fic: between the moon and you; danny williams/john sheppard
Title: between the moon and you
Disclaimer: Not mine, no money, just lost time and sixty or so plays of There, There Katie
Fandom: Hawaii 5-0/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: Danny Williams/John Sheppard
Word count: 3,709
Rating: Safe for baby penguins everywhere.
Summary: John Sheppard flies helicopters for tourists and Grace really wants to go on one and Danny thinks nothing is one hundred percent safe.
Warnings: Parcheesi, AU!John Sheppard-ish, usage of really annoying tropes /o\
Prompt: Corrupt Corporate Executive; Deadpan Snarker; Fridge Horror; Game Breaker; Applied Phlebotinum; Nice Job Breaking It, Hero; Badass Bookworm; The Woobie; Shout Out
Author’s Notes:
- For tvholics tvtropes table challenge
- Yeah, really, who knows what this is.
- Title from Round Here by Counting Crows.
*****
Now:
“So, Catherine has this friend--”
Danny holds up his hand. “Forget it,” he tells Steve. “No, seriously, why are you always trying to set me up? I’m perfectly happy with my life as it is.”
Steve eyes him from the driver’s seat and Danny holds on tighter to the handle on the side of the door. “You have work, you have Grace,” he says. “Man does not live on that alone.”
“Man does not-- What is this? Caveman era? Look, Rambo, it’s nice that you finally have someone to go cargo-pants shopping with, but not all of us need that,” Danny says.
“I just want you to be happy, Danno,” Steve says with completely fake pout designed just to make Danny feel bad enough to give in.
“I’m happy as I am,” Danny says. “How do you know I don’t already have someone?”
“If you have someone you would have mentioned her,” Steve answers easily.
Danny rubs at his knee. “Well, maybe I’m enjoying some privacy for once.”
“Privacy,” Steve repeats.
“Yes, Steven. Privacy. That thing that others value and the law protects,” Danny says.
“So you’re dating someone,” Steve says. “And you haven’t told me?”
“It’s complicated,” Danny says, looking out the window.
“Tell me anyway,” Steve says.
Danny rolls his eyes. “Just stop trying to set me up. I’m fine as I am, okay?”
“You’re fine,” Steve says.
“Yes. I’m fine, I’m great. I don’t need to meet a friend of Catherine’s.”
“Are you--”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Danny says. “And do not have me followed, Steven, or I swear we will have words and they will not be pleasant.”
“They never are with you, Danno,” Steve says, lopsided grin and all.
Danny thinks that’s true enough.
-0-
Then:
It happens like this:
“Danno, can we go on a helicopter?” Grace asks.
It takes .42 seconds for Danny to think of everything that can go wrong with helicopters. “No, absolutely not,” he says. “Do you know what helicopters are? Flying metal death traps. No way are you going in one.”
“But Stan says it’s fun,” Grace protests. “He took mommy up in one to see the island. I want to see the island.”
Danny weighs his hate of Stan against everything he knows about helicopters, which actually isn’t much, but the idea of taking Grace up in one is terrifying. “Wouldn’t you rather play with the dolphins again?”
“Please, Danno,” she begs, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes. Someday Danny will be one hundred percent resistant to that look on her face. (That day is probably the day after he dies.)
“I’ll look into it, Monkey,” Danny says finally. “But no promises.”
She grins and jumps on him, “Thanks, Danno.”
Which is how two weeks later Danny finds himself driving him and Grace to a tiny airfield near the coast. It’s a popular tourist attraction and Chin had mentioned taking a couple of mainland friends there a few months back, so Danny figures it can’t be that bad. He’s still nervous and worried and all the other things he’s been since the moment Grace was conceived, but he’s putting that aside for right now.
“Wow,” Grace says, staring out the window as they approach. “It’s big, daddy.”
Danny thinks it’s pretty normal sized, for a helicopter, but he says, “Sure is, Monkey.”
“Are we really going in it?”
“Yep,” he assures her. “Already paid for and everything.” He parks smoothly and takes a deep breath and then follows Grace out of the car.
There’s a man in jeans and a plain black t-shirt standing outside the small building and he smiles at them as they approach. “Williams?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m Danny and this is Grace,” Danny introduces, reaching a hand out to shake the other man’s.
“I’m John, it’s nice to meet you.” He crouches down to Grace’s level. “You excited?”
“Yep!” she chirps energetically.
“Awesome,” John says with a smile of his own. “We’re gonna have a ton of fun today.”
“And no crashing, right?” Grace asks. “Danno’s afraid of crashing.”
“Well, Miss Grace, I haven’t crashed yet,” John informs her with a wink. “And I’ve been flying choppers for about twenty years now.” He stands up easily and gives Danny a friendly smile. “It’s one hundred percent safe, I promise.”
“Nothing’s one hundred percent safe,” Danny counters.
John’s quiet for a moment and then he says, “Cop?”
Danny raises an eyebrow. “Yeah.”
John grins. “We’re gonna get along just fine, Danno.”
“It’s Danny,” he emphasizes.
“Danny, then,” John acknowledges. “If everything goes smoothly today, you can buy me a beer.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Danny challenges.
John laughs. “We probably won’t be around to care.”
