The Toast

Steve wasn't sure what was up with Danny that day. His normally animated partner and best friend was too quiet. Sometimes Steve would think to himself that a quiet Danny might be a good thing but when it actually happened, he missed his noisy partner. He'd never admit it, but he loved Danny's ranting and wildly gesturing hand movements and for the last few days the silence had been building and now he didn't see any of it. This glum, brooding person staring out the Camaro's passenger seat window almost seemed like a complete stranger. Even purposely kicking open the last suspect's door didn't raise any comments from Danny. At the silence, Chin and Kono had exchanged a worried glance with Steve and that's when he knew that they also had noticed how withdrawn Danny had become.

Back at the Palace, once the paperwork was completed and everyone was getting ready to leave, Steve suggested that the team stop off for a few beers now that they'd closed the case. He had his doubts, but was hoping Danny would agree to go so he could try to find out what was troubling his friend. If something was bothering Danny, then it also bothered Steve. Not only did he want to get to the root of the problem, he enjoyed being around Danny. Steve hadn't had many close friends and his New Jersey buddy was as close to him as any brother could be. And if during the course of a few beers, he could aggravate a 'Danny Rant' by bringing up how tasty the pizza with ham and pineapple he ate the other night was, or that surfing is as much a sport as football, then so much the better. If he could get Danny to go along, maybe they could raise his spirits a bit.

Chin and Kono heartily agreed that a cold beer or more would hit the spot and the three agreeing team members turned towards Danny for his response.

"Nah, I appreciate the offer, but I'm kind of tired and think I'll just go on home, if one of you doesn't mind giving Super Seal a ride home later." Danny replied remembering that he'd picked Steve up that morning.

"Ah, come on Danny…" Kono replied, "It won't be the same without you there. And you always help me eat my nachos."

"Yeah, brah" Chin added, "Besides, I want to see if you can drink Steve under the table again." Kono tried to stifle a giggle at Chin's comment while Steve shot her a dirty look.

"Now that only happened twice and… and I was tired those nights." Steve shot back quickly. "Come on Danny, tomorrow's Saturday and since you don't have Grace this weekend you can sleep in late." At the mention of his daughter, Grace, a wistful look appeared on Danny's face. The time he was allowed to spend with Grace was never enough.

"Not that Saturday makes any difference to you, since you seem to enjoy invading my beauty sleep regularly, even on the weekends." Danny responded back. "Thanks anyway guys, but really, I just want to get home tonight. But I give you each permission to have one or maybe even two drinks for me." He didn't really want to disappoint his friends, but he wasn't in the mood for any celebrating that night and he knew if he was along he'd just bring them all down. Putting his phone in his pocket and picking up his keys, he threw a wave and headed out through the doors.

Once the door was closed and they could no longer see him, Kono asked Steve "What's going on with Danny over this last week? He hasn't wanted to go out for lunches either and have you both noticed how he hasn't said much of anything the last few days?"

"Yeah and today when you kicked that door in, I figured he'd come unglued and fully expected him to read you the riot act and he didn't say a word." Chin added directing the comment towards Steve.

"Don't know. He hasn't said anything, even though I asked him several times what was bothering him. I'll stop off at his place early tomorrow morning and take him to breakfast. Maybe then he'll be ready to tell me what's wrong." Steve replied.

"Breakfast? Uh-oh Boss, you'll be interrupting his beauty sleep again." Kono said with an evil grin.

"Oh? Guess I would be." Steve said with a smirk while looking out the window as his friend got into his car. He wished he had his truck so he could follow Danny to make sure he arrived home alright.

******************************* H5-O *******************************

Danny patted his silver car fondly as he reached for the door handle. Opening the door and glancing towards the office windows, he spotted Steve watching him. He knew Steve was concerned and wanted to know what was wrong, but he just couldn't bring himself to talk about it. Climbing into the driver's seat, he turned his phone off, closed his eyes and sat for a moment, then heaved a deep sigh. Turning the key the powerful motor purred to life as he put the car in gear to pull out of the parking spot.

Turning towards home, he drove a few miles before turning on the radio. As the sound of 'Sexy Eyes' blared out, Danny groaned and stabbed the button to change the station. As the next channel came on, the mournful sound of 'Lady' by Lionel Richie was playing. "Not tonight," he moaned as he hit the scan button. The announcer on the third station happily told him that after the commercial break, they'd return to tonight's feature, classic love songs. Danny huffed out a long sigh again but when Bon Jovi's 'Always' came on, he didn't have the power to change the channel.

Listening and lost in the familiar words, the Camaro seemed to have developed a life and direction of its own and shortly after that Danny found himself driving on a mostly empty stretch of road along the shoreline. Memories assaulted him from that day which seemed so long ago as he slowly drove on lost in thought. Soon he was aware that Phil Collins was singing. As the words from the song softly stated 'no I can't stop loving you, why should I even try?', Danny became aware that he was in a familiar neighborhood. Rounding a corner, he took his foot off the accelerator and cruised silently past the large structure where his ex wife, Rachel, and Grace now called home. Casting a yearning look as he drove by, he couldn't have known that at that same moment, Rachel, lost in thought, was staring out the window and saw the silver car drive slowly past. Watching till he was out of sight, Rachel turned away from the window, and quickly wiped away a tear before she went in to tell Grace good night.

Heading back towards his lonely apartment, Danny made one quick stop at the store.

Finally arriving home, he carried the bag inside, locked the door and headed towards the small kitchen. Digging in a drawer, he found what he was looking for and sat it, along with his purchase on the counter. Searching and moving things out of the way, he finally found the fluted glass in the back corner of the cabinet. Sitting it down, he reached for the bottle and quickly popped the cork. Pouring champagne into the delicate, etched lettered glass, he held it up so light sparked through the bubbles and sadly said aloud "Happy anniversary, Rachel."

end