H50 fic - Recovery - S/D
Title: Recovery
Characters: Danny Williams/Steve McGarrett (est. relationship), Grace Williams and Rachel
Fandom: Hawaii Five-O
Summary: Danny has to deal with what happened the previous day, and Steve has a weird fasination for Danny's hair.
Rating: M (to be safe)
Spoilers: Not that I can think of...
Word Count: 3,822
Warnings: umm.. its not beta'd!
Disclaimer: In my dreams maybe, but I don't own them!
Author's Note: Immediately follows from Paradise, as promised! :)
Their peaceful moment was cut short by the hospital door swinging open, by the sharp clicking of Rachel's heals hitting the floor echoing in the quiet room. Rachel was furious, she had been terrified when she received the call that her only child was in the hospital having nearly drowned and now she needed someone to blame. She all but marched over to Grace's bedside, carefully holding the free hand in hers and leaning down to kiss her daughter's forehead, burying her nose into Grace's still slightly damp hair and breathing in the scent, smelling the seawater.
"Thank you so much Steven, for saving my daughter," she finally spoke, finally acknowledging the men in the room, wiping at the tears that were pooling in her eyes.
Steve only nodded, not really wanting to be thanked for saving a life of the small girl of his best friend and partner. The tension in the room between Danny and Rachel was also obvious to him, and he didn’t know what to do.
"Rachel-" Danny tried to start.
"No Daniel, I don't want to hear it, I can't deal with you right now. I'll be speaking with my lawyer about this, you've put my baby in danger too many times, but this was the last straw!" She said with controlled anger, seething but still aware of her sleeping daughter.
"It was only for a few seconds, I took my eyes off her for only a few seconds! I-" Danny repeated over and over again in a mantra.
"Enough! Just leave already," Rachel nearly shrieked.
"Come on Danny, we need to shower and get some clothes on anyway," Steve added, needing to get Danny away from Rachel. Danny's eyes were firmly set on Grace's still form, "we'll call you later," Steve said to Rachel, helping Danny to stand and steering him away from his daughter, out of the quiet room and towards his car.
The car trip was near silent, none of Steve's music playing, no snappy comments coming from Danny about Steve's driving, nothing. The only thing Steve heard was the continuous rambling coming from Danny's lips; "it was only a few seconds, I didn't mean it". Steve didn't know what to do, he had never seen his partner act this way before, so broken and out of it, when he was normally so calm and collected, but then again he had never seen Danny when Danny thought he had nearly killed his pride and joy, his life, his daughter.
Steve parked his truck in his driveway, running around it and getting Danny out before leading him all the way into his house and into his main bathroom. Steve sat Danny down on the closed toilet seat, then he turned on the shower to as hot as he could stand it, turning to Danny who still hadn't moved from his spot at all.
"Alright Danno, let's get you in the shower," Steve said, more to himself, not expecting a response from Danny and not getting one.
Steve's long fingers and gentle hands ran down Danny's side, brushing against the fabric of Danny's t-shirt before they settled on the hem, curling inside and pulling it up and over his head and dishevelled hair, exposing Danny's well-toned and muscled body.
Steve cupped his hand around Danny's cheek, using his thumb to wipe away at a stray tear, "come on Babe, it will be okay, Grace is fine and Rachel will calm down soon enough," he spoke gently, heaving Danny back into a standing position.
Danny stood close to Steve, their body heat and breath mixing together. Quick fingers unbuttoned and untied Danny's boxer shorts, tugging them down without shame and getting the other man to kick off his flip flops easily.
"Into the shower you go," Steve said, turning Danny towards the fogged up shower stall. Danny hesitated for a moment, looking back at Steve with pleading eyes. "Get in, I'm coming," Steve mock sighed, as if he wasn't planning on joining Danny in the shower anyway.
He stripped down quickly dumping all their beach clothes into the hamper before opening the shower stall once more and joining Danny. Danny was standing there, stock still under the shower spray, allowing the water pressure to beat away the tension in his back. His eyes were closed but he knew the instant Steve was in there with him, he always knew where Steve was.
Steve wrapped his arms around Danny's broad shoulders, pulling Danny close to him and forcing him to wrap his own arms around Steve's waist, both men holding onto each other for comfort and support. Steve walked Danny back under the water and began lathering up the soap against Danny's skin, washing away all the sand, sunscreen and tension.
Steve rubbed his hands over Danny's shoulders and down his back massaging the muscles and feeling the body beneath his fingers slowly relax and unwind. After washing off all the soap from Danny's body, Steve grabbed his shampoo and started washing Danny's blond hair, slightly scrapping his blunt nails against Danny's scalp, running his hands through the short silky strands.
Danny was enjoying the attention, the rare show of affection, and while it came about out of a horrible situation, Danny was glad to know he had Steve by his side through anything.
