Chapter 2

"Commander, I'm really not quite sure how to say this but Abigail is your sister's daughter."

If Danny was a braver man he could have looked at Steve then, tried to see if he was ok, if he was holding himself together, instead he stayed staring straight at the woman in front of him. He simply resumed his thumb rubbing gently back and forth over Steve's knuckles.

The doctor started talking again.

"Mr McGarrett, Abigail is two months old. If the last time you saw your sister was eight months ago, then your sister would already have been three months along." The silence that followed seemed to last an eternity and Danny would have bet his life that Steve would not have been the one to break it. He would also have lost.

"Can I see her?" And Danny nearly fell out of his chair with shock at both the words and the vulnerable, soft tone with which they were spoken. He turned to look at his partner only to find that Steve was already looking at him. He could have spent forever trying to interpret all of the emotions showing on the SEALs face right then.

He doesn't even get the chance to start as Dr Saunders is standing up and nodding and telling them "Of course." and gesturing for them to follow her.

Both men stand ready to leave the room after her and Danny realises that at some point they have let go of each other's hands. He tries to ignore how cold it feels now his fingers aren't wrapped in the warmth of Steve's much larger ones and instead trails after Steve and the doctor.

Steve's palms are sweating and he wipes them on his shirt. The tiny person behind this door was all he had left. He and Mary had never been all that close but she was still his sister and it still hit him like a freight train now that she was gone. He stopped walking and breathed deeply. One thing at a time and right now he couldn't afford to think about Mary. He couldn't. Not when he was about to meet Mary's daughter, his niece, who he hadn't even known existed more than half an hour ago.

One of the reasons he was one of the best as far as SEALs go is his iron self control – his ability to compartmentalise – stuff away his feelings and thoughts into mental boxes until a later time. Mary's box is currently chained and locked and stuffed in the furthest corner of his mind. He'll grieve, but later, when he hasn't got that one emotion over-riding all the others, the need to check on his one last connection, the one last member of his family.

"Babe?" He shakes his head and Danny is standing in front of him still looking concerned and he feels another pang of emotion, the one that often comes along with his partner and shares the same Do-not-touch-with-a-mile-long-stick mental box as his classified missions. "You zoned out a bit there, I mean are you sure you're up for this? It's not too late to go home babe, you don't have to do this, and we can go home if you need Steve? Whatever you need to do? Abigail will still be here tomorrow if you want to do it then instead-"

"Danny." Steve allowed a hint of a smile to grace his face at the familiar rambling. Danny eyed him for a second. He was pretty sure at that moment that if Danny told him they were going home, that they would come back tomorrow, he would have quietly climbed into the car and let Danny drive. He was also pretty sure Danny knew that all too well.

"Ok. If this is what you need Steve." Steve let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding and allowed Danny to guide him through the door with a hand on the small of his back. Dr Saunders was standing holding a tiny bundle in her arms.

"Commander McGarrett, Mr Williams" She glanced in Danny's direction "Meet Abigail McGarrett." All the air left the room as Steve's entire focus centred on that one little girl. He couldn't even answer when the doctor asked if he'd like to hold her; just managed to nod his head. He doesn't even notice her leave the room as he's too busy taking in every little detail of the child he's now holding.

Once she was bundled into his arms he could see her face better and see a few scratches that must have been caused in the crash. None of them are very deep but it still makes him hold her even more gently. He couldn't help but marvel at how much she looked like her mother. She has a head of dark hair, a characteristic Steve shared with his sister even if she'd preferred to dye hers blonde, and she yawned as she blinked open her eyes which were without a doubt all Mary's, bright and wide and blue and absolutely huge in her tiny little face.

There's a choked off noise from where Danny's standing and he looks over to see Danny staring at her with the same kind of awe that must be reflected in his own face. Danny looks up and catches his eye and Steve manages to send him a small smile. Danny returns it before lowering his gaze back to the baby in Steve's arms. The blonde man raises a small finger to run gently down Abigail's cheek which she immediately grasps on to with one of her tiny little fists, stuffs into her mouth and begins to gnaw on it happily.

Steve can't help the laugh that huffs out of him because Danny just looks completely endeared by the whole thing and in that moment right there, in the hospital on the worst day of Steve's life, he realises quite how in love with Danny he is. How he is absolutely beyond hope, ridiculously in love with the man.

He also knows for certain that in that moment he's about to do something stupid, he's trying to contain so much right now that something is about to give, he can feel the words bubbling up in his throat and he can't stop them-

Except then his phone is ringing and the moment is broken. Abi, he decided she looks like an Abi, has spat out Danny's finger and her little face is screwing up, big eyes filling with tears and he doesn't know how to stop this. Danny, always his back up, is there. He's fishing Steve's phone out of his pocket and checking who it is.

"It's Kono, do you want to..." Danny makes a complex motion with his hand but Steve understands anyway.

"Danny, I can't. I just... could you? Please? I jus-" but the detective is right there with him, like he always is.

"It's ok babe. I get it." And Steve thinks that out of every one, maybe Danny does get it. Matt may not be dead but Danny sure as hell isn't ever going to see him again. Even if he does it will either be in a bag or behind bars, there is no way around that. So maybe Danny does understand, does get it. Danny is answering Steve's phone as he leaves the room.

Abi's face has smoothed out again and she is staring up at him calculatingly. He feels himself smile slightly at the intense look on her face and she smiles right back, letting out a high burbling noise that Steve chooses to believe is a laugh.

He's still smiling when Dr Saunders walks back in.