Genre: Alternate Universe - Genies
Pairing: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams
Spoilers/Warnings: none
Author's note: Thanks to Paulette for betaing it so quickly, pointing out all my hurried mistakes and the wtfs? that I missed along the way. Now, this was intended as crack!fic. It pretty much IS crack fic, really it is. It's not AU, it's not serious, it's just a fun little jaunt that my brain spat out over the course of 5 hours this afternoon. I'm sure it's riddled with stupid things but I don't honestly care. I had fun writing it, Genie!Danny is my perfect genie, and I want him in my , this was a distraction I really should have ignored. 9000 words later, it shows just how bad my willpower is.

Originally published (on ao3): June 2013

Steve was tidying out the attic. He'd finally got around to that part of the house. The pain of his father's death was receding and now that his mother was unexpectedly back in his life, he had a strange desire to explore old family mementos and try to see the true Doris McGarrett in them. He needed to know his childhood wasn't a lie.

He came across all sorts of musty items that had been stored in the small room. He found old toys of his and Mary's, school reports, things that looked like they must have belonged to his grandparents. Even some old items of furniture that his father had always planned to repair and just never got around to.

He fiddled in a box, finding an old pair of glasses in a hard case, a snow globe from the Statue of Liberty and tucked lower was a, what was it, a watering jug? No, it was metal. It had lost its shine for the most part but it still held something. It looked like an old fashioned oil lamp.

He rubbed at it, thinking there was writing on it, when there was a puff of smoke that made him begin coughing; closing his eyes to the dust it was creating. There was a bang that accompanied it and he was worried something had been knocked over in the small space.

As the smokiness in the room settled, a voice spoke, sounding bored. Maybe tired. "What is thy bidding, Master?"

"Woah!" Steve jumped back, dropping the lamp and reaching for a gun that wasn't on his hip. "Who the hell are you and how did you get up here?"

"Oh great," the man's shoulders slumped. "Gotta break in a new one, this is getting tougher every goddamn time."

Steve got a good look at the man now and his mouth opened, his jaw going slack at the sight. He was shorter than Steve but built with strong muscle. He wore royal blue silken pants that flowed over his legs down to his bare feet. A jewel encrusted, black silk belt barely held the pants up where it was tied to the side, the extra material flowing down the side of the man's right leg. Apart from the pants he wore no other clothing save for two leather cuffs on his wrists. His bare chest was on display to the world and rightly so, if you asked Steve. It was furred with chest hair and yet his skin seemed to shine like gold in the sunlight. His face carried a shadow of scruff, but his hair was immaculately groomed. He seemed to be sizing Steve up as they looked at each other.

Shaking himself back together and doing his best to avoid contemplating what would be revealed if the man's pants fell from his hips just that little bit more, he was able to speak again. "I asked you a question."

"Aw man," the guy replied as he saw where the lamp was lying. "You dropped the lamp, you imbecile, that's my home. I swear to God if you've messed it up…"

"Who the hell are you?!" Steve asked, this time raising his voice and barely keeping himself from rushing the guy and clattering him to the wall.

"Okay, fine, geez. My name is Danny," he gestured to himself and bowed his head. "I am the Genie of that lovely if slightly battered lamp and you are, apparently, my new Master which means you get three wishes."

"Genie. Three wishes." Steve smiled, trying not to laugh. "Okay, no really, who put you up to this, was it Kono? She's the kind to get a kick out of this."

"Fabulous, we're going to go down the old 'someone is setting me up' routine. Like I haven't seen it a thousand times before. No one is playing a trick on you, no, you are not high, or hallucinating, or dead, or dreaming, and no, I am not a crazy person who just wandered into your house. Oh and no, I am also not a one night stand who is still hanging around. I mean really, in this get up?" He gestured to himself, "Who else would wear this kind of thing, I mean really? I am a genie, that is my lamp; you rubbed it and brought me out here so this is all your own damn fault, now you get three wishes. It's all very standard."

"It's a fairytale."

"Apparently. Yes, I have seen the literature, and the movies, I've seen what's become of us poor genies over the years. Doesn't mean it wasn't all based in actual truth."

"So wait, there's more of you?" Steve asked, skeptically.

"There used to be hundreds. I'm not sure how many are left but I know there aren't as many as there once was." He looked sad as he spoke, but then he gathered himself together. "But that's a story for another day, how about we get this party started, huh? Okay, ground rules, again, all pretty basic. No wishing for more wishes, we closed that loophole centuries ago. No bringing people back from the dead, no killing people and no making someone fall in love with you. Those three are too big, too unnatural. We're blocked from doing it, so don't bother asking. Let's get started, what's your first wish?"

"Okay," Steve held a hand up to stop the craziness. "Since I'm still convinced I'm hallucinating this whole thing, reassurances aside, it might be best if I go back downstairs." Without waiting on a reply, he turned and headed down the ladder and then made his way to the kitchen, going straight for the beer in the fridge. When he closed the fridge door, Danny was standing right behind it and gave him a fright.

"For the love of God, how did you do that?"

"I have mad ninja skills," Danny replied. "Comes with the territory. You going to be a decent host and offer me one of those?"

Steve uncapped the beer he was holding and reached it out for Danny to take, then he opened the door again and grabbed another for himself, muttering about offering his hallucination beer, wine, or perhaps some cake.

