Steve woke before their alarm, and as the world came into focus he slowly became aware of the day ahead of them and what it contained. He looked over at Danny, who had rolled onto his side and had his arms wrapped around his pillow as he snored softly, and he could see that the bite from last night had now blossomed into a bruise, stark on his lover's shoulder.
He settled in to try to doze again, but the nervous energy now building in his belly wouldn't allow for more sleep.
The mechanic moved onto his back and let his mind drift as he tried to distract himself from the impending meeting by thinking about the man lying next to him. He thought about last night, and the way he had taken his boyfriend up against the wall. The memories of it alone made him hard as a rock, and he pressed his head back into the pillows and stroked his cock, mentally exploring the detective's body in his memory. His broad shoulders and slim waist, that tidy little ass... Fuck, he needed him so much... He smoothed his palm down his shaft and sighed.
"Starting without me, babe?"
He jumped and whipped his eyes open, hand still wrapped around his erection. He hadn't noticed the cop rolling over, and now Danny was watching him with eyes half closed, slick tongue darting out to wet his lips even as the lopsided grin formed on his gorgeous mouth. His Jersey accent was thicker first thing in the morning, and golden lashes fluttered as he cast his gaze down the length of Steve's body, knowing full well what the ex-con was doing, hidden beneath the sheets.
Steve grinned at him. "I was thinking about you, I swear."
"Oh yeah? Tell me, specifically..." The blonde was more awake now, stretching like a cat to twist onto his side and face his boyfriend. His hand went under the sheets and his fingers began to trail over the ex-con's hip.
"Hmm... I was thinking about what we did last night... about your tight ass..." he grinned as Danny moved to hover above his mouth, tantalisingly close, "and I was thinking about those lips..."
"What, these lips?" The detective kissed him delicately, pulling up to meet his eyes only to come back for more, slowly deepening the contact until his tongue was sweeping across the divide of the mechanic's lips and Steve opened to him. The kiss was slow and languid, full of heat that stayed bubbling just beneath the surface, and the brunette hummed happily under his lover's attentions.
They eventually parted and the ex-con smiled that smile that crinkled his eyes and made Danny weak in the knees, but with his eyes glittering with mischief under his impossibly long, dark lashes.
"Yes, those lips... but when I was thinking about them they were performing a slightly different task..."
Then Danny was rolling off him and out of the bed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm having a shower. Maybe you can show me what you mean?"
Steve watched him walk across the room, sleep-mussed hair looking adorable, perfect butt swaying as he moved, and there was no way he was turning down a shower with that man.
By the time he made it into the bathroom, Danny already had the shower running and was examining his shoulder in the mirror, finger running over the purple skin.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away," the mechanic gave him a small, guilty smile.
The cop looked up at him. "I wasn't complaining, babe," he smiled back and reached up to pull him down into another kiss, "I like it when you put your stamp on me like that... shows anyone who dares to look that I'm yours."
Steve let a possessive growl bubble to the surface. "Oh fuck, why is that so hot?" he groaned, "What is wrong with us, huh?"
Danny sucked his earlobe in between his lips and teased it with his tongue. "Absolutely nothing..."
The brunette closed his eyes and moaned quietly while the shorter man used his teeth on his sensitive skin, and then he leaned down to kiss over the bruise on his shoulder, admiring that he could actually make out a few individual teeth marks in the pattern. Their hands trailed over one another's skin lazily.
He used to love seeing the results of their nights together on his cell mate's body while they were in prison, enjoying the way it reserved Danny as his possession. It was animalistic, predatory, all about marking territory, and he loved that the detective enjoyed it for the same reasons. It was perfect. Mine.
The Jersey man hissed when Steve pressed on the discolouration with his teeth again, but he pushed up into the pressure rather than pulling back.
"What was it you said to me in the cell?" His breath tickled the hairs behind his lover's ear, "No one else has me..."
Steve closed his eyes again and whimpered at the memory. He'd said that to Danny as an order, not entirely understanding his need to keep the Jersey man all to himself at the time, not realising that the obsession he was starting to feel back then was, in fact, the beginnings of love.
His hands squeezed Danny's hips. "No one else has you," he whispered, before kissing the shorter man on the lips and guiding him backwards into the shower enclosure.
