Author's Note: And so we've reached the end, my friends. I'm actually really, really happy that I followed through on the requests I received to keep this story going. I genuinely enjoyed writing this fic, and I'm now looking forward to churning out some one shots that can deal with the massive amount of drama and feels the H50 Writers have handed us with Joe White's death and Grace's near-fatal car accident. I watched 9.12 and I have to say that Scott Caan and Claire Van Der Boom's performances were absolutely stellar and very, very worthy of an Emmy nod.
Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story, who has given me kudos, left me comments here and via Twitter (Banshi13 if you'd like to follow), as the encouragement I received from so many of you kept my motivation high to see this story through to the end. With that said, enjoy this final chapter!
Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-O, as well as the characters found within the series, are owned by CBS Productions, K/O Paper Products, and 101st Street Productions. No profit is being made off of this work.
Hawaii Five-0
Steve presented Danny with coffee and donuts and sat down next to him in the waiting area. The airport was quiet, but at 5:30am on a Friday, soon enough it would be bustling with passengers and employees, and families who were coming to greet or say good bye to friends and loved ones. "Thank God," Danny took his coffee and a donut out of the box. "They're going to start boarding in five minutes."
"They should let you take that on the flight," Steve pointed to the coffee in Danny's hand. "I bought inside the secure zone, so."
"It'll be gone in ten minutes, babe." Danny didn't appear to be lying. As hot as the stuff was, he'd already taken two long sips which had taken the large cup down by a third at least, and that was even with eating the donut. "I'm gonna miss New York coffee, but, I gotta say, the Kona you buy is pretty good too. I'm even looking forward to having a cup with a malasada when we get home."
"Are you really?" Steve lifted a hand to Danny's forehead, and the latter batted it away. "I'm just making sure you haven't caught swine flu or something Danny. That's like, in the top five nicest things list you've ever said about Hawaii."
"Well," Danny swallowed the rest of the donut and reached for another one, "I'm a guy, you know? When I eat good food, I admit it." He leaned back, letting out a quiet breath. "This was a good trip, Steve."
"Yea, it was."
"I kinda wish we didn't have to go back."
"What, and miss Grace and Charlie getting home tomorrow?" But Steve understood what Danny was saying as he put down his coffee on the seat to his left and stretched his right arm on the seat behind Danny's head. "We won't be cut off from everything when we get home, but we'll figure it out."
"Mhmm, I've been thinking a little about that," Danny leaned his head back on Steve's arm a bit. "Putting the kids on the conference call with the governor and Lou showing them the ropes while we were gone?"
"Yea?"
"Maybe we should start doing a little more of that even if we're home?" Danny rolled his head to the side to look at him. "We're 43. We're gonna have to think about retiring soon, you know? Start putting plans in motion, start getting Tani and Junior trained up, maybe hire a new recruit or two a year or so from now so they can get their feet wet while we're still there?"
Steve was nodding quietly as he listened to him. "Why do you think I've been getting Junior involved in the budgeting?"
"Because I whined until you did?" Danny grinned at him.
"Well, that too," Steve couldn't really discount that. "But more so because we're not going to be there forever, right? Someone's got to know what we know, they have to be able to do the administrative stuff that we do on top of the field work. I love being a cop and I'm not ready to retire now, but in five years? I may think about it, you know?"
"Five – five years?" Danny stuttered.
"Well you don't have wait for me, Danny, you can retire or start cutting back if you want."
"Oh I can?" Danny stood up as the boarding announcement for their flight was called. "Because I seem to remember you losing your mind in the middle of the jungle at the very thought of me packing it in."
"That's because back then we weren't always going to be together," Steve shrugged, picking up the duffle bag and slinging it over his shoulders as he followed Danny over to the boarding kiosk. "I would've still been working, you would've been gone. But now we're together. You know?" Danny gave him a dubious look.
"It doesn't mean that I won't miss having you at work, or that I won't miss you being my partner – honestly, Danny, if you retire before five years? I might consider retiring then too because I can't imagine anyone else as my partner at Five-0, and I don't want to either." Steve nudged him and handed the attendant his pass, Danny following his lead. They both headed onto the gangway and once they were on the plane and Danny settled into his seat while Steve stowed the duffle bag in the overhead compartment. "You figured out how you're going to tell the kids yet?"
"I think I'm gonna tell them separately," Danny watched as Steve settled next to him, "you know, since their age difference is so big? Charlie will be easy, so I'll tell him last. Grace'll have questions."
"And I'll be there with you to answer them." Steve gave Danny a resolute nod as other passengers began to file on board, and they both settled in for the long day ahead of them.
Hawaii Five-0
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in." Tani grinned watching Steve and Danny enter the bull pin. "Aloha, Happy New Year and all that." Adam emerged from his office, surprised. "How was your trip? What are you guys doing here? You're not due back until Monday."
"Oh, don't worry, we're not staying long, we just uh… where is everyone?" Danny looked at Tani. "Lou, Junior, Jerry?"
"Jerry's down in his office, Lou and Junior are on their way back from the hospital."
"The girl?" Steve asked. Tani nodded. "Yea, she was finally able to answer some questions today about being attacked by that guy's wife. They called in about ten minutes ago letting us know they were leaving, so they shouldn't be much longer."
A ten-minute wait proved her right as Lou and Junior walked in the door. While Adam called Jerry up, Lou caught Steve up on the goings on while he and Danny had been in Jersey.
"Alright, well," Steve folded his hands together once everyone was assembled around the table. "I wasn't really sure how to tell you guys this, and there's no real easy way to say it. It's been a good run, I think, you know the last nine years have been really solid, and I really, really believe that this is going to be a change that's going to be good for everybody-"
"McGarrett," Lou held up a hand, "if you tell me that you're leaving me to deal with Williams by myself, trust and believe me when I tell you, I quit here and now."
"Hey, at least I wouldn't be driving your car into fleeing Chinese agents, Grover, okay? Your wife would be very grateful to have me at the helm of Five-0," Danny snickered, but stole a glance at Steve. "Babe, go on and tell 'em, huh?"
"We wanted you guys to be the first to know, uh…" Steve scratched a shy hand on the back of his neck. "Danny and I are seeing each other."
