FIC Welcome to the Pack
22/4/11 00:45![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shanachie_quillTitle: Welcome to the Pack
Characters: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams, Henry Foss/Cee Mcleod, Will Zimmerman
Fandom: Sanctuary/Hawaii Five-0 AU
Series: None
Written For: None
Prompt: None
Summary: Steve introduces Danny to his other family and gets their approval for his partner. Danny isn’t quite sure what to make of what he walks into.
Rating: R
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Swearing, Random naked people
Disclaimer: No one recognizable belongs to me, mores the pity
Author's Note: Okay so for those of you who’ve been watching my To Do list…this is the Naked People story. Now I need to make this very clear. This story is an AU of my Shifter verse and my Sanctuary verse. This does not take place in EITHER of those verses but uses the characters and some of the traits from them to build part of a new verse. I started playing with this and then realized it didn’t fit into either verse, but loved the idea so kept it. This is what Cee would be if her Clan had not beat her spirit out of her. Its what Steve and Danny would be if Chin and Kono were not there to guide Danny in his place in Steve’s life. Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
illfindmyway and whogeek who poked at this while I’ll wrote it and emocezi who started the whole Shifter’s verse to begin with.
PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR’S NOTE BEFORE READING THE STORY. IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
“McGarrett, you fucking asshole,” Danny snapped as he banged the door open and then closed. “I finally found someone who was willing to translate for me. And could understand my fucked up pronunciation…aaaaand you’re not McGarrett.” His hand went instantly to his waist, drawing and aiming his ever-present sidearm in one smooth motion, unerringly aiming it at the bleary eyed girl who’d raised her head and was attempting to focus on him. “Who the hell are you? Where’s McGarrett?”
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “He was here.”
“You don’t know who you are?” he asked. “Up. Up. Hands where I can see them.” Motioning with his gun, he stepped back so he could keep her and the moving lump beside her in sight as she wiggled around and slowly got to her feet. “Why are you naked?!” he yelped as the blanket fell away.
She glared at him before turning and stomping towards the kitchen, apparently familiar with the layout of the house. “Because I lost. Will, move your fucking ass.”
There was a moan from under the blankets, but no farther movements until the girl came back into the room and nudged the lump none too gently with her foot. Then the lump rolled over revealing a decidedly green looking man. “Fuck. Off. Cee,” he said after a minute.
“Told ya to stop drinking,” she warned. “Want coffee? Or food? Or…”
“Hey!” Danny called her attention back to him. “Naked girl. Where’s Steve?”
She turned her glare on him. “When I passed out, he was still drinking and betting. Obviously he’s not here.”
“Can you find him?!” Danny demanded.
“Cover your ears, Will.” She tipped her head back and bellowed, “STE-VEN!”
“Ow,” Will moaned, clutching at his head. “Fucking bitch.”
“Nice mouth, William. You kiss your girl with that mouth?” she answered.
He flipped her off as he struggled to his feet, revealing he was just as unclothed as she was. “Bathroom?” he groaned. She pointed him in the right direction and he stumbled off. A few minutes later they heard retching coming from the room.
“What the hell did you people do last night?” Danny asked.
The girl opened her mouth to answer as the door out to the lanai slid open. Steve and a shorter man walked in, both of them laughing over something. They stopped short when they realized that everyone was awake and there was someone else in the house. “Danny,” Steve started.
“Yes, Steve?” Danny returned. “What exactly is going on here?”
“Ah…we…” Steve glanced at the others. At the light haired man just coming out of the bathroom, still wincing. At the girl, standing tall and proud, despite being completely naked in front of all of the men. At his childhood friend and confidant standing beside him, just as wet as him from their early morning surfing. “Um.”
The girl put a hand on her hip and grinned at Danny. “Strip poker!”
Beside him, Henry groaned, obviously used to his mate’s comments. “Cecilia,” he scolded.
“What, love?” she replied, turning to face him.
“Could you…I don’t know? Stop freaking the poor man out? And find some clothes for yourself and Will?” he asked.
She opened her mouth as if to comment, but a look from Steve changed her mind. “What…exactly…happened?” Danny asked as if speaking slower might get a more coherent answer out of them. He turned to Steve who had grabbed a towel from the chair and was rubbing it briskly through his hair. “Steven, which one did you have sex with?!”
“Which one did I…?” Steve started.
“Hey!” Cee yelped, looking up from where she was digging through the piles of clothes and blankets that had been scattered around the room. “There was no copulating.” She paused as if trying to remember what had happened. “I don’t think there was any copulating. Henry, was there any copulating?”
“How the hell can you use words like that when you’re hung over? How the hell can you even think?” Will groaned from where he’d taken a seat. Danny was thankful to notice he’d procured a blanket from somewhere and wrapped it around himself first so at least his bare ass wasn’t sitting on the furniture. And why he was concerned with that when he’d walked into his partner’s house to find two naked people and god knows what happening he had no idea.
“Not enough drinking in college, Will,” Henry commented with a grin. He handed Cee a shirt he’d found somewhere and she pulled it on. Danny blinked as he read Humans Suck in white lettering across her chest.
Will looked over at Danny. "You're a cop, right? That means you have a gun? Shoot me, please. It’s justifiable homicide."
“You’d think you’d learn not to try to out drink us by now,” Cee told him. She held up some clothes and considered them before tossing them at Will.
“How are you not hung over?” Will asked.
“I am. I’m just not as bad as you,” Cee responded. “I do know my limits. Plus. Metabolism.”
“What?” Will responded. He’d shaken out the clothes and was attempting to put them on without flashing everyone in the room again. “You’re like…a foot shorter than everyone else, Cee.”
“She’s also a Shifter, Zimmerman,” Steve answered. “Her metabolism burns the alcohol faster than yours.”
Will glared at the three upright people. “I hate you all so much right now.”
Danny kind of half-waved, drawing their attention away from Will. “Hello. This from the person who doesn’t know everyone. And wasn’t here last night. Who. The fuck. Are you people? And why are you naked in McGarrett’s house? And you? What’s with the face?”
“What face?” Steve asked.
“This…” Danny waved his hand. “Like you’re trying not to laugh at me. What’s going on here?”
Steve opened his mouth, then glanced at Henry, who’s eyes widened and he seemed to catch on after a second. “Yeah. Cee, come on. Will?”
“Wait, I wanna hear…” Cee started and squeaked as Henry grabbed her by the arm, hauling her from the room. Will followed after them, still struggling into his shirt.
Once he was sure they were out of sight, if not completely out of hearing distance, Steve turned to Danny. “Nothing’s going on. They’re old friends who showed up last night. If you hadn’t stormed out yesterday, making it clear that you wanted nothing to do with me, I would have called you and invited you to join us.”
Danny gestured to the hurricane that had apparently hit Steve’s normally pristine living room. “Do you normally get naked with your old friends?”
“Yeah. With this group I do. Danny. It doesn’t mean anything. It was…we were drunk. Nothing happened.”
“You say nothing happened, but I walk in this morning to find two naked people passed out on your floor and you nowhere in sight. What conclusions am I supposed to draw, Steven? Especially when I do not know these people? When the last things we said to each other were actually angry words and that maybe we had made a mistake.”
