Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Hawaii Five-0, or any of the characters, places, or events contained therein. Thank goodness, right?

Note: So um...embarrassed look...here's the thing about not being a real person- I don't consistently exist in the same time and place in this universe. That is to say, from your perspective I've been gone a while. Oops! Gomen ne! But I'm back now with the update that a few of you have been waiting for! Yatta! I could be done here though, I'd rather like to put in just one more chapter. You'll have to let me know if you want one. Also of note- Grace's card-playing inexpertise has clearly been rendered AU (shrugs what can ya do). For Rachel/Danny purposes please assume that this takes place before recent events between them. I hope you enjoy! Yoroshikuonegaishimasu!

Waiting

"Are you sure Danno's alright?" Grace leaned forward and whispered loudly into McGarrett's ear from the back seat.

"Yes, Danno's ok," came the drowsy voice of her father, who was sprawled across the reclined passenger seat with a look of profound contentment on his face. "He's just sleepy..." He stretched slightly, thought better of it, and settled back into the seat.

Grace frowned, clearly unconvinced. "But it's not even nighttime yet..." she intoned, still directing her complaint at Steve.

She was right, of course; it was only late afternoon and the sun was just barely beginning to set as they drove back towards Rachel's estate.

"I know. We just tired him out with all the places we went." McGarrett tried to explain.

Indeed, the activities for Danny's day out had been almost entirely of Grace's design and naturally they had been ambitious. There had been at least three beaches, a local carnival, an aquarium, and several parks. Not to mention the best shave-ice on the island. How they had succeeded in doing so much in one day McGarrett was at a loss to understand.

Grace, seemingly channeling her father, remained doubtful of McGarrett's explanation. "I'm not even tired, and I'm just a kid!" she protested.

McGarrett shook his head again, "Trust me, he's not sick, and he's not hurting," ('much' he thought to himself), "he's just...wait, you're not tired?" He risked at glance back at the little girl who had been running, bouncing, and jabbering all over creation for the last 7 hours. He was tired just thinking about how much energy she'd expended. Of course, the combination of wheeling his partner (while sometimes piggybacking Grace as well) over miles of coastline, and being solely responsible for the health and safety of both Williamses had tired him out more than he liked to admit as well. That and he had a headache that had grown from a dull ache to a throbbing pulse over the course of the day.

Grace crossed her arms and shook her head primly, doing a remarkable imitation of Rachel. "Not tired at all!" she declared, and then went back to hovering over her father as much as her seat-belt would allow.

Steve blew out a breath and shook his head carefully with a wondering smile.

At the next stoplight he turned to the pair. "You want to check and make sure he's not sick, right?" he said, looking from the child to her now apparently sleeping father.

She nodded, openly curious now.

"Ok, you do like this." He put his left hand to his forehead. "And like this." He brought his right to rest lightly on Danny's. The detective shifted slightly under the touch and murmured something unintelligible but contented, eliciting a smirk from both of his companions. "And if he feels like he's the same temperature, he's not sick." Steve finished with a shrug. The light had changed again and he drove on.

He flinched slightly when, moments later, a small hand snuck around and planted itself firmly on his forehead. He flicked his gaze over to Grace with a bemused smile. She was stretching awkwardly against her seat-belt to put a hand on each of their foreheads and wore a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Not me, kiddo," he said with a chuckle, gently taking her hand and moving it towards her own forehead. "Check him," he pointed to Danny, "against yourself." He poked her gently on the nose and she wrinkled it before carefully splaying her palm across the top of her face and going nearly cross-eyed in the process. He mussed the top of her hair affectionately and then kept focusing on the road.

Out of the corner of his eye he eventually saw her sit all the way back in her seat, but she remained silent.

"Well?" he asked.

There was a pause, then a tentative question, "Could Danno and I both be sick?" asked the girl with quiet, but obvious concern.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked with a frown.

"Well," she said thoughtfully, "We're both colder than you are."

Steve chuckled, even as he frowned slightly to himself, he wouldn't have guessed that he was running a temperature. He shrugged mentally- not much he could do about it at the moment.

"You guys are fine!" he said encouragingly, "Cool is good. I'm just warmer since I...got a little sunburned today."

"Steeeeve!" Grace scolded, clearly horrified, "You made me and Daddy wear sunscreen!"

"And I guess I forgot." he lied sheepishly.

She poked him in the arm. "You should be more careful." she commanded.

"I guess you're right." He admitted.

He cast a sideways glance in his partner's direction. Half-lidded eyes glared up at him with alarming clarity.

"What?" He asked with a frown that risked being pegged as "aneurism face".

"Nothing." The older Williams replied, with a look that said the opposite.

