Disclaimer: Do not own Hawaii Five-0. No copyright infringement intended.

Authors Note: No copyright infringement intended for the quoted passages either. Another heartfelt 'thank you' to Wenwalke and praemonitus praemunitus for their support and hard work on this. So grateful they put up with the rookie!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8

"Tom appeared … with a bucket of whitewash ... long-handled brush ... thirty feet … of un-whitewashed fence, and sat down on a tree-box discouraged …"

It'd been the intonation, the lilt of her voice that had blanketed him and then eased him back into an undisturbed slumber. Until he heard her again. The soothing meter of her words awakening him, this time bringing him softly back into the room and holding him there.

"Huckleberry was cordially hated and dreaded by all the mothers of the town … because all their children admired him so … wished they dared to be like him. Tom was like the rest of the respectable boys … and was under strict orders not to play with him. So he played with him every time he got a chance …"

Saliva trickled down the back of Danny's throat, accompanied by an urgency to clear it, but he was reluctant to try, afraid his daughter would stop reading out loud. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was his favorite story as a kid and his daughter must have remembered him telling her so. Besides, if she stopped reading, he would be left with only the empty silence, so instead he swallowed, forcefully. That action alone must have been enough to alert his partner.

"Gracie, hang on a second."

He heard the thump of a book closing. Another crack as the hardback cover hit the ground, flat.

"Oh, well, in that case, yeah, okay. Maybe it's time to give this a try." Danny cleared his throat, willing his eyelids to at least move if not open.

"Danno?"

The air around him compressed, pushed in closer, until he could feel his daughter's breath waft across his cheek and make him shiver. Her hand was clasped tightly around his bicep, squeezing. Another hand, larger, more calloused, was placed gently on top of his forearm opposite Grace's.

"Are you cold? Danny, you need another blanket?"

His brow furrowed. It was as if his initial shiver had set off a bunch of dominoes, each rectangle tumbling against the next. Once he'd started shaking, he couldn't stop.

"Grace, see if there's another blanket in the closet there."

"No. No, no, no. Not yet …" His fingers twitched, finally opening and closing as he tried to locate his daughter's hand.

"Uncle Steve?"

"Yeah, I see him, just stay put Grace. I'll get it." The grasp on his forearm tightened, then disappeared, but not before, "She's not going anywhere, buddy, promise."

He heard the click of a latch releasing and then catching again before the weight of another blanket was placed on top of him, tucked under his arms and pulled up to his chest.

"That better, Danny?"

His eyes were still not willing to open, but he managed a low grunt and then tried to scooch closer to his daughter.

"Danno, stay still. I'm okay, you didn't hurt me."

"Gracie, wait. He's not ready …"

Danny froze. His brow furrowed deeper as small fingers latched onto his own. The calloused hand was back, too. They squeezed, hard.

"What? Hurt you? Did I hurt Grace?" He felt his chest tighten and then his stomach flipped. A groan clawed its way up through his throat when the memories of her bruised wrist and forearm jarred into his mind.

"Fuck, did I do that? Did I?"

Grace's insistent voice overrode his inner one.

"… I know I shouldn't have, but I was angry and worried. Please don't be mad, Danno.

"Wait." He'd missed something. He was trying to keep up with his daughter's words but he was too confused and groggy to put the pieces together without help.

"Uhm … Steve. Steve was here ..." He cleared his throat again, trying to unglue his tongue from the roof of his mouth.

"St … eve?"

A tear dribbled out of the corner of his eye, across his temple and into his hairline when his lids finally cracked open.

"Steve? Did I?" His gaze wandered up towards his partner and held there.

His friendship with Steve was one of the greatest gifts two people could offer each other; somewhere where each man could be known and be safe. Steve had always been aware of the frightened, protective father in Danny. He'd also known the loving one. To this day, Steve saw all of him and knew what he needed.

"You didn't hurt her, Danny. Those bruises weren't because of you."

H50

Though Steve's statement hadn't been quite accurate, it'd taken several tries and many false starts before Grace could explain to him all that had happened and make him believe her. And yes, Steve had helped both of them accept certain facts, because the reality was, her bruises were because of Danny, though he'd not placed them on her body directly. And as far as Grace was concerned, she'd earned those bruises outright. Although she felt bad for not trusting Officer Kekoa, she'd made it clear that she wouldn't have changed her reaction—her commitment to safeguarding her father—even if she'd been given the opportunity to.

Danny sighed, running his hand up and down his daughter's spine. She'd finally fallen asleep beside him, Steve in the recliner. It'd been a long night. After several minutes of staring up at the ceiling, Danny looked down at his leg and tried not to grimace. His had been the mistake that had started them down this clusterfucked rollercoaster. But his decision to take his eye off the saw couldn't be changed and for Grace, he needed to let it go.

He returned his gaze back to his daughter, his mind wandering back to their earlier conversation.

