The Professional

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Well hello there my wonderful readers! So, i know it's late, but here's the next chapter. We get to see a little bit of what's going on with Malcolm and Rowan and Steve are acting stupid again. But don't worry. The story is going to be done very, very soon (two chapters I think) and I promise it'll be a happy ending! As always don't forget to leave a review or drop a fav or a follow and I'll see you guys next week!

Chapter 21

For a moment there Malcolm had almost died.

Actually he had died.

He had been dead for almost five minutes before they brought him back.

They were waiting for him to show signs of brain damage, so far he hadn't, but he was also laid up in bed. Once he started moving around they were sure they'd notice something if it was there.

Malcolm had heard that Trevor was in the same hospital as him. He wasn't there because he was injured though, he was only because Rowan was. He had yet to come and visit him.

Malcolm wasn't sure that was fair.

He had also heard that McGarrett was there, because the nurses were always up in a twitter when he was around. They like to lament that it was a shame he was so obviously smitten with his girlfriend, which must have been Rowan, because he hadn't noticed a single one of them trying to flirt with him.

He heard that the trial went on while he was healing and everything he had done had come out on the stand. Multiple times.

Then he was told by WITSEC that he was being fired.

That meant he was going to be jobless when he got out of the hospital. And jobless for a long time after because this was going to look horrible on his resume.

Also, he would have to tell his parents what happened. He'd be the first in his whole family, the whole family line, to be fired out of his government job. The first in his family to come out as gay too.

He was sure his parents wouldn't care so much about the sexual orientation part, but they were definitely going to care that he got fired for his boyfriend.

Who he was starting to think had broken up with him, because seriously why hadn't he come to visit him? Was his supervisors keeping him away until after the trial? The Pierce siblings had always done whatever they wanted so it didn't make sense for Trevor to obey if he really, really wanted to see him. He had to conclude that Trevor just didn't want to see him.

Which was bullshit because he almost died for Trevor, he had gotten fired for Trevor, the least the man could do was how up when Malcolm needed him.

So, you know, lots of good thing to look forward to. (That was sarcasm, he was actually super depressed.)

When Trevor finally showed up, it was the day that the Pierces were due to ship back to Victoria.

Trevor walked in looking handsome as always, a bit of a reddened beard clinging to his jaw line defining it sharply. He was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt that Malcolm was sure was his, but it was the frown on his face that Malcolm didn't like.

"Hi," he breathed out sheepishly hoping this wasn't going to go the way he thought it was going to go.

"I have a plane to catch, so I'm going to keep this brief," Trevor said and Malcolm sharply inhaled. So this was going to go the way he thought it was going to go. "What the actual fuck were you thinking?"

"Excuse me?"

"I want to know, where in that stupid little mind of yours, did you think it would be a good idea to trade my sister's life for mine?"

"I… I mean… I just… I needed to save you, Trev…"

He hoped the nickname would save him, but instead it seemed to set Trevor off.

"You HANDED him my sister!" Trevor shouted. "Don't you get it? She's my sister! And you were going to let him kill her for…"

"I love you," Malcolm cried. "I didn't want him to hurt you…"

"And you think I would have been okay with the price?"

"I mean… no one in your family really likes her…"

"SHUT UP!" Trevor thundered. "Shut up! Shut up! Do you have any idea what he did to her? DO YOU?! Cause I had to hear it happen."

"I mean… I got shot so…"

Trevor found himself staring at the man he used to love. His heart caving in his chest.

"You're never going to get it, Malcolm, because you've always hated her."

"Trevor. That girl is a psychopath…"

"That girl is my baby sister," Trevor said almost wearily. As if he were tired of having to explain this. "She has literally tanked her whole life to help me, did you know that? She was the one who got me off the hook for my debts. She was the one who got us out of that situation. And she was the one who has come and gotten me out a hostage situation… twice. Yes, I take her for granted. Yes I let my parents think that she's the problem when she's so clearly not… and… that's something I've got to work on, something I have to fix for myself."

"What are you saying Trevor?"

"I'm choosing my sister," he said sternly. "For the first time Ever. I am going to choose my sister."

