Rewrite

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Happy Monday my wonderful readers. How is everyone as the new year comes to a close? Can you guys believe how quickly this year has gone by? I swear I feel like it just started yesterday! As the Marathon is now completed, we are moving on to the next episode. There will be some angst, but mostly it's Five-0 drama. We're going to be seeing the Christmas stuff for this season come up really soon. I'll be focusing mostly on Rowan's Christmas stuff though. Don't forget to leave me a review and I'll see you guys in the New Year!

Chapter 232

Steve was in a bad mood. Granted he was always in a bad mood these days. But this was yet another Christmas he would be ringing in Rowan-less and he was not happy. Last year's Christmas had been perfect, sitting across from each other on the couch, sipping warm cocoa in their knitted Christmas sweaters taking turns opening presents. Handing out presents to the children at the hospital dressed as Santa's elves. He thought finally asking her out, finally caving into giving her that girlfriend label AND a promise ring, would mean that he'd never have to spend another Christmas without her. Then after taking in Nahele he had secretly been excited for Christmas. It would have been the first Christmas with a child in the house and he had wanted to sit on the couch and watch a happy little boy open everything he and Rowan wrapped up for him.

Instead, this year, though he had a Christmas party with his friends and coworkers to look forward to, Steve would be alone.

Steve had been trying to not think about it, but with Christmas only two weeks away, with all the Christmas decorations showing up, and the need to buy everyone Christmas presents, Steve had been forced to face the fact that, thanks to a sociopath and several terrible decisions on Steve's end, he was going to be alone for Christmas. So when he caught this case… well… he might have been taking his disappointment out on the bad guys.

Starting with Juru Katsu, who was withholding information.

They had his fingerprint on a bottle shard, they knew that he was suspected of pulling off an armoured vehicle robbery, where they made off with a shit tonne of cash. They knew he was tied to Gabriel, they just didn't know why he killed Luke Nakano's older brother Ben, the night before his big boxing matching. They had thought it was his rival or one of his guys but nope, it had probably been Juru, Gabriel may have been involved, but either way Ben Nakano had been beaten to death for some reason and Juru wouldn't tell him why.

So naturally Steve had tied Juru to a sea-doo and was now dragging him around behind it.

On the dock Abby and Danny watched as Steve dragged him around for a third lap. Danny shook his head but Abby was watching with wide eyes of surprise. Danny was no longer surprised by the shit Steve pulled, he was just resigned to always having to deal with this bullshit.

"So this is your interpretation of immunity and means?" Abby asked her head moving with the sea-doo as it zipped by again.

Danny sighed. "No, no, this is his interpretation not mine," he said. "Did you know, the first week I met him, he hung a guy off a building by his ankles? To be fair he was dealing with grief then too."

"And what is Steve grieving today?" Abby wondered.

Danny said nothing, despite knowing exactly what it was that Steve was grieving, what had him acting out so viciously. Rowan Pierce still had her hooks into Steve somehow. From across the world her fingers were still digging in, causing more damage than Steve could handle.

Luckily he didn't have to answer that question because Juru had decided to talk. Steve brought him to shore and the waterlogged and coughing Juru confessed. He killed Ben for all access VIP security passes, so he could get into the fight without going through the metal detectors. Gabriel had wanted the passes, Juru didn't know for what, but he was given a choice. Either he brought Gabriel those passes or he died. That was it.

"How do we find Gabriel?" Danny asked.

But Juru shook his head again. "Finding Gabriel won't help. Not anymore."

"What does that mean?"

"It means Gabriel's found himself in the middle of a war and someone's down here to finish it," he said.

Danny and Steve exchanged glances, both understanding immediately what he was talking about. So when Steve asked: "Who?" Danny knew that he meant, who was sent down, not who had sent someone down to fight a crazy grudge war.

"Look, I got enough heat on me. If Gabriel finds out that I was talking I'm dead. If this other guy finds out I'm talking to you, I'm more than dead. But I'll tell you right now, I'll take you guys and Gabriel over the man who just flew in from Colombia."

Well that wasn't good now was it? It looked like Rowan's war was finally hitting Hawaii.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

They put Juru in lock up until further notice and then they began to search. Firstly for what Gabriel's play was, and for any sign of a burgeoning war.

They got both.

A small dive bar, a rumoured club house for Cartel soldiers had been torched. The bodies of ten Cartel men, all said to be loyal to Gabriel had been found at a warehouse, all killed execution style, a single gunshot to the back of the head. The trickle of blood in the streets had begun, they just didn't know how long it was going to last, how much blood was actually going to be spilt

They had put HPD on those killings, as they were too busy with Gabriel at that moment.

Gabriel's play was to take out the heads of the three crime bosses of Hawaii. The Triad leader, the Samoan leader, and the Yakuza leader. They didn't know if he was after just one or all three, so they figured they'd cover all the bases and just save the three of crime lords.

Lou went after the triads. Danny went after the Samoans. And Chin was going up high after a sniper who was probably after the Yakuza head, Goro.

