H50 fic: Unfinished Business
Title: Unfinished Business
Pairing/Characters: Steve/Danny, mentions of Steve/Chin and Chin/Malia
Genre: Angst
Word Count: 3512
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: No spoilers for the show apart from a certain marriage and a kidnapping mentioned very briefly. If you don't know what I'm talking about and you'd rather not know, then don't read! Nothing violent or sexual mentioned in detail.
Disclaimer: Still no ownership rights; still don't make any money.
Beta: My constant, siluria. Thank you, my dear.
Summary: Danny wants to know more about Steve's past with Chin.
Author’s Notes: This is part three of my Revelations series and follows after Drunken Ramblings and Making it Real. There is a fourth part in the works, and you never know what else may be revealed in time. ;-)
NB: this fic can also be read here at AO3
"So there's one thing I've been wondering, babe," Danny asked, lying back against the pillow, relaxed and easy with Steve after sex. It still amazed him that he could be so calm about this, mere weeks into his new gay relationship, but Steve - for the most part - had made it easy.
"Hmm?" Steve murmured, turning his head from where he lay beside Danny.
"You know that first night? You... uh... you said Chin's name when I mentioned that rookie."
Steve's eyes widened in fear and he moved up to sitting, looking back down at Danny like he'd just announced that Grace had been kidnapped again. "What? I didn't, did I?"
Danny shifted, moving a pillow against the headboard and sitting up too, despite how comfortable he'd been. Steve's obvious concern at having told Danny this meant he owed it to Steve to treat it seriously. "Yeah, you did. You were half-asleep or else you probably wouldn't have, I'm guessing."
Steve didn't relax; he sat up straight-backed in the bed, frowning down at his hands as they picked at the blanket. "I don't suppose there's any point denying it."
It wasn't a question, but Danny answered it anyway. "Nope. Look, it's not such a big deal. I mean... I'm jealous as hell, but..." He waved his hands about in emphasis, then let them flop back onto his lap.
Steve turned his head to look at Danny, one eyebrow quirked in interest, but he still wasn't smiling. "You're jealous?"
"What's not to be jealous of? You're hot; he's hot. He got to be with you first. How can I compete with that?"
Steve huffed in disbelief, head still tilted awkwardly towards Danny. "You don't have to compete. He's married to Malia now, and it was years ago, anyway. But I should have kept my mouth shut; it was between him and me, and I don't think he'd want it getting around."
"I won't say anything."
"You got that right."
"Babe, what do you take me for? You don't have to worry; I wouldn't spread any intel you didn't want spread." Danny half-smiled but he kept his eyes serious so Steve would know he meant it.
Steve turned away, looking down again, and nodded. "Okay. You wanted to ask me something about it?"
Steve's voice was low and Danny only just heard him. He put his hand tentatively on Steve's back. "You okay about that? I won't ask if you don't want."
Steve managed another look back over his shoulder, but he didn't relax any. "You can ask. Can't guarantee I'll answer."
Danny frowned, rubbing warmly with his hand despite Steve's rigidity. "Classified, huh?"
"Some things are just private, Danny. But... I don't want you to feel you can't ask."
Danny started with something he hoped was simple. "How long did it go on for?"
"A few months." Steve finally started to feel less stiff under Danny's hand, although he'd turned away again. "I was still at school and it was... Chin didn't feel comfortable knowing that and working with Dad and everything. I wanted... well, there wasn't any point, really." He scrubbed a hand across his face and felt behind himself for his pillow, shoving it against the headboard and finally leaning back next to Danny, though he didn't look at him yet.
Danny watched Steve's long eyelashes batting up and down against his tan. He was fairly certain there was something unresolved there. "Would you tell me about it?" Danny kept his voice soft, but Steve's face closed up tightly.
"No." He shook his head without looking at Danny. "It's not... Chin wouldn't want me to tell anyone about it."
"Chin wouldn't? Or you're not comfortable talking about it?" Danny took Steve's nearest hand - or tried to, but Steve tore it away, throwing back the bedcovers and getting out. "I'm going to have a shower."
Danny's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't say anything, and then Steve was gone. Sighing, Danny ran a hand over his face. Despite all Steve's confidence as the leader of Five-0, he was surprisingly sensitive, and like so many guys when it came to emotional issues typically ran away rather than talk about them. Danny generally didn't follow that line, and found it difficult to cope with people who did. However, Steve had a lot of stuff in his past that made his reactions more understandable than some might be, and Danny knew that patience was essential when dealing with any of it.
