Guardian

A/N: I'm at a loss for any good intro notes to this ones, so ready or not here it is.

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

Chapter 44

Danny would have argued that Steve was being over protective when he stood and used his body to shield them as they moved toward the bathroom door, but frankly he just couldn't muster a rant.

When the Seal relaxed slightly and proceeded through the door, the detective followed holding their daughter tightly in his arms.

The room was empty aside from their ohana and Governor Denning. Danny's face must have shown his confusion as the governor spoke up.

"We thought it best if you didn't have to deal with any more people today. I'm sure you'd like to get home, but if it's okay I'll stop by shortly with dinner." Everyone looked surprised by his words. "Don't worry, I didn't cook, but I arranged to have something made. It seemed like the least I could do."

"Thank you." Steve reached out and shook his hand. "We certainly appreciate the thought and I'm sure Mom won't mind not having to cook for a night."

"Good. I'll be by to drop it off in about an hour and a half."

The entire group made their way to the door, instinctively wanting to be free of the room and back to the McGarrett house where they could let their guard down a bit.

Steve was unsurprised to find nearly all of the HPD officers waiting for them just outside the building. Heads nodded and some they were more familiar with reached out to squeeze a shoulder or pat a back, but they remained silent, standing guard as the family climbed into the three vehicles.

In the Camaro, Steve wasn't surprised that his partner had climbed into the back with their daughter. Though he tried to stay focused on the road, his eyes kept shifting to the pair in rearview mirror.

Aside from the incident, the afternoon had gone much as Steve had imagined, but something about the look on his partner's face now concerned him. The closer they got to home, the more he seemed to shut down. The distant look in his eyes made the Seal uneasy.

Parking the car in the driveway, Steve immediately moved to help Grace out of the back as Danny climbed out the other side. The little girl yawned at him as he swung her into his arms without a second thought.

Her head resting against his neck, Grace's arms wrapped tightly around him. "I love you Daddy."

Steve stood rooted in place for a moment, eyes closed, letting himself feel the precious little girl held so close to his heart. "I love you to Gracie." Standing with her, he promised himself that he would say those words as often as he could. He never wanted her to doubt just how much she was loved.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned to see Chin and noticed Kono and Cath standing by his car still as Mary and Beth seemed to be leading Dianne and Danny toward the house.

"We thought we might swing by HQ and see if we can find anything out about our surprise guest and if there's any news on where things stand with Stan."

Steve's expression must have given away his surprise that they were leaving, because the Hawaiian quickly continued. "We should be back shortly after dinner arrives, but from the looks of it I think some of you are in need of a nap before then."

Glancing down at Grace, he saw her eyes drifting closed. "Thanks brah. I appreciate you guys getting the intel for us. Just come on in when you get back, no need to knock."

Nodding, Chin turned back toward his car as Steve carried his very sleepy daughter back inside. Clearly the stress of the afternoon had exhausted her.

Inside the door, he found the other four waiting in the living room. The women were all watching them, but Danny seemed lost in his own world staring at one of the pictures on the wall.

Mary moved first, giving him a quick hug and whispering that she was going to go rest for a bit before dinner.

"I'm going to go get changed, but I'll be around if you need anything." Beth gave him a pointed look. Mom was clearly staying on duty in case anyone needed anything.

As she disappeared up the stairs behind Mary, Steve's gaze turned to Mrs. Bradley. The woman looked exhausted and at a complete loss.

"I suppose I should call the car and go back to the hotel." She sounded like that was the last thing she really wanted to do.

The Seal stepped closer, leaving only a few inches between them.

"Dianne, you don't need to leave. Honestly, I'd rather you stay here where we know you're okay." He could see she was going to argue that he didn't need to worry about her. "Plus, Grace is clearly exhausted and I really don't want to leave her alone right now."

He let his eyes drift toward his partner, hoping she would understand what he meant. He wasn't sure Danny was even hearing what was going on around him, but he didn't want to take that chance.

Dianne's eyes followed Steve's and fell on the alarmingly quiet form of her daughter's normally quite animated ex-husband. Shifting her gaze back to Steve, she nodded in understanding.

"Why don't you let me take her upstairs? I think I could do with a nap myself and I'd much rather it be with my granddaughter than alone in a hotel room."

As he shifted the sleeping girl into her arms, he watched carefully to make sure the girl's weight wasn't too much and mouthed a silent 'Thank you'.

"Don't worry, I've got her. I may not be as young as I used to be, but I'm not some frail old woman." She smiled up at him.

"Pretty sure frail isn't a word I'd associate with anyone in this family." He replied as he watched her carry Grace up the stairs.

Left alone with his partner, the Seal knew it was time to see if he could bring him back from the abyss the overly emotional afternoon seemed to have plunged him into.

"Danny," Steve watched as his partner continued staring unseeing at the framed photograph on the wall. Stepping closer, he wrapped his arms around the shorter man's chest and pulled him against his own. Leaning down, he kissed the top of his head before speaking. "Let's go get changed, then I'll grab us a couple of beers and we can sit outside for a bit."

The voice so close to him startled the detective, but he nodded his agreement and allowed Steve to lead him toward their bedroom. He knew he needed to snap out of this fog he seemed to be trapped in, but he just couldn't.

Understanding that Danny still seemed to be in a bit of a daze, the Seal left him standing in the middle of their bedroom as he disappeared into the closet to find them both a change of clothes. Reappearing a moment later, the detective hadn't moved.