There were a few moments of silence as the news sank in. "Are you serious?" Tani finally asked, looking between Steve and Danny. "You guys, you're really an item?"
"Yea, we're really an item," Danny leaned on the console, arms folded. "We used the trip to New Jersey to uh, to talk about some things and we decided that this is something we wanted, so." He rolled his lips together, looking at everyone.
"Congrats, guys," Jerry was first to clap his hand on Steve's shoulder. "That's really awesome, guy love. I never would have guessed it but I'm happy for you."
"Are you blind?" Lou looked at him, disbelief all over his face. "These two have more fights than couples on Maury, man."
"Well, I'm down in my office most of the time so…" Jerry shrugged.
Once hugs and congratulations had been given all around, Steve leaned against the table. "We don't want this to change anything at work, that's number one. We're still gonna continue to be partners, we're still going to be the same Five-0 we've always been. Neither of us want anything to change that."
"You do realize that working together in the kind of job we have though puts some extra risk on the table for you two?" Lou looked at both of them. "Look, I'm happy for you both, I want nothing but the best for you, but have you considered that maybe the best thing in this situation might be not working so closely together anymore? For your own protection? The kind of stuff we come across and deal with on a daily basis, ya'll know this isn't a normal job."
"Yea, we do, Lou." Danny nodded quietly. "We do, but Steve and I, we've been partners for nine years, and I know I've felt this way about him for the last two or three, and there have been some pretty bad things that have happened in that span of time, but neither of us ever lost our cool."
"We know we're asking for a lot of trust with this," Steve leaned against the table beside Danny. "Neither of us are going to do anything that endangers any of you, okay? But if we need to talk about making some adjustments here and there maybe to make you guys more comfortable in the field, then we can have those conversations. We just… really, at the end of the day, we just want your support is all."
"You have it, Sir," Junior gave him a firm nod, Tani doing the same. "We're happy for you guys," she smiled. "Just remember that even though the break room has a lock on the door, we all have to share that space?"
"Uh…" Steve swallowed, "I don't think you're going to have to worry about that."
"Yea, even when he and Catherine dated, they didn't do anything here." Danny smiled, but caught a nervous flicker in Steve's eyes. Danny frowned, looking up at him. "What?"
"N-nothing. Nothing at all."
Danny's eyes narrowed considerably. "Steven…"
"…Adam! You good with this?" Steve moved over to the other man, putting some distance between himself and Danny, who was calling his name. "Hey, Hey, Casanova, don't hide behind him, get back here." Adam, for his part, stepped well out of the way of the SEAL, pulling out his cellphone. "That's my queue to text Chin and tell him the good news," he smiled, giving Steve a hug. "I'm happy for you both, but you don't pay me enough to be your shield against him." He pointed over at Danny.
"But I pay you enough to dodge bullets all day?!" Steve was incredulous, watching Adam high tail it out of the bullpen and back to the safety of his office, phone to his ear. He was still working out how that made sense when Lou walked up to him, beckoning him over to the side a little with a nod. "I wasn't trying to rain on your parade, Steve."
"I know, Lou, I know." Steve nodded, looking over at Danny who was in an animated conversation with Tani, Junior, and Jerry. "We know what we're in for with this, what the risks are. I asked Danny before we left for New Jersey if we could talk about us and it just came down to we were tired of brushing it aside and acting like there was nothing there."
"You don't gotta explain anything to me, Steve," Lou smiled at him, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I can't say that I'm shocked by it. It always seemed to me that you guys had a little bit more than a bromance goin' on but it wasn't my business so I never said anything. And if something ever does happen to either of you because you've decided to take this step, just know we have your back all the way. Okay?"
"Thanks, Lou," Steve stepped into the hug Lou offered, clapping his back a few times before stepping back. "We got some little souvenirs for all of you while we were in New York, but the bag's in the Camaro."
"Give 'em to us Monday," Lou grinned. "Danny tell Rachel and the kids yet?"
"We talked to Rachel, yea, gave her the heads up a few days ago. We'll grab the kids this weekend and tell them then, so I'd appreciate it if you keep this quiet around Will until then since he and Grace talk?"
Lou waved him off. "No problem. I figure you guys are gonna want to keep this on the downlow anyway."
"Thanks, man."
"Hey, babe," Hearing his nick-name, Steve looked over at Danny. "Dinner out tonight with everybody?"
"Definitely. Beats cooking anything after that flight," Steve actually yawned as Danny walked over to him. "Aw, the baby SEAL is tired."
"Weren't calling me a baby last night."
Lou held up his hands. "And that's my queue. I'll see if Renee wants to come out tonight but even if she doesn't, I'll try and swing by for a little bit." Danny watched as Lou headed over to the kids and Jerry before looking at Steve. "You really had to say that?"
"Say what?" Steve looked at him.
"You know what, the thing about the baby?"
"Well they know now, I think they're going to figure out pretty soon that we sleep together, Danny."
"Yea, but they don't need details!" Danny's cheeks were growing red; Steve found it oddly endearing. "You're so cute when you blush, Danno," Steve teased.
"I'll show you cute," the blonde grumbled, waving a goodbye at everyone while taking Steve by the arm. "Tropics, 7:00pm!" A chorus of 'see you there's' and 'Aloha's' answered him back as he led Steve out of the office and to the elevator. "I'll drop you by your place and then head home. I need a nap," Danny punched the button to bring the elevator up.
"Your place?" Steve didn't bother to hide his slightly put out expression. "Why not just stay at mine?"
"Because, Steve," Danny said as they stepped into the elevator and rode down. "I will not nap if I do that. We will be doing other things if I stay at your house and if we're going out to Tropics for a few hours tonight, I need a few hours of good, quality sleep." He smiled, patting Steve on the back. "You can survive without me for that long, right?"
Steve could, but he didn't look happy about it. He'd gotten used to having Danny next to him in bed, had become accustomed to waking up to holding him or being held, even after only a week. "I wanna go back to New Jersey," he grumbled petulantly, a sour look on his face. Danny just laughed as they exited the elevator and headed out to the parking lot, getting into the Camaro.
"A few hours, babe. We can do it."
Steve pouted.
