Catch a Falling Star (And Put it In Your Pocket)
"We're going where?"
"Midnight camping trip," Steve said, a maddening smirk playing at his lips. "We're going up Ko'olau, again."
"Okay," Danny said, fighting for patience, "the first time we tried that, you fell off a cliff."
"So, we won't go near any cliffs," Steve replied, with a shrug. "I mean, come on. What are the odds of finding a second dead body up on the mountain, again?"
"This is us," Danny felt compelled to point out. "We're practically stumbling over dead bodies on our doorstep."
"Hey!" Kono snapped, from the other side of the office. "Don't jinx us."
"Yeah, brah," Chin added. "We've got enough trouble following the two of you around, as it is."
"Insolence gets you extra paperwork," Steve threatened, but Chin just grinned at him, undaunted.
"We have the day off, tomorrow," he said, smugly, "and I have an entire day planned out with Malia. You're not going to ruin that, no matter how hard you try."
"What about you?" Danny asked Kono, who shot him a smile of her own. "Got any big plans?"
"Just me, my board, and the waves," Kono told him.
"And we're going camping," Steve repeated, getting a wry look from his partner.
"At midnight," he said, skeptically. "Dare I ask why we're going camping at midnight?"
"It's the best time," came the answer, and Danny sighed.
"Best time for what?" he pressed.
"You'll see," was all Steve would say.
Danny bit back a dismayed groan. He hated hearing those particular words out of his partner's mouth.
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Three hours into their hike, it was just starting to get dark. Steve called a halt when they reached the top of the ridge they were climbing, and they worked quickly to set up camp.
"So," Danny prompted, as they sat on the blanket spread out in front of their tent, "why are we up here?"
"What time is it?" Steve asked, instead, and Danny just shook his head in exasperation.
"Just after eight," he answered, looking at his watch. "Are you going to answer my question?"
"In about three hours," Steve replied, and Danny rolled his eyes.
"In three hours," he echoed. "What, exactly, do you propose we do for those three hours?"
"Well, I can think of something," Steve muttered, under his breath, deflating when Danny shot him a look that suggested that he was not amused. "Or, not. We could talk?" he suggested, hopefully.
"Or," Danny offered, "since this has been a very long day, and since I jumped onto a moving vehicle this morning to apprehend a suspect, I'm going to go in the tent and get some sleep. You can wake me up in three hours, okay?"
"Okay," Steve agreed, and Danny crawled into the tent and collapsed on top of his sleeping bag.
He hadn't been lying to Steve; he really was exhausted after the day he'd had. What he hadn't told his partner was how badly he'd wrenched his knee jumping onto that stupid car, and how he wished he had an ice pack, right then. Even some ibuprofen for the pain. But, he had neither, so he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
He dozed more than anything else, but at some point he must have fallen asleep, because he could have sworn he felt Steve carefully massaging his knee, fingers moving in slow, soothing movements that eased the pain shooting up and down his leg. But, he had to have been dreaming.
When Steve shook him awake, Danny opened his eyes to find his partner watching him with a strange expression on his face.
"Time for the show," Steve told him.
"What show?" Danny asked, but Steve just grinned at him and ducked back out of the tent. "Am I ever going to get a straight answer on this trip?" he grumbled to himself.
Crawling out of the tent, Danny joined Steve out on the thick blanket, stretching his sore leg out in front of him. Steve reached out absently, cupping Danny's knee and starting a slow massage of the injured muscles. Danny stared down at Steve's hand, and then over at Steve. The other man was watching the sky, seemingly unaware of what he was even doing.
"So, what am I supposed to be looking at?" Danny finally asked, deciding that if Steve was going to ignore what he was doing, then he would, too.
"Up there," Steve said, nodding up at the night sky. "Trust me," he added, when Danny glared at him for yet another non-answer. "You don't want me to spoil this for you."
Danny huffed an irritated sigh, but he obligingly tipped his head back and stared up at the clear sky. After a few minutes, he shifted positions to work the feeling back into his stiff shoulders, slinging an arm around Steve. Steve leaned against his side, warm where he was pressed up against Danny.
"Still waiting," Danny prompted, nearly ten minutes later, and Steve chuckled.
"You can't hurry this," he replied, quietly. "And believe me, you don't want to."
It was nearly eleven-thirty before Steve finally nudged Danny with his shoulder, nodding up at the sky.
"It's starting," he said, and Danny looked up.
For a second, he couldn't see anything. Then, the dark sky was cut with a streak of faint, white light. The streak was joined by another, and then another, each one brighter than the first, and then the sky was filled with the brilliant glow of a meteor shower.
"Well?" Steve prompted, when Danny was silent for several long moments.
"It's beautiful," Danny told him, and he could practically feel the force of Steve's happy grin. "I'm glad you dragged me out here."
"I'm glad you let me drag you," Steve told him, and Danny smiled, snuggling against his partner's side to enjoy the rest of the show. They sat in silence for almost an hour, watching the meteors streak across the sky, and then Danny felt Steve shift next to him.
"Make a wish," Steve told him, and Danny couldn't help the sappy grin that spread across his face.
"Mine already came true," he replied.
