This is it! The final chapter :(
Sorry it took so long, I always try to make the ending perfect. This is as good as it's gonna get. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for all the reviews! And Thanks to everyone for sticking with me this long! You're the best!

Enjoy:)

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Danny opened his eyes and immediately cried out in alarm. He was back in the coffin, looking up at the glass and the mounds of dirt just above it.

"No!" He shouted, slamming his fist against it. "Get me out of here!"
He couldn't be here... He was out! His team had found him! So why was he back in the box?

"Danny!" He heard, just before he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him. "Danny open your eyes man! Wake up!"

Danny gasped and his eyes flew open. He immediately saw Steve, leaning over him with concern written clear on his face. A nightmare. Just like the past two nights.

"It was just a bad dream man," Steve said soothingly. "We found you, and you're alright now."
Danny took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. He could feel the cold sweat on his back and running down his face.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, embarrassed to have woken Steve for the third night in a row.
"Don't be sorry Danny," Steve said seriously. "I'm your friend and I'm here for you."
"I keep waking you up," Danny muttered. "You need your beauty sleep. You're looking a little rough around the edges there Superman."

Steve snorted. "Have you looked in the mirror lately? You don't look so hot yourself Danno."
"When are the nightmares gonna stop?" Danny asked quietly.
Steve sighed. "I don't know buddy," he replied. "But if you want to talk about them you know I'm here right?"

Danny nodded. "Do you know what got me through it?" He asked suddenly, after a few moments of silence.
Steve sat up straighter immediately. For days he'd been trying to coax Danny to talk to him and tell him something, anything about what he'd gone through down there. Danny hadn't been open to sharing anything, until now. Steve didn't say a word, instead he waited for Danny to be ready to finally let it out.

"I had a lot of time to think down there..." Danny finally began. "And I knew that you're supposed to go a happy place or some crap like that, to try and forget what was actually going on. I didn't forget... Not for a second. But I found a way to make it easier. I just kind of let my mind wander you know? I was thinking about things I hadn't thought of in years..."

He stopped suddenly.
"Like what?" Steve coaxed.
"Like the look on my mom and pop's faces when I graduated from the New Jersey Police Academy, you could just tell how proud they were..." Danny continued. "And watching the Jets with my dad and Mattie in our underwear, the time me, Brenda, Sandra and Matt tried to make my mom breakfast on Mother's Day and nearly burned down the house. I thought about birthday's, Christmases, graduations, my moms lasagna... A lot of things from my life back in jersey."

Danny stopped talking again, but Steve knew by the look on his face that he had more to say.
"Go on," Steve said.
Danny shook his head. "You should go back to sleep... I'm sorry I woke you..."
"No, Danny," Steve replied, putting a hand on his friends shoulder. "I want to hear more. Go on."

Danny looked at him for a few seconds before finally nodding.
"I also thought a lot about Rachel. The good days of course, like the look on her face when I pulled her over for rear ending me. She played me and man did I fall for it. She started crying and before I knew it I was offering her driving lessons instead of a ticket... Can you believe that? I was such a sap... I thought about the look in her eyes when we got married, she looked so happy. I thought the most about Grace. Like the day Rachel told me she was pregnant, man was I terrified. I didn't know if I'd be able to take care of this little person, and to be responsible for a tiny human. But from the day she was born I knew she was perfect. When I saw her for the first time... I never felt anything like that in my entire life. I loved her so much from that very first second and I swore to myself that I would always be there to love her and to take care of her like my parents always had."

"You did a great job Danny, you're an amazing father," Steve couldn't help but put in.
"Thanks bud, at least I did something right..." Danny replied. "And don't think I forgot about you guys."
Steve blew out a breath of mock relief. "You had me worried there partner." He said sarcastically.

Danny smiled. "I thought about the first time we met. I was so sure that you'd get sick of me and send me back to HPD within a week. And when you didn't, I almost ran back there myself," he said with smirk. "But after a while... I don't know I just started to feel like I belonged again. Like if I just up and vanished one day, someone would notice. It felt good having friends again. I thought about you guys a lot when I was down there... Like Kono teaching me how to surf on the sand, Chin's wedding, and the time Kono put salt in your birthday cake. Especially the time Kono beat you at arm wrestling."

"Hey!" Steve had to cut in. "That was right after I broke my arm-"
Danny laughed. "Stand down soldier," he said. "Or should I say stand down to your ego?"
Steve rolled his eyes. "My ego is not that big."
"Not that... Seriously, I'm surprised there's enough room in this house for me with that ego of yours," Danny replied.
"That's funny," Steve muttered.
"Are you done interrupting or what?" Danny asked with another laugh.
"Sorry, please continue," Steve said.

"Thank you!" Danny replied "I thought about Christmas dinner at your house too. When you're mom made that terrible roast and you made me eat the entire thing so her feelings wouldn't get hurt. And one of my favorites memories of all time, when we all had thanksgiving together with Gracie, and she told me that dinner with you, Chin, Kono, Cath and Kamekona was a million times more fun than the dinner she had with Rachel and Stan."

