Chapter Text
August, 2020
CK: Hey Danny, how’s it going?
DW: Chin, did you finally join our group text? Beware, my friend, it’s wild.
CK: No, it’s just you and me, brah.
DW: Can’t believe you said brah in a text.
CK: You can take the boy out of Hawaii, but you can’t take Hawaii out of the boy.
DW: If you say so. You know you guys should visit more often.
CK: Since you mention visiting, I wanted to see if you and Steve needed a place to stay after he gets out of the hospital. Abby and I would love to have you.
DW: Thanks, Chin. Not sure of the plans, yet.
CK: How soon will they let Steve fly? You guys just going straight back to Oahu?
DW: I really don’t know.
CK: Ok, well, keep me posted. And give Steve a kiss for me.
CK: Danny?
CK: Sorry, did I overstep? Kono implied it was common knowledge that you guys were together. And I couldn’t be happier for you, to be clear. You’re meant for each other. In the best way.
DW: You’re fine, Chin. But I gotta go. Sleeping beauty’s waking up, and he’s cranky.
****
CK: Cuz, you there?
KK: Howzit, Chin. What’s up?
CK: Just wanted the update on Steve and Danny.
KK: Steve’s on the mend. They’re keeping him for observation for another day or two. And he might need another procedure on his eye.
CK: How’s Danny?
KK: Tired of the crappy food at the hospital, but okay I guess.
CK: I’m afraid I upset him.
KK: You? How is that even possible?
CK: I told him to give Steve a kiss from me.
KK: Oh.
CK: You told me they were together, Kono. That everyone knew. What’s going on?
KK: I’m not sure. Steve’s had a rough few days. I’ll talk to Danny.
CK: Let me know if I can help, ok?
KK: Always.
*****
Kono meets Danny in the hospital cafeteria. His face lights up when he sees that she’s brought a bag from a nearby café that’s known for its excellent coffee – although that’s not hard to find in Seattle.
“Kono, you’re the absolute best,” Danny says with enthusiasm, taking the cup from her and sucking down a long sip of the iced vanilla latte. Danny has always had a sweet tooth, whether he denies it or not.
“There’s some food in there, too. Some kind of strawberry rhubarb thing I thought you’d like.”
Danny wastes no time pulling the pastry out of the bag and taking a bite. “Delicious.” He sighs, leaning back in the stiff plastic chair. “Honestly, Kono, thank you.”
Kono doesn’t really think that coffee store pastries deserve quite this level of gratitude, but she gives Danny a quick hug around the shoulders anyway. “You’re welcome, Danny. How’s our patient doing today?”
Danny shrugs. “Kind of loopy. He had trouble sleeping, so they gave him something to help, and it’s hasn’t really worn off yet.”
Kono grins. “Amusing?”
“Unfortunately not.”
Kono feels the grin slide off her face, and she waits for Danny to go on.
“It’s not a big deal,” Danny says.
If it wasn’t a big deal, Danny wouldn’t look so miserable, Kono thinks. “It might help to talk about it,” she says softly.
“I just…” Danny taps his fingers against his thigh. “I’m not sure I should have come. I didn’t ask or anything. He left on purpose. What if he doesn’t want me here?”
“Danny, why on earth would you think that?”
“I dunno.” Danny stands, abruptly, and sucks down the last bit of his iced coffee. He’s clearly done talking for now. “I should go back up.”
“Want me to come with?”
“No, I’m fine.” Danny takes a step away from the table to toss his empty cup in the trash, then turns back to Kono and wraps her in a tight hug. “Thanks for being here,” he whispers into her ear, and Kono squeezes him back.
“You’ll come back to my place tonight,” she says when they part, her hand still on Danny’s arm. It’s not really a question. Danny’s been at the hospital nonstop, and it would drain even the most determined of them. “I’ll pick you up around seven?”
“Yeah, okay.” Danny gives her a small smile, and heads off towards the elevators.
