Notes:

For Narkito.

First of all, there's mention of an anxiety attack, so if it could be in any way triggering for you, you better skip this one. :)

Once again I have to thank my friend Narkito for taking a look at this one. If you find any mistakes, they're my fault though! :D This is a bit more touchy/feely than I'm used to writing, so you could see it as slash if you like, but there are no PDAs to be found, sadly. Title inspired by Ben E. King's song Stand by Me

No, I won't be afraid. Just as long as you stand by me

Lou and Odell left, leaving Steve to finish up some reports and mostly to delay the inevitable call to Danny. Steve needed to apologize for taking the Camaro and leaving Danny stuck in the wrong building while he and Adam went to stop Doug Manning, and he was not looking forward to it.

He finally decided that the best plan of attack would be to get some beers and a pizza from the place Danny liked, and head over to Danny's, maybe try to apologize in person. His mind made up, Steve closed the computer, put everything away and headed out to his truck.

He didn't even get to the glass door of HQ, stopping to look in surprise at Danny's office. The blinds were closed, but he could see that the lights were on. What got Steve's attention was that while on a normal day you could faintly hear Danny's random mutterings through the walls, right now everything was eerily quiet.

He knocked softly on the door and pushed it open, finding Danny sitting at his desk with his eyes closed and a tense expression on his face. His hands were clenched tightly in front of him, and he was taking slow, measured breaths.

With his concern mounting, Steve moved quietly, getting closer to Danny and leaning forward to get a better look at his face. "Hey buddy, you alright?" He asked softly.

He was alarmed when Danny jumped violently back, briefly opening his eyes to glare at Steve and then closing them to curl even further into himself.

"Fuck, I almost had it. Why'd you have to- fuck, fuck," Danny muttered, lifting his hands to shakily pull at his hair.

Steve took a step back at Danny's reaction, but he quickly recovered. He crouched at Danny's side and started talking softly. "I'm sorry buddy, I didn't mean to startle you," he said. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out, maybe do something after work," he continued. "I'll just sit here, what do you think? Maybe I'll do this, see if it helps?" he said, slowly taking Danny's clammy hands in his larger ones and gently rubbing them.

Danny jumped at the touch, but didn't pull his hands away from Steve's grip. "Hey, hey. I'm sorry man. But you're alright. Everything's fine around here," he said kindly, "and you'd see that if you opened your eyes. We're just fine here, buddy."

Danny shook his head, not opening his eyes. "Can't. Can't breathe," he said faintly.

Steve squeezed Danny's hands, trying to get his attention. "Yes, you can, buddy. You just have to slow it down a little," he said softly, trying to breathe louder to see if Danny could follow his lead, but Danny wasn't really paying attention. "Alright, so what were you doing before, huh? Counting? Listing the Mets Lineup?" He asked quietly.

Danny shook his head again. "Tried counting. Wasn't working," he said shakily, still struggling to get a full breath in.

Steve nodded in understanding, even if Danny couldn't see him. He gave Danny some time to try again, letting him know he was around by still keeping a hold of Danny's hands.

When whatever Danny was trying to do didn't work too well, Steve decided to try something else. He waited him out, and started talking quietly when he felt he wouldn't break Danny's concentration. "You never said how you got back here from that building. Did you get a ride from Lou? Took an Uber?"

Danny roused a bit at Steve's voice, but then he opened his eyes to glare at him. "You ditched me, and went off to find a fuckton of chlorine gas without backup."

Steve was happy that he got a reaction from Danny, but he needed him to keep going, so he rolled his eyes and thought of the worst answer he could give him. "I was with Adam."

Danny glared at him even harder, so apparently it worked. "He doesn't have any training."

Steve just shrugged, pleased that he had distracted Danny a bit at least. "We did OK."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot. I was worried, and don't think I didn't notice that you conveniently sent me where there was the least chance to find the tanks, and then it slipped your mind to wait for me to come along," he grumbled.

Steve sighed, gently squeezing Danny's hands. "I'm sorry, Danno. I truly thought that Adam and I could handle it, and he needed to see it through, you know that," Steve pleaded, not willing to admit that the last thing he had wanted was to see Danny harmed again.

Danny looked at him, probably reading everything Steve wasn't saying, but also, distracted enough that he seemed to be doing a little bit better than before.

"You're a schmuck," Danny muttered, taking a shaky but full breath.

Steve just gave Danny a goofy grin. "Whatever you say, Danno."

They sat like that for a few minutes, giving Danny a moment to get a better hold of his anxiety. Once things looked a bit better, Steve moved to stand.

"Come on, do you feel like heading home? I'd offer to let you drive, but I want us to get there in one piece," Steve joked, pulling at Danny's hands gently.

Danny huffed half a laugh, letting Steve pull him to his feet. "Now you're an asshole."

Steve's smile turned into a goofy grin. "You love me anyway, Danno."

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that," Danny grumbled. He kept a halfhearted rant all the way to the car and it was like music to Steve's ears.

Danny sat quietly all the way to his place, so much that Steve thought he had fallen asleep. He only stirred when Steve got out of the car to move to the passenger side.

"'m OK, don't need any help," he muttered as he made his way to the front door, stopping to pat himself in search of his keys.

