(Untitled)

[newkindofcop]

The night after Kate had showed up to apologize hadn't exactly gone over well with Danny. Steve gets that now, but it hadn't stopped Danny from forcibly banning him to the spare room as punishment. It's going on two days now since he's been in their bed, and he's not exactly feeling like dragging it out is completely justified, but he's not going

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[haolehothead]

Danny barely glances up from where he's finger-painting with one of the kids, helping to press his small palm down on the paper and help to complete the landscape. "What do we say to rude people?" Danny asks the youngster, who takes the time to look up and appraise Steve.

"Rude."

"Yes, very rude."

[newkindofcop]

"Danny, seriously right now, you need to come and see this," Steve says, hovering in the doorway. For all he knows, this could be one of those reels that shows up only to disappear back into some strange ether and they'll never see it again or know what happens.

"It's one of those reels, Danny, it - it starts with me in jail," he hisses.

[haolehothead]

Danny sighs as he gets to his feet. He's exhausted. He hasn't been sleeping right -- or well -- since he and Steve have been fighting. He manages to grab a towel and wipe off his hands, passing off the child to another caretaker before he bends over and stretches out his aching knees. "Okay, okay, cool your jets, SEAL-boy," he says tiredly.

[newkindofcop]

"Come on," Steve insists, grabbing hold of Danny's wrist before he can finish stretching and tugging him along, taking him right to the rec room without any stops or breaks.

"Okay, sit." He points to the couch, waits for Danny to seat himself and then sets up the reel from the beginning, taking a seat next to Danny and leaning forward with anticipation, his elbows braced on his knees.

[haolehothead]

Danny sighs and sits down, giving Steve a dubious look as he turns his attention to the screen. He's so tired and he wants to ask if they can just put the goddamn event behind him, but at the same time, he still hates that he thinks Steve's being a hypocrite about the whole thing. "Okay, okay, so you're --" He trails off, scowling when he sees himself, without a tie. "See? It looks as bad on me there as it does here."

[newkindofcop]

"Okay, wait, just hold on a second, just keep watching," Steve says, waving a hand at him without looking in his direction, his other pressing fingers against his mouth as he proceeds to watch himself sit down, picking up the phone to talk with Danny on the other end.

"I don't know, I think I look pretty happy for a guy in prison, what do you think?" he asks, leaning back slowly.

[haolehothead]

Danny rolls his eyes, turning to look at Steve when he starts making goddamn jokes about the whole thing. He doesn't hold back a single ounce of strength as he smacks Steve up the backside of his head. "What the fuck is the matter with you?" he rages, exhaling the words through gritted teeth.

[newkindofcop]

"Ow, what? What?" Steve demands, whirling around to look at Danny, eyes narrowing as he absently rubs the back of his head with his hand.

"All I'm saying is that it doesn't look you went back to Jersey, alright?" he adds, gesturing to the screen.

[haolehothead]

"You're in jail! There's nothing to be happy about! Stop smirking!" he shouts, even if he might have leaned into Steve's body slightly closer, pressing up against his side and wrapping his arm around his waist. "Yeah, I'm not in Jersey. I'm taking care of your sorry ass, it looks like."

[newkindofcop]

Steve lets his hand drop from his head, his arm falling across the back of the couch and settling across Danny's shoulder as they watch, one leg loosely resting on top of the other.

He's quietly observing everything - Chin at the funeral, Kono surfing - with a small frown, until the scene in the yard, with Hesse, and then he's leaning forward again, a deeper frown settling into his features as the fight starts, culminating in what can only be described as a shivving. It's a little unsettling, watching himself get stabbed, and he absently rubs at his side, as if he can feel the phantom pain.

[haolehothead]

Danny goes rigidly stiff as soon as he sees what's coming. The fact that it plays out exactly like he fears it might doesn't help matters and Danny is thus left with a panicked feeling gnawing away at his stomach and making him feel like he wants to scream. He eases away from Steve, forearms sliding to his thighs as he draws in a sharp breath and wonders why the hell he's being made to watch this.

"You son of a bitch," he accuses Steve hoarsely. "Why are you making me watch this?"

[newkindofcop]

"Okay, wait, wait, just wait, there's something," Steve says. He's focusing less on the part where he's stabbed and more on the part where Hesse had whispered something in his ear just before being dragged off. And then it's revealed, the plan he'd created to stab Steve to give him an out, so he could go after Wo Fat with his own two hands.

He can already predict how Danny's going to react when he watches himself manage to escape from the ambulance, and he's already tensing in preparation for some kind of physical retaliation, sliding down the couch further away from Danny.

[haolehothead]

Danny's breathing is shallow and panicky, but he forces himself to look up and watch as Steve starts to assault the goddamn medical help and then he goes on to do the same with an officer of the law. Danny presses his lips together firm and tight, practically threatening to split apart any second. "Steven," he informs him. "You're an asshole."

[newkindofcop]

"What? Why are you saying that? I have no control over that. Do I look like I have any control over that, from here?" Steve demands, leaning forward with a sigh and completely averting his gaze until he looks up to see him being tended to by Max, and then continues watching until Danny and Chin show up.

"Why are you yelling at me?" he asks, at the exact same beat the version on the screen does.

[haolehothead]

Danny's no idiot. He watches his frantic behavior on the screen and he knows immediately why he's acting like his nerves are completely raw. Steve's been stabbed, escaped, and looks like shit and there's Danny, having to clean up the mess and pray he stays alive and unharmed. "Are you serious?" he demands dully. "You just got stabbed, you just broke about a dozen laws, and you look like death warmed over. Why do you think I'm yelling at you?"

[newkindofcop]

Steve shrugs briefly, casually, his face still knit in confusion but he stays silent for the most part, glancing over at Danny with a small smile that he attempts to hide behind one hand.

"Just keep watching, babe," he murmurs, reaching over with one hand to rub the back of Danny's neck, trying to ease the tension that's starting to creep up there.