Damn it, Kono thinks. Chin was right (he’s always right). All is not well with Steve and Danny.
*****
Kono looks out through the kitchen window at Danny sitting on her back porch, the now familiar mountain view framing the sight. Her little house is less than an hour away from Seattle’s bustle, but remote enough for some much-needed space at the end of a long day. She wonders if Danny is feeling how different this place is from Honolulu. For that matter, it’s a far cry from New Jersey, too.
Kono liked it, at first, how the pine covered mountains were so clearly a world apart from palm trees and tropical shores. She needed a change. And when the novelty wore off, she had her work, which kept her engaged (some would say, she knows, obsessed) in a way she had never been before.
It’s still her passion, this work, and she’s grateful for it. She wonders if it will wear thin at some point, when the pain of the losses becomes too much to bear, even if she can help save others in the process. It doesn’t seem like she’s putting much of a dent in the tragedy of sex trafficking, but at least for right now, she’s going to keep doing what she can.
She’s not really sure what’s up with Steve, why he’s left the island and his ohana. She can’t tell if he has simply grown bored with his job, or if there’s more to it. She suspects the latter, and the sad detective on her back porch strongly supports her theory.
For all that Steve looks banged up, Danny looks like he’s been through the wringer too. She could swear he’s aged significantly more than the actual number of years since she’s seen him, the lines around his face deeper, his short hair hardly hanging on to any remnant of blond. She knows Danny was injured back in the spring, just before Steve left Oahu, but that doesn’t seem to be what’s weighing him down.
Kono grabs a quilt from the back of her couch and goes out to join Danny. Danny’s sitting on a wooden swing, leaning over with his head in his hands. He looks up as she approaches.
“Hey, Kono.”
Kono sits next to him and drapes the quilt around them both. It’s chilly here at night, and Danny’s just wearing a dark t-shirt and jeans. He smiles at her, and runs his fingers over the quilt. It’s green and white, in a traditional hibiscus pattern. It used to lie on her bed, back in Hawaii, and it still reminds her of home.
Kono scoots closer to Danny, and he leans against her side, letting his head rest on her shoulder. She pushes her toes against the cool grass, just enough to start the swing rocking gently. The moon is bright, turning everything a glittery silver.
Danny doesn’t say anything, but he seems content, as they rock gently back and forth.
After a while, Kono decides that if anyone is going to speak up, it’s going to be her, so she might as well. “It’s really good to see you, Danny. I missed you guys.”
Danny nods against her arm. “Missed you too.”
She breathes in deeply, then out again. Danny smells of hospital and stale sweat, there’s none of the island clinging to him at this point. Fish out of water, just like her.
“Anything I can do to help?”
Danny fidgets, and then straightens up, the weight of his head lifting off her shoulder. “Like I said. I may have done the wrong thing, coming here.”
Kono holds her tongue (it happens occasionally). She couldn’t disagree more, but then again she hasn’t been home in a long time, hasn’t been part of Five-0, hasn’t seen Steve and Danny on a daily basis like she once had. “Why do you say that?”
“Steve left for a reason. He knew what he was doing. I’m… interfering.”
“Steve seemed pretty happy to see you.” This is an understatement – Steve was ridiculously happy to see Danny when he first appeared. That kiss was spectacular, and plenty mutual. The love-struck expression on Steve’s face could be seen from space.
“Could have just been because of the pain meds.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Danny shrugs. “I’m not as oblivious as some people think.” He pokes his foot at the ground to get the swing rocking again, jiggles his knee up and down. “We’ve got a pattern, me and Steve. Steve gets into a jam, does something ridiculous, and I go and get him. It’s so familiar, there’s a rut in the dirt to show for it. Doesn’t mean anything’s going to change.”
“Change?”
Danny glares at Kono, his creased brow clear as day in the moonlight. “My after the fact rescues haven’t ever been rewarded with a make-out session before, no matter what drugs Steve was on.”
