TLC

A/N: This prompt was going through my head for three days before I decided to somehow insert it in the Jot it down July challenge, so here it is. Was supposed to happen on Monday, with it being Museday, but as the day goes, my muse decided last night was the night when it was supposed to happen. I have a few prompts from my WIPs list that I plan to tackle these days, but we'll see how it goes.

Thereby, I present you with this story.

…

A friend of Danny's was visiting Hawaii with his wife and that's how Danny found himself at Sidestreet, having dinner for old times' sake. He wasn't particularly keen to go, and without Steve for that matter, but after fighting with the Neanderthal that morning, he conceded defeat, and decided it won't hurt if he agreed to it.

Steve was shot in the left arm (again, Danny rolled his eyes when that happened, but only just, the worry quickly taking over) the day before and was ordered to take it easy for a few days. Which, he decided to take it to heart for once in his life. Danny was surprised, to put it out mildly, but couldn't complain.

Reluctantly, he agreed to go to the dinner. He had his share of laughs and memories, but the truth was that Danny moped around, not having his boyfriend with him. He knew for a fact that Steve really meant what he said, the nausea and dizziness made sure of that, but the constant worry for Steve did its thing.

(And the fact that their relationship was fairly new if you didn't count years of mutual pining and unresolved sexual tension).

He called it a night around 11 with the (valid) excuse that he had to check on his partner. If he noticed the overly fond looks both Jack and Maria had on their faces, he said nothing.

He was almost to Steve's house when he noticed a commotion on the sidewalk. There were five guys, three of them looming over the other two, talking fast and showing off their muscles and on closer looks, brass knuckles.

Danny's blood boiled at the sight. He always hated bullies. And the kids they prayed on looked terrified. Danny also noticed the two boys held hands. That was fuel enough for him to park the Camaro across the street and approach them from the opposite direction.

"Hey! What's going on there?"

"None of your damn business, ha'ole." spat one of the men.

"Well it is my business. See, you are interrupting them in whatever they were doing and I don't like bullies."

"Beat it, Shorty. If you don't like to be beat."

"Oh, is that how's it gonna be? You see this nose? It's crooked from people like you. If you think for one minute that I'm afraid, you are wrong."

Danny's whole body was thrumming in anticipation. With the back of his eye, he could see the two boys come closer to each other. The taller one whispered something to the shorter one, and for a second Danny thought of Steve and him.

"You are feisty little one," the man in the middle said, "but you have no business messing with us. These queers-"

He didn't get past 'queers' when Danny shut him up with his fist.

His buddies readied themselves for a fight, as the guy rubbed his chin.

"Looks like the two of you cock suckers got yourself a backup. Your very own knight in shining armor. Are you going to have a threesome after we are through with you?"

"I'll call my boyfriend, see if he wants a foursome." Danny said deadpan and took a step forward.

"Too bad you hit like a pussy."

Guy number 3 swung, but Danny caught his wrist and twisted it. The guy screamed his lungs. Someone in the background whimpered.

"Say what, again?"

A scuffle started, each guy trying to get the upper hand, but Danny was kicking their asses just like he did with the scum on the Garfield's streets where he grew up on. He quickly disarmed them from the brass knuckles. It turned out that they were just muscles and fists without their designated weapons, like true bullies.

But, even disarmed, the three guys had their shot at Danny, too. Danny was sure that if he got out of this situation with minor injuries, and not end up in a hospital, he'll be sore and bruised by the moment he even called Steve to tell him about-

A fist connected with his left temple and Danny staggered. He could hear a whimper and a choked off sob, but couldn't place it at the moment. Too busy trying not to faint and stay alert.

Somehow that helped him focus, to center himself on hitting the weak spots of the three men. His hits were a bit sluggish, but the men were easily tiring out, while Danny practically breathed on adrenaline.

They were relying too much on their muscles and not on their brains. They didn't know it'll be hell to pay once Danny stopped with what he was doing which was handing them their asses.

Guy number 3 fell first, spitting on Danny's shoes as he did so.

Another insult was thrown Danny's way from Guy Number 1, but nothing Danny wasn't called before. 'Fruit' was a term that never got old and angered Danny to the point where he started searching online for the origins of that homophobic shit. Fruit was fruit and no one gave anyone the right to use that term in this outrageous way.

Meanwhile, the couple backed themselves against the wall and the smaller man was huddled in the embrace of the taller one. Danny felt a pang in his chest, because it could've easily been Steve and him, and it hurt.

Why couldn't they just feel the same as the others? Why couldn't they just walk hand in hand without the risk of a bully stopping them and throwing their hate all over them? Why, why, why? It always started with a why, with no answer to any of it.

But this wasn't about him and Steve. This was about couple of guys whose night was interrupted and Danny was gonna see it through to bring them justice.

With one last swift movement Danny kicked Guy Number 2 in the crotch. The guy fell on the ground, trying to stifle his moans. Danny had just a tad bit of sympathy, being a cop earned him quite a few kicks in the family jewels.

He spat the blood that gathered itself in his mouth, the taste of copper making him nauseous. He bit the inside of his mouth during the fight, multiple times. Steve was going to have a field day once he got home.

But after he was finished with the trouble in hand.

"Listen to me, and listen very carefully," Danny started carefully measuring each word and standing tall, "If you ever think roaming this streets again, preying on those that are seemingly below and weaker than you, you've got yourself a trouble. I may be small and short, but I can easily kick all of your asses six ways from Sunday. Do not try to get on my nerve to find out just how precise I can be. I admit I pulled my punches, which I almost never do.