They both gasped as the hot water hit their bare skin, and plastered their hair to their scalps. They broke the kiss and Steve pulled back to begin his journey down his lover's body, but Danny was beating him to the starting line. His teeth closed on the brunette's peaked nipple and he let his head drop back as he moaned harshly.
The ex-con's chest was one of the detective's favourite areas. Hell, he liked all of Steve, every tanned inch of him was perfect in his book, but his very favourite parts consisted of his muscular butt, his strong thighs, those tattooed biceps, and his solid, unyielding pectorals. Most specifically, his sensitive nipples which, given the right attention, could lead the man to produce all sorts of heavenly sounds.
So he lavished the left one with attention as water cascaded over the skin, alternating between nipping gently with his teeth on the hard bud of it, and pressing the flat of his tongue over the disc of darker flesh to soothe the reddening skin caused by his bites. And then he moved to the right one, sucking roughly on the nub before flicking his tongue over it, drawing back to blow cold air over his pec and raise goosebumps.
The taller man was panting and moaning, each sensation going directly to his dick, and his hands kneaded at Danny's shoulders as he moved back and forth between each nipple in turn.
Then he was going to his knees, hands sliding over Steve's wet torso, gripping at his defined abs and flattening palms over his stomach, his mouth seeking out his other very favourite spot on his lover's body.
The mechanic relished the feel of Danny's hands on his stomach like that, and when the blonde's hot mouth closed around the head of his cock he moaned loudly and gripped his hair in between his fingers.
The brunette felt silky smooth and solid in his mouth, and he took him in deeper to marvel at the taste that was innately Steve. He swirled his tongue around the man's helmet, grazed his teeth on his shaft, licked and sucked until he was writhing, abdominal muscles flexing against his fingers. Steve tugged at his hair softly, and he looked up to make eye contact with the taller man.
"Danny... Fuck, I'm gonna come... not yet..." His pupils were blown wide with lust, mouth hanging open as he breathed deeply to centre himself, and it was so hard to resist just deep throating the man and making him shout the cop's name, but he could see his boyfriend wanted this to last.
He was helped to his feet, and the ex-con's mouth latched onto Danny's throat, teeth rasping over the two-day thick stubble. He was pressed back into the cool, wet tiles, as Steve nipped at his neck and elicited little moans from him.
The mechanic investigated every inch of skin he could find with his tongue, tracing his lover's collarbone while he pinched his nipples between his fingers, making him draw in sharp breaths. Then he was on his knees and dipping the tip of his tongue into the slit of Danny's cock, smoothing the flat of it down the underside of his erection and guiding him into the back of his mouth.
"Oh, Jesus Steve..." The detective couldn't tear his eyes away from his boyfriend, sucking his dick with the spray of the shower hitting his back and flowing down his tanned body. He looked beyond perfect. Their eyes met and he just wanted to get lost in that deep hazel-grey.
Steve deep throated him suddenly, and he shouted out and threw his head back, hands slipping into the wet brunette hair and tangling, tugging. The ex-con growled around him and he had to pull him away before he came, still not wanting this to be over.
Strong hands gripped his hips and pulled him down to straddle Steve's thighs, and Danny used the grip in his lover's hair to immediately pull him into a hot kiss, delving his tongue in deep and humming into his mouth.
The mechanic picked up a bottle of shower gel and dumped a load into his hands, grasping their cocks together between them and massaging them in tandem. The Jersey man whined into his mouth as he felt his orgasm begin to build again at the base of his spine. This was glorious, but he wanted more.
He spilled some body wash into his own hand, reaching behind himself to push a finger into his own ass, all the while never breaking the kiss they shared. He was still relatively loose from the previous night, and it didn't take long to prep himself. He shifted his knees forward on the wet tiled floor, surprising Steve when he had to move his hands from their erections.
Their lips parted and Danny raised himself up higher, reached down to guide the brunette's dick to his entrance, and sank down onto him.
They both cried out, and Steve's hands went to his shoulders to give him leverage as he pushed up into his boyfriend, making him take his full length while he bit across his chest.
Steve could feel a low pressure building in his belly, knowing his was close, and one hand went back between them to pump Danny's cock as he rode his lover slowly, tension thrumming in his muscles. Their eyes met again and they couldn't look away as the blonde rose and lowered himself over and over, taking them both to the edge.
