It Started with a Question (2/?)

[float_on_alright]

 
Title: It Started with a Question (2/?)
Pairing: Steve/Danny
Rating: PG-13 (for strongish language)
Summary: Steve surprisingly happy but still asn't made the connection.
Genre: Pre-slash that is mostly humor fic (for now)
Warnings: None (yet)
Spoilers: Um nothing after ep 1.6 - Ko'olauloa 
Word count:: ~ 1,100
Disclaimer: Don't have any rights, don't mean any harm, don't make any money.
Link to Part 1 HERE


Thanks soooo much to purple_spock  who, poor dear, had to edit this twice.


When Steve arrived at Danny’s apartment, Danny had been outside, presumably waiting on him, on the phone with Rachel (he assumed, because Danny used that tone of voice with two people and one of them was driving up to Danny now). Steve barely had a chance to park before Danny got in the car. His conversation was not going well.

"Don’t hang up on me. Do not ha- Damn it!" from Danny, made it was clear she had. Danny appeared to be fighting the urge to smash the phone into the dashboard.

"So, you’re very fond of your ex-wife then?" Steve asked with more playfulness than sarcasm; he was well versed in that relationship.

“Hah hah, it is obvious you’ve never been married.”

“Sure I have.” Steve said. Danny looked incredulous.

“How long have you been divorced? I can only assume that you are not currently married.”

“I guess you could say we separated around the same time I met you, just after actually.”

"Who was she?" Danny asked, sounding like he felt more sympathetic for "her" than he did for Steve.

"Who said I was married to a woman?" Steve said, working hard to keep a straight face, staring straight ahead at the road in an attempt to obscure his face from Danny. Moreover, he was not sure how well he could keep from bursting into laughter if he looked at Danny’s face just now. Even out of the corner of Steve’s eye, he could see Danny’s eyes go wide, then narrow skeptically.

"The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy’ told me so, but I’ll play along. To whom, Steven, were you married?"

“I was married to the Navy for eleven years, but I guess you could say we are currently taking a well-needed break from each other, kinda,” The grin that had been fighting to take over his face finally won and spread; Danny rolled his eyes,

“Child,” he said under his breath.

“What?” Steven asked. He had heard what Danny said, but he liked pretending that he hadn’t just to annoy Danny.

“I work with a child,” he said, turning to Steve to give him a pointed look. Steve laughed.

He loved bickering with Danny. There were a few reasons for this. First, Steve knew he wasn’t the easiest partner to have, but most people he met were impressed, intimidated or charmed by him and they let him get away with more than he knew they should, but not Danny. Danny was not intimidated, charmed, or amused (with the occasional exception) with Steve’s antics and called him on every bit of bullshit; Steve loved it.

The second reason was that Danny would get flustered and agitated so easily. He was already a bundle of energy, and winding him up was like lighting a box of fireworks, watching them burst and set the next one off into the air; it was just too much fun to resist. He imagined that it was a lot like having a brother, except their banter and constant proximity was leaving Steve with a coiling impatience, both exhilarating and alarming, that he could not shake. He pushed that aside to deal with it later as there was the very public death of Kono’s old mentor to solve.

Steve spent the next several days consumed with the case. Thoughts that did not directly relate to the murder were concerned with keeping an eye on Kono to make sure she was managing. Kono may be tough but she was still a rookie and this was the first personal case she had to deal with. Chin had tried to persuade her, Steve ordered her to go home, but she let no one deter her from the case.

This had caused some conflicting feelings for Steve. With the exception of Danny (who was finally getting to the point where he only questioned Steve’s every other suggestion), Steve was accustomed to people following his orders, he was military after all. On the other hand, he admired Kono for standing up to him. It showed how strong and loyal she was, especially to the people she loved. Thinking of the “Champ” toolbox settled it; he wouldn’t have a different standard for his team than for himself and there was no further argument he could make on the subject.

Besides, if Chin couldn’t convince her to leave, no one could. If Chin wasn’t so levelheaded and intelligent, this might have bothered Steve, but he respected Chin, trusted him, and knew that Kono had a solid role model. He had a feeling that Chin was more like an older brother, maybe even a father figure, no matter how often they called each other “cuz”.

No one on his team doubted that Kono could hold her own, but had there been anyone who questioned her place on his team, her work on this case would have silenced them.

Looking at the man with the nasty black eye improved his spirits further. Steve had suspected Kono was responsible for that bruise and the scum confirmed it. Steve hadn’t been kidding when he told the dirt bag he was lucky with what he got, no matter that he was three times her weight. Between the image of Kono bringing down someone more than twice her size and the speech Danny gave, it was very difficult for Steve not to laugh.

He was laughing a lot lately, which was very different from the life he’d had since his mother died. His father’s death was burden, but it had brought him back to Hawaii. Coming back to Hawaii had changed him in ways he hadn’t thought possible, he felt lighter. He had the impression someone had flipped a switch inside him because he felt charged, electric even. Hell, this was the best he’d felt in years.
He looked at Danny who was giving him an inquiring look and he realized he was beaming for absolutely no reason at all in the middle of chasing down an assassin.

“We’ve got ‘em,” he said, in an attempt to explain.

“Only you would grin like that during the pursuit of a man who is likely armed and dangerous. If you get me killed, so help me, I will haunt you until you join me. I will block up your engines, hide your guns, and smash everything I can anytime you attempt to bring a girl home in order to scare them out of your house. Are we clear?”

“As pineapple juice,” Steve answered, barely containing what felt suspiciously like a giggle.

“There is so much wrong with you.” Steve just grinned broader.

(To the Master List!)

Comments

[abbeyrd62561.livejournal.com]

Love the conversation they have about marriage. Danny is thinking Steve was really married..lol..And then he let Danny know he was married to the Navy, that was good cause he was. Then the rant got me, I loved Danny telling Steve if he got him killed he'd haunt him til he joins him, hide his guns and so on.....that was to funny......great job

[illfindmyway.livejournal.com]

Thanks! <3

[teddibear.livejournal.com]

FYI, this part is not linked in the Master List. When you click on part 2, it takes you to part 4. You may wanna fix it :)

Oh and love the banter they have going here. Steve married to the Navy, so true! *snerk*

[illfindmyway.livejournal.com]

Fixed! Thanks for letting me know :)

And thanks for reading and commenting on my stories!