"What am I going to do?" Danny sighed, finally speaking for the first time since they arrived home.
"We'll figure it out, together," Steve immediately responded, pressing his lips to Danny's temple.
Danny leaned further into Steve's embrace, trusting the other man to hold him and take care of him. Steve quickly finished washing Danny's hair, leaning Danny’s head back under the spray of water before washing himself quickly and then shutting off the water.
He grabbed them a towel each from the rack and wrapped a towel around Danny, urging him out of the shower stall before wrapping another towel around himself. Together, they made their way into his bedroom, Steve making sure he was mostly dry before getting him into his bed, "I'm going to call Rachel now, did you want to talk to her?" Steve asked.
"No, she wouldn't want to talk to me, she made that perfectly clear at the hospital..." He said with a dejected tone.
Steve nodded his acceptance, not bothering to argue with the man, simply finding the programmed number on his cell and calling Rachel. It took a while for her to answer, most likely having to leave the hospital room first.
"Rachel, how's Grace doing?" Steve asked, immediately cutting to the chase, sitting down beside Danny allowing him to hear the conversation and smiling when Danny's body curled around his. Steve sunk his hand into Danny's messy hair, enjoying the feel of it without the stiff gel.
"She's okay," Rachel answered, "she's awake and asking for you and Daniel, wants to know why you're not here, doctors say she should be able to come home tomorrow, seems like she didn't swallow too much water or just coughed it all up thanks to you, so she's avoided the chance of dry drowning," Rachel sighed, Danny echoing it with a sigh of relief of his own.
"That's great news Rachel," Steve said, "I was thinking maybe tomorrow morning Danny and I could drop by, give you some time to eat and freshen up a bit since you're staying all night," Steve offered, his fingers curling in Danny's hair lightly, hoping for Danny's sake that she would say yes.
"I don't know... Okay I guess, Stan will be coming home tomorrow afternoon too, we'll be taking her home then," she answered, Steve going back to simply petting Danny's hair now that she had said yes.
"Thank you, Rachel, you don't know how much this means to both of us, Danny's been a complete mess since he left the hospital, you have to know that he'd never intentionally hurt Grace right?" Steve said.
"I know that Steven, and yet she seems to always be in danger around him, I don't know anymore, we can discuss this further tomorrow in person, but for now I have to get back to my daughter, goodnight Steven," she responded.
"Goodnight, tell Gracie we love her," Steve said quickly, just before Rachel hung up on them.
"Well that went well," Steve muttered, his hand still playing with Danny's hair.
"I'm never going to see my daughter again," Danny responded, head buried into the soft pillow, breathing in Steve's scent for comfort.
"Don't, what happened to that guy that took no shit from anyone, not even his pain in the ass, risk taking psycho navy SEAL partner?" Steve started, rubbing his hand down Danny's neck and back," Rachel will come around, she won't keep Grace away from you, Grace loves you too much to let that happen," Steve reasoned.
He stood up and quickly discarded his phone on the bedside table, dropping the towel where he stood, and walked over to the other side of the bed. Steve crawled in between the sheets, draping his body over Danny's and getting comfortable. Danny huffed slightly, turning over in Steve's arms and resting his forehead against the strong and solid chest in front of him. He allowed the overpowering smell and general presence of his partner engulf him, feeling the finger's running through his hair and along his back as he slowly drifted off to sleep, scared of what the next day was going to bring.
Steve awoke bright and early the following morning, his nose buried deep into Danny's hair, bodies pressed up close to one another, legs curled and knotted around each other’s, and Danny's head nestled comfortably under Steve's chin, his regular breath puffing out against the skin of his neck causing him to shiver slightly with each rise and fall of Danny's chest. Steve carefully disentangled himself from Danny's tight grip, soothing the other man with one final caress through the hair as he snuffed about in his sleep, curling into the warm spot that Steve had just vacated.
Steve smiled warmly at the sight before him, only hesitating slightly before picking up his phone and snapping a few shots of his sleeping partner. Blackmail for another time of course. Checking the time, Steve realised there was still more than an hour before visiting hours started back up at the hospital, giving him enough time to complete a bit of his normal morning workout and to prepare some breakfast for the two of them.
He quickly dressed in a pair of boxers and a loose fitting t-shirt, sent out a quick message to Kono and Chin letting them know that Five-0 was standing down until further notice and that Grace was doing well before heading over to his gym. The morning flew by pretty quickly, Steve working through some routine exercises before preparing some coffee to try and entice Danny awake.
He padded back into his room silently, holding two cups of hot coffee in his hands, and moved to sit beside Danny's slumbering form. "Danno? Wake up Babe," Steve whispered, leaning down right into Danno's ear, the blond hair almost tickling his nose.
"Wha-?" Danny mumbled, burying his head further into Steve's pillow.