"Steve, fuck... 'M gonna..." His climax crashed over him like a wave of heat and he shouted wordlessly, the fingers that had gone back into his boyfriend's hair tensing and pulling, his cum pulsing over Steve's chest and spilling over his hand.
The mechanic looped his hand around Danny's waist and raised his convulsing body once more to slam down onto his dick, and he finally released his own seed inside of him. Waves of pleasure flowed through his body as he pushed his forehead into the blonde's heaving chest and held him close.
The detective tucked his face into the crook of Steve neck, panting, needing to feel every inch of the other man's skin against his own. He didn't want to move from this position, quite happy to stay there forever with his boyfriend's arms wrapped around his back, fingers twitching against his shoulder blades as he processed his own orgasm, Danny pressing his lips to the brunette's skin.
Steve sighed against his chest before raising his head to kiss tenderly from the cop's ear, along his jaw to reach his mouth.
"God, Danny I love you so much," he whispered against the Jersey man's lips when they eventually parted the languid post-coital kiss, wading through the haze of endorphins and back to reality.
"I love you too, Steve. You know that, right?" The cop ran his fingers over the brunette's chin affectionately and gazed up into his hazel eyes.
"I know," Steve kissed him again, "But I'm just worried about today. Something feels off..."
Danny stroked his thumb over his lover's cheekbone. "Don't worry, babe. You're more than capable of this, have a little faith in yourself."
The met the detective's gaze again, his concern evident.
"Trust me, babe," Danny smoothed his palm over Steve's stubbled cheek, "it'll be fine."
The plan was simple. As they sat either side of the breakfast table in their boxers, eating the scrambled eggs Steve had prepared around the mess still left over from the previous night's lasagne, Danny ran through it all again.
"All we need are the details of their operation, some sort of admission of involvement, on tape and we're good to go. Our base is in the warehouse across the street, and we've got the laser bugging tech so you don't even have to wear a wire," he stuffed a fork full of food into his mouth and talked around it, gesturing with his hands and waving the cutlery about.
"You meet them like you wanna get in on the act, you talk until we have what we need. And then we move in and take them, and you get the hell out."
"I still feel like something's not right, Danno," Steve stared at his eggs like they'd offended him somehow, and then looked up to catch his boyfriend's gaze, "What if I-"
"You're not gonna screw up, babe," Danny reassured him with a smile, and reached over to take his hand across the table, "You know what you're doing. This is just another job. You got this."
Steve smiled back uneasily, but nodded.
"Anyway, we'll have a bunch of HPD officers with us in case anything goes wrong. We'll march in there and I'll come rescue you're pretty little ass if needs be." The blonde have him a cheeky wink and squeezed his fingers again before releasing his hand.
Steve felt better knowing his lover would be nearby. He made him feel safe, it was one of Danny's many talents.
Once Steve was dressed in jeans and a black button down shirt, and ready to go, he went to find Danny who was in the bedroom in his slacks, slipping a tie around his shirt collar. He drew him into a bear hug, more for his own comfort than anything else. The blonde laughed at him and spanked his ass as he headed for the door.
Danny was nervous as hell. He had all the faith in the world in Steve, but he was more than aware that certain factors were out of their control. All the training and all the preparation couldn't account for a wild card throwing everything off balance – he had seen it in ops before and he would see it again, he knew that much. But he hid all of that and put on a confident face for his man, because that was what he needed.
"We'll be listening, babe. If anything goes wrong, we'll come get you."
The brunette left to walk to the garage and meet Kai before the client, safe in the knowledge that his boyfriend would be there if the plan went awry.
Danny gathered his gun and badge, knotted his tie, and grabbed his keys for the Camaro. He was due to meet up with the team at their surveillance point and gear up in advance of the 10am.
He sent a message to Meka to let him know he was on his way, and unlocked the car, unaware of the two men coming up behind him until the last second.
As he pulled his own weapon from his holster, the butt of his assailant's gun collided with his temple, and blackness took him.
Steve stood with his arms crossed over his chest in Kai's office, glaring at the back of the man's head while he talked in the phone.
The Hawaiian man hung up and grinned at his employee. "They're ready for us. You got a weapon on you?"
The brunette shook his head.