Rather than follow him into the bathroom immediately, Danny gave Steve a few minutes alone. When he finally did move, he didn't speak at first. Opening the shower door, he climbed in behind his partner, reaching for the soap and scrubbing brush. Lathering the brush, he began scrubbing Steve's back .
Steve glanced back over his shoulder, but said nothing either, leaning into the wall of the cubicle and tilting his head forward so Danny could massage his shoulders and neck more effectively with the brush.
"I'm sorry, babe," Danny said after a few minutes. "It's none of my business and I shouldn't have asked."
"It's okay," Steve told him over his shoulder. "It was a long time ago and it doesn't matter any more. It's not relevant to what you and I have now."
"No." Danny finished scrubbing and hung the brush up, running his bare hands across Steve's broad back under the water to get the last suds off. "What do we have, Steve?"
"What?" Steve turned around and met Danny's eyes, his brow kinked seriously the way it did when he was genuinely perplexed about something.
Danny gestured between them, then grabbed the soap again and began lathering himself. "You and me? What is this, anyway? I mean… it's more than just casual, right?"
Steve watched him soap himself for a few beats, then took the soap from Danny's hands and gestured for him to turn around. "Yeah, I thought you knew that."
Danny felt the soapy brush start to swirl on his skin and closed his eyes, savoring it. "Okay, good. Just checking. Because last time I was in a serious relationship, we actually talked. About pretty much anything: current issues, work, things going on with people around us, past relationships, even.
"We talk about work, my past relationship, Grace, and discuss trivial things, but… you know you can tell me anything, Steve. I'm not going to get… okay, well yeah, maybe I am gonna get jealous." He held up a hand, finger and thumb close together. "Just a little. But not enough that I'm not going to understand when something you once had still has some kind of meaning. You work with Chin; there's bound to be something residual there, no matter how small."
"It doesn't have any meaning any more," Steve said, his voice low. His hands didn't stop moving, so Danny was fairly sure what he'd said had been the right thing, but he wasn't so certain Steve meant what he was saying. Besides, the any more pretty much gave Danny all the clue he needed.
"I'm not going to push it, babe, okay?" Danny turned and removed the brush from Steve's hand, hanging it up and letting the water run over him before moving in closer to kiss Steve.
Steve kissed him back, pressing Danny against the wall of the shower for a few moments while he made sure Danny was thoroughly breathless. He offered Danny a half-grin and turned off the water before pulling him out of the shower.
"C'mon, let's sleep," was all Steve said as he started drying off.
Danny nodded and left things where they were. He figured there would have to be a stage in their relationship when Steve would feel comfortable telling him more, and if he let it go now, he'd find out more then.
~//~
It was a few days later, and Danny was arriving back at Five-0 HQ from interviewing someone. What he saw when he walked in made him stop in his tracks in the doorway. Up until that point, he hadn't seriously considered that there was still something going on between Steve and Chin, but what he saw now definitely had him thinking exactly that.
They were the only ones in the office, and there wasn't any reason Danny could think of for Steve being so close to Chin. A wave of fury coursed through him and he clenched his fists tight, backing up and spinning around to march straight back out again.
"Danny!"
Steve was coming up behind him fast, but Danny was too angry to stop. He shook his head, holding up a hand - as if that would stop Hurricane Steve - and kept moving.
"It's not what you're thinking!" There was pleading in Steve's voice, and despite Danny's better judgment, he supposed he should at least let the guy explain. Getting intimate with his ex right there in the office where anyone could see - now he thought about it - didn't make all that much sense.
He stopped, spun around again, glaring at Steve despite his second thoughts, and started pacing back and forth in the hallway. "If it isn't what I'm thinking, Steven, you better have an explanation handy. Because I really don't appreciate being made a fool of. I did it once and I'm not about to go there again."
Steve held his hands up in supplication, his brow wrinkled in worry. "Okay, fair enough. I just… I wanted to be sure Chin was okay about me explaining some things to you. He and I were… close once, but you know that already. I never would have said anything to you about him that night except that I was drunk."
Danny had folded his arms across his chest and stopped pacing while Steve was speaking. He held up a hand, keeping his other arm where it was, and gestured for Steve to go on.
Steve flicked his eyes left and right. "Not here. Coffee in the break room? Please?"