"Come on Bud, I've brought you coffee and you need to get ready to go see Gracie," Steve said. At the mention of coffee, Danno opened his eyes slightly, but when Grace’s name was said his head shot up, his arms coming underneath him and pushing himself up off the bed.
"I have to go, I can't let Rachel think I don't want to see Grace!" He muttered, trying to untangle his legs from the sheets wrapped around his feet.
"Whoa, calm down, we still have about half an hour before we can see her, relax, I wouldn't make you late to see Grace," Steve said, setting down the two cups of coffee before putting his hands over Danny's shoulders in an attempt to calm the other man down, slightly hurt that Danny would think that of him.
"No, I'm sorry, I know you wouldn't," Danny sighed, "I just need to see my baby girl," he added, leaning into Steve slightly. "Now... Didn't you say something about coffee?" Danny said a moment later, trying to lighten the mood in the room.
"Black as tar with one sugar for you, just the way you like it," Steve smiled, nodding towards the coffee before picking up the two cups and handing one over to Danny, blowing at the other before taking a careful sip.
"Mmm thanks Babe," Danny moaned in appreciation, smelling the coffee before taking a large gulp of the hot beverage.
After finishing their coffee, both Danny and Steve got ready for their day, all but dancing around each other in the bathroom and bedroom as they dressed and cleaned themselves up. Steve drove the silver Camaro to the hospital, driving as fast as he dared, appreciating the fact that for once Danny wasn't complaining about his driving. The hospital room was quiet when they arrived at five past nine, Grace silently picking at the hospital food provided and Rachel napping in the hard plastic chair beside her daughter.
"Danno!" Gracie squealed in delight, glad to see her father again.
"Hey Monkey! How you doing baby girl?" Danny smiled, aware of Rachel who was still sleeping, carefully embracing his daughter.
"I'm fine Dad! I just want to go home now!" She pouted. "Steve!" She cheered again, looking up past her father and spotting Steve standing by the door.
"Hey Gracie," Steve smiled in greeting, walking up to stand beside the young girl.
"Whatcha got there?" Grace asked, curiously trying to take a peek into the paper bag Steve was holding partially behind his back.
"Oh this?" Steve smirked, holding up the bag and placing it over Grace's blanketed legs. Grace spared no second before tearing into the paper bag and loose wrapping, exposing a large blue stuffed toy dolphin.
"I love it!" Grace exclaimed, hugging the toy close to her small body before reaching out to Steve. Steve hesitated for a moment before accepting the hug from the small child, still slightly awkward around his partner's daughter, unsure of how to act around her.
"Oh! I didn't realise you two had arrived!" Rachel exclaimed, finally waking up, brushing her hair back and fixing up her skirt slightly, "Daniel, Steven, how long have you two been here?" She asked by way of greeting.
"Not long now, don't worry," Steve answered, backing away from Grace slightly.
"Right then," she nodded, "Grace, Darling, your father is going to watch over you for a while, while I go and pick up your step-father, then we'll take you home," Rachel explained.
"But it's still Danno's weekend!" Grace complained, Danny's heart swelling with love at the fact that Grace still wanted to spend what little time they had left of their weekend together.
"I don't think that's such a good idea Sweetheart, it’s best if you just come home with us, safer," Rachel commented.
"Rachel, please! If she wants to be with me..." Danny started just as Grace objected with;
"But I'll be safe with Super SEAL Steve and Detective Danno!!"
Rachel sighed; "fine, I'll be by your house at eight to pick her up tonight," she finally allowed, unable to refuse her daughter, no matter how much she didn't want Danny to have her for the rest of the day.
"Thank you, Rachel," Danny sighed, grateful for another day with his daughter.
"They'll be staying with me today Rachel," Steve said, ruffling Grace's hair, making her giggle and breaking the tension in the air.
"That's fine Steven, I'll be there around eight," she nodded, "goodbye Sweetheart, you behave now and listen to your father and Steven," she ordered.
Grace nodded solemnly, trying to hide her smile at the idea of getting to spend another day with her Danno and Super SEAL. Steve and Danny bid farewell to Rachel, Danny immediately turning towards Grace who was clutching tightly at her new toy, "you genius! What did I tell you? A true Williams!" Danny chuckled.
"I'll go see when we can take you home," Steve smiled, glad that the two Williams got their way.
A few minutes later, Steve returned with a young doctor in tow; "hey Grace! How are you feeling this morning?" The doctor asked, attending to the small girl first.
"Good! Look what Steve gave me!" She said lifting up the toy dolphin for the doctor to see.
“Very cute!" She smiled, "hi there again, how are you today Detective Williams?" She spoke, pulling her stethoscope from around her neck.
The doctor examined Grace quickly and efficiently, checking her breath sounds and response times before deciding that she was good to leave, "just keep an eye out on her breathing and no strenuous activity for the next few days," she warned before leaving them, going to inform a nurse to gather Grace's discharge papers.
