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AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: What?! A post on a Monday?! That's right. I reached another milestone! This story is officially 1000 pages long! *LE GASP* I know right?! So once again I'll be posting three times this week as well and next week we'll go back to 2 chapters a week. Which I know sucks for you guys, but I'm not writing as fast as I'd like to be writing and this will give me a chance to get a head again so I can run a few more chapter marathons in the future. So this is terrible thing #2. I was wrong, but there's only 1 more terrible thing after this and then Steve and Rowan are going to work on fixing their relationship. That should be in about 10 chapters from now. For those of you who are excited for this part, Catherine is technically gone by chapter 83. So in 5 more chapters. Hope that helps and see you on Wednesday.

P.S. We're relatively close to hitting 500 reviews and I wanted to do something special for that milestone. So I can do another 7 day marathon, OR we can do another special chapter where one of you guys gets to pick the subject. Tell me what you'd rather have in the reviews okay?

Chapter 78

Sato glared up at the four people in black tactical gear and ski masks. They all stripped them off one by one and that original fear that had taken him when he was first grabbed by them dissipated immediately. This was just Five-0 and that bitch Adam Noshimuri had been dating and dragging around China attempting to run from his men.

They were a long way from Hawaii and none of them were resting under the wide basking shadow of Wo Fat's protection. In fact, Wo Fat would probably be so grateful with him for killing McGarrett that he'd probably indebt himself to Sato in an instant if he offered up McGarrett's head on a platter.

He glared at the people around them as the leader, McGarrett himself, began to talk.

"You weren't an easy man to find, Sato," he said. Tauntingly. As if to say, that it wasn't easy but he did it… so it would be best if Sato didn't fuck with him. But Sato wasn't afraid of them. He wasn't afraid of anyone who had morals and everyone in this room had morals, except for him.

"You should have left this alone," he told them, mostly the girl, cause she was the one who was causing shit.

"Where is he? Where is Adam Noshimuri?" she asked. Well, at least she was consistent. Adam would love to hear how devoted she was, but if he was smart he'd never show his face again. The pretense of being dead had been hard for Sato to rig up for him, and he didn't want to blow all that hard work on a piece of Hawaiian ass Norshimuri got himself involved with.

"We know you took him," the other man said.

"You know nothing," Sato spat out.

The girl drew her gun and took two steps forward pressing it against his neck. She was angry, she was sure Adam was dead and he did it. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned but McGarrett's morals were legendary. Sato knew he wouldn't let her shoot him, so he sat there through her threats and tried not to smile.

"I know that if I pull this trigger, there's a bullet that's gonna travel at 1,200 feet per second, blowing a hole the size of a baseball in your brain, killing you in a matter of milliseconds," she growled. He might have believed her conviction if her voice didn't waver when she said it. The poor girl looked like she might cry. Aw what feelings did to you. "Now taking that into account, I'm gonna ask you again, where is Adam?"

Sato glared at her. "You'll never see him again," he told her and then waited to see if she'd pull the trigger. Except, of course, she didn't.

"You killed him?" she asked. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, he could see that but it was her fears confirmed. When he didn't answer she shoved the gun deeper into his throat and repeated her question. "Is he dead?"

He was starting to get worried. Wasn't McGarrett going to step in? When he still wouldn't answer she shoved it just a little higher so it was under his chin and nearly shouted: "Is he dead," and then McGarrett put his hand to the gun and pulled her away.

McGarrett and her shared a charged look before he turned around and said: "If it was up to Kono, she'd put a bullet in you right now, but we're gonna do this… your… way."

His way was through torture and death. What the hell did he mean that he was going to do this his way? McGarrett turned to the back of the building where a loud scraping sound could be heard in the distance. Metal against stone. It brought to might giant swords or large scythes being dragged by hulking brutes ready to slide and dice him until he talked. Death by a thousand cuts was not the way he wanted to go.

"We brought someone who can speak your language," he continued. He brought a translator? What good was that going to do? Sato spoke English quite well. "Our secret weapon."

He said that with pride, and the woman, the severe looking one with black hair rolled her brown eyes and stifled a groan of displeasure. And then from the shadows came his tormentor, dragging a chair behind her.

