dann_0 | PSL: Sentinel AU

Sort of continued from this

Danny can feel Eliot relax and it makes him just as proud as when Steve does it. Proof that he is doing something right, that he is helping. And he is proud of Eliot for trusting him. It had been work getting Steve to trust him and since then he'd gotten some vague hints that there had been bad experiences in Steve's past. The way Eliot had come at him earlier, heck might still come at him, spoke of him having had some bad experiences as well.

"There you go, you're doing great. I got you. You're safe. It is safe here. Easy now, a few more breaths." He stays in the embrace long enough for Eliot to calm down, to be able to breathe and think and focus without hyper focus. The signs are different than with Steve, so he is taking a bit of a guess when he steps back and putting some distance between them.

"Sorry. Feeling better?" He gives Eliot a smile, trying his best to get a read on his emotions.

Danny had called Steve after Catherine had left and Steve hadn't picked up. That worries Danny. A lot of things worries Danny but a lot of them are connected to Steve. So he drives over quickly, probably a little too quickly.

"Steve!" He calls and then heads towards the house. He calls Steve's names a few more times before he spots the other out the back of the house. He nearly runs over to him. When Steve doesn't move he comes closer, moving so he can see Steve. Then he freezes. What the fuck is going on?

"Steve, buddy. You in there? What is going on? What are you doing?" He waves his hand in front of Steve's face and then reaches to touch his forearm. "Steve, buddy, babe. Talk to me. What is going on?"

After Catherine left, Steve had come out onto the lanai to dial back up his senses. Keeping them low for Catherine's visit had been very difficult. A day or two here or there had been doable, but this time she'd spent the week with him. The headache he'd been feeling had been close to intolerable and over the counter meds were no longer even touching it. His eyes and ears ached and his skin itched to boot. He was worried she was starting to get suspicious so he started complaining about catching a cold. He's fairly sure she believed him for now, but next time he'd have to be on his A-game once more.

Out on the lanai he'd started with vision but once he started dialing up he quickly lost control. The other senses had started going up as well and without any way to ground himself he'd lost the precarious grasp he had on his abilities and moved into a zone.

It wasn't until Danny started calling him that he'd heard a thing, but there's no way for him to respond. When Danny touches his arm, the muscle under it jumps in response, the reaction to Steve is all wrong, it feels like Danny slammed him even though he knows that's not the case. The only other outwardly response is a twitch in his jaw muscle.

Danny almost pull his hand back when he feels the twitch. But he decides not to. Instead he strokes the arm and steps in closer. He doesn't know why, it just feels like what he should do. It must be some sort of shock right? He is trying to remember his first aid training, what was he supposed to do when people were in shock? Fuck why hadn't he paid more attention.

"Steve, it's me, Danny. I am here. What happened? Are you alright?" He should probably get Steve to sit so he doesn't fall over. He places a hand on Steve's waist. "Lets go inside, hm? Think you can do that?" He could wrap a blanket around Steve and maybe get him something to drink.

The muscles are initially rigid under Danny's touch, tense and twitching, but as Danny strokes his arm and talks, they start to relax. By the time Danny directs him inside, Steve still is in a zone - not verbally or visually responsive, but he follows Danny's physical directions without resistance.

Danny is freaking out. What the hell is his partner doing? But it won't help either of them if he lets that take over so he pushes it to the back of his mind and tries to get Steve inside the house and settled on the couch. Talking to him all the while, telling him he is here and that he got him. Once he gets Steve settled on the couch and wraps a blanket around his shoulders however he moves to stand. "I'm getting you some water."

It is less than a minute before Danny is back, placing the water next to Steve, then after a second of consideration he settles in next to him and wraps an arm around Steve. "I got you, I'm right here. When you can speak you're going to tell me what the hell is going on. But I got you."

Steve moves easily under Danny's guidance but takes no initiative to move on his own. He sits on the couch and when Danny returns with the water, Steve is exactly how he left him, eyes still unfocused and staring at nothing.

At first when Danny sits on the couch next to Steve, there's no response or movement. As Danny keeps talking and holds him close, Steve's muscles continue to relax and it's not long before Steve is leaning into the other man, with his head on his shoulder. A few minutes later and Steve's eyes flutter shut and his arm moves around Danny. It's a slow process but Steve's head moves low to enough rest over Danny's heart.

