A/N: Hope the wait for the next chapter hasn't been too long! I ran into some computer issues that slowed down my writing process. My computer is back up and running and I tried to get this out as soon as I could! I hope you all like the next installment of this story, and I would love to hear your feedback, anything at all you have to say would be greatly appreciated! I would also like to thank my new beta jerseybelle for helping me edit and improve this chapter! No more useless chattering from me, on with the story!

Avery's last words infected Steve's thoughts all weekend, disturbing his sleep and waking hours. Before he knew it, the alarm was going off Monday morning. Steve moved on autopilot through the morning routine, and without even realizing it, he was at Avery's classroom door kissing her goodbye.

As he walked out of the school building towards his truck he pulled out his cell phone and dialed number one on his speed dial.

When the person on the other end answered, Steve replied, "Hey Danny, I'm going to be in a couple hours late today. We don't have any active cases so just hold down the fort for me. Thanks."

Steve hung up before Danny was able to get in any sort of question, response, or rant. The last thing Steve needed in his moment of vulnerability was Danny asking him what was wrong; Steve knew he wouldn't be able to hide from Danny. So, Steve did the only thing he knew to do when his vulnerabilities showed up – he swam. The minute his feet touched the warm ocean Steve felt a wave of calm envelope his entire being as he continued to wade farther into the water.

He started out doing some easy strokes in the front crawl position, swimming parallel to the beach. After a few minutes Steve switched directions, swimming away from the shore, against the current. He put all his effort into cutting through the water with every ounce of strength he had. He kept his head under, even after the familiar sting of the need for air turned into an ache. After taking a breath the ache settled in his chest, but this time it had nothing to do with a need for air. This ache wound its way around his heart as Avery's words played over and over in his head. After each repetition of 'I wish I had a mommy here', he propelled his body away from shore, swimming faster and harder, welcoming the burning sensation that was beginning to build up in his muscles.

He thought about Avery and he thought about Danny. His feelings and thoughts muddled in his brain as he pushed farther and farther into the deep abyss of the ocean. His muscles were telling him he needed to turn around soon, that if he pushed much longer it would be hard for him to make it back. But the image of his innocent little girl wishing to a dark, silent room to have a mother around fueled his muscles past their breaking point. The idea that Danny actually thought Steve was a reason to like Hawaii propelled his feet faster as his rotating arms dissected through the ocean at breakneck speed.

The water had always been his favorite place. He came from two generations of Navy men and grew up in Hawaii; it made perfect sense that his home would be in the water. Throughout his life he escaped to the water when times were tough. He would swim and swim until his muscles began to seize up, and then he would swim some more. Swimming had come so naturally to him that he didn't have to think about the motions, he was able to focus instead on the ever-present thoughts that surrounded his mind and claimed his heart. It was only in the water that Steve gained the clarity he needed to solve a problem. It was only in the water that Steve let himself be, as Danny put it, human.

Giving Avery a normal family, another parent to love and protect her, a mother to understand her when Steve couldn't, was always in the forefront of Steve's mind. Steve tried his best to be enough to fill the role of both mother and father. He played any game Avery wanted, followed her little girl imagination through any story she wanted to act out, and even played Pretty, Pretty Princess with her for an entire Saturday last month. He would do anything for his Avery; his daughter was his world, and there wasn't a thing he wouldn't give up for her and nothing he wouldn't do.

He had thought, maybe, with Catherine he had found someone who could be in Avery's life. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't commit to Catherine in that way. He didn't know what was holding him back, but he couldn't tell Catherine about Avery. Even after knowing her for three years, he still never plucked up enough courage to share his biggest secret. She was suspicious; she knew Steve was hiding something from her. And Steve knew he wasn't being fair. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out why he kept her in the dark. She was a great partner for him, a strong Navy officer who understood him and knew when to push and when to let go. If there was any woman in this world who could stand beside a reserve Navy SEAL, it was her. But Steve couldn't do it. He could tell Catherine about missing his father, what it feels like to be back in Hawaii, and he could talk her ear off about Danny. No matter how hard Steve tried, though, he could not tell Catherine about Avery.

He always thought that the reason he waited to tell Catherine about Avery was because he didn't think he knew her long enough to trust her with that secret. By the time he felt it had been long enough he was worried he had kept the secret too long and she wouldn't trust him. As this thought ran through his mind he realized there was no logical basis to that argument. Why? Because there was one person that Steve had told his secret to within hours of their first meeting– Danny. Steve had no idea why he was able to open up about Avery so easily with Danny, but could never mention it to the one woman who knew more about Steve's inner turmoil than any other person.

