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AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Alright guys, this is it. The last of it. The last major hump that Rowan and Steve will have to get over in this season… and yes that implies that there will be other humps in one of the following seasons (not season 5 though). After this chapter Steve is going to spiral, so be prepared for that, but it also marks the beginning of the end of several toxic relationships. The love triangle will be ending in the next 20 or so chapters. I can tell you that I just got to chapter 90 and I'm to episode 14, Rowan's birthday, and Steve doing something so adorable that if you don't go d'aww I've not done my job right. So bear with me, we're almost there! I swear! Next week we go back to our double updates but we got something special coming closer to the end of February so keep that in mind. See you guys Tuesday and don't forget to review!

P.S. Don't worry JP, Wo Fat won't be going too far. We'll hear from him again.

Chapter 63

Catherine had come out to the airport to be supportive but, honestly, she was feeling so betrayed right now. So, when Rowan got close to her, when she was certain Steve and Danny weren't looking, she grabbed Rowan's arm, pulled her into the shadows and shoved her against the hanger's wall as aggressively as she could. Rowan had guilt written all over her. Of course she did, she hadn't realized that Catherine was there, had witnessed her and Steve, the hug, the way they had almost kissed if Rowan hadn't pulled away in time.

It was a reminder that, while Rowan was effectively trying to keep her distance, Steve was not. And even then, both of them were finding reasons to see each other, finding reasons to be together. Almost like the two of them couldn't stand to be apart. Like they were magnetically attracted to one another.

Rowan stared up at her, neither woman had said anything, but she was cringing as if she expected a fight to break out. Maybe it would. But Catherine was going to try to be nice. Rowan had just saved her life that afternoon. She could have let Catherine take all the beatings, should could have used that network to leave Catherine behind, but she had chosen not to. So, Catherine was going to endeavour to not be too cruel.

"Look, I saw what just happened," she whispered. "Thank you for not kissing my boyfriend."

"I'm sorry," Rowan gushed. "I'm sorry. I'm trying. I am. But the visions… and Wo Fat… and I just needed a hug. It didn't matter from who. You could give me a hug and I'd be happy. A hug would be really great right now."

Rowan opened her arms as if to actually give Catherine a hug and Catherine moved away a look of disgust crossing her face before she forced it off. She didn't want to touch Rowan. She wanted her to go away.

"Of course, you're still having visions. Of course, Steve is too attached to you," Catherine said as if it made sense. "Neither of you are giving each other space."

"But… I moved out…" Rowan whispered.

"But it's not enough… is it?" Catherine tried not to snap at her.

"I'm trying, it's just… our path's keep crossing," Rowan mumbled avoiding Catherine's eyes.

"Yes, I know, because you're always around his friends," she said. "And then more you're around them the more visions you get and the more you interfere. Don't get me wrong. Thanks for all the help. Thank you for saving me. But I want you to be happy too, not just Steve. And right now, neither of you are happy."

Rowan glanced over her shoulder, if she peaked her head right out from behind the wall she could see him standing there talking to Danny. For a moment Catherine worried that Rowan would call her out on her lies, that she'd try to run to Steve who was still near-by. Luckily, she turned away from him and back to Catherine.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Just stop helping?"

"No. But I'm thinking if you stop associating with them… with all of them… then you might stop having your visions. You could have a normal life. You could be happy. And Steve could let you go and be with me, like you said he was supposed to be," Catherine reminded her.

Rowan blinked her eyes. "You mean… stop talking to everyone? Danny, Chin, Kono?" she asked.

"And Max and Kamekona and whoever else you've gotten attached to." Catherine said.

Rowan frowned. "But they're my friends," she whispered.

"Make your own friends, have your own life. Stay with Alex, get a job, or go back to where you come from. I don't care, but stop hanging around my goddamn boyfriend," Catherine cried. "You're ruining everything. Can't you see that? Or do you just not care?"

