A/N: Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and make no money doing this. I'm just having fun playing with them. My beta reader is awesome, but all mistakes are my own.

Chapter 71

Pulling up to the house, Steve was surprised to only find Cath's car next to his truck before remembering that Chin and Kono had said that they were going to pop into the office for at least part of the day and start bringing the Five-0 headquarters back to life. With Grace's planned return to school, the task force needed to start getting back into the swing of things before the criminals of Hawaii decided to start getting brave.

Once inside, Danny and Steve headed toward the kitchen, finding Beth stirring something on the stove.

"How'd the meeting go?" She turned to look at the pair, her smile fading as she took in their expressions. "Want to tell me what happened? Grace is out back getting some extra practice in with Cath. I wanted to get lunch together so we could eat before painting and still be done in time to go get Paul."

"Speaking of, who is making the airport run?" Steve asked. "I'm happy to go if you guys don't feel like it." His tone sounded less confident with that idea than he intended.

"I think Ma and I can handle it. I don't think trapping you in a car with my father as soon as he gets of the plane is the smartest idea." Danny and Beth both laughed until they realized that Steve's expression was a mix of kicked puppy and worry. "Babe, I'm not trying to keep you away from him. Dad adores you, but you've met him. You know he talks more than I do, and he's spent all day traveling alone, so he's going to have a backlog of words to use up."

"True," Steve admitted.

"Plus, he should have a fair bit of luggage, so we'll need to go in to get him, and I really don't want to drag Grace through the airport."

"I'm sure I can keep her occupied while you're gone. Maybe we'll go for a swim."

"Speaking of Grace. Why don't you go find her and Catherine and let them know that lunch is ready?" Beth started filling bowls with the homemade chicken and dumplings she'd thrown together.

"Sure thing." Steve ducked toward the door before Danny could move. Pausing just outside the house, he watched as Grace defended herself as Cath tried to grab her.

"Good hit!" The Naval officer encouraged as Grace landed an elbow to her ribs.

Steve waited until Gracie broke completely free before coming away from the house.

"Daddy! Did you see?" She ran toward him, jumping into his outstretched arms.

"I did, Gracie. You're getting very good." He smiled as she kissed his cheek. "Grandma sent me to get you two for lunch, and it smelled really good."

Cath grabbed the two water bottles from the ground before joining them. "I could definitely eat. Grace gave me a run for my money today. Are we finishing the painting after lunch? Beth said Danny was a mess by the time the first coat was up."

"You wouldn't believe it. I'm not sure which had more paint on it, him or the walls." Steve laughed as they headed toward the dining room.

"I heard that!" Danny yelled. "I did not have that much paint on me." He defended as they sat down at the table. "It's not my fault that Super SEAL here has some paint deflecting coating."

"Paint deflecting coating?" Steve shook his head as he laughed at his partner. "Seriously? Just because I'm a neat painter you think I have some special coating covering my body and clothes?"

"Too bad you don't," Cath laughed. "You could make a fortune selling something like that."

"Fine. If you don't like my method of painting, you can do the second coat without me." Danny griped at them as they all settled in to eat.

"Aww, come on Danno. Don't get mad." Steve wrapped his hand around Danny's.

"I'm not mad." Danny really wasn't. He knew he was a mess when painting and rarely sought out opportunities to do it. He'd offered to help because he didn't want to dump all the work on Steve. "I'll play DJ while you paint."

"I'm happy to help. I've had a fair bit of practice painting without making a mess." Cath offered.

The five settled into their lunch. While everyone was anxious to get back to the painting so they wouldn't be late to pick up Paul, the guys did manage to hand over the school assignments and explain the time line to complete them.

"We made sure the school has all of our contact numbers, so if anything happens and you need to reach us you will be able to, okay?" Danny assured Grace. His mother gave him a look that told him she knew something was up, but she kept her mouth shut. Danny knew that meant he'd get grilled as soon as they were in the car to the airport.

"Why don't we see if we can knock a worksheet or two out before we go swimming while your dad and grandma are gone?" Steve suggested. "There's bound to be something in there that Cath and I can help you with."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Likely not anything about field stripping firearms or how to build a grenade from materials sitting around the average fourth grade classroom, but given that you graduated from Annapolis and were in military intelligence, I'm willing to bet you can conquer elementary school homework."

"I can't decide if that was intended as an insult or if there was a compliment buried somewhere in there." Steve shook his head before standing with his empty dishes. "Either way, I believe there are walls to be painted."

Everyone else took the cue and gathered up their things to get started.

"Why don't I wash these up real quick while you four get started?" Danny offered. If he wasn't going to paint the least he could do was clean up from lunch.

Steve reached down to give his partner a quick kiss. "We'll see you in a bit."

Less than an hour later, the painting crew was putting the finishing touches on the bedroom walls.

"Danno?" Grace looked at her father from where she stood by Steve. "How did you manage to get paint on you without touching a paint brush?"

"What?" He twisted around to look at the spot she was staring at. "What the … how the …" He sputtered as everyone else laughed. "That's right. Laugh at the paint magnet."

"That's pretty impressive." Cath laughed as she set her roller down. "Three of us paint four walls with barely a drop on us, and you manage to get a big streak by just being in the room."

"It's a gift." He grumbled.

