Disclaimer: Ideas are fictional; not making any money on this. Hawaii 5-0 belongs to CBS. That's okay because none of this would work on TV.
Spoiler Alert! Post Season 2, Episode 14, "Pu'olo"
Steve and Danny sat by the beach drinking beer. It had been a busy Sunday. The afternoon trip to the glyphs had been a huge success. Grace was asking questions about the symbols all the way home. Steve owed the helicopter owner a huge favor for coming through for him on such short notice.
After leaving the cliffs, Steve flew Grace and Danny by some of the beautiful waterfalls before heading back to the airfield. They ended the afternoon at Danny's favorite pizza place where they ordered one Hawaiian pizza and one pepperoni pizza. Grace was exhausted by the time her head hit her pillow.
Now the guys were enjoying some quite time together. Steve was feeling a little tired too. Playing pilot and tour guide took a lot out of him. He was worried about Danny's knee. Even though Steve landed close to the glyphs, they still had quite a hike. It was nice just to sit and rest for a while.
Danny felt the same way. It had been a busy weekend, and today took its toll on him. His knee was aching, and he knew that he should go in to ice it down. Danny just couldn't muster the energy, and he was enjoying the time now with Steve. The chairs were situated close enough that the arms were touching so Steve and Danny could sit and comfortably hold hands the way that they were now.
Steve noticed the third time that Danny shifted in his chair. "I know it's still a little early, but I'd like to go in and get a shower. There's an article I'd like to read before we turn in for the night. Are you ready to go in?"
"Sure, give me a hand, will you?" Danny offered his free hand and allowed Steve to pull him out of the chair. Danny held onto the hand as they walked into the house. While Steve locked up and set the alarm, Danny stowed the empty bottles and retrieved the ice pack from the freezer.
Steve let Danny take his shower first so he could pull the covers down and arrange the extra pillow for Danny's knee. He put an Aleve and a bottle of water on the night stand and got out his bottle of massage lotion. When Danny came out of the bathroom, he was relieved to see Steve's preparations. The pain had worsened just in the time it took to walk into the house and up the stairs to take his shower.
"Danny, leave your pants off for now. I want to work on some of those muscles when I get out of the shower." Steve gave Danny the Aleve and guided Danny into position. He wrapped the ice pack in a towel and placed it on Danny's knee. Steve quickly took his shower and was pleased to see that Danny looked a little more comfortable when he came out.
Steve sat on the side of the bed and poured some lotion on his hand. He smoothed it between both hands to warm it before slowly massaging the muscles under Danny's knee. Danny moaned at the additional relief Steve's massage was giving him. "Danny, when was the last time a doctor looked at your knee?"
Danny was enjoying Steve's attention very much. It was more than the pain relief. For years, Danny was the one who took care of everyone else. It was almost a guilty pleasure to let Steve do this for him. He knew that he had taken care of Steve on more than one occasion, but he was still inordinately delighted to have the big man look after him. "It's been over a year. The doctor said that I would eventually need surgery, but I could probably wait a few years."
"Did the doctor or the physical therapists give you any exercises you could do to strengthen your knee until then?"
Danny looked a little sheepish. "Uh, I think I have a paper somewhere here with some exercises."
Steve knew how busy Danny was with 5-0 and Grace plus keeping things up around the house, but he couldn't let Danny slide on the issue. "Do you think you could find the paper, or we could call and get you a new list? It's important to Grace and me that you take care of yourself."
"I tried to keep up with them, but I need a partner to help me with some of them. Back then, I didn't have anyone to help."
"Danny, I wish you would have told me. Even though we weren't together then, I would have helped you."
"I know that." Danny reddened and mumbled something.
"What did you say, Danny?" Steve stopped what he was doing to look into Danny's eyes. The eyes always told him a lot.
"I didn't want you to think that I was weak. I didn't want you to think that you had to be careful around me." Danny didn't want to look at Steve when he said this, but he had a hard time breaking Steve's gaze.
Steve closed his eyes and sighed. "Danny, I know that I was a total jerk when you first hurt your knee. I kind of liked you even then, and I didn't always know what to say."
Amusement showed in Danny's eyes now. "So calling it a little boo-boo was sort of like dipping my pigtails into the inkwell?"
Steve could see that Danny understood and forgave him. "Yeah, kind of like that. But I never once thought you were weak or that you couldn't do your job, once you healed up anyway. That's beside the point now. Tomorrow, I want you to dig out your exercise sheet. I'll help you with them, and I'm sure Grace would be willing to help too. Do we have a deal?" Steve offered his hand to Danny.
Danny took Steve's hand, and instead of shaking it, used it to pull Steve closer. "I'd rather seal the deal this way." He kissed Steve very sweetly. The second kiss was much longer with more heat than sweetness.
Steve pulled away and looked at Danny's eyes again. He couldn't mistake the passion, not after all the months they had been together. "Danny, you know I want you. I always want you. But your knee is bothering you, and I don't want to make it worse."
"Steven, you of all people understand the concept of endorphins and everything. This will make me feel better, a lot better. Trust me." There was an unmistakable twinkle in Danny's eyes now.
Steve knew that there was no way he could turn Danny down, but he would be careful. "Okay, but let me do all the work. I don't want to hurt you." Steve removed the ice pack and extra pillow, and then his boxer briefs. Then he helped Danny out of his t-shirt and boxers.
