Rewrite

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: So, since this story got so many reviews I'm gonna post this chapter early. You guys will be getting the bonus chapter, it'll be posted next week and then we'll return to our regular programming. Did you guys know that this story is already 224 pages long and that I've written up to chapter 19 plus some future chapters? That's crazy isn't it? Honestly that amazes me.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who reviewed, we definitely made it all the way up to 50! Gotta say though, when I said I wanted 50 reviews I meant real reviews, not the same guest reviewing 20 times in a row. Not that I'm not grateful, I totally am, seriously that showed some real dedication. I didn't realize that you guys would want that bonus chapter so badly. I guess I feel a bit cheated but hey, we're at 55 reviews and that's absolutely amazeballs! Look out next week for that bonus chapter and keep showing me that love!

Chapter 8

The kidnappers having Kono was one thing. The fact that they had Rowan too was something completely different to Steve. If he had to guess this must have been what Chin was feeling. A tight constricting pain in his chest that made it hard for him to breathe and even harder for him to stay still. It wasn't even guilt, Steve was flat out agitated.

"Babe, you have got to stop pacing," Danny ordered.

But Steve couldn't stop pacing. He could see Kono in one window, hands up blocking any clear shot of the kidnapers and he could see Rowan in the other. And it was killing him. It should have been him in there. Not Rowan. Not Rowan who was untrained and a completely innocent civilian.

He wanted nothing more than to storm in and get Rowan back, but he didn't have the tactical advantage. Instead all he could do was stand outside that house at a safe distance staring at Rowan's face in the window.

"I never should have let her go with Kono," he hissed. "I should have realized when she was so insistent on going with her that she knew something."

"Okay, now wait a second. I don't think Rowan would have known about this," Danny said. When Steve shot him a dry glare Danny raised his hands in mock surrender and tried again. "What I mean to say, is that, Rowan would have told you this was going to go down, she wouldn't have just run off and gotten herself into this situation."

From the window Rowan was making funny faces at him again and Steve shook his head. The girl was in a hostage situation and trying to make him feel better. Who did that? Who, in the middle of an absolute crisis where one might get shot, worried about the people trying to save them? He opened his arms in that "What gives" gesture again and that earned him a shaky smile and a grin from her. One that immediately faded as her eyes lowered to the ground.

He saw a shadow gesturing behind her and he frowned. Was she getting threatened? God, he couldn't stand the not knowing. But he knew, if he saw Rowan getting hurt in any way it wouldn't mattered if he had the tactical advantage or not he'd burst into the goddamn house himself.

This needed to be over. He needed her back in his arms, or safely back in the Camaro, or even better, back at his house. After this he was locking her in his room, not hers, his. That way he could watch her even at night. And she was breaking up with Nurse Alex, because if she thought that she was going to be out of his sight for even a second after this she had another thing coming.

"Uh oh," Danny said suddenly straightening up and Steve looked back up. Rowan was no longer in the window.

"Where is she? Where is she?" Steve asked the panic gripping in it's icy claws.

"One of the hostage takers took her out of the window," Danny said.

Steve shook his head. No. No this couldn't be happening. He made a move forward, there was no plan in his head other then to break down that door and hope he can shoot faster than the hostage takers, but Danny must have read his mind for he threw himself onto Steve's back taking him down to the ground. Steve struggled while Danny called for back up and demanded that Steve calm down. But all that was running through his head was that the Hostage Takers had taken Rowan out of the window, he didn't know why but he knew it couldn't have been good. He had promised her that he'd protect her and so far, he hadn't been able to keep that promise. But best believe, after this, he was going to be the best damn protector on the planet.

H5O-H5O-H5O- H5O

"She's making faces again," a voice said and Rowan immediately looked down.

"What the hell is it with you, huh?" A voice asked from behind her, the strangely sounding British one that wasn't really British but kinda was. He was also the one calling the shots.

"I'm just trying to make it fun," Rowan whispered.

"Fun? You're a goddamn hostage!" One of the other gunmen shouted.

"It's either that or I have a panic attack," Rowan complained. "What's the harm with a few funny faces?"

She felt the man behind her, felt his breath on the skin of her neck and she tried not to shudder in fear and a little bit of disgust. She didn't dare look up, afraid that if she actually showed how afraid she really was Steve would burst in without a plan and get himself hurt or killed.

"If I catch you making faces one more time, I'll knock the face right off of you," he warned.

When he moved away Rowan let out her breath in a shaky hiss. She glanced up and saw Steve his blue eyes piercing even from that far away. Behind her the leader was interrogating the father threatening to kill the wife for the password. But they didn't have it. Kono did, and if Rowan played this part right they'd believe she had it.

The thump from above came and Rowan held her breath. The boy. The one Kono had hid. They were about to find him.

"I thought you said you checked upstairs," the leader said.

"I did."

"Check again," the leader ordered.

"No need," Rowan called. "That was me."

