Heya, so this story leads off from my other one shot storey "Stormy Weather" but you really don't need to read it to understand this one. Particularly if you're a Steve whump fan... *grins*
To those who reviewed that last one shot, you inspired me to write this one and I thank you so much for your support.
For new readers of my work, I hope you have as much fun reading as I do writing and forgive any mistakes grammatical, medical... mental (lol) that show up in this story.
On with the show!
Oz
As a Navy SEAL, Steve was trained to see a problem or situation coming from a mile away. It was engrained in his brain through years of training and honing his skills. Skills that had earned him many commendations and the respect of his peers as well as superior officers. Abilities that had kept him alive through some of the most rough and tough, treacherous situations that would make some of the toughest man or woman run for the hills.
It wasn't that he boasted or thought himself better than others, on the contrary, he was a survivor. He did was survivors do and survived having made tough calls in the past that had saved lives but had also not saved lives.
Right now Commander Steven J. McGarrett was on a mission he just wasn't sure he'd survive. He stood looking himself in the mirror daring his reflection to try to look away from him and frowned. He'd run through the back country of countries that didn't even exist anymore. He'd gone deep behind enemy lines and nearly died trying to get back out just to produce the information that his nation had asked him to retrieve.
Missions so high security, so top-secret that even he only found out what they were once his boots were on the ground. All his life he'd been so good at what he did that naturally most of the toughest, roughest, probably shouldn't be happening jobs seemed to end up in his lap.
Because he was Commander "Smooth Dog" McGarrett and nothing, no one and no where would ever get the better of him.
At least until right now.
Steve's left eye wouldn't stop twitching as he washed his hands for the millionth time but didn't dare look down at them. He couldn't; the torture had been worse than water boarding, worse than electrocution and G*d help him though his abusers had finally left, the results of their wickedness still remained...
And would NOT come off!
"DANNY!" Steve wailed from the bathroom.
"Yeah babe?" Came an amused call from his living room.
"It won't come off! How do I get it off!?" Steve barked as he scrubbed like a mad man. A fatherly chuckle arose from the other room as Steve decided to concede this round and slammed off the water grabbing a towel to hide his shame.
"Sorry Steve, it'll come off when the bonding agent wears out, can do much else but wait," Danny explained as Steve entered his living room. Three months ago, Danny had been hit by a car saving Steve and the suspect they were chasing from suffering the same fate. As a result, Steve had offered up his home for his partner until he was back on his feet.
Danny wasn't still living with Steve, he'd returned to his own place weeks ago but on this shiny sunny Saturday afternoon they'd been reunited for a special little girls birthday. A birthday that had been postponed due to Danny's injuries. Grace was supposed to have a party a week after the detective had been hit by a car but the brave sensitive little girl said she didn't want to have a party until her Danno could enjoy it with her.
Since Steve had offered up his place then he felt it only right to leave the invitation open. Now, Danny's bruises and scars had faded and though he was still using his cane and doing physiotherapy he was looking almost back to normal. Normal and grinning like he'd won the lottery.
"It's not that bad Steve," Danny chuckled. Steve glared at him for a moment before he dared toss the hand towel away and look at his hands. Staring back at him were ten fingernails all painted a different colour with so much glitter glue on his hands it was like he'd fly swatted and killed a leprechaun.
And it WOULD. NOT. COME. OFF.
"I can't live like this," Steve said. "Get up, you're buying me nail polish remover, maybe that'll work." Danny laughed but didn't even move to stand.
"Sorry babe, I've already had a few beers," he replied. "You want the remover you're on your own." Steve twitched again before throwing himself down into his favorite chair. He grunted as he pulled a princess tiara from under his bum and tossed it to the floor. Danny snorted back a laugh.
"I'm sorry Steve but I did warn you," the detective shrugged. "Grace and her friends are going through a very sparkly phase right now."
"Their animals," Steve replied bluntly. "Tiny wild animals with the destructive capabilities of a nuclear weapon." This sent Danny into another fit of laughter as he shook his head. When Steve all but snarled at him, the detective shrugged his shoulders and smiled sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, SO sorry okay? I am," he tried. "Honestly Steve I had no idea three of the girls would give Grace nail polish kits." Steve sighed heavily as he tried to calm his jangled nerves, he was loath to admit but his partner wasn't lying. True enough most of the glitter and nail polish had come from three of the little girl's birthday presents.
The Navy SEAL knew he was in trouble when the first gift was opened and fifteen sets of innocent yet terrifyingly excited eyes turned on him like a starving lion ready to take down a plump and slow antelope. Danny at least had the decency to look horrified as the third present was opened revealing even more glitter and paint.
