H50 fic: Heat, Part 4/8
Title: Heat, Chapter 4 of 8
Characters: Steve McGarrett, Sam Denning, Danny Williams, and a brief sighting of Kono Kalakaua and Chin Ho Kelly (in this chapter)
Word Count:1802 of approximately 17K in full story
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Warnings: some talk of relationships and career implications this chapter; eventually NC-17 activity later in story; AU, no spoilers for the show
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters named in this fic; the setting is entirely of my own imagining and in no way reflects the show's premises or ideas. I make no money from my wild imaginings
Beta: the always generous siluria made time to correct and offer suggestions; any remaining mistakes are entirely my own fault
Summary: Hawaii 5-0 Rock Star AU in which Steve is a rock singer with a backing band featuring Chin, Kono and other characters you've seen on the show, and Danny is a Rolling Stone reporter writing an article on Steve
Author’s Notes: I started writing this as some time ago as either a reward for something or from a prompt at 1_million_words (I forget which). The first couple of parts have already been posted at the comm, but now it's completely written, I am finally posting it in AO3 and my own fic LJ. Unfortunately, it's going to be posted chapter by chapter over several days due to other commitments, but I promise that the story is complete and it will all be posted in due course; please bear with me
This chapter: Steve finally gets to see Danny again, and they talk over dinner
This story can also be found here at AO3
The week has gone so slowly; Steve's impatience has probably been showing with the band. They have all been giving him odd looks lately, though he's positive the three concerts they've done between Atlanta and now have all gone well.
The flight from New Orleans - where they finished this tour - has been one of the longest ever, and now they're on the tarmac at LAX, he can't wait to get out and head for Danny's office for the meeting Denning's set up for tonight. Steve's a little surprised at how easily Danny agreed to it, but apparently he's accepted Denning's reasons and doesn't see anything odd in it.
Denning stops him before Steve can leave the plane. "What?" Steve asks anxiously, desperate to cover ground between here and Danny in as short a time as he can.
"Look, Steve, don't railroad this guy, okay?"
"What do you think I am?"
"I won't answer that. I can see how much you want this to work out, but remember, he's got a lot to think about, and you pushing him harder than he's ready for may just backfire."
Steve takes a breath; Denning's right. He needs to play it cool; let Danny decide in his own time. He nods, agreeing. "Okay. Can I just get over there now?"
"Relax, it's a dinner meeting, so you've got time."
"Dinner? I don't remember you telling me that."
Denning laughs. "You weren't listening to very much other than the fact he said yes. We'll get you to the hotel so you can get ready, and then I have a limo booked to take you to the restaurant."
"That public?" Steve isn't sure he can say what he's been planning if they're somewhere where people might recognize him.
"Steve. Calm down; it's okay. Seriously, you can't just dive into bed with the guy and expect that'll change his mind.”
"Dive into bed with who?" Kono says from behind them.
"Jesus Christ, Denning!" Steve lets out, frustrated beyond measure. "Just this journalist Denning needs me to meet about the Rolling Stone article. I'm not going to sleep with him."
Kono exchanges a look with Chin, the two of them grinning knowingly. "Sure thing, boss."
Steve stares at them angrily and grits his teeth. "Denning, I am going to kill you if we don't get moving right now."
Denning's smile is trying to break through the tight expression he's holding, Steve can tell, and while he's mad as hell about him letting out as much as he has about Steve's love-life, he knows deep down that the rest of the band are not going to care in the end.
~//~
Danny's sitting in the corner of the restaurant, behind the table in the far booth that Steve's been directed to. A little dance of nerves stirs inside Steve's belly, but he breathes in and out deeply, settling it as best he can as he approaches. Danny looks good enough to eat in a crisp white shirt and dark tie, like this is a business meet rather than a rock journo having a meal with a singer in a band to go over some last minute details of an article. Heat suffuses his body, but Steve tries to remain calm.
