This is AU, and I allowed myself to stray a lot from canon. It's possible that the way I wrote them could be considered OoC, but it was a conscious decision because I considered that if their lives had been different maybe they would be, too. I think that I didn't overdo it and they're still very recognizable - I hope I'm not wrong about this. I'd be more than happy to discuss this decision or my thought process in creating this in comments if anyone is interested.
I've already finished writing this, so I will post until the end. It's not very long and I intended to update frequently.
This started from a prompt that I saw on tumblr a while ago: accidentally taking each other's bags. It kinda grew from there, lol.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy it! =)
"What the ever-loving fuck?"
Danny had gotten back from his trip to New Jersey the previous evening, but due to the difference in time zones, he'd been wrecked and went straight to bed without bothering to open his suitcase. Now, after a few hours sleep, a shower and a healthy dose of coffee, he started the boring process of unpacking. He absolutely did not expect the surprise he got.
"There's a whole fucking arsenal in here!" Danny exclaimed to himself, shocked with the strange sight in front of him.
Inside what was supposed to be his bag, there was a vast array of firearms, ammo, grenades, even a bullet-proof vest. Figuring that in his tired state he'd grabbed the wrong bag wasn't hard. Trying to imagine who the fuck would have this amount of weaponry with them was another thing altogether. He looked for a tag, to see if he could find a reasonable answer to that question. Lt Cdr Steven J. McGarrett. Oh, okay, now it made more sense. The psycho traveling with half the firepower in the whole state of Hawaii was in the army. There was an address there, too, so Danny assumed he should take it there and with any luck he'd be able to get his bag back. He went to his closet to find better clothes than the current stained sweatpants and old, slightly torn T-shirt he was wearing. He was putting on a shirt when someone started banging way more loudly than strictly necessary on his door.
"Just a second, I'll be right there!" Danny shouted, but the banging didn't stop. "Alright, already, I get it!" He shouted louder, finishing buttoning up his shirt. He decided he couldn't stand the loud banging anymore, so he went to get the door with half his shirt still unbuttoned.
Danny had barely opened the door when a blur of a person barged in.
"Come on in, won't you?" Danny's voice was pure sarcasm.
"I assume you have my bag?" The stranger started darting his eyes around Danny's apartment. Well, probably not a stranger, he was most likely the psycho who'd taken Danny's bag. Who, by the way, looked even more like a psycho than Danny had previously thought.
The man stopped looking around the apartment, not having found the bag which was in Danny's bedroom, and finally bothered to look at Danny, something he hadn't done since he'd gotten there. And then his eyes landed on the part of Danny's chest that was still exposed under the half-open shirt. And they lingered, the expression in the man's eyes changing slightly. Danny quickly finished buttoning his shirt up, feeling his face blush.
Danny cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable. "If you're Steven McGarrett, then yeah, I do. And I assume that's mine." He pointed to the bag in the man's – Steve's – hand.
"If you're Danny Williams, then yeah, I do." The man had a ridiculous smile on his face, which he probably thought was charming. Danny didn't agree in the least. The fact that he'd felt something growing warm inside him had absolutely nothing to do with that, for sure.
"Yeah. Just give me that and I'll go get yours." Danny started reaching for his bag, but Steve pulled it away.
"I'd rather get my bag first."
"What, you're afraid I'm going to get mine and run away with yours, too? You're inside my freaking apartment. Uninvited, I might add."
"Yeah, well, there's a lot of sensitive material in there and I can never be too careful, you know."
"Yeah, I noticed," Danny huffed. "Fine, I'll go get it."
The man lifted up a hand. "Uh, if you don't mind, I should probably go get it myself."
"What the hell, man? You think I'm coming back here with one of your pieces in hand, force you out of my apartment?"
"Like I said, it's sensitive material. I'm responsible for it, so I should be the one handling it."
"Yeah, I noticed you were very responsible last night."
"It was a tiny lapse of judgement." At least Steve looked a little sheepish and embarrassed at that. "No need to make a big deal out of it. Now if you'll just allow me to correct that problem, I'll appreciate it and I'll be on my merry way and out of your face soon."
"Fine, come in here. It's in my bedroom."