It didn't take long to get Grace discharged from the hospital, Steve gathering all of her things and Danny gathering up his daughter. They left the hospital together, Danny holding his daughter close to him, Grace holding her dolphin and Steve carrying the rest of it. In the car, Danny sat in the back beside his daughter, keeping her close to him and glaring at the back of Steve's head, mentally begging him to drive slowly and responsibly.
Steve smirked into the rear-view mirror, making eye contact with Danny before revving the engine. The action made Gracie laugh and Danny to freak out slightly, but other than that, Steve drove home with more care than ever before, knowing how much trust Danny was giving him in allowing him to drive Gracie around.
Back home, Danny and Steve set Grace up in front of the TV, some old Disney movies on and a blanket wrapped around her. Danny was sitting on one side of his daughter, his arm wrapped around her shoulders while Steve was preparing a simple lunch of sandwiches for the three of them. He returned to the lounge room and placed the food on the table in front of them, sitting on the other side of Grace and resting his arm over the top of the lounge, his fingertips playing with the silky strands of Danny's hair.
"You know, you sure do like playing with my hair, is there some weird obsession I should know about here?" Danny commented, pushing his head up slightly into Steve's fingers in an attempt to show Steve that he didn't really mind.
Grace looked up at Steve with big, innocent and curious eyes. "It’s just ‘cause his hair is sooo fluffy!" Steve joked, causing Grace to laugh again, and causing Danny's heart to swell with love once more.
They spent the rest of the afternoon together, simply enjoying each other's company and keeping Grace entertained until she fell asleep between them, head in Steve's lap and feet on Danny's. Now, Steve had one of his hands caressing Grace's hair, Danny sliding in closer towards Steve and gently placing a kiss on Steve's cheek.
"Thank you, for everything you've done for us today... And every day," Danny said softly, as to not awaken his daughter.
Steve used his free hand and tilted Danny's head closer towards his, pressing his lips onto Danny's firmly. It was a promise, the kiss, a promise that he would always be there and that he would always do anything and everything he could for Danny.
The clock was just nearing 8pm when a knock sounded at the front door. Danny sighed and got up, sliding out from under his daughter's legs to go answer it, already knowing who would be there.
"Rachel, so good to see you, punctual as always," he spoke, opening the door to reveal both Stan and Rachel standing there, "Stan," he nodded.
"Let's not draw this out any longer than we have to, just give me my daughter and we'll be out of your way," Rachel replied.
"You always do this, just once I'd like to properly spend time with my daughter, say goodbye to her properly, but no, you have to take even that away from me," Danny started, his voice slowly getting louder and louder.
"I gave you plenty of time Daniel!" She snapped in return, "it seems, any time you do have with her, something inconceivable happens and her life is put in danger!" Her voice was near shrieking now, "don't think for one second that my threat wasn't some kind of joke! I will be calling my attorney in the morning!" She threatened once again.
"Grace?" Steve whispered, hearing the shouting start from the other room, "Sweetie, how about you go and get your things together, I think your mom is here to pick you up now," he explained, slowly waking the young girl up.
Grace rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, leaving her head against Steve's leg for just another moment and listening to her parents yell. "They're fighting again aren't they? About me?" She mumbled, wiping her teary eyes on Steve's pants leg, showing more maturity and understanding than she normally let on.
Steve wasn't sure what to do, he picked up the small child and cradled her in his arms against his broad chest, rubbing her back soothingly. He didn't speak, just let her cry out a few tears before she stopped, wiped her tears away and pressed a quick kiss to Steve's cheek.
“Thank you, I'll get my stuff," she smiled, scampering off Steve's lap and running off to the other room.
Steve listened carefully, not hearing her above the shouts coming from his front door, the two divorced parents still fighting over their child. Steve got up and went to the bathroom to relieve himself and to give Danny and Rachel more privacy. Once he was done he walked back towards the front door, passing the spare room where Grace's things were kept, the door now closed, and made his way over to the front door.
"Look, just give me my daughter and we'll leave! Just what you want! Grace! Gracie come on let's go!" Rachel yelled just as Steve approached.
"She's just getting her things," Steve informed.
"You don't get it! It’s not that I want you and Grace to leave! It’s that I want you to leave!" Danny rebutted.
"Grace! Come on! We're going home now! Grace? Stop this and listen to your mother!" Rachel called out again.
"Grace? Gracie?" Danny called out too.
"Come on Grace! This isn't funny anymore! Just come out now!" Rachel said, pushing past Danny and entering the house, "where is she Steven?" Rachel demanded, turning on Steve, her eyes gleaming with anger.
"She was in her room," he shrugged, walking them over and pushing the door open, revealing an empty room, the window wide open.
- dun dun dun!
The next part has been written! It just needs to be checked over still! I'll post it ASAP!
Comments are love and make me wanna post faster! :D
xx
NEXT PART CONTINUED HERE!