"Okay." Danny nodded stiffly, and followed Steve back inside. Chin had disappeared into his own office, thankfully, and although Danny was aware of him lifting his head as he and Steve walked past, he didn't look in the man's direction.
Steve shut the break room door behind them and gestured at the chairs before moving to pour coffee for both of them. Danny sat down, watching as Steve placed Danny's cup in front of him and added cream and sugar to his own drink. Danny shook his head; he was still in wonder at someone with such an obsession over healthy food ruining his coffee like that.
Finally, Steve was sitting opposite him, his hands wrapped carefully around his mug. He took a breath and looked straight into Danny's eyes. "I lied."
Danny frowned, sipping from his coffee, and trying to hold his tongue. "About what, exactly?"
"About it being over a long time ago."
"Oh." For once Danny was at a loss for words.
"It's not… it's over now, I mean, but…" Steve swallowed hard and dropped his eyes. "We got back together when I first came back to Hawaii." His voice was soft, and there was a flush across Steve's cheeks that Danny didn't think he'd ever seen before. It made him all the more attractive, if anything, but Danny wasn't feeling inclined to think about that right now.
"So… you what? You seduced me because Chin broke up with you and got married?" Danny asked, anger beginning to creep back into his heart. Anger was better than any other thing he might be feeling right now.
"No… no, it was… nothing like that, Danny. I just…" Steve huffed out a heavy breath and averted his eyes. "It wasn't going to work with Chin… we both knew that. Things could never be what they had been with us - there was too much baggage. Too many things had made us both into different people and… it didn't last long. It finished way before anything happened with you. I still trust him; still care about him, though. You have to understand that. It's not… not like being lovers any more, but he'll always be my friend; one of my closest ones. After you."
Steve focused back on Danny and it was impossible not to believe him. The truth was written clearly in those hazel-blue eyes that gazed so frankly at Danny. He nodded, his anger dissipating almost as quickly as it had arisen.
"Okay. I get that; I totally do. But why were you practically kissing him before? Right there, where anyone could have seen? If that got back to Malia, Chin would have way more explaining to do than you."
"Malia knows. And I wasn't kissing him."
"Pardon?" Danny certainly hadn't expected that, although he supposed it made sense; some couples were brutally honest about their pasts. "He told her? And she's okay about it? About you working together?"
"Yeah. Is that so hard for you to understand? I mean… are you going to tell me I shouldn't be working with him?"
"No…" Danny pushed his hair back and studied Steve's confused expression, and then sipped from his coffee. "But you weren't going to tell me. Didn't you think I deserved to know too?"
"Danny…" Steve frowned, looking into his coffee, which he hadn't touched yet. "We only just got together. You were married; I'm not even sure…" He broke off, standing up, and moved over to the sink like he was about to pour his coffee into the drain.
"Not even sure what, Steve?"
Steve paused where he was, back to Danny, and then put the cup down without emptying it and turned to lean back against the counter, arms across his chest. "How do I even know this is going anywhere? We agreed it's more than casual, but…" His eyes had that doubtful cast Danny had seen one too many times before. "What if some pretty woman catches your eye? Suddenly this is just an interlude in your otherwise straight life, and I'm back where I was."
"You really think that?" Danny looked at him in surprise. He hadn't ever considered that Steve could be so insecure about what they had. They'd been partners long enough, friends almost as long, and although the lovers part was still fairly new, Danny knew in his heart that as far as he was concerned it was for the long haul. He hadn't been so sure of Steve, in all honesty, until the other night when he'd asked. "Babe… that's not going to happen."
"No? Well, I'm sorry if I'm not convinced. Maybe… maybe this whole thing was a mistake anyway. My track record isn't so great and…" Steve stopped, turned away and actually did dump his coffee now. "I'll only drive you away in the end."
"What? Steven, when are you ever going to get it? You are the only person I'm interested in right now, and as far as I can see, you're my future. You may be the most annoying, dangerous, ninja-ass, and frankly, anal freak I've ever met, and we may argue and disagree about almost every damned thing there is to differ on, but that does not mean I don't love you and want to stay with you as long as you'll have me."
Steve turned back, eyes wide. "You love me?"
Danny spluttered a half-laugh and stood up, rounding the table to come to a stop in front of his partner. "Of all the things I said, that's the one you choose to focus on? Yes, I love you, you goof."
Steve opened his mouth, but didn't seem capable of speech, and if Danny wasn't mistaken, he was close to tears.