“You know, that’s not very reassuring,” Danny says.
John just grins some more. “You’ll have fun, Danny, I promise. And if you don’t, I’ll buy you that beer.”
Grace giggles. “Danno never has fun.”
“Well,” John says happily. “We’ll just have to see what we can do about that, won’t we, Miss Grace?”
“Yep,” she agrees.
“I have fun!” Danny objects.
“Sure you do,” John agrees with a small wink towards Grace. “Safety video first and then we’ll go up, okay?”
“Okay!” Grace agrees loudly.
And that’s how he meets John Sheppard.
-0-
Danny meets up with John for the beer he owes him and one beer turns into two and two turns into three and then John switches to soda and Danny switches to water and when the bartender comes to kick them out, Danny realizes they’ve been talking for hours.
He’s startlingly sober at the end of the night, despite the beers, and John’s in the same boat. It’s almost one am but when John motions towards the beach, Danny follows him.
“No work in the morning?” John asks. He’s kicked his flip-flops off in favor of holding them and walking barefoot. Danny keeps his shoes on and tries to stay on the path more than the sand.
“I can go in late,” Danny says. “You?”
John smiles. “Generally people don’t want to wake up early for a helicopter tour of the island.”
“Ah, right,” Danny nods. “It must be nice at sunrise, though.”
“It can be,” John agrees.
John, Danny has found out, really has been flying helicopters for twenty years. He was in the Air Force until last year, when he got his twenty, retired and moved to Hawaii for the surf and the sun. He’s a lot of things Danny isn’t, but Danny’s never needed someone to be like him for Danny to like them.
They reach the end of the path before they hit just sand and John stops, maybe in deference to Danny’s shoes, maybe not, Danny doesn’t know. “I had fun tonight,” John says.
“It’s nice not to hang out with crazy people for a change,” Danny says.
John half-smiles at that. “I miss having a team.”
“You can come borrow mine any time,” Danny tells him.
“What if I just want you?” John asks.
Danny tries but he can’t, so he laughs loudly at that. “Smooth,” he says.
John’s eyes sparkle. “I thought so. Is that a yes?” he presses.
“I’m not a first date kind of guy,” Danny says, only a little bit regretful. It’s a choice he made years ago, and he’s stuck by it since.
“Me neither,” John shrugs. “So how about a kiss goodnight and the promise of a second date?”
Danny blinks. “That I could probably manage.”
“Good,” John says, and then without further warning he leans in and kisses him. It takes Danny a second to react and when he does he wishes he hadn’t wasted that second just standing there.
They walk back to their cars, bumping shoulders, talking some more, and Danny feels giddy and excited in a way he hasn’t since Rachel.
-0-
Now:
“Holy shit,” Danny says, breathing hard.
Steve looks at him and says, “You okay, Danno?”
Danny takes a deep breath. “No, I am not okay, you insane monkey-brained loon! We almost died! Again!”
Steve grins, “Aw, Danny, it wasn’t that close.”
“Wasn’t that close?” Danny repeats. “Your pants were on fire, Steven. Burning debris was raining down and you still went running inside! And I followed you without even thinking about it! You are not converting me to your insane ways, Steve, you are not.”
“The explosion wasn’t even that big,” Steve starts.
Danny holds up his hand. “Nope.”
“Danny…” Steve sighs.
“I need a shower. And a new shirt. And look at this,” he says, holding up a piece of clothing. “Another tie. Ruined.”
“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t wear a tie into a burning building, Danny,” Steve says with as straight a face as he can manage. “It swings a lot, you know?”
“It…” Danny exhales. “I am going back to HPD. I’m going to take a shower, change into clothes, write my report and then leave.”
“It’s not even noon,” Steve protests.
“Burning building, Steven,” Danny says. “Rain of fire.”
“We could get lunch,” Steve suggests. “After you finish your report.”
They could, but John has the day off and Danny’s barely seen him the past week while they hunted down another lead on Wo Fat. “Rain-check?” Danny asks.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Steve says. “Rain-check, no problem.”
“Tomorrow,” Danny says. “After work, we’ll get some beers, hang out.”
“Tomorrow,” Steve nods.
-0-
Then:
“Wait, seriously?” Danny asks, staring.
John grins. “What?”
“I tell you that Grace and I have water-guns and then ask if you want to come play and you show up with a lightsaber?” Danny asks. “Does that even work?”
John gives him a look. “Of course it works.” He thumbs it on and it lights up while making a crackling noise.
“What even, John?” Danny asks, laughing.
“I don’t have any water-guns,” John says sheepishly. “But I thought it was better not to show up empty handed.”
“Well, I hope you’re ready to lose,” Danny says. “Right, Gracie?”
Grace nods emphatically. “Sorry, John, but guns beat swords.”
“It’s not just a sword,” John says. “It’s a lightsaber.”
Grace shoots him in the knee with her squirt gun. “Uh-huh.”
Danny muffles a laugh and says, “Okay, Grace, remember what we talked about?”
“Yep!” Grace says. She reaches over and gives Danny a high-five. “Let’s do this, Danno!”
“You’re going down, Sheppard,” Danny says as he and Grace move into position.
John stands there bravely with his lightsaber out. “We’ll see about that, Williams!”
