One Thing

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Hello my wonderful readers! Here we are another cute and fluffy little chapter! It's got some of my trademark angst in it though. Don't forget to tell me what you think and I'll see you guys next week!

Chapter 19

Wo Fat had been in jail 24 hours before Steve went to see him. He had dropped him off originally, made sure he was booked, made sure he was taken to his cell.

When he got him into the cell Steve had told him: "You better take a good look around. This is where you're going to die."

And he had just smiled at him and shot back with a: "Perhaps. Perhaps not," as the door shut between them

But Steve knew that everything was okay, because he was behind bars and there was no escaping justice now.

He had told Interpol that he had lost Rowan which wasn't true either. She had been checked in at Kapi'olani Medical center for Women and Children. She had been listed a battered spouse, and that she was a cop's girlfriend and that her abuser would use HPD and Five-0 to get her back.

The center had refused to let him in because the person who brought her in said that he was her abuser.

Yeah, thanks for that Wo Fat. At the current moment they were working on proving that he hadn't been dating her and beating her, he had arrested her. They obviously thought that he was lying, the Governor was getting involved.

Until then, they had Five-0 sitting in the lobby waiting to get access to her so she didn't pull another runner. Just because he wasn't going to give her up to Interpol didn't mean he was going to let her run off.

They still needed to find the Master after all.

He had no choice but leave, though he didn't want to, and let his team give him updates. Like Rowan had swelling in her brain that was being medically treated. They were actually very, very surprised that she came in conscious at all. They were clear she should have been out cold.

She had lacerated the back of her head hard enough for there to be a piece missing from her skull. It was like a tiny silver but still worrying. They told them that it would grow back at some point, but she was going to be out of it for a long time.

Again, the fact that she was rolling in and out of consciousness at all was literally shocking to them.

But Rowan had always been weird, so this didn't really phase Steven. No, what phased him was the fact that Wo Fat had called him back to the jail to talk to him.

It took less than 24 hours in prison for him to want to make a deal, he thought the man would last a little longer than that.

Steve got to his cell, the door was opened and Wo Fat's smug smile was on his face. Like he was in any position to bargain.

"What do you want?"

"To propose a trade."

"I see… and what do you want to trade me?"

"The identity of Shelburne."

Steve's heart stopped.

"What?"

"That's right. I'll tell you who Shelburne is."

Steve blinked his eyes again because seriously… WHAT? "And what? You think I'll give you your freedom?"

"Oh god no. I'm not that stupid," he said that smug smile still on his face. "I want to see her, Ro I mean. In the hospital. Right now."

He obviously meant Rowan. Yeah, Steve wasn't going to allow that. He wasn't going to take him out of this cell and have the man run off with Rowan.

"I don't know where she…"

"Yes, you do," he said. "I know you do. And I want to see her."

"Look, even if I wanted to do that, I can't. She was brought in as an abuse victim and I'm listed as her abuser who is using the legal system to continue the abuse. They're refusing to let me anywhere near her."

Wo Fat gave him a bit of a "huh" and then whispered: "That's actually a great idea. Why didn't I think of that?"

Steve just scowled at him and he shrugged. "Regardless, I can fix that. Now. Are we going to go or not?"

"No. Tell me who Shelburne is first."

"So, you can shut the door in my face and leave? No. I'll tell you who Shelburne is once I see Ro."

Steve sighed.

God.

He was going to have to agree.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

All Wo Fat had her health card. Several health cards in all sorts of different names. He asked what she had been checked in under, then handed them the correct card. He then answered all the necessary medical questions that no one had known. Like allergies. She wasn't allergic to anything, except morphine messed with her more than any other sedation drug did. Didn't really sedate her, just took her off the planet. But he also knew how often did Rowan hit her head.

Try like once a week. Girl was prone to concussions. Apparently, she once sneezed, hit her head on the wall behind her, and gave herself a concussion so bad she was out for a week.

Which explained her high tolerance for concussion symptoms.

But the best thing Wo Fat did, was tell them the truth. That the person who dropped her off was lying about her story. Her injuries were sustained in a plane crash, she and Steve were most certainly not dating but he was attempting to arrest her.