Danny stopped talking suddenly and started picking at the blanket nervously.
"You guys were such a big part of how I got through it, and I don't know if I thanked you for that. So thank you." He said.
Steve squeezed his shoulder again. "Any time buddy," he said. "I know I speak for all of us when I say that we're so grateful you were strong enough to pull through. I don't know what we'd do without you. It would be way too quiet without you and that temper of yours. If there's one thing bigger than my ego, it's your temper Danno."

"Yeah well... The famous New Jersey attitude at its finest," Danny replied, before clearing his throat awkwardly. "You should really get some sleep Steve. You have to be at work in a few hours and you need it. I'm sorry I keep waking you up."
"It's no problem Danny, I'm always here to listen," he replied. "But you should get some sleep too. You need it more than I do."
Danny nodded. "I'll try."

Steve gripped Danny's shoulder one more time before getting up and heading out of the room. He was already planning something that would hopefully make Danny feel better.

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Danny sat on Steve's couch and waited impatiently for his partner to return. He bounced his leg anxiously and looked at the clock every few minutes. He hated this part. He hated being alone. As hard as he tried not to, his mind always went back to the box when he had nothing else to keep himself occupied. He'd be alone then too...

"Don't think about it Danny," he practically growled at himself.

He picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. He groaned in annoyance as he read the shows Steve had recorded.
"Who the hell would've thought..." He muttered. "Apparently, SEAL's love their soap operas."

Danny was sure Steve had more soap operas recorded than a teenage girl.
He sat back and hit the play button anyway. He needed to keep his mind in the present, and out of the box.

He wished he could just forget everything. The hours he'd spent in there, not knowing if he would ever make it out alive, the stifling heat, the ants... But he couldn't forget. He would never forget. So he had to settle for keeping himself as busy as possible. He was out now and he wasn't going back, he had to remember that.

Danny looked back at the clock and started bouncing his leg again, wondering if this was ever going to get any easier, or if he was doomed to spend the rest of his life fighting just to stay sane.

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"Danny!" Steve called as he entered his house later that day.
"Thank god you're back," Danny said, coming down the stairs immediately. "I was just about to die of boredom. Your TV channels are terrible and you watch more soap operas than my sister. And I'm starving! What'd you bring?"
"He brought us brah," Kono answered, stepping into the house with Chin and Catherine in tow.
"Kamekona's on his way too, he's brining dinner," Steve added.

Danny smiled and gave Chin, Kono, and Cath quick hugs before turning to Steve. "What is this?" He asked.
"This is an Ohana dinner," Chin replied for him. "A celebration of sorts."
"What are we celebrating?" Danny asked.
"Your life!" Kono said, as if it should've been obvious.
"In that case, where's the beer?" Danny asked.
"There's still some left over in the fridge but you're still only allowed to have one Danno," Steve reminded him.
"Yes mom," Danny replied walking towards the kitchen.

"It's good to see you looking better," Catherine said, following him out. "I hope Steve's been taking good care of you."
"Thanks," Danny replied. "And you'd be surprised! Who knew Rambo could be such a mother hen?"
"I am not a mother hen," Steve argued.
"Of course not!" Danny said, winking at Catherine.

"Kamekona's here!" Kono called. "About time I'm starving!"
"Come on outside," Steve said over his shoulder, already on his way out the door.

Danny followed his friends out to the lanai.
"Good to see you Haole!" Kamekona said, slapping Danny on the back.
"It's good to see you too," Danny replied. "And you brought food!"
"Best on the island brah, you know that," he replied.

They all sat down to eat and immediately fell into familiar comfortable chatter.
"We can't wait for you to come back to work Danny!" Kono said. "It is way too quiet in the office!"
"Oh yeah," Chin agreed. "And we can't wait for you to go back to babysitting the Boss here. You're the only one Steve listens to! He misses having you around, he has no one to argue with. You should see him storming around the office looking for something to do."
"This morning, I actually caught him doing his own paperwork!" Kono added.
"No!" Danny replied dramatically.
"I always do my paperwork!" Steve said adamantly.
Danny snorted and rolled his eyes. "If I didn't take it from you, you'd probably blow it up Steven. Why do I put up with you?"
"Because you'd be lost without me?" Steve offered.
Kono nearly choked on her beer at that one.
"Yeah," Danny replied, rolling his eyes at Steve. "Apparently my type is tall, dark and mentally unstable."

Catherine laughed. "Well there wasn't much paperwork to fill out in the NAVY," she said.
"Exactly!" Steve said. "Can't I just do my job and be done with it? Why is there a need for paperwork in the first place?"
"Because when you shoot someone in the face for daring to stop at yellow light, there's a need to explain yourself Steven," Danny replied.
Everyone started laughing.
"Glad you can all share a laugh at my expense," Steve said.
Danny smirked at his partner before looking back down at his food.

