"You understand, you HAVE to make him come with you. I don't care what you tell him, or what you do, but you can't leave there without him. Do you understand?" The dark-haired woman nodded.
"Yes, I understand. I'll make sure he's with me when I come back."
"Good. His life depends on it."
0-0-0
Danny sat on the beach, watching Grace and Kono play and swim in the water behind Steve's house. He was always nervous when his daughter played in the open ocean, but he felt better knowing Kono was out there. His stomach rumbled and he looked around, trying to find where Steve was with the food. They had all been invited over for a BBQ, and he could smell it. He got up and walked towards the back door. Before he got there, the SEAL came out, carrying a plate of burgers while Chin and Lou followed behind.
"Finally!" Danny exclaimed as they all descended on the picnic table to get their dinner. Grace and Kono came up from the water, and Danny stepped aside to let them go first.
"Oh yeah, way to show us all up, Danny," Steve quipped.
"Show you up? What are you talking about? I am simply being a polite gentleman and letting the ladies help themselves before I do! What's wrong with that?"
"Yeah boss, what's wrong with that?" Kono asked slyly, a humorous twinkle in her eyes. Steve simply rolled his own eyes in response.
As everyone was eating, Kono turned to Steve. "These are delicious!" she complimented him.
"Good, cuz I made 'em," Lou's voice boomed before Steve could accept the compliment. Kono laughed as she looked at Steve, wanting him to confirm the claim made by their friend. Steve merely shrugged. She looked back to Grover.
"You made these?" she asked, somewhat skeptically.
"Yeah, I made them. Steve always burns everything," he replied. Steve's mouth fell open in indignation.
"I do not!"
"Actually babe, you kinda do," Danny said as he swallowed a bite of his burger.
"Danny, I do NOT burn everything! Some people just prefer NOT to have their food still pumping blood while they eat it!"
"Yeah, and some people prefer to actually eat meat, not charcoal!"
"Guys!" Kono interrupted. They both looked at her. She raised her eyebrows at them. "Are you seriously fighting over hamburgers?"
"It's not necessarily the burgers," Danny replied before Steve could open his mouth. "It's the fact that Steven here always needs to be in control of everything!"
"Me?!" Steve asked incredulously. "You are just as controlling as I am!"
"No, I am not! I don't always insist to drive my partner's car, I don't always insist that I'm right, I don't-"
"Guys!" the rest of their group yelled at them. They swiveled their heads to stare at their team.
"Really?" Grover asked. "Can't we just have a nice peaceful meal as friends? Actually," he added as Danny and Steve both opened their mouths. "Don't answer that. Just...just drop it. Okay?" Steve shrugged noncommittally and Danny held up his hands in surrender.
"Fine, fine. You guys win," he conceded.
"Good. Now shut up and eat your burger," Lou commanded.
"Alright, see you guys on Monday," Steve said as everyone was leaving. He heard a few scattered replies as he shut the door. He sat down on his couch and turned on the TV, absentmindedly flipping through the channels, not really looking for anything in particular. He finally settled on a football game and leaned back.
It had been a long week, and he was grateful it was the weekend. He was planning on going for a swim tomorrow morning, then a run after that. No governor, no team, just him and nature. He sat there for a few minutes, silently thinking about the weekend ahead of him when his doorbell rang. He got up, figuring one of the team must have left something behind. He grinned as he opened the door. "Alright, who forgot wha-" He stopped and stared as he realized the person at the door wasn't anyone from earlier that night.
"Hey, Sailor," came the soft greeting.
