Fic: Who says you can’t go home? - [Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams]
Title: ‘Who says you can’t go home?’ - [5/5] - Completed
Author: jen_jm
Pairing: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams
Rating: mostly R, but it gets NC-17 later on
Warnings: slash, presence of OCs. They also work a case, sort of.
Words: about 30,000
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I don’t own them, unfortunately. Title borrowed from Bon Jovi.
Notes: I’d like to point out that I do not share Danny’s view of Hawaii, I think it’s a gorgeous place. Also, I love pineapples.
Summary: Danny is having a hard time finding a new living arrangement and things get even more complicated when he has to deal with a new roommate, a high-profile case and a car accident that endangers someone he cares about. Also, pineapples occur.
Crossposted
[Chapter 1] -- [Chapter 2] -- [Chapter 3] -- [Chapter 4]
~~
5. The one where the pineapples strike back
After driving Grace and Rachel home - to their home -, Danny goes to work with a sense of dread and impending doom hanging over him. He has no idea what he will say to Steve and whether he still has a job or not. He’s not even sure which possibility might be worse.
When he steps in, the entire team is already there and he addresses them a collective greet. If they notice the way he’s stubbornly avoiding looking at Steve, they don’t mention it.
“Look who decided to show up,” Kono jokes and pats him on the back affectionately.
“It’s good to be back to work,” Danny admits, and he’s not even lying. He loves times off, but he loves his job too, and apparently he still has one.
“I feel like you never even left,” Lori comments with a warm look that makes him feel a tiny little bit better.
“I don’t know whether to feel touched or offended.” Danny smiles briefly at her, then glances at the screens, determined to catch up on what he’s lost. “What’s new?”
“Bad news for Kono,” Chin announces and shows him one of the files. “We received this from Coast Guard, it shows that another boat approached Victoria’s rental one. The time fits too.”
“Whose boat is that?” Danny looks at him first, then at Kono. “Jason Miles’?”
“Calvin Hendrickson,” Steve corrects him and Danny looks at him for the first time since entering the room. He doesn’t know what he was expecting exactly, but surely not Steve’s detached down-to-business attitude. It hurts for reasons that make his head spin a little. “He’s Miles’ agent.”
“So Miles is the killer?” Danny looks down at the GPS data once again, trying to focus on the case. They still have a murderer to catch, his internal drama can wait.
“I’ll be pretty bummed if he is,” Kono admit, head tilted to the side. “He’s too hot to go to jail.”
“I feel you,” Lori agrees with a nod that’s too solemn to be a joke.
“The guy in the surveillance is too tall to be Miles or his agent,” Chin considers with a thoughtful frown. “So he’s not the actual killer, but he might have ordered the hit.”
“You think the man in the video is a professional killer?” Danny sounds less incredulous than he feels, and he’s grateful for that, because after about five seconds, he realizes that’s actually a good theory.
“Only one way to find out,” Steve declares with a resolute tone. “We bring both Hendrickson and Miles in, and we see who caves first.”
“Do we have enough to bring them in?” Danny questions him with an unnecessary dose of hostility in his voice, and he has to remind himself he has to keep his priorities straight right now.
“More than enough for Hendrickson, not so much for Miles,” Chin admits with a careful glance in Steve’s direction.
“Fine, you and Kono go talk to him and see if he cooperates voluntarily,” Steve concedes with a sharp nod. “Lori, get a warrant for Hendrickson’s boat, find where it’s anchored and get the surveillance from the night of the murder.”
“On it, boss,” Lori chirps and heads off immediately. Chin and Kono hesitate for a few seconds, then follow her; they probably noticed something’s not right, but luckily they have the good sense to say nothing about it.
Danny sees an open file a few inches away from him and drags it to sit on his portion of the table. As he starts reading through it, he can feel Steve’s eyes on him, but doesn’t look up.
“C’mon, we need to bring Hendrickson in,” Steve exhorts him, somewhat impatient.
Danny gives a careful nod and heads for the door, not bothering to look at him. He has no idea why Steve hasn’t kept Chin back to go with him, but he has the horrible feeling that a conversation is coming up and he’s definitely not ready for it. By the time they get in the car, he’s so tense he feels like he could play the violin on his arm, but when Steve turns on the radio and doesn’t seem intentioned to say anything, Danny lets out a shaky breath.
He wishes he knew what to say to let Steve know what’s going on in his head, but he’s still too confused to have a clear answer for himself, let alone for his partner. He’s spent so much time convincing himself Steve would never reciprocate that now that he knows Steve actually has feelings for him, he finds himself thrown into a completely new and terrifying territory.
In some wrong, perverse way, he hopes one of them gets almost shot, so he can have one of those romantic Hollywood epiphanies that will shake him up and have him confess his undying love to Steve. His life, however, is never gong to be that simple.
~
Hendrickson bolts as soon as they flash tin. Of course. Talking about guilty reaction, uh?
“You son of a toothless Munchkin,” Danny curses as he sprints after the guy, Steve running right beside him. He swears he sees him grin at his choice of words - he’s not gone mental, it’s just Grace and her Wizard of Oz phase -, but he decides to file that away for later. “Why do they always run, uh?”
Steve picks up the pace, while Danny circles the block to try and get in front of the man before he disappears. The crowd on the sidewalk is pretty thin and he’s deeply grateful for that, he figures Olivia isn’t around to floor this son of a bitch as well.
After a few irritating minutes, they finally corner him in a dead-end lane and catch him as he makes a very poor attempt at climbing a fence.
“Book him, Danno.” Steve probably says it without even realizing it, and for a brief, fantastic moment, things are back to blissful normality between them.
“Calvin Hendrickson, you’re under arrest for the murder of Victoria McCallister,” Danny declares in a out-of-breath voice he’s not proud of. He proceeds to read him his Miranda rights and manhandles him to his feet with a little more force than necessary.
All in all, that was smooth enough, Danny thinks. No one was shot, no one had a romantic Hollywood epiphany and his life is just as complicated as it was ten minutes before. He tries really hard to think about something else, as they lead Hendrickson back to the car. People on the sidewalk look at them as they pass by, but their alarm dissolves when they see the badges strapped to their belts.
Neither of them talks and by the time they’re sitting in the car, Danny is almost able to relax.
~
“It’s in your best interest to talk,” Danny warrants Hendrickson with a patronizing tone. “We identified the man who was with you on that boat.”
Actually no, they haven’t. They’re still running him through facial recognition, but they don’t exactly feel it would be a wise idea to tell Hendrickson.
“You should talk before he does,” Steve adds from his spot near the door.
“I manage actors for a living, you think I’ve never seen this in a movie?” Hendrickson tries to laugh, but it’s clear he’s already panicking. “I have nothing to say.”
“It’s your problem, not mine,” Danny points out with a careless shrug. “I’m not the one risking a life sentence.”
“Just think about it,” Steve keeps going, but lets Danny lead. “Who has the most to lose, him or you?”
Hendrickson closes his eyes and mutters under his breath. His shirt is ruffled and the first two buttons are undone, but it doesn’t stop him from sweating visibly under the two detectives’ stares. If he has any idea they’re bluffing, he doesn’t show it one bit. After several moments of stubborn silence, though, Danny glances at his partner and they nod to each other quietly.
“Let’s go, there’s no need to waste our time here,” Steve declares and swings the door open.
