Warning – maybe triggering if you're that way inclined, contains graphic description of methods of self harm

Danny's arm healed slowly under Steve's gentle effective ministrations and life went on. Steve was indeed very interesting in bed, and he taught his lover many things, including his talent for keeping quiet, just in case they wake Grace. Being loud before DADT had become history had taught him well.

Grace settled in straight away and the boys quickly fell into a routine to look after her, getting her too and from school, arranging sleepovers, friends coming round for parties on the beach, going to progress checks at school etc. They made sure that one of them was with her during the weekends at least, or, if work was too crazy, she was safe and entertained with one of her friends' parents (properly vetted of course), Kamekona or at HQ for an hour or two, or Malia or select members of the Kelly-Kalakaua clan. Even Kawika was pleased to look after her for an afternoon if required.

Kono was also pleased to continue surfing lessons for both Williams – she, with their help, finished off the work she had been doing for IAD, and was welcomed back into 5-0 with open arms, even though she was always a member of the family.

Danny hadn't even looked for his jar of razors and other blades since he and Grace had moved in, he'd had no reason too.

Until Rachel and Stan returned to Hawaii.

Danny took the call while he was driving them back to HQ, saw it was Rachel calling on his phone and pulled over to the side of the road. Steve frowned at him but didn't say anything, simply sat back as his partner answered his phone. "Rachel." Danny said with a smile, but reached for Steve's hand anyway. Rachel had called a few times before, but this was not in her usual schedule. "Are you all right?"

Steve perked up to listen and quickly took Danny's hand in his. Déjà vu was running though his mind, although the last time he had listened to half a conversation they were on his lanai.

"Fine, Danny." she replied, her smile obvious in her voice. "Are you? How's Grace? And Steve?"

"We're all fine." he answered her. He had been honest with her when she'd called before and explained his new relationship and living arrangements; she hadn't been surprised or unhappy. "Stan? Your bump?"

He didn't sound upset about that when he asked her, and Rachel was hoping that meant he forgave her or he'd come a long way at least. "Fine." she answered him, and then bit her lip. "We're coming home next week," she explained. "We'll need to talk about custody."

He was silent for a long moment, enough for her to call to him again. "Danny?"

"Grace is happy with us, Rachel." he said firmly, and turned and stared at his partner in sudden fear. "I'm not going to give her up just because you want. You can't play us around like this any more."

"I know, Danny." Rachel replied, keeping her temper easily. She and Stan had discussed this before she had made the call. "I'm not going to do that to you, to any of you. I don't want Grace to think we've given her up for the new baby, but I don't want her feeling jealous because we're taking more interest in it either." "What do you want, Rachel?" he asked her tiredly. "What are you telling me?"

"I'm saying you, Grace and Steve need to discuss this before we get back, Danny," she said to him firmly. "Then you, Steve, Stan and myself need to thrash out a custody arrangement that suits everyone."

Danny really wanted to retort in a way he used to, a couple of years ago, but he really, really wanted to. Instead he took a breath and tried to keep calm. "I am not going to let you take my child away just because you want her back now," he said firmly, like granite. "Call me when you get back from your lovely vacation," he told her, and hung up.

Steve reached out to him with his free hand and cupped his face. "When?" he asked him. He'd been listening and figured out what they were talking about and was worried about it – Grace was his daughter too.

"Next week." Danny told him and leant into his touch. "She wants us to 'talk about custody'," he told him darkly. "She thinks the three of us should discuss it this week to come up with an arrangement that 'suits' everyone." His tone on the last two words told him exactly how he felt about that.

"She means what suits her," the Commander mused darkly, and let his face go a moment so he could hug him close. "I won't let that happen, Danny." he assured him. "I won't let her take our daughter from us." He pressed a kiss to his lover's temple and plotted his next moves.

It was a difficult week; Danny was subdued and spent as much time as he could with Gracie. It only took her a couple of days to figure out something was up, and her father had taught her never to be worried about asking difficult questions. "What's wrong, Danno?" she asked him one evening when the three of them were snuggled together on the couch. "Why are you upset?"

Danny, back against the couch, face and most of him resting against Steve, who also had Gracie curled up on his chest, stirred a little and moved just enough to kiss her cheek. "Your Mom called on Monday," he explained to her quietly. He and Steve had talked about this, both realising quickly their nine year old needed to know what was going on. "She and StepStan are coming home next week."