She felt their eyes on her but didn't look back. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I knocked over a vase," she told them.

The feeling of him being right next to her was back. She kept her eyes forward to where she saw Steve and Danny talking behind the line of police cars. He hadn't looked up in a while and she was grateful, if he saw this next bit there was no telling what he'd do.

"What vase?"

Rowan looked to her right and quickly swept the vase beside her off of the table so it crashed against the floor. She then looked straight into the eyes of the man beside her.

"That one."

In a quick motion he had grabbed the back of her head and practically dragged her away from the window and threw her up against the wall.

"That's it!" he shouted. "Who are you?"

"I'm Officer Rowan Peirce," she said through the pain. She hadn't been on her meds in a while but she would no doubt have to be after this. Her back while better was not ready to be slammed up against things. Her old but fading bruises were smarting again. "I'm with Five-O."

The man stared at her as she waited. He raised the gun to her face. "I don't believe you," he snarled. He then glanced to the man standing by the stairs waiting for orders. With one nod from the leader he was going up the stairs and Rowan had to be quick.

"I know who you are," she told him. "Your name is Sean Winston, your ex special forces, with Africa I think. You started a company called White Fire that specializes in black ops and other messy stuff."

The man's eyes had gone wide, similar to that of a stick-bug all bulging and what not. He might have attacked her then and there if it were for the yelping coming from upstairs followed by frantic screams as the man dragged the boy down the stairs.

"Look what I found," the man said tossing the badge at him. He looked it over and then back at her.

"You really are Five-O," he said more than asked.

"Yep," she said trying to sound more confident then she felt. "And I have two words for you: Richard DeSalvo."

The force of his blow against her cheek was strong enough to send her sprawling. She hit the wall but gratefully didn't fall. Fuck that hurt. Why the hell had she chosen this? She hadn't kept the kid safe, the best she'd have to go for is keeping Kono safe.

"You tell me the password right now, or I will put a hole in this child," he told her.

Rowan turned to look at him. She didn't know the password but she could bluff her way out of this. Before she could even open her mouth to say anything Kono stepped away from the window.

"She's not Five-O, I am," she announced. "And I have the password, not her."

Rowan blinked her eyes. Damn she had not expected that one. She should have, but she didn't. For fuck sake this was almost exactly like the episode, she hadn't changed anything, except now she was in the thick of it. Why had she done this if things weren't going to change? Was it just because it wasn't as radical as a plan? God if she didn't die here Steve was going to kill her for deflecting this situation onto herself. Problem was she was too deep in now to change her mind. She'd have to follow this through to make sure it was still on the same plot.

So, Rowan forced herself to laugh like she thought this was funny. "Okay, so what I'm psychic then? I just happened to know your name, your company and that file you're looking for?" she asked. Kono was subtly shaking her head at her but Rowan didn't stop. "Come on now, you're smarter then that."

Sean glared at them, he forced Rowan to stand beside Kono and then stared at them as if assessing what he should do next. "Give. Me. The. Password."

"Release the hostages," Kono said.

"Not gonna happen," he said.

"Well I can do one better. Yeah, you can get the password from her, but I've already taken the file," Rowan said. Sean rounded on her the gun pointed directly into her face. "I've already transferred it to a secured web page that only I have the password to. I wouldn't say it's heavily encrypted, but if I don't log back in at a certain time the file will be emailed straight to the proper authorities."

He glared at her hard and she hoped she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. "But I'm not going to help you unless you listen to my girl, Kono, so take it away."

Kono turned to her, she could feel the older woman's glare as it bore into Rowan's skull. She then turned back to Sean who was staring at her expectantly.

"Once the hostages are safe we'll give you what you want," she finished.

Sean seemed to think about it. "Or I could just shoot you," he offered.

"True, but then you get nothing and people start looking for your boy," Rowan said with a shrug so nonchalant she surprised even herself. "It's your choice."

She could tell then by the look on his face that she had won. He turned away and pressed a button on his phone and then picked up the house phone.

"Yes, hello, I know you can hear me. I'd like to speak to the person in charge," Sean said.

Rowan tried to stabilize her breathing. Now all that was needed was for Steve to do his part.

H5O-H5O-H5O- H5O

It worked. Steve had gotten them the truck. It had been touch and go when Steve had confirmed that they only had one Five-O teammate in the house. Rowan was nearly shot then and there, but he confirmed that she was a civilian with his team and that had saved her.

The men had all put their masks back on as they exited the house. It didn't matter by that point because she knew that Steve had also figured out who they were. She also knew where Steve was at that moment and she was trying really hard not to laugh in relief.

Still as they got dragged out of the house she caught Chin's angry face and knew that this was personal for him, his little cousin being one of the hostages and all.

"Shorten your countdown by three seconds," she told him. He got a confused look on his face and the gunman holding her shook her to shut her up. It was all she managed to get before she was shoved in the truck.

