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AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Happy Monday my wonderful readers! This is it! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! The wait is finally over, after this chapter they are officially back together. Are you guys ready? Are you? Are you? I hope this chapter makes you happy, I hope that you guys love this chapter. I worked really hard to make it cute and fluffy. The two of them still do have a lot to work on but they're finally back together guys! Don't forget to review and I'll see you guys on Wednesday!

Chapter 298

Steve had failed.

He had done everything, pulled out all the stops but Wo Fat had still gotten the upper hand on him.

He had realized, now, that Wo Fat never had any intention of handing Rowan over to him. He was going to keep her. And now it would be even harder for Steve to track them down. He already knew that her car was gone, but Wo Fat hadn't been able to get Nahele. That gave Steve two things to be happy about. Firstly, they knew that Rowan wanted Nahele and would at some point make a move on him. Secondly, he knew hat Rowan did want to come back. She would fight with Wo Fat now, she would not make this easy, and maybe, with that change alone they would be reunited quicker.

But right now, at that moment, Steve was so angry he could punch a hole in a wall. If only he had been smarter, or faster, he'd have Rowan now.

The Five-0 family returned to Iolani Palace dejected. Steve was miserable and as if sensing his horrible mood his whole team was depressed too. They barely said anything. What was there to say? We'll get them next time? Okay, but when would the next time be? There was no telling when they would resurface again. Wo Fat had to know that making a play on Nahele now would be difficult, but Rowan had void powers, she could pop a portal and grab the kid. They could try to find the car, but if Wo Fat was smart, he would have gotten the car on cargo ship while he had Steve busy chasing down the clues he was leaving.

"Steve, I know this is hard," Danny said coming to stand beside him. "We were so close and trust me we're all disappointed. But Rowan's pretty determined herself, if she wants to come home, she will find a way."

Steve looked away from Danny. He tried not to let it show but he was still worried that Rowan didn't want to come back. What if she wanted to stay with Wo Fat? He did lead a rather glamourous life. Always travelling and running away from the law and what not.

"There are so many things that could go wrong," Steve said instead, leaning against the smart table. "What if she doesn't want to come back? What if he ties her up or keeps her prisoner? What if she gets really hurt? It could be months before they resurface again and I won't be prepared. This was my best chance at getting her back and I fucked it up."

"How were you to know that he set up a decoy? That Rowan wouldn't be on that boat? He gave you a choice. Chase him or chase Rowan, how were you supposed to know that he had Rowan on his boat?" Danny argued. "You'd have to be able to read minds to do that and you can't."

"Wo Fat has been playing us since he took her. He did nothing but lie. He lied to me, to her, he had the ability to fake her death so convincingly that we believed it for a week. I should have known he'd pull something like this," Steve snapped.

"Ladies," Chin called and they stopped arguing only to turn a glare onto Chin. He knew how they felt about that. "We have another breadcrumb."

Steve's eyes narrowed at Chin as he played with the smart table. He pulled up a file and stared at them. "This wasn't here when we left," he said. Steve stared at it on the screen across from them. It was another video. "Someone put it on here while we were gone."

Steve shook his head. That wasn't possible. "Play it," he ordered.

Chin nodded and pressed play.

Steve was looking at Wo Fat's face, he was back on the plane again. What the hell?

"So, you didn't find her," he said with that smug smirk on his face.

Wow, that just proved the theory that this had been the plan from the get-go. Wo Fat never planned to let Steve get Rowan back, this wasn't a test it was a torture.

"That has got to be a hard blow. But you know what, brother? I feel bad for you."

Steve bristled when he called him brother. He hated when Wo Fat called him that, and the bastard knew it.

"I'm going to give you one last chance."

He leant closer at that, that got his attention. If Wo Fat was going to give him another chance, he was going to crush it this time. And by it he meant Wo Fat. Steve was going to kill Wo Fat this time, no questions asked. Then he'd go for Rowan.

"I'm going to show you a slide show of pictures. And from those you should be able to figure out where we are," he told him. "If you can find us within the hour. She's yours. Happy Hunting, Commander."

A song started playing. One of Rowan's very first songs. Saturday Night.

"Is he out of his mind?" Steve snapped. "An hour to find them? What the hell is he thinking?"

"They can't have gotten far then," Danny said. "She must be nearby."

And then the pictures were playing.