Steve squeezed the arm he held around Danny, holding close to him, and waited for a response.

They were both expecting a squeal of delight when Grace heard that but it wasn't forthcoming. Instead she nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose she wants me back," she said in an odd tone.

Steve lifted his head and studied her for a moment. "Do you want to go and live with them, Honey Bee?" he asked her, and hugged Danny tighter.

She took a while to answer, and while she did Danny buried his face in Steve's chest and tried not to cry.

"No." Grace replied, and Danny quickly looked up again and kissed her cheek.

"Are you sure, Monkey?" he asked her quickly. "Who do you want to live with?"

"You and StepSteve." she replied in a tone that said 'idiot' without actually saying it. She smiled and stretched her arms out to hug them both. "I've lived with them, and now it's time to live with you two." And that was that, she would not be swayed and neither of them tried very hard to persuade her.

Rachel called again to explain when they were going to land and that she hoped Grace would be all packed and ready to come home with them then and there. She was not expecting Danny's simple: "No, she won't," and the dial tone. With a frown she called him again, only to find he had turned off his phone. Commander McGarrett wasn't much more help, he had listened when she had called him, and she could hear her ex-husband ranting in the background. "Rachel, no." Steve told her firmly as he watched Danny pace up and down in Steve's office at HQ. "You can't run away for four months and then expect everyone to run their lives around you when you decide to come back." He had his eyes on Danny, who hadn't stopped ranting about the first phone call, pacing the office, arms in the air, and Steve was pleased to see it – he really hated it when Danny was silent. "Grace was very forceful in her wish to stay with us. If you have a problem with that, then you need to speak to our lawyer." With that he hung up too and looked up when Danny's grumblings ceased. "What?" he asked him when he saw Danny walk over to him.

"Lawyer?" the Detective asked him, frowning. "I can't afford a lawyer. I ditched the one in New Jersey because he was expensive crap."

Steve smiled at him. "My Dad had a lawyer friend of his that did everything for him, when he needed It." he explained. "She never charged him full price. She's not charged me full price either. She'll help, she's already champing at the bit to get her teeth into this."

Danny slumped on the desk in front of his lover's chair and held his head in his hands. "Why does Rachel think she can just do this?" he asked after a few moments, his voice quiet and his upset obvious. "After four months?"

Steve stood and embraced him tightly. "She can't," he assured him, and pressed a kiss to his temple. "I won't let her. You're not alone in this any more, Danno," he murmured, and kissed him again.

Danny slipped his arms around him too and buried his face in his lover's throat. He was tense and upset, and was suddenly thinking about his blades again. He knew where they were, he had hidden his jar when they had first moved in, knowing that Steve, when helping him unpack, was looking for them to get rid of them. Danny needed them though, even if he had urges again, which he had, just knowing where they were and that he had the option to use them again made him able to fight and not cut. But this? He knew as he stood in Steve's office, in his lover's arms, that just knowing where they were was not going to be enough. The metal was singing to him, as loud as his own conscience was shouting back that Steve wouldn't forgive him easily if he gave in, and he'd never felt so … scared of loss as he did right now.

Steve was there though, holding him close, and he seemed to know what his lover was feeling. "It'll be okay, Love," he said in his ear. "Grace knows what she wants, OUR lawyer says we have the upper hand now. We can sort it out, you, Grace and me."

Danny knew what he was trying to do and it was helping, somewhat. A united front and all that was what had lost him the fight last time – Rachel, Stan and their really expensive lawyer had closed ranks on him. Now Steve was doing the same, but for him, and Danny took a breath and strengthened his backbone. "Okay." he said eventually. "Let me speak to our lawyer, Babe, and we'll sort this."

Steve smiled at him and kissed him again. This was more like his Danny, preparing for battle rather than hiding behind his rants. "Yes, we will," he reassured him, and kissed his temple again.

It took a couple of weeks after Rachel and Stan returned to Hawaii for them to sort everything out, and all the while Steve kept an eye out for his partner. Danny was his usual self at work, ranting at him for putting himself in danger, commiserating with Lori about Steve's lack of procedure, teasing Chin by putting full cups of coffee on or near as much of the technology as possible, and bringing Kono little gifts, almost daily, just to see her smile.

He was also trying to keep it up at home as well, making sure Grace was happy and content, and not privy to just how worried her father was.