Characters: Danny Williams/Steve McGarrett (est. relationship), Grace Williams and Rachel
Fandom: Hawaii Five-O
Summary: Danny has to deal with what happened the previous day, and Steve has a weird fasination for Danny's hair.
Rating: M (to be safe)
Spoilers: Not that I can think of...
Word Count: 3,822
Warnings: umm.. its not beta'd!
Disclaimer: In my dreams maybe, but I don't own them!
Author's Note: Immediately follows from Paradise, as promised! :)
Their peaceful moment was cut short by the hospital door swinging open, by the sharp clicking of Rachel's heals hitting the floor echoing in the quiet room. Rachel was furious, she had been terrified when she received the call that her only child was in the hospital having nearly drowned and now she needed someone to blame. She all but marched over to Grace's bedside, carefully holding the free hand in hers and leaning down to kiss her daughter's forehead, burying her nose into Grace's still slightly damp hair and breathing in the scent, smelling the seawater.
"Thank you so much Steven, for saving my daughter," she finally spoke, finally acknowledging the men in the room, wiping at the tears that were pooling in her eyes.
Steve only nodded, not really wanting to be thanked for saving a life of the small girl of his best friend and partner. The tension in the room between Danny and Rachel was also obvious to him, and he didn’t know what to do.
"Rachel-" Danny tried to start.
"No Daniel, I don't want to hear it, I can't deal with you right now. I'll be speaking with my lawyer about this, you've put my baby in danger too many times, but this was the last straw!" She said with controlled anger, seething but still aware of her sleeping daughter.
"It was only for a few seconds, I took my eyes off her for only a few seconds! I-" Danny repeated over and over again in a mantra.
"Enough! Just leave already," Rachel nearly shrieked.
"Come on Danny, we need to shower and get some clothes on anyway," Steve added, needing to get Danny away from Rachel. Danny's eyes were firmly set on Grace's still form, "we'll call you later," Steve said to Rachel, helping Danny to stand and steering him away from his daughter, out of the quiet room and towards his car.
The car trip was near silent, none of Steve's music playing, no snappy comments coming from Danny about Steve's driving, nothing. The only thing Steve heard was the continuous rambling coming from Danny's lips; "it was only a few seconds, I didn't mean it". Steve didn't know what to do, he had never seen his partner act this way before, so broken and out of it, when he was normally so calm and collected, but then again he had never seen Danny when Danny thought he had nearly killed his pride and joy, his life, his daughter.
Steve parked his truck in his driveway, running around it and getting Danny out before leading him all the way into his house and into his main bathroom. Steve sat Danny down on the closed toilet seat, then he turned on the shower to as hot as he could stand it, turning to Danny who still hadn't moved from his spot at all.
"Alright Danno, let's get you in the shower," Steve said, more to himself, not expecting a response from Danny and not getting one.
Steve's long fingers and gentle hands ran down Danny's side, brushing against the fabric of Danny's t-shirt before they settled on the hem, curling inside and pulling it up and over his head and dishevelled hair, exposing Danny's well-toned and muscled body.
Steve cupped his hand around Danny's cheek, using his thumb to wipe away at a stray tear, "come on Babe, it will be okay, Grace is fine and Rachel will calm down soon enough," he spoke gently, heaving Danny back into a standing position.
Danny stood close to Steve, their body heat and breath mixing together. Quick fingers unbuttoned and untied Danny's boxer shorts, tugging them down without shame and getting the other man to kick off his flip flops easily.
"Into the shower you go," Steve said, turning Danny towards the fogged up shower stall. Danny hesitated for a moment, looking back at Steve with pleading eyes. "Get in, I'm coming," Steve mock sighed, as if he wasn't planning on joining Danny in the shower anyway.
He stripped down quickly dumping all their beach clothes into the hamper before opening the shower stall once more and joining Danny. Danny was standing there, stock still under the shower spray, allowing the water pressure to beat away the tension in his back. His eyes were closed but he knew the instant Steve was in there with him, he always knew where Steve was.
Steve wrapped his arms around Danny's broad shoulders, pulling Danny close to him and forcing him to wrap his own arms around Steve's waist, both men holding onto each other for comfort and support. Steve walked Danny back under the water and began lathering up the soap against Danny's skin, washing away all the sand, sunscreen and tension.
Steve rubbed his hands over Danny's shoulders and down his back massaging the muscles and feeling the body beneath his fingers slowly relax and unwind. After washing off all the soap from Danny's body, Steve grabbed his shampoo and started washing Danny's blond hair, slightly scrapping his blunt nails against Danny's scalp, running his hands through the short silky strands.
Danny was enjoying the attention, the rare show of affection, and while it came about out of a horrible situation, Danny was glad to know he had Steve by his side through anything.
"What am I going to do?" Danny sighed, finally speaking for the first time since they arrived home.