Steve crossed his arms, his eyes flicking towards the kitchen where noises were covering part of their conversation, but he knew that at least two of the people could hear most of it. “You could have talked to me.”
“I? I could have TALKED?! Did you really just say that?!” Danny yelped.
Steve’s stubborn face made an appearance. “I told you when I marked you that this wasn’t casual or a one night stand.” He stepped closer to Danny, stepped into his personal space and Danny stood his ground because he’d never backed away from Steve. “Where did you go?”
Realizing that Steve had missed his big announcement because he hadn’t been in the house when he’d made it, Danny repeated, “I found out what hoa hana means. I found someone who could understand my pronunciation and was willing to translate it for me.”
“And?” Steve reached out; his fingers brushing just above Danny’s waistband, where he knew the mark would be once it was permanent. He hadn’t wanted to scare his mate away, hadn’t wanted to scar the other man until he was sure. He knew he would never look at another person the way he looked at Danny, but he had wanted to give Danny the choice since he had been wounded before.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Danny asked. “It would have been…” he stopped. “Never mind. Look who I’m talking to.” He sighed. “Okay so I’m your mate? I’m guessing I don’t have a choice in this?”
Steve butted his head against Danny’s shoulder, not sure how to answer him. From behind them came a male voice, “Why don’t you two come eat?” Henry suggested. “Once Will stops moaning he might be able to explain things a bit.”
Steve snorted at that. “Is Will going to stop moaning anytime this decade?” he asked, pulling his head away from Danny.
Henry smirked. “Possibly. Cee’s attempting to get him to lift his head so we can feed him.”
Steve looked horrified for a minute. “You didn’t let her make the coffee, did you?”
“Relax, coffee’s safe. She made loaded eggs.”
Wrapping his arm around Danny’s shoulders, Steve tugged him towards the kitchen. “Come on, you’ll like these. I promise. Especially since Henry didn’t let her touch the coffee.”
Cee made a face at him as they entered the kitchen. “It was one time, McGarrett. One. Time.”
“And we don’t ever intend to let you make coffee again,” Henry told her.
She pointed the spatula at him. “Bite me.”
Both Henry and Steve bared their teeth at her and Henry grabbed her around the waist, nipping at her neck. “Wrong choice of words,” he said as she attempted to smack him with the spatula.
“Henry, so help me, I will burn your eggs!” Cee told him.
Will moaned from the table and Danny glanced over to see his head down. “Do you have to be so loud?” he asked, his voice muffled by his arms.
Danny crossed the room, opening one of the cabinets and pulling out a bottle of aspirin. Setting it down next to the younger man’s arm, he nudged him. “Take some. And eat some toast if you can’t stomach the eggs, trust me it’ll help.”
“Voice of experience?” Will asked as he raised his head and accepted the mug Henry handed him.
“You could say that,” Danny replied as he allowed Steve to nudge him into a seat. He noticed that he was being carefully maneuvered so that Steve was between him and the rest of the group. “Problem, McGarrett?”
Steve just looked at him; taking the plate Cee had been holding out and looking it over before passing it to him. Cee just rolled her eyes as she slid into a seat next to Will. Henry joined them, setting a cup in front of Cee and taking a drink out of the other.
For a few minutes the dominate sound was the settling of plates and the passing of condiments for coffee. Danny watched as Cee and Henry tried to coax Will into eating something more than toast. He still wasn’t sure what exactly their relationship was. They didn’t act like anything more than friends, but then again there were his observations when he’d first walked in.
Once they’d settled, Danny asked, “Can someone explain to me what’s going on?”
“What are you talking about?” Henry asked.
“Who are you people? What are you doing here? Why is McGarrett going all…” Danny shoved Steve who’d been creeping closer to him while they sat there. “Why is he more in my personal space than usual?”
Cee laughed at the reaction and Henry coughed, while Will tried not to meet anyone’s eyes. Danny wasn’t sure if that was the hangover or that he didn’t want to admit what was going on. Steve jumped next to Danny and glared across the table at Henry. “That wasn’t me, tiger,” Henry protested.
“Oh man up, Steve, and grow some balls,” Cee told him. “Either claim the man or stop pawing him.”
Steve snarled at her, reaching across the table, but Henry intercepted his hand, growling and baring his teeth. Cee shot to her feet, growling at both of them, and Will’s hand slammed down on the table, causing Danny to jump. “Stop. It. I’m tired. I’m hung over. And you’re all posturing for no reason. Shut the fuck up or I will stun the lot of you and toss you in a cage!” When the three of them continued to glare at each other, he added, “I’m pissed off, you three! I’m not kidding.” As they subsided and settled back down, he added, “Not to mention you got me drunk on purpose last night!”
There was a moment of awkward silence as all three of them stared at Will since he actually seemed more upset over them getting him drunk. When Danny was sure he wasn’t going to get his head bitten off, he ventured, “So…what I still don’t understand is how you hid this…when you were in the Navy and all,” Danny said.
Cee hummed something and when the other three rolled their eyes and laughed, but Danny just looked confused, she started singing, “I always feel like, somebody’s watching me.”
Henry put his hand over her mouth before she got any farther. “What Cee is not so blatantly trying to say is that we have people that keep an eye on people like Steve that can blend. And if they need help, we give it.”
“So when your dad sent you away…” Danny started.
“I went to the Sanctuary. To live with Henry’s foster mom to be exact. And Mary went to a different one,” Steve answered.
“If this place is so safe why didn’t Mary go to the same one?” Danny questioned.
“Because my foster sister would not have tolerated another female in her home at that time,” Henry answered, “even if Mary didn’t challenge her authority.”
“Okay maybe I’m not following. Isn’t Mary a shifter also?” Danny asked.
“No,” Steve answered. “Mary carries the gene, but can’t actually shift. The females of the line only carry the gene and pass it on to their male children.”
“Somehow it seems to me she got gypped.”
Steve snorted at that comment. “Yeah, she probably did, but I don’t think she’s ever complained about it.” He shrugged. “If she has kids, then it’ll become an issue because the boys’ll be able to shift. But considering she hasn’t actually met her mate yet and her heat hasn’t kicked in…” he trailed off.
“So what about…” Danny made a motion between the two of them. “How does that work with us? I mean…um, you might have noticed…but I’m not a girl.”
Cee made a comment under her breath causing Henry and Steve to roll their eyes and sigh, “Cecilia.”
“What?” Danny demanded. “What did she just say? And how the hell did you hear her?”
Steve tapped his ear. “Better than average hearing, Danno. Think about it.” He raised his eyebrows at Cee who sighed and nodded, but reached across the table when Steve started to tell Danny what she’d said.
“I said his biology fucked up, Danny, but there’s nothing wrong with it. The mate bond picks the person best suited so clearly you’re the best person for Steve.” She smiled at him.
Henry picked up the thread of her comments. “We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with it, Danny. We’re actually happy for both of you. We’ve been waiting for Steve to call us and tell us that he found his hoa hana.” Reaching across the table, he grasped Danny’s wrist. “Welcome to the family.”
