Chapter 16

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When Steve returned to Hawaii, he was on cloud nine. He had spent a dream week with his man who had taken him along with his team to tour the reserve and ensure that the hibernation of the dragons was going smoothly. Few dragons hibernated, but they had four that were, and the dragon riders wanted to make sure everything was fine for them. The military man had fallen in love with the snowy mountains, the hidden hiking paths, and insisted on camping there with Charlie on his days off. The two men had spent two days alone in the peaks, exploring, admiring, and loving each other.

Steve quickly came down from his cloud when he found his house smoky with the fire alarm blaring, and Danny not at all alarmed. Steve wasted no time and extinguished the source of smoke with a fire extinguisher, ignoring his friend's complaints.

"Great, you ruined my fajitas."

"I prevented a catastrophe," he growled as he opened the windows and stopped the alarm.

"I was going to do it."

"Why fajitas?" he asked as he returned to the living room.

"Grace had spinach fajitas the other day, she loved them, so I wanted to make them for her. As a surprise, you know? You're making a funny face, why?"

"What happened to my house?" Steve snapped as he confronted the mess in his living room.

"Oh, that will be cleaned up soon, I have a pile system."

"Piles system, seriously? Do me a favor, remind me of your pile system next time I ask you to watch my house..."

He was interrupted by barking.

"There's a dog?"

"Yes, Rachel had to leave, she asked me to take care of her dog. But don't worry, I was planning to change the sheets."

"You brought a dog to my house, and it's sleeping in my bed?"

"Well, the couch isn't big enough for both of us, so... how was your week with Charlie?"

"It was great, but seeing all this mess makes me wonder if I should have come back earlier or not at all."

"I'm glad to see you too."

A call from the governor interrupted their conversation, and the two men were summoned for an investigation. The cases piled up, Danny cleaned the house before heading home, and Steve thought more and more about Charlie, but also about Joe and Shelburne; something was bothering him. Time flew by until March tenth, his birthday. Since he had been an adult, he had almost always been on a mission on that day, he had never had the chance to celebrate it with Charlie, his family, or his friends, and he didn't imagine he would this year either. He even completely forgot his birthday when he found his sister on the beach after surfing with Danny. He was surprised and delighted to find her there, but saddened to learn that she had to leave a few hours later as she was now a flight attendant.

When his sister left, he hoped to see her again soon, but not a few hours later. However, a phone call interrupted his argument with Danny about the team's secrets. Mary had been arrested at the airport for illegally carrying diamonds. Steve dove into the investigation, while also finding that his colleagues were acting strangely around him. But he understood why when he opened Danny's car trunk and found a half-melted cake in the shape of a gun.

A smile lit up his face as he realized that all the secrets were to surprise him for his birthday. He felt happy, deeply touched by the attention, less so by what he saw and tasted – the cream in the cake hadn't enjoyed being in the trunk. They quickly moved on and resumed the investigation. They couldn't catch Angela, the one who had framed Mary, but Steve made sure his sister could keep her position with the airline company. That was when Danny asked him to come to the digital table. Once in the hallway, Chin and Kono pushed a cart towards him with a grenade-shaped cake, singing him a happy birthday.

"It's an awesome cake," Steve marveled after blowing out his candles.

"We thought about hiding and jumping out, yelling surprise, but well..." Danny chimed in.

"Well, you should never surprise an armed and highly trained man."

"I'll keep that in mind," Chin replied.

"I'll remember that," Kono added while cutting a slice of cake.

"I think you need to admit one thing: it's not easy to surprise me."

"Try not to kill the surprise," a deep voice murmured in his ear as large hands landed on his hip.

Steve turned around in the arms of Charlie and kissed him passionately, his plate in one hand and his other hand on the dragon rider's neck.

Laughter and whistles erupted behind them, and they both ended up laughing during their kiss.

"So, surprised?" Danny asked.

"Did you bring him here?"

"Who else has his number?"

"Let's say we coordinated", corrected Charlie. "I didn't need Danny to come up with the idea of coming today."

Steve couldn't be happier. He had the love of his life, his sister, and his closest friends with him on his birthday. He was certain he would remember this day for the rest of his life, just like the day he met Charlie or the day he explained to him that they were soulmates. It was at that moment that he realized he couldn't wait any longer to clarify the matter of Shelburne and Wo Fat. He needed to start looking for Shelburne as soon as Charlie returned to Romania.

Fueled by his resolution but not ready to announce it and spoil the mood, Steve enjoyed his evening. First, they all ate the cake together, then went for beers at the military guy's place. One by one, they left until only Danny and the couple were left, but the hungry looks exchanged between the two men made Danny flee as well.

Barely had Danny closed the door behind him when Steve lay Charlie down on the couch and devoured his lips. The two men quickly made love and then fell asleep intertwined on the couch.

When Steve woke up the next morning, Charlie was holding him a little tighter than usual.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

"I know you're going to chase after ghosts."

"Do you really want to have this conversation before coffee?" Steve sighed.

"You talk more in bed than over coffee."

The military man closed his eyes. He knew it was true; he was trying to make an effort, but his lover was right – it would be easier to talk to him while facing away.

"Joe lied to me, I need to know."

"Are you going alone?"

"Yes."

"The last time you did that, you were tortured, and you were convinced he was going to target me."

Steve felt guilty, but he had made up his mind.

"I know, but now I'm scared every day that I'll hear something's happened to you. I get a knot in my stomach every time you don't reply because you're in the field."

"Hey, hey, stop, I can defend myself, you know?"

"I know, I can too."

He turned around to face his lover.

"I promise to be careful and to call you as soon as I can, okay? And please, if Danny calls you, tell him not to worry about me."

Charlie laughed at these words and gently kissed the military man.

"I'm glad you have him as a friend. He watches over you," he said with a smile. "When are you planning to leave?"

"How long will you stay?"

"I might consider not leaving if it keeps you safe..."

"That's nice, but your dragons will miss you too much."

"That's true, but it's nothing compared to the thought of losing you."

"Everything will be fine."

Steve concluded the conversation by kissing his lover and making him forget all his worries in the best way possible. Four days later, Charlie was leaving, and Steve left a letter on Danny's desk to explain what he was about to do.


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