dann_0 | PSL: Sentinel AU

"It is fine. She's used to sharing me with Steve, I think she'll like you too. And that you'll like her." He takes a breath. "I don't want to leave you. Not when I can have you close." He takes a deep breath, stroking Eliot's side gently. "How do you want to be introduced to her? As my friend or my boyfriend?" Two hours ago he would have gone for friend, but what just happened here with both of them has solidified it all in Danny's mind. Eliot is going to be part of his life and then he should be introduced to the most important part of it.

"Just don't let her charm you into giving her too many sweets." he chuckles. If Grace is anything like the way she is with Steve with Eliot it is only a matter of time before she has him wrapped around his fingers. "But it is all about where you will be more comfortable."

This would be easier if he weren't still having so much trouble processing. If his senses weren't so out of whack from over-stimulation and and a feeling of panic that hasn't quite completely faded. It means he's quiet for a moment, struggling to sort it all out into something that makes sense, then unnaturally still as he manages, as he realizes what Danny's offering, and his breath catches on something that's a strange combination of a fresh surge of panic and an almost overwhelming sense of affection that he refuses to characterize as love.

"Shouldn' do that," he finally manages to protest, though his voice is unsteady as hell. "Not fair t'her." Not when the odds of him staying in her dad's life are so slim, or when her mother might try to use him as some kind of scandal generator when it comes to custody and visitation and moving. He wants it, though. It scares him how damn much he wants it, how much the thought of it aches. To be that kind of a part of Danny's life. Safe and trusted and stable enough to be a part of his kid's.

"Not fair t'Steve either," he adds, even quieter. More unsteady. "He don't need my stink in his home."

Steve has an understanding of where Eliot is coming from when it comes to Grace. It's not likely exactly the same but Steve too had reservations about becoming too involved with Grace, getting too close. Not only was she a child, and he knew he wasn't good with children, but if the military called him back or he got badly hurt as part of the job he didn't want either of them to be too attached. He smiles at the memory of her telling him that if he was important to her Danno than he was important to her too and that meant they had to spend time together.

Head leaning back against the wall, eyes closed, but ears still focused in the other room, Steve speaks up loud enough for Danny to hear as well. "Grace will disagree with you. As you are important to us, she will want to know you too." There's a small pause while he tries to think how to best word the next. "You're stink is already in the car and office, wouldn't be right if it wasn't in the house too!" There's a lightness there even though the voice sounds drained, it loses that lightness though when he speaks again, but it holds a strong measure of sincerity. "I want you there, Eliot. I want you in our home and as part of our lives. Don't say no."

Danny smiles warmly at Steve and then turning his head back to Eliot and gives him a reassuring smile. "Steve's right. We want you there, and of course, I want to introduce you as my boyfriend. I am more worried about Kono. She'll never let me hear the end of it." He chuckles as he strokes Eliot's back. "Not in a bad way though."

"And you are important to me, to both of us. It is only right you're a part of this too."

Eliot stills again when he hears Steve's voice, purposely loud enough for them both to hear. Tenses in an obvious fight or flight response, frozen on a caught breath at both the reminder he's there--he shouldn't have forgotten, he should be more in control than this--and at what he's actually saying. He has to focus hard to process it, to make sense of the words, and when he does he drops his head farther, low enough to press his face to the side of Danny's neck, nose tucked into the tender spot beneath his ear that he likes so well as Danny chimes in.

He still feels like he should say no. Like it's not worth the risk--to him or Grace... or Danny--but he's not sure he can. Not with them both saying it's okay. Not with Danny wanting to claim him like that. To his little girl. It makes things feel both terrifyingly real and fractionally less precarious. Like if he says yes he won't be something so easy to walk away from after this.

"... we should talk first," he finally manages to answer, just loud enough for Danny to hear. More than plenty loud enough for Steve out in the hall. "'Bout why I'm here, an' what we were doin'. See if you still think it's a good idea after that." Because that could change things, could make it more important for Danny to not have any unnecessary complications in his personal life for a bit. Nothing for his ex to try and grab onto and use against him.

Edited 2017-06-20 19:05 (UTC)

Pushing off the wall by his shoulders, Steve comes into Danny's office and moves to sit on the couch. Steve had wanted to have the DNA test back before telling Danny, but really they didn't need that, it was more proof for Rachel than for Danny, especially with both Eliot and himself smelling the relation off little Charlie.

He doesn't believe this will change Danny's mind about Eliot, but he understands that Eliot needs it out in the open before proceeding. Truth he told he was worried how Danny was going to respond as well. Not towards them, but just in general. Steve figured he was going to need both of them to get through it.

