Fic: Hidden in the World of Dawn - Chapter 2
Title: Hidden in the World of Dawn
Author: mneme2434
Pairing: Danny/Steve
Rating: PG for this part (few swear words)
Beta: Nope, unless you count my school beta program…and that just does grammar.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters and I am not making any money.
Word count: 2300ish
Summary: A new case takes Steve and Danny to a place like no other they’ve been to. And for Steve? That’s saying something. Danny, on the other hand, is happy for a whole ‘nother reason.
Chapters: 2/?
A/N: So apparently I’m alternating POV’s each chapter…this one is Danny’s. I am not too confident on my Danny voice, so be kind. Dedicated to Lily for reading this chapter when it was half finished and demanding more.
Chapter 1
~~
Danny watched with a feeling of bemusement as Steve argued with the clerk at the front desk of their hotel. They had arrived in Hilo only a half an hour prior and had made it to the hotel fairly quickly, since the place was only a few blocks from the airport. For a city hosting a convention, the hotel was surprisingly empty and they had made it through check in within a decent amount of time.
The problem was their room - and its one bed. Danny couldn’t say he was shocked by it. It was just the way their luck, and his own, tended to run. From what Danny could ascertain from the argument, there were no other rooms available, just like the Governor had said. He was fairly sure that the part that was getting Steve all up in arms was that the room had no pull out bed and the hotel was out of cots.
“Steve,” Danny interrupted, smiling apologetically at the clerk, “It’s not his fault. We’ll just get a camping mattress from the store, all right?”
The clerk scowled, “Actually sir, those are not allowed in the rooms. We have had incidences in the past with valuable décor being ruined.”
Danny frowned, “Are you kidding me? It’s an air mattress! They shouldn’t even leave the ground.”
“I don’t make the rules sir. You will lose your deposit if one is found.”
Danny opened his mouth to inform the man where he could shove his deposit. Before he could utter a word, however, Steve slammed his hand over his mouth. Danny narrowed his eyes at his partner, “Necessary? Really?” he mumbled behind the hand and then scowled at the garbled mess that actually came out. He pulled Steve’s hand away from his mouth, “Fine. I’ll sleep on the floor. Let’s go get the stuff we need and get back. I’m tired and hungry.”
Steve nodded and shot the clerk one more scathing glare before turning and striding out of the lobby. Danny followed as quickly as he could, “Look,” he said, once they were in their rental, “Let’s just sneak a mattress in. We can stow it in the truck when we’re out of the hotel.”
“We could have, if you hadn’t started arguing. We’re staying on Jameson’s dime. How happy do you think she’d be if we were caught and she lost the deposit?” Steve asked, glancing at Danny before pulling into a gas station.
“You’re right, okay? I got it. Why are you stopping? You have a full tank of gas.”
Steve pulled up into a parking spot by the door, “I need to find a store that sells winter gear. Which means asking a local. Do you want anything?”
Danny started to shake his head no but shrugged, “Water?”
Danny leaned his head back on the head rest and watched his partner enter the store through half-lidded eyes. Danny wondered how this trip was going to play out. He hadn’t been thrilled at the thought of staying in the same room with Steve at all. It wasn’t because he didn’t like the man, if that had been the case he never would have taken the transfer to join five-0. No, it was because he actually liked the man way more than he should - and he sometimes talked in his sleep.
His dreams of Steve were few and far between, thankfully, but he was worried that continuous proximity would induce them. The talking thing usually happened when he was stressed out about something and rough cases tended to be a catalyst to it. Danny groaned and let his head drop into his hands. Maybe he should just sleep in the truck. It might save him some grief in the long run.
Steve was back in about ten minutes, “There is a store over by the airport that has a decent supply of winter clothes for those very rare people that leave the islands for the holidays.”