Steve wasn't fooled though; he made sure he did all he could to let him know how much he loved Danny, both in bed and out, and surreptitiously checking him over for any more fresh wounds. The evening before the final meeting with the lawyers in the morning, the one before they had to resort to judges, Steve returned from a meeting with the Governor to find Chin in the kitchen with Grace, helping her with some homework. He smiled as Steve walked in and kissed his stepdaughter on the top of her head, and nodded at his friend as he shucked his jacket. "Is Uncle Chin helping, Gracie?" he asked her, amused as he put his gun and ID in the safe and kicked off his sneakers.

Grace nodded and smiled up at him. "He's teaching me how to download music," she explained.

Steve lifted an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked archly. "Hopefully not the expensive stuff."

Chin shook his head. "We know better than that, Steve." he commented. "Don't we?" he asked his surrogate niece.

She nodded. "Don't worry, StepSteve," she reassured him. "Danno hasn't given us his password."

"Okay." the SEAL replied, still not particularly assured. "Where is Danno?" he asked, looking around.

"Upstairs." Chin answered him, and gave him a meaningful look.

So much so Steve nodded and quickly left them, taking the stairs two at a time. He found his partner in their ensuite bathroom, sitting on the closed toilet and storing at a silver jar he'd put in the sink. It was quite a large storage jar, the type his aunt on the mainland used to store sugar and teabags. He's seen it before, but not gone into it, Danny had seemed to want to keep it private.

The detective jumped, startled, when he felt Steve's arm snake around his shoulders, and he looked up at him and smiled slightly. "Babe." he greeted him. "How did your meeting go?"

Steve shrugged. "Denning's an ass." he replied easily. "He wants us to have 100% closure rate for no percent funding. I persuaded him that's not possible." Danny nodded and turned back to his jar. "Good." he replied, knowing he had to say something.

"What's in the jar?" Steve asked him after a few moments.

Danny sighed and leant against him. "It's my cutting stuff," he explained after a painful stretch of silence. He trusted Steve implicitly now, the Commander knew most, if not all of his secrets and he felt secure in telling him the truth. "I just…" he tried to explain. "I need…"

Steve wanted to grab the jar and throw it and it's contents into the sea, but Danny needed more than his anger. "I wondered where they were." he commented instead. "Can I have a look?"

"If you want." Danny agreed and watched him as Steve closed his big hand around the jar and lifted it out of the sink. He unlatched the top and looked in, moving the contents around with a finger so he could see. The jar was quite large, enough to hold maybe twelve to sixteen double-bladed disposable razors, all with the blades covered in plastic caps. There was also a six inch long craft knife in there, with a smaller plastic box filled with refill blades in it. There wasn't any dressings or first aid stuff in it; this was just where Danny kept the tools of his habit. None of the items were expensive, nothing in it that wasn't easily replaceable and Steve frowned. He had thought Danny had some 'equipment' that he kept reusing, like Steve had his knives, Chin his shotgun or Kono her sniper rifle.

"Have you used these yet?" he asked his partner grimly, looking down at him.

Danny was watching him, still leaning against him, trusting him with his stuff. "No." he answered him truthfully. "I didn't want to disappoint you."

Steve bent down and pressed a kiss to his lover's forehead, then his nose, then his mouth. He knew this was the main problem Danny had, he felt so little of himself he thought sharing any pain he was feeling was a disappointment, and trivial compared to what he thought everyone else had, or was, going through. "You've never disappointed me, Danny," he told him firmly. "You never will either. I'm always worried it's the other way round."

Danny shook his head. "Never, Steve." he reassured him. "I may be a little verbose about you sometimes, about your craziness at work, about how you think procedure is just to keep text book authors employed," he explained. "But you've never disappointed me."

"Verbose?" Steve repeated, amused. "Danny? Verbose? Really?"

"What?" his partner asked him, shrugging one shoulder. "It's a word."

Steve laughed and pulled him up to stand with his free arm, and held onto the jar with his other hand. He pulled his partner out of the bathroom and into their bedroom, and managed to place the jar on top of the wardrobe as they walked passed, out of Danny's reach. To keep Danny's attention away from that he embraced him with both arms and covered his mouth with his in a deep kiss. When they broke off he pressed his forehead against Danny's and breathed him in. "Chin is with Gracie." he murmured to him, using a hand to gently rub his partner's back through his shirt. "When we get full custody tomorrow," he added with a smile. "We may not have a chance for a couple of days."

