Chapter Text
Steve had let out a sigh of relief as HPD had taken both of his first suspects into custody, dragging them away to the back of a car after patching up the twin gunshot wounds in each of their arms courtesy of Steve.
He decided to give the house a final once-over, looking for any sign that Doran had something to do with the murder of his father, and freezing as he noticed a mattress propped up in front of a door just off from the kitchen.
Steve approached it, pushing the mattress out of the way and finding the two handles of the door padlocked shut, a problem he quickly solved by shooting the lock off and dumping the chains.
Pulling open the doors, Steve had to hold back a small gasp as he was greeted by the sight of a curled up figure, trembling, handcuffed and backing itself into the corner of the tiny cramped space.
"It's alright. It's alright now, you're safe. I'm a friend. Okay? I'm with the police. I'm not gonna hurt you." Steve spoke softly, holstering his gun and raising his hands unthreateningly, being rewarded as the figure's head finally tilted up to look at him.
It was a man, no younger than the age of 30, but extremely pale and thin, his gaunt face haunting Steve in such a way that he was sure he'd remember the image forever. The man's overgrown blonde hair was hanging over his whole face, and his blue eyes were unfocused and glassy as he stared up at Steve with a trembling bottom lip.
"I'm gonna get you out of here, don't worry. Look, I've got a key for handcuffs, we'll get you right out and you'll be just fine." Steve promised, reaching into his pocket and retrieving the key for handcuffs, carefully loosening the ones around the man's wrists until they dropped off.
"Can you tell me your name, buddy?" Steve asked gently, frowning half in sympathy as the man only eyed him warily and tried to back up a little further.
"It's okay, buddy, I promise. I'm Steve McGarrett, I'm a Navy SEAL and I'm working on a task force with the Honolulu PD. I promise, I'm just here to help. Can you please tell me your name?"
"D-Danny." The man whispered almost silently, however Steve grinned at the response and nodded.
"Alright, great. You think if I help you then we can get you out of here? Get you checked out and cleaned up?" Steve offered, wanting to get Danny out of the filthy cupboard that couldn't be any smaller if it tried. The smell of urine, faeces and vomit was overwhelming the tiny area, only serving as evidence of how long the blonde man must have been locked in there.
"H-Hurts."
"I know it does, buddy, I know. I promise though, there's an ambulance right outside. If you just take my hand, I can take you right out there and they can help." Steve continued, holding his hand out to the weaker man and smiling as after a few more moments of hesitation, Danny's bony fingers linked in with his own and the man shuffled forwards.
"Good boy." Steve smiled as he helped Danny to stand, supporting most of the man's body weight as they made their way outside slowly, Danny only freezing as they stepped out into the sunlight and he squinted his eyes and dragged Steve back into the house with him.
"Chin? Can you bring me your sunglasses please?" Steve called out to the ex-police officer, the native taking one look at Danny before nodding quickly and running over, handing his sunglasses to Steve and watching as the man carefully placed them over Danny's sensitive eyes.
"I know it isn't perfect, buddy. You're doing great though, I promise, we're really close to the ambulance." Steve encouraged Danny, shooting a thankful smile at Chin as the man walked in front of them in order to block both the light, and the stares from the other police workers.
The three of them got to the ambulance and Danny practically bundled himself inside immediately, although his hand remained tightly linked with Steve's own even as the paramedic began checking Danny over.
"Lieutenant Commander McGarrett? He's going to have to go to the hospital, he's malnourished and dehydrated."
"N-No! No!!" Danny suddenly yelled out, tearing himself away from Steve and managing to land a single firm kick to the paramedic as he backed himself into the corner of the floor of the ambulance.
"Danny, buddy, it's alright. Look at me. Come on, buddy, look at me. That's it, it's just me. I'm not gonna let you get hurt, remember? Can you take my hand again, please?" Steve approached him carefully, crouching on the floor alongside Danny and perching there silently until the blonde man finally took his hand once more.
"Okay, that's great, Danny. You don't like hospitals?" Steve asked with a slight, gentle smile, hoping to get Danny to open up and succeeding as the man nodded weakly, his eyes tearing up once again.
"Alright buddy. You really need to get fixed up there, though. Would it be a bit better if I stayed with you the whole time? Made sure it was all going smoothly?" Steve offered, seemingly grabbing Danny's attention as the blonde man's head shot up in surprise and his eyes widened a little.
"S-Stay?"
"That's right. I could stay with you, make sure you're safe and not on your own. Does that sound good, buddy?" Steve smiled as Danny nodded his approval after only a moment of thought, tightening his grip on the SEAL's hand a little as the paramedic took a step towards them once again.
