Chapter Text
“Thanks, Duke, we’re on the way,” Steve said into his cell before hanging up. He placed the phone in the center console and revved the Camaro as he looked in the mirrors, trying to find the best place to do a U-turn.
“That sounded like we’ve got another body,” Danny said as he gripped a little tighter to the edge of his seat as Steve turned them around.
“He said it looked like the same MO. We might have a serial killer on our hands,” Steve said with a low, frustrated grumble.
Danny glanced over at him and frowned. Although the notion of having to deal with a serial killer was decidedly unpleasant, it was strange to see that look in Steve’s eyes at this point in an investigation. Which made him wonder what else Duke had said. “What’s going on? What’s with the look?” Danny asked.
Steve looked at him briefly but then his dark eyes concentrated on the road with a quick glance to his side mirror. “What look?”
“It’s like you’re brooding about something. You only get that kind of look when a case has something bothering you on a more personal level. Not a serious personal level like the victim was someone you knew but there’s something more going on, I can tell. I know you too well, buddy. You’ve got the worst poker face on the planet.”
“Hey, I beat plenty of people at poker all the time. My poker face is fine.”
“You’ve never beaten me,” Danny pointed out, highlighting something that was a sore spot for Steve. “Never, not a single hand. I know your tells, even the subtle ones. I am a Steve McGarrett expert. If there was a college class dedicated to you, I’d already have my doctorate.”
“Okay, okay. Doctor Danno,” Steve rolled his eyes. “If you’re such an expert then maybe you should already know what Duke said.”
“Well I’m not a mind reader. And I already told you, it’s personal and related to the case just not too personal. So spill. What did Duke say?”
“It’s to do with one of the witnesses for the second murder.”
“What about them?”
“He’s in shock, so Duke hasn’t managed to get much out of him yet. But what he did say is that he wants to speak to you.”
“Me?”
“He asked for you. Personally,” Steve growled at the end. And the lightbulb went off in Danny’s head as to why Steve’s personality had shifted while he mulled over why someone would be asking for Danny.
“Ah, so this is a jealousy thing,” Danny said. “Seems a bit presumptuous considering you don’t know how the guy knows me.”
Steve bit the inside of his lip. “I still don’t like it.”
*
They were approaching the crime scene. Although they couldn’t see anything yet, there was a heightened police presence that was unmistakable and they were stuck in a small queue of traffic that was being controlled by cops up ahead.
Steve looked around them as they waited patiently to crawl forward. “Eddie’s vet clinic is just up that road,” he pointed to the right. “But if it was to do with the vet, then they’d know me more than you.”
“Why are you agonizing over this? I am allowed to know people for a lot of different reasons that don’t have anything to do with you,” Danny said. His tone was one of frustration but inside he was having some fun with it all. Steve had been possessive of Danny’s attention since they’d met. Danny had always put it down to Steve’s trauma at the time of losing his best friend and his father within a matter of days, but it hadn’t waned; Steve had always insisted he know everything about Danny. Hell, he knew things about Danny that Danny didn’t know Steve knew. This minor mystery was eating Steve up and it was amusing to watch.
Some might warn that Steve was being too possessive, allowing his jealousy and his control issues a little too much sway but Danny knew where it all came from and he knew how to deal with it. There was nothing dangerous in Steve’s behavior. Annoying at times, very much so. But dangerous? No. In fact, Danny could admit that when Steve was focussed solely on him, on what they were like together? It was one of the best feelings in the world.
At the mention of the vet clinic, Danny had a feeling he might know who the witness was, because the vets were close to somewhere Danny went occasionally that Steve knew nothing about. Not for a bad reason, but Danny just didn’t want Steve to make fun of him for it thinking he had some kind of physical weakness. Considering how Steve had made fun of him early in their partnership when Danny’s knee had been damaged, he had tried to keep up a tough guy image ever since when it came to comparing his and Steve’s injuries.
The cops up ahead recognized the approaching Camaro and made way for them to get through. Steve gave a polite wave as they passed and eventually they pulled into the small strip mall and got out of the car.
Yeah, Danny knew exactly who this witness was going to be. He’d parked here plenty of times before.
“Danny! Hey!” The voice emanated from the bumper of a nearby ambulance. The man sitting there was tall and dark haired like Steve and had a toned body like him, too. But he was younger, more tanned with smooth skin and looked like he belonged on the beach as a lifeguard - which made sense since that was his former profession. Yeah, that didn’t help Steve’s mood in the slightest and yeah, Danny kept this thing quiet for a lot of different reasons.
“Hi Trevor,” Danny gave a soft wave as Trevor ditched the blanket around his shoulders and made his way over to the two partners. He enveloped Danny in a brief hug that was too tight for Steve’s liking. “You okay, buddy?”
