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Steve would rather collapse right here on the hard yacht floor, soaking wet and exhausted, than do literally anything else. The antidotes have been distributed. Without the threat of imminent death hanging over their heads his exhaustion pulls at him like a siren song.
They’re not out of the woods yet. They’ll have to wait for the storm to pass before they send a medevac or a tow boat. That could be anywhere from half an hour to the rest of the night.
He turns to Tani and Junior. “We’re going to raid the closets for dry clothes. Don’t worry too much about crime scene integrity. Don’t touch anything you don’t have to, obviously, but grab some blankets and water and find a comfortable place to settle in for a while. We may be here for a few hours yet.”
Junior says, “Yes, sir,” while Tani mutters something under her breath that sounds like, “Thank god, a reasonable boss.”
Steve leads the way to the closest bedroom and they rifle through closets and bags. Most of the passengers’ daywear is formal. He and Junior find suitable sleepwear to change into. Tani finds a clean set of athleisure gear that appears to fit her perfectly.
“Do you think they’ll let me keep it?” she asks wistfully.
“All fabric items will likely need to be destroyed or need to undergo an intense decontamination process,” Steve says. “They’ll be able to save the hardware we came in with, but probably not the clothes.”
“Dang,” Tani says. She eyes the bed like she might fight someone for first dibs.
“I’ll be in the living room with Danny,” Steve announces in case anyone needs anything. He extracts himself from the room. He’ll let the kids sort themselves out.
Going back up the stairs is a monumental task, but he manages. He detours through the kitchen to grab a bottled water. He fully intends to sit himself on the floor against the couch with the blanket he’d discarded earlier, but he stops short when he sees Danny shivering.
It’s not like he didn’t notice earlier. He’s the one with radiation poisoning. Junior and Tani are soaked to the bone. But for some reason, Danny was hit harder by the virus. His energy had faded faster. His temperature had risen quicker.
Steve brushes the back of his hand over Danny’s forehead. His skin is clammy and cool to the touch. He reaches for Danny’s hand which is curled over the top of the blanket. His fingers are ice cold.
Watching him makes something in Steve’s chest ache.
He eyes the couch. It’s big enough to hold Danny and there’s not much extra room.
To hell with it, he thinks.
He takes his blanket and drapes it on top of Danny. He places his hands under Danny’s head and back, urges him to sit up a little, and slides his body in under Danny’s. It’s a tight fit. His head is tucked up on top of the arm rest. One of his legs he leaves dangling over the edge of the couch.
It’s worth it for the way Danny turns to find a comfortable position and murmurs, “Warm,” into Steve’s chest. He stops shivering minutes later. Steve wraps his hand around one of Danny’s to make sure it warms up.
Satisfied, he allows himself to drift off to sleep.
-
“Junior,” Tani hisses. “You still have your phone, right?”
“Hm,” he says from the other side of the room. They didn’t want to share a bed, but they also didn’t want to go too far from each other, so they found a room with two double beds. Tani had gone for water, but found something way more important on the way.
“Let me borrow it.”
Junior’s hand emerges from the covers to point at the nightstand where he left his phone, presumably in permission. He must be dead exhausted still. Tani swipes it and heads back up the stairs.
Junior’s phone doesn’t have a passcode, which she will talk to him about later, because seriously? Even if it’s a basic model he should protect his personal information. Right now it’s convenient. She finds the photo app with relative ease and tiptoes her way to the yacht’s main living space.
She had no idea that her bosses were together, but in hindsight it explains a lot.
She thinks they’re sweet so she takes a photo and immediately sends it to herself. One day it’ll be nice to look back and remember that not everything about today was absolutely horrible.
-
Noelani doesn’t mean to snoop. Tani’s phone is just on her desk when it pings. She sees it’s a message from “Junior SEAL McGarrett” so she opens it in case someone’s trying to get a hold of them for an emergency.
It’s not an emergency, but it is super adorable. She’s embarrassed she didn’t see it sooner and oh my god that explains so much.
She keeps it to herself because Commander McGarrett and Detective Williams are obviously very private about their personal life. If the next time she sees them she smiles, then all anyone thinks is that she’s glad to see them safe.
–
Junior doesn’t have any reason to check his messages to Tani until after they’re released from quarantine. He goes to text her and is brought up short by the picture in the message history.
“I thought they weren’t together?” he says aloud.
Captain Grover says, “Who’s that?” He’s driving today. Tani is back at the office, learning her way around paperwork Detective Williams usually handles. Junior’s supposed to ask her something, but his brain has decided that this is more important. Clearly.
“Oh, it’s nothing, sir,” he hurries to say. If his bosses don’t want to disclose their personal relationship to him, then it’s none of his business.
Only… he thought they were closer than that. Maybe. He’s not sure. He’d asked them, once, if they were seeing each other. Their response had been a near-unison set of exasperated eye rolls and a short, “No.”
Maybe they don’t trust him with this yet.
Captain Grover scoffs. “Right. Let me rephrase my question. What did Steve and Danny do this time?”
Startled, Junior looks over at him. Captain Grover looks amused, and like he knows something Junior doesn’t.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve heard that phrase, or a version of it, when people talk about those two. So unless you know another pair of self-proclaimed straight men who act like an old married couple you could tell me just about anything and I won’t be surprised.”
Junior hesitates. “It’s not my business.”
Grover chuckles. “Son, Steve and Danny’s relationship is 5-0 business.”
He caves. “Tani took a picture when we were on the boat.”
Grover parks in front of the building their witness works in. “Let’s see it then.” He motions for Junior’s phone.
Junior hands it over.
Grover’s face makes a weird expression. It could be sad or pained or some combination of the two. “Oh,” he says softly. “Was this taken before or after you got the antidote?”
“After, sir.”
He brightens up. “Ah, those two.” He shakes his head. “There may be hope for them yet.” He fiddles with the phone for a minute before giving it back. Junior sees that the photo has now been sent to Grover as well. “That’s a good photo. Tani’s got a good eye.”
“Sir,” Junior ventures, “I’m confused.”
Grover claps him on the shoulder. “You and everyone else on this island. But to answer your first question – no. Steve and Danny aren’t together.”
“Huh,” Junior says, unconvinced.
“I know, man. I know.”