Steve was very gentle with Danny. Danny wanted to protest, but the pleasure was too great. They had a lot of variety in their sex life, but this was something new. Steve felt it too. He paid a lot of attention to every part of Danny's body. Every time he moved to a new part, he would ask, "Is this okay?" All Danny could do was nod his approval.
Danny wanted to touch Steve too, but his limbs were too heavy. When Steve couldn't delay any longer, he rolled Danny on his side and took him. Steve moved slowly to avoid jostling Danny's sore knee, and Danny thought the pleasure would go on forever. Steve was enjoying this position; it allowed his free hand easy access to Danny's body.
Danny came without warning. It was enough to send Steve over the edge. Steve held Danny close until their hearts slowed to a more normal rhythm. "Are you still with me, Danno?"
"There's no place I'd rather be. Thank you. That was amazing! My knee doesn't hurt at all. Damn, nothing hurts. I knew that I was right about the endorphins."
"Good, mission accomplished. Stay here; I'll be right back." Steve disengaged and rolled off the bed. He went into the bathroom and came back with a warm washcloth and towel. Steve carefully cleaned Danny up and re-dressed him. Then he went back into the bathroom to take care of his own needs. Steve was dressed in sleep clothes when he came back into the bedroom. Steve made sure the bedroom door was unlocked before turning out the light and climbing into bed.
Steve pulled Danny close, careful not to hurt him. Danny was almost asleep, but he curled around Steve instinctively. They were both asleep in minutes.
Monday proved to be tedious. Steve and Danny were scheduled to testify in court. Danny didn't mind being off the streets today. It gave him time to finish a book he had received as a Christmas gift, and it gave him a day to rest his knee. It was predictably sore again this morning, but Steve massaged some balm into his knee and surrounding muscles before Danny dressed. That and an Aleve was keeping Danny comfortable.
That was more than he could say for Steve. Steve's ADHD was out in full force today. Steve paced the hall in the early morning hours. There was no way of knowing when they would be called, so they were stuck there for the day. Then he switched to 'Angry Birds' on his smart phone. After an hour of that, Steve started on a very Danny-like rant about all the stupid games on his phone. Surprisingly, Steve was very inept at his game and it really pissed him off.
When lunch was announced, Danny dragged Steve out of the courthouse and to a nearby open-area mall. They ate outside at one of the cafes. Danny insisted that they stop at a bookstore before going back to wait their turn. "Steven, find something to occupy yourself. I don't care what you get. 'Guns and Ammo' must have a new issue. I will gladly pay for it if it will keep you happy for the afternoon."
When Steve wanted to stop by Starbucks for coffee, Danny vetoed the idea. "You're too hyper as it is. And look at you! You were all nice and neat when we left the house. Now your shirttail is out on one side, and you've got dirt on your trousers." Danny straightened the collar of Steve's shirt and helped him dust off the seat of his pants. He wanted to tuck in the shirttail but thought better of it in public. Danny had a glimpse of what Steve's mother must have gone through on a daily basis and smiled.
The afternoon went marginally better than the morning. Neither man had been called to testify when court was adjourned at 3 p.m. That meant that they would need to return tomorrow. Steve was frustrated to think that he would be cooling his heels for another day, but Danny was philosophical. When Steve tired of his magazine, Danny kept him occupied with stories from his early patrol days.
They went back to HQ for the remainder of the day. Chin was holding down the fort and had little to report. Lori and Kono were questioning some suspects for HPD while Chin ran some database searches. Everyone went home on time without any injuries or even dirty clothes (except for Steve, who had a grass stain on his left pant leg). Steve drove them to pick Grace up at Emelina's. Danny lingered long enough to play with Waldo for a few minutes.
When they arrived home, Steve reminded Danny that he would be doing his physical therapy tonight. Danny spent a few minutes finding his exercise instructions, and read his book propped up on the bed until Steve called him down for supper. He decided that if Steve was going to make him work after supper, he might as well take it easy now. Steve made chicken fajitas with Spanish rice and a salad for their meal. Even Grace, whose taste in Mexican food ran to only tacos and nachos, enjoyed the spicy meat with peppers and onions.
Steve and Grace cleared the table and washed the dishes while Danny did his warm-up exercises. Danny wasn't looking forward to his therapy session. He knew that Steve would be demanding (like any good therapist), and that his knee would ache like a bitch when he was finished. Unfortunately, Danny was correct in both assumptions. It didn't help that Grace was on the floor exercising with him, or that Steve peppered his instructions with 'babe'.
When Danny completed his last set of reps, Steve helped him up and guided him over to the couch. His ice pack and pillow appeared, and Danny sighed in relief when Steve laid the pack over Danny's knee. Grace brought Danny a tall glass of water and found one of his favorite movies on TV. When Steve starting massaging the sore muscles, Danny thought that maybe this wasn't such a bad deal after all. He got out of cooking supper and washing dishes, and now Steve and Grace were waiting on him. He also knew that his knee would feel much better in a few weeks. Until then, Steve and Grace would take care of him.
I've had both knees replaced (16 months apart) so I can tell you from experience: 1) physical therapy hurts like hell; 2) ice is your friend; and most importantly 3) you will feel so much better when it's over. I had hoped to wait 2 or 3 years for the second surgery, but scheduled it immediately when it became painful enough to use a cane. It's so great to have my life back.