Danny had managed to make Steve feel safe enough to reveal his biggest secret, his biggest vulnerability, in only a few short hours. SEAL training had taught Steve to hide away those secrets and conceal those weaknesses because those weaknesses could become a liability in the field. On a mission, Steve couldn't think about that little girl. He had learned to be wary of everyone he met, not let on about his family – his father, his sister, his daughter. You never knew who you could be talking to, and letting a stranger into your personal life meant setting yourself up to lose everything you loved. But, somehow, Danny had made Steve feel so safe right from the start that he told him about Avery within hours. Maybe it was because Danny was so forthcoming about his own daughter. Maybe Steve just desperately needed to have someone to confide in. Steve didn't know, but what he did know was that Danny had somehow weaved his way into the fabric of Avery's life and had become a stable presence since those early months of 5-0. He was already her 'Danno'.

With the revelation that maybe, just maybe, having Danny in Avery's life would be enough to fill the ever present void left behind by her mother. With this thought, Steve began to make his way back to shore. His entire body was on fire; his muscles were tensing with each stroke and he pushed as hard as he could to make it back to the beach. When the shoreline was within a few strokes he brought his head out of the water and let the current carry him the rest of the way in. When he looked up he saw a very welcomed sight on his beach.

Danny, dressed in his work attire, sat in his favorite Adirondack chair. He wore a face that said – I knew 'I'll be a few hours late' meant 'I need a human moment to swim my fears away'. Steve marveled at how well Danny knew him after such a short time. No one knew that Steve went swimming when he was upset, but Danny did. Danny may joke about Steve's inability to have normal feelings, but Danny knew Steve wasn't able to show those feelings in public. He knew that Steve could only open up his heart in private, in the water.

Steve stood up in the shallow water and walked through the hot sand toward the other man. Danny held out a towel which Steve took and patted at the salt water dripping from his hair.

"Thanks," Steve said quietly as he sat down in the empty chair on Danny's right.

They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the waves break against the shore. Steve glanced over at Danny, waiting for him to say something about being late for work but nothing came. Danny just sat in his chair and stared out across the ocean. He didn't make any movement to look at Steve. Steve was thankful for Danny's ability to understand what he needed, and enjoyed the quiet between them.

*H50*

"Avery had a great time at Rachel's house on Friday," Steve said after ten minutes, breaking the silence that had descended over the two men.

"Grace called me the minute Avery left to inform me that she had a new bestest friend in the whole wide world," Danny said as he imitated the excited voice of a five-year old girl.

Steve smiled and closed his eyes as he leaned his head against the back of the chair, "Avery came home asking why she didn't have a mother to play dress up with."

When Steve opened his eyes he found Danny looking at him with concern present on his expressive face. Steve wasn't sure how to proceed with the conversation since he had not planned on telling anyone about Avery's comment.

Danny spared Steve from any additional discomfort by responding with, "No little girl deserves to feel slighted in the parenting realm. Avery, especially, deserves to feel loved without a single void."

Steve didn't react so Danny continued. "You, however, do not have to blame any of Avery's feelings on yourself. You have done nothing but be a wonderful father to her. You love her every minute of every day. She knows that, and that is what matters. She may realize she doesn't have a mom, she may realize that her family isn't a traditional nuclear family, but she will never doubt her father's love. And no matter how hard you try, you will never fill that void completely. So, you shouldn't become upset when you don't succeed, Steve, its one battle you can't win."

"It is my fault that she doesn't have a mother and it's my fault that she wasn't raised in a traditional family environment."

"Out of everything I just said, of course you'd settle for arguing your role in all of this." Danny sighed, "Steven, listen to me. You did not make her mother leave and a child growing up in a traditional family is overrated."

"Danny, I'm the reason Avery's mother left," Steve said, his voice rising, "She left because she couldn't handle being with a Navy SEAL. I drove her away and then I did the most selfish thing I could, I stayed in the SEALs. When Gwen left I should have left the Navy and taken care of Avery, but I was young, selfish, and stupid. At the time I couldn't see what I was doing to Avery, sending her to live with my dad. I thought she was too young to understand, but now I can see that she wasn't. I know she looks at me with uncertainty, unsure if I'm going to be waking her up the next morning. That, all of that, is on me."

