H50 Fic - A sign of Strength (Deaf!Grace 'Verse)
Title: A Sign of Strength (part of my Deaf!Grace 'Verse)
Characters: Steve/Danno, Grace, Kono, Chin
Fandom: Hawaii Five-O
Summary: Danny and Steve attend one of Grace's school events which causes some problems for Grace, which she handles.
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Word Count: ~3,500
Warnings: -
Beta:
burned_phoenix
Disclaimer: In my dreams maybe, but I don't own them!
Written for: kitmerlot1213 who asked for “Steve and Danny attending a school function for Grace which leads to Grace defending them against homophobic comments directed towards them” and for samantha_kathy who asked for “Rachel being surprised when Steve uses sign language to talk to Grace, especially because Stan doesn’t know many signs and hasn’t put in the time and effort to learn them”.
A sign of Trust - A sign of Love - A sign of Family - A sign of Strength
Grace had been so excited for this day since over a month ago when she first approached her father and Steve in need of help.
‘I have to do a science project for the science fair! But I don’t know what to do!’ she pouted, her puppy-dog eyes coming out in full force, leaving both Danny and Steve powerless to say no.
Danny had suggested just simply building a volcano, they did live on one after all, but Steve instantly came up with a better (a much better) idea. They had spent the rest of the morning planning out just what they were going to do, Danny mostly sitting back and watching with adoration as Steve patiently explained everything. Once the plans were finalised, they set to work, Grace so excited she didn’t mind having to do homework instead of going out swimming for once.
Over the new few weeks, Grace and Steve began spending a lot more time alone with one another, Danny letting them go on hikes together to study various caves and even the graffiti on the walls, or whatever it was that Steve wanted to show his little girl. Rachel even went so far as to allow them to take Grace during the week to work on the assignment. The museum was fast becoming Grace’s favourite place to go as the trio went from exhibit to exhibit, both Steve and Danny explaining what was going on in each.
On the day of the science fair, Grace had invited everyone, including uncle Chin and auntie Kono, to watch, Steve and Danny arriving early with Grace to help her setup her presentation. Throughout the whole ordeal, Danny became increasingly impressed by Steve’s skills. The way he worked with his daughter, not doing it all for her but nudging her along patiently.
They had finally settled with the idea of exploring and replicating how stalactites and stalagmites are formed in caves. Their main experiment, as Grace explained, showed just how the special cave formations are created. She then went on excitedly explaining how her super-seal and dad took her hiking through real caves, finding actual stalactites and stalagmites and even going so far as to age them.
Danny watched his daughter with rapt attention, not noticing the dark looks he and Steve were receiving from a few other students and even some of the parents. Steve, on the other hand, had caught the looks, squeezing Danny’s hand in his slightly, pulling the man subtly closer, wanting nothing more than to hold his partner in his arms and whisk him and Grace far away from there.
Once all the children’s presentations were over, the parents mingled while the kids were sent outside to play. Steve and Danny walked around the hall, looking at the three earthquake, two magnet experiments and several volcano presentations the children had done.
“She did good right? I mean, our little girl did good!” Danny beamed, openly praising his daughter.
“She did, Babe,” Steve agreed at a much lower volume. He wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed by his relationship with Danny, and would never want to hide it, but he wasn’t dumb enough to flaunt it in front of the narrow minded people around him excessively.
Outside, Grace was happily playing with her friend when she noticed a group of kids, their hands moving quickly as they spoke about something that was obviously troubling them. She noticed them using her special sign name for Danno and Steve, the angry scowls on their faces scaring her slightly.
Her game forgotten, Grace approached the group, ‘Hey! Don’t talk about my dads like that!” she signed, stomping her foot down in emphasis.
‘He isn’t your dad! That’s just wrong! Two guys-’
‘Don’t talk about my ohana like that!’ Grace ordered, her hand signs coming out faster and harsher than ever before. ‘My dad loves Seal! And that’s all that matters!’ Grace urged in her father’s defence.
‘It’s wrong!’ a boy said, pushing Grace away. ‘It’s disgusting!’ Another added, pushing Grace back the other way, causing the little girl to fall down.
Grace caught herself on her hand, a sharp spike of pain shooting through her arm. She pushed the pain away and quickly picked herself up, standing her ground. ‘You’re wrong!’ she argued, hands fisting together as she let the first punch fly, her fist connecting with the first aggravator’s cheek, causing her wrist to throb some more.
From there, it was chaos. The small group of kids ganged up on Grace, surrounding her while others stood around and watched the silent fight evolve.