“Wait!”
Danny turns to look at him, but Steve doesn’t. They’ve played this game so many times he knows the script and the moves by heart. “What?”
“I’ll tell you where you can find him,” Hendrickson offers, clearly desperate. “But I want a deal.”
“Start cooperating and we’ll see about that,” Steve replies, keeping his promises balanced. They both know there’s no way on Earth that Hendrickson can get a deal from the DA, since Victoria’s father is friends with him as well. But again, there’s no need to tell him that, for now.
“He’s at the Kilauea Motel, outside Honolulu,” Hendrickson spills immediately, looking at Steve first, then at him. “Room 205.”
“That’s a good start,” Steve concedes and walks out, and Danny follows without wasting any time.
They join the rest of the team in the main room a few seconds later. Lori is on the phone and she’s arranging for a SWAT team to cover them, while Chin is pulling surveillance from the area around the motel. Kono walks in right then with Jason Miles on her heels.
“Is it true?” Miles look at her, then at the rest of the team.
“He showed up and I had to let him in, the press is going crazy over this,” Kono explains with a mildly apologetic tone.
“Did you catch the bastard who killed her?” Miles ignores her altogether and focuses on Steve; and really, how is it that no one ever mistakes Danny for the boss? Ever? “Who is it?”
“If you’re so concerned with finding her killer, why didn’t you come forward with the information you had?” Steve doesn’t seem to be intimidated by Miles’ stature or his aggressive attitude, and the actor is mildly taken aback. He clearly has no idea what he’s gotten himself into, you just don’t boss Commander Steven McGarrett around, Danny thinks with a hint of pride.
“I didn’t think it was relevant.” Miles sounds too defensive and too guilty to be lying and Kono gestures him to take a seat.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing! I was at the premiere the night she was killed.” They know he’s not lying, they checked the pictures and the videos, he left the venue after the time of death. But then again, they know the man in the surveillance video isn’t him, and he wasn’t on his agent’s boat either, but murders can be ordered, not just committed. “The next day, I saw her in the news.”
“No one knew about you two, though,” Danny inquires with a careful tone.
“She didn’t want to make it public just yet,” Miles replies without hesitation. “She said she had some things to set straight first, she didn’t want to endanger my career.”
“Robert Harris?”
“Yeah, the druggie,” Miles confirms and the clear streak of anger in his voice make them all listen more carefully. “She was trying to get him to quit, she said he was a good guy, but to me it was a waste of time.”
“And you got tired of waiting,” Lori challenges him, squaring her shoulders.
“No!” Miles protest was not as strong as they expected it to be. “She was special, I wouldn’t-- she was worth waiting.”
And that, coming from a ladies’ man like Jason Miles, is a pretty big compliment to their victim, Danny thinks. Too bad she isn’t around to hear it anymore. “Did you tell someone about this questionable friend she had?”
“No one, just Calvin.” Miles looks at him, confused and skeptical, as if the thought of not telling his agent something like that is absurd to him. “D’you think-- did he-- he’s a friend, he wouldn’t have done that!”
“He’s a businessman,” Kono corrects him with a sad smile. “You’re an investment and she was dangerous.”
Miles looks down at his hands and shakes his head, denial carved deep into his features and movements. Steve gestures Kono to take care of him and the others to follow him. Even with Calvin in custody and his half-confession, they need to catch the killer before he disappears into thin air like professional hit men tend to do.
Danny throws one last glance at the actor and feels truly sorry for him; after all, he trusted what he thought was his best friend with a secret, and got screwed in return. The story has a vaguely familiar tune, but he tries not to think about it as he takes his seat in the car.
~~
When he gets home that evening, though, he’s still thinking about it. They caught the hit man, Don Cardington - at least, that’s what one of his several passports said -, just as he was stuffing his clothes and a couple of guns in a duffle bag; and even though it was hard to get him to say anything, he caved when they showed him the frames from the video surveillance. He admitted luring Victoria on the boat with the false claim that Jason Miles was waiting for them there; he also admitted receiving payments from Hendrickson, and presented all the requested evidence, in exchange for a deal. This time, the DA would have to comply, no matter what the ties to the victim’s father are. That is, unless they want Hendrickson to walk away from it untouched. In all that, Jason Miles was cleared of all suspicions and released a public statement on his website, in memory of Victoria.
Paperwork aside, the case is technically closed, and Danny should feel relieved. He does, on some level, but eliminating the case-related worry only results in him focusing entirely on the McGarrett-related worry, and that’s not good. Not at all. He has no idea what he’s supposed to do or say to make things alright between them.
He has feelings for Steve, and that’s something he’s known for months, but he’s not sure whether he’s ready to jump into a relationship with him or not. If he wants to be honest - and it’s about damn time he starts being honest about this -, there’s only one thing holding him back: Steve doesn’t do anything by halves and that kind of intensity… well, it scares him, sometimes. There, he said it. He might be a good cop, but his (double) breakup with Rachel has made him a coward when it comes to commitment and he’s not proud to admit it.
“Are you alright?” Olivia frowns at him and he realizes he’s standing in front of the kitchen counter, his untouched beer in his hand. His train of thoughts dissolves, leaving a sad, confused cloud of self-pity.
“Steve kissed me last night.” He doesn’t know why he tells her, but he needs to talk about this, or his head will explode. Suddenly, he wishes his mom was there to tell him how to handle it, how to deal with it, but she’s thousands of miles away, and all he has is Olivia. He just hopes he’s doing the right thing, trusting her with this.
“Then why do you look like someone tattooed a pineapple on your forehead?”
Danny smiles at her choice of words and guesses that maybe he can trust her, after all. “I’m confused. I’m-- I feel like getting on the first plane out.”
“You can’t just run, Danny,” Olivia tells him, and he’s immensely grateful for the lack of nicknames. Danno would remind him of Grace and Steve, and Jersey would remind him of his parents, and none of them are within reach at the moment. “You need to face this.”
“How?” Danny shakes his head and sits on one of the stools. “I can’t even stay mad at the man if he doesn’t have a shirt on. That’s how screwed I am.”
“Then go for it.” Olivia rests her elbows on the counter and faces him from the other side. “Don’t over-think it, it’s-- isn’t this what you wanted?”
“That’s the point,” Danny insists, not proud of how whiny he sounds. “I always thought it was, you know, crazy and impossible, and now he-- I’m not sure it can work.”
“What are you talking about?” Olivia stares at him, unbelieving. “I’ve known you two for what, five weeks? Even I can see you’re basically already married.”
“But--” Danny tries to come up with something other than ‘I don’t wanna be crushed by this’, but nothing comes to his mind.
“There’s only one way you can know if you’re ready or not,” Olivia offers with a small apologetic smile. “Just imagine your life without him.”
“I’d rather not,” Danny whispers, feeling his heart sink down below his feet. That’s the most terrifying thought of all, losing Steve completely, and he’ll probably never be ready for that.
“Exactly.” Olivia doesn’t sound as smug as she could have, and Danny feels a sudden surge of affection towards her.
“I hate you,” he mutters, addressing her a little smile.
She laughs and pushes herself off the counter, probably to leave him space for some good, hard thinking.
Danny knows she’s probably right, that he’s not in a position he can simply run away from; he can either risk his own sanity and dive into this madness headfirst, or lose Steve. The second option is far scarier than the first one, and that’s probably the only point he will get straight in all this. It’s also the only point he needs to actually make a decision, and from where he’s standing, he doesn’t have much choice.
