Chapter Text
Detective Danny Williams woke with a smile, it was typical sunny Monday morning however for a change, Grace was asleep in her room in his new apartment. This shared custody thing was working wonderfully, and he no longer had to worry about Rachel trying to be spiteful to him and stop him from seeing his one and only reason for living. They had had a wonderful weekend together, filled with laughter and fun times, and instead of having to return Grace to her mother’s house on Sunday evening, he got to see her bright and early, help her get ready and drive her to school himself.
The weekend itself had been nearly perfect, the only thing missing was Steve. He had been away for nearly two weeks now, on some Navy refresher training with Catherine. Danny had spent the better part of the two weeks convincing himself that the thought of Steve and Catherine together on the boat/ship whatever Steve called the damn thing was not driving him crazy with jealousy. He had no right to be jealous, Steve was with his girlfriend and Danny was his best friend. So why was his stomach twisting in knots every time he thought of them together? He shook the thoughts aside and returned to happier thoughts of Grace, the weekend and the fact that Steve was due back sometime today. He did not want to admit how much he had missed his partner, but he was really looking forward to getting him back.
He could hear Grace moving around getting ready for school and so he dragged himself out of bed to start the day. He had a quick shower and threw on his blue shirt and black pants that hugged his ass the way he knew always garnered appreciative looks, and yes he silently admitted to himself it was because Steve was going to be back, he then headed to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Grace was already sitting at the table eating a bowl of Lucky Charms,. "Good morning, Monkey!" He said brightly.
She grinned at his enthusiasm, "Morning, Danno! Are you so happy because Uncle Steve is back today?"
Danny felt his face flush slightly as his eyes got bigger at her question, was he so easy to read that even his 11 year old daughter knew that he had a crush? No, he quickly told himself, there is nothing wrong with being happy to see his best friend again. "Um, yeah, Monkey, I guess I am looking forward to seeing Uncle Steve again" he admitted with a smile, "don't tell him that though, or he'll get a big head" he added with a wink.
She laughed her girlish giggle, "Tell him I say hi, and I can't wait to have him take me surfing next weekend."
"We'll see about that Grace, you know we have to wait and see what the water conditions are before he can take you out," Danny said his voice turning serious.
"I know, I know," she answered looking like she wanted to stick her tongue out, "come on Danno we need to leave or we're going to be late!"
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Danny sauntered into HQ with a spring in his step, Kono greeted him with a smile and a cup of coffee, "Hey there other boss, he's not here yet. Have you heard from him?"
Danny did not have to ask who she was talking about, they were all happy that Steve would be back. It wasn't like they couldn't operate without him, but they were happier as a unit when they had their whole ohana together. "Nope, not heard anything yet, Kono, but I think he was only getting in this morning, and then he will need to go home and shower and throw on something special, maybe a lovely pair of cargos and a t-shirt before he comes in to grace us with his presence. I guess we'll see him around lunch time."
Danny's phone started ringing as he got to his desk, and his heart jumped, his hopes rose as he reached for the phone only to have them sorely dashed when he found it was the Governor's office wanting him to go in for an update meeting at 11:00am.
He left the office at 10:30, still having heard nothing from Steve, he had tried to call twice, but both times his calls went straight to voicemail. Switching his phone to silent as he went in to meet with the Governor he sighed, he was starting to acknowledge the worried feeling that had been gnawing away in the pit of his stomach all morning.
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The meeting with the Governor was a big waste of time as far as Danny was concerned, but with Steve away, they had to report everything in detail to ensure that they kept the man happy. Danny walked out of the mansion and checked his phone, it was now 12:05 and still no messages from Steve. Calling HQ as he walked, he tried not to snap when Chin answered the call. "Is he there yet? I'm starting to lose my patience here man, if he's sitting in his office with his feet up, I'm going to come over and punch him in the nose!"
"No, brah, haven’t heard a thing from him yet. Maybe he's gone home and fallen asleep, or maybe his flight in got delayed. Why don't you call Catherine and ask her what flight he was on? That way if he's at home sleeping we can just leave him be."
Danny hung up from Chin, climbed in the car and played with his phone for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. He could phone Catherine, but as much as he liked her, the thought of talking to her and hearing how the past two weeks with Steve had been for her was not what he wanted. He clamped down on the feelings of jealousy that flared up and tried to think through his other options. He could go back to HQ and sit stewing for a few more hours, or, he could go round to Steve's house and possibly wake a tired and grumpy SEAL from a nap. None of those options sounded great either. Chewing on his thumb for a minute he made his decision and dialed Catherine's number.
"Hi, Danny, " Cath answered in her usual chipper tone, "how's Steve feeling?"
"How's Steve feeling?" Danny blurted out without even saying hi, "I presume you'd know that better than me, I was just calling to see what flight he was on and when he was due in?"
There was silence for a minute, then Catherine spoke, clearly a little shaken, "Steve flew home on Friday, Danny, he wasn't feeling very well, had been a little under the weather for a couple of days. He said he was going to go home and rest up and promised to see a doctor if he was not better after that."
"Damnit," growled Danny, "I should have known something was wrong when he didn't answer his phone, I'm heading over to his house now, I'll call you when I know what's going on." He threw his phone down on the seat and gunned the engine.