Steve was getting bored, hanging around with Danny, Rachel and Stan as they socialised with the other pompous parents. “I’m just heading out for a bit,” Steve said, excusing himself from the small group.
Danny raised an eyebrow in question, silently asking Steve if he was alright and if he wanted some company. With only a slight tilt of his head, Steve told Danny that he was fine and not to worry, even though there was something nagging him in the back of his head to head outside as fast as he could.
As soon as he set food outside, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped in shock. There, in the middle of the playground was a large group of children, obviously in some sort of skirmish. “Danny!” Steve bellowed, his legs already taking him straight to the chaotic scene.
He picked his way through the kids, pulling them off of whoever was in the middle of it all. “Gracie!” Steve cried once he saw who it was underneath it all, “Gracie, baby, are you okay?” he asked frantically, all the kids standing back as Steve checked over the little girl who lay motionless on the ground. Distantly, Steve heard more cries of disbelief, Danny’s voice ringing out loud and clear in his mind, Rachel's echoing it. But none of that really registered, his entire focus on Grace.
“Grace? Grace?” Danny urged, rushing up to Steve and his daughter, Steve immediately holding the distraught father back with one arm.
“Danny, Danny listen to me. Babe, don’t touch her, let me look her over, you need to call an ambulance and find out what happened here, can you do that? Danny? Can you trust me to look after Grace?”
Danny nodded numbly watching as Steve checked over his daughter from head to toe for injuries. He looked up to see all the parents now around them, Stan holding Rachel upright while Chin and Kono started speaking to the kids and parents, trying to find out what was going on and what had just happened.
“Her right wrist is swollen and she has a bump on her head, she also has a few bumps and bruises, but those don’t look too serious,” Steve relayed while Danny spoke to the dispatcher after giving the man on the phone his badge number.
“Gracie, wake up Sweetie,” Steve mumbled, all but begging as he shook the little girl slightly, trying to get some sort of a response.
It took longer than Steve would have liked, but ultimately, Grace started coming around. She let out a soft, mumbled groan, her eyes flickering slightly as she tried to move, to sit up or protect herself from the danger her body had been surrounded by only moments ago. Steve laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, using his body to block the view of all the people around them, as well as to protect the small girl.
Grace’s eyes finally opened fully. Forcing herself to focus, Grace soon realised that it was only her super-seal leaning over her, not any of the other bullies, and that it was his hands caressing her hair back and holding her down gently. With that realisation, her whole body finally relaxed.
Steve tapped Grace’s cheek, getting her to look at him, ‘stay as still as you can, but can you tell me where it hurts the most?’ Steve asked, knowing that the question ‘are you okay’ was pointless.
Grace moved to sign back, but immediately clutched at her right arm instead. Steve laid his hand over her arm gently, nodding in understanding, ‘where else?’ he asked.
The little girl closed her eyes, trying to remain strong and brave for Steve before pointing towards the back of her head.
Steve gave a reassuring smile, hearing the ambulance’s sirens finally pull up. ‘You’re going to be okay,’ he signed, leaning down and pressing his lips to her forehead quickly before backing off so that the paramedics could get to work.
“You and Rachel should go with her, reassure her because she’s obviously scared and won’t know what’s going, Stan and I will meet you there,” Steve suggested.
It was something so obvious, but Danny didn’t even think of it. How would most doctors communicate with his little girl? He thought to himself. “Steve-?”
“Go!” Steve pressed, pushing Danny towards the ambulance.
Danny barely remembered the trip to the hospital. He was stuck between trying to comfort his ex-wife and daughter, while trying to talk to the paramedics about Grace being deaf. Once there, the little girl was whisked away, mother in tow, for scans and tests, Danny left behind to wait for the rest of the family as well as to not overcrowd the doctors.
It took Steve, Chin, Kono and Stan far too long in Danny's opinion to arrive, not knowing that Steve had driven at a reckless speed, sirens turned on.
“Where is she? What’s going on?” Steve asked as soon as he laid eyes on Danny, hunched over in a small corner of the waiting room.
“I don’t know, they took her up for some scans straight away, I think they told me, I just… I just don’t know!” Danny near sobbed, finally allowing himself to break down in Steve’s open arms.
Steve wrapped his arms tightly around the distraught father, pushing aside his own fears in order to take care of his partner. “Kono, go speak with someone, find out what’s going on,” Steve said, taking on the leader role once more like he was born to it.