Hawaii Five-0
Tropics was packed, even if it was the first Friday night after the New Year, and both Steve and Danny were grateful to Tani for calling ahead and getting their normal table on the patio with more than enough room for anyone who was going to drop by. It turned out that not only had the team made it, but Noelani, Kamekona, Flippa, and Nahele had all managed to carve out some time for the impromptu celebration dinner. The table was covered in every food imaginable – steak, shrimp, lobster, burgers, salads, along with plenty of appetizers and, of course, drinks all around. Kamekona was currently in the process of making a toast, one which had garnered more than a few chuckles around the table. Steve and Danny sat next to each other, Danny content with a beer in his left hand while resting his chin on his right. Steve sat with his arms folded, a grin on his face.
"I don' know how it works with two ke kanaka," Kamekona shook his head, "the bathroom – that's gonna be a constant disaster area."
"Oh my God," Noelani groaned, covering a face with her hands and shaking her head while Nahele yucked it up beside her.
"We always used to joke about you two bein' married, but now that it's not a joke anymore, the only thing I can say to you both is Makani 'Olu a Holo Malie; loaa ke aloha." He raised a glass and those around him did the same, cheering each other's drink in agreement. Danny leaned towards Steve. "What'd he say?"
"He said, 'fair winds and flowing seas' and 'to finding love'," Steve clinked his beer against Danny's, sharing a quiet smile with him before taking a long pull from his Longboard. "You wanna hand out the gifts now?" Danny looked at him, tapping the duffle bag with his toe.
"Yea, alright," Steve stood up. "So, when Danny and I were in Jersey, we went into New York City a couple of times and we brought you all a little something back, just some little souvenirs and stuff like that." He bent down and picked up the bag, plopping it on his seat, and began to pull things out one by one. "For Noelani, a Tonight Show mug – since you like that show so much," he passed it down the line to her.
"For Tani and Junior, matching hoodies for when you work out, go to the gym."
"Work out," Danny quoted his fingers in the air to himself, but it wasn't missed by Lou or Adam, who snickered quietly behind their hands.
"For Lou," Steve dug out a glass beer mug, "a Molly's mug from your favorite show, Chicago Fire."
"There we go, that's what I'm talkin' about," Lou reached over and took the mug out of his hands, immediately pouring the rest of his beer into it. "A little bit of home in the palm of your hand."
"Adam, we hit Rockefeller Center and got you a pint glass," Steve handed it to him, "here you are. Enjoy." Following Lou's lead, Adam poured the rest of his drink into the glass. Danny frowned a bit at both of them. "You should really wash those before you drink out of them, okay? You don't know where they've been."
"Nothing that the alcohol can't handle, Danny," Lou took a large sip of beer and smiled at the other man who simply rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine, but I'm not driving you to the hospital tonight when you get hit with some weird viral infection."
"Exactly what do you think happened to those glasses between the plane ride, the duffle bag, and then being in my house, Danny?" Steve looked at him incredulously, pausing in his gift giving.
"Well, okay, the plane ride, let's start there," Danny sat up, sufficiently riled. "The plane ride, where dozens and dozens of other people, like 300 people, rode with us? Each of them having at least one piece of luggage, probably two, each coming from different parts of the country and the world? Who knows what they got into in Timbuktu or wherever they were."
Steve mouthed 'Timbuktu' to the others but kept his mouth shut as Danny kept talking. "Yes, the gifts were in a duffle bag, and yes, the duffle bag was your carry on, but then, you go back to those glasses actually being in the store and God knows who picking them up and holding them, passing them around, wondering if they're gonna buy them, and then setting them back down on the shelf again?" Danny shook his head. "It's not sanitary. That's inviting death, babe."
"And here I thought you were working on your optimism," Steve shook his head. "Kamekona, Flippah, here are your Ninja Warrior t-shirts." He passed the clothing over to the two guys.
"We considered Hell's Kitchen, but that store was a little further than we wanted to walk," Danny shrugged at them both.
"Ninja Warrior beats Hell's Kitchen any day, brah," Flippah stretched the shirt out, looking it over. "This one might be a bit big for me."
"You serious?" Danny blinked at him.
"Nahele, come here," Steve gestured over to the younger man to make his way over beside him. "You mentioned you wanted to start running with me, so I picked these up for you." Steve handed the kid the shoe box. "Go on, try 'em on," he urged, seeing Nahele's surprised face. And slightly nervous face. Steve grinned as Nahele's eyes darted towards Danny.
"Here?"
"Yea, here, come on," Steve tugged the now empty duffle bag off of the chair, "sit down, try them on."
Slipping out of his flip flops, Nahele tugged on first one shoe, then the second one and stood up, bouncing on his toes a little bit to try them out. "They feel great, Steve; thank you."
"You're welcome. And now that you're here, you can ask Danny that question you've been wanting to ask him."
Danny's eyebrows lifted slightly in interest. "Question? What question?"
If it were possible, Nahele actually paled. "N-nothing, Mr. Williams." He turned back and leaned down to pick up his flip flops, tossing Steve a dirty look while he did. Steve, of course, thought the entire thing hilarious. "He's not gonna do anything to you, Nahele, and I'm right here! Come on, ask him, just like we practiced."
"Steven." Danny lifted a finger and quirked it in a 'come hither' motion, but Steve waved him off, and instead nudged Nahele forward. "What's he talking about?" Danny watched Nahele take several breaths and gather his nerve before he stuttered out his question… such as it was.
"Uh, Mr. Williams, I was wondering if – if uh, if Grace isn't doing anything this weekend – or, or next weekend, if she's busy this weekend that's fine, I understand, uh," Nahele swallowed, "you know, work, school-"
"She's on winter break right now," Danny narrowed his eyes, fixing Nahele with a glare only an over protective bear of a father could, "she's not in school, she's on winter break."
"…Right," the kid licked his lips and took another breath. Steve patted his shoulder. "Well, whenever she's free, I was wondering if I – if I c-could uh, take… take her out on a date?" Nahele rushed ahead before Danny could so much as part his lips to answer. "I'd pay for everything, of course, and it wouldn't be anything too crazy. Just um, uh probably dinner on the beach? I'd pay for the Uber, the dinner, dessert, everything-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay," Danny took a breath. "Okay, uh…" he squinted a little, bit his lip, cocked his head to the side. "Yea, uh, go away… now, for a minute. Steven, you come here." Nahele couldn't get out of there fast enough; Danny was absolutely certain he saw smoke rising from the pavement as the younger man practically fell over himself and Lou and Adam to get away, new sneakers and all.
