Before I tell you about this story, I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the trouble to review my others. I'm still new to this fandom, and your kind comments have been really appreciated. Thank you!
Like Torture, Jersey Style, the idea from this story came from a fanvideo - this time for the eleventh episode, where Danny is decorating his apartment for Christmas.
I might be wrong, but the apartment in that episode looks different to the one I saw in the pilot. The floor is different, there are trees outside, and the whole place just seems - well, nicer! So assuming I'm not imagining things, this is my idea on how Danny came to move house - with, of course, a little help from Steve.
Grace And Favours
Silence was good sometimes. On more occasions than Steve cared to count, it saved your life. But this silence beside him was wrong. Worryingly wrong. Danny was just too, too, quiet. And you didn't need to be any kind of detective to recognize its all too familiar cause.
The temptation to speak was overwhelming, but Steve knew better than to say anything. Not when Danny was as silently furious as this. He couldn't risk wrecking a partnership, a friendship, that promised to be so special before it had even started.
So it was a relief, in so many ways, when Danny sighed and, if still quietly, finally opened up.
"Lord Vader came to my place this morning. He, uh… wasn't impressed."
The rest went unsaid, but that didn't matter. Steve had already guessed where this was heading. He hated himself for thinking it, but… well, that money-sucking leech of a lawyer had a fair point. Danny's apartment was a dump. Hardly the best place for his daughter to stay in. Hardly the best argument that an already stressed out father could make for those visits to continue, and… damn it!
No wonder Danny looked so tired, so sapped of his usual energy. If he lost access to Grace - no, that was a thought that Steve couldn't dare to finish.
There was so much he felt he had to say – but Steve knew none of it would do any constructive good. So he just nodded instead, reaching across to give his partner's shoulder a heartening squeeze - keeping his hand there until Danny smiled faintly back at him. Then he settled into his own, favourite kind of silence. The kind that let him plan.
Six hours and some covert phone calls later, that plan was in place. He just hoped it would work. A puzzled frown, and reassuringly sarcastic question, made for a promising start.
"What, they don't teach you to navigate in the army? My place is the other side of town."
"Navy," Steve corrected him, trying to glare at him but finding it impossible not to smile a bit too. Yes, this deliberate teasing drove him constantly nuts, but – hell, he'd take snarky Danny over silent Danny every time.
A curious one too, he mused, letting that curiosity simmer, just a little bit longer, before bringing it teasingly up to boil.
"No, there's… uh, just someone out here I want you to meet."
Assuming that he meant a contact for their latest case, Danny just shrugged and let it go. His new partner's mind worked in mysterious ways, and… hell, he was in no mood for that today. He had far more important things to think about right now that the maddening mind of Madcap McGarrett.
And while it still worried him too, the distraction it was causing was just what Steve wanted. Danny's instincts made him an invaluable partner, but right now he needed them to be a little… off. He needed to keep this next, most difficult part of his plan as casual as he could, and - so far so good.
They'd arrived now, his backup was striding out to greet them – and Danny was still none the wiser.
Quieter than usual too, unnaturally awkward, against the hearty reunion of two clearly close friends – instinctively offering his own hand as Steve patted his shoulder and nudged him forward.
"Danny, this is Loki, my dad's best friend on the force. Loki, my partner, Danny Williams."
"And any friend of the McGarretts is a friend of mine," Loki grinned, still subtly eyeing him – the inevitable comment stopped by a glance that sailed, safely unnoticed, over Danny's head.
Instead, to Steve's relief, his stubbornly square peg partner was making a real effort to be polite as Loki led them towards the strategically open door of a nearby apartment.
"So you're in real estate now?" he asked, peering curiously inside it, and so missing the sly grins that were being traded behind him.
"Yep. Nothing fancy, but it gets me by," Loki nodded, glancing discreetly across at Steve – prompted by another covert nod to go for the trickiest sale he was ever likely to make. "In fact, I still have a couple of places to rent here. Pretty basic, but… yeah, still nice enough."
Now the penny dropped. Now Danny turned, very slowly, and stared incredulously at his partner.
"You – You told him? You knew about this?"
He'd said it calmly enough. But as Steve had painfully learned, that wasn't necessarily a good sign. This little bundle of contradictions could yield to you one minute, then flatten you the next, and… damn it, this wasn't part of the plan.
Instead of helping his friend, he'd only hurt his pride further, and that was the last thing he'd wanted. Still, it was kinda late to worry about that now. All he could do instead was try and repair the damage.
"Well, yeah, but… look, Danny, you're my friend, and you have a problem. I just wanted to help."
Five seconds passed. Then ten. And still Danny stared up at him in that ominous silence. Then, at last, the battleground of emotions left his eyes, leaving just weary gratitude behind.
"I know," he said at last, sealing this conciliation between them with a slight smile that lifted the weight of the world from Steve's shoulders.
He still looked upset, though. Torn by something he clearly wanted, but was sure he couldn't have. But Steve saw an opening there and, true to form, ploughed his way through it, dragging his partner along for the ride.
"So you like it?" he grinned, not giving Danny the chance to reply, let alone argue, as he tugged him inside the apartment for a proper look around. "I mean, you've got a proper kitchen here, enough room for a TV. And a separate bedroom for… well, when Grace gets a bit older."
He really couldn't have sold it better. The place was perfect, exactly what Danny was looking for - but trust his partner to find the only snag that might stop him from taking it.
Yeah, I like it, but… Steve, I can hardly afford my current place, let alone a place like this!"
"You wouldn't have to, brah. I mean, you're a cop, you're a landlord's dream," Loki chipped in, selling this unexpected bonus with all the skill of a natural born realtor. "Help me keep security around here, for the other tenants, and… well, I'll offset that against your rent."
An offer that not even the Godfather could beat. Only an idiot would turn it down. And Danny Williams was not an idiot. He was a street-smart city boy who maybe, just maybe, could make a real home here.
Glancing around him once more, mentally mapping out what could go where, he finally met two pairs of hopeful eyes, and grinned.
"Where do I sign?"