Okay. I'll be the first to admit that this one was the most difficult to write. Steve and Danny are so many things to each other. (I know the marriage reference sucks lol, but it had to be used in the previous one because that's what they come across as to everyone) Just know that I DIDN 'T use it here :P
Anyway, like I said, this was difficult, so please forgive me if I missed the mark :( Thank you all for your unlimited support throughout. I really appreciate it guys xxx You all ROCK!
Danny
The words are out before he can stop himself.
'DON'T forget I gave you MY liver!"
Steve swallows back his reply and there's an instant shutter that comes down over his face and locks away all the emotion that was brewing there moments ago. It's as though someone just turned the lights out. Kicked a puppy.Betrayed him…And just a second before that, he was in his zone, plotting his next move with the only back-up he'd ever need, Danny himself. As if Danny would could even fathom that he'd not appreciate a gesture that big. Danny knows that if he tells Steve to take care of himself, he probably wouldn't. But if he told him to take care of anything else, well, that was another matter altogether. He'd do that without a second thought.
He can't seem to help himself when it comes to hurting Steve. He does it as easily as breathing. But then Steve's always been there to take the hits, and he's never actually complained with real heat. Yeah, he did mention a few times that it hurts his feelings, but sometimes Danny forgets that SuperSEAL's are human too, because Steve's larger than life personality makes it so easy to ignore the softer side of him.
He feels bad. He really does. His mouth seems to get the better of him as soon as Steve's involved. Once the damage is done though, all he can do is sit back and wallow in misery at his own stupidity. People always said getting into rebound relationships were never a good idea. Danny had thought so too, until he met the SEAL. But there was no rebounding from Steve McGarrett.
Steve knows him. Sometimes better than he knows himself. He's the only one other than Grace, who actually does. But Grace is his daughter. And Steve? Steve was an advisor, brother, giant child, friend, boss, idiot, psychologist, doctor, Mr. Fixit and his other half all rolled into one. If Danny was the left arm, Steve was the right. They were opposites in so many ways, and in other ways, they were exactly the same. Two halves of a whole. Where Danny was careful, cautious and verbal, Steve was wild, spontaneous and silent. Danny was a father first and everything else thereafter. Steve was a SEAL first…and that's how it went. Until Danny realized it wasn't. He was Steve first, and everything else thereafter…
Danny will be the first to admit that he loves to throw tantrums. What his body lacked for in size, his mouth made up for in mountains of words. It's not a conscious thing. All he knows is that he's easily riled. Must be the Jersey Boy temper, though no one can get a rise out of him like Steve can. He falls right into the trap time after time, screaming, yelling, gesticulating and cursing all before he realizes what goes on. Mostly because he worries so much. He's the negative to Steve's positive. He was the one who initiated the speaking out of the love between them when he drew Steve a heart while he was being airlifted after breaking his arm. Danny meant it. Steve's idea was to return the love with 'Boo Boo', and seriously, Danny can do the name calling like Neanderthal and cave man, ingrate and selfish. Words like careless and ungrateful and miserly. Because he couldn't take those words himself. He had too much of a self-esteem issue…
Steve's called him on it a million times. He's told Danny of his rotten childhood and heck Danny has seen first hand the damage Cath, Doris and Joe did. Between the two of them, Danny worries about things all the time. If Steve does, he doesn't show it. Danny wonders if his kids are alright, if the job is done right, if they reach a scene of the crime in one piece, if they're gonna find themselves wrapped around a tree on the way to work, if he's even getting home alive…yeah. He worries. But mostly he worries for Steve. Because the man knows many things, but self-preservation isn't one of them. If there's a fire, there's a crazy SEAL running into it without care. If there's bullets flying, there goes Mr. MY VEST WILL CATCH IT. If there's danger…guess who's first in line to take the heat…Surprise surprise. It's Steven J. McGarrett!
The man could compartmentalize all his hurt and pain so easily it scared him. Danny knew that Steve kept setting him up for arguments that had his mind busy until they reached their destination. Like the 'dinghy' incident…He was grateful for it, really. Steve made stupid ideas like that come across as pure genius. Seriously, who would poke a bull? Yup…Only Steve…
Danny found himself turning to Steve time and time again over the years. It started off simple enough. He needed to get his point across and Steve happened to be there arguing with him. It was love at first punch. Steve didn't return it with a move that would have disabled him for life. Instead, he gave him a gift. A getaway with his beloved daughter. The child he'd travelled across the sea for. The child who Steve would die for because of a simple endearment. One little word. Uncle.
Steve had turned this pineapple infested hellhole into a home for him. He'd put on a uniform to attend the funeral of a man he didn't know just because Danny had needed the support… he'd donned crooked tie and spoke on his behalf so he could get to keep his child. He'd let his criminal of a brother get away and then stood by and covered a murder after said brother was found in pieces. Known where to find him when he needed to clear his mind, worked like an animal to free him from prison so he could go home to his kids and reminded him daily that he loved him and would be there for him. Hell he'd even decorated Charlie's room all by himself and taken no credit for it. What was half a liver in the face of all that?
Danny rants. He rants and raves and wildy gesticulates and sometimes makes a giant ass of himself. But there isn't much he wouldn't do for Steve. Steve was his family. He was the most forgiving man he knew, even to those who didn't deserve it. And Danny thinks that most times, he doesn't deserve it…
Steve doesn't question him when he comes in gun blazing wanting to take out a kid flirting with his teenaged daughter. He calmly humors him, asking who and why. And then goes on to very subtly explain that growing children face these things daily and that trust is important while they mature.
Trust…Steve handed that over to him too. It's a delicate gift, seeing as he was hurt so many times by those he trusted, but Steve is Steve. He doesn't hold grudges. His mind is always open to possibilities. When they first met, he was a man that could make your blood boil. Now he too had grown. He'd matured in ways only those who knew him closely could understand. Lately Steve had been a little too forthcoming with him. He gave in more easily. He was more open and honest with his feelings. He even got angry less. It scared Danny. Scared him because a submissive Steve was not the Steve he knew. Steve was all power and attitude. There was no place in his world for giving up. But some days it felt like he was…
Danny hopes he can one day open his mouth and speak the words his heart feels. Not what his brain spews out. He wishes he could show him just what it meant to have him in his life. He'd only shared a liver. Steve had given him so much more than that. He'd shared his heart, his trust, his home and his life with him. You couldn't win with Steve, but you couldn't bear to lose him either…Danny always made a list of all the DO's and DON'T's but Steve to him, was everything IN-BETWEEN.