They were of Rowan, all of them. Pictures of her playing her guitar, of her performing. All these pictures of her, that smile on her face, the one she got when she was singing.

They were all staring at them, unsure what to do. But Steve realized right away what they meant.

"She's still here," Steve whispered pausing the video before it could finish. "That's what this means. She's gotta be on Oahu."

"Yes, but where?" Kono asked. "Where could he be holding her?"

"Wait… these are all pictures of her singing," Danny said.

"Yeah so?"

"Well… where did Rowan do most of her singing?"

"Kamekona's," Steve answered but Kono shook her head.

"True, but those were performances and special occasions. I think Danny's thinking about her focus group, right?" she asked. Danny nodded and Steve frowned at them.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you remember? Once a week she'd run her newest songs by a bar full of people… you missed almost all of them… actually all of us missed almost all of them for cases," Danny explained.

But Steve understood immediately and was already running away. Because if Danny was right, he knew where Wo Fat had taken Rowan and he wasn't going to let her get away this time.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Steve had forced Nick to open up the La Mariana Tiki Bar and was horrified to find that the shadowy bar was empty upon first sight. All that was there was a projector screen that Nick said wasn't there when he locked up.

Stepping into the main room tripped a wire and the projector came to life. This was so reminiscent of that little white room that Wo Fat had had him in and he cringed at it. But with the light came the sound of Rowan's voice. All a recording obviously, but Steve froze to watch the video.

He was looking at a flash of pictures and videos. A montage as Rowan's voice sang to him as his friends tore apart the bar looking for where ever he could have stashed her. There was pictures of Rowan and Steve, pictures of Rowan and Danny. Rowan learning to surf with Kono. Rowan with her feet out of the window of Chin's car lounging in the sun. Pictures of her on Steve's back, of her dancing with Danny, and playing with Grace. Rowan on the beach. Rowan sitting beside Max in front of a piano. Rowan and Jerry dressed up in their Elvis costumes her hair jet black. Rowan at the aquarium. Rowan at one the many places Steve took her to hike. Rowan in her bullet proof vest mid twirl while Steve smiled down at her. Pictures of her all over the world, with Wo Fat, with Sin Nombre. Rowan with red hair, Rowan with her short dark brown bob with no smile on her face. Intermingled with the pictures were short clips, little videos. Rowan dancing with Steven, Rowan running up to him on the beach, Rowan singing on stages, Rowan jumping onto Sin Nombre who caught her effortlessly. Rowan and Wo Fat at high tea playing at being extra proper. It was nothing but Rowan. Rowan. And more Rowan.

He didn't want anymore pictures of Rowan though. He wanted the real her.

But it was the song, one he didn't recognize that got him all choked up.

It's been a long time since I came around, been a long time but I'm back in town and this time I'm not leaving without you. You taste like longboards when you kiss me, oh. I'd give anything again to be your baby doll. This time I'm not leaving without you. You say sit back down where you belong, in the corner of the bar with your high heels on. Sit back down on the couch where we made love the first time and you said to me…

There's something, something about this place. Something about lonely nights and my lipstick on your face. Something, something about my cool Hawaiian guy. Yeah something about baby, you and I.

Steve's heart in his mouth. It was about them. It was about her returning to him, about wanting him and he couldn't fucking find her.

"It's a trick," Steve said. "He's trying to distract us so we don't find her in time."

"I mean… but what else could all of this mean, then?" Kono asked. "Is it another clue?"

It's been a full year since I let you go, I couldn't listen to a joke or Rock and Roll. Muscle cars drove a truck right through my heart.

Steve shook his head to get her voice out of his head. He couldn't concentrate when he was listening to her, looking for her. He turned away unable to watch the video in anymore, he stepped back towards the exit when suddenly there was a sudden change in the song and he froze.

The lights went up, the projector died and beside him Danny grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving and said: "Oh holy shit."

I am a Canadian woman born to rock you down, so want my lipstick all over your face. Something, something about just knowing when it's right. So put your drinks up for Hawaii. For Hawaii, Hawaii, I love you…

He could barely breathe. His chest tightening around the realization that the voice quality had changed and the screen had gone blank. But the backlights for the stage were still on and a silhouette was clearly visible, the outline of a person. The raw emotions in his heart were clogging his throat. If turned around and it wasn't her standing there on that stage he'd loose his shit.

