Steve walked the few steps between the couch and the stairs in his house for the umpteenth time. He couldn't remember being that nervous, ever. No stress relief method seemed to be enough, despite what he assured Danny.

He kept himself together fairly well until Danny left. One nervous man under the roof was enough. But now he was gone, and he would be back shortly, with the most important person in his life. To meet Steve. No pressure.

His brain, as always in such situations, provides a detailed list of possible risks and scenarios, along with possible courses of action and outcome probabilities. It would have been nice if his training included little human beings. His experience in this area consisted of makeshift soccer with kids in some remote villages in Afghanistan.

Maybe Grace likes soccer.

The fact that this question didn't have an answer was really a failure at the most fundamental stage. Clearly not enough recon has been done. He knew that. He blamed Danny for that. Each time he tried to gather information, he got an eye roll with a "Really, Steven, are you are trying to gather a dossier on an eight year old?" and it is really hard to gather intel when your only source of information is hostile. And he was sure that surveillance would be frowned upon, both from the father's side and… you know, the general population. It's not something that would generally stop him, but since the main objective of this mission was to verify the father stick around, it might be counterproductive.

It's not like they haven't met, Grace and him. He had a fallback plan based on that. If Grace didn't like him as Steve, he was more than happy to be Wolf for the the rest of his life, whenever she'd be around. She liked Wolf. Danny liked Wolf. What's wrong with being just Wolf around her?

No, no, that is the last resort. He would stick to the plan. Ice cream in the freezer. All the juice flavors he could find in the store in the fridge. Disney princesses at his command in the VOD. He has a beach in his backyard, for god's sake! Who doesn't like the beach!

Oh, Shit. He is so screwed.

Steve heard the Camaro slowing down on the gravel road. He allowed himself a second of staring at the door in horror, then moved into position next to it, listening for footsteps.

Deep breath. A smile. And he opened the door just as Danny and Grace were one step away.

Grace took cover behind her father's leg immediately. Not fully, she's left her right flank exposed. There's hope. Steve remained at the door, waiting for the engage signal.

"Gracie," Danny took charge "This is Steve. Steve, this is my one and only pigtail perfection Gracie."

"Hi Gracie," Steve bent his knees, balancing on his toes "Nice to finally meet you…"

"We've met" she said matter-of-factly. "You had more hair." Steve looked up at Danny, confused. Danny shrugged.

"What's that face he's making, Danno?"

"Oh, this is his retreat-and-regroup face. I think you caught him by surprise."

Grace looked back at Steve "Danno told me that as a human, you have faces."

"I don't have faces!" Steve protested

Grace giggled. Steve's smile was unsure. Giggles must be a good sign, but he had no understanding as to the cause. The kid looked curiously behind him into the house. That he understood, so he gots up and moved aside to let them in.

She stepped in, looking around, Danny right behind her. "Do you have something to drink?"

This is a battleground he was ready for. "Sure, what would you like? I have berry, grapes, pineapple, pear, lemonade, peach, apple, apple-peach, cranberry…" Her attention turned back to him, she was staring at him, half amused half reproachful and looked very much like her father. He shut his mouth and looked back at her.

"Danno likes you." She explained "You don't have to work so hard."

"I am re-considering" Danny's voice is coming from the kitchen "due to the amount of juices containing pineapple in your fridge. It's like you are trying to lure my daughter to the dark side."

Grace rolled her eyes at the same time as Steve did. She caught that and giggled again "You should hear his speech about pineapple on a pizza." she told him

"I did" Steve nodded and sighed lightly "More than once."

"He also hates the beach, you know"

"I know! Who doesn't like the beach! You know my backyard is actually a beach?"

"Really? Danno! Can I go out with Steve to the bea… back yard?" she smiled at him and Steve couldn't help but smile back.

"I know there's a beach out there, Monkey." Danny came out of the kitchen, and handed her a juicebox. Orange, Steve registered. "You have sunscreen in your bag"

Grace put her hand in Steve's palm and pulled him after her "This way? Do you have Dolphins there? Oh, I bet if we work together we can convince Danno to learn how to surf, do you know how to surf?"

Steve looked back at Danny, wearing his smug smile, as Grace continued to talk.

A/N: That sat in my virtual drawer since forever. lucky I got nostalgic. :)