As soon as he admits that to himself, he feels like someone pulled a rock off his chest. At least now he’s a man with a defined purpose, the only other thing he needs is a strategy. And guts.
~~
Of course, it’s easier said than done. For the next few days, Steve proceeds to ignore him or give him the all-business tone he hates so much. By the end of the week, the team is well aware something happened between them, and Danny is ready to just punch him and get it over with.
His mood gets worse when Rachel tells him he won’t have Grace for the weekend, because Stan is taking them sailing on his new boat. She has the decency to sound sorry when he informs him, but it doesn’t stop him from telling her Stan can shove his new boat up his ass and sail away with it.
Steve probably hears that conversation, since Danny is in the process of leaving his office when he receives the call, but the fact that he doesn’t say anything to him about it is the last drop for Danny. He storms out of the office, furious and disappointed, and mostly cursing the island and all that grows on it, people included.
And that’s when he realizes what he has to do to turn his luck around.
~
Danny raises his hand to knock, then drops it against his side. Again. For the fourth time. He can’t believe he can be that much of a teenager, in his worst moments. He takes a step back and a deep breath, and tries to figure out how much of his dignity he’s losing every minute he stands there without knocking. A lot, he figures.
He steps up to the door again and squares his shoulders, then self-consciously glances at the ribbon he tied to the pineapple he’s holding. Trying not to think about his long-lost dignity, he raises his hand again and actually gets it closer to the wood of the door, before letting it fall against his side again.
Before he can start another round of mental self-slapping, though, he door opens quietly. Steve leans against the doorframe and Danny can tell he’s trying to repress a tiny smile. More than that, he’s relieved that he’s not being welcomed with aneurysm face, which would have wiped out the rest of his already scarce resolve.
“Are you gonna knock or just stand there and look ridiculous?” Steve inquires with a raised eyebrow, but he doesn’t sound truly annoyed.
“You’re talking to me,” Danny points out, and immediately wants to slap himself. And not just mentally.
“I’ve never stopped talking to you,” Steve reminds him, and while he has a point, he surely knows that’s not what Danny is saying.
“You know what I mean,” Danny mutters and shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Are you gonna let me in or what?”
Steve seems hesitant and for a moment Danny fears that there might be someone else there, that he should have called ahead. Eventually, Steve moves out of the way and gestures him to go in.
“What’s that?” Steve asks while Danny looks around warily, like he’s walking into the lion’s lair, and he probably is.
“A pineapple,” Danny explains, quite uselessly, and hands it to him with a casual shrug.
“Do you mean it as a peace offering or an insult?” Steve sounds careful and a tad bit amused as he asks, and Danny feels himself relax a little.
“Peace offering,” he confirms with a brief grin, then looks down at his empty hands for a moment before meeting his eyes again. “I’m sorry I acted like a jerk, just-- you surprised me.”
“And I’m sorry I overstepped the line, it won’t happen again,” Stave admits with a slow, forced nod.
“Actually, that’s the point,” Danny starts, finding it hard to keep eye-contact as he speaks. “I want it to happen again. I’ve wanted it to happen for months.”
Steve looks downright shell-shocked and just blinks several times before he speaks again. “You what?”
“Look, I don’t know how to talk about this,” Danny says, but before he can add anything else, he’s interrupted by Steve’s chuckle.
“Well, that’s a first,” Steve asserts and he sounds like he’s kind of proud of himself for that.
“I freaked out, I didn’t think it would ever happen and just--” Danny lets out a frustrated groan and drags a hand on his face, trying to clear his mind.
“You freaked out,” Steve repeats slowly, weighting every word. “I guess it’s reasonable,” he admits with a small shrug. “But really, there’s only so many hints a man can give.”
“You said that before,” Danny points out and it’s his turn to sound amused.
“And I wasn’t wrong about the mixed signals either,” Steve reminds him, and now the hint of pride is much more notable.
Of course not, you’re never wrong, Mr. Super SEAL, Danny wants to taunt him, but instead he just settles for, “I was not sending you signals, Steven.”
“Trust me, you were,” Steve objects with a grin, and takes a step closer; he shows him the pineapple and adds, “And you still are.”
“That’s a fruit, not a signal,” Danny reasons and takes a step back almost instinctively, and when he does, he realizes his back is against the door, because they still haven’t moved further in the house. “And you’re trying to corner me again.”
“Are you going to freak out again?” Steve’s smile widens when he asks, turns into that smile Danny is starting to know well and to crave, that warm, affectionate smile that he now recognizes for what it is. Maybe he’s not the only one who’s been in love for a while, after all.
Danny takes a deep breath and asks himself if he is going to freak out again. “You scare me,” he mutters with a small grin. “You scare the living crap out of me, McGarrett, and no, I’m not going to freak out.”
“I scare you,” Steve repeats, halfway between deeply skeptical and incredibly amused. It’s a mix Danny wouldn’t like much under regular circumstances, but right now he’s just glad Steve does not, in fact, hate him. He might hate Steve a little bit at the moment, though. “I scare you?”
“Shut up,” Danny mutters with a dark glare, but doesn’t protest when Steve puts both of his hands on the door on either side of his head. The approach is a lot less aggressive than last time, and he feels himself relax and not freak out, for once. In a more lucid moment, he would also wonder where the hell did the pineapple go, but right now, that’s about the last of his thoughts.
“Well, I scare you now, and you haven’t even seen me naked yet,” Steve considers with a wide grin, resting his forehead on Danny’s.
“Seriously, shut up.” Danny laughs quietly, and the next thing he knows, his hand is on the back of Steve’s neck and he’s pulling him closer.
The kiss is nothing like Danny imagined; he hasn’t kissed a man in a while, but he’s sure he’s never kissed anyone like Steve. It’s feral, just on the right side of rough and hurried, and Danny realizes that he just jumped on a roller coaster in full motion at top speed. And at the moment, it feels pretty fucking good.
Steve’s hands trail down to close on his hips and Danny responds with a quiet moan when Steve grinds against him. Now that he’s past the fear of Steve’s possible rejection - he did act like a big jerk, there’s no denying that -, he can focus on an entirely different type of tension. Namely, the one in his pants. He pulls back from the kiss just enough to duck his head and bite on the skin of Steve’s neck. He can taste salt and figures Steve has gone swimming some time between the end of their shift and his arrival. The thought of a wet Steve wearing nothing by a swimsuit fills his brain in a very pleasant way.
“If you want me to stop, just say so,” Steve whispers against his ear, while his hands start working messily on Danny’s belt. Danny is almost tempted to be a masochistic idiot and say that maybe, maybe, they should take this slow, but right then Steve pulls back to study his reaction.
Danny’s voice dies in his throat as he takes in the look in Steve’s eyes. There’s wild lust in there, but also that affectionate streak that Danny recognizes from all those times he thought Steve was just being condescending. And really, how did he not see this?
“Stop and I will shoot you,” Danny eventually answers and his voice is darker and hoarser than he expected.
Steve doesn’t need to be told twice, just yanks Danny’s pants open and Danny would protest about ripped zips and expensive pants, but he loses his ability to complain when Steve unceremoniously drops to his knees.
