Title : Family Or Something Like It
Author : peaceful_sands
Fandom : Hawaii 5-0
Character : Steve McGarrett
Rating : PG-13
Word Count : 500 words approx.
Prompt : Hawai'i Five-0, Steve McGarrett, he has more family now than he's ever had before.
Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Family Or Something Like It
He remembered being a family. Mom and Dad and Mary and him. The stuff they did, the times they spent together, but it was all so long ago. With Mom gone, it all fell apart, somehow he thought he'd never find it again. He'd been so angry, everything out of control, part of him had never wanted it back; it wasn't that he didn't love Mary and Dad, it was just . . . If he kept them far enough away, arms length, then if anything happened . . . if the worst happened, he'd told himself, it wouldn't hurt, not like Mom dying.
It wasn't true, could never be true. It was how he got through those first few years; through school and into the Navy and by then he thought it was too late to fix all that had been wasted.
Now he's got this. He's not entirely sure what it is, but in some respects it feels an awful lot like family.
There's Kono; he's not sure whether he feels about her like he feels about Mary or like she was his daughter. There's an overwhelming sense of needing to protect her, keep her safe and let her grow and be all that she can. He's so proud of how she's developing.
Chin; he's more than a friend, close like a brother. Chin is a man he respects, a man he can laugh and joke with, share a beer and commiserate after a game.
There's Kamekono. Steve isn't quite sure where he fits in that whole family dynamic thing he's in the process of imagining, but he's pretty sure it's somewhere out on the 'slightly eccentric uncle' or 'somewhat dubious cousin' branch of the tree.
There's Grace, who's just perfect and everything he ever wanted from a kid of his own on the rare occasions he imagined himself with a family. She isn't his, not really, but he'd lay his life on the line for her, sacrifice everything he's got to keep her safe and secure and happy and . . . He thought he felt protective of Kono, but that's nothing to what he feels for little Gracie.
And then there's Danny. It all gets muddy and confused round Danny. He's enthralling and infuriating and everything Steve's always wanted and nothing like the person he imagined at all. He doesn't know whether he's coming or going when Danny's around. He finds himself doing things that he knows will aggravate the man, just to get his attention and he couldn't really explain that in any logical way. He's beginning to feel like a teenager again when Danny's around – all hormones, angst and bad judgement. He wonders if that's what being married is like, because sometimes it feels like he spends so much time with Danny that he may as well be married to him . . . he can think of worse things to happen.