"Don't cry, Steven, please. I don't think I could take that." He huffed an embarrassed laugh-snort. "Just kiss me and tell me you love me too, if you can manage it."
Steve barked out a laugh and pulled Danny close, pressing their foreheads together. "Okay." Danny felt a sliver of fear for a second, but then Steve spoke again. His voice was low, but Danny heard it, and that's all that mattered. "I love you too."
The kiss that followed was confirmation enough as far as Danny was concerned, and he hoped like hell it was enough for Steve.
There was a low whistle from the doorway behind them, and Steve and Danny broke apart abruptly, both turning to face it with probably as much guilt as each other.
"About time, brah," Chin said, grinning at Danny, and then nodding at Steve. "He's been agonizing over this for long enough."
Danny glanced at the flush rising on Steve's cheeks and looked back at Chin with a questioning eyebrow.
"He's been asking my advice about talking to you about this for weeks now. I told him he had nothing to worry about; that it was completely different to how things were between him and me."
Danny frowned at Steve. He'd been discussing Danny with Chin but didn't want Danny to know how things had been with him and Chin? There was some kind of double-standard in there that needed discussing in greater depth, but perhaps now wasn't the time.
"How do you know that?" Danny asked Chin instead.
"It's been written on both of your faces ever since that first night you slept together - maybe longer."
"You knew about that?" Danny turned to Steve, about to ask how it was he'd told Chin so damned early on.
Steve shrugged and gestured awkwardly. "He guessed! I didn't tell him. Okay, so I didn't deny it, but…" Steve shrugged helplessly again, glancing at Chin with some kind of warning in his eyes before smiling lop-sidedly back at Danny.
"Hey," Chin put in before Danny could get outraged all over again, "I've known Steve a hell of a long time, and you were almost as starry-eyed as he was. Kono and I had been putting bets on who would make the first move for weeks."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Kono knows too? Is nothing a secret around here?"
"Not when it comes to you two; you wear your hearts in about the same position on your sleeves, brah." Chin was grinning widely now.
Rubbing a hand across his mouth, Danny decided he may as well give up trying to deny anything before he even started. They may have been obvious to others, but he'd been the last to know any of it. "I am not even going to deign that with a reply. Steve?"
Steve was managing to keep the smile on his face, so clearly things weren't too bad, regardless of how they'd seemed earlier. And Danny couldn't manage to get angry about any of it.
"What, Danny?"
"You want to get out of here before Kono arrives and insists we carve our initials and a heart into the wall or something?"
"Seriously, brah, you have nothing to worry about," Chin offered, "I love Malia." His eyes drifted towards Steve, and Danny felt a sudden flare of jealousy all over again, despite Chin's assertion. "Steve's always going to have a place in my life, Danny, but he's your partner now - in all ways.
"And Kono's not due in again today, so you're good with the carving of teenage love-hearts ."
They all laughed; Danny's voice still held a touch of hysteria, but he hoped neither of the others noticed. He really didn't have anything to worry about.
"Thanks, Chin," Danny managed, meaning it. "Let's go, huh, babe?"
"Yeah; it's time we all moved on." Steve offered Chin a wider grin and moved into a half-hug with him briefly enough to confirm that Danny didn't need to lose any sleep over what was between them now.
Chin nodded and clapped Steve on the shoulder as he moved away, and gave Danny a wink before they left the room. "Go home and get a head start on the weekend, guys. I'll close up here."
Steve grabbed Danny's hand and practically dragged him through the office, as if worried Chin would change his mind.
"I know exactly what kind of head-start I want," Steve muttered in Danny's ear.
A twinge low in his abdomen said Danny was fairly sure he knew what was going through Steve's mind, and it didn't involve discussing past relationships. "You can tell me all about it on the way home."
"Give me the keys." Steve let go of Danny's hand to take them.
"What makes you think you're driving?
"You're gonna start that again? Come on; just give them to me."
"It's still my car."
"And I'm still a better driver."
Danny couldn't stop grinning through the exchange, and the expression on Steve's face said that he was feeling a lot better about things since the question of Chin had arisen, especially about the most important thing: trust.
Danny handed over the keys, but the argument wasn't about to end there - nor would Steve expect it to - and in all honesty, Danny couldn't be happier about it.
