Chapter 14

The following weekend was dubbed a special ohana weekend and everyone made their way over to Steve's place on Saturday for a cookout and a day on the beach. Almost 20 people were moving in and out of Steve's house for most of the day, and his floor was covered with toys from the boys, sand tracked inside by Eddie, and food and drinks laying all over the place both inside and out, but Steve couldn't have cared less. Toys and sand and food? That meant Khalid was still here, the house was alive, and that everything was going to be fine.

Sometime in the late afternoon, Steve felt his phone vibrating and pulled it out. Seeing the name on the screen, he announced he was getting more drinks and headed into the house, careful to avoid the little puddles of water Eddie and Charlie and Khalid had left in their wake on the wood floor. "Yes, Governor," he greeted once he was clear of the party outside.

Governor Mahoe's voice was as crisp and no-nonsense as it ever was. "Commander McGarrett. I understand your team foiled an attempted kidnapping plot earlier this week targeting Khalid Hassan."

"Yes Ma'am, you got my report," Steve scratched the back of his neck. "One of the suspects died, the other one is awake and still under armed heavy guard at Tripler. The other two are in holding at Halawa."

"Congratulations, Commander. I assume the boy is safe?"

"He is, yes Ma'am. He's back at my place and spending time with… the team," Steve cleared his throat. He'd almost said 'family'.

"That's actually what I was calling about, Commander McGarrett." Steve felt his stomach go ice cold as she continued. "Now that the threat to his well-being is over, I wanted to know what your plans were for his long-term care. I seem to remember a rather terse conversation with my Director of Social Services a few months ago when you went around the rule book and put Khalid into protective custody. At the time, I backed your play due to the clear danger that surrounded Khalid if he were to go to an unprepared foster family. But now that that threat has been alleviated, I don't know how long I can-"

"I'll be putting in paperwork to be named his permanent legal guardian," Steve interrupted. "Governor, Ma'am… Khalid has become a part of our family, a part of our lives. He's lost both of his parents and been shuffled around more times than any kid should be, especially at his age. He's lived with me, he's comfortable with me, we have a routine, I've enrolled him in school, and we have a support network in place. Due respect to you, Ma'am, and the Director, Khalid's stable and healthy and happy with me. I'd like to keep it that way."

Steve wasn't sure if the dead air on the other end of the line was a good or a bad thing, and he was thinking of other arguments, or, quite frankly, threats he could make when the Governor spoke again.

"That is what I was hoping you would say."

"…Ma'am?"

"I spoke with the Director after reading your report earlier this week, Commander. He is prepared to assign a case worker to Khalid, who will issue a sworn statement to the Court that it is in Khalid's best interests to remain with you, where he has already settled into a life suitable for a child of his age and background. The Director will also write a sworn statement in your support, as will I. Of course, we encourage any friends or family you may have to also send in their own statements to the Court."

Steve swallowed down the lump of emotion quickly overtaking his throat. It was more than he'd ever hoped for. "Thank you, Governor."

"You're welcome, Commander. You and your team did an excellent job this week. I am told that the capture of these would-be kidnappers has led to additional intelligence that the U.S. Government will be able to utilize in our efforts to fight international terrorism. Once again, you've made all of Hawaii proud."

Once the call ended, Steve stood in the middle of the… where was he again? Ah, yes, halfway to the kitchen. He shook his head, hearing the door open behind him as Danny walked in. "Hey, we're getting thirsty out here – everything okay?"

"Yea," Steve beckoned Danny to follow him, even though he felt he was walking towards the fridge in a daze. "That was the Governor on the phone just now."

"Oh," Danny bit his lip looking his partner over, suddenly leery. "It's uh… she wasn't calling to complain about how everything went down this week, was she?"

"No, actually she said that she was really pleased with all of us and how everything shook out. And that she and the Director of Social Services were putting their support behind me and writing letters of recommendation for a judge so that I can be named the legal guardian for Khalid."

"Really?" A wide, bright smile that rarely broke out on Danny's face pushed through.

"Yea. She was talking about how now that Khalid probably didn't need protective custody anymore since the immediate threat was taken care of, she didn't know how long she could stave off the Director's insistence that Khalid go through the system, so I just…you know." Steve shrugged.

"You reached for the first thing you could think of to keep him which was applying for legal guardianship." Danny shook his head, but he was still smiling, still grinning. "I wish I could say that surprised me, but if you hadn't done that, I'd probably be wondering if you'd hit your head or something."

Steve rolled his eyes. "She also mentioned that the feds were able to get some valuable intelligence off those guys."

"Yea? Like what?"

"I don't know, I'll ask her on Monday when we go in, but she said it would help the U.S. with our anti-terrorism efforts, so." He shrugged.

"But in the meantime, Khalid gets to stay," Danny shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Khalid gets to stay." Steve looked at Danny. It struck Danny just how damned happy Steve looked at the prospect.

"Well, you know what that means then," Danny rocked back and forth on his heels a bit, watching fondly as Steve thought, and failed, to identify Danny's meaning.

"No. I don't. Well, I mean, yes, I do, but…" Steve blinked. He was confusing himself in his shocked stupor. "What does this mean?"

"It means you get to experience the joys of Christmas present shopping for a rambunctious, growing weed who will, very soon, I promise you, begin asking you about the aforementioned holiday of Christmas and its meaning and Santa Clause and all the wonderful – Steve. Steven?" Danny squinted. "What's with the face, what? I say something wrong?"

"No," Steve swallowed, his voice rough. "No, Danny, you – Christmas. With Khalid, and maybe Mary and Joanie will make it this year again, and… just, you know."