He froze immediately.
There was a fly on his arm, crawling slowly up and down it. He stared at the fly, trying to stay calm but his mind automatically went back to the last time there had been bugs crawling on his arm like that...
Danny jumped out of his seat, knocking the chair down behind him in the process and shook the fly off of his arm, breathing heavily all of the sudden.

Everyone quickly looked up at him alarm, Steve was already on his feet.
"Danny?" He asked.
"Are you alright?" Chin asked in concern.
"Uh.. Yeah," Danny replied, trying and failing to let out a laugh. "I'm fine. I just need a minute, I'll be right back."

Danny turned around and immediately took off towards the ocean, leaving his friends staring after him in concern.

"Is he going to be okay?" Kono asked.
"Eventually," Chin replied. "It may take some time but we'll be there for him when he's ready."
"Steve?" Catherine asked. He was still standing, watching Danny who was now sitting down by the water.

"I'll be right back," Steve replied, walking into the house. He grabbed what he needed from the desk drawer before heading back out. "I'm going to go check on him."
He walked off the lanai and headed towards where Danny sat in the sand, staring out at the ocean.

"I don't want to talk about it Steve," Danny said without even looking up at him as he approached.
Steve sat down in the sand next to his partner and handed him the tape recorder they had recovered from the coffin.

"Fine, no talking but let me ask you this Danny," he began. "Are you going to hold onto this, forever fixated on every last detail of what was or what could have been? Are you going to spend the rest of your life still trapped in that box? Or are you going to take this and shove it as far away from you as you can, so that you can start to move past it, and move on with your life?"

Danny took the tape recorder from his partner and stood up. He stared at it intently for a while, before throwing it as hard as he could right into the ocean.
Steve smiled and stood up beside Danny, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That's what I thought."

Danny turned to finally look at Steve. "Thanks man," he said. "For having my back, for putting up with my mood swings these past few days, for everything. I know I haven't been so much fun to be around lately."
"No, you haven't," Steve replied with a smirk. "But I have always got your back man. Don't forget that."
Danny nodded. "I won't."
"And just for the record," Steve couldn't help but add, "I've been putting up with your mood swings for four years Danno, not just the past few days."

Danny snorted. "You're a funny guy," he replied. "I'd give it a medium."
"Thanks buddy, I try," Steve said, turning and heading back towards the lanai. "Come on, let's get back before Kono comes after us. You have them all worried."

Danny stared back at the ocean for a few seconds and took a deep breath. He didn't know exactly when he had become so comfortable here, in Hawaii. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment he started to see this place as his home, but he knew it had a lot to do with a certain knife wielding, grenade obsessed Navy SEAL and of course his favorite pair of tech savvy cousins. Not to mention the rest of his extended Ohana.

He never actually realized how lucky he was that he had found another family here for himself and his daughter, but he sure as hell appreciated them and everything they had done for him, even if he never said it out loud. Danny smiled to himself before turning around and going after his partner.

"Sorry about that," Danny said, picking up his chair and sitting back down.
Kono put her hand on his arm. "Don't be Danny," she said. "We're here for you, alright?"
Danny smiled as he looked around the table and saw everyone nodding their heads in agreement.
"I know," he replied.
Kono smiled back at him and squeezed his arm lightly before letting go.

"So we were just talking about Steve's unfortunate taste in television..." Catherine said with a mocking smirk.
"Just television?" Danny added. "Don't forget music."
"And reading material..." Chin said.
"That's right, I almost forgot about his subscription to Guns N' Ammo!" Kono replied.
"He thinks he's Chuck Norris," Danny said. "Unless of course he's watching Days of our Lives or The Young and the Restless..."
"Really?" Steve said, thoroughly annoyed. "Everybody? What's wrong with soap operas, huh? They've got action..."
"My mom watches the same soap operas as you Steve," Kono replied. "Everybody gets 'action' but I don't think it's the action you're referring to."
"Who knew McGarrett was such a softie for daytime television..." Kamekona said.
"Hey! Listen..." Steve began. "Soap operas can be manly alright?"
"Oh yeah!" Catherine said over everyone's laughter. "Definitely manly, maybe they should play some for the SEAL's on movie night!"

Danny closed his eyes and just listened to the voices of his closest friends all around him. He finally realized how many people he had in his corner, all more than willing to help get him through this. Danny felt much better knowing that he didn't have to do it alone, and he really started to believe for the first time that he would be okay. That he could and would come back from this. His Ohana would see to that.

END

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Woooh! Finished another story! I didn't want to drag on the recovery process but I tried to end it on a happy healing note none the less! Hope you guys liked it :)

I know there's some serious bromancey fluff in here but I usually end my stories like that, not sure why it just sorta comes out that way.

I hope you guys enjoyed the story! Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favorited, reviewed or just read for fun! Thanks for sticking with me you're all awesome! :D

There's a lot of CSI episodes out there, who knows which one I'll borrow next ;)

What'd you guys think of the ending? Please let me know :)
Laters!