Steve started moving towards the door Danny had pointed to, but Danny placed a not so light hand on his arm and held him still.
"I'll go first, if you don't mind."
Steve lifted his hands up in surrender. "Fine. We're a little defensive around here, aren't we?"
"You're the one who invaded my home. I think I have a right to try to maintain a little bit of my privacy."
"Whatever you say."
They got inside Danny's bedroom and Steve started looking all over the place again. Danny knew this time it had nothing to do with looking for the bag, which was right in front of them.
"Okay, here's your bag. You can leave now."
"You a cop?" Steve asked when his eyes landed on Danny's badge and gun on the bedside table.
"Wow, what gave it away? The Army sure taught you amazing investigative skills."
"It's the Navy. And I was just making conversation."
"No need. You're leaving."
"You don't want your bag, then?"
"I do. You're giving it to me, then you're leaving."
"Just a sec. I have to check if everything's still here first."
"You gotta be kidding me. You think I'd have taken something from your bag?"
"What? It's a legitimate concern. You're a cop, so you obviously know your way around guns. How can I be certain you wouldn't want something extra for yourself?"
"Unbelievable..." Danny muttered.
"Like I said, I'm responsible for what's in here. Can't have any of my weapons getting in the wrong hands."
"Fine, do whatever you have to do. Just do it fast and GO!"
"Someone's a little testy here. Got up on the wrong side of the bed?"
"No. Just had a psychotic Army guy violate my home before I even had time to get dressed and who's now gratuitously questioning my integrity." Danny didn't miss how Steve's eyes changed again when Danny mentioned getting dressed, and how he roamed his gaze up and down Danny's body. And the blush was back.
"Gratuitously? Nice vocabulary. And again, it's the Navy."
"Whatever."
Steve started going through the stuff in the bag, muttering under his breath, checking all the items inside. A few moments later he straightened up, looking satisfied.
"Good. It's all here. Here's your bag, Danny."
"Thank you. It was nice meeting you, now go." Danny wasn't above shoving the guy out the door. Which he'd already started doing.
Steve moved towards the door, bag in hand, and an overly pleased smile on his face. He stopped by the threshold and turned to look at Danny. His eyes lingered on Danny's angry face, his own showing a lopsided grin and a twinkle in his eyes.
"You wouldn't maybe want to go out with me, would you?"
"You're joking, right? What makes you think I'd want to spend more time with you?"
"Nothing, I guess. But you're hot, and I thought I'd ask. Can't blame a man for trying."
"Well, the answer is no. If I never see you again in my life, it will be too soon."
"Alright, suit yourself. You don't know what you're missing, though."
"I'm fairly certain I don't care."
"If you're sure. See you, Danny."
"I sincerely hope not." With that, Danny slammed the door on the other guy's face.
/~/~/
When Steve got back to his house after dropping off the weapons at the base – neglecting to inform about their brief misplacement, of course – the first thing he did was power up his laptop. He wanted to find out everything he could about Danny Williams. Of course that wasn't stalking, it was gathering intel. Nothing creepy about that, just something he'd been trained to do before a mission. What was the mission? Get into Danny's good graces. Or if that proved impossible – which was a fair possibility, given how their first encounter had gone – get him to go out with Steve anyway.
What had brought this on is that Steve couldn't get the man out of his head. The whole time from Danny's apartment to the base then back to his own house, he only thought about the blond, loud-mouthed, short but well-built and muscular and sexy and hot and... well, yeah, that's what he'd been thinking. Another thing he couldn't help but consider was that the man hadn't once said he was straight. He'd said no to the date, but never gave the obvious excuse if he was. Granted, that could just be because he was a private guy and didn't feel like sharing personal information with a stranger, but Steve liked to be optimistic. In his mind that meant the doors weren't completely closed and he'd stick with that.
So now he'd start the op. Get all the information he could online and complement that with some inside information. He was certain that gathering good intel would help him find a way to get to the guy.