Rowan blinked her eyes, tears welling up in her big baby blue eyes. If she thought she could blink her eyes and cry a bit and Catherine would change her mind she had another thing coming. Catherine wasn't weak like Steve. She was angry and she had finally had enough of Rowan and her bullshit.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice thick with those unshed tears. "I'm not trying to ruin anything. Honest. I'm not. I'm just… lonely and they're my friends and… and…"

"If you actually cared about them. If you actually cared about Steve, you'd leave them all alone," Catherine growled. "You're just being selfish."

She left it there. Turning away and leaving Rowan there. Hoping that the words had actually affected her enough to make a change. To make her leave Steve alone. The next time they were all together she'd make sure Steve kissed her, no matter how much she hated that the gesture now felt empty and hollow. She would press herself into his side where she belonged and she would make sure that Rowan saw. That Rowan knew. That even though he had a fascination with her, Steve always wanted Catherine, always went back to her.

She had given Rowan all the chances Catherine could afford to give and then some. Now she was going to fight for him as hard and as dirty as she had to.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

The satellite phone rang and Kono picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Listen very carefully," Chin's frantic voice reached her. "There's been a security breach…."

"Yes, I know," Kono said, smiling to Adam who was driving their jeep through the jungle. "Rowan told us this morning."

This was met with silence and Kono tried not to smile. Poor Chin had probably been so worried and Rowan had beat him to it.

"Yeah, we turned the tables on the guys sent after us. They were sent by the Yakuza," she told him.

"Yes, that was our theory, that the NLM had sold your position to the Yakuza," Chin said.

"Look, we're fine. We've left the Zhejiang Province, we're going to find somewhere else to lay low," Kono told him. She caught Adam's eyes, and remembered the secondary info they had gotten from the one man left alive after the flawless ambush she and Adam had executed.

"That's not all we got, Chin," she told him. "It's about Rowan, we think she's in danger."

"Danger?" Chin echoed. "Naw she's fine, we rescued her from the NLM, she's good."

Rowan had been kidnapped again? Damn that girl had no fucking luck. "No, that's not what I mean. The Yakuza, they're heavily interested in her. They think she'll be useful in some way. They may go after her," she warned him.

"Thanks for the info, Kono," he said after a moment of silence. "And be safe."

"Okay, love you cuz," she said and then hug up the phone.

Adam smiled over to her. "You forgot to tell him your theory," he said and she groaned. That's right, she was going to tell Chin that she was 100% certain that Rowan was Canadian.

"Don't worry, we can tell him that later," Adam said. He smiled at her, and Kono found herself smiling right back at him.

"Is there nothing you can't do?" he asked. Well she had been pretty amazing. Fishing, fixing their car engine, seamlessly fitting into life on the run in the middle of a shack in a Chinese jungle.

"Cook and clean?" she said to him and he started to laugh. It was so infectious that she began to laugh too.

"Well that's a problem because neither can I," he admitted and her laughter got a little louder.

She gripped his hand and smiled at him as the made their way through the trees carefully in the power teal green jeep. "Where are we heading to now?"

"Hangchow," he answered immediately. Good, he had a direction. "About a hundred miles away."

"You think we'll be safe in the city?" she asked him. Not because she was questioning him but just because she was interested.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But it's got the closest airport."

"So, we're getting out of China?" she asked hoping her face and tone conveyed all the excitement she felt at being on the adventure with the man she loved.

"We're not," he whispered and then carefully looked her in the eye. "You are."

The smile fell right off her face. No, no he was not suggesting what she thought he was suggesting.

"Kono, come on, you saw those guys. If Rowan hadn't warned us, if we hadn't had a few hours a head of them it would have been a completely different situation. Rowan… she won't be able to warn us all the time," he said.

Okay, so Rowan had helped this time. That didn't mean she had to leave. They just had to be more careful, and they couldn't tell Five-0 where they were cause clearly it meant headquarters would be attacked, and Rowan would end up vomiting in the hallway plants.

"So, we fight them off," Kono snapped. "Like we did today."

"No, Kono," Adam argued. "There's no way too win this."

Kono just stared at him, willing him to see how much she didn't want to do this. "I'm not leaving you," she told him. He needed her to see how much it would hurt her if he made her go. How much he needed her with him as much as she needed him. "I didn't come this far to walk away from you."

