Flute's Moʻolelo

Title: Out of the Darkness
Characters/Pairings: Danny/Steve, Chin, Kono
Rating: PG-13
Genre: slash, angst, h/c, fluff
Word Count: 2,000
Warnings/Spoilers: none that I can think of
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just having fun.
Author's Notes: Written for the 'captivity' square on my hc_bingo card, located here.

This idea came to me out of the blue and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. I also have a bad habit of writing in details that beg for explanation. This fic is no exception.

Beta'd by ranereins.

Summary: So this is it? I’m going to die in this little room, and no one will ever know.


So this is it? I’m going to die in this little room, and no one will ever know.

Danny didn’t know how long he’d been in the too dark, too quiet room. He didn’t even know how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was pulling into Steve’s driveway.

Where was Steve? Was he here too?

When he’d first woken up in the small room, he felt for the walls, measuring out the size of the room with his steps. There was a toilet in one corner and a door on the opposite wall. When he found the door, he pounded on it relentlessly. When that didn’t get a response, he started talking, and yelling. He’d eventually had to quit that when his voice gave out.

Why am I here? Someone talk to me.

He was fed regularly, but only enough to sustain him. By his estimation, they gave him his meager rations twice a day. After a while, though, he lost track. It was too dark and too quiet, and he just couldn’t keep up with it anymore.

Someone help me, please.

The cycle continued for days, possibly weeks. He had no idea. All he knew was the dark and the quiet. The only sounds he’d heard the entire time he’d been there were his own voice, his own breathing, and the opening and closing of the hatch when his food was delivered.

The darkness was all encompassing. When they’d first delivered his food, Danny had run over to the hatch, hoping to see something, anything, but it was dark on the other side as well. As time passed, he couldn’t even tell if his eyes were open of closed.

He was totally sensory deprived, and it was slowly wearing him down. It had gotten to the point that even the sound of his own voice hurt his ears.

Please…

Danny knew he had to hold on, keep himself strong, until he was found. It got harder and harder as time went on, though. He prowled around the room like a caged animal, until he couldn’t anymore. His brain and body just wouldn’t work like he wanted them to anymore. He was also seeing things that he knew couldn’t possibly be there.

Grace? Steve? Is that really you?

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Danny was lying huddled in a corner of his cell when he thought he heard something. It was muffled, but no matter how quiet it might have been, it sounded like an air horn in his deprived ears. He clamped his hands over his ears and pushed himself as close to the wall as he could.

The sounds got louder and suddenly the door flew open and light flooded the room. Danny heard screaming, and it only took a moment for him to realize it was him. The noise was too loud, the light was too bright. He clamped his eyes shut as tears streamed down his cheeks, and tried to turn away from the light, but it was everywhere.

He heard voices, but he couldn’t understand anything that was being said. It was all too much.

Stop! Please!

Then he heard his name. “Danny.” It was barely whisper, but it sounded like it had been yelled in his ear. Then there was a tentative touch on his arm. It startled him, but he couldn’t move away from it. The hand was quickly removed and then he heard the voices again.

Just as suddenly as the lights came on, they went back off, and the noise dropped to a more tolerable level. Danny tentatively blinked his eyes open. It was dark, but not completely. He could make out shapes, some of which were moving. Then he heard the quiet voice again.

“Danny, you with me?”

Danny relaxed slightly. He knew that voice. “Steve,” he whispered.

“Yeah, D, it’s me. We’re going to get you out of here, okay?”

Danny tensed. “Hurts…”

“What hurts, Danny?”

“Too bright… too loud…”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got that covered. Anything else we need to know before we move you?”

“No… fine…”

He heard Steve scoff at that, but nothing was said for several minutes.

“I’ll be right back, and then we’re getting you out of here. Just relax.”

Danny nodded and then closed his eyes.

You came…

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“Sensory deprivation can affect people in different ways, depending on how long they were exposed. Detective Williams will be sensitive to light and sound for a few days, but he should recover fully. May I ask how long he was in the depriving environment?”

Steve, Chin, and Kono were all standing in the Dr. Andrews’ office. They all visibly relaxed. Steve answered.

“He disappeared eight days ago. Doc, how is he doing otherwise?”

“We found no physical injuries, other than a small puncture mark on his neck. We didn’t find anything in his blood work, though. He was mildly dehydrated and malnourished, so we’re giving him fluids and nutrients to help… Like I said, he should make a full recovery.”

Steve caught the hesitation. “But?”

“There have been cases where people have indicated that they had seen and heard things, hallucinations, and many have suffered from depression and anxiety once they were reintroduced to a normal environment. What happens is the brain continues to try and stimulate itself when there is nothing around to do so.”

Steve nodded, and then to everyone’s surprise in the room, he stated with little emotion, “I’m actually familiar with some of the side-effects, but not for this long a period of time.”

Kono and Chin both gave him surprised glances but didn’t say anything. Dr. Andrews wanted to question him about the insight, but knew it wasn’t the time, so he continued.