He recognized her the second the light hit that mop of red hair tied up in a bun. Unlike the others in the warehouse, she was in dark green sweatpants and a matching green sweatshirt that did not fit her right at all, instead it bared her mid drift where he saw the telltale signs of a tattoo… two of them peeking out from the waist band on the apex of her hips. She slammed the chair down and then sat herself in it as primly as one could in a metal chair looking like they just rolled out of bed and then she scowled at him, her blue eyes appraising him carefully and then a pleasant smile donned her lips, the kind of smile that hinted at a more devious motive.

"Hi, I'm Rowan," she said.

Yes. He knew that. Everyone knew her. Everyone knew that fucking with her meant dealing with the wrath of a sociopath. Everyone was coming to learn that she was just as bad as the man protecting her.

"Yes. I know," he answered. He tried not to show it but he was finally afraid. Because unlike Five-0 her morals were grey at best, and Wo Fat's morals were nonexistent.

"It's so nice to officially meet you," she continued. "I'd shake your hand but you seem quite tied up at the moment." She then laughed at her own joke and leaned in grinning wildly saying: "You see what I did there. It's a pun. About your circumstances!"

He got it. He just didn't think it was funny.

"Full discloser, Wo Fat has nothing to do with this," she said. "All this guy," she then pointed at McGarrett who scowled, scoffed, folded his arms over his chest and pointedly looked away from her. "Let me tell you, it has not been a good day for me. So I totally feel you. Me and you we're in the same situation here."

They were not of course. She may have been forced to be there but she wasn't tied up. She just had really shitty friends. "Are you just going to talk to me?" he asked her. "That's your plan? Talk at me until I break? Do you think that will work?"

Rowan blinked her eyes. "Uh… I'm like crazy annoying. Now don't interrupt me… where was I…" she trailed off as she thought about it. "Oh… right… yea, so, McKidnapper over there uh… DRUGS ME and then puts me on a plane. And let me tell you, it is not fun waking up off of a chloroform high more than 30 thousand feet in the air confused as fuck about what's happening and having all of your so-called friends tell you it was necessary even though I told them like two weeks ago that I promised I wouldn't mess with you guys anymore…"

"For the last time it wasn't chloroform and we're not your friends…" McGarrett shouted only to have the other man and Noshimuri's girl say: "Yes, we are," and be ignored. "And I asked you to come and you said no… so yeah, you left me with no choice."

"I said no because I didn't want to do this and I was supposed to be at a gig tonight and Alex is gonna loose his damn mind on me! Not that any of that should matter because I said no and…. NO MEANS NO!" she cried. A strange buzzing broke into the conversation and she glared at him. "Okay, I can hear my phone in your pocket, so I know Wo Fat's freaking out can you just give it to me so I can tell him I'm alright."

"Why the hell would he think anything's wrong with you?" McGarrett asked her. Sato watched in rapt interested. Wow. No wonder Wo Fat was so protective of her, look at who she had as friends. She needed all the help she could get.

"Because my phone went into international airspace on a day he KNEW I had an important gig and wouldn't be traveling. And now it's pinging in JAPAN which houses this guys' criminal empire so he's going to think that he kidnapped me…" Rowan then paused and turned back to Sato with a large toothy devious smile in his direction. He knew that look. He saw it on Fat's face one too many times. "He thinks you kidnapped me."

"So, it's fine for him to track you and not me?" McGarrett interrupted.

"Uh, he's not tracking me, the app is programed to send him alerts if I do something weird. As I haven't made travel plans, ending up in international airspace is considered weird, so he would have been alerted," Rowan explained. "I can use that to our advantage but he's probably already sent people to pick me up. Can you please just tell me what the phone is saying?"

McGarrett sighed but obliged her, pulling her phone out of his pocket and checking it. His eyebrows furrowed with confusion before saying: "Uh… ring around the rosie?"

"Oh my god we're surrounded," she whispered and then all of them were scrambling for their guns. Rowan launched out of her seat, raised her hands up and screamed: "I'm Rowan Pierce and I'm A-Okay!"

In the shadows came the dings of what had to be at least five phones. Rowan let out an exhale of relief. "Sorry, guys, misunderstanding… uh… can you guys come here? No fighting, I promise," she told them and they all came out… all ten of them. They too were in black tactical gear, loaded up with more weapons than Five-0. "Hi I'm Rowan it's nice to meet you," she said warmly to them all.