~//~
END
A/N 2: I know this doesn't really say much about Steve's first time with Chin, but please be assured 'Revelations 4' definitely goes there. ;-)
Dell Online Promotion 2012
Pairing/Characters: Steve/Danny, mentions of Steve/Chin and Chin/Malia
Genre: Angst
Word Count: 3512
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: No spoilers for the show apart from a certain marriage and a kidnapping mentioned very briefly. If you don't know what I'm talking about and you'd rather not know, then don't read! Nothing violent or sexual mentioned in detail.
Disclaimer: Still no ownership rights; still don't make any money.
Beta: My constant, siluria. Thank you, my dear.
Summary: Danny wants to know more about Steve's past with Chin.
Author’s Notes: This is part three of my Revelations series and follows after Drunken Ramblings and Making it Real. There is a fourth part in the works, and you never know what else may be revealed in time. ;-)
NB: this fic can also be read here at AO3
"So there's one thing I've been wondering, babe," Danny asked, lying back against the pillow, relaxed and easy with Steve after sex. It still amazed him that he could be so calm about this, mere weeks into his new gay relationship, but Steve - for the most part - had made it easy.
"Hmm?" Steve murmured, turning his head from where he lay beside Danny.
"You know that first night? You... uh... you said Chin's name when I mentioned that rookie."
Steve's eyes widened in fear and he moved up to sitting, looking back down at Danny like he'd just announced that Grace had been kidnapped again. "What? I didn't, did I?"
Danny shifted, moving a pillow against the headboard and sitting up too, despite how comfortable he'd been. Steve's obvious concern at having told Danny this meant he owed it to Steve to treat it seriously. "Yeah, you did. You were half-asleep or else you probably wouldn't have, I'm guessing."
Steve didn't relax; he sat up straight-backed in the bed, frowning down at his hands as they picked at the blanket. "I don't suppose there's any point denying it."
It wasn't a question, but Danny answered it anyway. "Nope. Look, it's not such a big deal. I mean... I'm jealous as hell, but..." He waved his hands about in emphasis, then let them flop back onto his lap.
Steve turned his head to look at Danny, one eyebrow quirked in interest, but he still wasn't smiling. "You're jealous?"
"What's not to be jealous of? You're hot; he's hot. He got to be with you first. How can I compete with that?"
Steve huffed in disbelief, head still tilted awkwardly towards Danny. "You don't have to compete. He's married to Malia now, and it was years ago, anyway. But I should have kept my mouth shut; it was between him and me, and I don't think he'd want it getting around."
"I won't say anything."
"You got that right."
"Babe, what do you take me for? You don't have to worry; I wouldn't spread any intel you didn't want spread." Danny half-smiled but he kept his eyes serious so Steve would know he meant it.
Steve turned away, looking down again, and nodded. "Okay. You wanted to ask me something about it?"
Steve's voice was low and Danny only just heard him. He put his hand tentatively on Steve's back. "You okay about that? I won't ask if you don't want."
Steve managed another look back over his shoulder, but he didn't relax any. "You can ask. Can't guarantee I'll answer."
Danny frowned, rubbing warmly with his hand despite Steve's rigidity. "Classified, huh?"
"Some things are just private, Danny. But... I don't want you to feel you can't ask."
Danny started with something he hoped was simple. "How long did it go on for?"
"A few months." Steve finally started to feel less stiff under Danny's hand, although he'd turned away again. "I was still at school and it was... Chin didn't feel comfortable knowing that and working with Dad and everything. I wanted... well, there wasn't any point, really." He scrubbed a hand across his face and felt behind himself for his pillow, shoving it against the headboard and finally leaning back next to Danny, though he didn't look at him yet.
Danny watched Steve's long eyelashes batting up and down against his tan. He was fairly certain there was something unresolved there. "Would you tell me about it?" Danny kept his voice soft, but Steve's face closed up tightly.
"No." He shook his head without looking at Danny. "It's not... Chin wouldn't want me to tell anyone about it."
"Chin wouldn't? Or you're not comfortable talking about it?" Danny took Steve's nearest hand - or tried to, but Steve tore it away, throwing back the bedcovers and getting out. "I'm going to have a shower."
Danny's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't say anything, and then Steve was gone. Sighing, Danny ran a hand over his face. Despite all Steve's confidence as the leader of Five-0, he was surprisingly sensitive, and like so many guys when it came to emotional issues typically ran away rather than talk about them. Danny generally didn't follow that line, and found it difficult to cope with people who did. However, Steve had a lot of stuff in his past that made his reactions more understandable than some might be, and Danny knew that patience was essential when dealing with any of it.