"We'll figure it out, together," Steve immediately responded, pressing his lips to Danny's temple.
Danny leaned further into Steve's embrace, trusting the other man to hold him and take care of him. Steve quickly finished washing Danny's hair, leaning Danny’s head back under the spray of water before washing himself quickly and then shutting off the water.
He grabbed them a towel each from the rack and wrapped a towel around Danny, urging him out of the shower stall before wrapping another towel around himself. Together, they made their way into his bedroom, Steve making sure he was mostly dry before getting him into his bed, "I'm going to call Rachel now, did you want to talk to her?" Steve asked.
"No, she wouldn't want to talk to me, she made that perfectly clear at the hospital..." He said with a dejected tone.
Steve nodded his acceptance, not bothering to argue with the man, simply finding the programmed number on his cell and calling Rachel. It took a while for her to answer, most likely having to leave the hospital room first.
"Rachel, how's Grace doing?" Steve asked, immediately cutting to the chase, sitting down beside Danny allowing him to hear the conversation and smiling when Danny's body curled around his. Steve sunk his hand into Danny's messy hair, enjoying the feel of it without the stiff gel.
"She's okay," Rachel answered, "she's awake and asking for you and Daniel, wants to know why you're not here, doctors say she should be able to come home tomorrow, seems like she didn't swallow too much water or just coughed it all up thanks to you, so she's avoided the chance of dry drowning," Rachel sighed, Danny echoing it with a sigh of relief of his own.
"That's great news Rachel," Steve said, "I was thinking maybe tomorrow morning Danny and I could drop by, give you some time to eat and freshen up a bit since you're staying all night," Steve offered, his fingers curling in Danny's hair lightly, hoping for Danny's sake that she would say yes.
"I don't know... Okay I guess, Stan will be coming home tomorrow afternoon too, we'll be taking her home then," she answered, Steve going back to simply petting Danny's hair now that she had said yes.
"Thank you, Rachel, you don't know how much this means to both of us, Danny's been a complete mess since he left the hospital, you have to know that he'd never intentionally hurt Grace right?" Steve said.
"I know that Steven, and yet she seems to always be in danger around him, I don't know anymore, we can discuss this further tomorrow in person, but for now I have to get back to my daughter, goodnight Steven," she responded.
"Goodnight, tell Gracie we love her," Steve said quickly, just before Rachel hung up on them.
"Well that went well," Steve muttered, his hand still playing with Danny's hair.
"I'm never going to see my daughter again," Danny responded, head buried into the soft pillow, breathing in Steve's scent for comfort.
"Don't, what happened to that guy that took no shit from anyone, not even his pain in the ass, risk taking psycho navy SEAL partner?" Steve started, rubbing his hand down Danny's neck and back," Rachel will come around, she won't keep Grace away from you, Grace loves you too much to let that happen," Steve reasoned.
He stood up and quickly discarded his phone on the bedside table, dropping the towel where he stood, and walked over to the other side of the bed. Steve crawled in between the sheets, draping his body over Danny's and getting comfortable. Danny huffed slightly, turning over in Steve's arms and resting his forehead against the strong and solid chest in front of him. He allowed the overpowering smell and general presence of his partner engulf him, feeling the finger's running through his hair and along his back as he slowly drifted off to sleep, scared of what the next day was going to bring.
Steve awoke bright and early the following morning, his nose buried deep into Danny's hair, bodies pressed up close to one another, legs curled and knotted around each other’s, and Danny's head nestled comfortably under Steve's chin, his regular breath puffing out against the skin of his neck causing him to shiver slightly with each rise and fall of Danny's chest. Steve carefully disentangled himself from Danny's tight grip, soothing the other man with one final caress through the hair as he snuffed about in his sleep, curling into the warm spot that Steve had just vacated.
Steve smiled warmly at the sight before him, only hesitating slightly before picking up his phone and snapping a few shots of his sleeping partner. Blackmail for another time of course. Checking the time, Steve realised there was still more than an hour before visiting hours started back up at the hospital, giving him enough time to complete a bit of his normal morning workout and to prepare some breakfast for the two of them.
He quickly dressed in a pair of boxers and a loose fitting t-shirt, sent out a quick message to Kono and Chin letting them know that Five-0 was standing down until further notice and that Grace was doing well before heading over to his gym. The morning flew by pretty quickly, Steve working through some routine exercises before preparing some coffee to try and entice Danny awake.
He padded back into his room silently, holding two cups of hot coffee in his hands, and moved to sit beside Danny's slumbering form. "Danno? Wake up Babe," Steve whispered, leaning down right into Danno's ear, the blond hair almost tickling his nose.
"Wha-?" Danny mumbled, burying his head further into Steve's pillow.
