Rewrite
AvalonReeseFanfics
A/N: Happy Tuesday! So I noticed we had some confusion in the last chapter. I've got some clarification for everyone, the Trevor we're seeing is in the same universe as Steve and Rowan, he's her back story. He's why she got pulled in. (I hope that's not real spoilers cause I totally revealed it in the last chapter) Anyway we're in the part of the story where things are going to get a bit messed up. Character personalities are going to be played with, plots points are going to be moved around a bit to later chapters, loyalties are going to be tested, and our characters are gonna be super angsty. I hope you guys can handle it! But please tell me if you're still enjoying it! Keep telling me what you think is going to happen next and I'll see you guys on Friday!
Chapter 29
Wo Fat had moved Rowan the moment after he sent the text, figuring that Steve would trace it. Not ten minutes later the place was crawling with uniforms. Steve sure did move fast. A testament to how desperate he was to get her back. Or maybe because Bradley Powers had met with him there a few times and had divulged the location. Either way it was a good thing he didn't keep her there. He had moved his operation by that point anyway. Up into the mountains just shy of a cemetery looking over a highway. He had put her in a room, locked the door and left her there. Left her to be tended to. Left her because he couldn't listen to her screams as her head was stitched against her will and without anesthetic.
But that wasn't why he was running that morning. Wo Fat was rushing down the hallway for a completely different reason. He had left Rowan to sleep. She had a concussion, he presumed, he was going to call the doctor back in to see to her head, but first he wanted her to eat. He wanted to fatten her up. But when he got to her room it was empty.
EMPTY.
What the fuck?
What the ACTUAL fuck?!
Wo Fat dropped the plate of food he had been carrying and took off. He barked orders to the men he passed in the hallways. Find the girl. She can't have gotten far. But none of them had seen her
But it was one guy. The nephew of a man he had brought in to help him get weapons. Juan whatever. He was the one who said: "The girl who can sing?"
And Wo Fat stopped. They had no other girl on the compound. He didn't know if Rowan could sing. But if there was no other females in the vicinity it had to be her. Wo Fat glared down at the boy who was tuning his guitar.
"What girl was singing?"
"The ombre girl. Chica de Fuego," he said.
"English damn it!"
"Fire hair girl," Juan said, "Came in here, sang a song, said she wasn't feeling well and went to the washroom."
Wo Fat practically tripped over his feet turning away from Juan. He rushed to the hallway and practically lunged at the washroom door. The door was locked. HA! Got her. He kicked the door down but the small washroom was empty and the window was open. She had gotten out of the building?!
He stuck his out of the window and caught her crawling under a rolled-up piece of fence just a little ways away.
"ROWAN!" he shouted and she glanced back. Hands still bound in front of her and then turned and ran. Wo Fat had to climb out the window too, easiest way to get to her after all, and then took off. Climbing over the fence as quickly as could be. He jumped down and sprinted off after her. She hadn't gotten far. But she was heading down the hill, heading towards the highway where he could see a procession of cars moving upward, led by a police officer on a motor bike.
Fuck she was good.
He picked up speed, he was almost to her when a gunshot echoed through the silence of the day and Rowan dropped to the ground. Wo Fat was not able to stop in time, he tripped over her, landing in the dirt and rolling a bit away from her before coming to a stop.
He looked up to her motionless body. Fear coiled up in his stomach. Fear for someone else was unknown to him, so he told himself it was a fear of losing his hold over McGarrett. Especially after deciding what he was going to ask for in form of ransom. He scrambled to her side but Rowan was fine, just curled up into a ball of fear.
"Did you shoot at me?" she growled when he rolled her over. As if he had no right to shoot at an escaping prisoner. He even felt a bit angry that she would think he would. She squinted up to him because the sun was in her eyes. His eyes lingered on the black thread weaving through the red welt. He did that to her. And it hurt him to look at it. He ignored the desire to brush her hair over her face to hide the damage he did.
"No," he snapped, because he didn't. It didn't even occur to him to pick up his gun and try to shoot her. His only thought had been to get her back.
