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AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Hey guys so this chapter… I really like this chapter and the next ones coming up. You'll see that Steve and Rowan have lapsed right back into being cute stuff. We have a major twist/ surprise at the end which will be followed up but some Wo Fat antics in the next chapter. I did add a little bit about how Catherine responded to last chapter's antics I hope you enjoy that. For those of you who are curious, since I did change up Tommy's ending I can tell you that he will be coming back later in the story (closer to season 7 though) This chapter is quite a long one, it's another 15 pager. But I added a scene from a different episode so it fit better with the time line. I wonder if you guys can guess which one! Don't forget to tell me what your favourite part was! And I'll see you guys on Friday!
P.S. PJ! I haven't heard from you in such a long time, have you been forgetting to sign your reviews again? Please drop me a line/review cause I'm worried!
Chapter 105
DANNY
Steve bolted up in bed, not sure what the screaming was about, just that he knew it had come from Rowan. Rowan was beside him sitting up as well, her eyes glassy and glossy and focusing on something that wasn't there. That meant whatever she was witnessing had not let her go yet. He put a hand to her back, taking the static shock like a champ and only then did the vision let her go.
Rowan was now heaving. She shivered and shuddered, but unlike the times before, when she'd curl up to him for support, she didn't.
Things had been weird since they had started this… open-relationship-dating-other-people thing. Steve was still seeing Catherine, out of spite, just like he was certain Rowan was doing the same with Alex. After the night in the club, where he was made aware that everyone had seen him practically mauling Rowan at the bar before the two of them disappeared together for more than thirty minutes, he thought Catherine might not be interested in seeing him again… seeing as she had been so mad at him for what he had done that she had slapped him, AND thrown a drink at him. Not only was she interested… which surprised him, but he realized that he really needed to work on the whole "quicky" aspect of having a quicky with someone. Since then he and Catherine had gone out on a few dates but he hadn't been able to sleep with her, and every time he tried, or even thought about it, he saw the look on Rowan's face when she saw Catherine out on the Lanai that day. He had no idea what Rowan and Alex were doing and he was too afraid to ask, he just hoped they were… obviously she was with Steve more than she was with Alex and that made him feel better.
Usually, they were okay. The deal was, never talk about it. Rowan didn't see him and Catherine together, he didn't see Rowan and Alex together. They didn't talk about it, they didn't think about it, they didn't argue about it. And for the most part they were okay about it, for the most part it was like nothing had changed because for the most part he and Rowan were together, to be honest he spent very little time with Catherine, just like he was certain Rowan wasn't spending a lot of time with Alex… outside of work.
But this night, despite him being beside her, his arm already around her shoulders, Rowan didn't mold to him like she usually did. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, grabbed her phone and left the room.
Steve waited. Waited until he heard the click of the lanai door before he too got out of bed. He knew the routine. She'd call Danny, cause that's who she was dreaming about, she'd tell him about her dream, he'd assure her that he was fine, there was nothing to worry about and then she'd go to sleep.
He checked his watch, 6 in the morning. Seriously? He didn't really want to say anything, but it was hard to catch a goodnight's sleep when Rowan woke him up on the nightly. What could he say to her though? She couldn't control or stop the dreams, just like she couldn't control her reaction to them. And it wasn't like he was going to go to bed without her. Now that was just unreasonable.
He changed into something more suitable before heading down the stairs. He stopped in the kitchen to get the coffee going, he was going to need it, no doubt. He was leaving in a few hours to go to Cambodia anyway. He pulled a blanket off of the couch and then quietly made his way to the chair Rowan had dragged practically to the water's edge, taking his own chair and dragging it to meet her.
Rowan was sitting, legs up, arms around them, and a finger to her lip as she chewed her nail. One foot was tapping, she looked like she had been crying, but her phone sat on the arm of the chair beside her. Steve dropped the blanket on her lap before he went about making sure that his chair was set in the sand before sitting down.
"Did you get a hold of him?"
"Doesn't matter now, does it?"
Steve turned to her, surprised. He had never seen her this way but before he could ask if she was okay she whispered: "He didn't listen to me."
Steve sighed. "Well… to be fair… you never tell us anything good…"
Rowan's head whipped to him a scowl on her face and Steve sighed, god this was not going well. "Well I'm sorry, Steven, that none of my predications have been happy ones, but you are your friends are surrounded by death and murder as your day job. And I'm trying really, really hard to make sure that your tragic endings are happy ones."
"I know, and we're grateful but…"
"Are you though?" Rowan snapped. "Cause I think… if you were really grateful you'd listen to me you'd…"
"Do you know when it's going to happen?" Steve asked and Rowan fell silent. "Okay. So you don't know when. You don't know case particulars. What do you know? Which dream was it? The collapsed building?"