Steve just looked back at the road and rubbed his temple.

"We're almost there, Danno!" Grace announced as they turned into the slightly-too-classy neighborhood.

"Oh yes..." the detective sighed and adjusted his seat upwards with a grimace that had nothing to do with physical pain.

"Wanna wait for me monkey?" Danny asked as Grace gathered up her belongings from the back seat. "I gotta go say 'hi' to your mom too."

"Ok!" The little girl was genuinely pleased. As soon as the car was parked in the driveway she hopped out and ran around the back to get her father's crutch.

Steve gave Danny a questioning look.

"I got this." His partner said with confidence... and then took another look at the front door. "Just...," he looked back, "Bail me out after five minutes, alright?"

Steve leaned back with a knowing grin. "You got it, babe."

Grace dutifully helped her father up and hovered patiently at his side till they made it up the walk.

Back in the car Steve blew out a breath and kneaded his forehead, keeping an eye on his partner as the brave man faced his nemesis. He might have stopped Danny, but he had seen Rachel's worry back at the hospital, and he knew it would do them both good if she saw him recovering. There was a gentle hug, some nodding, and, after Grace disappeared inside with the spoils of her day's adventure, an extended conversation that only got more animated as the minutes ticked away. Steve eyed his watch uncomfortably until the five minutes had passed and then got out of the car. He hesitated, not sure if he should retrieve the wheelchair, but decided to let his friend retreat with his dignity intact. He approached quietly but quickly, inserting himself into the conversation with a smile and a deferential nod. "Afternoon, ma'am."

"Commander McGarrett." She turned to him with a smile that definitely didn't reach her eyes. "I want to thank you again for taking care of my daughter. She has been missing her time with her father."

"Don't mention it." Steve said with a shake of his head. "Now if you'd excuse us, it's been a long day and I've got to get this guy back to his place before I pass out."

Rachel let out a short laugh. "Between the two of you, you managed to wear out a Navy SEAL. That has the be a first."she said to Danny.

Her ex-husband just gave an uncomfortable smile, nodded and waved, before gripping his crutch and turning to go. "'Night, Rachel."

"Good evening, Daniel, Steve."

Steve strolled slowly alongside his partner in silence until they both heard the crisp click of the door closing behind them. "So," he offered amiably, "That went well."

"'Well?'" Danny gave him a scathing look, "'Well' he says!" His eye-roll was impressive, even by Danny standards. "Did the voyage of the Hindenburg go 'well'? -did Custer's last stand go 'well'?"

Steve kept silent, but Danny didn't go on. "She's just been worried about you, right?" he asked peaceably. "She's got a right to worry, doesn't she?"

Danny stopped, tired eyes burning, and McGarrett knew he'd crossed a line somewhere, "No, Steven, she does NOT." he said in a low, angry voice that bespoke unthinkable violence, "She HAD the right to worry. In fact, she worried too much and she hated it. Then she DIVORCED me so that she wouldn't HAVE to worry any more. She does NOT have the right to worry any longer."

Steve looked down. "I'm sorry man, I wasn't think-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Danny cut him off, following up with a sigh that seemed to drain the ire out of him.

McGarrett gave a grateful half-smile and opened the passenger door for his partner, extending a hand to receive Danny's crutch.

Danny stopped short. "What is this?" He pulled a large stuffed monkey in several hues of atrocious neon from his seat. "Did she forget to take it with her?" His quick glance back at the house was filled with dread at the prospect of going back to return it.

"It's yours." McGarrett stated with a slightly mean smile, taking the stuffed animal and gesturing for Danny to get seated. "Don't you remember? She won it for you."

Danny slowly climbed into the car, "Riiight." he said, obviously not remembering as clearly as he ought.

Steve placed the gaudy creature in his partner's lap before shutting the door, stowing the crutch, and hopping into the driver's side.

Danny was still giving the thing a suspicious look.

"Water gun game." Steve supplied, starting the car and rolling back into the street. "You were waiting in the shade, catching a nap. Only took her four tries. She's a surprisingly good shot for an 8 year old. You been taking her to the range?"

"I have NOT, you psychopath. It must run in the family-"

Steve put a hand up in acknowledgment as he pulled into traffic and made a face that said "obviously" with some sarcasm, but Danny was not finished.

"-More importantly," his index finger pierced the air in the air to punctuate his argument, "I'm about 90 percent sure you've gotta win that game at least five times to get this kinda prize." He turned the full power of his glare on his partner. "What did you do?"

Guilt blossomed on McGarrett's face, "Ok, in my defense, you know the game was rigged." He attempted.

"It's a carnival game." Danny said flatly. "They're all rigged."

