of a highly trained individual as well as a Recon Marine. Serious business.

"Commander on behalf of a grateful nation I'd like you to accept this briefcase in honor of men who went above and beyond the call of duty," the colonel went on. He practically jammed the object in question into Steve's hands then saluted.

Unsure of what was going on Steve replied to military protocol and saluted back. As soon as he'd done so the Marine colonel softened his stance and shook his head.

"Talk to your man Commander," he said solemnly. "Get him to pull his head out of his ass and be at Iolani's in Waikiki at eight tonight or a team of Marines is going to kidnap his ass and drag him there. Gentlemen, ma'am." Before the rest of Five-0 could even question what was going on the Marine was gone as quick as he came.

After a moment of shock Steve put the briefcase down on the computer table and opened it up. The second he did, his face dropped in shock.

Inside was a pristinely folded American flag in a perfect triangle. On top of it were two medals; a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Behind them were two plaques.

Each one read simply; "For your unwavering patriotism, a nation thanks you, Detective Daniel James McCarthy Williams."

Chin, Steve and Kono just stared at the objects in shock. It was the flag of a soldier who'd died yet medals for Danny who was still clearly among the living.

"Steve... Talk to him," Chin practically ordered. Steve didn't need to be told twice. He carefully and respectfully gathered the items in the suitcase and headed toward his partner's office.

He knocked once then opened the door and stepped inside. Danny was far from his normal self and that much Steve was sure of. The Jersey native was sitting at his computer idly typing away as if nothing was wrong but Steve knew better. The crease of rage on Danny's forehead; The bulging neck vein of frustration combined with the pinched lips of regret with a working jaw of confusion were all dead giveaways that the man before Steve was most definitely not okay.

Yet the question still had to be asked; "Everything alright partner?"

Danny stopped typing, sat back and looked Steve in the eye.

"Far from it," Danny replied surprisingly bluntly honest. After a heavy pause he sighed and added, "He gave you the briefcase didn't he?" Steve just nodded holding up the near sacred objects he had recovered moments ago.

"Talk to me Danny," Steve pleaded. For a long while Danny simply stared at Steve, a plethora of emotions dancing through his eyes while his face remained stone cold and unreadable.

Finally, Danny rouged a bit with embarrassment and broke the gaze in favor of staring at his hands.

"I… may have done a tour in Afghanistan," he muttered. Steve blanched, his arms dropped to his sides and for a second he was struck dumb.

Then his senses came back to him and his muddled brain tried to figure out what he was just being told.

"You were in the Marines?" he spluttered. Danny grunted and stood; something he always did when Steve got a little to loud. It was like he was trying to even the height difference between them a little more before using his voice and hand gestures to make up the rest.

"Do I look like a Jarhead to you?" he scoffed. "And the plaques say Detective don't they? Come on Steven you're a Navy SEAL not a dumb grunt." Steve just shook his head still in a bit of shock and placed the flag and medals on Danny's desk. The Jersey native looked at them then rolled his eyes and stepped away from the objects as if they caused him some sort of great offense.

"Danny that's a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star," Steve helpfully pointed out. Glaring at him Danny worked his jaw.

"Thank you Steven, because I thought they were crackerjack prizes," he snorted.

"Buddy I'm going to need a little more than that these are no small deal! And you just drop the fact that you did a tour in Afghanistan?" Steve blurted out. "Danny… Talk to me man." For a moment, it seemed like Danny wasn't going to explain. For a second, it looked like he was actually looking for a way out of his office but Steve was blocking the door.

Then the detective relented and threw his arms up.

"After nine-eleven I was part of a civilian police group that went over to Afghanistan to help train the local police force," he explained. "I made some buddies in the Marine Corps and I may have uh... may have gotten caught up in a two day long fire fight where we were pinned down." Steve couldn't help himself; he ran a hand down his face and dropped into the chair opposite Danny's desk.

"I can't believe I'm only hearing this now," he breathed. He looked at his friend and partner who just stared back innocently as if he didn't see what the problem was. "How long have we worked together?"

"Don't be so dramatic, babe," Danny scoffed. "And it's not exactly something I like to announce to the world."

"Why the hell not!?" Steve demanded. However as soon as he barked it out, he regretted it. He knew what it meant to go on a tour. He knew what it was like be in a fire fight and he knew that not everyone came home afterwards. Those who did tended to come back not quite right or even just a little broken.

He also knew the significance of the folded flag that was perched on Danny's desk.