"Well," Steve sat down next to his partner, "that could've been worse."
"You knew about this?" Danny leveled a glare at the other man. "You knew he wanted to ask out Grace, this is the first I hear about it?"
"C'mon, Danny - Nahele had to ask you himself, he wanted to do that. He didn't want me to warn you or anything. He thought you'd appreciate it more that way," Steve took a sip of his beer. Danny grumbled.
"Well, I don't. Nope, I don't appreciate it."
"Are you pouting right now?" Steve rolled his eyes while Danny continued to glare at him. "Nahele's a good kid, Danny, and you know he'd treat Gracie the way she deserves to be treated. Plus, if anyone ever tried to get fresh with her, he'd knock their sorry ass into next week, assuming she didn't do it first."
"Do you forget how you two met, huh?" The hands were beginning to move and Steve knew a rant was imminent. "He stole your car, Steve."
"Yea, to sell it for parts so that he could put food on his own table, Danny, c'mon!" Steve loved Danny, but sometimes his over protective nature over his kids, especially Grace, made him short sighted. "And for the record, I stole a car when I was his age too, but I got a second chance to make something of my life, and so did Nahele, and look at him. Right? He's working hard, he's gonna work at the restaurant with Kamekona."
Danny released a hard, loud breath through his nose and crossed his arms. Yep, pouting. Pouting but… "I'll be right back."
"Just don't scare him away tonight, okay? I want to be able to say goodbye to him, not chase him down the beach because he's trying to get away from you."
"I wouldn't be chasing him down the beach at all if you hadn't told him to ask me if it was okay to ask Grace out; why'd you tell him to do that tonight, anyways?"
Steve shrugged. "You were in as good a mood as you were going to be."
"And yet." Danny huffed and got up, making his way through the patio towards Nahele, who visibly gulped when he saw him coming. But Danny gave him credit – he stood up like a man and looked him in the eye.
Kind of. Best as the kid could while fidgeting and looking around for the nearest exit, just in case, of course.
Okay, so maybe Danny felt just a little bit bad about that. "Look, I uh…you know, I am very, very protective of Grace, right?"
Nahele nodded.
"She's had to deal with some stuff in her life, some of it because of me and her mother, and some of it – lots of it, actually, because of my job, and what comes with it, and uh…" God, Danny hated this. He knew it showed on his face, in his posture, and he didn't bother to hide it either. "Look, you wanna ask Grace out, you have my permission, okay? Steve trusts you, he's kind of looked out for you over the last few years, he seems to think she'd be safe with you, so if you wanna ask her out, you have my blessing."
"Thank you, Mr. Williams," Nahele practically stumbled over himself in his response. "I- I promise, you won't have anything to worry about."
"Well that's good, that's good to hear, and I'm gonna tell you why," Danny lifted an arm and squeezed it around Nahele's shoulder. The sight would've been comical to anyone watching, what with Danny's height and Nahele's sudden realization that he was much like a critter caught in the binds of a python. "It's good because if my daughter turns up pregnant, or comes home crying because of you, or tells me that you so much as didn't open a door for her, I don't care what Steve's SEAL skills are – they got nothing on a pissed off father looking out for his baby girl."
"Ye-yes, yes, Sir. I understand." Nahele gulped. Audibly. Danny let him go.
"Great. Nice shoes, by the way; Steve got a pair himself so you two would match." With that, Danny clapped Nahele on the back and ambled back on over to his partner, his partner who, Danny noticed, was looking at him with a hint of disapproval. "What?" Danny looked at him, all innocence and naivety. "He's alive, see? Look over there. He's alive, he's walking, all of his blood is still inside of his body-"
"Then why does it look like he'd rather be dumped in the middle of the ocean and left for the sharks than ask Grace out?" Steve watched as Danny picked up his beer and sat down, a serene smile on his face.
"He looks fine to me."
Steve shook his head. "You're ridiculous."
"You're ridiculous, thinking that right now was a good time to tell him to come up to me and ask for my permission to take my daughter out, okay? That's the most ridiculous idea you've ever had. Ever."
Hawaii Five-0
"It's because we're home, isn't it?" Steve looked across his bed at Danny with his hands on his hips, watching his partner who mirrored his position right down to the nervous grin on his face. "It's not a hotel bed in a hotel room in a city thousands of miles away."
"This is your bed in your house in Hawaii," Danny breathed and ran a hand along the slatted head board of Steve's bed, keenly aware that the man's eyes were watching and cataloging his every move. Well. No point in waiting. Danny was exhausted and wired all at once, but he absolutely refused to be intimidated by yet another symbol that reinforced the realness of the decision he and Steve were making. He tugged back the sheets and slid in between them, getting comfortable and looking up at his partner as if to say, 'well?'
The man didn't disappoint. Stripping off his shirt and leaving his pajama bottoms on, Steve followed Danny's lead and was soon lying on his side next to his partner. He nosed at Danny's shoulder. "Still weird?"
"Yes and no," Danny rolled on his side to face Steve, tucking a hand underneath his pillow. "Weird in the sense that it's just another new thing for us, sleeping in your bed. It'll probably be the same when we spend the night at my place."
"We do have a lot of places to 'sleep'."
"You're an idiot," but Danny laughed at Steve waggling his eyebrows comically. This side of Steve was quickly becoming his favorite side; the flirtatious, cheap jokes always accompanied with a wide, goofy smile, the lightness with which Steve looked at him, the fact that Steve seemed to radiate pure joy at just having Danny next to him. It was enough to get love drunk on. The detective reached behind him to shut off the lamp. Steve did the same.
"When did you first know about us, huh?" Danny asked quietly.
"You mean when did I first figure out I felt something more for you than friendship?"
Danny nodded. Steve took a breath.
"I think I've been falling in love with you by degrees for a while now, Danny, but I guess if I had to pick the one moment where it knocked me over the head, it was probably the night Grace's school dance got jacked."