Danny had sat himself at the table when Steve turned back to him. "Not that I doubt you, of course, but how did you get into my house?" He sat opposite Danny and did his best to keep his face straight, realizing he was trying to trick his own hallucination into revealing a flaw in himself.

"My guess is my last master left me wherever they put me, or send me is how I get to where I am."

"Who was that?"

"Her name was Doris. She worked for the US Government, travelled a lot, then settled down. Didn't have much use for me after a while. She kept me somewhere after her second wish. Those were some long, boring years, I tell ya."

"Doris," Steve said, still unbelieving, even though the argument made sense in a weird way. "McGarrett? My mother?"

Danny turned his eyes to Steve's and carefully looked him over, his expression softening. "Aw geez. You're Steve? Man, I told her it was a bad idea, but did she listen? Of course not."

Steve took his phone out and was about to hit the speed dial on his mother's number but then stopped himself, reminding himself how it would sound if he told his mother he'd awakened some magical genie that used to belong to her. Yeah, that would go down really well. Then he took in Danny's words. "Wait, you told her what was a bad idea?"

Danny leaned back in the chair, lifting his hands up. "I don't think I can tell you. Genie/Master, confidentiality."

Steve frowned. "Was it you? Did you help her fake her death?"

Danny's eyes widened. "Not very well, it seems. You know about that?"

"I found her a few months ago, she's back on the island, she lives not too far away from here. Wait, why wouldn't she come and get you when she got back?"

"It was her third wish, after that I'm pretty useless. I'm supposed to find my way to the next person who needs me." Danny seemed to be working out things himself as he spoke, his eyes speaking clearly for him. "Wow, okay, for some reason I guess I was supposed to stay here so you could find me. That's awkward. I pretty much took your mother away from you and your sister. I'm sorry about that, but it's what she wanted, I couldn't talk her out of it."

Steve took it all in as best he could. If Danny was an hallucination, then Steve's mind was doing a bang up job at convincing himself that it was real. "What about her other wishes, what were those?"

Danny shook his head. "You worked out that one for yourself, but I can't go telling you the other ones."

"How come you sound American?"

"I sound however you need me to sound to understand me and be comfortable with me. It's all in the magic."

"Okay, so how old are you?"

"Don't know, lost count a long time ago. Eight, maybe nine hundred. I'll know when I hit a thousand though because then my tour of duty will be up and I'll be free."

"Free?"

"I signed up for a thousand years, all part of my deal, so yeah, after that I'm my own man again."

"So you decided to be a genie? It was your choice?"

"Something like that," Danny answered and he had a look about him that said he wasn't going to go into detail.

"Okay, well, uh… I don't really have any wishes so you'd maybe better just, find the next person on your list, or whatever."

"Oh come on, everyone has wishes, everyone wants something better in their lives." He stood and moved around the table. Steve stiffened in response as he watched, very aware of how Danny looked as he did so.

"Sorry, nope." He said as he swallowed another gulp of beer. It seemed wrong to him to wish for things and have them come true. Like he was tempting fate. And if it was true about his mother, then he was already seeing the consequences of what happened when you wished for something, and how it affected people around him.

"Well, that's too bad," Danny sighed. "Because I can't just pack up my lamp and move on. It seems you were supposed to find me, because you did. Now you're stuck with me until you make that third wish."

Steve thought about it. Being stuck with Danny didn't seem like a bad thing. In fact, a part of him thought it would be a very good thing and he really felt like indulging that part of himself. He was so used to being the good leader, the good SEAL, the man who held himself in check and did what was expected. Now he had an opportunity to be slightly reckless, to enjoy himself. He felt like a five yoer old who just found a new best friend and he wanted to do everything with Danny. He wanted to keep him.

"Okay, if you're going to be staying, then we need to get you some decent clothes."

Danny looked down at himself. "What's wrong with how I'm dressed? This look screams genie."

"Precisely, you don't blend in."

"What if I don't want to blend in?"

"In this day and age, you want to blend in. The last time you were out was the 90s, right? What did you wear then?"

"I wore this," Danny replied.

"Even when you went out?"

"I didn't go out."

"So my mom never let you do anything except grant her wishes?"

"That's pretty much the idea. It's why I'm here," Danny said, like it was obvious and natural.

"No, that's not on. If you're going to be here, I'm not keeping you locked up like a slave." He looked Danny over; grateful for the excuse to do so. "I'm not sure much of mine will fit, but I might have a pair of board shorts and a shirt you can borrow."

"Woah, hold it there. I can dress myself, okay? Can't go wrong with a modern business style look, right?"

With a puff of smoke, Danny's clothes changed and now he was in a pair of smart trousers, a shirt and tie.

"No one wears a tie in Hawaii, Danny." Steve said. "And that shirt is way too baggy. We wear them more fitted these days."

Danny rolled his eyes and then there was another puff of smoke. This time was better. The trousers were also a bit snugger, highlighting Danny's shape. The shirt, a lovely light blue color was form fitting, tapering nicely where it was tucked in at the waist and he'd rolled the sleeves up, the leather cuffs on his wrists still showing. The tie was gone and instead he had the buttons loose at the neck of the shirt.

"Much better. Come on, let's go." Steve picked up the keys for his truck as he headed to the door.

"Where are we going?" Danny answered, following him out.

