Danny rubbed at the back of his head and cringed when his fingers came into contact with the remnants of the liquid bandage. Noelani had closed the inch long gash he had received at the end of his laundry chute ride with surgeon's glue. At least he didn't need staples like Harry. "Thank you, Noelani. Your people skills are superb compared to those of our dear friend Max."
"You're welcome, Detective Williams." She pushed stray strands of hair back into place to conceal the wound before tearing off her gloves and tossing them into the receptacle bin beside Danny's desk.
Steve leaned to the side and glanced at the back of Danny's head. "I'm jealous you got to mess up his hair. Danno doesn't let anybody touch his hair."
Noelani squeezed Danny's shoulder, ignoring Steve's jab at his partner. "If you feel dizzy or lightheaded, Detective, you should go see your personal physician."
"Thank you. I'll, uh, take that into consideration." Danny replied as he stretched his neck to the side to work out the tension from sitting still for so long.
Noelani gathered up her supplies and followed everyone else out of Danny's office allowing the two a brief moment of peace to gather their bearings.
"You sure you're okay?" Steve asked with concern when Danny squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced in pain.
Danny nodded slowly. He untucked his hands from beneath his thighs and gingerly prodded the back of his head. "That's gonna hurt like a mother fucker tomorrow." He glanced up at Steve who was smiling wide. "Why are you looking at me like that? What's so funny? Is my pain amusing to you in some weird way?"
"No, man. I'm proud of you." Steve leaned forward and slapped Danny's knee who in turn twitched out of Steve's reach when he tried to do it again.
"What's the matter with you? Stop it!" Danny absent-mindedly rubbed at his throbbing skull only to pull his hand away when it irritated the wound. "Why are you still smiling? Wipe that stupid grin off your face. You shouldn't be smiling, you should be sympathetic to my needs."
Steve laughed a little which made Danny scowl even more. "Your needs?"
"Yes my 'needs'. And what I need right now in this moment is an aspirin or four and an ice pack." Danny Stood up and brushed past Steve on his way to the leather sofa against the wall. "Not you still smiling at me with that dumbass goofy grin plastered on your face." Danny plopped down on the couch and stretched out his sore body. "Aspirin, Steve. Preferably now, not later."
"I'll be right back." Steve left the office and returned a few minutes later with a bottle of aspirin, bottle of water and an ice pack.
Danny took the offered items, popped a few pills and chased them down with a long drink of water. "Thanks, Babe." He draped an arm over his eyes after settling his head atop the ice pack.
Steve lowered himself onto the end of the couch and took Danny's feet into his lap. "Again, I'm proud of you, man."
"Why?" Danny questioned with a raspy voice.
Steve was bewildered that Danny didn't get it. "Dude, you voluntarily went into an enclosed space."
"Remind me to never do it again." Danny countered.
"Yeah but you did it. All on your own. All under your own will power. Nobody was there pushing and nagging at you to do it." Steve's voice flowed with pride for his partner's achievement.
Danny cocked an eyebrow and stared at Steve. "By nobody, you mean 'you'?" Steve just shrugged and smiled wider. "Well, I could see the end of the chute." Danny said a bit non-chalantly like it was nothing. "I figured I could see the bottom so I knew there was an out." He twirled his hand in the air and closed his eyes again. "An escape if you will."
"It was a fifteen floor drop, Danny. What you did was huge."
Danny rubbed at his sore knee from the impact. "Don't remind me. SWAT was supposed to find our suspect in the basement, not me unconscious on top of a pile of dirty bath towels. Which reminds me, I need to take a scalding shower." Danny fingered his wound again. "Are you sure that she cleaned this with antiseptic?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. You're good to go." Steve's forehead knitted together. "What happened to Grover? He was supposed to be with you?"
"Lost him halfway up the stairs. Dude needs to work on his endurance." Danny grew quiet. "I panicked half-way down."
Steve reached out and placed a hand on Danny's knee. "Nobody needs to know that."
"But it still happened."
"One step at a time pal. You took the first step. You took the leap. Not once did you waver. The rest will come, the confidence to do it again."
"Are you sure you weren't listening in on another conversation? Because I distinctly remember there being wavering involved."
"No man. I heard you're voice come through the ear piece and I knew. I knew after a split second that you were going to take that leap of faith. Kono was going bat-shit crazy when she heard you. But I knew buddy… I knew you were going to follow through."
"I've apparently been hanging around with you too much," Danny said with a satisfied grin.
Steve stood up and gently placed Danny's feet on the sofa. "Take the rest of the day."
"No, I'll meet you downstairs in twenty."
"Danny, take the rest of the day. I'll stop by later."
"Please don't tell Charlie about my work place antics. I don't need him thinking he can talk me into going down those tube slides with him at the park."
"Your secret's safe with me, pal."
Steve walked by Danny and paused, reaching out his hand to brush fingers with Danny's. It was quick, it was intimate, it was their way to conn
"Love you, Babe," Danny whispered.
"Love you back."