"Chin, I need you to look through missing persons cases filed in the last couple of years, see if you can get an ID on him for me. You're looking for a Danny or Daniel, blonde hair, blue eyes. You know the drill. Text me whatever you can, and keep me updated on Doran." Steve ordered quietly after he had managed to get Danny back up onto the stretcher in the ambulance, and the paramedic was now carefully checking him over for the second time.
"Will do, boss." Chin nodded in response, closing the door of the ambulance behind them and turning back to his car to look through the files for Steve.
The ambulance got to the hospital fairly quickly and with no other disastrous moments, although as they got closer to the hospital, Danny got progressively closer to Steve, until eventually he was practically hidden in the taller man's side and breathing heavily, his whole body trembling nervously.
"It's gonna be just fine, Danny. I promise, you're going to feel so much better. You've done great so far, bud." Steve soothed quietly as he felt the ambulance come to a halt and the doors were opened by the paramedic.
Steve had only managed to get Danny a few steps out of the ambulance when a trickling sound reached his ears just as Danny's walking ceased up, and Steve looked down to find adjacent wet patches expanding on both Danny's pants and the floor.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I'm sorry- I-" Danny started to ramble tearfully, only to be hushed quickly by Steve, who had already anticipated that the man's control may have been lost in whatever length of time that he'd been locked away.
"Hey, it's alright. Don't apologise. It's been a long day, it isn't your fault. You think you're done before we head inside?" Steve replied kindly, rubbing his spare hand soothingly up and down Danny's arm as the man drew in a shaky, nervous breath, and nodded silently, a lone tear dripping down his cheek.
"It's all fine, Danny. I promise, you're safe now. Did Doran hurt you if you couldn't get to a bathroom in time?" Steve tried to press gently for information as he continued to lead Danny inside the hospital, hoping to be able to build up a solid case against his lead suspect.
Steve stopped however, as Danny didn't reply but instead his breathing sped up and he choked out a sob, trying to cover his face with his free arm while onlookers stared at him in concern.
"It's okay, it's alright. I'm sorry for asking, he's gone now, Danny. You're safe." Steve tried to calm him, but Danny only seemed to get more and more agitated as he pulled back from Steve until he smacked against the wall behind him, before sliding to the corner and curling himself up on the ground there, a small puddle growing around him as he had yet another accident.
A member of security attempted to make him move, and before Steve could do anything about it, Danny had lashed out and pushed the man down, screaming at the top of his lungs as he did so, and scratching at his arms.
"Everybody listen to me, nobody touch him. Let me talk him down, and I'm gonna need a private room and a new set of clothes for him. Now back off." Steve spoke loudly and with a warning tone as he took a few careful strides towards Danny's shaking form.
"Danny, buddy? It's me, Steve. You remember me, right? I'm not gonna hurt you." Steve started slowly, crouching to Danny's level and wondering if Danny had even heard the words as he only stared at Steve with wide, frightened eyes.
"I'm really gonna need you to take a nice, deep breath for me though, bud. Get yourself a little calmer. Can you try that for me? A nice, big breath through your nose and out your mouth?" He continued, edging closer to Danny with every word, and nodding to himself as the blonde man worked hard to follow Steve's instructions, his trembling relaxing a little.
"Good Danny, that's great. Can you let me help to get you cleaned up? Nobody else has to come, buddy, I promise. It'll just be me."
"H-Hurt me." Danny stuttered out weakly, still looking warily at the crowds around the two of them, his hands still gripping his own arms tightly.
"Nobody's gonna hurt you here, I promise you that. Nobody else even has to come with us, but I just need you to trust me so I can get you clean and safe. Just me, Danny, I swear. Please." Steve sighed sadly, extending his hand out and waiting with baited breath for any kind of reaction.
Danny waited a few moments before finally reaching out his own hand, linking it slowly with Steve's outstretched one and allowing his fighting spirit to crumble as he suddenly threw himself at the SEAL, burying his face in the Steve's shirt.
Steve only held him as he broke down, before picking him up in his arms and carried him to the hospital room that a nurse had prepared for them and away from prying eyes. Danny's hand remained tightly clasping Steve's own the whole time, even as Steve got him sat on the bed in the room and pottered around grabbing bits and pieces to check Danny over with.
The blonde man eventually fell asleep, Steve taking the opportunity to make quick work of changing his clothes and bagging the old ones as evidence, before simply sitting and watching over the sleeping form of Danny.
As he watched the steady rise and fall of Danny's chest, and felt the weak, bony fingers of the man's hand squeezing his own tightly as he slept, Steve already vowed to himself that he would never let Danny get hurt again so long as he lived.