Fic | Familiar Shores Beneath the Stars
Mar. 1st, 2012 03:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
siehnSoooo this happened.
It's kind of a response to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ciaimpala's prompt here except not. Er. It ended up a little different.
Written at 3:00am, not beta'd.
Forciaimpala regardless. ♥ Not quite what you asked for, but I hope you like it all the same. All the hugs.
“Danno,” Grace says, tugging on his sleeve until he looks down at her, “who’s that?” She’s pointing towards Steve’s room where Lori is standing beside his bed, probably holding his hand from the looks of things.
Steve looks pained, in the carefully blank way he uses with everyone who doesn’t know better; it’s obvious he’s uncomfortable, and Danny heaves a put-upon sigh. Steven is very, very lucky Danny is both an excellent father, and a thoughtful, caring partner. And that he hasn’t yet found the perfect immunity for prolonged exposure to Grace’s puppy-eyes, and the way ‘please, Danno, it’s Uncle Steve‘ tugs at his heart-strings. It’s Uncle Steve, indeed.
“That’s Lori, Monkey,” he tells her, heading for the room because he knows Grace, at least, will put a smile on the SEAL’s face. “You remember Lori?” They’d been introduced once, but hadn’t interacted much beyond that.
Grace just shrugs. “She isn’t doing it right, Daddy,” she says instead, shaking her head like all of her nine years have made her wise in the ways of comforting Navy SEALS. Danny chuckles, and nudges her ahead of him to show Lori how it’s done. He half wonders what sort of analysis their newest team member will get from this little visit, but it’s a brief thought, and he doesn’t really care. Grace peeks into the room until she’s noticed, and then sidles up to Steve’s bed like she’s still shy.
“Hey Gracie,” Steve says, something gone soft about him, and Lori looks over at Danny, brow raised in a way that he takes offense to. He knows what he’s doing, bringing his daughter here, and he nods back towards them, crossing his arms over his chest, and leaning against the doorway.
“Uncle Steve!” Grace very carefully edges her way between Lori, and the bed, uttering a polite ‘excuse me’ to her, and Danny can’t help grinning at the way Steve’s face lights up, and it’s damn good to know that there’s something that can chase those shadows away, if only temporarily. It’s one of the reasons Rachel agreed to his, Danny knows. “Danno says you’re hurt, so I can’t give you a hug,” she says, like it’s important that Steve know there’s a reason she hasn’t launched herself onto the bed to strangle him yet.
Steve’s grin is a little rough around the edges, but real, and he shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says, tugging, and shifting until he has Grace up on the side of his bed, “a Gracie-hug might be just what I need to feel better.” It’s like Danny, and Lori aren’t even in the room, for the moment, as Steve lets a little bit of the hyper-alertness go to be almost-sort of goofy with Danny’s daughter, and he can’t help the smug smile he gets when Lori glances over at him. Hell yes, does Danny know Steven, and what’s good for Steven, and exactly what will work when nothing else has.
Grace beams, only too happy to carefully throw her arms over her Uncle Steve, and hug him as tight as she dares. The look on Steve’s face as he hugs her back is almost too much, almost undoes Danny right there because there’s knowing what’s probably going through your partner’s head, and then there’s knowing, and damn, do they have some things to discuss once Steve is out of here, and mostly-normal again.
He claps his hands together, drawing attention to himself because he’s going to do something horribly embarrassing if he doesn’t, and Steven can fuck right off with his too-knowing looks. “Right, Monkey, didn’t you bring a book from school you wanted to--”
“Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot,” she’s all smiles as she scrambles down from the bed, and over to the backpack Danny has left in the unoccupied chair in the corner. “We’re studying marine life in school, and I got this book on the ocean, and I really think you’ll like it, Uncle Steve; it’s really cool!” She retrieves the book, still chattering on about the ocean, and currents, and peppering Steve with questions he probably knows the answers to because he’s a science-geek. Danny grins at him over Grace’s head, and nods towards the hallway, where the coffee is, leaving only when he gets a nod in return. He beckons Lori to follow because there’s no use in her standing in there forming judgments about Steve, and Danny, and their relationship.