Danny inched forward until he was standing just a foot or so away from his partner. "Khalid and Mary and Joanie," he nodded, "and me, and Grace, and Charlie, too, if you want us here. Your first Christmas with Khalid, that's pretty special, babe. Rachel and I didn't go anywhere our first Christmas with Grace. I'd understand if you'd want –"

"Danny." Steve's hands were on the other man's shoulders, squeezing gently. "Your place or mine?"

"We still gotta talk about some stuff, Steve," Danny reminded him softly. "We've got some stuff to figure out, don't you think?"

Steve was truly prepared to say something along the lines of 'what's to think about', but he was interrupted by Tani and Junior stepping into the kitchen.

"Whoops," Tani laughed nervously, glancing at Junior. "Sorry, we uh – we're just grabbing drinks. You know, because you guys said you were coming in here to get them and it's been almost ten minutes and we can't drink the ocean." She opened up the door to the fridge and Junior loaded his arms with sodas, beer, and bottles of water before closing it and scuttling back out of the kitchen, leaving Steve and Danny to stare after them.

"Okay, so maybe we take a rain check on this whole conversation," Danny sighed. Steve nodded in agreement, nudging his partners forehead tenderly with his own.

"Agreed."

Hawaii Five-0

Everything settled back to normal in the coming weeks, or whatever normal was for Five-0. Harry and Catherine had left after the ohana weekend at Steve's, with Catherine giving Steve a tight hug and making him promise that he wouldn't hold back with Danny like he'd done with her. After extracting the same promise from her regarding Harry (because really, neither of them had been stellar in that department), Steve and Danny had seen Catherine and Harry off on a plane to-

"Classified," Danny muttered. "Classified? How can it be classified? They're leaving Hawaii, they just basically had an all-expenses paid vacation, it's not like they're heading back to work immediately. Harry's pretty much retired for crying out loud! Classified." Danny had opened and closed the door of the Camaro with an annoyed slam, and Steve didn't know how Danny managed to make the doors of his house and car slam with tones, but he did.

Khalid was back at school and doing well. Halloween had been the first major holiday he'd experienced and now he was learning all about Thanksgiving, or at least what the mainlanders did on Thanksgiving and why they did it, interspersed with the Hawaiian history of the holiday. His class was currently studying Makahiki, the four-month period between November and February where tribes were forbidden to fight, successful harvests were recognized, and the Gods were thanked. It had been a long time since Steve had heard Makahiki mentioned, but he was enjoying listening to Khalid talk about it, along with the histories of all the different states on the East Coast and how they celebrated Thanksgiving, though Steve had had to stop himself from outright laughing when Khalid attempted to pronounce the names of the Native American tribes (the poor kid just butchered them, but that was alright; Steve would work with him on that). In all honesty, Khalid could talk about the many different kinds of potatoes the world offered, and Steve wouldn't have cared because it all meant that Khalid was still here with him.

That was the most important thing at the end of the day, but right behind it, just beneath it by a hairsbreadth, was Danny.

Steve still hadn't gotten to sit down with Danny yet to talk, to see where they were going to take this newfound attraction they'd discovered they had. It hadn't been anything Steve had really spent a lot of time pondering over; he and Danny were close, that was no secret. And sure, there had been more than a few 'marriage' jokes over the years. Steve had taken them in stride, as had Danny; there hadn't been any reason not to. So what if they were constantly over at each other's houses and Danny's kids called Steve 'uncle'? It wasn't like that scenario wasn't shared in households across America.

And was it really that big a deal if Danny sometimes made pancakes just because Steve asked him to, or let Steve drive the Camaro even though it was Danny's car? And did it really matter if Steve had Danny listed as his emergency contact and had made sure Danny's name was on his file at every hospital on the island, as well as his military file, as the one person any medical information or news could be given to? Danny had done the same with his contact information, so why not? They worked together, were partners in practically every sense of the word. Was it so out of the norm for best friends to spend the weekend together watching football or beaching with the kids or grocery shopping? Was anyone really going to bat an eye at the fact that sometimes they'd shared the same bed?

"Oh my God," Steve muttered, tilting his face in his hands. Lou, who was standing next to him at the smart table, quirked a halfway interested eyebrow. "Hey, if you're gonna be sick, go do that in your own office and not on the very expensive, very important, loaded-with-sensitive-information computer, okay?"

"No, it's fine, I'm alright," Steve sighed, shaking his head to himself as he looked around. It was lunch time. Danny had the day off to look after Charlie who'd caught a cold, and Adam, Tani, Jerry, and Junior had run out to grab a bite at Kamekona's. "Look, Lou, can I ask you a serious question?"

"I don't know, can you?"

Steve blinked.

"Dad-Grammar joke," Lou muttered. "Hit me."

"Alright, so obviously, you guys… everyone here knows that me and Danny… you know?"

"Oh, you mean how everyone knew before you two fools did?" Lou had a good chuckle at that, but it died off looking at Steve's face. "Hey, that's that face Danny calls your Aneurysm Face, right?"

Steve slid a hand down his eyes. "I just – I'm thinking about everything that's happened and I'm going back to all the times that Danny was at my house, with the kids or without the kids; all the times we spent weekends together; all the times we went surfing together or hit up Kamekona's; him making breakfast and me making dinner and everything in between and I'm just trying to figure out did we miss this? Were we always heading for this? I think back to all the stuff we've done over the last ten years – vacations and family get togethers and things not working out with Rachel and Catherine and Lynn and Melissa. And now that we're here and we're talking about this, I'm looking back at everything just thinking to myself and wondering if I was blind or just an idiot that we never… that we didn't..."