The person who dropped her off was trying to keep her out of jail.

And the nurses believed him.

Not Steve the many times he tried to explain it was lies. They believed the criminal who went around murdering people. Why the hell was he the one who was believable and not Steve?

Only then was Steve finally allowed past the front desk. Finally, Steve would be able to see Rowan.

Well, he'd see her from the door because Wo Fat wanted to go in alone. He tried to bargain that the door stay shut but Steve wasn't going to allow that. Door had to be open, Steve had to be able to see Wo Fat at all times, but he'd say in the hallway to give the illusion of privacy.

He was sure if Wo Fat talked quietly, he wouldn't be able to hear a thing.

While Wo Fat was dealing with the nurses, Kono, who had been on Rowan Duty at that time, filled him in on all the latest details. Some he already knew but he got all the updates he had missed over night.

Both he and Wo Fat now stood, outside her door. Steve hadn't let him go in yet, mainly because he wanted answers out of him first.

"Did they tell you how she's doing?" Steve asked.

Wo shook his head. "Outside of them calling her a medical mystery and them not believing that you are in now way an abuser, no, I didn't get any details." He then turned to Steve. "What exactly did you do for them to be so wary of you?"

He got unnecessarily loud and aggressive when they denied him access to her.

But he wasn't going to tell Wo Fat that.

"She's got one hell of a concussion," Steve said instead. "She uh… cracked he back of her head open pretty bad, apparently she's missing a piece of her skull but they think it'll grow back on it's own, it's really small. Had to stitch her up. They uhm… can't let her sleep for too long. Hour at most. They spent all of last night getting the swelling down in her brain and now they're just monitoring her to make sure it doesn't come back. They want to keep her a few nights, just to be sure."

Wo Fat nodded. "It's not her first head injury," he whispered. "She'll be fine."

Of course, she would be. Steve would bet on it. Steve reluctantly uncuffed Wo Fat's hands so he could go into the room.

"They have the lights off because they were too bright for her, making her nauseous," he said. "And, you've got 10 minutes."

Wo Fat turned to him looked him up and down and said: "I wasn't lying. Shelburne really killed my father. I want to find that person and make them pay."

Steve glared at him. "And to make them pay, you sanctioned my father's execution? Why would they have cared?"

"The fact that they cared was merely a bonus," Wo Fat admitted. "But if we're being honest, most of your father's attack was about getting Ro back and because he knew too much about me and the Governor… and Shelburne. He was supposed to die that day. You're lucky Ro changed my mind."

"I already knew all of that. And it's not the information you agreed to give me."

Wo Fat nodded. "Shelburne is someone close to you. I could tell you who they are but you wouldn't believe me."

"Yeah? And who is it?"

"Your mother," he said and then narrowed his eyes. "Rowan has a better way of saying that. Yo… mama?" he tried it tentatively but it didn't come out right. He also knew what he meant by it. He was hitting him with a yo' mama joke.

"Really?" he said dryly and Wo Fat shrugged.

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Yeah, because you're lying," he snapped. "I should take you back to the prison for this."

He then glanced into the room where Rowan was sleeping. She would want to see him, and he wanted to do something kind for her, if only to prove that he was no abusive.

"You get ten minutes. That's it." Wo Fat just stared at him and Steve sighed. "Fine, Fifteen, but only because I know how much she likes to talk."

He watched Wo Fat walk into the room, the room shrouded in darkness. He got down on bended knee on the other side of Rowan. He put a hand out to her and her head turned right away, the motion causing him to break into this large grin, pointed right in her direction.

"There's my baby girl," Wo whispered to her, his fingers dancing along the side of her face carefully pushing her hair away from her eyes.

Rowan answered with a sleepy but happy: "Wo!"

Despite him trying to stop her, she slowly shifted, rolling over onto her side. Her own hands reached out slowly to him, one gripping the cuff of his dress shirt, the other moving towards his face, mimicking the patterns. Her finger tips danced over the cuts on his face, and down his cheek to his chin.

"How you feeling?"

