Rewrite

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Happy First Friday of the New Year my wonderful readers! How is everyone doing? I know it's only been three days but is everyone's New Year starting? Mind has not been as productive as I wanted them to be. ALSO! Look! Look! Someone has FINALLY figured out that Wo Fat is lying. Now what is Conejo going to do with that information? I unno let's find out. Okay, that's not true, I know what he's going to do with that information, but we're going to find out soon! As always, don't forget to review and I'll see you guys on Monday.

Chapter 234

Since it was late when Conejo got back to the Cartagena mansion he had gone straight to sleep and figured he'd see Rowan in the morning. When he got up, around ten because that was when his girl like to wake up, he found out that Rowan had been up for hours. Why the hell had JC been making her wake up that early? Maybe he was being too nice to her these days.

He found Rowan in the main lobby up a ladder attempting to put decorations on the top of a giant fake Christmas tree. JC was at the bottom of the ladder holding it straight but Conejo wouldn't have let her up there in the first place.

He put his hands on his hips and stared up at her. He had seen the other decorations around the house but this was nuts.

"Uh… why the hell did you let her up there?" Conejo asked JC and the man turned to him, one hand staying on the ladder as if it would keep it safe.

"Whoa! When did you get back?" he cried. "I am so glad to see you, she's been killing me!"

Conejo scowled, Rowan wasn't that bad. Unless she ran off again, but he had spoken to Wo Fat and the others around on the compound and they had said Rowan had been quiet. So what hell could she have done to upset him so bad?

Above them he heard Rowan asked: "Who are you talking to?" and both boys turned their eyes back up to her. "Con? Is that Con?" she cried half turning to get a look at him.

"Yeah, yeah, just be careful," he called out to her. Cause all he needed was her falling off that ladder. Wo Fat would kill him.

"You're back!" she cried "When did you get back?"

"Last night, be careful will you?" he repeated as she hastily attempted to get down only to slip a little. With JC in front of him he was trying to come off more manly but he almost yelped then and there.

"This is taking too long," he heard her say and then there was a call of: "Catch me!"

At first Conejo was certain that she wouldn't but she surprised him. By jumping right off that ladder. Even though he was trying to act manly, Conejo couldn't hold in the strangled yelp as he lurched forward to catch her. He was worried that he'd drop her, or she'd get hurt but caught her with ease. She landed in his arms, thanked him for catching her and then hugged him tightly, kissing his face all over as she said how excited she was that he was back.

Conejo was just plain livid, because fucking hell, she had just jumped off a ladder. But before he could lecture her she asked: "I wasn't too heavy was I?"

"Too heavy? Mami, you're like 120 at your heaviest," he reminded her.

"Yeah, but Steve could never catch me…"

"McGarrett?" he asked and she nodded. "Mans was useless. We already knew this. And might I add, I'm absolutely horrified that you just compared me to him. I'd never do that and I thought you'd know that of me…"

"Did she just jump off the ladder," Wo Fat asked startling them both by just appearing beside them, peering down at Rowan with a dark glare.

"No," Rowan said just as Conejo said: "Yes."

"Why the hell would you do that, you idiot?" he cried and then Wo Fat whacked her.

It had been a little playful one to the back of her head, but she had cried out first in pain and then in annoyance. Conejo dropped her to her feet to hit him back. "Hey! Don't touch her!" he warned pointing a finger into his face. "Don't you ever fucking hit her again."

For a second Wo Fat was confused. "I'm paying your bills, and if I don't punish her, she's going to think it's fine to jump off ladders. There's gonna be a day where you don't catch her and she breaks her back…"

"He's got a point, you shouldn't jump off things just because you think I'll catch you," he chided before turning back to Wo Fat. "But you're not hitting her. My job is to keep her safe, even from you."

Wo Fat sighed and shook his head but Conejo wasn't finished. "And besides, she's paying the bills now, it's her money in that account, not yours."

Wo Fat opened his mouth to yell at Rowan and then closed it. "You want her as your boss?" he asked a strange sort of smirk on his face and Conejo turned to her. He may have been gone for a week or so, and yes he missed her, but he remembered just how annoying she could be. And he didn't want to lose the ability to say: well Wo Fat said no and he's the boss. And he could see that Wo Fat knew that. "You sure?"

"Now wait a second…"

"No, no, by all means, let's allow Rowan to take control, she'll tell you what to do, no more murdering for you."

"Not true I just told him to murder Gabriel," Rowan cried and then faltered. "Oh my god I told him to murder Gabriel… I… I'm a bad guy!"

Conejo turned a glare to Wo Fat. "See what you've done?" he snarled.