"Uh… would you guys mind just… uh… making sure the perimeter's fine… and maybe don't tell Wo that I'm fine yet?" she asked. They all nodded before disappearing back into the shadows and then Rowan was back in her chair ignoring the look of utter shock on her Five-0 companion's faces.

"Alright… where were we…" to her left her phone started to vibrate again. She didn't even look at McGarrett who was staring at the screen. "So… what am I telling him?" she asked. "Am I telling him that you kidnapped me and thus having him raze your entire empire to the ground in a matter of days like he did to the NLM or am I telling him that Steve did it?"

McGarrett offered her the phone and Sato lurched. "I'll tell you about Adam just don't tell Wo I kidnapped you."

"Deal. Start talking," she said ignoring the call coming in on her phone and putting it in her pocket.

"I'll admit, I wanted Adam dead," Sato said but when Rowan cocked an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed, he added quickly: "But out of respect for his father, I let him go."

Noshimuri's girl didn't buy it though. She glared at him over Rowan's head, standing directly behind her. "You're lying."

"Am I?" Sato taunted her. And Rowan kicked him square in the shin.

"Stop being a smartass," she ordered. "Or the next one is in the groin."

Sato stared at her incredulously but figured, like her protector, she would follow through with her threat. "I helped Adam fake his death so he could disappear," he told them. "If he's smart, he'll never show his face again. If you're smart, you'll let this go."

The girl and Sato had a glare off but it was interrupted by Rowan crowing in triumph.

"Ha! I told you! Pay me bitch," she cried extending her hand to McGarrett who glared at her.

"What… now?" he cried.

"Yes. I was right. You bet that I wasn't right about Adam faking his death. Give me my money, hoe!" she ordered. McGarrett sighed at her but fished out his wallet and put crisp bills into her palm and as he did so Rowan took a picture. "I'mma send this to Danny right away. He's never going to believe that you have cash on you."

McGarrett glared at her watching as Rowan pocketed her money and then stared at the phone in her hand. It buzzed again and she winced.

"I swear if I don't take this he'll lose his shit," she said. She got up and put the phone to her ear. "I'm okay… holy… calm down…"

She walked away and Sato couldn't help but watch her as she tried to calm down Wo Fat. Above him McGarrett was staring off at Rowan who was pacing back and forth some distance away. To his other side the black-haired woman was glaring at Steve. Didn't take a genius to figure out that Steve was obsessed with Rowan, the black-haired girl was obviously close enough to McGarrett to not like Steve's obsession with Rowan, and not even Rowan seemed to like his obsession with her. The question was, why hadn't Wo Fat dealt with the obsession yet? Why had McGarrett been able to grab the girl that Wo Fat was so protective over?

Rowan came back to Steve's side and offered the phone to him: "It's for you."

He rolled his eyes but took the phone. "McGarrett… don't take that tone with me!" he shouted into it and Rowan shook her head and sighed at him as McGarrett walked away arguing with Wo Fat about what he had done.

"He should have just left me in Hawaii… or let me call Wo when we landed," Rowan said softly.

"We didn't need you," the black-haired girl growled. "You shouldn't be here at all."

"That is, legit, what I just said," Rowan cried. The girl with the black hair took a step forward and Rowan's face changed into a mask of pure anger, a face he had also seen on Wo Fat. "If you don't think I won't tell Steve what you did, you have another thing coming. And if that's not enough of a deterrent… just keep in mind I have ten men outside that will end you at the snap of my fingers. So, I suggest you shut up and get the fuck out of my face Miss Rollins. I am so done with your passive aggressive bullshit I could puke."

Rowan got up out of her chair and walked away as the two Asians, now shoulder to shoulder glared at the black-haired girl until she cried: "What?" and she too walked away.

Ah, so Rowan had the capability to be exactly like Wo Fat. That too was useful information to add to the information he had already cultivated about this girl. But Sato didn't want to fuck with Five-0, and seeing Wo Fat's reaction to an unconfirmed Yakuza kidnapping he didn't want to fuck with those odds either. Rowan could be of use to him but at what cost?