He glanced behind him to where a motorcycle lay on its side wheels spinning. Rider lying like a jigsaw puzzle shadowed by red. He didn't tell her that though. Didn't tell her what had most likely happened. Didn't tell her that there was someone far more dangerous than him lurking about at the moment. A shooting like that in the area meant they'd call in Five-0. Which meant McGarrett would be in the area. Which meant moving Rowan as quickly as possible.
He pulled her up, being sure to avoid the big purple bruise on her upper arm from when he tackled her over the ATV. The Doctor assured him that it wasn't broken or a fracture, just really badly bruised… luckily. He quickly turned her away from the scene. "How did you even get out of that room?" he asked.
Rowan shrugged. "I asked."
That answer shocked him. His men, who knew better, had just let her out? He'd have to talk to them. Find out what that was about. And on top of that. He needed to keep her far away from Juan. Right after he moved her.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Steve was not doing well. It had been 48 hours since he had heard from Wo Fat. No demands had been made. The last known where-abouts of the phone had been combed over. No one was there, but the phone had been left for him to find. No sign of Rowan. Just the room where he had tied her up. Evidence of her being there. Prints. Hairs. Minor spattering's of blood. He already knew it was hers, no DNA test needed though a sample was given to Fong for analysis. She was injured. Not sure how badly. He was trying not to think about it.
Steve's blood boiled when he found the blood. He raged when he got home. Screaming and throwing things until the rage left him and all that was left was the emptiness and the dread.
Then the text came.
The Psychic for Shelburne.
It was a different number this time. He sent of a message telling Chin to trace the phone but it was a burner. Last known location in the downtown center. Too vague to trace, to send people to look for her. But uniforms were sent to door knock anyway.
There were several problems with that text. Starting with Wo Fat called Rowan the Psychic. Which meant she had told him who the cover story for who and what she was. Why didn't she just say that she was Rowan Pierce, friend of Steve Garrett and leave it at that? Why had he needed to know that she was psychic? Why had that come up?
And then why did he want Doris? Did he really think he would trade his own mother to get Rowan back? Ignoring the fact that he was already trying to think of a plan to get Doris to agree to help him get Rowan back. What was he really going to do? Agree?
Yes.
But how was he to explain? How had she become so important he was actually thinking of handing his own mother over to a homicidal maniac? Because his mother could take care of herself. His mother would be able to handle Wo Fat. Rowan was ill equipped and sick. She needed saving, his mother wouldn't.
Lastly, there was no info. Nothing about how Rowan was doing. Though why would there be? He was just hoping that there'd be something. A picture of her, one of her awake. Maybe a phone call so he could hear her voice and ask if she was okay.
The not knowing was killing him. Not knowing if she was okay. Not knowing if she was being tortured. If Wo Fat was going to kill her. Not knowing if he'd ever see her again.
And then he got the phone call about a job and had to pick himself up and pretend that he was okay when he wasn't.
Steve reached that expanse of road and found Danny waiting for him. There was concern written on his friend's face, but he didn't know if it was concern over his wellbeing or over the victim. He ducked under the police tape and joined Danny.
"I heard it was a police officer," Steve said hoping to cut off any emotional speak Danny might have tried to give him. He wasn't sure he could handle that right now with his nerves as raw as they were.
"He was an HPD solo bike officer who was on funeral detail, Officer Keoki," Danny told him and Steve's innards froze up.
He stopped walked and turned to Danny surprised. "Ben Keoki?" he asked.
Aw it better not be him. It really better not. "I think so," Danny said which caused Steve to look away and bite back a string of curses. Why was this happening to him now? He couldn't lose much more. He wouldn't be able to survive it.
Steve crouched beside the body and pulled the tarp back so he could confirm who it was. It was him. And the guilt crashed down on him like a tsunami.
"What, you know him?" Danny asked.
Steve had a hard time talking. It hurt. To talk about this. To admit his failings. And on top of everything else, he really, really didn't need this right now.
"Yeah, he lived in the corner house on my block," Steve admitted. He kept his eyes away from Danny so his friend couldn't tell how badly this was affecting him. "He and my dad were very close. He was basically an uncle to me."
Danny was silent for a bit. Steve could feel the man shifting behind him as he tried to find the right words. He finally settled with a soft touch on the shoulder and a: "I'm sorry, man."