“Come on Danny, come sit,” Steve suggested, slowly urging Danny down and into a nearby chair.
“What the hell? I mean, what the hell happened out there?” Danny asked over and over again into Steve’s neck.
Steve cupped the back of Danny’s neck, squeezing it slightly, finger tips brushing at the fine hairs along the man’s nape. Steve felt the tears against his skin, holding Danny close so no one else would notice.
“Barely any of the kids spoke up, but a bunch of them seemed to have been talking about our ohana that angered Grace, then the fight started,” Steve explained simply, leaving out the part where supposedly the kids had been talking about them.
“Stupid kids,” Danny sniffled, “God, I’m a mess,” he added, trying to sit up, however Steve wouldn’t let him.
“It’s okay Babe, we’ll sort it all out once we know Grace is okay,” Steve whispered directly into Danny’s ear.
They stayed close to one another for what felt like hours until finally a doctor came into the waiting room, calling out “Family of Grace Williams?”
Danny and Steve both sprung out of their seats, Steve hesitating slightly, unsure of if Danny would want him there while talking with the doctor. Danny simply dragged him along, the others right at their heels.
“That’s us,” Danny nodded, indicating everyone around them. “My baby, is she okay?” he asked, getting right to the point.
“Grace has some mild contusions and abrasions all over her body, mostly around her arms, torso and abdomen, she also gained a small fracture to her wrist which is currently being fitted for a cast, and has a slight concussion, all in all, while she will be in a bit of pain for a while, I think she will be fine to leave tomorrow morning, we just want to keep her here under observation for a while, but there is nothing to be alarmed about,” the doctor explained succinctly.
“Oh thank God! Can we go see her?”
“As soon as her wrist has been casted, a nurse will come and show you to her room, I don’t have to remind you to keep it down and give the girl her rest,” he nodded, trying to be stern while holding back a slightly amused smile.
“No, of course, thank you,” Danny nodded, shaking the elderly doctor’s hand.
“She’s okay, Danny, she’s okay,” Steve reassured, catching Danny’s weight as the other man sighed, leaning back into Steve.
The two men sat back down on the hard plastic chairs, everyone else sitting around them, the mantra ‘she’s okay’ playing over and over again in Danny’s head. Steve simply held Danny close, running his fingers through Danny’s short, dirty blonde hair.
A nurse finally collected the group a few minutes later, warning them once more about not letting Grace overdo it. Danny was anxious to see his baby girl, desperately trying to urge the nurse to walk faster. Finally outside the private room’s door, Danny paused.
“She’s fine Danny, she’s strong and we will get through this together,” Steve whispered the reassurance right into Danny’s ear, hands clasping his shoulders.
“But this whole ordeal, the whole attack and fight, is because of our relationship, isn’t it? What if her whole life is like this because of us?” Danny argued, eyes weary.
“You know what, yeah, it might be a bit harder for her, hell, for all of us, but you don’t think she’s strong enough to handle it? She is a Williams through and through, she’s going to fight like hell for us, just like what she did today, and we’ll all be here to back her up, always,” Steve said, looking Danny directly in the eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, you're right,” Danny nodded.
“Okay then, let’s go in there and see our baby girl,” Steve smiled, pushing the door open finally.
They all stepped in quietly, hesitant to make a sound. ‘Danno!’ Grace smiled wide, her left hand making only half the sign, ‘Seal!’ she added, extremely pleased to see the two men.
‘Monkey!’ both Danny and Steve signed back, Danny quickly embracing his daughter before moving to sit down beside her on the bed, legs up and chest supporting her body.
Steve took a seat by Grace’s feet, clutching at one and shaking it slightly, causing the young girl to laugh. ‘How are you?’ Steve signed, watching as Grace signed back about the ambulance ride, the scans and getting her pretty pink cast. None of them even once noticing the shocked expression on Rachel’s face. The two carried on talking, Steve trying to get more of the story about what had happened out of Grace without making it too obvious, both Kono and Chin throwing in their own comments intermittently.
After meeting Danny’s gaze, Rachel tilted her head towards the door, indicating that she wanted to have a word with him. Danny tapped Grace’s shoulder, catching her attention, ‘Monkey, Mommy and I are just stepping outside to talk for a minute, we’ll be right out that door, do me a favour and look after this Neanderthal for me, okay?’ Danny explained, wriggling out from behind Grace and following Rachel out with Grace’s nod of acceptance behind him.