"Good, they'd take it off you anyway. Come on." Alana led him down the fire escape steps again and across to the warehouse. Two large men now stood outside the door, both with large guns hung on straps over their shoulders, and looking very much like hired muscle. They patted both Kai and Steve down thoroughly and, once satisfied they had no weapons or wires, they let them into the building.
The ex-con had been told by his boss that there would be five more cars for him to work on this week, but as they entered he could currently only see one, off to the side and covered by a sheet. In front of that stood three guards, and a Korean man who was quite plainly their leader.
While his men wore jeans and t-shirts under their weaponry, he wore a sharp, expensive looking suit. His demeanour and his stance spoke of confidence, and everything about him told Steve he was in charge. A business man.
In total there were around twenty armed guards in the room, plus the two out front and probably more at the other exits. Five-0 had told him to let them know as much information as possible without being obvious, and he had to hope that with being unable to wear a physical wire, that their laser bugging tech was as good as Chin had claimed.
Alana led him to the client and introduced them. "Steve, this is the special customer I told you about, Wo Fat. This is Steve, who I believe you know all about."
Wo Fat nodded and looked the mechanic up and down, taking in his relaxed-but-professional stance.
"Yes, Steven McGarrett. I've done my homework," his voice had an edge of superiority to it that came with years in the crime business, "Confidence trickster, thief, armed robber... did time in Halawa but got out early for good behaviour. I know all about your work."
The man held out his hand, and Steve politely took it and shook firmly. Wo Fat stared him down for a split second too long before releasing his hand, but he looked calm and centred, and Steve tried not to let his nerves get the better of him. That guy knew how to rattle people.
"I have to admit, unfortunately I wasn't in a position to return the favour and research you. I don't know much about what you do?" The brunette hoped this would lead Fat to talk about his operations, but the man remained vague.
"I dip my toes into many oceans, Mr McGarrett. I have to say, I was impressed by your resume and was keen to meet you. You did good work last week, and I understand you are looking to expand your role within my business?" He strutted up and down a little as he spoke, watching Steve the whole time.
"Yes sir, I'm sure Kai has filled you in. I need the work right now, and I am looking forward to seeing what we can offer each other, to mutual benefit." Being polite to this guy was not easy. He was over-confident and was full of himself, extremely difficult to like. "I'm a little confused as to why you needed twenty or more armed men to meet with me, though?"
Kai shuffled nervously at the small challenge, and Wo Fat looked at Steve sharply.
"Well as you say, Mr Alana has filled me in... can I ask, Mr McGarrett, since you left Halawa three months ago, have you been involved in any ongoing cons? Anything on the books currently, so to speak?" Something was wrong, he could feel it. Why would this guy be interested in what he'd been up to?
"I've been keeping my head down," he said, honestly, "Working hard and looking for opportunities. Kai surprised me by being the one to open a door for me, and I appreciate that. I hope there is more work that I can help you with."
"Yes, we certainly have more work. In fact, I'd like you to take a look at this car for me, specifically..." Fat handed a set of keys to Steve, and trailed his fingers over the sheet covering the vehicle behind him, caressing the material, and then gestured to his men.
The brunette looked down at the keys in his hand and his chest tightened as he recognised the familiar keyring; it was a bettered old piece of plastic, displaying the logo and telephone number of a pizza joint in New Jersey.
Two of the guards grasped the sheet and pulled it away, to reveal a silver Camaro. Steve's heart rate doubled as he knew it immediately as the one that always sat outside his own house. Danny's car.
He looked to Wo Fat, then to Alana, and tried not to show the panic he was feeling, tightness in his chest. His lover should have driven that car to his HQ that morning; it had been in the drive when he'd left to meet Kai in advance of the meeting earlier on, before Danny had been due to leave and gear up with his team.
His heart lodged firmly in his throat, and he was unable to say anything as he tried to swallow the feeling away. But the Korean man was continuing his monologue anyway.
"There is just the issue of your association with the owner of this vehicle, Mr McGarrett. You see, Kai informed me of your relationship with a certain Detective Sergeant Daniel Williams-" he clicked his fingers at the guards, who went to the back of the car and opened the trunk, "-who is, as I understand it, head of the Governor's Task Force for Hawaii?"