The detective had been spared the little girl's madness because Grace said Uncle Steve had never had a manicure before and Danny had done it lots of times.
"Never again," Steve said with a bit of a shudder. Danny gave one last chuckle at his friend's expense before lowering his bad leg to the floor and sitting forward.
"Okay Big Guy, never again and thanks... I really do mean that," he said. Steve gave another sigh as he picked at the glitter on his hands but this time was a little more relaxed about it. He would probably be cleaning his house for days and finding sparkly bits for years but there was no denying the joy he'd gotten from seeing Grace and her friends so happy. That and from seeing Danny practically glowing with happiness every time his daughter and friends giggled and applied another coat of polish.
Still he could feel the glitter and polish under his fingernails and tickling the hairs on the back of his hand. Being the incredibly neat organized person he was, Steve had to do something. NEEDED to do something. He stood up and grabbed his the keys for his truck.
"Going somewhere?" Danny asked.
"Taking you home and then I'm going to the store," Steve replied. Raising an eyebrow Danny got dutifully to his feet but then looked at the disaster of a living room that was Steve's home. Steve didn't even dare enter his kitchen until he'd at least calmed down a bit. The idea that his nit pic Navy SEAL home had been chewed up and spit out by a tornado made of glitter glue couldn't even compute in his brain at the moment.
"What about the mess?" the detective asked. Steve just headed toward the door.
"Tomorrow," he shuddered. "The animals have been fed. I want to get this exploded unicorn off my hands and drink beer... a lot of beer. So unless you're planning on staying over..."
"Nah I got some errands I need to run in the morning," Danny waved him off. "But I will be back to help. Deal?" Steve gave his friend a tight but grateful smile and nodded.
"Come on, faster we get going the faster I can start drinking away the memories of this glitter bomb," the SEAL joked.
Later that evening Steve stepped out of a convenience store near his home. Fortunately it was a bit later at night and there weren't many people around to see his coloured glory. He and Danny had actually stopped for a bite to eat before going their separate ways. The waitress had given Steve's hands a raised eyebrow to which Danny helpfully said; "He's in an experimental phase."
That comment nearly had Danny walking home but Steve resisted the urge to strand his partner and continued on. Once they were at Danny's the detective had shown some sympathy and handed Steve forty dollars; for the nail polish remover and for the beer. So the Navy SEAL took the kind gesture and headed out to the store.
Needless to say the clerk had given him a curious glance and an amused smile to which Steve just threw the money at him and marched out. As he'd reached for the money he found a bright pink cell phone and groaned. When the girls had gone in the water, Grace had asked him to hold onto it and in the sparkly Barbie rainbow coloured lacquer insanity he'd forgotten to give it back. He only hoped when he returned the item Grace's friends would be long gone.
Ignoring the item for the moment, Steve jogged out of the store and was just cutting through an alley to the parking lot when he heard three sets of footsteps approaching from behind. Slowing down, Steve turned to find three teens, one of them barely so and the older two holding weapons. One with a knife and the other with a small calibre gun. Even if the Commander was going to get shot with it, he knew he'd be back on his feet in a week, two tops.
"Give us your wallet and the beer," The oldest looking one spat with the gun. Steve couldn't help himself, he laughed and put down his groceries.
"You boys are what? Seventeen? Eighteen? And you..." he said looking at the youngest who had curiously the fiercest look. "Are you even fourteen?"
"Shut up!" the one with the knife barked. "Just give us your wallet and beer okay and you walk out of here in one piece!"
"Boys, I'm going to give you the chance to turn around and forget this ever happened once you surrender that gun," Steve said calmly but still with an amused smile on his face.
"No way! You think we're idiots?!"
"Actually, yeah I do," Steve smirked. He then pulled back his open button down t-shirt revealing his own badge; his gun he'd left in the truck. "You just tried to rob a State police officer," he chuckled.
The Navy SEAL never even saw the youngest kid move. All of a sudden there were two loud bangs and a hot searing pain ripped through Steve's body. He looked down incredulously at two holes in his torso the blood already staining his shirt. So stunned, all the man could do was drop to the ground and just manage to prop himself up on a brick wall behind him.
"WHAT THE HELL DUDE!?"
Apparently Steve wasn't the only one to stunned to think. The two older kids were looking at the youngest like they hadn't even realized he'd come along. The fourteen year old had a gun much larger than Steve had expected and much more damaging.