And Steve believed him. The two of them stood back for a bit as the coroner got the body in a bag. Steve couldn't stop staring at it. The anger building up in him, merging with the guilt was a lethal combination. Guilt over never connecting with Keoki after he came back, guilt over letting Rowan in that chopper when he knew it wasn't a good idea. Anger with whoever killed Keoki. Anger with Wo Fat for keeping her. Death followed him like a spectre, was he really surprised that it came for his friends so often, could he really be surprised if it claimed Rowan? Would he be able to live with himself if it did? He wasn't sure he would.
"Do we know whose funeral this was?" Danny asked interrupting Steve's morbid thoughts. "I mean, maybe this guy's got a beef with the family and Keoki just gets hit by a stray bullet?"
Good theory but Steve shook his head.
"I don't think so," Chin said joining them. Steve had a feeling it wasn't too but he wanted to know what Chin had found. "I found this in the area where our guy took his shot."
He handed Steve a bullet casing. Gold. Huge. With writing on it.
"The shooter engraved a bullet casing with Keoki's name on it," she explained. Steve didn't need that but he said nothing. He was trying to not snap at his friends. It wasn't their fault he was in the situation. It was his. And Wo Fat's. And Rowan's.
Steve looked at the bullet casing and back to the body being wheeled away. "What kind of sick bastard shoots a cop in cold blood?" he asked no in particular.
"Somebody with a serious grudge," Danny answered. Of course, it was Danny, he had a smart-ass remark for everything.
Steve tried not to roll his eyes. "We need to go back the palace, talk to his old partners. See if they know anything," he said and they all started heading back to their respective cars. Danny was beside Steve. He bumped his shoulder with Steve's so he'd look at the shorter blonde man.
"I heard about the text," he said, his voiced hushed. "What are you going to do?"
Steve sighed, he never should have told Chin that the text said. He should have known that the man would tell the others, probably so they could be Steve's support team but he didn't want that. He just wanted Rowan back.
"I don't know," he admitted because it was true.
"You got the drop point yet?" he asked.
Steve looked to his phone. No further text messages. "No," he replied softly.
"When you do, tell me. I'll go with you. All of us, Chin and Kono are down too. We'll set up a perimeter. We'll get her back and make sure the bastard doesn't get away this time," Danny swore.
Steve stayed silent. Was it terrible that he didn't want to chance it? That he just wanted Wo Fat to give him Rowan back, without having to pull a gun into this. To not chance that Rowan may get shot during the hand over.
If he thought begging would help he'd try it. Even if it didn't help he might try it. He was desperate to get her back. It was starting to show.
"If he's hurt her, I'll kill him myself," Steve hissed even though Danny hadn't brought it up. His chest burned with the fear of it. That something had happened to her. That he hadn't protected her. That he'd never see her again.
His chest burned with the helpless rage he felt. With the need to sink his hands into her hair and pull her lips up to his. With the need to plunge his hands into Wo Fat's chest and pull out his heart.
He burned. And there was no one to turn it onto except the sniper who had just made the mistake of killing a man, a cop that McGarrett knew.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Rowan Pierce was never going to complain about Steve following her around and enforcing limiting rules on her ever again.
Having been locked in this room, for god knows how long, was nothing short of torture. She had nothing to do. Nothing to keep her occupied. Her head was pounding so hard it kept her from sleeping. But, hey, at least her hands were untied.
She had been singing to herself for she didn't know how long when Wo Fat came back into the room. He stood over her, hands on his hips glaring down at her. She wasn't sure if it was the head injury but she just could not take him seriously.
"No one let you out of the room," he snapped.
Rowan swung her legs over the edge cot and sat up. "I'm bored."
"What?" he asked.
"I thought we were stating facts," she said to him. "Fact: I'm bored"
He couldn't really get mad at her for lying. He was a professional liar after all. But the look on his face should have clued her in to just how mad he was getting.
"How did you get out of this room?" Wo Fat snapped but Rowan was ignoring him.
"I'm bored," she cried throwing herself back down to the bed. "I'm bored and I wanna go home!"