The ex-con could only watch with wide eyes as his boyfriend was hauled from the trunk of his own car, wrists tied behind him and mouth gagged, and dropped unceremoniously to the floor by the two men. They pulled the blonde to his feet, and brought him around to present him to Steve, each holding one of his bound arms.
The mechanic had to concentrate hard not to shake with anger as he saw the bruises forming on his lover's face, the trail of dried blood which had run down from his temple, his ripped shirt and dirtied clothing, tie hanging at half mast around his neck. He'd been beaten, badly.
His ice blue eyes met Steve's and told him, firmly, not to let anything show. Even through the red mist that was rising in his brain, the brunette was amazed at how he and Danny seemed to have an almost psychic connection.
With one look, the blonde told him he was okay, to finish the op, and the mechanic promised him he wouldn't let him die. A whole conversation was had in the space of a few seconds, and Steve knew that he had to get them out of this, through any means necessary.
He remembered Danny's words to him that morning. You know what you're doing. This is just another job. You got this.
He let the con artist in him take over, a mask of mild amusement slipped onto his face, and he relaxed his shoulders and pocketed the Camaro's keys. Disguise was everything, and ninety per cent of disguise was attitude. Hide the fear, hide the pain, just like in prison. Be the boss.
Danny watched as his boyfriend's entire demeanour changed, beginning to look like the man he'd met over a year ago in Halawa Correctional; cocky, self-assured, dangerous. The former prisoner crossed his arms and smiled at Wo Fat, and the effect on the blonde's stomach was momentarily sickening. But this was where Steve's skills came into play, and he knew it was an act, like it always had been. He knew his man had his back.
"Is that your only problem?" Steve's eyes were dark and cold, but the smile on his lips said that he was in control.
The crime boss looked at Danny and then back at Steve. His expression was doubtful, a snarl curling his lips. "It's a pretty big problem, I think you'll agree? You're quite literally in bed with a cop, a member of a task force created to deal with people like us... are you telling me this isn't an issue?"
"No, it's not an issue, because Williams here is my mark. I own him." Steve's confidence went a long way to hiding the tension he felt, and he tried not to glance at the detective too much. All he wanted to do was take hold of him and check his wounds and make sure he was okay, but he had to look as if he didn't care.
Fat crossed his own arms and cocked his head to one side. "Explain."
The brunette smiled easily and strutted over to his boyfriend, reaching out to curl a couple of fingers around his loose tie. "I met Williams in prison, I'm sure you know all about that... I knew that it would be useful to have a connection within HPD to use once I was out, so I kept up my relationship with him intending to exploit that..."
He prowled around the back of the two guards who held Danny in place, continuing. "Imagine my surprise when he became head of Five-0. It made my efforts all the more worth it." He ended up back in front of the blonde and reached up to slide a hand over his face, but rather than caress him like he so wanted to do, he gripped at his hair and exposed his throat to show his dominance to anyone who was observing. The he looked to Wo Fat and smiled. "It's a long con that will pay off in spades."
"You never said anything about this, McGarrett," Kai piped up accusingly, "In fact you've been terrified lover boy will find out what you've been doing this past week! Kept begging me not to say anything!"
The ex-con whipped around on his heel, letting his lover's head drop back down, and scowled at the garage owner. "And why the fuck would I tell you anything, Kai? I had to keep up the act so as not to blow what I've got going on, but I was curious to find out about this gig," he stalked up to the man and glowered down into his face, "You said you were a great actor? Well I'm better…"
Alana glared back at Steve, but said nothing. He looked embarrassed as he began to believe he'd been taken for a ride by the very employee he thought he'd been using. Steve's sudden shirt from respectful and confident to dangerous and sneering had thrown the Hawaiian man.
Danny kept his head low; he had to because he knew his pride in Steve was threatening to leak onto his aching face, and he needed to play the owned cop. God damn, his man was amazing.
The mechanic faced Wo Fat again and pointed toward his supposed mark. "I know things about him, his secrets, things he doesn't want to get out. I have the leverage I need to keep him exactly where I need him. He's my eyes and ears inside Five-0, and he's useful on a multitude of levels..." God, he hated every word that came out of his mouth. There was no way he could look at his boyfriend now, the sorrow in his eyes would show and he would give it all away. He just hoped Danny didn't believe a word of this himself.
The Korean man sneered. "You said you had no cons ongoing."