With Abby in his ear and his gun out, he headed for the crows' nest, where the aerial shots of the ring were being recorded. He expected to find a lot of things, but as he came up towards the door, he found it open and that a scuffle had already broke out.

The camera man was dead, lying against the control board for the camera. The sniper rifle had been knocked down and was on the floor and beside it was two men. One on the floor hands raised in surrender, and one standing about him, holding the first man down with a single foot to the man's chest.

He had something in his hand, something Chin already knew was a gun. He couldn't see much as the shadows were covering up everything, but he could tell that the man with the gun was in a suit. Much like the Yakuza security detail with Goro.

Before Chin could get close enough there was a flash in the darkness illuminating the small booth for a fraction of a second. But there was no bang, just a piercing sort of chirrup. Silencer. This was a pro.

This guy was a head of them too, which was… strange, cause none of the other security details were even aware of the threats in the first place. He was almost curious as to how this man had figured it out, but he wasn't the least bit surprised that he had taken out the threat himself.

With gun up Chin headed towards him. He called out his station, Five-0, told the man to drop it. The man turned, his face shrouded in shadows, but he saw the glint of a cocky smile and a pair of almost yellow eyes gleaming at him through the darkness. He started to ease forward but through the cheer of the crowd came a gunshot, a loud one this time and Goro went down. The cocky smile faded and the man turned.

Below them they both saw Goro, down on the ground with Steve on top of him. The man swore in Spanish and then jumped right out of the window and down into the seats below. The fall had to be a good five feet if not more, but he had jumped out without a single care with what was below. Much like Steve did when he was chasing bad guys and his only thought was to catch the guy at all and any costs.

Chin was shocked, but he wasn't about to jump after him

"Someone got my guy before I did," he said into his microphone and got a confused Abby asking him what happened coming back at him. "He's jumped into the crowd, I'm going to go after him."

And then he ran out, hoping he could get his guy before he vanished completely. Cause he'd love to know how this man knew about the sniper, when Five-0 had only found out only a few moments ago.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

The other two cartel guys that Gabriel had sent to the boxing match had been stopped and captured, or in the one case shot, but there was one guy missing and they figured him to be the one that was after Goro. With no other option Steve had gone straight to the man who had given Gabriel up to Wo Fat in return for his backing to become the man he was at that moment.

He approached Goro keeping his objective in mind, reminding himself not to ask about Rowan as every criminal had gotten the same warning which was don't tell Steven McGarrett anything about Rowan.

He got to Goro's seat and knelt down in front of him to try and not seem too imposing. "Goro, Goro, listen to me. Your life is in danger. You need to come with me right now."

The man looked at him with such disgust that for the briefest moment he thought he might have been a cockroach. Goro turned his eyes back to the match in front of him. "I'm feeling quite comfortable and safe where I'm sitting."

"Okay, I don't think you understand what I'm saying. You need to get up and come with me right now."

When Goro refused to move, Steve lurched up and went to gab Goro. As soon as he did the bodyguard closer got up, going for his gun. One punch sent him back down to the ground, the second bodyguard was also up but when Steve put a hand to his gun and the other hand out to him the man decided to back down. He sat down at Steve's order and then Steve pulled Goro up and dragged him towards the exit.

"Where the hell is that idiot," Goro hissed as Steve dragged him down. "Said he was the best of the best. Said the threat was external not Five-0."

What the hell was he talking about? What the hell was going on? Someone had told him about the threat? Who?

He almost asked. Almost asked if Rowan had sent him someone to protect him, but there was a sudden bang and Goro went down.

He had gotten shot?! How the hell had he gotten shot? Steve had him, he was getting him to safety and he still managed to get shot? What the fuck? How?

There came a chorus of second guy in the rafters followed by bangs from the other side of his ear piece. That was that guy down. After that it was all about getting Goro to the ambulance.

Once the EMTs had him, Goro had forced Steve to go away. So he had fell back to the truck where Danny was trying to tell him that they did good. They had saved everyone, yeah Goro got shot but Gabriel failed. He had taken a swing at three very dangerous men and missed. Them, combined with Rowan's war was going to be enough to end Gabriel, he knew it.

They were interrupted but a shout. Steve turned to watch as a man sprinted out of the building. He wore the same dark suits as the rest of Goro's security team, but the way he held himself was different. Steve had a feeling that this was the missing body guard that Goro had been annoyed with, the one with the information about the hit. Steve was too far away to get a good look at him, but he could hear him a mile away, and there was something about him, something that had Steve moving forward to listen to the conversation.

"What the hell happened?" he shouted as he came towards the ambulance.

"I got shot didn't I?" Goro snapped, "Where were you?"

"In told you, I went to deal with what I thought was the threat," the man cried. "Didn't I tell you to stay home? I told you this was going to happen. Why didn't you listen to me?"

