Steve clipped his badge to his belt and holstered his gun, prepared for his day. Although he hadn't heard Danny arrive, he knew from his Danny-dar that he was already there.

Steve made his way downstairs, stopping in the doorframe to the kitchen. Danny was emptying out the dishwasher, putting the dishes away with a familiarity that gave Steve pause.

Gave me pause Steve repeated in his head. Was that something he would normally say? It sounded much more like Danny than it did him. But that's what happened, right? You spent enough time with someone and you started talking like them? Right?

He had been as close to Freddie as he had to anyone but even that friendship was different. Freddie was like a brother. Danny…Danny was like the missing piece of him that had finally slotted into place. He'd never let anyone have the kind of access to every part of him that Danny had. And that included emptying his dishwasher.

Danny paused in his puttering long enough to fill two cups of steaming coffee, handing one to Steve without actually acknowledging his presence. Why did that seem so terribly normal?

"So Grace wanted to make sure I double-check with you," Danny was saying as he stacked the plates with focused precision in the cabinet. "I told her you had already said you'd come tomorrow but she said the polite thing to do was to make sure. And goodness knows with all the mistakes we've made, we've done everything possible to make sure Grace is polite."

Danny paused, which seemed to indicate that Steve was supposed to fill in the space left empty by the absence of Danny's voice.

"Saturday. Yeah," Steve said, hoping he got it right. All he could really think about was how uncomfortable he was with being so comfortable that Danny displayed proprietary over his kitchen.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Danny asked with amused fondness when he was leaning back against one of the counters. He sipped his coffee, his blue eyes full of mischief.

"Tomorrow. There's a…thing…at the museum Grace wants to go to," Steve said, certain he had the facts right. The response was thankfully automatic because he couldn't get his brain to do anything but contemplate Danny and his Danny-ness and how the sun scattered around him, making him glow.

"Yes, a thing at the museum," Danny laughed. "We'll pick you up at 9:30. The museum opens at 10:00."

"Come at 8:00. I'll make pancakes," Steve said, smiling inside at Danny's nodding agreement.

Danny tilted his head, looking up at Steve.

"What?" Steve asked, rubbing the back of his hand over his mouth. "Do I have something on me?"

"You have your thinking-thinky-thoughts face on," Danny said, squinting ever so slightly. "What's going on in that scary brain of yours?"

"Scary?" Steve said, hoping to knock him off track. "My brain is no more and no less scary than yours."

"Oh I must disagree, my scary Ninja SEAL. Have you even said good morning to me? No you have not. You have lurked in the doorway, staring at me like you suspect I took your last grenade from the garage."

"I don't have grenades in the garage. That wouldn't be safe."

"And having them in my glove compartment is safe? How does that even make any sense?" Danny demanded. But Steve could see the tell-tale amusement in his expression.

"Whatever. You ready to go?" Steve asked, turning to go through the living room and scooping up his keys to the Camaro from the bowl by the door.

"Yes, I am ready to go," Danny said, following him out. He paused long enough to set the alarm and lock the door with his key.

Steve watched him from the Camaro, watched him set the alarm, watched him lock the door, watched him sip his coffee as he advanced to the car. When had he become unable to do anything other than watch Danny like a crazed stalker?

"I want to stop for malasadas even though I know it goes against the very grain of your fabric but it's Friday and if there is a God, we'll actually have a weekend for a change."

Steve was sure that Danny had said all that in one breath. "Malasadas aren't good for you," Steve replied, knowing that was what was expected. And arguing was safe, neutral, familiar. He needed safe right now because he was beginning to feel anything but.

"You'll run them off or swim them off. Grace said something about coming to swim after the museum but I did point out that it is polite until one has been invited before one assumes there is swimming in one's future."

"When have you ever needed an invitation?" Steve asked, glancing over in time to see Danny's barely suppressed amusement.

"Polite. We're going for polite, Babe. Maybe you missed that earlier part of the conversation when you were having your thinky-thoughts."

"Thinky-thoughts," Steve repeated, trying out the words for himself. "Did you get that from Harry Potter?"

"You did not just…no, no, no. You are unfamiliar with the wonder that is Winnie the Pooh?"

"Is that the…mmm… fish?" Steve asked to intentionally rile Danny up.