"Why?"
"Because from the second Lou called us and told us what was happening to the moment when it was all over and I had Grace in my arms and saw you standing behind her, all I could think about was the both of you." The truth was plain as day on Steve's face; even in the dark, Danny could see it. He shuffled over the mattress a little closer to Steve until he was lying maybe half a foot from him.
"All I could think about," Steve continued, "was how scared she must have been, her and Will, but mostly her. I don't think I'd have ever forgiven myself if something had happened to her that night, Danno."
"She was amazing, Steve," Danny smiled, "a lot calmer than I was, that's for sure."
"Because she's your daughter, Danny." Steve smiled blindingly at him. "When it was all over and I saw the both of you, I'd never felt relief like that in my life. If I had to pick the moment, I think that'd be it." He repositioned his head a bit, tugged the sheets up closer to him. "You?"
"When you helped me with Charlie's room." Danny's answer was quick, automatic. Steve wasn't surprised. Danny had always been able to pin point his feelings, right down to the moment they made themselves known. "And when Charlie told me that you had said that I'd done the whole thing by myself – the room and the bed and everything, I just knew. My son looks at you like you hang the god damn moon, Steve. You could have at least taken credit for the bed, gotten yourself some cool uncle points, but you didn't. You wanted my kid to see me as a hero, you know?" Danny reached out, wrapping his fingers around Steve's neck and tugging the man closer while he, himself, slid towards him too. "That's everything to me."
Steve went willingly, a soft growl escaping his lips as he rose up to hover over Danny before dropping a kiss against his mouth. When his partner's fingers tightened just that little bit in reaction around his throat, Steve huffed out a breath and pressed another kiss, harder and full of need against Danny's soft lips, pushing him into the mattress. "Danny," Steve's lips moved against the blonde's, "Danny, your hand…"
"What?" The man beneath him was genuinely confused. "My hand what?" When all Steve could do was stare back at him with glittering eyes, Danny moved his fingers against Steve's neck again, and, God Steve's reaction to that was erotic. There was no other word for it. His eyes fluttered shut, his neck arched in the most pleasing way, a low moan emanated from his chest through his lips. His hips jerked forward, a hard line making itself known against Danny's leg. "You like my hand there, huh?" A slow, crafty grin spread on Danny's face as he reached his other hand behind his head to grip at one of the slats in the headboard. Steve made a soft, whimpering noise as he watched, eyes wide and dark.
"You said we had a lot of places to 'sleep', babe; why don't we start with your bed, huh?"
Steve practically attacking his mouth was the last coherent memory Danny had for the rest of the night.
Hawaii Five-0
Saturday was spent with the boys going between Steve and Danny's houses. After managing to wake up and stretch some pleasantly sore muscles, breakfast was quickly made and then the unpacking and post vacation cleaning began. Junior dropped Eddie by around noon and the dog was yipping and jumping for a solid 15 minutes, happy whimpers echoing through the house as his tail beat against Steve's legs. "Ready to go over to Danny's buddy? Yea?"
Danny groaned. "Why."
"He hasn't seen me in a week, Danny, he wants to reconnect." And really, with two sets of puppy dog eyes looking at him, how could Danny refuse?
The Williams' house was a bit more involved. After not being there for a week, Danny needed to go to the grocery store and restock the fridge for himself and the kids, throw in loads of laundry that he didn't do before he'd left, which included linens from all of the beds and the bathroom towels. While he did that, Steve cranked the lawn mower up and ran it through the front and back yards, all while Eddie enjoyed rolling around in the grass Steve hadn't run the mower over yet.
"I figure we stay here tonight since we gotta go see the kids tomorrow?" Danny sprinkled salt, pepper, oregano, and a variety of other spices and herbs into the sauce he was making later that afternoon. "You need anything from your place?"
Steve's voice came from the living room. "I still have some clothes over here."
"Yea, I know, I just washed two pairs of cargo pants and countless blue and black t-shirts," Danny snickered. "I got an extra toothbrush you can have."
"Did I leave any dog food over here?" Steve came into the kitchen, Eddie eagerly on his heels. "Could have sworn I left some here a while ago."
"There's two cans of Merrick in the pantry – beef, I think." Danny stirred the sauce a little as Steve rooted around in the food cupboard and produced a can of dog food. "Hey, hey, what are – no, what you doing?" Danny watched as Steve got out a breakfast bowl, opened up the can, and poured the meat mixture into it, setting it down in front of Eddie who began eagerly chomping it up. "That is a bowl meant for human beings, Steve, not dogs, okay? My kids eat out of that bowl."
"Well what do you want me to do, Danny; you want me to put it all over the floor and have him lick it up?" Steve walked over to the sink, rinsed the can, and tossed it in the garbage. Danny stared at him.
"I have a recycling bin, you hater of the Earth you."
Steve blinked a few times, then walked over to the trash can and plucked the can out. "Where, oh where is your recycling bin, Prince Daniel?"
"Garage," Danny shook his head. "Caveman. Your owner is a caveman, Eddie; I thought with you around he'd at least graduate to the medieval era. You've been slouching, pup."
Eddie licked his chops, giving Danny a 'who me?' look before returning to chowing down on his food.
"Alright, your highness," Steve popped back into the kitchen, closing the door to the garage behind him. "The can is in the bin."
"You know, for all the lecturing you give me about how beautiful this place is and how we need to preserve nature, you not asking where the recycling bin is kinda weird."
"Oh yea?" Steve washed his hands in the sink and dried them off. "Well, I think what's weird is you having a recycling bin in the first place, Mr. I-Love-Concrete-And-Skyscrapers."
"Didn't hear you complaining about either one of those while we were in Jersey," Danny moved past him and reached into a cupboard behind Steve, grabbing a pot and filling it with water. "There are spaghetti noodles in the pantry; grab 'em for me, eh?" Steve did as he was asked and handed the box over to Danny, who set it on the counter for future use.
"Have you talked to the kids at all? They back yet?"
"Rachel texted me about an hour ago while you were out mowing the lawn and said that she and the kids had landed." He moved over to the stove with the pot of water and set it on one of the heating coils. "She's gonna get them settled and said we can come over whenever tomorrow to talk to them. I told her breakfast?"