"Hey, Danny," Steve says nervously and holds out a hand.
Danny stands up and reaches across to shake it. "Steve. Good to see you. Have a seat."
The electricity from the contact with Danny's hand almost makes Steve want to climb over the table and into his lap, but he manages to refrain from acting on it and take his hand back before sitting down opposite Danny, smoothing the legs of his Armani suit as he smiles winningly at the man.
"So, you want to order first, or discuss what you want to go over?" Danny asks, reaching for the glass of wine standing in front of him.
"Uh, perhaps I can get a drink to start?" Steve says, since the waiter has just appeared at his elbow.
The young man coughs lightly, and Steve looks up at him, smiling. "I'll have a… whatever he's having." His change mid-sentence is due to the quality of the place; Steve suddenly realizes it's probably not exactly somewhere you just swill beer.
The waiter says, "We have beer if you prefer?" like he's used to famous people asking for all sorts of ridiculous things.
Danny snorts lightly, drawing Steve's eye. Steve's not sure what that's about, but he tells the waiter that something American would be good and the guy withdraws, nodding.
"What was that for?" Steve asks, smiling despite himself.
"What?" Danny asks, his eyes glowing with something that looks an awful lot like fondness. "The waiter? He knew who you were; that's why he offered beer. Your reputation precedes you, my friend."
"Oh," Steve says, feeling more than a little dumb.
All these years and he's still not used to these fancy restaurants. When he's recognized in the sort of places he normally eats, waiters and waitresses usually ask him for his autograph or show some other visible sign of knowing who he is. He forgets that the staff at places like this are probably frowned upon for being invasive, since there are probably famous faces eating here all the time. In fact, Steve looks around, and is sure that the couple across the room are movie-stars whose every move is normally splattered across the front of women's magazines.
"So," Danny says, changing the subject and allowing Steve's embarrassment to fade away without further comment, "Was there something wrong with what I've written? Did I get a fact wrong? I'm pretty sure I checked it thoroughly."
Steve manages a smile, but his heart is thudding. He isn't sure what to say - very unlike him - and wonders if he made a mistake in allowing Denning to set up this meeting for him. "No, that is… it's fine. I wanted… well, to say I'm happy with what you've written and that you can go ahead and print it."
There's scepticism in Danny's eyes, and he opens his mouth slowly. "Oh-kay." He stretches the syllables out, like he doesn't really believe that. "Couldn't you have got your manager to email the magazine? You didn't need to go to the trouble of meeting with me for that."
"I had to see you again," Steve blurts out, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks.
"Uh, didn't we discuss this? Or should I say, the complete opposite of seeing each other again?"
"Don't tell me you don't feel it."
"I don't feel it."
Steve's hurt by how easily those words came out of Danny's mouth. "You don't mean that."
Danny gives him a look that says he's being way more patient with Steve about this than he would be with anyone else, and gestures with both hands held palm up in front of him. That's supposed to imply honesty, Steve thinks, but he's not so sure in this case.
"Look, Steve, I told you last the time we met that I am not willing to be your gay experiment. You said you understood, and then you left."
"I did, but… I don't want you to be my gay experiment either. I want… I want to see if it can be something more."
"You're unbelievable."
"What's so unbelievable about me wanting something real; something more than just sex?"
"You really think that I'll just drop everything for you, simply because you ask? I know how rock stars are, Steve. You guys think people will do anything for you just because of who you are. But it's all on your terms and I'm not prepared to be that guy. I have my own life."
"I don't want you to give that up, Danny!"
"You say that now, but how long before you're casually suggesting I come on tour with you, or that I don't need to work?"
"I wouldn't do that." Steve means it too; he'd never ask someone to give up their career for him. It certainly wasn't that which killed his relationship with Catherine.
"I'm not sure it'd be good for Grace - my daughter."
The waiter reappears before Steve can answer. He places a beer in a tall glass at Steve's right hand and then another glass of wine next to Danny before asking if they are ready to order.
