Lilo's McDanno Rec List
Because. Your honor. They are gay for each other.
Assume none of the Ao3 content warnings apply unless I listed one
Ten particular favorites have been marked with stars - and funnily enough almost all of them are by folks I know the tumblr url of, big shout-out to you guys for being awesome!
Recs under the cut because this got long with over 30 fics, I've listed them from shortest to longest:
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★ A sunrise, mocked by SquaresAreNotCircles ★ @five-wow
1k, rated G, homophobia, humor
Then, the guy turns to his friend at the table he came from, one near the door, not that far away in a quiet room. He raises his voice a little to be heard, but his tone is conversational. “Hear that, Danny? Your drink’s a little gay.” Or: A drunk man at a bar offers a word of warning. Steve and Danny, naturally, are very concerned.
★ Undercover Bingo by lavvyan ★ @lavvyan
2k, rated T, undercover as a couple, humor
But on every platform, sooner or later, the inevitable question was asked: "They do know they've been on TV, right? In newspapers? The internet???" To which the equally inevitable answer was: "No. No, I don't think they do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" Because Five-0 could access federal databases and hack international bank accounts, but they'd apparently never heard of social media. Or: The Five-0 team believe that they're very good at being undercover. Literally nobody else agrees.
Make It Real by Brumeier
3k, rated G, emotional hurt/comfort
When Steve gets injured on a case, his memory gets a little muddled. When he slips-up will it ruin things forever, or will he finally get everything he's been wishing for?
Weekend Traditions by delighted
3k, rated M, getting together
The boys are pretty big on traditions, like beer and take-out on Friday nights, or surfing Saturday mornings. So when they start sleeping together on Friday nights, it becomes a tradition. Until it becomes a whole lot more.
★ put your mind at ease by eleanor_lavish ★ @lavishness
5k, rated E, coming out, getting together
Somewhere in the last year, while Steve was busy killing bad guys, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been erased from the books and guys like Jeff can marry whoever they damn well please.
bright shining as the sun by gottalovev
5k, rated E, chose not to use archive warnings
A quiet afternoon at Steve's with Gracie takes an interesting turn when Steve learns about Danny's past.
to leap without a shove by DreamBrother
6k, rated T, AU first meeting
What if Danny and Steve first met because they got stuck in an elevator together?
Got a Feel for It by lavvyan @lavvyan
6k, rated T, graphic violence
"Sure," Steve says. "But you make the coffee. I don't know what you did, but it actually tasted decent today." "Trade secret," Danny says, because it's either that or 'I controlled the coffeemaker with my mind.' Or: After getting struck by lightning (don't tell Steve), Danny develops a strange affinity for technology. Using it to keep his loved ones safe is the logical next step. He just has to figure out how to do that.
Before it Began by Leslie_Knope
7k, rated E, alternate first meeting just pre-canon
There’s an empty spot next to the guy, so what the fuck—Danny steps up to the bar and sprawls into the seat. He’s had a terrible day, so at the very least he deserves some eye candy to surreptitiously enjoy while drowning his sorrows.
All for Grace by esteefee
7k, rated T, h/c, getting together
When Grace is kidnapped, Steve goes full-on ninja to rescue her. Against all of his protective paternal instincts Danny has to trust Steve to do it.
Worth the Effort by evil_giraffe
8k, rated T, homophobia, getting together
An act of vandalism leads to unexpected revelations.
★ Finding the Shore by out_there ★ @out-there-tmblr
8k, rated G, doctor!Steve cop!Danny
Dr Steve McGarrett is one of the best in the nation, and certainly amongst the top twenty cardiothoracic surgeons in the world. Danny has had to uproot his life, his career, his everything and move across the country on this one last-shot hope that he’ll operate on Grace. But what sort of doctor walks around wards in shorts and a t-shirt? No scrubs, no lanyard, no white coat to make it easy to identify him. What sort of doctor does that? McGarrett shrugs. “The kind that lives in Hawai’i?”
the long haul by raeldaza
9k, rated T, friends to lovers
In where Steve and Danny are playing romantic relationship bingo without ever actually being in a romantic relationship. It's not a big deal, they insist. It's just bros being bros. They'll get there in the end. Eventually. You know, sometime. Probably. They're not too worried about it.
Tight-knit by ghostintheworld
10k, rated T, mutual pining
Steve sighs. “Okay, so. I read the full report, the one from the stress management consultant?” he explains, finally. “And I haven’t changed my mind, I still think it’s mostly useless crap. But she suggested taking up a hobby to decompress and I mean, trying something new can be fun,” Steve says casually. “Plus, we wouldn’t want your money to go to waste, right?” “Color me surprised,” Danny says, tone dripping with sarcasm. “I can’t believe the day has come when you finally listen to me on something. But still, I have to ask, why knitting?” *** Or, Steve knits his way to Danny's heart.
Until the Hour of Separation by Zinnith
10k, rated T, established, angst with happy ending
Danny has a long history of getting his heart broken. Steve sneakily tries to make him move in anyway.
Nocturne in C# Minor (featuring Stevie Ray Vaughn) by minou_demimonde
10k, rated T, getting together
So, to recap, Danny has beautiful eyes, great shoulders, a pleasantly-shaped butt, a delectable mouth, expressive hands, and he smells good. You know, Steve has gone to bed with women who didn’t have that much going for them.