Which is probably a little harsh, really, sue him; he’s feeling kind of protective right now. He’s allowed.
“I couldn’t get a word out of him,” Lori says, looking down at the cup of coffee Danny hands her like it’s got the answers to all the questions she wants to ask. “It’s like he just shut down as soon as we got back, and--”
Danny sighs, and holds up a hand. “Look, I get it, really I do,” he says, narrowly avoiding spilling his own coffee when he waves a hand through the air. “You wanna help, you wanna be there for him, maybe be the one to get him to talk about it, am I right?” He knows he is, and her silence is answer enough. He quirks a smile that’s more gentle than he means, but she means well, and it isn’t her fault Steve has been Danny’s since the day they met.
“Right,” he decides, tugging at her arm until he can steer her to the nearest uncomfortable hospital chair. “Okay, see, Steven will talk when he can’t hold it in anymore, and it will undoubtedly be at some ungodly midnight hour when I am trying to sleep, and he’s intent on dragging me out onto the beach because God forbid he be the slightest bit normal--” he pauses, takes a breath, and realizes he’s getting off track. “He certainly isn’t going to do it now, when everything is still a threat, and he’s expecting Wo Fat to fucking walk in at any minute, and finish the job,” he informs her, letting his gaze stray over her head, and towards the room where Steven is cheerfully sitting up, and listening to Grace tell him things he already knows.
“Is this you telling me to back off, Danny?” Lori asks, straight out, and Danny is surprised for half a minute before he laughs. She’s smiling, which is good, and turning in her chair to watch Danny’s daughter chase the shadows away from Steve just by being there, and he thinks she probably gets it.
“Nah, I don’t have to,” he says, though, because it’s true, and he wants to say it, wants it out there; known. He and Steve haven’t talked about it, haven’t done anything, but that doesn’t make it non-existent, doesn’t make it any less the truth.
“He’s good with her,” she sounds like she’s surprised, which is fair considering the incident with the kid in the elevator back before Steve knew what actual human interaction was.
Danny shrugs. “She adores him. It’s always ‘Uncle Steve this’ and ‘Uncle Steve that’ like the maniac is some kind of superhero, and I keep telling her not to encourage him, but nope,” he sighs the put-upon, heavy sigh of the long-suffering. “They’re going to be terrors; seriously, you have no idea, I’m going to be grey before she hits sixteen.” This is a fact Danny is resigned to because he is surrounded by crazies, and they have all corrupted his poor, innocent little daughter. He wouldn’t have it any other way, though, if he’s being honest with himself.
Lori finishes off her coffee, checks her watch, and stands. “Looks like you’ve got things in hand here,” she smiles ruefully, turning to look back at Danny, “so I guess I’ll get going. Uninterrupted sleep in an actual bed will be a nice change.”
“Yes,” he says, chuckling, “go, sleep; enjoy! Leave us poor, wretched creatures here to suffer.”
She laughs, which he counts as a win because Lori was there in Korea with the rest of them, and punches him on the shoulder. “See ya Danny. Tell Steve I’ll see him back at HQ, yeah?”
He waves a hand in answer, watches her go until she turns the corner, and then gives up, and heads back to Steve’s room. He huffs a short laugh at what he finds; Grace curled up against Steven, who’s relaxed in a way Danny hasn’t seen since they got home, and the both of them are fast asleep.
He just shakes his head, collects the book before it can fall all the way to the floor, and settles beside the bed to read until it’s time to take Gracie back to Rachel. It’s no chore; he doesn’t mind sitting here, in a rickety hospital chair, keeping watch over the two most important people in his life while they sleep soundly beside him.
It's kind of a response to
ciaimpala's prompt here except not. Er. It ended up a little different. Written at 3:00am, not beta'd.
For
ciaimpala regardless. ♥ Not quite what you asked for, but I hope you like it all the same. All the hugs. “Danno,” Grace says, tugging on his sleeve until he looks down at her, “who’s that?” She’s pointing towards Steve’s room where Lori is standing beside his bed, probably holding his hand from the looks of things.
