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AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Okay guys, this is it. This is the D'Awwww chapter. I wrote this one to be funny and to be cute. And it ends with not one, but two really cute moments between Rowan and Steve. However, this chapter be HELLA long! But it is WORTH IT! It's 16 fucking pages, I could have cut it in half but I didn't want to! I want to get through this as quickly as possible so if y'all get a 16 page chapter every now and then you'll just have to deal with it! But in all seriousness though, if this is too long tell me I'll make sure to half them next time. Okay?
JP – Rowan having sociopathic tendencies is a thing. Not an April Fools joke. Her morals are loose at best, and when she's put into situations where she feels she needs to protect her friends they stop existing. So that is not an April Fools thing. The April Fools chapter was about Rowan going home, she didn't go home for realz, she is still in Steve's reality. Hope that clears things up.
Chapter 93
"What have you done Rowan?"
"Uh, I guess that depends on what you're talking about?"
"Sato said you squared him, how? What did you do?"
"Oh… that… uh… I may have I stolen 18.5 million dollars from Gabriel Waincroft. I also may have made sure they shot him in the leg and then I may have gotten him arrested."
"Do you have any idea who that man is? I've done research Rowan he's not… he's not a…"
"It was the only thing I could think of. I didn't know how else to get that kind of money to get the Yakuza off our backs and I… just… I don't know… you saved me so many times that… I don't know… I just wanted to save you for once."
"I didn't ask you to do that Rowan. That's not your job and quite frankly… you've fucked up hard!"
And the phone was ringing. Rowan jolted out of the dream state and forced herself up. She hated dreaming about that night. Hated that they argued. That he wasn't proud of her the way she had thought he would be.
He hadn't spoken to her since that phone call a week ago. But he was calling now.
Rowan picked up the call almost hesitantly.
"Hello?"
"Good morning birthday girl!"
Wow, he sounded cheery for someone who had been avoiding her for the last seven days.
"You're talking to me again huh?"
Wo Fat was silent for a moment before he finally replied. "I uh… I figured we'd call a truce… for your birthday…"
"Don't bother," Rowan said. She pulled the phone away from her head to hang up on him, it would feel better if she could slam down the phone or flip it closed really aggressively, but you can't really do that with a smart phone.
He stopped her from hanging up though by shouting: "Wait, wait, wait!" over and over until she heard him.
"What?" she replied.
"Look… you… you scared me okay?" he said. "I'm the one that's supposed to broker unsavoury deals. I'm the one that's supposed to deal with low lives and criminals and you… Look. That Gabriel fellow… he's a really bad man. Like… you think I'm bad… well he's worse. He's not afraid of me Rowan, he threw me to the wolves. He nearly got me killed, he nearly got you killed and somehow you still managed to get the drop on him and fuck his shit up. And while I'm really proud of you… while I'm amazed you managed to do that for me… that you even wanted to do that for me… this man… if he comes after you again… I don't think I'll be able to stop him."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh," Wo Fat snapped. "So understandably I got a little upset when I found out what you did. Okay? Now can we go back to wishing you a happy birthday? Or do you just wanna fight today?"
Rowan sighed into the phone. "No, I don't want to fight with you," she told him. "Are you out of the infirmary yet?"
"They're transferring me tomorrow," he said. "Things calmer with the Five-0's?"
Rowan paused. She didn't know how to answer that. Her Five-0's were acting weird. Chin and Steve most of all. Chin who kept trying to distract her. Steve who was avoiding her. Kono and Danny who wouldn't stop grinning at her and wouldn't tell her what was so funny or what was making them so happy no matter what she did.
"No… I don't know…" Rowan sighed.
"And you're sure it's all of them, and not just Steve acting weird and you projecting it onto his friends?" Wo Fat asked.
"Don't psychoanalyze me, I get that enough from my shrink!" Rowan cried and he laughed at her.
"Alright, I'm sorry," he said. "But hey… I had something sent to you. If they did it right, it should be coming in today. You call me when you get it. I want to hear your voice when you open it."
"Ohh… a present! You didn't have to get me a present," she told him and even through the phone she could hear him smiling, like he no doubt could hear hers. "I'll call you the second it shows up."
From the kitchen came Chin's voice calling for her. "I gotta go okay?"
"No problem. Take lots of pictures. I wanna see everything you do today," he told her and then he had hung up the phone.
Smiling Rowan rushed out to the kitchen. She could smell the pancakes already. Chin was waiting for her in the kitchen, plate ready and decorated and big gaping grin on his face.
"There's the birthday girl!" he crowed as he pulled her in for a hug. "Now, we've jammed your day full with things to do. So, eat your birthday pancakes and then get ready for a swim."
"A swim!"
