Title: Still the Song

Summary: A song on the radio throws Steve's world off its axis.

Disclaimer: Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

Spoilers: Only if you've not seen passed episode 1.12 Hana'a'a Mekehewa. None this particular chapter.

A/N: A particular song inspired this story. When I listened to the lyrics, they sort of reminded me of Steve. Potential OOC-ness ahead…

GibbsRules read this for me, but all remaining mistakes are mine. It's also her fault that I finally decided to chapterize this fic. ;0]

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Chapter One: The Song

"Stop pouting."

"I'm not pouting," comes the petulant reply from the passenger side of the car.

Danny takes his eyes off the road to glance at Steve, "That face, my friend, says different."

"I don't have a face." Steve turns towards Danny, "There's no reason why I couldn't drive."

A bewildered expression briefly meets Steve's frustrated one. "Hel-looo… You just got shot like two hours ago! There's no way I was going to let you drive my car!"

"It was just a bullet scrape."

"Seven stitches is not just a scrape. Besides your dominant arm was hit."

"I do have two arms, if you recall," he reminds in a clipped tone. "I can drive just fine with only one arm."

"See," Danny points towards Steve, "that's where you're wrong. You drive like a lunatic at the best of times with two arms, I can just imagine how much more insane you'll—" The New Jersey transplant interrupts his rant and cocks his head to listen to a song just starting on the radio. "Hey…" he says smiling. "It's about damn time the radio stations on this sand-infested island play some decent music."

Steve doesn't recognize the opening strains of the song right away, but once the lyrics begin, the full force of the many bad memories he associates with it hit him and steal the breath from his lungs. It takes him the first few lines of the song to regain even the tiniest bit of control, but when he does, without thinking he reaches towards the radio only to have his hand smacked away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Steve can only open his mouth before Danny answers his own question. "You were going to change the station weren't you? The first time I hear a song by one of the musical geniuses from my homeland and you want to change it? I don't think so. Driver," he points to himself, "picks the music. Shotgun," he points to Steve, "shuts his cakehole and quietly listens."

Danny reaches toward the volume and turns it up high enough to be almost uncomfortable to listen to in the small interior of the Camaro. He then begins to sing along with the lyrics and Steve can't help but cringe – not because of Danny's singing ability, but because all he can think is just how much of a curse this song has been in his life nearly every time he's heard it. He doesn't think he's even capable of explaining to Danny why he doesn't want to hear this song. Doesn't want to explain his almost irrational fear of it, and he definitely doesn't want to have to listen to the cursed strains anymore either.

Thinking quickly, he tries, "Danny can we at least turn the volume down, I have a headache."

He reaches for the volume and Danny smacks his hand away again, which brings its own set of frustrations to the fore. He's not some little kid who needs to be scolded for doing something wrong.

"You just want to stifle the musical brilliance that is the music from New Jersey." But, despite what he says, his partner does turn the volume down to more normal levels just in case Steve really does have a headache.

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To be continued…

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A/N: This story is complete and 10 chapters long. I'll be posting either every day or every other day (but not on Saturdays). Anyone want to try to guess the song?

Thanks for reading!