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

As soon as Rowan finished paying the ten guys who showed up for an impromptu rescue mission her phone rang and Wo Fat was ready to argue all over again. He was absolutely livid. Everyone was livid with her. As if this were her fault.

"I can't believe you are just okay with what he did," Wo Fat snapped for the millionth time.

"I'm not okay with it, Wo, but what am I supposed to do about it?" she asked. "And don't say kill him, because I will never agree to that."

"Well something should be done," he growled.

"I'll make his life a living hell for the next week, okay?" she offered. "As you no doubt remember, I can be super annoying when I want to be."

Wo Fat was silent for a moment before he said: "Do you have any idea how scared I was?"

Rowan could imagine. She felt bad, she did. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Yes I know… but it's not your fault… now is it?" he asked.

"Well… partially," she whispered. "Uhm… I sort of told Sato that I'd tell you he kidnapped me to get him to tell me about Adam."

"… Why the hell would you do that?" he cried.

"Because I didn't want to torture him… I'm more than a little squeamish," she replied.

"For fucksake Rowan!" he snapped.

"I know you said not to involve you, but you know what? It worked. He listened and I got my info!" she told him hoping he'd be proud of her.

"Great… just great…" he growled. "I'm going to have to do damage control now, you know that right?"

"You sent 10 guys with sub-machine guns and other heavy artillery to break me out of what you thought was a heavily fortified warehouse where he was holding me hostage… what sort of damage control would you have had to do for that little situation?" Rowan shot back.

"None, cause I would have also had him killed to set an example," Wo answered primly.

Rowan pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't… I just can't even right now."

"That would be the Midazolam that McGarrett gave you," he replied. "It's a common knock out drug, since he swears he didn't use chloroform. Drink lots of water, and get something in your stomach before you get back on that plane. Don't… take… Advil or Tylenol, okay?"

"Okay… I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Yeah, yeah. Call me when you land in Hawaii."

"Deal," she said and then hung up the phone. She turned back to where Chin and Kono were talking. Steve and Catherine had been long gone, taking Sato to the drop zone. When she turned Kono and Chin were hugging it out.

"Hey! What's going on," Rowan asked immediately because neither of them was wearing happy faces.

"Kono's not coming with us," Chin said.

"What? Why? The plan was rendezvous at the plane," she reminded her. "I'm pretty sure Steve meant all of us."

"I'm going to go looking for Adam," Kono told her and Rowan winced.

"I mean… do you have to? He kinda left you behind. He did it purposely you know… to… uh… you know keep you safe. Going after him kinda defeats the purpose," Rowan said.

Kono sighed at her and pinned her with a dry glare and Rowan relented. "I mean, it's also your decision. So… like… you do you boo!"

Kono half laughed at her and then pulled her in for a hug. "Thanks for the support!" she said. "Thank you for coming, even if Steve had to drug you to be here."

"It's really not that I didn't want to help… it was more of that I shouldn't have," she whispered. "The Yakuza have enough interest in me as it is. This probably made it worse."

"Well thank you anyway," Kono said. "Any… uhm… tips you could give me?"

"Did you know… I'm not really getting visions anymore," Rowan told her. "But if I do get one, if one comes up, I'll get Chin to tell you ASAP, okay?"

Kono hugged her again. Rowan told her to be safe and to be careful. Kono thanked her for her Rowan-gram and Rowan smiled because she had almost forgotten about that. And then she got into Chin's truck and the left Kono behind to go meet Steve and Catherine.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Rowan had slept on Chin's lap the entire way back. She wouldn't look at Steve, wouldn't answer his questions. But even though she ignored him, even though Catherine was there, it took Chin telling him to stop bugging her and let her sleep to get him to stop. Once they got to the airport, she separated from the Five-0s and took a cab back to the apartment she still didn't call her home. Alex's not home. By the look Steve had pulled she knew he noted that.

Rowan opened the door to the apartment she shared with Alex. She was terrified of the conversation she was about to have. Alex was livid when she didn't show up for the gig. He was livid because he couldn't pull off the high notes that Rowan could hit, and he needed her for half of their songs. He had been angry to pull songs off the set list because Rowan wasn't there to help him fake hitting high notes.