Danny shook his head and placed a comforting hand on Steve's shoulder and held up one finger with his unoccupied hand, "One, even if Avery's mother didn't want to be with a Navy SEAL, that did not give her any right to walk out on her daughter." He held up a second finger. "And two, you did what you thought was best at the time. And, I know I don't know much about the military, but I'm pretty sure once you sign up you aren't allowed to back out. So, really, you couldn't leave the SEALs, even if you wanted to."

Steve gave a noncommittal shrug and refused to move his head in Danny's direction. Steve knew he was acting like a five-year-old, but he really couldn't bear to look at Danny at this moment.

"Avery has more love in her life than most five year olds with two parents anyway. She has a father who is superhuman enough to love her enough for two parents, she has wonderful ole me, and she has a crazy ohana that includes, but is not limited to, Auntie Kono, Uncle Chin, Kamekona, and Gracie. Avery will never be alone in this world, no matter what happens," Danny said, not removing his hand from Steve's shoulder, instead squeezing it gently.

"Thanks, Danno," Steve said as he put his own hand on top of Danny's.

Danny leaned towards Steve until there were mere inches between them. "I really can't stand it when you're self-deprecating," Danny said, his breath hitching as Steve's tortured eyes looked into Danny's worried ones.

"I'm not self-deprecating, I'm realistic."

Danny pushed away suddenly, his body flying up into the air like a firecracker had just exploded under his chair. "Realistic, realistic!" he shouted. "You cannot seriously describe yourself, in this moment as realistic. Because, if you are, we need to desperately get your head examined for internal injuries. I've heard traumatic brain injury can cause personality shifts and confusion, and it is a common injury sustained in combat. With the amount of combat you've seen and the amount of constant combat you have brought into our lives here on this godforsaken island I can just imagine how many times you have suffered traumatic brain injury."

"I don't think you can suffer multiple episodes of TBI and live to tell the tale."

"You, Steven McGarrett, could manage to have multiple episodes of TBI, I'm sure. You can manage to do just about everything else like an abnormal human being, so your head injuries would be no different," Danny said even louder as his hands flailed in front of him.

Steve stood up and got right up into Danny's face, "I do not have any head injuries, combat-related or otherwise. Do not put all of this on battle scars. My issues are not battle scars."

"Your issues are too numerous to categorize," Danny began without backing an inch away from Steve's looming form. "But your actions right now, those are some sort of scar. Emotional scar, maybe. You beat yourself up over every little thing, second guess every decision especially if the outcome hurts somebody you care about. But I'm here to tell you that you, my crazed partner, are a caring individual who would never hurt someone you loved intentionally. You…" he poked Steve's chest for emphasis, "need to forgive yourself for leaving Avery with your dad. She is one hundred percent well-adjusted, happy, she knows you love her, she's intelligent, and she's making friends. No matter what you think, you did the right thing. She is thriving as much as any other five-year old. So, no, Steven, you are not being realistic."

Steve softened slightly. Danny had hit at the core of Steve's fears, allaying them with his words. But the uncertainty that he felt was still there begging him to ask one more question, "Do you really think Avery's okay? I mean truly okay?"

Danny nodded his head vigorously and cupped his hands on the sides of Steve's face, "Yes, babe, I truly believe that Avery is growing up exceptionally well."

Steve's face felt hot where Danny's hands were touching his skin. He felt a desire burning deep inside his gut, wishing him closer to Danny's enticing mouth saying the exact right words to disperse Steve's present doubts. Steve's body began to move without any conscious prompting from Steve's mind as his face inched closer to Danny's. Steve brought his own hand up to Danny's face and angled his chin downwards as Danny began to move his upwards and –

RING!

Steve's cell phone interrupted the silence as Danny and Steve jumped apart like two repelling magnets, Danny grumbling something about sand in his shoes as he walked towards the house.

Steve answered the phone and spoke quickly with the person on the other line. After hanging up, he moved towards the house, not quite sure what to say to Danny. He knew he had been dangerously close to making a mistake he wouldn't have been able to take back. If he pushed his limit with Danny, Danny could easily leave. Steve couldn't let that happen because Danny needed to be in Avery's life. Maybe it was Steve's fault that it had happened, but nonetheless, Danny had become a surrogate parent to Avery, and even in her short five years of life, Avery had lost way too many surrogate and real parents for her to lose another because Steve couldn't control his misguided desires.