"Almost everything today is a surprise," he said. AH so that's what this had been about. They had been planning a surprise party for her. She should have guessed that was what was going on. But it didn't explain why Steve went white whenever he saw her, or he never wanted to see her or seemed interested in taking her out… especially since he was the one that wanted to be all casual and dating like. Didn't that mean he should… oh I don't know… ask her out?
Chin smiled and gestured to the plate he had put in front of her. "First up is a pancake breakfast followed by some ocean fun."
"Should I maybe not eat a big meal before going in the ocean?" she asked, teasingly of course.
Chin gasped in mock outrage and shock. "You don't want to eat my pancakes? But I worked so hard! Followed your recipe to the tee," he cried.
"Alright, alright," Rowan said like she were exasperated and humoring him. "I'll try them."
As she tucked in she tried not to notice Chin texting away, especially since he was trying to be discrete about it. It made her wonder what else they had planned.
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"Okay, I thought… you know… after last Christmas' surfing lesson fail that we'd… I unno… we had agreed that I suck at this and I should stop doing it," Rowan said panting as she lay in the warm surf off the beach by Chin's house.
She had wiped out… AGAIN. For the like… sixth time in an hour. Luckily this time the ocean deposited her back on the beach where she belonged instead of dragging her through the damn current by the board attached to her ankle.
Kono stood over her with a smile on her face. "Come on now Ro, you stayed on that wave for a good thirty seconds before you fell off."
"I didn't fall off, the ocean ate me," Rowan growled but she let Kono help her up.
"Well, we got a whole nother hour before we're done and you can go to your next planned activity," Kono said causing Rowan to groan.
"My birthday is supposed to be fun!" she cried.
"Just one more ride on the waves and if you eat it again I'll let you splash around in the water, okay?" Kono offered.
Rowan growled, picked up her board and threw it back down to the water before starfishing onto the board so she could paddle out again.
"If the ocean eats me again, it's a sign that the water gods hate me and we're leaving the beach," Rowan snapped and Kono laughed at her. Well good, at least someone was having fun.
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After two hours of ocean fun Rowan was dried off, de-sanded and dressed appropriately. Together with Chin she was taken to Kamekona's shrimp truck which was all roped off. Sitting at the table was Chin, Danny, Grace, Kono, Adam, Max, Sabrina, Grover and Duke and his wife.
"Ohh… are we having lunch? Cause like… I just had breakfast like three hours ago," Rowan said.
"Nope, we're going to fufill a lifetime goal of yours," Kamekona said. Rowan came to a blank, she couldn't think that was right in front of her that would constitute a life time goal of hers.
"You're gonna learn how to make good food," he said.
They thought that this was a lifetime goal of hers? Cooking and serving it to her friends? Oh. My. God. Did they know her at all?
Rowan blinked her eyes. She turned to Kamekona who was smiling wonderfully at her like he was genius and she was going to fall to the ground wailing in her excitement so she forced herself to smile.
"Oh my gosh that is so exciting… uh… what are we making? Not uh… not sea food right?"
"Naw, we're going to make Rowan specials, for everyone. Rowan specials for our special Rowan on her special day," he said.
Well thank god for small miracles, right? Cause if she had to work with fish she might vomit and she didn't want to vomit on her birthday.
Rowan followed Kamekona up into the shrimp truck and let him tie an apron around her and then drop a chef's hat to her head. Outside everyone cheered and clapped for her and Rowan continued to smile. It didn't escape her notice that Steve wasn't there. He must still be mad at her over the whole IA situation, irregardless of the fact that she got IA off of Chin's back. She wanted to know why he hadn't come and if they could go get him.
"Alright little sistah," Kamekona said to her. "I'll fillet the chicken you wash the rice."
Rowan smiled up to him. Okay maybe this wasn't so bad.
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Right after what turned out to be an amazing meal Max took Rowan to the morgue, despite Sabrina complaining. Rowan had been riding on a prideful high, amazed that, with Kamekona's help of course, she had managed to make her favourite meal for her and all of her friends. That it actually turned out great. And sitting there with them all enjoying it had given her a happy kind of rush. So when Max had announced that he got her for the next activity and it was going to be at the morgue, she had gone along with it assuming that he had something appropriately nerdy to show her.
He did not.
"Max… that is a pig…" she said looking at the body laid out on the table.
"It's a piglet," he clarified.
"A pig is a pig," Rowan growled. "Why am I looking at a pig?"
"Well when we got attacked by the zombie…" "—he was not a zombie," "—Let me have this Rowan. When we got attacked by the zombie you stated that you wished to get over your aversion to blood and other things that make you squeamish. So today, to help you conquer that fear, we will be dissecting the piglet."
Rowan looked at the poor dead thing. "But I don't want to cut up Wilbur."
Max stared at her silently for a moment. "That is in reference to the beloved children's book, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White," he said.
