A/N: Well... I wanted to write more of Frying pans, but this bunny bit me and wouldn't let me go... This is an AU of 3x14, so there could be some spoilers for that epi.
I warn you that this is shameless, plotless Danny Whump... Enjoy!
Even Vests are not always Bulletproof
Danny's day was not going according to plan, he thought, as Congressman Freed was propelled into the chopper by one of Wo Fat's bullets.
For starters, this morning at the custody hearing, he was supposed to have the chance to talk to Rachel. In fact his well prepared speech was meant for her. It was supposed to convince her not to take Grace away to Vegas, that Hawaii was Grace's home now and that uprooting her again would do her more harm than good.
Steve was supposed to be there as well. It's true that his own delivery of the speech was less than stellar, but Steve was supposed to be his all star character witness, and didn't manage to say more than two words before the Governor was calling him up for a case.
Now about the case, the fact that at first it was not actually a case should have tipped them off that things would not be easy. The sniper shooting their only witness and the kidnapped Congressman only served to confirm how messed up things were. And of course that the party wouldn't be complete without some Wo Fat thrown in for good measure.
A few weeks ago Danny had told Steve that he didn't particularly like the idea of getting in a chopper that Steve was flying, and yet he had gotten into a flying deathtrap with his partner more times in the last month than in the previous two years.
So that's how Danny found himself hanging by a harness from a chopper piloted by his crazy partner and with a Mk 12 Rifle on his hands.
Congressman Freed was already injured, so getting him into the chopper was a feat by itself. He had barely climbed into the chopper when another bullet pushed him against Danny and further into the chopper. Danny spared a minute to tell Steve to get them to the hospital, and that it was bad, before he started applying pressure to both wounds. Fortunately Steve listened to him for once and turned the chopper around and in the direction of the hospital.
After that things got a bit confusing for Danny. He did his best to stop the bleeding, but there was too much blood coming from the wounds on Freed's shoulder and chest. He kept talking to the Congressman, trying to keep him talking until they reached the hospital, but by the time Steve was landing the chopper, he was already out.
A group of people in scrubs was waiting, and when the chopper landed they rushed to get Freed out. Danny helped as much as he could and they got the Congressman into the gurney and on the way inside in what felt like a blink of an eye to him.
Steve was already out of the chopper and following the gurney, so Danny figured that's what he had to do as well. He moved to get out, but for some reason he couldn't stand. He looked down at himself and saw the harness still attached, so that at least explained it. Well, maybe he could wait for Steve here for a while, he thought, sitting on the floor of the chopper with his legs hanging out.
Steve had moved behind the gurney, looking around for any remaining threats, but it looked like they were good for now. He looked around to confirm it with Danny, only Danny was not at his side. When he saw Danny still sitting on the chopper with a lost expression on his face he feared that they were not as good as he initially thought. He turned to catch the attention of one of the nurses and then moved towards Danny. "Hey Danno, you ok?" He asked, looking at Danny's bloodstained hands.
Danny lifted confused eyes to look at his partner. "Huh?..." He said, lifting his eyebrows. "I… I still have this thing on…" He finished, looking at the harness still attached to his waist.
Steve nodded, moving to help Danny with the harness, trying to ignore the blood on Danny's hands. He was very concerned by his friend's confusion. The way he was acting, and the pallor of his skin spoke of early stages of shock, a reasonable assumption under the circumstances, but Steve had seen Danny right after Grace had been kidnapped, he'd seen him after a bomb almost exploded in front of him and he hadn't looked as bad as he did right now in any of those occasions. "Danno, were you hit?" He asked softly, trying to find an explanation for his partner's behavior.
Danny shook his head, not getting Steve's question. "Hit? No… Freed got hit…" He said with a frown. "I… I'm wearing a vest, aren't I?" He asked as an afterthought.
Steve frowned, lifting his hands to start to remove the Velcro straps holding the vest around Danny's chest. "Well, let's just get this off, just in case, ok Danno?" He asked in a calm voice. His fears were confirmed when he noticed a dark stain on the left side of Danny's chest, he looked at his back as well, finding an exit wound on Danny's side. "Damn Danno, you were hit!" He muttered while trying to get Danny to lie down. The nurse Steve had talked to before was coming closer with a wheelchair, but at the sight of Danny he rushed back inside in search for another gurney.
Danny tilted to the side, letting Steve take most of his weight. "No… Told you I was wearing a vest…" He mumbled.
Steve huffed in annoyance. "I'm afraid these were armor piercing rounds, buddy…" He muttered while applying pressure to the wounds.
Damn that hurt. "Oh… That explains it…" Danny mumbled before everything turned very dark and quiet all of a sudden.
The next time he was aware of his surroundings, Danny was lying in an uncomfortable mattress with a soft pillow under his head. He was warm, sleepy and comfortably numb. And for some reason he was glad to feel comfortably numb. He was starting to go back to sleep when some other noises and feelings filtered into his consciousness.
There was a soft beeping noise, there were things attached to his chest, pulling at the small hairs there, there was a bandage around his chest too, an itchy tube under his nose, something taped to his left hand and fingers wrapped around his right one.
There were soft voices talking to him, encouraging him to awake, but he was tired and sleepy, it had been a long day and he wanted to go back to sleep.