"You'll see."

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," Danny said as they got out of the truck. "Maybe I should just head back and wait for you at the house."

"Danny, come on, I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you."

"That's not the point, Steve, I don't think we're really supposed to see old Masters again."

"It's my mother," Steve stopped in his tracks and turned, Danny almost bumping into him. "It was always a possibility you'd run into her. And besides, I need to know someone else can see you. I'm still not completely on board with the whole 'genie' thing. I could still be hallucinating."

"If you'd just hurry up and make some wishes, you'd know for sure."

"And if I'm lying in a hospital somewhere and imagining this whole thing in my head, getting a few wishes wouldn't make any difference."

"Okay, I see your point, but if you are imagining this whole thing, then I'm sure imaginary Doris will play along. This is not a good idea."

Steve put a hand behind Danny's shoulder and shoved him forward towards the door of Doris' apartment. He knocked, seeing Danny wring his hands nervously as they waited. Danny pushed back a little, but Steve scrunched his hand into Danny's shirt to keep him still. He was well aware that if Danny really wanted to he could leave, but he didn't. He relied on Steve's strength to keep him in place.

When the door opened, Doris smiled at her son and then shock took over as she looked at the man with him. "Danny?" she asked, surprised.

"Hi," Danny managed with a small wave.

"What… how?" She asked, looking between them.

"So you can see him?" Steve asked.

"Of course I can see him. He's an… old friend." She tried, unsure how well that would fly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know what he is." Steve pushed into the apartment, aware that he didn't want people snooping on them while they had this talk. "You used a genie to help you fake your own death?"

"We've talked about this before, Steven. I thought it was the right thing to do."

"You never mentioned having a magic friend before," Steve argued back, teeth and lips tight as he reined in his anger.

She ignored him and turned to Danny. "I thought you left after. That's what you said would happen."

"Hey, I just go where I go, I don't control it. Steve found me, he's my new master. Yay, and all that."

"You've got three wishes?" Doris asked Steve, turning back to him.

"I'm not using them."

"You have to use them, they were given to you," Doris tried to explain.

"So I've been told, but I have no idea what to wish for that won't backfire on me or hurt other people in the process." He meant the jibe to hit home and Doris' face fell when it did. Steve was pleased to see that, to see her guilt, but he hated it, too. "And now Danny's here and what am I supposed to do with him, huh? How do I explain him to people?"

"You don't." Doris answered, face straight. "He's a genie, he lives in a bottle. Just keep him hidden like I did."

"Really, mom? Just keep him cooped up like a possession? Like a slave?"

"Well," she fumbled. "That's kind of what he is."

Steve shook his head at her words, but what he hated was seeing that Danny seemed to agree with her if his head nods were anything to go by. He stormed to the door, unhappy with her attitude toward someone she didn't consider a person. He grabbed Danny by the arm as he passed and dragged him out the door and back to the truck.

Danny paced in the living room while Steve sat on his laptop, doing as much research as he could into Danny and how he came to be in his life.

"If you just got started with the wishing, things would be over sooner."

"I already told you. No wishing."

Danny slumped down onto the arm chair and, after wriggling around in it, began to undo more buttons on his shirt. "I don't know how you people wear these things so tight."

"To be fair, I said 'fitted'. You picked how tight to make it." He looked up as Danny undid the last button, untucking the shirt and letting it flow to the sides. He swallowed as he took in the sight of Danny's bare chest again. The golden hue as captivating as it was when he first saw it.

He adjusted himself as surreptitiously as possible as he continued his research.

"What about wealth?" Danny asked, still hung up on getting Steve to start wishing.

"I have enough to live on, and I earn what I need."

"Power?"

"I'm the leader of Five-0, that's enough power for me. Besides, I earn the power I have through hard work and respect."

Danny sighed. "Do you want to live somewhere else? Meet new people? Maybe I can get rid of something for you…"

"Hawaii is my home, I'm staying here, I've met enough new people today and if I want rid of something, I'll do it myself."

"You're infuriating," Danny murmured.

"How about something exotic, from a distant land… something new." Danny was still trying to inspire Steve's imagination for what he could wish for. He'd kept up a running commentary throughout dinner preparations.

"I've travelled a lot for my job, just like mom. You know that these days it's a lot easier to go between countries, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But grilled chicken breast and salad? Is this a normal dinner for you?"

"Pretty much. I like simple food. Over the years, being in the service, I've come to appreciate every meal I get. And as a guest here, I'd have thought you'd shut up and be thankful for what's put in front of you."

"I don't need to eat."

"But you can?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, sure, I just don't need to."

"Well, you're my guest, you're going to sit and eat with me."

"Is that a wish?" Danny asked, hopefully, even if it was slight trickery to get Steve to say the words.

"It's an order."

Danny looked at him for a moment, a strange, unreadable look in his eyes. Steve realized what he'd said, but it was too late to take it back as Danny sat and waited at the table. He meant it to sound like he was talking to a subordinate, not a slave. He found it really quite easy to think of Danny as this strange mix of possession and actual person. Maybe it was a part of the magic of him being a genie, that he was supposed to grant Steve these wishes; that he was cosmically sent to him for that purpose and he was Steve's to use. But he couldn't think of Danny entirely like that. He was a man, he certainly had been one properly once if the hints at his backstory were to be believed, and he couldn't in good conscience treat a person as property. Even when they looked like Danny, hitting all Steve's kink buttons for the type of person he was attracted to. Even when he'd already had a few stray thoughts and ideas about Danny being naked in his bed. It wasn't helping that Danny was walking around his kitchen with no shirt on since he'd decided to take it off earlier, still not used to wearing clothing properly again.

