Way 55
Be kind and thoughtful to his relatives. Don't make him choose between you.
At first, the whole thing was a little tough for Steve to deal with.
On a Friday, sometimes you just wanted to unwind. In the SEALs, it was always whatever night fell at the successful completion of a mission. Or even an unsuccessful one, really – sometimes, you needed to unwind (or drown your sorrows) even more in those cases.
And so it was with Five-0. They'd been together three months now, and while their cases rarely actually ended before a Friday night, sometimes they did indeed catch a break and get to go out and enjoy the pre-weekend nightlife in Honolulu as a team, and as friends.
Only most of the time, Danny was noticeably absent.
It was for a good reason – the best, really, as far as Danny was concerned. He always was apologetic and even seemed a little regretful when he declined because he had to pick Grace up from school or from Rachel's later in the evening.
Steve could get behind the logic. The fact that Grace was Danny's world. The fact that Danny would never have been in their lives to begin with if not for how vitally important Grace was to him.
But it was tough, after a grueling case where they'd spent long hours together running high on adrenaline or with their heads together trying to put puzzle pieces in place, or dodging and shooting in one of their many firefights, or running like the wind to chase a suspect. It was tough after any or all or most of that shoulder-to-shoulder in-the-midst-of-battle time to not really get to unwind with his partner.
Steve wasn't entirely sure why it bothered him so much, but it did.
He knew he was becoming a little tough to deal with when Chin raised an eyebrow at him after he snarked at Danny without thinking.
Danny just scowled.
He knew he was becoming a little off-kilter when Kono stopped him from pacing past the computer table for the fiftieth time in a row by physically getting in his path, grabbing his biceps and telling him in no uncertain terms to "STOP!"
Danny was in his office, so Steve didn't know if he'd heard or seen any of that, but it was a little embarrassing nonetheless.
He knew he was really not playing fair because how the hell could he begrudge Danny the few hours with Grace that made his life complete just because he wanted to toss back some beers and shoot the shit with his friend? How selfish could a guy be and when the hell had Steve become such a pussy, anyway?
Two-thirty rolled around one Friday afternoon about a month after all this had really started to bother him. Danny pushed Steve's office door open halfway, jerked a thumb over his shoulder and said, "I have to go get Grace."
Steve swallowed hard and looked at his computer screen. "Sure thing, Danny. Have a great weekend."
But Danny didn't move. He was just sort of…hovering…looking like he wasn't quite sure whether to stay or go.
So Steve raised his eyes and frowned a bit at the indecisive look on his partner's face. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I just, uh…" Danny jerked his thumb over his shoulder again. "You want to maybe, I don't know, have some beers?"
Steve blinked. Had he landed in Bizarro-World? "I thought you had Grace tonight."
"I do, I do, but that doesn't mean we can't, you know, hang out and unwind with a couple of beers."
Danny looked a little unsure of himself, which was a rare occurrence for the man. Steve tilted his head a bit. This wasn't a possibility that had occurred to him, actually, and he suddenly felt like a really giant dork. Kind of like he was in high school again, altogether too gangly to navigate life without constantly stumbling and tripping.
Suddenly Danny didn't seem so unsure, and his voice was strong and steady when he said, "I don't have to choose between you, you know." Then he added, "At least, I don't want to."
A smile spread across Steve's face very, very slowly as it sank in. "Bring her over around six. I'll heat up the coals, we'll have a team barbecue."
Danny's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You're on, and I'll bring the beer," he said. Then he winked, pivoted and was out of there like a shot.
Steve grinned as he headed out to the bullpen to let the cousins know. Sometimes things that seemed like such big problems had such simple solutions. Maybe he'd spent so long in Naval Intelligence, he'd forgotten that.
Way 56
Don't compare his relatives with yours in a negative way.
"Ohana is seriously not the same thing, Kono."
"Well, no, I mean, you weren't born with the same blood flowing through your veins, but think about it: with ohana, you get to choose who's part of your family instead of being stuck with whoever you're born to."
"Oh, you mean like the ten thousand people on this island you and Chin are related to as opposed to the ten thousand people in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut that I'm related to?"
"Your family's that big?"
"Kono, you have no idea. I sympathize with you two, really, I do."
"What are you two talking about?"
"Hey, look, it's Commander Buttinski."
"Boss, that's a new scowl."
"Fine, have your conversation."
"We were just talking about ohana."
"Ohana, huh?"
"Yeah, I was explaining to Danny why ohana is better than the family you're born into."
"Ah."
"Ah? Seriously? That's all you have to say?"
"What do you want me to say, Danny?"
"Something a little less caveman than 'ah,' I would hope, but never mind."
"Hey, guys, just got a text from Chin, I've gotta run."
"Ohana thing?"
"I should be so lucky, Danny. No, a 'family' thing."
"Oh, okay. See you."
"Catch you later, guys."
…
…
"Steve, sorry about that."
"About what?"
"Talking about the whole…you know…'family you're born into' thing."
"Why are you sorry? You can talk about anything you want."
"It was a little insensitive."
…
…
"And Lord knows you're the sensitive one, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sensitive. Asshole."
"My family was okay when it was together, Danny. It's not that sore of a spot with me."
"And you're not the sensitive one."
"Nope."
"You know, I oughtta take you back home with me one day and introduce you to the extensive, loud and raucous Williams family."
"Are you sure I'd get through a day with them?"
"I was thinking more like a week."
"A week with your family? Why?"
"To show you that sometimes blood relatives can be as good as ohana."
"You mean like your Great Aunt Di who pinches your cheeks every time she sees you and asks when you're going to settle down already and then proceeds to explain to anyone who will listen that she thinks you must be gay because it's the only reason a Williams man wouldn't already have been married a second time by now?"
…
…
"Maybe we'll just hang out here."
"I thought you might see it that way."
