Steal Away
Title: Steal Away
Rating: PG
Pairing: Steve/Danny
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Summary: Steve's sprouting scales and Danny's the first to notice it.
Notes: Written for morganoconnerand a bit of self-indulgence. :) And you know what, I'm going to make this my fill for the 'mutants' square of my au_bingo card, too. Title is from a Celtic Thunder song called the same.
Also, this is not a fic full of fluff and schmoop. It's not terribly angsty or anything, just not a very happy fic, either. Just so you know. ^^
Danny's the first to notice it. Just a slight shimmer on the back of Steve's neck, at his wrist, down his spine when his shirt gets ripped off him sometime while grappling with a suspect. Danny almost thinks he's seeing things, but then Steve's scratching right over the shiny bits and Danny's not stupid.
He gets Steve off to the side, after HPD has shown up and booked the idiots that had tried to sell drugs in their jurisdiction. Getting Steve to sit down and bend over, though, is a bit harder.
"Danny, what are you doing? We should help get the--"
"Shut up, Steve. I want to take a look at something," Danny says, pushing Steve's head down. Steve raises it as soon as Danny lets go, though.
"What? I'm not injured, Danny. What are you--"
"These are scales." Danny runs his finger over the slightly bumpy, streak of shimmer down Steve's spine. "Babe, you've got scales on your back. Why do you have scales on your back?"
Steve blinks at him. "What are you talking about, Danny? Scales?" He's twisting as if he could see his own back and Danny sighs and grabs Steve's wrist, runs his thumb over the patches on the sides.
"Here, too."
Steve peers at that instead. "What? No, it just itches, that's not..."
"Steve, you have scales. They're shiny. I've gone fishing enough to recognize scales, okay?"
For a moment, Steve doesn't say anything, just stares at his wrist. Then, "No. I'm going to go see if they need any help."
And he's up and gone before Danny can pull him back. Danny sighs.
~*~
Danny keeps an eye on Steve after that. Well, more so than usual, anyway. He watches for more shiny patches, finds them along Steve's flanks, on the tops of his feet, at the curve of his shoulders. It's spreading and Danny's not sure why or how, just that it scares him.
Steve's behavior doesn't change, much. Perhaps a bit more short-tempered, perhaps a bit more intense in interrogations. He's faster, too, a bit, maybe. Danny's really breathing hard catching up to Steve now and he's no slouch in the physical fitness arena. He's pretty sure Steve's sight and hearing have sharpened as well, not that Super Seal really needed it.
So, Danny's worried, but Steve hasn't given him a chance to bring the scale thing up again and Danny's sort of thinking he might not have a lot of time left.
~*~
He's right. Two weeks after Danny first noticed the scales, Steve doesn't come in to work.
His badge, gun and truck are all at his house. The locks and security system are undisturbed, but the lanai door is open. Danny doesn't mention it to Chin or Kono, but he sees the odd grooves in the sand and he's pretty sure he knows what happened.
~*~
A week after Steve's disappearance, Danny caves and tells Chin and Kono what he'd seen. Kono goes all stony-faced, but Chin looks worried and maybe a bit thoughtful.
"Scales?" he repeats.
"Yeah, shimmery scales, like a fish," Danny says.
Chin nods. "There's a story..." he begins.
~*~
They stop looking for Steve in the usual ways. At his teammates' insistence, Danny moves into the beach house, into the guest room. It still feels like Steve's house, though, and he disturbs as little as possible.
Chin and Kono come by every day, sit with Danny on the lanai and watch the ocean.
They never see anything.
~*~
Four months of daily visits to watch the ocean do nothing but go in and out. They've got a new fourth member, some kid Chin vouched for. Danny can never remember his name. Fred or Frank or Fabio. Something.
Danny's been promoted to head of the task force and it's odd. The whole time with Steve and he was harping all over the place about proper procedure, but now, with Chin at his back, all Danny can think is how best to get results and fuck proper procedure.
He's a bit afraid that Steve rubbed off on him, but he's more afraid that he's not more worried about that.
He still watches the ocean.
~*~
It's six months and two days when Danny wakes up to the sound of glass breaking, faint but certain. He's out of bed, gun in his hand, and making his way carefully down the hall by the time he's fully awake. It was the back door, the one out to the lanai, he's pretty sure. And if it's not a particularly dense thief, he's pretty sure he knows who it is, since Chin and Kono and Fred (or Frank or Fabio) all have a spare key.