Not that she wasn't disappointed as well. That gig was where she'd meet the other execs, to begin writing songs for other bands, to show case her skills and her talents. She also would have gotten the profits from the gig and they had sold out the small venue. But Alex had practically flown into a rage when he found out that Rowan had been technically kidnapped by Steve and taken to Japan. And that she was refusing to file a complaint or file criminal kidnapping charges.

She dropped her keys to the counter and kicked off her shoes. The apartment was quiet and that was great. Maybe Alex was still sleeping off the gig, maybe he was at someone else's place, or already out in Barry's garage practicing. Just as long as he wasn't there, she would be happy. She quietly made her way to the bedroom where she planned to flop on the bed and nap it out. But upon opening the bedroom door she found that two people were already in the bed. Alex and some blonde girl on top of him.

They stared at her wide eyed while Rowan blinked her eyes. Too stunned to actually move. She then regained her composure said a simple: "I'm sorry" then turned around and left the room.

She rushed to the door, scrambled for her keys and her bag and then shoved her shoes back on. She heard Alex scrambling behind her, trying to put something on and screaming her name and for her to wait. Rowan had no intention of waiting. She forced herself out of the door, with one shoe in her hand and slammed the door behind her. She took the concrete stairs down to the parking lot partially barefoot and then hid in the shadows as she got her shoe on just in case Alex came out to look for her.

Well. That was unexpected… now wasn't it?

She stood there catching her breath and waiting for the anger to hit her again, except it didn't. She didn't feel angry, she didn't feel wounded, she just felt relived because Alex always wanted to have sex after they argued, specifically if it was about Steve, and she hadn't felt up to that today. Now if they did have an argument, she would have great excuse to say no.

But what was she going to do now? Shouldering her purse, she carefully walked away going to the only place she could think of that had people who could make her feel better… or at least distract her.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Everyone was mad at Steven.

Rowan. Wo Fat. Chin and Kono. Catherine was so angry he was worried she might try to murder someone. And now Danny was mad.

He should have known it was a bad thing that Danny called him on their way back to the Palace from the airport. Rowan had only been out of his vicinity for… what? 10 minutes. She probably texted Danny as soon as it was safe to take her phone off of airplane mode.

"What did I say?" Danny cried for the millionth time. "What did I say, you savage? I said leave her alone. If she doesn't want to go she doesn't need to come!"

"I needed her help, Danny," Steve reminded him. "I needed her to talk to Sato, and it worked."

"You fucking kidnapped her, Steve!" Danny shouted. "How can you not see what's wrong with that? You drugged the girl and then put her on a plane and took her to Japan. THAT IS A CRIMINAL FUCKING OFFENCE!"

"Okay, you know what, this isn't all about me…" Steve said. "Obviously something has happened over on your end so why don't you tell me what happened?"

Danny was silent a moment before he sighed. Ah, yes Steve's hunch was correct. Suddenly Danny was ranting

"My idiot father, went out yesterday and came back with a goddamn corvette and my mother is losing her damn mind over this because they were supposed to go on some trip and now they can't…" Danny droned on.

"How old is he now?" Steve asked. Because he knew Danny had gone for his father's birthday.

"He's 60 Steve. He turned 60. I told you this, you know this, you signed his goddamn card," Danny growled and Steve rolled his eyes. His father was having a midlife crisis, clearly, or trying to relive his youth.

"Okay. No, that sounds about right."

"No, no it does not sound right. Because my mother is crying. My sisters think it's a goddamn joke. Eric keeps trying to drive the car, my dad's driving like a lunatic. It's like world war three up in my house and you're saying this sounds right," Danny ranted.

"Just relax, relax," Steve ordered. "Hey, just let him have his fun, okay. Look we just arrived. I'll talk to you later. Okay? Okay. Good-bye."

He hung up before Danny could complain some more either about the car or Rowan and when he turned Chin and Catherine were grinning at him. Well at least someone enjoyed that conversation.

"So, let me guess, his father bought himself a Porsche for his 60th birthday," Chin said.

"Corvette," Steve corrected.

"Oh, sweet. Nice," Catherine crowed. It was the most positive thing she had said to him since he had dropped Rowan's unconscious form to the seat in their private plane.

