/ / / Staying \ \ \ s03e14 – Hana I WaʻIa (Scandal)

Steve rubbed at his eyes, trying to force his body to wake up faster, as he stared at Danny who was sitting in front of his easel painting more angrily than Steve had previously seen. Steve wasn't sure if he should step in and try to say something to Danny or if he should just leave him to it.

"I know you're standing there, Steven." Danny said, not bothering to turn around.

"You weren't in bed," Steve explained.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Danny didn't respond, painting broad black strokes across the large canvas. Steve pulled out one of the dining room chairs and turned it around so that he could rest back and watch Danny. If Danny was going to sit up all night and stew on the hearing in the morning then Steve would be with him.

Danny was silent for a long time before he suddenly spoke. "Are you just going to stare at me?"

"Apparently."

Danny turned around and glared at him. Steve was surprised at just how tired his partner looked.

"We're going to win," Steve offered, but Danny just huffed at him and went back to painting.

Steve leaned on the table next to him and continued to watch Danny paint. He did love to watch Danny paint normally but this definitely wasn't normal. Danny needed to sleep, Steve knew that but most of his usual methods of distracting Danny wouldn't work so he would just have to sit here and wait.

"I might lose her," Danny said, squirting orange paint onto his palette.

"You won't."

"The last judge gave Rachel the power to move to Hawaii with Grace, Hawaii, it's barely even the same continent, Steven. And fine, it turned out okay, but that was never a certainty and honestly the only reason it did was because your father died and you got dragged back to Hawaii. Because, let's be honest, I didn't have much going for me before you came back to Hawaii, it wasn't home, it wasn't, it was just the place I was living and everything was terrible if I wasn't spending time with Grace. Now, finally, finally, things are great. We're getting married and my family likes you and Hannah said Eric's been better since he's been home and Molly is about to have the baby and your sister has a job she likes. Sure your mother hates me but we have a home and work is good, Malia is going to have a baby and Chin is in for…so much, Kono has Adam who I don't think I like. All of that is great but then Gracie has a room here and loves to spend time with us and loves you and Rachel is ruining it all again. The divorce wasn't enough, she needs to come back when you and I are so good and I'm happy and Hawaii is home – Hawaii!"

Steve stood up and stepped in between Danny and the easel. "Danny."

"She's going to keep doing this to me, Steve."

Steve dropped down to his knees between Danny's legs, not bothering to think about the wet paint on Danny or on the canvas. "You won't lose her."

"That's not good enough!" Danny barked out, his face twisted.

"We're going to win."

"I've never won in a custody battle."

Steve honestly didn't know what to say to fix this, to reassure Danny. He rested his forearms on Danny's thighs and was silent. Danny put the palette and brush down on the table next to him and slid his hands over Steve's shoulders until he was gripping the back of his neck with one hand. Steve could feel the slick wetness of paint on Danny's fingers and knew it was marking his skin now but he just leaned forward into Danny; happy to take Danny's weight as he slumped forward into Steve.

"What can I do?" Steve asked quietly, when even his muscles protested the strain of holding this position.

Danny shook his head against Steve's neck. "Nothing, we've done everything."

"Not for tomorrow," Steve said, pulling back, "for you."

Danny smiled down at him. "Nothing."

"Danny…"

"I just need to get through the next six hours."

"Sleep will make it go faster."

Danny huffed out a laugh. "I couldn't sleep."

"Okay, then we stay up."

"You don't have to."

"If you're staying up then I'm staying too."

"You don't have to."

Steve shook his head at Danny.

Danny almost smiled at him. "Sometimes the fact you're ridiculous is great."

Steve smiled and used Danny's knees to push himself up. "Water or whiskey?"

"Whiskey."

Steve left Danny to his painting and got them both a large whiskey.

"I shouldn't be drinking," Danny said, even as he sipped at his drink.

"I'm not going to get you drunk tonight."

"Thank you." Danny said, and Steve knew he was talking about more than just the whiskey.

"Are you going to keep painting?"

Danny looked at the painting that looked to Steve like an abstract version of someone's nightmare. "I think this might be one of those ones I have to throw away."

"We're not going to lose her, Danny, you just might finally have a good reason to stop her surfing."

"I think the culture of Vegas would be even worse for Grace than Hawaii's surf culture."

Steve shook his head. "I've caught some of Jersey Shore."

