darth_stitch

Sunlight

DISCLAIMER:

Not mine. Belongs to CBS, Peter Lenkov, the Powers that Be that run this wonderful show. Various other fandoms are referenced here, belonging to J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Joss Whedon, Mario Puzo, the creators of the animes Rurouni Kenshin and Bleach. There's a "blink and you'll miss it" reference to Highlander too. Will be careful and put the toys back in the box when I'm done. The characterizations of "Morrie" and "Fred" were by the lovely Murasaki99 in her wonderful fan fic "Blue Notes." Murasaki99 was kind enough to lend the boys out to me for all of the Club Denial stories.

DISCLAIMER TO SAVE MY SOUL FROM GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET:

Slash of the Steve/Danny variety. Run if it's not your cup of tea. Also, I have a yen for crack crossovers and I have officially now lost all shame of that. You have been warned.

I was wrong, I was wrong,
Thinking my heart can be my own.
I was strong, I was strong,
When I had a reason to hold on.
Let me fall, let me fall for you.
Let me fall for you.

Don't look down, don't look down,
By now it's too late to take it slow.
Turn around, turn around,
Give me a reason to let go.
Let me fall, let me fall for you,
Let me fall for you.

It's almost over,
I'm hanging by a thread.
With all the words you never said
I'm going under,
So tell me what to do.
I've got nothing to hold on to.
Let me fall for you.

- Sunlight, by David Cook from the album"This Loud Morning"

PROLOGUE

Danny Williams is the father of a little girl, the son closest to his mother, long-suffering big brother to several sisters and was, however briefly, married to a woman.

He doesn't claim to be an expert on women – God knew that was just asking for trouble. But he did pride himself and his detective skills on knowing when something was up with the womenfolk in his life. It was a survival skill, one that he really needed to teach to Steve, who was, God bless him, again making Sheer Obliviousness into an art form.

Of course, Danny first picks up the warning signs from Grace. He'd like to blame Steve for Grace loving scary stories, but the truth is, his little girl loves the spooky stories her grandfather told her and was only too pleased to find out that Steve was much the same and had his own stories to share. Of course, Danny can point to Rachel's love of campy supernatural TV shows and movies as well.

Danny is still firmly in denial over his little girl's baby crush on that Winchester guy.

"Vampires are not supposed to be sparkly," Grace says severely, while deep in discussion on the subject with Kono and the newbie, Spooky.

It was the end of the day and Grace was again at the station on one of their Paperwork Days. Danny's not sure how Rachel manages to figure when they all had "Paperwork Days" but he's happy to have his baby girl with him whenever possible. Grace also loved doing her homework there and Danny was infinitely grateful that Steve was a very patient teacher.

Danny can see them outside the window of his office and stifles a chuckle. Spooky, the new girl, is sitting next to Grace. With her black hair in those ridiculous-looking twin buns, which, combined with her height and slight build, made her look even younger than Kono, Spooky looks just like another little girl instead of the adult she actually is. Add a few sleeping bags, some popcorn and candy and it was going to be a regular slumber party out there.

"Twilight should only be read by any girl who retains enough common sense to not look for creepy, stalker-y, sparkly Edward Cullens of their very own?" Spooky offers sheepishly. "You gotta admit, Twilight is sweet…. you just have to make sure you regulate your daily dose of sugary reading!"

Danny snorts. He really shouldn't be listening – he's trying to get his paperwork done. But he can't help but overhear the conversation and give silent thanks to God and all His Saints for Gracie evidently inheriting the common sense from the Williams' side of the family.

"Edward Cullen is not cute," Grace opines. "He looks like a Neanderthal! A sparkly one!"

Kono and Spooky giggle. Danny himself is trying not to laugh.

"A sparkly Neanderthal – nice one, Gracie-girl!" Kono cheers. Danny can see her and Grace exchanging high-fives.

"Okay, so who gets your vote for cool, non-sparkly, good-looking vampire, Kono?" Spooky asks.

"Mick St. John," Kono answers promptly.

