H50 fic: Life Isn't a Fairy Tale
Title: Life Isn't a Fairy Tale
Author: grimcognito
Rating: PG-13
Character(s)/Pairing(s): pre-slash Steve/Danny, Grace
Genre: Angst, romance
Warning: Character death
Spoilers: Coda to 1x23, very spoilery.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I make no profit from this.
Author Notes: I'm sorry for this, I'm a mean person. D:
Summary: Grace wants Steve to kiss Danno, like in all the movies, but life doesn't work like fairytales.
Word Count: 1136
Steve doesn’t remember how he got to the hospital room. No, that’s not right, he remembers every single detail, logged away in the part of his brain labeled, ‘trained for all situations.’ The part of his brain that’s taken over and barked out orders as the rest of him is stuck in that one moment, when Danny was curled up on against the wall and unable to breathe. His face gone red and his eyes rolling back into his skull as he passed out.
Steve remembers picking up Grace, because if anything could bring Danny to open his eyes and fight to live, it was his daughter. Now they’re standing at the foot of his bed, Grace clutching at the edge of his shirt and doing her best to stay strong for her Danno, and Steve trying to hold himself together.
The doctor had approached him as he’d returned, letting Grace run in to see her father once he was assured it was safe for her to do so, and he’d known as soon as he saw his face that he was about to hear something he wasn’t ready for. He was informed in hushed tones and with distantly sympathetic eyes that Danny had been treated for the Serin, but he’d taken too long to get to the hospital, and that the likeliness of him making it through the next twenty four hours was low.
Steve had stared at the doctor, mind trying to grip onto the meaning of the words, but finding it impossible because what he was hearing simply wasn’t an option. Daniel Willaims didn’t die, he got banged up, ranted and raved about it, then life moved on. There was no other option. He vaguely recalled the doctor leaving, and his feet must have moved, because he was in the room and Grace was clinging to him as they both stared down at Danny’s still form.
Grace is the first to move, stepping up to the side of the bed and wrapping her small hands around Danny’s arm, leaning close to press her face to his shoulder and whisper to him. “Don’t worry, Danno. I’ll be right here till you wake up, just like you do when I’m sick. Then you can tell Steve not to look so sad.”
Steve’s pretty sure the crack he just heard was his heart, and he wants to wrap Grace up in his arms and promise her everything will be alright, but he can’t, he couldn’t lie to her like that, so instead her places a hand on her head and prays, hopes, wishes, whatever it takes to make Danny hear her voice and wake up. He should call Chin and Kono, he should call Rachel, though she’s already on her way, he should be doing something, but he just stands there, hand on Grace’s hair and tries to breathe.
…………………
Grace is half asleep when it happens, the steady beep of the heart monitor stutters, with longer pauses before each beep and then, they stop. Steve can’t be sure if his own heart stopped as well, because he can’t feel anything past the cold in his chest. Grace is sitting up, shaking Danny’s shoulders, calling his name with more panic each time.
She finally slams into Steve, tears streaking down her face and tugging him closer to Danny. “You have to do it Uncle Steve! It has to work!”
“What-Grace, there’s nothing-I wish I could. God, I wish I could.”
Is that his voice, hushed and breaking? He’s got to be strong for Grace, precious Grace who is tugging his arm and still speaking frantically, “Kiss him, Steve! Like in the movies, it always works. Because you love each other! I know, because Danno is always happy with you, and you always smile, even when he’s yelling. You have to kiss him so he’ll wake up!”
Her big brown eyes are begging him to do the impossible, and it’s like a hand reaching in and crushing his heart right there in his chest. “Grace, Gracie-”
Jesus, how was he supposed to explain this? “I wish I could, but real life isn’t like the fairy tales. No matter how much we want them to be.”
Her sobbing is a sound he’ll hear late at night for the rest of his life. “Please, Steve! Please try!”
He can’t say no, even if he knows it’ll break her heart when it doesn’t work. And maybe it’s a little selfish, because he’d never gotten the chance to do it before, and he’ll never be able to kiss Danny again. The doctors and nurses are rushing in, about to shove him aside and Steve pulls Grace close, holding her shaking body as he leans in to press his lips to Danny’s still warm mouth. His lips are soft and slightly chapped, and Steve feels a tear burn a path down the side of his face.
Nothing happens, and that tiny little flame of hope he hadn’t known was burning is snuffed out. A doctor pushes him gently aside and there’s rapid-fire chatter about stats and vitals but Steve just holds Grace close and whispers apologies into her hair.
He’s trying so hard to hold it all in, because Grace needs him now and he has to be strong, at least until Rachel gets here-
*beep*
-then he can break, and he knows this time, he won’t be able to piece himself back together-
*beep*
-and if he tries hard enough, he can still hear Danny’s-
*beep*
-heart…beat?
Steve’s head snaps up and he can see the doctors and nurses, all looking confused and staring at the monitor in silence. There’s a sickening pause, then a steady beep, beep, beep of Danny’s heart.
Everyone seems to be holding their breath, until Danny’s eyelids flutter and he lets out a low groan. Grace launches herself at him, crying and babbling incoherently, which pretty much sums up what Steve wants to do. One of the doctors is glancing between the clipboard in his hand and the machines, speaking to himself. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Grace motions Steve over, his feet moving without any active directions from his brain, and he’s looking down at Danny, his Danny, and those blue eyes are gazing blearily back up at him. He’s got his arm around Grace and a soft smile on his lips. Grace is looking up at him with a joyous smile from where her face is pressed to Danny’s shoulder, “I told you it would work. It always works.”
Danny looks confused, his voice rough, “What worked?”
Riding the high of seeing him alive, Steve cups his cheek, thumb brushing over the damp spot where his tear had landed. “This.”
And it’s so much better when he’s being kissed back.
A/N: You guys didn't think I was actually capable of a tragic ending did you? Because I'm not, I think it's physically impossible for me to type Danny actually dying. Seriously.