It wasn't a question but Rowan still sighed and said: "Yes."
Max chuckled. "Yes quite clever. Gloves please."
As Rowan put the gloves on Max picked up the scalpel and offered it to her. "Would you like the honor of the first cut?" he asked. That was considered an honour? Really?
She took the scalpel looked at the poor little thing on the table and then turned her grimace to Max. "Uh… where… where should I cut?'
"Down the stomach, chin to butt if that helps," he said.
Swallowing her trepidation and the stomach contents that were rebelling at even the thought of what she was about to do. Closing her eyes she blindly cut, hating the way the scalpel just slide through whatever she was doing like butter.
"Good job," Max crowed and Rowan opened her eyes. Blood was everywhere, on her hands, on the table, intestines were spilling out as were other vital organs she couldn't identify. Rowan made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, struggling to keep the contents of her stomach down and then promptly passed out.
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After having to be roused by Max and then throwing up everything she had eaten that day, it was nice to have Sabrina ready with a ginger ale. They sat at Max's desk as he cleaned up his mess and they watched laughable romantic comedies while Rowan tried to keep down popcorn and ginger ale. After the movie was done it was Danny's turn to take her somewhere. So much for not vomiting on her birthday, but at least she had wherever Danny was taking her to look forward to.
Grace had chosen the aquarium. Thank fucking God. Though why she needed a bathing suit for the aquarium was beyond her. After hearing and laughing at her mishap at Max's morgue, Danny was nice enough to let her sit with her snow cone until her stomach was surely and truly settled.
"A pig huh?" Danny asked and her stomach rebelled again.
"Can you just… could you maybe not?" she snapped and he raised his hands in mock surrender all while smiling that smug little grin on his face. God he was trying so hard not to laugh at her. "It's not funny."
The first of Danny's chuckles came at her and Rowan scowled at him. Still he managed to get out a: "It kinda is," before he broke down immediately.
"You suck," she growled to him and beside her Grace, who was sharing the snow-cone with her, chimed in as well. "Yeah Danno, you suck!"
"Hey no turning my daughter against me," he ordered. But both girls just stuck out their tongues at him in perfect synchronization.
"Wow, matched up perfectly there, you been practicing?" he asked.
"Okay, why are we here?" Rowan asked. "Not that this isn't great, but I was hoping my birthday would be less pukey. So I kinda wanna go home and sleep it off before we go… I unno wherever I need to go next."
"No!" Danny cried which was oddly suspicious.
"Yeah, we paid for the mermaid encounter!" Grace cried. "We can't miss that!"
"Mermaid encounter?" Rowan echoed. "Wait… no… not the mermaid encounter where you put on a fin and swim in the tank? I looked into that when me and Steve were doing hang out nights. It was too expensive."
"I got a deal," Danny shrugged off. "When you're ready to go, you get to go get changed and I'll be taking pictures on the other side of the glass. But Grace is going with you, so you gotta make sure she doesn't die."
"Deal," she said downing the rest of her snow cone. "Ready to live the mermaid life, kid?"
"YEAH!" Grace cried and hand in hand the two ran off, ready to live out a dream Rowan had had since she was a child.
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Rowan sent off a boat load of pictures to Wo Fat. Pictures of her in the shrimp truck, surfing out on the water with Kono, pictures of her in the tank with Grace, a bright green fin covering her legs, wearing a purple sea shell intimidation bikini top looking like a real life Little Mermaid. She hadn't been aware they had a professional photographer following her today to get the best shots but once she found out she demanded all the pictures ASAP.
Her friends had really gone all out for her.
She had an hour break to herself before they were taking her to her last surprise before a breakfast-for-dinner special dinner at Rainbows.
"A package came while you were out," Chin called from the kitchen. "Left it in the living room for you."
Oh! Wo Fat's gift. It did come today, he'd be so happy to hear that.
"I'm gonna be in the garage, gonna give my bike a tune up," Chin said poking his head into the living room as she sat down in front of the brown paper wrapped up box. "Be ready to go in an hour okay?"
"Okay, thanks," she said but as soon as she was certain he was gone she whipped out her phone and called wo Fat again.
"Hey there my little Ariel, all dry now?" he asked.
Rowan smiled. "Yeah, did you like the pictures?" she asked.
"Course. A little weird that they got a photographer following you today… do they have McGarrett's ex-P.I. following you again?" he asked. He was teasing of course. Steve had fired the P.I. or the P.I. had quit. Either way he wasn't following her around anymore… or at least she was pretty sure he wasn't anymore.
"Very funny, don't you want to know why I'm calling?" she asked.
"I'm assuming your gift has arrived. And you haven't opened it yet," he said.
"How do you know?"