Danny grinned and slipped his hand down the back of his lover's pants. "Are you propositioning me, Commander?" he asked him, amused. "In your usual smooth style?"

"Is it working?" Steve asked him, rubbing his groin against Danny's suggestively.

Danny laughed in reply and pushed him backwards towards their bed. "Distract me, Babe," he suggested, and pushed him backwards onto the bed.

Steve laughed too and pulled him with him onto his lap. "With pleasure." he answered him, and kissed him. And again, and some more. He stretched out and laid down, bringing Danny with him, and quickly showed off his SEAL skills by flipping him over onto back. He covered Danny with his own body and explored his mouth with his tongue while he slipped his hand under Danny's top and explored his soft skin. While he was engaged, Danny used his own hands to touch and explore, and soon they were divesting each other of their clothes. Danny quickly glanced at the bedroom door while Steve bit and sucked a mark on his neck, just to make sure it was shut (Grace knew better than to walk in when the door was shut), and then decided to take charge himself. Steve oofed in surprise as his partner carried out a ninja move of his own and ended up on his back with Danny on top, straddling his waist. The blond grinned down at him and quickly tweaked his Commander's nipples and dragged his fingers lightly down his firm abs. "We've got to be quick." he told him, grinning down at Steve's kiss-swollen lips.

"You wanna ride?" Steve asked him, his voice a growl of lust, his cock burning against Danny's thigh.

Danny grinned, lightly teased said cock with his fingers, and nodded. "Hi ho, Silver," he commented, and Steve paused in his search for lube in the nearby nightstand to laugh and shake his head. "Not so smooth, Danny." he snorted.

"Yeah, yeah." his lover replied and squeezed his captured cock gently again. "Stop complaining and hurry up." he retorted. Then he yelped when his partner virtually kicked him off and captured his waist in a tight grip. "Gotcha." he murmured in his ear, and gently tickled Danny's sensitive waist. He made him laugh until he was breathless, and then made him gasp quietly by slipping one of his lubed fingers into Danny's tight little hole. "I love you, Babe." he murmured in Danny's ear, and slipped another finger in. Danny moaned quietly and flopped onto his stomach making his lover follow. "Fuck me, Babe." he replied and spread his legs. "I'm ready, Steve. Hurry."

Steve took his time readying him, distracting him by kissing and nibbling the nape of his neck. "It's okay, Love." he assured him. "Just relax. I've got you." Steve didn't want to rush; he didn't want to hurt him, although he really, really loved being balls deep in his partner. But he kept his control and used three fingers to ready his partner, massaging lube deep within him, flicking his prostate while he did it. Danny moaned his name and Steve had to stop moving just in case he came from that noise alone. Instead he pulled his fingers out and quickly lubed his hard cock. He lined up with Danny's sweet little sphincter; it was blinking in need, and pushed in.

Danny hissed at the pressure but relaxed and wrapped his arms around a pillow, and revelled in it as his lover slowly filled him. Steve was always so slow and careful, sometimes too slow, and Danny lifted his hips the little he was able to urge in him, deeper, quicker. "Come on, Babe." he persuaded him. "I'm not gonna break."

Steve, hands clutching Danny's hips tight, face buried in his soft golden hair, bit his lip and pushed in as hard as he dared with a grunt. "Danny," he breathed and closed his teeth on the skin on his shoulder, making another mark as he paused for a moment.

Danny didn't want him to pause so he squeezed his muscles around the thick hard shaft buried deep within him. "Move, Babe." he urged him, and pushed back against him.

Steve couldn't deny him anything and he did as he was told, pulling back to thrust deeply inside him again. "Gods, Danny," he whispered in his ear. "So tight."

Danny moaned in reply and squeezed around him as much as he could. Steve was larger than he was, there wasn't much else he could do with the big guy plastered against his back, but, as Steve changed his angle a bit and battered his prostate with the head of his cock, he couldn't find it in himself to complain. Instead, knowing he wasn't going to last much longer, he moaned Steve's name and moved one of his own hands to his cock, jerking himself off as Steve lost his control and thrust hard and deep inside him, once, twice, three times and then he was coming, ejaculating long streams of cum deep within his lover, a soft cry of completion buried in Danny's hair.