Danny rolled his eyes at Steve. "I never said Jersey was perfect but the Shore isn't really the part of the Jersey where we lived."

Steve went back to the dining chair and Danny turned around to look at him, sipping at his whiskey. As soon as Danny was done, Steve handed the blonde his glass.

"You weren't going to get me drunk."

"You're drinking that and then I'm taking you to bed."

Danny smiled at him gently and started sipping at the whiskey.

"It might not be a great night's sleep but you'll at least have some sleep."

"I'll try."

As soon as Danny had finished the second glass, Steve dragged him up to their bed, stripping off the paint covered clothes and pushing Danny down into the mattress. Steve turned off the light and followed him in, wrapping himself around Danny and waiting, silently, until the other man fell asleep.

Steve woke up to his alarm later that morning – the alarm he'd deliberately set so that it wouldn't wake Danny up at his normal swim time and found him gone. Steve got up expecting to find Danny somewhere in the house but he was gone, the Camero along with him. Steve went back up to their room and pulled out his suit bag – pulling the jacket out and smoothing his hand over the medals he'd pinned on. He had his shower and dressed carefully, pretending he was going out on parade in front of his strictest CO. He double checked in the mirror before he left and then headed out to his own car hoping it was easy to find Danny.

Steve rushed into the courthouse and spotted Danny immediately, sitting on a bench, elbows on his knees and head bent. He rushed over; all ready to tell him off when Danny looked up at his 'Hey' and he couldn't bring himself to say anything given how nervous…terrified…and worried Danny looked.

"Wow," Danny said, the moment he saw him, "you, ah, you look very nice, suit and tie, it's very good."

"It's for you," Steve explained, tucking his hat beneath his elbow, "I wore it for you."

"Thank you," Danny said, voice distracted. Steve really didn't like how subdued Danny was as he sat next to him.

Then Danny reached for his tie and asked if it was a clip-on, fiddling with the tie that Steve knew for a fact was perfect when he'd tied it this morning. He'd been wearing a dress uniform for a long time and he knew how to do it but he'd let Danny do whatever he needed to to settle his nerves.

"I thought nobody wore a tie in Hawaii," Danny said.

"No, they don't, but, you know, it's a special day so I thought I'd wear one," Steve explained, not saying what he really meant. Not saying that he'd have offered to wear a tie every day for the rest of his life if Danny got to keep Grace, that he'd do anything, wear anything, say anything if he got to keep what the two…three of them had here in Hawaii. He wasn't sure if he needed to tell Danny, he'd said as much earlier that morning not long before Danny had finally fallen asleep but he would say it again if it would help. The problem was that Steve didn't think anything he could do would help. He went for levity instead, tried to be as sure and normal as he could so that Danny would believe that things would be fine. "Plus, I'm wearing my dress blues, in the Navy they'd make me walk the plank if I don't wear a tie with my dress blues."

"Navy dress blues are black?" Danny questioned.

Steve shrugged and mumbled out an excuse.

"Thank you very much for being here," Danny said. "It means a lot, okay?"

Steve wanted to wrap his arms around Danny, pull him close and kiss him until the worry would go away but he knew it wouldn't really do anything. Danny should know he didn't have to thank Steve for this though – this was important to Steve, almost as important as it was to Danny. "You're welcome, but you never have to thank me for being here, this is what I signed up for. You'd do the same for me."

Danny nodded, his eyes soft.

"All right," Steve said, changing the topic, "you ready?"

"Yeah," Danny said, rocking back and patting his pocket, "I've got my speech all prepared, everything's good."

"Good."

"Tell you something," Danny said, "If I didn't have you and they take her away from me, I'd be jumping off a cliff."

"Hey!" Steve said. "They do that and we sell the house and move to Vegas. That's what's happening if, if, they make the wrong decision."

"Okay."

"It's not going to happen," Steve said, forgetting their rules about remaining professional in places like the court house to reach out and wrap his hand around one of Danny's. The other man stopped bouncing and looked at him. "It's not going to happen, all right?"

"All right," Danny agreed.

They walked into the courtroom and Steve sat behind Danny hating the distance between them while Danny stood up and gave his speech. Steve knew he wasn't supposed to stand up, he was supposed to sit there and look official and imposing – that is what Danny's lawyer had told him to do but he couldn't help it when the judge questioned Danny's parenting decisions. He ignored the vibrations in his pocket to stand and defend Danny – downplaying their relationship a little.

