Love In High Time

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Hello My wonderful readers! So this goes directly with my Rewrite Fanfiction, in particularly Chapters 142-146. This is the dream reality that Steve dreamed up when he was High and Wo Fat was torturing him. This story will mostly be from Steve's perspective as it's his drugged up dream but there will be times where Rowan's P.O.V. is written as well, but not until much later. Since this is Steve's drugged up dream, there's a lot of things that are different a) because it's early in their relationship and b) because he's not okay with certain things so in his ideal reality certain people are gone. So Rowan is a regular girl, with no powers, and no crazy adopted criminal brother. I hope that makes sense, but if it doesn't let me know and I'll try to explain it better. Since I have a lot of chapters done for this fan fic (17 of the 24 I wanted to write) I'll be able to keep up posting this one no problem. As always don't forget to leave a review and I'll see you guys next Monday!

Chapter 1

The Colombian jungle was quiet as Steve led his team through the trees.

They had been travelling on foot for two days trying to locate the compound of a man named Matias Martinez. This was a very dangerous drug lord who had ties to the Hesse brothers, whom Steve had been chasing for the last six months.

The mission was to find him, intercept the selling of a nuclear warhead, and take the nuke, Matias and the Hesse brothers to the nearest Naval Base for interrogation.

They had been dropped in a day's hike away from the original compound but when they got there it had been torched.

Nothing was left except a burnt out husk of a drug operation.

Steve had called in for intel and learned that the deal he was trying to intercept hadn't gone down due to whatever had happened at that compound so now he was trying to walk to a compound miles away. He had wanted to drive but that was not an option, Martinez was on high alert now so there was no other choice but to go in on foot to keep from alerting him or Hesse.

His team was tired and hot. No one had complained yet but Steve could see it on their faces.

He pulled them to a stop under a shady grove where there were plenty of places to sit and rest. While they did that, he pretended to contemplate the map and coordinates to be sure that he was taking the most efficient route.

Their break was interrupted by the noise.

The creaking of branches, the calls of scattering birds above their heads, the rustle of foliage moving.

The telltale signs of someone in bound on their position.

His team was up and alert, guns drawn, ready to shoot. They were back-to-back, all scanning their designated areas but no one reported movement. And then….

"SNAKE!"

Steve looked up in time to see a screaming projectile falling on him. He dropped his gun, his arms went out, catching the body that was landing on him. The force in which that person hit him took them both to the ground, with the body on Steve's chest.

There was silence for a few seconds. The body in his arms groaned and then stiffened on top of him. He opened his eyes to see the faces of his team hovering over him and by their eyes—or more importantly by Freddy's eyes—he knew that he had just caught a woman. Probably a very pretty one.

And then there was screaming again.

The woman in his arms threw herself off of Steve with such ferocity that he was winded by the movement. He wasn't sure how it was possibly but she actually managed to get through the wall of SEALs that had surrounded them and was running away from them screaming.

"Stop her!" Steve wheezed out because she'd give their position away at this rate.

Freddy chased after her, knocking her against a tree and clamping his hand over her mouth. This worked for all of the thirty seconds it took for Steve to get up.

Freddy cried out in disgust shouting: "She fucking licked me!"

Steve glanced over in time to watch the woman punch Freddy right between the legs, making him cry out in pain this time and then double over. She shoved him and sent him sprawling to the ground and then she ran off disappearing in the trees. Steve rushed off after her, easily spotting a head of bright red hair that faded into a glossy blonde. An interesting choice but not very good for hiding in trees.

He crashed through the trees after her, catching up with her easily but he wasn't going to take any chances this time. He tackled her right off of her feet. The two of them rolled through the bushes finally coming to a stop at the base of a tree with Steve on top of her and the woman pinned down.

He clamped a hand down over her mouth before she could scream again and then everything around him vanished in a pool of sparkling blue.

Her eyes, while glaring defiantly up at him, had completely and utterly mesmerized him.

She squirmed beneath him, as if trying to dislodge him and the reality of the situation came crashing down on him as his body's primal reaction hardened at the feel of this young woman beneath him. He cleared his throat to dislodge the desire to kiss her and shook his head until the thoughts left his head.