“Danny,” Kono shifts, turning towards him. He’s clearly miserable, and she can’t figure out why. “Has he done something to upset you? I thought you’d be, you know, happy about this.”
Danny rubs a hand across his face. “I am, don’t you get it? I want to be, so much, God, I really do.”
Kono bumps her shoulder against Danny’s. “It’s normal to be nervous about the start of a relationship. Give it time, you guys will work it out.”
“That’s the thing,” Danny says, letting his hand fall to his lap and catching Kono’s gaze. “I’m not sure Steve wants to.”
*****
The next day, back at the hospital, Kono can see what Danny is talking about. Steve is feeling much better, more like himself, grinning at the nurses and exuding confidence as he powers through some preliminary exercises to plan out his physical therapy needs (he’ll probably ignore all attempts at physical therapy later, but he’s playing nice with the staff now). He brushes off the doctor’s hesitance when he talks about the potential damage to his eye, and cheerfully eats the red jello and tasteless chicken they bring him at lunch.
But he hardly looks at Danny.
Kono excuses herself for a few hours – there’s paperwork she still needs to do on their last op, and she has visits scheduled with several girls living in a group home nearby. When she returns around dinnertime, she finds Danny waiting for her in the hospital lobby.
“You can go up if you want,” Danny says. “But I’m ready to go, if you just want to head home.”
Kono stares at Danny for a minute, trying not to let her surprise show on her face. “Are you sure?”
Danny gives a sharp nod. “Yeah.”
They don’t talk much on the car ride back to Kono’s house. At one point Danny shakes his head and looks over at her, a lost expression on his face. “I asked him if he wanted me to give him some space. He said yes.”
“Oh… so…” She’s at a loss, too. “Did he, um, elaborate?”
Danny pressed his lips together. “He told me to come back tomorrow. He’s probably getting discharged. So I guess I’m allowed to be there for that.”
“Danny…”
“Don’t worry about it, Kono. It’s just Steve. He gets pissy when he’s in the hospital. He’ll mellow out.”
But Danny doesn’t look like he believes his own words, and it is breaking Kono’s heart.
****
Steve is in fact discharged the next day. Kono and Danny show up at the hospital just after lunch to find Steve sitting on the edge of his bed, dressed in the clothes Danny had brought him the day before, and raring to go.
He smiles at them both, apparently having mellowed (as Danny predicted) with the news that he can leave the hospital, and Kono sees hope in Danny’s eyes.
The car ride back is taxing. There’s traffic, and Steve is holding himself stiffly in the front seat, the movement of the car aggravating his injuries. Danny’s sitting in the back behind Kono, doing his best to distract Steve with random bits of trivia about their friends back home. Steve doesn’t respond much. Finally Danny asks if Steve wants to take another pain pill, and Steve snaps out that he’s fine.
A few minutes later, however, Kono glances over and sees Steve grimacing, pale and sweaty, his head in his hands. He’s clearly not fine.
“Hey, Steve,” she says quietly. “Want me to pull over for a minute?” She had always thought Steve was joking about being susceptible to motion sickness, but the stop and go traffic would get on anyone’s nerves, even if they didn’t have a recent head injury.
Steve’s got his lips pressed tightly together, and he gives a quick nod. Kono is able to pull off on the shoulder a minute or so later, and by this time, Steve is breathing through his mouth and looking decidedly green.
She rolls down the window on Steve’s side, but they’re still getting more fumes than fresh air. Danny leans forward from the back seat, looking worried. Steve just continues to take long breaths, pressing his hands against his forehead.
They sit in silence for a few uncomfortable minutes, the car shaking as the traffic speeds by them on the highway. Danny digs a water bottle out of his pack and hands it to Steve, who takes it and sips carefully.
“Want to try lying down in the back seat?” Kono asks. “You might feel better if you got horizontal.”