But Rowan wouldn't answer him, she wouldn't even look at him. "We all listen to you Rowan, but sometimes… sometimes the things you say they're too much for us… too scary to contemplate and we just really want you to be wrong. And other times… well… we can't change our whole lives simply because you have a vision, not if we don't know when or how it's going to happen."
"He gets impaled on Rebar," she whispered. "I watched it go through him. It popped out of his chest like it was a flower blooming or some weird alien baby. I can't stop seeing his eyes and how surprised he looked."
Steve knew what that was like. He was haunted by stuff like that too. "And where am I?"
"Somewhere in the rubble unconscious. He… you don't… when you find him… he's already gone."
Ah so that would be the other part. Danny dies alone in her dream. That was definitely something that would upset Steve if this dream of hers ever came true. He sat silently until he spotted Rowan's swipe at her eyes. Damn, she was crying.
"Aw come on…"
"I just don't want anything to happen to him," she whispered. "He has Grace and Melissa…"
"You mean Amber?"
"Yeah, what did I say?" she asked.
"Melissa."
"Damn, I keep doing that. I don't know why I keep doing that," she sighed. She took a deep breath and sighed again, like the weight of the world was pressing down on her and he wanted nothing more than to pry that weight off of her and put it on his stronger, more capable shoulders. After a moment's silence between the two of them she turned to him. "I'm sorry I woke you up."
Steve smiled at her, he reached over to grab her hand and press a kiss to her knuckles. "It's okay," he whispered and meant it. "I Just… I worry about you… I want you to be happy, I want to protect you from these dreams but I don't know how…"
Rowan's smile was wistful and sad but there was a sudden hope shining in her eyes. "Well… maybe you could start by not going to Cambodia…" Steve groaned out her name, letting go of her hand to turn away from her. He didn't want to argue about this again. "I could just tell you… and then you don't have to go…"
"Rowan, we've talked about this. I don't want to know, I just don't. I need to find this out myself. Okay?"
"Fine, then let me come with you…" "…Rowan…" "I mean, you're already taking Danny, why can't you take me too?"
"Because, Rowan, if I take you I'm going to have to worry about you too. And you know… it's all hiking, you hate hiking and you wouldn't be able to keep up with me and Danny," he said. When Rowan frowned and looked away Steve took a hold of her hand against and kissed it until she looked at him again. Once her eyes were staring into his he added: "And besides, you promised Chin you'd be his date to his high school reunion. You've been talking this dress of yours up and down and I can't wait to see pictures of you in it."
Rowan smiled. "When do you think you'll be back?" she asked. "Cause… if you're back early maybe you can… I unno… see it in person."
"I'm not sure, but now I'm going to try extra hard to get home quicker," he told her, loving the way her nose crinkled in her happy excitement. "I do have just one request."
"Oh yeah? Do you want me to send you pictures while I'm getting ready?"
"Okay, didn't know that was an offer on the table. Now that I do you know I'm gonna want them," he said which caused her to giggle. "No, I was hoping, since I don't need to leave for another hour, that maybe… maybe you'd like to give me a send off…"
"You know, Steve, if you want me to take you back inside for good-bye sex all you have to do is ask," she whispered leaning forward, her voice low and sultry beckoning him even closer.
"Rowan… I'd like you to…" she silenced him by kissing him and that was all Steve needed to lurch out of his chair and pull her up into his arms. He carried back to the house, letting her kiss him and distract him from walking.
They never even made it up the stairs.
Which was why when Danny arrived an hour later and he declared himself to be in a bad mood, Steve didn't get it. Probably cause he was running on a high and a smile a mile wide.
"What's your problem?" Steve had asked and then immediately regretted it because he got a story filled with TMI and while his friend was very upset all he could do is chuckle. But it wasn't Steve's fault that Grace had caught Amber in nothing but Danny's shirt. It wasn't his fault that Danny felt awkward now.
"My daughter's been scarred for life, and you think it's funny?" Danny asked when Steve couldn't supress his chuckles. "That's great."
"What, you don't think you're overreacting a little bit?" Steve asked. He was more preoccupied with whenever Rowan decided to get her sweet ass outside to give him his good-bye and good-luck kiss. He wasn't leaving the house without it.
Danny didn't seem to notice. "No, I don't."
"Come on, man," Steve sighed. He didn't want Danny to take down his high. He wanted to float on it all through Cambodia. He wanted to hold onto it in case he got bad news. "The amount of time you and Amber have been spending together, those two were bound to meet sooner or later. Now you know, well, Grace will never forget it."
He devolved into chuckles again and Danny pinned him with a less than impressed look. "That's nice," he answered dryly clearly not liking what Steve had to offer him. "Look, uh, the last thing I need is for Grace to get attached to another woman. Okay? When Gabby took off, it upset her, granted we got Rowan in our lives shortly after so that helped, but still. I don't want to put her through that again."
