Winning Your Hand

Ch. 1

By

St. Bridget

Danny tore his gaze away from his computer. He had to stop looking at the screen; his eyes were starting to cross. How long had he been at this anyway? Danny looked at the clock and groaned. Too long. God, he hated paperwork. Where was his partner, anyway? Maybe Danny could foist it off on him. Fat chance of that, Danny thought, ruefully. Steve was allergic to paperwork. Since Danny had started the incentive program, he had a better chance of getting Steve to do paperwork, especially if the other man wanted something, but it did no good when Steve was locked in meetings with the governor all day.

Steve had been racking up stars pretty fast lately, Danny mused. He must want something. Danny's eyes fell on the chart tracking the stars. Wow, Steve had gotten up to 83. That was a record. What was Steve aiming for? Usually, Steve cashed them in before the count got that high. The highest Steve had gotten was 75 which he cashed in for a week's vacation. They hadn't left Oahu, hell, they'd barely left the hotel, but what a week that had been. Danny smiled just thinking about it.

Speak of the devil, and here he was. Steve loomed in Danny's door. "Whatcha doing?"

Danny stretched, working out some of the kinks from staring at the computer so long. "Paperwork."

"Paperwork? For what?" Steve asked. "You finished the report for the last case two weeks ago."

"Figured I'd get a start on the monthly reports," Danny said. "I just finished listing and categorizing the cases."

"Ah." Steve walked behind Danny's desk and leaned over the detective's shoulder. Danny could feel the heat radiating off Steve even through the thin shirt Danny wore. Danny felt the tension lessen slightly as he leaned back into his partner's solid body. "Did we really do that many?"

"Apparently," Danny said. "No wonder we're beat. We went practically non-stop all month."

"Yeah," Steve said. "Well, I'll leave you to it." He bent his head to nibble on Danny's neck. Danny groaned at the sensation. "Finish it up, and I'll give you a reward."

That gave Danny an idea. "How about you finish it, and I'll give you two stars?"

Steve thought about it. "Deal."

"You've earned an awful lot," Danny said. "What are you saving up for."

Steve looked cagey. "Oh, just something I've been wanting for a while."

"What?" Danny pressed. "Usually, we talk about rewards beforehand."

"Something," Steve said, vaguely. "When I get to 100 stars, I'll tell you, and you can tell me if it's worth it."

"Oookay," Danny said, drawing out the word. Steve had his curiosity up, but Danny knew better than to push it further; if Steve didn't want to tell Danny, nothing short of torture would get it out of him. Danny would just have to wait and see.

It seemed to take an agonizingly long time for Steve to earn those last 17 stars. Usually, Steve could accumulate stars pretty quickly if he set his mind to it, but this time, he kept having setbacks. Steve seemed to have picked up a reckless streak to rival some of the ones from the early days of their partnership. First, the SEAL got them in a firefight that ended up with Danny in the ER getting patched up from (yet another) bullet would. That lost him three stars. Then, Steve rushed in without backup, blew their cover, and took out six armed thugs before Danny could get there to help. Yes, Steve technically won, but Danny still took away a star on principle.

Finally, the 100th star was pinned to the board. Danny pressed it down firmly with great satisfaction. Now, maybe he'd find out what Steve had in mind. "Okay, babe, that's 100. What did you have in mind"

Steve suddenly looked nervous. "I'm not sure this is a good idea after all. Maybe we should just take another vacation. Think I can get 10 days for 100 stars? Maybe Disneyland? We don't even have to take Grace and Charlie, just us. Disneyland's fun for adults, too."

Danny wasn't going to be put off. "Babe, you promised. What's the worst I can do, say no?"

"That's what I'm afraid of," Steve said.

"Babe, when have I ever said no to something you wanted?" Danny said. He paused a moment. "Except for the rocket launcher, and that was just ridiculous."

Steve shifted from side to side, uneasily. "Yeah, but this is really big, and I'm not sure you want it."

Danny's curiosity was piqued. "Something I want? Isn't it usually something you want?"

"It is," Steve said, "but it involves you."

"What, are you trying to get me to go skydiving?" Danny said. "Because, yeah, that would be a hard sell, but if you really wanted me to, I'd do it."

"Not skydiving," Steve said, "though that's nice to know. This is something bigger."

Danny wracked his brain trying to figure out what Steve could possibly want but came up blank. "What?" Danny asked. "What could you possibly want that's that big?"

Steve stuck his hand in his pocket but hesitated.

"Come on, babe, out with it," Danny said.

"Okay," Steve said. "Just promise you'll listen before you say no."

"I promise," Danny said. "I still think you're worried for nothing, though."

Steve took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing." He drew his hand out of his pocket, holding something. Looking closer, Danny saw it was a small, velvet box—a ring box, Danny realized. He began to get an inkling of what Steve wanted.

That was confirmed when Steve got down on one knee and flipped the box open. Danny gasped at the brushed gold band with a line of diamonds around the middle. "Danny Williams," Steve said, "you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think I was lost from the moment you pointed your gun at me in my father's garage, and you sealed the deal when you laid me out with a right hook. Over the past nine years, what I feel for you has only grown. I want to wake up every day with you by my side. I want to raise Grace and Charlie with you like they were my own. I want to grow old with you. I want my last breath to be holding your hand. Danny, will you marry me?"

Danny's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, it was beating so hard. "Yes, Steve, of course I'll marry you," he said. He held out his left hand. Steve slipped the band on. It was a perfect fit, just like them. Danny admired how the ring looked on his hand before he pulled Steve up into a bruising kiss.

"You know," Danny said when they pulled apart. "You didn't have to earn 100 stars just to ask me to marry you. I would have said yes at any time."

"I know," Steve said, "but I wanted you to know I was serious about this. I wanted you to know I would do whatever it takes to win your hand."

Danny pulled Steve into another kiss, soft and tender this time. "I know you would, you big goof. You never have to prove it to me, ever."

Steve grinned. "You have to admit though, it was a hell of a reward."

Danny kissed him again. "That it was."