"Well, for starters, I asked you to call me so I could hear your reaction as you open it, and you're pretty considerate of things like that. And secondly, I know for a fact that when you open it up you'll be mad at me, and you don't sound mad yet sooo…"
"Mad at you… why the hell would I be mad at you?" she asked.
"Just open the damn box."
Well now she was afraid to.
"I don't hear paper ripping," Wo Fat said from where she had dropped the phone on the table. She was regretting putting him on speaker. Despite her reservations she picked up the package and began ripping it up. First the layer of brown packing paper and then the gift wrap underneath. Then she opened the brown cardboard box, dug through the packing peanuts until she found it.
A small black velvet box, the same size as her hand. She stared at it.
"You bought me jewelry?" she asked.
"Maybe. Open it up," he ordered.
So she did and she literally stopped breathing. It was the Midnight Planétarium timepiece by Après Cleef she had said she wanted forever ago. She said it was a lifetime wish, but that she'd never afford it. The thing was 370 thousand dollars. She couldn't justify that kind of purchase not that she ever thought she would have that kind of money for anything other than a house.
"Oh my god."
"Okay, don't freak out."
"Oh. My. God."
"Take a deep breath there."
The box with the watch in it shook in her hands. The galaxy blue and deep purple back ground blurring into the flecks of gold and tiny planets already spinning around the glorious clock face.
"OH MY GOD!"
"Rowan!" he shouted back and she finally took her deep breath.
"You… how did you… that fucking watch is worth…"
"I didn't spend a dime."
HE GAVE HER STOLEN PROPERTY FOR HER BIRTHDAY?!
Rowan must have begun hyperventilating because Wo Fat was calling her name again. "Breathe, god damn it! You're really over reacting there."
"You stole this watch and gave it to me? Possession is nine tenths of the law! If I get clocked with this I'll get the jail time," she cried.
"No one's going to send you to jail," Wo Fat scoffed. "For fuck sake Rowan. I didn't steal the watch, I had someone else do it for me. Those prices were criminal. Stunning watch, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't about to spend that much on something for you no matter how much I lo… like you."
Wow what a save there. Rowan continued to stare at the watch.
"I did some pretty terrible things to you. I know material things mean nothing to you, but I figured if I could fulfil a lifelong dream of yours… on your birthday, it might make me a better brother to you," he whispered.
Rowan paused. "Brother?"
Wo Fat went silent and Rowan nearly cried out in delight. She had called him her brother, she knew that he had had put her down as his sister on his medical forms so that she'd be contacted if something happened, and she knew that on the app she was listed as his sister, something he always maintained was so people would be less inclined to go for her. But he had never, ever, called himself her brother before. Rowan forged forward. "Do you see me like a sister Wo Fat?"
"No."
"Oh my god you do!" she crowed because his tone had made it clear that he was lying.
"Goddamn it Rowan!" he snapped. "Fine. Maybe. Maybe I feel a little bit like you might be like a little sister to me. But don't make a big deal out of it!"
Rowan kept her delighted squeals to herself. She took a few deep breaths before her eyes found the watch. It was with an extremely heavy heart that she said: "I don't think I can keep this watch."
Wo Fat sighed. "You can return it if you want," he said. "But I hope you don't. You deserve something magnificently grand for your birthday. It's been a rough year for you, what with me kidnapping you and Steve being a jerk and me shooting you and you know… Steve being a jerk. And Alex, who can forget that gigantic moron. I just… I just wanted to put a smile on your face."
She wanted to tell him that he put a smile on her face just by telling her that she was like his sister because he was right. Material goods didn't mean much to her, but the thought behind him giving her that watch sure did.
"No, it's okay," she said. "You know me well, I can't give something so beautiful up now that I have it."
"HA! Say what you want Ms. Pierce but you have a soft spot for material goods, just like the rest of us," he said proudly. "So, Birthday girl, what's left for the day?"
"I've got one more surprise and then breakfast-for-dinner with all my favourite people," she said.
"Except Steve, I've noticed that he's missing in your "all your favourite people" lunch, you and him still mad at each other?" he asked.
"How did… how did you know…?" she asked.
"Just cause I was mad at you didn't mean that I wasn't going to check up on you. I heard all about your IA arrest, and how you had to call Liang to get someone to call the IA director to broker your release. You're fucking lucky I sold him all of his dirty little secrets. I heard that you and Steve were at odds. Something about a car."
"Oh… yeah… my car," she whispered.
"You don't have a car," Wo Fat said.
"Yeah, I keep getting reminded of that," Rowan grumbled as Wo Fat kept talking. "I mean… you're borrowing my car, but that's my car and one day I will get it back."
"Yeah no… that's not the point. The point is… it's my car. I remember it. I think… I think my family sold it," she said. That was a good lie? Right?
