FIC: True Love (1/1)

[stellarmeadow]

Title: True Love
Pairing: Steve/Danny
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Missing scenes/tag for Ohuna from Steve and Danny's points of view.
Notes: This has been eating at my brain ever since the ep last night--silly work, keeping me from writing it until now! Title is from the Pink song of the same name, which includes lyrics like:

Sometimes I hate every stupid word you say, sometimes I want to slap you on your whole face.

and

At the same time I wanna hug you, I wanna wrap my hands around your neck. You're an asshole, but I love you..."

Can't imagine why it seemed to fit... :)



"You want to what?" Danny stared at Steve. "I'm sorry, I must have gone deaf from one too many repeats of Grace playing that One Direction song this weekend. I could've sworn you said you were going to hide under the moving truck."

Steve heaved a sigh worthy of the number of times they'd had a variation of this discussion. "Danny," he said, leading Danny away from half of HPD, all of whom were pretending not to listen to their argument, "if you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears."

"I do have a better suggestion, Steven, thank you for asking. I suggest that we put an extra tracker on the vehicle, and we follow it, and then we ambush them when they stop."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Oh, right, okay, and then you're going to explain to Kono's family, starting with Chin, why she's dead?"

"They're not going to kill their police hostage--"

"Danny, she has the password," Steve said quietly, leaning in, intent, his hand on Danny's shoulder. "That's what they want. Clearly they think she's the only one who has it or they wouldn't be giving everyone else up. How long do you think she's going to live once she hands it over?"

Danny pressed his lips close together, and Steve knew he was about to win. "Asshole," he muttered finally.

Steve's mouth lifted at one corner. "So you agree then?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Because you generally only call me 'asshole' when I'm right and there's nothing you can do about it."

Danny's lips twitched. "Asshole."

"See?" Steve squeezed Danny's shoulder, his hand lingering a second before letting go. "Okay, I'll get under the truck around the corner before Chin drives it in, and then as soon as they're on the open road, I'll neutralize the driver--"

"Neutralize? What are you, air freshener?"

"I'll neutralize the driver," Steve continued, ignoring the comment, "and you guys can take out the door."

"And hopefully not you and Kono in the process."

Steve shook his head. "It'll work. I've done this before."

"You've hidden under the bottom of a police paddy wagon to rescue one of your team from kidnappers?"

Steve gave a half shrug. "Close enough. I can't go into details, it's--"

"Classified, I know, I know, just go put on your Teflon suit, Ninja SEAL." As Steve turned to walk away, Danny grabbed his arm, turning him back around. "If you get dead I'm going to kill you," he said.

"I know," Steve replied, reading between the lines. "Me, too."

He squeezed Danny's arm again before walking away.

***

Danny was driving as fast as he could while still avoiding being in view of the truck. Just as well; he wasn't sure his heart could stand seeing Steve climb out from under a speeding truck and up onto it. Just the mental image alone sent his heart up into his throat.

It seemed like forever before Steve's voice came over Danny's earpiece, not in a scream of pain but with the calm, business like, "You guys are good to go."

Danny barreled around the corner, lining up behind the truck and urging Chin on. He wanted this over before Steve and Kono were both dead. Of course, Chin was about to blow the door off a truck Steve was driving, which could cause a number of horrible things to happen to said truck, but Danny wasn't thinking about it.

"In five!" Chin shouted.

"All right, babe," Danny said, unable to resist the term of endearment, just in case, "we're good to go in five, four, three, two, one!"

The door blew, and Danny had to swerve to avoid it, using every memory of Captain Handbrake's driving instruction at the academy to get the car quickly back on track to allow Chin to fire at the kidnappers.

Then he was swerving to a stop to avoid hitting Kono as she tumbled out of the back of the truck with one of the kidnappers. Before they could get to her, she'd taken the guy out without a problem. "You okay?" Chin shouted at her.

She looked up at them, and God help them all, Danny recognized that look as patented McGarrett before she shoved her hair out of her way and said, "Fine."

He wondered if he should just warn Adam now what he was in for, or let him figure it out for himself.