Danny felt the heat flood into him and it pushed him over the edge into his own orgasm. His shout was muffled in his pillow as he ejaculated into his hand.

Steve took a few deep breaths before he rolled back onto his side, still buried deep in Danny, and held him tightly close against him with one arm. With the other he captured Danny's hand pulled it to his mouth and gently licked it clean. "Love you, Danny," he murmured in his partner's blissed out ear when he had savoured the feast.

Danny smiled and covered Steve's hand on his belly with his own, interlocking their fingers. "Love you too, Babe." Thoroughly distracted he closed his eyes and settled close to his lover, falling easily into an easy doze.

Steve smiled to himself and pulled a sheet over them with his free hand and relaxed, closing his eyes to doze as well.

Danny woke to find himself alone in the bed, and he blinked a few times to see his lover standing nearby, the jar in one hand, a trash bag in the other. He was just about to tip the stuff into the bag, and that was just…no. "Stop!" Danny snapped and sat up quickly. "What are you doing?"

Steve had the grace to look startled when he looked up at Danny, and then a bit sheepish, not a bad look really, especially since he was still naked. "I… er… was cleaning house?" the Commander answered him, looking back down at the contents of his hands. "I didn't want them around."

Danny huffed and got out of bed, throwing the covers off him in a mood. "Well I do, Babe." he retorted, annoyed, and stalked over to him. He held out his hand for the jar, and waited, but Steve stubbornly held onto the contents of both of his hands. Danny huffed again and made a grab for the jar but feinted for the bag at the last moment, knowing his partner would yank the jar out of his reach. Which he did, but Steve's smirk of triumph faded when he felt the bag ripped out of his grip instead.

"I thought…" the SEAL retorted, and held the offending jar close against his chest with both hands as he watched Danny quickly rip the trash bag up with his own angry ones. "You maybe wouldn't need these any more."

He sounded so uncertain, and Danny hated that from him, but he was pissed at his assumption. "Just because you said so?" he asked him, disbelief in his tone. "Steve, you're epic at most things, but even you can't stop something I've been doing for two thirds of my life because you said so."

"Why not?" Steve demanded, his uncertainty gone, replaced with annoyance. "Why not, Danny? Why do you still feel the need to cut? I'm here for you, I love you, Grace is with us, and our team is back on track. Why is that not enough?"

Danny sighed, trying to keep calm, but then … fuck it. "That is so much more than enough for me, Steven!" he snapped at him, and made another grab for the jar. "But you don't know what's round the corner, you can't know. You don't know another Nick Taylor isn't going to try and kill you, you don't know the volcano isn't going to blow the islands in half, you don't know that we're going to keep Gracie tomorrow. I need to have those here, just in case."

Steve frowned, aneurism face again, something that Danny had promised himself not to allow in their bedroom. "We'll fight, together." he tried to assure him. "And 'just in case' isn't something I've ever worked with before, Danno, I'm not going to start now."

Danny shook his head. "You don't get it." he retorted and looked away from him, anywhere that wasn't part of his lover's long body in front of him. Steve was silent, as was usual when he didn't know what to say, and Danny took advantage of that. "I don't …" he began but shook his head again. "I'm not saying anything like that is going to happen." he told him and reached out a hand to lie on Steve's nearest hip. "I need to know I've got them, so I won't have to use them."

Steve's frown deepened. "You're throwing words together again." he replied grimly. "What do you mean?"

Danny huffed and ran his hand through his hair, using the moment to think about it. He knew why he needed the blades in reach; it was just very difficult explaining it to anyone else. "Why do you have guns, ammo, grenades and gasoline stashed all around this house and grounds, Steve?" he asked him bluntly after a pause. "Why? I know I asked you to get rid of some of them, but you didn't. Why do you have them?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" his partner demanded. He remembered that argument, Danno had found a gun stashed in the garage when he was getting some more coal for the grill and he had not been a happy bunny. Steve had defended himself, with Taylor as an example, and he did not want to bring that up again – Taylor's betrayal still hurt.

"Agghh!" Danny growled and raised both hands in the air in supplication. "I'm trying to use it as an example, not have another rant at you. Idiot!" he snapped at him and turned on his heel to walk away. "You keep them as an insurance policy, I know that, you explained it. 'Just in case we need them, Danno', you told me, with condescending smirk number 2 face on! I remember it well! Why don't you understand that I need these, just in case? If I have them here, most of the time I have urges I don't need to cut, just to know they're here. Do you get that?"