"Your family sucks," Wo Fat growled. That's right she had already told him about her family, how had she forgotten that? Well at least her lies matched up even when she forgot which ones she had told. "So you and McGarrett fell out over a car… and now he's not talking to you?"
"Well it's more than that. You see… I took him there to be intimidating and he arrested the guy for running a chop shop. I was upset and told him that he should have just given me the car and then arrested him, I mean… he abused his power on me, why couldn't he do it for me? Which was a terrible position to put him in…" "—I don't really think so considering all the terrible and awkward positions he got you in. Let's not forget he got you fired like… what? Three times?" "—Yes, exactly I knew you'd understand. And then you know… all that stuff with Chin. He witnessed the trade off and well… he got in shit with IA covering for me and Steve got mad cause I didn't loop him in or anything."
Wo Fat seemed to think this over for a moment. "You two are the most dysfunctional couple I've ever met. And I'm a sociopath who doesn't make emotion connections to people. Me and everyone I ever interact with should be the most dysfunctional couple I've ever met. Seriously. Why the hell do you like this guy?"
"Well because he's nice and he's loyal and he's the great, all around guy. He's warm and cuddly and usually he takes care of me and I like who I am around how. I like being with him. It makes me happy to be with him."
"But he's not loyal, Rowan," Wo Fat complained.
"Yes he is!" Rowan snapped because that was what he was like. He was a wonderful man, he was like a golden retriever or something. Loyal to death and soft and squishy on the inside.
"Yes, with everyone but you!"
"That's not true!"
"He's arrested you how many times now?" Wo Fat snapped.
"Wo…"
"Alright fine, fine, I'll let it go," he snapped. "But seriously. You two need to figure your shit out. Do you want me to send someone down to beat the crap out of him? I've already got a guy down there."
"What? To beat up Steve? Why?" Rowan cried.
"What? No. Not for Steve. For Waincroft. I needed to give him incentive not to throw me to the wolves again… and to keep him from spilling the beans about what you did," Wo Fat said. Wow, snitches really did get stitches. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind roughing Steve up a bit. I'd have to pay the guy extra for whatever damage Steve deals him in return, though."
"Don't do that," Rowan sighed. "I'm sure… I'm sure we'll figure everything out."
"He's avoiding you on your birthday. That's bullshit considering how much that man wanted you before," he growled. "Seriously. Couple extra thousand and my guy will knock some sense into him."
"No, Wo…" she said.
"Fine. I'll just have him threaten you. I'm sure McGarrett will rush to your side," he said.
"WO!" she snapped. "Look, thank you, but if Steven McGarrett doesn't want to see me, even for my birthday, well… then I'm not gonna make him see me, okay?"
"I mean sure… if that's what you wanna do," he said. "Just saying… it's an option."
"Rowan who are you talking to?" Chin called from the garage.
"Oh… I gotta go. Send you more pictures later," she hissed and then hung up the phone and hid the watch. Just as Chin came in the room. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"I thought I heard you talking to someone," he said.
"Oh," Rowan said blushing furiously. "That was just me. I was talking to me."
Chin seemed to take that in and he clearly didn't believe her but he didn't press her either. "Uh… what was in the package?" he asked.
"Just a present from Wo," she said. "Nothing special. How's the motorcycle?"
"Good… uh… you know… I wanna show you something," he said, offering her a hand. Rowan took it and let him pull her up to her feet. "It's uh… it's about your present. From you know, me and Kono and well… all of us."
"Oh you guys don't have to worry about that," Rowan said. "You've done so much as is, with all those surprises."
"Oh… well to be honest, the surprises were… well, they were a distraction. I needed you out of the house to get this done. We uh… we just put the last piece into your… uh… the present we got you," he said guiding her towards the front door.
"Seriously, you guys, this is too much. You didn't have to get me a present," she said but her breath left her body when she saw what was waiting for her in the driveway.
"That's…" she whispered. "That's my car."
It had wheels. It was the first thing she thought. It wasn't on cider blocks anymore. It had seats and real glass windows and clearly working parts again. The paint had been done up, it was shiny as all heck and had a big red bow on the hood. Danny and Kono were standing beside it presenting it like show girls on a TV Show. Rowan still couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe it was happening.
"Yep, that's your car," Chin said. "And it works."
Rowan took a hesitant step towards the car. Her breath hitched. She was going to cry. It was right there. The car she drove to make everyone jealous. The car she wrote her songs in, under the warm Victoria night sky. The car she and her dad would sing oldies in. It was there. She had got it back.
"But how… it was in the impound lot… it was evidence…" Rowan said.
"Steve got the Governor to sign a release form," Kono said.
"Yeah and then everybody, and I mean everybody, donated to the "Buy and fix up Rowan's car" fund," Danny explained as he made a big flourish about presenting her with an envelope. "We signed a card."
