sixthiterationlogs | Gone Camping

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Gone Camping

WHO: Steve McGarrett
WHERE: North West of 7I Village
WHEN: End of June
OPEN TO: Mary McGarrett and Danny Williams
WARNINGS: None yet

It had become striking clear to Steve how fortunate they were in the villages when he’d been transported to the middle of nowhere with nothing. While they didn’t have all the modern conveniences they did at home, they could still be far worse off. For himself, it wasn’t that big of a problem. Being a Navy SEAL, Steve was more than familiar with wilderness survival and making due with his surroundings. But when he considered how Mary or Danny would fair out there on their own… If it was in the city, they’d likely manage better than he, but in the wilderness, he didn’t like their odds.

So once he returned he started dropping hints about spending a couple of nights away from the villages. Camping, although he hadn’t planned on taking any supplies. Subtle at first, if you could ever call Steve subtle, and then more direct as time went on. He was more than pleased when they both agreed.

Knowing how that yes could quickly change to a no, he negotiated on the supplies. Finally agreeing to the bare minimum - such as a tent, sleeping bags, water, a bit of food, and the tools to hunt for more. He didn’t want to make the experience a negative one, but rather one they all enjoyed and with any luck gained a better ability on how to survive without supplies.

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Danny had agreed to go along but barely. He could see Steve's point but a night out in the woods was very much not his idea of fun. Especially not after the lecture and his talks with Owen. But after having gotten Steve to agree to some small necessities he can't really argue anymore, even if he does his best at dropping in a bit more food.

He doesn't exactly walk in silence through the woods, muttering to himself the whole way. "Steve, tell me again why this is fun?"

As far as Steve is concerned, Danny wouldn’t be Danny without the muttering and a few lingering complaints. In fact, he takes comfort in those now. Danny’s grumbling is a clear indicator how the other man is fairing and generally Steve only needs to be worried when Danny is quiet. And he knows Danny packed extra food, but that doesn’t impact his good mood in the slightest.

“What’s not to enjoy, Danno? It’s a beautiful day. Fresh, clean air is all around you and everything you could possibly need, nature will provide.” A grin lights the mischief in his eyes as a nearby bird started to sing. “We even have background music... Sorry it’s not Bon Jovi but you have to admit, this is better.”

"Did I tell you about the bats that bite like snakes that Owen told me about? I just know one of us is going to get hurt and ... why did I agree to this? I could be down in the village." He sighs. "How much further?"

“Bats that bite like snakes?” Steve raises an eyebrow at Danny, clearly this is news to him. “I imagine they’re just like every other animal. Respect it. Give it space, don’t aggravate it and you’ll be fine. No one is going to get hurt and we’ve only been hiking for what? An hour now?” Pausing a moment in both speech and steps, he frowns. “You’d rather be down in the village?”

"You know I am not exactly big on hiking Steve." He grits his teeth, he doesn't like it when Grace goes 'are we there yet' on a drive and... well here he is doing the same to Steve. Even if a hike is totally different.

"I do prefer the comfort of the village yes."

"You need to relax, buddy." Steve says lightly, offering him a smile as he sucks in a big breath while extending his arms out. Holding the breath a moment, his smile grows as he exhales and lowers his arms. "Don't think of it as hiking, but as a way to recharge your batteries. Take in the beauty of the place. We're not far from the lake and we won't go too much further up... Maybe another hour or two and we'll find a good place to make camp."

He grins. "As for comfort, you have plenty here. We have the tent and sleeping bags, not to mention the tools to help us catch dinner... What more could you ask for?"

Danny shakes his head. "You know what I mean Steve, a cold beer, a proper kitchen to cook in. A comfortable bed." All things he doesn't really have here. What he really wants is to go home to Hawaii.

But he shakes his head to himself and just continues after Steve, quieting down on the muttering for a little while at least. When they do find a place to make camp, Danny does help out, and it's not like he has never put up a tent before, he has, it's just been a while.

Steve nodded, yes he did know what Danny meant, and what he wanted and he wished like anything that he could give him those things. Not being able to though is what made him want to do this camping trip. It's the only way he can think of to make sure that he's able to take care of himself no matter what.