Steve got Grace’s attention back on him while Rachel paced the halls outside. “What's wrong Rach? What on earth possessed you to pull me away from my baby girl’s side while she’s lying there in a hospital bed?” Danny fumed, forcing himself to keep his voice down.
Rachel didn’t stop pacing, worrying her lip between her teeth and wringing her fingers together before finally speaking. “What was all that today? At the school and again here?” she started.
“What do you mean? At school, it looks like some homophobic kids decided to take their hate out against Gracie, but here? What do you mean?”
“I mean why are you flaunting Steve in front of Stan and I? I know you don’t like Stan, Daniel, but really? You had to show everyone how much better your man is than mine?”
“I don’t know what the hell you are talking about! I'm not flaunting anything! My partner was brought along to Grace’s presentation because he did it with her and he’s my partner, and he’s here now to support me! This has nothing, and I mean nothing to do with you! The only one here thinking Steve is the better man around here is you, Rachel, and I think you should be asking yourself just why that is!” Danny said, unable to stop his voice from rising.
“You are! You and him, signing at Grace, purposefully excluding Stand from any conversation, flaunting his perfection! And why? Just because you are dating someone who already knows ASL?”
“Already knows-? Excluding Stan? Rachel, Steve has been learning sign language since he first met Grace when he had to look after her alone and was unable to communicate with her. He and I now talk to each other using only signs, when in the privacy of our home, to keep him learning. He has learnt this all in only a few months, because that is how dedicated that man is to not only me, but to my daughter. He didn’t know one sign until after he met Gracie!
Now, as for excluding Stan? That was never my intention, I always assumed he would have put in the same kind of effort as Steve to learn to talk with his daughter. And since he hasn’t, then yeah, now I do think of Steve as the better man,” and with that, Danny turned and re-entered Grace’s room, not wanting to hear any excuses from Rachel, who could only stand there in Danny’s wake, mouth wide open in shock.
Steve had moved so that he was now seated the way Danny had been, the little girl’s eyes drooping shut as she leaned against the broad check in lieu of a pillow. Steve gently tapped Grace’s shoulder when Danny walked in, “she’s exhausted, but wanted me to wake her when you came back. Is everything okay?” Steve asked, seeing how much more distressed Danny looked now.
“Yeah, we’ll talk later,” Danny nodded. ‘Hey Monkey, you ready to sleep? Looks like we should all get going, but Seal and I will be back early tomorrow morning, okay?’ Danny explained.
Grace nodded tiredly, not wanting them to leave but knowing they wouldn’t be able to stay. ‘Promise?’ She asked, her casted arm latching onto Steve’s pant leg, as if she wasn’t going to let them leave until she knew that they would be back.
‘Of course I promise!’ he said, leaning down and kissing Grace on the forehead.
‘Love you, Danno,’ she signed, accepting his promise.
‘Danno loves you, Monkey.’
‘Bye Grace,’ Steve added, also kissing Grace on the temple before getting off the bed. Chin and Kono simply waving their goodbyes, the little girl now barely awake anymore.
Alone in the car, Danny told Steve exactly what had happened with Rachel, the only reaction from Steve being the whitening of his knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel hard. Finally back at home, Steve ushered a now completely spent Danny straight upstairs. Both men stripping down and entering the shower together, Steve making quick work of washing the day’s grime and the smell of the hospital off both of them before shutting the water off and getting them both dry and into bed.
There, Danny laid his head over Steve’s chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat, letting it calm and centre him. Steve held Danny close, arms locked around the shorter man’s shoulders, knowing that no words were needed in that moment.
“I have to thank you Steve,” Danny finally spoke up in the darkness, after Steve had thought he had fallen asleep.
“Why?” Steve asked, honestly confused.
“For loving me and especially Grace, for putting in all that effort to learn sign language and for making Grace feel like a normal child,” Danny mumbled.
“You don’t have to thank me for loving you two,” Steve sighed, “and I'm just doing what any partner would do in this situation…”
“But you're not, Stan-”
“Stan doesn’t count, he doesn’t get what fatherhood is all about, and probably never would, but that’s okay, and you know why? Because Grace has us for that,” Steve said with such conviction.
“Yeah, yeah you're right,” Danny nodded against Steve’s chest.
“Of course I am,” Steve smiled, pressing his lips to the crown of Danny’s head, “Now, get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Steve added, squeezing Danny slightly, a silent promise that he would be there for him through it all.
Danny pressed a chaste kiss to Steve’s chest, directly above the man’s heart, accepting Steve's words, and promise for what they were before finally letting exhaustion pull him under. Tomorrow they could deal with everything else, together.