“Attack!” Grace yells.
-0-
Now:
John’s napping on the couch when Danny finds him. There are small lines of tension on his face and Danny crouches next to him and smoothes each one with his hand. It only takes a second for fingers to wrap around his wrist and for John’s eyes to open. He stares straight at Danny and Danny watches as John processes his surroundings and who was touching him. His face softens, “Hey, Danny.” He lets go of Danny’s wrist.
“Hey, yourself,” Danny says. He pushes some hair away from John’s forehead. “Got off work early, thought maybe we could grab some lunch.”
John reaches out and pulls Danny down on top of him until Danny is stretched out on the edge of the couch, mostly on John. “You smell smokey.”
“Another day at the office,” Danny says. “Did you eat?”
“Not yet. There are hot dogs in the fridge,” John says.
“Mm, we’ll make those in a few minutes,” Danny says. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just…bad dreams,” John says quietly. “You know how that goes.”
“I know that you don’t like to talk about it,” Danny acknowledges. He prompts, “And…?”
John sighs, “And I know you’ll listen if I do.”
John has more nightmares than anyone Danny knows. It was one of the hardest things to adjust to when they started sleeping together regularly. There are some nights that John will wake up and cling to Danny while taking very careful breaths. Danny’s not stupid, he knows some of it is definitely PTSD, from whatever John did in the Air Force, but the rest he thinks is something else entirely.
“You want to talk?” Danny asks. He knows it’s easier for John to accept if Danny offers rather than John having to ask.
John’s hand drifts down Danny’s back. It sneaks up the bottom of his shirt, finding warm skin to rub at. “Not yet,” he answers. “Sorry.”
“There’s no right or wrong answer, babe,” Danny tells him. “It’s okay that you don’t, and it’s okay if you do.”
John is silent for a moment and Danny thinks that’s going to be the end of the serious talk, but then John says, “Do you believe in aliens, Danny?”
“Like E.T.?” Danny asks. “Sure, why not? Lots of space out there, something’s gotta fill it other than rocks and gas. I mean, I hope they look more like Princess Leia than Jabba the Hutt, but you never know.”
“I wouldn’t say no to a planet of Princess Leias,” John muses.
“I sure hope not,” Danny tells him. He presses a kiss to John’s chin and then rolls off of him and stands up. “Come on, lunch.”
“Okay,” John says, sitting up. “I think I have some mac and cheese, too.”
Danny laughs because he’s on the wrong side of thirty and about to eat food his nine-year old daughter would approve of.
-0-
Then:
Danny hates the days where they do everything right and it leads to everything going wrong. The case started off simple enough: mayor’s daughter kidnapped by a group demanding a ransom. Danny hates kidnapping cases, but when people are dumb enough to demand a ransom, he hates them a little bit less because it’s easier to follow the money, so to speak, than people think.
They found the girl within the hour, arrested the kidnappers, and celebrated with paperwork and fresh coffee. And then it turned out that the girl was just a trial run for kidnapping the mayor. The group behind it wanted to see how Five-O would react and then made adjustments accordingly.
Sometimes Danny really hates people. (Although he imagines that the mayor’s wife was having a worse day than he was.)
It takes four hours and two reloads of his side-arm, but then get the guys in the end and this time they celebrate at their usual place with some Longboards and fried cheese.
He’s dead tired when he drives himself to John’s to spend the night. Things are still new between them, only a couple of months old, but that original giddiness he felt when meeting John has yet to dissipate. It’s a crush, Danny thinks, one that’s growing into something more by the day.
John is in his boxers when he answers the door and he lights up when he sees Danny. It’s nice, Danny thinks, to have someone waiting for him, someone excited to see him who isn’t nine years old and related to him. John pulls him in by the neck and straight back to his bedroom. “Saw you on tv,” he says.
“Yeah?” Danny asks, pulling the knot out of his tie.
John hugs him from behind. “It’s nice to know there are still heroes in the world.”
“You’re still alive,” Danny points out.
“I fly tourists around.”
“You served,” Danny says. “Doesn’t matter what you do now.”
“It matters what I did then,” John murmurs.
“You have two Purple Hearts, John,” Danny states. “A Bronze Star, an Airman’s medal, and a Distinguished Flying Cross. If I didn’t already know it, those would tell me enough.”
“Danny…”
Danny turns around. “No,” he says firmly. “We all make mistakes, John, but not everyone sticks around to make up for them.”
John leans forward and rests his forehead on top of Danny’s shoulder. He exhales, “Danny…”
“You’re not changing my mind on this,” Danny says. He carefully extracts himself from John’s hold. “Come on, superhero, help me get undressed.”
John’s fingers are quick to unbutton Danny’s shirt. “You’re something else, Danny.”
His eyes are almost green when they meet Danny’s and Danny thinks, yeah fuck, he’s completely gone on John Sheppard.
-0-
Now:
“Detective Williams, Commander McGarrett,” Max greets. “I believe I have ascertained cause of death.”
Danny lets Steve squat down next to the body; his knee aches a little and he left his brace at home. “Looks like a gunshot wound to the chest,” Steve says, leaning in.
“That would be incorrect,” Max states. “The gunshot wound was obtained postmortem. Cause of death was asphyxiation.”