Steve laughed as he approached to set his roller down. While Danny wasn't watching, he winked at Grace, grabbed the brush he'd used earlier, and swiped a long streak of pain across Danny's shoulders and back.

"You did not …" The detective whirled around to face him, grabbing at the discarded roller. Danny stepped closer to Steve, surprised when the SEAL didn't back away.

"Bring it." Steve challenged. He saw the three ladies all grabbing paint brushes and rollers, and knew it was a very good thing they'd covered the entire floor with painting clothes.

Danny took one more step forward before running the roller from Steve's waist up the gray tank top all the way to his neck. "It's a good color for you, babe." Danny jumped at the feel of cold, wet paint on his neck. "Hey!" He shrieked, spinning around to find Grace standing with an innocent expression and a paint brush.

"Hi Danno." She squeaked as he lunged at her with the roller.

Five minutes later, the five were sprawled around the floor laughing so hard they were crying, and not a single one of them remained paint free. Their laughter was so loud they didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching, so the sudden appearance of Kono popping around the door, phone in hand, snapping pictures like a madwoman startled them all.

"Seriously? We leave you guys alone for less than a full day and this is what happens? Chin shook his head, trying not to laugh too hard at the sight they made.

"Hey! We got the painting done." Steve defended, the paint streak across his nose and cheek making it impossible for Chin and Kono not to laugh at him.

"Looks like the room isn't the only thing that got painted. Aren't you guys supposed to be picking up Paul soon?"

"I suppose we should get cleaned up." Danny pried himself off the floor. "You guys sticking around?"

"Thought we might if we won't be in the way." Kono answered.

"Hope you brought your suits. We're going to see if we can find our way around a couple of Grace's make up assignments, then we're going swimming while Danny and Beth get Paul." Steve replied.

"Silly boss. I always have my suit." Kono snickered at him. "Never know when you might need to jump in the water."

"I'd blame that on you," Danny pointed to Steve, "but I'm pretty sure she was hatched in the same undersea fishery as you." He turned around to face Chin. "I'm leaving you in charge of supervising the fish while we're gone."

"Got it, brah." Chin chuckled at him. "First, I might suggest you all go rinse off. Otherwise, both the Camaro and Grace's homework will be an interesting shade of sea green."

"Homework's on the dining room table. You two want to find a couple likely suspects in there that we won't screw up?" Steve winked at Chin and Kono as he followed Danny toward their bedroom to clean up.

"You got it." Kono answered.

Shutting their bedroom door behind him, Steve tried not to laugh at Danny's paint streaked clothes.

"You better hope this washes out of my hair." The detective griped at him. "I can't believe you maniacs actually got paint in my hair."

"It was only a little bit, Danno." Steve countered.

"Don't Danno me! Only a little bit? I don't think the amount matters. If I end up with green hair because of you I will take away all of your guns." Danny fussed as he stormed into the bathroom.

Steve wisely stayed out of arms reach as Danny turned the shower on, checking to make sure the temperature was adjusted correctly. "Would you like me to assist in getting it out? I'll be able to see it better than you."

"Yes, Steven. You may assist in getting the green paint out of my hair, but the threat still stands. And no trying any funny business in the shower, we need to leave for the airport soon and I will not be late to pick up my father because of you."

"Yes, sir." The SEAL gave him a sharp salute before stepping into the shower. "If you're in such a rush, what are you still doing out there?"

"Neanderthal." Danny groused as he stepped into the shower, letting Steve pull the curtain closed behind him.

"It looks like we're drowning a sea monster." Steve laughed as the water spray hit the two of them, creating a stream of diluted sea green.

"You know, it felt good to see her laugh like that." Danny admitted as Steve reached passed him to grab the shampoo. "I know she's adjusting well, but that was the most carefree I've seen her since it happened."

"I know. I think we all needed that." The SEAL massaged the shampoo into his partner's hair. "It felt good to just laugh and be ridiculous for a while."

"I guess if my hair turns green, I'll just have to suck it up if it's the cost of making Monkey laugh."

"Pretty sure your hair isn't actually going to turn green." Steve continued to work his fingers through the lather, determined to prove he was right. "It's latex paint, so it should wash out just fine."

It took two rounds of shampoo, but Steve was able to remove every hint of paint from Danny's blond locks. He checked meticulously before declaring the all the clear. Unsurprisingly, Steve's hair had remained paint free, though that may have been the only part of him that did.

By the time they'd finished cleaning up, Danny was rushing around to make himself presentable to get his father.

"Pretty sure he knows what you look like already, Danno. He's not going to expect you to show up in a tie."

"I know, but I don't particularly want to look like some little punk off the streets of Jersey either." Danny threw on jeans and a polo shirt. Giving Steve a quick kiss before the taller man could even get dressed, he ran out the door.

Staring at the bedroom door, Steve shook his head. He wasn't sure if it was just excitement to see his father again, knowing he was staying this time, or if perhaps Danny was a bit nervous about their reunion. Whatever it was, Danny's anxiousness had bled over onto Steve and he was left staring at his clothes wondering what would be appropriate for his own first reunion with the man that had all but adopted him into his family, and was now the father of his partner and lover.

"Shit." Steve stared at his clothes for a solid five minutes before remembering he'd promised to take Grace swimming after they did some homework. Grabbing his nicest swim trunks and a t-shirt, he donned them quickly before heading out to find the others.

/ GUARDIAN/

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the bit of fun and fluff!