Danny was worried about Steve. It seemed like he spent half his life worrying about his partner's wellbeing these days, especially after having to fly to Afghanistan and bully a military team into rescuing the man from terrorists about to try and behead him.
Steve hadn't really been the same since. He was withdrawn and tense a lot of the time, and Danny got the impression he was pissed off with Catherine, not that he would admit it; that anger was being hidden under the guise of 'she was fulfilling her mission, she did the right thing'.
Well, that was a pile of shit in Danny's personal opinion, not that he would say as much to Steve. Yeah, he wasn't trained Navy like them, hadn't had the be-the-mission-complete-the-mission mentality beaten into him; but there was no scenario, no circumstances on this earth, where he could see himself leaving a friend behind in enemy territory, in the hands of the bad guys. Especially not if that friend was Steve.
He had been doing his best to help lighten Steve's mood, get him to come out with the team more and not hole himself up inside his house. Danny could see what he was doing, and he wasn't about to let Steve wallow.
So when Rachel asked if he wanted to come to a July 4th celebration on Waikiki beach with Grace, Stan and Charlie, he had jumped at the chance to see his daughter and have her on his shoulders while they watched fireworks. After replying to Rachel's text saying he would be there, the first thing he'd done was message his partner and ask him to come along. He'd even used the 'Grace wants to see her Uncle Steve' line, so when he'd got a reply saying Steve wasn't feeling up to it, it had confused him.
Steve could never resist spending time with Gracie, it was a proven fact. Something was definitely wrong.
He found he couldn't really concentrate at the beach party, and every time he wasn't talking to Grace or Rachel, he was thinking about Steve.
Some particularly large bangs were going off overhead, and Grace was 'oooh'ing and 'ahhh'ing on his shoulders, and he took a moment to pull his phone from his pocket.
-It's only just underway, partner. Sure you're not coming out?
It took a few minutes before he received a return text.
-I'm fine, Danno. Just gonna stay in. Have fun.
He shook his head to himself. Why Steve would ever want to stay in, even maybe to watch the celebrations from his lanai, confounded him. He'd at least thought the guy might invite them over to celebrate there. It was very un-Steve.
The next couple of hours went past quickly, with Danny only checking his phone every ten minutes or so to see if Steve had changed his mind. By the time ten o'clock rolled around and Rachel announced it was Grace's bedtime and well past Charlie's, Danny had already decided where he was going next.
He gave Grace a hug and kiss goodbye, said goodbye to Rachel and Stan and their son, even though the kid was asleep in his pushchair. How young children could sleep through all this noise, he'd never know.
He saw them off home, and then climbed into his Camaro and headed straight for Steve's, only stopping to pick up a six pack of his friend's favourite beer on the way. He saw it as part of his role as best friend to look after his partner, make sure he was okay, and he wasn't going to drop this tonight.
When he pulled up outside Steve's house, some of his neighbours were letting off fireworks in a nearby garden, having their own private display. All of Steve's curtains and blinds were drawn, not a single light on within the property, and Danny frowned. Steve couldn't possibly be sleeping through this?
He tried the front door, only to find it locked. Now that was weird. Steve had said he was home, and he only ever locked up when he went to bed. Danny made his way around the side of the house to the lanai, trying the double doors there. Locked again.