Steve turned back to the door. What the hell was taking Rowan? Did she fall down the damn stairs? He offered Danny a weak uh-huh because he was already moving back towards the door and away from Danny's Camaro. It was a real possibility that Rowan had fallen down the stairs.
"Uh-huh?" Danny echoed. "What does that mean?"
It meant Steve was worrying about Rowan, that's what. "Nothing."
"No, no, no, please," Danny cried following after him as he made it into the front foyer of the house. "If you have something to say, say it."
Well Rowan wasn't collapsed in a heap on the floor, so maybe she was still getting ready? Rowan was the kind of girl to take forever to get ready. She could also be taking too long so that he'd stay to get his kiss and then miss his flight. Except that wouldn't work cause he was going on a military convoy. "Okay," Steve conceded. "Maybe you should consider this is less about protecting Gracie and more about protecting yourself."
"Protecting myself from what?"
"From getting into another serious relationship."
"She's ten years younger than me. What am I gonna do?" Danny snapped as if that was a valid excuse for this self-sabotage.
"Danny, if she was the same age as you, you would come up with a different excuse, whatever you need, because you can't be happy," Steve explained. "It's impossible for you. It's not in your DNA."
"Oh, Wow. Well, I don't know what the hell I was doing getting relationship advice from you. What do you know?"
"I know people," Steve complained.
"No, you know how to kill people and alienate the one girl you want," Danny said folding his arms over his chest. "There's a difference."
Steve didn't even get to tell him that he hadn't alienated Rowan, she was in his goddamn house wasn't she? But Rowan appeared on the landing and Steve was no longer interested in Danny, and judging by her smile and the way she was looking at him she felt the same way about him. But before Rowan even got down to the bottom of the stairs, Danny pounced on her.
"Ah yes, you, you are what I came here for," Danny cried moving to Rowan who had been so distracted by Steven that she had barely registered his presence. She started when he touched her like she hadn't expected him to be there.
She looked him up and down and then turned back to Steve before asked: "Aren't you here cause you two idiots are going to Cambodia?"
"No I need to ask advice… about Grace cause she met…"
"She met Melissa last night? Huh, I could have sworn that was supposed to come later," Rowan said absently.
"Her name is Amber," "What did I say?" "But yes, essentially that's what happened."
"Okay, well, don't use this as an excuse to end things. Don't be afraid. Gracie is a sweet, smart loving girl and she will accept Amber? Amber right? Yeah, she'll accept Amber in your life, and Amber will love Grace and if you're really all that worried maybe you should just bring her along on a sing along and I'll mediate or something, stop you from self-sabotaging your relationship."
"A sing along?" Steve echoed. "What is that?"
"Wow, you and Mr. I-Know-People had the same advice, shocking. What you started sleeping with him and now you're not on my side."
"Now, now, Danny, you know I don't have a side," she said smiling primly at him. "Even though I know it's not in your DNA you should allow yourself the chance to be happy."
"Were you just, listening in or something?" Danny asked and Rowan nodded and then draped herself over Steve all dramatically pressing a million little kisses to his jaw and cheek before landing a large and long one on his mouth.
"Alright my brave, strong, super SEAL, be safe in Cambodia, and don't be too disappointed."
She waved Steve off, from the porch of his house looking like she belonged there. Steve was so filled with a terrible longing to have her back by his side and already more than excited to have her there when he got back home that he didn't even realize what she had said until it was too late to ask her.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
The limo pulled up and Jerry and Chin got out.
He and Chin had balled out for this reunion. They were wearing fancy shades, fancier suits and because Chin was good like that, he had convinced Rowan to come and hot fucking damn did she look hot. Both Jerry and Chin had taken pictures of her, in this beautiful high-low cocktail dress that was a midnight blue and bejeweled with a million sparkling crystals. She had diamond hairpins holding her fancy curls in place and high matching and bejewelled shoes that made her as tall as Chin if not a little bit taller.
She was supposed to be Chin's date but she had already agreed, since Jerry was more nervous than Chin was, that she'd be Jerry's date for the reunion. And he couldn't wait to rub all his old high school bullies' faces in that one. With Rowan on his arm he felt invincible. Like he could take on everything.
They got in, ready to tear shit up only to be interrupted.
"Sorry, you can't go in without a name tag."
Both Jerry and Chin moved over to the table. The woman eyed Rowan as if she didn't quite believe that Rowan was there. Rowan merely smiled at her in the most condescending way possible as she said: "I'm a plus one. And I'm not putting anything sticky anywhere near this dress. It probably cost more than your entire wardrobe."