“Fuck,” is apparently the only word left in Danny’s vocabulary when Steve’s mouth closes on him. After that, it’s a series of incoherent moans and sounds that he’s not entirely proud of.
He tries to get a grip on Steve’s short hair, but then settles for resting his hand on the back of his head, encouraging his already fast movements. His own head hits the wood with a soft thud that even in the haze of the moment makes him realize that Steve is blowing him against his unlocked front door.
He really should care more about the consequences of a possible visitor, but when he looks down at his partner - boyfriend? Really? -, he forgets about it completely. It’s too much to process all at once and it doesn’t help that he loses every bit of coherency left when Steve sneaks a hand past his shirt and pinches his nipple.
He comes in what he would consider an embarrassingly short amount of time, if this was anyone else. But Steve has been the main star of his fantasies and the cause of so many cases of blue balls for quite some time, so he’s not surprised it doesn’t take all that much.
He breathes heavily and rests his head against the solid support of the door, but when Steve stands and starts zipping him up, Danny stops him. “Leave it, the pants are coming off anyway,” he huffs out with what must look like a mad grin. “Yours too.”
“Are you sure?” Steve teases him and starts dragging him towards the stairs. “I wouldn’t want to scare you off.”
“Bed, Steven,” Danny retorts, eyes narrowed, but lips still curved in a smile. “And shut up.”
~~
A month later
“You have got to be kidding me.” Chin looks at him like he’s grown two heads and Danny tries to hide his smirk. “You’re moving your stuff again?”
“I’m moving back in with Steve,” Danny informs and points vaguely at his boss, who’s sitting at the counter of his kitchen, eating the fruit salad Olivia prepared that morning.
“What?” Lori seems even more surprised and maybe a little disappointed. Danny has to fight the familiar urge to tell her to back off; not that he doesn’t like her, he’s just a tad bit possessive when it comes to Steve, and he’s sure that’s the reason she’s upset. “Why?”
Olivia grins from her seat next to Kay on the couch and Kono looks between her and Danny a couple of times. This get-together is Steve’s idea of the quickest way to let people know what’s going on with them, but now that they’re here, Danny is not so sure it’s such a good move.
Not the telling part, that’s where they both agree, they’ve talked about it for a while and they know trust is the concrete foundation on which their team is built, so hiding something like that would be dangerous and stupid, and quite frankly naïve, since everyone already thinks they’re married. No, the part where they don’t agree is the actual coming out. Danny voted for a much quieter talk with each of their friends individually; Steve, of course, went for the theatrical announcement. He won in a subtle, disloyal way that involved a lot of sex and therefore cannot be repeated to their friends.
“Did you two fight?” Lori inquires, confused by the girl’s smile. “What’s going on?”
“Oh,” Chin suddenly says, and he’s wearing the exact same grin as Olivia. “The boyfriend.”
“Exactly,” Danny confirms and laughs a little as he remembers the phone call. Possibly, still one of the most embarrassing moments of his life, but at least now he can laugh about it. “Appearances do kill, after all.”
“I’m glad you dodged the bullet, then,” Chin replies, much to Kono and Lori’s confusion.
“What’s going on?” Kono smiles tentatively and looks at her cousin, then at Danny, who points his thumb at Steve.
“This was your idea, babe, so start talking,” Danny reminds him with a raised eyebrow, and turns to look at his boyfriend as well.
Steve chews quietly on a small piece of pear, then swallows and looks at his team for a few, silent seconds. “Mom and dad got married.”
“Are you-- really?” Lori looks at them wide-eyed and huffs out a surprised laughter. Danny is glad to see she’s not reacting in the way he feared and starts hoping that maybe he was wrong about her.
“So,” Kono starts, and her mischievous tone doesn’t promise anything good. “Who’s mom between you two?”
Steve opens his mouth to answer, but Danny effectively stops him with a glare that could easily cut marble into tiny pieces. “Shut up, Steven.”
They all laugh at Steve’s sheepish grin and Danny shakes his head, thinking that maybe, after all, this was the best approach. He’s never going to admit it out loud, though. Ever.
“So, since Amy is gone too, he’s leaving you here all alone,” Chin remarks, looking at Olivia. “Not much of a gentleman.”
“Actually, since Danny is moving out, Kay decided to move in,” Olivia informs and circles her girlfriend’s shoulders with a arm.
“We’ve been talking about this for a while, and we took this as a sign,” Kay explains with a bright smile.
“I’m really gonna miss your Ratatouille,” Danny admits with a trace of real longing in his voice.
“Hey, thanks a lot, Jersey!” Olivia protests with fake indignation, and the others laugh, Danny included.
The rest of the evening goes by easily enough, with some chatting and a few questions, but all in all, it goes way better than Danny thought. He’s starting to think that maybe his pessimistic side will cave under this blows and shut up for a while. They’ve told Rachel as well, but not Stan - that decision was taken after a furious fight between them, the first official one as a couple -, and they’re planning on telling Grace shortly, but they suspect she won’t need many more clues to figure it out of her own.
By the time the team leaves, Danny feels tired but happy, and whistles to himself as he piles up the dishes in the sink. Kay stayed behind to help them clean and Steve is there too, busy with collecting empty bottles of beer. Again, choosing a Saturday night was a good move, he just hopes they don’t get called in for any emergency.
“Leave it, I’ll take care of it in the morning,” Olivia tells him as she comes in the kitchen with two dirty glasses.
“You sure?” Danny turns to look at her and wipes his hands dry with the nearby kitchen towel.
“Don’t worry,” Olivia reassures him and pats him on the forearm. “Go celebrate with your husband.”
“I am not the wife,” Danny objects with a mildly threatening tone, then adds, “And we didn’t actually get married, you know?”
“Stop bitching and go get him naked before I do,” Olivia retorts and pinches his arm strong enough to make him yelp.
“I agree.” Steve circles his waist with an arm from behind and it almost makes him jump.
“You freaking ninja,” Danny mutters, but leans back against him, and looks back at Olivia. “Thanks. For everything.”
“Don’t mention it, Jersey.”
With that she’s back in the living room and Danny turns around to face his boyfriend. “What was that about?”
“Dishes,” Danny just says, placing both his hands on Steve’s hips. “And other life-changing subjects.”
“Okay.” Steve seems amused and unconvinced, but evidently decides against inquiring any more, then suddenly he says, “Close your eyes.”
Danny frowns with suspicion, then complies and feels Steve move away for a moment, then return. And then there’s something fresh pressed against his lips and he opens up, then chews on what’s offered to him. Then he realizes what it is. Pineapple. He should have figured. “What the--” His eyes snap open and he laughs when he sees the guilty amusement on his boyfriend’s face.
“It’s not so bad, is it?”
Steve lets the playful punch hit him square on the chest and takes a step back, smiling. And really, Danny would normally tell him to take that pineapple and shove it where he knows, but it’s different this time. There’s that smile right there in front of him, reminding him how he’ll never be alone again on that island, and the bittersweet taste in his mouth is starting to feel like something dangerously close to home.
“No, it’s not,” Danny admits, and the warm feeling in his chest tells him just how true that is.
~~
end
A/N: so, here it is, the unavoidable happy (and sappy) ending <3
I hope you enjoyed reading it at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Obviously, I’m curious to hear your thoughts and advices, so shoot away, I’m ready o/
But most importantly, thanks so so much to all of you for being so amazing and supportive. I loved posting for you <3
Well, I guess that’s all, see you soon.
