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AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Happy Sunday my wonderful readers! Here we are. This is the last of the marathon, you'll still be getting your usual post tomorrow but officially the marathon ends here. On this really cute note I think. Yes, Steve did say something mean last chapter, but he is forgiven this chapter, you gotta cut the boy some slack he had to feel a lot of emotions all at once and we know how bad he is at emotions. The next few chapters after are meant to be more funny and less angsty, but if I've done my job right in the next few chapters you should notice some tension between Steve and Rowan. That is there for a reason. I'm not gonna lie, I'm super behind. I've only got up to chapter 196 written right now, I've hit a major block, but I think it's because I'm super busy in school and I'm basically about to enter into season 6 and I'm soooooo afraid you guys are gonna be super mad when you read what's gonna happen. But I'm going to push myself through it for you guys! Gotta keep those three posts a week coming! As always, don't forget to leave me a review and I will see you guys on tomorrow!

Chapter 188

She took him to a house. Just a simple bungalow where a man in a black dress shirt and grey slacks was waiting for them. His beard was wiry and peppered with greys, he had unfeeling grey eyes and a thin mouth. Steve was angry, and he was sure the only reason that his welcome wasn't warmer was because of the glare on his face.

Rowan lead them up to him and then carefully said: "Steven, Odell, this is Garig Dobrian."

"Shall we take this inside?"

They nodded, going into the house that stood silent and dusty. Obviously no one was living here, but he could see patterns in the dust. Places where footprints had been. The house, much like Steve's had the kitchen to the back of the house which was where Garig had lead them. Steve looked around for any sign that would explain what had happened today and saw nothing. Garig stood with his back to a door to address them, as if baring entrance to a coveted club.

Garig bowed his head. First to Steve and then Odell. "My condolences for your shop," he said. "I will give you names, people who owe me, they'll do good work, and I will cover the costs."

Well wasn't that just peachy for Odell. "Mahalo," he said quickly shaking the man's hand, then Garig turned to Steve.

"She said that you would want answers," he said to Steve.

"Yeah, I wanna know how it's possible that your men executed somebody this morning, and yet you managed to convince my girl that the witness to that execution needed to die."

He stared at Steve calmly. "The murder this morning, it never happened."

"Shut up! That kid! He was a witness! He puts your men at the scene!" he nearly screamed, because unlike Rowan he wasn't going to let this man lie to him.

"No, Commander, you don't understand. My son, he lied to you."

Steve went very still as he took that in. "What did you just say?"

"My son lied to you. Eran. The boy you were trying to protect at the barbershop, that was my son."

Steve glanced from Garig, to Rowan and then back. "Your son? Why would you want to kill your own son?"

"Eran is…" he started and then faltered. For a moment he was silent until Steve lost it.

"ANSWER ME?"

"He was a sick boy, touched by the devil," Garig shouted back.

"What… what are you talking about?"

"You're police, correct? So you must have heard about those children who went missing from my neighbourhood."

Dread crept up his spine. No. Oh god… no. "What does that have to do with Eran?"

"If you stopped asking questions he could tell you," Rowan said to him just as Garig said: "Those missing children have everything to do with my son."

"He… Eran took them. Then he murdered them."

"Why should I believe you?" Steve murmured.

"Your girl believed me."

"Rowan would have demanded proof and I know you showed her something. So, what was it? What did you show her then? What did she see to make her believe?"

Instead of answering he moved out of the way and showing him the door he had been standing in front of the whole time. "Everything she saw… is down there."

Steve glanced to Rowan who just stared at him. "You go. I'll stay here," she said. "I promise."

"Yeah, and I'm gonna get Garig's contacts, set myself up with the workers to get my shop up and running," Odell said.

Steve carefully and slowly went down the steps. He half expected an ambush when he reached the bottom. Instead he found shadows and a single bulb with a chain to pull to illuminate the darkness of the basement. Other then empty and dusty washers, it looking like a normal basement. Except for the wooden door covered in unlocked padlocks, clearly forced open recently. And inside was just… kids toys. Clothes, necklaces, shoes, precious items to a child all laid out like trophies and in the middle of all of those things was a shoe box. Steve knocked the top off of it and found a stack of polaroid instant pictures. His heart sunk in his chest, because the stack was so much larger then he though it was going to be, and it was filled with children's faces, dirty, scared, tear streaked.

There were so many pictures.