Wo Fat growled, the first sign that he was losing his temper, his face set in a dangerous snarl. He grabbed her by the hair and Rowan yelped lashing out immediately. She was lucky with the first kick, it got him in the shin and he went down. The second kick was tactical hit, she got him square in the chest, knocking him over. She got up, took one step towards the door and a gun was in her face. Being held by a man she didn't recognize.
He was a giant man covered in gang tattoos and scars. He wore a pressed dark suit and had his black hair oiled back. He glared down at her, brown eyes narrowed in slits. He raised the gun up as if he was going to strike her, but before he could land his blow Wo Fat had gotten between them and blocked it with his own raised arm.
"I am not paying to put her back together again," he snarled to the man.
"Who is this?" Rowan asked from behind him. She got up on her tippy toes to look at the man over Wo Fat's shoulder. "Do you really need more muscle? I mean, can you afford it?"
Wo Fat half turned to her, his arm still raised as if both he and the new guy were frozen in this duel. He had a look on his face that sent shivers down her spine. She took a quick step back. Maybe she should have opened with thank you. She watched the two men with careful eyes as they extracted themselves from the position they were in. Each lowering their respective arms and then fixing their suits.
"This is Armando Dias, he's a friend of mine who was up visiting Hawaii. He and I had business. He has now agreed to watch you," he growled when he was done preening. "You've already met his nephew, I believe."
"Juan Carlos?" she asked. "He was nice. Good singing voice. Cute butt."
Both men stared at her like she was crazy. And maybe she was. Armando turned to Wo Fat with his unfeeling eyes and said: "She needs to stay away from my nephew."
"It's not like I'm going to attack him," she grumbled but Wo Fat pushed her away and back towards her cot. "Aw come on! Please! I'm bored, Oz. I swear, I'll be ten times better behaved if you just let me have something to do."
She always called him Oz when she could, she hoped if she did that he'd remember that, once, when he first met her, he had been kind to her. It only served to have him look at her strangely, or with disdain.
"Just stay outside, I can handle her," he told Armando who scoffed.
"When I came in you were on the floor and she was making a run for it," he reminded him.
"Then shut the door behind you, I won't let it happen again," Wo Fat snapped.
"With all due respect, I think she has you blinded."
That sentence hung in the air. Wo Fat had started shaking. She didn't know if it was fear or anger but she had a feeling that no matter what it was it wasn't good for her.
"Get. Out," Wo Fat snapped his voice dangerously low. Oh yeah. He was angry. The door shut behind Armando and then Wo Fat was bearing down on her.
"Uhm… thank you for not letting him pistol whip me?" she offered in a small voice hoping that would appease him. It didn't.
"I have been more than accommodating with you, Miss. Pierce," he growled. "Now you tell me how you got out of this fucking room or I will start being less than friendly."
Rowan blinked her eyes. Now was not the time to push buttons. This man was a sociopath. He could do terrible things to her and it was a godsend that he hadn't yet. She'd have no choice but to tell him the truth.
"The guy who stitched me left the door unlocked because he thought I was unconscious, and I wasn't."
"You were out as late as last night?" he snapped.
"Yeah, but uhm… I passed out in a supply closet and didn't actually get to an escape until this morning," she admitted.
"In a supply closet?"
"Yep, on an overturned bucket," she replied.
To her surprise Wo Fat started to laugh. "How did McGarrett ever deal with you? You must have drove him mental."
Rowan tried not to smile with him. "He used to handcuff me to himself or other people he trusted or to inanimate objects I couldn't break. He was also always yelling at me," she answered.
Wo Fat seemed to think about that briefly. "And you behaved, when handcuffed to others?"
"Well… I mean… sort of," she replied with a shrug. "It wasn't like I could do much. But, you know, if you get me a book to read, or an iPod to listen to, or a TV to watch, I'm sure I'll behave."
The look he gave her told her that he doubted those words and she got that. It didn't help her cause but she got that.
"Have you eaten?" he asked instead.
"No," she replied softly.
"I'll have someone bring you something then," he said knocking on the door so Armando on the other side knew to open it for him. He avoided her eyes as he added: "And try to get some rest, that head injury can't be good for you."
