AN: I don't own the characters or anything. This is just to get this story out of my head.

A/N: Through most of this chapter the boys just wrote themselves, except for one part that it took me a while to be happy with. Big thanks to Wenwalke for her input.

A/N: Several tips of the hat to Scott Caan in this chapter. Can you spot any?

A/N: So, we've seen pleading Danny, hurt Danny, livid Danny and forgiving Danny. Now we get to see tough-guy Danny. Hope you enjoy.

H50 H50 H50

As Danny limped to the passenger side and struggled to haul himself up into the Suburban, Steve turned to the team and spoke, because real words were needed with them. "Thanks for taking care of this mess," he said to them. "Lou, I'll get this back to you in one piece. I promise. Thanks." He flipped the keys to his truck to Lou so he could pick it up from the Palace.

In Lou's truck on the way to Rachel's Danny held his right shoulder with his left hand and leaned his head back on the headrest with a soft groan.

"That shoulder's really bothering you, huh?" Steve asked.

"Better now that it's back in place," was Danny's vague reply.

"Probably more than just dislocated. Torn muscles, maybe a fracture somewhere."

"Yeah, probably," Danny agreed.

Damn! For Danny to admit that meant it really did hurt. "I'm really sorry Danno…"

"We've been through that already. So just stop," Danny grumbled back, eyes still closed, head still back.

"Look, I know you're doing this for Charlie, so he doesn't think you don't love him. I get that. I really do. But are you honestly, physically up to this?"

"I grew up in a city that makes every list of worst places to live. It was rough, man. Violence, drugs, you name it. The cops," Danny sighed, "the cops were just always outnumbered. Amazing men and women, honestly. Did a lot of good for the city, still do," he added with pride, "but growing up there, you still had to protect your own, ya know?" He opened his eyes, lifted his head and looked at Steve to make sure he understood.

Steve had no idea where Danny was going with this, how it could possibly be an answer to his question. Maybe Danny was simply deflecting, maybe delirious, he didn't know. He knew Danny came from a rough area. He distinctly remembered a comment Danny made very early in the partnership that when you got in a fight in his neighborhood you went home and double locked your doors because somebody was coming back with a gun. Suddenly, the tiny, dingy apartment that Danny lived in when they first met made sense to him. It was what he was used to. Despite the poor and rough conditions he had grown up in though, Danny had a big and loving family around him. All of that had formed him into the man he had become, the man who had become Steve's best friend. He nodded his understanding.

Danny went on. "There was this guy one time, bigger than you, kept hassling Stella…"

"Eric's mother?"

"Yeah."

"Were you a cop yet?"

"Not yet."

Steve thought about that. He had an idea where this was going. How big could Danny have been then considering his adult height?

"Guy was a real schmuck," Danny continued. "I warned him to back off. Leave her alone. He started making comments about my size, asking who was going to make him stop. It got ugly."

Steve knew that was a euphemism for "we got into a knock down drag out fight".

"He kicked me in the chest. Sent me flying into a low retaining wall. I crumbled to the ground. My back hurt like a mother. Could barely feel my legs. A whole crowd was watching. All the guys from the neighborhood. So, I'm on the ground now, wind knocked out of me, pain I've never felt before in my back. The guys are shouting at me to stay down. They think he's gunna kill me if I dare get up, ya know. He's this big guy and I'm this runt."

"But you didn't stay down."

Danny sniffed. It was part of his tough guy routine that Steve recognized now. "Of course not."

"And…?"

"And the guy never bothered Stella again." There was no bravado in it, just a simple statement of fact. He didn't even open his eyes.

That's my partner, Steve thought. That's the man who has my back – every day. My Danno. But Danny hadn't told him everything. "And your back?"

"Piece of a bone chipped off my lower spine."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Stuff like that happened, man. That's just the way it was. Guys would always shout 'just stay down', but I never, ever finished a fight on the ground. So to answer your question, yeah, honestly, physically I'm up to this."