They sat and ate. Not silent, but just talking about small things. Steve told Danny more about Five-0 and what they did. Danny tried to describe the inside of his lamp to Steve so he had an idea of how he lived. He also discussed how time seemed to work faster for Danny when he was inside his lamp. He was aware of the years passing but they did so at such speed that it also felt like only yesterday that he'd been granting Doris' final wish. It was a strange dichotomy that Steve couldn't wrap his head around, but Danny insisted that it was easy to grasp when you lived it.

Steve ushered Danny into the living room after they cleaned up the dishes together, falling into an easy rhythm. "Is that part of how you live so long? I mean, if time just goes by so quickly, you stay the same."

"Nice insight," Danny nodded. "That's part of it, yeah. I only really feel like I'm aging when I'm out of the lamp. Take tonight for example. You'll go to bed, I'll go into the lamp and when you get up and rub me out, it'll be like the blink of an eye for me."

"What about sleep? Don't you sleep?"

"Well, that is me sleeping, kind of." Danny said as he sat next to Steve on the couch.

"But in a bed, I mean. Lying down, closing your eyes, dreaming. You don't do that?" Steve threw his arm behind Danny's head, laying it along the back of the couch.

"Wow, it's been a long time since I did that," Danny answered, lost a little in thought.

"Don't you get tired?"

Danny gave a small, sad smile. "Yeah, yeah I get tired. Very tired."

Steve just looked at him. He could see the slump in Danny's shoulders, at the way in which something in his past had affected him dearly. He saw another side to Danny in that moment that was entirely human and showed not one ounce of the genie he projected. It pierced him directly in his heart. He wanted to lift the burden from Danny, but he had no idea how.

But he could try this little thing. "Well, how about you sleep tonight? I don't have a bed set up in the spare rooms - they're a mess from a renovation dad started before he died, but my bed is pretty big. I'm sure we could both fit on it comfortably." His hand hit lightly on Danny's shoulder. "After what you've been through, you deserve a decent night's sleep."

"After what I've been through?"

"You put up with my mom for what sounds like years. If every other person you've helped over the last few hundred years was like her then yeah, you deserve a little something. You deserve more than a little something, actually."

Danny smiled at Steve. "That would be nice."

There was no ulterior motive. Not really. As much as Steve was finding himself more and more drawn to Danny the longer he knew him, he meant every word that he'd said and he just wanted Danny to be able to relax and have something for himself. They'd gone to bed easily, each man taking a side of the king size Steve slept in. Both wearing sleep pants (Danny had created a matching pair for himself to wear after seeing Steve in his) they'd drifted off only vaguely aware that there was another weight on the bed.

When Steve woke up in the morning, it was to find himself plastered to Danny's back, clinging on to him, spooning him from behind. And enjoying it.

Danny fit in his arms, curled into his body. Something felt so right and so good about it that Steve just lay there, enjoying it. Feeling proud that Danny hadn't just disappeared into the lamp at some point but had chosen to stay in the bed with Steve. That he'd accepted the invitation in the first place to let his guard down and rest with Steve, even though he'd only known Steve for a day.

Danny woke slowly, rolling his shoulder back against Steve's bulk. Steve could have backed away easily, having woken first. The moment didn't feel awkward but it had the potential to be so, and he could have saved them both from it, but he didn't. He didn't want to. He wanted to lay here comfortably for longer.

"Good morning," he said, letting Danny roll back more. He moved aside slightly, letting Danny settle against the pillow. He kept his arm around the genie and looked down at him.

"Hey," Danny smiled softly. Steve's head ducked down almost involuntarily. He could easily just finish the distance and lean in to kiss Danny but he didn't. He held himself in check, if only just barely. The smile, the messy hair, the blue eyes all made him want to fall into Danny.

"Hey," he breathed, realizing it sounded dumb as he smiled back at Danny, but he loved it. He hadn't felt this close to someone in a long time, which was ridiculous since they'd only just met.

"So your bed is really good."

"Better than the lamp?"

"Much better," Danny answered with a little laugh. "It's okay in there, don't get me wrong. I've got all that I need… but it is a little cramped."

"I'd never have guessed. It looked so airy," Steve joked, sarcastically.

Danny leaned up on his elbows. It forced Steve to sit up more, but he waited until the last moment to do so, letting himself stay lower longer, inhaling Danny's scent, noticing something different about it.

"Are you trying to be funny?" Danny asked. "Because that was lame."

"Come on," Steve said as he rolled off the end of the bed. "Time to get up and go to work."

With a puff of smoke, Danny was standing in front of Steve, dressed in a new pair of pants and shirt. It was similar to the outfit he'd decided on the day before, but the dress pants were darker and the shirt was pin-striped.

Steve pointed at Danny. "I think I'm jealous of how fast you can do that."

"Makes life easier," Danny shrugged.

"So let me get this straight. You don't want to tell your colleagues what I really am?"

"I don't think it's wise."

