Chapter Text
Danny Williams was not a cat person. He preferred dogs; to him cats were disloyal creatures that would turn on their owners given the chance. So when the white feline rushed in between his legs Danny was quick to jump back and put some distance between them. He looked around to see if there was anyone looking for their pet, but the streets were empty. Danny crouched down in front of the cat, noticing for the first time a tag. He approached the feline slowly and grabbed a hold of the paw shaped tag hanging from a leather collar.
“My dad is a Navy SEAL if you kittnap me you’ll be sorry.”
Danny chuckled and ran his hand over the downy white fur. And that’s how Detective Danny Williams' first -unofficial- case was to find the cat’s owner. He had browsed through the missing pets reports but came up empty, he had also asked around but no one seemed to know who the white cat belonged to. His search was put on hold when he was given his first official case since he'd arrived in Hawaii. Danny left the cat with a rookie and headed off to the crime scene.
Danny kept the cat for three days, and despite his hatred towards felines, he was starting to like this one. So he was mildly disappointed when he got a call from Sergeant Lukela on Saturday, stating that they had found who the cat belonged to. Danny drove to the Ali’iolani Hale, and found himself inside the office space of a local task force. There was a man there when he walked in, wearing a cut off shirt and cargo shorts; his tattoos stood out against his tanned skin and Danny wanted nothing more than to trace the ink with his tongue. He looked like a civilian, out of place, but civilian nonetheless. The thing that gave him away is the gun holsted on his hip and the badge attached to the very ugly, might he add, cargo shorts. When the man heard Danny opening the door he placed his hand on the holsted gun.
Danny also placed his free hand on the gun at his hip while he held the purring cat in his other hand. The man dropped his hand when he noticed that Danny was holding his lost kitten. The white cat turned and stated meowing when he saw his master. Danny dropped the hand on his gun and placed the excited feline on the floor, who ran towards his owner.
“Hi Eagle” the man said in a baby voice as he bent down to scoop up the kitten. He ran a large hand through the cat’s fur then turned to look at Danny.
“Commander Steve McGarrett, Five-0.” he said while stepping forward and extending his hand. Danny steps closer and cranes his neck to look up at the man. His eyes are a ridiculous shade of green and Danny is instantly mesmerized. He thinks about how it would look in the early morning light and clears his throat. And even though perverse thoughts about a complete stranger were running through his mind, he still grabbed onto the offered hand and gave it a firm shake.
“Detective Danny Williams, HPD. I assume this furball belongs to you?” The Commander looks fondly at his pet and nods.
“Well, he’s safe now, so I should,” Danny starts, pointing back towards the way he came in.
“Wait, let me repay you for taking care of Eagle. Duke said you took him home and watched over him for the past few days.”
Danny tilts his head, “Duke?” he questions, “Oh! Sergeant Lukela. Yeah, I did, I took this little fella home. And I must tell you, I don't like cats.”
Steve gives him a weird look, “I love cats. Who doesn’t love cats? They’re awesome, they’re like adorable little ninjas. They’re smart, and they’re fast, and they’re, uh, cute and cuddly at the same time.” The SEAL rants.
“They’d kill you if given the chance.” Danny argues.
“Yeah, they would. Because they’ve never lost their predatory instinct. For instance, a dog, you take a domesticated canine and you put it in the wild. 24 hours, and that thing is dead. But a cat, they never forgot how to hunt and kill.”
Danny scoffs and shakes his head at the man. Minutes later he walks out of the building with the SEAL’s number programmed onto his phone and plans to meet him tonight for drinks.
Danny meets Steve at a place called Arnold’s Beach Bar around 7 o’clock. The man is just getting out of his truck when Danny pulls into a parking spot next to him. The SEAL whistles and Danny smiles at him over the hood of his car.
“She’s a beauty ain’t she.” he says in a thick accent, patting the Camaro. Steve smiles at him and comes around to his side so they can walk towards the bar together.
“Sure is.” He replies, after he’s given Danny glance over. The Jersey man flushes and continues walking.
.5050.
“You did what?!” Danny laughs, he’s on his fifth beer while Steve is already on his 7th. The seaman was in the middle of telling him a story about how he hung a man from a roof.
“It was the only way for me to get the information out of him. The perp wouldn’t talk.” Steve said as a way of reason.
“God, you’re a lunatic.” Danny laughed and flagged down someone to get them another round.
“What about you, Detective Williams? What’s the worst thing you’ve done?” Steve asks as he takes a swig from his Longboard.
“I strapped a guy onto the hood of my car and drove recklessly around town.” Danny said as if it was nothing. Steve gives him an incredulous look.
“You’d be a good addition to the task force” he says after a minute.
“What? You offering me a job, babe?”
“Think about it” Steve said as he finished his beer.
Danny does think about it, but he doesn’t tell the other man. That night he lays in his bed, unable to sleep; the alcohol had left his system hours ago. He turns and looks over at the clock, 6:37 AM. Danny stares at ceiling for another hour before sleep consumes him.
Danny wakes up at 2 in the afternoon with a pounding headache. He pads into the kitchen and makes himself a cup of coffee. He picks up his phone from where he left it on the kitchen counter and presses to home button. There’s a text message from Steve from around 5 this morning, it reads:
“I had a great time last night. We should go out again (;”
Danny smiles at his phone and begins to reply.
“Sounds good babe.” Danny types, then he adds a smiley face at the end. The coffee maker stops and Danny places the mobile back down. He smiles into his mug and makes his way towards the bathroom.
.5050.
Even though he fell asleep at 3 in the morning Steve’s internal body clock wakes him up at 5. Dragging himself out of bed he made his way towards the bathroom to wash his face and do his morning routine. He then proceeded downstairs so he could feed Eagle and make his coffee. Steve decides to shoot Danny a text, telling him how much he enjoyed hanging out with him. The man was something else and Steve would love to go out with him again; he adds that in too. When his coffee is done brewing he adds a spoon of grass fed butter and takes his mug out onto the lanai.
Steve hears back from Danny around two in the afternoon. He flushes when he sees the word “babe”, not sure how the term of endearment makes him feel; he decides he likes it. They make plans to have dinner together next weekend, and Steve promises to make Danny the best meal he’s ever had.
The week goes by slowly. Steve is anticipating Friday to come but it seems like the more he yearns for it, the longer it takes to get there. He’s distracted by thoughts of a certain blue eyed blond, and if his team notices, they don’t say anything. When Friday finally rolls around Steve is practically oozing excitement, the shift in his usually serious demeanor is noticeable. Kono is the first to comment on it.
“Got a hot date or something, boss?” the native woman jokes. Normally Steve would just ignore her remarks but he’s in such a great mood that he replies.
“I might have”
Chin doesn’t say anything, just raises his eyebrow and then goes back to staring at the computer. Kono also gives him a look, more like a smirk to be frank.
“Do we know her?” she pushes.
“No, you don’t know him.”
“Oh,” she exclaims, “is he native?”
“Kono, I have to go now.” Steve says, checking his watch even though he knows exactly what time it is. He still has 5 hours until his date with Danny, but he can’t afford for things to go wrong.