"Sorry," Steve said quickly calming down. "It's just... can I ask what happened and who the flag is for?" Danny sighed as he too dropped back into a chair and ran a hand over his face.

"Corporal Marcus Winters," he replied. "His funeral was last week." For the first time in their relationship, Steve felt like getting Danny to talk was like pulling teeth. Reigning in his frustration at his suddenly silent partner, Steve pried gently once more.

"You never put in for time off. You know I would have given it to you," he said. Danny shrugged.

"Didn't want to go," he replied. "Hadn't spoken to the Corporal in years. He lost a leg during the fire fight and medical complications finally caught up to him."

"Jesus Danny..." Steve breathed. He opened his mouth to ask more questions but Danny beat him to it.

"I was part of a patrol with a group of Recon Marines. It was my last week there and the guys thought I should come out with them. I'd passed all their weapons training and showed them I knew how to handle myself. They liked me so they slapped a rifle in my hands and hauled me off the base. Suddenly everything just exploded," the detective explained. As he did so, his eyes developed a distant gaze that Steve was all too familiar with. "It was an IED, in the middle of that god forsaken no where countryside an IED just... lit us up hard. I barely knew what was going on, guys are yelling, guns are being fired... And then we were running." Steve could tell from his partner's disjointed thoughts that those first few moments must have been ones of sheer terror for all.

"What did you do then?" Steve asked quietly. Danny's gaze darkened still; clearly he was a thousand miles away.

"We found a cave and every time we tried to leave we'd be forced back in by gun fire," he replied. "Three of the guys were hit bad, Marcus was the worst his leg was just... gone. We were convinced he was a dead man but Nemo was the best so he kept everyone alive."

"Nemo?" Steve queried.

"Team medic," Danny explained. "Anyway it was two days of that sh** hole until finally I got pissed off and decided enough was enough. Strapped on my helmet on the second night and told the team to tell my little girl her daddy was a hero. The Colonel had ordered us to stay put over the radio and that rescue was coming the next day but Marcus was barely hanging on." Steve didn't know whether to be impressed or disturbed at the idea of Danny running around in the back country of Afghanistan.

"You disobeyed an order to stay put?"

"The Marines had their orders, I wasn't a Marine," Danny shrugged as if it were nothing. "It was dark so I managed to get out of the cave without getting shot. Took me two hours to track down where the bad guys were hiding then figure out how to take'em down." Steve was struggling to believe what he was hearing but at the same time was completely caught up in the epic tale of heroism.

"How many and how'd you take them down?" he asked in awe.

"Four," Danny replied. "First two I managed to shoot before they knew what was going on. Third guy got a little close so I had to use my combat knife and the forth guy was hand to hand, snapped his neck… like it was nothing… I..." When suddenly Danny stopped Steve sat forward in concern. Before Danny's eyes had just been distant but now his face suddenly looked like he wasn't sure where he was anymore. Clearly a powerful memory had pulled him in so deeply he was lost to the world at the moment.

"Danny? Danny!" Steve barked. "Come on back brother." When Danny didn't respond in the slightest, Steve's concern grew ten fold. Finally he decided to reach across the table and shake his partner by the shoulder.

The reaction was a fantastic one and caught Steve completely off guard. Danny moved faster than Steve thought his partner capable of. One second Steve had a hand on Danny's shoulder the next he was spread across the desk, face slammed against its surface with his arm twisted painfully behind him.

"Whoa, whoa! Danny! Easy! Danno it's me! It's Steve!"

As soon as he'd been pinned to the desk, Steve was released and instinctively backed off to a safe distance. Danny's eyes were wide and slightly scared.

"Sorry," he whooshed out. Then he shook his head and took a deep breath finally back from his memories. "Steve... I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Steve quickly said rubbing his sore wrist. "That was a hell of a trip."

"Hasn't happened in a while," Danny replied with a heavy sigh. He leaned down and picked up the flag and medals that had fallen to the floor in the scuffle. Once they were replaced, the Jersey native shook his head one more time and sat down placing it firmly in his hands. Steve just let the man have a moment to collect himself.

"Apparently those Marines are here in Hawaii and meeting up at Iolani's at eight tonight," he said. "Maybe you should go." For a moment Danny didn't move, then he raised his head and shook it.

"Winters loved tropical islands, wouldn't shut up about it," Danny said. "I didn't go to the funeral because we didn't part on great terms. He was never the same after that tour and who could blame him. He lost a leg and couldn't do what he loved to. The last conversation I had with him he blamed me for not letting him die in that cave." Steve was flabbergasted.