"Where did you get that?!" the eldest teen snarled. He snatched the weapon from the youngest hands and gave him a shove. "Are you stupid? We were just supposed to scare the guy!"
"We'll he's scared now, ain't he? He was laughing at us! I'm tired of being laughed at!" the young teen spat. Finally the other teen with the knife made a decision. He jogged over to Steve and despite the Commander's weak attempts to fight him off, removed his wallet, took the cash and stood.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" he barked.
"We can't leave him!" the teen who now had both guns in his possession. The teen with the knife shoved the young kid back down the alley and grabbed the other one.
"You want to tell your parents your kid brother just killed a cop?" he spat. "Lets. GO!"
Steve's mind was racing as he tried to calm his breathing and get over the fact that he'd just been taken down by three punks. A Navy SEAL, downed because he failed to realize a threat or maybe after a day of innocent kids, he'd let his guard down. Glancing at his now soaked shirt and knowing he didn't have much time, Steve focused himself.
'Stand up,' he ordered himself subconsciously. 'Get to the truck.' Tapping into his reserves, Steve tried to push himself off the wall. The end result was a breath sucking sharp pain that cause Steve to let loose a bloody cough and collapse back to the pavement. Of all the days to leave his cell and gun in the truck, today was not the one.
"Please..." he wheezed through bloody lips. "H, help." Unfortunately the bullets had done enough damage that his cry barely came out as a whisper.
Then just as he figured he was done for a miracle happened; rather, a bright pink miracle. From one of his pockets, Grace's cell phone started vibrating and it took everything Steve had to pull it out and answer it.
"Hello?" Grace's innocent voice asked. "This is my cell phone and I'd like it back please... is anyone there?"
"Gracie..." Steve hacked.
"Uncle Steve! Oh I'm so glad you found my phone! I thought I'd lost it and I-"
"G, Grace," he interrupted her. "N.. need you t, to call help. Call D, Danny."
"You don't sound so good Uncle Steve, are you hurt bad?" Grace's voice suddenly sounded very wary and scared and the last thing Steve needed was for the little girl to be panicked. At the same time he needed her to realize how serious the situation was.
"Uh... yeah Grace I'm uh... I'm hurt pretty bad, okay?" he tried to keep the wheezing out of his voice.
"I'm scared for you Uncle Steve, what do I do?" she hiccupped. Steve had to hold the phone away as another bloody cough let loose from his chest. He brought the phone back.
"M'scared too Grace," he admitted. "S'why I n, need you to call your dad, tell'im m'at the ABC on fifth... the alley..."
"I didn't hear all of that! Where are you!? Uncle Steve!?" Steve's body decided enough was enough, the phone slipped from his bloody hand as he fell forward onto the cold unforgiving pavement. The air was barely making it into his lungs, he could just hear Grace's scared voice over the line but couldn't find it in him to answer.
He must have lost consciousness because suddenly he felt a weight on his wounds and groaned in pain.
"Open your eyes Steve, I told Grace you're to stupid to die... don't make me a liar to my daughter," said a familiar voice. Just managing to peel his eyes open, Steve was struck with a bit of adrenaline at the sight. Danny was in his pyjamas putting pressure on Steve's wounds while the sounds of wailing sirens erupted through the night. Over the man's shoulder, the blurry image of two paramedics came racing toward them.
"H, how...?" Steve croaked. Danny's pinched with worry face managed a smile.
"Grace called me and told me I needed to GPS her phone to save you," he replied. "Just stick with me okay Steve?" The Navy SEAL tried to nod but a sharp pain once again stole his breath. He moaned even louder this time just as the paramedics arrived.
"Hurts..." Steve grunted.
"Don't worry Commander, we'll get you fixed up in no time okay? Just keep your eyes on the detective here and don't let go," one of the medics ordered.
A lot of medical mumbo-jumbo was spat out as the paramedics worked frantically with IV's, pressure cuffs and more gauze than Steve would have liked but his hand never left Danny's and Danny's eyes never left his.
"You're goin'a be fine big guy." As the thick oily black of unconsciousness once again sucked Steve into an abyss of nothingness, he let go without fear or concern. Danny said he was going to be fine and he knew he believed he would.
Two weeks later, Steve sat up in his hospital bed with a frown on his face. The doctor had just finished checking his stitches and although the progress was great it would still be another few days before the Navy SEAL could be released. The two bullets had done some damage but thankfully it wasn't anything the doctor's couldn't fix. As Danny had told him when he came too, Steve had been in surgery for eight hours to repair internal and external damage done to his body.