Rowan turned away and Jerry and Chin exchanged glances. Wow. Jerry did not know that Rowan could amp up the ice-cold bitch vibe, but there it was. His old high school tormentors wouldn't stand a chance against her.
With their name tags safely secured Jerry and Chin returned to Rowan's side. "Uh… you in a bad mood, Ro?" Chin asked.
Rowan smiled brightly, so brightly in fact that Jerry was momentarily blinded. He could fully understand why this girl made McGarrett crazy. "Nope. I'm in a great mood. I'm just practicing for when those guys show up. If they show up. Gotta be ready to go to bat for my boy."
She started cracking out her joints like she was getting ready for war. Jerry didn't realize that Rowan would take the role of protector so seriously. Not after the blatant betrayal she told him he inflicted upon her. Obeying Steve's demand to lure her to the Palace so Steve could interrogate her. He definitely wouldn't be doing that again. He also felt like he was missing something and he'd have to get Chin to tell him what it was later.
They got into the gym, found their tables, took a look at the dance floor and then Jerry began to panic.
"Ugh… I think I'm going to throw up."
"Not on these shoes you're not, so do it over there," Rowan snapped and Jerry slid away from her just in case.
"Come on now, Jer. It's been 25 years, the playing field has leveled a bit. Just be yourself, you'll have a great time."
"Yeah, and you got me. I'm the hottest thing in here," she said. And then she smiled at her two boys. "Aside from you two of course."
"Yeah, trust me, the Ice Queen has your back."
"Ice Queen?" Jerry echoed. It wasn't the first time he heard this, it wasn't the first time he asked for clarification but this time Rowan answered him.
"It was my nick name in high school. For dual reasons. 1. I was a figure skater, and I was really good. And 2. I was a cold-hearted bitch who picked apart people's insecurities. I was all about that No Mercy if you pissed me off."
Jerry stared at her on her other side he caught Chin nodding in confirmation. Oh god, she was one of those girls. Impossibly pretty and completely heartless, she would have eaten him for breakfast if they met in high school. Hell… she could probably eat him for breakfast now.
She clocked his worried stare and she pet his chest. "Don't you worry, Jer, I only use my powers for good now."
Across the room Jerry spotted someone he recognized. "Oh hey, Laura's here. I didn't know she had come back."
"Mm, Jerry had a real thing for her back in the day," Chin told Rowan.
"Ohhh… go talk to her…"
"I'm supposed to be here with you, and besides It's not like that," Jerry told her. He waved when Laura waved to him first and then watched as she made her way through the gym. "Wow, she does look really good."
"Okay, so go say hi to her," Rowan urged nudging him forward. "Nothing says player more, then chatting up another lady while the little missus gets you punch."
"But I don't want to be a player…" "For the love of God, Jerry, go talk to the girl or I will use my Ice Queen powers on you. Do you wanna cry at your reunion?" "—Well… no…" "—Then get to steppin!"
Jerry took two steps away from them and suddenly someone he really didn't want to see was standing in front of him.
"Hairy Jerry Ortega. Long time, man," Tony Gibson said appearing from out of nowhere. "Hey I heard you wrote a book."
Jerry wanted to limit his conversation with the man so he simply said: "Nope, not me."
"Oh… Oh that's right. You invented that shave ice thingy. Good for you."
Jerry shook his head. "Nope, not me either."
Tony smiled, the same smile that he wore every time Jerry walked into one of his traps. "So what the hell have you been doing for the last 25 years?"
Op, and there it was.
Jerry glared at him. "What, since you last shoved me in a gym locker?"
Tony had the nerve to look pleased and disappointed at the same time. "Dude, you're not still pissed about that are you?" he asked.
Yes. Obviously he was. Why wouldn't he be pissed, he just humiliated him in front of the entire student body. What was there to be mad about? Luckily he didn't have to think of a witty come back because suddenly Rowan was beside him.
"Hey babe, I uh… I know you wanted a beer but they had these cute little punch cups and I couldn't resist. I hope that's okay," she said. Like Jerry would be mad at her for not getting him a beer, in fact he hadn't even asked for a beer so he wasn't sure what he was talking about. She turned to Tony as if she had just noticed him for the first time. "Oh hello…"
"Uh… who are…" he started but before he could even get the sentence out Rowan made a big show of reading his name tag
"Oh you're Phoney Tony?" she asked as if she were surprised by this. She turned to Jerry and laughed, nudging him until he laughed with her. She then turned back to Tony, staring down her nose at him. "Jerry told me all about you and your over compensation issues. What are we over compensating for today? The receding hairline or the broken penis?"
Tony stared at her his eyes blinked as he took her in. "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Jerry's date," Rowan said, she then made a big show of looking around. "And uh… where's yours…?"
"Uh… it's a reunion you're not supposed to bring a date."