They put Goro up and into the ambulance and the man followed after, the argument continuing as he it did so. Goro was arguing that he can't put his life on hold over the hearsay of some child. While the man, this last body guard, was giving Goro attitude and calling him in idiot. Steve was barely listening to them though.

The problem was that Steve could have sworn that he recognized that man but he couldn't place where. He didn't quite get a good look of his face but he swore he saw his eyes. They seemed almost familiar. A light brown almost so light he'd say they were yellow. Where had he seen cold light brown eyes like that before?

Ella dijo que solo había uno. He muttered to himself as he slammed the ambulance doors shut.

What the hell did that mean? Why did he feel apprehensive? Like something was off.

Once the ambulance was gone he waved over Danny. "Hey uh… you speak Spanish right?" he asked and when his friend nodded he asked: "What does ella dee queh solo habieha uno mean?"

"Depends." "On what." "What you're trying to say cause none of that was Spanish, my man."

"Well I don't know what he was saying…"

"Okay, okay, it kinda sounds like you're trying to say: Ella dijo que solo había uno. Does that sound right?"

"Actually yeah, it does, I think that's it. What does that mean?"

"Well that means, she said there was only one."

But why the hell would the body guard say that? Who was the she in this situation? If he didn't know any better he'd say Rowan. But why the hell would Rowan care about Goro Shioma? She had bought Adam's freedom, why would she care about anything else? Especially since the guy wasn't really Wo Fat's ally.

Chin came rushing out, out of breath. "Hey! Hey!" he cried and they turned.

Danny smiled warmly. "What has you all riled up?" he asked.

"This guy! I've been chasing him all over this building. He took down the first sniper, I think he's part of Goro's security team."

"What did he look like?" Steve asked though he had a feeling he knew.

"I unno, shadows covered his face. But he's tall, he's in a black suit, has a gun with a silencer. And the yellowest eyes I've ever seen."

"That sounds like that guy that just went to the hospital with Goro," Danny murmured but Steve was straightening for a completely different reason.

He had suddenly remembered with full clarity exactly where he was when he last saw a pair of light yellow eyes like that. Glaring down at him from behind a white Rabbit mask. Rowan's favourite assassin was in Hawaii. NA just went to the hospital with Goro Shioma.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Gabriel Waincroft was running short on men. A fraction of the new recruits he had just initiated had been taken out a couple nights ago, his base of operations had been torched and then the whispers had started. Someone coming down to run him out of town. The Peirce-Waincroft war finally starting.

He had stupidly thought himself safe. When there hadn't been a peep in a month he figured the girl had forgotten. But two days ago, someone, and no one would tell him who it was, had touched down on Hawaii. And now his so called people were jumping ship and abandoning him.

He had enough to get this job done. If this had been successful he would have been set. Would have had enough power to send someone down to Colombia and get rid of Rowan once and for all. Her and Wo Fat. Dead and gone just like they deserved. He'd pay extra to have someone take on Sin Nombre too, cause he had a feeling that if he went after Rowan again, then that asshole would come back. He had heard that the man was in charge of her security team, but a lot of rumours had been running around Rowan Pierce and Wo Fat, Gabriel wasn't sure what was the truth anymore.

Five-0 had ruined his plans. They had stopped the guys from the first two leaders, and one of Goro's team had taken down the sniper he had put in place. Gabriel had tried to take out Goro as Steven McGarrett tried to take him out of the building but he had just winged him instead. He had given up the guard he had taken with him as the shooter so Five-0 wouldn't notice him escaping.

The he had made a hasty retreat and then gave chase after the ambulance. He had to kill at least one of these leaders in order for him to gain some kind of power or control back. He was kind of glad it was Goro, seeing as the rat bastard had handed him over to Sin Nombre in return for the title he now held.

He had gotten into his car and chased after the ambulance, it wasn't really all that hard to do either. He swung in front of it and then cut the driver off forcing him to stop. He get out of the car with his automatic rifle and shot the driver with two quick taps before he could call it in. Then he made his way down to the back.

He let go of his gun, letting the strap take the weight and hang from his side. He unlocked the doors and swung them open. He was hoping for the element of surprise, he wanted to see Goro's face when he realized it was him that was going to kill him. He wanted to see the realization in the old man's eyes, wanted the karma.

But when he opened the door, it was the person inside that had the element of surprise.

He froze, he froze because he wasn't expecting it. He wasn't expecting to be looking down the barrel of a gun. He wasn't expecting to have someone on one knee in front of him, waiting in front of the doors for him to open them. He took in the familiar leather gloves, the contrasting cheap plastic white against the fancy black suit. The pair of cold light brown eyes behind that tauntingly childish and cute rabbit mask.

"You should have just run, ese," he said.

Sin Nombre. Sin Nombre was in Hawaii. Rowan had sent Sin Nombre to get him, he should have known. Really who else would she have trusted with this? He raised his gun, to shoot before he could be shot, but Sin Nombre was right there, crouched right in front of him, gun up and ready to go.

He never stood a chance.

The gun went off four times before the night went silent around them.