Guardian
A/N: I'm back! I managed to get a fair amount of writing done while traveling. Just a warning this chapter is a hard one. I'll own up to tearing up a bit while writing one particular part of it (you'll probably understand when you get there).
If anyone is interested, the song 10,000 Stones by Adrianne is something of a theme song for this story and Grace. There are a few others that are on the playlist as well, just let me know if anybody cares to know what they are.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them although it's starting to feel like I'm torturing them.
Chapter 18
Opening the door to the tiny apartment, Danny was anxious to get it packed and cleaned. It wouldn't take too long. He hated this place so much that he'd never really bothered turning it into home and once he and Grace started spending their time together at Steve's he'd done little more than sleep within these walls.
Looking back, he realized Steve had known. Not only that, but in his own subtle way he'd helped. The Seal was forever coming up with some ridiculous reason to grab dinner, a beer, or go unwind at his place after work, always preventing Danny from going back to the apartment for the evening.
"Okay, son, what can I do?" Beth was quick to volunteer. She could sense his desire to leave this place behind and could see why.
"Kitchen?" He questioned. "Just don't judge."
She laughed, but quickly smiled as Steve defended him. "Any cooking usually happened at my place."
Walking into the tiny kitchen, she quickly called back to them. "I can see why!" There was barely room to fix a bowl of cereal; much less a real home cooked meal.
"Chin and Kono should be here soon with boxes." Danny reminded everyone. "Cleaning stuff is under the kitchen sink."
"Found that already. Go pack up your room. Grace and I can handle things out here."
They'd already determined his sparse and rather underwhelming furniture collection would get donated. One of Chin's many cousins would be stopping to pick it up for them in about an hour.
As the women set to work, the boys disappeared to the bedroom. Stopping inside the door, Danny felt his partner press against his back as his long arms wrapped loosely around him.
"You sure you're ready for this? Giving up your own space?" Steve spoke quietly.
"Are you kidding me, babe? You know how much I hate this place. Matter of fact, I was realizing just how useful you've been in keeping me from losing my mind by spending too much time here. Don't think I didn't notice."
Leaning his head back against Steve's chest, he smiled. "Let's pack up my meager belongings and get back home."
Steve moved to the closet, pulling hangers of slacks and dress shirts of the bar. "I'm just gonna put these in the back seat. No point taking them off the hanger for such a short trip." They'd brough both their vehicles plus would have Chin and Kono's cars, so there would be no shortage of room to fit everything.
Jogging back up the stairs a few minutes later, the Seal heard the sound of glass shattering against a wall in the apartment. Breaking into a spring, he busted back through the door to find Grace staring at the wall, tears streaming down her face.
Danny and Beth both stood a few feet away starting at her; seemingly frozen in place. The adults were unsure what sparked the sudden outburst.
From his vantage point, Steve could see the shatter frame and picture. It was a picture of the little girl with Stan and Rachel that the woman had insisted she have with her at Danny's place. Of course, Grace had stuck it in a drawer and forgotten about it, until now.
Steve mouthed "the picture" and gestured his partner forward and the pair cautiously approached their daughter. Hearing footsteps outside, Beth snuck quietly out the door to keep the cousins from intruding. They'd give the boys a few minutes to make sure Grace was okay.
As the door clicked behind her, the men knelt on either side of Grace. Her small frame crumpled into her Danno's arms, Steve immediately engulfing them both in his strong embrace.
"I hate him!" She choked through the sobs. "I hate him. He killed her."
The men clung to her as her angry sobs continued. Danny could have kicked himself for forgetting that stupid picture was still in the drawer. It hadn't seen the light of day since the weekend Grace brought it. He'd asked her if she wanted to take it to Steve's and she flatly refused.
Unsure of what to say, Steve could only hold them more tightly to him. He understood her anger, but had no answer to help make it better. He couldn't protect her from this hurt. A renewed desire to beat Stan within an inch of his life surged through him, but he knew in the end it would get them nowhere.
"Gracie, do you want to talk about it?" Danny finally asked. Very little had been said up to now about what had happened. They hadn't wanted to push her when she was clearly not ready. "We're here for you." And he knew it would always be we not just him. Steve was just invested in his little girl as he was.
"No." She paused for only a second. "I'm just so angry at him. He didn't have to do it. Mom was trying to get us out." Despite her negative answer, the words seemed to pour out of her. "It was the first time she tried to leave during a fight. He was still drinking. He looked so scary. I tried to pull her out of the kitchen so we could go, but he grabbed her and wouldn't let go. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't get her free from him. I ended up getting thrown into the cabinet when he jerked her away."
That explained some of the bruising on her back. The men clung to their daughter, afraid if they let go one or both of them would land in jail for killing a prisoner.
"That's when he did it. He pushed her so hard. The sound when her head it the counter, it was….. There was so much blood. I couldn't move at first, just stared at the floor. Then I screamed and he lunged for me, grabbing my shirt."
The Seal remembered her torn clothing all to well.
"I wasn't strong enough. He kept hitting me, trying to make me hold still, be quiet. I thought he was going to do the same thing to me that he'd done to Mommy. I knew she was dead, there was so much blood and she'd stopped moving, stopped making any noise. When his hand finally slipped a little, I hit him with my elbow. His other arm finally let go and I ran. I heard him yelling my name, coming after me before I could get to my room, so I locked myself in the bathroom."
It made sense, she was aiming for her room. The room where she could have locked the door, but also had a phone and could have called for help, but she was afraid she couldn't make it all the way down the hall. She'd hid in the first room that locked.