As Steve walked up behind Kono, alive, if not entirely unharmed, judging by the number of tears in his clothing showing bloody skin underneath, Danny decided Adam could figure it out for himself.

If Danny warned him, he might decide the Yakuza was a safer bet than Kono.

***

"Ow!" Steve glared over his shoulder at Danny, who gave him a completely unrepentant look.

"You're the one who decided to go all Rambo," Danny said mildly, dabbing at the road burn on Steve's shoulder. "Consider this your reward for the years that took off my life."

"Oh, right, because it was all about you," Steve said, glaring some more. "I wasn't the one, you know, actually under the truck." A particularly bad sting made Steve hiss. "Ow!"

Danny just looked at him, cotton ball held just above Steve's skin. "Seriously, a tetanus shot and you don't even flinch, but a little peroxide and you squeal like a girl."

"I swear you're making it hurt more on purpose."

"And if I was," Danny said, throwing away the cotton and putting the lid on the peroxide bottle, "and I'm not saying I was, mind you, but if I was, it would be no more than you deserved for scaring the shit out of me."

Steve pulled a new shirt out of his drawer and pulling it on, wincing as it settled on the road burn on his shoulder. "I was never in any real danger," he tried.

"You were dragged by a speeding truck, Steven. In what world is that not dangerous?"
"I knew what I was doing."

"Well I didn't!" Danny took a deep breath, turning away to put the bottle of peroxide into the large toolbox he'd turned into a first aid kit. "Not all of us were indoctrinated at SEAL boot camp."

Steve didn't even try to correct him. He just pulled on Danny's arm until Danny walked into his embrace. Steve leaned in, tucking his nose into Danny's shoulder. "I'm fine, Danno."

"This time."

Steve could hear Danny rolling his eyes. "I'll always be fine," he said, letting go and pulling back. "As long as you're there to watch my back."

"Yeah, well, you keep up the stupid stunts and that may not be enough."

But it would be. Steve knew it would.

***

Danny watched as Kono limped into the bullpen. At Steve's question about the hospital, she said, "I'm fine, it's just a few scratches."

Totally McGarrett junior. Danny didn't even consider warning Adam this time--he knew first hand there was no point.

He watched Steve telling Kono about the file and their bust, saw the satisfied face she made at an impossible job well done, and saw Steve's influence in that as well.

Maybe the McGarrett influence wasn't all that bad. Sometimes.

Not that he'd ever admit that to Steve.

***

Steve knocked on Danny's door, waiting all of two seconds before walking inside. Danny stopped halfway to the door when he saw who it was. "I thought you were with your mom," Danny said.

"Mary came by," Steve replied, shrugging with his good shoulder. "I thought I'd give them some privacy."

"Plus your shoulder hurts like a bitch and you can't reach it with the Neosporin?" Danny guessed.

It wasn't entirely untrue, even if it wasn't the main reason he'd come. "Maybe," Steve admitted after a moment.

"Come here, you goof," Danny said, leading Steve to the small bedroom, which at least had an actual bed--an improvement over Danny's first place. "Here." He helped Steve out of his shirt, tossing it aside and pushing him gently at the bed. "Lie down."

Steve laid face down on the bed, smelling Danny's scent in the pillow as Danny walked out. He was back a moment later with Neosporin, and sat down next to Steve on the bed. "You're crazy, you know that, right?"

"Not crazy," Steve muttered, tensing up as Danny touched the road burn. He relaxed a few seconds later as it started to numb the sting, Danny's fingers rubbing it in gentle circles. It felt good, soothing beyond just the medicine. "Just good."

Danny's laugh wasn't mocking enough to be offensive. "Yeah, a legend in your own mind," he said, but his tone was warm. "And modest, too. Don't forget modest."

Steve huffed an attempt at a laugh, but Danny's hands were massaging the medicine into his back, working out strained muscles as well as the burn, and Steve's eyes were closing against his will. "Must be doing something right," Steve mumbled into the pillow. "You're still here."

He felt Danny's laugh against his skin a moment before a kiss landed between Steve's shoulder blades. "I guess neither of us have any self-preservation instincts," Danny said.

"'S why we preserve each other," Steve slurred. He felt Danny's lips again just before he slid into sleep.

---
END