Danny looked around at them, eying them suspiciously as Henry pulled his hand back. “Okay. Thanks. I guess. Now what?”
Steve shrugged as he dug back into his breakfast. “Now we figure out what we’re gonna do for the day.”
“Seriously? Just ‘welcome to the family’ and ‘what are we going to do today’?” Danny asked.
“You were expecting some exotic ritual?” Steve asked. He leaned over and nuzzled the side of Danny’s neck, grinning when Danny smacked him away. “I’d be happy to have a ritual with you any time, babe.”
Danny stared at him, then looked at Cee. “Okay, really, did you put catnip in the eggs? Cuz this?” He pointed at Steve. “This is not normal.”
She shook her head as Will explained, “He’s content and relaxed. So of course he’d show you affection more openly than usual and be more willing to…” He stopped as Cee and Henry stared at him. “What?”
“Cee, I thought you said he was hung over,” Henry commented.
“He is. He’s been moaning about his head since Danny woke us up,” Cee responded. “Apparently it doesn’t stop his big brain though.”
Will sat back in his seat, pouting at his friends as they grinned at him. Danny reached over, starting to pat him on shoulder, but aborting his motion at Steve’s low growl. “I know how you feel, man. No one ever listens to me either,” he said instead.
“AS I was saying,” Will started again, glaring at Cee, but sighed as she leaned over and kissed him noisily on the cheek. “I should just give up, shouldn’t I?”
“Yes, please,” she answered him. “We do love you, Will, but no one wants to listen to you right now. Any more than we’d want to listen to Henry’s techo babble or Steve ramble about weapon specs.”
“Back to what do we want to do today,” Henry headed off another argument before it could get started.
“We could check out some of the clubs downtown,” Cee suggested. “I’d like to go dancing.”
“No!” all three boys yelped in unison.
It was Cee’s turn to pout at their reaction. “It wasn’t like I did that on purpose,” she pointed out.
Henry leaned over, attempting to nuzzle against her, but Cee glared at him. He grinned when she tried to shove him away and persisted, finally pressing a kiss to her lips. “I know, Trouble, but you lose in a dance club is not something I want to experience again.”
Danny felt Steve shudder where they were pressed up against each other. “Yeah, Cee, immunity only extends so far, and I don’t think it would extend to explaining you in a club.”
“I’m thinking I probably don’t want to ask what happened,” Danny decided. “So what are you going to do today?”
Steve looked confused. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I thought you might…you have company. You have friends and you don’t get to see them. You don’t need me here,” Danny pointed out.
Steve looked at him, the hurt not hidden in his hazel eyes. “Why would you leave?” He reached out, tracing a finger down Danny’s face, without a word. Running it across the other man’s lips, he moved it to his for a moment before transferring it back and then leaning in. Breathing his words against Danny’s exhalations, he asked, “Stay? If you want?” Mesmerized, Danny nodded, his blue eyes locked on Steve’s hazel ones. When Steve moved back, Danny started to follow, but Steve cupped his cheek, easing him back. “Later,” he promised.
Will cleared his throat, pulling them out of the thrall they’d fallen into. “Sorry to interrupt, but did you have any plans for today?” he questioned. “I agree that it would be a bad idea to let Cee go dancing since we did promise Magnus we’d keep a low profile after the whole England debacle.”
Henry glared at the other man while Steve considered options for a minute. “Lazy day?” he suggested. “And swimming tonight? We can get our fur wet.”
Henry looked intrigued, but Cee still looked mutinous. “I really wanted to go out,” she protested.
“Cee, it’s just not a good idea,” Steve argued.
As they dug back into their food, they continued to discuss the plans for the day; Cee still arguing for going out and the others arguing for remaining around the house.
Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU
Danny was surprised at how easily Cee had given in to the no, since it seemed she really wanted to go out. But the other three had overridden her and within a half an hour, he had found himself sprawled on one of the chairs on Steve’s lanai, tucked up against Steve’s side. Will had claimed the other chair and looked like a big cat himself, sunglasses covering his face as he spread out across more of the chair than someone that skinny should have been able to cover. Danny had watched with amusement as Cee and Henry slathered him in sunblock, completely ignoring his bitching before Henry had dropped into the hammock, pulling the small girl in after him. She’d curled around him, somehow managing to arrange herself so both of them could use the computer tablets they’d brought outside and now they were engrossed in whatever they were doing. Danny suspected Henry was playing a game from the reactions, but he had no idea what Cee was doing.
Now though, she was nudging the other man and tipping her tablet so he could see it. “Oh, yeah, that would look good,” Henry agreed after a moment.
“It’s not happening, Cee,” Will said, although Danny had no idea how he even knew they were talking about him.
Cee rolled her head so she could see the other man, pouting at him. “But, Will, it would look so much better than the ink you have. And personally designed for you, rather than just something you picked off a sheet.”
“No. I’ve told you no already,” Will replied. “I was young. I was stupid. It’s not happening.”
Henry’s grin over the top of Cee’s head was downright evil. “Don’t look at your ass for a few days, dude.”
Danny hid a laugh as Will’s eyes widened so much he could see them behind the sunglasses. “Cecilia! Did you? You did? What the hell did you do?!” the other man sputtered. He twisted around, almost falling off the chair as he attempted to see his own rear. It was complicated by the fact that he was still wearing the shorts he’d pulled on earlier.
“Relax, Zimmerman,” Steve drawled from his spot beside Danny. “It’s a temp. She wouldn’t ink you without your permission and you know it.”
Will glared at the three of them before flopping over on his stomach. “I hate you all,” he muttered.
Danny poked Steve, who grabbed the finger, without opening his eyes. “What did she do to him?”
“She put a temporary tattoo on his ass after he passed out last night,” Steve answered. “Not the first time one of us has ended up with a temp.” He shrugged easily. “And Cee did all of my ink and all of Henry’s mod.” He nodded his head in the direction of the other man, inviting Danny to look at him. “She knows what she’s doing.”
Danny turned his attention away from the other three where Will was still bitching at Henry and Cee, who were both laughing at him now, and traced a finger over the ink that lined Steve’s bicep. “She did this?”
Steve nodded, his eyes dilating as Danny’s fingers pressed harder on his skin. “We worked on the designs together and then Cee inked them over a period of a few years starting when I was seventeen.”
Danny rolled to his side, pressing his mouth against the colors in Steve’s skin. “What’s making your eyes go all dark?” he whispered against the skin. “My fingers on your body? My skin against yours? Or the memory of the needle in your skin and what happened afterwards?”
Steve grasped Danny’s biceps, hauling him upwards, and capturing his mouth with his own. When he released the blonde man, the shorter man gasping for breath, Steve growled at him, “I never slept with her. She was always Henry’s.” Kissing him more gently this time, he added, “Just like you are mine.”
Danny felt tension he didn’t know he had flow out of him at Steve’s words and he draped himself over the taller man’s side, allowing Steve to arrange him. Even a few months ago, he wouldn’t have thought that reassurances that he belonged to someone would cause him to feel safe, but Steve’s words, Steve’s touch reassured him like nothing ever had; not even the ceremony and paper he’d had with Rachel. He let himself be lulled by Steve’s touch and the sun as the other three continued to tease each other.
Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU Sanctuary H50 AU
Danny had been observing the others for the last hour. The darker it got, the more they fidgeted, especially Cee. Finally, she rolled out of the hammock Henry had pulled her into and looked at Steve. “Now?” she asked.
He nodded; the smirk, the one Danny had labeled I’m about to do something insane spreading across his face. “Yeah. It’s dark enough.”
Cee immediately reached up, tugging on the ties that held her bikini top closed, and Danny shot up in his seat. “Hey. Hey. Hey! We have public indecency laws here. This is not a topless beach!”
She looked confused for a minute, her gaze swinging between Danny and Steve, over her shoulder to Henry. “I’m not gonna be topless for long.”
“Whaaa?” Danny questioned as he realized the guys were stripping off their shirts and reaching for their swim trunks. Will didn’t look at all confused, but he also wasn’t moving from his seat.
“We’re gonna shift,” Steve explained. “Henry, you going like that or you HAP’ing?”
“I’ll HAP. I can change back quickly enough if there’s an issue,” Henry answered. “But I’m gonna wait until we’re closer to the water.”
Danny looked at the three of them. “You’re gonna… Wait, you’re gonna go swimming as a cat?!”
Steve stopped in the middle of stripping and just stared at him. “Danny, tigers like water. Do you want to come with us?”
“How many times do I have to tell you I swim for survival not fun,” Danny answered.
Steve shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Turning to Cee, he asked, “Did you get a good enough look before? Or do you want to see again?”
“Go first and I’ll follow,” she answered.
He nodded. “All right.” He motioned to the trees and said, “Stick to those for the boundaries. And don’t go too far out. The neighbors are used to seeing a tiger, but I’m not sure how they’ll react to the rest.”
Cee and Henry both nodded then watched as Steve finished stripping off his trunks. Danny opened his mouth to protest again but realized Cee was not looking below Steve’s neck. Instead, she waited patiently as he shifted into tiger form, then studied him from all angles. A moment later, she was stripping off her own suit and shifting into a smaller version of the same type of tiger.
Will sat up, not at all perturbed as she dropped her discarded clothes into his lap and added Henry’s a second later. “Are you coming with us?” Henry asked him.
“No,” Will answered. “I think I’ll stay and visit with Danny.”
Cee and Steve started pushing at Henry, encouraging him to start down to the beach. With a whoop, he gave in to them and started running. The two tigers were caught flat-footed, but they quickly lopped after him, easily catching up. Just as the three of them hit the sand, Henry’s form changed; lengthening and broadening across the shoulders as he took his alternate form.
Danny looked over at Will who was calmly folding the clothes, having gathered up Steve’s. “How does this not faze you?” he asked.
“Well…” Will stopped what he was doing and set the clothes down. “It did at first. It really did. Trust me, some of the things I’ve seen. And I can’t tell you even the half of it. But this…” He shrugged. “This honestly barely hits the crazy-o-meter.”
Danny considered everything for a few minutes, then asked, “How long have you known them? How long have they known each other?”
“I’ve known Henry and Cee for about three years. I work for Henry’s foster mother just like he does. And Steve has in the past.” When he saw Danny’s mouth open, he cut him off, “I can’t answer that. You’ll have to wait for Steve to decide to tell you. As for how long they’ve known each other…since they were teenagers. Ask Steve about it.”
“Steve doesn’t talk about himself much,” Danny replied softly.
“Just think about it,” Will said.
“Yeah.” Danny frowned. “Why was Steve asking if Cee had seen enough?”
“Oh, well, Cee and Steve are both Shifters, but they aren’t the same breed of shifters. Steve has only one form. He can only shift to one form that of the South China Tiger. His is a genetic mutation that is transferred through the chromosomes. So Mary carries the gene, but cannot shift. Cee, on the other hand, has the ability to shift to any animal she sees. As long as she physically views the animal first.”
“So she…” Danny was interrupted as the three of them bounded back up onto the lanai. The larger tiger stopped in front of him and, with what Danny interpreted as a gleeful look, shook himself off. He turned to see Will was being subjected to a similar shower, while Henry had slung a towel around his waist.
“Knock it off, you two,” the HAP said after a minute. “They didn’t want to go swimming.”
“I still don’t get that,” Steve said and Danny was surprised to note he’d shifted back when Danny was distracted. “Why wouldn’t you want to swim any chance you got?”
Danny stepped into Steve’s personal space. “I’ll make you a deal. You do paperwork, your own paperwork for a week and I’ll do swimming with you. However you want.”
Steve’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. “Skinny dipping?”
Danny weighed the odds of Steve actually following through on his side of the deal. “Provided we go swimming at night and it’s here, yes, even that. But it will not be a group activity if you choose that.” He jumped as he felt a hand grab his arm and pull him down enough for a kiss to land on his cheek. “What? What was that?” he asked as he pulled away from Cee.
“Oh, I like him, Steve,” she told the other man. “Henry?”
A slow smile spread across Henry’s face. “Yeah. Yeah. I agree.” He stepped forward, pulling Danny’s head down so that they pressed their heads together. “Welcome to the family,” he repeated his words from earlier. “Now you always have pack to call on. You and yours.” He turned to Cee, taking her hand and tugging her away.
Will pulled a card out of his pocket, flipping it over in his hand before holding it out to Danny. “Direct line to our home plus my cell and Henry’s. In case you need it. Steve’s already got them, but it never hurts to have back-up.” He flicked his eyes to Steve. “We’ve gotta head back in the morning. We’ll let you know when.”
Steve reached out, clasping wrists with him. “Thanks, Will. You okay to get find a bed?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Apparently I slept in worse places than your couch last night.”
Steve laughed. “There’s a guest room up the stairs and to the right. You’re welcome to an actual bed tonight.”
Will waved over his shoulder as he headed into the house, leaving Steve and Danny alone on the lanai.
Danny turned to find Steve almost pressed up against him, but refused to move backwards. “So was this all some elaborate plan to figure out where I stood?” Danny asked.
“Where you…?” Steve started.
Danny took the other man’s hand, pressing it to his hip where Steve’s teeth had left a tentative imprint. “You keep testing me. You wouldn’t tell me what hoa hana meant. You won’t make the mark permanent. What exactly are you waiting for? And use your words, Cro-Magnon man. Cause grunts aren’t gonna cut it this time.”
“I want to make sure it’s your decision. You need to decide if you want to be with me,” Steve answered earnestly. He looked at Danny, somehow looking up through his eyelashes, even though he was taller than the other man. “Is it working?”
For a minute Danny stared at him. “Is it? Is it? You, you are a crazy man, you know that right? I think something when you go tiger, man, tiger, man flips a switch and not all of your brain cells make the transition back. Is it working?” He shook his head. “Come here, you.” Cupping the back of Steve’s neck, he pulled the other man towards him, until their lips were almost touching. “After your friends leave, you’re going to do whatever it is you need to do to make this mark permanent, you hear me? And we’re not going to have another discussion about whether or not I’m your mate. I have a feeling I’ll be telling you to stop the crazy stunts for the rest of our lives though.” Exerting a little more pressure to get Steve to move the last little bit, he opened his mouth to Steve as the other man leaned into him.
