Fight
Title: Fight
Pairing: None (hints of Steve/Danny, but it's about as slashy as the show itself, which is to say, more than somewhat)
Rating: PG
Length: 760 words
Spoilers: For 1x18, Loa Aloha.
Warnings: Language.
Disclaimer: None of these people belong to me!
Author's Notes: Grace has the potential to be quite the little badass, don't you think?
Summary: Kono teaches Grace to box; Danny and Steve are impressed, and also a little bit of a family.
"Thumb out. No, loose, like this." Kono knocks Grace's fist with her own, beachy-bronze against tan freckle.
"Tighten it up right before the punch lands, and then let it go loose again. And never, ever, tuck your thumb inside."
"Why not?" Gracie's eyebrows knot, like she's ready to argue if she doesn't get a good answer. Shades of Danny, Kono thinks, and grins. He'd made the same face when Kono suggested a self-defense lesson, but the man asking for free babysitting is not a man with much leverage, especially not when his daughter's face lights up in a way that all of Stan's ponies and Malibu Barbie playsets can't compete with. The light faded a little when Kono insisted they learn boxing stance before anybody got to punch anything, but it's back full force now that they're huddled on the sparring mat in Kono's cheap studio, couch pushed back against the wall and Grace's little face beaming reverently at her own fists.
"Look," she says, folding Grace's thumb against her palm. "Hit me. Not too hard, okay?"
"Okay," Grace says, and hauls her arm back in the most dramatic wind-up Kono's ever seen, elbow cocked and chest puffed out like the world's worst boxer. She catches the girl's arm, eases it down, smiling.
"We'll try that in a minute. For this, just a light one, okay? Come on, hit me," Kono says, holding out her palm like a stop sign. Grace's punch hits her square in the meat of her hand.
"Ow," Grace says, and shakes her fingers out. "My thumb feels squooshed."
"You can break it that way, see? Now, thumb out. Let's try this for real. Show me what you got, tita."
It's a good punch, well-aimed and tight, with all of Grace's eighty pounds behind it. Kono exaggerates the impact, falling back with an 'oof!,' and gets a proud grin and shrieking giggle in return.
"Gracie Williams, you've got a killer right cross," she says, and wonders whether she can get Danny to agree to kid-sized gloves and hand wraps.
*****
Beer in hand and tie loose, Danny is watching his daughter box a woman twice her size with the kind of concentration she usually brings to macaroni craft projects. Her fine hair is clipped back with dolphin barrettes and she bounces with every punch, throwing her body into it, so tiny and breakable and furious. Kono catches her blows with padded mitts and guides her, every word of praise making Grace beam brighter.
"Steve," he says, pointing the neck of his beer sharply, "she is not going to be my little girl much longer."
"She's good, Danno," Steve says. He's smiling his stupid smile, the wacky-ass one that makes him look like a chipmunk. "She's just like her old man."
"Yeah," Danny says, "sure." Just then Grace looks up and him and shrieks "Daddy! I told you! Daddy, I can beat you up, watch me!" and before he knows it she's aiming a left hook for his kidneys. "I believe you, baby, I believe you." While he's blocking that punch, she lands a glancing but effective blow with her right glove, just under his ribs. "Oof!"
Steve's still laughing at that when she turns on him, but she just knocks him halfheartedly a couple of times, and then her aggressive flailing turns into a hug, the outsized gloves audibly smacking together around Steve's back. The look on his face as he settles one big hand on her tiny shoulder is hands down the most vulnerable thing Danny has ever seen. It's Grace's face when Danny reassured her that even though Uncle Matty would be gone for a while, Danno would never ever leave her, no matter what. Danny tries to brainwave a little bit of that reassurance at Steve--although fuck his life, why is he always the one with his shit together?--and Steve smiles a tiny smile, pats Gracie on the back.
"You're tough, kid," he says to the top of her head. "Remind me not to run into you in any dark alleys."
Kono sidles up to Danny, peeling the mitts off and wiping her bangs off her face with the back of one wrist. "Don't freak out," she says quietly, "but earlier, when we were practicing, she told me she wanted to be a cop when she grows up. Just like Danno."
"No fucking way," he mutters back, "no way ever in a million years," and it sounds about as decisive as he can manage through the proud grin he knows he's wearing.
