So, I know it's been forever since I published anything, and a lot of you, if not all, are waiting for an update to McGarrett Junior. I wanna let you know I'm still working on it, but I'm a little stuck, which is why I haven't published anything in months. I hope to be able to update it soon. In the meantime, here is a little thing I had inspiration for. It's not done yet, (Sad, I know.) I'm planning on finishing this, this weekend.
I hope you all like it. :3
Danny stood in front of his front door, staring it down like he would a perp. He couldn't believe this. What were the chances?
Well, obviously pretty high.
Sighing, he pulled out his phone as he turned to Grace.
"Sorry Monkey, looks like I can't drive you to school, since I locked my keys inside. I'll call, I don't know, Steve I guess, since your mom is out of town." Danny said apologetically.
"It's ok, Danno. I got this." Grace said, stepping around Danny so she was in front of the door.
"What are you doing Monkey?" Danny asked, watching curiously as Grace pulled a small, flat pouch from her pocket.
"I got this." She repeated, throwing her dad a determined look.
Danny started to smirk, but froze as Grace pulled a pair of lockpicks out of the pouch and inserted them into the lock.
"Where did you get those?" He asked, leaning over his little girl to look at her face. Part of him was amused by the fact that Grace had her tongue trapped between her front teeth. Most of him, however, was trying to figure out where she got lockpicks.
He shifted so that he was leaning against the wall beside the front door.
About six minutes later (six long minutes of Danny wondering who gave Grace lockpicks, and evidently taught her how to use them. His recurring theory was Steve.), Grace exclaimed, in a mildly surprised, but mostly proud voice, "I got it!"
As she stood up and pushed open the front door, Danny pushed away from the wall and stepped over to her.
He stared at the open door for a long moment before looking at his daughter.
He sighed. "First off, good job on getting the door open." He said.
Grace beamed.
"Second, where on earth did you learn to pick a lock? You are eight years old!"
Grace deflated. Her hands tightened around her set of lockpicks as her gaze fell to her shoes.
"My friend taught me." She mumbled.
"Your friend?"
She nodded.
"Which friend would this be?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Jesse." Grace said, glancing up at her father.
"And did Jesse happen to say where she learned to pick locks?" Danny asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"She said her dad showed her how." Grace said, starting to look like she was going to cry.
Danny sighed again, unfolding his arms and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I'm sorry Monkey. I'm not mad at you. You did a good job opening the door."
"Really?" Grace asked, looking up at her dad hopefully.
"Yes, really." Danny said. "However, I don't want you unlocking anyone's doors without their permission, ok?"
"Ok, Danno." Grace said, grinning up at him.
Later, when Danny is in the camaro with Steve, after dropping Grace off at school.
They are on their way to talk to a suspected thief.
"Who teaches an eight year old how to pick locks?!" Danny exclaimed. "Who knows how to pick locks anyways? Other than criminals?" He threw a glare at Steve, whose lips were quirked into an amused half smile.
"Which means, Grace, my innocent little monkey, is friends with a potential criminal's child!" Danny said, gesturing wildly.
"Woah there, Danno." Steve said, still quite amused by his partner. "Don't go jumping to conclusions. Just cause Grace's friend knows how to pick a lock, doesn't mean they're a criminal, or even necessarily related to one."
"I didn't say that!" Danny said, exasperatedly. "I said 'potential criminal's child'. 'Potential'!"
Steve rolled his eyes. "Relax Danny. Lockpicking is a potentially useful skill. I know how to pick a lock. Hell, I know how to pick quite a few different kinds of locks."
"Thank you, Steven. That is extremely reassuring." Danny said, sarcasm thick in his voice.
"Look, Danny. I'm sure, once you've given it a bit more thought, you'll realize that Grace knowing how to pick a lock is a good thing." Steve said, trying to reason with his hotheaded partner.
"Oh yeah? How do you figure? She'll need it to break and enter?" Danny asked, worry overpowering the sarcasm still lacing his voice.
"Come on, Danno!" Steve said, becoming mildly exasperated by the Jersey detective. "Do you doubt your own daughter that much? You've raised a great kid. I'm sure she'd never use this new skill to break the law." He glanced at Danny.
"Besides, I bet you'd rather her know it, and not need it, then need it, and not know it. Right?"
Danny mumbled something, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Sorry, what was that Danno?" Steve asked, smirking. "I didn't quite catch it."
"I said, 'I guess you're right'." Danny replied.
Steve nodded, turning his attention back to the road.
Later, having arrived at their suspect's house and discovered not only was he their guy, but also that he was not working alone. Danny stood glaring at Steve.
"I cannot believe you didn't notice that he wasn't alone." Danny muttered.
"Contrary to what you seem to believe, Danno, I do not have x-ray vision." Steve said.