"Gracie, I'm so sorry. I should have been there sooner." It didn't matter that it wasn't his fault; he would never forgive himself for not being there to rescue her.
Steve wanted to ask why she hadn't told them how bad things were with the Edwards. He would have done everything in his power to get her out of what had clearly become a toxic environment.
The little girl squirmed in their arms until they loosened their hold. Then she turned toward the Seal.
"I knew you would come. I knew if I could only call you, you'd be there. I wanted to get to my room, to the phone, but every time I started to try I 'd hear him and I was too scared to try." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "He kept yelling that no one would come for me. That nobody would care that I was locked in there. 'Danno isn't here to save you now.' He kept yelling, but I told him. I told him my Daddy could come."
Her faith in him made it hurt even worse that he hadn't come sooner. Steve remembered the nightmare, her declaration that Daddy would come. He hated that she'd had to wait so long for him to make good on her words.
Danny wrapped his arms around the pair as best he could. His anguish at seeing the pain in both of them made his heart physically hurt. He wanted to fix this, but he just didn't know how.
"We will always come for you, Grace. Always." The detective spoke with fierce determination. He'd tear the island, the entire world, apart to find her if needed and he knew his partner would too.
"I know." She didn't hesitate with that declaration. Her incredible conviction that they wouldn't fail her humbled both men.
The three remained in a silent embrace for several long moments.
"Do you want to go home, Gracie?" Danny didn't want to make her stay here after rehashing what she'd seen on Monday. He could deal with the apartment later.
"No. I want to finish." They both detected a bit of the Williams' steel in her voice, a hint of her determination to make it through.
Slowly breaking away from their spot on the floor, Steve reached behind him and picked up the picture before she could spot it again. He didn't want her to see it again so soon, or possibly ever.
The little girl gave them each another hug before moving to the door, having heard Kono's quiet voice outside. Opening it, she looked at the three waiting faces and tried to force a smile.
"Sorry." She felt bad for leaving them stuck outside.
The Hawaiian woman squatted down in front of her, pulling her into a loving hug. "It's okay, Gracie. We didn't mind waiting." Leaning back a bit, she looked the little girl in her eyes. "I'm here if you need me, okay?" Receiving a quick nod and small smile, Kono released her and headed in.
Chin leaned down to give Grace a hug of his own. "That goes for me too, you know. Anytime you need me. I'm there." He felt her nod against his shoulder.
It was killing both of the cousins to know what she was going through. They couldn't change what had happened, but they'd be there for the fallout. Be there to help her pick up the pieces.
Reaching back, Chin grabbed the stack of flattened boxes and followed Kono inside, leaving Grace and Beth alone on the landing.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Her grandmother asked as she pulled her into a tight hug.
"No, but I will be." The hint of steel was still in her voice. She really was her father's daughter. Beth hoped her recovery would be eased by the amount of support she clearly had and the little girl's determination that she would indeed by okay.
"That's right, Gracie. You will be and we're all here to help along the way." She kissed her granddaughter's cheek before they ventured back into the apartment.
The remnants of the broken picture frame were gone. They living are now housed a growing pile of boxes ready to pack.
"I put a couple in the kitchen with some paper to wrap the dishes." Chin offered when he saw them. "If you two want to tackle that we'll finish in here." He wasn't sure if there were any more potential landmines in the living area and didn't want to take that risk.
Two hours later, Danny closed the door on the now vacant apartment and turned to the elderly woman that had been his landlord.
"How much do I owe you for breaking the lease?"
The woman smiled at him, eyes crinkled. "Nothing my dear. I heard what happened on the news and that handsome partner of yours explained why you needed to move. I'll get it rented back out quickly enough." She handed him a check. "Here's your deposit. Now you go take care of that little girl."
The older woman shuffled off, leaving Danny speechless. He wondered what exactly his partner had explained to her, but decided to take the little bit of good fortune without question or complaint.
Meeting the others at the cars, he gave the Seal a warm smile. "Let's go home."
"I like the sound of that." Steve climbed into his truck, Grace already safely strapped in the back. Danny was a bit surprised when his mother climbed into Chin's vehicle instead of his car.
"We'll be right behind you. We're going to call one of his cousin's so he can start pulling together real estate listings." Beth waved to him before closing the door.
Of course, Chin and Kono seemed to have cousins that did almost everything. Firing up the Camaro, Danny gave the apartment one last glance in the rearview mirror before following his partner's blue truck onto the road.
Having a rare moment to himself, the detective considered the whirlwind of a week they were wrapping up. Sunday had been hard, Grace was so unusually distraught over his departure, but he'd needed to make the trip to Jersey for the funeral. Of course, knowing what he did now he would have pulled her out of school to come with him.
When Steve dropped him off at the airport, he'd struggled with his desire to give the Seal a proper goodbye kiss, but had fully expected that would have landed him a punch in the face and a quick end to what relationship they did have. Now he wished he'd taken that chance.
Wednesday had been a wreck. He'd forgotten his phone when they went to the actual funeral, which had subsequently caused a delay, no matter how small, in finding Grace. He was incredibly glad he'd fought Rachel and insisted on Steve's inclusion on every emergency contact form for that related to Grace.
The long hours of travel had been torture. He'd wanted to be there, to hold his baby girl, but had also struggled with Steve's uncharacteristic declaration that he needed him. Yes, he'd said Grace needed him to come home, but he'd also admitted he needed him too.
What a difference two days made; it was going to take time for Grace to feel anything closely resembling normal again, but she was doing better than expected.
Judging by the experience in the apartment, she was moving into the anger stage of grief. He could understand that phase and suspected so could Steve. He only hoped the anger didn't channel itself in a direction she would regret later.
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