The voices got a little louder, and they started to squeeze his hand and shake him gently to get him awake. "Come on Danno, open your eyes. You've kept us waiting long enough!" Steve's annoying voice said.
Danny groaned in annoyance, which turned to discomfort when he felt a small stab of pain on his side. "Go 'way… 'm sleepin…" He mumbled, hoping to get them to back off.
He could hear Steve's chuckle and felt as he squeezed his hand again. "Come on Danno, why don't you open your eyes so the Doc can check you over? You can go back to sleep after that…"
He opened his eyes to a dimly lit room. Steve was looking at him with a tired smile and there was a pretty lady in scrubs giving him an assessing look. He turned to look at Steve again and was surprised to see him wearing scrubs as well. "You´re not a doctor… Please tell me that you didn't come anywhere near me with a scalpel or a needle or anything like that…" He said in a concerned mumble.
Steve chuckled in surprise, looking down at his clothes. "Don't worry Danno. My clothes got a bit dirty and a nice nurse let me use these for now…"
Danny nodded, turning his attention to the Doctor. "So… how bad was it?" He asked.
The doctor gave him a kind smile. "Danny, I'm Doctor Rocha, I was in charge of all the scalpels and needles that came near you in the OR… You had a gunshot wound on your upper left chest, and an exit wound a little higher on your back. You were very lucky, because the bullet went through your chest cavity without impacting directly any vital organs. Your lung was slightly lacerated, but it didn't cause any complications and should heal by itself. The bullet was high caliber though, so you lost a considerable amount of blood and it managed to break a couple of ribs, which should cause you some discomfort in the following days."
Danny blinked a couple of times. He only caught about half of what the doctor had said, but he figured Steve would tell him if he missed anything important. There was only one thing he needed to know. "When can I get out of here?"
The doctor chuckled, not looking surprised. "Well, we want to keep you in observation for at least 48 hours, to make sure that we didn't miss any slow bleeds and to monitor your lung function."
The doctor then proceeded to check his bandages and his vitals and left the room, promising to be back in the morning.
Once the doctor was gone, Danny turned to Steve. "Did you call Rachel? Does Grace know?"
Steve nodded, squeezing Danny's hand reassuringly. "Yes, I did, and yes, she does. She's coming over tomorrow, and they both know that you are doing fine.
Danny was relieved, but didn't understand why Steve looked like his birthday had come early. "What about the Congressman?" He asked, figuring that maybe that was it.
"He's recovering without any complications; he should be fine by the time of the elections…" He said, barely managing to keep a hold of a goofy smile.
Danny frowned at his partner, not having the patience to decipher the face he was wearing right now. "Ok… So why don't you just cut it out and tell me what the hell has you looking so happy when I'm here lying on my deathbed?"
Steve's smile got even bigger. "Well, while they were patching you up, they gave me your things, your badge, your wallet and your phone, and someone called… It was you lawyer…" He said, grinning like a loon.
Danny knew instinctively that Steve's smile meant that it was good news, but he couldn't help the anxiety and the fear that Steve's news brought. He hadn't noticed his harsh breathing or how much his heart was racing until Steve squeezed his hand roughly and caught his attention. "Damn it Danny… Calm down or I'm not telling you anything!" He said in a harsh whisper.
Danny did his best to calm his breathing, and after a couple of minutes Steve looked convinced enough to keep talking. "Alright, the lawyer said that the Judge had come to a decision, and that he was giving you and Rachel joint custody of Grace!" He said with a big smile on his face.
Danny frowned confusedly, not following much of the conversation. "What? What's that mean?"
Steve leaned forward, trying to catch Danny's exhausted eyes, trying to make him understand. "It means that you two have equal rights regarding where Grace lives. It means that she can't take her to Vegas without your consent. It means that she can't leave if you don't want her to…" He said in a gentle voice.
Danny's eye lit up. "She can't leave?" He said in an incredulous voice.
Steve's smile got even bigger, if possible. "No, she can't…"
Danny laughed one of his nervous giggles, lifting his hand to cover his injured side. "Damn babe, if I could lift my head from this damn pillow I'd give you the greatest hug in history!" He said with a happy, if half asleep, smile on his face.
"Well, lucky for you, I'm perfectly capable of giving you a hug, Danno…" Steve said, leaning forward to give his friend a gentle hug. When he straightened up again, he saw that Danny was barely able to keep his eyes open. "Alright, Danny, time to sleep."
Danny blinked tiredly, trying to fight the effects of the lovely drugs that were making him so sleepy. "Yeah, ok… but first I need you to promise me something…" He said, giving Steve a serious look. At his nod he continued. "I need you to promise to tell me all of this again when I next wake up… Because… 'cause I'm not sure I'm going to remember it…" He finished, stifling a yawn.
Steve chuckled, patting Danny's shoulder. "Don't worry Danno, I don't mind telling you these news as many times as you need…"
Danny smiled, finally closing his eyes. He lifted his hand to pat Steve's but only made it halfway through. "Thanks babe…" He said with a small smile on his face, realizing that things were not that bad after all.
The End
A/N: Well, I kept waiting for Wo Fat to aim to either Steve or Danny, so this came out... Now that I think about it, someone should write a story where Steve's the one getting hurt, and the chopper goes down, and all the whump that involves... *evil laugh*
Anyways, I'd really love to hear what you think of this one!
Thank you for reading!