Rowan looked at it and then back to her car. Hesitantly she reached out and touched the hood, the paint glossy under her finger tips. The tears started to fall.
"You guys got me my car," she half sobbed. She swiped at her tears but couldn't stop them from falling. They all encircled her immediately hushing and shushing and trying to figure out what was wrong. "Steve got me my car but he won't come to my birthday."
Danny raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey we invited him, I swear," he said. When Rowan glared up at him he added: "He thinks you're still mad at him. Thought you wouldn't want him around."
Rowan wiped her tears and tried to stuff the tears back down. "I love you guys," she said pulling each and every one in for a hug. "Seriously… you've… you've done too much."
"After everything you've been through for us. This is the least we could have done," Kono said and they all nodded in agreement.
"Thanks… but uh… do you think you could help with one more thing?" she asked.
And of course, because it was her birthday they all had to say yes.
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She would have found the car by now. They would have showed her. He drove the car over just fine, polished it a bit and got the bow on right before leaving. He had to drive the Camaro back to his place, but Chin said Danny would get a ride to Steve's to pick it back up before going home.
She had been having fun. He had gotten the pictures from Kono. She looked fierce on those waves, proud at the shrimp truck and majestic and magical under water. His own little Ariel. He was glad that his presence hadn't put a strain on that. He was glad that she would have a great birthday, other than that mishap in the morgue. Seriously who thought letting Max teach her to dissect a pig was a good idea? It was all great and he was happy for her, really. Except he missed her. He selfishly wanted to be there with her.
His phone rang. Rowan's face popping up on the screen. He answered it before it got to the second ring. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.
Something had to be wrong, it was really the only reason she'd be calling him.
"No. I'm not," she said, her voice hitching. She sounded out of breath and panicked. Steve went from sitting on his couch to on his feet. He was already reaching for the gun he had resting on the table in front of him.
"Where are you? What's happening?" he asked.
"I just need you to come get me. Please," she whispered. Why was she whispering. What was wrong? "Please Steve? Will you come?"
"Yeah, no, I'm on my way, but you have to tell me where you are," he said. He snatched Danny's keys out of the key bowl and then rushed out his door not bothering to lock it.
"In your drive way."
Steve froze, he looked up and there she was. His Rowan. In his driveway. On her new car.
She wore this little black dress with lace for a bodice, a pair of suede black wedges and her hair was done up with crystal hair pins. She was leaning against the car all seductively. Steve found that he couldn't breathe, she was just that beautiful.
Also she had tricked him into coming outside. That was not fair.
"I see you found the car," he said taking a few steps towards her. He wanted to do much more than that but he knew he couldn't. He didn't deserve that.
"Yes. Thank you," she said, "Thank you for doing this for me."
Steve shrugged like it was nothing. Like he didn't just spend the last week getting all the parts for the car and having Mr. Chi help him put them in. A lot of work went into this car, sweat, tears and whole lot more blood then he should have lost. He car liked to bite.
"You could have… you know. You could have come. To everything. To the lunch or to give me the car, I don't know why you didn't," she said.
Steve lowered his eyes, he was in front of her now, her hands were on his arms, starting at the wrists and travelling upwards, instinctively pulling him closer to her. He couldn't concentrate on anything but those hands and the way they were moving. There was something sensual about the way she was looking at him, the way she was touching him.
He hadn't realized his hands were on her waist until he felt the lace under his fingertips.
"I didn't think that you… that you wanted me there," he admitted.
"You mean after you hit me with the ball?" she asked. Well that was one of the reasons. "No concussion and cover up can cover the bruise with make up now. We're good, Steven."
"And… everything else," he added.
Rowan's hands had found their way to his shoulders, winding around his neck and pulling her down to him. Bad move. He was closer to her mouth now. The heels made her taller, made it easier to kiss her. Made it easier to hold her closer.
"But I wanted you with me," she whispered to him. "I wanted you at that lunch, and… and… I got to be a mermaid and you weren't there to witness it."
Steve felt his heart constrict. She… she wanted him there? Really? "I just thought…"
"Why didn't you ask me?"
"I was afraid you'd…"
"You're silly, Steven McGarrett," she whispered, damn he loved it when she said his full name like that.
A strange sort of smile donned her lips and Steve lost it. He couldn't control it anymore. He needed her, he needed to taste her. His mouth found hers, pressing into her softness. She clung to him, kissing him back as ferociously and as possessively as he had. His body shuddered, how had he given this up? Why had he put this aside for so long? And what did he have to do to make sure that they were always like this?
When they pulled away from one another her eyes were shining his chest was heaving and someone said: "As romantic as this is, I gotta set up at the next venue, you good?"
