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Danny doesn't sleep that night. He's over at Rachel's house and they're both sitting in Grace's room, watching her sleep. Danny can't bring himself to leave, and Rachel doesn't ask him to; she brings him a glass of wine and sits next to him with her own glass. They don't speak. There's nothing to say, really. Faced with the reality of what happened, what could have happened, they're silent in its aftermath.
Grace murmurs, shifts in her bed, and even that's enough to make Danny's eyes sting again. He feels Rachel take his hand and he squeezes back, feeling like he's holding on for dear life. The wine helps take the edge off, but it does nothing to erase it.
The baby cries at four and Rachel takes her hand back, fingers slipping out of Danny's grip, to go see to him. Danny doesn't move, just watches Grace; the light from the hallway lighting up her face a little. She looks peaceful, and Danny is so grateful that she's not having nightmares, though he knows they'll probably happen.
In the other room, the baby stops crying. Danny can hear Rachel singing softly and he remembers watching her do this with Grace years ago. He doesn't regret helping put Peterson away, he just regrets not shooting him in the head once they'd found out where Grace was.
Rachel finally comes back; she's got the wine bottle this time. Danny gives her what he hopes is a smile in thanks once his glass is refilled. They sit and watch their baby sleep until the sun comes up and her alarm goes off.
~~~
Dropping Grace off at school is gut wrenching. "Do not go with anyone you don't know," he reminds her. She nods solemnly and he has to hug her again. "I'll pick you up and take you home this afternoon and Rachel will be home to meet you."
"Okay, Danno," Grace squeezes her arms around Danny's neck and Danny kisses her hair.
"Danno loves you," Danny says as Grace opens the car door. It feels like he's choking but he tries to look confident for her.
"Love you too, Danno," Grace smiles and Danny doesn't leave until she's all the way inside the school. His heart is in his throat as he forces himself to drive away.
Five-0 headquarters is quiet when he gets there; Danny sees every one in their offices and nothing happening at the central table. Steve glances up as Danny passes and whoa, he looks like he hasn't slept either.
"What are you doing here?" Steve's followed Danny into his office, puts his hand on Danny's shoulder as he gets close. "You don't have to be here."
Danny closes his eyes and focuses on the heat of Steve's hand. He wants to turn and let Steve wrap him up, he wants to sleep, he wants to have Grace lojacked. Steve steps closer and Danny can almost feel him against his back. "There's paperwork to do," Danny finally replies.
"We got it covered," Steve starts, and Danny finally turns to look up at him; Steve's exhausted and it shows. "You look like you need as much rest as I do."
Steve shrugs. "Couldn't sleep, so I went by your place but you weren't home. I figured you were over at Rachel's but I had to be sure so I drove by. After I saw your car I came here."
"You've been here all night?" Danny isn't sure what to call the feeling in his chest that Steve drove over to Rachel's to check on them. He knows Steve was just as weak-kneed with relief when they got to Grace as Danny was.
"Yeah, I figured I'd try to get the paperwork done. I didn't want you to have to do it," Steve replies, and Danny can't hold back anymore.
He kisses Steve, right there in Danny's glass walled office where everyone can see. Steve's lips are dry and a little chapped and their over night's worth of stubble scrapes against each other, but Danny doesn't care. They'd had a thing for a while, but over the past year Danny's kept his distance. He regrets that now, because Steve obviously loves him and loves Grace and would do anything for them. Danny doesn't have to check with Chin or Kono to know that Steve was probably just as frantic and destroyed by yesterday's events as Danny had been.
Steve's arms snake around Danny and hold on as he works Danny's mouth open and deepens the kiss. When they break apart, Danny's arms are around Steve and they hold each other close. Danny can feel Steve's nose buried behind Danny's ear and he closes his eyes and let's himself relax a little. "Hey," he mumbles.
"Mm?" Steve makes a curious noise but doesn't pull back.
"Let's head back to your place. I could really use a beer on the beach." He can feel Steve's smile against his skin. "Then later we can both go pick up Grace from school."
"Okay," Steve pulls back enough for Danny to see the grin, to see the gratefulness in Steve's eyes.
~~~
Steve's fidgety as they wait outside the school. He's drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of Danny's car and Danny can see he's tense. Danny feels the same and he wishes the bell would hurry up and ring so he can see his little girl again.
When the bell finally rings, Steve's out of the car and jogging for the school steps before Danny's even got his door shut. He sees Grace before she's even all the way out the main doors and then he's calling and waving as Danny gets to his side.
"Uncle Steve!" Grace squeals as she flings herself into Steve's arms. Steve holds her tight and closes his eyes and Danny can see the dampness on his eyelashes.