Guardian

A/N: Here's where I admit to a few things…. First, the comment Steve made in the last chapter about rabbit and therapy bills is what originally started this entire story. Second, this chapter is a bit longer than normal and turned out longer than the original hand written version. Danny got a little long winded, but I didn't want to break the conversation into two chapters. Finally, while chapter 10 was daunting, I'm actually far more nervous about how this one is received, so if you review no other chapter, please take the few seconds to leave one and let me know your opinion on this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them.

Chapter 11

Steve got behind the wheel and brought the car to life as soon as Duke stepped away. After his outburst in the interrogation room, he expected Danny to be mad. Hell, he should have kept his mouth shut. It didn't matter than in every way that matter he was more of a father to Grace than Stan was; he never should have said that in front of his partner, in front of her actual father. Danny was a wonderful father and no one could ever dispute that or replace him in anyway.

Getting in the car, the shorter man said nothing. McGarrett's mind raced, trying to figure out a way out of this, a way not to lose them both because he'd opened his big mouth. Daring a sideways glance at his best friend, the man he often wished was more; he found Danny's blue eyes intently fixed on him.

The Jersey detective was growing increasingly worried about his partner. The interview with Stan had been intense, as he'd anticipated, but nothing jumped out at him as a reason for Steve to break out the kicked puppy look. Danny hated that look, it made him want to wrap the Seal in his arms and swear everything would be okay, but right now he wasn't actually sure what was wrong.

Several long, silent minutes later Steve pulled into a parking spot along the beach. There was a small coffee shop, but the area was largely abandoned at this time on a Thursday. The pair quickly exited the car.

"Why don't you go pick a bench and I'll grab the coffee?" Danny pointed in the direction of some empty benches facing the water and far enough away from the little shop that any interruptions were unlikely. He didn't particularly want to separate from Steve at that moment, but was half convinced he would scare the poor barista to death if he ordered his own coffee.

Giving a silent nod, Steve quickly made his way to an empty bench and sat. Staring out over the water, he rested his head in his hands as his mind raced. It killed him to think Danny was so mad that he couldn't even be near him. After a few minutes, his eyes dropped to the ground.

Sooner than expected, he saw Danny's shoes on the ground in front of him and felt the heat of the coffee cup pressed against his hand. Looking up, but managing not to meet the other man's eyes, he accepted the drink.

"Babe, I said we needed to talk, not that I was sending you to face the firing squad."

The Seal carefully avoided looking at his partner. Danny should have known he'd gotten too much out of Steve easily today; this was going to be challenge. Preparing himself to drag information about of him by force if necessary, he plopped himself down on the bench. Leaving barely an inch between them, he could feel the heat radiating from his partner and hoped that perhaps this physical proximity would help shake something loose.

"I'm so sorry, Danny. I didn't…." This wasn't McGarrett's half-assed apology for something stupid and the pain in the other man's voice finally made the Jersey native snap.

"Steven, why exactly does your Neanderthal brain see the need to apologize?" The Seal looked over, but quickly realized that an answers wasn't necessary. The shorter man was gearing up for a rant. Part of him wanted to relax slightly, a ranting Danny was a normal Danny and right now normal was a welcome feeling; however, he feared this rant would rip everything he'd hoped for away.

"I swear if I hear you apologize one more time for anything related to Stan Edwards I will throttle you myself. I don't care how well trained you are to defend yourself!" Still going, he set his cup on the ground and rose, hands gesturing wildly to emphasize his point. "You had no way of knowing what was happening this week. Given Rachel's comment Sunday, you had every reason to believe she was keeping Grace from calling you. You didn't cause Stan to lose his job. You didn't make him lie to Rachel about all the problems at work. You didn't make him drink so much. You didn't make him kill her and you damn sure didn't make him lay a hand on Grace!"

Steve stared up at him, slightly in awe of the fact that he'd gotten through all that without seeming to breathe. Maybe somehow is flailing hands were channeling oxygen to the rest of his body. Realizing his partner had gone quiet, Steve stared back out over the water, waiting for the axe to fall. After things remained silent for a moment, he opened his mouth.

"I know all that. As much as I want to think I could have and should have stopped it; it isn't my fault it happened. Believe me, I hold Stan firmly accountable for what he did, but I'll still always feel like I should have been there sooner. Danny, she spent two nights locked, terrified in that bathroom. She needed someone to be there and I failed her."

