"Grace, honey, it's time to get up."

Grace groaned and grabbed the pillow to put it over her head. She rolled over and peeked out at the clock on her bedside table. It was way too early for this.

"Mom, why are you waking me up so early?"

She heard her mom laugh and come farther into the room. "Your father is going to take you to school today."

That made Grace perk up a bit, enough to uncover her face and look at her mother, but she still had that too-early-in-the-morning scowl that almost matched Danno's.

"Still too early."

"He wants to take you for breakfast on the way."

A grin finally replaced the scowl. "Really?" During the time she spent at her mother's house, it was unusual for her to allow Danno to do much more than drive Grace to school on the odd occasion, or visit with her in the foyer after a really tough case. He never told her about the cases, of course, but she could always tell. She knew her Danno.

"Yes, really. Unless you'd like me to tell him you'd rather stay in bed."

"No! No, I'm getting up!"

She saw her mother smile a sad smile, but ignored it for now as she went to the closet to pull out a clean uniform.

"Okay, he'll be here in fifteen minutes."

"I'll be ready!" She took the skirt off its hanger, but looked up as her mom left and started to close the door. Still holding the skirt, she ran to the door. "Mom! Wait."

"Yes, Grace?"

Grace threw her arms around her mother and hugged her.

"Thanks, mom."

A moment later, her mother hugged her back, then left her to get dressed.

When Grace came downstairs with her backpack, Danno was in the foyer talking to her mom. She wasn't able to hear what they were talking about before he saw her and they stopped talking, but her mother didn't seem happy with him. But then, that wasn't really new.

"Danno!" She ran down the rest of the stairs and into his strong arms.

"Hey, Monkey! You wanna hang out with me for a bit before school?"

"Yes!" He released her to take her hand.

"Let's go then." She nodded and turned to thank her mom again before following Danno out to his sleek black car that all the kids at school were jealous of – even the ones with parents richer than hers.

"Where are we going to go, Danno?"

"Well, you wouldn't want me to ruin the surprise, would you, Monkey?" He asked her as he settled her into the back seat. She sighed in annoyance, but her smile never faltered.

"I guess not."

"All right then." He winked at her and got behind the wheel.

"Will there be pancakes?"

"I'm not sure. It's a definite possibility, though." Danno grinned at her in the rear-view mirror before pulling away from the house.

Throughout the drive, Grace told him stories about her weekend in Maui, and the competition where her team had placed third. Some of the stories she had already told him over the phone, but that didn't matter to either of them. She wasn't paying attention to where they were going, so didn't realize they were heading to the house until Danno pulled into the familiar driveway and shut off the car.

"Danno? What are we doing at home?" She figured they'd go to their favourite breakfast place, that just happened to be a few blocks from her school, especially as they didn't have a lot of time.

Her father still said nothing as he helped her out of the car, but his wide grin was contagious. She took his hand and skipped beside him up to the house they had moved into right after Uncle Steve left. Grace didn't really care why they were here; all that mattered was that she had got bonus Danno Time. Even better that he looked happy; nothing horrible had prompted this outing.

Inside, Grace could smell the bacon, even before she heard it sizzling, followed by the scent of blueberries and vanilla. Before she could spend a lot of time wondering how food was cooking when her father had been busy picking her up, they were nearing the kitchen and she saw a man moving around in the room. He wore khaki cargo pants and a tan t-shirt; tattoos peeked out from the sleeves and his short dark hair was wet.

"Uncle Steve!" Grace let go of Danno's hand and ran into Uncle Steve's waiting arms as he crouched to her level. "You're home!" He squeezed almost too tight, but she didn't mind and gave back as good as she got. She felt him rest his forehead on her shoulder for a moment and she pulled back to look at him. He looked tired and the grey had crept father along his temples, but he looked happy as he grinned at her.

"We missed you, Uncle Steve."

"I missed you, too, kiddo." He kissed the top of her head. "I'm not staying, though. Just passing through. You understand?" Grace nodded and her smile faltered, though it didn't disappear completely. "I have to go back this afternoon, but Danno said you guys can play hooky with me this morning until he has to take me back to work. How's that sound?"

"Awesome!" He chuckled and ruffled her hair as he stood, as much as he could with it in a ponytail, and settled his hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you kids go get cleaned up," Her father said from where he'd taken over at the stove. "Before I eat all these myself." He poured the last of the batter onto the griddle and placed a dish full of pancakes and crispy bacon back in the oven to keep warm.

"Okay! Let's go, Uncle Steve." She grabbed his hand and tugged him upstairs. Once they got to the second floor landing, she didn't let him go to follow Danno's instructions, instead leading him to her room. Only then did she let go of his hand, to go and sit on her bed with a bounce. Uncle Steve stayed in the doorway, leaning against the frame with crossed arms and a smile.

"You don't want pancakes, Gracie? Because I'm pretty sure Danno will eat it all, as threatened, if we don't make it down in time." Grace giggled.

"I do, but I just wanted... to say thank you first, in case I don't get a chance to later."

Uncle Steve frowned and came to sit next to her on the bed. "What for, Gracie?" She looked at him like he had suddenly sprouted an extra head.

"For letting us stay in your house. For my awesome room. I love it!" Grace was ecstatic to see his face light up at her words. He looked around the room, as if taking in all the changes she had made to it since he redecorated it: a couple of French bulletin boards with photos, notes, and other snapshots of teenage life; books; iPod dock. The only toys in the room were a seal plushie, much like the one she had given him, and a primitive cloth doll standing on her desk.

"That's good to hear, kiddo. I want you and Danno to be happy here."

She bit her lip, stopping herself from saying something she knew would only make her Uncle Steve sad, or feel guilty. She had the feeling he spent enough time feeling those things and she wouldn't do that to him, not when she only had a couple of hours with him. She had his back.

He stood up and walked over to the desk to pick up the doll. She watched him look down at it for a minute or two. He was quiet. She saw the muscles in his arm flex as his hand tightened around it. She wasn't sure he was completely here with her at the moment. There had to be a story behind the doll; she wanted to know it.

"Uncle Steve?"

"Hmm?" It seemed to take a moment longer than it should for him to look away from the doll and back at her. "Sorry Grace, did you say something?"

She shook her head 'no'. "Thank you for sending me that doll."

He smiled at her, looking a bit sheepish. "I know you're too old for dolls. But I saw it and I really had to get it for you."

Again, she shook her head. "I love it. Where did you find it?" She prompted. He huffed out a laugh and she thought she heard him mutter 'it's classified' under his breath. He sat back down next her, but his eyes didn't leave the doll that his thumb was running across the little sleeve of its arm.

"I can't actually tell you were I got it. It was a bad place, though, Gracie. A really bad place."

"Did you get the bad guys?"

He smiled. "Yeah, we got the bad guys, kiddo. After, I was helping some of the other soldiers deal with the people from the town that had lost their homes. There was a mother and her daughter, who was just a couple years older than you, making these dolls for the younger kids. They've been living with all this stuff all their lives, but they've just lost their homes. They were still scared and brave and amazing. And this little girl just wanted to help by making them some toys. She told me that the first one she ever made was for her little sister, who died in the fighting. I asked her if I could trade for one for this amazing girl I knew back home."

Grace looked at the doll, still in Uncle Steve's hands, like it was the most precious gem. "Thank you for telling me that story, Uncle Steve. I love it even more now." He handed it over to her, wrapped his arm around her shoulders so he could pull her in and kiss the top of her head.

"Mmm," Danno interrupted from downstairs, exaggerating his delight. "These pancakes are really good. Too bad they'll all be gone before anyone else can try them!"