Steve shook his head. "I said nothing of the sort. I said I was keeping my head down and waiting for opportunities."
The crime boss looked him up and down, smiling. "I knew I'd like you..."
Relief flooded through the ex-con's body, his chest loosening. The man believed him, and if he could convince them of Danny's value then he could get them both out of there, or at least keep them safe until Five-0 could make their move. Part of him was angry that they hadn't already burst in – they must have known something had gone wrong when their leader hadn't shown up – but he also knew it was what they were trained to do. What Danny had trained them to do. They were going ahead with the operation, getting the evidence they had needed.
But Fat's eyes grew cold. "Regardless, Williams is a problem, and despite your efforts I can't afford to risk him knowing about my operations," he clicked his fingers at his men, and one of them forced his knee into Danny's legs and dropped him to his knees. The blonde let out a pained grunt and screwed his eyes shut.
"He will be more use to us alive, Wo Fat," Steve said firmly, "believe me, having access to the task force and their information is an unbelievable resource. Just think what you could do with that." He tried to sound convincing whilst disguising the desperation tugging at his gut.
The Korean man pulled a gun from the holster under his suit jacket. "Mr McGarrett, I can tell you now that whatever con you were pulling here, it would be much more worth your while to align yourself with me. I have a lot of businesses, with many opportunities for a man of your calibre and skill set. Not just the auto trade you've already seen, but gun running, drugs… I could use a man like you, and I would strongly suggest that you do as I say."
Steve knew that it was far from a mere suggestion. It was an order. And as far as Wo Fat was concerned, this meeting would end of two ways: a dead cop and a new, useful ally, or a dead cop and a dead ex-con. And he didn't really seem to care which.
Then he was surprised to find the crime boss pressing his revolver into Steve's hand. The man nodded towards the blonde on his knees, just a few feet away.
"Kill him. We have a lot to discuss."
The bodyguards behind Danny aimed their own weapons, one at the back of the detective's head and one at Steve's chest. Every guard in the warehouse was on high alert, guns raised and ready, mostly directed at Steve now he was armed.
His hand shook as he raised the barrel of the gun to aim at his lover's head. He tried to see a way out of this, work out how far they'd be able to get based on which of the bad guys he shot first. Because there was no way he was going to hurt the man he loved.
But he knew with the amount of weapons pointed at him that he'd be dead before he'd even aimed at anyone. He could try for Wo Fat, at least he could do something good before he was taken out and end that miserable son of a bitch. His only regret was that Danny would die as well; the one man that deserved to live through all of this.
The crime boss, however, had reached the end of his patience.
"I can see that we won't be able to come to an accord on this..." He took a gun from a bodyguard and aimed it at Danny's head.
A gunshot went off, and the Korean man cried out as a bullet tore through his shoulder. Steve looked up to see Kono Kalakaua in the overhead gantry, sniper rifle in hand, and she was already taking out the two bodyguards either side of Danny before they could spot her to react.
The other two members of Five-0 were bursting in from either end of the warehouse in full tactical gear, along with several HPD officers, having evidently disabled the doormen. Meka shot a guard directly in the chest and waved the uniforms on past him, while Chin took on a man in hand to hand combat and had him on the floor and zip tied in seconds.
The brunette dropped to the floor, knowing standing in the middle of a gun fight wasn't the best course of action, and took Danny down sideways with him. He kept low and climbed over the cop, quickly tearing at the ropes binding his wrists together. The second the detective was free he was grabbing Steve's discarded weapon from the floor with one hand and the mechanic's shirt with the other, hauling him behind the Camaro for cover.
Danny pulled the gag out of his mouth and left it to hang around his neck. "Stay down!" he ordered over the loud commotion, gunfire exploding from every corner. There was no time to say anything else, but the look they exchanged said everything. I love you. Be careful. Stay safe.
Then he was on his feet, crouching and aiming over the hood of his car at the nearest armed bad guy. He took him down quickly, but dropped to his knees to avoid a hail of bullets in return. He was glad he at least had a weapon now, but with no tactical gear he was too open a target.
The brunette gripped his wrist from where he sat back against the vehicle. "Danny, I didn't mean any of what I said," he shouted desperately over the din of the fight, "I made it up, there's no con, it's not like that!"