"My head still hurts," she whispered and Wo's smile faded a bit. His fingers stayed on her. Either stroking her cheek or petting her hair which seemed to be calming her down. "Are… are you still mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad at you. I was never mad at you. I was just worried for you."

"You said you didn't like me anymore, you said you wanted me to go away."

"Aw, baby girl, I lied. I knew Steven was coming, that I'd get arrested and I didn't want him to find you. I wanted you to be mad at me, so you'd leave me behind."

"Well, that's just stupid."

"It was, wasn't it?"

Ro just murmured sleepily at him, her hand falling away from his cheek, but that other hand was still gripping his collar and refusing to let go.

"Now that you're not mad at me… can we go home now. Can we Wo?"

Wo smiled fondly at her, which was something absolutely foreign to Steve. "Yes, you'll be going home."

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"No."

"Why? You said you weren't mad."

"I'm not mad, baby girl, I'm never mad at you. Even when I should be," he said. "But that's not why I can't go home."

Rowan made this low groan of frustration at him that made his smile almost widen. "Then why? You have to be done with business now."

"Of course," he whispered. "But I uh… I made a deal…"

"Oh, like a McDonalds value deal?"

"No, not like McDonalds…"

"I want McDonalds fries now…"

"Alright, I'll tell Con to bring you some tomorrow, okay?"

So, the Rabbit was still there and he was coming tomorrow. Right, so he was going to have to make sure that HPD was here to intercept, because he had a feeling the Rabbit was going to try to take Rowan out of here and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"If it's not a value deal, what kind of deal did you make?" she asked.

"The kind that sets you free and makes me… stay…"

Ro paused for a bit. She seemed to digest that information before she eventually whispered: "You gave yourself up for me?"

"I… I did…"

"Oh… oh… no… I'm sorry!" she cried to him but he just smiled at her, tracing soft patterns into her cheek.

"No, no, baby girl. It's not your fault."

Steve hated this. He hated that she sounded so upset. He hated it because the fondness, and the softness, it highlighted just how much the two of them felt about one another. At this point he was certain it was love.

And if Ro loved Wo Fat then she probably didn't have any feelings for Steve and that was wrecking havoc on his heart.

She was his girl and maybe he didn't love her yet but he was never going to get to that point if she was still hung up and attached to Wo Fat.

Steve checked his watch, and even though they weren't at 15 minutes yet, he stalked into the room.

"It's time to go," Steve said.

Rowan shook her head. "No, please don't go, I don't want to be alone. You promised. You promised you wouldn't leave me!"

She was crying now. Both hands had gripping his shirt and he was obviously reaching out again to try and calm her down.

"Baby, it's okay, you're not going to be alone."

Steve came around the bed and grabbed him. He practically tore him to his feet. Rowan's grip was dislodged only briefly, but then she grabbed onto Wo's wrist.

"Please, Steve," she said turning those blindingly blue tear-filled eyes onto him. "Please Steve. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you thought I was dead and that upsets you for some reason. I'm sorry you're mad at Wo. But please don't take him. He's all I got and I don't want to be alone again."

Wo Fat shook her hand off of him, so he could reach out and pinch her chin in what Steve had to guess was a gesture of affection to him. "Don't you worry. You're going to see me soon, okay?"

"Tomorrow, can I see you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. Okay, baby girl? I'll see you tomorrow."

A smile touched her lips. "Okay."

Steve shook his head but tugged him away from her and then right out of that room. When they got out into the hallway, Wo Fat offered up his hands so Steve could cuff him again, which he did. Right away.

"You know you won't be here tomorrow," Steve hissed.

"Of course I do. But you will be, won't you?" Wo Fat asked almost cruelly. "It's the whole reason I wanted you away from her in the first place. Because you like her, and you want to take care of her, want to cleanse her of me."

God was he that transparent?

"Except you don't know her, McGarrett. Not the real her. And when you figure it out, who she really is, you're going to throw her away. And it'll kill her. I know it will," he said.

"I already know who she is," Steve snapped. "She's Rowan Pierce."

Wo Fat just smiled at him. "That's only half of the puzzle."