"Then how do you explain me?"

"Well, if you try not to do anything too… 'genie', then I'll just say you're a friend."

"Is this going to be a thing? You doing stuff with me? Because I told you already I can't go anywhere until you get to wishing, so if this is going to be a thing with you shanghaiing me away from my lamp, you might want a better cover story than that."

"I'll think of something."

"You'll think of something. That's great. That's really great. Well you've got about five minutes to come up with it, that's all I'm saying."

"What are you saying?" Steve asked.

"I'm saying, it would be easier to tell the truth." Danny flung his hands up in finality after he spoke, then leaned on the window of the truck.

When they arrived at the headquarters for the task force, Steve introduced Danny to Chin and Kono. He stuck with the 'friend visiting from the mainland' thing, and kept it simple. Saying Danny was visiting and staying with him while he was here. It all bordered on the truth and was vague enough to not need him to keep track of what he was saying. Until Chin asked what Steve planned to do with Danny if they got called out.

"He uh, well Danny is a Detective, actually," he said, catching Danny's eye roll as he began digging himself a hole. "He's from…"

"New Jersey," Danny intercepted. Steve was happy to let him. It meant Danny could lie for himself. "Newark to be precise."

Chin gave him an odd look as if seeing the tension from both Steve and Danny. It was difficult to hide things from these two, they were too good at their jobs. Both Chin and Kono gave off vibes that they thought something was weird.

"You plan on riding along then?" Kono asked. "We could always use a little help around here, but you're on vacation. Don't want you deprived of the beach."

"Not a fan of beaches," Danny answered. "Or water. I prefer cities."

"Then how'd you end up here?" Chin laughed.

Danny's eyes darted to Steve, who was leaving it to Danny to answer. "Peer pressure," Danny blurted out, but smiled it off.

As Kono and Chin went to do some actual work, Danny followed Steve into his office. Steve watched the cousins settling down at their desks then turned to Danny. "Okay, I know I said no wishes, but I think I'm going to have to make one to keep your cover story safe."

"Okay, on you go, Master."

Steve flinched at the name, but recognized that it was still how Danny saw him. Genie and Master, and though all morning they'd been together like two friends, if Steve was going to make a wish, it brought them back to what they truly were.

"You need to backstop the whole 'Jersey cop' thing. Make a paper trail, give yourself credentials. If Chin and Kono or anyone else go looking, it needs to seem like that's what you are."

"You want me to create a fake me?" Danny asked.

"Yeah."

"That's your first wish?"

"Yes, it is. I wish it."

"Okay," Danny answered. "Bit of a waste of a wish if you ask me, but if that's what you want rather than a nice bundle of cash like most people want first, then so be it."

He waved his hand, created a small light that he shielded with his other one to not draw attention to it, then touched Steve's computer monitor. The light went inside the computer and disappeared.

"Done," Danny announced. He then put his hand out for Steve to shake. He did so, slightly bemused. "Nice to meet you, I'm Detective Danny Williams, Newark PD. Gave myself a nice arrest record. Not too showy but nice. If I'm going to do a job, then I'm going to have fake done it right."

"Good, that's good. We're covered then. While you're here you can be like a liaison for work. I could use the extra hand. Been thinking about hiring a fourth."

"Okay, well, remember this is just temporary until you make your last two wishes."

"I don't plan on using them," Steve answered.

"You didn't plan to use any, but you just did the first one. A day after meeting me. It's like I said, everyone makes their three wishes."

Danny sat on the sofa of Steve's office. As he spoke, Steve got a sad feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had been a day and he didn't want Danny to go anywhere. He found him, he wanted to keep him, he wanted him to stay in his life. He was well aware that he had some abandonment issues what with his mother faking her death and leaving, his dad sending him and Mary away, friends and compatriots dying in foreign countries. He didn't want Danny leaving him, too, like others who came into his life did.

It turned out that Danny was a good cop. Whether he'd somehow gifted himself with the knowledge and training as part of their cover up, he didn't know, but he was good to have around. Over the next few days a case had come up and Danny had found the missing piece of the puzzle before the others, which led to the arrest of the criminal and saved the lives of a vacationing couple caught up in his scheme.

When they went home that night, Danny was beaming. Steve understood why. Danny was proud that he'd done that without the use of magic and his genie abilities but by being himself. Sure, he brought experience of his long years of being alive to the job. He seemed to have excellent profiling skills and he'd used them today and the team had thanked him for what he'd done. He must have been thanked in the past for granting wishes, but not in the same way as had happened today. Danny was treated entirely like an equal and his contribution had been acknowledged and appreciated.

Every night Steve had insisted that Danny needed to sleep. He'd been out of his lamp more than he'd been in it and he figured Danny should sleep. He knew Danny was a genie, but sometimes he forgot. They made dinner, they ate, they watched TV, and they went to bed.

Nothing had happened, but like that first morning, Steve seemed to gravitate to Danny overnight and they always woke tangled in each others' arms.

They were going to bed that night, Danny still in a good mood from helping save people when Steve had asked the question. "What made you become a genie anyway?"

Danny's face dropped instantly and Steve knew he'd hit upon a dark memory. He tried to take it back.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay. I just… I haven't told anyone in a long time. Not many people care to know."

"I care." Steve answered, solemnly.

