Thanks for the kind reviews, everyone! I'm so touched to have received such supportive feedback! *blush* I hadn't originally planned on continuing the story because I had no idea how the day would turn out. But then again, that's the fun of it, right? :) So here comes part 2 of what may be a very long day...
They had been on the road for ten minutes when Steve suddenly reached behind Danny's seat and passed him a large white box. He set it on Danny's lap without saying a word.
Danny raised an eyebrow as he slowly pulled up the top. He jerked in shock, his hands hovering over the box as if the contents were toxic.
"What is this?"
Steve leaned over, feigning a curious expression, then sat back. "They look like doughnuts."
Inside, lined in three rows of four was an assortment of filled and sugared, deep fried rounds.
"I can see that, genius. What are you doing with a box of doughnuts?"
"I thought you might be hungry. What? You on a diet now?"
"What. No. Why are you being nice all of a sudden?" Danny tilted his head to his side, squinting at his partner.
A flash of hurt crossed Steve's face, but he quickly covered it up with annoyance.
"I am nice. Maybe if you would stop being an ass all the time, you'd notice."
"I'm being an ass?" Danny raised his voice in disbelief, dropping the lid to fold his fingers towards his chest. The same hands then gesticulated in the air to his left. "Who— who broke about a dozen laws yesterday to take down a single suspect, alone, in his shop? Who single-handedly cost us thirty grand in damages to government property, not to mention the reparations to that bastard's place? And furthermore, who do you think has to clean all that shit up? Where the hell did you go last night?"
"Look Danny I—"
"I was filling out paperwork, till midnight. Then the fucking things tried to kill me this morning." At this, he presented his knee, still throbbing a little. "I'd always known you'd be the death of me and what— what the fuck are you doing now?"
Steve's head was turning yet again to the back of the truck, his arm feeling for something on the back seat. A couple seconds later, he was pressing a paper bag against Danny's thigh.
"There's a water bottle in the glove compartment. You should probably take some now to give them time to kick in."
Danny glared at him as he turned the bag over and shook out the contents. A full bottle of ibuprofen.
He hesitated before saying anything and turned to his partner, but the SEAL was impassive, staring straight ahead at the traffic that was beginning to form. So instead Danny leaned his elbow on the window with his hand over his mouth, covering a wry smile. They slowed to a full stop behind a whole line of vehicles trying to get down the main street. Without the distraction of moving scenery, they sat in companionable silence which, of course, he was the first to break.
"What is this? Why are we stopped? It's eight in the fucking morning. Where is everyone going," Danny ranted, but his voice was softer now, lost its edge. "And what. The fuck. Is everyone looking at."
Outside, everyone seemed to be facing in one direction, craning their necks at something up ahead. A group of teenage girls standing next to their vehicle had cellphones in the air pointed towards the unknown target. Suddenly they shrieked in unison, piercing Danny's eardrums, as they shared their digital prizes with each other.
Danny scrunched his face in annoyance and turned his attention to the other people on the sidewalk. Everyone was still trying to get a good look at whoever or whatever was going on. Except one man. He stood in the alley next to the souvenir shop, shifting his weight from side to side. Danny kept watching, bored, as the man slowly stepped forward. And that's when he noticed it. At his side, the man had a gun drawn, and that hand was twitching. Danny's eyes flew up to the man's face and, to his surprise, it was staring right back at him, upper lip curled into a smirk. And the arm holding the gun was rising up.
"Hey—" He grabbed his Steve shoulder.
"Yeah I see him."
The group of girls burst running across his view and when they passed, the man was gone.
"Where'd he go?"
His headstrong partner had already unbuckled his seatbelt and leapt out of the truck. Danny, without missing a beat, slid over to take the wheel. At that exact moment, the car in front of them rolled forward, the obstacle ahead apparently cleared.
"Come on come on come on!" Danny hit his palm against the wheel.
When he finally reached the intersection, he took it, wheels squealing, and raced the truck down the side streets to meet Steve at the other end of the alley. He arrived just as his partner emerged, brows knotted and breathing heavily. He swiveled around looking up and down the street, while Danny did the same from where he sat. No sight of the armed man.
"Did he—" Steve started.
"He's gone." Danny shook his head.
"Did you get a good—"
"Yeah. I can run it through—"
"No I'll do it. You stay at the house with—"
"'kay. Now get in, Flash."
"Move over, sidekick."
"Har har."
Danny maneuvered himself back into the passenger's seat, carefully now, taking care not to jostle his leg. Steve resumed his position at the wheel and reached down to pick up the box of doughnuts where it fell, luckily remained shut. Danny this time accepted it with a small nod.
"Thanks," Danny murmured. "Awful lot of food here even for me."
"In case Grace was hungry too," Steve shrugged.
Danny dropped his head.
"I still hate you," he muttered.
"Just eat your doughnuts, Danno."