Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the virtual paper it's written on. No copyright infringement intended.
H5-0* H5-0* H5-0* H5-0* H5-0* H5-0*
"Grace!"
Danny's urgent shout had the young girl abandoning her loom bands in an instant and heading for the living room. While she had no idea what her father wanted, she suspected by his tone and use of her actual name, instead of the moniker 'Monkey', that it was nothing good. Hovering nervously in the doorway, right hand clutching at the frame, Grace stared up at the man.
"What's wrong, Danno?" Her voice was a lot calmer than she felt upon seeing the beet-red face of her father.
"How many times have I told you to make sure you shut the cage?" Danny chuffed, left hand waving in the direction of the enclosure in the corner of the room.
Grace stepped into the room to gaze at Mr. Hoppy's travel crate. The door was definitely ajar and she gulped as she realised the occupant was no longer present. The little brown pellets that trailed toward the couch another sure sign that he was no longer at home. "I … err … the …"
Silencing his daughter with a look and a wave of his hand, Danny continued, "How it happened we will deal with later. Right now, young lady, you," he said, pointing at his obviously shocked little girl "need to find that damned rabbit before it eats everything and poops … everywhere". Danny raised his hands and circled them in emphasis.
Grace nodded and immediately began searching the room. She had no idea how her bunny had escaped. The reason he was inside at all was because he had chewed through the wooden door of his hutch and it was no longer secure. Her father had called him 'Houdini' and it had taken five hours, an entire bag of carrot treats and an elaborate trap set by her uncle Steve to catch him. Steve had offered to construct a new door, but Danny had refused, mumbling something about 'jerry-rigging' and someone called MacGyver. He had driven to the pet store to order a new door and ended up ordering a new hutch – complete with reinforced locks and an outside run – instead. Unfortunately it wasn't in stock and wouldn't arrive in-store until next week, hence the current (obviously less than perfect) arrangement.
As his daughter began her hunt for the errant bunny, Danny used the remaining newspaper she had kept for its bedding to scoop up the little presents it had left on the floor. He almost wished his daughter didn't love the animal quite so much. Mr. Hoppy had been slowly becoming the bane of his existence and he was beyond ready to throttle the overgrown ball of fluff … until he saw his daughters face light up at the sight of him. He would do anything for his beautiful little girl. Anything to see that warm, radiant, carefree smile. If that meant putting up with the miniature Houdini-poop-factory, then he'd just have to suck it up.
"Danno! I've found him!" Grace's half-yell snapped him back to the moment as he carefully wrapped the 'deposits' in the paper. Thank heavens for that, Danny thought to himself. The prospect of another five hour hunt, this time inside his apartment, being less than appealing.
"I need some help though …"
"Of course you do," Danny sighed, not quite loud enough for his daughter to hear. The rabbit couldn't possibly be anywhere easy to get to. That would be far too simple and he knew from experience how much the wayward fur ball liked to complicate things. "Coming Monkey" he called, following the sound of her voice and dropping his latest 'gift' in the trash on his way past.
Entering the laundry, Danny could only see Grace's feet poking out from behind the wash-basket. One foot waggled in the air as she obviously tried to reach the wayward rabbit beneath the counter. Shimmying her way backward, Grace emerged from the small space; her once neatly braided hair falling about her face. Rising to all fours she blew at a few unruly strands which clung to her mouth, before kneeling to look up at her father.
In that moment, Danny saw her mother in her. He remembered fondly the way she had never quite managed to tame her fringe as she tried to grow it out, before giving in completely and chopping it off again with the kitchen shears in a fit of frustration. He had returned home to find her sitting on the kitchen floor in tears because it was 'wonky' and she was too embarrassed to go to the hairdresser to get it fixed. Unable to assuage her embarrassment, he had collected a flexible ruler from the study and sat with her, measuring and cutting the hair until it was straight – a complete mess, but straight. She had looked up at him with those same eyes and asked him if he'd like to use a bowl next. The pair of them had howled with laughter and simply stayed there, propped up against the cupboards until their hunger got the better of them. That was before things had changed. Before they had changed. Before stress and frustration had gotten in the way of carefree and happy. The only place he ever saw Rachel that way anymore was in their daughter, which saddened him. For all their arguing and fighting, she deserved to be happy. Shaking his head to clear the memory, he smiled down at his precious girl.
"Where's he hiding then, monkey?" Crouching down to peer behind the basket, Danny couldn't see Mr. Hoppy. He was definitely there though. The little nuggets proved it.
"He's behind the washing machine. I can't reach him and he won't come out." Grace sighed and sagged back onto her feet in defeat; her head dropped with her gaze as she absently fiddled with the edge of her shirt in her lap.
Noting his daughter's forlorn expression, Danny crouched before her; calloused hands lifting her chin so her eyes met his gaze. "Then I think this calls for a bit of Williams' teamwork, don't you?" he smiled.
Returning her father's gaze, Grace nodded. She knew her rabbit had been more than a little … difficult … over the past week or so and her Dad had been really frustrated with him. He had ranted at him and about him – to pretty much anyone who stood still long enough to listen – arms waving in true Danno style. There was no malice though. For all his griping about her rabbit, she could tell he was actually kind of fond of him. Or maybe he was just so fond of her that the bunny was an extension of that. Either way, he wasn't really angry – at either her or Mr. Hoppy. He was just, well he was just her Danno. And she loved him. And so she smiled back.
"Why don't you go and grab his crate so we can put him straight in before he decides to make another bid for freedom and I'll see if I can grab him from the other side of the machine?"
"Ok," she said, accepting his hand up and quickly making her way to retrieve the crate.
Cursing under his breath, Danny leaned around the opposite end of the washing machine. The thing was heavy and he didn't think he'd be able to pull it out without turning it too far and squashing the rabbit against the wall. While it would have solved the problem of further escape plans, he was quite sure his daughter would object to that, so he was going to have to lean across the back of it and hope he could reach.
"I got it, Danno," Grace said, placing the travel crate on the floor beside the laundry door.
"Good. Now shut the door so he can't leave the room and I'll reach down this side and grab him." Grace did as asked and he continued, "You stay down that side in case he makes a break for it and try to get him in the crate, ok?"
"Got it!" Grace nodded, a grin planted firmly on her face.
"Here goes nothing," Danny mumbled, stepping in close and leaning forward across the back of the washing machine.
He knew something was amiss the instant his hand touched the bare metal on the reverse of the machine. The world seemed to slow down as his fingers tingled. Every nerve ending lit up immediately like the switching on of the Christmas lights. He felt the sudden surge of power as it travelled first through his hand and then onwards up his arm. Every hair on his body stood on end, like some sort of supercharged static balloon experiment gone wrong. He felt his muscles contract as the action-potential travelled along his nerve fibres, releasing chemical messages into his synapses; saw the flash of the spark before the loud cracking 'pop'. Felt his breath hitch as the whole of his left side seemed to constrict and go numb instantaneously. Heard a deep, guttural sound as the metal released him, too disoriented to realise it came from his own mouth. Heard his daughter scream his name as the world tilted and the floor rose to meet him.