"Well, I umm…" Danny pulled himself under the covers as he spoke. Steve settling beside him on the bed. "I went to the temple to ask for a way to save my daughter. She was ill, dying. The village healer couldn't help, I was desperate."

"So you exchanged becoming a genie for saving her?"

"More or less. And I'm glad I did. Grace lived a long, full, happy life. I watched when I could, when I was out of the lamp and had some moments to do so. I mean, she lost me and that hurt but Rachel was a good mother, she took care of her. I only ever saw glimpses over the years. Back then, genies were used more often, so I was busier. These days we're locked away and forgotten about for years. Or lost. It happens. That's why there are less of us. Of course, for some, they serve their terms and are done. Not many new people want to take our places. The world is losing the magic we hold."

"Maybe the world doesn't need it anymore."

"You say that, but when you need your two wishes, you'll see that it does."

Steve settled in and turned out the light. He knew he'd reminded Danny of his past, of the daughter who was long since dead, but who had lived a good life thanks to the actions of the man beside Steve right now. He moved over and curled himself around Danny, bringing him in against his chest, hugging him close. Danny didn't respond for the longest time, but eventually slipped an arm around Steve's stomach and hugged him back as they drifted into sleep together.

They were at a crime scene when it all went wrong.

The shit hit the fan and despite the heavy police presence, the drug smugglers weren't willing to go down without a fight and one got a lucky shot in and hit Kono where her vest wasn't covering her, just at the side of her neck.

She was losing blood fast when Steve collapsed at her side and Danny ran to join them.

He did his best to stop the flow, but there was too much blood and Kono was losing her battle to survive, her face going pale, her eyes hazing over.

"Please, please, no… hang on, Kono, it's going to be okay, help's on the way."

Danny knelt beside Steve. "Help won't get here fast enough, she'll bleed out."

Steve looked at Danny and shook his head, mouthing no. He wasn't willing to lose her. He looked between them and then the thought struck. He turned back to Danny. "Help is already here. Danny, you can save her. Please."

"I can't bring people back from the dead, one of the major rules, I told you that."

"But she's not dead, not yet. And you can stop that."

Danny was unsure. This was a bit of a grey area for genies. It could still be considered going against the natural order of things, but how natural was a gun shot wound anyway? Steve knew that Danny and Kono had become friendly over the last few weeks, he didn't think the genie would want to see her die.

"It's Kono, Danny… please. I wish for you to save her."

Danny looked to the sky and then back down. "Okay, Master, fine. I'll do it, if that's your wish, but I shouldn't do it all. If you want it to not look like magic, I'll make sure she doesn't die but the others saw her go down..."

"Fine, fine, just don't let her die. Please."

Danny did the same as he had before. With his eyes closed for a moment he created the light in his hand that he once again shielded from others around them. He touched it to Kono's neck and Steve dropped his head in relief as she took a large breath and came back to them. She was unconscious, but the wound wasn't the life threatening one it had been. It looked more like a glancing nick to the skin. Danny had even cleaned up some of the lost blood.

"She has a concussion, but she'll be okay," Danny said, patting Steve's shoulder as he stood.

As the scene was cleared, and the remaining smugglers rounded up, Kono was taken away in an ambulance with Chin at her side. Steve and Danny were left behind and stood by the truck, leaning against the hood.

"You notice how recently all these cops treat us like we're partners. Police partners," Danny clarified.

Steve looked around them. "I noticed."

"Considering I'm supposed to be on vacation from Jersey, it doesn't seem a little odd to you?"

"Not really, I put the paperwork through two weeks ago that made you an official liaison to Five-0. The Governor kind of insisted we have things in order after that first case you worked."

"When were you going to tell me all this?" Danny asked.

Steve shrugged. It just hadn't seemed important. They'd fallen into the roles so easily, it was like Danny was his partner and knew it. That was how the world, and Chin and Kono had treated it. Only Steve knew the truth. Apart from Danny, of course. And okay, Doris knew too, but they'd not talked much over the last few weeks. She was visiting friends on the Big island and had been away long enough that Steve had just got on with things.

"You only have one wish left, buddy, then I'll be gone. Don't you think you're digging yourself into a bit of a hole here with the cover story?"

Steve didn't answer, instead he just went around to the driver's side of the truck and got in, waiting for Danny to join him. He refused to think about that. He didn't want to think about Danny leaving. He'd become too attached to him.

The next day he was sitting in his office contemplating how he'd used the second wish. He remembered Danny telling him that people still needed the magic of the genie and in many ways he was right. Steve had refused to let Kono die when something could be done about it. He knew the guilt would have weighed heavily on him if he'd done so, but more than that, it was about saving the life of someone he loved. There weren't many he would do that for, but those who were close to him, he'd go to the ends of the Earth to help if he was needed. He'd tried with Jenna, and failed. He felt a sense of hope resurging in him that he'd been able to make sure Kono was okay.

But it was dangerous. Having that magic at his disposal. At anyone's. Danny was right about the rules an the rules made sense. He understood the grey area that saving someone's life was in. Part of him simply likened it to advancement in technology and the ability to save someone on an operating table. But what Danny had done was so quick, so easy. He could have completely healed Kono and the only reason he didn't was for believability. But the fact was that he could have. And he could do it for thousands of people and that was a power that Steve feared. And it was a power that he held over Danny, as that third wish hung over his head.