“His mind would have tried to supply him with stimulation, so he very well could have suffered hallucinations while he was in there. He has to deal with that as well as the fact that he was being held captive.”

They were all quiet for a moment before Kono spoke quietly.

“When can we see him?”

“We’ve already moved him to a room, and he’s resting comfortably. The lights are dimmed, so don’t mess with those for now. We can head on up there now, if you’re ready.”

“Lead the way,” Steve said as they all turned toward the door.

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As the group stepped off of the elevator on Danny’s floor, Chin placed his hand on Steve’s arm and pulled him aside.

“Steve… what was that back there?”

“Chin, I can’t talk about it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“I get it, it was just a surprise.”

Steve relaxed visibly. “Mahalo.”

“No worries, brah. Now, let’s go see our boy.”

They caught up with Kono and the doctor just outside Danny’s door. Dr. Andrews turned to the others.

“I’m going to keep him here overnight, and if no complications arise, I feel comfortable releasing him tomorrow afternoon.”

Steve reached his hand out and shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Just doing my job. I’ll be back in a few hours to check on him. Feel free to stay as long as you like.”

Chin and Kono each gave the doctor their thanks and they all watched as the he walked away. Steve slowly opened the door. Danny appeared to be sleeping, so they made their way in as quietly as they could.

“I can hear you, so come over here and stop skulking by the door.” Danny’s voice was a little rough sounding.

Steve, Chin and Kono turned and smiled at each other before making their way toward the bed. Steve sat down in the chair on the right side of the bed, Kono sat down on the left. Chin took up a position at the foot.

“Hey…” Steve said.

“Steve, what happened?”

“Danny, we don’t have to do this now…”

“Yes we do. Please,” Danny pleaded.

Kono reached out and grabbed hold of Danny’s hand but didn’t say anything. Danny looked into her eyes and could see sadness there. He looked up at Chin and noticed the same expression. His eyes then fell on Steve, and he waited.

“The morning you disappeared, I overslept. Chin called around 8:30 and woke me up. When he told me that he couldn’t get ahold of you, I rushed out the door only to find your car in the driveway. Your keys were in the grass next to the door… that was eight days ago.”

Danny closed his eyes and tried to absorb what Steve had just told him. He’d been gone for eight days.

“Why?” was all he could say.

“It was Dolan. He knew we were on to him. So he decided that he’d make the first move. He figured that if one of us disappeared, it would distract us enough that we wouldn’t go after him.”

“Please, tell me you got him.”

“And then some,” Chin said.

Kono squeezed his hand and said, “Yeah, you won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“Dolan was right at first. I was distracted. Well, we all were. We called off the raid.”

“You what? Why?”

“Wait, I’m not done. As soon as we realized it was Dolan that took you, we altered the plans. We had to wait till we knew where you were, which took more time than we’d intended. Once we had the location, we moved in and took care of him, and got you out.”

Steve then hesitated before saying, “I’m sorry it took us so long to get to you.”

Danny closed his eyes again. He was exhausted and the information dump he was getting was taking a toll on him. He took a deep breath and then opened his eyes again. He reached out with his right hand and grabbed Steve’s left hand. Nothing was said, but a look was exchanged between them that meant more than words ever could.

Chin noticed the look and broke the silence.

“I think Kono and I are going to head out. We’ll be back in the morning to check in.”

“Yeah, bosses… we’ll see you both tomorrow.”

They quickly left the room, leaving Steve and Danny alone.

“Steve… stay.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t blame yourself for what happened. It’s not your fault.”

“If I hadn’t overslept…”

“You had a very good reason for oversleeping. If I’d stayed the night…”

“This isn’t your fault either, you know.”

“Yeah…”

They were both quiet again. Danny was fading fast, but he had to get one more thing off his chest before he lost his battle to stay awake.

“Steve… you were there. At least, I thought you were. It was so dark in there… I had no idea for how long or why or anything. Then, I saw you and Grace. When I was too tired to move, you both kept me from losing hope. You told me that you would find me and not to give up. Grace cried. I couldn’t give up. I had to get back to her, and to you. Then you were there for real. I almost couldn’t believe it.”

Steve didn’t know what to say. He contemplated telling Danny about his own experience, but he couldn’t find the words. So instead, he leaned forward and pulled Danny’s hand up, nuzzling it against his jaw. He placed a kiss on Danny’s hand and then stood and leaned down far enough to place a kiss on Danny’s forehead.

“Come here, you goof.”

Danny pulled Steve down and they kissed. It was short but sweet, and ended when Danny yawned.
Steve smiled and pulled back to sit in the chair again.

“Get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“’K”

Danny closed his eyes once again, and was asleep shortly after. Steve sat there watching him until he too fell asleep, too exhausted from the stress of the last week. They both slept peacefully through the night. It was the first time in long time either of them had gotten a full night’s sleep.

.