Sure enough, he finds a familiar form in the office, staring at a picture of Steve when he was young, his dad's arm around his shoulders and Mary laughing at his side.
"Steve..."
He's changed, Danny realizes when Steve spins around, going automatically into a low crouch. The moonlight coming in through the window reflects off of his bare skin, from head to toe and Danny sighs.
"Guess the story's true, then."
~*~
Steve relaxes slowly; more once Danny leads him back out onto the lanai, stepping carefully across the shattered glass. The scales cover his whole body, now, Danny knows. There's not a stitch of clothing on Steve and the things practically wink at Danny every time Steve shifts. That's not the only change, though.
Steve's eyes are pale, now, cut down the center with an elongated pupil. Webbing stretches between his fingers and probably between his toes, if Danny cared to look. And even though Steve's clearly breathing air, there are dark lines along his throat that Danny's fairly sure aren't tattoos.
Danny leans against the railing, watches Steve from the corner of his eye. For a moment, Steve prowls around the perimeter, but then he heads straight for Danny and bumps into him, not moving back. Just leaning on Danny like Danny's the only thing keeping him up. Carefully, Danny brings a hand up to brush down Steve's arm, the smooth chill of the scales odd under his fingers.
"What happened, babe?" he whispers.
Steve doesn't answer; Danny's not sure he can, anymore.
~*~
They don’t talk and the sky is lightening with false dawn when Steve finally sighs and moves away, no longer pressing Danny against the railing. He hesitates at the stairs leading down to the beach and Danny looks at him.
All pale skin--scales, now, shimmering faintly in the light--dark hair and beautiful as ever.
"You gonna be back?" Danny asks.
Steve looks at him for a long moment, then walks back over, crowds Danny back up against the railing. Danny tilts his head back to keep his gaze on Steve's face, knowing as he does so that he’s baring his throat. When Steve smiles, Danny can see the sharp, narrow teeth that now fill his mouth, can see the two larger ones--practically fangs--that touch lightly on Steve's bottom lip.
He's half-expecting the kiss, but the sharp prick of pain is a surprise. He pulls back, one hand already at his lips. "Steve, what--"
But Steve's gone, down the stairs and running for the water, leaving Danny on the lanai, blood on his tongue.
~*~
Danny starts scratching at his wrist two days later.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Steve/Danny
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Summary: Steve's sprouting scales and Danny's the first to notice it.
Notes: Written for morganoconnerand a bit of self-indulgence. :) And you know what, I'm going to make this my fill for the 'mutants' square of my au_bingo card, too. Title is from a Celtic Thunder song called the same.
Also, this is not a fic full of fluff and schmoop. It's not terribly angsty or anything, just not a very happy fic, either. Just so you know. ^^
Danny's the first to notice it. Just a slight shimmer on the back of Steve's neck, at his wrist, down his spine when his shirt gets ripped off him sometime while grappling with a suspect. Danny almost thinks he's seeing things, but then Steve's scratching right over the shiny bits and Danny's not stupid.
He gets Steve off to the side, after HPD has shown up and booked the idiots that had tried to sell drugs in their jurisdiction. Getting Steve to sit down and bend over, though, is a bit harder.
"Danny, what are you doing? We should help get the--"
"Shut up, Steve. I want to take a look at something," Danny says, pushing Steve's head down. Steve raises it as soon as Danny lets go, though.
"What? I'm not injured, Danny. What are you--"
"These are scales." Danny runs his finger over the slightly bumpy, streak of shimmer down Steve's spine. "Babe, you've got scales on your back. Why do you have scales on your back?"
Steve blinks at him. "What are you talking about, Danny? Scales?" He's twisting as if he could see his own back and Danny sighs and grabs Steve's wrist, runs his thumb over the patches on the sides.
"Here, too."
Steve peers at that instead. "What? No, it just itches, that's not..."
"Steve, you have scales. They're shiny. I've gone fishing enough to recognize scales, okay?"
For a moment, Steve doesn't say anything, just stares at his wrist. Then, "No. I'm going to go see if they need any help."
And he's up and gone before Danny can pull him back. Danny sighs.
~*~
Danny keeps an eye on Steve after that. Well, more so than usual, anyway. He watches for more shiny patches, finds them along Steve's flanks, on the tops of his feet, at the curve of his shoulders. It's spreading and Danny's not sure why or how, just that it scares him.