The problem was, Steve did understand it. He felt the same way about his weapons, if he knew they were there he felt much more secure in his home, especially now he had so much to lose. "But this is different, Danno." he answered him sternly. "Those weapons are here to protect you and Grace, my family. These…" He looked at the jar as if he held a poisonous snake in his hand. "These hurt you. I hate that you need that."

Danny smiled grimly and shook his head. "I hurt me, Steve." he assured him. "Those blades don't do it to me." He sighed, time for more truths. "They aren't the only thing I've used over the years, either," he admitted. "You can't get rid of everything, Babe. I've used hammers, boiling water, even put my hand on an electric hob ring. Just like you I can use what's around me to do most damage. Sometimes it's the only thing I have any control over."

Steve couldn't stand away from him at that, he shuddered and took the two steps needed to get to him and quickly enfolded him in his arms, tightly surrounded by his body. "I want to protect you from everything, Love." he murmured in his ear. "Why don't you get that?"

Danny embraced him in reply and laid his face against his shoulder. "I know that." he assured him, his voice muffled in his partner's skin. "And I love you too, Babe. I want to protect you, as well. I'm not asking you to have them out on the nightstand, or on the mantle downstairs. Hell, I don't care if they stay on top of the wardrobe. I just need to know where they are, I just need that." He paused and pressed a kiss to the soft, warm skin under his lips and sighed. "I don't want to disappoint you by buying more and hiding them here, Steve." he added quietly, eyes closed and squeezed him tightly. "And I promise, I promise, I will talk to you when, if I have the urge to cut again." he added, and he meant it too. Steve meant far too much to him to lose him over this. "Please don't hate me for it."

Steve sighed and pressed a kiss to his scalp, trying to think. He really didn't want the blades around, but like Danny said, he could easily get some more and hide them, and he wanted that to happen even less. And, after over twenty years of injuring himself to sort out his emotional problems, he realised Danny wasn't, couldn't simply stop just because he asked him to. Besides, Danny had never demanded he change to suit him, yes he might rant about his lack of procedure and self preservation, but he'd never out and out demanded he stop right there and be something he wasn't. It was the gifts he had bestowed on the Commander that had made him change some of his ways, he really did try not to throw himself into the line of fire so much, and he had done as much as he could to follow Denning's new requirements as well, because he loved having a family go come home to now, a family that Danny had given him. He even got on reasonably well with Danny's extended family back in New Jersey, although one of his uncles was a bit standoffish with both of them. So he could do this, he admitted to himself, he had to do this, for Danny, because his partner, his lover, and so much more than that simple word, deserved it. "All right." he agreed after a few minutes of holding him tightly. "But please Danny, please tell me if you feel the need to cut, or injure in any other way. Please, Love. And." he added after a thoughtful pause. "Please think about speaking to a therapist. I know you had a bad experience with one," he added quickly when he felt his partner tense up in his arms. "I can't force you to see one, and I won't, but they might be able to give you some other coping strategies."

Danny surprised him by laughing quietly and pressed a kiss to his skin again. "Maybe we should both go," he explained dryly. "They could do the same for you. You know, like suggesting other ways apart from a grenade to open a door."

Steve pulled away just enough so he could look down at him and smile. "You're not going to let that one go, are you?" he asked him fondly, and then: "Discount for bulk?" he suggested when Danny shook his head, and grinned at his partner laughed quietly. "Maybe." he agreed and stretched up for a kiss Steve was pleased to give him.

Later Steve watched as Danno and Grace read a book together, cuddled together on the couch, after dinner, and smiled at them. He didn't know what they were reading, something about wizards and such, but Danny seemed to be using different voices and Grace loved it. The Commander knew Danny wasn't going to stop harming himself just because Steve asked him to and when, not if, he got majority custody of Grace (Steve had had Chin and Kono do some research and their lawyer was using to their advantage – no one was calling it blackmail, yet) but he was going to do all he could to distract him. He smiled smugly to himself as he watched the pair of them interact – his distraction technique had worked earlier, and he would just have to keep an eye and trust Danny to tell him when he needed to cut again. He did really want to get rid of the jar and it's contents, but Danny was right, he could easily get some more and hide them, and that would be a problem. Steve would lose any modicum of control over the situation then. Which was another problem, and he frowned. Danny had mentioned about control, and he had read that some people used cutting to have any sort of control over their lives, and the SEAL could see why. He could also see why Danny would feel the same – he'd been forced here against his will by his vengeful ex-wife, been treated badly by HPD, then CO-ERCED (not bullied, shanghaied or other words the man himself had used – frequently), persuaded onto 5-0 by Steve himself. Then jerked around by Rachel again, and frequently, over access to Grace, running over the islands at the whim of whatever criminal du jour they were after. And he wasn't even going to think about Matthew and the machinations of Wo Fat.