For Steve he has no idea of the passage of time. He can hear Danny's voice but the words aren't understandable and he sounds so far away. But then things start to relax and ease. Nothing is yet making sense but he doesn't feel so far away and there's a warmth to his side and around him and he can't help but to move towards it. The warmth is so comforting he curls into it, hugging it close and then the most amazing thing happens... A darkness comes over the fog and there's a soft noise that draws him out - a-whoosh-thump a-whoosh-thump. Moving his ear as close as possible, his breathing adjusts to match the rhythm he feels under his cheek. It's then that Danny's voice becomes closer and he focuses on that.

It's like riding the perfect wave when surfing and before he knows it he's reached shore. He knows he should be starting to panic, that Danny is here and he's zoned, but right now he's too strung out for that. Danny is offering too much comfort and something he needs so very badly. But he knows he can't stay here for long and after a moment, his voice croaks when he tries to speak.

Clearing his throat, he tries again. "Danny?"

Danny smiles and you can hear the relief in his voice when Steve starts to relax against him. And the arm around him makes him sigh contentedly. He keeps talking though, telling Steve it is safe, that he got him and that he isn't letting him go. The arm around Steve strokes his side urging him to continue to relax.

Then when Steve speaks he lets go, leaning back a little. "I'm right here Steven. You want some water?" He reaches over Steve for the glass and then offers it to him. He is looking Steve over, worry obvious on his face. "What happend? Did Cathrine do something? Did something happen? Please don't ever do that again, Steve."

When Danny lets go, Steve whimpers at the loss of contact but quickly attempts to pull back into himself. He's sluggish and no where near as coordinated as he normally is. Taking the glass, Steve's hand shakes and he knows that this zone was a bad one. Still he takes a sip and then another. The water feels good in his mouth and moving down his throat and he continues to take sips until the sensation is where it should be.

Handing the glass back to Danny, Steve bonelessly leans back into the couch. The zone took a lot out of him and what he really wants to do is cuddle back into Danny. The warmth and comfort he found there is a like a drug and Steve didn't get anywhere near enough. But Danny is a guide and Steve knows exactly what that means. It dawns on him that Danny could be a plant or working for Catherine. Here to watch him when she's not around. Just that thought makes him shiver into the couch.

Steve rubs a hand over his face trying to organize his thoughts. If Danny was plant surely he'd know what had happened... Wouldn't he?! Was it a trick? Were they trying to catch him in a lie? He knows what that means too should that be the case. The zone they'd force on him would make this one look like a walk in the park. Licking his lips, he tries to play it loose and not lock himself into anything he can't explain.

"You didn't tell me you were a guide," his voice is quiet and low. The question about Catherine is avoided for now, especially if it turns out Danny is reporting to her. "I uh... I must have zoned." Trying to leave it vague so that he can have room to maneuver if needed.

Eliot's not sure how long it takes him to become aware of his surroundings, aware of anything but this stranger's voice and scent, the beating of his heart, the steady rhythm of his scent. When the words finally start to make sense again, stop being meaningless strings of strangely reassuring sounds, his heart rate and breathing have synced up perfectly with the man in front of him, and it's all too damn much.

This isn't right, isn't safe, and he jerks abruptly away, expression set in a snarl and body tensed in that perfect balance between fight and flight. "What the hell did you do t'me?" he demands, stepping back, even as almost everything in him--everything but the rational (terrified) core of him--screams at him to step closer, to claim this man as his.

Danny can feel the panic and fear starting to rise. But he can't tell it is not his own. He swallows, but he doesn't pull back further. He is still sitting there next to Steve. But he is gripping the glass tightly. "I am a what? I have no idea what you're... " Then his eyes go wide. "You're a Sentinel?" If Danny's a plant and this is an act, it is an oscar worthy performance. It doesn't take enhances senses to tell he is confused and more than a little freaked out.

"I... Fuck..." But he can't bring himself to be scared of Steve. Even if he knows Sentinels are dangerous. "You could have ripped my head off. Steve, what the fuck? How long has this been going on. Why didn't you tell me? I thought all Sentinels were in the military. How... How did they not know?"

Danny takes another step back and holds up his hands, trying to show he doesn't mean any harm. "You were zoning. I... It's how I help ... " He pauses for a moment. He couldn't be sure Eliot isn't after Steve. "... I knew a guy. When he started to do... that, it was a way to help him. I am sorry. I didn't mean to harm you." He hopes he hadn't done that either.

"He called it being a guide. I'd never heard of them before that.." All true, and the way he says it makes that perfectly obvious.