"Yeah, but her favorite spot-"

"Number eight-" Danny interjected.

"Gun number eight, yeah: its water pressure was way lower than the others. It could barely even reach the target, let alone with any force."

Danny kept on glaring. "So what did you do."

"I simply...pointed out that fact to the carny running the game."

"Oh that's it?" Danny asked incredulously.

Steve nodded.

"You just-" Danny gestured with his good hand, "pointed it out."

Steve nodded more deeply.

"And he just... gave her the prize out of the goodness of his heart?"

Steve nodded again, "...more or less!"

"More or less." Now Danny nodded, suspicions obviously confirmed. "More or less." He stopped. "Ok, let's try this again: With what did you point out to some bored teenager that my daughter's water-gun wasn't functioning properly?"

McGarrett paused. "I may have had to show him my badge." He conceded.

"Your badge?" Danny's eyebrows arched. "Just your badge?"

"...and my gun." Steve added quietly.

Danny smacked the the dashboard in frustration.

"...not necessarily in that order," Steve finished.

Danny took a breath, clearly gearing up for a full-force rant. "You. Are. Unbelievable!" He began. "How do you not understand that 'full means and immunity' does NOT authorize you to threaten innocent members of the public into fulfilling your every whim?"

"Whim? really?" Steve muttered under his breath, but Danny picked up on it-

"Yes, 'whim'. How else would you describe the acquisition of this monstrosity?" He held the monkey up accusingly.

"Hey, you weren't there man- she was bound and determined to win that thing, and it just wasn't going to happen. I mean, we'd probably still be at that booth right now if I hadn't done something."

"Right, so instead of learning an important life lesson about carnival games being worthless, money-sucking black-holes, my daughter now thinks that she can waltz up and score the biggest prize in the booth with her mad marksmanship skills in two seconds flat!" He jabbed Steve in the shoulder. "In what universe was that a good plan!"

Steve just looked away as he made a left turn, glad that his partner couldn't see the smile playing at the edge of his lips.

"And-" Danny's hand went up again, "And- you know what the best part is? Huh?" He waited for Steve to shake his head. "Now I'm left with two options. A- I get to see the disappointment in my adorable, innocent daughter's eyes when she discovers that she is not the champion and master of 'water-gun penguin racers'. Or B- I somehow manage to avoid taking her near a carnival for the next twenty-some years 'til the memory of her victory this afternoon finally fades." He paused then added, "Or C- I perpetuate your deception by coercing carnies myself, until some day I threaten the wrong drug-kingpin's punk teenager and get offed for a stupid stuffed monkey!"

McGarrett was holding up three fingers, "Uh, Danny, that was..."

"Really, Steven? Really?" Danny's eyes threatened violence.

Steve let his comment die.

"So those are my options, now, thank you. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Steve pointed at his own chest. "I can talk now?" He asked.

Danny narrowed his eyes.

Steve put a hand up defensively. "Ok." he said, and took a breath before beginning. "As you know, your daughter can be a pretty persuasive young lady."

Danny glared but did not contradict him.

"She told me- in confidence, so you'd better not repeat this- she said that she HAD to get the monkey...because you need something to hug when you're stuck home sick and can't hug your real monkey." Steve looked down awkwardly.

Danny was silent.

"I'm assuming by 'real monkey' she meant herself." Steve ventured after a moment.

Danny thwacked him across the arm with the stuffed animal.

Then he sat quietly, looking at it, hideous colors and all. "She said that, huh?" He said looking over at Steve, his voice had taken on the gentle tone he always used when talking about his daughter.

McGarrett nodded firmly.

Another moment passed in silence.

"It can be hard to disappoint her..." Danny conceded.

"Uh huh." Steve gave him a long, knowing look before focusing back on the road.

Then he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Danny was carefully positioning the stuffed toy between his injured arm and his chest. Satisfied after a few adjustments, he nodded, "It does make a pretty good cushion for this arm." He stated approvingly.

Steve nodded too.

Danny adjusted his seat back and settled in. It was still a ways to his apartment and, while neither of them was going to mention it, his own rant had cost him the last of his energy reserves.

"You've got a really special little girl, Danno." Steve said quietly.

"I really do." Danny said tiredly, adjusting his 'cushion' in a way that looked much more like a hug than he probably intended.

Steve smiled, thinking his partner had already fallen asleep.

But then barely audibly- "She's worth it, you know."

Steve looked over.

"All of this." Danny's lazy gesture encompassed the whole of the island in one vague sweep.

"And all of this." His hand indicated his own patched-together state, "...she's worth it." His voice trailed off into slumber.

Steve gave his partner a long thoughtful look. "I know." He said simply.

And he did.