"You want to know what I think?" Lou folded his arms over his chest. "I think you and Danny are going to get nowhere real quick if you go back and over-analyze every single moment or period of time spent together trying to figure out if there was something there that you didn't see then. There's something here now, Steve. Why don't you two focus on that instead of trying to figure out what you missed in the past? There's nothing you can do about it now anyways."

Steve slowly nodded his head, Lou's words seeping through and imbedding themselves in his brain. "You guys – you know, is everyone okay with this? Me and Danny?"

Lou had a mildly offended look on his face and Steve quickly moved to erase it. "I mean with us working together and maybe possibly being together, in a relationship."

"Look, here's how I look at it. It's the same thing we told Tani and Junior, right?"

Steve nodded.

"They know there's something there. They've decided to act on it, but they also know that when shit hits the fan, their minds have to be on their jobs and on making sure they're putting the team and the public first, and not each other. It's the same rule for you and Danny, Steve. But at the end of the day, your feelings aren't going to change, and honestly, there have been points in the past where I've wondered about the two of you and how close you seemed to be but I never questioned, not for a second, either your or his ability to do the job and put the job first when it had to come first."

Steve let out a long breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, casting Lou a grateful look.

"Thanks, Lou."

"Anytime."

Hawaii Five-0

"Thanks again for doing this," Steve followed Rachel into her kitchen while Khalid zoomed his way up the stairs of her house and into Charlie's room. "I know you've got a lot going on with the move and everything and this was last minute –"

"It's no trouble at all, really, Steven," Rachel flashed a smile over her shoulder at him. "Khalid is a such a sweet boy and Charlie loves him. You know he's welcome to spend the night here whenever he likes."

"Yea, uh, thanks," Steve took a breath. "Look, before I go, I just wanted to uh…" Rachel turning to look at him didn't help matters much, and Steve suddenly understood why Danny for so long avoided conflict with the woman in front of him. "Me and Danny," he stuttered out, dumbly, but even as he did, he saw the slight crack of the armor in her face. "When you were at my place a few months ago and you said that we were a family… I didn't – I had no idea at that point what you meant, or what Danny was thinking about or what you'd said to him. I found out later that night, when he came back and explained things."

"Steven, you're asking if I have an issue with you seeing my ex-husband?"

"I… no, I mean, yes, but not –" Steve coughed. Jesus Christ, at this moment, he'd rather be down range in Afghanistan, playing Tic-Tac-Toe with Wo Fat, or watching that God – awful movie he and Danny had taken Catherine and Gabby to see years ago; anything was better than this, right here, with Rachel giving him a thousand yard stare that Steve was sure would cow some of the top Team Guys he'd known in SEALs.

"Let's lay all our cards on the table, shall we?" Rachel leaned against the counter. "Yes, I still love Danny. I imagine I always will. There's the old saying that you don't realize what you have until it's gone, and that metaphor could be aptly applied to my situation. Even when I first left Daniel for Stan, within a few months I regretted it. But I'd made my decision, and I did love Stan too – but I think even then, I loved Danny more. I was too proud to admit it and go back to him." She shrugged. "Sometimes love isn't enough. I think Danny and I have proven that enough times. So, yes, Steven, I know you're not trying to make me jealous or purposely uncomfortable or anything of the sort. And no, Steven, I am not jealous or envious; sad, perhaps, disappointed in myself, and in Danny too I suppose, that we couldn't make it work for anything, not even for our children. But I love him enough to let him go, and he loved me enough to break it off this time before things got worse. And, you and I both love our children enough to not let anything that has happened in the past affect them." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Right?"

"Yea, yes. Right," Steve swallowed. "Our children?"

"You have Khalid," Rachel noted. "And as much as you've done for Grace and Charlie over the years, as much as they love you and you them… I suppose it's not out of the question to dub you Step-Steve from here on?"

Steve winced. "You know, as much as that sounds… uh, nice, I think it sounds so close to Step-Stan that… you know, I wouldn't want to take anything from him."

"No worries there, I've already done that," Rachel shrugged, taking a breath. "Which leads me to my second point; as insane as this may sound and whether you believe me or not, when I made the decision not to tell Danny about Charlie, it was coming from a place of protecting my son and giving him a chance at having a full time father in his life for the whole of his life. I know my decisions have hurt a lot of people, Danny and Stan most of all, but I never wanted any of that. So," Rachel took another breath, looking at Steve, brown eyes wide and seemingly awaiting his judgement. "Anyways, you can pick up Khalid tomorrow whenever you like. I tend to allow the boys to stay up late to watch movies and eat junk food so it's likely they'll sleep until it's rather late tomorrow morning." She moved towards him to walk him out, but Steve caught her gently by the elbow and gathered her into a hug. He wasn't sure if her motivations were entirely pure when it came to keeping Danny in the dark about Charlie, but none of that mattered now. She had lost the chance to have her family back and Danny was getting a brand new one. Steve would've had to have been blind, deaf, and heartless not to see that as good as Rachel was holding it together, she was hurting inside. His heart went out to her purely for that reason alone.

Steve knew what it felt like to have no one; no family, no close friends to turn to, to be completely, utterly alone and isolated emotionally. As badly as Rachel had hurt Danny and as horrible as some of the decisions she'd made had been, she was the mother of Danny's children, and Steve knew Danny still loved her on some level, and likely always would.

