Save a Prayer

"Hey babe," he whispered. "You gotta wake up. Show me those beautiful blue eyes." There was no response. He traced his fingers down the sleeping man's arm, took his hand, careful of the IV.

"Come on. Wake up, baby. What am I supposed to tell Grace and Charlie, huh? You know they'll be at our place tomorrow, right? You gonna trust me alone with them all week, Danno?"

He laughed. Of course Danny trusted him with his kids – their kids – it was the one thing that amazed Steve even more than just knowing Danny loved him. The amount of trust he placed in Steve could leave him breathless when he thought about it.

Of course, that didn't mean Danny wouldn't find something to rant about. This was Danny, after all.

"Who's gonna check to make sure I got all the grenades put away?"

The beeping of the machines was his only answer.

This was the first time since they'd got together that they'd been in the hospital for anything more than a patch job. An impressive record had just been broken.

He didn't like it.

It wasn't supposed to be Danny hooked up to machines. That was Steve's job – though Danny would disagree with that – and one he would gladly do now if it just meant that Danny would wake up and be fine.

The docs assured him that Danny would be fine. The magic bullet that had somehow worked its way under his vest had done damage, obviously. It was enough that Danny's body needed to rest in order to heal, to have him off work for a month or so, but not enough to worry about long term.

Steve wouldn't be convinced until Danny opened his eyes and snarked at him. Steve would let him rest after that. Anything to help him heal.

"I thought we weren't gonna do this anymore, huh? There weren't supposed to be anymore hospital stays. Because I was gonna be more careful. Call for backup. I held up my side of the bargain, buddy."

Another few minutes of beeping replies that he was unable to interpret.

"Did I tell you Mary called yesterday? She wanted to wish us a happy anniversary. I was surprised she remembered. I told her that I'd barely even remembered." That was a flat-out lie, which Danny should have called him on. "Y'know what she said? She said you were such a good influence on me that she marked the day in her calendar and would celebrate it every year. I asked her what she was on." He laughed... to himself, then leaned over to kiss Danny's forehead.

"But she's right, Danno. Even before we got together, you changed me, made me a better person. I would have died on some mission somewhere, still that closed-off, angry guy I was when you met me. I don't know what I'd do without you now. Well, maybe I do know."

There was a groan, a fluttering of eyelids that only opened to slits, but it was enough.

"If you don't shut up and let me sleep, Steven," his words were slow, his voice rough. "You won't have to worry about finding out."

Steve laughed again – this time happier – and kissed his lips. He stayed quiet after that, just running his fingers through Danny's hair, letting him sleep.