“Yeah, I just... I’ve never seen a dead body before. I threw up in the trash can over there. Twice.”
“That can happen,” Danny winced in sympathy. “This is Steve McGarrett, my partner.”
“Right, yes, of course, it’s good to meet you. Danny’s mentioned you.” He reached his hand out to Steve who paused a moment before taking it, squeezing just a little tighter than normal.
“Funny, he’s never mentioned you.”
“Huh, and here I was hoping he’d be raving about my services and drumming up more business for me. I’m kidding,” he turned back to Danny. “Your testimonial on my website is great.”
Steve mouthed the word ‘testimonial’ like it was the first time he’d ever heard the term and he looked disgusted by it, so Danny made sure to be the one to keep Trevor’s attention. “So what happened. Did you see the guy who did this?”
“I don’t know. I was with a client when I heard something next door, sounded like an argument. It was really harshing the mellow vibe but I figured it would be over quickly but then the wall rattled so I excused myself long enough to take a look at what was going on. My hands were still covered in oil so I went to clean them off on a towel and by the time I got near the door I saw a guy running off to a car. Usually the realtor’s are closed on a Sunday so I figured maybe it was a robbery or something if the guy was trying to get away so quick so I went over to see what was going on and that’s when I saw through the window that John was on the floor, bleeding out.”
“You said he was running for a car, did you see it? Was there anyone else in it?”
“No, it was just him that I saw. Mostly from behind though. And the car from the side. I didn’t see any plates - I watch TV, I know that’s what cops always ask about.”
“Okay, well, while things are fresh in your mind, I’m going to have you talk to our good friend Duke, he’s going to write down everything you tell him about the guy you saw and about the car.” He looked up towards the sign on the realtor’s building, scoffing at the bad pun they were using about getting customers the best ‘deal’ in town. “Do you know if Deeley had security cameras? Does anyone in the strip mall?”
“I don’t. That would be a total breach of trust when people are getting half naked on the premises. John might have, though. I don’t think they ever kept a lot of money around, but they’ve got some expensive computers. He told me once about a safe he had in there to keep the keys for open houses.”
“So you’re Danny’s masseur?” Steve asked as he also tracked his eyes along the signs above the shops.
“Yeah. And I get quite a workout sorting out all those knots he always needs taking care of in his back,” Trevor nodded. “After everything I’ve seen today and the stress of it all, it’s no wonder they’re there in the first place. I’m not in any danger am I? If the guy knows I saw him, will he come after me? That’s how it works on TV sometimes, especially when it’s got something to do with the mob.”
“It’s not the mob, okay? You’re going to be fine, there’s nothing to worry about. Just let Duke take some notes, okay?” Danny encouraged.
“Thanks, Danny,” Trevor said and patted Danny’s shoulder before Duke took him off to the side so that they could talk.
Danny turned his eyes to Steve, screwing them up because of how the sun was haloing his partner. “That’s Trevor. I’ve known him a little bit, he knows I’m with Five-0, so if he heard Duke talking about the case earlier he’d drop my name.”
“You have a masseur,” Steve mulled the words over, finding them distasteful but Danny didn’t know if it was because of the concept of massage or if it was because Steve didn’t know about it already. Or, well, maybe because Trevor was objectively very good looking. And probably quite the catch. Though it did sound like he watched too much TV.
“I have a masseur,” Danny nodded. “He’s got magic hands.”
Steve huffed a growl. “How long have you been coming here?”
“I dunno, a few years maybe?”
“A few years? How come I didn’t know about this? What, do you sneak out for your visits or something?”
“It’s not as dramatic as all that! I see him maybe 5 or 6 times a year for an hour long session, it’s nothing!”
“So one day you just decided that you wanted a strange man with strong arms to stroke oil all over your body?”
Danny could have laughed but instead he spluttered as he processed Steve’s words, wary of getting too loud lest others hear them argue; least of all Trevor himself who wasn’t that far away from them. “Okay, you’re insane, but I’m going to answer this stuff because if I don’t, you’ll not shut up about it for days. No, it wasn’t just some random decision to try massage, I never went in for all that spa type stuff but he actually helps, you know? I get to relax for a little bit and it feels damned good.”
Steve lifted a hand to his brow and squeezed to release the tension. “Okay, fine but whatever happened to big Swedish women or something? That guy is...”
“Hot?”
“Yes! You had your pick of masseurs on this island and you picked him!”
“If you think about it, this is all your fault,” Danny said.
“What?”
“Remember that time a building fell on us? You got just a couple of scrapes but I got a rebar jammed in my side and my ribs got broken because, you know, a building, Steven!?”
