Woahhhh...this chapter is on time. Don't read this one on an empty stomach. ;)

Shout out to Phoebe Miller for beta reading!


Fact #161: It would take a thousand life times to ever truly come to know someone.

Season: 5th Season

Danny picked at the calluses on his hands as his eyes wandered around the living room. He had been in Brooklyn's house a few times, but not for more than a couple minutes at a time. Now he had been sitting there for fifty minutes and had the time to really analyze her place.

The cartoon posters still hung on one wall. He noticed some of them had been autographed by various voice actors. He also noticed that the guitar stands had been removed and that everything in general had been baby proofed. A grin cracked his face. Pool noodles had been cut and taped to corners to avoid head bumps, and the cockatiel cage on the other side of the room was fenced in. He could see her parrot Baz sitting on the patio outside in another cage, and judging by his ruffled feathers and muted squawks, he was giving the two chubby hens a lecture.

He returned his attention to Grace and Brooklyn sitting by her grand piano. Grace finally set her guitar into its case and zipped it up. She tucked the books into the front pocket, making a face at her fingers.

"It takes a little bit to build up the calluses," Brooklyn said. She still had her guitar balanced on her leg. "But, you're doing good so far. Just keep up with those scales. I know they seem boring right now, but you'll thank me later."

"And what's this week's homework?" Danny asked.

"Page six, seven, and eight in the blue book," Brooklyn said. "Practice everyday. I don't care if it's only for five minutes. Something's better than nothing."

Grace nodded. "Danno likes hearing me play. Even if I'm not very good at it."

"Hey, I started at your age learning the same things, and I kept at it," Brooklyn said. She grabbed the neck of her guitar with gusto. "And now I can do this."

Johnny B Good sang out from the strings. She riffed through several more bits and pieces, some of which Danny recognized and some he didn't.

"Cool," Grace said.

"One word: practice." Brooklyn set her guitar off to the side. She stood up and stretched. "Okie dokie, kid. We ran a little bit long and it looks like your dad is going to fall asleep on the couch."

Danny grunted as he stood up. The couch had been a little bit too comfortable. "We're going over to Steve's for dinner. He decided he's going to attempt to do ribs instead of burgers this time. The tropical Neanderthal probably marinated them in saltwater and pineapple or something."

Brooklyn made a face. "Gross. I mean, pineapple and pork is good. But beef needs a dry rub with a little heat."

Danny threw his hands up in the air as they walked to the front door. "Thank you! Finally, a normal person. Well, semi-normal. Nothing is going to replace the applesauce with my pork chops, especially not pineapple, but at least you're halfway there."

"Dude, I lived in Houston for part of my life. If it's not from some grill-billy's homemade hundred gallon drum backyard smoker, it ain't real barbeque."

"Next time, I'll do the barbeque and put you in charge of marinating," Danny said, digging into his pants pocket and fishing out a couple twenties.

"Do it when Mack's home. He'll probably faint if he finds a barbeque buddy," Brooklyn said.

Danny handed her the money for the lesson and shook her hand. "Thanks again for teaching her."

"Hey, thank you for convincing to get back into teaching," Brooklyn said with a smile. She glanced at her watch. "I've got a piano student here at four-thirty, then Mack should be back from Nicky's with Vega around five. Might have him pick up a pizza on his way home. Too lazy to cook."

"What kind of pizza?" Grace asked. She hefted her guitar case up on her shoulders, teetering on the edge of the cement steps.

Brooklyn pursed her lips. "Ham. And pineapple."

"You're dead to me," Danny said and turned away down the sidewalk.

"Hey, at least I don't put peas and mayo on it like they were doing in LA!"

Danny whipped around. "Are you kidding me? Has the world gone nuts? What's wrong with a good cheese pie? Why does everyone have to keep ruining such a simple favorite?"

Brooklyn shrugged.

A car pulled up to the curb outside her house and another kid with a parent got out.

"And that's my four-thirty. See you next week, Grace. Danny, I hope you'll still talk to me despite the whole ham and pineapple thing."

"We'll see, babe," Danny said and waved a hand goodbye. He crossed the quiet street with Grace in tow. "Come on, Monkey. Uncle Steve is going to start wondering where we are, and I still have to pick up the beer."


Danny was about to have words with Steve when he arrived and saw a freshly cut pineapple on the kitchen counter. He let Grace settle herself on the couch and tinker around with her guitar while he went out to confront his partner.

"I'm begging you, please tell me you didn't slap pineapple all over a rack of beef ribs," he pleaded, pressing his hands together as he did.

Steve looked up from the grill. He lifted the lid and smiled defiantly. The rack of ribs was generously smothered with a dry rub. Danny leaned in close and inhaled deeply. Black pepper, onion, garlic, cayenne, chili powder, maybe some mustard powder in there, as well. The pineapple Danny had feared would taint the ribs was actually on top of a couple chicken breasts with sweet teriyaki sauce. On the upper grill rack was a row of bacon wrapped jalapenos with cheese beginning to ooze out of them.

He straightened up and eyed Steve suspiciously. "Alright, what gives? When did you turn into a grill master?"

"I can cook," Steve said and shut the lid.

Danny gestured to the grill. "Burgers, yes. But this isn't just your normal Friday afternoon grilling. This is on another level. You've got three things going at once, and none of them look burnt."