Steve couldn't help it. Those children those poor children. Their little faces dirty, tear streaked, fear in their eyes. The tears came but he couldn't look away, he couldn't stop flipping to the next picture, and the next picture, and the picture after that and the picture after that. He was shaking trying to hold it all back, understanding once and for all why she had let Eran die. Because this, this had all been described to him before, in frantic detail.

"Are you crying?"

Steve turned around, to Rowan standing in the door way refusing to come closer. She must have taken his look for one of embarrassment because she immediately became flustered. "Oh. Sorry. Not crying. Allergies. A lot of pollen, and dust, and dander and… and peanut butter in that room!"

He wasn't allergic to anything and she knew that. Still the outburst made him laugh. He was grateful for her attempt to make him feel more manly, but he was more grateful for her presence, for her just being there with him.

"This is it then. Your dream. I'm standing in your nightmare, aren't I?"

"This is just the trophy room," Rowan said. "The things I saw… they were worse than this. But uh… the ones about Charlie and Danny. They were always in here. Charlie's picture would be on the top. And uh… his uh… his favourite toy firetruck would be right beside the tiara. Danny… he'd be crying…"

Steve looked around. He knew now why she had done it. He understood. "I'm so sorry I didn't trust you… I'm…"

"You spent the whole day protecting that kid. It didn't help that he lied to you, that he made himself look innocent. I got it. Honest. It was just… you know… a little hurtful…"

"Can we chalk it up to the shock?" he asked. "I went from terrified that those people were going to kill me, and Odell and that kid and then you showed up and I thought they were going to shoot you and then you were on their side and it was just… it was a lot all at once… I'm not good with emotions normally and I went on a fucking roller coaster over the span of like… two minutes, you know?"

"No, I know, I get it. I'm just saying, I understand but it still hurt. You know?"

"Okay. You're right, and I'm sorry. Can I get a hug?"

"Can you get out of that room first? It's filled with nothing but black strings and I just can't go down that path again… I saw a lot of things that I don't want to relive."

Despite having questions Steve moved out of the room and into her arms. She held him as the tears started up again. He couldn't help it, today had be so trying.

"I know you hate when I ask you this stuff, but what did you mean by black strings?"

Rowan pushed herself out of his grasp and then looked at him carefully. True to her word, after Colombia, she had tried to be more open and truthful about the things that had happened to her from her past and the things she thought about. So even though he could tell she didn't want to, she still answered his question. "Okay, uh… well… you know how there's that theory of the universe where everything is made of strings, and all connected by strings?"

"String theory, I know of it but not a lot about it."

"Fair, me too," she said with a smile. "Okay, well uh… remember how I said I've been controlling the dreams?"

"Yes?"

"Okay, well I've been doing that by trying to select the right strings. And at first that only worked in dreams, and then I started noticing them if I was really, really high. Like when Billy was shot and I said I was going to follow the strings?" she asked and he nodded. "Yeah, I actually followed the strings. But you know, being high… or in a state of danger or injury isn't really a viable way to see the strings, not in the long run anyway… so uhm… I've been kind of practicing."

That was terrifying to think of. He kept telling her he didn't want her to mess with the void, but as someone who wanted answers right away, Steven definitely understood her desire to see the strings without having to be in danger or injured or high. If he had the ability to just look at a string and know the answer, he'd take that power in a heartbeat.

Rowan sighed at him which brought him out of his thoughts. God he hoped that he wasn't making a face. Rowan always thought his faces were negative. Still she continued. "Recently though, I've found that if I focus, if I really look for them, I can see them everywhere. The red strings that take over any room we're in. The white strings for safety. The pulsing vibrant alarm red for danger, and the black ones… of death. If I touch them… I can see what path it leads to. That room…" she said pointing to the little room behind her. the one he had just come out of. "It's got nothing but black strings and all of them lead to death. Everything in there is tied to it and that's just… a lot… a lot of little kids all crying and screaming and begging for it to stop."

Steve didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to know if Rowan had only heard this or if she saw things as well, because he didn't want to think that she had that sort of stuff stuck in her head right now. Steve nodded looked back at the room and then put a hand to her arm. "We don't need to stay here," he murmured. "Come on."

"I would have told you Steven. I just… I just didn't know you were going to meet him that way. I didn't… I don't know why but I didn't dream of the episode. I don't know why I dreamed everything else instead."

Great. Was that another evolution of her powers? Yeah cause he needed that right?