JM
Author: jen_jm
Pairing: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams
Rating: mostly R, but it gets NC-17 later on
Warnings: slash, presence of OCs. They also work a case, sort of.
Words: about 30,000
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: I don’t own them, unfortunately. Title borrowed from Bon Jovi.
Notes: I’d like to point out that I do not share Danny’s view of Hawaii, I think it’s a gorgeous place. Also, I love pineapples.
Summary: Danny is having a hard time finding a new living arrangement and things get even more complicated when he has to deal with a new roommate, a high-profile case and a car accident that endangers someone he cares about. Also, pineapples occur.
Crossposted
[Chapter 1] -- [Chapter 2] -- [Chapter 3] -- [Chapter 4]
~~
5. The one where the pineapples strike back
After driving Grace and Rachel home - to their home -, Danny goes to work with a sense of dread and impending doom hanging over him. He has no idea what he will say to Steve and whether he still has a job or not. He’s not even sure which possibility might be worse.
When he steps in, the entire team is already there and he addresses them a collective greet. If they notice the way he’s stubbornly avoiding looking at Steve, they don’t mention it.
“Look who decided to show up,” Kono jokes and pats him on the back affectionately.
“It’s good to be back to work,” Danny admits, and he’s not even lying. He loves times off, but he loves his job too, and apparently he still has one.
“I feel like you never even left,” Lori comments with a warm look that makes him feel a tiny little bit better.
“I don’t know whether to feel touched or offended.” Danny smiles briefly at her, then glances at the screens, determined to catch up on what he’s lost. “What’s new?”
“Bad news for Kono,” Chin announces and shows him one of the files. “We received this from Coast Guard, it shows that another boat approached Victoria’s rental one. The time fits too.”
“Whose boat is that?” Danny looks at him first, then at Kono. “Jason Miles’?”
“Calvin Hendrickson,” Steve corrects him and Danny looks at him for the first time since entering the room. He doesn’t know what he was expecting exactly, but surely not Steve’s detached down-to-business attitude. It hurts for reasons that make his head spin a little. “He’s Miles’ agent.”
“So Miles is the killer?” Danny looks down at the GPS data once again, trying to focus on the case. They still have a murderer to catch, his internal drama can wait.
“I’ll be pretty bummed if he is,” Kono admit, head tilted to the side. “He’s too hot to go to jail.”
“I feel you,” Lori agrees with a nod that’s too solemn to be a joke.
“The guy in the surveillance is too tall to be Miles or his agent,” Chin considers with a thoughtful frown. “So he’s not the actual killer, but he might have ordered the hit.”
“You think the man in the video is a professional killer?” Danny sounds less incredulous than he feels, and he’s grateful for that, because after about five seconds, he realizes that’s actually a good theory.
“Only one way to find out,” Steve declares with a resolute tone. “We bring both Hendrickson and Miles in, and we see who caves first.”
“Do we have enough to bring them in?” Danny questions him with an unnecessary dose of hostility in his voice, and he has to remind himself he has to keep his priorities straight right now.
“More than enough for Hendrickson, not so much for Miles,” Chin admits with a careful glance in Steve’s direction.
“Fine, you and Kono go talk to him and see if he cooperates voluntarily,” Steve concedes with a sharp nod. “Lori, get a warrant for Hendrickson’s boat, find where it’s anchored and get the surveillance from the night of the murder.”
“On it, boss,” Lori chirps and heads off immediately. Chin and Kono hesitate for a few seconds, then follow her; they probably noticed something’s not right, but luckily they have the good sense to say nothing about it.
Danny sees an open file a few inches away from him and drags it to sit on his portion of the table. As he starts reading through it, he can feel Steve’s eyes on him, but doesn’t look up.
“C’mon, we need to bring Hendrickson in,” Steve exhorts him, somewhat impatient.
Danny gives a careful nod and heads for the door, not bothering to look at him. He has no idea why Steve hasn’t kept Chin back to go with him, but he has the horrible feeling that a conversation is coming up and he’s definitely not ready for it. By the time they get in the car, he’s so tense he feels like he could play the violin on his arm, but when Steve turns on the radio and doesn’t seem intentioned to say anything, Danny lets out a shaky breath.
He wishes he knew what to say to let Steve know what’s going on in his head, but he’s still too confused to have a clear answer for himself, let alone for his partner. He’s spent so much time convincing himself Steve would never reciprocate that now that he knows Steve actually has feelings for him, he finds himself thrown into a completely new and terrifying territory.
In some wrong, perverse way, he hopes one of them gets almost shot, so he can have one of those romantic Hollywood epiphanies that will shake him up and have him confess his undying love to Steve. His life, however, is never gong to be that simple.
~
Hendrickson bolts as soon as they flash tin. Of course. Talking about guilty reaction, uh?
“You son of a toothless Munchkin,” Danny curses as he sprints after the guy, Steve running right beside him. He swears he sees him grin at his choice of words - he’s not gone mental, it’s just Grace and her Wizard of Oz phase -, but he decides to file that away for later. “Why do they always run, uh?”
Steve picks up the pace, while Danny circles the block to try and get in front of the man before he disappears. The crowd on the sidewalk is pretty thin and he’s deeply grateful for that, he figures Olivia isn’t around to floor this son of a bitch as well.
After a few irritating minutes, they finally corner him in a dead-end lane and catch him as he makes a very poor attempt at climbing a fence.
“Book him, Danno.” Steve probably says it without even realizing it, and for a brief, fantastic moment, things are back to blissful normality between them.
“Calvin Hendrickson, you’re under arrest for the murder of Victoria McCallister,” Danny declares in a out-of-breath voice he’s not proud of. He proceeds to read him his Miranda rights and manhandles him to his feet with a little more force than necessary.
All in all, that was smooth enough, Danny thinks. No one was shot, no one had a romantic Hollywood epiphany and his life is just as complicated as it was ten minutes before. He tries really hard to think about something else, as they lead Hendrickson back to the car. People on the sidewalk look at them as they pass by, but their alarm dissolves when they see the badges strapped to their belts.
Neither of them talks and by the time they’re sitting in the car, Danny is almost able to relax.
~
“It’s in your best interest to talk,” Danny warrants Hendrickson with a patronizing tone. “We identified the man who was with you on that boat.”
Actually no, they haven’t. They’re still running him through facial recognition, but they don’t exactly feel it would be a wise idea to tell Hendrickson.
“You should talk before he does,” Steve adds from his spot near the door.
“I manage actors for a living, you think I’ve never seen this in a movie?” Hendrickson tries to laugh, but it’s clear he’s already panicking. “I have nothing to say.”
“It’s your problem, not mine,” Danny points out with a careless shrug. “I’m not the one risking a life sentence.”
“Just think about it,” Steve keeps going, but lets Danny lead. “Who has the most to lose, him or you?”
Hendrickson closes his eyes and mutters under his breath. His shirt is ruffled and the first two buttons are undone, but it doesn’t stop him from sweating visibly under the two detectives’ stares. If he has any idea they’re bluffing, he doesn’t show it one bit. After several moments of stubborn silence, though, Danny glances at his partner and they nod to each other quietly.
“Let’s go, there’s no need to waste our time here,” Steve declares and swings the door open.
“Wait!”
