Disclaimer: I own no rights to Hawaii Five-0 or any of its characters. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement is intended. Dialogue from Season 1, Episode 1 – the Pilot, was written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Peter M. Lenkov
Danny was fuming and his arm ached like a sonofabitch. "In civilized society we have rules. Alright? It is the unspoken glue that separates us from jackals and hyenas. Alright?"
"Jackals and hyenas?" McGarrett asked from the passenger seat. His tone made Danny think the man found his anger humorous, which only made Danny angrier.
"Animal Planet … whatever. Okay? The point is, rule number one, when you get somebody shot, you apologize." He emphasized the last word and strung it out in an attempt to get his point across to the thick-headed lunatic sitting next to him.
"Sorry," By now, Danny was in full rant, so the mumbled apology didn't penetrate.
"You don't wait for a special occasion …"
"I'm sorry," Steve offered a second time.
"… okay? Like birthdays …"
"Sorry." Once more.
"…freaking President's Day."
"Hey, man, I'm sorry. Okay? I said I'm sorry. I'm sincerely sorry," McGarrett's voice finally broke through Danny's tirade. "That's what I was trying to tell you … last year, when this conversation first started."
Danny looked at the crazy person next to him and tried to gauge his sincerity. There was something in the other man's eyes that he could not quite decipher. Was it possible that underneath all the testosterone there might be an actual conscience lurking? "Your apology is noted." Danny slowly replied, but he wasn't quite ready to let the Neanderthal off the hook. "Acceptance is pending."
"You let me know now," McGarrett said, seemingly not concerned in the least whether his coerced apology was accepted or not.
"Yeah. I'll let you know."
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Danny gazed out the passenger window of his Camaro and let his thoughts drift back in time. He could do that because Steve was actually driving the speed limit. They'd wrapped up a case before lunch, so the only thing waiting for them back at HQ was paperwork, which was the one thing that could make his partner actually obey the traffic laws. More or less anyway.
"Hey, Steve?"
"Yeah?
"I accept your apology," Danny told him.
"What apology?" It was a testament to how close the two had become that Danny was actually somewhat surprised when Steve didn't immediately know what he was talking about. "You remember when we first met and you got me shot?"
"Shot?" Predictably, Steve scoffed, but his grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel. "It was barely a graze."
"A bullet fired from a gun tore through the flesh of my arm. By definition, I was shot. It was your fault. You eventually apologized and as requested; I am letting you know that I accept your apology."
"That was years ago." Steve glanced over at Danny. "You mean you've been holding that against me this whole time?" Steve rolled his eyes. A habit Danny would never admit Steve had picked up from him. "What am I saying … of course you have. You're the king of holding grudges."
"Well, now you're forgiven," Danny told him magnanimously.
"Thank you."
As few minutes later, Steve's voice broke through the road noise.
"So, what does it mean, you've accepted my apology?"
"What do you mean, what does it mean? I just told you what it means. It means I have forgiven you." Danny put a hand to his chest, "this is me" he gestured towards Steve and bowed his head slightly, "forgiving you."
"No. I mean, what does it mean … in a practical sense?"
"In a practical sense?"
"Yeah. Does it mean you've let it go and you're not mad about it anymore? Does it mean that when somebody asks about the scar on your arm, my name won't be mentioned? Does it mean I can stop feeling guilty? Does it mean that the next time you start listing all my transgressions, getting you shot won't be included? "
"Wait. What? You feel guilty about it? When did that happen?"
Steve kept his eyes on the traffic in front of them. "I've always felt guilty about it. Treating it like it was no big deal was just a defense mechanism."
"A defense mecha …? Who are you, and what have you done with my emotionally unaware partner?"
Steve shrugged a shoulder, but his knuckles turned white as his grip on the steering wheel tightened once more.
"Steven…."
Steve determinedly kept his eyes on the road when he answered. "I may have gone to see a therapist a few times recently."
"A therapist? You've been seeing a therapist? About getting me shot … years ago?"
"Yes, no, not just that," Steve shrugged. "Dad, my whole messed up family, Freddie, Wo Fat, dragging you into Five-0, putting you in danger on a daily basis, my conflicted feelings about you, a bunch of things."
"Oh. Good. That's good, Steve. I'm glad you've been talking to someone. Wait, what do you mean, your conflicted feelings about me?"
"Can we not talk about this now?"
Danny stared at Steve, trying to get a sense of what was going on in his head. "But we will talk about it?" Danny asked.
"Yeah."
"Soon?" Danny pressed because he knew if he didn't, they could old and gray before Steve ever brought it up again.
"Soon."
"Okay. Alright. That's good because I think maybe it's a conversation that is long overdue."
Steve quickly changed the subject back Danny's forgiveness. "So, what made you finally accept my apology today? Like you said, it has been years."
"I don't know. That conversation happened right around here. Of course, I was actually driving my own car then." Danny ignored Steve's grin. "Anyway, it happened around here and for some reason the memory flashed through my mind, and I realized it didn't make me mad to think about it. Not at you anyway. I'm still pissed off at the jerk who shot me … may he continue to rot in hell. I was just mad at the whole situation, at the world, really, and how you dragged me into that mess without even asking. Not to mention your reckless behavior and total disregard for police procedure."
"So glad you've finally let all that go." Steve's sarcasm was not lost on Danny.
"I said I've forgiven you for that one incident, that does not mean that continued recklessness on your part will be tolerated or excused."
"Hey. I haven't strapped anyone to the hood of a car in at least a year."
"Yes, while not totally housebroken, you've become somewhat trainable."
"Thank you for recognizing my efforts."
"You're welcome."