You and I. You, you and I, Baby I'd rather die, without you and I.

Steve turned just as the projector screen fell down and there she was. Rowan. His Rowan. Up on that stage, a headset on, and singing the last little bit of her song. Her big blue eyes crystal clear and searching his face as he stood there, realization finally dawning on him. That she was there. That she was really truly there. Just across a bar from him.

She was wearing a different dress, a black polka dotted one that also hugged her curves just right. She was in those trade mark high heels which had her calves looking flawless and had her standing a good couple inches taller than she usually stood.

She had that smile on her face, the one she had when she was singing, those blue eyes on him and only him. Like a private performance just for him. He started forward. He couldn't get the words out of his throat, the ones he wanted to shout at her. That epically romantic speech he had Grace and Danny help him write and memorize was gone. He couldn't thank the heavens that she was there. He couldn't even manage to get her name out. He needed to touch her. To feel her skin under his fingertips. He needed to know that she was really there and that this wasn't some terrible hallucination.

He broke out into a run, desperate to feel her. And for a second fear crossed her face. Like she wasn't certain how to react but she seemed to take his face as a positive one because she suddenly smiled too.

When he got close enough, like some cheesy rom-com, she jumped off that stage, launching herself into his arms. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, her arms around his neck. His fingers dug into her back as he held her grateful for the feel of her under his nails. Her mouth slammed down on his without him having to ask for it, and a low moan of desperate relief washed through him.

They kissed as if they were the only two people in the universe. Like they were drinking for the first time after walking the desert. Steve was unable to let go, unable to process anything except this glorious moment, of the feel of her against him, where she belonged.

They broke apart to stare into each other's eyes. Rowan was crying, her tears sparkling against her cheeks, Steve was certain a few tears escaped him too but he was going to pretend it was Rowan's tears falling onto his face. His heart was going a million miles an hour, his chest inflated with the power of his emotions. He didn't even care that he was overwhelmed. After feeling absolutely nothing but pain and grief, to have such happy emptions choking him up… it was a good thing.

Rowan giggled and sang one single lyric to him as his Five-0 family descended on them pulling Rowan out of his grip so they could each hug her and get excited over her return.

Steve found that he agreed with those words she sang to him. Whole heartedly.

Baby I'd rather die, without you and I.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Steve was off work with Rowan for three days straight after the night she returned. Approved by the Governor of course, not that he would have let her say no. He said it was to catch up with Rowan, to fill in everything she missed, and get everything he missed. But he and Rowan did very little talking those first two days. In fact, they rarely left his bed. He definitely got reacquainted with her. With every inch of her. He relearned every curve of her body, and yes, it was better than in his memories.

His fingers traced over her new scars. He kissed the red welts from the cattle prod that would never fade off the skin of her chest. He traced the outline of the bullet hole that had entered her shoulder all those years ago, and the matching one that he found out had appeared on her other shoulder from getting shot in Canada. She hadn't wanted to talk about it then but she promised more about that to come later. He found the faint line of where she had been stabbed, the skate of her tattoo looking to be freshly tattooed again. The scars from void activity on her arms and legs. And in turn she found his new ones. Her first instinct had been to kiss the scar from his operation. In fact, she kissed each and every new scar she found.

But talking didn't really happen. Neither did he sleep. He found he couldn't. Even when they were both bone tired, even when she had closed her eyes and drifted off beside him. Steve had stay awake and stared at her. He was afraid if he went to sleep she'd vanish. And he couldn't chance that. He lived in waking fear of Wo Fat coming back and taking her away again. So he stayed awake, ever vigilant, fueled on energy drinks, coffee, and an unquenchable desire to constantly be between her thighs. To make up for all the missed sex last year.

The second night, he could not stay awake. With Rowan tucked in beside him, his body exhausted from all the sex they were having, and his mind and heart finally in a state of peace he found that sleep had a hold of him. It felt right to fall asleep with her in his arms, and he knew he would have to cling to this moment if he were to ever to forget why he wanted her with him for always.

But waking up the on that third morning was anything but peaceful. Or blissful.

Steve woke up to an empty bed and cold sheets. He woke up in state of sudden fear, his heart racing and his mind whirling. For a second, he thought he dreamt it up, and wouldn't that be a cruel twist of fate? He couldn't take that. He wouldn't be able to live if he hadn't actually got her back.