Steve looks pained, in the carefully blank way he uses with everyone who doesn’t know better; it’s obvious he’s uncomfortable, and Danny heaves a put-upon sigh. Steven is very, very lucky Danny is both an excellent father, and a thoughtful, caring partner. And that he hasn’t yet found the perfect immunity for prolonged exposure to Grace’s puppy-eyes, and the way ‘please, Danno, it’s Uncle Steve‘ tugs at his heart-strings. It’s Uncle Steve, indeed.
“That’s Lori, Monkey,” he tells her, heading for the room because he knows Grace, at least, will put a smile on the SEAL’s face. “You remember Lori?” They’d been introduced once, but hadn’t interacted much beyond that.
Grace just shrugs. “She isn’t doing it right, Daddy,” she says instead, shaking her head like all of her nine years have made her wise in the ways of comforting Navy SEALS. Danny chuckles, and nudges her ahead of him to show Lori how it’s done. He half wonders what sort of analysis their newest team member will get from this little visit, but it’s a brief thought, and he doesn’t really care. Grace peeks into the room until she’s noticed, and then sidles up to Steve’s bed like she’s still shy.
“Hey Gracie,” Steve says, something gone soft about him, and Lori looks over at Danny, brow raised in a way that he takes offense to. He knows what he’s doing, bringing his daughter here, and he nods back towards them, crossing his arms over his chest, and leaning against the doorway.
“Uncle Steve!” Grace very carefully edges her way between Lori, and the bed, uttering a polite ‘excuse me’ to her, and Danny can’t help grinning at the way Steve’s face lights up, and it’s damn good to know that there’s something that can chase those shadows away, if only temporarily. It’s one of the reasons Rachel agreed to his, Danny knows. “Danno says you’re hurt, so I can’t give you a hug,” she says, like it’s important that Steve know there’s a reason she hasn’t launched herself onto the bed to strangle him yet.
Steve’s grin is a little rough around the edges, but real, and he shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says, tugging, and shifting until he has Grace up on the side of his bed, “a Gracie-hug might be just what I need to feel better.” It’s like Danny, and Lori aren’t even in the room, for the moment, as Steve lets a little bit of the hyper-alertness go to be almost-sort of goofy with Danny’s daughter, and he can’t help the smug smile he gets when Lori glances over at him. Hell yes, does Danny know Steven, and what’s good for Steven, and exactly what will work when nothing else has.
Grace beams, only too happy to carefully throw her arms over her Uncle Steve, and hug him as tight as she dares. The look on Steve’s face as he hugs her back is almost too much, almost undoes Danny right there because there’s knowing what’s probably going through your partner’s head, and then there’s knowing, and damn, do they have some things to discuss once Steve is out of here, and mostly-normal again.
He claps his hands together, drawing attention to himself because he’s going to do something horribly embarrassing if he doesn’t, and Steven can fuck right off with his too-knowing looks. “Right, Monkey, didn’t you bring a book from school you wanted to--”
“Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot,” she’s all smiles as she scrambles down from the bed, and over to the backpack Danny has left in the unoccupied chair in the corner. “We’re studying marine life in school, and I got this book on the ocean, and I really think you’ll like it, Uncle Steve; it’s really cool!” She retrieves the book, still chattering on about the ocean, and currents, and peppering Steve with questions he probably knows the answers to because he’s a science-geek. Danny grins at him over Grace’s head, and nods towards the hallway, where the coffee is, leaving only when he gets a nod in return. He beckons Lori to follow because there’s no use in her standing in there forming judgments about Steve, and Danny, and their relationship.
Which is probably a little harsh, really, sue him; he’s feeling kind of protective right now. He’s allowed.
“I couldn’t get a word out of him,” Lori says, looking down at the cup of coffee Danny hands her like it’s got the answers to all the questions she wants to ask. “It’s like he just shut down as soon as we got back, and--”
Danny sighs, and holds up a hand. “Look, I get it, really I do,” he says, narrowly avoiding spilling his own coffee when he waves a hand through the air. “You wanna help, you wanna be there for him, maybe be the one to get him to talk about it, am I right?” He knows he is, and her silence is answer enough. He quirks a smile that’s more gentle than he means, but she means well, and it isn’t her fault Steve has been Danny’s since the day they met.