Steve sighed as he entered the house to find Danny sitting at the kitchen table, unable to move his eyes away from his feet.

"That was the governor; she has some sort of assignment for us. We have to meet her at 5-0, like yesterday, so we should probably get going," Steve said as he shifted his weight from side to side. "I'm just going to throw some dry clothes on and then we can go."

Danny nodded his head in agreement, still not removing his eyes from their intense inspection of his patent leather loafers. Steve went upstairs and quickly showered and changed into his work attire, grabbing his gun and badge from the bedside table before heading back downstairs. When Steve walked into the kitchen he found Danny in the same position he left him. 'Not a good sign,' thought Steve, convinced that Danny may never speak to him again because of the too-close encounter on the beach.

"Hey, ready to go?" Steve asked.

"Yup," Danny said as he stood up and walked out the door, Steve following close behind.

Danny got into the passenger seat of the Camaro without protest. 'Another bad sign,' thought Steve as he slid into the driver's side and turned the key in the ignition. The Camaro roared to life and Steve backed out of the driveway and headed towards headquarters. Silence permeated the entire drive, and Steve found himself shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he chanced a glance towards Danny. Danny was staring out the window, not making any move to acknowledge the other man in the car or the moment they shared only minutes before. Steve sighed and pushed his foot harder on the gas pedal in hopes to end the torturous car ride sooner.

Once they arrived at 5-0 the two men made their way to the office in an eerie calm, not even looking at the other as they rode the elevator together. Steve strode into the office first looking around for the governor. She was already sitting in his office waiting so he walked in and shook her hand.

"What's the assignment, Governor," Steve asked, not bothering to deal with pleasantries and small talk; he was really not in the mood.

"I have a special guest, a foreign dignitary, coming in for a fundraising event on Friday. I assured him that he would have the best security detail this island has to offer, and on this island that means 5-0," she said. "I have left all of the information on guests, wait and catering staff, and the blueprints for the building the event is being held in with your team. I have also put together his itinerary for the trip, and I expect a member of 5-0 to be with him at all times while he is on this island. He will be arriving Friday morning and will be departing on Sunday. Throughout that entire time I expect 5-0 to be present and protecting him. Do I make myself clear, Commander?"

"Yes, ma'am," Steve said with a nod of his head, standing at attention in front of her. "You have my word that 5-0 will keep the dignitary safe for the duration of his trip."

"Thank you, Commander," she said as she shook his hand and walked out of the office.

Steve sighed as he sunk into his desk chair. A security detail meant a lot of long days planning for the dignitary's visit and spending almost 24/7 in his presence for 72 hours. Steve knew what that meant, it meant a lot of time away from Avery. Steve's mind, clear less than an hour before, was becoming increasingly jumbled with the events that had occurred in the previous 60 or so minutes. His mind continuously thought about Danny and his uncharacteristically silent behavior. Steve knew that a quiet Danny was never a happy Danny.

Steve willed himself to compartmentalize the thoughts about Danny and Avery into a locked box in the far recesses of his mind, as far away from his new mission as possible. Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett was going into SEAL mode and the remainder of his team best be prepared for the mission because their commander was not settling for anything less than a smooth security detail; his damaged psyche couldn't handle a less than stellar performance. He made his way into the bullpen and addressed his team with the imposing tone and presence he reserved only for his work as a trained military officer.

The rest of the 5-0 team knew, in that moment, Steve McGarrett, Hawaiian father, had been replaced with Commander McGarrett, trained Navy SEAL. They all shuddered a little.

*H50*

The team had spent the remainder of the afternoon beginning the grueling preparations ahead of them. Chin and Kono spent most of the time at the Smart Table looking through background checks and histories of all the guests and staff that would be present at the event. Danny spent his time digging into the past of the foreign dignitary, a diplomat from Norway, trying to find any dirty secret or skeleton that could possibly turn into an issue on American soil. Steve was in his office the entire afternoon going over the blueprints of the venue. He was mapping all possible entry points, blackout spots for security cameras, and other logistical matters him and his team would have to handle during the event.

Steve and Danny had not spoken a word to each other the entire afternoon. In fact, neither man had so much as looked in the other's direction for hours. Chin and Kono gave each other worried looks; they knew something was up. Deciding that the best chance for survival meant feigning ignorance, the cousins continued on with their work, not mentioning the deafening silence that had fallen between their two co-workers.