"Detective Williams doesn't just work for me, he's my friend, he's my close friend."

"I'm aware of your relationship," the judge said, "that doesn't mean you have the right to speak in this court."

"I know, but I've spent a lot of time with he and Grace and he's an amazing father, he's actually the kind of father we all wish we had."

"Commander McGarrett," the judge said, voice warning, "sit down."

Steve nodded and sat, catching the look on Danny's face – that mixture of pride and resignation.

The judge finished listening to Danny and then ran through the rest of the custody hearing. Steve sat on his hands and refrained from saying anything else until the end of proceedings.

"You need to work on your impulse control," the lawyer told Steve. "Luckily, I don't think what he said will hurt us. You have a strong case and Grace is old enough to be asked what she wants though the judge won't have to take it into account if she doesn't want to. I'll be in touch."

"Thank you," Danny said, shaking the hand of the lawyer and then watching as he walked away.

"I'm sorry," Steve offered, looking at the tight, strained lines of Danny's back beneath the suit jacket.

"Thank you," Danny said, twisting around and sliding his hand into Steve's – yanking him out of the foyer and down a quiet corridor. He stopped and pulled Steve down into a kiss. "Thank you for today, even if you shouldn't have stood up, thank you for what you said and for wearing your dress uniform and for trying so hard."

Steve curled his hand around Danny's jaw and kissed him again. Steve groaned when his phone started vibrating against his hip bone again.

"What?"

"It's been ringing for a while."

"Then answer it, who is it?"

"Governor Denning," Steve admitted.

Danny groaned. "Come on, answer it."

Then they had a body and Wo Fat and a missing political candidate and Steve had to make a choice between Wo Fat and the man bleeding to death and he knew, knew, all it would take would be one shot and he'd kill Wo Fat and this would all be over but he was flying and he couldn't ask Danny to take that shot for him. And doing so, in that situation, would have put Danny in more danger than Steve felt comfortable with.

He was glad that he'd saved their guy but as he and Danny finally sat out on the beach, enjoying the last heat of the day, Steve couldn't avoid the regret over Wo Fat getting away again.

"Would you please stop? Please, we didn't have a choice. We had to let Wo Fat go. And we will find him, I promise," Danny said, breaking Steve out of his thoughts. "Okay?"

"Do you mind if I join you guys?" Steve and Danny turned around to find Governor Denning walking across the lawn.

Danny's phone started ringing as he stood up and he left Steve and the Governor to answer it.

"What's the occasion?"

"Powers cracked under questioning; he admitted he was in bed with Wo Fat."

"Really?" Steve asked, watching Denning sit and then taking his own seat again. "He almost pulled that one off."

"I owe you," Denning said.

"No, Sir, just doing my job."

-)(-)(-

Danny answered his phone as he stepped away from the Governor and Steve, recognising his lawyer's number.

"Hello?" Danny asked, already knowing it was bad news.

"Danny?"

"Hi, James."

"The judge has come back with her ruling."

Danny knew that he wasn't going to have many more evenings like this, next to the beach – able to enjoy it without worrying about sand.

"The judge said your partner's outburst was against court regulations and encouraged me to suggest he works on that before any legal proceedings you go through for Five-0."

"I know," Danny said, thinking that Five-0 wasn't really going to exist for much longer.

"However, she appreciated how much he wants you, and Grace, to stay here in Hawaii with him."

"He really does, but he's like a bull in a china shop."

"Rather. Now, luckily she decided to take his words into account as well as Grace's desire to stay on the island, your increased time spent with her and the lack of disruption caused during your allotted custody time and she ruled that it would not be in Grace's best interests to be relocated again so soon after arriving in Hawaii when there was no hardship in her current situation."

Danny was fairly certain his heart had just stopped. "I'm sorry, sorry, can you repeat that?"

"The judge ruled that Rachel could not legally take Grace to Las Vegas."

Danny took in a great shuddering breath and had to blink back the sudden hotness behind his eyes. "She's staying."

"Yes."

"She's staying."

"She is," James repeated, happily.

Danny stopped pacing and leaned up against the side of the house.

"There is more, Mr Williams."

"She's staying, what on Earth could be more?"

"The judge implied that she was surprised at your custody arrangements, believing that there should be more structure to it and given the small island on which you live and your current situation that you may wish to revisit the terms of your custody agreement."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You currently get Grace every second weekend but Rachel has control over when you pick her up and every Wednesday night, there is no formal arrangement for holidays and, if you were to want to change that, now would be the right time to do so."