"You're not listening to me!" he cried. "You say with me and we're both dead. It's just a matter of time. They'll find us sooner than later."

"So, we find them first," she said as seriously as she could.

Adam didn't seem to get it. "What are you saying?"

"We hit them before they hit us," she explained. "Hard. So, they don't get up."

Adam didn't seem to like that idea. But he saw the fire in her eyes, he saw the determination, he must have realized that she wouldn't leave. He was about to cave, she knew it. "I've never liked playing defense," she told him.

And that seemed to be it. He seemed to realize then that it would be harder to fight her on this because he finally sighed and said: "You're crazy, you know that?"

Yes. Yes, she was. Crazy for him. Crazy for believing in him. Crazy for believing this plan could work. Crazy in love with him.

She pulled him in for a kiss she held him there. She was not going to let him go. Not now. Not ever. She saw what it did to her boss and she was going to fight for the man she loved. For now, until forever.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

It had been a nice quiet day. The city was not filled with turmoil, so that meant McGarrett was detained somewhere else. This meant that Lou Grover could sit in his office and relax. He was still settling in Hawaii after all, yesterday had not been a good first day. It started off good, he loved getting thrown into the thick of things, but it was everything after that pissed him off.

But what was he going to do about McGarrett and Five-0? He obviously couldn't work with them, McGarrett was nuts.

The door to his office opened and jolted him out of his brainstorming. "Howdy Sam…" the woman in the doorway started and then trailed off as she looked at him. She must have been there to see the old S.W.A.T. captain.

"You're not Sam…" The woman said, trailing off. She took half a step out of the office and looked up at the sign and room number as if to confirm she was in the right place. She looked pleasant enough, with her waves of red and blonde hair, her black leggings and flowing blue tunic like shirt. Lou frowned at her, but noted that she was carrying a baker's box. He was always down for some free baked goods.

His guys had mentioned something about today being a good day, since he was a betting man, he'd bet money that this was what they were talking about. She looked familiar though he just couldn't place where he knew her from.

"Nope. I'm Lou Grover, the new Captain. How may I help you?" he asked realizing that he hadn't said anything in an unacceptable amount of time.

The girl looked confused. "Funny, Sam didn't tell me he was leaving," she whispered. She seemed to think about it for a moment, a frown donned her pink lips and then she shrugged it off. "Oh well. I'm Rowan. I get in trouble a lot and the guys tend to have to come rescue me, so since I'm such a bother I bring cupcakes in once a week. These were for Sam and his little girls, but if you like cupcakes you can have them."

Who the hell didn't like cupcakes?

"Well, I know my kids would love these," he said standing to accept the books.

"Alright, well that's one set of advance apology cupcakes delivered. Nice to meet you Lou," she said shaking his hands. A bolt of static electricity flew up his arm and Rowan's eyes rolled back a bit into her skull. Whatever the hell was going on it didn't affect her long because she regained her composure shook her head clear and then smiled widely at him.

"Be nice to Commander McGarrett, he's brash but he means well," she said. Commander McJackass? She knew him? And like hell he was going to play nice with that jerk. "Anyway, I better go, you're gonna have a busy day today."

Lou watched her leave, his eyes narrowed with distrust. Well what the hell did that mean?

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Danny smiled at his new car. The beautiful black Camaro that had just come in. He couldn't… could not…wait to drive this beauty. He just couldn't.

He had purposely left Steven Control-Freak McGarrett inside while he hashed things out with his girlfriend over the ex-boyfriend that just showed up at the office a couple of hours before begging Steve to convince Catherine to quit the Navy and join the ex's new job. If he was smart, he wouldn't let that happen.

He whistled appreciatively at his car as he paced up and down the length of it. He just could not wait to share this with Steve. Whenever he decided to get his butt down here.

And then he was there, a smirk on his face and a strut to his step. Well that meant things with Catherine went well.

"Look at this," he said to Steve once he got into earshot. "Look what arrived. Beautiful, huh?"