Steve glanced at the clock on his office wall after staring at nothing but blueprints for hours, noticing that the clock was dangerously close to 4:30, the time Avery was finished at school. Steve grabbed for his wallet and keys, quickly realizing that he didn't have his keys with him, remembering that he carpooled with Danny from his house. 'Crap,' Steve thought as he mentally punched himself for not thinking that decision through. Steve now had to approach the one person he had desperately been trying to avoid in order to pick his daughter up from school on time. Grudgingly, Steve stood from his chair and walked with purpose towards Danny's office door. He was so set on his task that he didn't notice the anxious eyes of his other co-workers follow his movements.

After knocking on the door, Steve let himself into Danny's office and cleared his throat as he waited for Danny to look up from his computer.

"Do you need something?" Danny asked without so much as a glance in Steve's direction. Steve noticed a slight red tinge to Danny's ears as he responded.

With a small smile, Steve answered, "Avery's almost finished with school, but I don't have my truck here so I need to use your car to pick her up."

"Fine, give me one minute and then we can go," Danny said without a hint of contemplation. No matter what, Steve realized, Danny would never be able to say no to anything involving Avery. At least one of Steve's fears was assuaged – Danny would always be there for her.

"I can just go myself and come back and get you, you know, so you don't have to go out of your way or anything," Steve mumbled quickly, secretly hoping Danny would dismiss this solution.

Danny snorted as he finally looked up at Steve. "You think I'm going to let you drive my car alone? You seriously do have head injuries."

Steve smirked as Danny got up and strode out of the office, not even looking back to see if Steve was following. Danny threw the keys to Steve as they made their way down the sidewalk towards the parking lot. The small bubble of hope that had been growing inside Steve's chest after Danny's snarky comment about his driving quickly shrunk as he realized that a normal Danny would never give up his keys to Steve without a fight.

For the second time that afternoon, Steve and Danny drove in utter silence, not muttering a single word or even glancing in the other's direction. Steve pulled into a parking spot at the kindergarten in record time. He jogged inside, barely making it to the classroom before the clock ticked 4:30.

"We thought you were going to be late again, Commander," Avery's teacher said disapprovingly. Steve noticed the pink late slip she had already filled out with Avery's name. He hated those damn pink slips, they made him feel like he was back in high school trying to convince the school secretary he got stuck in traffic, and that's why he was arriving at school late, not, like she assumed, because he had overslept. Steve had been the proud owner of multiple new pink slips courtesy of his job at 5-0. Miraculously, it seemed, most of the criminals 5-0 pursued wanted to do their main law breaking right around 4 o'clock, preventing him from making it to Avery's school by 4:30 on numerous occasions.

He forced a small smile in her direction as he took Avery's bag out of her cubby, "Are you ready to go, sweetheart?"

Avery mutely nodded, her eyes not meeting her father's gaze.

"We had a little incident today," the teacher began. "Avery wasn't too fond of the better choice chair."

"What happened, Avery?" Steve asked, his voice beginning to shift into commanding officer mode.

Avery still didn't look in her father's direction.

Avery's teacher continued in a tone of condescension, "She seems to think knowledge of military reconnaissance and weaponry is something to be used on the playground. I think you may want to reconsider what make believe games you play with her. She is a five year old girl, maybe you should stick with princess games and house. Little girls love playing house."

Steve openly gawked at the teacher now, anger not even beginning to cover the emotions coursing through his veins as the teacher continued to speak. "We don't allow games with pretend guns or other weapons on the playground."

Steve stood straighter as his eyes bore into the woman standing in front of him, venom seeming to drip from every word he spoke. "Contrary to what you might believe, I have not taught my daughter anything about military weaponry, reconnaissance, nor have we ever played any games that include those two things. Was she playing this game alone or with other children?"

"There were other children involved, yes."

"Did you lecture their parents? Or are you just lecturing me because I'm a single dad who happens to be in the military?"

The teacher's voice began to falter a little as she realized she was in the process of reprimanding a Navy SEAL, "I- I- I didn't talk to the other parents, per say, but I'm sure they know that their children's behavior was unacceptable."

"And you think that I don't know that playing with guns, pretend or not, is unacceptable behavior for a five year old?" Steve was fuming at this point, as he moved a step closer to the teacher.

"Commander McGarrett, I just thought it might be helpful if I reminded you that guns and games involving weapons are not tolerated at school."