“Right,” he decides, tugging at her arm until he can steer her to the nearest uncomfortable hospital chair. “Okay, see, Steven will talk when he can’t hold it in anymore, and it will undoubtedly be at some ungodly midnight hour when I am trying to sleep, and he’s intent on dragging me out onto the beach because God forbid he be the slightest bit normal--” he pauses, takes a breath, and realizes he’s getting off track. “He certainly isn’t going to do it now, when everything is still a threat, and he’s expecting Wo Fat to fucking walk in at any minute, and finish the job,” he informs her, letting his gaze stray over her head, and towards the room where Steven is cheerfully sitting up, and listening to Grace tell him things he already knows.
“Is this you telling me to back off, Danny?” Lori asks, straight out, and Danny is surprised for half a minute before he laughs. She’s smiling, which is good, and turning in her chair to watch Danny’s daughter chase the shadows away from Steve just by being there, and he thinks she probably gets it.
“Nah, I don’t have to,” he says, though, because it’s true, and he wants to say it, wants it out there; known. He and Steve haven’t talked about it, haven’t done anything, but that doesn’t make it non-existent, doesn’t make it any less the truth.
“He’s good with her,” she sounds like she’s surprised, which is fair considering the incident with the kid in the elevator back before Steve knew what actual human interaction was.
Danny shrugs. “She adores him. It’s always ‘Uncle Steve this’ and ‘Uncle Steve that’ like the maniac is some kind of superhero, and I keep telling her not to encourage him, but nope,” he sighs the put-upon, heavy sigh of the long-suffering. “They’re going to be terrors; seriously, you have no idea, I’m going to be grey before she hits sixteen.” This is a fact Danny is resigned to because he is surrounded by crazies, and they have all corrupted his poor, innocent little daughter. He wouldn’t have it any other way, though, if he’s being honest with himself.
Lori finishes off her coffee, checks her watch, and stands. “Looks like you’ve got things in hand here,” she smiles ruefully, turning to look back at Danny, “so I guess I’ll get going. Uninterrupted sleep in an actual bed will be a nice change.”
“Yes,” he says, chuckling, “go, sleep; enjoy! Leave us poor, wretched creatures here to suffer.”
She laughs, which he counts as a win because Lori was there in Korea with the rest of them, and punches him on the shoulder. “See ya Danny. Tell Steve I’ll see him back at HQ, yeah?”
He waves a hand in answer, watches her go until she turns the corner, and then gives up, and heads back to Steve’s room. He huffs a short laugh at what he finds; Grace curled up against Steven, who’s relaxed in a way Danny hasn’t seen since they got home, and the both of them are fast asleep.
He just shakes his head, collects the book before it can fall all the way to the floor, and settles beside the bed to read until it’s time to take Gracie back to Rachel. It’s no chore; he doesn’t mind sitting here, in a rickety hospital chair, keeping watch over the two most important people in his life while they sleep soundly beside him.
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on 2012-03-01 10:04 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 10:12 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 01:05 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 01:09 pm (UTC)He quirks a smile that’s more gentle than he means, but she means well, and it isn’t her fault Steve has been Danny’s since the day they met.
That's such a fitting description to the McDanno relationship and I like that you gave Lori more insight then the show ever did.
Lovely work on this :)
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on 2012-03-01 02:08 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 03:00 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 03:23 pm (UTC)I also liked that Lori got it.
Awesome story!
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on 2012-03-01 06:00 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 08:27 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for sharing!♥
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on 2012-03-01 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 09:12 pm (UTC)This line here: He quirks a smile that’s more gentle than he means, but she means well, and it isn’t her fault Steve has been Danny’s since the day they met.
My favorite and so true. ♥
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on 2012-03-01 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-01 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-02 12:31 am (UTC)Lovely fic!
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on 2012-03-02 05:05 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-02 09:35 am (UTC)Lovely little post ep.
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on 2012-03-02 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-02 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-02 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-03-03 04:04 pm (UTC)love how well Danny and Grace know Steve!
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on 2012-03-04 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-04-14 03:42 pm (UTC)