He'd known all along, if he was truly honest with himself, that Grace was a force to be reckoned with, a soul on fire with the same passions as anyone, including himself. She'd pulled no punches when she'd finally gotten the words out, spoken what was in her heart. She'd been vulnerable, guilt-ridden and oh-so-brave that Danny's heart had soared once they'd worked through all of their collective culpability.

He was able to chuckle now, thinking back on his partner's reaction to his daughter, her determination and tenacity regarding the young officer who had inadvertently marked her.

"Promise me, Uncle Steve."

His partner had practically growled in response, shaking his head 'no'.

"Promise me …"

Danny's eyebrows had disappeared under his hairline. It was all he could do to not smirk. Because his beautiful, infallible Grace had his poor partner dead to rights. The man's need to flatten Officer Kekoa's just wasn't going to happen. Not according to Grace.

"Uncle Steve …"

"I still have to talk with him …"

"No, Uncle Steve, you don't. Uncle Lou already said that he's talked to him. So has Sergeant Lukela. Uncle Chin told me. Besides, if anyone in our 'ohana should say anything to him, it should be me … I should apologize ..."

"NO!" He and Steve had shouted simultaneously. And then Danny had relented when his daughter looked as if she was going to make her case further.

"Monkey, maybe later, okay? After we've all had a chance to settle down."

Grace had stared at him, as if gauging his sincerity. Seemingly getting what she needed, she'd turned her focus back onto his partner.

"Uncle Steve has to agree, too. No talking to Officer Kekoa, not without me or Danno there."

It had been a Mexican standoff until Danny's nurse had entered into the room, distracting everyone. He was still running a fever and his leg had begun to let him know what a number he'd done on it. Just before he'd nodded off, after receiving more meds, he'd seen Steve's features soften when the man whispered something into his daughter's ear. Grace had smiled before climbing up to lay down beside him.

She'd won.

"You've got him wrapped around your little finger, Monkey," Danny whispered. He grinned at the memory, kissing the top of his daughter's head before his lids finally grew heavy and he slipped back to sleep.

H50

The physician had finally agreed to release her Dad on Christmas Eve. He'd been weak and miserable for days, so she'd finished reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and started on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, her voice eventually chasing away his dreams and soothing the crease along his brow.

Once Danno had gotten a release date, Grace had convinced everyone that she and her father should be allowed to return to their home, not Uncle Steve's. She'd argued that she was already on winter break from school and that she was old enough to help her Dad. Besides, in her mind, she'd already proven that she was capable. As long as someone was willing to pick them up for her father's physical therapy and doctor's appointments, they should be good to go. Danno had capitulated pretty quickly. She figured her Dad had seen her need for what it was. It'd been Uncle Steve that she'd had to convince. So she'd compromised, well, she'd guessed he did also. He'd be staying at their house, at least until Danno was more mobile and the visiting nurse had stopped coming.

What neither man knew was that Grace had made arrangements with the rest of her 'ohana to make sure that her Dad's home was ready for Christmas. Danno hadn't really talked about their lack of a tree and the decorations or presents, but she knew he was worried that their rare time together over the holidays had been ruined. So she was darn proud of herself and her 'ohana for keeping their little Christmas op secret from her father and Uncle. It was hard keeping surprises from a detective and a Navy SEAL.

Her Dad had fallen asleep on the ride home, just the transfer to and from the wheelchair, then into the truck, an ordeal. It'd taken both her and Uncle Steve to help him make the maneuvers and by the time they'd finished, he'd been a shaking mess.

"Danno, we're here. I've got your crutches for you."

Uncle Steve had opened the passenger side door for her, allowing her to be the one to wake him. Her Dad was still slow to get his bearings, but with their help, he'd managed to not tumble his way out of the cab.

She frowned as she walked beside him, could tell he had something on his mind.

"You okay, Danno?" They were almost to the door.

Uncle Steve was hovering just off her dad's shoulder, a hand permanently tucked behind her father's back, waiting in case he stumbled.

"Looks like it'll just be you and me for Christmas this year Monkey. I'm sorry …"

Grace unlocked the deadbolt and held the door open for her Dad to pass through.

"MELE KALIKIMAKA!"

Everyone was there, the whole of their 'ohana.

Her father stutter-stepped and then halted. Uncle Steve's hand had grabbed hold of her Dad's shirt to steady him. She moved in front of him, wrapping her arms around his waist and looked up. A smile lit across her face.

"It's not really just you and me, Danno. It's ia kakou. That means …"

"It means all of us." Uncle Steve winked at her, his hand moving up to rest on her father's shoulder. "All of us, Danno." Her Uncle ran his hand across his face as he took in their 'ohana and the decorations.

"Mele Kalikimaka, Danno," Grace whispered.

She heard her Dad clear his throat several times before he could get the words out. His eyes were watery.

"Merry Christmas, Monkey."

~the end~