"Can you give us a little longer?" Steve asks, smiling past him at Danny.
Nodding, the waiter slips away, and Danny huffs lightly. "What?"
"It sounds like you're searching to find reasons why we shouldn't give things a try."
Danny shakes his head, and then abruptly smiles. "Maybe I am."
"Do I scare you that much?"
Leaning forward onto the table, Danny gives Steve an earnest look. "Truth be told, I am scared, Steve. I'm scared of trying for something I thought I didn't have the hope of finding ever again - even though I feel strongly about you - and I'm scared it might just work out okay."
Steve frowns in confusion. "You're scared it might work out? That's crazy. Don't you want it to?"
"I do, but you know, I just don't have the best luck. I have this incredible, beautiful daughter that I love more than anything, and a great job that I'm good at and that I'm grateful to have, but love? I never imagined I'd meet someone like you, Steve, and it scares the hell out of me. Last time I thought I had everything I ever wanted, it all fell apart. Rachel found another man, and I ended up living in this crappy little apartment…"
"I'm not Rachel, Danny. I'm not gonna make you give up anything. I just want… I want the chance to try to make things work, you know? I'm crazy about you, Danny, and in the time since we met, I haven't been able to think about anyone or anything else. I want to meet your daughter, and I want to have the chance to get to know both of you properly. Please?"
Danny snorts and shakes his head. "You know what?"
Steve swallows hard, hopeful. "What?"
"You're crazy and I'm still scared it won’t work, but… I'm gonna give it a try."
The pleasure that surges through Steve at that makes him just about ready to round the table to kiss the man on the other side, but they're in a public place, and he doesn't want to do anything to send Danny running again. He makes do with a wide smile and reaching his hand across the table to take hold of Danny's hand. The answering squeeze from Danny and the warm smile aimed in his direction gives Steve the most hope for the future that he's felt in years - since he'd signed his first record deal, in fact.
~//~
Chapter 5
Characters: Steve McGarrett, Sam Denning, Danny Williams, and a brief sighting of Kono Kalakaua and Chin Ho Kelly (in this chapter)
Word Count:1802 of approximately 17K in full story
Rating: PG-13 this chapter
Warnings: some talk of relationships and career implications this chapter; eventually NC-17 activity later in story; AU, no spoilers for the show
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters named in this fic; the setting is entirely of my own imagining and in no way reflects the show's premises or ideas. I make no money from my wild imaginings
Beta: the always generous siluria made time to correct and offer suggestions; any remaining mistakes are entirely my own fault
Summary: Hawaii 5-0 Rock Star AU in which Steve is a rock singer with a backing band featuring Chin, Kono and other characters you've seen on the show, and Danny is a Rolling Stone reporter writing an article on Steve
Author’s Notes: I started writing this as some time ago as either a reward for something or from a prompt at 1_million_words (I forget which). The first couple of parts have already been posted at the comm, but now it's completely written, I am finally posting it in AO3 and my own fic LJ. Unfortunately, it's going to be posted chapter by chapter over several days due to other commitments, but I promise that the story is complete and it will all be posted in due course; please bear with me
This chapter: Steve finally gets to see Danny again, and they talk over dinner
This story can also be found here at AO3
The week has gone so slowly; Steve's impatience has probably been showing with the band. They have all been giving him odd looks lately, though he's positive the three concerts they've done between Atlanta and now have all gone well.
The flight from New Orleans - where they finished this tour - has been one of the longest ever, and now they're on the tarmac at LAX, he can't wait to get out and head for Danny's office for the meeting Denning's set up for tonight. Steve's a little surprised at how easily Danny agreed to it, but apparently he's accepted Denning's reasons and doesn't see anything odd in it.
Denning stops him before Steve can leave the plane. "What?" Steve asks anxiously, desperate to cover ground between here and Danny in as short a time as he can.