"You saved their lives," he blurted out. "You took down four armed people and you got those soldiers out of there alive."

"Not quite," Danny sighed. "As we were moving out to the evac zone, we got ambushed again."

"Jesus."

"Karls took a round to the throat," he replied. "He and I got separated from the others. I tried to patch him up with Nemo giving me directions over the radio. Carried him five miles until my legs gave out. I woke up in a hospital, Karls had apparently died long before I collapsed and I hadn't even realized I'd taken a round to the thigh." Steve just sat there, to stunned to think of what he could possibly say. The two men just sat there, one in complete shock, the other clearly fighting off his memories.

"You got Marcus' flag?" Steve asked after a sufficient amount of time had passed.

"Didn't have a big family, those he had wanted me to have it," Danny replied. "He sent me a letter a few months back apologizing for what he'd said to me and that he wanted me to know he did have moments were he appreciated the fact that he was still alive."

"You guys were really close," Steve concluded.

"You go through what we did together and it's bound to happen," Danny said. Then after a pause, he picked up the Purple Heart and closed his fist around it before closing his eyes and frowning. Steve knew that look. He also knew exactly how Danny was feeling at the moment. Be it survivors guilt, anger, sadness, frustration, relief to be alive, there were some powerful emotions riding through his partner's mind.

"You should go tonight," Steve said quietly. "See them again and remember the good times you had. It helps." Danny shook his head then leaned way back in his chair.

"I don't want the medals. I don't want to remember the good ol'days. I didn't ask for Marcus to suddenly have a change of mind before he croaked and I really don't want you sitting there looking at me like that." Steve folded his arms across his chest and leaned back.

"And how am I looking at you?"

"Differently," Danny answered cryptically. Then frowned and added, "Stop it."

"You're going to that meet tonight," Steve said. "That Colonel said those Marines are coming for you whether you like it or not."

"Good thing they don't know where I live," Danny snorted.

"Come on Danno, you're a member of their team, they're trying to reconnect."

"I'm not a member of their god damn team Steve!" the detective barked firmly. Without a second's hesitation, Danny was on his feet, grabbing his keys, badge and gun and was out the door. Steve tried to follow but Danny was already gone.

"Where's Danny going?" Chin asked.

"And did you find out why that colonel was here?" Kono questioned.

"Did I ever," Steve sighed. "You guys might want to sit down for this..." When it was all explained, Kono and Chin were just as shell-shocked as Steve had been moments ago. Kono finally was the first to speak;

"We have to do something," she said. "He needs to be at Iolani's."

"I agree," Chin nodded. "Seems like there's something that needs to be talked out here and we've got to have his back on this." Steve took a breath and nodded.

"Whether he wants help or not," he added.

Later that night, Steve found himself outside Iolani's. It was ten to the hour of eight and he silently wondered if he was doing the right thing. He was so busy thinking about if he should be there or not that he didn't notice the small group of shaved head individuals until one of them put a hand on his shoulder.

Whirling around, Steve took a second to recognize the Colonel out of uniform.

"Sir!" Steve exclaimed.

"Don't feed me that B.S. McGarrett, we're off the clock," the man smiled. His smile wavered however when he looked around Steve as if searching for something. "Williams isn't here is he?" And damn it all if the looks of the four others behind the colonel didn't drop into sadness.

"I tried," Steve felt the need to explain. "But Danny's a private guy, he isn't military trained so its… different for him." The colonel let out a heavy sigh and nodded his head before waving a hand to the four men behind him.

"Commander McGarrett, this is Corporal Peters, Corporal Marks, Gunny Harsden and Master Sergeant Niles."

"Or," Master Sergeant Niles grinned. "Pats, Mitsy, Nemo and, yours truly, Hot Sauce." At that Steve had to laugh.

"Hot Sauce?" he smiled.

"Please… I talked to a friend of a friend, you're one to talk Smooth Dog," Niles replied. Steve bit his lip ignoring the comment and decided to focus on the task at hand.

"Look, I tried to get Danny to come tonight but I don't think he's up for a public reunion," he explained. The Marines all glanced at one another while the Colonel just sighed and extended his hand to Steve.

"Let me introduce myself Commander," he said. "My name is Colonel Everett Karls and I think I have a damn good guess why your man thinks he can't show his face anymore. Isn't that right Nemo?" Gunnery Sergeant Harsden smirked and nodded stepping forward.