"Aww," Rowan said almost melodramatically. "You couldn't find a date huh? Tragic. But it's gotta be hard with that receding hairline and the broken penis, right?"
She said the last two words as loudly as she could and now people were looking at them. Rowan faked surprise. "Oh gosh, was that too loud?"
"Okay… hey… there is nothing wrong with my penis, okay?" Tony growled leaning in close to them. Jerry wanted to put a hand out to ward him off and if he hadn't clocked the suddenly dangerous smirk on Rowan's face he might have, even if he was worried Tony Gibson might find a large locker to shove him into.
"We both know that you're classically overcompensating for something. A man your age, it's either the loss of youth, the loss of hair, the mourning of a body part not working right anymore, or the ever popular I peaked in high school. Just looking at you I've got a list of things to pick apart, I may even have enough to make you cry," Rowan growled to him. Tony looked absolutely terrified. "Run, Tony-boy. Run far, run fast."
And Tony did run, well he speed-walked, but considering Jerry hadn't seen Tony run from anything other then the principal he was impressed. Rowan straightened, that fake smile back on her face as she waved at Tony's receding back. "It was so very nice to meet you."
She then turned an actual genuine smile up to him. "There. Feel a bit better?"
"No. I'm petrified," Jerry said. "Did you really have a list of things to pick on?"
"Hell yeah, it's an automatic reflex, I do it to everyone," Rowan said. "Now, go talk to that girl before she gets away."
Jerry was just glad she was on his side, but he never did manage to talk to Laura, she had coincidently vanished.
For the rest of the reunion, Rowan played saving grace. She saved them both from every awkward interaction. She saved Chin from having to answer questions about being married, or Malia. She saved Jerry from looking foolish on more than one occasion.
The only person she couldn't save was Laura, who fell from the third floor and was impaled by her own stiletto.
She did, however, manage to faint, the second she saw the body and the blood pooling around it. And despite Chin telling him to hold onto her, because he knew it would happen, Jerry sort of forgot. Which meant Rowan hit the floor. And now it was up to Jerry to tell McGarrett how Rowan managed to earn this head injury.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Steve's phone chirped again. Another message from Rowan, this one asking if he had made it to the River. He stared at the message. How could she have known about the river. A secondary text came in, a single picture, her hair done up with crystal hairpins. Her make up sultry and provocative. She must have been getting ready to accompany Chin to his High school Reunion. Steve was only a few years under Chin, that meant soon he'd have to go to his own high school reunion. He wondered if, like Chin, he'd be going with Rowan on his arm.
A single line was waiting for him under the picture.
Just wait until you see the dress.
Steve didn't know how to tell her that he probably wasn't going to be back in time to see the dress. He didn't respond, because he didn't know how to. Rowan was good about that, she was usually okay with him not responding to her text messages unless she had asked a direct question. He'd respond when he got to the grave, when he could determine whose body was in it.
When he had decided to go to Cambodia, of course he asked Danny to come with him. Granted he had to practically beg him to come, but it was nice to be out in the jungle of the Pursat province knowing Danny was in front of him. He would have been a lot more anxious if Danny wasn't with him, he also would have been moving faster, but he was okay sacrificing speed to have Danny along with him.
He would have simultaneously felt better and worse if he had brought Rowan with him. She had asked him to come, and if he hadn't been worried about her safety he would have agreed. It was only one day but he missed her. He didn't like being half way around the world where there was only Chin and Kono to keep Rowan in line. Steve and Danny struggled, he wasn't sure how the softer two of the team would be able to handle her. Not to mention, he had left Rowan there with Catherine. He would just have to hope that there was no reason for the two to interact.
They stopped when they got to the top of the crest, just above the river. The GPS in Steve's hand was beeping giving him a new heading. He had let Danny lead because it made Danny feel better, as long as Danny was still in his sight, he knew that he could save him if he had to.
"Uh… it should be just past that tree line," he said pointing off into the distance and Danny, who was catching his breath sighed. Great he was tired. Well… Steve was tired too.
He figured now would be a good time to ask that question he had on the tip of his tongue since Danny had picked him up to go to the airport that morning. "Did… uh… did Rowan say anything about this trip?"
Danny swallowed the mouthful of water he had just taken in and turned to him. "What?"
"Well she called you last night, right?"
"Oh, that was about the parking garage," Danny said and then turned away from him. Steve nodded, mumbling the words to himself. Parking garage. She had been dreaming about the parking garage for weeks now, but it was getting more frequent as of late.
"But nothing about us coming to Cambodia, right?" Steve probed again.
Danny sighed, clearly irritable. "Look, Steve, if you want to know about Rowan and her visions, maybe, maybe you should just let her tell you about them."
Steve sighed, okay Danny had a point.
