A/N: Hey there! This one has comes after 6X13, so expect some spoilers. Also, it discusses some plot points from the X-Files 10x02, so expect some spoilers from that as well.

Enjoy!

I Want To Believe

It had been a long day for the whole team, even if by 3 PM they were pretty much done with the paperwork on the murdered cop and the two brothers that had held Chin and Kono hostage. Steve had sent everyone home early, and now Steve and Danny were the last ones out, finally shutting down for the day and heading down to the parking lot.

They drove in the direction of Danny's place in relative silence, since Steve had left his truck there that morning.

Steve for once was letting Danny drive his own car, choosing to sit on the passenger seat, lost in thought. Danny kept throwing concerned glances at his partner, knowing that the other man felt somewhat responsible for the trouble Chin and Kono had ran into that morning. "Hey, I'm starving. You wanna order a pizza or some of that Indian chicken you like?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Steve was a bit surprised by Danny's question, turning to look at his partner with a small shake of his head. "What? Yeah… Pizza, we can order some pizza, and get some beers." He said distractedly, turning back to look out the window.

Danny sighed, hating to see Steve brooding over things he couldn't control, but knowing that there wasn't much he could do about it right now. He was determined to get him out of his head at least, so he nudged him with his phone. "Alright, call it ahead, will ya? So we can pick it up on the way… "

Steve took Danny's phone with a roll of his eyes and dialed the number for the pizza place. "Fine, but I'm driving from Gino's to your place! This is taking forever!" He said in annoyance.

Danny just shook his head. "Of course you are." He said, rolling his eyes as well. "And hey, no pineapple!" He warned, just in case, not surprised at Steve's annoyed mutterings.

The drive back from Gino's was uneventful. They got the pizza and a couple of six packs, and once they got in, Steve busied himself setting up everything on the coffee table while Danny found an ice bucket for the beers.

When Danny came back with the bucket and some napkins, he was surprised to find Steve watching an X-Files episode. "I didn't know you liked this stuff…" He said in amusement, sitting next to his partner and reaching for a slice of pizza.

Steve was watching entranced as Mulder and Scully interviewed a woman in what looked like a psych ward. "I don't even know what this is." He muttered while reaching for a slice of his own.

Danny raised his eyebrows, both interested by the story of the little girl that could hold her breath under water for minutes and by Steve's cluelessness. "Seriously? You don't know the X-Files? Jerry has been babbling about them nonstop for the last month!" He said just as the pregnant woman managed to crash her car. He didn't mention the fact that both Stella and Matt loved the show, so he'd been forced to watch the whole 9 seasons and was even dragged to the theater to watch the movie, more than once.

Steve shook his head, chewing thoughtfully as the story developed. "This is that 'I want to believe' thing? Never heard of 'em."

Danny chuckled in amusement. "That's because you had a very deprived childhood and adolescence!"

Steve turned to glare at his partner. "I did not! I just had better things to do than watching a stupid TV show!"

Danny lifted his hands in a placating gesture. "Alright, alright! We just had different tastes I guess… Sorry!" He muttered, handing another beer to his friend as a peace offering. "Let's just watch this thing…" He said, settling himself more comfortably on the couch.

They watched the rest of the episode in relative peace, Steve muttering about crappy containment measures and tactical errors while Danny just shook his head in amusement. It was an X-Files episode, it wasn't supposed to be about proper procedure, just the shady conspiracy to hide 'The Truth'.

Danny's amusement died suddenly by the end of the episode, when they started showing a montage of scenes between Mulder and a little boy. "Huh? Who's the kid?" He asked in surprise.

Steve shrugged in confusion. "The red haired lady was talking about their kid in the beginning, they gave him away and she was thinking on all the years she'd lost with him. I guess it's his turn now?"

Danny nodded in understanding, watching the scenes of the father and son doing things together. He jumped a bit when the boy was being abducted, just like Samantha had been, but what hurt the most was the sight of the man, holding a picture of his newborn baby boy, and thinking of everything he'd missed. That was the last straw for Danny, he stumbled to his feet, muttering a lame excuse and moved to the kitchen, and from there to the backyard, in need of some fresh air.

It took Steve a few minutes to notice that Danny wasn't coming back. He looked around, curious, and finally moved to the kitchen. Noticing the door to the backyard open, he stepped outside, surprised to find Danny sitting in one of the patio chairs and looking at something on his phone.

On closer inspection, Steve could see Danny looking at the photo he took of Charlie on the day that he was born. "Hey, everything alright?"

Danny jumped a bit on hearing Steve and turned around to look at his partner. "What?" he asked.

Steve shook his head, moving closer to Danny, he took a seat on the other chair, looking at his partner in concern. "You know… If a freaky white light ever comes after Charlie, it'll take us no time to track him down and get him back, ok? He'll never even notice he was gone in the first place…" He said, not entirely joking.

Danny chuckled half heatedly. "Right… Alien abduction, yet another thing to worry about happening to my kids…" He said, without much humor.

Steve chuckled, shaking his head and finally focusing on the picture on his friend's hand. "Man… It's not like you really had a choice." He said gently.

Danny shook his head, still looking at the picture. "I lost three years of his life, Rachel was so scared to have me in his life that she lied to all of us, so I'm guessing somewhere along the line I had a choice, I just happened to make a really crappy one."

Steve lifted his hand to place it on Danny's shoulder, squeezing gently. "You trusted in Rachel. You had no reason not to trust in her… Besides now you're in Charlie's life. He loves you…"

Danny shook his head in denial. "I'm not his father, I'm 'Danno'! I never thought I'd hate that name, but coming from that little boy… It's just a reminder that he doesn't think about me as his Dad…"

Steve winced in sympathy, patting his friend's shoulder. "Listen, buddy. It may take some time, but that little boy is going to realize what a great Dad he has, and you're going to make up for all the time you lost!" He said with a nod, trying to sound cheerful.

Danny glared at Steve in annoyance. "Right, because life always works out that way, right? I messed up, I was stupid and now my little boy is paying for it!"

Steve shook his head. "Come on. Danny, you can't blame yourself for things you had no control of…" He said in concern.

Danny looked up at his friend, studying his face seriously for a minute. Then he burst into giggles. "Seriously?!" He asked in between giggles. "You are asking me not to feel responsible for things I can't control?"

Steve shrugged, looking down at his feet. "Well, yeah… It's good advice!" He said a bit self-consciously. "I may not always do as I say, but I believe this is good advice… At least I want to believe it's good advice!" he said, with an amused smile.

Danny gave his partner an incredulous look. "Right…" He said, shaking his head in amusement. "You're such a dork…"

Steve chuckled as well. "Yeah, but you still love me…"

Danny just rolled his eyes, moving to stand up. "I merely tolerate your craziness. I'm doing a public service by putting up with you!" He said, extending his hand to pull Steve to his feet. "Now come on, I'm sure there's a game or something less depressing to watch…"

Steve stood up and followed Danny back to the house. "Well, knowing you, you'll find a way to make anything depressing, Danno…"

Danny made an incredulous sound. "What? I rarely do that anymore! Besides, you never listen to me when I'm trying to be positive!" he said in outrage.

Steve's reply was lost as they entered the house and closed the door behind them, their argument far from over. But that was the way their partnership worked.

Unlike Mulder, they had no trouble believing. Especially when it came to believing that they had each other's backs, always.

A/N: So this one felt like a one shot about nothing, but after watching that X-Files episode, the idea about Mulder and Scully missing all of that time with William sounded really similar to Danny missing Charlie's first years, so this story came up.

Thank you very much for reading, and I'd really like to hear what you think about it!