Danny was down.

He'd taken two shots to the chest and one to the back, and his feet had gone out from under him on the uneven surface. It had been an ambush, and his thick jacket had done nothing to protect him; he felt cold as liquid seeped through his clothing where he lay on the ground.

He'd seen Steve go down too, he was pretty sure he'd taken a shot to the head as well at the torso.

He wished they'd worn tactical gear, but you didn't generally expect to get attacked out of the blue like that when you were just out for a stroll in the park in New Jersey.

God damn kids!

The blonde hauled himself up from the ground, gathering snow as he went and creating a good solid ball. He launched it at the nearest teenager, catching him square in the chest.

The boy, only around fourteen, squealed and began forming his own snowball, and he and his friends cheered at finally finding people who would join in their snowball fight and not just grumble at them and continue on their way.

Danny grinned. They had no idea that they'd just declared war on probably the two worst people they could have picked. A cop and a Navy SEAL…

Steve was already up and had dived behind a picnic table, now busy building his own arsenal, ready for battle. The detective ran to join his partner, managing to dodge the hail of flying projectiles now he was expecting them.

While the Kelly-Kalakaua clan had organised their own family get-togethers and booked out Chin, Kono and Adam for the holidays, and Lou and his family had been invaded by the in-laws from Chicago for the foreseeable future, Danny's family had begged for him to come to stay back in Jersey for Christmas. Grace was with Rachel, visiting England, so the detective had jumped at the chance to see his tribe and have a proper Williams Christmas again.

But then he'd thought of Steve, all alone for the holidays, with his Aunt Deb and Leonard on a cruise and Mary-Ann and Joan with them, and his mother still awol. He'd declined his parents' kind offer in favour of staying in Hawaii to keep his best friend company, but when Steve had found out what Danny had done, he'd insisted Danny go home and see his family.

That's when the blonde had given him the ultimatum: "You're not going to be alone for Christmas, so either I stay here, or you're coming to New Jersey."

Not for a moment had Danny thought Steve would agree to leave Hawaii for the freezing cold climate of a Jersey winter… and yet here they were, Christmas Eve, having a pitched snow battle with a bunch of punk kids in the park after being waylaid on their way back to the hotel from Danny's parents' house. And loving it.

"It is actually impossible to go anywhere with you without getting into a firefight!" The detective teased as he landed next to his partner in a skid. His jacket and jeans were soaked, he was freezing, and he didn't care. Steve's clothing hadn't faired much better, and he hadn't packed properly for the cold weather despite Danny's warnings, so his thin jacket couldn't be doing much to keep him warm, but he didn't seem to mind either.

"It's hardly a life-threatening situation, Danno. They're just kids!" He grinned at the blonde and hurled three snowballs from his pile over the bench at practically machine gun speed. Miltary precision resulted in three direct hits.

"They're Jersey kids, Steven! Vicious little fuckers!" Danny scooped up more of the freezing white stuff. His were sloppy in comparison, but just as effective, and the next one to hit a teenager exploded in a powdery shower and went down the back of the kid's neck, making him squeal. He'd grown up with cold winters and three siblings, he knew all the meanest tactics.

Both sides continued to get good shots in, and the two men quickly fell into an unspoken system of Danny creating their weapons and Steve hurling them at the opposition, working like a well oiled machine.

But the teens were gaining reinforcements from a group who had been on the other side of the park, and soon it was fourteen to two. Amazingly, the crack law enforcement team were holding their own, but it wasn't long before they were being pummelled with snow, and they decided it was time to make a run for it.

They tore off through the nearby trees as more snowballs flew their way punctuated with the victorious screams of the teenagers, Steve's longer legs meaning he gained ground quicker, and when he burst from the other side of the tree line, his partner was nowhere to be seen.

He skidded to a stop and looked around him, panting. He'd got turned around and wasn't entirely sure which way the hotel was anymore. He needed his friend to navigate this unfamiliar territory for him. "Danny? Danno!"

A snowball flew out of nowhere and exploded on his shoulder, showering him in ice. He yelped, and he could hear Danny's raucous giggle behind him.

Steve had missed that laugh, that smile; they'd been rarities in his partner's life recently with all the things he'd been through, and it was an absolute joy to experience them again. But right now, Danny was going to pay for sneaking up on him.