The ex-SEAL was currently crouched in front of the door, inspecting the lock.
"Usually, you don't need x-ray vision, Steven." Danny snarked. "Your spidey senses go off before we even reach the door."
Steve rolled his eyes. "At least neither of us got hurt." He said, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Oh my god." Danny exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You just had to say that, didn't you? Now we're both probably gonna end up in the hospital!"
Rolling his eyes again, Steve stood up, rapping his knuckles on a piece of wood that was nailed to the wall. "Is that better, Daniel?"
Danny glared at Steve, his arms crossed over his chest. He dipped his chin in a barely noticeable nod.
"Excellent." Steve said, his smile still in place as he clapped his hands together once. "Do you happen to have a paperclip or something like it?"
Danny frowned. "A paperclip?"
Steve nodded. "Or something like it."
"No, Steven, I do not have a paperclip. Do I looked like someone who carries office supplies around with him?" Danny asked, gearing up for a rant.
"Actually," Steve said, tilting his head to the side as he considered his partner. "You kinda do."
Danny sputtered for a second, before his eyes narrowed into a glare. "That was rude, Steven."
"Why do you always have to take things so negatively? For all you know, I could've meant that as a compliment." Steve said, looking around their makeshift holding cell.
"Did you?"
"Not this time, but I could've."
"Uh huh, sure." Danny muttered. He watched as Steve began to pull at one corner of the piece of wood he had knocked on earlier.
"What are you doing?" Danny asked, leaning to the side a little to get a better look over Steve's shoulder.
"Finding something like a paperclip." Steve answered, prying up an edge.
Danny stared at the ex-SEAL for a long moment. "You know that doesn't really make sense, or actually explain what you're doing, right?"
Steve sighed, leaning back on his haunches. "Danno, you remember our earlier conversation, on the way here?"
"Yeah, we were talking about Grace and lockpicking." Danny replied. "Ah. Something like a paperclip. Got it." He said, as he walked over and leaned against the wall on the other side of the door from Steve.
"How coincidental that we have a conversation about lockpicking, and within the same day, same hour, even, you get a chance to show off your lockpicking skills." Danny said, raising an eyebrow when Steve glanced over at him.
Steve snorted, going back to pulling at a corner of the wood away from the wall.
"I can't believe you're insinuating that I let us get caught and locked in a room, just so I could 'show off'." Steve said. "I don't need to show off, because showing off implies that I'm trying to impress someone."
Danny laughed. "What, you don't have anyone you wanna impress, babe?"
"On the contrary, I have someone I like to impress, and he's right here in the room with me." Steve said, giving Danny an impish smirk. "I'm just saying I wouldn't get us locked in a room, just so I could pick a lock. I believe it's more impressive when I kick a door down. Which means, it would just be pointless to get us locked in a room that has a door too sturdy to kick down."
Danny, for the first time in a while, found himself speechless. He stared at Steve with wide eyes.
Steve grinned, glancing over at Danny. "Man, if I'd have known it was that easy to shut you up, I'd have said that much sooner."
Danny blinked. "You're an idiot." He turned his head away, willing his face to cool down. It was dumb to get flustered over this SEAL's stupid logic.
"But I'm your idiot." Steve said, sounding like he wasn't really paying attention at the moment.
Danny's head swung around to stare at Steve.
"What?" Danny asked, wondering if he'd misheard.
"What, what?" Steve asked, as the corner of the wood popped free. "Finally got it."
He pulled a nail from the corner, and turned to Danny, grinning.
Seeing Danny's wide eyes, Steve's grin fell, as his brows furrowed and his head tilted a little.
"What?"
Danny stared at him for a moment before saying, "Nothing."
Steve gazed at Danny with confusion, then concern. "Are you ok, Danno?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Danny said, waving a hand in the air dismissively. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well," Steve started, raising an eyebrow. "There is the fact that we are in a locked room, in the house of a potentially dangerous criminal."
"Potentially? A potentially dangerous criminal?" Danny asked. "In what world is Mel Ryan a potentially dangerous criminal? Hellooo? Where are we, Steven? Huh, Mr SuperSEAL.
Steve, who had been searching the room for something, turned just enough for Danny to catch a glimpse of his face.
"Oh, I see." Danny said. "Real mature, McGarrett."
Steve chuckled as he crouched down and picked something up.
"What is that?" Danny asked.
"It's a cardboard staple." Steve said. "One of those heavy-duty ones that they use to staple boxes together."
"Ah, wonderful." Danny muttered. "Let me guess: you're gonna get us out of here with your staple and nail, right?"
"That would be the plan, yes." Steve replied, returning to the door.
"Awesome." Danny said. "You happen to find a sandwich too?"
"Why, you hungry, Danno?"