"Go ahead and lick me," he said when he felt her mouth open under his palm. "I'm not going to move my hand until I know you won't scream."

Those electric blue eyes narrowed at him and he struggled to get his heart rate under control. Good God what was this woman doing to him?

"Are you going to stay quiet?" he asked her.

She nodded and he slowly lifted her hands away from her lips. "I'm not going back to that place," she growled to him. "Now get off me."

He felt it then, the jab of something sharp at his side. One glance down was enough, she had a knife pointed right at his liver in a shaking grip.

His knife.

She had gotten his knife from him and he hadn't even noticed.

He could disarm her, easily, but she was scared and he didn't want her to be scared of him.

"Alright, alright," he said slowly pushing himself off of her. He only had to get to his knees and she pulled her long, bare, well-tanned, mud splattered, legs out from under him and then she scampered away from him. She didn't make a full run for it, but instead held the knife out in front of her, in between them, as if it would ward him off.

As if he couldn't disarm her in one move, or shoot her before she could dodge.

Not that he would do that, at the moment he was still fixating on those legs of hers and how badly he wanted them wrapped around his waist.

Wait… what?

He heard the crashing of his team behind them, he saw the panic play across her face and he held out a hand. They stopped when they saw the signal and Steve kept his eyes on the girl as he got up.

"I'm not going to take you anywhere," he told her. Which wasn't entirely true. She talked like an America and was dressed like a tourist. Wearing nothing but dirty jean shorts and an off the shoulder graphic tee-shirt that read: San Jose. She was clearly lost, or something, he'd have to find a way to get her back to a base or a consulate.

"Yeah right," she scoffed at him. "I've heard that before."

… Okay… that was worrying. What the hell had happened to her?

"Look, I'm Lieutenant Commander Steven McGarrett," he told her. "I'm with the U.S. Navy. You can trust me."

Her eyes widened. She searched his face, the faces of the men behind him. Those blue eyes blinked a million times a second. It looked like she wanted to believe him but something had clearly happened to her and she didn't.

"Really?" she asked sounding hopeful, until those blue eyes narrowed again. "Kinda far from the ocean aren't we?"

Great. Sass. That was all he needed. He took a step forward which had her scrambling back towards a rather large tree behind her. In a few steps he could pin her.

"Yes, really. Now why don't you tell me your name and how you ended up out here and we'll try to help you, okay?" he asked taking another step forward and she took another step back.

The second her back touched the bark of the tree he pounced. He deflected the knife in her hand and found himself once again pressed against the length of her, this time with a hand gripping the wrist that had held the knife, knocking it against the tree until she let go of it, and the other gripping her throat. He wasn't squeezing her but just holding her there.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said as she started to squirm against him.

He was between her legs, he could feel the heat coming off of her. She scoffed and glared at him again. He could feel her pulse against his fingertips and it was just as erratic as his, but she was scared not aroused like him. She was absolutely terrified and his heart went out to her. He wanted to soothe her, to make everything better.

"Alright, very slowly take that free hand of yours that is rooting through my pockets and take my dog tags out from under my shirt. I'll let go of your other hand too, okay? They'll confirm my name and my classification."

He let go of her wrist and her neck, instead placing his hands on either side of her head caging her between him and the tree. She blinked up at him for a second before her eyes lowered to his neck and her hands came up between them.

Steve couldn't stop staring at her.

She was lovely.

Her skin, though blistered from the sun, looked soft, her nose turned up slightly in the cutest of manners, her lips were badly chapped which meant she was thirsty and she kept gnawing on them most likely out of worry.

It was the darkening bruise under her left eye that held his attention, and the chaffing redness around her wrists. Someone had struck her recently, someone had tied up her hands. She had been a prisoner and the thought of anyone doing that to this girl infuriated him.

Her fingers brushed against his collar of his shirt, the soft touch against his skin sent an electric chill down his body. He watched her carefully as she pulled the dog tags out from under his shirt, the way her eyes moved as she scanned the emblem and the writing.

He couldn't help it, he was hard for her. The length of him was straight against his pants to get to her. The desire to kiss her was almost as strong as his need to drink. What the hell was happening to him?