Danny turns to look at him, but Steve doesn’t. They’ve played this game so many times he knows the script and the moves by heart. “What?”
“I’ll tell you where you can find him,” Hendrickson offers, clearly desperate. “But I want a deal.”
“Start cooperating and we’ll see about that,” Steve replies, keeping his promises balanced. They both know there’s no way on Earth that Hendrickson can get a deal from the DA, since Victoria’s father is friends with him as well. But again, there’s no need to tell him that, for now.
“He’s at the Kilauea Motel, outside Honolulu,” Hendrickson spills immediately, looking at Steve first, then at him. “Room 205.”
“That’s a good start,” Steve concedes and walks out, and Danny follows without wasting any time.
They join the rest of the team in the main room a few seconds later. Lori is on the phone and she’s arranging for a SWAT team to cover them, while Chin is pulling surveillance from the area around the motel. Kono walks in right then with Jason Miles on her heels.
“Is it true?” Miles look at her, then at the rest of the team.
“He showed up and I had to let him in, the press is going crazy over this,” Kono explains with a mildly apologetic tone.
“Did you catch the bastard who killed her?” Miles ignores her altogether and focuses on Steve; and really, how is it that no one ever mistakes Danny for the boss? Ever? “Who is it?”
“If you’re so concerned with finding her killer, why didn’t you come forward with the information you had?” Steve doesn’t seem to be intimidated by Miles’ stature or his aggressive attitude, and the actor is mildly taken aback. He clearly has no idea what he’s gotten himself into, you just don’t boss Commander Steven McGarrett around, Danny thinks with a hint of pride.
“I didn’t think it was relevant.” Miles sounds too defensive and too guilty to be lying and Kono gestures him to take a seat.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing! I was at the premiere the night she was killed.” They know he’s not lying, they checked the pictures and the videos, he left the venue after the time of death. But then again, they know the man in the surveillance video isn’t him, and he wasn’t on his agent’s boat either, but murders can be ordered, not just committed. “The next day, I saw her in the news.”
“No one knew about you two, though,” Danny inquires with a careful tone.
“She didn’t want to make it public just yet,” Miles replies without hesitation. “She said she had some things to set straight first, she didn’t want to endanger my career.”
“Robert Harris?”
“Yeah, the druggie,” Miles confirms and the clear streak of anger in his voice make them all listen more carefully. “She was trying to get him to quit, she said he was a good guy, but to me it was a waste of time.”
“And you got tired of waiting,” Lori challenges him, squaring her shoulders.
“No!” Miles protest was not as strong as they expected it to be. “She was special, I wouldn’t-- she was worth waiting.”
And that, coming from a ladies’ man like Jason Miles, is a pretty big compliment to their victim, Danny thinks. Too bad she isn’t around to hear it anymore. “Did you tell someone about this questionable friend she had?”
“No one, just Calvin.” Miles looks at him, confused and skeptical, as if the thought of not telling his agent something like that is absurd to him. “D’you think-- did he-- he’s a friend, he wouldn’t have done that!”
“He’s a businessman,” Kono corrects him with a sad smile. “You’re an investment and she was dangerous.”
Miles looks down at his hands and shakes his head, denial carved deep into his features and movements. Steve gestures Kono to take care of him and the others to follow him. Even with Calvin in custody and his half-confession, they need to catch the killer before he disappears into thin air like professional hit men tend to do.
Danny throws one last glance at the actor and feels truly sorry for him; after all, he trusted what he thought was his best friend with a secret, and got screwed in return. The story has a vaguely familiar tune, but he tries not to think about it as he takes his seat in the car.
~~
When he gets home that evening, though, he’s still thinking about it. They caught the hit man, Don Cardington - at least, that’s what one of his several passports said -, just as he was stuffing his clothes and a couple of guns in a duffle bag; and even though it was hard to get him to say anything, he caved when they showed him the frames from the video surveillance. He admitted luring Victoria on the boat with the false claim that Jason Miles was waiting for them there; he also admitted receiving payments from Hendrickson, and presented all the requested evidence, in exchange for a deal. This time, the DA would have to comply, no matter what the ties to the victim’s father are. That is, unless they want Hendrickson to walk away from it untouched. In all that, Jason Miles was cleared of all suspicions and released a public statement on his website, in memory of Victoria.
Paperwork aside, the case is technically closed, and Danny should feel relieved. He does, on some level, but eliminating the case-related worry only results in him focusing entirely on the McGarrett-related worry, and that’s not good. Not at all. He has no idea what he’s supposed to do or say to make things alright between them.
He has feelings for Steve, and that’s something he’s known for months, but he’s not sure whether he’s ready to jump into a relationship with him or not. If he wants to be honest - and it’s about damn time he starts being honest about this -, there’s only one thing holding him back: Steve doesn’t do anything by halves and that kind of intensity… well, it scares him, sometimes. There, he said it. He might be a good cop, but his (double) breakup with Rachel has made him a coward when it comes to commitment and he’s not proud to admit it.
“Are you alright?” Olivia frowns at him and he realizes he’s standing in front of the kitchen counter, his untouched beer in his hand. His train of thoughts dissolves, leaving a sad, confused cloud of self-pity.
“Steve kissed me last night.” He doesn’t know why he tells her, but he needs to talk about this, or his head will explode. Suddenly, he wishes his mom was there to tell him how to handle it, how to deal with it, but she’s thousands of miles away, and all he has is Olivia. He just hopes he’s doing the right thing, trusting her with this.
“Then why do you look like someone tattooed a pineapple on your forehead?”
Danny smiles at her choice of words and guesses that maybe he can trust her, after all. “I’m confused. I’m-- I feel like getting on the first plane out.”
“You can’t just run, Danny,” Olivia tells him, and he’s immensely grateful for the lack of nicknames. Danno would remind him of Grace and Steve, and Jersey would remind him of his parents, and none of them are within reach at the moment. “You need to face this.”
“How?” Danny shakes his head and sits on one of the stools. “I can’t even stay mad at the man if he doesn’t have a shirt on. That’s how screwed I am.”
“Then go for it.” Olivia rests her elbows on the counter and faces him from the other side. “Don’t over-think it, it’s-- isn’t this what you wanted?”
“That’s the point,” Danny insists, not proud of how whiny he sounds. “I always thought it was, you know, crazy and impossible, and now he-- I’m not sure it can work.”
“What are you talking about?” Olivia stares at him, unbelieving. “I’ve known you two for what, five weeks? Even I can see you’re basically already married.”
“But--” Danny tries to come up with something other than ‘I don’t wanna be crushed by this’, but nothing comes to his mind.
“There’s only one way you can know if you’re ready or not,” Olivia offers with a small apologetic smile. “Just imagine your life without him.”
“I’d rather not,” Danny whispers, feeling his heart sink down below his feet. That’s the most terrifying thought of all, losing Steve completely, and he’ll probably never be ready for that.
“Exactly.” Olivia doesn’t sound as smug as she could have, and Danny feels a sudden surge of affection towards her.
“I hate you,” he mutters, addressing her a little smile.
She laughs and pushes herself off the counter, probably to leave him space for some good, hard thinking.
Danny knows she’s probably right, that he’s not in a position he can simply run away from; he can either risk his own sanity and dive into this madness headfirst, or lose Steve. The second option is far scarier than the first one, and that’s probably the only point he will get straight in all this. It’s also the only point he needs to actually make a decision, and from where he’s standing, he doesn’t have much choice.