When he turned, the blonde was still snickering, and he had the biggest grin on his face. It quickly faded when Steve let out a deep bass growl and advanced on his friend. The detective squeaked, and out of fight or flight, he picked the 'running like hell on earth' option.

Steve took off after him, and caught up sooner than he'd hoped, because he was enjoying chasing the rabbiting blonde, but when he was in range he made a flying tackle and took the man down in one swoop.

Danny felt his friend seize him around the waist, and he was taken off his feet. He had a split second to twist in his grip so he didn't end up face down in the snow, and then powder exploded all around them as they hit a drift.

The next thing he knew, he was looking up into his partner's face as they laughed loudly and he squirmed to try and get up from where the snow was soaking into his jacket again.

But Steve wasn't getting off him; his torso was raised up on his arms, but his legs were on Danny's and it meant almost his whole body weight was pinning him down, and as their chuckling died away he realised that the SEAL was gazing at him with an unreadable look on his face.

Their eyes met, and this close he was finally able to see the breadth of colour in his friend's irises; ranges of deep browns and hazels flowing intimately with greys and hints of blue, they were probably the most complex eyes he'd ever seen... only appropriate, seeing as they belonged to the most complex man he'd ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Danny's eyes were an unbelievable blue-grey, like steel, or the early morning sky over the ocean back home, so clear like ice or glass or... Steve was staring... he couldn't stop. He knew he should, because he was lying on top of his best friend and had been for a lot longer than was normally acceptable in these circumstances. His partner had briefly struggled to try and get up, but now he was leaning up on his elbows and... well, he was staring back!

His gaze flickered down to Danny's lips. Shit. He probably saw that. But he wanted to kiss him, so much. He'd been in love with this man since he bounced into his life and started dismantling his carefully constructed barricades, muscling in and taking his seat in Steve's reality without ever considering that he might not be welcome. And the SEAL was so glad he hadn't asked if he was allowed in, because he hadn't known he needed some loudmouth Jersey cop to tell him what to do until he had him. He would have turned him away, given the option, and he'd never have know that he was missing out on the best thing he'd ever have.

Danny had not missed that glance, but he had no idea if it meant what he wanted it to mean, and he was too chicken shit to take the chance to find out. Steve was his best friend, his partner, and the sexiest man ever to grace the fucking planet, but there was no way he felt the same way as Danny did. He probably had something on his face, that was all. Moron. Don't let him know what you're thinking. Don't let him know that he's made you realise Jersey isn't your home anymore, that Hawaii is.

Because yeah, it was great being back where he'd grown up, seeing his parents and sisters, and he was looking forward to showing Steve all the places he had known so well... but none of it compared at all to sitting on the lanai at Steve's house while his boss grilled steaks and they chatted and drank Longboards and teased each other relentlessly.

Steve blinked slowly. "Uh..."

"Um..." Danny replied.

And then the blonde's eyes moved downwards, because he could feel Steve's hot breaths against his cold cheeks and smell the coffee they'd just had and Jesus Christ his lips looked soft.

"We should uh..." he mumbled, seemingly unable to tear his gaze away from his partner's mouth.

"Yeah..." Steve wasn't even aware of what he was agreeing to.

But then his hand was snaking around the back of Danny's neck, and his knees were settling in the snow either side of the man's hips, and he was kissing him. His brain started screaming at him that this wasn't going to end well, that he was locking lips with his most-definitely-straight work partner and he was about to get punched, but it was soon silenced when Danny got with the program and kissed him back.

It was gentle and careful, both of them so unsure of the other. And Danny realised that this was insane, because Steve was the one thing in this life he could always be sure about. And so he pressed forward, slid his tongue into the other man's mouth, and they both groaned as their pent up tension slipped away.

The detective grabbed his partner's face with both hands, and the loss of support behind him led to him falling backward into the snow and Steve following him down. Every single part of his body was freezing cold, mainly because of the cold weather and wet clothes, but now because all of his blood was draining out of his extremities and heading for one particular area of his body. And apparently it was the same for Steve, judging by the shiver running through him and the fast-growing bulge in his cargoes.

They eventually broke their kiss, both panting for oxygen, and Steve was up and pulling Danny to his feet. He kept a rock solid grip on his hand and began to haul ass across the park, taking the detective along for the ride.

The blonde dug his heels in and forced him to stop. "Babe, wait, what the hell are you doing?"