Characters: Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams, Henry Foss/Cee Mcleod, Will Zimmerman
Fandom: Sanctuary/Hawaii Five-0 AU
Series: None
Written For: None
Prompt: None
Summary: Steve introduces Danny to his other family and gets their approval for his partner. Danny isn’t quite sure what to make of what he walks into.
Rating: R
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Swearing, Random naked people
Disclaimer: No one recognizable belongs to me, mores the pity
Author's Note: Okay so for those of you who’ve been watching my To Do list…this is the Naked People story. Now I need to make this very clear. This story is an AU of my Shifter verse and my Sanctuary verse. This does not take place in EITHER of those verses but uses the characters and some of the traits from them to build part of a new verse. I started playing with this and then realized it didn’t fit into either verse, but loved the idea so kept it. This is what Cee would be if her Clan had not beat her spirit out of her. Its what Steve and Danny would be if Chin and Kono were not there to guide Danny in his place in Steve’s life. Thanks to
illfindmyway and whogeek who poked at this while I’ll wrote it and emocezi who started the whole Shifter’s verse to begin with.PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR’S NOTE BEFORE READING THE STORY. IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
“McGarrett, you fucking asshole,” Danny snapped as he banged the door open and then closed. “I finally found someone who was willing to translate for me. And could understand my fucked up pronunciation…aaaaand you’re not McGarrett.” His hand went instantly to his waist, drawing and aiming his ever-present sidearm in one smooth motion, unerringly aiming it at the bleary eyed girl who’d raised her head and was attempting to focus on him. “Who the hell are you? Where’s McGarrett?”
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “He was here.”
“You don’t know who you are?” he asked. “Up. Up. Hands where I can see them.” Motioning with his gun, he stepped back so he could keep her and the moving lump beside her in sight as she wiggled around and slowly got to her feet. “Why are you naked?!” he yelped as the blanket fell away.
She glared at him before turning and stomping towards the kitchen, apparently familiar with the layout of the house. “Because I lost. Will, move your fucking ass.”
There was a moan from under the blankets, but no farther movements until the girl came back into the room and nudged the lump none too gently with her foot. Then the lump rolled over revealing a decidedly green looking man. “Fuck. Off. Cee,” he said after a minute.
“Told ya to stop drinking,” she warned. “Want coffee? Or food? Or…”
“Hey!” Danny called her attention back to him. “Naked girl. Where’s Steve?”
She turned her glare on him. “When I passed out, he was still drinking and betting. Obviously he’s not here.”
“Can you find him?!” Danny demanded.
“Cover your ears, Will.” She tipped her head back and bellowed, “STE-VEN!”
“Ow,” Will moaned, clutching at his head. “Fucking bitch.”
“Nice mouth, William. You kiss your girl with that mouth?” she answered.
He flipped her off as he struggled to his feet, revealing he was just as unclothed as she was. “Bathroom?” he groaned. She pointed him in the right direction and he stumbled off. A few minutes later they heard retching coming from the room.
“What the hell did you people do last night?” Danny asked.
The girl opened her mouth to answer as the door out to the lanai slid open. Steve and a shorter man walked in, both of them laughing over something. They stopped short when they realized that everyone was awake and there was someone else in the house. “Danny,” Steve started.
“Yes, Steve?” Danny returned. “What exactly is going on here?”
“Ah…we…” Steve glanced at the others. At the light haired man just coming out of the bathroom, still wincing. At the girl, standing tall and proud, despite being completely naked in front of all of the men. At his childhood friend and confidant standing beside him, just as wet as him from their early morning surfing. “Um.”
The girl put a hand on her hip and grinned at Danny. “Strip poker!”
Beside him, Henry groaned, obviously used to his mate’s comments. “Cecilia,” he scolded.
“What, love?” she replied, turning to face him.
“Could you…I don’t know? Stop freaking the poor man out? And find some clothes for yourself and Will?” he asked.
She opened her mouth as if to comment, but a look from Steve changed her mind. “What…exactly…happened?” Danny asked as if speaking slower might get a more coherent answer out of them. He turned to Steve who had grabbed a towel from the chair and was rubbing it briskly through his hair. “Steven, which one did you have sex with?!”
“Which one did I…?” Steve started.
“Hey!” Cee yelped, looking up from where she was digging through the piles of clothes and blankets that had been scattered around the room. “There was no copulating.” She paused as if trying to remember what had happened. “I don’t think there was any copulating. Henry, was there any copulating?”
“How the hell can you use words like that when you’re hung over? How the hell can you even think?” Will groaned from where he’d taken a seat. Danny was thankful to notice he’d procured a blanket from somewhere and wrapped it around himself first so at least his bare ass wasn’t sitting on the furniture. And why he was concerned with that when he’d walked into his partner’s house to find two naked people and god knows what happening he had no idea.
“Not enough drinking in college, Will,” Henry commented with a grin. He handed Cee a shirt he’d found somewhere and she pulled it on. Danny blinked as he read Humans Suck in white lettering across her chest.
Will looked over at Danny. "You're a cop, right? That means you have a gun? Shoot me, please. It’s justifiable homicide."
“You’d think you’d learn not to try to out drink us by now,” Cee told him. She held up some clothes and considered them before tossing them at Will.
“How are you not hung over?” Will asked.
“I am. I’m just not as bad as you,” Cee responded. “I do know my limits. Plus. Metabolism.”
“What?” Will responded. He’d shaken out the clothes and was attempting to put them on without flashing everyone in the room again. “You’re like…a foot shorter than everyone else, Cee.”
“She’s also a Shifter, Zimmerman,” Steve answered. “Her metabolism burns the alcohol faster than yours.”
Will glared at the three upright people. “I hate you all so much right now.”
Danny kind of half-waved, drawing their attention away from Will. “Hello. This from the person who doesn’t know everyone. And wasn’t here last night. Who. The fuck. Are you people? And why are you naked in McGarrett’s house? And you? What’s with the face?”
“What face?” Steve asked.
“This…” Danny waved his hand. “Like you’re trying not to laugh at me. What’s going on here?”
Steve opened his mouth, then glanced at Henry, who’s eyes widened and he seemed to catch on after a second. “Yeah. Cee, come on. Will?”
“Wait, I wanna hear…” Cee started and squeaked as Henry grabbed her by the arm, hauling her from the room. Will followed after them, still struggling into his shirt.
Once he was sure they were out of sight, if not completely out of hearing distance, Steve turned to Danny. “Nothing’s going on. They’re old friends who showed up last night. If you hadn’t stormed out yesterday, making it clear that you wanted nothing to do with me, I would have called you and invited you to join us.”
Danny gestured to the hurricane that had apparently hit Steve’s normally pristine living room. “Do you normally get naked with your old friends?”
“Yeah. With this group I do. Danny. It doesn’t mean anything. It was…we were drunk. Nothing happened.”
“You say nothing happened, but I walk in this morning to find two naked people passed out on your floor and you nowhere in sight. What conclusions am I supposed to draw, Steven? Especially when I do not know these people? When the last things we said to each other were actually angry words and that maybe we had made a mistake.”