"Me? I'm not the one who snuck off to Hawaii and pulled the damn trigger, now am I?" Wo Fat snapped. He turned to Rowan immediately. "Now calm down, if you hadn't sent him down I was going to. He's been bragging to everyone that he got off Scott free, and I couldn't have him thinking that."

Rowan blinked her eyes. "See, dead man walking," Conejo said and then turned his eyes up to the tree. "Why don't you tell me what's going on here."

And just like that her inherent evilness was forgotten as she turned her grin to what had to be her grand creation. "I'm decorating for Christmas," she said. Conejo nodded.

"I can see that. But uh…"

She frowned at him, most likely because she knew he was going to say that this was all a little much. "I like Christmas."

"And she bought us all Christmas sweaters," Wo Fat told him and Conejo groaned.

"Ro, we're in Colombia."

"Pierce family tradition, non-negotiable," she said heading back to the ladder. Conejo lurched forward to keep it steady as she quickly climbed up and then turned pained eyes to Wo Fat.

"Armando says he'll crank up the AC for Christmas day," he said with a shrug. "She's really excited and I don't want to drag down the mood."

Great so he was pandering to her again. Sighing Conejo said nothing because it was keeping her both happy and busy. And so long as she wanted to stay inside, he didn't really seem the harm.

Besides, he bet she picked him out a badass sweater.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Conejo gave her one day to relax. After helping her with all the decorations they had retired to her room where she got to nap and they, with Wo Fat, JC and Armando, watched movies. It was almost reminiscent of her hostage days. Holed up in a room, surrounded by blankets watching Disney movies with her boys. Except she could come and go as she pleased. Well in theory. Technically she shouldn't have been wandering around outside the compound walls without an escort, but that was for her own safety and not because she was a hostage.

The following morning, Conejo woke her up at nine, which was so much better than the 7am JC had her waking up at. While she was glad she got to sleep in, she was not impressed when he made her put on real exercise clothes.

Why though? She didn't know, he knew that she didn't do the whole exercise thing. Though she probably should have considering all the eating she had been doing and how stationary she had been after the events that they were now calling the Japan Incident. She liked that, it sounded a lot more trivial then it actually was. That in turn helped her internalize the damage, to push the memories far far away.

When she got down to the front courtyard, Conejo was waiting for her, he too in what she would call running clothes. He had runners and shorts and one of those tank top things that Steve was famous for, with the thick straps and low scoop neck.

He was stretching and she looked around for her chair. But there was nothing there, maybe she was just going to sit on the steps?

"Get ready mami," he told her but didn't know what he wanted her to get ready for.

"Uh… for what?"

"We're going to have a race."

Rowan laughed. "No," she said. "No thank you. You win. I'm letting you win now. You can run without me thank you very much."

Conejo merely smiled. "Very funny Ro. I'll give you a ten second head start."

"I'm not running," she said. "I don't run unless..."

"Unless you're being chased," he finished for her. Well he sure did know her well.

"Yes and unless you can't tell, I'm not being…" "I'm gonna be chasing you… and if I get close enough I'm gonna take you down to the ground. You get ten seconds, go."

But Rowan didn't move. Instead she laughed, there was no way he was actually going to tackle her. No fucking way, his whole job was to take care of her, it was what she and Wo Fat were paying him for after all.

And while she stood there laughing, Conejo counted down rather slowly from ten. But Rowan just folded her arms over her chest and smiled patronizingly at him.

"Five… four…"

"We both know you're not really going to tackle me."

"Three… Two…"

"I know you won't. You're not allowed to hurt me…"

"One!"

He lurched forward and Rowan yelped, scrambling back. He jumped, and like when she was trying to evade Steve she dropped to her knees so he dove over her. The gravel went flying, but she got up and sprinted away from him. Unlike when she was running from Steve shouldn't could hear Conejo coming after her, shouldn't she have heard the crunch of the gravel? But she heard nothing behind her so she was very surprised when he practically flying tackled her to the gravel driveway. Rowan groaned as he got himself off of her and she slapped his shoulders.

"CONEJO!" she screamed at him, though he just smiled down at her as if he didn't just tackle her to the ground. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

He offered her a hand to help her get up that she slapped away. "I'm going to tell Wo Fat what you did… or… or… dock your pay or something… that was a complete and utter…"

Conejo lifted a hand up to silence her and then pinned her with a knowing glare.

"Firstly, your brother isn't here. He's gone off with Armando again. And going after my pay is a low blow. This is important okay, you've got to start running, even if you don't like it, you gotta start," he argued but Rowan just glowered at him.