When they got to the tall grass Steve let Danny take the machete to take his frustration out on the grass and not him. Just past the tall grass was what they were looking for. A grave. Freshly dug up, an empty coffin awaiting him. At least he was assuming it was empty. It wasn't like the CIA would just dig it up for him as a present.
"Looks like somebody knew we were coming," Danny said. Steve ignored the sass and rushed over.
Yep. Empty coffin. Great. Just fucking great. Danny let him look everything over. In the hole. Nope no body. In the bushes. Nope, still no body and no sign of the CIA.
"Your friend in the CIA moves fast," Danny said breaking the silence and Steve almost leant over to punch him.
Steve's phone chirruped again.
It's not totally empty. Look inside.
Fuck Rowan. Had she known it was empty the whole time? Why didn't she tell him that? I mean, obviously he had told her not to tell him, but like… fuck… find a way to drop a line girl.
Steve knelt down and pushed the lid aside. With more light in the crudely made coffin he could see dirt inside, and something stuck to the splintering wood at the bottom. He smiled, damn she was good. His so called friend at the CIA didn't plan for this, or for Rowan. Though to be fair, Steve would have found it regardless, he was going to take a better look at the box even before Rowan suggested it.
"Yeah, he moves fast, but he's a little sloppy."
Steve's phone chimed again.
Pack up the hair and hurry back, you're gonna wanna unwrap this… trust me.
Steve stared at the message, the picture that accompanied it was just of Rowan's chest in a low cut strapless chiffon looking navy blue dress. Yes he did want to unwrap her in that, but he wanted to know how long she knew that the coffin was empty except for hair. Because he'd be pretty pissed off if Rowan had known that before he left. Pissed off with her and himself.
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Danny sat across from Steve buckled into the single seat on this Naval transport plane and there was nothing between them except silence. Steve just sat there, just like Danny, both had their arms crossed, but Steve was sulking and hadn't spoken to him since they left the jungle. Hadn't even looked at him since the plane had taken off. Danny didn't like this, he was bored, he was lonely and he wanted some kind of conversation from his friend.
"You're an amazing travel companion. Anybody ever tell you that?" Danny asked. Finally Steve looked up to him, jerking him out of whatever inner monologue he had been lost in. "I mean the time is just flying by here."
Steve ran a hand over his face and sighed but Danny wasn't done. "Maybe I'll go see if the co-pilot wants to play backgammon or something."
"I'm sorry, okay?" ouch that much have hurt him to say. "I appreciate you coming, Danny, I do. I'm just… I…"
"You're disappointed. I understand. It's a really long way to fly to find an empty coffin. Especially since Rowan probably knew it was empty before we left. Especially since Rowan probably knows who was inside," Danny snapped. "Uh… why didn't we just ask Rowan again, remind me again please?"
Steve scowled at him. "Because if she says it, it's true. Right? That's the theory. That maybe, things don't happen the way she says they will until she says they will? Right? Isn't that what you think?"
"No, I think our destiny isn't set in stone until she starts dreaming about it. Once she knows I think that's what's going to happen. Especially if it's something that she feels compelled to either tell us or act on," Danny clarified. "I get that you don't want to know your future, but… we could have avoided this whole trip and all the bug bites."
"I said I was sorry. Okay?"
Danny raised his hands in surrender. "You know there was no way, the CIA didn't know we were coming. And I'm betting there's absolutely zero chance that the CIA knew that whoever was occupying that coffin would mean something to you."
Steve nodded, leaning forward and bracing himself on his knees. "Yeah, or Doris."
Ah yes, the other issue. The first time Steve had heard the word Cambodia it had dropped from Rowan's mouth and his mother had pulled a gun on her. Instantly. Rowan had said over and over that Cambodia was tied to Doris, and well… once Rowan put it out into their universe, Rowan was always right. Though… in this case, this was probably out in the universe long before Rowan even showed up.
"That's what this all about. I'm not stupid. I know it is. Rowan's been trying to tell me for months, and when I wouldn't listen she got the clues to me. This is about whatever it was Rowan was trying to lord over my mother to make her come back after she escorted Kono and Adam off our island."
God, why wouldn't McGarrett just ask her? Danny knew why he hadn't. Because he was afraid that whatever the answer was would be too big for him not to immediately have to tell Steve.
"My mother is linked to that missing body somehow."
"Either that or she's responsible for the body being there in the first place."
Yeah that was a more reasonable assumption. Steve just stared at him and then slowly sat back in his own airplane seat. Ah that was it. That was the problem. That was what was upsetting Steve. That assumption right there.
"But you don't wanna go down that road, do you?" Danny asked already knowing the answer. Steve didn't even have to answer, which was great because he didn't.
They were silent for a few more minutes before Steve's phone chimed and Danny's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Great service if he was getting it all the way up here. Steve swore and then shoved his phone into his pocket again. "What… what is it?"