As soon as he admits that to himself, he feels like someone pulled a rock off his chest. At least now he’s a man with a defined purpose, the only other thing he needs is a strategy. And guts.
~~
Of course, it’s easier said than done. For the next few days, Steve proceeds to ignore him or give him the all-business tone he hates so much. By the end of the week, the team is well aware something happened between them, and Danny is ready to just punch him and get it over with.
His mood gets worse when Rachel tells him he won’t have Grace for the weekend, because Stan is taking them sailing on his new boat. She has the decency to sound sorry when he informs him, but it doesn’t stop him from telling her Stan can shove his new boat up his ass and sail away with it.
Steve probably hears that conversation, since Danny is in the process of leaving his office when he receives the call, but the fact that he doesn’t say anything to him about it is the last drop for Danny. He storms out of the office, furious and disappointed, and mostly cursing the island and all that grows on it, people included.
And that’s when he realizes what he has to do to turn his luck around.
~
Danny raises his hand to knock, then drops it against his side. Again. For the fourth time. He can’t believe he can be that much of a teenager, in his worst moments. He takes a step back and a deep breath, and tries to figure out how much of his dignity he’s losing every minute he stands there without knocking. A lot, he figures.
He steps up to the door again and squares his shoulders, then self-consciously glances at the ribbon he tied to the pineapple he’s holding. Trying not to think about his long-lost dignity, he raises his hand again and actually gets it closer to the wood of the door, before letting it fall against his side again.
Before he can start another round of mental self-slapping, though, he door opens quietly. Steve leans against the doorframe and Danny can tell he’s trying to repress a tiny smile. More than that, he’s relieved that he’s not being welcomed with aneurysm face, which would have wiped out the rest of his already scarce resolve.
“Are you gonna knock or just stand there and look ridiculous?” Steve inquires with a raised eyebrow, but he doesn’t sound truly annoyed.
“You’re talking to me,” Danny points out, and immediately wants to slap himself. And not just mentally.
“I’ve never stopped talking to you,” Steve reminds him, and while he has a point, he surely knows that’s not what Danny is saying.
“You know what I mean,” Danny mutters and shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Are you gonna let me in or what?”
Steve seems hesitant and for a moment Danny fears that there might be someone else there, that he should have called ahead. Eventually, Steve moves out of the way and gestures him to go in.
“What’s that?” Steve asks while Danny looks around warily, like he’s walking into the lion’s lair, and he probably is.
“A pineapple,” Danny explains, quite uselessly, and hands it to him with a casual shrug.
“Do you mean it as a peace offering or an insult?” Steve sounds careful and a tad bit amused as he asks, and Danny feels himself relax a little.
“Peace offering,” he confirms with a brief grin, then looks down at his empty hands for a moment before meeting his eyes again. “I’m sorry I acted like a jerk, just-- you surprised me.”
“And I’m sorry I overstepped the line, it won’t happen again,” Stave admits with a slow, forced nod.
“Actually, that’s the point,” Danny starts, finding it hard to keep eye-contact as he speaks. “I want it to happen again. I’ve wanted it to happen for months.”
Steve looks downright shell-shocked and just blinks several times before he speaks again. “You what?”
“Look, I don’t know how to talk about this,” Danny says, but before he can add anything else, he’s interrupted by Steve’s chuckle.
“Well, that’s a first,” Steve asserts and he sounds like he’s kind of proud of himself for that.
“I freaked out, I didn’t think it would ever happen and just--” Danny lets out a frustrated groan and drags a hand on his face, trying to clear his mind.
“You freaked out,” Steve repeats slowly, weighting every word. “I guess it’s reasonable,” he admits with a small shrug. “But really, there’s only so many hints a man can give.”
“You said that before,” Danny points out and it’s his turn to sound amused.
“And I wasn’t wrong about the mixed signals either,” Steve reminds him, and now the hint of pride is much more notable.
Of course not, you’re never wrong, Mr. Super SEAL, Danny wants to taunt him, but instead he just settles for, “I was not sending you signals, Steven.”
“Trust me, you were,” Steve objects with a grin, and takes a step closer; he shows him the pineapple and adds, “And you still are.”
“That’s a fruit, not a signal,” Danny reasons and takes a step back almost instinctively, and when he does, he realizes his back is against the door, because they still haven’t moved further in the house. “And you’re trying to corner me again.”
“Are you going to freak out again?” Steve’s smile widens when he asks, turns into that smile Danny is starting to know well and to crave, that warm, affectionate smile that he now recognizes for what it is. Maybe he’s not the only one who’s been in love for a while, after all.
Danny takes a deep breath and asks himself if he is going to freak out again. “You scare me,” he mutters with a small grin. “You scare the living crap out of me, McGarrett, and no, I’m not going to freak out.”
“I scare you,” Steve repeats, halfway between deeply skeptical and incredibly amused. It’s a mix Danny wouldn’t like much under regular circumstances, but right now he’s just glad Steve does not, in fact, hate him. He might hate Steve a little bit at the moment, though. “I scare you?”
“Shut up,” Danny mutters with a dark glare, but doesn’t protest when Steve puts both of his hands on the door on either side of his head. The approach is a lot less aggressive than last time, and he feels himself relax and not freak out, for once. In a more lucid moment, he would also wonder where the hell did the pineapple go, but right now, that’s about the last of his thoughts.
“Well, I scare you now, and you haven’t even seen me naked yet,” Steve considers with a wide grin, resting his forehead on Danny’s.
“Seriously, shut up.” Danny laughs quietly, and the next thing he knows, his hand is on the back of Steve’s neck and he’s pulling him closer.
The kiss is nothing like Danny imagined; he hasn’t kissed a man in a while, but he’s sure he’s never kissed anyone like Steve. It’s feral, just on the right side of rough and hurried, and Danny realizes that he just jumped on a roller coaster in full motion at top speed. And at the moment, it feels pretty fucking good.
Steve’s hands trail down to close on his hips and Danny responds with a quiet moan when Steve grinds against him. Now that he’s past the fear of Steve’s possible rejection - he did act like a big jerk, there’s no denying that -, he can focus on an entirely different type of tension. Namely, the one in his pants. He pulls back from the kiss just enough to duck his head and bite on the skin of Steve’s neck. He can taste salt and figures Steve has gone swimming some time between the end of their shift and his arrival. The thought of a wet Steve wearing nothing by a swimsuit fills his brain in a very pleasant way.
“If you want me to stop, just say so,” Steve whispers against his ear, while his hands start working messily on Danny’s belt. Danny is almost tempted to be a masochistic idiot and say that maybe, maybe, they should take this slow, but right then Steve pulls back to study his reaction.
Danny’s voice dies in his throat as he takes in the look in Steve’s eyes. There’s wild lust in there, but also that affectionate streak that Danny recognizes from all those times he thought Steve was just being condescending. And really, how did he not see this?
“Stop and I will shoot you,” Danny eventually answers and his voice is darker and hoarser than he expected.
Steve doesn’t need to be told twice, just yanks Danny’s pants open and Danny would protest about ripped zips and expensive pants, but he loses his ability to complain when Steve unceremoniously drops to his knees.
“Fuck,” is apparently the only word left in Danny’s vocabulary when Steve’s mouth closes on him. After that, it’s a series of incoherent moans and sounds that he’s not entirely proud of.
