Care
"Why don't you see that there are people who care about you! Deeply!"
Steve whipped his body around to look at Danny, immediately regretting the decision as pain shot through his abdomen, his body harshly reminding him of the stab wound, which happened to lead to this very conversation, or should he say shouting match between him and Danny.
"You think I don't know that?" Steve yelled back, stalking over to his partner, pleased that Danny didn't flinch a muscle at his wild-eyed approach. "That I don't notice you and the others all help me and do things for me that I would never ask you to do; that I don't understand what that means?"
Danny drew himself up as he spoke, bringing his nose practically to Steve's, refusing to back down, not this time. "That's not what I mean, not who I mean-", the blonde tried before Steve cut him off.
"I know," the Commander said, his voice suddenly soft, his eyes searching Danny's as the blonde felt Steve's breath hot on his face.
Danny closed his eyes as Steve leaned towards him, but after a few seconds of nothing the blonde opened them again to find Steve was gone. Danny's eyes quickly scanned the office for him, and once he spotted Steve headed through the door the blonde called his partner's name, the word coming out as a plea, but for what Danny wasn't sure.
Steve stopped in his tracks halfway through the door, "Nothing has changed Danny," exhaustion coloring the Commander's voice, "It's still not safe for me to care," Steve mumbles, and Danny could swear his partner sounded pained when he spoke.
Danny sighed, but you do care Steve, whatever you like it or not, the blonde thought as he watched Steve go, leaving him alone with his thoughts, and boy did he have a lot of them; the most prominent one being whatever it would ever be truly safe and could he stand to wait to find out?