-End!
MORE HERE!
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Characters: Steve/Danno, Grace, Kono, Chin
Fandom: Hawaii Five-O
Summary: Danny and Steve attend one of Grace's school events which causes some problems for Grace, which she handles.
Rating: G
Spoilers: None
Word Count: ~3,500
Warnings: -
Beta:
burned_phoenix
Disclaimer: In my dreams maybe, but I don't own them!
Written for: kitmerlot1213 who asked for “Steve and Danny attending a school function for Grace which leads to Grace defending them against homophobic comments directed towards them” and for samantha_kathy who asked for “Rachel being surprised when Steve uses sign language to talk to Grace, especially because Stan doesn’t know many signs and hasn’t put in the time and effort to learn them”.
A sign of Trust - A sign of Love - A sign of Family - A sign of Strength
Grace had been so excited for this day since over a month ago when she first approached her father and Steve in need of help.
‘I have to do a science project for the science fair! But I don’t know what to do!’ she pouted, her puppy-dog eyes coming out in full force, leaving both Danny and Steve powerless to say no.
Danny had suggested just simply building a volcano, they did live on one after all, but Steve instantly came up with a better (a much better) idea. They had spent the rest of the morning planning out just what they were going to do, Danny mostly sitting back and watching with adoration as Steve patiently explained everything. Once the plans were finalised, they set to work, Grace so excited she didn’t mind having to do homework instead of going out swimming for once.
Over the new few weeks, Grace and Steve began spending a lot more time alone with one another, Danny letting them go on hikes together to study various caves and even the graffiti on the walls, or whatever it was that Steve wanted to show his little girl. Rachel even went so far as to allow them to take Grace during the week to work on the assignment. The museum was fast becoming Grace’s favourite place to go as the trio went from exhibit to exhibit, both Steve and Danny explaining what was going on in each.
On the day of the science fair, Grace had invited everyone, including uncle Chin and auntie Kono, to watch, Steve and Danny arriving early with Grace to help her setup her presentation. Throughout the whole ordeal, Danny became increasingly impressed by Steve’s skills. The way he worked with his daughter, not doing it all for her but nudging her along patiently.
They had finally settled with the idea of exploring and replicating how stalactites and stalagmites are formed in caves. Their main experiment, as Grace explained, showed just how the special cave formations are created. She then went on excitedly explaining how her super-seal and dad took her hiking through real caves, finding actual stalactites and stalagmites and even going so far as to age them.
Danny watched his daughter with rapt attention, not noticing the dark looks he and Steve were receiving from a few other students and even some of the parents. Steve, on the other hand, had caught the looks, squeezing Danny’s hand in his slightly, pulling the man subtly closer, wanting nothing more than to hold his partner in his arms and whisk him and Grace far away from there.
Once all the children’s presentations were over, the parents mingled while the kids were sent outside to play. Steve and Danny walked around the hall, looking at the three earthquake, two magnet experiments and several volcano presentations the children had done.
“She did good right? I mean, our little girl did good!” Danny beamed, openly praising his daughter.
“She did, Babe,” Steve agreed at a much lower volume. He wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed by his relationship with Danny, and would never want to hide it, but he wasn’t dumb enough to flaunt it in front of the narrow minded people around him excessively.
Outside, Grace was happily playing with her friend when she noticed a group of kids, their hands moving quickly as they spoke about something that was obviously troubling them. She noticed them using her special sign name for Danno and Steve, the angry scowls on their faces scaring her slightly.
Her game forgotten, Grace approached the group, ‘Hey! Don’t talk about my dads like that!” she signed, stomping her foot down in emphasis.
‘He isn’t your dad! That’s just wrong! Two guys-’
‘Don’t talk about my ohana like that!’ Grace ordered, her hand signs coming out faster and harsher than ever before. ‘My dad loves Seal! And that’s all that matters!’ Grace urged in her father’s defence.
‘It’s wrong!’ a boy said, pushing Grace away. ‘It’s disgusting!’ Another added, pushing Grace back the other way, causing the little girl to fall down.
Grace caught herself on her hand, a sharp spike of pain shooting through her arm. She pushed the pain away and quickly picked herself up, standing her ground. ‘You’re wrong!’ she argued, hands fisting together as she let the first punch fly, her fist connecting with the first aggravator’s cheek, causing her wrist to throb some more.
From there, it was chaos. The small group of kids ganged up on Grace, surrounding her while others stood around and watched the silent fight evolve.