"Looks nice," Steve agreed. And then snatched the key out of Danny's hands. He was in the driver's seat before Danny could even complain. Shooting a quick: "Let's go!" over his shoulder. The fucking sneaky bastard.

Danny stood there for a bit before slowly making his way to the passenger side as he muttered to himself. The engine revved and he sighed. At least it sounded good. He opened up the car door and leant over to ask: "You're not gonna let me drive my new car?"

Steve said nothing, he just stared at him and revved the engine a few more times. Danny sighed and got into the car. "You're a real jerk, you know that?" he snapped but Steve said fuck all. He just drove away. Danny sat quietly in the car until the gears started to grind.

"You're grinding the thing," he groaned.

"I'm not grinding the thing," Steve argued. "What are you talking about? This thing is an animal. Let me tell you about it. Zero to sixty in under five. Under five, okay? Takes corners like it's stuck on the road. It's a dream. I love this car!"

Well wasn't that just great? See Danny liked the car too, that's why he wanted to own it, that's why he was looking forward to driving it himself. "Are you enjoying yourself?" Danny growled.

Steve turned a smile to him, one akin to the kind a kid got in a toy store. "I am. I am," he confirmed. Danny couldn't help but smile too. Alright, so it was kinda great that Steve looked truly happy. The last time Steve had been truly happy… well… Rowan had woken up and told him that she had feelings for him.

"Okay, good. Are you enjoying yourself as much as you enjoyed having that conversation with your girlfriend's ex-boyfriend?" he asked. Better than talking about Rowan, as she always found a way to come back up.

Steve's glance at him told him that he didn't like the turn the conversation took. Oh well, that's what he got for stealing his fucking car… again.

"What are you talking about? Billy… Billy's opening a private security firm, okay?" Steve said to him. "He heard Catherine was leaving the Navy. He wants to offer her a job. He came to me out of respect to make sure it was okay."

Danny listened with rapt interest. "Aha!" he said. He knew where that conversation ended in real life. And it was not good for Steve. Danny was really rooting for Catherine and Steve to go the distance, and not just because he bet on them in the pool the rest of the Five-0s had going on who Steve would end up with. "Okay, well, uh, I'm gonna just take a stab here. Did he tell you that offering her the job had nothing to do with their past relationship, all due respect to you, and that she's the only person for the position?"

Steve nodded, confusion on his face. "Yes, that's actually exactly what he said."

Danny turned forward again. "Ha. That's funny," he said as sarcastically as he could possibly manage. "Did he also say that you should convince her to take the job? Which, by the way, is a terrible idea."

Steve shot a glance to him. Now he just looked mad. "Wait, wait, stop, stop," he ordered. "Billy's a solid guy."

"Guy being the operative word here," Danny reminded him. Ready to launch into one of his patented lectures. "The guy who is gonna be working long, hard hours with your beautiful, intelligent, sexy, attractive girlfriend."

Okay, so he kept that one on the shorter side because he didn't want Steve to complain. Steve scoffed him. "Danny, Billy and I served together. We saw action together. He's all about integrity and character." he told him. Like that mattered. If Billy wanted Catherine there wasn't nothing in his past with Steve that would stop him from making a move on Steve's girlfriend. Especially silly little things like integrity and character.

"That is exactly why it is a terrible idea," Danny told him.

"That doesn't make any sense," Steve snapped.

"You see, that is why you will never see it coming, pal," Danny said. "You are complacent, okay? You need to fortify your position. At all times, at all times, you need to protect your queen like, uh, chess."

Steve made that squinting face, the one he made right before he corrected one of Danny's brilliant metaphors. "No, not like in chess, Danny," he snapped. Oh, here we go. "In chess, the queen is a fighting piece and you use her to protect the king. What are you talking about?"

Yes. Danny knew that. But that was not what Catherine was going to do. Catherine never did that. She didn't fight for Steve, she backed him up but she never went to war for him. Not the way Danny, or Chin or Kono did. Not the way Rowan would have… back before Wo Fat turned her into a perky carbon-copy of himself.