There's a companion piece from Danny's POV here.
All My Guards Away by sheafrotherdon
12k, rated M, hurt/comfort
Tag to episode 1x18, with all the heartache that implies. Now with bonus fixes. With thanks to dogeared for all her suggestions and edits.
A million ways to be a good one by ellievolia, sirona
13k, rated E, getting together
It's exceptionally inconvenient to be coming to certain realisations regarding one's feelings towards one's partner, when one's parents decide to come and visit, and one has to sleep on said partner's sofa for the duration. Or the one where Pa and Ma Williams come to Hawai'i, and Danny finds it nigh-on impossible to hide his growing feelings for Steve. Includes pining, angst, meddling parents, and quite a bit of fluff.
On the Importance of Sleep by delighted
14k, rated E, pining
When a voice from deep inside him tries to warn Danny he’s heading down a dangerous path, he tells it to fuck off. Because crawling into bed with Steve may be inviting disaster, but it’s also inviting sleep. And that’s too much for him to resist. Or, Steve starts sleeping in Danny’s bed, and that’s not going to be problematic at all, now is it?
Mr Rosso Goes to Hawaii by Siria
14k, rated E, graphic violence
In which there is an undercover op, and no one looks like a waiter.
★ Trusses of My Heart by Goneahead ★ @mayberrycryptid
15k, unrated, disability, wheelchair, brain injury
Danny and Steve meet at a rehab hospital. (Danny was disabled in the line of duty, Steve was disabled in a chopper crash)
Down Beneath the Waves by samjohnsson
15k, rated E, surfing, trauma, Danny-centric
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it takes another thousand to explain it.
★ How You See You by emphasisonthehomo ★
17k, rated M, trans woman Stef, trans man Danny
WIP Series, each part works as a standalone fic
The modern au where Danny and Stef are transgender millennials, babies of the internet. Calling each other ‘bitch’ as a love language. OR He meets Stef when he’s like 18, on a sub-reddit that doesn’t exist anymore. She’s kind of a huge fucking cunt. Danny’s kind of in love with her. OR Sometimes the people you meet on the internet stick with you.
Transformative by boxparade
21k, rated G-M, trans Danny, coming out, getting together, wip series but feels complete enough
Danny blames the lack of coffee, the strangeness of the day, the late hour, and the full moon for his less-than-attentive conversational skills.
I actually wrote a 7k companion piece to this one!
Chaotic Alignment by lilolilyrae (yes shameless self promotion but this is one of my rare really old fics that I still love)
23k, rated M, mutual pining, coming out
The Big Gay Revelation, and What happens in Steve and Danny's lives after they finally get together.
★ Lost at the Edge of the Sun by james ★ @gilajames
24k, rated T, angst with a happy ending
Living in Hawai'i is expensive, especially when you're still paying a mortgage on a house back in Jersey. When things get to be too much, Danny has to make a hard decision. The hardest part is keeping the rest of the team from finding out that he's homeless.
★ The Long Way Down aka the McDanno Husbands AU by pterawaters ★ @pterawaters
30k, rated E, WIP but part 1 works as a standalone fic
It was 2004, and when Danny left Jersey on an errand to Boston, he never figured he'd be coming back married to someone who was not the mother of his child. Same-sex married, at that. And of course his husband would disappear the morning after the wedding, only to be found again six years later, in Hawaii.
Recognizing Reality by evil_giraffe
30k, rated T, canon divergence, coma dreams
Post 10x22, Steve learns that his recollections of the events of the past year have very little in common with what actually occurred.
★ Home by cyfarwydd ★ @cyfarwydd
50k, rated M, AU established relationship
Danny's life had been turned upside down ever since Steve ambled into it, carving a place for himself that Danny couldn't ignore- not that he minded. (Alternate Reality if Danny had chanced upon meeting Steve when they were 25.)
★ Through the Darkness by islandgirl ★ @buckupbuttercup
52k, rated T, graphic violence, PTSD
Navy SEAL Steve McGarrett is injured when his team's convoy is attacked while transporting a prisoner. He's currently rehabbing at Tripler, trying to regain the use of his legs. Detective Danny Williams is haunted by a cold case that should've never gone cold. With the case only a few months old, and now one afternoon free a week while his daughter is out learning community service at Tripler, Danny digs into the case again under the table with the help of another disgraced cop and will stop at nothing to see justice served.
Where Waters Do Not Curve by emphasisonthehomo
60k, rated T-E, wip Series but feels complete enough
Where Danny is trans and a PI, and somehow gets all tangled up in Five-0. And Steve. OR “Initial consultation starts at $100.00 an hour,” Danny says, and hides a yawn behind his hand, faux casual. Kelly’s expression gets slightly sharper, a little meaner, and McGarrett’s scowl deepens. OR Danny Williams is a Private Investigator. It changes a lot of things.
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My McDanno • More McDanno • More rec lists
If you want to reblog the full length version (where the fics aren't hidden under the cut) it's here
Mcdanno tag list, lmk if you want on/off the list: @bee1968-ch @folklorepridebitch - I have other tag lists for Hacks HBO, James Bond, Leverage, Poirot, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Old Guard, The Witcher and more, lmk if you want on any of those as well!