"Look, this is obviously really awkward for you, and for me – the whole 'your ex-husband falling for a guy' thing notwithstanding, which, I promise you, we're both – me and him – we're still coming to grips with that, but hopefully tonight will settle some things there," Steve pulled away a bit, pleased that he'd managed to get a short laugh out of her. "Rachel, you're Grace and Charlie's mom, okay? And that means you'll always have a place in my ohana."

"Thank you," Rachel whispered. "You will take care of him, won't you?"

"Always," Steve promised.

After Steve made sure to let Khalid know he was leaving, he left Rachel with one more smile and raced back out to the truck, making it back home in under a half hour. It was a Saturday, neither he nor Danny were on call, and they had a coveted uninterrupted, free night to themselves. To discuss, converse, parlay where they wanted to take this newfound thing of theirs, if anywhere, and how they would handle it if they did, or didn't.

Steve did. Steve very much did. If someone had asked him if he'd ever consider dating a man, Steve would have told them no, and not that he had any problem with that mind, but he liked women thank you very much. He liked that they were smaller than him, that nine times out of ten they were shorter than him and because of that could comfortably rest their heads against his chest while he held them. He liked soft swells of breasts and gentle curves of hips and he absolutely did not mind sinking into a woman who was grabbing (sometimes scratching) for him like she couldn't live without his touch. For his entire life, that had done it for him quite nicely, and he'd been fit to die without ever having gone to the other side.

And then he'd gone on a date, an actual date, with dinner and fireworks and everything, with Danny. He'd taken Danny home and shared beers and a long chair with him, and by the end of the night, he'd kissed Danny, not once, not twice, but several times. Short kisses, long kisses, quick pecks, long passionate kisses. He'd drank from Danny like he was a fountain, and when they were finally tired and wiped out from their evening, he'd taken Danny upstairs to his bed and done it some more before they'd finally fallen asleep.

Putting a pause on their blossoming relationship until Khalid's issue had been sorted out was the right thing to do, and it wasn't as if Steve and Danny hadn't had a few nights on their own since then, complete with stolen kisses and fond looks and at least one time, Steve pulling Danny down on top of him while they laid on the couch just so that he could hold him. Danny hadn't resisted any of it.

Steve busied himself with those thoughts for about two hours while he vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, and the laundry, and swept up the lanai outside, freeing it of twigs and other things. He didn't even notice when it was past 4:00pmand Danny opened the door to the back yard, peering at Steve as if he'd lost his marbles while Steve swept a corner of the lanai with extreme prejudice.

"So, I thought we'd just stay inside tonight, but if you have outdoor plans, okay?" Danny so rarely got the opportunity to surprise Steve, and it gave him more amusement than it probably should've to watch Steve jump about a foot in the air and land while holding the broom in a defensive position.

"Danny," Steve's shoulders slumped once he realized it was his partner standing in his backyard and not an assassin. And really, what did it say about Steve's life that that was where his head went? But could anyone truly blame him? "Jesus, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"If I were it would only be the first in a long line of paybacks for the ones you've tried to give me over the years," Danny grinned as he casually leaned against the door, one hand on the knob while the other was in the pocket of his jeans. Steve blinked; he wasn't sure if it was him or the white t-shirt Danny was wearing, but either way, his partner was looking… well. Good.

Very good.

And Steve was wearing sweatpants and a sleeveless tank.

"Anyways, I was going to order a couple of pizzas…" Danny took a breath, waiting for Steve's judgement on dinner.

"Yea, that's good. Great. Let me just clean up and I'll be back down." Steve set the broom aside and headed into the house and up the stairs to take a quick shower. But even the hot water gave him no peace as he stood under the spray and thought of Danny downstairs waiting for him. In the last month or so, one thing had become painfully clear to Steve; he wanted Danny and he wanted this to work and he was willing to do just about anything to make that happen, and that was exactly what he planned on telling his partner tonight.

Steve switched off the water and grabbed a towel, drying himself off quickly, and pulled on a shirt and cargo shirts. His t-shirt still clung to his chest, but that didn't bother Steve in the least as he gave his hair one last pass over with the towel and dragged a comb through still damp tendrils. He was back downstairs ten minutes after he left Danny and found his partner in the kitchen, playing on his phone.

"I think we should date each other. Like, for a really long time. Seriously date each other." Steve hovered in the threshold of the doorway to the kitchen, feeling as awkward and anxious as he did when he'd asked out Nicole Simmons when he was 15 years old and just discovering that girls actually liked him. Danny was looking at him, blue eyes blinking in confusion until he finally set his phone down. "Okay, you know I had a whole thing planned to say to you, but the fact that you just walked in here and did what I did the night of our first date excuses the very not smooth offer you just made, so you are hereby forgiven."

Steve's brow creased. That didn't sound like a no, but it didn't sound like a yes, either. "Is that good?"

Danny headed for the fridge and pulled two beers out. "We've got about a half hour before the pizzas get here. You want to go outside?"

Danny asked the question as if he were giving Steve a choice, but he wasn't really, because he was already heading out back and was obviously expecting Steve to follow – an easy expectation because that's exactly what Steve did.

"You know," Danny settled into his chair and put his beer on the table next to it. "You remember two years ago when Brooke's ex-husband shot me?"

"I really try not to, Danny," Steve swallowed, already not liking how this conversation was starting off. "What does that have to do with what's going on with us?"

"Because when I was in surgery, you know, I didn't have a whole lot to do but lie there and sleep while they did whatever it was they were doing – you were doing, actually." Danny leaned back, propping a foot up on the opposite knee. "And I had some pretty vivid dreams, hallucinations, whatever it is you want to call them, and practically all of them involved you in some way."