"Moonlight!" Spooky squeals in evident recognition. Danny is going to have to check his eardrums soon. He's only thankful that Steve, lucky bastard, is again out on a food run for the rest of the team. Chin, of course, has had enough sense to barricade himself in his own office and had a set of earphones with him when he did. The man is probably zoned out to music at this point, happily content in his little universe of Zen.

"Mommy loves that show too!" Grace volunteers. Danny snorts again. That explains everything.

"It was too bad it got cancelled after one season," Kono says wistfully. "But Mick gets my vote. I mean, just look at him." Evidently, Kono is using the office computer to browse for pictures of whoever this Mick guy is online. Not that Danny's going to say anything about that – he, Chin and Steve are known to indulge in a
few games of HALO and Call of Duty.

Spooky starts laughing. "Oh. My. God. Kono, Grace… he looks like…."

This from Kono, who has burst into laughter as well. "No way!"

"He does too! Mick's just got the emo hair and the whole no-tan thing going on but look at him!"

"Ohmigod, you're right…"

Grace giggles. "Now we know what we're going to ask Uncle Steve to dress up as on Halloween!"

Uh-oh. This did not sound good. Danny should really do what all good partners would be doing at this point – stride outside, join the conversation and nip his baby girl's newest plan of mischief in the bud. Then again, Danny Williams is also a sane, sensible man, who's at least somewhat wise in the ways of women.

The choice is easy to make, right?

********

Steve is terribly cute when he's bewildered.

He adores Grace too much to give her a Death Glare but he's not above using it on Kono, who's already immune or Spooky, who's doing a poor job of looking suitably intimidated.

"I'm going as a what for Halloween?"

"Not a what, but a who, Uncle Steve," Grace corrects him primly. "You can go as Mick St. John. He's a vampire and he looks an awful lot like you!"

Steve sputters. "I am not going to play some sparkly emo vampire from Twilight!"

"It's Moonlight!" All three girls chorus.

"And the vampires in Moonlight don't sparkle!" Grace pipes up.

"Still emo, though," Kono offers helpfully.

"The emo thing works for Mick anyway," Spooky adds. "So cute…."

Spooky, Kono and Grace all sigh dreamily.

Steve sends a desperate look at Chin's way but the older man holds his hands up. "Sorry, brah, I'm out of this."

And then, Steve sends Danny a Look that eloquently asks: What the hell were you doing while this was going down?

Danny tries not to let the guilt show. "Babe, they ganged up on me. I was hog-tied, thrown to the ground, outnumbered, overpowered…"

"In other words, you caved like a puss –"

"Language!" All three girls chorus yet again.

"What they said," Danny tells him helpfully.

Swearing in some language Danny's not too familiar with until Spooky snickers, "Really, Bossman, you know Tagalog too?" Steve throws up his hands in surrender and flees for the safety of his office.

Of course, Danny's not going to admit that he ended up thinking that Steve would make a great Mick St. John for Halloween too…

PART I

It turns out that Spooky has a knack for cosplay – at least that was how the kids called "dressing up in costumes" these days.

Okay, Danny was a parent – he was entitled to feel like the only adult in this current bout of craziness they were all engaged in.

Spooky's in this odd, Gothic, Alice-in-Wonderland or Victorian-era dress that makes her look like one of those antique dolls that used to belong to Danny's grandmother. In concession to the heat, the material was light and her sleeves and skirt were short and puffy and she had on sensible black lace-up boots.
Apparently, Spooky's going as some sort of obscure Japanese cartoon character.

Chin got lucky – the girls had decided he would make a great Asian version of Indiana Jones and thus was perfectly content with his get-up. Danny didn't want to think about where he got the whip though. Of course,
Kono went as Lara Croft and looked perfectly kick-ass, if not as generously endowed as Angelina Jolie. Danny was not going to make any comments about that because he liked his balls where they were, thank you very much.

Danny's baby girl was beautiful in her cute little gypsy outfit, decked out in red and black, with costume jewelry sparkling in her hair and bangles clinking on her arms. Naturally, she found kindred spirits in Kono and Spooky who dolled her up, not to mention Rachel, who was pretty enthusiastic about seeing her
daughter "look so adorable!"

