A/N: I don't own the characters or anything. This is just to get this story out of my head.
A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, favorites and alerts. It's humbling. I'm so pleased that you are enjoying this story. I hope that my characters come across as authentic.
H50 H50 H50
The team chimed in as well.
"Come on brah. Stay with us," Chin said.
"You got this, Jersey!" Lou encouraged.
"Let us see those baby blues!" Kono added.
Danny pried open his eyes and smiled weakly at Kono, a huge smile lighting up her face in return. She loved all of these guys but Danny just had this way of making her smile.
"That's it partner," Steve choked out, voice thick with emotion, drawing Danny's eyes to his.
Steve held Danny's gaze for a moment longer before Danny reached up with his left arm and wiped his face - blood, sweat and tears now covering his hand.
Chin looked a little green from what he had just done so Steve looked at Kono, who looked eager to help. "There's a first aid kit in the trunk. Would you mind getting it? I need to clean this blood off," he said, pointing to Danny's head, "and take care of that wound." She nodded and headed there. "He always has a clean shirt in there, too," he called after her, eyeing the blood on his partner's shirt.
"Trunk won't open," she said after trying. "I have a first aid kit in my car. Be right back."
"I have a clean shirt in my trunk," Lou offered.
Chin stepped in then with a small smile. "I have one that I'm sure will fit better."
Steve and Danny both smiled a bit at that exchange, again catching each other's eyes before looking away.
Kono brought the first aid kit and a bottle of water over and Chin laid the clean shirt on the hood of the Suburban before they joined Lou in beginning to process the accident scene. Even though Danny didn't want an ambulance there was still police work to do and two cars to clear off the road.
Finally moving his hand from his partner's chest, Steve began to carefully clean the cut. Danny hissed in pain but otherwise kept quiet. "This really should be stitched up," Steve began before Danny started to protest, "but I'll do the best I can." He took some sterile gauze and pressed it firmly against the cut, trying to get the bleeding to stop.
With the rest of the team occupied elsewhere, Steve took advantage of the moment of privacy. Steve's left hand was still holding the gauze while his right hand was positioned at the crux of Danny's neck and shoulder. He tried to look him in the eye but Danny was just gazing at the pavement. "Danny, I'm so sorry, man. I screwed up. I really just wanted to take a look. I should have known something would happen. I should have listened to you and just called it a day. Coming here was just asking for trouble. It wasn't – prudent. I'm so sorry Danno." Using the word Danny had taught him earlier - he truly regretted the decisions he made today.
Danny was quiet and unmoving and that unnerved Steve to no end. Danny was rarely quiet, rarely still. But, he noticed with hope that his partner had not objected to him using the nickname Danno. But Steve was anxious, and being honest with himself, he was afraid. Danny was the best friend he had ever had – no contest. He had been there at Steve's door every evening, beer in hand, after Catherine walked out on him. On the days Danny had Grace she would come with him and there'd be no beer. On the days Danny was in the hospital for the bone marrow transplant, he had called. Nothing was said about Catherine unless Steve wanted to talk. Danny was just there for him. Steve knew that Danny gave up time with Melissa to do it and he was incredibly grateful. He knew the other team members cared but Danny's feelings were always expressed in tangible ways and it touched his heart immensely. Beyond that, Danny Williams was a man of integrity – and that was not a word Steve used lightly.
He had buddies in high school, mostly football teammates who liked the prestige of hanging out with the star quarterback, he had classmates from the Academy who he heard from occasionally, he cared for his SEAL teammates and called a few of them friend, but nobody stood up to him, nobody challenged him, nobody had his back, nobody cared for him like the man before him. The little man with the big heart had taught him how to feel, how to 'be human' and he knew his life would never be the same without him in it.
For his part, Danny had a zillion thoughts running through his head, battling with the pain for his attention. Steve had been the best friend he had ever had. He had close friends, a lot of them actually. Danny just had the kind of personality that annoyed the hell out of some people, but drew others in close. He was honest and loyal and brave – a true boy scout without the camping and badges. But Steve was different from those other friends, very different Danny thought with an inner laugh.
He felt a bond with Steve that he had never felt with anyone before, not even Billy Selway. When he first came to this island, Danny was miserable. Yes, he had a good man as a partner, Meka, and he saw his beloved Grace every other weekend and that was worth everything, but back then when he wasn't with his daughter he worked, ate take out and slept in his dump of an apartment. He had so much more than that now. This place now felt like home. He owed that to Steve and the team.
His feelings for Steve matched those for his brother. He had lost Billy. He had lost Matt. If he let his anger continue he would lose Steve as well. He didn't want to lose that friendship, that special bond, and he didn't want Grace to lose her Uncle Steve. Then his thoughts went to Charlie. He wanted his son to grow up knowing this amazing man that he would call "uncle" like Grace did. Forgiveness – the hardest thing to give away. He opened his eyes and accepted Steve back into his heart in a way only Danny Williams could. "You are one seriously sick trouble magnet, you know that? From the bottom of my heart I hate you so much." Then he smiled.
Steve let out the breath he was holding and smiled broadly. "Love you too, Danno."
Steve then replaced the bloody gauze with a clean one. The wound was still oozing but not bleeding copiously as before. "This is not going to work well. It really does need stitches." He placed a calming hand on his partner's chest to avert an objection. "You'll end up with a bigger scar by waiting but you won't bleed to death." He taped the clean gauze into place.