It didn't take long for Steve to find Danny's records in the police. He found that he'd been transferred from New Jersey six months prior, after building an exceptional record there. It didn't say why he'd moved, though. He also found that the guy had been married, but was now divorced and he had a seven year old girl. A hunch made Steve look into the ex-wife and found that she'd remarried and moved to Hawaii. Steve wondered if that had been the reason for Danny's transfer. Well, that'd probably make for a good topic of conversation on their first date. Or maybe not. Even he knew that you don't talk about exes on first dates. But the daughter was probably fair game. Huh, he'd have to come back to that.
Well, that's all he could find online, but that was okay because his inside source had just arrived home.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hey, Son. How's your first day back been?"
"Good. Still adjusting, I guess."
"Got the bag back?"
"Yeah. Got away with lying about it, too. Got it back to the base, no problems."
"Good. Not that I condone what you've done, but good. Want some dinner?"
"I was just about to go make some. You just relax, you look tired. Tough day?"
"Not particularly, just a lot of paperwork and dealings with IAB."
"IAB? What are they after?"
"They think there might be a mole in the department. Asked me all kinds of questions, wanted to start investigating everyone. I could only see what mess that'd be. I didn't have the easiest of times trying to get them to back down a little, thread lightly. I don't think the next few weeks will be a lot of fun."
"IAB is never fun. Hope they find who they want soon and leave you alone."
"Me, too. Although I'm not too happy considering who it might be, if there is someone. I don't like the idea of someone screwing around under my nose."
"I can imagine that, but I'm sure that whoever it is, they're good at erasing their tracks. You're the best captain that department has ever seen, it isn't just about anyone who could get the better of you."
Steve was now in the process of slicing vegetables while stir-frying some chicken. He looked back at his dad, who was nursing a beer, looking somewhat more relaxed but still tired. He wondered if maybe he should wait for a better time, but he was never too good at impulse control.
"So, dad, do you happen to know a Danny Williams?"
John stopped to think for a while. "Uh, yeah. Haole detective, transferred from the mainland a few months ago, if I'm not mistaken."
"Know any particulars about him?"
"Not much. Just that he's not having it very easy adapting. The men in the department are a lot more prejudiced than I'd ever imagined. They're not taking the haole's presence there very well. He seems to get along with his partner, though."
"Anything else?"
"No, nothing that I can think of." John was leaning forward on the central counter of the kitchen, slightly slumped and seemingly uninterested. Then he straightened, his eyes sharpened and he focused on Steve. "Why do you ask?"
"Uh, no reason." The vegetables Steve had been slicing had become very interesting, so much so he wouldn't dare take his eyes off them. It's not that he minded talking to his dad about this kind of stuff. A lot. It's just that he wasn't in the sharing stage yet.
"Steve, you can maybe lie your way with your CO in the Navy, but I'm your old man. I know you. What about this guy?"
"Okay, he may have been the one who had my bag and I may have found him... interesting."
"Ah. You ask him out?"
"Yeah. He said no."
"Oh, wow, whatever could he mean by that? If he's not interested, why you still asking about him?"
"Because... I'm not prepared to give up on him just yet."
"Hm, so you're a lot interested."
"He's just a nice guy, okay?" Steve paused, remembering his earlier encounter. "Okay, maybe nice isn't the right word. He was rude, insulting, brusque and practically threw me out of his place. But there's just... something about him."
"He's hot." John put bluntly.
"You think he's hot?" Steve asked, surprised and a little bit curious.
"How would I know? I'm not gay. But I know you."
"Yes, I think he is very, very, very hot. But it's not just that. He's fiery and hot-headed..."
"So you think he'd be hot in bed." More bluntness.
"Dad!"
"What? It's a fair thing to ask."
"I'm not answering that."
"Fair enough. You already have, anyway."
"Fine," Steve huffed. "But it's not just that either. He got to me. I don't know why, but he got to me. And I want to see him again."
"Why don't you go down by the station one day? Pretend your visiting me and try to talk to him again."
"Dad, that's a great idea." Steve squeezed his father's shoulder and went back to finishing dinner.
/~/~/
The next day, Steve got to the station around 11 am. He found a hidden spot behind a tree and prepared himself to wait until Danny left. He'd just run into him, pretend it was an accident and try to engage in less aggressive conversation.
Danny only left five hours later. Steve quickly moved so it would seem that he was coming from the opposite direction. He pretended to be distracted and bumped into Danny.