"Sounds good," Steve opened up the box of noodles and took one out, cracking it in half and putting it between his teeth to chew on before heading back into the pantry and coming back out with a bottle of boysenberry syrup in his hands. Danny looked from the bottle to his partner. "I know Hawaii doesn't really know how to do food, but even out here, they can't possibly substitute boysenberry syrup for old fashioned Italian red sauce."
"No, we do not. However, some people from Jersey that I know put this disgusting form of syrup on their pancakes."
"Oh, oh okay," Danny laughed.
"So, when we go over to Rachel's, that'll be sitting out here and we won't forget it." Steve shrugged, watching Danny for a few minutes. "I thought we were gonna tell them here."
"Yea, but then Rachel suggested breakfast and that's everyone's favorite meal of the day, and I was thinking that it might be good to have Rachel on hand to talk to Grace if she has a freak out and doesn't want to talk to me," Danny hauled himself up on the prep island, letting his legs dangle free. "I don't think she will, but she might want some time to absorb everything and uh, just have some time to herself without having me around, so." Steve stood in front of him, arms crossed.
"You're still nervous about this."
"Yea," Danny breathed, rubbing his hands together. "I am. You know there's a reason I was really careful about introducing her to anyone I dated when she was younger. I needed to make sure that if she got attached that that person was going to stick around, and that the relationship was solid."
"I'm sticking around. We're solid." Steve gave him a soft smile.
"Yea, I know, but uh… Grace has known you for half her life and she's seen a lot of stuff, Steve, with her mother and me, and her mother Stan, and then Gabby and Melissa. You mean more to her than Stan or the other women did, and I am really, really lucky to have such a grounded kid, but she's had a lot of change in her 17 years, babe. I gotta make sure that she feels stable, and secure, that she knows that this is a good thing and that the relationship she has with you isn't going to change – no matter what." Danny looked carefully at Steve. "No matter what, Steve; got it?"
"I got it, Danno," Steve wedged himself between Danny's legs, gently resting his hands on the man's hips and leaning his forehead against his partner's, breathing in their mingled scents for a few quiet moments. "There's not gonna be a 'no matter what'. I promise. I'm going to make sure of that."
"You are, are you?"
"Yep," Steve let the 'p' pop off of his lips before giving Danny a sweet, gentle kiss. "We both are. We're gonna be okay, Danny. I promise. We're gonna be okay."
Hawaii Five-0
"Danno!"
There was nothing like a seven-year-old child bum-rushing you as soon as you walked into the house, and Charlie didn't disappoint. "We went to England! We saw Big Ben and lots of statues and castles!"
"You did?!" Danny scooped his son up and hugged him tightly. "Your sister sent me a picture of you two at midnight on New Year's Eve, what'd you guys do for New Year's Eve, huh?"
"We went to this huge ferris wheel and watched the fireworks with everyone else. There were so many people!" Charlie's smile was as big as Danny had ever seen it, and his irritation at Rachel having taken his kids across the pond for the holidays, and it being Charlie's first-time visiting Britain without him there to experience that with his child, receded just a little bit. "Well that does sound like a good time. Guess who else is here to see you, huh?"
"Uncle Steve?" If possible, Charlie's eyes brightened just a little bit more, but Danny didn't mind; in fact, he loved that. "Yep, Uncle Steve."
"Where is he?"
"Right here, buddy," Steve came into the living room of Rachel's house, an arm slung around Grace's shoulder. Charlie scrambled down from Danny's arms and raced across the room to Steve, who picked him up with one arm, hugging both kids tightly to him. "I wanna see loads of pictures, you two. I haven't been to England in a few years, so let's see all the places you visited."
As Steve occupied himself with the kids, Danny ambled his way into Rachel's kitchen. The woman was standing by the prep island, a cup of tea in her hands with two mugs of coffee sitting in front of her. "I took the liberty of making yours up," Rachel pushed a mug towards him, which Danny picked up and sipped. "I take it you still don't like sugar in your coffee."
"You take correctly," Danny gave her a grateful smile. "Looks like they got enough sleep, they're not jet lagged."
"Charlie isn't, Grace and I are another story," Rachel sipped her tea. "We finally arrived home just before seven last evening. Charlie of course went straight to bed but both Grace and I were up until after midnight."
"Oh good, so you get to deal with her tomorrow morning when she has to wake up to go back to school, that's excellent," Danny gave her a smile. "Thanks for takin' one for the team."
"Of course, I decided to come back on a weekend where I had the children to spare you the displeasure of dealing with our daughter's shall we say negative disposition her first day back in class," Rachel rolled her eyes. "Shall I start breakfast, then?"
"I'm not gonna stop you. Steve came hungry."
While Danny and Rachel made idle, mostly comfortable conversation with each other, they could hear the kids catching Steve up on everything they did while they were in England, and they were still doing so 45 minutes later when Rachel called everyone in while Danny was setting the table. "I think we'll tell Grace first, if you want to take Charlie upstairs or something after we finish eating?" Danny watched Rachel plate the last of the pancakes on a platter, and she nodded her head. "He still has a bit of unpacking to do – and by a bit, I mean quite a lot." She put a package of bacon on a plate and shoved it into the microwave. "If you three don't come in here, Danny is going to eat all of the bacon, and I'll not stop him either." A knowing smile crossed her face when Grace slid into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. Steve followed not far behind, Charlie dangling upside down from his arms.
Breakfast was a loud affair. Charlie insisted on continuing the story of his first trip to Great Britain with his Uncle Steve, who listened as if there were no one else in the room he'd rather pay more attention to, at least until Rachel reminded Charlie that he still had clothing and presents to put away. "Tuck in, Charlie," she told him, looking across the table at Danny and giving a little nod of her head. Even after separation and divorce, they could still communicate with subtle gestures like that.
"Speaking of presents, we have a couple of gifts for the kids out in the car for after breakfast," Steve looked at Grace. "I told Danny not to buy you the power tool set, but he insisted." That earned him an eyeroll and a giggle from the girl.
"Alright, Charlie," Rachel stood up, "take your plate to the sink and let's get upstairs and finish up, hmm?"
"But I'm not done telling Uncle Steve about the ferris wheel!"