"Fish he says. Fish. I don't believe for one minute you don't know Winnie the Pooh is a bear. Your innocent I was at war expression doesn't work on me, you know."

"I don't think I have an I was at war expression," Steve countered.

"You never think you have faces. That doesn't make it any less true," Danny informed him when Steve pulled into the parking lot of their favorite bakery. "You want more coffee?"

"Nah. I'm good."

"All right. I'll be right back," Danny said, strolling into the bakery.

Steve suppressed the flare of insecurity that came unbidden when Danny had disappeared from his view. That was ridiculous. Danny was buying baked goods, not confronting armed robbers. When had it become a concern for him to be out of Steve's sights for longer than it took for him to go to the bathroom?

"I picked up some extra," Danny said as he got back into the car. "Max hasn't been up in a while so I thought we'd invite him. We'll call Charlie too."

"Good plan," Steve said although in truth he wasn't entirely focused on what Danny was saying. His focus was internal, his confusion growing by leaps and bounds.

When had he become so addicted to Danny? When had it become almost impossible for Steve to be away from him? When had Danny's presence become as essential as breathing? And what was he going to do about it?

"…but I told Rachel absolutely not. That was unacceptable under any circumstance," Danny was saying when Steve managed to tune back in.

"What did Rachel say to that?" Steve asked, wondering if he could pick up the thread of the conversation.

"She backed down. I think Stan may have had something to do with it," Danny said with a shrug.

"He's not as bad as you like to think."

"I do know that. I don't want Rachel to know," Danny admitted. "And he is very good to Grace."

"Yes he is," Steve agreed. He still didn't know what Rachel had suggested that was so unacceptable but he supposed in the long run, it hardly made a difference.

He left the Camaro to follow Danny up the steps, as always admiring the view. He thought he kept his enjoyment of following Danny off his face but he suspected he may have been more transparent than he liked to believe.

Chin and Kono were already in the office when they arrived, Kono looking like she had just swum ashore. Her wet hair was caught in a high ponytail, her cheeks bright with extra color.

Chin looked like his usual calm self, going directly to the kitchen to make fresh coffee when he saw the box in Danny's hands.

"How were the waves?" Steve asked Kono as she grabbed a malasada. She apparently inhaled it because it had only cleared the box when it disappeared.

"Prime. You shoulda come," Kono said. "I told you I'd meet you there at 6 this morning."

"You did," Steve agreed. "And I told you I probably wouldn't be there."

"Yep," Kono said cheerfully. "These are awesome, brah. Thanks for bringing them in."

"You're welcome," Danny said, extending to box to her so she could have a third one. "I thought we should call Max and Charlie. Invite them up."

"Excellent idea," Chin said in agreement as he returned to the bullpen. "I'll call Max. Kono, you call Charlie."

"Stop," Kono said, her color even higher.

"Oh ho," Danny said. "Something you want to tell us?"

"Chin has a big mouth," Kono said, turning to go into her office. It wasn't long until they could hear her laughing on the phone. There was no doubt in any of their minds that she was in fact talking to Charlie.

"So they're together, finally?" Danny asked Chin.

"Still off and on," Chin said with a shrug. "They can't seem to decide what they want. I'm pretty sure he was surfing with her this morning."

"Good for them," Danny said, turning to look at Steve. He raised an eyebrow when he caught Steve staring at him. "What?"

"What what?" Steve asked, reaching for a malasada. Anything was better than trying to explain why he was gawking at Danny.

"Charlie will be here in a few minutes," Kono announced when she had rejoined the men. "You call Max?"

"I'm going to do that right now," Chin assured her, starting toward his office. His head nod in her direction indicated that she should go with him. She hesitated, wondering what Steve and Danny were up to this time that Chin was trying to keep from her. They seemed fine so with a shrug, she followed Chin into his office.

"I'm going to start on some paperwork," Steve said, waving in the general direction of his office.

"No you aren't. You're going to play Angry Birds and wait for me to do the paperwork. Then you'll sign it or you'll forget to and I'll forge your signature like I always do," Danny said, licking the sugar off his fingers. His tongue darted out to lick it off the corner of his mouth and that was all Steve could take.

