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Just Like Catherine

Steve entered the Rollins' condo and at the sight of his daughter watching a video with her grandfather, his tired eyes crinkled up at the corners.

After wrapping a grueling 36 hour case with a violent end, he'd called on his way home to say he was going to stop and pick Angie up early. He'd released the team for the day, but had to stop at HQ to shower and change. His clothes were splattered with the blood and brains of a now dead criminal who'd decided the best way out of his imminent murder by a cartel was suicide-by-cop.

"Look who's here, sweetheart." Joseph pointed and the toddler who'd been too engrossed in Paw Patrol to notice the door opening, squealed and slid off the sofa, hitting the ground at a run.

"Daddy! Daddy he'we!" She catapulted into his arms.

"There's my big girl." He held her close and closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of baby shampoo and something sweet - 'chocolate chip cookie dough' he thought as he kissed her cheek. "Daddy missed you so much. Let's get your stuff, Uncle Danno's in the car." The case had been caught just before midnight so his partner had picked him up.

"Rough one." Joseph's utterance was a statement, not a question and as he handed Angie's bag to his weary-looking son in law, he placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "She's all set to go." He'd gathered her things right after Steve's call. The shooting had made the local 10:00 a.m. news. "Get some rest, son. We'll drive DJ home after school so you don't have to come back out later."

Steve nodded his thanks. "Ready to go?" he addressed the little one in his arms. "We'll surprise Mommy and DJ tonight and order pizza for dinner." He'd already decided at 11:00 a.m. what was happening for supper. There'd be no time spent cooking that day, and while he'd called her immediately upon wrapping since she'd been getting real-time reports, he wanted nothing more than to spend time with Catherine and the kids. He'd further decompress with and get lost in her later.

Steve shifted to place Angie on her feet, but the toddler shook her head and held on. She'd quieted after her exuberant greeting and innately knowing what he needed, was resting her head on his shoulder. Even her "Nummy," to the pizza was quieter than usual.

"No, Daddy. Snuggles," she said and pulled back to study his face. When she saw a purpling mark, she touched the bruise that had formed on his left cheekbone. "Boo boo," she whispered, and kissed the spot as her parents would do for her little bumps and bruises. "O-tay, tiss bettew."

Blinking at her, Steve pressed his cheek against his little girl's and said, "Thank you, baby girl, it's all better now." While thinking, 'Everything's better now.'

Over her head, his eyes met Joseph's and the men shared a look that read, "Just like Catherine," as he shook his head in amazement.

Once again in awe of just how much their daughter's ability to read exactly what people needed, even from an age where she couldn't possibly comprehend why, left him breathless. Kissing the soft baby cheek, he repeated, "C'mon, let's go home. Daddy needs a nap more than you do."

As he thanked Joseph again and asked after Ang and Elizabeth who'd gone to a fundraiser, Angie leaned from his arms to kiss Grandpa and Smokey bye bye and wave to Gizmo.

When Joseph shut and locked the door behind them, it was to the sound of Angie telling her father she had "Gwill cheez appews-toss an mak' nummy cookies wif Gwanma," a combination of events from that morning's cookie baking and lunch the previous day.

He smiled softly at the way his granddaughter's kindness and empathy were so very much like his daughter's. The retired captain needed none of his finely tuned powers of observation to notice how when Steve and Angie exited the condo his son-in-law's smile - unlike when he entered - had reached his eyes.

Danny followed Steve and Angie into the beach house and after both men watched her greet Cammie with hugs and kisses, the experienced father nodded.

"It always helps, right?"

Steve ran a hand over his face and nodded. Even though Angie had only been at the condo for a few hours, the minute they'd wrapped the case he decided to pick her up and bring her home with him. "More than I ever could've imagined."

She suddenly stood, ran into his legs and lifted her arms. "Up."

Lifting her and folding her into a tight hug he said, "Daddy really needed a hug, thank you, baby girl." Kissing her temple he smiled when she reached for her godfather.

"Good job, beautiful. Uncle Danno needed an extra hug, too." He set the little girl down to rejoin Cammie, where she resumed stacking her colorful duplos.

"Daddy, Unca Danno pway?"

"Uncle Danno has to go home to sleep, but we can build for a little bit before naptime."

As Steve sat on the floor to join his daughter and she handed him a block, he glanced at Danny and smiled. He'd felt the weight of the previous 36 hours begin to lift the minute he laid eyes on Angie. Her instincts, hugs and simple joy at his presence erased even more of the ugliness.

The particularly vile case had ended with Steve killing a man who'd come at them firing after wounding two HPD officers. Upon entering his home, they'd found the skeletal remains of two people. A bathtub held the sludge-like remnants of a third, and nearly a hundred kilos of cocaine stolen from the cartel they'd brought down the day before.

Danny placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder as Steve sat surrounded by blocks, between his toddler and faithful, loving dog. Cammie, too, had picked up on the mood and was resting her head on his knee.

Steve nodded when he saw his partner smiling knowingly at the goddaughter he loved like his own.

Danny got it.

He always did.

And since his daughter entered the world, he did, too.

"I'm gonna go home, call Nonna and wait for Grace to get in so I can hug my baby." Stooping to kiss Angie goodbye and ruffle Cammie's fur, Danny returned the gesture when the little girl blew him a parting kiss. "They're the antidote when the fetid cesspool of humanity we wade through gets deeper than usual."

"They definitely are."

"And you, Miss Angie ..." Danny pointed between his niece and her father, the smile gracing his features widening as he further lightened the mood. "Made your daddy even luckier. Because that intangible ... thing your mommy has that soothes his soul and comforts everyone else's?" When his gaze met Steve's, he addressed the best friend he considered a brother.

Steve's eyes softened as they always did at the mention of his wife.

"She's got it, partner," Danny said. "Just like Catherine."

# End. Thanks for reading!

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