Steve was getting bored, hanging around with Danny, Rachel and Stan as they socialised with the other pompous parents. “I’m just heading out for a bit,” Steve said, excusing himself from the small group.
Danny raised an eyebrow in question, silently asking Steve if he was alright and if he wanted some company. With only a slight tilt of his head, Steve told Danny that he was fine and not to worry, even though there was something nagging him in the back of his head to head outside as fast as he could.
As soon as he set food outside, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped in shock. There, in the middle of the playground was a large group of children, obviously in some sort of skirmish. “Danny!” Steve bellowed, his legs already taking him straight to the chaotic scene.
He picked his way through the kids, pulling them off of whoever was in the middle of it all. “Gracie!” Steve cried once he saw who it was underneath it all, “Gracie, baby, are you okay?” he asked frantically, all the kids standing back as Steve checked over the little girl who lay motionless on the ground. Distantly, Steve heard more cries of disbelief, Danny’s voice ringing out loud and clear in his mind, Rachel's echoing it. But none of that really registered, his entire focus on Grace.
“Grace? Grace?” Danny urged, rushing up to Steve and his daughter, Steve immediately holding the distraught father back with one arm.
“Danny, Danny listen to me. Babe, don’t touch her, let me look her over, you need to call an ambulance and find out what happened here, can you do that? Danny? Can you trust me to look after Grace?”
Danny nodded numbly watching as Steve checked over his daughter from head to toe for injuries. He looked up to see all the parents now around them, Stan holding Rachel upright while Chin and Kono started speaking to the kids and parents, trying to find out what was going on and what had just happened.
“Her right wrist is swollen and she has a bump on her head, she also has a few bumps and bruises, but those don’t look too serious,” Steve relayed while Danny spoke to the dispatcher after giving the man on the phone his badge number.
“Gracie, wake up Sweetie,” Steve mumbled, all but begging as he shook the little girl slightly, trying to get some sort of a response.
It took longer than Steve would have liked, but ultimately, Grace started coming around. She let out a soft, mumbled groan, her eyes flickering slightly as she tried to move, to sit up or protect herself from the danger her body had been surrounded by only moments ago. Steve laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, using his body to block the view of all the people around them, as well as to protect the small girl.
Grace’s eyes finally opened fully. Forcing herself to focus, Grace soon realised that it was only her super-seal leaning over her, not any of the other bullies, and that it was his hands caressing her hair back and holding her down gently. With that realisation, her whole body finally relaxed.
Steve tapped Grace’s cheek, getting her to look at him, ‘stay as still as you can, but can you tell me where it hurts the most?’ Steve asked, knowing that the question ‘are you okay’ was pointless.
Grace moved to sign back, but immediately clutched at her right arm instead. Steve laid his hand over her arm gently, nodding in understanding, ‘where else?’ he asked.
The little girl closed her eyes, trying to remain strong and brave for Steve before pointing towards the back of her head.
Steve gave a reassuring smile, hearing the ambulance’s sirens finally pull up. ‘You’re going to be okay,’ he signed, leaning down and pressing his lips to her forehead quickly before backing off so that the paramedics could get to work.
“You and Rachel should go with her, reassure her because she’s obviously scared and won’t know what’s going, Stan and I will meet you there,” Steve suggested.
It was something so obvious, but Danny didn’t even think of it. How would most doctors communicate with his little girl? He thought to himself. “Steve-?”
“Go!” Steve pressed, pushing Danny towards the ambulance.
Danny barely remembered the trip to the hospital. He was stuck between trying to comfort his ex-wife and daughter, while trying to talk to the paramedics about Grace being deaf. Once there, the little girl was whisked away, mother in tow, for scans and tests, Danny left behind to wait for the rest of the family as well as to not overcrowd the doctors.
It took Steve, Chin, Kono and Stan far too long in Danny's opinion to arrive, not knowing that Steve had driven at a reckless speed, sirens turned on.
“Where is she? What’s going on?” Steve asked as soon as he laid eyes on Danny, hunched over in a small corner of the waiting room.
“I don’t know, they took her up for some scans straight away, I think they told me, I just… I just don’t know!” Danny near sobbed, finally allowing himself to break down in Steve’s open arms.
Steve wrapped his arms tightly around the distraught father, pushing aside his own fears in order to take care of his partner. “Kono, go speak with someone, find out what’s going on,” Steve said, taking on the leader role once more like he was born to it.
“Come on Danny, come sit,” Steve suggested, slowly urging Danny down and into a nearby chair.