"Me?"

"Yea," Danny smiled at him. "Grace was getting married on your beach and I was in the house. Charlie graduated from the police academy and you were there, of course. I remember we were sitting pretty close to each other – now that I think about it, we should've been holding hands like Tani and Junior were – anyways, the part of the dream I remember the most is us sitting out here just like we are now, going back and forth like we always do. We were old, wrinkly, grey – well you were, I was still pretty sharp. I'm pretty sure I was living here."

A boyish smile broke out on Steve's face and Danny couldn't help but return it. "I never really talked about that with anyone because I didn't know what it meant, if it meant anything, really. Plus, I was on every drug the hospital had in the pharmacy, so I just tucked it away, forgot about it. But obviously with everything going on with us, I remembered them, started thinking about them again."

"And?" Steve hadn't yet touched his beer, too on edge, too wired right now to even contemplate doing anything that took even a modicum of attention away from Danny.

"And I thought, you know, there has to be a reason for that. In almost every single one of my dreams, you were there in some way – I was either at your house, or you were doing something with my kids, or we were doing the restaurant thing, it didn't matter what it was; you were there. When I woke up, I was wondering where you were. That's how invested in that little dream world I was."

"They wouldn't let me back to see you immediately-"

Danny waved off Steve's excuse, wanted to wipe off the chastised look on his face too. "I'm more than familiar with hospital policies by this point, babe," he pointed out gently. "I'm saying, maybe it wasn't the drugs I was on. Maybe it was just what I've always wanted but didn't really let myself think about too much."

"You're saying subconsciously?" Steve asked.

"Yea, subconsciously. I mean," Danny took a sip of his beer and held onto it this time, "it has to be. I never once thought about kissing a guy before, never once thought about sleeping with one either, or being with one for the rest of my life, but like with everything, here you come to take over my entire world and I don't mind it, Steve. I don't mind it at all. I want it because it feels right, more right than with anyone else I've ever been with."

Steve hated himself for asking, but he had to. He had to know. "Even more than Rachel?" He bit out the question but made himself look at Danny as he asked. To his relief, Danny didn't flinch, didn't appear phased by the question.

"Even more than Rachel," Danny assured softly, and Steve felt air leave him, felt his chest deflate monumentally at that confirmation.

"What about you and Cath?" Danny asked. Steve snapped his head up, surprised. "What about me and Catherine?"

"If she comes back, if things don't work out with Harry, if she wants to give things another shot-"

"I'll tell her I'm with you." Steve's voice left no room for doubt. "Cath and I are over, Danny, have been for years. There's never going to be a part of me that doesn't love her, but there's never going to be a part of me that wonders 'what if' with her, not anymore."

"Yea?" Danny's voice was a little rougher than it had been just a few seconds ago.

"Yea." Steve smiled and sat back in his chair, reaching for his beer and finally taking a drink. It was still early enough that the sun was painting the ocean with a gorgeous array of light. Pinks, bright whites, and oranges bounced off the waves rolling towards the shore.

"Do you want to tell the team?" Danny asked.

"We probably should," Steve shrugged. "It's not like they don't know something's up already, you know? And Lou talked to me a little bit too."

"Lou did?" Surprise was written all over Danny's face and his voice. "Lou talked to you about us?"

"Actually, it was more like I kind of had a… an awakening, kind of like your dreams but more, well, awake."

"What kind of an awakening?"

"Just thinking about everything we've done over the last ten years we've known each other. All the time we spent together, the weekends we spent together, with the kids and without. One of us making breakfast, the other figuring out dinner, me driving your car all the time, you picking me up in the morning," Steve laughed, looking down at the bottle hanging from his hands between his legs. "Even sharing a bed the few times we have and not feeling any kind of awkwardness about it. I just – you know, I asked him if I'd missed something, if you and I had just deliberately missed this for years for whatever ever reason."

The hypothesis was an interesting one. Danny knocked it around a bit, searching for an answer before shrugging. "Does it really matter now?" He asked, twisting his body towards Steve a little bit. "We're here, now. We know, now. Steve, I spent so many years questioning every move I made when I was married to Rachel. I went through everything over and over again, trying to find a way that I could've saved our marriage, saved our family, and in the end, I never found any answers and I only wound up driving myself crazy."

"Funny," Steve chuckled. "Lou said basically the same thing."

"Did he?" Danny grinned. "I always liked Lou. He's a smart guy, questionable taste in pizzas, but…" He shrugged, taking a long drink of his beer and stood up, looking at his watch. "Speaking of which, dinner should be here soon."

"Did you want to go anywhere?" Steve stood up as well, following Danny back towards the house. "I didn't really plan much past the talking part, but we could go out, you know, after dinner if you wanted. Again."

"I was planning on eating some pizza, drinking some beer, and staying in really," Danny turned around in the threshold of the doorway, watching as Steve continued towards him. "A night in can be fun in its own ways too, you know?"

Steve watched as Danny turned away, a smirk on his face that Steve didn't know his partner could make and cleared his throat, following him inside dutifully.

Nights in could be very fun indeed.

Hawaii Five-0

November passed at a fast clip with cases and liaising with HPD so many times the team almost lost track with which one of them was assigned to which case. The holidays always brought about an uptick in crime, but even the veteran taskforce members had to admit that the last few weeks had been ridiculous. When Thanksgiving week finally came, everyone decided to work around the clock through late Wednesday evening to get through the final reports and paperwork, and by 8:00pm that night, there wasn't one member of Five-0 who wasn't dragging their feet to their cars.

