Summary: Once more I felt compelled to come up with a fix-it for another episode of H50. 8.07 made me cringe when I saw how much Steve was hurting while Danny was God only knows where. The boys always have each other's back, no matter what. Grover attempted to support Steve with shallow phrases. This was not what he needed. Steve would've needed Danny to comfort him and tell him everything's going to be all right, even if the cop turned out to be a perp. I missed that Steve didn't reach out to Danny by giving him a call or whatever, it did not sit right with me. I don't promise you the ultimate solution. But I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing
Warning: this story contains slash elements!
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It was way past midnight when Danny arrived at his house. More than 10 hours on a plane with hardly any sleep had left its mark. So he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he discovered someone sitting on the steps of his porch.
Steve blinked and lifted his hand to protect his eyes from the blinding light of a pair of headlights that cut through the dark. He had no idea how long he'd been here. His head was already starting to throb from an oncoming migraine, and his mouth was cotton dry.
Steve was thankful when the driver shut down the headlights, and the place returned to darkness, only illuminated by the moonlight that was partly covered by clouds.
"Steven? What the hell are you doing out here? I do recall giving you a key to the place."
The familiar voice that hit Steve's eardrums sent a wave of relief through his aching body, and he felt his body practically collapse in on itself, even in his sitting position. Every muscle screamed as he tried to get up. Instead, he shifted minutely on the concrete steps, biting back a groan of exhaustion. Only now it dawned on him that it was way too early for Danny to return home from New Jersey. He wasn't due back to Oahu for another 24 hours. Was he dreaming?
Steve doubted his senses until Danny shoved his face into his view.
"Dude, you look like hell, you know that?" Danny gave him a big smile and pulled him into a hearty embrace.
"Danno, it's so good to see you, man," Steve's voice hardly obeyed him. "But how in the world…"
"Lou gave me a buzz. I was already done with my statement on trial and took the next flight home I could get. I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier."
"It's okay, buddy. It's okay. I'm glad you're back." Steve clung to Danny, to his lifeline. He soaked up the warmth of his friend's body and inhaled his scent. The cold he'd felt subsided, along with the dark thoughts that had clouded his mind since the shooting incident in the bowels of the city the other day.
Danny could feel Steve's anxiety drain away the longer they held on to each other. At some point, he broke the embrace and sat down next to his partner. A faint chill ran down Steve's spine when his arms were empty again.
"You okay?" Danny asked.
Silence.
Danny nudged him gently, "Tell me, why are you sitting on the steps of my porch when you have a cozy home yourself. More so, didn't you use your key to let yourself in here?"
Steve huffed out a breath and swallowed hard before he looked to Danny. "You're always tellin' me I'm constantly in your personal space, so… I figured it'd be better if I just waited. As far as my cozy home... Let's just say it's a bit crowded at the moment. Junior's a nice kid, and he keeps his space clean and everything. And Eddie is great but…" His voice trailed off, and Danny nodded in understanding.
"You're not used to it," his friend ended the sentence for him. "How about we go inside, and you tell me what made you end up on my doorstep. Lou gave me the fast-forward version, and I probably missed some details." He helped Steve to his feet, noting how much the SEAL leaned on his arm as they crossed into the darkened house. He flipped on the closest lamp and watched Steve trudge through the living room, his heart clenching at the pain radiating from the taller man's body.
"Coffee or beer?" Danny wanted to know after Steve had plopped on the couch.
"Beer, definitely a beer."
Danny returned with two Longboards in his hands, handed one to Steve, and sat down in a wing chair. They clinked bottles and took a big gulp. Once more, the guys were acting in sync. A brief smile lifted the corner of Steve's mouth when he became aware of it.
Danny looked from the bottle in his hand to Steve, "How about you give me a rundown on what happened and fill in the gaps Lou left behind when he gave me his machine-gun-like summary of events," he suggested with a small smile.
Steve held the cold bottle of beer against his throbbing temple and spoke, "I picked up Adam at the airport, and we were on our way to his and Kono's place when I got a call from Junior."
He gave Danny a detailed description of the whole incident until he came to the point where he'd shot the guy in uniform.
Steve put the bottle aside and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, "As soon as I saw that HPD uniform, Danny… When I realized what I'd done, I almost lost it. I couldn't believe it, man, ya know. How could I have been so wrong? I didn't look ahead; I didn't announce myself, I just…I mean, I fired blindly."