What the hell did that even mean?

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Steve got Wo Fat back in custody and then returned to the hospital.

Now that he was cleared he could go all the way back to Rowan's room without anyone stopping him. He had been thinking about it since he had left. He thought about how much he liked Rowan, and how she seemed to assimilate other people into her personality.

Like when he was living with her, she wasn't nearly as bad as she clearly was with Wo Fat. With Wo Fat she was violent and more… criminal.

If he could get Rowan away from him, he could be the positive influence in her life, they could… they could make a thing out of this.

Because the more he thought about it the more he realized, or hoped, that there was something between them that she hadn't faked. She had to feel something for him, just like he felt something for her. It couldn't be all one sided, it just couldn't be. If he could get her away from Wo Fat they could figure out what it was between them.

With Wo Fat in prison, he'd have a better chance. Especially since Wo had basically given him the cheat sheet for Rowan.

He got back into her room and basically mirrored what Wo Fat had done. He got down on bended knee in front of her. He brushed his finger tips along his nose loving the way her nose scrunched up at him until she was finally away.

Her eyes opened, these narrowed slits of haunting bright blue focused in on him. "What now?" she grumbled but Steve just smiled at her.

His hands moved, brushing against her hair and tracing the same patterns Wo Fat had on her cheek. Almost instinctively she reached out and gripped the collar of his shirt, just like she had done for Wo Fat.

That had to mean something. It just had to.

"What'sa'matter…"

"I just wanted to come see you," he whispered and a half grumble came out of her mouth. "Did you miss me? When you were gone, did you miss me?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"That's good, cause I… I uh… I missed you too," he whispered. "And I was thinking… since you didn't want to be alone that you'd come with me…"

"Wo said you were giving me to Interpol."

That fucking bastard. How had he even found that out? When had he managed to tell her that? "No, I told them I lost you. So, you can stay with me. Would you like that? Would you like to stay with me again?"

"Yeah… maybe… I unno… do you even want me?"

"Yeah, Rowan, I do," he said.

"Really? Wo said you wouldn't if you knew the truth."

"Okay well he was wrong, okay?" he said and a smile curled up her lips. "I like you Ro… I like you a lot."

"You do?"

"Yeah… do you… do you… maybe… feel the same way?" Rowan nodded and his own smile widened. Yes, see, he knew it. "Okay. So there. It's settled. You'll stay with me and we'll figure out what's going on with us, okay?"

"Okay."

It wasn't the unbridled excitement he was expecting but it was good enough. The poor girl was drugged to all hell, she'd probably be more excited when she was sober.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked and she nodded again. She was obviously really tired, because she was curling in on herself, looking for a comfortable position to sleep in, while her hand still gripped his own collar.

"Who's Shelburne? You have to know…"

"Yo' Mama," Rowan said right away. "Who is also Wo's Mama… did you know that? He doesn't like talking about it cause she like… abandoned him but ssshhhhhh don't tell him I told you."

Steve shook his head. God she really was concussed if she couldn't come up with a better lie than that.

Guess she didn't know after all. "Right. So, here's what we'll do. I'm going to go home, get myself some stuff, maybe pick up some of the things you left behind for you, and then I'll come back, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll stay with you, the whole time, I promise," he whispered and she smiled. "And I'll even bring you McDonald's fries."

That one won him an excited oohh from her but then she was falling back to sleep.

So he got up, with the plan to go home to do all he said he would. He got himself into more conformable clothes, put his grey sweater in a bag because she liked wearing it and even got the fries she wanted.

But when he got back to the hospital, when he got back to the room she was gone, an unconscious nurse left in her place.

Steve called HPD. They did a whole island search. He even went back to the prison to talk to Wo Fat, but they couldn't find Rowan.

Wo Fat had nothing to give him either.

He did tell him not to worry. That if she was gone that meant Con was doing what he was told. He was going to take Rowan to Lucia.

And no matter what he did Wo Fat wouldn't tell him who Lucia was.

And though it was nice to know that Rowan wasn't dead this time, he had still lost her again. His heart was still broken.

And honestly, he was getting sick of this.