Since Steve was going as a vampire, the girls all decided that it would be absolutely hilarious if Danny went as Van Helsing – the Hugh Jackman version. They went slightly lighter on the costume, ditching the long
leather coat which would have cooked Danny even in the relatively mild weather on the islands. Danny looked more like a classic Western gunslinger and Steve definitely appreciated the look.

Thankfully, Mick St. John was a "modern" vampire so there wasn't any need to break out the Regency-era costumes… though there were a few mournful comments that Steve would've made a dashing-looking Highwayman. Said wistful commentators did not, repeat, not include one Jersey detective. Mick St. John was known to dress well and of course, black was de rigeur for good-looking emo vampires.

So there were a few things that everyone learned about Steve in the course of this foray into madness.

Now, Danny had known that Steve did keep a surprising amount of well-tailored suits in his closet. He didn't look at them too closely since Steve normally eschewed any semblance of formal or business wear and ran around Hawaii in his normal cargo pants and t-shirt, unless they had to go undercover and were required to dress up. That is, unless Steve decided that today was another day ending in "-y" and that meant he had to take his shirt off for some reason. What nobody expected was that Steve definitely knew his labels. Danny goggled at what he'd found – Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci… it was absolutely
staggering.

"That's a hell of a lot of hazard pay, Bossman," Kono gaped.

Of course, Danny's giant, good-looking, secret clotheshorse goofball of a boyfriend shrugged it off. Steve had no intention of getting blood and dirt on his good suits, thank you very much.

Also, Danny's boyfriend was something of a hopeless wuss when it came to a certain little girl and the ladies of the team (not that Danny himself was any better), so he reluctantly agreed to grow his hair out a little instead of having to don a wig. Steve's hair grew surprisingly quickly so he actually needed to go for a
trim often to keep up to regulation standards.

"Don't get used to this," Steve grumbled to Danny. "I am getting all this hacked off the minute Halloween is over."

"Mm-hmm," Danny said absently, fingers threading through the soft, wavy curls at the back of Steve's neck.

"I mean it!" Steve said, even as he leaned into the touch with a sigh, eyes half-closing.

"Yes, dear, anything you say, dear," Danny said, not stopping the soothing strokes. "This is fun, you realize. I'm getting you to purr, you big ol' kitty, you."

"Mrrr…?" Steve said sleepily, turning his head into Danny's palm and pressing a kiss there.

Of course, Danny decided that the next couple of quiet and private hours they had would be best spent in discovering other ways to make Steve purr.

There was also no such thing as a tanned vampire but it was to Steve's everlasting relief and gratitude that all of them were in agreement that they were not going to allow Steve to run about as a "sparkly" one. So Kono broke out the make-up so that she could get Steve to achieve the requisite pallor.

Then, she and Spooky took one look at Steve's eyes – which were a very dark, almost cobalt blue today and the pale make-up was accentuating the fact that the man had ridiculously long eyelashes – and Kono said:
"Eyeliner!"

Spooky clapped her hands with glee. "Mascara!"

Steve balked. "No way in hell!"

"Girls," Danny said mildly. "You realize he's not a live Ken doll you can play dress-up with?"

"Live, anatomically-correct Ken doll to be more precise," Kono snickered. "And thank you, Danny, for giving us permission!"

"Hey!" Steve protested. "Still in the room here! I am not having that stuff put on my eyes."

"Don't move, Bossman!" Spooky pleaded. "You do not want to get poked by that eyeliner pencil!"

"Daddy," Grace asked. "What's anatomically correct?"

"I'll tell you when you're older, Monkey," Danny said quickly. "Maybe when you're about 30 or so."

"Chin," Steve said desperately. "She's your cousin! Do something!"

"Don't worry about it, brah," said Chin. "I'm just glad she's not playing dress-up with me anymore. I don't look like the Lost guy, no matter what you say, 'cuz!"

The plan was that they would accompany Grace on her trick and treating and then, they would be taking her to the Governor's Halloween Ball, which was being held for all police officers and their families. Stan was hosting a Halloween party for his business associates at his house and while Rachel would have made time for Grace and trick or treating, it was infinitely better to have an active, sugar-high child with her doting and energetic ohana.