“What the hell? I mean, what the hell happened out there?” Danny asked over and over again into Steve’s neck.
Steve cupped the back of Danny’s neck, squeezing it slightly, finger tips brushing at the fine hairs along the man’s nape. Steve felt the tears against his skin, holding Danny close so no one else would notice.
“Barely any of the kids spoke up, but a bunch of them seemed to have been talking about our ohana that angered Grace, then the fight started,” Steve explained simply, leaving out the part where supposedly the kids had been talking about them.
“Stupid kids,” Danny sniffled, “God, I’m a mess,” he added, trying to sit up, however Steve wouldn’t let him.
“It’s okay Babe, we’ll sort it all out once we know Grace is okay,” Steve whispered directly into Danny’s ear.
They stayed close to one another for what felt like hours until finally a doctor came into the waiting room, calling out “Family of Grace Williams?”
Danny and Steve both sprung out of their seats, Steve hesitating slightly, unsure of if Danny would want him there while talking with the doctor. Danny simply dragged him along, the others right at their heels.
“That’s us,” Danny nodded, indicating everyone around them. “My baby, is she okay?” he asked, getting right to the point.
“Grace has some mild contusions and abrasions all over her body, mostly around her arms, torso and abdomen, she also gained a small fracture to her wrist which is currently being fitted for a cast, and has a slight concussion, all in all, while she will be in a bit of pain for a while, I think she will be fine to leave tomorrow morning, we just want to keep her here under observation for a while, but there is nothing to be alarmed about,” the doctor explained succinctly.
“Oh thank God! Can we go see her?”
“As soon as her wrist has been casted, a nurse will come and show you to her room, I don’t have to remind you to keep it down and give the girl her rest,” he nodded, trying to be stern while holding back a slightly amused smile.
“No, of course, thank you,” Danny nodded, shaking the elderly doctor’s hand.
“She’s okay, Danny, she’s okay,” Steve reassured, catching Danny’s weight as the other man sighed, leaning back into Steve.
The two men sat back down on the hard plastic chairs, everyone else sitting around them, the mantra ‘she’s okay’ playing over and over again in Danny’s head. Steve simply held Danny close, running his fingers through Danny’s short, dirty blonde hair.
A nurse finally collected the group a few minutes later, warning them once more about not letting Grace overdo it. Danny was anxious to see his baby girl, desperately trying to urge the nurse to walk faster. Finally outside the private room’s door, Danny paused.
“She’s fine Danny, she’s strong and we will get through this together,” Steve whispered the reassurance right into Danny’s ear, hands clasping his shoulders.
“But this whole ordeal, the whole attack and fight, is because of our relationship, isn’t it? What if her whole life is like this because of us?” Danny argued, eyes weary.
“You know what, yeah, it might be a bit harder for her, hell, for all of us, but you don’t think she’s strong enough to handle it? She is a Williams through and through, she’s going to fight like hell for us, just like what she did today, and we’ll all be here to back her up, always,” Steve said, looking Danny directly in the eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, you're right,” Danny nodded.
“Okay then, let’s go in there and see our baby girl,” Steve smiled, pushing the door open finally.
They all stepped in quietly, hesitant to make a sound. ‘Danno!’ Grace smiled wide, her left hand making only half the sign, ‘Seal!’ she added, extremely pleased to see the two men.
‘Monkey!’ both Danny and Steve signed back, Danny quickly embracing his daughter before moving to sit down beside her on the bed, legs up and chest supporting her body.
Steve took a seat by Grace’s feet, clutching at one and shaking it slightly, causing the young girl to laugh. ‘How are you?’ Steve signed, watching as Grace signed back about the ambulance ride, the scans and getting her pretty pink cast. None of them even once noticing the shocked expression on Rachel’s face. The two carried on talking, Steve trying to get more of the story about what had happened out of Grace without making it too obvious, both Kono and Chin throwing in their own comments intermittently.
After meeting Danny’s gaze, Rachel tilted her head towards the door, indicating that she wanted to have a word with him. Danny tapped Grace’s shoulder, catching her attention, ‘Monkey, Mommy and I are just stepping outside to talk for a minute, we’ll be right out that door, do me a favour and look after this Neanderthal for me, okay?’ Danny explained, wriggling out from behind Grace and following Rachel out with Grace’s nod of acceptance behind him.
Steve got Grace’s attention back on him while Rachel paced the halls outside. “What's wrong Rach? What on earth possessed you to pull me away from my baby girl’s side while she’s lying there in a hospital bed?” Danny fumed, forcing himself to keep his voice down.