"Danny, you're going to want to sit down for this."

Danny blinks. He has no idea why Eliot is here and based on how they are both acting he has a feeling it is not about coming to see him. Or not just that. He swallows. Worry suddenly rising with a million what ifs. But he forces it back down. Setting them off again might be more than he can handle. So he closes his eyes and focuses on being calm and steady before he takes Eliot's hand to lead him over to the couch, settling next to Steve with room for Eliot on the side.

"What's up?" The worry is hard to keep out of his voice. Too hard and it is painfully obvious for everyone.

Eliot considers not complying... for all of a fraction of a second that's so brief the hesitation likely doesn't even register to Danny before he's following along, letting himself be pulled to the couch.

Letting go just isn't an option right now, it's bad enough to not be able to press his face to Danny's skin and breathe him in. So he sits next to him, as close as he can get, and curls both hands around Danny's in a firm but gentle grip before leaning a little bit out so he can glance at Steve. Who, for all that he's supposedly the boyfriend, knows Danny infinitely better, and Eliot lifts both eyebrows in question. Does Steve want to explain or does he want Eliot to? He just wants to make it easiest for Danny and Steve both, and he hates that he's not actually sure how best to do that.

When Danny sits next to him, there's no way Steve can not lean into him. The static he was starting to feel in the hall is almost instantly calmed when he takes the hand closest to him.

Leaning forward, he meets Eliot's eyes and realizes that the start of this is on him. Taking a moment, he squeezes Danny's hand and he huffs out a breath and decides to just get right to it. "Danny, remember yesterday when I was holding Charlie? There's... He..." Okay this is actually harder than he had expected and considering he expected it to be damn hard...

Pausing a moment he starts again with a different tactic. "Danny, how sure was Rachel that Charlie wasn't yours? I... we..." he looks again across at Eliot, "Charlie smells like you. We're running the DNA but we don't have any doubt."

Danny holds Eliot's hand until Steve starts explaining. Then he goes very still and frowns. "She said he was Stan's. That she was further along than she first thought. That..." He blinks and looks between them. confused and hurt but not by them. "I... you sure? You really sure? I have a son?"

Then almost as an afterthought he looks at Eliot. "You smelled him?"

Edited 2017-06-20 20:46 (UTC)

Eliot almost lets go of Danny's hand when he stills, frowns, but instead looks down at their joined hands for a moment, jaw working.

"Yeah." He looks up and meets Danny's eyes steadily, and keeps his grip loose in case he wants to pull away. "Steve called last night, lookin' for ideas on how t'handle it and-" He shrugs, expression tense but wry. "Caught the first flight out an' did some recon this morning. He's yours, sweetheart. No question."

Steve squeezes Danny's hand, but then releases it in favor for putting a hand on his shoulder instead. The loss of skin-on-skin connection is felt immediately but right now it's about comforting Danny, not him. "We're assuming you'll want to confront Rachel so we're getting evidence you can use - the DNA sample, Charlie is running it. And Eliot has some ideas on how to present the problem to her so that she sees our solution as the one to follow." He squeezes Danny's shoulder. "But if you want to handle this differently, we'll back your play and do whatever you need us to do." He looks over at Eliot again for the other man's confirmation.

Danny blinks. He's not even following all of Steve's explanation. Instead he just stares at him. "I... Charlie is mine." He smiles, intense happiness washing over him but worry chasing after it seconds later. "I should talk to Rachel." He has no doubt. If his Sentinels tell him Charlie is his then he trusts them, completely and without hesitation. He leans into Steve's hand on his shoulder at the same time as he gives Eliot's hand a squeeze. "I have a son."

Eliot feels a faint, sweet buzz of pleasure at the way Danny's scent spikes with happiness, the way his heart is rabbiting not in anxiety but in excitement. He can't keep from smiling in reaction, warm and open and happy because Danny's happy.

"Yeah." He squeezes Danny's hand back without hesitation, then leans in, because he can't not, and presses a soft kiss to Danny's cheek. "You do, darlin'. You got a son. An' Steve's right, I got some... information that might come in handy when you talk to her, but we'll play this however you want."

Steve grins at Danny. The feeling of happiness coming off the other man is hard to ignore and he truly is happy for Danny in return. He's worried too though. The way things happened, what he knows about how they happened, he suspects Rachel knows that Danny is Charlie's father and he's not looking forward to Danny coming to that realization as well.

Right now however he lets Danny enjoy his happiness and he squeezes the other man's shoulder. His worry pushed down and away so Danny doesn't pick up on it from him. "You do. And he's a beautiful boy, Danny. Perfect in every way."