Malcolm's eyes narrowed, no doubt not knowing what that meant.

"I'm breaking up with you."

Malcolm's mouth dropped. He was expecting it but it still hurt him to hear it, still shocked him when it came out.

"I should have broke up with you when you handcuffed her to the radiator. I should have broke up with you when you chased her off of Hawaii. I should have broken up with you when you let her come to rescue me the first time the twins grabbed me. And I definitely should have stayed broken up with you when you left her for fucking dead."

"Trevor be reasonable!"

"No," he cried. "You hate my sister and I don't mean in the sense that you don't like her, I mean in the sense that you'd literally put her in a situation where she could die just to get rid of her, and you have. Twice! What kind of relationship could I have with you, when you're willing to literally let my sister die to get your way?"

The answer was none and both of them knew it.

"Don't call me. Don't come looking for me. Just… just stay away from me Malcolm."

And then before Malcolm could say anything, the man who held his heart whirled around and left him there.

Heartbroken and still trying to heal from a gunshot wound.

And he couldn't even blame Rowan this time but he would try.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

After the trial, Rowan pulled away.

At first he just thought the relief of everything being done had just deflated her. She had been running on adrenaline and worry for so long that it must have felt like a weight off of her shoulders.

She was understandably very, very tired.

He tried to give her space, in case his constant hovering was annoying her. He got that idea in his head because every time she'd wake up from one of her naps a strange look would cross her face when she realized he was beside her. Like she was surprised he was still there.

Then he very stupidly mentioned that look to Trevor and he had casually asked if maybe Steve was smothering her.

He hadn't thought he was before but he sure as hell did now.

So he gave her space.

But things didn't get better.

There was a strange sort of disconnect between them. It suddenly became hard to talk to her, Steve just didn't know what to say and she no longer wanted to chat. He didn't know what he had done wrong.

A week after the trial Rowan was cleared to fly. She had planned to leave that week no matter what. If she hadn't been cleared to fly she would have taken the train back to BC with Trevor. Apparently taking the train was a Pierce Sibling tradition.

But her family understandably wanted her back ASAP, so they were going to take a plane.

Steve had originally thought that maybe he'd go back with her, or that Rowan might come back with him, he did have her cat after all. But then she had asked him if he could send Missy back to her someway and he realized that she didn't want him coming back with her, or to go back with him either.

So that was him heading back to Hawaii with Catherine and Danny.

Both had stayed with him, Danny because he too wanted to support Steve and Rowan, Catherine because… well he wasn't sure why.

She had tried to talk to him in the hospital a few times, culminating in an attempt to kiss him outside of Rowan's room while she was sleeping. He had deflected her without a bit of hesitation. He told her flat out that if she was trying to tell him that she still had feelings for him, despite abandoning him for a covert job with the CIA, she was too late.

Steve's heart belonged to Rowan. Fully and completely.

Which was why her pulling away from him like that was killing him. It was also why he was too afraid to talk to her about it, because if she confirmed she didn't have feelings for him now that the adrenaline had worn off and she didn't need him rescuing her all the time, he'd die.

Steve refused to leave though, until he knew she was good to go.

So he saw her off to the airport.

They went to Pearson together, sharing the cab and everything. There were two cabs taking them to that airport – one with the two Pierces and Steve, and one with Danny and Catherine.

Rowan said absolutely nothing to him in that cab, but when he reached out to hold her hand she let him and that gave him hope.

They went through all the lines together – the Pierces fast tracked due to Rowan's injuries as she was still in a wheel chair – broken leg and all. Steve and Catherine were fast tracked due to their Naval IDs, and he got Danny through with him.

They reached her terminal altogether too quickly. This would be it, this is where he'd say good-bye. He'd have to head to the Hawaii terminal with Catherine and Danny and he'd be leaving her there, and my god did he not want to go.

He knelt down beside her wheelchair noting that she didn't really want to look at him, which was weird. He put his hand to hers and she finally forced herself to look at him. God why did she look so sad? Oh how he longed to ask her what was wrong, but he feared that he had lost the privilege to do so.