Steve crossed his arms, his eyes flicking towards the kitchen where noises were covering part of their conversation, but he knew that at least two of the people could hear most of it. “You could have talked to me.”
“I? I could have TALKED?! Did you really just say that?!” Danny yelped.
Steve’s stubborn face made an appearance. “I told you when I marked you that this wasn’t casual or a one night stand.” He stepped closer to Danny, stepped into his personal space and Danny stood his ground because he’d never backed away from Steve. “Where did you go?”
Realizing that Steve had missed his big announcement because he hadn’t been in the house when he’d made it, Danny repeated, “I found out what hoa hana means. I found someone who could understand my pronunciation and was willing to translate it for me.”
“And?” Steve reached out; his fingers brushing just above Danny’s waistband, where he knew the mark would be once it was permanent. He hadn’t wanted to scare his mate away, hadn’t wanted to scar the other man until he was sure. He knew he would never look at another person the way he looked at Danny, but he had wanted to give Danny the choice since he had been wounded before.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Danny asked. “It would have been…” he stopped. “Never mind. Look who I’m talking to.” He sighed. “Okay so I’m your mate? I’m guessing I don’t have a choice in this?”
Steve butted his head against Danny’s shoulder, not sure how to answer him. From behind them came a male voice, “Why don’t you two come eat?” Henry suggested. “Once Will stops moaning he might be able to explain things a bit.”
Steve snorted at that. “Is Will going to stop moaning anytime this decade?” he asked, pulling his head away from Danny.
Henry smirked. “Possibly. Cee’s attempting to get him to lift his head so we can feed him.”
Steve looked horrified for a minute. “You didn’t let her make the coffee, did you?”
“Relax, coffee’s safe. She made loaded eggs.”
Wrapping his arm around Danny’s shoulders, Steve tugged him towards the kitchen. “Come on, you’ll like these. I promise. Especially since Henry didn’t let her touch the coffee.”
Cee made a face at him as they entered the kitchen. “It was one time, McGarrett. One. Time.”
“And we don’t ever intend to let you make coffee again,” Henry told her.
She pointed the spatula at him. “Bite me.”
Both Henry and Steve bared their teeth at her and Henry grabbed her around the waist, nipping at her neck. “Wrong choice of words,” he said as she attempted to smack him with the spatula.
“Henry, so help me, I will burn your eggs!” Cee told him.
Will moaned from the table and Danny glanced over to see his head down. “Do you have to be so loud?” he asked, his voice muffled by his arms.
Danny crossed the room, opening one of the cabinets and pulling out a bottle of aspirin. Setting it down next to the younger man’s arm, he nudged him. “Take some. And eat some toast if you can’t stomach the eggs, trust me it’ll help.”
“Voice of experience?” Will asked as he raised his head and accepted the mug Henry handed him.
“You could say that,” Danny replied as he allowed Steve to nudge him into a seat. He noticed that he was being carefully maneuvered so that Steve was between him and the rest of the group. “Problem, McGarrett?”
Steve just looked at him; taking the plate Cee had been holding out and looking it over before passing it to him. Cee just rolled her eyes as she slid into a seat next to Will. Henry joined them, setting a cup in front of Cee and taking a drink out of the other.
For a few minutes the dominate sound was the settling of plates and the passing of condiments for coffee. Danny watched as Cee and Henry tried to coax Will into eating something more than toast. He still wasn’t sure what exactly their relationship was. They didn’t act like anything more than friends, but then again there were his observations when he’d first walked in.
Once they’d settled, Danny asked, “Can someone explain to me what’s going on?”
“What are you talking about?” Henry asked.
“Who are you people? What are you doing here? Why is McGarrett going all…” Danny shoved Steve who’d been creeping closer to him while they sat there. “Why is he more in my personal space than usual?”
Cee laughed at the reaction and Henry coughed, while Will tried not to meet anyone’s eyes. Danny wasn’t sure if that was the hangover or that he didn’t want to admit what was going on. Steve jumped next to Danny and glared across the table at Henry. “That wasn’t me, tiger,” Henry protested.
“Oh man up, Steve, and grow some balls,” Cee told him. “Either claim the man or stop pawing him.”
Steve snarled at her, reaching across the table, but Henry intercepted his hand, growling and baring his teeth. Cee shot to her feet, growling at both of them, and Will’s hand slammed down on the table, causing Danny to jump. “Stop. It. I’m tired. I’m hung over. And you’re all posturing for no reason. Shut the fuck up or I will stun the lot of you and toss you in a cage!” When the three of them continued to glare at each other, he added, “I’m pissed off, you three! I’m not kidding.” As they subsided and settled back down, he added, “Not to mention you got me drunk on purpose last night!”
There was a moment of awkward silence as all three of them stared at Will since he actually seemed more upset over them getting him drunk. When Danny was sure he wasn’t going to get his head bitten off, he ventured, “So…what I still don’t understand is how you hid this…when you were in the Navy and all,” Danny said.
Cee hummed something and when the other three rolled their eyes and laughed, but Danny just looked confused, she started singing, “I always feel like, somebody’s watching me.”
Henry put his hand over her mouth before she got any farther. “What Cee is not so blatantly trying to say is that we have people that keep an eye on people like Steve that can blend. And if they need help, we give it.”
“So when your dad sent you away…” Danny started.
“I went to the Sanctuary. To live with Henry’s foster mom to be exact. And Mary went to a different one,” Steve answered.
“If this place is so safe why didn’t Mary go to the same one?” Danny questioned.
“Because my foster sister would not have tolerated another female in her home at that time,” Henry answered, “even if Mary didn’t challenge her authority.”
“Okay maybe I’m not following. Isn’t Mary a shifter also?” Danny asked.
“No,” Steve answered. “Mary carries the gene, but can’t actually shift. The females of the line only carry the gene and pass it on to their male children.”
“Somehow it seems to me she got gypped.”
Steve snorted at that comment. “Yeah, she probably did, but I don’t think she’s ever complained about it.” He shrugged. “If she has kids, then it’ll become an issue because the boys’ll be able to shift. But considering she hasn’t actually met her mate yet and her heat hasn’t kicked in…” he trailed off.
“So what about…” Danny made a motion between the two of them. “How does that work with us? I mean…um, you might have noticed…but I’m not a girl.”
Cee made a comment under her breath causing Henry and Steve to roll their eyes and sigh, “Cecilia.”
“What?” Danny demanded. “What did she just say? And how the hell did you hear her?”
Steve tapped his ear. “Better than average hearing, Danno. Think about it.” He raised his eyebrows at Cee who sighed and nodded, but reached across the table when Steve started to tell Danny what she’d said.
“I said his biology fucked up, Danny, but there’s nothing wrong with it. The mate bond picks the person best suited so clearly you’re the best person for Steve.” She smiled at him.
Henry picked up the thread of her comments. “We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with it, Danny. We’re actually happy for both of you. We’ve been waiting for Steve to call us and tell us that he found his hoa hana.” Reaching across the table, he grasped Danny’s wrist. “Welcome to the family.”
Danny looked around at them, eying them suspiciously as Henry pulled his hand back. “Okay. Thanks. I guess. Now what?”