Watching Danny put up the tent made Steve smile. He helped of course, but he let the other man take the lead. Once it's fully erect, he claps him on the back. "Looks good, Buddy. That should keep us dry and warm." Pulling out his fishing gear he nods towards the lake. "What do you say we catch some dinner?"

"Us dry and warm? You mean me and your sister, aren't you going to find a bush or something to sleep in?" But his bark has lost most of its bite. He looks over the camp and then nods, following Steve down to fish. This at least he's done a fair bit of, even with Steve. Though that had been out on the ocean, and the less they talked about that time the better.

"It's kind of pretty out here." He throws the fishing line out into the water, giving it a few seconds to sink before he slowly starts to reel it in.

"You're funny," Steve says with a smirk at his partner. Sure, he could easily sleep out under the stars and not think much of it, but he's not the one here for survival lessons. If there's a tent, he's sleeping in it. "If I left you guys alone in the tent you'd likely freak each other out over every noise from outside." A small grin lights his eyes as he contemplates how much fun that actually could be...

Down by the water, Steve's line is mimicking Danny's. "It is, isn't it? Peaceful too." It's the third cast out that he gets his first nibble. "Hey, I think I caught something." Shifting his stance to something more solid, he reels in their first catch of the day.

"Don't even..." Danny knows what that little grin means and he is not here for it.

"This is the way fishing should be, not... well let's just say that you and me fishing isn't always peaceful." He grins and then sets down his own fishing pole when Steve says he got something. "Yeah?"

There's a light chuckle from Steve at Danny's warning. He won't, most likely anyway, but that's not to say he won't keep teasing that he might.

He frowns slightly at that comment. "No? We actually get out there at some point?" They hadn't yet at the time Steve is from. Not that he hadn't asked Danny, for multiple and different kinds of fishing even, but with Danny's dislike of the water, they hadn't actually gone out. It didn't sound like it went well when they finally did either. Steve hoped it had nothing to do with what played into Danny's dislike. "Then I'm happy we get to right that wrong here." He smiles with that comment and starts pulling in his catch. It puts up a bit of a fight but nothing Steve can't handle. When it comes out of the water it's just a little guy though. No where big enough to feed them and Steve frowns and pouts at his catch as it hangs from his line.

Danny chuckles a little. "I bet I can get something bigger than that." Yeah, both him and Steve are competitive and at least Danny knows he is. Steve still denies it.

"We do get out there, but the boat we're in... This dude steals it and leaves us in a sinking boat."

Unhooking the little fish from his line and letting it go back into the water, he glares at Danny. "Alright, hot shot, lets see you do better!" Casting his line back out, Steve bites his lip a moment. "Loser does the others chores for a day."

It's not that Steve doesn't believe, Danny, he does, but that sounds like a wild tail. "We get boat-jacked and left in a sinking boat? Obviously we both survived but..." He chuckles lightly. "I'm sure that it wasn't my fault." He knows Danny well enough to know that the other man likely blamed him in some fashion.

"Well." Danny does blame most things on Steve. "There were sharks too. Just to make it better. And you were swimming with them." and I thought I was going to lose you He doesn't say that last bit out loud. He hasn't told Steve everything yet, there are some things he is pretty sure the SEAL wouldn't understand.

He throws the line back into the water letting it sink enough before he starts pulling it back in.

Baiting his line before casting it out once more, he thinks about that for a moment. "You know, that wouldn't have been the first time. I'm a SEAL, Danny, we're trained to swim in shark infested waters."

He's trying to be reassuring as he can hear that 'something' in Danny's voice, even if he's not fully sure as to why it's there or what it is. Concern? Maybe... The idea that Danny was concerned for him warms him and he can't help but smile.

"Yeah but this is different. You don't have a weapon or anything. Heck, you don't have a team with you." Danny shakes his head. Yeah, it was concern. Of course, he was concerned for Steve, his best friend and partner. "Just to make it better when we do get on a boat, the motor is dead and there is a dead body there."

Steve turns to look at him, his voice sincere. "I had you with me, Danny. That's all I needed."

Face pulling into a frown as he takes in the rest of the story, Steve faces back out to the water again. "Let me get this straight... The first time I get you out on the water to go fishing, we get boat-jacked, end up in a sinking boat, swim with sharks, then find another boat but the motor is dead and there's a dead body on-board? I can't decide if we are extremely lucky or just flat out cursed!"