"None of you are going to see me until next Monday," Lou muttered, but he did offer at least a half wave in everyone's general direction before he sped out of the parking lot.

"We'll be by tomorrow afternoon sometime, Steve," Adam passed Steve as he headed for his car. "Tamiko's looking forward to it."

"I'm looking forward to it, too," Jerry grinned, hovering on the passenger side of Adam's car. "Kamekona's bringing his latest dish for us all to try and if anyone's interested once we're in a food coma, I've got some awesome documentaries on secret space departments in the world that have gotten a lot further than any of us realize when it comes to space travel and meeting alien species."

Adam blinked. So did Steve. Danny was tired and opened his mouth. "Well, if no one's in a coma by the time you put that stuff on, we will be," he grunted, slipping into the Camaro and shutting the door.

"That's my queue," Steve snickered. "See you guys tomorrow." He slipped into the driver's side of the car and was soon pulling out of the palace parking lot, heading for home. It wasn't long before he saw Danny giving him a sidelong glance that lingered far longer than Steve was comfortable with. "What?"

"You sure you're fine with Rachel coming over for Thanksgiving?"

Oh, good God, this again. "Yes, Danny, I'm sure I'm fine with Rachel coming over tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I was sure the other 26 times you asked me too, so I hope the 27th time really sinks in for you."

"Okay, alright, okay, fine," Danny held up a hand in defense. "I'm just making sure."

"It's not like Rachel hasn't been over to my place with everyone before, Danny. Remember Gracie's homecoming? That was, like, a month ago. Everything was fine then, you didn't have a problem then, so what's wrong now?"

"You and I weren't making out and sleeping in a bed together regularly then," Danny answered simply.

"Yea, okay, but me and Rachel… you know, we're fine. We talked. We're good."

"You talked to my ex-wife?" Even with the sporadic streetlights that passed over head, Steve had no trouble seeing the shocked look on his partner's face. "When did you talk to Rachel?"

"That Saturday when I dropped Khalid over at her house to spend the night so you and I could talk." Steve turned onto the highway, looking over at Danny again once they were off the ramp and on the straight way. Danny was doing a fairly good impression of what Steve imagined was his own version of Aneurysm Face. "Why do you look like you're constipated right now?"

"I do not look constipated right now. I don't take your faces, okay, your faces are your own."

"Okay, Arya Stark," Steve snickered.

"What could have possibly possessed you to talk to Rachel about us!?"

Steve sighed. "I wanted to make sure that she knew I wasn't trying to rub the fact that you basically left her for me in her face, alright?" They passed another streetlight and Steve could see Danny absorb that statement, but knew another question was following hot on its heels.

"Why would she even think that? Did she say that?"

"No, she didn't say that, but I wanted her to know that I understood how awkward it probably is for her to be around me right now, to maybe be around you, with us actually giving this a shot. It threw me for a loop realizing that I could actually enjoy kissing you, and I'm sure she was just as confused and maybe hurt and questioning herself. I know what that's like, to question why you weren't good enough for someone to stick around-"

"Hey, she left me first, not the other way around!"

"That's not – listen, I know, she kicked you out first, I know that, I get that," Steve soothed Danny, or at least tried. "But this time, you ended things, Danny, you know? And I'm not complaining about that, believe me; I'm not. You ended it, and it was the right thing that you did, but even if she's the one who sort of opened our eyes up to this possibility, she probably didn't think it would happen this quick. Hell, I didn't know until you told me on the beach that night. And she just… I could tell she was hurting. I know what that feels like, Danno, okay? I know what it feels like to feel like you have no-one – whether she's justified in feeling like that, right now it doesn't matter. She's your kids' mother, and just like I'll always care about Catherine and answer her call in the middle of the night, I know you'll do the same for Rachel, because you still love her."

Danny didn't answer, or at least, he didn't verbally answer. Between looking at the road and searching his face though, Steve could see Danny's expression appeared to be one which combined exasperation, understanding, wonder, and amazement. Maybe.

Possibly.

It could also be that Steve just couldn't look at him for very long to decipher Danny's face without driving into another car or a telephone poll.

"Okay." Danny deflated and sat back a little easier in his seat.

"Okay?"

"Yea, okay." Danny nodded. "That makes total sense what you said. I didn't know you two had talked since you and I had decided to, you know," Danny rolled his hand, "and I didn't want it to be awkward for you or her or the kids."

"S'not going to be awkward. I promise."

"Okay," Danny looked out of his window at the palm trees and homes that zoomed by. "As long as you're sure."

"Danny, I swear to God."

Hawaii Five-0

As it turned out, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch, even if Danny and Rachel disappeared for about 20 minutes to talk privately. Steve found them in the garage, Rachel leaning against his beloved Mercury with Danny right next to her, their backs to the door so they couldn't see Steve checking on them. Steve left them to it, choosing to focus on the kids and his friends until he saw Danny and Rachel pop into the living room again. They were smiling and talking, and when Steve caught Danny's eye, Danny subtly nodded that everything was alright. Steve inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; the night wouldn't be awkward after all.

Steve had brought the long table out which stretched from the study into the living room and which was covered with every kind of food imaginable. "There's no way we're going to eat all of this," Tani said, staring at the massive turkey as she sat down at the table, Junior beside her. "I mean, I know you're going to give it your all, but seriously, Junes; I'm going to be rolling you out McGarrett's door when we're finished."

