Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or anything affiliated with the show.

Author's Note: Here it is, the next installment to Grace Takes a Stand, you do not have to necessarily read the first story to understand what's going on, but it's still a nice story to read. I'm shocked by the response that the first story got and since everyone seemed to want another story here it is. Now while writing this, a process I've stressed over for the past week and a half, I decided to split this story up into probably 3-4 chapters no more than 5, there's just so much I want to include that I thought it would be best. So I hope that you enjoy this first chapter!

Lieutenant Commander Steven J. McGarrett is a very frustrated and pissed off man. For months now he's had to stand by and watch Rachel hurt his Danno with her many threats from taking away his visitation rights with Grace altogether to sending her lawyers after him to change his already limited visitation time. He watched her dangle reconciliation in front of him, only to then take it away when Danny stayed behind to clear his name. Okay Steve will admit he was partly to blame for that failure, but if Rachel loved him half as much as she claimed to, Steve thinks she would've waited for Danny. Her marriage to Stan also didn't help anything either. She had to have known just how much it hurt for Danny, watching a woman he was still in love with marry someone who looked so much better than a detective from New Jersey. Didn't she think that upgrading in a sense would absolutely kill Danny?

So in a sense it could be said that Steve kind of hates Rachel and Stan. He hates the way that they seem to dangle Grace in front of Danny using her as a pawn to hurt Danny whenever they don't seem to like how he's doing things. And if Steve has to hear from Rachel, from her own mouth or over the phone, how dangerous Danny's job is for Grace, he's absolutely going to snap because both Steve and Danny, hell even Kono and Chin, would do everything in their power to make sure that nothing ever happened to Grace. So it should really come to no surprise that when Grace comes crying to Steve about how much she hates what's going on that Steve snapped. Really he's been looking for an excuse to go off on her for awhile now and he's glad that he did it, his feelings for Danny aside; his going off on her was really just for Steve's own pleasure.

But since the moment that Steve's lips touched Danny's he was a goner, he knew that he was going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Danny's happy. His need for Danny only intensified when Steve's lips touched Danny's for the first time with their soft and exploratory kiss driven by their mutual desire and love for each other. Steve used his mouth to tell Danny all the things he couldn't find the right words for.

Since that life altering moment when Steve felt Danny kiss him back, his mind has been replaying it over and over again which is why Steve found himself sitting out on the lanai in the wee hours of the morning. He gave up the attempt to sleep hours ago because he was either obsessing over the kiss or thinking about what was going to happen with this whole situation. Sure Rachel seemed to be letting Grace cool down right now, she probably didn't even know that Danny was even here with them, but Steve knew that she wasn't going to let it be calm for awhile. So Steve, being an ex-Navy SEAL, needs to have a plan. He needs to go over all the intelligence he has from what has been going on for what he calculated the past year and figure out how to make everyone a winner, a feat which is going to be difficult to reach with the bad blood running so thickly between all parties involved.

"You keep thinking that hard and you really are going to have an aneurism." Danny joked from the doorway into the living room. Whipping his head towards the house Steve chuckled softly once he realized he wasn't alone.

"What are you doing up Danno?" Steve asked watching Danny make his way from the doorway to the arm of Steve's chair.

"I woke up and you weren't there so I went looking for you." Danny replied hoping that Steve bought his little white lie. Steve looked up at him and shook his head deciding to just it be for now. He would ask questions later. "What are you doing up?" Danny asked turning towards Steve, his eyes searching for something.

"I'm too keyed up to sleep." Steve replied resting his hand on Danny's thigh.

"You wanna talk about it?" Danny asked his eyes watching Steve trace random patterns on his skin.

"I'm worried about you Danno. You've been a shadow of yourself for some time now and I don't like seeing you so down and out. I've actually missed the Danno that rants at me and makes fun of my taste in music." Danny gasps quietly at the pure sadness and almost distress that seeps through Steve's voice. "I care about you Danny and it scares me seeing you like this." Looking up at Danny, Steve sighs and squeezes his thigh gently.

"Steve." Danny whispers squeezing Steve's hand trying to get a grip on his emotions.

"I want to fix this Danny. I want to make you feel better but I don't know how. Besides beating the absolute shit out of Stan, which I'm trying to avoid doing at all costs, I don't know how I could possibly not make this situation any worse than I already have." Danny squeezes Steve's hand again and leans forward resting his forehead against Steve's.

"I'm sorry that I dragged you into this. I don't know what to do anymore, because Stan kind of has a reason to hate me. I came in and ruined his marriage. I let my residual feelings for Rachel take over and I slept with her. I knew that I shouldn't have, I knew that what I was doing could potentially blow up in my face, but yet I did it anyway. I thought that I could show her that we could be great together again. I thought that her, Grace, and I could be a family again with the new baby on the way. I thought I could go back to how things were before, but I couldn't. I screwed this up so bad Steve." Steve's heart clenched hearing how depressed Danny sounded. He wanted to take him into his arms and make him feel better. He wanted to go back and admit his feelings to Danny, if he had manned up earlier they might not even be in this situation. Steve felt partly to blame for the mess they've found themselves in.

"Danny, nobody can blame you for wanting your family back. Hell if I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing. What happened between you and Rachel isn't just your fault; Rachel knew she was cheating on Stan. She knew what would happen if Stan found out. She's just to blame as you are. You were just trying to make it easier for Grace. I don't blame you for doing what you thought was right for your daughter." Steve paused reaching up and cupping Danny's cheek. "Nobody can hold that against you." Danny smiled softly relieved that Steve understood where he was coming from. "Is that why you've been so depressed lately, because it didn't work out with Rachel?" Steve asked his heart clenching in anticipation of Danny's answer. Even though they kissed and Steve thought that Danny might return his feelings, he could understand Danny being upset over the end of his relationship with Rachel.

"For a time I thought that Rachel and I would be getting back together. I thought for sure that we were going to get married and live happily ever after in Jersey, just like before. But when you got arrested and I couldn't leave you in there and I had to do everything in my power to get you out. I knew that by staying I would be giving up my shot with Rachel, but knowing you needed me made it worth it. I don't know how or when I fell in love with your crazy ass somewhere along the way." Steve smiled tightening his hold on Danny's cheek pulling him closer pressing his lips against Danny's. Danny leaned forward applying more pressure his hand playing with the hair at the back at Steve's neck. Steve lost himself in their kiss the passion and love expressed in this simple kiss nearing tilted Steve's axis. He should've known that kissing Danny would be this amazing, his loud pineapple hating partner was a loud intense force. Finally pulling away Steve rests his forehead against Danny's gasping for air. "I could definitely get used to that." Steve smiled and chuckled, the answer to his dilemma finally coming to him.

"Good because I plan to do it a lot." Steve replied giving Danny a short kiss leaving him wanting more. "And don't worry Danno, I'm gonna solve everything." He promised standing up and pulling his partner up from the arm of his chair and back into the house.

A/N 2: I hope you enjoyed this, the next chapter will be up probably tomorrow or the day after that since I just need to figure out where to end it on my master copy of this story. Let me know what you think good or bad about this story. ~thatredheadedgirl~