"It's okay," he said instead of complaining. "Let's… let's just go home, okay?"

"Uhm… Steven," she whispered as they were heading up the stairs. She turned around while she was part way up making her taller than him. He wasn't used to looking up to her like that. It felt like he was looking at her in a whole new light. "You know how you want me to always tell you everything?"

"You've done something else haven't you?"

"Yes, that man, the one who shot Eran and then said that he doesn't take orders from me, remember him?" she asked. Yeah he was the leader. Steve nodded. "He's been killed."

Steve paused on the steps. "Why?"

"I didn't like his attitude. He ignored Wo Fat and Sandy's orders to leave you alone. He said I couldn't help you and then shot Eran even though I told him to wait for you to be gone… so… you know… I told Wo Fat, who told Garig and he's either already dead or is about to be."

Steve blinked his eyes at her. "Wo Fat told those guys to leave me alone?"

"Yes. As soon as you activated Sanctuary. Wo Fat put an alert out to them telling them that you and the shop were under his protection and if they went forward with the attack he'd deal with them accordingly."

Wow. Really? He did that for him? Wow, he really would do anything to get back into Rowan's life.

"When they didn't listen, he contacted Garig who is a friend of his, they spoke and then I was invited over for an explanation… which I got… and then I went to get you out. The only problem was, part of the deal was that Eran had to die and I… I unno… I figured…" she gestured to the room behind him and he nodded. Yeah, he got what she figured.

"But you're not actually talking to Wo Fat though?"

"No, but I'm going to have to say something, he'll want to know if I'm okay."

"You weren't in danger, Rowan," he reminded her. "But fine. One update on how we're both doing, tell him I say thank you but that is It, you hear me? No more contact after that."

Rowan smiled happily and kissed him solidly. He hated the Wo Fat had him right where he wanted him. But for Rowan's smiles, for her kisses, he'd put up with it.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Rowan and Steve had made the executive decision not to tell Nahele what had happened to Steve that morning, but unbeknownst to him, the media had picked up the story and he found out at lunch, that Steve had been in a violent shoot out that resulted in a death. Which meant he returned home at the end of the school day worried that something had happened to Steven. He had just burst through the door, saw Rowan first, seemed to take her surprised look as negative one and cried: "Is Dad okay?" It was his first slip up in calling him dad and Steve could not have been happier about it. Fuck he had actually kind of shed a few tears over it. In the privacy of the washroom.

Like Rowan he had let the slip slide, because as soon as Nahele realized that Steve was just sitting on the couch completely fine, just a little bit out of Nahele's eye sight, the kid had gone bright red. He had hugged him, asked if he was okay, and once assured that he was went straight to the kitchen to ask Rowan for an after school snack and to start his homework, all while avoiding both of their eyes. With Rowan he played it off as it didn't matter but once he was by himself he did a happy dance, shed a few happy tears and then hopped into the shower to wash the day off.

The following morning, he was happy for more than one reason. For starters, for the first time in ten days, Rowan had not woken up screaming about a child or Charlie being tortured. He was still on a high over finally being called dad, and he got to partake in his favourite morning breakfast routine. First breakfast, that had Rowan's back arching, her fingers digging into his hair as his tongue did sinful things between her thighs.

They had learned to be quiet, so Nahele wouldn't have to hear and it was those quiet moments that Steve had learned to adore. He liked nothing more than having her teeth sink into his shoulder to keep her cries of ecstasy at bay, and he loved leaving dark marks along her neck and collarbones to keep himself from screaming her name. And nothing quite made him cum harder than when her back would arch and her eyes would roll back, her pump pink lips open in a silent O as he rocked her world.

It was after second breakfast, which was an omelet for him, and scrambled eggs for her and Nahele that Rowan announced that she had a surprise for them. They weren't allowed to know what it was just that everyone had to be there. Steve had gone about calling all his friends and giving them the address of where Rowan wanted them to meet him. But it wasn't until they got to the destination that Steve realized they were going to a skating rink.

"Rowan… uh… what are we doing here?" he asked. He knew that Nahele had wanted to learn to skate but he didn't think he'd want to put on a show.

"You'll see," she said ushering them inside. The arena was cold, and Steve wasn't dressed for this and neither were any of their friends, but all of them were silent about it, mostly, Danny was bitching up a storm.