"Help me up, huh? I gotta get going," Danny asked, his mind back on his son. He reached his left hand out and Steve hauled him to his feet, his right arm bent at the elbow and held firmly across his abdomen. He felt pain in his right leg and felt the whole world shift beneath his feet, his partner's firm grip the only thing keeping him from landing back on his butt.
"Woah, woah, easy, easy," Steve soothed, holding him up until Danny stopped wobbling, balancing most of his weight on his left leg.
"Your hip? Your knee?" Steve asked with concern. He knew his partner still had discomfort in his right hip from time to time, courtesy of the building collapse a year and a half ago (the bone marrow transplant exacerbating the problem), and his knee – Danny had recurring problems with his right knee since high school when a cheap and high slide at second took the shortstop out.
"It's ok, I'm fine, babe" Danny said as he tested his right leg again. "Just sore."
"Hey brah, thought you might want these," Chin called out as he and the others came over. "Your kids are really cute, but the postcard from New Jersey is a bit much." He attempted to hand them to Danny but Kono reached in and grabbed the photo of Grace and Charlie first.
"Is that Charlie? Oh my goodness, he's adorable." She looked up at Danny now. "He doesn't have your baby blues, but otherwise he looks just like you."
"First you say he's adorable and then you say he looks just like Williams? Girl, there's something wrong with you," Lou joked as he took the photo from her hand and took a look himself. "Great looking kid, Jersey. Looks nothing like you." He slapped Danny on his good shoulder and handed the photo back to the beaming father. The kid was definitely adorable and actually did look quite a bit like his father, but he couldn't let that go to Danny's head.
Slipping the photo and postcard of New Jersey in his back pocket, Danny started walking slowly. His leg ached from top to bottom and his hip was stiff but it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with, trying to walk it off a bit as he un-tucked and unbuttoned his shirt. Pulling it off was a bit difficult since he couldn't move his right arm much but he managed and he then headed back to get the clean shirt from the hood of the Suburban where Chin had left it.
Colorful bruises were already forming down his muscular right arm and side. It was impossible for his teammates not to notice. Kono usually didn't mind getting a look at Danny with his shirt off but this was painful to look at. That looked like it really hurt.
Due to the limited mobility of his right arm and the inability to raise it very high at all, putting Chin's light blue Henley on proved much more difficult than taking off the oxford shirt. Danny made a valiant effort, but putting both arms in, reaching up and pulling it down was impossible. Giving up for the moment and leaning against Lou's truck, Danny reached over and gripped his right shoulder trying to ease the pain before trying a different approach.
Grabbing the shirt from Danny's hand, Steve opened the right sleeve up and held it beneath Danny's right arm. "Can't even dress yourself," he joked when Danny placed his hand in the sleeve before Steve pulled it up very gently.
With a little care and patience and at least an equal amount of pain, the shirt was on. It was a change from Danny's usual dress shirts but the light blue matched his eyes and went well with his dark blue pants. It fit snug around his broad shoulders and chest and truth be told, despite the bruising showing where the short sleeves stopped, it looked really good on him. "Lookin' good BooBoo," Steve told him.
The team couldn't help but notice the change in atmosphere between the partners from when they had left a short while ago, but Danny hadn't said a word and that was highly unusual. "You guys good?" Chin asked.
Steve looked at Danny, a whole conversation going on without a word being spoken or a movement made, the teammates still dumbfounded at how they did that. "Yeah, we're good," Steve answered for them both.
"Ok, Princess, where are the keys to my car?" Danny asked as he stepped closer to the Camaro before getting a good look at the crumpled side and realizing it wasn't going anywhere. "Shit!"
"Here," Lou said as he handed Danny his keys. "Take mine. I'll get a lift with one of them."
"You sure?" Danny asked.
"Of course. No problem. Go on. Get going."
"Thanks man," Danny said as he exchanged a quick one-armed man hug with Lou before thanking Chin the same way.
He then turned to Kono. "C'mere you," he said with a smile, left arm open wide. "Thank you." He planted a kiss on her cheek.
Kono returned the smile with a huge one of her own as she carefully hugged him and kissed his cheek as well. "Have a great time with Charlie, Danny. Can't wait to meet him."
Steve was the one who answered. "You're gunna love him." He had spent some time with Danny, Grace and Charlie on two occasions and Charlie was just as warm and loving and intelligent as Grace and much more talkative. He was Danny's son alright.
Danny's right leg was really achy and his right arm was rather useless right now. It wasn't too bad when he kept it still, but movement brought pain. Then there was the mild headache, the swelling around his right eye and the fact that he had blacked out briefly after impact. He quickly realized that he shouldn't be driving, especially with the precious cargo he would be picking up.
He turned to Steve and another quick and silent conversation ensued. Neither man had to say a word out loud.
'Will you take me? I'm not up to driving.'
'You really trust me to drive – especially with Charlie in the car?'
'Always. You're my best friend and an uncle to my kids and I trust that you would never intentionally hurt any of us.'
'How you feeling?'
'Hurt all over, especially my right side. You ready to go?'
'Yeah, Danno.'
Both men turned to the Suburban and the keys moved from Danny's hand to Steve's in one fluid motion.
"They just did it again," Chin said.
"How do they do that?" Kono asked.
"They're both a little of the same kind of crazy, that's all," Lou opined.
tbc