They hadn't come to the point of why he was actually apologizing yet, but Steve assumed they would get there soon enough. If this was the end, he didn't mind it dragging out longer.

"Steven, listen to me. That's not how I see it. To me, you were there when I was clear across the country. You didn't just pick up a phone to call too see if she was okay; you drove to that house and found her. You held her and stayed with her when I couldn't."

He moved to stand directly in front of his partner, blocking his view to the water. When he stubbornly shifted his eyes to the ground, Danny carefully placed a hand under his chin and forced him to look up and meet his gaze. "Damn it, Steve, that's not how Gracie sees it either. To her, you are her Guardian Super Seal. You made good on your promise to make time for her, to be there for her. That little girl loves you so much." Danny's voice shook with the pure weight of the emotion he felt as tears stung his eyes. The reality of just how alone she could have been hit him along with just how incredibly important Steve truly was to them both.

"I know she does and I try to be worthy of it, but I'm so afraid I'm going to fail her. I love her so much. I just don't want to let her down. I'm so incredibly far out of my element." Steve knew what he needed to say. He couldn't avoid it any longer, no matter the consequences, so when Danny started to speak again, Steve held up a hand to quiet him.

"I'm so sorry I snapped in the interrogation room. What I said to Stan, I was so far out line." Danny was confused; he thought Steve was right on point the entire time. "Grace is your daughter. She has a wonderful father in you. She doesn't need another one and she certainly doesn't need a screw up like me making claims like that."

Returning to the seat next to the Seal, Danny took a deep breath. Now he was starting to understand why his partner had closed himself off so quickly. Ever the tactician he went for the preemptive strike, so convinced he'd messed up; that he'd be sent to solitary for breaking the rules.

"Steven, do you remember Sunday when we dropped Gracie off?" He looked sideways to see the confused look and affirmative nod. "Did you catch the slip when she was thanking you?"

"I..." The Seals voice was eerily quiet and he didn't finish, but Danny knew he'd caught it.

"Steven, listen to me. I am Grace's Danno, a title I wear most proudly and is infinitely more special to me than daddy ever could be; however, I think it's time I fill you in on some background."

Pausing, he looked to make sure the Seal was following along.

"Several months ago, I picked Grace up from school and was regaled with stories about the new student at school, Nikki, and how they'd become immediate friends. Apparently, Nikki spent the day telling Gracie how she had two daddies and all kinds of stories about how great they were. One of her dads had dated her mother, but things didn't work out. The mother wanted nothing to do with her daughter, so he gained full custody. About two years ago, he met her second dad and all is now seemingly perfect in Nikki's world."

Danny wasn't surprised to see his partner looking somewhat confused, so he charged ahead with the story.

"Anyway, this was around the same time that things started falling apart with Rachel and Stan. They were spending a fair amount of time arguing and in Grace's mind, she decided having two daddies instead of me, her mother, and a step-Stan would be wonderful. At that point not much else was said since we had arrived at Rachel's and I was only supposed be playing transport that day."

Steve detected a hint of bitterness in Danny's voice. He knew how much it irked him to only have those little bits of time with his daughter. Staying quiet, he waited for Danny to continue.

"That Friday, I picked her up for her weekend with me. It was one of those rare weekends that I'd let you convince me to bring her over and stay so we could play on the beach. She was so excited to get in the car and get going. I mentioned something about home, referring to Rachel's house, and she reacted a bit oddly. I started asking questions and she finally admitted that with the two of them arguing every time they thought she couldn't hear that it didn't feel like home, just some big house she happened to occupy. We pulled into your driveway and I asked her if somewhere did feel like home. I wanted so badly for her to be happy, to feel like she had a home, but with my apartment I was terrified my little girl was going to say no."

Danny fell silent, leaning forward and staring toward the water. Steve mimicked his pose, but turned his head to watch him.

"She didn't miss a beat, Steven. She didn't even think twice. She looked me square in the eye and said, 'Here, Danno. Here, when the three of us are together. This is home.' Then she jumped out of the car and took off running to where you were waiting as if it were no big deal."

The pair fell silent, as Steve processed what he'd just heard. Home? Home was with him? Piecing the information together, he sat back.

"Wait. Is that why you suddenly stopped arguing that you were invading and in the way every time I invited you two to stay for the weekend? I never bothered to question it, but looking back it was as if a switch flipped. I went from practically begging you to bring her over, to being able to plan weekends with the three of us like clockwork."