It dawned on him so suddenly that it took his breath away and sent him reeling. He was beyond attracted to her. She was beautiful, so much so that she had affected his brain.

She carefully put the dog tags back and Steve slowly straightened putting distance between them as she turned her eyes back up to him. "Are we good now?"

The woman nodded and he backed further away from her now that he knew she wasn't a flight risk. She caught her breath and scanned their faces again while Steve tried to get his body back under his control.

"So, you know me, I'm Steve. With me is Nick, Billy, Cole, and Freddy, who you've already met and sacked. Now, who are you?" he asked. He wanted a name to give the vixen who had bewitched him so easily.

"I'm Rowan Pierce," she whispered and then turned to Freddy. "Sorry about the sucker punch. I… uh… panicked."

Freddy waved away the concern. Steve knew from first hand that it wasn't the first time Freddy had been nut-punched and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"Wait, I know that name," Cole said. "Are you the missing famous figure skater? The one that got stolen off the bus?"

Steve shot a glance back at Cole and then back to the woman standing in front of him. She was famous? Really? He had never heard of her before. But then again he didn't really follow figure skating. Rowan straightened and for the first time since he had met her she smile. The smile had her eyes dazzling and Steve found himself blinded by it.

"YES! I am she," she said obviously happy. "Were you guys sent to find me?"

Oh god. That would explain the happiness. Steve really didn't want to have to crush that happy smile on her face.

"No," he answered but quickly added: "But we're not going to leave you out here, either."

Her smile faded, of course, but he thought it would come back when he told her that she'd be coming with them. But when her eyes met his again there were tears in her eyes and Steve couldn't understand why she would be crying.

"Really?" she asked. "You promise you won't leave me?"

Steve's heart melted. He had seen this before.

Rowan had been through something traumatic but she hadn't been able to fall to pieces, she had been forced to keep herself strong to survive. At this point she was starting to let go, with Steve and his team here she was feeling safe for the first time and that trauma was going to hit her.

"I promise," he said to her meaning it with every fiber of his being. "You're safe now. We won't let anything happen to you."

The tears started to cascade down her face and then before he could stop her Rowan had thrown herself at him, her arms tightly wrapped around his chest as she cried into him. Steve put his arms around her, allowing her to have this moment of comfort.

He knew at that moment, there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep her safe. He was going to protect her, care for her, lay down his life for her if he had to and that scared him.

But he couldn't leave her, of course, not that he wanted to, but that was the problem. She was going to be a distraction, he just knew it. Steve needed to get Rowan Pierce as far away from him as soon as possible.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

It needed to stop.

He was staring, it was rude and he was certain that his team had noticed. Hell he was certain that Rowan, herself, had noticed.

But he couldn't look away from her.

She sat there, his jacket around her slim shoulders, lit up by the light of the campfire, looking so goddamn lovely it was positively criminal. It had been easier while they were walking. Steve was in front, Rowan was somewhere behind him probably flirting with Billy or Freddy. Steve trying to not let that bother him and solider on ahead.

Now she was telling them what happened to her, sharing rations and water with the boys and Steve could barely stomach it. She was so sweet, so innocent and to have been forced off her tour bus at gunpoint and sold into slavery was horrifying.

"So… uh… this Matias guy buys me," she says. "And he drags me out into the jungle to this compound. And all the way he's telling me how much fun I'm going to have and how he has really important guests coming and I'm to keep them happy no matter what and then maybe I'll get to go home. And he locks me in this hut… which I sort of… maybe… set on fire… and yeah… that's how I got out."

Steve blinked his eyes. She set her prison on fire. That's how she got out? How did she get out of the locked hut once it was on fire? How did she end up in the jungle? How did no one notice a fire?

"Okay. I don't understand," Cole said handing her his canteen so she could drink. "One fire got you out? How?"

Rowan made a face. Her nose scrunching up as she did so in this adorable way that made Steve want to kiss her. God, why did everything she did make him want to kiss her?

"Well… yea… uhm… so, maybe my hut was right by the munitions stores and the place may have caught fire as well and blown up… so they were a little too distracted to notice I was missing at that point."