And then the door opened and he was gone. Rowan tried not to let the tears fall down her cheeks, tried to breathe through the blinding panic. She tried to keep herself calm. But she was scared. Why hadn't Steve found her yet? What was she going to do? How long until Wo Fat got tired of her and what would he do to her when that happened?
What the hell was Rowan going to do to keep herself entertained? How was she going to escape now? But most importantly…
Was Steve okay?
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
"Are you okay, honey?" Doris asked as Steve paced about his living room. He had asked his mother over so he could ask her a favor. But he didn't know how to phrase.
How does one ask their mother to sacrifice herself for the girl Steve was certain he was falling for?
"No," he replied. Because why lie? He was a wreck.
"What's going on Steve?" she asked because she'd have to know that he called her over here to talk to about it.
"Wo Fat," Steve said. Already Doris was sitting a little straighter. "I found Wo Fat. He's on the island."
"Steve…" she started but Steve shook his head.
"He took Rowan, mom," he admitted before she could say anything else and then collapsed to the arm chair. One of the last places Rowan had been sitting. It almost felt like he could still feel her there.
He was shaking. He could feel the tremors. He clasped his hands together to try and dispel them but it just made him shake harder. His mother's eyes were on him and it felt like he was about to burst into tears. If his mother got up and hugged him he may just start crying.
But that was exactly what Doris did. She got up, sat down on the arm of the couch and hugged Steve. Tears threatened to fall, actually did fall. He had to wipe them away before his mother could notice.
"Do you know for sure that he has her?" she asked.
Steve took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She opened the text messages and the picture. She stared at them for a bit while he sat there with his fingers pressed to his lips to keep the sobs and cries of frustration at bay.
"He's asked you for me?!" she asked sounding as shocked as Steve had felt when the request came in.
"I don't know what to do mom," he said in a small voice. "She was so sick when she I found her. She could barely walk, she was malnourished and covered in burns. She won't be able to hold him off, she won't be able to survive him torturing her."
"Do you think he's torturing her?" Doris wondered.
"I don't know," Steve admitted. "I don't know what he wants from her. I don't know if this is a straight ransom case. She called him Oz, she called him Oz and he recognized her. He stopped shooting at us. He knew her, mom, he knew her and now he's got her."
"How would she have met him?" Doris asked. "It makes no sense."
"I don't know mom. I can't ask him, can I? I can't ask her either," Steve argued. But at the forefront of his mind was those two days that were unaccounted for, the two days she apparently just stayed on the beach. "All I know is that he has her and he won't give her back to her unless I give him you."
"When's the drop?" Doris asked. Steve looked up at her. What was she saying? "When's the drop? I'll have to know to be ready."
"You're going to go?" Steve asked. "You're going to trade yourself for her?"
"Of course," Doris cried as if it were the only thing that made sense. "You're right. She wouldn't be able to handle him if she were healthy. Not to mention she's mouthy, he won't like that."
Steve felt the shaking return and his mother wrapped her arms around him to help him. He completely forgot how bad she was with her sass. She was always running her mouth. Wo Fat could and probably would shoot her for that alone.
"You agree and get the details and then text me," Doris told him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "We'll get her back. Okay? Don't you worry honey. We'll get her back."
Steve sat there melting into his mother's embrace. A few tears escaping and rolling down his cheek before he could get them. He had to believe her. He had to believe he'd save Rowan from this man because otherwise he wouldn't survive.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
The text came in.
Fine. When and where?
And right after that came a second text: And I want proof of life.
He was still in shock. Steven McGarrett actually agreed to give him his mother. He would be stupid to think Steve would just hand his mother over. There'd be a plan, extravagant and convoluted. Wo Fat just had to have a better one.
But first he had to make a phone call.
He walked towards where they were holding Rowan. Where she was sleeping. He dialed McGarrett's number and the man picked up on the first ring.
"Where is she?" came from the other end of the phone and Wo Fat was taken a bit a back.
There was panic in Steve's voice. A deep-seated fear that Wo Fat hadn't been expecting. "Rowan? Ro? Where is she Wo Fat. Have you hurt her? Can't you see enough's been done to her? Let me talk to her, you bastard."