She purposely chose a seat away from the door, right in the corner where she knew it would be safe. The truck started moving, the masks came off and then the gun was back in her face.

"Come here," Winston said to her.

Rowan shook her head. "I would feel safer if I could stay here," she told him.

"Suit yourself," he said. He took out a bag and handed it to her.

"Log into the website, and get me that file," he ordered.

Rowan put the laptop into her lap. Where had these guys even stashed this? "Uh… is it okay if we wait until we stop moving?" she asked.

"Stop stalling!" Winston shouted.

"I'm not stalling. It's just that if I start reading in a moving vehicle I get sick. And then I throw up. And that would not be good in this nice rental truck, now would it?" she asked.

The gun got pushed into her face again and she tried not to flinch. Kono said something, tried to deflect the attention onto her and her password but Winston backhanded her and she fell back and shut up. Okay… maybe she shouldn't have gotten involved in this. Everything she had been trying to avoid had happened.

"Seriously. I'm feeling queasy just thinking about it. Besides we're in a moving truck, there's no wifi," she complained.

"You have until the count of five to do as you're told or I'm going to shoot your friend in the stomach and you can watch her bleed out," he warned.

The truck banged and swerved and Rowan froze. She looked up and looked around and then promptly shoved the laptop off her lap and covered her ears.

"What the hell are you doing?" Winston asked.

"Bracing for the explosion!" she cried. She caught Kono's eye and saw the surprise in her eyes but she too did the same thing, shoving her back against the wall and covering her ears.

The bang that followed sent the van swerving again, blew the door off its hinges and left a ringing in Rowan's ears. Kono was faster to recover than her. She attacked Sean Winston with a ferocity of a lioness protecting her cub before Sean could shoot her or Rowan. She wasn't sure how the two of them ended up falling out of the truck while it was still moving but it happened which was just another thing she wanted to avoid.

All she knew was that after a few minutes of lying prone in the truck with bullets flying all around her, a strong pair of arms wrapped her up in a giant hug and then Steve was telling her she was alright. She let herself get wrapped up in his warmth, she clung to him like she was afraid he'd vanish, she may have even cried a little bit. Okay, she cried a lot. But that didn't matter, Steve had come through for her, just like she knew he would. And at that moment, in his arms, being carried back to the Camaro, she had never felt safer in her life.

H5O-H5O-H5O- H5O

When Steve got out of the truck and rushed to the back he expected that Rowan would be waiting for him. Finding her lying there curled up on the floor had stopped his heart in his chest. He had pulled her into his arms, felt her heart beat, heard her breathing and his heart started up again. Steve must have held Rowan for a good half hour after he took her out of the truck. She had cried into his chest and told him that she knew he would save her and his heart had melted. In that moment he knew that no matter what happened he would always save her, though he truly hoped that something like this would never happen again.

He had taken her home once they had opened up Zack's file and had arrested Richard DeSalvo, the mobster that White Fire had helped escape protective custody years ago. She had been exhausted. She had taken a shower while he stood watch outside the bathroom door and then she had demanded to sleep. It had been a stressful day, probably more so for her than him, but he found that he couldn't leave her room.

So, he just stood there, staring at her while she slept, like a goddamn weirdo. He wanted to look away, he did, but he was worried that if he took his eyes off her for even one second, she'd disappear again. When she woke up he was going to have to have words with her. Kono had pulled him aside while Rowan was resting in his office. She had told him explicitly what Rowan had done and it had shocked him to the very core. He wanted her to never, EVER, do anything like that ever again and they would be having words about why she shouldn't do that ever again. Not unless he, specifically, was there to give her the back up she needed.

He managed to pry himself away from her bedside when she shifted, rolling over towards him and he was worried she'd wake up and find him standing over her like some stalker. He went into his room to pretend to sleep or pretend to shave or who knows what but he was going to damn well look like he was doing something. But when he came out of his room she wasn't in her room sleeping like he thought she'd be. She was standing at the landing and she was crying.

Steve went to her immediately putting a hand to her shoulder and when she turned she put a single finger to her lips telling him to be quiet. He thought her to be having another one of her mysterious night terrors. That maybe she was having an episode and he needed to comfort her again which was always one of his favourite pass times. But then she pointed down to where they had an amazing view of the front door and the reunion going on there.

Steve smiled himself watching Mary and his mother hug it out. He wasn't about to weep over it like Rowan was but it was definitely touching.

Rowan kept wiping her tears away as if they were going to stop at any minute except they weren't and Steve found himself chuckling. The poor girl was practically sobbing over them and they weren't even her family.

"It's just so great, you know?" she whispered to him. "I'm so happy for them."

Steve put an arm around and pressed a soft kiss into her frizzy red hair.

"Yeah. I know what you mean," he said to her. He tried not to think about having to introduce Rowan to Mary. They'd get along. Too well. It would be double the trouble, but he didn't want to worry about that right now. He just wanted to enjoy this moment.