"Of Ties and Saint Michael"
Shakespeare's Lemonade
Rating: T
Genre: Friendship/Angst
Summary: Steve is staring at Danny's neck a lot and it would be weird, except Danny looks in the mirror and realizes what's missing. And it's more than a tie or a medal. It's Danny.
A/N: This is my answer to the lack of ties this season. Anyone else want them back? Well, even if you don't read the story anyway.
Steve is staring at Danny's neck a lot lately. Danny doesn't notice it at first. Then he ignores it. Then he thinks it's a little weird.
Danny hasn't been wearing his tie since Steve got arrested. He hasn't been wearing his Saint Michael medal either. The dress pants and dress shirt are still there, but it's become arbitrary. It doesn't mean anything. Danny doesn't want to think about how much that scares him.
"I thought you liked the no tie?" Danny says one day in the car.
"What?" Steve replies. The question is out of the blue.
"You said you liked it that I'm not wearing a tie, so what's the big deal."
"Did I say anything?"
"No. No, it's what you didn't say. You're always looking at me, like I'm a bomb you have to disarm, but don't know how."
"That is a great analogy, Danny. How did you come up with that?"
"Shut up. Everything with you is explosives. I wanna know what the big deal is."
"You don't think it's a little odd?"
"What?"
"I don't know. Look in the mirror sometime."
So he does. Danny goes home that night and stares at himself for an hour. And he starts to ask the questions he's been avoiding for a month. Not the least of which is: What's happened to me?
He knows he's letting Rachel win. It's not like she wanted to crush him into unrecognizable shards of the man he used to be, but she has. And it's got to stop. It hurts like hell to let her go, but he has to. Because if he doesn't, he's letting her change him into someone he never wanted to be.
Danny's not ready for the tie yet. But he feels a little better the next day. Steve is still looking at his neck, but now that Danny's looked in the mirror and realized what's missing, it's not weird anymore. It's not even the tie or the medal. It's Danny.
Danny is missing.
Days go by and things aren't great, but they're okay. Then he gets shot. It's not that bad, but he has to go to the hospital. Steve brings him clean clothes and on top are his tie and Saint Michael medal that have been sitting on his dresser for over a month. He puts on the medal. The irony of what he said to Kono almost a year ago hits him.
"I always have it on me and it's always kept me safe... until I met him."
Kono's not there anymore, but Danny finds himself wondering if she keeps hers on her somewhere. He's never seen it, but that doesn't mean anything.
And with that thought, he hopes they get Kono back soon. It's a fleeting thought, not given much energy, because if he did, Danny would have to analyze the chances of that actually happening.
Steve doesn't say anything when Danny gets in the car. He looks at his neck and notices the light reflecting of the silver chain and his eyes look soft and his face is relaxed.
"Thanks," Danny says. And that's all he says.
The next day, Danny wears his tie to work.
"It's good to see you," Steve says. And that's all he says.