He rounded on the Jersey man and looked down into his face, hoping against hope the man wasn't freaking out and having second thoughts. "I... Danny, I am doing what I should have done a long time ago. What I should have done the day I met you. I know, I know it's scary but you know what? It's right. If you don't want to, I understand, and I'll back off. But that kiss felt like something that deserves to be explored, and right now I just want to get back to the hotel and get out of these cold wet clothes and see where that takes us."

Danny stared up at him and blinked slowly, mouth open, because that was probably the most words he'd ever heard come out of the Commander in one go. Then he smiled.

"I meant, what the hell are you doing because the hotel is that way?" He pointed at roughly ninety degrees to the direction Steve had been dragging them.

The brunette looked at him blankly for a moment. "Oh... oh!" And then he was the one being towed along behind a very determined detective who knew exactly where he was headed.

It was a short journey, only a block or two once they were out of the park, but it felt like it took years until they were racing through the foyer of the hotel and jabbing the button for the elevator.

The ride up to the sixth floor was strained, due to the three Japanese tourists and family of four who had piled into the small space with them, forcing them to stand next to each other and not let their hands wander to the places they wanted to go. The second the doors opened, however, Steve grasped Danny's hand and pulled him away down the corridor.

Their rooms were opposite one another's, and it became a race to see who could battle their frozen fingers to get their key card out and door open first.

The detective won the race, and he gripped the back of Steve's sodden jacket and hauled him into his room. They were stripping each other even before the door swung shut. Steve pushed him up against the wall as he tugged the jacket off his shoulders, and Danny moaned into his mouth and bit his lower lip, numb fingers struggling with the taller man's jacket zipper, and he shoved him further into the room.

They were uncoordinated from the cold and excitement, but eventually they were down to their boxers, shivering against each other as they left a trail of wet pants, jackets and t-shirts behind them.

"We need to have a shower, we need to warm up," Danny sighed as his partner nibbled down his throat, icy lips on cold skin.

"I'll warm you up, Danno, don't you worry..." Steve tried to tug him toward the bed, but the Jersey man pulled back from him.

"I swear to god, Steven, I cannot feel my fingers and toes. We're having a shower before we get hypothermia or something."

He pushed past the taller man and into the bathroom, and Steve opened his mouth to argue but was immediately distracted by Danny's ass in just his boxers. He followed him without further complaint.

The blonde twisted the dial to get the shower running, and he turned to find his partner standing directly behind him, and then he was pushed into the wall again. This was something he could really get used to.

The brunette ran his hands through Danny's hair and scratched at his scalp, making him groan against his lips as they kissed again. The detective's hands skated down the SEAL's back and over his hips, thumbs slipping into his waistband and slipping them down, and then Steve's hands were darting down and doing the same with his friend's underwear, tongues still investigating one another's mouths.

They stepped out of the material which pooled at their feet, and when the brunette moved forward their bare cocks bumped against each other, causing Steve to gasp and Danny to curse loudly. The Commander ground his hips into his partner's, trapping their dicks between them and using the friction to pleasure them both.

He bent to nip along the artery in his colleague's neck, pulling some extremely encouraging sounds from the other man, and the detective's fingers kneaded at his lower back and pressed the two of them closer together.

His mouth closed around Danny's throat in an open-mouthed kiss, teeth testing the skin, and he felt it vibrate under his tongue as his partner moaned.

"Oh, fuck... Steve..."

It was a sound he'd only heard before in his dreams, his name said in that way, in that accent... and it was better than he'd imagined.

The blonde guided them into the shower enclosure, sliding the door shut behind them, and they both sighed as the hot water sluiced over them and instantly began to warm them up. Steve had to admit, this was a better idea than the bed. His fingers had been stiff and numbed, clumsy, but under the heat of the shower they began to flex again, and he could grip at his partner's body with renewed force and accuracy. They made out languorously under the cascade of water, allowing it to restore their body temperatures to a decent level again while their hands explored one another's solid physiques.

And he couldn't seem to tear his lips away from Danny's. Every time they pulled back to breathe, it felt like a huge loss, so when the Jersey man backed off again he grouched and reached forward for him, eyes still closed. But he wasn't there. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Danny kneeling at his feet, and then his cock was being taken into the velvet heat of his partner's mouth.

"Holy fuck!" Steve almost slipped over, but was saved when the blonde pushed him back into the cool tiles and held him there while his tongue made sure to investigate every inch of the taller man's dick.

He arched his back against the wall and gently tangled his fingers into Danny's hair, relaxing into his touch.