“Yes, I remember,” Steve pouted as he answered, unhappy about not fighting back over why it wasn’t actually his fault.
“I had to go to PT for a month after that and the guy who did that for me recommended Trevor because of how much bitching I did about you and my stress levels. And you know what? It worked. Especially a few years ago after that nuclear bomb and Catherine being back and you were tetchy for months. I’d go get a massage from Trevor and at least for an hour I wouldn’t want to kill you.”
“I was only in a mood because being with Catherine helped me deal with my feelings for you when I thought you didn’t like men that way and then she effectively turned me down as well...”
“Yes, I know, Steve. We went through all of that in the hospital after the liver transplant and I threatened to leave if you didn’t start acting like a human again and tell me what was eating you up.”
“But you still go see him?”
“After all my research about stress a few months ago, I figured it was a good reliever so I kept going. Now can we please get on with this case? The fact that I have a massage therapist is not a big deal.”
“Fine, but I don’t like it and we’re going to talk again later.”
*
Later that evening they weren’t very much further into solving the case but Junior and Tani had opted to stay at headquarters and keep working a little longer. Danny was convinced it was because they’d noticed some tension between the two older partners and Junior wasn’t wanting to hang out with them alone at McGarrett’s house where he was still crashing until he could find a decent apartment for himself.
The drive home had started quietly, with just that vague tension in the space between them until Steve had broken it with a simple. “I don’t want you to go there anymore.”
Danny might enjoy some of Steve’s controlling tendencies, but he didn’t like being told what to do - at least, outside of the bedroom and outside of their private bubble. Steve deciding he wanted to exert some kind of control over who Danny hung around with or who he saw in a professional capacity, well, it irked.
The argument continued as they went inside the house.
“I’m not saying I want you to stop something you think you need, I’m just saying not him.”
“He’s a nice guy, Steven! What am I supposed to tell him, huh? My boyfriend gets jealous and he thinks you want to bone me so he’s forbidding me from seeing you?”
“It would be the truth!” Steve yelled back before really taking in the bit about his jealousy which he usually played down when it wasn’t during the heights of passion, naked in bed together. “That hug he gave you? He was two seconds from grabbing your ass and licking your face.”
“You really don’t live on this planet, do you,” Danny admonished. “So he hugged me. He was in shock about what he’d seen. I could feel how he was still shaking for fuck’s sake. You do realize that touching people is a perfectly human thing to do, right? It doesn’t have to equate to sex.”
“You touch me a hell of a lot more than you touch Lou, or Tani or anyone else! And there’s a difference in the type of touching people do, how close they get, if it lingers... with you and me it’s always been grounding and natural and practically subconscious. I never once saw you reach out to Chin just because he was standing next to you, or hug Lou when we’ve made it out of something dangerous and need some reassurance. ”
Danny was quiet for long moments and Steve was beginning to think he’d won some kind of point.
Steve continued, “Trevor was trying to do all those kinds of touches that showed he was into you. He was flirting, even through the shock and adrenaline.”
“Steve, he’s just the guy I see about the knots in my back and shoulders,” Danny tried again, almost pleading in his voice for Steve to back down over this. But he didn’t deny anything, either. He didn’t feel he needed to keep repeating himself and he knew that Steve wouldn’t change his mind over what he saw from Trevor anyway. But not responding also made Steve think he’d been validated so he still needed to make a point and try to end the argument. At least for tonight. “Hey, you don’t run my life.”
“Uh, yeah, I do,” Steve said with a sarcastic, overblown edge that meant he was fighting back for the sake of it. But there was part of the tone of his voice that made Danny think Steve was barely containing his possessiveness and until he had it under control again and didn't get so damned selfish about things, Danny was going to stop talking to him.
Danny huffed, breathing deeply through his nose and curling his hands into fists, showing Steve the tension coiled in his body and that he’d gone a step too far. “I’m done arguing about this,” he said and stalked his way into the kitchen to find something to eat before going to bed.
Things were quiet for the rest of the night. They heated up some leftovers in the microwave and Danny put his attention on Eddie for the next hour before deciding he was going to turn in. He could have left and gone back to his own place - he’d done that before when mad at Steve over something - but without the kids around it felt empty and he hated how he brooded back there after an argument. Somehow, he’d rather just curl up on his side of the bed and ignore the heat of Steve beside him. Hell, he’d still get a better night’s sleep that way and with the ongoing case, they could use the rest while they could get it.
By morning, the argument was mostly forgotten. Like many times in the past, they might not have come to a definitive winner or loser or way forward, but they’d said their pieces and knew how the other felt. Even though things might stay the same, they would move on and just wait until it came up again. They had more important things to think about and right now, it was stopping a serial murderer before there were more victims.