"Look, Steve, don't railroad this guy, okay?"
"What do you think I am?"
"I won't answer that. I can see how much you want this to work out, but remember, he's got a lot to think about, and you pushing him harder than he's ready for may just backfire."
Steve takes a breath; Denning's right. He needs to play it cool; let Danny decide in his own time. He nods, agreeing. "Okay. Can I just get over there now?"
"Relax, it's a dinner meeting, so you've got time."
"Dinner? I don't remember you telling me that."
Denning laughs. "You weren't listening to very much other than the fact he said yes. We'll get you to the hotel so you can get ready, and then I have a limo booked to take you to the restaurant."
"That public?" Steve isn't sure he can say what he's been planning if they're somewhere where people might recognize him.
"Steve. Calm down; it's okay. Seriously, you can't just dive into bed with the guy and expect that'll change his mind.”
"Dive into bed with who?" Kono says from behind them.
"Jesus Christ, Denning!" Steve lets out, frustrated beyond measure. "Just this journalist Denning needs me to meet about the Rolling Stone article. I'm not going to sleep with him."
Kono exchanges a look with Chin, the two of them grinning knowingly. "Sure thing, boss."
Steve stares at them angrily and grits his teeth. "Denning, I am going to kill you if we don't get moving right now."
Denning's smile is trying to break through the tight expression he's holding, Steve can tell, and while he's mad as hell about him letting out as much as he has about Steve's love-life, he knows deep down that the rest of the band are not going to care in the end.
~//~
Danny's sitting in the corner of the restaurant, behind the table in the far booth that Steve's been directed to. A little dance of nerves stirs inside Steve's belly, but he breathes in and out deeply, settling it as best he can as he approaches. Danny looks good enough to eat in a crisp white shirt and dark tie, like this is a business meet rather than a rock journo having a meal with a singer in a band to go over some last minute details of an article. Heat suffuses his body, but Steve tries to remain calm.
"Hey, Danny," Steve says nervously and holds out a hand.
Danny stands up and reaches across to shake it. "Steve. Good to see you. Have a seat."
The electricity from the contact with Danny's hand almost makes Steve want to climb over the table and into his lap, but he manages to refrain from acting on it and take his hand back before sitting down opposite Danny, smoothing the legs of his Armani suit as he smiles winningly at the man.
"So, you want to order first, or discuss what you want to go over?" Danny asks, reaching for the glass of wine standing in front of him.
"Uh, perhaps I can get a drink to start?" Steve says, since the waiter has just appeared at his elbow.
The young man coughs lightly, and Steve looks up at him, smiling. "I'll have a… whatever he's having." His change mid-sentence is due to the quality of the place; Steve suddenly realizes it's probably not exactly somewhere you just swill beer.
The waiter says, "We have beer if you prefer?" like he's used to famous people asking for all sorts of ridiculous things.
Danny snorts lightly, drawing Steve's eye. Steve's not sure what that's about, but he tells the waiter that something American would be good and the guy withdraws, nodding.
"What was that for?" Steve asks, smiling despite himself.
"What?" Danny asks, his eyes glowing with something that looks an awful lot like fondness. "The waiter? He knew who you were; that's why he offered beer. Your reputation precedes you, my friend."
"Oh," Steve says, feeling more than a little dumb.
All these years and he's still not used to these fancy restaurants. When he's recognized in the sort of places he normally eats, waiters and waitresses usually ask him for his autograph or show some other visible sign of knowing who he is. He forgets that the staff at places like this are probably frowned upon for being invasive, since there are probably famous faces eating here all the time. In fact, Steve looks around, and is sure that the couple across the room are movie-stars whose every move is normally splattered across the front of women's magazines.
"So," Danny says, changing the subject and allowing Steve's embarrassment to fade away without further comment, "Was there something wrong with what I've written? Did I get a fact wrong? I'm pretty sure I checked it thoroughly."