"Okay. I'll be playing Angry Birds if you need me," Steve said, trying very hard not to rush into his office. He had to get himself under control.

Or maybe the problem was that he didn't want to be under control. He wanted to be out of control, with Danny joining him every crazy step of the way. He wanted… he just wanted. He wanted what he could not have. And that was the sum total of the problem.

He watched Max and Charlie arrive, chatting and eating and enjoying the time together. He knew he should have been out there but he couldn't make himself go. Because if Charlie laughed at one more of Danny's jokes, or Kono touched him one more time, or Danny called anybody but him Babe, Steve was very afraid he was going to lose what little composure he'd managed to gather.

The coffee klatch broke up about fifteen minutes later, Steve pretending with all he was worth that he was actually working on the forms that needed to be completed and filed. But they could have been in a language completely foreign to him for all the sense they were making.

He felt closed in. He couldn't go out into the main office. They would notice something wasn't right. And he wouldn't be able to explain what. Because he didn't think he could put his rising panic into words they could understand.

He needed to get out of the palace. He was in charge. If he wanted to absent himself from the office for a little while, especially when nothing was going on, there was no one to tell him he wasn't allowed to leave.

Taking a fortifying breath, he crossed over to Danny's office, entering before he lost his nerve. "I'm going to be out for a little while."

"Out?" Danny said, looking up at him. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. I have some…stuff I need to do. And since it's quiet, I thought I'd use the time to do it. I won't be gone longer than a couple of hours."

"A couple of hours," Danny repeated, seeing more than Steve would have preferred.

"Yeah. Call if you need me sooner," Steve said, backing out of the office. He practically fled down the steps, not slowing until the Camaro was safely out onto the street.

~0~

"Hey, Danno," Steve said when his phone rang 45 minutes later. "Everything okay?"

"Stand down, babe. Everything's fine," Danny assured him.

"Okay," Steve agreed, taking a deep breath. "What are you up to?"

"I'll tell you in person. In approximately ten…five minutes."

"Tell me in person?" Steve repeated. "Are you tracking the Camaro?"

"Oh babe," Danny said with amusement and… something else. Something more. "I don't need Chin to tell me you're at the bottom of the Lewa Puka Trail wishing you had your running shoes and shorts in the trunk."

"Oh," Steve said, looking again over at the steps looming in front of him. He supposed he did come here when he needed to think but it hadn't occurred to him that it was a habit Danny knew about.

"You'll still be there, right?" Danny asked.

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "At the bottom."

"Good. I don't want to have to walk up all those stairs. But I would if you left me no choice."

"No choice?" Steve repeated.

"I'm turning into the parking lot," Danny said, very soon pulling up next to the Camaro. He got out of Kono's red car, studying Steve as Steve did the same to him.

"How did you know I'd be here?" Steve asked, moving to lean against the trunk of the Camaro right next to where Danny was standing. The warmth of Danny's body seeped into Steve's core, unfreezing something deep inside him.

"It's your default when you're trying to figure something out," Danny informed him. "I know you think I don't know but I am a detective, after all."

"There is that," Steve had to agree.

"I also detect that something is scurrying around in circles in your head. You need to tell me what it is so I can help you stop the merry-go-round."

"I don't know what that means," Steve claimed, squinting down at him.

"You most certainly do," Danny said, turning to face him. He looked up at Steve with an intensity that from anyone would else would be disconcerting. With Danny, it was… right, natural.

"It's about proprietary," Steve admitted before he could stop himself.

"Proprietary," Danny repeated, tilting his head in confusion as he continued to meet Steve's eyes.

"Yes, proprietary. I know you know what it means, Mr. Word-of-the-Day."

"I do know what it means. I don't know what it has to do with us," Danny said, waving his hand in the tiny space that separated them.

"There isn't an us," Steve said quietly.

"Of course there is," Danny said with a warm laugh.

Steve shook his head. "There's you. And there's me. Sometimes there's you and me and Grace. But that's not an us."

"Leaving that misinformed opinion aside for a moment, explain why proprietary is furrowing your eyebrows and making your jaw clinch," Danny requested, looking up at him with an open, warm expression.

"They aren't. It's not," Steve claimed, making himself relax and release the tension he was holding onto. But what if it was the only thing still holding him together?