"That's- Fuck. You damn well know that's not what I mean!" he snarls, gaze flicking to the telltale bulge of the man's sidearm, wondering how good he is with it. How fast. How fast he'll have to be to take it away from him. He feels like he knows the man's telling the truth, like he should take him at his world, but twenty years worth of hard won experience and almost fifteen years of harder won freedom are insisting he can't do that. Can't take that risk.

"How'd you draw me the hell in here?" And it's very much a growl, low and feral and actually rumbling through his chest. "And don't give me some bullshit like you don't know exactly what you are an' what you did or you're leaving in fucking pieces." He sounds angry, and he sure as hell looks it, but to someone with a direct line, however tenuous, to his emotional state he's more terrified and confused than anything. "'Cause I'm not going the hell back."

Steve blinks at Danny's response. It's so far from what he'd expect and so very Danny that he finds it hard to believe the scenario his mind conjured up.

Hearing the confusion and panic in Danny's voice further helps convince him and Steve lets out a sigh of relief. He raises an eyebrow at Danny. "When was I going to rip your head off? When you played puppet master to move me in here or now when I barely have the energy to sit up. You, and the team, were never in any danger. I promise."

Not yet fully calibrated to normal, Steve still feels off and a headache is starting to build behind his eyes. Increasing his hearing slightly he focuses in on Danny's heartbeat. It's a little fast, understandably, but still a calming anchor. Taking a few deep breaths he lines up his own heartbeat to Danny's and starts to match his breaths. That helps.

"I am military, Danny. I went online shortly after Dad sent us away. When he died, I zoned on the other end of the phone. When they finally pulled me out my senses were all stuck at a normal level. I'm no good to the military like that. Catherine was my handler. She keeps checking in to see how I'm doing, if the senses are coming back online but..." Steve drops his voice and his eyes. "I don't want to go back... I can't..."

He shakes his head dismissing that line of thought. "A few months back they started to return. I dial them down when Catherine comes." There's a pause. "You had no idea you were a guide? You're a natural. I didn't realize... You feel so good."

Terrified and cornered is a lot more dangerous than angry. Danny's been a cop long enough to know that. He makes sure he isn't between Eliot and the door before he starts explaining.

"I don't know what I am and that is the honest truth. I only started about a year ago and that was even an accident. When he calls it a guide I have to trust him because I don't fucking know." He takes a breath. "Back? You were military too?" That makes sense. "I am not here to bring you back there. Fuck, I wouldn't let them have anyone if I could stop it. I am not going to give them you anymore than I'm giving them him."

Eliot watches like a hawk--literally and figuratively--as the man... moves away from the door to give him a clear line of escape. It's unexpected, and eases at least a little of the tension in him. And then the guy mentions the military and even if he immediately follows it with the--fucking ridiculous--claim that he isn't going to hand him over Eliot can't let himself believe that. No matter how much he wants to. No matter how much everything in him is telling him the man in front of him is being absolutely, unflinchingly honest.

"You really expect me t'believe that bullshit?" he snaps, hands flexing restlessly. But no matter how much he tells himself it's with the desire to lay hands on him in violence--on the Guide. An actual, honest to fuck Guide, not just a glorified dog trainer of a handler--he knows it's because he just wants to touch. To get close enough to feel his body heat, to let their heart rates and breathing sync again.

"Swear t'god I'll kill you an' me both before I let them get their hands on me again, asshole." Because he can't believe what he wants to, he can't take that risk. He can't go back when it almost completely destroyed him last time, and did destroy so damn many other people, even if they weren't even close to all innocent.

Edited 2017-04-10 07:38 (UTC)

"No fucking way I am letting them have you. I rather give them myself than give them another Sentinel. Please trust me. I .. He hasn't told me much, but he doesn't have to. I can tell in the way he moves and talks and fucking feels. They fuck you over hard, don't they?"

Danny points to the table. "Listen. Give me a few minutes. Sit and talk and I'll tell you what I know. And it is your call if you want to believe that or not." He breathes slowly. Even if they are not close, he hopes it can help getting Eliot to calm. "My name is Danny Williams. I am a detective with the Hawaii five-o. We're cops, not military" Strictly speaking they weren't either.

He's starting to hyperventilate again, torn between the almost overwhelming, instinctive trust he feels for this stranger and almost everything he actually knows about how Guides work. How they suck you in, prey on your need and your weakness and your trust and use it against you. Build you up until you feel like you're flying and then drag you back down to earth and shatter you into pieces on the next breath. He can still remember it, all of it, like it was yesterday, and he'll be damned if he lets a moment of weakness destroy what he's managed to scrabble from the ruins of who and what he used to be.