"I could get more time with her?"

"Possibly," James said, "I don't want to give you false hope but the judge suggested that now would be a sensible time given that you are much more stable than you were with the original terms were decided."

Danny wanted to agree, wanted to insist that they moved ahead immediately but he wasn't the only person involved so he took a deep breath and pulled his mind back. "I'll need to discuss this with Steve."

James made a noise that Danny decided not to interpret. "Of course, when you've made a decision call me."

"I will. Thank you so much for all of your help."

"You're welcome, Danny. I'll talk to you soon."

"Yes," Danny said, hanging up and taking a moment to regain his equilibrium. When he felt like he could keep a straight face while he told Steve he walked towards him.

Danny held onto his hips so he didn't grab Steve and kiss him in front of the Governor. He had a feeling the man's obviously feigned ignorance of their situation wouldn't hold up against the things that Danny wanted to do to his partner in celebration. Danny walked back to them as slowly as he could while he'd tried to accept that something had actually gone his way.

Hey," Steve said, quietly and Danny responded without thought.

He knew he was making a noise but he was a little worried that any minute something could change. This was all too good, too perfect, too much exactly what he wanted, and Danny was a little terrified it would all disappear. Steve's face slowly twisted into worry as he looked at Danny.

"You all good?"

"Ah…she's not moving." Danny had to blink a few too many times as he said it. But he didn't care.

"Grace?" Steve said hopefully.

"The judge ruled in my favour, shared custody, she cannot leave the island," Danny had to say it again, but he was beginning to wonder if that was for him or for Steve who's eyes were beginning to soften with happiness. "She cannot leave the island. Huh, huh?"

Steve was up and out of the chair before Danny had even finished. Danny wasn't sure if it was the Governor's presence but Steve moved in for a hug, holding Danny tightly and slapping him on the back. Danny took a couple of shuddering breaths to try and get his equilibrium back. Steve held on past the time it would be 'normal' waiting until Danny pulled back. They stepped away from one another and the Governor coughed.

"I really don't think that type of news needs to be contained to a hug."

Danny turned to him with a look but he didn't reach for Steve again.

"And I don't believe I've congratulated you on your intention to take advantage of Hawaii's civil union laws."

Danny couldn't help it, he laughed, pulled Steve back to him and kissed him soundly…and chastely. "She's staying," he whispered into Steve's lips.

"And so are we," Steve said with a smug smirk.

Danny sighed. "I can't believe I am so happy to be staying on this island."

"You love it," Steve said when he was holding his beer again.

The Governor handed Danny one and he smiled his thanks.

"Oh," Danny said. "By the way, the judge, ah, said, that your courtroom behaviour was completely unacceptable and despicable."

Steve made a face. "Come on."

"But she also said you were a fantastic character witness so thank you, very much."

"Anytime."

"And that you were obviously going to be a very involved step-father."

Steve smiled the same way did whenever he was referred to that way and Danny shook his head at him. Danny deliberately turned back to the Governor and his slightly amused look and made every attempt to say something to him that wasn't something utterly sappy about Steve's support. Danny wanted to celebrate. He knew it was silly but he wanted to celebrate and since he couldn't celebrate with Grace until the next day he wanted to celebrate with Steve. Now.

The Governor congratulated them both on the decision and getting to stay in Hawaii. Danny smiled and took a drink of his beer. He would just have to wait.

Later, when they were standing in the kitchen, plates in the sink Steve turned to Danny with the look that meant he had been avoiding saying or asking something but it was about to explode out of him.

"What is it, babe?"

"Shared custody." Steve left the statement open and Danny knew the real question.

"The judge is willing to open custody talks again, I might, we might get more time with her."

Steve face fell into a wide smile and he stalked towards Danny. "We might?"

"It's an option open to me, to us, if we wanted to take it."

"Yes." Steve's hands landed low of Danny's hips.

"We should think about it carefully," Danny said. "What it would mean for the team, they have been very good but if we ask more of them."

"Yes." Steve pulled Danny in closer.

"And what it would mean for you and I…we should discuss it."

"Yes." Steve closed the distance between them and kissed Danny hard, spinning until he was pressed tightly into the wall. "Say yes."

Danny smirked. "I called my lawyer when you were in the shower, he'll start the proceedings tomorrow."

Steve leaned back in and devoured Danny.

/ / /