"As long as I'm able to get out the door somehow, I'm okay with that," Junior flashed her a grin and began helping himself.

"Okay, well, just keep in mind, you don't live on the first floor of your building and I am neither carrying you nor rolling you up the stairs to your apartment."

Khalid and Charlie (sitting right next to each other because of course), stomachs small as they were, actually wound up eating a fair amount to the point where Rachel had to call a halt to Charlie reaching for another round of mashed potatoes. "Charlie, why don't you and Khalid let what you've had settle for a bit, hmm? If you're still hungry, this will all still be here – everyone brought enough food to feed an army."

"Navy," Steve automatically joked before clearing his throat and offering Rachel a tentative grin.

"Nah, no, she got it right on the first try. It's the Army, Rache, don't let him fool you," Danny may have been joking with Rachel, who was sitting on the other side of Grace, but his eyes were for Steve as he needled his partner. "He hasn't admitted to it yet, but he's secretly a grunt."

"Hey, hey, hey, not in front of the kids with that kind of language, huh?" Steve nearly made to cover Khalid's ears.

"That, and Commander McGarrett didn't serve in Vietnam," Jerry pipped up helpfully. At Danny's blank stare, Jerry elaborated. "Grunt is actually a nick name for someone who served in the Army during the Vietnam War. McGarrett was in diapers at that point."

"Actually, I wasn't even born at that point. Don't age me, man, come on," Steve nudged Jerry with his elbow. It was, of course Charlie who asked the million-dollar question.

"Uncle Steve, when were you born?"

"1976," Steve confirmed.

"Wow… you're old, S'eve!" Khalid giggled. Charlie giggled. Danny outright laughed.

"Hey, I don't know what you're laughing about, buddy, you were born the same year as me," Steve tossed a partial dinner roll at Danny, who caught it in his hand and gobbled it down.

"Boys, really, throwing food?" Rachel rolled her eyes, but there was no real annoyance in her tone or face; more so fondness than anything else. "Steve, will you need help cleaning up? Putting anything away?"

Steve had said no, but Rachel had ignored him and, with Danny's help, found the Tupperware and began pulling things from the table that no one else wanted. "Grace, come and help me with the dishes, please," she called when she was finished wrapping everything up. Steve made to intervene, but Danny's hand on his arm stopped him. "Just let her be, babe," he murmured. "More for her to get a breather from everything and do something helpful at the same time."

"Is she okay?" Steve ducked his head speaking softly to Danny, who just nodded. "She's fine – she will be fine. We'll talk later when everyone's gone home."

"Okay…" Steve felt a pinch in his gut. "Danny, are… are we okay? You and me?"

"Yea, Steve. We're good. We're okay. There's nothing to worry about, I promise." Danny smiled and plucked the front of his partner's shirt affectionately before Charlie took his attention away and everyone moved into the living room to give their stomachs a rest before dessert, which was apple and pumpkin pie, along with Tani's Hawaiian Apple and Pineapple crumble, which Danny swore up, down, and center that he wouldn't willingly touch. "That's just wrong," he muttered, settling on the sofa beside Grace while Steve practically collapsed on the other side.

It wasn't long before the boys were asleep, propped up next to each other on floor in front of the recliner where Jerry sat. Steve could see Grace was fading fast. Rachel hid a yawn with her hand. "Danny, would you pick Charlie up for me? I'll go ahead and take him home."

"Take food with you, please," Steve begged. Rachel laughed. "You have a growing boy, Steven. I think you'll miss it if I take any."

"You have Charlie," Steve pointed out. "No way are me and Khalid going to eat all of that. We need the help. Take some." He managed to drag himself up and off the couch and into the kitchen to pick out some containers for Rachel to take with her and came back into the living room putting them in a plastic bag. Danny was taking Charlie out to the car while Rachel was busy waking Grace.

"She can stay here if she wants, Rachel," Steve offered. "She has her room – well, a room," he cleared his throat as Rachel looked at him, surprised. "You know, I have three bedrooms and Khalid and Charlie have been sharing one and I wanted her to have a spot to crash when she stayed the night, so I converted Mary's old room." Aware that Tani, Jerry, and Junior were watching, however food comatose they might be, Steve shifted his stance a bit nervously. "I uh, I hope that's okay?"

"It's fine," Rachel said after a few moments, her voice tight, but there was the hint of a smile on her face. "It's fine. It's perfect, of course. Thank you, Steven." She took the bag from him and offered her goodbyes to everyone else sacked out on the floor before heading out the door, passing Danny on the way, who stood in the doorway watching until Rachel pulled out of the driveway.

"Okay," Tani reached over and halfheartedly smacked Junior in the side. "We've got to go. Now. If I don't go, I'm sleeping right here."

Junior hopped up, smirking down at her. "Should I start rolling you now, or can you walk?"

"Smartass," Tani grumbled, taking the hand he offered her and getting to her feet. Jerry did the same and they made their way to the door, begging off Steve's insistence that they take food home with them as they said goodbye, making their way to their respective cars. One by one, Steve watched them leave and finally, with a content sigh, shut the front door and leaned against it. A lazy smile graced his features. "I don't even want to go up the stairs right now," he laughed, nevertheless making his way to Khalid who had curled himself into the base of the chair now that Charlie was no longer next to him. He lifted the boy carefully into his arms and Khalid hardly stirred, only so much to settle his head comfortably on Steve's shoulder. Telling Danny he'd be right back, Steve made his way carefully up the stairs and tucked Khalid in and about five minutes later, after making sure he was still out and not likely to wake up, Steve puttered back down the steps and into the kitchen where he found Danny poking around in the fridge.