"I got five words for you. Rowan. Dead body. Head injury."
Wow… this just was not their day was it?
H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O
Rowan sat in the back of the ambulance with an ice pack to the back of her head. She had Chin with her up until Duke showed up, and then everyone was busy… except for Catherine who was then put on Rowan-sitting duty. As if that hadn't been awkward.
Rowan had wrapped herself up in the emergency blanket. And though the EMTs cleared her of any head injuries they were letting her chill in the back of the truck until someone came to get her, because she refused to leave with Catherine.
"I'm not going to attack you," Catherine said for the millionth time. She was leaning against the ambulance doors, arms folded across her chest. "I'm over it, you know."
"That's good for you but I'd rather not take my chances, thank you," Rowan answered primly. She pulled out her phone and texted Chin again. She ignored Catherine's roll of the eyes. "Is Jerry still sitting with Laura's body? Shouldn't you… oh… I unno move him?"
"No, cause I'm stuck here watching you, unless you want to come with me to get him?"
"Why so I can pass out again and you can make sure that this time I fall down the stairs and break my neck? No thank you," Rowan snapped.
Catherine shot her a glare. "That would require me caring about you. Which I don't. Because in case you haven't noticed… despite all your meddling, Steve still came back to me."
Rowan turned a glare to Catherine. She was asking to get smacked. "Oh, so mature. I'm sure Steve loves that. When was the last time you saw him by the way? Outside of work? Cause uh… I was there this morning… and yesterday and the ay before that…"
"Getting along ladies?" Chin asked appearing at the truck. Both Rowan and Catherine pinned him with a dry glare and he laughed awkwardly and took a hesitant step away from them. "How's your head?"
"It's fine. I've been cleared," she said. She turned to Jerry. "How you holding up?"
He shrugged to her and said: "I didn't even get to say hello."
Rowan sighed sadly. "I tried to get you to talk to her."
Behind them, Steve's truck screeched to a halt. Rowan's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Why was he here? Wasn't he supposed to be in Cambodia still? Why was he burning rubber putting his truck into park? Had someone told him what happened? Because she hadn't. "Why is he driving so fast?"
"Probably because, since Jerry was too upset about having to do it, I had to get a hold of McGarrett to tell him what happened… both about the case and your head," Chin said absently smiling at Rowan's offended face.
"Uh… excuse me… I was unaware I went to Daniel Williams' high school reunion. What the fuck Chin?" she cried. "Since when are you the snitch? You picking up bad habits from Danny?"
Chin just smiled at her as Steve broke through the ring of people around her and then looked her over. He raised his hands up in that what gives motion that Danny was famous for and scowled at her.
"What the hell Pierce?"
"Okay… like… this is not that big a deal!"
"What even happened?"
"Well… I may have watched a girl fall three stories and land on her own high heel. And then I may or may not have passed out."
"Oh, she definitely, 100 percent, passed out," Chin said.
Jerry hung his head and raised his hand. "And I forgot to catch her."
Steve closed his eyes as if the words hurt him. He sighed deeply before saying: "Can uh… can Rowan and I have a minute?"
They all nodded shuffling away from him as soon as they were gone he had a scowl on his face directed right at her.
"So… uh… how was Cambodia?"
"A massive fucking waste of my time. Did you know that the grave was going to be empty before I went?" he asked.
"Yeah, they got to it yesterday, oohh and they're gonna steal the sample too," Rowan said and knew immediately by the face that Steve was wearing that it was the wrong thing to say.
"And you didn't think to…"
"Steve you flat out told me not to. What the hell did you want me to do? Put it in a fortune cookie? Write it on your pancakes? Spell it out in Alpha-getti? Fucking psychic connection it into your fucking head? Steven? You won't let me help you, when I try you get mad at me, and I'm trying to not start an argument with you every time we talk."
"Fine. Fair, you're right," he said huffing.
"So… maybe now you'll listen to me about…"
"No, Rowan. I still don't want to know," he said stiffly and Rowan groaned in frustration and sunk her head into her hands. Why the hell was this boy so goddamn stubborn? Maybe she should make fortune cookies for him, maybe then he'd fucking listen to her.
Steve's hand came to her shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"It was a soft tap at best," Rowan said finally standing. "I got cleared like a half hour ago, I just refuse to go anywhere alone with Lieutenant passive-aggressive."
Steve chuckled at her, and then suddenly he stopped. Rowan had dropped the emergency blanket and when she turned back she found that Steve had been struck dumb. She blinked her eyes at him, he was staring at her, his eyes running up and down her body, he seemed to be swallowing over and over, his hands in fists.
Ah the dress. It really was a stunner on her.
She reached out and his hand came up to help her out of the back of the ambulance. As soon as she was on the ground she did a little twirl for him, fanning out the train of her dress so he could see all the crystals.
