He's walking out of the sea after a long afternoon swim when he hears the familiar roar of the Camero's engine being cut. Steve sighs and walks over to where Kono's sitting on one of the sunloungers with her legs stretched out in front of her and a magazine in hand. She's had her surf and now it's time to relax, she had told him when he had asked her if she wanted to join him. With a shake of the head, she had set up shop on the lounger with something to read, her iPod, a drink and a pair of sunglasses. Her head is tilted back, magazine held in front, but he knows despite the glasses that she's watching him like she has been all afternoon every now and again. He doesn't mind. He eyes her openly in her blue bikini and sarong.

"See something you like?" she asks him with a smile. She drops the pretence of reading by dropping the magazine next to her and pulls out her earphones.

Before Steve can reply that he really does, someone else does it for him.

"I'm sure he does. What's not to like?" the familiar New Jersey drawl comments and Steve shoots him a glare while picking up a towel from the lounger by Kono's feet.

"What are you doing here, Danny?" he asks him, drying his face and sitting down at the end of the lounger next to her legs. She looks up at Danny too, pushing her shades up into her hair with a big smile.

"Looking pretty smart there, brah. Where are you going?" she asks and Steve frowns because she's right. He's wearing his signature shirt, trousers, loafers and a tie he hasn't seen in a few years.

"If you must know, I had a parent-teacher meeting at Gracie's school." Danny replies, smoothing down his tie with a proud smile. "She's aceing every subject."

"Aw. I expect nothing less." Kono smiles, hi-fiving the hand that Danny offers her.

"Anyway, I came to talk to you." he answers Steve's question at last, looking at him when he does with a look of seriousness. Steve nods and sits up straighter, throwing the towel over his legs.

"Do you want me to go?" Kono asks politely but Danny shakes his head.

"No I think it might be better if you stayed." he says and Steve's more intrigued than confused now. He throws his girlfriend a questioning look, who shrugs in reply because she doesn't know either.

"Go on then. What's up?" Steve asks his partner, leaning back on his hands behind him so he can see him better. Danny shuffles on his feet, his shoes kicking up some sand onto it when he does.

"Ok, well, there's something that's been going on that I think you should know about." he starts, looking at Kono quickly to see that she's sat up straighter too in interest before looking back at Steve. "Mary and I have been seeing each other."

There is a pause of silence and Danny watches both of the people in front of him. There's a smile pulling at Kono's lips but Steve only has a frown playing at his.

"Seeing, as in...?" he asks slowly and Danny can tell this is not going to go well.

"As in we're seeing each other. Dating." he answers with a smile to soften the blow of the news. "Like you two." he adds and he knows it's the wrong thing when Steve sits up suddenly and Kono has to pull back her legs to reach out and grasp at his arm to keep him from standing up. Danny takes a step back too in case it's not enough to keep him in place and hitting him.

"You're what?" Steve asks harshly, fists curling and uncurling and Danny's really happy that Kono's there to keep him grounded.

"We're dating." Danny repeats with more confidence now that he's got it out once.

"And where is she? Why isn't she telling me this?" Steve asks him, the frown still in place as well as a furrowed brow. It's worse than 'aneurysm face'. It's the face that Danny hasn't named yet because he's only seen it a couple of times; both times in relation to his sister.

"She wanted to but I thought it would be better coming from me." he tells him and Steve nods once.

"How long's this been going on then?"

"A few weeks. Nothing more than a couple of months." Danny admits because there wasn't really a time when they became a couple. They would hang out, surf, have drinks or meals and then suddenly it became something more. "We wanted to make sure it was going somewhere before we told you."

Silence falls between them again and Danny chances a look away from the SEAL to look at Kono. She's sitting with her legs crossed and a hand on Steve's forearm, ready to pull him back in case he decides to do something. But she's smiling and throws him a wink when she looks back at him. Danny's glad because he knows that if there's anyone who could convince Steve, or at least calm him down, it was Kono.

"So it's going somewhere?" Steve finally asks in this typical stoic way that tells him that a wrong answer would earn him a very black eye. Or two. Maybe some bruised ribs too. "Where? Going steady? Moving in together? Getting married? What is it Danny?"