Steve manages a smile, but his heart is thudding. He isn't sure what to say - very unlike him - and wonders if he made a mistake in allowing Denning to set up this meeting for him. "No, that is… it's fine. I wanted… well, to say I'm happy with what you've written and that you can go ahead and print it."
There's scepticism in Danny's eyes, and he opens his mouth slowly. "Oh-kay." He stretches the syllables out, like he doesn't really believe that. "Couldn't you have got your manager to email the magazine? You didn't need to go to the trouble of meeting with me for that."
"I had to see you again," Steve blurts out, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks.
"Uh, didn't we discuss this? Or should I say, the complete opposite of seeing each other again?"
"Don't tell me you don't feel it."
"I don't feel it."
Steve's hurt by how easily those words came out of Danny's mouth. "You don't mean that."
Danny gives him a look that says he's being way more patient with Steve about this than he would be with anyone else, and gestures with both hands held palm up in front of him. That's supposed to imply honesty, Steve thinks, but he's not so sure in this case.
"Look, Steve, I told you last the time we met that I am not willing to be your gay experiment. You said you understood, and then you left."
"I did, but… I don't want you to be my gay experiment either. I want… I want to see if it can be something more."
"You're unbelievable."
"What's so unbelievable about me wanting something real; something more than just sex?"
"You really think that I'll just drop everything for you, simply because you ask? I know how rock stars are, Steve. You guys think people will do anything for you just because of who you are. But it's all on your terms and I'm not prepared to be that guy. I have my own life."
"I don't want you to give that up, Danny!"
"You say that now, but how long before you're casually suggesting I come on tour with you, or that I don't need to work?"
"I wouldn't do that." Steve means it too; he'd never ask someone to give up their career for him. It certainly wasn't that which killed his relationship with Catherine.
"I'm not sure it'd be good for Grace - my daughter."
The waiter reappears before Steve can answer. He places a beer in a tall glass at Steve's right hand and then another glass of wine next to Danny before asking if they are ready to order.
"Can you give us a little longer?" Steve asks, smiling past him at Danny.
Nodding, the waiter slips away, and Danny huffs lightly. "What?"
"It sounds like you're searching to find reasons why we shouldn't give things a try."
Danny shakes his head, and then abruptly smiles. "Maybe I am."
"Do I scare you that much?"
Leaning forward onto the table, Danny gives Steve an earnest look. "Truth be told, I am scared, Steve. I'm scared of trying for something I thought I didn't have the hope of finding ever again - even though I feel strongly about you - and I'm scared it might just work out okay."
Steve frowns in confusion. "You're scared it might work out? That's crazy. Don't you want it to?"
"I do, but you know, I just don't have the best luck. I have this incredible, beautiful daughter that I love more than anything, and a great job that I'm good at and that I'm grateful to have, but love? I never imagined I'd meet someone like you, Steve, and it scares the hell out of me. Last time I thought I had everything I ever wanted, it all fell apart. Rachel found another man, and I ended up living in this crappy little apartment…"
"I'm not Rachel, Danny. I'm not gonna make you give up anything. I just want… I want the chance to try to make things work, you know? I'm crazy about you, Danny, and in the time since we met, I haven't been able to think about anyone or anything else. I want to meet your daughter, and I want to have the chance to get to know both of you properly. Please?"
Danny snorts and shakes his head. "You know what?"
Steve swallows hard, hopeful. "What?"
"You're crazy and I'm still scared it won’t work, but… I'm gonna give it a try."
The pleasure that surges through Steve at that makes him just about ready to round the table to kiss the man on the other side, but they're in a public place, and he doesn't want to do anything to send Danny running again. He makes do with a wide smile and reaching his hand across the table to take hold of Danny's hand. The answering squeeze from Danny and the warm smile aimed in his direction gives Steve the most hope for the future that he's felt in years - since he'd signed his first record deal, in fact.
~//~
Chapter 5