"Oh, sorry, I-" Danny started, but then he saw who was there and the expression on his face changed immediately. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Hey, relax, I just came to see my dad. It's not like I'm following you."
"Oh, right. John McGarrett. I should've made the connection."
"Not very good detective work of you, huh?"
"It was nice to see you, Steve," Danny said sounding like he meant the opposite. He was already starting to walk past Steve.
"A little late to take your lunch break, huh?" Steve said before Danny could leave.
"This isn't my lunch break, I had lunch at my d- Hey, how do you know I didn't leave before?"
"I, um, it's just... um..." Dammit. This wasn't how he'd planned this.
"So you are following me."
Steve thought he could see smoke coming out of the other man's ears and he was pretty sure his nostrils were flaring. So much for aiming for less aggressive.
"No, I wasn't. Don't flatter yourself. I was inside the station the whole time, I just left for a little while now." Good save, Steve.
"If you were inside the station, how come I didn't see you?"
"I don't know, maybe I was far from your desk."
"If so, how do you know I hadn't left before?"
"I was by the door. I could see who came and went."
"My desk is by the door."
Fuck.
"I... uh... Maybe you were just distracted?" Steve tried, fumbling for any excuse he could think of.
"Oh, my god, you really are a psycho. Certifiably so. And now you're stalking me."
"I'm not stalking you. I swear, it was just a coincid..." Oh, fuck it. There was no way to save it now. "Fine. I did come here to see you. But there's nothing creepy about that, I just wanted another chance to talk to you. Maybe get you to change your mind about that date."
"Oh, you did change my mind. Yesterday my answer was a simple no. Now it's 'not even if you were the last person on Earth and the only way to stay alive was to go on a date with you'."
Ouch. That really wasn't how he'd planned this.
"Come on, Danny, just-"
"I'm going, Steven. I'd say don't come here again, but unfortunately I can't keep you from seeing your father. But I swear to god, if you ever try to talk to me again..."
"Fine, I get it." Dammit. That had been a massive failure. Steve was usually a lot better at planning ops.
/~/~/
"Of course that went wrong, Steven. What the hell, I said drop by the station, not stake out the damn place." John was standing in front of the couch were Steve was slumped, a bottle of beer in his hand.
"I was trying to make it look casual, but also meeting him on neutral ground. I figured he'd be more relaxed if he wasn't surrounded by all those men who are already judging him."
"Oh, and how did that work out for you?"
Steve just sighed and leaned forward, elbows on his knees and head buried in his hands. "What do I do now?" He lifted his head up again to look at his father.
"Nothing. You let it go."
"I don't want to let it go. If anything, I want him even more now."
"You always were too stubborn. That's not always a good thing, you know? What is it with this guy, anyway?"
"I don't know, he's just... I just need a chance, okay? I know we'll get along if I can just get him to know me a little better."
"Yeah, you're doing a great job at that."
Steve groaned and buried his head in his hands again.
Steve lay in his bed trying to get to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Danny, trying desperately to find another way to talk to the man. He kept coming up empty. But he wouldn't let this go, couldn't. He'd have to find a way. He didn't know why, but he knew Danny was special. Vivacious, exciting, provoking. He could do with someone like that in his life. Of course, he'd had plenty of excitement in the Navy, but in his relationships... Let's just say that in that department action was... wanting, for lack of a better word. It's not that he'd always been alone, he'd had his share of one-night stands, sometimes even the brief affair here and there. But he'd never had someone who meant something. He wanted to be with someone that he wanted for who they were, not just to keep him some company or provide some empty warmth. And Danny, he was all about warmth, but the real kind. A fire that came from within and seemed all consuming and all Steve could think about is how much he wanted to be consumed and wiped out by that fire, be brought down to ashes and then be reborn, start over, a new person, better, less damaged, less jaded... Someone worthy of someone like Danny...
Oh, god, this man was really messing with his head. He was going all poetic now?... and willing to admit and consider things he'd much rather ignore and pretend weren't real or relevant. And how did Steve even know if Danny was special or not, that he needed to be worthy of him? Except Steve did. Somehow, he knew. Something in Danny's eyes, something in the way he talked... And that's exactly why he wouldn't give up.