"Fine, duly noted," Steve clipped as he grabbed Avery's hand and walked out the door. Avery had remained silent through the whole exchange and wisely kept her mouth shut as she jogged a little to keep up with her father's long, quick strides.

"Danno's here," Avery said cheerfully as she saw the silver Camaro.

"I wouldn't sound too excited, young lady, I'm not happy with you," Steve said as he opened the door to help buckle her in the backseat. Avery's mouth promptly shut and she got herself in the car and buckled without a word of complaint.

Steve got in himself and shut the door with a slam. He saw Danny wince but didn't say anything as he shifted the car out of park and into reverse.

Danny couldn't help but notice the unusual quiet between Steve and his daughter, but waited until they were on the road before asking if something was wrong.

"I don't know," Steve began as his eyes looked in the rearview mirror towards the backseat. "Avery, is something wrong?"

Danny turned in his seat to look at the small girl who was desperately trying to make herself small enough to blend in with the backseat. Two fathers staring her down, not good!

"I got in trouble at school today. Mrs. Cleary was not happy with me or Daddy."

Danny looked back at Steve, "Why was she angry at you?"

Steve grunted in response.

Danny chose wisely not to comment and turned back to Avery, "What happened that made Mrs. Cleary angry at you?"

"I was playing outside with Brandon and Harrison. We were playing space cops and robbers. I was the cop and they were the robbers. So, I had to capture them and so I needed to use my weapon. Guns aren't allowed at school, so when Mrs. Cleary saw me using one she got very angry. Well, when she told me guns weren't allowed at school I told her it wasn't a gun, it was a laser beam," Avery said with a shrug of her shoulders. Both men had to bite back smirks at the clearly intelligent comeback that Avery had given her teacher.

Avery continued, "She got even angrier and told me that I shouldn't be cheeky with her. Then she put me in the better choice chair. I mean, I didn't technically do anything wrong because laser beams aren't real weapons and they aren't guns."

Steve grunted again as Avery said this.

"Okay, maybe I was a little wrong," Avery said quietly as her cheeks became pink and she averted her eyes from the glares she was receiving from both Danny and her father.

"Avery," Danny began, "Any weapon, whether imaginary or real, is not okay for you to play with. Guns hurt people, and only adults, like your Daddy and me, are allowed to carry them because we learned the right way to use them."

"I know, Danno. I'm sorry."

"The important thing is that you understand what you did was wrong and that you promise you won't ever do it again," Danny said with a small smile. "Sound good?"

Avery nodded her head and looked towards her father, a hopeful look in her eye that maybe he would be less angry at her. Danny looked in Steve's direction as well, but he saw that his partner was still visibly upset.

Even with the knowledge that poking a sleeping bear is almost bound to get one's arm bitten off, Danny attempted to bring Steve out of his clear fit of rage, "Steve, Avery understands that she was wrong, so I think everything is going to be fine."

"I know that everything is going to be fine with Avery. I was never worried about her," Steve replied.

"Okay," Danny started, cringing as he began to speak his next words. "Then why are you still so upset?"

"I'm upset," Steve started, clearly struggling to keep his voice on an even level, "because that teacher-" he said through gritted teeth, obviously holding back many other expletives he wished he could use to describe Mrs. Cleary, "continues to treat me as an idiotic dolt because I'm a single father. She's been prejudiced against me from the minute she found out I was raising Avery on my own. You should of heard her in there, going on and on about how I really should reconsider what sorts of make believe games I play with Avery. As if I'm the reason she knows so much about military weaponry and reconnaissance because I encourage her to play those types of games at home."

Danny chose not to mention that some of Avery's abnormal knowledge of military tactics most likely did come from Steve, and instead said, "Ah, Mrs. Cleary is a B-I-T-C-H. She does the same things to me when I pick up Grace, tut-tutting about divorce and what it does to children. She's a semi-miserable old woman who doesn't believe anything other than a mother raising her children while the father goes out and works is an acceptable form of child-rearing. Ignore her, Steve. She is most definitely not worth your time."

Steve reluctantly smiled across the seat at Danny. "Thanks. I will try and remember that in the future."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be forced to arrest you because a teacher's body was found murdered by Play-Doh."

Steve gave Danny a look, and Danny continued, "Don't lie; I know you could manage to severely maim her using Play-Doh."

Steve smiled his first true smile the entire day.