They huddled around the bleachers until Rowan finally showed up, in this dark green outfit. The collar and sleeves were made of this sheer thick skin colored fabric no doubt to give her warms, there were little crystals covering the sweetheart bodice, all the way down to her waist, her legs were clad in skin colored sheer stockings made of the same fabric as the sleeves of her dress. Her hair was up in a tight ballerina bun, her make up looked thick and crazy, she had little crystals dotting the skin by her eyes but it was the jet-black skates that surprised him. Weren't girls supposed to wear white skates and boys wear black?

Her outfit got a flurry of comments, phones were whipped out and Rowan posed for all the pictures and smiled at all the jokes that were thrown at her.

"Seriously what are we doing here, though," Danny asked, clearly ready to move on and get out of the rink.

"Well, as most of you know, I used to be a nationally ranked figure skater," she said which got a round of nods and one: "What the hell? No one told me that!" from Grover.

"Well I was," she said to Grover before turning on the others. "I haven't really skated since I came here, and when Nahele asked for skating lessons I… uh… well I re-remembered why I liked skating so much. I've been practicing for about a week and I may have put together a bit of a show for you guys. So if you wouldn't mind sitting down, I brought each of you blankets and thermoses of my famous cocoa, I'd like to show you guys what I can do."

She gestured to bags that Steve hadn't noticed before and realized that she really had brought everything she said. The blankets were passed around, the thermoses handed out and when they were all set, Rowan was on the ice, staring at all of them.

"Okay so I just wanted to remind you guys, that I haven't done this in like… years," she told them. "So I'm uh… I'm not gonna be that good okay?"

"Alright, we will manage our expectations," Danny said.

"Just skate fast it's way too cold in here, gurl," Grover added and Rowan nodded. She turned away from them skated out into the middle of the arena where she gave some sort of cue to someone else. There was a brief pause where Rowan got herself into position and then the music started playing.

Steve would have recognized Hound Dog anywhere. Beside them Jerry pipped up: "She told me once that her first winning routine was to this song." And Steve found himself frowning, simply because Rowan had never told him that.

He wanted to be angry but as soon as Rowan started moving on the ice Steve couldn't feel anything but awe. She was like fluid, moving quickly and seamlessly through twirls and spins, her arms twisting and turning. She did a series of quick maneuvers where she ended up doing little hops through a movement.

Beside him Nahele leant in and whispered: "She said those are called The Pierce Pops. Apparently, there were a few moves her dad's physics friends cooked up for her and her brother to do, that's one of them. Doing that movement wrong can break an ankle… oh… oh… here comes the first jump."

True to form, Rowan's first jump ended up being a triple twist, and if Steve remembered anything from dating Catherine and watching the Olympics he knew that the triple jump was a show stopper, not a show beginner.

Steve glanced around to all his friends, and they too looked just as surprised and amazed by Rowan's skating. She did another set of those Pops that Nahele was talking about, spun out into one of those spins where she spun for absolute ever, starting from a crouched position, to standing up, then she had a hold of her skate first out in front of her and than to the side and then behind and fuck he had no idea his girl was that flexible.

They were going to be using that in bed tonight, best believe.

Rowan used an elaborate flourish to break out of the spin, skating backwards picking up way too much speed and beside him Nahele began to bounce. "Oh, here it is, here it is," he said. "Come on mom, don't fall…"

Whoa! Wait a second she had been FALLING?! Fucking what? Was she okay? Steve turned his eyes back to the ice in time to watch Rowan launch herself into the air. Managing to complete and land a six spin jump. Steve hadn't been unaware that he had leapt to his own feet until Nahele was putting a hand out to pull him back down.

Steve couldn't keep his eyes off of her as Rowan finished, this big huge smile on her face, holding her position, that Y-pose as she caught her breath and smiled at her friends.

"Holy shit," Steve found himself whispering as his friends around him clapped and cheered for her. He just couldn't believe it.

"I know right, if that's her out of practice how good was she when she was on the top of her game?" Nahele asked and Steve frowned.

He was right of course. Rowan had mentioned once that she could have gone to the Olympics. That if Trevor hadn't sucked her into the Stepanov's crime ring, if she hadn't broken her leg, if she hadn't had to go into WITSEC, she would have made it to the Olympics that year. It was another reminder that if they had met under regular circumstances, in her own time, Rowan would have been so far out of his league she wouldn't have given him the time of day.

God.

It was a good thing she fell into his world and not the other way around.