"What do you think?" she asked him.
Steve's eyes were blinking a mile a minute. "You look… you look… you look like the night sky all glittering and twinkling and… beautiful."
Rowan smiled and blushed at the compliment. "Full disclosure, Wo bought me the dress. It was what I was wearing that day in the pool… you know…" she mimed herself hitting something with a tray. "and with the bang, bang bang," that time she mimed finger guns even though Steve had gotten it with the first gesture.
"Uh… that's very nice of him to uh… let you… keep it…"
"Yeah, I think I looked better in it that night, he… you know… paid to have me all done up super pretty and all that… I think he has a picture I could ask him for it," she whispered and then when she looked up she found Steve staring at her with a pained expression on her face and she decided to change the topic entirely. "If you play your cards right, I'll let you take me home and you can take it off me, but you gotta be super careful with it cause it's…"
"Rowan!"
Rowan and Steve turned and someone she didn't think she'd be seeing today was quickly coming towards her, having been allowed past the barricade to get to her.
"Oh… my… god… Justin…"
Rowan tried to smile but she hadn't ever intended for Justin and Steve to meet each other. Justin had come to one of her gigs, liked her songs. He had asked for her number and she politely turned him down. Then he ended up being a guest at the hotel where she was working as a barista. He came in multiple times a shift until she finally agreed to a date.
They had been seeing each other for a week. She fully assumed that he'd go back to the mainland where he was from. New York, he had said, but he hadn't left yet and hadn't mentioned he was leaving any time soon. She was assuming he was there on business indefinitely. He was a sweet guy, he treated her right, always wanted to do something romantic and it was just nice to have someone like that taking her out. Made her feel wanted when Steve was off with Catherine or off solving cases and kicking bad guys asses.
"Justin… what are you doing here?"
A very important question cause she hadn't told him where she was and she had been very clear about not wanting to go out for dinner tonight. Firstly it was cause she wanted to wait for Steve to come but now that her head hurt she really just wanted to curl up in bed beside Steve. No where in that picture did it include Justin, the guy she saw when she was bored and needed a bit of romance in her life. The guy she saw when Steve was off at work or out with Catherine but not telling her that.
"Well when I asked you to go for dinner tonight you said you couldn't because you didn't feel up to it. And then you mentioned you had an accident and stopped answering your phone. I was so worried that I rushed right over to see if you were okay," he said. "Were you attacked? Why are the police here?"
Rowan's eyes widened, not only had he not answered her question, but he had basically just outted her to Steve. Her over protective, arrest-happy Steven. Fucking hell how was she going to get herself out of this? "Uh… do you know her? Rowan, do you know him?" Steve asked and Rowan faltered.
"Sorry, officer, I'm Justin Chau, I'm dating Rowan. If she's cleared and given her statement, I'd like to take her home. She's had an accident and I'd like to get her resting."
Oh well there was that out in the air. Rowan purposely glanced up to Steve who was staring at her with a horrified glare on his face. She bit her lip at him as she winced.
"To be fair… I didn't think you'd be here today… and… uh… I didn't know he was coming here either."
Steve's eyes bugged and his nostrils flared.
"Do you know him, Ro?" Justin asked and Rowan almost cried out in frustrated horror. God this guy was hammering nails into the coffin.
"Yes, I do. This is Steven, I mentioned I worked with him," Rowan said.
"Oh Steven McGucket right? It's so nice to meet you, she's said only nice things," Justin said offering Steve a hand to shake.
Steve took it, squeezing Justin's hand so hard Justin winced.
"Nice to meet you, Rowan hasn't spoken about you at all," he said. He meant it as an insult, clear as day with the tone he had used, Rowan could see that and judging by the look on Justin's face he realized it too. God, she knew he'd be mad, but couldn't he play nice to Justin's face, she was nice to Catherine's face for him.
"Alright, you know what. I am good to go, let's go Justin," Rowan said pushing him back towards his car. "Can you just give me one more second, I will meet you at the car."
Justin nodded, shooting a good-bye wave to Steve. When he was out of ear shot Rowan turned to Steve wincing at the look on his face. "Please, just… calm down. I'll explain later okay?" she pleaded. "And uh… save half… okay? Steven… save half."
Steve just continued to stare at her, a haunting pain in his blue eyes. This was his fault, she reminded herself, he chose Catherine. If he hadn't, they'd be together and Justin wouldn't have stood a chance.
The problem was, unbeknownst to Rowan, after she left in Justin's fancy rented Bentley, after Steve had talked to Max, and give him the hair sample he had brought back from Cambodia for analysis, Steve made a single phone call that affected them both.
"Hey Fong, do me a favour… can you run a name for me? Yeah? It's uh… uh… Justin Chau."