"You so much as make a move for that gun, or your phone," Eliot growls, a knife seeming to simply materialize from thin air into his hand, and he spins it almost lazily between his fingers as he continues. "And you're dead before you finish twitching, Guide." The last word sounds like a curse the way he says it, but there's something desperate, almost longing, in the way his gaze fixes on Danny.

Edited 2017-04-10 08:05 (UTC)

Danny stops and looks at him. "How about this? You take them. Put them on the table out of easy reach. Phone's in my left pocket, unless you're going to let me take them out. There is a badge in the right pocket." He holds his hands up again, showing that he has no intention to go for any of the pieces he mentioned. "And before you ask, I am not bugged either. If I was, you don't think I'd come after you sooner rather than after two beers? I am not planning on doing anything stupid. I have a kid to go home to."

But he sees that look in Eliot's eyes and feels it in his voice. And his eyes soften. Fuck he wants to help. He wants to make Eliot feel safe and secure and prove that not everyone is out to fuck him over. "And I'd rather you didn't call me that. Nobody knowsand I really don't want to be on their radar. I put everyone at risk if I am."

If he'd so much as twitched towards one of his pockets Eliot would have put the knife through him at this point--probably something non-fatal, but definitely debilitating--but when he's careful to hold his hands out and away, posture relaxed and open, voice steady and even- Well, Eliot doesn't want to trust him--or maybe he wants it too much--but at least there's clearly no way he can present an immediate threat that way. And he's right, if he was bugged they wouldn't still be standing here, his backup would have been through the door with tranq guns a long time ago.

"Fine." The world's still growled out, but there's something about him that's... softer would be the wrong way to put it, but for at least this moment in time he's withholding judgment. He's trying to--or letting himself, maybe--give the guy a chance. "Hold still," he warns, knife disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared, possibly somewhere in or under the apron, and then steps forward to rifle Danny's pockets.

Christ, he knows it was a bad idea the second he gets into the Guide's personal space again, and that heady scent goes from distracting as hell to completely enveloping him. He can feel his body heat again, and it would take just a moment of inattention to find himself dialing in on the steady throb of his heart to the exclusion of all else again.

The effort it takes not to just press in close, get a hand on skin and hold on, makes him a little rougher than intended as he retrieves the wallet and phone and scans them both before tossing them aside on the table. The gun gets a bit more attention, though, as he checks the chamber for a round, then ejects the magazine and tosses them onto the table to slide to opposite ends, all done with the kind of casual coordination that speaks of intimate familiarity. "I don't like guns," he rasps, the tone and emphasis he gives it making it clear it's much more than that.

Eliot eyes him for a long moment after that last, jaw working. It feels true, it feels like something he needs to believe... but he still can't let himself. One at least partial solution comes to mind, though, and he reaches for the badge and holds it pointedly up where he knows one of Hardison's cameras will get the clearest picture. Hardison can take a hint, he'll handle the rest.

"Okay, now talk... Williams," he snaps as he tosses the badge back down on the table. His attention doesn't shift back to Danny, because through all of that it had never left him. The only time he's glanced even briefly away was to scan the badge when he'd picked it from his pocket, otherwise his attention has been virtually riveted on Danny's face.

Danny blinks, there is a headache starting to form where there hadn't been one seconds ago. "Steve? What is a Guide? I've heard of Sentinels and Handlers but never Guides. What do you mean I am a natural? I... Am I doing something to you?" He reaches over and moves to to turn Steve's face so he can look him in the eyes. "Why can't you go back? Did they hurt you?" It is the only thing that makes sense and that little tone of desperation in Steve's voice had sealed the deal.

"Is that why you don't want Catherine to know?" Touching feels good, had it always felt this good to be close to Steve. Without thinking he moves to wrap his arms around Steve and pull him close again. "Steve, if you don't want to go, we'll make sure you don't." He has no idea how, but nobody is hurting hid friend.

Danny makes a little sound of protest at the rough treatment,but he can't help the way his eyes slide close and he ever so slightly leans into the closeness. Very much an untrained guide move, letting a Sentinel know you need them as much as they need you. But Eliot's voice brings him back and be blinks. "Thankfully. I thought all of you were a little too trigger happy. My other one is." Yeah, he knows it is a bad idea to admit he has another Sentinel. But he feels like Eliot won't sell them out.