Sighing Conejo hit her with a softer look. A look that surprised her because he looked vulnerable and he never looked vulnerable. "Look, running is important Ro, cause Wo and I? We get into shit, so you gotta be able to get away from the people that come after you, you hear me? I don't want you in hand-to-hand combat if I can avoid it, so we gotta get you running."

He was trying to make her more capable. Unlike Steve and Wo Fat who expected her to stay by the sides lines and not get into trouble or to just go to one of them or wait for them to rescue her when she did get herself into trouble. He was going to teach her to be stronger so she could be a better fighter.

Amazing.

"Well I guess when you put it that way… I guess I'm going to have to start running."

Conejo's smile was one of relief. Clearly this was something of importance to him. Clearly he wasn't going to let this go. This was clearly something that was mandatory, and considering she forced him to give up heavy drinking, she figured this was a good compromise.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

She hated running.

He could tell that she hated running. But every morning she woke up and together they'd take five laps around the courtyard. They always ran together, though really it was a light jog, Conejo never once pushed her to go faster or taunted her. He merely ran alongside her keeping pace with her and encouraging her to keep going. It never mattered how long she took, just that she completed the distance.

She was always tired after, which made for slow days where she sat in beach chairs and over saw the decorating, she was making him do. Wanted the house decorated for Christmas, and it had to be perfect. Which was hard for him, because her standards were crazy. She kept making him move things.

Over to the right… just a smidge. A little more. Nope, don't like it. Back to the left… yeah… yeah… nope, not there either, back to the right…

That had been his last few days.

But after today's run, Rowan didn't want to sit and do nothing or decorate the house. Rowan wanted to go shopping. There wasn't much shopping in their neck of the woods. Conejo had been forced to take her to a small little market just twenty minutes from their place. The place wasn't really all that touristy, but it would do the trick. It had handmade crafts from the locals not to mention food stalls and crops to purchase.

It would be useful and a good time for her. But Conejo was still going to have to be vigilant because the girl caused nothing but trouble. He had forgone taking a battalion of men with him, to avoid bringing to much attention to themselves. He had his guns hidden under his jacket in their holsters, and he was a quick enough shot that he was certain that he could get them out of whatever trouble she could make here.

He was letting her walk a head of him. Letting her rush to every stall to look over everything and talk with the locals. At every stall she purchased something small, spoke to the owner, and then handed over the bills. Great more things for him to cart around in her luggage. After each small purchase, she'd drop the item into her purse and they'd keep walking.

It was a strange sight, she obviously stood out. The little white girl who understood Spanish but couldn't speak it with fire-engine red hair that faded to blonde. A little white girl who wanted to talk and befriend everyone. A little white girl who smiled at everyone and tried to be kind to them all.

A little white girl who stopped to talk to a little boy and now had another little boy sneaking around behind her, angling for her purse.

He knew that move. He had seen that move before. Children always worked in teams when it came to pickpocketing.

Conejo moved quickly, grabbing the first kid by the hair and then pushing Rowan aside so he could grab the second kid. Once he had both of them in his grasp twisting and crying out for him to stop and let go he presented them to Rowan who just stood there glaring at him.

"What the hell are you doing?" she cried. "I was just talking to…" she blinked at the two boys in front of her, her finger going between the two of them. "I was getting pick pocketed again, wasn't I?"

Conejo nodded and Rowan scowled down at the two boys who were now silent and staring at him as Conejo held onto them by the scruff of the neck. "Well that was stupid, do you know who that is?" she asked pointing to Conejo. "He's a freaking assassin, boys. The best of the best. And you tried to pick pocket from me?!"

"No Sabia!" the first boy said but Rowan just shook her head.

"I don't care if I didn't know. It's rude to steal from people," she snapped to him. Conejo sighed it was weird that she understood Spanish but didn't speak it. It always freaked him out but at that moment it was actually useful. Meant he didn't have to translate for anyone.

"No nos mates por favor!"

"Kill you?" Rowan echoed.

"I don't do kids," Conejo growled.

Both boys looked relieved but Rowan wasn't letting them go that easy. "Yeah he doesn't, but I might," she growled and there was that fear back on their faces. Conejo almost snorted, because he knew Rowan wasn't going to do shit to these boys. And even though she looked about as threatening as a squirrel they both seemed very scared of her.

Rowan sighed. "Look, you guys need money, is that the issue?" The boys nodded, Conejo didn't like where this was going. "Okay, well what if I said you could earn some honest cash, what do you say about that?"

Both boys looked surprised. Like they hadn't expected this turn of events the both nodded to her. Clearly liking the idea of getting away from her and possibly getting some cash.