"S'all right, buddy, I'll be down here when you're finished," Steve brushed a hand over his hair and urged him out of his seat. "Go with your mom, okay?" The boy showed his reluctance, but he went in the end, as everyone knew he would… which left Danny decidedly shifty. Grace picked up on it almost immediately.
"What's wrong, Danno?" She gave him an odd look with a tilted face. "Did you hurt yourself while I was gone?"
"Uh… no, no, I didn't hurt myself, Monkey," Danny rubbed his hands together and cleared his throat, pushing his plate away; suddenly the idea of food didn't exactly appeal to him. Grace was his everything – if she didn't approve of this, it was all downhill from there. "Look, uh, Mom took Charlie upstairs because I wanted to talk to you about something."
Grace cast a glance Steve's way.
"With Uncle Steve here, too," Danny added in. "What I need to talk to you about also involves him."
Grace took a breath. "You're not leaving, are you?" She looked between Steve and Danny before setting her sights on the former once again. "I thought you were in the reserves and you didn't do that SEAL stuff anymore?"
"No, Gracie, I'm not leaving," Steve got up and moved seats instantly, taking the one next to Grace and wrapping an arm around her. "I'm not leaving, I promise." He looked over at Danny, raising his eyebrows, and the blonde took a deep breath.
"Listen, uh… look, Grace," Danny took another breath and then forced his hands to the table, pressing them against the wood as if to make them stay there. "While Uncle Steve and I were in New Jersey, we used that time to see your grandparents and your Aunts' Bridget and Stella, and we went into New York City a couple of times, but we also had a lot of really long, serious conversations with each other."
"About what?"
Danny swallowed, licked his lips, cleared his throat again. "About us, Gracie. About me and Steve and uh…and what we want and if – if there was the possibility of us being maybe more than friends."
Steve curled his arm around Grace's shoulders a little more, feeling her tense just a touch at the news – surprise, more than likely, but just in case. "I know you're probably shocked," Steve's soft voice floated through the room, "probably as shocked as Danno and I were when we figured out how it was we were feeling about each other."
"Feeling about each other…" Grace took a breath, "like romantically?"
"Yea, Grace. Yea. Romantically." Danny caught the sympathetic look Steve sent his way, and in that moment, he didn't give a damn if he looked like a frightened rabbit ready to scamper away. Call him Peter Cottontail, he'd cop to it. The silence hung above them all. Danny actually started to crack. "Grace, if you're not okay with this, you can tell me." The words felt like tacks in his mouth. He hated saying every single one of them, but as he looked at Steve, he knew the other man was on the same page.
"No," Grace breathed, then rushed ahead when she saw her father's face fall, "no, no, no! I mean, no, I'm okay with it, it's just – it's… surprising."
Danny's shoulders slumped, audibly taking some deep breaths to sooth his nerves. Grace looked at Steve, who immediately removed his arm from her shoulders and gave her nudge. "Go," he smiled. She was up, out of her chair, and at Danny's side within seconds, actually attempting to climb in his lap as if she were still six years old. "It's okay, Danno," she wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her tightly. "Does Mom know?"
"Yea, Monkey, Mom knows," Danny leaned back a little to look at his daughter quietly. "We told her when you guys were visiting her parents." Grace's eyes narrowed. "The night she told me to go get Charlie ready for bed?"
"Yep."
"Why didn't you just tell me over the phone?"
"Because I felt it was better to tell you in person, you know, if you had questions for me or if you wanted to ask Steve anything – though I'd keep the words and sentences short if you really need to question him," Danny grinned at Steve's eye roll. "All those bumps to the head, sometimes he has a hard time following along, you know what I mean?" Grace laughed, and if that wasn't the best sound in the world, Danny didn't know what was.
"So, are you guys serious?"
"Yea," Steve nodded, maintaining his seat for the moment. "We're serious."
"As in…?"
"As in I think your Dad's it for me," Steve's smile was for both father and daughter. "I hope I'm it for him too."
"Jury's out," Danny muttered, receiving a love tap on his shoulder and a disapproving look cloaked in amusement from Grace. "That's mean, Danno."
"Jury's in," he amended quickly. "Yea, Gracie it's… this is kind of it for us, for each other. It's taken us a few years to get our heads out of the sand, to figure out what we wanted, if we wanted this, but we have and I'm really, really glad that you're okay with it."
"Would you guys not be together if I wasn't okay with it?"
Danny hedged. Steve saved him. "It would definitely make it a lot harder," Steve answered her directly. "The one thing I know about Danno is that you and Charlie are his top priorities, even above me, and that's okay. That's how it should be. That's how it needs to be, otherwise nothing works – not me and him, not you and him, not him and Charlie. If you weren't okay with this, or if you had some really good concerns that we hadn't thought about… well," Steve rubbed a hand over his mouth, "we'd have to think about that before we went any further." He watched her quietly, carefully, cocked his head to the side. He could feel her holding something back, he just wasn't sure what it was. "You sure you're okay with this? You have no questions, no concerns? Because it's okay if you do, Grace. That's why we're talking to you first, alone, without Charlie, so that you can ask."
Danny hugged her gently around her waist. "What's up, Monkey?" He nosed at her arm a bit until she looked down at him.
"You and Mom didn't work out," she said quietly. Danny nodded; no argument there. "And you broke up with Gabby, and Melissa left." Grace looked over at Steve as if she were trying to figure something out. "You and Aunt Catherine didn't last even though you'd been dating each other for forever, and then you broke up with Lynn…" Both Steve and Danny waited her out, choosing not to press her as she worked through her own thoughts. "I mean, was that – did you guys not work out with your girlfriends because you two… you know?"
"That's a uh… that's a very good question," Steve cleared his throat. It really was. "I'm not sure how to answer that, really. Danny?" When in doubt, deflect to the father, though it didn't really appear as if Danny appreciated that strategy as he sent an annoyed glare his partner's way. "Speaking for myself," he said, placing some emphasis on the word 'myself' – Steve was not getting out of these questions, no matter how much of a chicken shit he wanted to be – "I can say the answer is definitely no with Gabby. With Gabby, you were so young, Grace, and you really liked her, you know?" Grace nodded.