"No. I wanna see you pick a lock with a sandwich." Danny replied sarcastically. "Yeah, SuperSEAL, I'm hungry."
"Well, just hang on another minute. I open this door, you can have whatever you want from the kitchen," Steve said, crouching down and getting to work on opening the door. "Tell you what. Since I 'intentionally' got us locked up in here to show off, I'll even but lunch on the way to the palace."
"I'd believe that, except time past has told me that you most likely do not have your wallet, so you cannot buy food." Danny grumbled.
Steve, without saying a word, paused in his lockpicking, reached behind himself, and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He wiggled it in the air for a second, hearing a quiet smacking sound, which, he assumed, meant Danny had thrown his hands in the air and dropped them back to his sides.
Slipping his wallet back into his pocket, Steve got back to work on getting them out of there.
About a minute and a half later, there was a quiet, yet distinctive sound, of the tumbler in the lock retracting into the door.
"Hah!" Steve exclaimed in triumph, standing up and grabbing the door handle.
"Wait!" Danny cried. "What if they're still out there?"
Steve rolled his eyes and smiled. "Why you think I'm opening the door? I'm gonna let you go first, then I'll follow, so if there's any more bad guys out there, you can distract them, and I'll take them out." He said it so matter-of-factly, like he was talking about going for a swim or something else normal people did, rather than walking out into a room that could possibly be filled with idiots with guns.
Danny scoffed. "You're even more of an idiot than I thought, if you think I'm just gonna go along with that plan."
"Relax Danno," Steve said. "Just messing with you."
Before Danny could say anything to that, Steve pulled open the door and walked out.
Danny was just pulling the door back open, since it had fallen shut, when he heard a startled cry that was abruptly cut off, followed by a quiet thud as a body hit the floor.
"If that damn SuperSEAL has gotten himself hurt again, I'm gonna leave him with the bill for every meal this week." Danny muttered, carefully creeping down the hall after Steve.
"Steve?" Danny called softly. He couldn't help it when he flinched as Steve stepped soundlessly into the hallway right in front of him.
"Would it kill you to make some noise when you move?" Danny asked, his heart racing.
"Whoops. Sorry Danno," Steve said. "I was just coming back to tell you the place is clear. There was only one guy here, and he's taking a bit of a nap."
"Well, let's call HPD and have someone come pick him up. You owe me lunch." Danny said.
"Don't even wanna look for your gun and badge?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not even your phone?"
"You know what, SnarkySEAL? Why don't you just zip it." Danny said, walking past Steve to start looking.
Five minutes later, Danny called out, saying he had found their phones, badges, and guns.
"What kind of idiot criminal locks two cops up, after relieving them of their personal effects, but then doesn't bother to keep hold of their guns?" Danny asked, as Steve entered the bedroom Danny was in."
"Stupid ones?" Steve asked, grabbing his gun and badge and clipping them back onto his belt.
"Clearly." Danny said, passing Steve his phone, after clipping his own badge and gun back on. "Now, let's call HPD and then go. I'm starving."
"I called Duke from the landline. A squad car should be here any minute." Steve said, checking his phone to see if he had any missed calls or texts. Finding none, he pocketed his phone.
"You're not gonna call Kono or Chin?" Danny asked.
"We can call them from the car." Steve replied. "We're not quite late yet. They're expecting us around two, and it's only one-twenty-three."
"Alright. Let's go then." Danny said. "You still owe me lunch, and the squad car just pulled up."
"Ok, ok, hungry hungry Danno. LEt's go get some food." Steve said, leading the way to the front door.
Having called Kono to let her and Chin know that he and Steve were on their way to the palace, Danny leaned back in his seat.
Steve, appearing to be keeping his word about lunch, was headed in the direction of Danny's chosen spot.
With nothing to really do, Danny's mind began to wander, going back to what Steve had said earlier.
But I'm your idiot.
What did he mean by that? Was it just one of those things people say when they're distracted? He was focused on the door, so maybe he just muttered the first thing that came to mind, right?
But, then, wouldn't that mean he really meant it? You can't lie if you're not paying attention, right?
Danny huffed out a breath. He was probably reading way too much into this. It was probably just one of those automatic responses.
That thought should have settled the matter, reassuring Danny that there was no ulterior meaning behind the words. So, why was he upset by the thought? Did he really want Steve to be his idiot?
"I can't believe you want to have McDaniel's." Steve said, interrupting Danny's thoughts.
"What?" Danny asked, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion.
"McDaniel's," Steve repeated, glancing at Danny with both his eyebrows raised in a 'get it?' sort of way.
Danny just stared at him, his brows still scrunched up (rather adorably, Steve's brain supplied) in puzzlement.
"McDaniel's, like McDonald's, but, y'know, with more...Danno." Steve explained.
Danny sat still in his seat for a long few seconds. "You know what? I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that."