It helped that Rachel and Danny were finally settling down as co-parents, which worked remarkably better for them instead of being husband and wife. Danny's ex was now far more open to having Danny share custody of Grace, rather than just have visitation rights. It was Grace herself who wanted more time with her father, Steve and her honorary set of uncles and aunts.

Danny had to admit that Steve looked pretty damn good once the girls were done with him. Spooky had also gotten Steve fangs and the requisite contact lenses. Apparently, the little detective had buddies working in theater and movies. With some urging, Steve did try the things on and proved that he had a flair
for the dramatic after all, making for a rather convincing vampire. He'd growled and lunged for Kono first, who promptly squealed and laughing, ran for dear life and then Steve playfully lunged for Grace.

Grace shrieked with glee and hid behind her Danno, crying out, "Save me, Dr. Van Helsing!"

Danny…er… "Van Helsing," proved to be totally cool when confronted with a maniacally grinning vampire Steve. "Don't make me stake you, you non-sparkly fanged Neanderthal."

"Oh noes!" Steve said melodramatically, clutching at his heart. "Killed by Jersey sarcasm. It burns! Oh, the agony! ARGH!"

"Okay, that's it – we're signing him up for acting lessons," Kono decided, nudging Spooky. She paused and took a closer look at the other woman, who'd suddenly gone stark white. "Hey, you okay there?"

Spooky had been staring at Steve and something in her eyes made the hairs on the back of Danny's neck stand on end. After all the teasing and the joking around and the girls swooning over Steve, Spooky's frightened, stricken expression would take anyone by surprise.

"Hey," Danny said. "He may be a dead ringer for that Mick St. John guy but Steve's not that good an actor!"

Spooky blinked and shook her head. "Oh. Jesus. That's not it. Never mind – I'm just letting my imagination get away with me, that's all."

Steve had removed the fangs and the contact lenses and was now regarding her with concern as well. "You feeling all right?"

She managed a smile and waved a hand dismissively. "Eh. It's nothing. Hey, it's time for candy, right, Grace?"

"Yeah!" The little girl cheered.

Interlude: All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter…

Listen. This is the tale as it was told to me.

Once upon a time, there was a Prince and his story was lost and forgotten.

I know, you're asking – if this Prince's story was lost, then how do I know it now? Listen, listen well and you'll understand why I am one of the very few who remember.

And once I'm done, you'll need to remember this too.

The Prince was born in a time of Great Endings and Beginnings. A grand adventure had just ended, a Dark Enemy overthrown and the Prince's father, was one of the heroes of this fine tale. He was a King who had finally stepped up to reclaim his heritage, to take up the crown left by his forefathers and reunite the sundered kingdoms in the land once more under his rule.

The King's bride was the fairest of all Elf-maidens born since Luthien the Nightingale. Their love was true and had endured through many long years of trial and sorrow. Great was everyone's joy when they were wed and greater still when a son was finally born to them.

So you can imagine – a Crown Prince, an heir to the throne of the Reunited Kingdoms. This Prince would grow up to be a fine young man, fairest of all the Princes ever born to his bloodline, for his mother, of course, was the most beautiful lady in all the lands. And of course, he possessed many of his father's graces as well. His parents loved him dearly and raised him to be both good and wise, that he would be worthy of his father's crown.

And he was. He came to the throne in a time of peace and plenty. He tried to rule wisely and well and his subjects loved him dearly.

And perhaps you would think that nothing happened of note during his reign and perhaps that's the reason why there are no thrilling tales, no great stories to be told.

You would be wrong.

Part 1B Here

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think the name of the Cook song is "Let Me Fall For You" and not "Sunlight"...unless I have a defective CD. This Loud Morning = awesome album, BTW!

Actually I found out that "Sunlight" was probably the working title, which was on the CD I got and they changed it.

Still, given the "Moonlight" / "Twilight" thing, it's amazingly appropriate, David Cook song or no.

And I LOVE that song too. "Take me as I am" is very McDanno as well lol. :)

Hawaii Five-0 FIC (WIP): Sunlight Part IA

Sunlight

darth_stitch

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