Genies, according to Danny, were dying out. Maybe that was natural, maybe they weren't needed so much anymore and maybe the world shouldn't have that power.

The power Danny held was a curse in more ways than one. Danny was a slave to it, of that there was no doubt. Not just because he referred to the people who held his lamp as 'master', but because he had no life of his own. He'd opened up to Steve about his past in a way Steve was sure Danny had never done before. Not out of choice, but because no one had asked. In almost a thousand years, Danny had lived for other people, all because he selflessly gave himself to save his own child.

Those leather cuffs he wore, that didn't come off, those were binding him to this curse and Steve wanted him free of it. He wanted Danny to live his life as he saw fit.

Danny wandered in. Steve looked at the clock, noticing that it was probably time to head home. Before Danny could speak he blurted out. "What happens at a thousand years?"

Danny was taken aback for a moment, but he came in and shut the door so he could answer. "I'm freed from the lamp."

"And what, you get your life back? Pick up from where you left off? Or do you die?"

"I don't die. Well, not straight away. I continue aging as I should. So yeah, I guess I get my life back. I become a normal person again."

"And you don't know when the thousand years is coming?"

"I'm closer to it than I have been before. But it's still a relatively long way off. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Steve answered, getting up from the desk and coming round. "Let's go home."

Steve knew what he wanted. He knew what he'd been wanting since he'd met Danny and he thought he saw in Danny something like it, but he needed to know for sure. If he could have what he wanted with that final wish then great, but he was still aware of the rules. He couldn't make someone fall in love with him.

He didn't want that though, it wouldn't be natural. It wouldn't be real. And he wanted real.

After dinner they sat together on the couch as normal. The TV was on but Steve wasn't paying a lot of attention to it.

"Danny, can I ask you something?"

"You want to make your final wish?" Danny turned to him. His eyes seemingly a little torn between the anticipation of his job and something else.

"No… well, yeah, but no." Steve moved on the couch so he could look at Danny better. "I just… these last weeks, what, over a month it's been since I found that lamp and you appeared… I just… I'm not doing this right… I've been feeling different and you have no idea how difficult it's been with you around. I've never felt like this before, like it was just automatic, it was just there, instantly. Do you know what I mean?"

"Not really," Danny frowned. "You're not making a lot of sense."

"It's just, I feel this way, about you, and I don't know if you feel it to."

"Feel what?" Danny asked, eyes widening, darkening a little. Steve watched as Danny licked his lips and he could hold back no longer. Weeks of sleeping together in the same bed, of curling up together, of touching each other, but never fully allowing himself this moment.

"Like this," he said, breathily as he captured Danny's head between his hands and pulled him over into a deep kiss. Danny was stiff at first but relaxed into it, allowing Steve the control of it, pushing him back into the cushions.

The kiss turned messy as it grew. It was sticky and sweet as they chased each others' taste. As Steve drew back, he kept his movements slow, unable to break the moment fully.

"Like that," Danny smiled.

"Something like that," Steve grinned.

Danny put a hand on Steve's chest, pushing him away slightly. "You want to know if it's me? If I made you feel it?"

"No, Danny, I know you didn't. If I didn't wish it how could you."

"I can't make people fall in love, it's in the rules," Danny said, voice hardening.

"Is that what this is though? Are we falling in love?" Steve stared at Danny and the look was returned. Both men equally stumped by the knowledge.

"It's not a good idea," Danny broke the moment with a shake of his head. "You'll make your third wish and I'll be gone. That's how it works."

"What if I don't make the wish?"

"You said that about the first two."

Steve looked down, trying to think of a way out of this. He couldn't lose Danny, not now.

"What if I wished that you didn't leave? Isn't there some way to make it that I get to keep you here?"

Danny lifted his hands, showing off the leather cuffs around his wrists. "These bind me, Steve. For a thousand years. I don't think you can wish me to stay."

Steve reached out, his fingers playing on the cuffs, searching out where the were bound but unable to find how to rip them off.

"I want these off you, Danny," he said, hooking his fingers under them. "I want them gone so you don't have to be a slave to anyone's desires anymore. Can't I just wish them gone?"

"I wish," Danny said, with dark humor in his voice.

"Why can't I? It's not in the rules, you never told me I couldn't."

"I don't think anyone's ever asked before." Danny said. "It's unheard of."

"But it's not in the rules," Steve insisted. "I want to Danny, I want to wish them away, I want to wish you free. That's the only thing I'll take as my third wish."

"You…"

"I mean it, Danny," Steve said, voice adamant. " I wish for your freedom. I wish for you to stay right here with me, to grow old with me."

"That's what you want?"

"That's what I want."

Danny sat for a moment, clearly thinking. Then he closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders. He reached out and took Steve's hands in his own as he did his best to grant the wish. The light this time transferred into Steve as it was made, giving Steve the power to complete the wish.

"What do I do?" Steve asked, staring into the light in his hand, marveling at it.

Danny held up his wrists, close together. "It's your wish, if you truly want it to come true, then you have to do it. You have to use the magic to free me. I can't free myself."

Steve didn't need to take any time to decide. He knew what he wanted and he'd never change his mind. He let the light go into Danny's wrists and it grew around the binds before they fell off, landing between them on the couch.