So controlling Danny's access to blades wasn't going to help – like he had said he didn't need them to cause damage to himself. Just as long as he didn't use his gun. And that was a horror Steve didn't want to contemplate either.

All Steve could do, he realised, was be there for him when Danny needed him, make sure his partner knew how much he meant to him, and continue to distract him when Danny needed it. He realised then, with a start that he had spent most of his life not actually being needed by anyone, apart from his country, and even then most people didn't know he existed outside their own lives. Having someone like Danny Williams, one of the strongest people he had ever come across, need him, a damaged and slightly insane (yes, he could admit he was not the most stable people ever, but only to himself) sailor was a heady thought. He smiled to himself when he thought about it – Danny called him 'Love', told him he loved him, and if that didn't puff his chest up with pride he didn't know what did.

He blinked when he felt a hand on his arm and smiled even wider at the man in question. Danny and Grace had left the couch and over to him, without him noticing, and even now were standing in front of him, Danny frowning. The Detective laid a hand on his arm to get his attention. "You okay, Babe?" he asked him quietly. "You were making 'thoughtful aneurism face number 3'."

Steve grinned at him and looked down at Grace, looking up at them both with wide eyes. "Your Dad always likes to name my faces." he commented fondly at her.

She grinned. "You have so many, StepSteve," she replied, which made her father smile and nod.

Danny laughed quietly at his eye roll and lifted his daughter up handed her over to the SEAL. "Bed time for Cadet Williams." he explained with a smile and laid a kiss on her cheek. "She wants StepSteve to tuck her in."

Steve looked up at her and grinned when she nodded. "I can do that, Cadet," he agreed easily and his heart warmed when she hugged his neck. "What are you going to do?" he asked his partner meaningfully. Danny had put his jar on the top of the medicine cabinet in the en suite bathroom upstairs, out of view but within reach, and Steve knew where it was, but, as he had said earlier, he could use anything else.

Danny rolled his eyes this time – he realised Steve would have some trust issues, especially since he had explained about anything else he had used, but he was just going to have to get over it, Danny wasn't planning on explaining everything he was going to do, why, when and how just to give his partner peace of mind. "I'm going to clear up down here, lock up and join you upstairs." he told him and squeezed his partner's arm that he still held. He bestowed a hard grip on the limb, trying to impart something that he couldn't say with his daughter so close, and hoped Steve got it.

The Commander nodded, he was going to call him on it when they got some time alone again. "Okay." he agreed easily, and forced himself away, Grace in his arms, heading for the stairs. He knew he was going to have to trust Danny with this, he couldn't be with him all the time to make sure he wasn't doing anything, that was the first and quickest way and lose the family he had fought hard to get. Danny trusted him with the most precious person on the planet to him, the little bundle of pigtails, grins and giggles in his arms, the least he could do was trust him to tell him, as he had promised. "Come on, Honey Bee." he said to Grace in his arms as he strode up the stairs. "Let's leave Danno to do the washing up."

Danny watched them go with a rueful sigh before he walked to the coffee table and picked up the crockery that had been left there. Steve's concerns had been all over his face, as usual, and his partner could understand it. But really, the SEAL needed to start trusting him again if their relationship was going to work. He hadn't called him on it there, Grace was in his arms for a start, and he decided to cut him some slack as he walked back with a couple of mugs and a plate into the kitchen. Steve was going to have to get used to it, and Danny was going to have to make good on his promise. It wasn't going to be easy, Danny knew that, this was just one paragraph in one chapter in the story of his life – there was no such thing as a 'cure', and he was going to need Steve's brand of help again, for a long time to come, not just if tomorrow didn't go the way he wanted it. But still, it was a good start, and it was one more reason why he was so stupidly in love with the big SEAL upstairs.

"One baby step at a time, Babe," he murmured to himself as he started to fill the sink with water. "One baby step at a time."

End