Pairing: None (hints of Steve/Danny, but it's about as slashy as the show itself, which is to say, more than somewhat)
Rating: PG
Length: 760 words
Spoilers: For 1x18, Loa Aloha.
Warnings: Language.
Disclaimer: None of these people belong to me!
Author's Notes: Grace has the potential to be quite the little badass, don't you think?
Summary: Kono teaches Grace to box; Danny and Steve are impressed, and also a little bit of a family.
"Thumb out. No, loose, like this." Kono knocks Grace's fist with her own, beachy-bronze against tan freckle.
"Tighten it up right before the punch lands, and then let it go loose again. And never, ever, tuck your thumb inside."
"Why not?" Gracie's eyebrows knot, like she's ready to argue if she doesn't get a good answer. Shades of Danny, Kono thinks, and grins. He'd made the same face when Kono suggested a self-defense lesson, but the man asking for free babysitting is not a man with much leverage, especially not when his daughter's face lights up in a way that all of Stan's ponies and Malibu Barbie playsets can't compete with. The light faded a little when Kono insisted they learn boxing stance before anybody got to punch anything, but it's back full force now that they're huddled on the sparring mat in Kono's cheap studio, couch pushed back against the wall and Grace's little face beaming reverently at her own fists.
"Look," she says, folding Grace's thumb against her palm. "Hit me. Not too hard, okay?"
"Okay," Grace says, and hauls her arm back in the most dramatic wind-up Kono's ever seen, elbow cocked and chest puffed out like the world's worst boxer. She catches the girl's arm, eases it down, smiling.
"We'll try that in a minute. For this, just a light one, okay? Come on, hit me," Kono says, holding out her palm like a stop sign. Grace's punch hits her square in the meat of her hand.
"Ow," Grace says, and shakes her fingers out. "My thumb feels squooshed."
"You can break it that way, see? Now, thumb out. Let's try this for real. Show me what you got, tita."
It's a good punch, well-aimed and tight, with all of Grace's eighty pounds behind it. Kono exaggerates the impact, falling back with an 'oof!,' and gets a proud grin and shrieking giggle in return.
"Gracie Williams, you've got a killer right cross," she says, and wonders whether she can get Danny to agree to kid-sized gloves and hand wraps.
*****
Beer in hand and tie loose, Danny is watching his daughter box a woman twice her size with the kind of concentration she usually brings to macaroni craft projects. Her fine hair is clipped back with dolphin barrettes and she bounces with every punch, throwing her body into it, so tiny and breakable and furious. Kono catches her blows with padded mitts and guides her, every word of praise making Grace beam brighter.
"Steve," he says, pointing the neck of his beer sharply, "she is not going to be my little girl much longer."
"She's good, Danno," Steve says. He's smiling his stupid smile, the wacky-ass one that makes him look like a chipmunk. "She's just like her old man."
"Yeah," Danny says, "sure." Just then Grace looks up and him and shrieks "Daddy! I told you! Daddy, I can beat you up, watch me!" and before he knows it she's aiming a left hook for his kidneys. "I believe you, baby, I believe you." While he's blocking that punch, she lands a glancing but effective blow with her right glove, just under his ribs. "Oof!"
Steve's still laughing at that when she turns on him, but she just knocks him halfheartedly a couple of times, and then her aggressive flailing turns into a hug, the outsized gloves audibly smacking together around Steve's back. The look on his face as he settles one big hand on her tiny shoulder is hands down the most vulnerable thing Danny has ever seen. It's Grace's face when Danny reassured her that even though Uncle Matty would be gone for a while, Danno would never ever leave her, no matter what. Danny tries to brainwave a little bit of that reassurance at Steve--although fuck his life, why is he always the one with his shit together?--and Steve smiles a tiny smile, pats Gracie on the back.
"You're tough, kid," he says to the top of her head. "Remind me not to run into you in any dark alleys."
Kono sidles up to Danny, peeling the mitts off and wiping her bangs off her face with the back of one wrist. "Don't freak out," she says quietly, "but earlier, when we were practicing, she told me she wanted to be a cop when she grows up. Just like Danno."
"No fucking way," he mutters back, "no way ever in a million years," and it sounds about as decisive as he can manage through the proud grin he knows he's wearing.