"So," Steve cleared his throat, looking at the profile of Danny's body since his head was in the fridge. "Are you planning on staying here tonight?"

Danny emerged from the fridge with two beers and handed one of them to Steve, who opened it with the bottom of his shirt, but didn't take a drink; his stomach was saying 'no' to anything else at the moment. "I thought I would, yea," Danny's eyes danced towards the kitchen door, and Steve understood that his partner wasn't looking at him but was gesturing towards Grace. "Figure I'll take the couch once she wakes up."

"The couch?" Steve's forehead scrunched. "Why the couch, Danny? She has her own room and you can, you know..." He motioned above his head towards his room. And his bed. And his emphatic desire for Danny to be in both.

"We haven't exactly told her about this," Danny gestured between him and Steve. "I don't want to just spring it on her when she wakes up in the morning you know? She comes out of her room and she sees me coming out of your room and immediately she starts peppering me with questions. I want to sit down with her first, explain what's going on." He motioned towards the backyard and, after checking on Grace to make sure she was still asleep and finding Mr. Pickles curled up against her stomach, Danny and Steve headed out into the backyard, Eddie on their heels, leaving the back door ajar.

"Are you and Rachel okay?" Steve asked, once they were settled in their chairs. The ocean tide was rolling gently against the shore and Danny let its sound fill the air around him while he mulled his answer.

"Yea," he finally breathed. "We're okay. I'm okay, at least. She… will be, I think. It's just hard," Danny looked down at his bottle. "I don't regret anything you or I have done over the last month. It's weird because I feel more comfortable with you even though there's a higher chance I'm gonna die if I'm around you-"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Drama queen."'

"-and I'm regularly subjected to name calling and crazy shenanigans," Danny managed a bright grin at him that Steve could see even in the dim light. "But I like what we've got so far, Steve. I want to see where we go."

"Me too," Steve answered softly.

"It's just hard watching someone who you know still loves you realize that they can't have you anymore. You were right; no matter what Rachel's done to me, I'm always going to love her. I'm always going to care about her and want to protect her and it sucks I can't protect her from this, that I'm the one making her feel so…" Danny shook his head. "But I can't be with her. I don't want to be." He lifted his gaze, holding Steve's. "Not anymore."

"You've mentioned that a few times."

"I need to make sure you believe me."

"I believe you, Danny," Steve assured him. "You've never lied to me." He waved off his partner's protest that yes, in fact, he had lied to him, fairly recently too. "That was different. You told me you were going to Jersey, yea, and you really went off island with Rachel, but I get it, Danny. I do. I understand, and we talked about that." Feeling a vibrate in his pocket, Steve fished his phone out. "Trust me, on the level of lies that people in my life have told me? That barely rates a two." He frowned at the screen, not recognizing the number, but was fairly certain he distinguished the country code from the dozens he'd had programmed into his head over the years. He swiped right and put the phone to his ear. "McGarrett."

"Good evening, Mr. McGarrett. My name Aleena Hamedi. I am Azra's sister."

"Uh…huh, Azra who?" Steve glanced at Danny when his head shot up.

"Azra Hassan, Mr. McGarrett."

Steve was filled to the brim with turkey, pie, and beer, and so, against his will, his response was something like, "Why are you calling? Planning another raid to take Khalid back?"

Even Danny winced.

"I can assure you, Mr. McGarrett; neither I nor my husband had anything to do with what took place earlier this month." The woman sounded earnest, sincere. Steve flipped the phone onto speaker, allowing her only slightly accented voice to fill the space between him and Danny. "In fact, we were furious when we heard."

Steve decided not to argue the point. "Why are you calling – I'm not even going to ask how you got your hands on my number-"

"That would probably be for the best," a laugh traveled underneath her statement. "Mr. McGarrett, I am coming to the United States – to Hawaii – in two days' time. I would like the opportunity to meet with you-"

"Yea, that – that didn't go so well the last time, you know?" Danny pipped up, leaning forward. "We've already been down this road-"

"I assure you, my intentions are pure." Aleena cut in. "I can meet you wherever you like. I only ask for an hour or so of your time. I will come alone. Should you feel the need, I have no problems whatsoever facing anyone else you deem necessary to be there."

"For what?" Steve didn't bother to hide the confusion in his voice. "You understand, you have connections to the people who tried to kidnap your nephew? Do you get that I can arrest you as soon as you step off the plane and detain you for questioning as a potential co-conspirator? Not to mention the FBI, the CIA, I'm sure they'd love to talk to you -"

"I do," Aleena answered smoothly. "But I do not believe that you will."

"Oh yea? Why is that?"

"Honor. Compassion."

Danny knocked his head from side to side a bit. "You do have those in spades, babe," he pointed out.

"What do honor and compassion have to do with this?" Steve pointedly ignored Danny. He needed to.

"You took in my nephew when his mother and father tried to kill you, and did kill someone very important to you," Aleena answered quietly. "And I am promising to come alone. I will not even have my detail with me, a decision which has not made my husband entirely happy, I can tell you." The ocean clapped in the background. "I do not believe you would hold an unarmed woman captive who is traveling to you of her own free will with the objective of bringing peace to this situation. And I think you will very much be interested in what I have to say, and what I can give you."

"Yea?" Dubious Steve was dubious. "What can you give me?"

"Khalid's security and safety."

Danny scratched at his chin, watching Steve, knowing what his partner was going to say before it even came out of his mouth.

"Call me when you land." Steve hung up the phone.