Steve's behavior doesn't change, much. Perhaps a bit more short-tempered, perhaps a bit more intense in interrogations. He's faster, too, a bit, maybe. Danny's really breathing hard catching up to Steve now and he's no slouch in the physical fitness arena. He's pretty sure Steve's sight and hearing have sharpened as well, not that Super Seal really needed it.
So, Danny's worried, but Steve hasn't given him a chance to bring the scale thing up again and Danny's sort of thinking he might not have a lot of time left.
~*~
He's right. Two weeks after Danny first noticed the scales, Steve doesn't come in to work.
His badge, gun and truck are all at his house. The locks and security system are undisturbed, but the lanai door is open. Danny doesn't mention it to Chin or Kono, but he sees the odd grooves in the sand and he's pretty sure he knows what happened.
~*~
A week after Steve's disappearance, Danny caves and tells Chin and Kono what he'd seen. Kono goes all stony-faced, but Chin looks worried and maybe a bit thoughtful.
"Scales?" he repeats.
"Yeah, shimmery scales, like a fish," Danny says.
Chin nods. "There's a story..." he begins.
~*~
They stop looking for Steve in the usual ways. At his teammates' insistence, Danny moves into the beach house, into the guest room. It still feels like Steve's house, though, and he disturbs as little as possible.
Chin and Kono come by every day, sit with Danny on the lanai and watch the ocean.
They never see anything.
~*~
Four months of daily visits to watch the ocean do nothing but go in and out. They've got a new fourth member, some kid Chin vouched for. Danny can never remember his name. Fred or Frank or Fabio. Something.
Danny's been promoted to head of the task force and it's odd. The whole time with Steve and he was harping all over the place about proper procedure, but now, with Chin at his back, all Danny can think is how best to get results and fuck proper procedure.
He's a bit afraid that Steve rubbed off on him, but he's more afraid that he's not more worried about that.
He still watches the ocean.
~*~
It's six months and two days when Danny wakes up to the sound of glass breaking, faint but certain. He's out of bed, gun in his hand, and making his way carefully down the hall by the time he's fully awake. It was the back door, the one out to the lanai, he's pretty sure. And if it's not a particularly dense thief, he's pretty sure he knows who it is, since Chin and Kono and Fred (or Frank or Fabio) all have a spare key.
Sure enough, he finds a familiar form in the office, staring at a picture of Steve when he was young, his dad's arm around his shoulders and Mary laughing at his side.
"Steve..."
He's changed, Danny realizes when Steve spins around, going automatically into a low crouch. The moonlight coming in through the window reflects off of his bare skin, from head to toe and Danny sighs.
"Guess the story's true, then."
~*~
Steve relaxes slowly; more once Danny leads him back out onto the lanai, stepping carefully across the shattered glass. The scales cover his whole body, now, Danny knows. There's not a stitch of clothing on Steve and the things practically wink at Danny every time Steve shifts. That's not the only change, though.
Steve's eyes are pale, now, cut down the center with an elongated pupil. Webbing stretches between his fingers and probably between his toes, if Danny cared to look. And even though Steve's clearly breathing air, there are dark lines along his throat that Danny's fairly sure aren't tattoos.
Danny leans against the railing, watches Steve from the corner of his eye. For a moment, Steve prowls around the perimeter, but then he heads straight for Danny and bumps into him, not moving back. Just leaning on Danny like Danny's the only thing keeping him up. Carefully, Danny brings a hand up to brush down Steve's arm, the smooth chill of the scales odd under his fingers.
"What happened, babe?" he whispers.
Steve doesn't answer; Danny's not sure he can, anymore.
~*~
They don’t talk and the sky is lightening with false dawn when Steve finally sighs and moves away, no longer pressing Danny against the railing. He hesitates at the stairs leading down to the beach and Danny looks at him.
All pale skin--scales, now, shimmering faintly in the light--dark hair and beautiful as ever.
"You gonna be back?" Danny asks.
Steve looks at him for a long moment, then walks back over, crowds Danny back up against the railing. Danny tilts his head back to keep his gaze on Steve's face, knowing as he does so that he’s baring his throat. When Steve smiles, Danny can see the sharp, narrow teeth that now fill his mouth, can see the two larger ones--practically fangs--that touch lightly on Steve's bottom lip.
He's half-expecting the kiss, but the sharp prick of pain is a surprise. He pulls back, one hand already at his lips. "Steve, what--"
But Steve's gone, down the stairs and running for the water, leaving Danny on the lanai, blood on his tongue.
~*~
Danny starts scratching at his wrist two days later.