sirona_fics | H50 2.06: THANK YOU, INTERNET + a coda of sorts

(ganked off

theellibu)

NO SERIOUSLY THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY. I CAN'T STOP STARING, YOU GUYS, SEND HELP.

OH AND ALSO DANNY IS THE BEST EGG EVER. And there should be a hundred codas about Steve waking up in the middle of the night, and Danny's not in their bed.

He's standing by the window, staring out into the darkness of the ocean, one or two far-off ship lights the only thing to mar the inky black. Steve leans up on his elbow, head rapidly clearing the more he watches the tight curve to Danny's spine, half-hidden by the boxers he's tugged on (a sure indication of his state of mind, even when it's just the two of them alone in the house).

"You okay?" he rasps, wincing when his bruised back protests the strain when he tries to sit up properly.

"'M fine," Danny says, still not turning round, still practically vibrating with tension.

"Really? You really gonna do this?"

"Do what, I'm not doing anything."

Steve sighs, lets himself fall back onto the pillows for a moment, exhales sharply when his arm twinges.

After a long moment of sullen silence Danny sighs, too, and his shoulders slump a little. Steve watches him warily from the bed, because whatever's eating Danny could be one of oh-so-many things about this case; what a clusterfuck that had been. He waits -- he can afford to be patient. Danny has never been one of those people who can keep things bottled up; sooner or later it'll all come out, and the only variable he can expect will be the volume of the discharge.

Danny seems to shrink in on himself, looking so small for someone that normally takes up so much space. He rubs a hand over his face, walks back to the bed, doesn't look at Steve when he sits down and braces his arms on his knees.

"Promise me," he says, so quietly that Steve has to lean closer to hear properly. "Promise me you'll be the one."

Steve waits, but apparently that's all that's coming out at the moment. "The one what, Danno?" He lays a hand over the stiff muscles in Danny's back, feels the goosebumps that cover his partner's skin.

"When this happens to me--Steve. I--I need to know you'll be the one to break the news to Grace and Rachel."

Whatever Steve was expecting, it isn't this. His chest clenches violently; just the thought of Danny in the starring role of today's case makes him want to throw up.

"It won't," he says, voice harsh in his own ears.

Danny huffs, not a trace of amusement in the weary sound. "You can't know that, no one can; and you can't make it so, either, no matter what you believe. Just. Please, Steve. I need to hear you say it. Promise me."

Steve's other hand fists in the sheets, so tight that he would not be surprised to hear them rip under his fingers. It's unthinkable, unfathomable that something like that should happen, that Danny could be taken away from Grace. From him.

It's what Danny needs, though, and, well. Steve would do pretty much anything to make him happy, to lift the despair he can hear lingering in Danny's voice.

So, "I promise," he says, and he'll never tell Danny that he's making another promise, too, one to himself -- he'll be fucked if he'll let Danny be taken if there's something he can do about it. Even if he has to go instead of Danny, there's no question that Steve will welcome it, if it means that Danny gets to go home to Gracie. She's still just a kid; she'll take losing her Uncle Steve much easier than her dad.

Danny's watching him shrewdly; Steve really has to remember that his partner is one of the finest detectives he's ever met, on and off the job. So he leans closer and kisses the curve of Danny's shoulder, tugs him down gently until Danny goes, lies on his side where Steve can fit himself to his back, let Danny's skin soothe him from the maudlin thoughts. It warms quickly from the shared body heat, and Danny relaxes inch by inch, until his breath evens out at last and Steve knows he's asleep.

"I promise," he repeats soundlessly into the nape of Danny's neck. It takes him a long time to follow Danny into sleep.

...Or something. IDK, it just hit me while

zolac_no_miko and I were squeeing all over this ep. Oh, Danno. :') He needs all the love. I NEED ALL THE CODAS, YOU GUYS, ALL OF THEM. ♥ WHERE IS THE WHUMPED!STEVE H/C LOVE? YOU'LL BET YOUR ASS THAT DANNY PROVIDES THE BEST KIND, WITH OR WITHOUT THE VOCAL ACCOMPANIMENT. ♥______♥