The store was a little mom and pop place run by an older couple that had moved from the mainland. Danny thought that they had the right idea, opening a store close to an airport that sold winter attire. It was something he might have done, if he didn’t think being around the clothing would make him homesick. He definitely had to give the couple props for that.
While he had been packing, Danny had done some quick research on Mauna Kea to know what to pack. Steve’s ‘winter jacket’ wouldn’t be sufficient if the winter up that high was anything like the mountains back home. He remembered one horrible Christmas his family had spent holed up in his Uncles cabin in the Appalachian Mountains. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but his family (all six of them), his uncle and his family (another five), his grandparents, and his aunts sister and nephew had all been trapped in a five room cabin for a week waiting for plow to get to them. The fighting going on by the end of that still gave him nightmares.
Other than the fighting, the thing he remembered most from that week was the cold. It hadn’t been that bad in Jersey, both before they left and after they got home, but the higher altitude of the mountain made for more frigid air. That thought had made him check out what he was getting himself into. From what he could find, the average temperature on Mauna Kea in December was around thirty degrees. After a long, hot summer he knew he was going to need more than a winter coat.
Danny grabbed two thermal shirts, a couple of fleece sweaters, three regular hoodies (which he hated, but it was all the store carried that wasn’t fleece thanks to the University of Hawaii and the stores need to sell campus-related gear aimed at teens), and a nice thick jacket that cost him eighty bucks alone. Steve, the jerk, had only a jacket and two sweaters. Danny wondered if he should warn him about being accustomed to heat and sudden cold weather but the man had been a SEAL. He probably knew what he was doing.
When they were packing their gear into the back seat, Danny glanced up at the mountain, which was only visible from the tree line down from the cloud coverage. He thought he had caught a glimpse of white through a break in the clouds, but it was only a glimpse and for all he knew it could have been more clouds. He shook his head and climbed into the truck.
He glanced at Steve, who was looking at him with that face that Danny had a hard time naming. It wasn’t concern, exactly, but it was close, “What?”
“You are being really quiet. It’s creeping me out.”
Danny raised his eyebrows, “So I can’t be quiet now? I have to talk all the time?”
“That isn’t what I meant. What’s going on?”
Danny shrugged and took a swig of his water, “Nothing. Just thinking about home.”
He saw Steve tense and frowned in response. He knew Steve had some beef about hearing him go on about Jersey. What he really didn’t understand was why. Jersey had been his home for 33 years. Jersey was where his family was. He was suddenly supposed to adapt and forget his roots?
“What about it?”
Danny cracked a smile, “The last time I was up on a mountain.”
“That’s what’s got you all quiet? Seriously?”
“Hey, I can reflect. It ain’t my fault this is bringing back some weird memories.”
Steve came to a red light and glanced at him, “Memories huh?”
“Yes and let me reiterate. Weird memories. Memories of most of my family trapped in a cabin for five days. There was about fifteen of us in this tiny ass cabin. The thing didn’t even have two bedrooms. Just a master and a loft.”
Steve chuckled, “How are you still alive?”
Danny shook his head, “I have no idea. I was ready to kill my brother and two of my cousins by the end, not to mention all the fighting going on between my ma and my uncle.”
“Must have been rough.”
Danny shook his head, “You have no idea.”
The rest of the ride back to the hotel was done in silence, the only noise being the windshield wipers that Steve had flipped on as the clouds opened up and rain started to fall, “You do know we are going to have to spend a couple hours at the state park tomorrow, right?” Danny asked, as Steve pulled into the parking garage.
“What?”
“Tell me you’ve been up mountains before with all your SEAL ninja crap, please. All I did was look through a few sites before we left and I know this.”
“Of course I knew it, Danny. I just didn’t think you did. Yes, we will spend some time at the park before heading up to OCIA which is also where the second point of acclimation is for the people who hike the trails or continue on to the observatories.”
Danny held up his hands, “Woah, okay. I was just checking. What’s got your knickers all in a twist?”