“So someone suffocated him?” Danny says. “Great.”
Steve stands back up. “So, he wanders down--” whatever he was going to say next is cut off by a gunshot.
Danny feels the bullet whiz past him, catching him on the side of his arm. He pulls out his gun and runs for cover with Steve and Max behind the ME van.
“Cover me,” Steve says.
Danny takes a deep breath and lets it out and then pokes around the side and starts firing. Steve slinks away around the van to try and come up behind the shooter. The shooter doesn’t let up and Danny pulls back in time to see a bullet fly through where his head had been. He jerks back when he realizes his other arm has been hit. “Shit,” he grinds out.
“If I may,” Max says, holding out his hand.
He raises an eyebrow. “Really?”
“I’m fully qualified to handle a sidearm, Detective Williams,” Max says.
“There’s a difference between the range and real life,” Danny says. “There’s no one shooting back at you on the range.”
“There is no one shooting back at me now,” Max counters. “As his attention has been stolen by Commander McGarrett.”
“Shit,” Danny says again. “Okay, yeah.” He hands his weapon over with trepidation, but Max holds it like a pro.
Max takes a moment to familiarize himself and then he moves, firing around the side of the van.
“Hold your fire, Danno!” Steve yells a moment later. “You clipped him, and I’ve got him in custody.”
Danny eyes Max carefully and accepts his sidearm back. “Nice,” he comments.
Max quirks a smile. “Thank you,” he says politely. “I will call for an ambulance.”
With a glance at his watch, Danny groans. “Great. I’ve got Grace today and the hospital takes forever.” He pats around for his cell phone. Max is already gone, talking on his phone and standing near the body. Danny sighs and dials. “John? Hey, can you do me a favor?”
-0-
“Daddy!” Grace says loudly, running down a hospital corridor to him. John is following behind her at a more sedate pace. Danny can feel his eyes on him, assessing and taking in any damage.
“Hey, Monkey!” Danny greets happily. She hugs him and Danny kisses the top of her head.
“Hey, Gracie,” Steve says, giving her a sideways hug. “Be careful with your Danno for a few days, okay?”
“Hi, Uncle Steve,” she says back. “Is Danno okay?”
“Danno is perfectly fine,” Danny cuts in. “And also standing right here.”
Grace separates from Steve and goes back to drag John up next to Danny. She curls into his side and John wraps an arm around her shoulders. “You good?” John asks, looking him over again.
“Got a few stitches,” Danny says. “Nothing to worry about.”
John holds his gaze for a moment and then nods. “I told Grace we’d make pizza tonight.”
“I want mine with pineapple, Danno,” Grace says seriously.
Danny tries his best not to explode. “Grace, sweetie, see the way pizza works--” John and Grace both burst out laughing and Steve joins in. “Oh, I see how it is,” Danny groans. “Now you’re ganging up on me.”
“We love you, Danno,” John and Grace say together, before snickering.
Steve looks back and forth between John and Danny and then catches Danny’s eye. Danny nods slightly and Steve straightens up a little. He holds his hand out to John. “Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, Danny’s partner.”
John takes his hand and shakes it. “John Sheppard, Danny’s, uh, other partner.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Steve says.
John eyes him for a couple of seconds and says, “Same.” He pauses. “Would you like to make pizza with us, Commander McGarrett?”
“Call me Steve, please, and I’d love to,” Steve grins.
“Can I have a piggyback ride, Uncle Steve?” Grace asks.
“Definitely,” Steve answers. He turns around and bends a little and John helps grace climb on.
“To the cars!” Grace orders.
Danny laughs while Steve takes off at a slow gallop. “Hey,” John says, bumping his hip lightly. “You really okay?”
“Took a bullet in the right arm,” Danny admits. “Another grazed my left. They patched me up and gave me some pretty good pain meds, but I don’t want to take them while I have Grace.”
“I can watch Grace,” John says. “Don’t sit around in pain just because you can.”
“When we get back to your place,” Danny says. They start walking towards the doors, following Steve’s path. “Sorry about springing Steve on you.”
“He seems nice,” John notes.
Danny snorts. “He’s nice until you realize how crazy he is.”
“You trust him with Grace, though,” John points out.
“Yeah.” Danny stops walking. “So, um, that thing that you and Grace did, that was planned? What you said?”
John looks puzzled. “What we--oh.” He smiles stupidly and tugs Danny to him. “So, yeah, I love you or something.”
Danny rolls his eyes. “At least you didn’t say it in Hawaiian.”
“I could,” John tells him.
“Please don’t.” Danny leans in for a quick kiss. “I love you or something, too.”
“You better,” John says. “I don’t learn how to play Parcheesi for just anyone.”
They start walking again. “I’ll have you know, Parcheesi is a perfectly respectable board game.”
“Monopoly is respectable,” John says. “Trivial Pursuit. No one plays Parcheesi anymore.”
“It’s a classic Williams family game night game.”
John laughs. “So you say.”
“I say,” Danny agrees. “And so will Gracie when she kicks your ass at it.”
“Do you always tell people you love them and then argue about Parcheesi?” John asks fondly.
“Hey, apparently you do, too.”