Steve turned and a man with a camera was standing a few feet away packing everything away. Steve turned to Rowan confused. "Who is that?"
"That's the camera guy Kono hired. Remind me to send you the pictures," she said, she then turned back to him. "Yep we'll meet you there. Any chance you can tell me what the next stop."
"I get a premium for not telling you Ms. Pierce," he said and then turned away from them.
Steve's eyes were still on Rowan, taking in her beautiful features as she watched him walk away. She turned back to him her smile widening her pink lipstick smudged and no doubt all over his face.
"So are you gonna come with me to… uh… do you know where we're going next?" she asked.
"Yes," he whispered, because nothing could keep him away from her now.
"Really? Where are we going?"
"Oh… no, I've been told to keep that a secret too, I meant yes, I'll come with you. Uh… can you wait maybe? I gotta get changed," he said. She nodded and he took two steps away before turning back to her. "How exactly did you and the car get here if you haven't been cleared to drive. I refused to believe they let you leave with it."
Danny and Kono stepped out from behind the Camaro. "I drove," Danny said. "And I'm taking my car, and you by the looks of it. Kono's gonna drive Rowan to our next stop."
Steve stared at them blankly. "You uh… you guys were here the whole time?"
"Yep, and I got some great pics… you know… as back up," Kono said. Steve narrowed his eyes at them but when Rowan squealed and demanded to see them, he couldn't help but smile. He guessed that it was fine so long as she was still happy.
"Alright I'll uh… I'll be right back okay?" he called. They all responded with a quick okay before he turned and ran into the house. He needed to be quick but he wasn't panicked. He could hear Danny following him into the house. He'd help him pick an outfit. And thank god cause Steve didn't know what he was going to wear, but he knew it couldn't be cargo pants.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Rollerblading may not have been her strong suit but she didn't care. Skating was skating and she might have been wobbly to begin with but she was rocking it out now. She had been skating with Grace, Rowan skating backwards holding hands with Grace as she led her about. Then she did the same for Chin and then for Danny.
By then Catherine had showed up with her friend, Crimson Bride from the Roller Derby team Catherine had joined briefly. Rowan had gone up to thank Catherine for coming and got nothing but stink eye from Crimson, who she now knew was actually Charlotte, and that did not bode well. But it was also her birthday and they wouldn't really do anything to her on her birthday right?
Steve had worn that damned blue shirt she liked so much. The dark blue button up with a pair of nice dark denim jeans. It should have been illegal for him to look that fine. But luckily for her, he was like a baby giraffe on ice in those skates. He had been clinging to the walls and refusing to let go, slipping and sliding everywhere. It offset the look, cause if he had looked that fine and skated well she might have jumped him there on the rink and that wasn't good cause it was supposed to be PG up in there.
She finished a last lap with Grace, sending her off before grinding to a stop beside Steve. "How y'ah doing there, Commander?" she asked with a cheesy grin. Steve went a red color, embarrassed. The man who was good at everything was finally bad at something.
"Uh… good I just… I just can't seem to find my balance," he said.
Rowan offered out her hands. "Trust me. I used to teach skating lessons," she said.
"You did?" he asked.
Rowan paused for a bit. Did she? Well before she said it she didn't think she had but now that she had said she could see herself clearly helping little kids learn to skate. Why had she forgotten that? Really? Well she should just be grateful it came back. "Yeah… I guess I did."
"You just remembered that, didn't you?" he asked softly and Rowan smiled wistfully.
"You want help or not?" she asked.
Steve put his hands into hers and she smiled, pulling him away from the wall and out into the skating area. His eyes stayed down, looking at his skates. "Don't look down, look at me," she said and his eyes whipped up. He faltered slightly, his grip tightened and she braced herself to help him stay up.
"How… how are you skating backwards so easily?" he asked, his blush climbing up his face. Rowan smiled she couldn't help it. He was so nervous, and so unsteady and so god damn cute!
"Practice," she answered. "You're doing good, just keep looking at me." When he faltered again she tried not to laugh. "Don't worry, you're still doing good."
They did one full lap and then Rowan changed tactics. She let go of one hand and then turned. That way she was skating beside him. Steve was still shaky but he was much better than before and at least he was off the wall. "I feel ridiculous," he muttered. "Next time we're going surfing, I can kick ass at surfing."
"Well we've all got things we're good at. This is mine," she said. "Thank you for being here with me."
He turned to her. A smile on his face for the first time since he had put on the rental rollerblades.
And then someone clipped her, not enough to send her down right away, but enough to unsettle her and therefore unsettle Steve.
Rowan and Steve went down not seconds later, Steve landing half on her, the plastic floor burning the palm of her hands. She caught a glimpse of the person who did it, even heard her call out an apology but Rowan wasn't paying attention to that.