Grabbing his hand, Steve led him closer to the bed. Tossing the t-shirts and shorts onto the bed, he took his suit jacket off, tossing it aside, before turning to focus on his partner. Moments later, with minimal assistance from the detective, the Seal had them both changed and suits stashed in a bag to take to the dry cleaners at some later point.

Grabbing Danny's hand again, he guided him back out of the room and quietly down the stairs.

"Go sit down. I'll grab a couple of beers and be right behind you." He nudged his partner out the back door and watched to make sure he headed in the right direction. Satisfied that he'd made it to their favorite chairs, Steve ducked into the kitchen to grab the beers.

Beth sat at the island, having come back down after changing, she watched her son's partner and saw the concern etched on his face. "Is he okay?"

"Not yet, but he will be." Steve grabbed the bottles from the fridge before pausing to stand next to her. "Danny's one of the strongest men I've ever seen, so once he's had a chance to process everything I know he'll be okay. In the meantime..." He stopped, unsure how to explain.

Beth reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him closer so her head rested on his chest from where she sat. "In the meantime, you'll be the anchor that keeps him grounded." She squeezed him a bit tighter before letting go. "He loves you, Steven. Don't let his grief make you forget."

"I know and I won't. I can understand how he feels and I'm okay with it. I just don't want him to forget that with all the bad that's happened there's still a lot of good in his life."

Danny's mom smiled up at him. "He'll remember. He's surrounded by a loving family that will make sure of that. Grace too. Now go take care of my boy." She shooed him toward the door. "Steven." She waited for him to turn back. "Don't forget we're here for you too. I love you, son."

"Love you too mom." With those words he quickly headed for the door to start trying to bring his partner back.

Reaching the chairs and Danny's entirely too still form, Steve set the drinks on the table and paused to look at his lover from where he stood.

"I'm sorry." Danny spoke the words without looking at him.

"What? Why?" The Seal remained rooted where he stood. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, that the Jersey native spoke unprompted or that the first thing out of his mouth was an apology.

"You don't deserve this. You don't deserve to have to deal with me falling apart over Rachel." Danny's voice was insistent. "You can do so much better than this." He gestured at himself.

"Bullshit." The Seal nearly growled. He'd half expected this reaction though, so he was prepared. This wasn't Danny saying he didn't love him; this was Danny trying to protect him in his own illogical way.

"I'm serious, Steven. You deserve so much better." His eyes remained fixed on the water, refusing to look at his partner, knowing his resolve would crack the minute he did. "I'll sleep on the couch tonight and figure out what to do tomorrow."

"Daniel," Steve crouched down in front of his chair, refusing to back away. "I'm not letting you push me away. Not now, not when the only thing keeping us all sane is each other. We've been over this already. Rachel may have loved antagonizing you, but you loved her enough to marry her and it wasn't your choice to walk away. Not to mention, she gave you Grace. You can't expect to walk away from this without feeling anything."

Despite the Seal's face being only inches from his, the detective stubbornly refused to meet his eyes.

Slowly reaching up, Steve gently wrapped a hand around the side of his partner's neck, letting his thumb brush softly over the tense jaw. Leaning in closer, he kissed a cheek, then the tip of Danny's nose, before finally placing a single chaste kiss on his lips.

"Babe, please don't shut me out. I swear, you have nothing to apologize for and I don't love you any less for needing to mourn Rachel's death." His voice was quiet, but Danny caught the cracks despite Steve's effort to sound calm. "Hell, the entire ohana was crying at the funeral. We may not have the history with Rachel that you did, but her completely unexpected death hit us all and knowing how badly it hurt you and Grace made it even worse."

When his partner still didn't speak, Steve took a deep breath and prepared to play his trump card. "Daniel, if anyone deserved better in this relationship, it's you. I come with so much fucked up baggage that no one should have to put up with it. If you're going to walk away, do it because I'm too messed up to deserve the kind of love you have to give, not because you don't think you're good enough because that's bullshit and you know it."

Intense blue eyes, immediately flew up to meet his. "No." Danny shook his head vehemently. "You are not too messed up to deserve how much I love you."

Before the Jersey native could argue further, Steve pulled him closer, crashing their lips together. Letting himself fall to his knees from the crouching position he'd been in, Steve wasn't letting Danny loose this time.

One hand still wrapped around Danny's neck, the other snaked around and pulled him forward in the chair forcing his partner's knees to part so his body fit between then.

Danny fleetingly realized that he'd been tricked, before he was completely consumed by the solid and overwhelming warmth of his crazy partner's body. He couldn't fault him for playing dirty, if the roles had been reversed he would have done the same. Despite his declared intent to leave only moments before, he knew it would have been impossible to follow through.

When Steve was reasonably certain they were past the immediate crisis, he loosened his hold slightly as he released Danny's lips.

"I love you Daniel. Nothing is going to change that and I'm going to let you just walk away. You need time to come to terms with Rachel's death and I get that, but I'm going to be here every step of the way with you."

Nodding silently, Danny's tear filled eyes met Steve's and was surprised to see the unshed tears there. Crazy Neanderthal he may sometimes be, but the detective knew better than to argue. Instead he gave in and let himself lean into the strong chest and protective arms.

Steve was right, it might take some time for him to fully get over Rachel's death, but he wouldn't make the mistake of pushing the Seal away again. As the sturdy arms wrapped tightly around him, he closed his eyes and let the tears fall.

"I've got you." The Seal whispered against the blond locks. "I've got you."

/

Please take a minute and leave a review. Promise we're getting close to the end of the wickedly angst ridden part, but it just seemed wrong to try to rush them through it.