For a moment, Danny just looked at them, stunned. Then he reached down and picked one up. As if noticing for the first time that his wrist was free, he dropped the offending garment like it was on fire and grasped his own wrist in amazement.

His voice held all the awe in the world as he looked up at Steve. "You did it."

"You doubted I would?"

"I just wasn't sure it would work." Danny reached a hand out and cupped Steve's cheek. "I believed you wanted to, I didn't doubt that."

Steve turned his head and planted a light kiss on Danny's palm. His hand cupped Danny's elbow then ran slowly up his arm, hovering at his wrist, feeling the bare skin there. He slowly pulled the hand away and kept it wrapped in his own. "I get to keep you," he said, feeling content.

"Yes, Master," Danny answered.

"What did I tell you about that?" Steve smiled.

"Sorry, Steve, reflex. 800 years will do that to you."

Steve leaned forward, giving Danny a hard but fleeting kiss. He kept a hold on Danny's hand as he moved up from the couch. "Come on," he pulled Danny to the stairs. "I've been waiting weeks, I'm not waiting anymore."

"What for?"

Steve stopped half way up and turned to Danny, pulling him in close. "To get you in my bed."

"I've been in your bed."

"Not in the way I have planned."

Danny clung to the headboard tightly. He legs spread wide over Steve's knees, the angle was difficult until Steve wrapped an arm around Danny's torso, helping him higher, changing the angles, letting him thrust deeper into Danny's sweaty and pliant body.

Steve kissed along Danny's shoulder as they rocked together, a hand skirting down Danny's taut arm and wrapping over his fingers where they were digging into the headboard. He mushed his face into Danny's neck and breathed in the scent that had been driving him crazy for weeks, that scent that was all Danny.

"Oh god, you feel so good, Danny, so good." He breathed into the shell of Danny's ear before capturing the lobe between his teeth.

It was difficult in this position to do much more than slowly drive them both wild, close to the edge but never over the line. Steve was lost in the sensations of Danny around him, under him, he didn't want the feeling to end, but he needed it to, it felt too good to hold on, he wanted more, he wanted to feel everything he could with Danny. He wanted to see the man fall apart and he wanted to be the cause of it.

"Steve, please… please…" Danny moaned as Steve moved them around again. Danny was using the pillows to try and give him some height but they kept slipping and moving as Steve pushed into him. He lowered himself more, then ran his hand back down Danny's arm, over his chest and down to take a film hold around Danny and jack him in the same disjointed rhythm he was holding.

With nothing more than sweaty, tired breaths and muttered attempts at sweet words and filthy phrases about what they wanted to do to each other, they eventually succumbed to the moment, Steve coming inside of Danny, while the other man painted the headboard.

Steve rested against a slumping Danny, his nose pressed into the hairs at the back of Danny's neck.

"You're amazing," Steve said as they slid down the bed together, Steve softening and slipping out of Danny's body as they moved.

"You too, babe," Danny answered, his hand patting whatever skin of Steve's he could reach, which turned out to be his thigh.

"I want to do that again."

"Rest first, Steve. I don't have that kind of magic anymore, I can't wish endless orgasms for you."

"Aw man, I should have wished for that while I had the chance…"

They laughed as the cuddled closer, falling into a contented sleep.

The next morning they'd decided that Danny would just carry on as normal. That they both would. Danny's cover story was still solidly in place and would remain so. There was no reason for them to change anything and without holding magic anymore, Danny couldn't change anything.

Who would believe either of them anyway? It was best that Danny settle into his new life.

They'd had a few discussions. Danny would stay at the house, but they'd have to consider setting him up with belongings. They couldn't find the lamp, and anything Danny had had before was gone with it. They'd need to go shopping and get him a full wardrobe at some point. And Danny was fond of the idea of getting his own car.

They were sitting eating breakfast, Danny now needing to actually eat, feeling hungry for the first time in hundreds of years.

"You know, now that you're no longer a genie, can you tell me what my mother wished for? The first two wishes, I mean."

"I'm not sure it's really my place to say," Danny replied.

"She's been keeping secrets from me my whole life. You know the actual answer to this one, I just want to know, please?"

"Well, I do feel wrong keeping things from you…" Danny began and Steve latched onto it.

"You're not bound by any rules. And as my partner, it might be best if I know what I'm getting into here."

"Her wishes didn't have anything to do with her work. Not those two. Only the third one when she thought it was safer to disappear."

"So what were they?"

Danny took a breath, debated with himself and then seemed to decide there was no harm in saying. "You. And Mary."

"Sorry, what?"

Danny softened, and reached a hand out to grasp hold of Steve's. "Your mother couldn't have children. She found that out long ago. It was one of the reasons she joined the CIA, because she thought she wasn't going to have a family. Then she met John."

"You were there, you saw all of this, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I was around. She found me before she met him. She didn't expect to fall in love. She thought it was my doing but I told her, over and over, I can't make that happen."

"But she couldn't have kids?"

"She never told John about that. She just made the wishes with me. She wished to be able to have a child. And she loved you so much that she wished to be able to carry a second."

"So it's because of you that I'm even here."

Danny considered that fact. "Yeah, I guess so."

Steve's smile took over his face as he looked at Danny. That connection they shared was never as present as it was right then, when Steve knew that he had his life because of Danny, and Danny had his life back, because of Steve.