There's a pause and he looks curious and slightly amused back at Danny. "Did we ever go out again?"

Danny shakes his head. "Nope. And I am not going out with you again after that." Never mind that they are fishing now, then again that is different than this, here they are standing on land. Also, they might never get home. That sours his mood some and he sighs.

Then he thinks about what Steve said first and he blinks. "Are you saying I make up for a whole team of SEALs? Can I get that in writing?"

The pout that crosses his features is one he can't help. It's disappointing to hear that Danny feels so strongly about spending time out on the water with him. He knows it's not all him, that his partner came to Hawaii with a distinct dislike of the ocean, but for him, a man who's spent most of his life on or near the water, he can't think of any better place to be - and to share that with his favorite person... With a soft sigh he pushes away those thoughts. Just because they can't be on the water together, doesn't mean they can't have the next best thing - being on land near the water together. He plans to enjoy this as much as he possibly can.

Steve smiles and turns back to his partner at the question. For a moment he thinks about making a joke about it, but he can't do that. Not right now. Not after arriving here and realizing that he may have lost out on letting Danny know how much he really means to him... Not that he thinks he's ready or able to go all the way either, at least not yet, but this is something Danny should never question. "I did that already, Danno. The day that we met and it's not a decision I've ever regretted."

Danny looks away when he sees that pout. He knows Steve loves the water, heck that is why he has agreed to go out fishing with him in the first place. "We do go surfing a lot though." Hopefully that will make Steve feel better.

The next bit stuns him and he just stares at Steve for a long moment. "You serious about that Steve?" He swallows and then shakes his head. Then he licks his lips. "I'm glad you're here with me." He'd feel lost without Steve and if they are being brutally honest...

A grin instantly lights up his features. "We do?" Yes, the idea of Danny surfing with him does make Steve very happy. "You know, we can go surfing here if you're interested...?"

Holding Danny's gaze, Steve nods. Making Danny his partner that day had been a leap of faith for Steve but there had been so much about Danny, and how they met, that had made leaping easy. He trusted his SEAL team, but no where near to the same degree that he trusted Danny. The SEALs had Steve's back, Danny had his entire life. Steve trusted, and relied upon, him implicitly. "I'm glad to be here with you too, partner."

"Yeah? Do we have boards and everything?"

When Steve holds his gaze like that Danny ends up looking like a deer in headlights. He wonders if Steve knows how much he needs to hear that, that Danny needs to know that Steve isn't just keeping him around because he is a good detective. He opens his mouth, halfway to saying something they'll probably both regret when he feels a fish on the line and his attention is drawn away. "Steve! Fish."

"I can make you a board. Until then you can borrow Mary's. Or we can see if Moana's is still here somewhere." If he'd known Danny was surfing he would have started on his already.

Watching Danny's facial expression, Steve knows they are having a moment. A zing of nerves runs through him and suddenly his palms are sweaty and the hair on the back of his neck twitch as he waits for Danny to speak. He hopes what Danny is about to say is what he's hoping it will be and that they are on the same page. The urge to ask 'yes' is on the tip of his tongue but then Danny is looking away and he's left confused.

"What?" Following Danny's look it quickly makes sense. "Oh! FISH!" On type of excitement is replaced with another and he's calling out words of encouragement not really focusing on the words at all. "Reel it in, Buddy! Careful. Don't lose it. You got this..."

Danny does as he is told, and for once doesn't mention that this isn't his first rodeo. Part of him is disappointed that he didn't get to say what he wanted, another part is relieved. Hopefully Steve will have forgotten by the time they got the fish on land. It is a bit of a struggle but eventually a good sized fish is being hauled towards the shore.

"Are you ready to grab it?"

It's not likely that Steve is going to forget, at least not fully. Whether he'll bring it up later or not is another story. It's not that he's confused about his own feelings. No he knows exactly what he feels towards Danny, and what he wants with the other man. The problem he has, the stumbling block that stops him from moving forward, is whether or not Danny would feel the same way in return and want the same things. He's not even so much concerned that Danny will hate him for the way he is, but he is concerned that by revealing how he feels, it will change their relationship if Danny doesn't feel the same way in return. And that, that is something that Steve just can't have. His relationship with Danny means everything to him and he can't, easily, put it in jeopardy over what might be. Especially since he is fairly certain that Danny is very much straight.