Steve nudged him forward, placing his hand on Danny's back. "Alright, no problem. Once I get you inside the house I'll leave you alone," he said, as he moved to open the front door with Danny's keys that he'd gotten at the office.

Danny frowned at that. "I didn't say you had to go, just that I didn't need you to tuck me into bed, that's all," he grumbled as he allowed Steve to lead him to his room. "And why do you have my keys, huh? First you steal my car and now you stole my keys?" He kept arguing, out of habit more than anything else.

Steve chuckled, leading Danny to sit on the bed as he went in search of some sleeping clothes.

"The Camaro is parked on your driveway, and I'm leaving the keys right here on the nightstand," he said, leaving the keys where he said he would and handing Danny some worn sleeping pants and a soft looking t-shirt. "Where do you keep your pills for this kind of days?" He asked gently.

Danny played dumb, taking the t-shirt and seemingly studying it with great attention. "What pills?" he asked far too casually.

Steve stopped in his tracks, giving Danny an understanding look. "The pills, Danno. The ones the shrink gave you after you got out of the hospital?"

Danny glared at him for a moment, but then sighed. "In the kitchen, top cabinet over the stove, behind the good booze."

Steve moved to get the meds, glad that Danny agreed that this was one of those days. He found the meds, fixed a couple of sandwiches, put them on a tray with two bottles of water and moved back to Danny's room.

Danny had changed and was laying on top of the covers, rolling his eyes at the sight of the tray. "I'm not exactly hungry, babe."

"Well, I am. So I can eat yours if you don't want it," Steve said, moving to the opposite side of the bed and placing the tray in the middle, sitting with his legs crossed under him. He picked one of the sandwiches and started eating, smiling to himself when Danny sat up and took the other.

Danny ate about half of the sandwich before he took the pill bottle and shook one into his hand. He downed it with water, eating a few more bites before he sat back down.

Steve cleared the tray from the bed as Danny sluggishly moved under the covers. When he turned, Danny was looking at him with a longing look on his face. "Don't- you don't have to go," he corrected himself, seemingly reaching out to grab Steve, but stopping himself, clenching his hand on the covers instead.

Steve moved back to the bed, sitting over the covers at Danny's side, and gently taking his hand again. "It's late. I just figured I could crash here, if you don't mind," he said quietly.

Danny relaxed with a grateful sigh. "Yeah, OK. Thank you, babe," he mumbled as he finally fell asleep.

Danny woke up to a strange sight. Steve was lying on his bed, wearing Danny's favorite shorts, and it was very bright outside. "What the—" he asked around a yawn, unconsciously scratching his stomach.

Steve turned to look at him, blinking sleepily. "'morning Danno. How'd you sleep?"

Danny frowned in annoyance, turning to check the clock on his night stand and groaning in displeasure.

"11.36? Nooooo, why didn't you wake me up earlier?" He whined, sounding disappointed.

Steve's expression turned worried. "What? I'm sorry man. I had no idea you had something to do today."

Danny sighed, passing a hand over his hair and yawning again. "No, It's OK. It's not your fault."

Steve got out of bed and started looking for his clothes. "Hey, but maybe we can still make it. Was it something with the kids? Want me to call Rachel and explain?"

Danny chuckled, shaking his head but still looking dissapointed. "Nah, it wasn't anything like that. Don't worry about it."

Steve still didn't look happy. "So what was it?" He asked, not liking the look on Danny's face. "Come on, Danno. Spill it."

Danny was silent for a couple of minutes, but he could tell that Steve wouldn't let it go. "Alright. I had to be up at 6.30 this morning," he said vaguely, as if that was enough of an explanation.

Steve didn't think it was. "Why?"

Danny rolled his eyes, knowing he couldn't get out of it so easily. "On Saturdays, you usually get up around 7.00 and go for your swim. You get back between 7.45 and 8.00. If I got to your place around 7.05, I'd have enough time to make you some breakfast and give you your present," he said sheepishly.

Steve's smile was the brightest Danny had seen in a while. "Really? You were going to make me breakfast?"

Danny nodded, which made Steve smile even harder.

"And you got me a present," Steve asked, eagerly.

"Yes, but I left that at your place," Danny said with a shrug and a roll of his eyes.

Steve's eyebrows rose. "It's at my place? Where?"

"You'll have to find it now," Danny said with a chuckle.

Steve moved to Danny's side, pulling at the covers to get Danny moving. "Alright, let's go. You have some cooking to do and I have a present to find!"

Danny laughed at Steve's eagerness. "It's too late for breakfast, babe."

Steve shook his head, still nudging Danny to get him moving. "Never heard about brunch? Now hop, hop! We have to move!"

Danny shook his head in amusement, getting out of the bed and pulling Steve into a hug before he rushed off somewhere. "Come here, happy birthday you big oaf," he said as he slapped Steve's back. "And thank you. Not just for last night."

Steve slowed down, curling into the hug, slapping Danny's back as well. "Thank you, Danno."

The End.

Notes: March 10 is supposed to be Steve's birthday, and it so happens to be Narkito's birthday as well, so this is a belated birthday gift for my buddy (and for Steve as well!) I'd love to hear what you think of it! Thank you for reading!