John leans over and kisses the corner of his mouth. “So I do.”
-0-
Disclaimer: Not mine, no money, just lost time and sixty or so plays of There, There Katie
Fandom: Hawaii 5-0/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: Danny Williams/John Sheppard
Word count: 3,709
Rating: Safe for baby penguins everywhere.
Summary: John Sheppard flies helicopters for tourists and Grace really wants to go on one and Danny thinks nothing is one hundred percent safe.
Warnings: Parcheesi, AU!John Sheppard-ish, usage of really annoying tropes /o\
Prompt: Corrupt Corporate Executive; Deadpan Snarker; Fridge Horror; Game Breaker; Applied Phlebotinum; Nice Job Breaking It, Hero; Badass Bookworm; The Woobie; Shout Out
Author’s Notes:
- For tvholics tvtropes table challenge
- Yeah, really, who knows what this is.
- Title from Round Here by Counting Crows.
*****
Now:
“So, Catherine has this friend--”
Danny holds up his hand. “Forget it,” he tells Steve. “No, seriously, why are you always trying to set me up? I’m perfectly happy with my life as it is.”
Steve eyes him from the driver’s seat and Danny holds on tighter to the handle on the side of the door. “You have work, you have Grace,” he says. “Man does not live on that alone.”
“Man does not-- What is this? Caveman era? Look, Rambo, it’s nice that you finally have someone to go cargo-pants shopping with, but not all of us need that,” Danny says.
“I just want you to be happy, Danno,” Steve says with completely fake pout designed just to make Danny feel bad enough to give in.
“I’m happy as I am,” Danny says. “How do you know I don’t already have someone?”
“If you have someone you would have mentioned her,” Steve answers easily.
Danny rubs at his knee. “Well, maybe I’m enjoying some privacy for once.”
“Privacy,” Steve repeats.
“Yes, Steven. Privacy. That thing that others value and the law protects,” Danny says.
“So you’re dating someone,” Steve says. “And you haven’t told me?”
“It’s complicated,” Danny says, looking out the window.
“Tell me anyway,” Steve says.
Danny rolls his eyes. “Just stop trying to set me up. I’m fine as I am, okay?”
“You’re fine,” Steve says.
“Yes. I’m fine, I’m great. I don’t need to meet a friend of Catherine’s.”
“Are you--”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Danny says. “And do not have me followed, Steven, or I swear we will have words and they will not be pleasant.”
“They never are with you, Danno,” Steve says, lopsided grin and all.
Danny thinks that’s true enough.
-0-
Then:
It happens like this:
“Danno, can we go on a helicopter?” Grace asks.
It takes .42 seconds for Danny to think of everything that can go wrong with helicopters. “No, absolutely not,” he says. “Do you know what helicopters are? Flying metal death traps. No way are you going in one.”
“But Stan says it’s fun,” Grace protests. “He took mommy up in one to see the island. I want to see the island.”
Danny weighs his hate of Stan against everything he knows about helicopters, which actually isn’t much, but the idea of taking Grace up in one is terrifying. “Wouldn’t you rather play with the dolphins again?”
“Please, Danno,” she begs, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes. Someday Danny will be one hundred percent resistant to that look on her face. (That day is probably the day after he dies.)
“I’ll look into it, Monkey,” Danny says finally. “But no promises.”
She grins and jumps on him, “Thanks, Danno.”
Which is how two weeks later Danny finds himself driving him and Grace to a tiny airfield near the coast. It’s a popular tourist attraction and Chin had mentioned taking a couple of mainland friends there a few months back, so Danny figures it can’t be that bad. He’s still nervous and worried and all the other things he’s been since the moment Grace was conceived, but he’s putting that aside for right now.
“Wow,” Grace says, staring out the window as they approach. “It’s big, daddy.”
Danny thinks it’s pretty normal sized, for a helicopter, but he says, “Sure is, Monkey.”
“Are we really going in it?”
“Yep,” he assures her. “Already paid for and everything.” He parks smoothly and takes a deep breath and then follows Grace out of the car.
There’s a man in jeans and a plain black t-shirt standing outside the small building and he smiles at them as they approach. “Williams?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m Danny and this is Grace,” Danny introduces, reaching a hand out to shake the other man’s.
“I’m John, it’s nice to meet you.” He crouches down to Grace’s level. “You excited?”
“Yep!” she chirps energetically.
“Awesome,” John says with a smile of his own. “We’re gonna have a ton of fun today.”
“And no crashing, right?” Grace asks. “Danno’s afraid of crashing.”
“Well, Miss Grace, I haven’t crashed yet,” John informs her with a wink. “And I’ve been flying choppers for about twenty years now.” He stands up easily and gives Danny a friendly smile. “It’s one hundred percent safe, I promise.”
“Nothing’s one hundred percent safe,” Danny counters.
John’s quiet for a moment and then he says, “Cop?”
Danny raises an eyebrow. “Yeah.”
John grins. “We’re gonna get along just fine, Danno.”
“It’s Danny,” he emphasizes.
“Danny, then,” John acknowledges. “If everything goes smoothly today, you can buy me a beer.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Danny challenges.
John laughs. “We probably won’t be around to care.”
“You know, that’s not very reassuring,” Danny says.