"And if you think that for one second I'll tolerate this shit, where you throw homophobic slurs at innocent people that are minding their own business, then think again of me and what happened to you tonight. Do you want to relive this again?"

Three sets of eyes stared blankly at Danny, and he could clearly see the fear and hesitation in them. Good, Danny thought, I made my point.

"Now get your asses off the ground and apologize to them." Danny pointed his finger in the direction where the guys were still huddled close together.

"We are sorry," the tallest of the guys said, in a defeated voice. "It won't happen again."

Danny watched the whole thing like a hawk. If he was right in his assessment, and he was a damn good detective as it was, the hate came from trying to mimic what their parents and relatives said and did about people that belonged to the LGBTQ+ community.

Danny sighed. He couldn't change their opinion, but he hoped they'd at least be considerate next time they wanted to pick on someone that wasn't able to defend themselves, like they did tonight. And that love is love, no matter what.

"Now beat it before I call the cops so your ass gets handed to you once again." he promptly didn't mention he was Five-0.

The three men ran off as fast as they could with their injuries, tripping over each other in the attempt to get as far away from Danny as they could.

Danny wiped the blood that pooled on his brow, and was slowly trickling down his face. He turned around, but he didn't get much out before his legs almost gave up on him.

Strong pair of arms wrapped around his biceps and steadied him, slowly leading Danny to sit down on the ground until he got his bearings. Steve was going to get himself worked up over this, Danny knew. He had a half-mind to call him, but the other half knew it would only up his worry.

…

There was a jacket wrapped over his shoulders when he next came to himself and wondered just how strong was that blow to the head that he was so disoriented more and more as the adrenaline wore off.

"Hey, man, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"You don't look so good. Should we call an ambulance or someone…?"

"Thank you, but no. I live only couple of blocks away. If you help me get to my car…"

"But your head-"

"It's fine. I've had worse than this. It'll hurt more in the morning."

The guy seemed unconvinced but let it go.

"I'm Kyle and this is James. Thank you for what you did out there. No one has ever stopped to help us, and this is not the first time we've been insulted. Honestly, just thank you."

"I'm not most people, Kyle. And thank you for taking care of him. I saw the way you protected him while I was busy."

"Sorry about that, but fighting has never been my strong side."

"No sweat. Anytime you need a hand or whatever it is that you need, give me a call." Danny provided a card with his name and number on it once he was safely in the Camaro's driver seat.

"You are a cop?" James now piped in after staying silent for so long.

"I'm with the Five-0."

"OMG, you are one of the guys that-"

"It's okay, Jamie." Kyle stopped his boyfriend before he went all fanboy on Danny. "We shouldn't bother Mr. Williams anymore. Thank you once again."

"Anytime, man. Glad I could help. Besides I wasn't lying before, I do have a boyfriend so, yeah… And it's not a bother."

Danny waved as he drove off and in less than 2 minutes he was home.

…

Steve was waiting for him on the couch and Danny felt guilty for going out and being the reason why Steve was up so late. But he was at least resting so that was okay.

The moment he closed the door and turned on the lights, Steve got up to greet him when he froze.

"What happened?"

"It's nothing, really. You don't have to-"

"You gripe every time I get a cut or a bruise. I am entitled to do the same, at least. Now, what happened?"

Danny moved awkwardly as he slumped against a cushion.

"Danny…" Steve said softly as he took in the blood on Danny's face and his split knuckles that were already red and swollen.

"Steve, I'm fine."

"Bullshit! Sit tight, I'll be back."

5 minutes later, Steve was back with bowls of warm water, needle and thread, towels and his medical kit.

"Okay, I didn't know I shared a home with Florence Nightingale."

Steve looked at Danny sternly, but there wasn't a real heat behind the look, more worry than anger.

Steve carefully cleaned the wound right over his brow that turned out to be a gash, and he was berated for that. After he had sewn the wound, Steve proceeded with Danny's split lip and kissed it afterwards. That pulled a smile out of Danny.

Steve moved on his knuckles next, putting each hand in the bowl of the now lukewarm water and rinsed them off.

"There were three guys. They were harassing these two boys, a couple." Danny let the silence hang over the room while he worked. "They reminded me of ourselves, it could've been easily us in their place and I got mad for them. No one deserves to be treated like this just because they do not belong to society's norms as they are seen…"

Steve faltered and dropped the towel. He took Danny's left hand in his and brought it to his lips. He kissed each knuckle, doing the same with Danny's right hand. He carefully applied ointment on the wounds and rubbed it in them before carefully wrapping them in bandages.

"There you go. Now take off your shirt so I can check for other injuries."

It should've scared Steve at how compliant Danny was, but he didn't want to upset Danny even more than he already was.

After a thorough inspection and rubbing ointment to every small scrape and bruise, Steve gathered his supplies and led Danny to their bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Steve." Danny's voice was small and cautious, almost like he expected Steve to scold him.

"It's okay, Danny. It was worth it. You did get to save these guys from those men threatening their safety. I'm not mad with you."

"I shouldn't let myself react like this, but I couldn't help it."

"It's okay, Danny. Really."

Steve hugged Danny then, and it was like a dam burst. Danny released tears of frustration and anger while Steve held him.

After a while the sobs turned into whimpers and Danny calmed down.

"There, there…" Steve rubbed soothing circles on Danny's back. "Feeling better, sweetheart?"

"Yes. Much better."

"Okay then. Let's head to bed."

"Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Love ya', babe."

"Love you too, Danno."

…

A/N 2: In the words of Lunedd, I like making Danny cry. Sorry, I can't help myself at times.