"Proprietary, babe. You said it for a reason," Danny reminded him.

Steve nodded, turning to look up the stairs instead of meeting Danny's all knowing eyes. "This morning, when you were emptying my dishwasher… I've never let anyone have complete access the way you do."

"I didn't realize it bothered you," Danny said in sincere regret.

"It doesn't," Steve rushed to assure him. "And that's what bothers me. That I don't mind. That you have proprietary over my house, my life."

"I don't think you are making a lot of sense," Danny said warmly. "Can I try to help you?"

"Sure," Steve said with a shrug, trying to act like it wasn't exactly what he wanted, had wanted for longer than he could admit even to himself.

"You've spent most of your life looking for some place you belong," Danny said. "Considering your…unconventional upbringing, it's understandable. You never thought the place you belonged would be a person."

"Oh," Steve said, amazed at the amount of insight Danny had provided in those few words. "But…"

"But what if I don't feel the same?" Danny guessed, smiling up at him. The affection in his expression was nearly overwhelming while it was equally affirming.

"Yeah," Steve agreed tentatively. He thought that was a doubt that could be dismissed, finally. He hoped so, very much.

"What does your heart tell you?" Danny asked. He frowned when Steve laughed. "What? What is that?"

"That's so cliché, Danno. I expected more from you."

Danny shrugged. "Clichés are clichés for a reason, you know. Stop prevaricating and answer my question."

"That you feel the same way?" Steve asked. That his voice was barely a whisper confirmed his lingering uncertainty.

"What I don't understand is how you can doubt it," Danny said. "You honestly don't know how I feel about you?"

"You've never said anything," Steve pointed out.

"I didn't want to scare you away. Just so we are clear, and for the record, I've probably been in love with you since I thought about killing you in your garage."

"You never intended to kill me," Steve said with happiness in every syllable.

"I considered it. You were so arrogant and SEAL-like and insufferable," Danny informed him.

"Yet you fell in love with me?" Steve asked, amused by the typical Danny-contradictory manner.

"It was the lost puppy dog face that did me in," Danny said, reaching up to gently stroke Steve's cheek. "You looked so vulnerable for all your bluster, your 'I'm a Lieutenant Commander and a SEAL and I have the governor's permission to run roughshod over your life.'"

Steve shrugged at that, staring down at Danny's mouth. He really, really want to see if it tasted as delicious as it looked. Danny removed any hesitation, reaching up to initiate the first kiss. It was light and sweet and left them wholly unsatisfied.

"When did you know?" Danny whispered, staring up at Steve.

"I don't know," Steve said. "I can't seem to remember a time when I didn't love you. I think before I met you, I was looking for you." He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks at the confession but Danny just smiled more brightly at him.

"So I'm right," Danny said.

"The place I belong is you," Steve confirmed in a soft, warm voice.

"And you aren't going to worry about the proprietary, are you? I mean, familiarity is not a concept you have a lot of experience with. But I know you. And that's why I can put away your dishes. Not because I know where they belong. But because they belong to you and I handle them with as much care as I will you."

"I do know that," Steve said.

"Good," Danny said, straightening away from him and clapping his hands once. "Since you are in charge, you are going to call Chin and inform him that you and I are taking the rest of the day off. Unless all of Hawaii comes under attack from alien forces, we are not to be disturbed."

"If I'm in charge, why are you giving me orders?" Steve asked, barely stopping his laughter.

"Because you are so busy trying not to freak out, your brain is mostly off line. If I wait for you to decide, the next ice age will be upon us."

"Oh yeah. That," Steve agreed with a laugh. He took his phone out and called Chin exactly as directed. Chin was not in the least bit surprised that they were taking the rest of the day to themselves. By themselves. Together.

"Leave Kono's car. We'll collect it in a few," Chin said.

"I didn't say anything about you two having the rest of the day off," Steve teased.

"Uh huh. Call us tomorrow so we'll know you survived," Chin said before ringing off.

"Done," Steve informed Danny unnecessarily.

"Good. Now, drive us far too fast to your house. I want proprietary rights to your body."

"Done," Steve repeated, happiness nearly overwhelming him. And this time he could admit he was more than okay with the feeling.