Steve shrugged as he dug back into his breakfast. “Now we figure out what we’re gonna do for the day.”
“Seriously? Just ‘welcome to the family’ and ‘what are we going to do today’?” Danny asked.
“You were expecting some exotic ritual?” Steve asked. He leaned over and nuzzled the side of Danny’s neck, grinning when Danny smacked him away. “I’d be happy to have a ritual with you any time, babe.”
Danny stared at him, then looked at Cee. “Okay, really, did you put catnip in the eggs? Cuz this?” He pointed at Steve. “This is not normal.”
She shook her head as Will explained, “He’s content and relaxed. So of course he’d show you affection more openly than usual and be more willing to…” He stopped as Cee and Henry stared at him. “What?”
“Cee, I thought you said he was hung over,” Henry commented.
“He is. He’s been moaning about his head since Danny woke us up,” Cee responded. “Apparently it doesn’t stop his big brain though.”
Will sat back in his seat, pouting at his friends as they grinned at him. Danny reached over, starting to pat him on shoulder, but aborting his motion at Steve’s low growl. “I know how you feel, man. No one ever listens to me either,” he said instead.
“AS I was saying,” Will started again, glaring at Cee, but sighed as she leaned over and kissed him noisily on the cheek. “I should just give up, shouldn’t I?”
“Yes, please,” she answered him. “We do love you, Will, but no one wants to listen to you right now. Any more than we’d want to listen to Henry’s techo babble or Steve ramble about weapon specs.”
“Back to what do we want to do today,” Henry headed off another argument before it could get started.
“We could check out some of the clubs downtown,” Cee suggested. “I’d like to go dancing.”
“No!” all three boys yelped in unison.
It was Cee’s turn to pout at their reaction. “It wasn’t like I did that on purpose,” she pointed out.
Henry leaned over, attempting to nuzzle against her, but Cee glared at him. He grinned when she tried to shove him away and persisted, finally pressing a kiss to her lips. “I know, Trouble, but you lose in a dance club is not something I want to experience again.”
Danny felt Steve shudder where they were pressed up against each other. “Yeah, Cee, immunity only extends so far, and I don’t think it would extend to explaining you in a club.”
“I’m thinking I probably don’t want to ask what happened,” Danny decided. “So what are you going to do today?”
Steve looked confused. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I thought you might…you have company. You have friends and you don’t get to see them. You don’t need me here,” Danny pointed out.
Steve looked at him, the hurt not hidden in his hazel eyes. “Why would you leave?” He reached out, tracing a finger down Danny’s face, without a word. Running it across the other man’s lips, he moved it to his for a moment before transferring it back and then leaning in. Breathing his words against Danny’s exhalations, he asked, “Stay? If you want?” Mesmerized, Danny nodded, his blue eyes locked on Steve’s hazel ones. When Steve moved back, Danny started to follow, but Steve cupped his cheek, easing him back. “Later,” he promised.
Will cleared his throat, pulling them out of the thrall they’d fallen into. “Sorry to interrupt, but did you have any plans for today?” he questioned. “I agree that it would be a bad idea to let Cee go dancing since we did promise Magnus we’d keep a low profile after the whole England debacle.”
Henry glared at the other man while Steve considered options for a minute. “Lazy day?” he suggested. “And swimming tonight? We can get our fur wet.”
Henry looked intrigued, but Cee still looked mutinous. “I really wanted to go out,” she protested.
“Cee, it’s just not a good idea,” Steve argued.
As they dug back into their food, they continued to discuss the plans for the day; Cee still arguing for going out and the others arguing for remaining around the house.
Danny was surprised at how easily Cee had given in to the no, since it seemed she really wanted to go out. But the other three had overridden her and within a half an hour, he had found himself sprawled on one of the chairs on Steve’s lanai, tucked up against Steve’s side. Will had claimed the other chair and looked like a big cat himself, sunglasses covering his face as he spread out across more of the chair than someone that skinny should have been able to cover. Danny had watched with amusement as Cee and Henry slathered him in sunblock, completely ignoring his bitching before Henry had dropped into the hammock, pulling the small girl in after him. She’d curled around him, somehow managing to arrange herself so both of them could use the computer tablets they’d brought outside and now they were engrossed in whatever they were doing. Danny suspected Henry was playing a game from the reactions, but he had no idea what Cee was doing.
Now though, she was nudging the other man and tipping her tablet so he could see it. “Oh, yeah, that would look good,” Henry agreed after a moment.
“It’s not happening, Cee,” Will said, although Danny had no idea how he even knew they were talking about him.
Cee rolled her head so she could see the other man, pouting at him. “But, Will, it would look so much better than the ink you have. And personally designed for you, rather than just something you picked off a sheet.”
“No. I’ve told you no already,” Will replied. “I was young. I was stupid. It’s not happening.”
Henry’s grin over the top of Cee’s head was downright evil. “Don’t look at your ass for a few days, dude.”
Danny hid a laugh as Will’s eyes widened so much he could see them behind the sunglasses. “Cecilia! Did you? You did? What the hell did you do?!” the other man sputtered. He twisted around, almost falling off the chair as he attempted to see his own rear. It was complicated by the fact that he was still wearing the shorts he’d pulled on earlier.
“Relax, Zimmerman,” Steve drawled from his spot beside Danny. “It’s a temp. She wouldn’t ink you without your permission and you know it.”
Will glared at the three of them before flopping over on his stomach. “I hate you all,” he muttered.
Danny poked Steve, who grabbed the finger, without opening his eyes. “What did she do to him?”
“She put a temporary tattoo on his ass after he passed out last night,” Steve answered. “Not the first time one of us has ended up with a temp.” He shrugged easily. “And Cee did all of my ink and all of Henry’s mod.” He nodded his head in the direction of the other man, inviting Danny to look at him. “She knows what she’s doing.”
Danny turned his attention away from the other three where Will was still bitching at Henry and Cee, who were both laughing at him now, and traced a finger over the ink that lined Steve’s bicep. “She did this?”
Steve nodded, his eyes dilating as Danny’s fingers pressed harder on his skin. “We worked on the designs together and then Cee inked them over a period of a few years starting when I was seventeen.”
Danny rolled to his side, pressing his mouth against the colors in Steve’s skin. “What’s making your eyes go all dark?” he whispered against the skin. “My fingers on your body? My skin against yours? Or the memory of the needle in your skin and what happened afterwards?”
Steve grasped Danny’s biceps, hauling him upwards, and capturing his mouth with his own. When he released the blonde man, the shorter man gasping for breath, Steve growled at him, “I never slept with her. She was always Henry’s.” Kissing him more gently this time, he added, “Just like you are mine.”
Danny felt tension he didn’t know he had flow out of him at Steve’s words and he draped himself over the taller man’s side, allowing Steve to arrange him. Even a few months ago, he wouldn’t have thought that reassurances that he belonged to someone would cause him to feel safe, but Steve’s words, Steve’s touch reassured him like nothing ever had; not even the ceremony and paper he’d had with Rachel. He let himself be lulled by Steve’s touch and the sun as the other three continued to tease each other.