"I'll… I'll call you once I know how to send Missy back, okay?" She nodded quickly and he nodded too. "Uhm… well… I hope you have a safe flight…"

She suddenly lurched forward, her one good arm wrapping around his neck. It was awkward hugging her while she was in a wheel chair, but Steve did his best to hold her the best he could without hurting her.

"I'm going to miss you," she whispered to him.

"I…" It was on the tip of his tongue. The truth. That he loved her, that he wanted to come with her if she'd let him, or take her home with him if at all possible. But instead he chickened out and said: "I'm going to miss you too."

"Come on, we have to board," Trevor said softly and Rowan pulled away.

He noted that Trevor seemed to shoot him some kind of glare, like the man was mad at him for some reason but he couldn't figure out why he would be mad.

Seriously what had Steve done to upset the siblings?

He watched until they were gone, disappearing into the tunnel that would take them to the plane and then Catherine put a hand out to him.

"Come on, let's go," she whispered softly guiding him away.

He got two steps away and then Danny muscled his way in between them, and then stayed throughout the whole walk to their own terminal.

Their plane wouldn't be taking off for another hour so they all sort of camped out in the uncomfortable terminal chairs.

"I'm going to get a coffee," Catherine announced after they had sat in silence for altogether too long. "You boys want anything?"

"No," Steve answered sullenly and then mentally cursed himself. He shouldn't be sulking and taking it out on his friends when it was his own fault this was happening.

"Naw, I'm good, thanks though," Danny said and Catherine nodded.

The second she was up and out of her seat, Danny sat forward in his chair. He was across from Steve and he reached out and swatted at his legs to get his attention.

"You know she saw right?"

Steve glared at him. He wasn't in the mood for nonsense. "What are you talking about, Danny?"

"Rowan. She saw."

"Saw what?"

"Catherine kiss you."

Steve paused, his eyes turning to Danny. Catherine hadn't kissed him, not really. She had kinda lurched at him and he hadn't been ready to deflect. She got two seconds of her lips on his before he firmly pushed her away. Not like a full shove, she didn't go flying back, but he did get his hands on her shoulders and push her away.

He thought that Rowan had been asleep. Had she woken up after he had left the room?

And why the hell had Danny not told him before this?

"She saw that?"

"She did."

"So… so she thinks…"

"That you're interested in Catherine, yes."

Oh. OH! Now it made sense. Rowan really shut down a few days after that kiss. That must have been what had upset the two siblings, but because Steve had no idea she had seen that he hadn't realized that that was what the problem was.

"How do you… when did you…"

"Only a few days, I overheard her talking to Trevor about it," Danny said and Steve scowled again.

Only a few days? Only? For god sake he should have told Steve right the fuck away.

Steve got up right away, lurching for his bag.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To catch her plane before it takes off!"

He had a plan, get on that plane and then tell her that what she saw was wrong. Yes Catherine had kind of kissed him but it was not welcomed and he had put a stop to it. He wanted her, damn it, and he was not going to let her push him away.

Then they were going to figure out if he was going with her or she was coming with him. And he was going to be sure to stress that he didn't care which one it was just so long as they were together at the end of it.

The problem was, after sprinting back to her terminal he found out he was too late. The plane had already taken off.

Seriously the one time a plane was on freaking time, and it had to be today.

Fuck.

Now what was he supposed to do?

"What the hell!" Danny cried sliding to a stop beside him. "You just took off!"

"Why are we back here?" Catherine asked, moving to stand on the other side of him. "The plane's gone…"

"Yeah I know," Steve said turning away. A plan already formulating in his mind.

"Where are you going now?" Danny cried, reaching out to grab him. "You missed the plane, she's gone… you can just call her…"

"No," Steve snapped. "No, I'm not wasting anymore time with this. I should have just talked to her while she was here…"

"Steve what are you talking about?" Catherine asked also reaching out to grab him, to help Danny hold him still.

"I need to talk to Rowan. No more miscommunications. I'm going to talk to her face to face."

"How the plane left?!" Catherine cried, but Steve could see that Danny knew exactly what he was going to do.

"I'm going to Victoria."

And then he whirled around to find the nearest ticket booth to get his plane tickets switched.