Danny beams and just enjoys the happy moment. Then something starts to churn ever so slowly in his head. "How did you get his dna? And when did you smell him?" He turns to Eliot. "Steve makes sense but..." He glances over at Steve. "What did you do?"

This is the other shoe he'd been waiting to drop, but that sharp spike of happiness was almost like a high, making it hard for Eliot to focus past it to anticipate this. At least for a moment. But this... this is why he'd known they had to talk before Danny pulled him any further into his life. If this is going to blow things to hell it's better it happens now.

"Steve called me for help... an' I figured you'd need more'n a suspicion you couldn't admit the source of to take to her if you were gonna get anywhere. So Hardison helped me set up a con t'get into their place--nothin' dangerous for anyone--so I could get a sniff of him too, an' grab an old diaper t'get DNA for testing." He wrinkles his nose a little at the last, but only a little. Because he's mostly worried about just how pissed Danny will be at the violation of his ex-wife and daughter's home, no matter fuckin' awful what his ex has done is.

Squeezing Danny's shoulder again in attempts to both reassure and calm him, Steve meets his eyes when Danny glances at him. "We did nothing that would put anyone in any danger. Just a little white lie to Rachel in order to get some of Charlie's DNA so that you'd have some real proof to present her with. Fong doesn't know who the samples belong to, just that I needed a quick and confidential test to be run." Steve's watching him closely to see how bad this reaction might be.

"A con? What are you? Some sort of criminal?" Danny's about to chuckle when his eyes go wide. "You are?" Then he looks over at Steve. "You know? How?"

He blinks, trying to process all the information he is getting right now and then he looks between them. "You broke into Rachel's house? I... What the fuck?"

"No! I didn't break in!" Not that he wouldn't if it had seemed like the best way to go about it... and he didn't think Danny would absolutely lose his shit over it. Not that he expects him to take this much better, and he draws his hands away and forces himself to rest them both loosely on his knees rather than curl them into tense, anxious fists. And though he positively reeks of anxiety now, he manages to look calm and relaxed. For the moment.

"Their security system just... happened to need servicing this morning." That Hardison had arranged for it to need. He shrugs. "Went right up to the front door an' knocked, checked all the cameras an' alarm contacts, ran some diagnostics... lifted a stinky as hell diaper an' left them safe an' sound."

"What?! No. Of course not, Danny. You know we wouldn't have done anything like that to Grace or Rachel." Grace may be at their house right know but thinking her house got broken into, should that ever be revealed, is not something Steve would put her through again. "Nothing we did was harmful."

There's a small pause. "And yes I know but it's not what you're thinking."

"Then what is it Steve?"

He turns to look at Eliot. It is a hard look, but he reaches out to place a hand on his back. Even now he doesn't want to risk pushing him away. "Did it really need fixing?"

Eliot lets out a held breath at the touch, at least marginally reassured by it. Though he's still steeling himself for what feels like an inevitable rejection... which was one of the reasons he hadn't told Danny what he and the team do in the first place. If (when) things go to hell there's no reason for him to know that about them. Except now there is.

"No, it didn't. Hardison hacked into the company systems an' set up an error message so they'd call in for a service," he explains, as blandly as he can manage. "Then he intercepted the call an' I went in instead. They were never in any danger." And if Rachel never meets him she'll never have any reason to know what happened. "An' if it comes to it, Hardison's got me in their system as a short term employee fillin' in for a couple days with all the proper credentials." It's the biggest security company on the island, there's a good chance that even if Rachel tried to pursue it anyone she talked to would just accept he'd been okayed by someone else and move on.

It's difficult hearing the angry tone in Dann's voice directed at him right now, but at the same time he'd rather have it aimed at him than at Eliot. "Danny, we did what we did for you. You can't tell Rachel you know he's yours based on my senses and how else where we going to get a DNA sample? This way, in a couple hours, you'll have physical proof that you can present to her." He pauses unsure if he should continue but then decides it's best to get it all out there. "Then when she denies it or refuses to let you be part of his life, we have a solution to that too."

"How am I going to explain to her how I know?" He seems to be mostly pacified by Steve's explanation. "Why didn't you tell me then?" He takes a deep breath. Then he looks over at Eliot. "Were you ever going to tell me? About that or for the fact that you were in Hawaii?" Mostly he just seems tired, and confused. There are some hurt and betrayal but at least the anger is gone.

"I... Shit. Can we deal with this later? I really can't when you two just have gotten out of a zone."

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Re: Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out

Danny, Steve and Eliot. In the office. Ironing things out