"Come on Bud, I've brought you coffee and you need to get ready to go see Gracie," Steve said. At the mention of coffee, Danno opened his eyes slightly, but when Grace’s name was said his head shot up, his arms coming underneath him and pushing himself up off the bed.
"I have to go, I can't let Rachel think I don't want to see Grace!" He muttered, trying to untangle his legs from the sheets wrapped around his feet.
"Whoa, calm down, we still have about half an hour before we can see her, relax, I wouldn't make you late to see Grace," Steve said, setting down the two cups of coffee before putting his hands over Danny's shoulders in an attempt to calm the other man down, slightly hurt that Danny would think that of him.
"No, I'm sorry, I know you wouldn't," Danny sighed, "I just need to see my baby girl," he added, leaning into Steve slightly. "Now... Didn't you say something about coffee?" Danny said a moment later, trying to lighten the mood in the room.
"Black as tar with one sugar for you, just the way you like it," Steve smiled, nodding towards the coffee before picking up the two cups and handing one over to Danny, blowing at the other before taking a careful sip.
"Mmm thanks Babe," Danny moaned in appreciation, smelling the coffee before taking a large gulp of the hot beverage.
After finishing their coffee, both Danny and Steve got ready for their day, all but dancing around each other in the bathroom and bedroom as they dressed and cleaned themselves up. Steve drove the silver Camaro to the hospital, driving as fast as he dared, appreciating the fact that for once Danny wasn't complaining about his driving. The hospital room was quiet when they arrived at five past nine, Grace silently picking at the hospital food provided and Rachel napping in the hard plastic chair beside her daughter.
"Danno!" Gracie squealed in delight, glad to see her father again.
"Hey Monkey! How you doing baby girl?" Danny smiled, aware of Rachel who was still sleeping, carefully embracing his daughter.
"I'm fine Dad! I just want to go home now!" She pouted. "Steve!" She cheered again, looking up past her father and spotting Steve standing by the door.
"Hey Gracie," Steve smiled in greeting, walking up to stand beside the young girl.
"Whatcha got there?" Grace asked, curiously trying to take a peek into the paper bag Steve was holding partially behind his back.
"Oh this?" Steve smirked, holding up the bag and placing it over Grace's blanketed legs. Grace spared no second before tearing into the paper bag and loose wrapping, exposing a large blue stuffed toy dolphin.
"I love it!" Grace exclaimed, hugging the toy close to her small body before reaching out to Steve. Steve hesitated for a moment before accepting the hug from the small child, still slightly awkward around his partner's daughter, unsure of how to act around her.
"Oh! I didn't realise you two had arrived!" Rachel exclaimed, finally waking up, brushing her hair back and fixing up her skirt slightly, "Daniel, Steven, how long have you two been here?" She asked by way of greeting.
"Not long now, don't worry," Steve answered, backing away from Grace slightly.
"Right then," she nodded, "Grace, Darling, your father is going to watch over you for a while, while I go and pick up your step-father, then we'll take you home," Rachel explained.
"But it's still Danno's weekend!" Grace complained, Danny's heart swelling with love at the fact that Grace still wanted to spend what little time they had left of their weekend together.
"I don't think that's such a good idea Sweetheart, it’s best if you just come home with us, safer," Rachel commented.
"Rachel, please! If she wants to be with me..." Danny started just as Grace objected with;
"But I'll be safe with Super SEAL Steve and Detective Danno!!"
Rachel sighed; "fine, I'll be by your house at eight to pick her up tonight," she finally allowed, unable to refuse her daughter, no matter how much she didn't want Danny to have her for the rest of the day.
"Thank you, Rachel," Danny sighed, grateful for another day with his daughter.
"They'll be staying with me today Rachel," Steve said, ruffling Grace's hair, making her giggle and breaking the tension in the air.
"That's fine Steven, I'll be there around eight," she nodded, "goodbye Sweetheart, you behave now and listen to your father and Steven," she ordered.
Grace nodded solemnly, trying to hide her smile at the idea of getting to spend another day with her Danno and Super SEAL. Steve and Danny bid farewell to Rachel, Danny immediately turning towards Grace who was clutching tightly at her new toy, "you genius! What did I tell you? A true Williams!" Danny chuckled.
"I'll go see when we can take you home," Steve smiled, glad that the two Williams got their way.
A few minutes later, Steve returned with a young doctor in tow; "hey Grace! How are you feeling this morning?" The doctor asked, attending to the small girl first.
"Good! Look what Steve gave me!" She said lifting up the toy dolphin for the doctor to see.
“Very cute!" She smiled, "hi there again, how are you today Detective Williams?" She spoke, pulling her stethoscope from around her neck.
The doctor examined Grace quickly and efficiently, checking her breath sounds and response times before deciding that she was good to leave, "just keep an eye out on her breathing and no strenuous activity for the next few days," she warned before leaving them, going to inform a nurse to gather Grace's discharge papers.
