Disclaimers: I don't own anything that is a proper noun. No copyright infringement intended. I am also ignorant about Naval sea vessels, baseball, adoption, bullying, and psychiatry, etc. #creativelicense #fye #madeup #justforfun

A/N: The muse got busy again and came up with this short multi-chapter story. I'm almost done, but not quite. Thinking five chapters. We'll see.

I wanted to explore how Steve discovers he has a mini-Danno on his hands. But, if anyone knows my work, no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to do anything without at least a little whump and a baddie. My original fluffy idea, though still there, had neither of these but it somehow morphed as I wrote. Guess I need to give up and accept that I'm destined to be a hurt/comfort/angst/whump/baddie writer. Hope you like it and if so, let me know. Thanks for reading!

Like Father, Like Son

"Charlie, are you sure this is something you want to do? You know, your mom won't be there, Grace won't be there… I won't be there."

"Uncle Steve'll be there," Charlie made his case. "I'm sure, Danno. I'm not a little boy anymore."

"Well… you're absolutely right. Seven years old is…"

"Seven and a half," Charlie interrupted and corrected his father.

"Seven and a half, because that half is very important…" Danny tweaked his son's nose which earned him a giggle in return. "…is very much out of the 'little boy' range. However, your Uncle Steve is mentally about the same age as you and your team. Who's going to look out for him?"

"I can look at him."

"Look out for him. You know, make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

"Oh, Dannooo." He knew his dad was just being silly now. His dad was always like this when he was around or talked about his Uncle Steve. That was just something he did.

"All right. I guess you two can look out for each other then. Did you pack your PJs?"

Charlie nodded and grabbed his favorite pajama top, with the Captain America emblem on it, out of his backpack that was lying on the bed, to prove to his dad he had remembered. When he realized the front was facing him, he crossed his arms to turn the large white star and red and white vertical stripes so that Danny could see.

To Danny, the pajamas almost looked more like a costume than night wear, a very comfortable costume. He cocked a slight grin when the reason why Charlie liked the pajamas so much came to mind... his partner. He knew Charlie thought of Steve as a pseudo-superhero of sorts, and with Uncle Jerry's influence, he had come to equate Steve as a Captain America persona. This outing was going to be right up the alley of the boy's bigger-than-life fantasy.

"Okay, good. Bottoms too?"

"Yep."

"What about your toothbrush?"

The excited look faded and Charlie's smile disappeared.

"Oh, I see. We still got some work to do."

"I remembered my comb." He pulled out and held up the small black styling tool.

"That's my boy," Danny spoke proudly. "But we still need to get a few more necessities." Danny went to the bathroom to get the items his son had 'forgotten'.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Charlie screamed out as he beat his dad into the living room, his mood switching back to his enthusiastic state.

Charlie had already opened the door by the time his father reached him. Danny conceded to the commanding personality that had just stolen his son's attention. He held onto the door as Steve bent down to lift the small boy into his arms.

"Hey, Charlie. How ya doin? You excited about our adventure?"

"Are you kidding? This is all he's been talking about for days," Danny answered for his son while Charlie nodded.

Leaving Danny to close the door, Steve carried Charlie into the kitchen where he saw more evidence of Charlie's excitement. "I see you're getting ready. Did you sink Danno's battleship?" The board game was still set up on the table with tiny gray seafaring ships with red pegs poking out of some of them and white and red pegs scattered on the vertical board. The game was obviously in a state of suspension, faithfully waiting to progress when the participants were ready. "Not yet, Uncle Steve. And you're not supposed to look behind the wall."

"Yeah, no peeking, Uncle Steve… Rogers."

"What?"

"Steve Rogers? Captain America? You'll see tonight when you all get changed into your jammies."

"Okaaay," Steve accepted.

"You remembered to pack your pajamas, didn't you, Uncle Steve?" The question mimicked his dad from earlier.

"Did I remember to pack my pajamas? Are you kidding me? Of course, I remembered to pack my pajamas. Every sailor needs to have their pajamas to sleep in. They can't sleep in their uniforms. They'd get all wrinkly."

"I'd like to see that," Danny mumbled.

"What? I have pajamas, Daniel." Steve had heard the jab.

"I'm sure you do. Camouflage, I'm guessing."

"That would be Army… no. They're blue. And I didn't see anything, Charlie." He quickly changed the subject. "How could I with such a good wall built here to shield it?"