He glances up against the camera, then he moves to sit at the table, far away from his gun and phone and reaches for the beer. "A year ago. I came upon this guy, I had never seen anyone zone before. I'd heard of it but never seen it. I thought it was shock or something. I get him inside, keep talking to him and he ends up leaning on me. He says the heartbeat helps. Anyway, he told me I was a guide, a natural he called it. I gather most people who work with Sentinels aren't" He takes a sip of the beer. "I've been trying to learn how to guide him. When I saw you starting to zone I thought maybe the things that work for him would work for you. Seems like they did."

When Danny wraps his arms around Steve, he burrows himself in. Skin on skin would be preferred but he's not about to ask Danny for that, instead he basks in the warmth coming off of Danny. It feels like he's been cold for so long and Danny is finally warming him up. Why hadn't he realized this before?

"Guides are people who can feel a sentinel. They can pick up on our emotions before most people do. It's at a heightened level. Early detection. They can directly influence their sentinel. Help them to calm and relax, come down from a zone, or help to anchor us when we're using our senses." They can also cause distress and torment but Steve will save that for later. "A handler is trained to do those things but they are just like any other person. They don't have special gifts."

Squeezing Danny, Steve lets out a soft chuckle. "I should have guessed, you know?! I've always felt drawn to you. More relaxed in your presence. Calm. The sound of your voice is like a balm to my ears and your touch can instantly calm me down if I'm worked up. You might be why my senses started coming back..." That was a distinct possibility now that he's realized it. A non-threatening and safe environment where he could just be. He'd heard of sentinels coming on line like that and having that match but never truly believed it.

Steve sighs and cuddles in more even as his body relaxes. It feels so good to be hugging Danny that he just can't resist. The sound of Danny's heart is music to his ears and Steve allows himself to just listen for a moment. Then he stiffens slightly, this next bit is more difficult. "In the military, sentinels are tools. Catherine... She's not a bad person but she's career motivated. Has their interests in the forefront of her mind and she likes producing results." No matter the cost and usually those costs are at Steve's expense. "She knows how to use the tools at her disposal." There's a lot of subtext in his words. He's been punished for speaking ill of both military and handler in the past. He doesn't think Danny will punish him but the habit is now ingrained.

"But wouldn't I have felt it before. It's not like I haven't been following you around for a year." He pulls Steve closer and settles back so he is lounging with Steve on top of him, his hand is still stroking Steve's back as it seems to calm the other.

"Always felt drawn to me? Is that why you made me join the five o? And haven't you told me a million times I talk to much? Now you're telling me you like it?"

But what Steve says next has him frowning and tightening his grip on Steve protectively. "You are not a tool, Steve. You're an idiot and impulsive and a trouble magnet but you are not a tool." His voice carries nothing but fondness. "Catherine allows them to do this to you? And you still keep her around? Fucking hell Steven, next time I see her..." Well he is not exactly sure what he'll do, but he can't just sit back and let her take advantage of Steve.

That is a good question. Thinking back, Steve recalls the times where the military had him working with fresh new recruits. Usually as part of some sort of training, but occasionally he'll see one of those recruits later in the program. It makes him wonder... "I don't know, maybe you need exposure to a sentinel to come online...?" It sounds like a question because he's clearly guessing.

Steve smiles as he presses his face into Danny, enjoying the cuddling and being petted. There's no way he'd admitting that he riles Danny up just so that the other man will go off on a rant.

As Danny's mood goes darker, Steve can feel the change and makes a low uncomfortable noise. Then with Danny's threat he panics. Shaking his head and pulling away. "No no no no no. She's can't know you know, Danny. She can't know you're a guide. It's not that I keep her around persay, more that she's a condition of me not being on active status. If they find out I'm online I go back, I don't get a say. And if they know you're a guide they'll take you too. She can't find out, Danny. She can't find out any of it. You need to stay away from her." If she finds out about Steve that would be bad enough but knowing they'll take Danny too. And Grace... She's Danny's daughter, if being a guide is genetic would they take or watch her too. He doesn't know. He doesn't have any of the answers.

Steve makes a low desperate noise. This isn't good. This isn't good at all. He tries to pull away from Danny. "You need to leave. Stan wanted to go to Vegas? May-maybe that would be best. You can go with them. I'll put in a transfer. Keep you safe and off their radar." Steve needs Danny, now more than ever, but keeping his best friend and his family safe is more important than anything else.

PSL: Sentinel AU

Danny and Eliot meeting, Portland

Steve and Danny, Backstory: first time.

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