"We're taking things slow." he tells him calmly and he can tell that Kono's grip on Steve's arm has tightened because he throws her a glare which she brushes off with ease.

"Yeah, I hope so. I can't believe you'd do this and not even tell me. I thought we're partners. Friends." Steve says with a hint of hurt that makes Danny feel even guiltier than he had been feeling so far.

"We are. That's why I'm telling you now. If it had been anyone else, I would have told you earlier, but it's Mary so I thought this would be safer." he admits softly. "Remember when you two started dating? You didn't tell me either!"

"That's was different, Danny!" Steve snaps suddenly. "I told you after a month and Kono's not your sister."

"Ok, ok, I get that." Danny replies with a nod in acceptance that it was different. "But what I'm saying is that you didn't tell me because you wanted to make sure things were going to work out and you two had everything sorted out between you before letting other people know. That's the same here."

"He has a point, Steve." Kono adds helpfully and Steve exhales deeply.

"Fine. You have a point." he admits grudgingly. "But I don't like this. And I don't approve."

"Maybe you should take some time and think about that before you talk to Mary, yeah?" Danny advices him because he knows what his partner can get like when he gets a bit emotional, especially negatively emotional.

"Why? It won't change anything." he shrugs and physically lifts off Kono's hand off his arm to let him stand up. Danny stands his ground but Steve doesn't step closer to him. "You're not getting my blessing." he tells him with a tone of finality.

"Blessing? We don't need your blessing." Danny rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, getting a bit annoyed with Steve's stubbornness.

"Then what are you doing here, Danny?" he asks him harshly with a raised eyebrow and Danny takes a calming breath before he starts ranting because he knew Steve wouldn't listen to that at all.

"Doing the right thing and letting you know."

"And you have. Thank you." Steve says curtly and walks away to the house. Danny lets out an exasperated sigh and looks at Kono, who looks back sympathetically. He's glad she's on his side. He needs someone other than him and Mary rooting for the two of them to tell him that they aren't doomed from the beginning.

"Would you-?" Danny breaks off not sure what to say but waves a hand in the direction where Steve had disappeared to.

"Yeah, of course." Kono nods with a soft smile because she knows he wants her to try and talk to him, and even if he didn't ask her, she would have anyway.

"I do actually want him to approve. It'd make everything much easier. Plus..." Danny trails off with a shrug and a boyish look. The upset was evident on his face and she nodded again in understanding.

"He's your best friend and you'd like him to be happy for you." she states and he smiles sadly at her because she's got it spot on. Her intuition is almost always correct but they both know that this time it's because she's been in a similar position. "I get it too, Danny. Don't worry, he'll get over it. Just give him time."

"Thanks. I hope so. The man can hold a grudge until the next millennia sometimes." he quips with a huff and Kono laughs.

"Not against you he can't. Or Mary. Especially Mary." she points out and Danny nods because it's true. No matter what she does, Steve would always forgive his little sister in the end. "For the record, I'm happy for you two." Kono adds, standing up and and pulling him into a hug.

"Aw, thanks babe." he replies, hugging her back. "I should go. I'll see you at work."

"Hopefully we don't get a case before that." she tells him and Danny winces because the idea of having to work with Steve while pissed off at him makes him think about updating his personal will.

"Hopefully." Danny repeats and heads off, seeing Kono gather her stuff and head into the house. He hopes she manages to convince Steve and soon.

A/N: I don't know how long this story will be. It's the first time I'm doing a continuous multi-chapter fic, or at least planning to. Please let me know what you think and whether I should continue. The more response I get, the more I will write. This is also the most dialogue I've ever written so I apologise if it's OOC. I'm not good at writing speech. Also, the 'he' in the summary applies to both Danny and Steve. I wanted to leave it ambiguous.

Thank you to Tiana-P for pushing me into actually writing out my ideas for Danny/Mary (who don't have a ship name yet. I think MAD suits them best, how about you guys?) They're my new favourite ship for H50, in conjunction with McKono of course.

And to cm757 for her kind message that made me want to post this faster.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.