"Yeah, the cereal boxes are there to block us from seeing each other's game board. We had to stop to get packed, but we're going to go back to it."

"I see. I'm sure Snap, Crackle, and Pop will make sure Danno doesn't look until you get back. So, Mighty Mo's waiting. Are you packed? You about ready to go?" Just as Danny thought, Steve seemed to be almost as eager as Charlie to get their evening started.

"He's just about ready. Just grabbed the last of the necessities before you came in." Danny held up a zippered bag that contained the remaining toiletry items that Charlie had failed to get. "I'll go get your bag. Be right back."

"You know it's been a while since I've been on a battleship. What if I get lost?"

Charlie looked confused. "You won't get lost. Danno says you're a super seal... the best ever."

"He did, huh?" Steve took a second to reflect on the statement then asked, "Do you know what a SEAL is?"

Charlie knew the animal, but he sensed there was something more to it. He'd heard the term said about his uncle many times. Instead of stating the obvious and being embarrassed, he decided to be coy and shook his head without answering.

Steve smiled nonjudgmentally to make Charlie feel more at ease. "A SEAL is a sailor in the Navy that's part of a specially trained team to protect our country."

"A hero?"

Steve was glad he did a good job of his explanation. "Yes, they're heroes… along with all the other servicemen and women in all the branches of the military that protect us."

"You're one of those? A SEAL?"

"I was… at one time."

"Then you're a hero, too?"

"He is, Charlie." Danny had come back into the room with the backpack and helped Steve out of the awkward situation.

"Just like you, Danno," Charlie added.

Now it was time for Steve to help out, "Yep, your dad's a hero, too. So… what are you looking forward to the most, Charlie? The tour? Sleeping in cramped bunks? Eating on the mess deck? The teamwork building activities?"

The overnight encampment aboard the USS Missouri was something the team administrator of Charlie's little league team had come up with. The sixteen-hour stay on the ship had been something Danny had signed up to do with his son, but when Steve 'whined and cried', as described by Danny, about going, and there was only one spot available, Danny gave in. He wasn't sure anyway if his stomach was seaworthy to last that long, even if the ship would never leave its berthing station.

"I want you to show me what you did on the ship when you were in the Army?" Charlie innocently admitted.

Danny literally wrapped his arm around his midsection and doubled over in amusement, only letting a small giggle escape before gaining control to prevent an all-out guffaw. While still bent over, he turned on his heels so he'd be facing away from Charlie when he stood so his facial expression wouldn't give himself away. He was loving this but didn't want to embarrass his son.

Steve wrinkled his brow in a stern look at his distracted partner, not getting the satisfaction of his partner seeing his attempted nonverbal rebuke. "Well, Charlie, I was in the Navy. That's different than the Army, and I never served on the Missouri before, but I'm sure I'll be able to show you some things the other dads won't be able to."

Steve never noticed the implication of his 'other dads' statement, but Danny did, and it didn't bother him. Instead of feeling any pangs of jealousy that Steve was stepping in for him in his paternal role, he actually felt comforted in the reminder that his best friend loved his son as much as he did and that Steve hadn't even given it a second thought that he would be any different than any of the other dads there. The familial blood relation simply was not a necessity. Steve thought of Charlie as his own.

Danny composed himself and flung the backpack that had fallen off his shoulder during his bout of laughing restraint, back into place, wrapping his hand around the front strap. He bent down to Charlie's eye level. "You ready?"

"Yes, Danno."

"Are you going to be good for Uncle Steve, your coaches, and your camp leaders?"

"Yes, Danno. And I'll look out for Uncle Steve, too. Can we go now?"

Steve squinted one eye to match his one-sided grin at that little bit of revelation. His gaze met Danny's when Danny peeked to see if he had caught on to that tidbit of information. Danny smiled knowingly at Steve then redirected his attention back to Charlie.

"Okay. Here you go." Danny slipped the backpack off his shoulder and helped to loop both straps around Charlie's arms. "Have fun, okay? I love you." Danny leaned over and gave his son a kiss on top of his head then finger combed the stray hairs he had mussed by doing so.

"I love you, too, Danno."

"Love you more," Danny added.

With one more smile shared between the men, Steve softly laid his hand on the back of Charlie's head and guided him in front of him toward the door.

"Love you too, super SEAL."

"Love you more, buddy."

Danny rolled his eyes and closed the door as the adventurers were about to start their journey.

~to be continued~

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