"And when Gabby kept telling me that she was getting job offers all over the world for months at a time, I was really happy for her, but I also watched you with her, and you were getting attached to her," Danny continued, "and I had to make a decision. I had to make a decision that was rooted in what was best for you, and that decision was to break up with Gabby and let her go have her career without being tied down to me."
"But you really liked her, Danno, I remember you did." Bless his daughter, but it wasn't a lie.
"I did, Gracie. I liked Gabby a lot, but the thing is, is that you were becoming so attached to her that I didn't want you getting caught up in her having to be away so much and what that would inevitably do to my relationship with her," Danny gave Grace a small smile. "So, I put a stop to it before it ever got that far." That seemed to placate Grace, who voiced another question. "And what about Melissa?"
"Melissa wanted to get married again, she wanted children of her own, not," Danny hastened to add, "that she didn't care about you and Charlie, but she wanted the full experience of being a mother. I, on the other hand, did not want to get remarried at the time and I was more than happy with the kids I had. So, we talked and we came to the conclusion that she wanted things that I wasn't ready or willing to give her. And that was that."
Grace seemed to accept that as well and turned her gaze on Steve. "What about you and Aunt Catherine?"
Steve coughed, "Uh, well, Cath and I…it – we had um – there were things that kind of made it difficult for us to stay together."
The look on the girl's face made it clear that that was not an acceptable answer, so Steve tried again. "Cath wanted – needed – some things that a relationship couldn't give her. She needed a job where she was invested, where she was absolutely needed, and critical to that job's success, and uh…" God, even after all this time it was still painful, to know that he hadn't been enough for her to stick around. He took a breath. "And she went and she found a job that could give her that, except it wasn't a job that I could or would follow her in."
"Where does she work now?" When she didn't get an answer from Steve, Grace looked at her father.
"That's… that's not something you need to worry about, Grace."
"I'm not worried about it," Grace clarified, "I just want to know." Her response was so much like Danny that Steve couldn't help but grin. "I know you want to know, kiddo but trust me, it's better for you if you don't."
"But-"
"Grace," Danny jostled her a little bit to get her to look at him once more. "It's safer for you if you don't know what Catherine is doing these days. Okay?"
A wary look was on her face as she nodded her head reluctantly. "Okay, Danno." He thanked her quietly, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "So, you're okay with this, right? With me and Steve?"
"Will you guys get married?"
Danny nearly choked. "I don't really know, Grace. We haven't really talked about it; this is still kind of new to us, you know?"
"You guys have been fighting like you're married since you met, so I just figured you'd make it official." Grace shrieked as Danny attacked her stomach with his fingers, tickling her for her snarkiness while Steve just sat back and laughed, watching them.
"I take it from the laughter and the giggles that all is well here?" Rachel appeared, Charlie tagging along behind her.
"Yea, everything's good," Danny hugged Grace to him again, smiling brightly. "Charlie, buddy come here. Uncle Steve and I got something to tell you."
Hawaii Five-0
"You sure you don't want to stay the night?" Steve tried one more time to get Danny to stay over, but just like all the other times, Danny shook his head. "Babe, we go back to work tomorrow, and if I stay over at your house tonight, you and I both know we won't be getting any sleep."
"I've gone for 72 hours without sleep before, Danno."
"Yea, when you were 25, Steve – we're in our mid-40's now," Danny pulled into Steve's driveway and put the Camaro in park, turning his body a bit to look at him. "We can figure out nights we spend at each other's places soon, and I promise both me and the kids will spend this weekend at your house. Charlie wants you to teach him to surf, remember?"
"I don't remember you sounding overly thrilled about that," Steve reminded him. Danny simply shrugged. "I have a feeling I'm not going to be thrilled with a lot of what you do, so I'm gonna choose my battles wisely." Steve just laughed as he unbuckled his seatbelt, looking over at Danny as he put his hand on the door handle. "Gonna walk me to the door?"
"No, no I am not going to walk you to the door, because if I walk you to the door, you're going to pull me inside your house and never let me out again."
"…not really seeing the problem with that." Steve opened the door and scooted away, getting out before Danny could take a swipe at him and walked around to the driver's side of the car. Danny rolled the window down. "Be around about 8:00am to pick you up."
"Sounds good," Steve ducked his head down, placing a gentle kiss, then another, and a third one on Danny's mouth before pulling away. "You know I just had a thought."
"What's that?"
"You know how we're arguing about who stays where and what night?"
"Uh-huh."
"We can negate all of that by just moving in together." Even in the dark, Danny could see Steve's boyish, mega-watt grin, and he couldn't help but laugh after a few seconds. "Tell you what; you and me, after a year, we'll talk about moving in together."
That seemed to agree with Steve. "I can wait a year for you to move in here."
"Ah, ah, ah, you see I knew you would do that – notice I said, 'move in together' not me and the kids move in here."
"The house is paid off, so that means no mortgage for you and more money for us to put towards Grace and Charlie's college funds, and I have a beach in my backyard, both of your kids love the water, and I have three bedrooms – two for the kids, one for you and me," Steve ticked off all the pluses on his fingers, holding them up and then wiggling them in Danny's face. "No downside, Danno."
"Will you go inside? Please? So that I can go home?" But Danny was grinning like a loon with every word he spoke, and as Steve backed away towards the gate while Danny backed the car out of the drive, both men had smiles so big on their faces it hurt, but neither cared. It had taken them years to finally get to this point, but here they were.
Slowly but surely, Steve thought with a smile as the tail lights of the Camaro faded away. Slowly but surely.
End of Story Notes: So in 9.12 we got confirmation, or at least it was heavily implied, that Will and Grace are still seeing each other. However, I just -love- Nahele, and I love the idea of Nahele attempting to ask Danny's permission to ask Grace out on a date. There's no reason to even believe that Nahele and Grace know each other all that well, but for whatever reason, the idea of shipping Nahele and Grace is simply adorable to me. So, there you have it.
I was watching some season 6 and 7 episodes the other day. In the episode where Lou and his family go on the run, Steve mentioned that Danny liked boysenberry syrup on his pancakes, so I tossed that little tid bit of info in here.
I really did enjoy writing this fluff bucket of a tale. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I did creating it!