It didn't take long to get Grace discharged from the hospital, Steve gathering all of her things and Danny gathering up his daughter. They left the hospital together, Danny holding his daughter close to him, Grace holding her dolphin and Steve carrying the rest of it. In the car, Danny sat in the back beside his daughter, keeping her close to him and glaring at the back of Steve's head, mentally begging him to drive slowly and responsibly.
Steve smirked into the rear-view mirror, making eye contact with Danny before revving the engine. The action made Gracie laugh and Danny to freak out slightly, but other than that, Steve drove home with more care than ever before, knowing how much trust Danny was giving him in allowing him to drive Gracie around.
Back home, Danny and Steve set Grace up in front of the TV, some old Disney movies on and a blanket wrapped around her. Danny was sitting on one side of his daughter, his arm wrapped around her shoulders while Steve was preparing a simple lunch of sandwiches for the three of them. He returned to the lounge room and placed the food on the table in front of them, sitting on the other side of Grace and resting his arm over the top of the lounge, his fingertips playing with the silky strands of Danny's hair.
"You know, you sure do like playing with my hair, is there some weird obsession I should know about here?" Danny commented, pushing his head up slightly into Steve's fingers in an attempt to show Steve that he didn't really mind.
Grace looked up at Steve with big, innocent and curious eyes. "It’s just ‘cause his hair is sooo fluffy!" Steve joked, causing Grace to laugh again, and causing Danny's heart to swell with love once more.
They spent the rest of the afternoon together, simply enjoying each other's company and keeping Grace entertained until she fell asleep between them, head in Steve's lap and feet on Danny's. Now, Steve had one of his hands caressing Grace's hair, Danny sliding in closer towards Steve and gently placing a kiss on Steve's cheek.
"Thank you, for everything you've done for us today... And every day," Danny said softly, as to not awaken his daughter.
Steve used his free hand and tilted Danny's head closer towards his, pressing his lips onto Danny's firmly. It was a promise, the kiss, a promise that he would always be there and that he would always do anything and everything he could for Danny.
The clock was just nearing 8pm when a knock sounded at the front door. Danny sighed and got up, sliding out from under his daughter's legs to go answer it, already knowing who would be there.
"Rachel, so good to see you, punctual as always," he spoke, opening the door to reveal both Stan and Rachel standing there, "Stan," he nodded.
"Let's not draw this out any longer than we have to, just give me my daughter and we'll be out of your way," Rachel replied.
"You always do this, just once I'd like to properly spend time with my daughter, say goodbye to her properly, but no, you have to take even that away from me," Danny started, his voice slowly getting louder and louder.
"I gave you plenty of time Daniel!" She snapped in return, "it seems, any time you do have with her, something inconceivable happens and her life is put in danger!" Her voice was near shrieking now, "don't think for one second that my threat wasn't some kind of joke! I will be calling my attorney in the morning!" She threatened once again.
"Grace?" Steve whispered, hearing the shouting start from the other room, "Sweetie, how about you go and get your things together, I think your mom is here to pick you up now," he explained, slowly waking the young girl up.
Grace rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, leaving her head against Steve's leg for just another moment and listening to her parents yell. "They're fighting again aren't they? About me?" She mumbled, wiping her teary eyes on Steve's pants leg, showing more maturity and understanding than she normally let on.
Steve wasn't sure what to do, he picked up the small child and cradled her in his arms against his broad chest, rubbing her back soothingly. He didn't speak, just let her cry out a few tears before she stopped, wiped her tears away and pressed a quick kiss to Steve's cheek.
“Thank you, I'll get my stuff," she smiled, scampering off Steve's lap and running off to the other room.
Steve listened carefully, not hearing her above the shouts coming from his front door, the two divorced parents still fighting over their child. Steve got up and went to the bathroom to relieve himself and to give Danny and Rachel more privacy. Once he was done he walked back towards the front door, passing the spare room where Grace's things were kept, the door now closed, and made his way over to the front door.
"Look, just give me my daughter and we'll leave! Just what you want! Grace! Gracie come on let's go!" Rachel yelled just as Steve approached.
"She's just getting her things," Steve informed.
"You don't get it! It’s not that I want you and Grace to leave! It’s that I want you to leave!" Danny rebutted.
"Grace! Come on! We're going home now! Grace? Stop this and listen to your mother!" Rachel called out again.
"Grace? Gracie?" Danny called out too.
"Come on Grace! This isn't funny anymore! Just come out now!" Rachel said, pushing past Danny and entering the house, "where is she Steven?" Rachel demanded, turning on Steve, her eyes gleaming with anger.
"She was in her room," he shrugged, walking them over and pushing the door open, revealing an empty room, the window wide open.
- dun dun dun!
The next part has been written! It just needs to be checked over still! I'll post it ASAP!
Comments are love and make me wanna post faster! :D
xx
NEXT PART CONTINUED HERE!