Rather than follow him into the bathroom immediately, Danny gave Steve a few minutes alone. When he finally did move, he didn't speak at first. Opening the shower door, he climbed in behind his partner, reaching for the soap and scrubbing brush. Lathering the brush, he began scrubbing Steve's back .
Steve glanced back over his shoulder, but said nothing either, leaning into the wall of the cubicle and tilting his head forward so Danny could massage his shoulders and neck more effectively with the brush.
"I'm sorry, babe," Danny said after a few minutes. "It's none of my business and I shouldn't have asked."
"It's okay," Steve told him over his shoulder. "It was a long time ago and it doesn't matter any more. It's not relevant to what you and I have now."
"No." Danny finished scrubbing and hung the brush up, running his bare hands across Steve's broad back under the water to get the last suds off. "What do we have, Steve?"
"What?" Steve turned around and met Danny's eyes, his brow kinked seriously the way it did when he was genuinely perplexed about something.
Danny gestured between them, then grabbed the soap again and began lathering himself. "You and me? What is this, anyway? I mean… it's more than just casual, right?"
Steve watched him soap himself for a few beats, then took the soap from Danny's hands and gestured for him to turn around. "Yeah, I thought you knew that."
Danny felt the soapy brush start to swirl on his skin and closed his eyes, savoring it. "Okay, good. Just checking. Because last time I was in a serious relationship, we actually talked. About pretty much anything: current issues, work, things going on with people around us, past relationships, even.
"We talk about work, my past relationship, Grace, and discuss trivial things, but… you know you can tell me anything, Steve. I'm not going to get… okay, well yeah, maybe I am gonna get jealous." He held up a hand, finger and thumb close together. "Just a little. But not enough that I'm not going to understand when something you once had still has some kind of meaning. You work with Chin; there's bound to be something residual there, no matter how small."
"It doesn't have any meaning any more," Steve said, his voice low. His hands didn't stop moving, so Danny was fairly sure what he'd said had been the right thing, but he wasn't so certain Steve meant what he was saying. Besides, the any more pretty much gave Danny all the clue he needed.
"I'm not going to push it, babe, okay?" Danny turned and removed the brush from Steve's hand, hanging it up and letting the water run over him before moving in closer to kiss Steve.
Steve kissed him back, pressing Danny against the wall of the shower for a few moments while he made sure Danny was thoroughly breathless. He offered Danny a half-grin and turned off the water before pulling him out of the shower.
"C'mon, let's sleep," was all Steve said as he started drying off.
Danny nodded and left things where they were. He figured there would have to be a stage in their relationship when Steve would feel comfortable telling him more, and if he let it go now, he'd find out more then.
~//~
It was a few days later, and Danny was arriving back at Five-0 HQ from interviewing someone. What he saw when he walked in made him stop in his tracks in the doorway. Up until that point, he hadn't seriously considered that there was still something going on between Steve and Chin, but what he saw now definitely had him thinking exactly that.
They were the only ones in the office, and there wasn't any reason Danny could think of for Steve being so close to Chin. A wave of fury coursed through him and he clenched his fists tight, backing up and spinning around to march straight back out again.
"Danny!"
Steve was coming up behind him fast, but Danny was too angry to stop. He shook his head, holding up a hand - as if that would stop Hurricane Steve - and kept moving.
"It's not what you're thinking!" There was pleading in Steve's voice, and despite Danny's better judgment, he supposed he should at least let the guy explain. Getting intimate with his ex right there in the office where anyone could see - now he thought about it - didn't make all that much sense.
He stopped, spun around again, glaring at Steve despite his second thoughts, and started pacing back and forth in the hallway. "If it isn't what I'm thinking, Steven, you better have an explanation handy. Because I really don't appreciate being made a fool of. I did it once and I'm not about to go there again."
Steve held his hands up in supplication, his brow wrinkled in worry. "Okay, fair enough. I just… I wanted to be sure Chin was okay about me explaining some things to you. He and I were… close once, but you know that already. I never would have said anything to you about him that night except that I was drunk."
Danny had folded his arms across his chest and stopped pacing while Steve was speaking. He held up a hand, keeping his other arm where it was, and gestured for Steve to go on.
Steve flicked his eyes left and right. "Not here. Coffee in the break room? Please?"