"What's with the face?" Steve looked up to the room door. Danny had been there when he woke up and every day almost every hour since then which Steve was extremely grateful for. Over the last short while, he'd gone through ups and downs, good nights and bad with pain issues but his partner was the first one there to get him through it. The Navy SEAL knew it wasn't because he'd done the same for Danny months ago but simply because this was what brother's did for one another.
"I'm stuck here another few days," Steve grumbled. Danny smiled as he entered further into the room and took up his watch yet again. The doctor's had kicked him out while they worked but Steve knew the detective hadn't gone far.
"Could have had something to do with your blood pressure being so low at one point your heart stopped," Danny replied. Then shrugged and said, "S'just an educated guess." Steve just rolled his eyes and picked at the hospital sheet covering his lower half; His upper half a mess of bandages and surgery scars.
"Maybe..." he snorted. Danny just laughed before they settled into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Finally Steve shook his head and sighed. "You know you've got a hell of a kid there Danny. I was to out of it to even think of telling her to track the phone." Sitting up straighter the detective beamed like a proud papa should.
"Coarse she's a hell of a kid, I raised her," he grinned. "And I'm glad you think so because Chin and Kono are bringing her by for a visit." Finally the frown left Steve's face and turned up into a smile. He'd only seen the petite hero once since he'd woken up and looked forward to seeing her again.
As if a little girls ears were burning the hospital room door opened and a pig-tailed ball of energy raced in.
"Uncle Steve!" she screeched. Steve winced at the volume and was thankfully saved any pain when Danny snatched up his daughter before she could launch herself onto the Navy SEAL's bed.
"Monkey you gotta be careful remember?" the detective warned gently. Grace had the good sense to look repentant and nodded as she was released. Slowly she got to Steve's bedside as Chin and Kono appeared with smiles on their faces.
"I'm sorry Uncle Steve, I just got so excited to come see you again," she explained. "Chin and Kono said they caught the bad guys that hurt you and I wanted to be the first one to tell you!" At that both Steve and Danny raised eyebrows and looked at the cousins.
"Actually, one of them turned himself in," Chin explained. "Trey Elama, said he couldn't stop feeling bad about the fact that they left you in the alley. They've moved around a lot and were really just looking for kicks and stuck up a few people that night. His little brother was the one who shot you. Freddie Elama who'd taken their father's gun, apparently the kid had gone through a lot of bullying in school and was having trouble dealing with it. Parents say his been through two psychiatrists."
"And what about the third guy? The one who took my money," Steve asked as Grace gently climbed onto the bed next to him. At that Chin and Kono's face's pinked with amusement and they shared a look.
"What? What's with the look?" Danny asked.
"Josh Lakua," Kono explained. "The Elama's gave him up and we went to his home. At first he and his wealthy parents denied any involvement. They swore they had an alibi."
"So how did you get him? What was the evidence?" Steve asked idly patting Grace on the knee. Kono pinked a little more as her eyes sparkled with amusement while Chin was doing his absolute best not to crack.
"We uh... asked him for his ID for our records," Chin coughed suspiciously sounding like a chuckle. "His wallet was covered in sparkles; the *cough* colourful money he took from you was still in there." Steve blinked incredulously as Danny broke a second later and howled out a laugh. While the cousins joined him, Steve turned to Grace who was blushing but amazingly managing to keep her own amusement to a simple innocent grin.
"See Uncle Steve, I told you nail polish and glitter was fun." Her grin widened even more and her eyes widened with hope before she asked; "Will you come to my Aloha Girls nature trip when you're feeling better? Please? All the girls from my party will be there."
Steve's eye twitched hard drawing even more laughter from his teammates but then the Navy SEAL reminded himself how much Grace's actions had helped him. And in light of her innocence and another kids loss of his which lead to the shooting Steve found himself more willing to concede to the request.
That said he damn sure wasn't facing the gallows alone. He put a hand on Grace's head swallowed his pride and did his best to smile.
"Sure Grace, in fact, why don't you get your dad to come with us," he said with grin of his own. As he continued he turned to his partner who clearly wasn't laughing anymore. If anything Danny looked like he was trying to light him on fire with his eyes. "We all know Danno LOVES camping."
Now it was Steve's turned to laugh until it literally hurt; rainbow revenge was definitely a dish best served cold.
THE END
Hope you liked it and hope you'll read and review!
Also, to any kind souls out there who've been subjected to bullying at school, at work, or in life in general; you didn't deserve it. You're awesome and you aren't alone. Love who you are and let nothing stand in your way.
Never engage, consistently calculate and always, ALWAYS remember you're a better human being than they are.
Love you all,
Oz