Danny put his hand on his friend's thigh. "Steve, babe, listen. It is okay. You did nothing wrong. You were in pursuit, on your own, underground in a fucking tunnel system. It was you or him. He didn't identify himself as an officer, and now you know why. He was posing as one, and it cost him his life. That wasn't your fault; it was his."
Tears stung in Steve's eyes, his voice barely above a whisper, "I know Danny. I know. And I've told myself that over and over again. But that doesn't undo what was done. I spent hours thinking I'd shot one of our own."
"And what about friendly fire, huh? You've spent a lot of time in war zones. You can't tell me there've never been incidents involving friendly fire, whether you were involved or not. Hell, even I was involved in a shootout back in the day in Jersey where a fellow detective shot a cop who was undercover. You know that I am not a fan of your whole "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality, but sometimes we have no choice. This wasn't a usual bank heist. The whole thing spiraled out of control. And believe it or not, I would not have fared any differently."
"But what if…"
"Steven, don't even go there. This guy was a scumbag of the worst kind. Imagine the damage he could've done wearing that uniform, posing as a cop. You did the right thing. Don't you get stuck now on the what-ifs, you hear me?"
It cost Danny a lot of strength not to show how angry he was with himself for not being there for Steve when he'd needed him the most and that it had taken him so long to return to the island. He took an angry gulp of beer, fighting the sudden urge to just hurl the bottle against the closest wall.
Steve's Danny radar suddenly pinged like crazy. He could see the change in his friend's mood by the way his features darkened and the way his lips tightened.
"Let's talk about the trial. How's that going?" Steve tried to steer Danny's thoughts in another direction.
The blond detective eased the grip on his bottle, "I don't know. It can go either way."
Steve frowned, "You mean the guy was convicted of a murder he didn't commit back then? Are you sure?"
Danny huffed out a breath, "This case is one big mess, Steve. I wasn't really involved in it. But the new evidence shows that the lab tech fucked up and that Stratton covered the shit when it hit the fan. Stratton was a legend in our district. Nobody would've doubted him, ever. I mean, I've looked up to him since before I got promoted to detective. I wanted to be like him. We all wanted to be like him."
An eerie silence filled the air. Each of them dwelled on their own gloomy thoughts until Steve stood with a heavy sigh and said, "I should head home before Junior files a missing person's report."
"What if I don't want you to leave?" Danny blurted out, his eyes traveling up and down Steve's form.
Steve frowned.
"After all, you and I need some quality time together. Call your roomie and tell him you won't be home tonight." Danny suggested, a slow smirk coming to his face.
"Are you sure? I mean, you had a long flight, you look pretty tired, and…"
"Steven?"
"What?"
"Shut up and make the damned call."
Two hours later, Steve cried out as Danny spasmed around his cock. The sight of Danny losing himself so completely combined with the feeling of the blonde's ass tightening and releasing around him tore an almost pained groan from somewhere deep in Steve's throat. One, two, three thrusts, the feeling of Danny's heels digging into his lower back, and Steve shuddered. His own climax overcame him, and he spilled his release into the condom sheathed around his aching cock.
Sweaty and gasping for air, he had just enough sense to roll to Danny's side before he collapsed on his lover's firm body. Steve put one hand under his head; the other was caressing Danny's cheek while he watched his lover's perfect features.
The blond guy slowly opened his eyes and smiled sweetly.
"Flying high, babe?" Steve asked softly.
Danny's face was beaming, "Oh yeah! Better than anything else I can imagine."
When he woke after a deadlike sleep, Danny realized he must've shifted in his sleep, because he found himself spooned against Steve, the solid wall of the taller man's torso behind his back, and his knees tucked in the hollow behind Danny's. Steve's strong, warm arms were wrapped around his waist.
"Are you asleep?" Danny whispered, trailing his fingers across Steve's forearm.
"How could I be?" Steve mumbled shifting even closer, nuzzling the back of Danny's head. "I can't tell you how much I've missed you. How could I be tired when I finally have you back in my arms, huh?" When a loud yawn split Steve's jaw, Danny chuckled and wiggled back against his lover so that their bodies were a more perfect fit.
"Go to sleep, you stupid oaf," Danny muttered and made a small, contented sound.
Danny had so many things on his mind he wanted to tell Steve, but he was too blurry-minded to sort out what they were, or how to say them. So he tugged Steve's arms tighter and, blanketed in bliss, slid back into sleep.
The End