"Okay." Danny nodded stiffly, and followed Steve back inside. Chin had disappeared into his own office, thankfully, and although Danny was aware of him lifting his head as he and Steve walked past, he didn't look in the man's direction.
Steve shut the break room door behind them and gestured at the chairs before moving to pour coffee for both of them. Danny sat down, watching as Steve placed Danny's cup in front of him and added cream and sugar to his own drink. Danny shook his head; he was still in wonder at someone with such an obsession over healthy food ruining his coffee like that.
Finally, Steve was sitting opposite him, his hands wrapped carefully around his mug. He took a breath and looked straight into Danny's eyes. "I lied."
Danny frowned, sipping from his coffee, and trying to hold his tongue. "About what, exactly?"
"About it being over a long time ago."
"Oh." For once Danny was at a loss for words.
"It's not… it's over now, I mean, but…" Steve swallowed hard and dropped his eyes. "We got back together when I first came back to Hawaii." His voice was soft, and there was a flush across Steve's cheeks that Danny didn't think he'd ever seen before. It made him all the more attractive, if anything, but Danny wasn't feeling inclined to think about that right now.
"So… you what? You seduced me because Chin broke up with you and got married?" Danny asked, anger beginning to creep back into his heart. Anger was better than any other thing he might be feeling right now.
"No… no, it was… nothing like that, Danny. I just…" Steve huffed out a heavy breath and averted his eyes. "It wasn't going to work with Chin… we both knew that. Things could never be what they had been with us - there was too much baggage. Too many things had made us both into different people and… it didn't last long. It finished way before anything happened with you. I still trust him; still care about him, though. You have to understand that. It's not… not like being lovers any more, but he'll always be my friend; one of my closest ones. After you."
Steve focused back on Danny and it was impossible not to believe him. The truth was written clearly in those hazel-blue eyes that gazed so frankly at Danny. He nodded, his anger dissipating almost as quickly as it had arisen.
"Okay. I get that; I totally do. But why were you practically kissing him before? Right there, where anyone could have seen? If that got back to Malia, Chin would have way more explaining to do than you."
"Malia knows. And I wasn't kissing him."
"Pardon?" Danny certainly hadn't expected that, although he supposed it made sense; some couples were brutally honest about their pasts. "He told her? And she's okay about it? About you working together?"
"Yeah. Is that so hard for you to understand? I mean… are you going to tell me I shouldn't be working with him?"
"No…" Danny pushed his hair back and studied Steve's confused expression, and then sipped from his coffee. "But you weren't going to tell me. Didn't you think I deserved to know too?"
"Danny…" Steve frowned, looking into his coffee, which he hadn't touched yet. "We only just got together. You were married; I'm not even sure…" He broke off, standing up, and moved over to the sink like he was about to pour his coffee into the drain.
"Not even sure what, Steve?"
Steve paused where he was, back to Danny, and then put the cup down without emptying it and turned to lean back against the counter, arms across his chest. "How do I even know this is going anywhere? We agreed it's more than casual, but…" His eyes had that doubtful cast Danny had seen one too many times before. "What if some pretty woman catches your eye? Suddenly this is just an interlude in your otherwise straight life, and I'm back where I was."
"You really think that?" Danny looked at him in surprise. He hadn't ever considered that Steve could be so insecure about what they had. They'd been partners long enough, friends almost as long, and although the lovers part was still fairly new, Danny knew in his heart that as far as he was concerned it was for the long haul. He hadn't been so sure of Steve, in all honesty, until the other night when he'd asked. "Babe… that's not going to happen."
"No? Well, I'm sorry if I'm not convinced. Maybe… maybe this whole thing was a mistake anyway. My track record isn't so great and…" Steve stopped, turned away and actually did dump his coffee now. "I'll only drive you away in the end."
"What? Steven, when are you ever going to get it? You are the only person I'm interested in right now, and as far as I can see, you're my future. You may be the most annoying, dangerous, ninja-ass, and frankly, anal freak I've ever met, and we may argue and disagree about almost every damned thing there is to differ on, but that does not mean I don't love you and want to stay with you as long as you'll have me."
Steve turned back, eyes wide. "You love me?"
Danny spluttered a half-laugh and stood up, rounding the table to come to a stop in front of his partner. "Of all the things I said, that's the one you choose to focus on? Yes, I love you, you goof."
Steve opened his mouth, but didn't seem capable of speech, and if Danny wasn't mistaken, he was close to tears.