Danny had been observing the others for the last hour. The darker it got, the more they fidgeted, especially Cee. Finally, she rolled out of the hammock Henry had pulled her into and looked at Steve. “Now?” she asked.
He nodded; the smirk, the one Danny had labeled I’m about to do something insane spreading across his face. “Yeah. It’s dark enough.”
Cee immediately reached up, tugging on the ties that held her bikini top closed, and Danny shot up in his seat. “Hey. Hey. Hey! We have public indecency laws here. This is not a topless beach!”
She looked confused for a minute, her gaze swinging between Danny and Steve, over her shoulder to Henry. “I’m not gonna be topless for long.”
“Whaaa?” Danny questioned as he realized the guys were stripping off their shirts and reaching for their swim trunks. Will didn’t look at all confused, but he also wasn’t moving from his seat.
“We’re gonna shift,” Steve explained. “Henry, you going like that or you HAP’ing?”
“I’ll HAP. I can change back quickly enough if there’s an issue,” Henry answered. “But I’m gonna wait until we’re closer to the water.”
Danny looked at the three of them. “You’re gonna… Wait, you’re gonna go swimming as a cat?!”
Steve stopped in the middle of stripping and just stared at him. “Danny, tigers like water. Do you want to come with us?”
“How many times do I have to tell you I swim for survival not fun,” Danny answered.
Steve shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Turning to Cee, he asked, “Did you get a good enough look before? Or do you want to see again?”
“Go first and I’ll follow,” she answered.
He nodded. “All right.” He motioned to the trees and said, “Stick to those for the boundaries. And don’t go too far out. The neighbors are used to seeing a tiger, but I’m not sure how they’ll react to the rest.”
Cee and Henry both nodded then watched as Steve finished stripping off his trunks. Danny opened his mouth to protest again but realized Cee was not looking below Steve’s neck. Instead, she waited patiently as he shifted into tiger form, then studied him from all angles. A moment later, she was stripping off her own suit and shifting into a smaller version of the same type of tiger.
Will sat up, not at all perturbed as she dropped her discarded clothes into his lap and added Henry’s a second later. “Are you coming with us?” Henry asked him.
“No,” Will answered. “I think I’ll stay and visit with Danny.”
Cee and Steve started pushing at Henry, encouraging him to start down to the beach. With a whoop, he gave in to them and started running. The two tigers were caught flat-footed, but they quickly lopped after him, easily catching up. Just as the three of them hit the sand, Henry’s form changed; lengthening and broadening across the shoulders as he took his alternate form.
Danny looked over at Will who was calmly folding the clothes, having gathered up Steve’s. “How does this not faze you?” he asked.
“Well…” Will stopped what he was doing and set the clothes down. “It did at first. It really did. Trust me, some of the things I’ve seen. And I can’t tell you even the half of it. But this…” He shrugged. “This honestly barely hits the crazy-o-meter.”
Danny considered everything for a few minutes, then asked, “How long have you known them? How long have they known each other?”
“I’ve known Henry and Cee for about three years. I work for Henry’s foster mother just like he does. And Steve has in the past.” When he saw Danny’s mouth open, he cut him off, “I can’t answer that. You’ll have to wait for Steve to decide to tell you. As for how long they’ve known each other…since they were teenagers. Ask Steve about it.”
“Steve doesn’t talk about himself much,” Danny replied softly.
“Just think about it,” Will said.
“Yeah.” Danny frowned. “Why was Steve asking if Cee had seen enough?”
“Oh, well, Cee and Steve are both Shifters, but they aren’t the same breed of shifters. Steve has only one form. He can only shift to one form that of the South China Tiger. His is a genetic mutation that is transferred through the chromosomes. So Mary carries the gene, but cannot shift. Cee, on the other hand, has the ability to shift to any animal she sees. As long as she physically views the animal first.”
“So she…” Danny was interrupted as the three of them bounded back up onto the lanai. The larger tiger stopped in front of him and, with what Danny interpreted as a gleeful look, shook himself off. He turned to see Will was being subjected to a similar shower, while Henry had slung a towel around his waist.
“Knock it off, you two,” the HAP said after a minute. “They didn’t want to go swimming.”
“I still don’t get that,” Steve said and Danny was surprised to note he’d shifted back when Danny was distracted. “Why wouldn’t you want to swim any chance you got?”
Danny stepped into Steve’s personal space. “I’ll make you a deal. You do paperwork, your own paperwork for a week and I’ll do swimming with you. However you want.”
Steve’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. “Skinny dipping?”
Danny weighed the odds of Steve actually following through on his side of the deal. “Provided we go swimming at night and it’s here, yes, even that. But it will not be a group activity if you choose that.” He jumped as he felt a hand grab his arm and pull him down enough for a kiss to land on his cheek. “What? What was that?” he asked as he pulled away from Cee.
“Oh, I like him, Steve,” she told the other man. “Henry?”
A slow smile spread across Henry’s face. “Yeah. Yeah. I agree.” He stepped forward, pulling Danny’s head down so that they pressed their heads together. “Welcome to the family,” he repeated his words from earlier. “Now you always have pack to call on. You and yours.” He turned to Cee, taking her hand and tugging her away.
Will pulled a card out of his pocket, flipping it over in his hand before holding it out to Danny. “Direct line to our home plus my cell and Henry’s. In case you need it. Steve’s already got them, but it never hurts to have back-up.” He flicked his eyes to Steve. “We’ve gotta head back in the morning. We’ll let you know when.”
Steve reached out, clasping wrists with him. “Thanks, Will. You okay to get find a bed?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Apparently I slept in worse places than your couch last night.”
Steve laughed. “There’s a guest room up the stairs and to the right. You’re welcome to an actual bed tonight.”
Will waved over his shoulder as he headed into the house, leaving Steve and Danny alone on the lanai.
Danny turned to find Steve almost pressed up against him, but refused to move backwards. “So was this all some elaborate plan to figure out where I stood?” Danny asked.
“Where you…?” Steve started.
Danny took the other man’s hand, pressing it to his hip where Steve’s teeth had left a tentative imprint. “You keep testing me. You wouldn’t tell me what hoa hana meant. You won’t make the mark permanent. What exactly are you waiting for? And use your words, Cro-Magnon man. Cause grunts aren’t gonna cut it this time.”
“I want to make sure it’s your decision. You need to decide if you want to be with me,” Steve answered earnestly. He looked at Danny, somehow looking up through his eyelashes, even though he was taller than the other man. “Is it working?”
For a minute Danny stared at him. “Is it? Is it? You, you are a crazy man, you know that right? I think something when you go tiger, man, tiger, man flips a switch and not all of your brain cells make the transition back. Is it working?” He shook his head. “Come here, you.” Cupping the back of Steve’s neck, he pulled the other man towards him, until their lips were almost touching. “After your friends leave, you’re going to do whatever it is you need to do to make this mark permanent, you hear me? And we’re not going to have another discussion about whether or not I’m your mate. I have a feeling I’ll be telling you to stop the crazy stunts for the rest of our lives though.” Exerting a little more pressure to get Steve to move the last little bit, he opened his mouth to Steve as the other man leaned into him.
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