Danny watched the SEAL's reactions carefully to see what he liked. He especially seemed to respond to him running the tip of his tongue from base to head along the thick vein underneath, and when the blonde squeezed his muscular thighs and dug his fingers in he sighed heavily.

He took his boss's cock further back into his mouth, sucking experimentally and enjoying the sounds it pulled from the other man while he teased him and massaged him over several minutes. He'd waited such a long time for this, and he was determined to make it a memorable first time between them, so he pushed forward and relaxed his muscles, deep throating Steve. The Navy man let out a loud groan and pulled at Danny's hair, and the blonde drew back and repeated the action.

"Fuck, Danny, I'm gonna come..." The brunette tried to pull back, knowing not everyone was okay with someone coming in their mouth, but the detective gripped his ass and brought him back into his mouth, cock gliding into his throat again, pressing his nose into the brown curls at the base of the taller man's cock and swallowing hard.

The muscles contracting in waves around Steve's dick had him bucking back against the wall and howling his partner's name, and Danny's hands travelled over his abs as he pulsed down his throat and the blonde milked him for all he was worth.

The Jersey man stood, and Steve pulled him in for a deep, hungry kiss, tasting his come on the other man's tongue. God, it was the most amazing sensation, and Danny was silky heaven.

They washed each other down, and had to share Danny's towel, but now they were a more comfortable temperature they didn't mind still being slightly damp when they manoeuvred back into the bedroom, leaving the bathroom in a state of disarray.

"Are you sufficiently warm now, Sir Daniel?" Steve teased as he nudged his friend towards the bed.

"Oh, I could stand to be a little warmer..." The blonde purred, smiling against his lips as he drew him down for another kiss.

Steve guided him backward to the end of the bed and shoved him down onto the mattress, stalking over him on all fours and biting at his lips before working his way down the blonde's body. He was loving the little gasps emitted when he sucked marks into his chest, the involuntary little jerks of the man's muscles whenever he bit a little too hard over his stomach, tracing his way down to his cock, which was hard and leaking through lack of attention. And Steve was going to make it worth the wait.

He smoothed the flat of his tongue up from base to tip where it lay heavy again Danny's abs, and he moaned and pressed his hips up toward Steve's mouth. The brunette splayed his hand over his partner's stomach and held him down to the mattress as he tended to him with his tongue and lips, using his other hand to guide the man's cock into his mouth and swirl his tongue around the head.

The detective made some unintelligible noises as the SEAL's thumbs brushed over his balls, and Steve repeated the action just to hear the erotic sounds again. Danny grasped at the sheets around him and writhed under his lover as the Navy man ravished him with his tongue, taking him to the back of his mouth and grazing his teeth along his thick shaft.

His mouth felt amazing, talented slick tongue massaging him in the all the right places, fingers curling around the base of his dick and squeezing rhythmically, and it wasn't long until Danny could feel his orgasm building. He tugged at the brunette's hair lightly, which sent tingles down Steve's spine.

"Babe, god, I'm gonna come," he warned.

Steve's response was to suck his head harder, take him back as far as he could and growl around him, letting the vibrations do the work. The blonde shuddered and moaned his name, long and hard, as he came in his mouth and Steve swallowed him down, licking him clean and sucking gently until the sensitivity was too much and Danny had to lazily bat him away.

The SEAL crawled up his partner's body and collapsed into his side, burying his face into his neck. "That felt good when you pulled my hair," he admitted, grinning against his hot skin.

The blonde sighed deeply. "God, that felt good when you… everything… everything felt fucking amazing…" He twisted and kissed Steve's forehead, sliding his hands over the brunette's arm where it was wrapped across his chest.

The taller man reached for the comforter and pulled it over them, snuggling against his best friend. "That was a long time coming," he whispered against Danny's neck and kissed him lazily over his pulse point, feeling it slow to a normal rate under his lips. "Who'd have thought a snowball fight would lead us to this?"

"I think it had more to do with you landing on top of me and kissing me, actually," Danny laughed, "And now you have to face my family tomorrow for Christmas dinner, which is probably the fastest progression between getting together and meeting the parents I've ever experienced…"

"I've already met your parents, and they love me, Danno." Steve sighed happily and closed his eyes, breathing in his lover's scent. He felt the deep rumble in his chest before he heard the giggle.

"Yeah, but you haven't met my sisters yet… and they are so much scarier…"