"Don't cry, Steven, please. I don't think I could take that." He huffed an embarrassed laugh-snort. "Just kiss me and tell me you love me too, if you can manage it."
Steve barked out a laugh and pulled Danny close, pressing their foreheads together. "Okay." Danny felt a sliver of fear for a second, but then Steve spoke again. His voice was low, but Danny heard it, and that's all that mattered. "I love you too."
The kiss that followed was confirmation enough as far as Danny was concerned, and he hoped like hell it was enough for Steve.
There was a low whistle from the doorway behind them, and Steve and Danny broke apart abruptly, both turning to face it with probably as much guilt as each other.
"About time, brah," Chin said, grinning at Danny, and then nodding at Steve. "He's been agonizing over this for long enough."
Danny glanced at the flush rising on Steve's cheeks and looked back at Chin with a questioning eyebrow.
"He's been asking my advice about talking to you about this for weeks now. I told him he had nothing to worry about; that it was completely different to how things were between him and me."
Danny frowned at Steve. He'd been discussing Danny with Chin but didn't want Danny to know how things had been with him and Chin? There was some kind of double-standard in there that needed discussing in greater depth, but perhaps now wasn't the time.
"How do you know that?" Danny asked Chin instead.
"It's been written on both of your faces ever since that first night you slept together - maybe longer."
"You knew about that?" Danny turned to Steve, about to ask how it was he'd told Chin so damned early on.
Steve shrugged and gestured awkwardly. "He guessed! I didn't tell him. Okay, so I didn't deny it, but…" Steve shrugged helplessly again, glancing at Chin with some kind of warning in his eyes before smiling lop-sidedly back at Danny.
"Hey," Chin put in before Danny could get outraged all over again, "I've known Steve a hell of a long time, and you were almost as starry-eyed as he was. Kono and I had been putting bets on who would make the first move for weeks."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Kono knows too? Is nothing a secret around here?"
"Not when it comes to you two; you wear your hearts in about the same position on your sleeves, brah." Chin was grinning widely now.
Rubbing a hand across his mouth, Danny decided he may as well give up trying to deny anything before he even started. They may have been obvious to others, but he'd been the last to know any of it. "I am not even going to deign that with a reply. Steve?"
Steve was managing to keep the smile on his face, so clearly things weren't too bad, regardless of how they'd seemed earlier. And Danny couldn't manage to get angry about any of it.
"What, Danny?"
"You want to get out of here before Kono arrives and insists we carve our initials and a heart into the wall or something?"
"Seriously, brah, you have nothing to worry about," Chin offered, "I love Malia." His eyes drifted towards Steve, and Danny felt a sudden flare of jealousy all over again, despite Chin's assertion. "Steve's always going to have a place in my life, Danny, but he's your partner now - in all ways.
"And Kono's not due in again today, so you're good with the carving of teenage love-hearts ."
They all laughed; Danny's voice still held a touch of hysteria, but he hoped neither of the others noticed. He really didn't have anything to worry about.
"Thanks, Chin," Danny managed, meaning it. "Let's go, huh, babe?"
"Yeah; it's time we all moved on." Steve offered Chin a wider grin and moved into a half-hug with him briefly enough to confirm that Danny didn't need to lose any sleep over what was between them now.
Chin nodded and clapped Steve on the shoulder as he moved away, and gave Danny a wink before they left the room. "Go home and get a head start on the weekend, guys. I'll close up here."
Steve grabbed Danny's hand and practically dragged him through the office, as if worried Chin would change his mind.
"I know exactly what kind of head-start I want," Steve muttered in Danny's ear.
A twinge low in his abdomen said Danny was fairly sure he knew what was going through Steve's mind, and it didn't involve discussing past relationships. "You can tell me all about it on the way home."
"Give me the keys." Steve let go of Danny's hand to take them.
"What makes you think you're driving?
"You're gonna start that again? Come on; just give them to me."
"It's still my car."
"And I'm still a better driver."
Danny couldn't stop grinning through the exchange, and the expression on Steve's face said that he was feeling a lot better about things since the question of Chin had arisen, especially about the most important thing: trust.
Danny handed over the keys, but the argument wasn't about to end there - nor would Steve expect it to - and in all honesty, Danny couldn't be happier about it.
~//~
END
A/N 2: I know this doesn't really say much about Steve's first time with Chin, but please be assured 'Revelations 4' definitely goes there. ;-)
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