But, right now his focus is on the good sized fish that Danny is hauling in. Steve had made a fishing net not long after he arrived here and he grabs that now, holding it steady and under the fish for Danny to lower it into. "Whenever you're ready, partner, so am I. Nice job, Buddy! Looks like we won't be going hungry tonight!"

Danny laughs as the fish is caught in the net and then helps getting it onto the shore. Then he just stands there looking at it. He is pretty sure Steve is going to take care of dispatching it and gutting it. At least he hopes so. Danny knows how to do it he just rather not, especially not when Steve most likely is going to comment on it anyway.

"Yeah, we can cook it up over a nice big fire. Should be a nice meal." He reaches over to place a hand on Steve's shoulder, happy to be laughing and having done a good job.

It feels good to be laughing here with Danny. The touch of Danny's hand on his shoulder warms him in ways that he'd forgotten how good it felt. The feeling that he truly belongs somewhere. He almost finds it odd that he's feeling that here, a place where they truly does not belong, but he'd learned long ago that it's the people that matter, not the location. And in Steve's mind, by Danny's side is exactly where he belongs. Always. Even if it can't be in all the ways he wants it to.

"Yes, it should," he agrees happily, momentarily sidetracked from their earlier conversation and the desire that ignites deep in his belly, also fuelled by the touch on his shoulder. "Think Mary will have the fire going by the time we get back?" Steve's sure she's tried, he's just not certain she would have fully succeeded. Although to be fair, she'd become much better at lighting and maintaining the fire at the house, but there was a difference between a fireplace with dried wood and out in nature.

Steve had intended on letting him and Mary take care of things while they were out here with him only being around to help and advise as needed. Not knowing what Danny was thinking earlier, he asks, "When was the last time you cleaned a fish?"

The last thing that Mary wanted to be doing right now is camping. It was bad enough that she was living in a house with no electricity or running water. Now her insane brother was taking away the one luxury they had in this place and making her go camping.

She heard and understood his arguments as to why they should go camping and she knew that he was trying to make this fun but short of finding a cabin with all the modern conveniences she had grown accustomed to over the years in L.A., she wasn't going to have a good time.

During the hike to the campsite, Mary lagged behind Steve and Danny. "Tell my why we are doing this again? You and I have two different ideas of the word "fun", Steve. There's bugs out here and probably bears! I did not sign up to be a bear's dinner! I could have stayed back at the house you know. Actually, that sounds like a good idea. I'll just go back to the house."

Even though Mary walked behind them, Steve kept an ear out for her at all times. Much like with Danny, Mary's complaining didn't bother Steve. It wasn't the same as Danny, who truly was only happy when he had something to rant about, but like Danny, it was when Mary got too quiet that he really started to worry. That she was behind them making far too much noise and expressing her dissatisfaction with their present situation though was music to his ears - internally.

Externally he rolled his eyes. "You want to go back to the house? On your own?" A small grin twitched at the corners of his mouth. "What if you run across a bear? Wouldn't you rather if we were there with you, you know, should that happen?"

If Steve enjoyed listening to Mary complain, he was going to be sick of it by the time they finished this camping trip because she had no intention of stopping.

"Danny and I didn't go to Army school, Steve." Yes she knew he was in the Navy but by calling it Army school, she always go a rise out of her brother that she enjoyed. "Nothing about this is going to be fun. If I wanted to sit in the dark with no water, I could stay at home."

At Steve's mention about the bear, she stopped and looked around, trying to hide the worry from her face. She was joking about bears but were there bears in this forest? "There's no bears here......right?" Even if she tried to keep the worry away from her features, the uncertainty is clear in her voice.

"Navy, Mary." His voice conveys how unimpressed he is, even if he knows she knows damn well that it wasn't the Army. "It's the Navy." After a sigh he adds, "Then enjoy being out in nature. And, we have plenty of water - both here and at home."

Steve shrugs without turning around or slowing, even though he's well aware that she stopped. There's no doubt in his mind that in a moment, she'll race to catch up again. "I haven't seen a bear but... You know there are more animals around here that weren't here in that simulation. Coming back from that temple, we saw tracks and remains from larger animals. Who knows what's out here with us."