"Okay. It was a metaphor. It was a metaphor for you losing the best thing that ever happened to you," Danny explained. He shouldn't have had to but there you go.

Steve sighed. "There's nothing to worry about. Catherine turned the job down," he said, his voice flat. Clearly, he decided not to argue with him anymore. Danny loved it when Steve resigned himself to his lectures. It made everything easier.

"Good. Her decision?" he asked.

"Yeah, I told her to take the job," Steve said and then shot Danny an appraising look to see if he'd catch flack for that, but Danny was smiling. This was good news.

"Very good. Her decision. Makes you look like the confident, understanding boyfriend," Danny said with a grin. Confidence was abundant in Steve, it was the understanding part he lacked. So long as he could line the situation up to make it look like he was understanding then they were golden. "Everything is good."

Danny nodded. That was it. End of discussion.

"She's gonna need a job, Danny," Steve said.

Well there was that discussion open again.

"We'll get her a job," Danny said. "You know, there's gotta be a testosterone-free workplace somewhere on this island. I mean, we'll get her a job at a convent, nice women's charity, sell donuts, I don't know. Something."

He was getting that look from Steve again. The one where Steve didn't know if Danny was being sarcastic or serious. If asked Danny would say sarcastic, and probably add in a you putz, but in reality he was serious. If Catherine got around normal guys, not in the navy type guys, guys that weren't hung up on a time-travelling-future-seeing-wanna-be-assassin, Catherine would dump Steve in a heartbeat.

"The point is, it is good that she did not take that job," Danny reiterated again. While Steve just stared at him with that same look. "Trust me. Trust me! As your friend, I know these things."

Steve went quiet again and then Danny turned to him. "You ready to talk about that little hand off between you and Max this morning?"

Steve had ducked him earlier but he wasn't going to let that happen again. Steve sighed, this time a sigh of frustration. He inhaled sharply and said: "I got the DNA test back."

"Okay? And?" Danny asked.

Steve pulled the crumpled-up paper out of his pocket and handed it to him. Danny opened it up carefully and then stared at it.

"Okay. So, he's not your brother," Danny said as he looked at the paper. "I feel like this is a good thing? Why isn't this a good thing?"

Steve turned that dry glare on him again and Danny nodded. "Ah, cause Rowan was right," he said. "You hate it when she's right."

Steve scoffed again. "Uh, no. That is not why. It's not good because my mother is up to something and I can't figure out what. I just wish to hell that I knew what it was."

Danny knew he was going to regret this. He knew it, but it didn't matter. He was gonna do it anyway. "You know, there's a way we can find out."

"How? My mother's not back from China and if Rowan's right…" Steve trailed off and shot another look at Danny. "I am not asking Rowan."

"Why not?" Danny cried. "She's right! She's always right. Just ask her. Ask her and if she's wrong okay, but she's never been wrong so I think you'll get your answers."

"I am not asking Rowan," Steve repeated.

"Why, cause your mother pulled a gun on her?" Danny asked. "We can protect her from your mother if we have to."

"Because, Danny, I feel like we're tempting fate," he whispered.

"Naw you just don't want to face her after she shot you down," Danny said. The face Steve made after that was worth it. Total revenge for him stealing his brand-new car before he could even drive it once. And then they spent the rest of the time in the car in silence. So all-in-all it was a win for team Danny.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Two nights after Wo Fat left the island, a day after getting confirmation that Wo Fat wasn't his blood brother and a few hours after finding a missing daughter, Alex had a pretty major gig. Usually Steve wouldn't have given a damn about Alex and his band. But Danny and Chin were going to support Rowan who was apparently singing backup vocals and Steve had invited himself along. Despite the fact that both men had tried to talk him out of it. He briefly contemplated bringing Catherine with him, but then he couldn't try to kiss Rowan again so he didn't tell her about it.

He arrived at the club, found where Danny and Chin were sitting with their beers and sat down with them. They nodded to him, both a little put off that he was there, but Steve couldn't have cared less. He wanted to see Rowan. He wanted to hear the lyrics that she had given Alex, wanted to watch her sing and pretend that she was his just for a little bit.