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Later that night, the team was celebrating the completion of both their case and the related paperwork with beers and live music at one of their favorite hangouts. Grover had called it a night after one beer, anxious to get home to Renee. Kono and Adam were out on the dance floor, and from the look of things, they were going to be out there for a while. Chin had spotted an old high school buddy, and they were catching up at the bar. That left Danny and Steve alone at the table, slowly nursing their second beers. Even though the others had gotten up, they were still sitting next to each other in the booth. For most other guys, that may have been weird, but it didn't occur to either one of them to switch sides. Danny followed Steve's eyes and saw that he was watching Kono and Adam sway against each other on the dance floor. He seemed almost melancholy, and it made Danny remember their earlier conversation in the car.
Danny slid towards the wall so he could turn in the booth to look at Steve. His partner must have felt his stare, or the absence of his body heat, because he turned and looked at Danny. The look on Steve's face reflected his curiosity about Danny's sudden distance.
"So, about those conflicted feelings you have for me."
"Really, Danny? Now? You want to talk about this now?"
Danny tilted his head and considered the question. "Yeah, I think I do."
Steve sighed then jerked his head toward the dance floor. "Couldn't we just dance?"
Danny didn't know what he had been expecting Steve to say, but it certainly wasn't that. "Dance? You want to dance with me?"
"Well, sometimes I want to dance with you, and sometimes I just want to punch you in the face. Thus, my conflicted feelings."
"Hmmm," Danny said as his heart rate kicked into high gear. "I can certainly empathize because I've definitely wanted to punch you in the face on more than one occasion. The dancing part though … not so much."
"Oh, I thought maybe..." The disappointment in Steve's tone was palpable, and both his hand and his gaze went to the beer bottle resting on the table in front of him.
Danny ignored Steve's hangdog expression. "Now if you'd said kissing, then we may have been on the same page. But dancing? Danny circled one finger in the air to simulate the act. "How would we ever decide who gets to lead?"
Steve's head popped up. "I bet we could figure it out."
"I guess we could trade off," Danny mused as his heart continued to race. He couldn't believe that he and Steve were actually having a discussion about their feeling for one another, even if it was in something of a roundabout way.
"We could," Steve agreed, "but I'm taller so it just makes since for me to lead."
"Why should that matter?" Danny was indignant at the implication that his height should play into such a decision. The familiar emotion had the welcome effect of actually calming him down.
"Because I can see over your head," Steve told him as if it was obvious. "If you tried to lead, we'd keep bumping into all the other dancers."
"Now I definitely want to punch you in the face. No conflicted feelings at all."
Steve ignored him. "You know, that first day, when you did in fact punch me in the face…"
"After you got me shot," Danny quickly added, more out habit than any residual blame.
"You've accepted my apology and forgiven me for that, remember?"
"Oh yeah, sorry, go on with what you were saying … something happened when I punched you…" Danny gestured for him to continue.
"That's when I first realized that I had conflicted feelings for you."
"Is that so? Impressed by my right cross, were you?"
"Definitely, but it was more the fact that even though you had just hit me … you pack a hell of a punch by the way..." Steve reached on and rubbed his jaw at the memory.
"Thank you," Danny puffed out his chest at the compliment.
"Anyway, as I was saying, even though you had just hit me, my first thought was to wonder if a kiss from you would carry the same impact."
"Ahh, so we are on the same page," Danny felt his heart rate pick up again, and it was all he could do to act nonchalant about this unexpected, but definitely desired, turn of events.
"It appears that we are," Steve agreed. The heat in his eyes belied his own casual tone.
"Good to know."
"Maybe we could go back to my house and see if we can work through some more of these conflicted feelings," Steve suggested.
"I think that is an excellent idea," Danny told him as he slid across the seat, shooing Steve out of the booth on his way. Before Danny could stand up though, Steve turned and blocked his exit from the booth.
"Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for accepting my apology." Steve's tone and demeanor told Danny how important this was to him.
"I forgave you a long time ago, you big goof." Danny reached up and ran a soothing hand down Steve's arm.
"Yeah, that's what I'm grateful for because I have a feeling I'm going to look back on that day as one of the best days of my life."
"What, our first shoot-out together?" Danny asked. "You're such a romantic."
"That was pretty awesome," Steve agreed, "but I was thinking that it was the day I met an angry, loudmouthed, beach-hating haole detective from New Jersey. I knew immediately that you were someone important, but I never could have dreamed then just how important you'd become. You and Gracie, you're everything. You're my family. You know that, right? I can't screw this up."
"Hey, if your antics that first year didn't make me run screaming, then it's unlikely that you could do anything to screw up our relationship at this point. Besides, have you met me? If anyone is going to screw it up, you're looking at him. I go into relationships expecting them to end. You've seen me at my lowest and my worst and you're still here, so for the first time in my life, I'm cautiously optimistic."
"Cautiously optimistic? Danny Williams is cautiously optimistic about our relationship? Now, who's the romantic?"
Danny pushed against Steve's rock-hard abs with both hands and stood. "Shut up, you putz, and take me home. We've got some conflicted feelings to work through."
Steve's laughter made a dozen heads turn in their direction, but they ignored the curious looks. Instead, Steve threw what surely appeared to most observers to be a casual arm around Danny's shoulders as he led him out the door. It was a move Danny never could have pulled off in a million years, at least not without the aid of the world's tallest platform shoes. Well, hell, Danny thought, Steve's height did make it easier for him to lead. But he'd live a long and contented life bickering with Steve about the matter before he would ever admit it.
Neither of them noticed Chin and Kono nod at each other and smile as they watched the two men leave together.
The End.
A/N: It's been awhile since I posted, but a prompt from a reader on another site inspired me to write this story. I hope this bit of cavity-causing fluff made you smile just a bit. Thanks for reading.