John just grins some more. “You’ll have fun, Danny, I promise. And if you don’t, I’ll buy you that beer.”
Grace giggles. “Danno never has fun.”
“Well,” John says happily. “We’ll just have to see what we can do about that, won’t we, Miss Grace?”
“Yep,” she agrees.
“I have fun!” Danny objects.
“Sure you do,” John agrees with a small wink towards Grace. “Safety video first and then we’ll go up, okay?”
“Okay!” Grace agrees loudly.
And that’s how he meets John Sheppard.
-0-
Danny meets up with John for the beer he owes him and one beer turns into two and two turns into three and then John switches to soda and Danny switches to water and when the bartender comes to kick them out, Danny realizes they’ve been talking for hours.
He’s startlingly sober at the end of the night, despite the beers, and John’s in the same boat. It’s almost one am but when John motions towards the beach, Danny follows him.
“No work in the morning?” John asks. He’s kicked his flip-flops off in favor of holding them and walking barefoot. Danny keeps his shoes on and tries to stay on the path more than the sand.
“I can go in late,” Danny says. “You?”
John smiles. “Generally people don’t want to wake up early for a helicopter tour of the island.”
“Ah, right,” Danny nods. “It must be nice at sunrise, though.”
“It can be,” John agrees.
John, Danny has found out, really has been flying helicopters for twenty years. He was in the Air Force until last year, when he got his twenty, retired and moved to Hawaii for the surf and the sun. He’s a lot of things Danny isn’t, but Danny’s never needed someone to be like him for Danny to like them.
They reach the end of the path before they hit just sand and John stops, maybe in deference to Danny’s shoes, maybe not, Danny doesn’t know. “I had fun tonight,” John says.
“It’s nice not to hang out with crazy people for a change,” Danny says.
John half-smiles at that. “I miss having a team.”
“You can come borrow mine any time,” Danny tells him.
“What if I just want you?” John asks.
Danny tries but he can’t, so he laughs loudly at that. “Smooth,” he says.
John’s eyes sparkle. “I thought so. Is that a yes?” he presses.
“I’m not a first date kind of guy,” Danny says, only a little bit regretful. It’s a choice he made years ago, and he’s stuck by it since.
“Me neither,” John shrugs. “So how about a kiss goodnight and the promise of a second date?”
Danny blinks. “That I could probably manage.”
“Good,” John says, and then without further warning he leans in and kisses him. It takes Danny a second to react and when he does he wishes he hadn’t wasted that second just standing there.
They walk back to their cars, bumping shoulders, talking some more, and Danny feels giddy and excited in a way he hasn’t since Rachel.
-0-
Now:
“Holy shit,” Danny says, breathing hard.
Steve looks at him and says, “You okay, Danno?”
Danny takes a deep breath. “No, I am not okay, you insane monkey-brained loon! We almost died! Again!”
Steve grins, “Aw, Danny, it wasn’t that close.”
“Wasn’t that close?” Danny repeats. “Your pants were on fire, Steven. Burning debris was raining down and you still went running inside! And I followed you without even thinking about it! You are not converting me to your insane ways, Steve, you are not.”
“The explosion wasn’t even that big,” Steve starts.
Danny holds up his hand. “Nope.”
“Danny…” Steve sighs.
“I need a shower. And a new shirt. And look at this,” he says, holding up a piece of clothing. “Another tie. Ruined.”
“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t wear a tie into a burning building, Danny,” Steve says with as straight a face as he can manage. “It swings a lot, you know?”
“It…” Danny exhales. “I am going back to HPD. I’m going to take a shower, change into clothes, write my report and then leave.”
“It’s not even noon,” Steve protests.
“Burning building, Steven,” Danny says. “Rain of fire.”
“We could get lunch,” Steve suggests. “After you finish your report.”
They could, but John has the day off and Danny’s barely seen him the past week while they hunted down another lead on Wo Fat. “Rain-check?” Danny asks.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Steve says. “Rain-check, no problem.”
“Tomorrow,” Danny says. “After work, we’ll get some beers, hang out.”
“Tomorrow,” Steve nods.
-0-
Then:
“Wait, seriously?” Danny asks, staring.
John grins. “What?”
“I tell you that Grace and I have water-guns and then ask if you want to come play and you show up with a lightsaber?” Danny asks. “Does that even work?”
John gives him a look. “Of course it works.” He thumbs it on and it lights up while making a crackling noise.
“What even, John?” Danny asks, laughing.
“I don’t have any water-guns,” John says sheepishly. “But I thought it was better not to show up empty handed.”
“Well, I hope you’re ready to lose,” Danny says. “Right, Gracie?”
Grace nods emphatically. “Sorry, John, but guns beat swords.”
“It’s not just a sword,” John says. “It’s a lightsaber.”
Grace shoots him in the knee with her squirt gun. “Uh-huh.”
Danny muffles a laugh and says, “Okay, Grace, remember what we talked about?”
“Yep!” Grace says. She reaches over and gives Danny a high-five. “Let’s do this, Danno!”
“You’re going down, Sheppard,” Danny says as he and Grace move into position.
John stands there bravely with his lightsaber out. “We’ll see about that, Williams!”
“Attack!” Grace yells.