Steve blew out a breath, “Nothing. It’s just that the park is past the turn off for Mauna Kea road. I hate back tracking like that.”
“Hey, if you want to get sick that’s your own business. Me, I prefer to acclimatize. I hear altitude sickness is a bitch,” Danny climbed out of the truck and shoved his hands in his pockets, “What time are we leaving tomorrow?”
Steve gave him a look over the bed of the truck, which had Danny laughing, “Right, right what was I thinking. Early. I better get some food in me then because unless you want me crabby tomorrow, I’m gunna have to hit the sack early.”
“What does that have to do with eating?”
Danny looked at him, “I need time to digest the food. I refuse to get indigestion and that is exactly what will happen if I go to bed with a full stomach.”
Steve shook his head, “Right."
~~
After eating a fairly good meal from room service that only had Steve half frowning at his plate, Danny spent an hour on the phone with Grace, listening to her wax tales of Mauna Kea and the observatories, something that they were learning about in science (“It’s really cool Danno. Did you know there are thirteen of them?” “It snows up there. Mom said that there is never snow in Hawaii but people actually ski at the top!”)
After hanging up, he noticed that Steve was staring at the TV screen with a look on his face that for most normal people would be considered glazed over. Danny knew better. Steve was probably running through a mental checklist of their day tomorrow. With a sigh, he stood and stretched, “Ready to hit the sack?”
Steve looked at him and then nodded slowly before swinging his legs off the bed, “I’ll take the floor.”
“Woah, wait a minute,” Danny glanced up from his duffle bag, pajama pants held loosely in his fist, “I coulda sworn I already said I was taking the floor.”
“Yeah, you did, but something else I don’t want to listen to you bitch about tomorrow is your back which is exactly what you’ll do if I actually let you take the floor,” Steve commented, pulling the comforter off the bed.
“Well, if you’re just going to hand it over, I’m not arguing…what are you doing?” Danny asked, fascinated despite himself as he watched Steve start to fold up the fairly thick comforter. Now, granted, Danny wasn’t actually planning on using the thing, but from the looks of it, neither was Steve. At least, not to cover up with.
“Making a pallet,” Steve replied as he laid the thrice folded comforter on the floor.
Danny dropped his butt onto the dresser and continued to watch as Steve went to the closet and pulled out two thinner, spare blankets and a sheet. Given that there was only one bed in the room, Danny couldn’t figure what they were for unless management expected hotel guests to dress their own cots when they received them. A feeling of amusement shot through Danny as Steve folded up the two thin blankets as well and then wrapped the sheet around the whole bunch.
“What are you planning on covering up with?” He asked, the amusement evident in his voice, “Cause if you steal the blanket off the bed, you and I are gunna have words.”
“I don’t need to cover up, Danny. It’s not cold in here.”
Danny snorted, “It will be. As soon as I am outta that bathroom, I’m cranking the A/C.”
“It’s not hot in here either.”
Danny stood up and walked into the bathroom, “Doesn’t matter. I actually like to cover up while I sleep.”
It didn’t take him long to get ready for bed and he was out and bouncing on the bed within ten minutes. Normally, he tested hotel beds as soon as he got into the room, but he hadn’t this time figuring there was no point if he wasn’t going to use it.
“Do I want to know?” Steve asked, after his turn in the bathroom.
Danny shrugged, “Testing. Always done it.”
Steve smirked, “Testing for what? To see if it can withstand some hot and heavy sex?”
“Yeah, cause that is the first thought to cross a ten-year-old mind you perv,” Danny said with heavy sarcasm as he threw the extra pillow at Steve’s head, “Which is exactly when I started this little tradition. It usually got me the better bed during trips.”
Steve caught the pillow and dropped it at the head of his little pallet, “You turn up the A/C?”
“Yes mother.”
“Bite me Danno.”
“God, don’t tempt me like that. I may actually do it.”
~~
TBC… Chapter 3
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