Steve continued and Wo Fat found himself paused outside her door staring down at his phone. Where the hell did Steven McGarrett come off talking to him like that? Asking if he'd hurt her. Well, we had, but that wasn't point. He wasn't the one who sent the girl off in the first place, telling her to leave and effectively getting her kidnapped by drug runners. He wasn't the one who let her come to an active shoot out in a helicopter. He wasn't the one who left her in the jungle to fend for herself.
But he didn't say any of that, he pushed open the door and stalked into the room. Rowan was actually asleep this time, he could tell by the way she was breathing. The fact that she didn't move when she heard him come in. She was a deep sleeper. Not much woke her once she was out. He almost didn't want to wake her up but Steve was still yapping on the other side of the phone.
So he grabbed her by the back of her hair again. Rowan awoke with a yelping cry that seemed to stab him in the chest. A feeling he quickly shrugged awau/
Rowan glared up at him once he let go. "Hey! What was that for?"
Stop hurting her!
Rowan's eyes went to the phone in his hand. She had recognized that voice. Wo Fat offered it out to her and Rowan snatched it from him.
"Steve?" she asked and Wo Fat sat back to watch her talk to him. A small smile hit her lips and a barb of jealous pricked his heart. She never smiled like that with him. But he was holding her hostage so really, what did he expect? "No, I'm okay. Did a cop get shot?"
That was a weird question to ask.
"Yes it does matter, did a cop get shot?" she snapped. "No, I already said I'm fine. Just a few stitches."
Steve's cries were heard through the phone even from where Wo Fat was standing. He couldn't hear the words just the volume as Rowan held the phone away from her ear. He should have stopped the call by now, they were probably tracing it after all, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"It's just a small laceration on my head. It's probably gonna scar though, like Harry Potter. It'll match the one that goes through my right eyebrow." Rowan told him. "No, everything else is fine. Now answer the question. Did a cop get shot?"
She chewed the side of her thumb while she listened to him. She scowled at whatever she said and rolled her eyes.
"Yes it does Steve, because he has no hands," Rowan groaned.
And that was it. He had no idea what it was she was talking about but it needed to stop. Wo Fat took the phone from her just in time to have Steve ask him: "Who has no hands?"
"She's fine for now," Wo Fat interrupted him and Steve fell silent. "You'll meet us at the junction in Kualoa at the end of Kaawa Valley Road, there's a grove there off the side of the road, you'll see it. Midnight, tonight. And if you bring anyone other than Shelburne, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in your precious little psychic."
Steve got the first syllable out of the word: "Understood" and then Wo Fat hung up.
He'd be a fool to think that Steve hadn't been tracing the call. It was why he had waited until the base was ready to move before making the call in the first place. They were going to move, he had a place set up but he needed somewhere to lay low. He didn't want Rowan there while they were setting up. That mean he, Armando, Juan Carlos and Rowan would be going somewhere else to sit until the space was ready.
Rowan looked up at him with those big blue eyes. "You're going to shoot me?" she asked. Her voice quivering. He wanted to tell her he'd never shoot her. That he intended her no harm. But that was a lie. If he had to. If he thought it would stop Steve from getting the upper hand. He'd shoot her in a heartbeat. And then probably feel the guilt for the rest of his life.
He brought the handcuffs out of his pocket and Rowan began to whine. He hated it when she whined and she knew it. "I'll be good, I promise, you don't need to handcuff me," she told him but they went onto her wrist and then onto his.
She shot him a dry glare. "Really?" she snapped. "It didn't work well for the others you're definitely not going to enjoy this."
"You said it kept you well behaved," he reminded her with narrowed eyes.
Rowan got to her feet, swaying slightly. Despite himself he put a hand out to steady her and then took it away. Like touching her was the same as getting burned.
"Yeah, I mean it kept me out of trouble, but I'm sassy AF, I unno if you're going to be able to handle me," she said to him.
"I've taken on dictators, and gun runners and your precious McGarrett. I think I can handle you," he scoffed.
He should have taken that smug smirk on her face and the way her eyebrow cocked at him as a sign. But he didn't know what Rowan was like. He didn't know he had just issued her a challenge. But he was about to find out.