-0-
Now:
John’s napping on the couch when Danny finds him. There are small lines of tension on his face and Danny crouches next to him and smoothes each one with his hand. It only takes a second for fingers to wrap around his wrist and for John’s eyes to open. He stares straight at Danny and Danny watches as John processes his surroundings and who was touching him. His face softens, “Hey, Danny.” He lets go of Danny’s wrist.
“Hey, yourself,” Danny says. He pushes some hair away from John’s forehead. “Got off work early, thought maybe we could grab some lunch.”
John reaches out and pulls Danny down on top of him until Danny is stretched out on the edge of the couch, mostly on John. “You smell smokey.”
“Another day at the office,” Danny says. “Did you eat?”
“Not yet. There are hot dogs in the fridge,” John says.
“Mm, we’ll make those in a few minutes,” Danny says. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just…bad dreams,” John says quietly. “You know how that goes.”
“I know that you don’t like to talk about it,” Danny acknowledges. He prompts, “And…?”
John sighs, “And I know you’ll listen if I do.”
John has more nightmares than anyone Danny knows. It was one of the hardest things to adjust to when they started sleeping together regularly. There are some nights that John will wake up and cling to Danny while taking very careful breaths. Danny’s not stupid, he knows some of it is definitely PTSD, from whatever John did in the Air Force, but the rest he thinks is something else entirely.
“You want to talk?” Danny asks. He knows it’s easier for John to accept if Danny offers rather than John having to ask.
John’s hand drifts down Danny’s back. It sneaks up the bottom of his shirt, finding warm skin to rub at. “Not yet,” he answers. “Sorry.”
“There’s no right or wrong answer, babe,” Danny tells him. “It’s okay that you don’t, and it’s okay if you do.”
John is silent for a moment and Danny thinks that’s going to be the end of the serious talk, but then John says, “Do you believe in aliens, Danny?”
“Like E.T.?” Danny asks. “Sure, why not? Lots of space out there, something’s gotta fill it other than rocks and gas. I mean, I hope they look more like Princess Leia than Jabba the Hutt, but you never know.”
“I wouldn’t say no to a planet of Princess Leias,” John muses.
“I sure hope not,” Danny tells him. He presses a kiss to John’s chin and then rolls off of him and stands up. “Come on, lunch.”
“Okay,” John says, sitting up. “I think I have some mac and cheese, too.”
Danny laughs because he’s on the wrong side of thirty and about to eat food his nine-year old daughter would approve of.
-0-
Then:
Danny hates the days where they do everything right and it leads to everything going wrong. The case started off simple enough: mayor’s daughter kidnapped by a group demanding a ransom. Danny hates kidnapping cases, but when people are dumb enough to demand a ransom, he hates them a little bit less because it’s easier to follow the money, so to speak, than people think.
They found the girl within the hour, arrested the kidnappers, and celebrated with paperwork and fresh coffee. And then it turned out that the girl was just a trial run for kidnapping the mayor. The group behind it wanted to see how Five-O would react and then made adjustments accordingly.
Sometimes Danny really hates people. (Although he imagines that the mayor’s wife was having a worse day than he was.)
It takes four hours and two reloads of his side-arm, but then get the guys in the end and this time they celebrate at their usual place with some Longboards and fried cheese.
He’s dead tired when he drives himself to John’s to spend the night. Things are still new between them, only a couple of months old, but that original giddiness he felt when meeting John has yet to dissipate. It’s a crush, Danny thinks, one that’s growing into something more by the day.
John is in his boxers when he answers the door and he lights up when he sees Danny. It’s nice, Danny thinks, to have someone waiting for him, someone excited to see him who isn’t nine years old and related to him. John pulls him in by the neck and straight back to his bedroom. “Saw you on tv,” he says.
“Yeah?” Danny asks, pulling the knot out of his tie.
John hugs him from behind. “It’s nice to know there are still heroes in the world.”
“You’re still alive,” Danny points out.
“I fly tourists around.”
“You served,” Danny says. “Doesn’t matter what you do now.”
“It matters what I did then,” John murmurs.
“You have two Purple Hearts, John,” Danny states. “A Bronze Star, an Airman’s medal, and a Distinguished Flying Cross. If I didn’t already know it, those would tell me enough.”
“Danny…”
Danny turns around. “No,” he says firmly. “We all make mistakes, John, but not everyone sticks around to make up for them.”
John leans forward and rests his forehead on top of Danny’s shoulder. He exhales, “Danny…”
“You’re not changing my mind on this,” Danny says. He carefully extracts himself from John’s hold. “Come on, superhero, help me get undressed.”
John’s fingers are quick to unbutton Danny’s shirt. “You’re something else, Danny.”
His eyes are almost green when they meet Danny’s and Danny thinks, yeah fuck, he’s completely gone on John Sheppard.
-0-
Now:
“Detective Williams, Commander McGarrett,” Max greets. “I believe I have ascertained cause of death.”
Danny lets Steve squat down next to the body; his knee aches a little and he left his brace at home. “Looks like a gunshot wound to the chest,” Steve says, leaning in.
“That would be incorrect,” Max states. “The gunshot wound was obtained postmortem. Cause of death was asphyxiation.”