He tries to get a grip on Steve’s short hair, but then settles for resting his hand on the back of his head, encouraging his already fast movements. His own head hits the wood with a soft thud that even in the haze of the moment makes him realize that Steve is blowing him against his unlocked front door.
He really should care more about the consequences of a possible visitor, but when he looks down at his partner - boyfriend? Really? -, he forgets about it completely. It’s too much to process all at once and it doesn’t help that he loses every bit of coherency left when Steve sneaks a hand past his shirt and pinches his nipple.
He comes in what he would consider an embarrassingly short amount of time, if this was anyone else. But Steve has been the main star of his fantasies and the cause of so many cases of blue balls for quite some time, so he’s not surprised it doesn’t take all that much.
He breathes heavily and rests his head against the solid support of the door, but when Steve stands and starts zipping him up, Danny stops him. “Leave it, the pants are coming off anyway,” he huffs out with what must look like a mad grin. “Yours too.”
“Are you sure?” Steve teases him and starts dragging him towards the stairs. “I wouldn’t want to scare you off.”
“Bed, Steven,” Danny retorts, eyes narrowed, but lips still curved in a smile. “And shut up.”
~~
A month later
“You have got to be kidding me.” Chin looks at him like he’s grown two heads and Danny tries to hide his smirk. “You’re moving your stuff again?”
“I’m moving back in with Steve,” Danny informs and points vaguely at his boss, who’s sitting at the counter of his kitchen, eating the fruit salad Olivia prepared that morning.
“What?” Lori seems even more surprised and maybe a little disappointed. Danny has to fight the familiar urge to tell her to back off; not that he doesn’t like her, he’s just a tad bit possessive when it comes to Steve, and he’s sure that’s the reason she’s upset. “Why?”
Olivia grins from her seat next to Kay on the couch and Kono looks between her and Danny a couple of times. This get-together is Steve’s idea of the quickest way to let people know what’s going on with them, but now that they’re here, Danny is not so sure it’s such a good move.
Not the telling part, that’s where they both agree, they’ve talked about it for a while and they know trust is the concrete foundation on which their team is built, so hiding something like that would be dangerous and stupid, and quite frankly naïve, since everyone already thinks they’re married. No, the part where they don’t agree is the actual coming out. Danny voted for a much quieter talk with each of their friends individually; Steve, of course, went for the theatrical announcement. He won in a subtle, disloyal way that involved a lot of sex and therefore cannot be repeated to their friends.
“Did you two fight?” Lori inquires, confused by the girl’s smile. “What’s going on?”
“Oh,” Chin suddenly says, and he’s wearing the exact same grin as Olivia. “The boyfriend.”
“Exactly,” Danny confirms and laughs a little as he remembers the phone call. Possibly, still one of the most embarrassing moments of his life, but at least now he can laugh about it. “Appearances do kill, after all.”
“I’m glad you dodged the bullet, then,” Chin replies, much to Kono and Lori’s confusion.
“What’s going on?” Kono smiles tentatively and looks at her cousin, then at Danny, who points his thumb at Steve.
“This was your idea, babe, so start talking,” Danny reminds him with a raised eyebrow, and turns to look at his boyfriend as well.
Steve chews quietly on a small piece of pear, then swallows and looks at his team for a few, silent seconds. “Mom and dad got married.”
“Are you-- really?” Lori looks at them wide-eyed and huffs out a surprised laughter. Danny is glad to see she’s not reacting in the way he feared and starts hoping that maybe he was wrong about her.
“So,” Kono starts, and her mischievous tone doesn’t promise anything good. “Who’s mom between you two?”
Steve opens his mouth to answer, but Danny effectively stops him with a glare that could easily cut marble into tiny pieces. “Shut up, Steven.”
They all laugh at Steve’s sheepish grin and Danny shakes his head, thinking that maybe, after all, this was the best approach. He’s never going to admit it out loud, though. Ever.
“So, since Amy is gone too, he’s leaving you here all alone,” Chin remarks, looking at Olivia. “Not much of a gentleman.”
“Actually, since Danny is moving out, Kay decided to move in,” Olivia informs and circles her girlfriend’s shoulders with a arm.
“We’ve been talking about this for a while, and we took this as a sign,” Kay explains with a bright smile.
“I’m really gonna miss your Ratatouille,” Danny admits with a trace of real longing in his voice.
“Hey, thanks a lot, Jersey!” Olivia protests with fake indignation, and the others laugh, Danny included.
The rest of the evening goes by easily enough, with some chatting and a few questions, but all in all, it goes way better than Danny thought. He’s starting to think that maybe his pessimistic side will cave under this blows and shut up for a while. They’ve told Rachel as well, but not Stan - that decision was taken after a furious fight between them, the first official one as a couple -, and they’re planning on telling Grace shortly, but they suspect she won’t need many more clues to figure it out of her own.
By the time the team leaves, Danny feels tired but happy, and whistles to himself as he piles up the dishes in the sink. Kay stayed behind to help them clean and Steve is there too, busy with collecting empty bottles of beer. Again, choosing a Saturday night was a good move, he just hopes they don’t get called in for any emergency.
“Leave it, I’ll take care of it in the morning,” Olivia tells him as she comes in the kitchen with two dirty glasses.
“You sure?” Danny turns to look at her and wipes his hands dry with the nearby kitchen towel.
“Don’t worry,” Olivia reassures him and pats him on the forearm. “Go celebrate with your husband.”
“I am not the wife,” Danny objects with a mildly threatening tone, then adds, “And we didn’t actually get married, you know?”
“Stop bitching and go get him naked before I do,” Olivia retorts and pinches his arm strong enough to make him yelp.
“I agree.” Steve circles his waist with an arm from behind and it almost makes him jump.
“You freaking ninja,” Danny mutters, but leans back against him, and looks back at Olivia. “Thanks. For everything.”
“Don’t mention it, Jersey.”
With that she’s back in the living room and Danny turns around to face his boyfriend. “What was that about?”
“Dishes,” Danny just says, placing both his hands on Steve’s hips. “And other life-changing subjects.”
“Okay.” Steve seems amused and unconvinced, but evidently decides against inquiring any more, then suddenly he says, “Close your eyes.”
Danny frowns with suspicion, then complies and feels Steve move away for a moment, then return. And then there’s something fresh pressed against his lips and he opens up, then chews on what’s offered to him. Then he realizes what it is. Pineapple. He should have figured. “What the--” His eyes snap open and he laughs when he sees the guilty amusement on his boyfriend’s face.
“It’s not so bad, is it?”
Steve lets the playful punch hit him square on the chest and takes a step back, smiling. And really, Danny would normally tell him to take that pineapple and shove it where he knows, but it’s different this time. There’s that smile right there in front of him, reminding him how he’ll never be alone again on that island, and the bittersweet taste in his mouth is starting to feel like something dangerously close to home.
“No, it’s not,” Danny admits, and the warm feeling in his chest tells him just how true that is.
~~
end
A/N: so, here it is, the unavoidable happy (and sappy) ending <3
I hope you enjoyed reading it at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Obviously, I’m curious to hear your thoughts and advices, so shoot away, I’m ready o/
But most importantly, thanks so so much to all of you for being so amazing and supportive. I loved posting for you <3
Well, I guess that’s all, see you soon.
JM