"Oh, god. I'm sorry," Steve said, hovering over her. "Are you okay?'
Rowan just started laughing. She couldn't help it. And when she started laughing so did he. "Yes, I'm fine," she said. "Here, let me help you get up."
She got up first, easily at that and then offered her hands to Steve. "Just put the toes of your skates against mine and push up. Spread your weight on your foot like you would if you were surfing," she told him. Steve looked skeptical but Rowan just smiled at him. "Trust me. I can brace you."
She helped pull him up and when he was standing again she smiled. "Alright, Sailor, you survived your first fall," she said. "Let's see you skate on your own."
"You just don't want to skate with me anymore," he grumbled. "Too much of a hazard for you."
Rowan shook her head. "Naw, I just wanna see that ass in those jeans," she said and Steve broke out in surprised laughter, his face going pink again. "Come on, you gotta do it. I'm the birthday girl, you can't say no to me!"
He turned and shakily skated off while Rowan stood there actually appreciating the view. It was a good thing that his back was turned cause she was about to pull out the old Ice Queen.
She waited. Counted down the seconds, felt the hairs raise up on the back of her neck. She felt it, someone moving quickly behind her, like a wolf moving in for the kill, but Rowan was ready. She brought her elbow up and slammed it straight into the throat of the on coming person.
Crimson Bride, or Charlotte, went down hard. Rowan yelped and faked horrified surprise. "Oh my god, oh my god! Are you okay?" she cried bending down to help her up. When she got to her level she smiled dangerously and whispered: "If you try another hit like that, I'll make sure you never skate again, you got me?"
Charlotte just stared at her as Rowan helped her back up. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there. You gotta watch where you're going," she said. And then skated away.
So much for the two of them not pulling something on her. Maybe she shouldn't have invited Catherine after all, but she felt bad having a huge party with all of Catherine's friends and not inviting Catherine. They had been somewhat okay once. She found the exit and got herself out. She moved towards the shadows under the bleachers.
"Hey, hey wait," she heard calling after her and when she turned Steven was clattering towards her. Rowan smiled and turned to him.
"You done, Sailor?" she asked.
"Only if you are," he said, she put her hands out to him bracing him when he got close. "I know you're not gonna like this, but Ro… I got so many questions."
Rowan sighed at him. Steven McGarrett and his questions. "You get three questions tonight, that's all."
"Okay, uh… I gotta ask. How… how did you afford that car?" he asked. "That's an 80,000-dollar car Rowan and you had it shipped to you in Canada, as your first car when you were 18… just… wow… how Rowan?"
Rowan sighed. "I'm gonna answer but you're not allowed to ask secondary questions about it got it?" when he nodded Rowan sucked in a deep breath. "I was making a good amount as a figure skater. Winnings were always between 10 to 30 grand depending on where you placed and the competition. Trevor and I never placed below third. The year I bought a car I won worlds and almost made it to the Olympics. I banked twice the amount of the car. I was also running a con at the same time that was bringing in anywhere between 15-50 grand a night, as a… uh… drag racer."
"You… you what?!" he cried but Rowan shook her head and he swallowed the worry and the other questions he had about that and moved on his eyes avoiding hers. "Fine… I'll… I'll let that go. Uh… I've noticed you got tattoos…"
"Yes, I have six of them."
"Six?"
"Yep," she confirmed taking a step towards him. She took his hands and brought them to her hips. "I have two on my hips, right here. Two on my ribs, one under-boob and one on the back of my neck. The back of my neck is the newest, got it down after I survived the head drilling."
She had dragged his hands to the site of each tattoo watching his eyes carefully. "Could I see?"
"Some of them you'll have to wait for but I can show you my new one," she said and then turned, taking her shaking hand to lift her hair showing him the shaved parts of the back of her head and what tattooed on the back of her neck.
"What is that?"
Rowan knew it off by heart. Her family crest, a black shield, two yellow unicorns a band of white decorated with red and white plumage behind. And underneath a scroll with her family motto.
"Non Deficere. Nusquam dimittunt," Steve read.
"Never give up. Never let go," Rowan translated for him. "It's… it's my family crest."
She turned back to him and saw something in his eyes she wasn't sure she recognized. "I have one last question," he whispered. When she eyed him in a frustrated manner he added: "I promise. Last one."
"Okay, shoot," she said.
Steve smiled. "Would you, maybe like to have dinner tomorrow night? Like a proper dinner…"
"Like a date?" she asked.
"Yes. Exactly like a date. It's… it's… yeah. A date," he said sheepishly grinning at her. Rowan found herself beaming right back at him.
"I'd love that," she whispered. Steve swooped in almost immediately kissing her solidly and she let him kiss her back despite them both being wobbly on their skates.
That time when they fell, not only did they laugh it off, but they kissed the pain away too.