Steve knew Danny was tough and strong; he fit the New Jersey stereotype that way for sure. Danny's height often made people underestimate him, but one look at him in a swimsuit told you everything you needed to know. He was 5 feet 5 inches of pure muscle. And agile – watch him make a leaping catch of a football while running full speed, field a bad hop grounder at short and then turn the double play or take a ride on a skateboard. Despite his abhorrence of the ocean, he had taken to surfing pretty quickly. And Steve had seen Danny fight. He wasn't highly trained in hand-to-hand combat like the rest of the team but he was a scrappy, tenacious, dangerous fighter who could inflict serious damage. He knew how to use his size to his advantage, moving in very close in a wrestling style when a boxing style would put him and his short reach at a clear disadvantage. And the way Danny had told that childhood story was not a proud and cocky boast; it was totally matter-of-fact. While he had never thought about it before, Steve could easily imagine Danny being the neighborhood protector growing up.

"Ok," Steve agreed. He'd take his word for it. "You have nicknames too? Like they show in movies and stuff," he added to lighten things up a bit.

"You mean a street name."

Steve sat up straighter in his seat. This could really get interesting.

Danny realized quickly that his answer had left him wide open. A flat out denial would have been better, although it would have been a lie and he wasn't very good at lying, especially to Steve. He couldn't hide much from him.

"So what was yours?" Steve asked.

"Not going there. Just not going there."

Steve wasn't going to let this go. "Shortstop?"

"Oh shut up! Shortstop? Seriously? The only time anybody dared call me shortstop was when they were reading the lineup."

Steve realized that being the protector would have been extra tough for a guy of Danny's size. Allowing anybody to refer to his size would destroy his credibility. He thought of the story his friend had just told. How many fights did his best friend have, how many injuries did he suffer, until people stopped mentioning it? He went back to trying to figure out Danny's street name. "Well, couldn't be Jersey because that would fit everybody."

"Genius."

"Couldn't be Danno…"

Danny glared at him before he could even finish that thought.

"Well, help me out here. It could be anything. Where do I even start?"

"Don't start. Just let it go." Danny didn't need to give him another nickname to use against him.

"I got it! 'D!' Eric calls you Uncle D."

"Nope. Some guys from Newark PD call me D. Eric just thinks he's one of them," Danny replied with a chuckle.

Steve thought some more. "Couldn't be Sponge-Bob because you would never live anywhere near a pineapple much less in one."

"Now that was just pathetic."

"Come on, just tell me. I'm your best friend. You can trust me."

Danny turned to look at Steve but the sharp pain that radiated through his shoulder made him quickly regret it and he stopped. "It means that much to you that you play the best friend and trust card?"

Steve looked at him in eager anticipation, not having to verbally answer that.

Danny realized that the name was nothing to be embarrassed about. It was a respectable one as street names go. "Ok, if it means that much to you. It's Sonny."

"Sunny?" Steve said with a smirk.

"Yeah, Sonny."

"Like you were some ray of sunshine? I don't see it."

Danny knew that he should be offended by that but he didn't have the energy to care. He understood what Steve was missing here. "Not Sunny with a 'u'. It's Sonny with an 'o'."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'o'."

"Why Sonny? I still don't get it."

"Well sometimes it was Sonny C."

"That supposed to mean something to me?"

"Ever watch The Godfather?"

"Oh yeah, great movie!" Then it clicked. "Sonny Corleone!"

"Yep." Danny agreed in a matter of fact tone. "Apparently I reminded some guys of him."

"Because you look like James Caan or because you were totally bad-ass?"

Danny just looked at him.

Steve went on. "Because if they thought you looked like James Caan, they could have called you Brian Piccolo. Then I could have been Gale Sayers."

Danny laughed. "You don't look much like Gale Sayers."

Steve laughed too. "But we have some things in common. We're both awesome football players and we're both best friends with Brian Piccolo." Steve tried out his best Gale Sayers voice. "'I love Brian Piccolo and tonight when you hit your knees I ask you to ask God to love him too.'" He quoted that famous line from the movie Brian's Song.

"Watch that movie a couple of times, Steven?" Danny asked, grinning.

"Of course. The girls loved it. They'd get all weepy and lean on my shoulder crying. They were all in love with Brian Piccolo. But seriously, Sonny is a much better fit and much cooler street name than Brian. Gave you big time street cred, I'm sure. My totally bad-ass partner Sonny. I like it. It fits."

"Don't! Just don't!" Danny warned. He didn't want Steve to start using his New Jersey street name here.

"I like 'Danno', a lot better though," Steve said with a smile, making Danny relax. Danno was the best friend he ever had. Sonny was just a little bit scary.

tbc