"How long will you be gone for, Danno?" Grace Williams worriedly asked her father who was packing his stuff before the Five-Os arrive to take him along to the weekend getaway he's not completely dreading now.
"Oh, just this weekend. You'll be okay at your mom's; she'll take you shopping & let you do all those stuff you girls do" he answered his short, thin, tanned daughter who looks so much like her mother but does have fatherly qualities, at least that's what Danny likes to convince himself with.
Grace approached her blonde father to help him organize his shirts & pants. He seemed to be taking shirts more than jackets & sweatshirts. "Danno!" she exclaimed, "You're not packing enough long-sleeved clothes, you'll freeze in the woods, especially at night… I'm a Brownie & I know what it's like out there" she added. Danny felt a little embarrassed; he was secretly hoping to freeze out there just so he can have the chance to borrow one of Steve's jackets or have him warm up his cold body. "Snap out of it, Danny! You're a father for Christ's sake! Pack your own damn long sleeves." A voice in Danny's head echoes to him; it sounded a lot like his father's grubby voice, but that voice had a point. He was a father & he had better concerns than how to make Steve appeal to him, physically.
"Danno?" Grace's voice suddenly interrupted Danny's train of thought. Danny snaps out of his Steve-bubble, shakes his head in panic & looks at his pride & joy, "You're right, monkey", he finally says & puts on a quick smile to make it seem like it's all okay. "I should pack some long sleeved shirts! Tell you what, you help daddy with that while I go to the bathroom & get my toiletries"
"Alright then", Grace agrees though she started getting suspicious. She's not seven anymore, you know.
Danny walks in his toilet. The off-white walls mirror his vague mood & thoughts, he looked around the little room, then his reflection in the mirror catches his eye. "This is only a weekend getaway to bond with the Five-Os, nothing more, nothing less. No such thing as feelings for Steve, this is only emptiness trying to be filled" Those thoughts are what seemed to calm Danny down. He reached for his toiletries & hurried back in the room so Grace wouldn't get even more suspicious.
Packing was all done & the father & his daughter were sitting on the grey coach Danny's had since forever now, just watching some Discovery Channel until Danny's phone rang. The caller ID read Steve & Danny's heart jumped with joy as soon as he read that name. "Act cool, Danny!"
"Steve" was Danny's "Hello"
"I'm outside your door, Danny. Come on out" Steve instructs
"I'm outside? What do you mean you're outside? Where's everyone else?" asks Danny, confused. Steve hangs up & so, Danny gets his stuff anyway & tells Grace to follow him outside. Grace gets up, turns off the tv & locks the door of Danny's apartment after they're both outside.
"The team had an early start to scout for a good location, so I'll be your driver for today. Oh, & Grace, I'll be dropping you off your mother's" Steve explains as soon as Danny turns to him, wanting an explanation. "Thanks, Uncle Steve!" Grace says & rushes to the backseat. Danny's still dumbfounded, standing infront of Steve who was in Danny's silver Camaro which he never gave Danny back. Why didn't Steve simply say that he & Danny should come along to go scout as well? Does he want some alone time? Though Steve knows how much Danny hates it when Steve drives. Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts... But Danny controlled himself this time. "First of all, you still haven't given me my car & car keys back" Danny started, & Steve rolled his eyes cause he knew that was another one of Danny's long lectures about Steve's 'behaviour'. "Second of all, hey, don't roll your eyes, Steve! Why didn't you tell me this sudden change of plans?!"
There was a moment of silence, Garce was giggling at the back.
"Why are you all worked up? We're late now, aren't we Grace?" replied Steve, so playfully.
Grace nodded & started laughing. Danny just kept looking at those two, feeling like he's being ganged up on (which he is). Danny felt frozen, what is there to do or say now? So he just got busy on a random weather application on his cell phone till the awkwardness died away or something.
"Danny!" Steve exclaims after a little while & then gets out of the car only to approach his deluded partner. Danny notices cargo pants & grey boots under his eye-level, so he raises his head, leaving the weather report he was reading, only to find himself nose-to-nose to an angry Steve McGarrett. "Let's go!" Steve instructs & extends his arm behind Danny. Danny's heart fell, thinking Steve was going to do something, especially that Grace was watching, but in reality, Steve was just grabbing Danny's & Grace's suitcase to put them in the trunk & get going already. Steve walks away & Danny exhales, shakes his head & smiles on. Grace is still watching, you know.
Grace was dropped off to her mother's & the two guys were cruising alone in the car. The ride to Rachel, Danny's ex-wife & Grace's mother, was not so bad. It was 99% of time, Grace talking about her life at school, with her friends, the baseball team, & basically everything Grace-related. The trio was very integrated in the conversation; Steve was asking her all about her love-life & trying to give her tips on how to handle her crushes while Danny was constantly shutting him up & warning Grace about boys & their intentions
"You are such an awful father, you know that?" Steve said as soon as Grace enters her mother's house. "Are you talking to me?" Danny says, a little surprised. "I sure am!" Steve exclaims. "Oh, so, so Steve McGarrett has an objection about MY parenting! That's new!" Danny answers & lets out a nervous laugh. "What do you suggest I change in the way I parent Grace?" Steve starts laughing at Danny's hysteria & then says, "You just gotta let her experience everything with boys & stuff." Danny just looks at his partner as if he has seen a ghost. "How about you try getting us safe to the woods now, & let me worry about how I raise my daughter. Let her talk to boys… The girl can barely talk to a shopkeeper!" Danny kept muttering words to himself after that sudden explosion of defensiveness. Steve started laughing & shaking his head & Danny just went back to the weather report he was reading earlier. Another cargument… Check!
"I am not the bad father Steve thinks I am. Grace knows that, Rachel knows that, I know that! He doesn't know anything, but I can't let him think that way… Oh, he's probably messing around. Yes, he is. I can hear him laughing. Oh God, here I am thinking like a girl again… and I'm thinking of Steve! I still don't get why he didn't tell me about the change of plans. I should just..." Something seemed to interrupt Danny's inner voice-of-wisdom. "...Just…" What is it!
"DANNY!" it was Steve, yelling his name. Danny realized he has been called at for the past minute so he quickly responds, all shaken up "Y-yes! Yes!"
"You seemed so connected with that weather report. What does it say?" Steve asks with a much softer tone. But Danny hasn't been reading that darn weather report, so he had to think fast. "Well, the weather's perfect! This getaway was on-point." He answers. Steve dashes a smile & keeps driving. Danny turns on the radio for some music & some distraction from that train of thought he's not seeming to get off from.