"A little late for a midlife crisis, isn't it?" Chin teased as he and Catherine walked away.

Steve's phone was ringing again and he picked it up and answered without looking at the caller Id. "Yo. What, did you forget to tell me how much you miss me?" he asked.

The Governor's voice came out of the other end and his heart dropped out of his chest, and the smile came right off of his face. "I, uh… No, I thought it was Detective Willaims," he explained to the Governor's unimpressed questions. He didn't think it was funny and it didn't look better as an alternative to asking if the Governor missed him. "Yes sir, absolutely, Governor. I'll be right there."

He hung up his phone and then turned. Called to the Governor's office. He wasn't sure if he was mad, Steve could never tell what mood Dennings was in, but no matter if it was good or bad he still felt like a child being called to the principal's office.

He meant to leave, right then and there, because the Governor was calling him and that was important but he stopped because there was Rowan. Having just come through the doorway and staring at him. He liked her in that green sweatpants outfit. Her mid drift still showing, those tattoos peeking out. He hadn't known Rowan had tattoos. Now he wondered what else was on her that he didn't know about.

"Why are you here?" he asked. His tone came off angrier then he intended it to. Probably because he knew she wasn't there to see him.

"I was going to ask Chin for driving lessons," she whispered. She looked pale, she was probably too tired to drive.

"You should go back to Alex's and rest," Steve offered instead.

At the prospect of going back to the apartment that she shared with Alex, Rowan winced and shook her head. "Uh… no… no thanks. I'm… uh… I'm too hyper to sleep," she told him, but she was lying. And she knew that he knew too but before he could tell her that she was talking again.

"Look as fun as it is to have you pretend to be worried about me," Rowan said and Steve tried not to tell her that he actually was worried. "I'm really only here to see Chin. So… unless you plan to apologize for last night's stunt, we're essentially done interacting until the end of time."

That too was a lie. Rowan couldn't stay away from him any more than he could stay away from her. But he wasn't about to apologize for doing what he thought he had to do to help Kono and achieve the mission objective, so he let her walk away.

He had his own life to worry about and if Catherine saw the two of them talking even more, she'd fucking kill him. God. To be fair he did just promise to end all contact with her… it wasn't his fault that he needed her, you know for work… for work. Maybe if he kept telling himself that it would become true.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

"All right, who wants to go first?" Dennings asked looking a file over.

Grover, who was sitting, and Steve, who had opted to stand, had the same confused looks on their faces. When both of them came up with nothing, Dennings slapped the file down to his desk and said: "Let's cut to the chase, gentlemen. What I have here is a complaint filed by the head of SWAT against the head of Five-0," he told them and Steve almost swore out loud.

Fuck you, Grover!

"What the hell is going on?" Dennings asked. He was asking them both but neither were answering. Steve just wanted to read whatever it was that Grover had the nerve to write about him.

"You filed a complaint against me?" Steve asked Grover who was pointedly looking away from him.

"You brought that on yourself, man," Grover snapped.

Yeah well then Grover brought this on himself. He snatched up the file before Dennings or Grover could stop him. He was in the process of opening it when Grover complained.

"Governor, please, the complaint was filed in confidence!"

"Steve put that down!" the Governor ordered but Steve merely took a few steps away from the now standing Grover and the Governor's desk.

Yeah, well, fuck him and fuck his confidence, and the Governor's constant siding with everyone else. Steve didn't have to listen to them.

"Volatile," Steve quoted from the complaint. Oh yeah, they were gonna see a lot more of that. "Arrogant. Out of control. Irresponsible and reckless behaviour that puts the public at risk."

"See what I'm saying?" Grover said to Dennings who nodded as if he understood.

Steve continued reading. "A danger to himself and others?" he had had enough. He threw the complaint back onto the desk and rounded on Grover. "You son of a bitch!"

"Steve, enough," Dennings barked and Steve reluctantly backed down. He looked at them both and sighed. "I'm tossing the complaint."

Steve let out a sigh of relief and that smug grin Rowan and Danny hated so much slid onto his lips. Grover on the other hand was not so happy.

"You're tossing…?" he started but Dennings cut him off.

"Starting right now, slate's clean," he snapped.