Rachel didn’t stop pacing, worrying her lip between her teeth and wringing her fingers together before finally speaking. “What was all that today? At the school and again here?” she started.
“What do you mean? At school, it looks like some homophobic kids decided to take their hate out against Gracie, but here? What do you mean?”
“I mean why are you flaunting Steve in front of Stan and I? I know you don’t like Stan, Daniel, but really? You had to show everyone how much better your man is than mine?”
“I don’t know what the hell you are talking about! I'm not flaunting anything! My partner was brought along to Grace’s presentation because he did it with her and he’s my partner, and he’s here now to support me! This has nothing, and I mean nothing to do with you! The only one here thinking Steve is the better man around here is you, Rachel, and I think you should be asking yourself just why that is!” Danny said, unable to stop his voice from rising.
“You are! You and him, signing at Grace, purposefully excluding Stand from any conversation, flaunting his perfection! And why? Just because you are dating someone who already knows ASL?”
“Already knows-? Excluding Stan? Rachel, Steve has been learning sign language since he first met Grace when he had to look after her alone and was unable to communicate with her. He and I now talk to each other using only signs, when in the privacy of our home, to keep him learning. He has learnt this all in only a few months, because that is how dedicated that man is to not only me, but to my daughter. He didn’t know one sign until after he met Gracie!
Now, as for excluding Stan? That was never my intention, I always assumed he would have put in the same kind of effort as Steve to learn to talk with his daughter. And since he hasn’t, then yeah, now I do think of Steve as the better man,” and with that, Danny turned and re-entered Grace’s room, not wanting to hear any excuses from Rachel, who could only stand there in Danny’s wake, mouth wide open in shock.
Steve had moved so that he was now seated the way Danny had been, the little girl’s eyes drooping shut as she leaned against the broad check in lieu of a pillow. Steve gently tapped Grace’s shoulder when Danny walked in, “she’s exhausted, but wanted me to wake her when you came back. Is everything okay?” Steve asked, seeing how much more distressed Danny looked now.
“Yeah, we’ll talk later,” Danny nodded. ‘Hey Monkey, you ready to sleep? Looks like we should all get going, but Seal and I will be back early tomorrow morning, okay?’ Danny explained.
Grace nodded tiredly, not wanting them to leave but knowing they wouldn’t be able to stay. ‘Promise?’ She asked, her casted arm latching onto Steve’s pant leg, as if she wasn’t going to let them leave until she knew that they would be back.
‘Of course I promise!’ he said, leaning down and kissing Grace on the forehead.
‘Love you, Danno,’ she signed, accepting his promise.
‘Danno loves you, Monkey.’
‘Bye Grace,’ Steve added, also kissing Grace on the temple before getting off the bed. Chin and Kono simply waving their goodbyes, the little girl now barely awake anymore.
Alone in the car, Danny told Steve exactly what had happened with Rachel, the only reaction from Steve being the whitening of his knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel hard. Finally back at home, Steve ushered a now completely spent Danny straight upstairs. Both men stripping down and entering the shower together, Steve making quick work of washing the day’s grime and the smell of the hospital off both of them before shutting the water off and getting them both dry and into bed.
There, Danny laid his head over Steve’s chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat, letting it calm and centre him. Steve held Danny close, arms locked around the shorter man’s shoulders, knowing that no words were needed in that moment.
“I have to thank you Steve,” Danny finally spoke up in the darkness, after Steve had thought he had fallen asleep.
“Why?” Steve asked, honestly confused.
“For loving me and especially Grace, for putting in all that effort to learn sign language and for making Grace feel like a normal child,” Danny mumbled.
“You don’t have to thank me for loving you two,” Steve sighed, “and I'm just doing what any partner would do in this situation…”
“But you're not, Stan-”
“Stan doesn’t count, he doesn’t get what fatherhood is all about, and probably never would, but that’s okay, and you know why? Because Grace has us for that,” Steve said with such conviction.
“Yeah, yeah you're right,” Danny nodded against Steve’s chest.
“Of course I am,” Steve smiled, pressing his lips to the crown of Danny’s head, “Now, get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Steve added, squeezing Danny slightly, a silent promise that he would be there for him through it all.
Danny pressed a chaste kiss to Steve’s chest, directly above the man’s heart, accepting Steve's words, and promise for what they were before finally letting exhaustion pull him under. Tomorrow they could deal with everything else, together.
-End!
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