When they got onto the stage, the front tables, all filled with girls, started screaming. Okay, so they had a fanbase, this was good. And then they were playing and Steve couldn't take his eyes off Rowan who was wearing a black racer-back tee, distressed dark jeans, and had way too much eyeliner and wildly tousled hair. She looked like a rock-and-roll goddess.

I pray for the wicked on the weekend. Mama, can I get another amen?

Her voice still haunted him. It shouldn't have been Alex's band. It should have been hers. Why the hell did she not want the lime light? Why did she want to be in the back?

They played three more songs. Girls were screaming for Alex and when they were done, Rowan carefully made her way to the back where the boys were waiting.

"Good job, little sista," Chin said pulling her into a hug. Rowan hugged him back tightly as if she were afraid to let him go.

"I didn't like a single song but you sounded amazing," Danny said as she hugged him with the same intensity.

"You're a really good singer. I'm surprised you're not keeping these songs for yourself," Steve said when she turned to him. He went to hug her but Rowan backed away. There was something on her face. Something scary. Some sort of angry determination but her eyes, they were full of pain and sadness. He didn't know what it was but it put a fear into his stomach. Something bad was going to happen.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her tone clipped and angry.

"I came to support you," he told her, he couldn't understand why she was so mad at him.

"I didn't ask you to come here," she snapped.

"Well no…" he admitted but Rowan cut him off.

"I don't want you here," she cried.

Steve jerked like she had slapped him. She might as well have fucking stabbed him in the heart. He recovered quickly, dressing the pain up as anger and getting into her face. "What the fuck is your problem?"

"You!" she screamed. "You're my problem. Stop fucking following me! Stop getting other people to follow me! Just leave me alone!"

Steve found himself just staring at her. She was doing what he did. She was pushing him away. Had he gotten too close? Was this because he tried to kiss her? He apologized for that, she made sure it didn't happen. It was more embarrassing for him than for her. But if she wasn't careful, she was going to actually push him away.

"God, you're so pathetic. Get over me already," she scoffed.

That was it. That was what did it.

"Oh, you think I want you? You're a fucking child! You can't make up your mind, you're obsessed with an emo boy band singer who seems more interested in those groupies than you and your only other friend is a criminal on his way to maximum security facility in fucking Colorado! You're not all that great yourself!" he shouted back.

"Oh wow, is that all you got?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"Okay, this is going a bit too far," Chin said standing up. "Look it's been a hard day…"

"Oh, shut up, I didn't want you guys here either!" she snapped to him and Chin blinked his eyes at her. She had never been so rude to him before. He cocked an eyebrow at her, clearly unimpressed but he said nothing. This wasn't like Rowan. Not the Rowan they knew. No one knew what was happening.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on Rowan?" Danny asked. "What the hell is your problem?"

"I want you all to stop following me. All you guys ever want from me is visions. And if you don't want visions your fucking spying on me for Commander McStalker over here," she snapped point at Steve who scoffed. "I want my own life. I want you guys to go away. Go away and let me be normal."

"You're not normal. You're a freak," Steve snapped. "Why don't you do us all a favour and jump back into that void you came out of and never fucking coming back. Cause we don't want you here either."

He saw the comment land, he saw it knock the anger right out of her. She was just glaring at him now, arms crossed, tears forming in her eyes. It was a low blow because he knew she couldn't go back, no matter how hard she tried. But she wasn't going to back down so he wasn't going to apologize either.

"Be careful what you wish for," she growled and then walked away from him, heading back towards Alex and the crowd of scantily clad girls he had attracted.

So, Steve did the same. He didn't wait for Danny or Chin. He walked out, his stomach roiling. He got two steps out of the front door and threw up in a near-by bush. He coughed until his stomach settled. He felt those walls coming back up. He couldn't trust anyone. He wasn't going to trust anyone with his heart every again.

She wanted him gone. Fine. He was gone. But if she got in his way again. If she caused any issues. Even the smallest fucking thing. She was going to experience the extreme force of Hawaii Five-0. Extreme prejudice. No more Commander McNice guy for her.