"It's called multitasking, Danno," Steve said.

"I just thought you would've smothered those ribs in sauce and pineapple and called it good."

"Beef needs dry heat, pork needs sweet sauce," Steve said, like he was telling him the difference between a battleship and an aircraft carrier.

Danny's jaw dropped.

The front door opened and closed. The cousins made their way out onto the lanai, Kono brandishing a bottle of red wine in one hand and a bag from Liliha's in the other.

"Hey, did you know that this animal actually knows that beef needs a dry rub? And it actually smells good?" Danny asked.

Chin snorted.

"I just put the same sauce on everything," Kono said. She dug into the bag from Liliha's before Danny could get after her for using the same sauce for everything. She pulled out a sealed cup, one that was clearly not from Liliha's. "I got Grace a boba since she can't have any of the fun drinks."

Danny rolled his eyes. Thank goodness his little girl wasn't that old yet.

As if on cue, Grace appeared on the lanai with them.

"Did I hear boba?"

Kono handed it to her.

"And what do you say, Grace?" Danny asked.

"Thank you so much, Auntie Kono," Grace said and stabbed the fat straw through the lid.

Kono lifted a box out of the same bag. "I got some dessert, too, that probably needs to go in the fridge."

"I'll go put it up," Steve said. He took the box from her and started to walk back inside, but turned and pointed at Danny. "Don't let him touch the grill."

"Excuse me?"

Danny heard Steve chuckle at his indignant outburst, but he disappeared inside before anymore could be said.

He plopped down in a chair instead and chatted with the cousins and Grace. It had been a long week. Not a busy week, but sometimes the boring weeks were the longest. No one had been shot, stabbed, or kidnapped. The worst he got was a papercut from filing reports.

"How's school going, sistah?" Kono asked.

Grace shrugged. "It's going good, I guess. At least most of my classes are with my friends."

"That's good," Kono said.

Danny looked down at his daughter sitting on the steps. "Remember to ask your mom to take you to Brooklyn's when I'm on the mainland, okay?"

"Brah, I had almost forgotten about that," Kono said.

"Is that the conference thing you were talking about earlier?" Grace asked. "Think I could skip school and go with you?"

One of Danny's hands fluttered out and about. "Trust me, if I thought I was going to have any fun, I'd take you with us. But, it's going to be pretty boring. It's just going to be a bunch of cops and agents talking about catching bad guys, and then we have to fly home. Besides, you have cheer practice and guitar lessons, remember?"

Grace let out a dramatic sigh and dipped her head.

Chin leaned back in his chair. "I think I've been to the mainland more since I joined Five-0 than I've been in my entire life."

"You missed out on Jersey, cuz," Kono said.

"Wish I could've gone with you," Grace pouted. "I missed seeing Nana and Papa."

Danny ruffled her hair. "We'll go visit again sometime, okay, Monkey?"

Grace grinned. "Okay."

Danny glanced back inside the house. The drip-hiss of sauce, fat, and cheese on the grill was increasing and his mouth was watering so much he was about to drown in saliva. He stood up.

"I'm going to go grab a beer and make sure Steve didn't fall into the toilet or something," he said.

He stepped into the shade of the house, the wooden boards cool beneath his bare feet. A cold beer stood waiting for him on the middle shelf in the fridge. The cap popped off with a satisfying pssht. Beer in hand, he made his way toward the living room.

He froze midstep.

Eyes wide, he didn't do more than peek around the corner and watch.

Steve had a hold of Grace's guitar. It always looked big in his daughter's grasp, but looked like perfect fit on Steve's lap. His brows were furrowed in deep concentration. And dang it, it sounded like he knew what he was doing.

It wasn't classic rock like Brooklyn played.

It was the blues.

Soft, quiet, tentative, so the others out on the lanai couldn't hear.

But it was the blues.

Danny stood there and simply stared while Steve's fingers danced up and down the neck of the guitar with a fumble here and there. Right before his eyes, years dropped off his partner's face, revealing a teenager Danny didn't know, but instantly recognized. He could scarcely believe what he was seeing, but it was too bizarre to be a dream.

"Yo, Steve! I think your jalapeno things are on fire!"

And with that interruption, the moment was gone. The guitar was placed back exactly as it had been and Danny ducked around the corner before he was seen.

Steve walked by him in the kitchen like nothing had happened.

"Did you touch my stuff?" he questioned.

Danny threw his free hand up. "Yes, I purposely set the food on fire. You're supposed to be the grill master! You probably have a full drip pan or something. You know you're supposed to clean those out, right?"

As Steve rescued the jalapenos and declared everything done, Danny glanced between him and the living room. He chewed on his bottom lip in thought.

Apparently, weapons weren't the only thing Steve played around with.


Next time on "Dragons", their mainland adventure goes wrong. Who would've thought.

I was super bummed we never got more of Steve with a guitar. It seemed like such a good story to begin and end in one episode.

I'm not super sure when the next chapter is going to come out. I think I'm going to break it into two, so the first part might come out in two weeks, might be a little longer than that. Plus, I've been having computer troubles that I'm trying to get resolved.

So, we will see when it comes out. I hope you like it.

Thank you for reading, reviewing, faving, and following!