"Winters was my cousin," he explained. "Danny thought he failed me and the Colonel by one marine getting injured and the other getting killed. As a civilian father we get where his head was at but with Marcus' passing… we needed to make sure Iron Will was alright." Steve had to smile at that last remark.

"Iron Will? Sounds like Danny," he said. Then with renewed intent he stood tall and said,

"How set are you boys on this place? Because I have a beach side lanai and a barbeque pit begging for company right now." The men all smiled, the colonel stood a bit taller and nodded.

"Lead the way."

Shortly thereafter Steve was leading the group of Marines into his house and out to the back lanai where Kono, Chin and Danny were already cooking away. Earlier, Steve had called Danny saying that it was okay to not want to go to a public place for his reunion but maybe… maybe it should still happen in a much more controlled area.

Danny had spit fire and fiercely opposed the idea. So Steve had relented and told Danny to come over to his place anyway so Five-0 could have a nice luau on their own.

"Chin what the hell are you doing to my ribs!?" Danny's voice barked out as Steve and the Marines walked through his house. "Is that… is that pineapple sauce!? Get away! Back! Back I say!"

Kono and Chin's laughter was drowned out by the Marines as they walked through the back door onto the lanai. As soon as they did, Danny froze and looked up with a pale expression. A second later his eyes found Steve's and narrowed;

"You son of a b****," he snarled. "You set me up!" The detective threw down the barbeque tools and moved to leave only to be stopped by the Colonel. The older man put a hand on Danny's shoulder and looked him in the eye with fierce determination.

"Stay," he said simply. "You know my son and Winters would want you too." Danny flinched and looked away then back up to the men before him. After visibly swallowing hard he glanced at Steve then back to the Colonel.

"Thank the Corps for the fancy jewelry," he said. "And… and I'm… I'm sorry."

It was after that comment that Steve, Chin and Kono decided to man the grill while the others headed inside for a "beer" but more so to talk to one another. As the food was cooked, Steve chanced a glance inside his living-room and finally after many exchanged words, saw a smile cross his partner's face.

Marines or civilian, surviving something harrowing was not something anyone could take lightly. Steve knew how tough his partner was, he knew the man would stop at nothing to fight through life. Danny would do all that and more if for no other reason than to be able to go home, look his daughter in the eye and smile with pride.

Grace's dad was a hero in so many ways and Steve, he was just thankful to have a great friend like that in his life. It reminded him that no matter how much crap he'd gone through, good people still existed in the world.

After a rip-roaring drunken good time, Steve and Danny found themselves alone on his lanai with the last beers of the night in their hands. It had been fun hearing stories of Danny in a military situation and it had been a riot hearing all the stories of Danny not quite getting Marine protocol. In the end, the group of men had left each other connected even better than before.

It was clear by the look on Danny's face that he finally accepted war was a terrible thing but at the same time it bonded individuals stronger than most could ever even imagine. Danny may not be at peace with past events but at least he was now able to accept them.

"Steve?" The former Navy SEAL looked up from his beer and quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" he replied. Danny looked at him seriously as he worked his jaw.

"You ever blind side me like that again and I don't care how much ninja training you have I'm going to bust your face up; get me?" Steve resisted the urge to laugh and raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry," he said honestly. "I won't do it again." Danny nodded firmly then took a sip of his beer. They sat there in silence for a few more minutes simply enjoying their quiet camaraderie.

"You're a good man Steve," Danny suddenly said. "Thanks… you know… for…"

"I got you," Steve cut the man off. Then with a wily grin added, "So since you're in a good mood… is now a good time to mention I may have told the Marines you'll be paying for tomorrow night at Iolani's?" Danny's face flattened, he glared at Steve but then amazingly his face grew in to a smile and he waved a noncommittal hand.

"No problem what so ever, those guys deserve it. I deserve it," he replied. Steve was momentarily stunned.

"Really?" he asked in a bit of shock.

"Really," Danny nodded as he stood to get another beer. "Iolani's already has your credit card on file," the sneaky detective chuckled. "And I have standing permission from the governor to charge a night out on you, Commander."

Steve twitched as he thought of just how much a bunch of Marines and a veteran Jersey detective could drink and eat in one night. His partner had already retreated into the house when the former Navy SEAL realized how much money he was going to have to sign off on.

His cheeks pinked as he leapt to his feet and snarled out for all if Oahu to hear;

"Danno you're never driving your car every again!"