“So someone suffocated him?” Danny says. “Great.”
Steve stands back up. “So, he wanders down--” whatever he was going to say next is cut off by a gunshot.
Danny feels the bullet whiz past him, catching him on the side of his arm. He pulls out his gun and runs for cover with Steve and Max behind the ME van.
“Cover me,” Steve says.
Danny takes a deep breath and lets it out and then pokes around the side and starts firing. Steve slinks away around the van to try and come up behind the shooter. The shooter doesn’t let up and Danny pulls back in time to see a bullet fly through where his head had been. He jerks back when he realizes his other arm has been hit. “Shit,” he grinds out.
“If I may,” Max says, holding out his hand.
He raises an eyebrow. “Really?”
“I’m fully qualified to handle a sidearm, Detective Williams,” Max says.
“There’s a difference between the range and real life,” Danny says. “There’s no one shooting back at you on the range.”
“There is no one shooting back at me now,” Max counters. “As his attention has been stolen by Commander McGarrett.”
“Shit,” Danny says again. “Okay, yeah.” He hands his weapon over with trepidation, but Max holds it like a pro.
Max takes a moment to familiarize himself and then he moves, firing around the side of the van.
“Hold your fire, Danno!” Steve yells a moment later. “You clipped him, and I’ve got him in custody.”
Danny eyes Max carefully and accepts his sidearm back. “Nice,” he comments.
Max quirks a smile. “Thank you,” he says politely. “I will call for an ambulance.”
With a glance at his watch, Danny groans. “Great. I’ve got Grace today and the hospital takes forever.” He pats around for his cell phone. Max is already gone, talking on his phone and standing near the body. Danny sighs and dials. “John? Hey, can you do me a favor?”
-0-
“Daddy!” Grace says loudly, running down a hospital corridor to him. John is following behind her at a more sedate pace. Danny can feel his eyes on him, assessing and taking in any damage.
“Hey, Monkey!” Danny greets happily. She hugs him and Danny kisses the top of her head.
“Hey, Gracie,” Steve says, giving her a sideways hug. “Be careful with your Danno for a few days, okay?”
“Hi, Uncle Steve,” she says back. “Is Danno okay?”
“Danno is perfectly fine,” Danny cuts in. “And also standing right here.”
Grace separates from Steve and goes back to drag John up next to Danny. She curls into his side and John wraps an arm around her shoulders. “You good?” John asks, looking him over again.
“Got a few stitches,” Danny says. “Nothing to worry about.”
John holds his gaze for a moment and then nods. “I told Grace we’d make pizza tonight.”
“I want mine with pineapple, Danno,” Grace says seriously.
Danny tries his best not to explode. “Grace, sweetie, see the way pizza works--” John and Grace both burst out laughing and Steve joins in. “Oh, I see how it is,” Danny groans. “Now you’re ganging up on me.”
“We love you, Danno,” John and Grace say together, before snickering.
Steve looks back and forth between John and Danny and then catches Danny’s eye. Danny nods slightly and Steve straightens up a little. He holds his hand out to John. “Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, Danny’s partner.”
John takes his hand and shakes it. “John Sheppard, Danny’s, uh, other partner.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Steve says.
John eyes him for a couple of seconds and says, “Same.” He pauses. “Would you like to make pizza with us, Commander McGarrett?”
“Call me Steve, please, and I’d love to,” Steve grins.
“Can I have a piggyback ride, Uncle Steve?” Grace asks.
“Definitely,” Steve answers. He turns around and bends a little and John helps grace climb on.
“To the cars!” Grace orders.
Danny laughs while Steve takes off at a slow gallop. “Hey,” John says, bumping his hip lightly. “You really okay?”
“Took a bullet in the right arm,” Danny admits. “Another grazed my left. They patched me up and gave me some pretty good pain meds, but I don’t want to take them while I have Grace.”
“I can watch Grace,” John says. “Don’t sit around in pain just because you can.”
“When we get back to your place,” Danny says. They start walking towards the doors, following Steve’s path. “Sorry about springing Steve on you.”
“He seems nice,” John notes.
Danny snorts. “He’s nice until you realize how crazy he is.”
“You trust him with Grace, though,” John points out.
“Yeah.” Danny stops walking. “So, um, that thing that you and Grace did, that was planned? What you said?”
John looks puzzled. “What we--oh.” He smiles stupidly and tugs Danny to him. “So, yeah, I love you or something.”
Danny rolls his eyes. “At least you didn’t say it in Hawaiian.”
“I could,” John tells him.
“Please don’t.” Danny leans in for a quick kiss. “I love you or something, too.”
“You better,” John says. “I don’t learn how to play Parcheesi for just anyone.”
They start walking again. “I’ll have you know, Parcheesi is a perfectly respectable board game.”
“Monopoly is respectable,” John says. “Trivial Pursuit. No one plays Parcheesi anymore.”
“It’s a classic Williams family game night game.”
John laughs. “So you say.”
“I say,” Danny agrees. “And so will Gracie when she kicks your ass at it.”
“Do you always tell people you love them and then argue about Parcheesi?” John asks fondly.
“Hey, apparently you do, too.”
John leans over and kisses the corner of his mouth. “So I do.”
-0-