Now he couldn't keep the grin off his face. As they'd been hiking he'd been keeping an eye out. There were smaller animals around here but nothing large enough that they couldn't deal with. At least so far, he expected the further they went from the villages the more that might change. Still, it was clear that Mary didn't know that and as much as she liked to tease him, he liked to tease her too.

Mary gave a small triumphant grin as she heard how unimpressed Steve was. Telling Steve he went to Army school was one of the fastest ways to get a rise out of him. "But there's bugs out here and god only knows what else! Are you sure that something isn't going to come eat us while we sleep?" She was being over-dramatic but she really, really didn't want to be camping.

Mary continues to scan her surroundings and it may just be her imagination but she was fairly certain something moved in the distance to their right and it was enough get her moving again to catch up with Steve and Danny. "You haven't seen a bear? For all we know there's a lion out here or something!" Steve was not helping his case here. The safety of the house sounded more and more appealing.

"I think we should all go home Steve. It's safer there."

"We'll be fine, Mary, as long as we stick together." His voice holds the confidence he truly feels, he's not worried in the slightest. This is Steve in his element, he was trained for this.

Stopping his progression, he turns to look at Mary. She's hit on exactly what he's worried about. "It's not safe here anywhere, Mary, and we can't go back home. That's part of the point of this camping trip. To help give you and Danny some survival skills that you didn't need to have back home. You both need to be self-sufficient here. It's great if you can find someone to trade with or help you out in some way, but you can't depend on that." Not with what Steve's seen has been happening. If Mary, or Danny, were suddenly transported away from the villages alone, or even with each other, would they make it back? How would they survive? These things were starting to keep him up at night. This trip was a step in rectifying that.

Mary didn't find too much comfort in Steve's assurance. While he may feel confident that nothing was going to happen, she wasn't. She knew that her brother had training to handle these kinds of situations but they were in a totally different environment. Did Steve have the training to deal with whatever this place threw at them?

Mary listened to Steve as he told her his reasoning for this camping trip. She knew that he was right. All three of them could end up separated at some point but Mary was pretty confident she could handle things if she absolutely had to. She wasn't as resourceful as her brother but she had made her way out of some bad situations before. Although perhaps this place was a little more intense than a drunken night gone wrong.

"So you're planning on turning Danny and I into SEALs?" She gave a small smile, trying to lighten the situation a bit. "Fine but the first sign of a bear or, I don't know, a dinosaur, and I'm going home!"

"SEALs?" Steve's eyes get big and he can't help but laugh at that idea. "Mary, I doubt you'd let me."

It wasn't that Mary couldn't be a SEAL if she put her mind to it, same with Danny. The thing was, Steve knew that neither of them would ever allow him to push them that way or that far for them to become such. And truthfully, Steve didn't think he could do it to them either. BUDS training hadn't been easy - mentally or physically, and while he'd made it through and helped Freddy to get through it as well, he didn't think he could be the one putting them through all that. Besides, as far as he was concerned, it was okay that they weren't SEALs. He didn't need or want them to be.

More seriously, "I'm not looking to do that. I just want you both to be able to survive and to be comfortable being in the wilderness on your own. You don't need to be SEALs for that."

Then he laughed again and shook his head. "If there are dinosaurs here, I'll even join you!"

Mary laughed at Steve's reaction to her suggestion that he is planning on making her and Danny into SEALs. "Good because that's your gig. Not mine!"

Mary had no interest in being military anything. It just wasn't her thing. That being said, she was extremely proud of her big brother for all he has accomplished over his career. Mary had her investigative talents as well but she wasn't as refined with them as Steve.

"For the record, I don't intend to be living in the wilderness by myself. Being in that house without electricity or water is bad enough!"

"The house is a gift, Mary. One that can be easily taken away." Steve's recent experience with being teleported elsewhere and needing to live off the land had jarred him into some not so pleasant realizations. The house was nice and with it came some comforts, but they might not always be there. "Look what happened to me."

Tilting his head to the side, Steve crossed his arms. "What would you have done if you suddenly ended up somewhere else with no supplies and no clue as to how to get back to the village?"

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Gone Camping

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