Ah so that was what happened to the compound. Her escape plan had set the place on fire, destroyed his operation, and in the chaos she had escaped. She watched them all exchange surprised glances before she finally asked: "What?"

"You're why we have to walk through this damn jungle?" Nick cried. "Really? Because you did no recon what so ever before you burned your way out?"

Rowan frowned and looked down to her hands. Steve immediately went on defense for her. He stood, crossing the camp until he was standing behind her. He was ready to tear Nick a new one, but Rowan was faster.

"You know… not everyone's a Navy SEAL, buddy!" she snapped and Steve smiled.

"She's right," he said before Nick could snap back. "That was a pretty smart move for a civilian. She's lucky it worked so well."

Rowan smiled up to him and then turned her smirk back to Nick and stuck her tongue out. "The Captain sided with me so, there!"

"Lieutenant Commander," Steve reminded her, as Nick hissed: "She's lucky she's not dead."

Freddy slapped Nick's knee to shut him up and then slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in close. "Well I think she was pretty brave," he said.

Steve was staring at the arm, absolutely livid that Freddy was that close to her, was touching her. He wanted to be the one with his arm around her and he couldn't be. But he couldn't move, he was behind her now, the proximity setting him on fire again but freezing his body in place with the desire to run his fingers through her hair.

"You know, as much as I like that story, it doesn't explain why you were up that tree," Billy said to her and once again all of them turned back to Rowan who just sighed.

"I heard you guys coming and panicked. Matias had all sorts of guys working for him… and that Irish guy was pretty pissed at me, and I thought you guys were with him. So I climbed up in a tree to hide and it was totally working until that snake dropped on my damn head," she said with a scowl on her face. "Stupid snake."

Okay so she was scared of snakes, probably not good for her to be in a jungle. But her story wasn't adding up to Steve. He had a feeling that bits and pieces were missing but he didn't know why she wouldn't tell them. It must have been awful.

He was deep in thought, staring at the back of her head when she caught him staring… again. She turned out of nowhere to look up to him. Desperate to give himself any sort of excuse for staring and hovering he quickly went about breaking out a protein bar and handing half of it to her.

"Oohh… dessert!" she said accepting it quickly.

She took a big bite and everyone watched her and the faces she made as she chewed it. "Ugh… oh god, that's not chocolate," she said between chews. "What the hell is in that?"

She turned quickly and ripped Steve's canteen out of his hand to take a long drink, to wash the protein bar out of her mouth. Around her all the men laughed, but it was Cole who said: "Every protein and nutrient you could need."

Rowan made a face at them and handed the canteen back up to Steve. "That was horrible. Any chance any of you have burgers and chocolate lava cakes?"

They all shook their heads and Rowan sighed. "A girl can dream."

"How many men does Martinez have now?" Billy asked. "Do you know? Can you ball park?"

Great, they were using a civilian for intel.

"Uhm… I don't know anymore, to be honest," she said. "Those Irish guys brought in a bunch of their own guys, I think they're still around. That's why I was so scared when I saw you guys, I thought you were with them."

"Wait. Irish," Steve said a sick feeling dawning on him. "Do you know their names?"

"Victor something," Rowan said. "I was his type apparently. I don't want to see him again."

She shuddered at the thought of it and Steve felt everything in his body freeze. A sudden startling anger overtook him.

She had met Hesse.

The man Steve was hunting.

Victor Hesse had been in her vicinity and now she was scared of him.

His Rowan had been hurt by his arch nemesis… whoa… whoa his Rowan? Where the hell had that come from?

There was silence. Everyone was staring at Steve. Was he going to ask what she knew about Hesse? Hell no. The girl was traumatized enough as is.

Freddy jumped on the silence, trying to make Rowan feel better. "Don't you worry about that, Hesse isn't going to go anywhere near you. We won't allow him."

That arm was still around her, that stupid arm he wanted to pull up off her and break. But when Rowan pressed herself into Freddy's side Steve had to look away.

He blocked out her a millionth "Thank you" of the day. He needed to get out of there, he needed fresh air.

"I'm going to check the perimeter," he told them as he walked away. He hoped no one noticed the scowl on his face and the uncanny redness of his cheeks.