Work Text:
Magnum sat at a table in his Navy whites, sipping a Dusseldorf longneck, watching Rick and Cleo dance, enjoying the satisfaction of seeing his friend happily married to the woman he loves. Who Rick loves. Not Magnum. Not that Cleo isn’t a wonderful lady. But Magnum wouldn’t know anything about that.
Even though Rick had to be prompted by T.C., Higgins, and Magnum himself before he said those two words…I do…at his own wedding ceremony. Magnum laughed to himself and raised his beer to his lips again. It wouldn’t have been Rick’s wedding without him pulling some ridiculous stunt like that.
Magnum looked out at the dance floor, eyes automatically seeking his daughter, so recently returned to him. He scanned the guests until he spotted Lily’s little form…alongside a much taller one. Magnum’s eyes trailed up the taller form, surprised and delighted to see Higgins.
The two were dancing, with Lily’s tiny feet resting on top of Higgins much larger ones, as he carefully led her in what was clearly the steps of a textbook waltz. Magnum smiled to himself, watching two of his favorite people in the world getting to know each other again.
As Magnum looked on, Higgins looked up and caught Magnum’s gaze. He looked down at Lily, asking her a question to which she replied affirmatively, hugging the man’s legs joyfully. They made their way through the crowd towards Magnum, Lily’s small hand enveloped by Higgins’.
Magnum grinned and scooped Lily up as she ran towards him, softly greeting them with a “Hi guys” as Higgins sat down next to him.
The two men looked at each other for a moment, not sure where to begin. Higgins bravely pushed forward, “So you’ve reenlisted?” looking up and down the younger man, taking in his Navy uniform, so different to his usual gaudy Hawaiian shirt and cut offs.
Magnum smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. He was still uncomfortable with his surprise being common knowledge after hiding it from his closest friends for weeks. “You almost got it out of me in the study earlier today, Higgins, so consider yourself one of the privileged few,” he said, “I was sure you were going to figure it out before the wedding.” Higgins smiled halfheartedly, the smile not quite reaching his eyes.
“Papa! Monsieur Higgins m’a appris à danser,” Lily said with a smile, pointing to Higgins. Magnum gasped over-dramatically, kissing Lily on the cheek. “Tu danses bien, Lily,” her father said, hugging her to him. Magnum was overjoyed to be at his best friend’s wedding and enjoying the company of two of his favorite people.
Of course, he couldn’t resist getting a sly dig in. “You know, Higgins was probably once the dance instructor of his entire regiment during the war due to some wacky happenstance, weren’t you?” Magnum looked at Higgins with a boyish grin. Magnum had never told the older man, but in his letters to Lily, written to cope with her apparent death, he shared so many things he wanted to show and tell her—he would recount Higgins’ most ridiculous tales in those letters, desperately wanting to share his affectionate exasperation with his daughter.
Higgins smiled at the two indulgently. “Do you remember the name? Ah, that is, te souviens-tu du nom?”
“Oui, Monsieur Higgins!” Lily wiggled excitedly, “Papa, il m’a appris à…. waltz!” The English word sounded odd in her voice, as Magnum was so accustomed to hearing her speak French and Vietnamese. Both men applauded her effort. Magnum couldn’t wait to start teaching her English, albeit solely for a selfish reason - he could communicate better with his daughter in English, as opposed to using the smattering of French and Vietnamese he knew.
Magnum smiled and winked in the older man's direction. “Well, Lily, I guess Monsieur Higgins is starting early with your rigorous education.” Higgins looked sharply at Magnum, who knew that Higgins was upset by his resignation from his security duties at the estate. Magnum hadn’t had a chance to explain his plans for the future – he had been terrified to hope that his daughter was still alive, and equally terrified to finally accept that she was gone.
“Magnum, I – you’ve reenlisted in the Navy,” Higgins said with a gesture to the younger man’s Navy whites. “I assumed that, with your letter of resignation, you…and Lily would move to wherever they stationed you. I know you couldn’t bear to be separated from her…not again,” Higgins looked at Magnum carefully, knowing exactly how many times the other man had rewound the tape of what he thought was his ex-wife and daughter’s murder.
Magnum shook his head almost as soon as Higgins began speaking, “Ah, see – they wanted me back so badly that they let me set the terms for my new position.” The two men stared at each other across the table, then looked down at Lily in Magnum’s lap, who was playing with the stripes on her father’s uniform.
“I will be permanently stationed at Pearl, per my request” Magnum looked down, uncharacteristically shy, “and Lily and I will be permanently stationed at the estate…if you – er, Robin – will have us, of course,” the younger man said, looking up at the older man through his eyelashes.
Higgins stared at Magnum in disbelief, having already steeled himself, as a proper Englishman would, to say goodbye to his companion of over 8 years, and the little girl he was endeared to after such a short amount of time. Lily already seemed to share Magnum's own extraordinary talent for weaseling his way past the British man’s stiff exterior and into his gooey interior. Like father like daughter, Magnum supposed.
“I’m hurt, Higgins! You can recount your memoirs to me in impeccable detail, but you don’t remember what we promised each other only three years ago?” Magnum feigned a hit, clutching at the left side of his chest with his free hand.
Higgins looked at Magnum in amazement, “Of course I remember, Magnum.” The two men looked at each other, remembering a moment not too far in the past…
Three years earlier
Higgins: Thank you Magnum, the gesture is appreciated, but I suppose that when one works, as we do, for someone as eccentric, and as anarchically impulsive, as Mr. Masters we must expect the unexpected and learn to live with the somewhat obscure vagaries of his work.
Magnum: I guess you and I will be doing this for a long time, too. Huh, you know, together.
Higgins: Yes, as a matter of fact.... always.
(both smile and jump off cliff into the water)
The men smiled at each other, very much in the same way they did as before plunging into the waterfall together with millions of dollars swirling in the air. Around them, the wedding crowd slowly thinned, soon leaving Rick, Cleo, Carol, T.C. and his family alone on the dance floor. The lads patrolled the perimeter of the estate diligently, still proudly wearing their collared neckties.
“Higgins, you know there’s no place I would rather raise Lily than in paradise, right?” Magnum said seriously, reaching out tentatively to place his hand over the other man’s on the table. “And…no other person I would rather raise Lily…with, right?” he said earnestly, tightening his grip. They may play games with each other often, but Magnum suddenly feels that it is imperative to tell Higgins how important he is to him, how important having Higgins in Lily’s life – in his own life – is to Magnum.
Higgins sat stunned, his years of military training and discipline abandoning him in the face of such an honest confession from his companion. “Magnum, I – of course you and Lily will remain at the estate,” he said, turning his hand over in Magnum’s grip to lace their fingers together.
Higgins suddenly furrowed his brow. “However, I must insist that Lily not be exposed to that pigsty that you’ve cultivated in what was formerly the guest house. No, she must have her own wing in the main house, we can look at fabric swatches for the furniture and wallpapers as soon as tomorrow morning…” Magnum sat back in his chair, his hand still loosely entwined with the other man’s, fondly listening to him mumble about the appropriate living quarters for a girl of Lily’s age and affiliation. Between Higgins, Zeus, and Apollo, Magnum was surprised to realize that he may one day – eventually – be able to relax his constant vigilance regarding Lily.
Over the years, Magnum had contemplated the reality of living in paradise many times – even recorded some of his thoughts on tape and written them down, but his little voice was trying to tell him something that he had never considered. Magnum’s little voice was whispering, no, screaming that his idea of paradise might have little to do with geography.