Danny couldn't help but smile. "Guilty. I couldn't do it; I just couldn't fight it any more. I didn't want us to become a burden, but to know that we were family that we were home to her. I would have given anything for her to keep that feeling."

Elbowing Danny in the ribs, Steve couldn't help a small smile. He wasn't out of the woods yet, but it was starting to feel like this story was going to end in a far better place than he expected.

"So, I'm not in trouble for crossing a line because you don't want Grace to lose home right when she needs it most."

Danny thought for a second. "Actually, babe, you're not in trouble, because you just managed to cross a line that Gracie and I crossed shortly after your place became home."

"Explain, please?" Steve was puzzled.

"You remember I asked you about Sunday, right? That's where this entirely too long winded explanation began, but I needed you to understand home before I thought you'd have any chance of getting this one."

Not sure if he should be offended or not, the Seal just laughed. "I know, I'm emotionally challenged."

"Actually babe, after today I'm starting to think that is just a front you put when people are watching, but don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Anyway, over the next few weeks I heard an increasing number of stories about Nikki and her dads and eventually the topic of Grace wanting a second dad came up. I told her I wasn't sure how I'd going about finding her one of those and she actually laughed at me. 'Silly, Danno. We already have him.' Somehow I felt like that stupid rabbit from the Trix commercials. She carefully explained that she didn't just want any daddy, she wanted you. Apparently she'd given this a lot of thought."

The detective paused here, waiting to see how Steve was reacting. "Me?" The question was a I mere whisper, nearly lost on the ocean breeze.

"I asked her if she wanted to talk to you about it, but she was determined to keep it quiet. She didn't want you to feel pressured and made it abundantly clear that she'd rather have you as Uncle Steve and keep you close than risk pushing you away. Sunday I really thought she was going to slip."

"I thought I'd imagined it." Steve finally spoke louder. "Up until yesterday, I really thought I'd imagined it. She almost said it a few times when she was awake and then in her sleep she was calling for both Danno and Daddy. Last night, when I work her up from the nightmare, I think she was too upset to filter herself and actually called me Daddy."

Danny realized he detected a hint of pride along with a certain amount of sadness in Steve's voice. The sadness worried him.

"Babe, how do you feel about being called Daddy?" They were this far down the path; they might as well finish it.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Upsetting his partner's position with Grace was what worried Steve the most.

Of course, the crazy Seal was sad because he expected Danny to object. "Is that your only concern, Steven? It doesn't bother you what people might say if they hear her calling you Daddy? It's not like we're exactly unrecognizable around here." Any misconceptions on that front wouldn't bother Danny in the least. The women that practically threw themselves at Steve everywhere they went made him insanely jealous; unfortunately, he had no basis to claim the Seal has his.

"Danno, half the island thinks we're more than just partners anyway." He couldn't help the hint of longing in his voice, though Danny wrote it off as wishful thinking on his part. "I've long since stopped caring what any of them think."

"True. I think there are a fair number of people that suspect we're married." Danny didn't look at his partner, trying to keep his tone joking, so he missed the look of absolute longing on Steve's face. "And no, for your question, it doesn't bother me. I've always been her Danno, never Daddy."

Steve smiled, thinking that Danno truly was a special nickname. He'd noticed his partner no longer argued when he used it. Of course, he was probably just tired of arguing about it. Though that seemed to be the only thing Danny ever got tired of arguing about.

"Honestly, Danno, I never imagined my life with kids, but now I can't imagine my life without Grace." Without you went unspoken. "You have no idea how incredibly honored… how incredibly humbled I am to think she believes me worthy of that name. I spent years working to earn the rank of Lieutenant Commander, but I can honestly say I'd trade that in in a heartbeat for Grace to call me Daddy."

Rising from the bench, Danny turned and extended a hand to pull the Seal up, reluctantly letting go when he was on his feet. Giving him a brief hug, that they both wished were longer, they headed toward the car together.

"Steve, if my Monkey is going to call anyone else Daddy, I'm very glad it's you."

McGarrett grinned wildly; this entire conversation had reoriented his world. "Let's go home, Danno."

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A/N: Please take a second to review. Pretty, pretty please.

The next chapter will be back at home with all of them, but I really felt like this part needed to be handled with just the two of them.