Steve apparently likes this suggestion, pushing the car door open and grabbing the back door before Kono even finishes her sentence. Danny is glancing out his window, calculating whether he’s got enough space to open his door without getting run over, when Steve climbs into the back seat and stretches out, planting his head firmly on Danny’s lap.
The look on Danny’s face is priceless. Kono can’t help smiling at him as Steve presses his face into Danny’s stomach.
Danny slowly lowers his hands from where they had flown up into the air when Steve barreled into the car. One hand lands on Steve’s shoulder, the other gently falls to his head. Steve shivers, leaning into Danny’s touch.
“It’s okay, babe,” Danny says, still disbelieving, as he cards his fingers through Steve’s short hair, careful of the strap holding Steve’s eye patch on. “You’re all right. Just relax, this is good, you’re good.” Steve clutches Danny’s side, Danny’s t-shirt bunching in Steve’s hand. Danny rubs Steve’s back. “We’re okay.”
Kono smiles at the sight, and then turns around in her seat and pulls the car back onto the highway. She doesn’t mind playing chauffeur one bit, not when things are so clearly heading in the right direction.
Kono and Danny get Steve settled back in her spare room, where Steve was staying while they were working together. It seems like it’s been weeks since Steve showed up to help her take down the latest bad guy. Steve announces that he’s not hungry and is just going to sleep, so they make sure he’s got a glass of water and his pain meds, and let him rest. Danny hangs back for a moment, and Kono sees him lean down and brush a kiss against Steve’s cheek. She can’t help letting out a sigh of relief.
Kono and Danny go through the motions of putting together dinner from leftover chicken and pasta, and retreat to the back porch again, this time with a six-pack of beer. Danny finishes two as they chat aimlessly about how Grace is doing in college, Charlie’s developing skills at a pitcher in little league, and whether Lou’s niece is going to make the varsity basketball team this year. Kono updates Danny on how her family back on Oahu is doing, and Danny asks polite questions about her father.
“Do you ever think about coming back?” Danny asks, reaching down to place an empty bottle on the ground and open another.
She knows he means to Oahu. “Of course.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“My work is here.”
“But…” Kono can tell Danny is looking for a way to say this that isn’t too abrasive. She’s not sure there is one.
“You don’t even come to visit. Not for holidays, special occasions, anything.”
Kono takes a sip of her beer. She can’t really deny it.
“Is it because of Adam? You wouldn’t have to see him. We could keep him away from you, you know. We’ve got skills.” Danny quirks a grin at her, and Kono can’t help smiling back.
“It’s not because of Adam, exactly.” She blows out a long breath. “It’s just easier to make a clean break from everything that happened there, that’s all.”
Danny gets a quizzical look on his face, studying her carefully. “Do you feel like you can’t come back?”
Kono feels a wave of shame, something she thought she had come to terms with raising its ugly head again. You ran away. Coward. You left your family. Shaking her head, she squares her shoulders and turns to Danny. “My family was pretty hard on me, for a while, for leaving. My father especially. But I think they understand now.”
She’s pretty sure they still hold it against her. But they talk on the phone as if nothing is wrong, so at least some progress has been made.
Danny leans back and rubs his chin with his hand. “What if Steve is doing the same thing?”
What, running away? Kono thinks to herself. Or feeling guilty? “Is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Danny…” Kono lets out a long breath. “I know why I did what I did, why I’ve been staying away. Some good has definitely come of it. But I’m not sure it was worth it.” She might never know.
“Wherever you go, there you are?” Danny asks, his half smile apologizing for the attempt at humor.
“Maybe.”
Danny fusses with the label on his beer bottle, until he gets it off with a satisfied tug. “Isn’t home the place where they always have to take you in?”
Kono smiles. She’d like to think so, but… “Don’t they also say you can’t go home again?”
Danny snorts. “I studied economics, not English lit.” He sighs, waving his hands, his empty beer bottle along for the ride. “I just want Steve to be okay, whatever pearl of wisdom applies.”
“Me too, Danny, me too.”