It kept playing over and over in his head, a never ending loop he couldn't stop. A bomb strapped to a terrorist's chest, a proximity sensor glowing bright, seemingly burning a red dot through his dress shirt into his chest, the bomb tech methodically tracing wires and Steve trying to distract him by getting him to continue his story about Jersey.
The beep getting louder, the tech showing some nervousness...
"Steve, get outta here!"
"No, not gonna happen."
"Need you to take care of Grace..." Steve cutting him off before he could finish his sentence.
"That's your job, pal. You're her dad!"
When it was all clear. He bent over barely holding himself up, hands on his knees. It was all he could do to remember how to breathe. Looking up at Steve, "I uh. I'd offer to take you for a beer, but I've got somewhere I gotta be."
Steve looked at him tears glinting in his eyes, "Next time, huh?"
The nervous laugh came out before he could stop it. "Let's hope there's not a next time."
He'd made the father/daughter dance with Grace. His mind couldn't stop wandering, but hopefully he'd kept it from Grace. There was a moment when she'd questioned him, but he'd covered it up with one of his smiles and they'd kept dancing.
Sitting in the dark, Danny came to the realization that he needed to come completely clean with Steve. He'd come closing to dying several times, but this was the first time he'd had the time to consider all the ramifications if he'd died without anyone else knowing his secret. It was only logical he chose Steve, his partner and best friend. It didn't occur to him as odd that in covering his bases in case of his demise, he'd chosen to entrust his largest secret to the one person who'd most likely be the cause of said death.
Checking the time, Danny saw it was late but not so late that Steve would be already in bed. Before he could change his mind, he picked up his phone and hit the speed dial.
"Hey, Danny! How'd the dance go?"
"Good. It went good. Grace was an absolute vision in pink."
"Guessing you didn't call this late to give a run down. What's up?"
"Yeah, sorry about the time. Uh, Steve, I really need a favor."
Steve really didn't like the sound of Danny's voice. Nervously he said, "Of course, Danno, whatever you need. Just tell me."
Danny's inhale was very audible over the phone. "What are you doing about 9:30 tomorrow?"
"Don't have anything pressing. Don't you have Grace for the weekend?"
"Yeah I did, but I took her back to Rachel's after the dance. There's something I need to take care of and I need your help."
For Danny to willing give up time with Grace, Steve knew that whatever it was Danny needed his help with it was serious. He agreed to be ready and waiting at 9:30. Both men hung up at the same time, Steve moving to catch a few winks and Danny to continue staring into the dark praying for sleep.