Grover wasn't having it. "This is more than just a complaint! It's a problem!" he cried. "This is about the complete lack of accountability that allows this man's behaviour to go unchecked."

"Don't tell me how to do my job, captain," Dennings thundered jumping out of his seat. "Yes we do have a problem in that area that he and I will need to address, and I will be doing it today. But I have a full schedule, and I don't have time to play principal."

"I'm sorry… so there is a problem?" Steve asked.

"Yes. I got another complaint today that I can't ignore," Dennings told him. "But we're not discussing that right now…"

"You complained twice?!" Steve thundered and Grover just shrugged.

"Commander please!" Dennings shouted finally getting Steve to shut up. "Look, this is a small island. I expect you two to play nicely together in our sandbox. Understood?"

Once they had both said yes sir, Dennings demanded that Steven sit so both he and Grover did so.

"Very good," he said patronizingly. "From this moment forward you will get along. And to start you off on the right foot, you two are gonna serve a warrant together," he told them. Steve stifled his groan, and beside him Grover sighed. Dennings ignored them both. "A 21-year-old up in Waimanalo has failed to pay several parking tickets. I want you to bring this man to the courthouse, make sure he takes care of his fine."

Immediately both he and Grover were complaining about how beneath them this assignment was. But Governor Dennings was already smiling.

"Look at this," he said cutting off their overlapping complaints. "You're already agreeing on something. Now, onto the other complaint, do you want to tell me what happened in Japan, Steven?" he asked.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Japan? Nothing had happened in Japan to warrant another complaint. He and his team had done exceptional work. And was he really going to do this in front of Grover? "Uh… that was… uh… a personal favour… Adam Noshimuri had been kidnapped we went to help Kono…."

"No. I want you to tell me how going to Japan to help Kono turned into a kidnapping complaint?" Dennings snapped.

Fucking Rowan. Steve scoffed. Oh. Yeah. That had happened but he didn't think that warranted a fucking complaint. She had already gotten Danny on his case. Wasn't that enough? "Did she complain to you sir? Because it's not as bad as she thinks. She's just… over reacting."

"No, I have not heard from Rowan, though I should probably follow up with her as well. No, the complaint came from Wo Fat and you have to understand how unnerving it was to have the situation relayed to me by a convicted criminal who is demanding that I personally see to punishing you for your actions. So, you better look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't drug that girl and drag her to Japan after she specifically told you she didn't want to go."

Steve stared at him wide eyed. Wo Fat had been the one to call? That fucking rat bastard. The Governor took one look at Steve's face and swore. Beside him Grover made a noise that told Steve he was trying to hold back laughter.

"What the hell were you thinking drugging and kidnapping her?" Dennings cried.

Steve looked at his shoes. "I needed intel, and you of all people should know that Rowan is an information highway when it comes to those people. They will literally tell her anything. She was just… she was just being difficult… she wouldn't have been if anyone else but me asked."

"I didn't think I had to tell you this, Commander, but if someone who is not a suspect in one of your cases says no… the answer is no. I have been far too lenient with you on this matter. You cannot use your power with Five-0 to harass that young woman, do you understand? Now, I'm giving you one last chance with this. If I hear of you abusing her one more time, Steve, there will be dire consequences, I may even revoke your badge and your command of Five-0. Are we clear?"

Steve stood there. Was that what he was doing? Was he using his power with Five-0 to abuse Rowan? He hadn't… he had never seen it like that.

They were dismissed after that, off to chase some punk with overdue parking tickets. They were in the hallway for two seconds before Grove cleared his throat to get Steve's attention.

"That girl Dennings was referencing, that wouldn't be Rowan Pierce, would it?" Grover asked and Steve narrowed his eyes at him.

"You know Ro?" he asked. "How do you know Ro?

"Hey I didn't say I knew her," he said raising his hands in mock surrender. And then as he was walking away he added: "Makes good cupcakes though."

Steve glared at his retreating back. Obviously Grover did know his Rowan. When the hell had the two of them even met? Why had his P.I. not mentioned that? And apparently, she was making Grover cupcakes. Why the hell would she do that? With old SWAT captain gone, he figured the cupcake trades were done? Goddamn it. Why the fuck did Rowan like EVERYONE else but him?