"Okay, here's what you're going to do. I'm looking for some presents, Christmas presents. For four males, all as badass as him," she said gesturing to Conejo behind them. "I'm going to give you, some money I want you to bring me back, four possible gifts."

She took out three bills and handed two of them to the first boy. She then handed the last bill to the last boy.

"I'm hungry," she said to him. "Bring me back two different options to eat, I'm thinking something sweet."

Both boys looked at the money in their hands, back to her and then up to Conejo. No doubt wondering what the catch was, or whether or not they could just run with the money.

"You can run if you want," she said to them. "But this is your chance to make money, real money. For a repeat job for as long as I am here. Don't bite the hand that's trying to feed you."

The boys nodded and Rowan waved her hand at them. Conejo let them go and the two boys tore off. Conejo watched them go as Rowan went through her back to make sure everything was there.

"We're not gonna see those two boys again, you know that right?" he asked her, coming closer to her. Despite not wanting to show outward emotion while they were out in public, his hand went to her arm, just to make sure she wasn't shaking. "And you're not getting that money back either."

Rowan just shrugged as if it didn't bother her at all. "There's a distinct possibility of that being true. But if they do come back I'll have taught them a lesson and I'll get something sweet and possibly Christmas gifts."

"Aww no, tell me you weren't serious about the gift thing… does that mean I gotta get you a gift?"

"Well its Christmas…" she started but she paused when she caught Conejo's look of annoyance. "No, you don't have to get me a gift."

She said so in a resigned way. Like she was disappointed. Conejo inwardly sighed, he didn't want to upset his girl. He just… he hadn't had to buy a gift for someone in such a long time. He didn't know if he'd be able to get her anything worthy of her.

"No, no, you're right, it's Christmas… of course I'll get you something," he told her. Though Rowan tried to wave him off, though she tried to tell him that she didn't want or need him to get her anything. He saw that small smile that crept up onto her face when he agreed to the whole Christmas gift thing. And that solidified his decision to go through with getting her a gift. He might even get Wo Fat one too.

They continued walking again. Continued to go through the stalls, still talking to people, still buying small things even though she didn't need them. They got through the market fully when both boys finally returned to her, each carrying their respective items.

Conejo was surprised they showed up at all. He figured they would have cut and run the second Rowan had set them loose. But there they were, both staring up at Rowan their wares in their hands.

Rowan clapped her hands with excitement. "Oh, you guys came back, wonderful!" She went to the second boy first, the one with the food. "Whatcha got for me?"

"I got a Cocada and Raspao," he said handing her the two things.

One was a snow cone and the other was a crunchy looking patty. Rowan took them both. The snow cone she was going to eat no matter what. "What's in a cocada?" she asked.

"Uh… that one is coconut and arequipe," the boy said. Rowan turned a confused look to Conejo who merely said: "Caramel."

"Oh!" she cried and then took a bite of it. "Mmm, that's good. Gonna stick with the snow cone for right now, but this stuff is good."

She handed Conejo the sweet she had just bit into. He popped the rest into his mouth without a second thought. With snow cone in hand she turned to the first boy.

"Alright, and what do you have for me?"

The boy offered her up the first thing which was coffee beans. "Hmmm, Armando probably gets a lot of these, Wo likes coffee though…"

"Gurl if you make me carry coffee beans for you I'll throw them out at the next airport," Conejo growled and Rowan scowled to him.

"They'd be in Wo's bags and you know it," she snapped and then turned back to the boy with a warm smile. "What else."

He handed her a little ceramic bus and she looked it over. "Nice, can we get them customed?"

"For extra," he answered.

"I will keep that in mind," she said. He then offered her a bolt of fabric.

"That is a hammock," he said and she nodded.

"Hmm, I'll take the beans and the hammock," she whispered. "You two can sell the other two items, how does that sound?"

Both boys turned a surprised look to one another and then hesitantly offered her out the money that was left over.

"Keep it, think of it as a finder's fee," she said. "Next time I come around, why don't you come and ask me for something else to find, instead of trying to steal from me."

The boys smiled, one hugged her tightly and then the two of them ran off. Conejo watched them go and then turned back to her.

"I can't believe I just saw that," he said. "No seriously, I can't believe what I just witnessed. Did you seriously just attempt to reform a pair of pick pockets?"

Rowan turned a smile to him. "Yes actually, I did," she said clearly very proud. Conejo shook his head, they were going to get swarmed the next time they came. Why was this girl so goddamn good natured? A straight up angel. She didn't belong with the people Wo Fat had her with, but even he could see that they were rubbing off on her. She had the capability to be just like Wo Fat, but Conejo didn't want her to end up like him. Rowan deserved better.