The Jersey man leaned over and gazed into his eyes. To think that, in the face of imminent danger with bullets flying everywhere, that man was worried that he might have made Danny think he didn't really love him… he was beyond lovable. "You goof, you think I'd believe that for a second, babe? You're not that good an actor," he teased, and then kissed his boyfriend hard on the lips, "I love you."
"I love you too," the mechanic smiled back, and watched as Danny began firing over the hood of the Camaro again.
Steve crawled to the rear of the vehicle, spotting a dead guard on the floor a couple of feet away with his rifle lying over his chest. The team had told him that he was an undercover informant and nothing else, that if it came down to a fight he wasn't to pick up a weapon, and he'd agreed in principal because he wasn't trained. But the reality of the situation was very different to the concept, and seeing his friends and his lover under fire... well, he was damned if he was going to be a useless burden for the team.
Danny was too busy taking another bad guy out to notice as the ex-con grasped the dead man's foot and hauled him towards them across the concrete, taking his gun. He lay on the ground so he could see below the car's chassis and fired, catching an armed guard in the calf muscle and grinning proudly as the man fell screaming to the floor.
He looked over to see the blonde glaring at him.
"We're gonna have a little chat about you following orders, babe," Danny chastised his boyfriend, but he wasn't able to stop the smile that tugged at his lips. He should have known Steve wouldn't stay idle, and he just looked so pleased with himself to be helping.
He focused back on the fight in time to see Meka being backed into a corner by two bodyguards, and his immediate reaction was protect his partner. The detective fired in their direction, but his pistol clicked empty, and he reached out without even looking to find Steve pressing the weapon into his hand, like a well-oiled machine. He rolled out from behind the Camaro to get a better angle, raising the gun and firing at the men attacking his friend. He took one down, and Meka managed to punch out the other one. But more bad guys were converging on his position and he ran to his friend's aid.
Steve observed his lover. He'd known Danny was a skilled fighter when it came to throwing fists, he'd witnessed that in Halawa. He'd been on the receiving end of Danny's right hook, and seen him take on a man twice his size, and then hold his own against a group of eight men armed with nothing but a pool cue and last a lot longer than most men would have. But watching him in a firefight was possibly even more incredible, because damn did he know how to move. He aimed as he ran, managing to take out guards even with an unfamiliar weapon and in flight.
But in helping Meka he was exposing himself, and Steve had a moment of panic before he realised he could take the cover to his boyfriend. He still had the Camaro's keys.
The brunette unlocked the car and hauled the door open, slamming the keys into the ignition and gunning the engine. He threw it into gear, looking up just in time to see Kai roll to his feet, blood on his shirt, gun in his hand and aim at Danny's head from across the expanse of the warehouse. The blonde was raising his weapon to fire at the man, but the Hawaiian man had the luxury of surprise.
The ex-con forced his foot hard into the gas pedal, wrenching the wheel and aiming for the garage owner, tyres screeching. Kai pulled the trigger and all Steve saw was his lover jerk and fall to the concrete.
The hood of the Camaro struck Kai half a second later, and the force of the collision took him into the windshield and over the roof. Steve slammed on the brakes, but the vehicle spun out of control and hit the large doors of the building with an almighty crash, and the brunette's head collided with the side window.
Black circles flashed in his vision, but Steve fought against the dizziness because all he knew was that he had to get to Danny. He silently begged anyone who might be listening for him to not be dead. He felt sick, his heart in his throat and his pulse thundering in his ears as he hauled himself across the front seats of the car to fall out of the passenger side door onto the concrete.
He tore across the warehouse, unable to even register where anyone else was or even if the gun fight was still occurring, because his laser focus was set on Danny and only Danny. Hot pain zipped across the back of his left shoulder, but nothing was going to stop Steve from reaching him.
The man he loved. Lying on the floor, eyes closed, blood pooling around his head.
He landed next to his unmoving body, grasped his arm and screamed his name, putting his hand to the side of the blonde's face where his fingers slipped through red fluid, hot and slick.
He could hear Kono and Chin shouting his name, Danny's name, but they sounded so distant.
"No, Danny, baby, no..." his voice was a hoarse whisper as he pressed his forehead to the detective's and let the sobs wrack his body while his heart ripped in two.
He'd been too late.
Half a second; that was the difference between having and losing everything.
His Danny was dead.