Steve bolted up in bed as the fear settled around him like clouds of dust after an explosion. He listened to the sound of his house and sure enough something or someone was in the kitchen. Hope flared up under his ribcage inflating it until he thought it might burst, he was pretty sure he was hyperventilating. But every time he dreamed about Rowan and thought her to still be in his house it turned out to be Danny helping himself to coffee or Lynn making him breakfast. What if this was just another one of those times?

Still Steve threw himself out of bed, put on the only pair of shorts he could find, which was his boxers, and sprinted down the stairs. He burst into the kitchen, praying to god that he wasn't just about to surprise Danny or Lynn and skidded to a stop.

It was Rowan. She was standing at the stove, frying pan in hand and wearing only the grey sweater she had loved so much, barely covering her ass with the sleeves hiding her hands. Thank god. Now it would finally smell like her again, his world was set right. She was humming to herself and swaying her hips to the music she had playing off of her phone. She turned to drop a ready pancake on a plate behind her on the kitchen island and caught sight of him. She smiled happily and waved with her free hand before turning back to the stove.

Steve should have been able to calm down. He should have been able to slow his breathing, but those emotions that had been overwhelming him finally had control.

He actually fucking loved her.

Still.

He loved her so much it burned.

He loved her so much that the thought of losing her again was actually killing him.

Like he might suffocate from the pressure of it.

She was the most important person in his life. Literally. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her. And she had the ability to put him in a debilitating state just by not being there when he woke up. This was ridiculous. This was lethal. And he was absolutely terrified.

That fear and need drove him forward. His arms wrapped around her torso and he just clung to her. Like she was the life raft that was going to save him from drowning in this emotional breakdown. His breathing hitched, his vision swam, spots were forming in front of his eyes. He still couldn't breathe.

Rowan said his name, first in mock surprise, like she thought he was being cute. Then she said it again and it sounded more like a question. By then he had his nose buried in her neck and his gasps for air were right up against the smoothness of her skin. They were starting to sound a lot like sobs. And they might have been because at this point as his eyes were watering.

His knees went weak, he was about to drop. By then Rowan knew something was wrong and was frantically turning off all the burners on the stove.

"Oh My God," she kept saying. "What's wrong? Steve? What's wrong?"

He collapsed to his knees and took her with him. As soon as they hit the floor, she went to work escaping his hold. She had to pry his arms loose just so she could turn around. But then, the very second she was facing him, he pulled her onto his lap and crushed her to him once more.

"What's going on Steve," she asked again. "What's happening?"

Steve couldn't breathe, that's what was happening. Steve had been so scared by the thought of her not actually being there that he had lost the ability to perform a base function needed to live.

"Okay, just breathe through it. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Do your combat breathing Steve, do your combat breathing," Rowan ordered. One hand was running up the back of his neck and head giving him chills everywhere. The other hand was running up and down his bare back which was making him heat in places he shouldn't care about right now.

"Don't leave me," is all he managed to gasp out and the sound of that plea hit him almost immediately. She made him pathetic, he had never been like this with any of his other girlfriends.

Rowan pulled his head out of her chest so she could look into his eyes. "Steven. I just got back. Where do you think I'm going to go?"

"I didn't know where you were," Steve muttered. "I woke up and you weren't there. Don't do that. You can't do that. Wake me up if you're going to leave."

"Aww… but baby… you were sleeping. And you were tired. And you looked so cute. And I only went downstairs, it's no like a left the premises," Rowan said with a pout on her face. Steve shook his head. No. She didn't understand. She thought this was a joke. Why the hell did he open up to her, why did he trust her with this?

Rowan seemed to read his mind from his facial expression because the teasing pout fell away from her lips. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry," she said. Seriously now. "From now on I'll wake you up, okay?"

Steve nodded and released the death grip he had on her waist. She could get off him, but she didn't and he didn't want her to. He found himself staring at her as she ran her fingers through his hair.

God, why was she so pretty?

Why did she have to have those stunning blue eyes, and those perfectly kissable lips. And don't even get him started on her cute little button nose. He brought a hand up and brushed her jaw length chestnut brown hair back behind her ear. She looked so mature, nothing like the Rowan who had left him a year ago and just like that the emotion welled up in his chest.

The love for her bubbling up into his throat, the words demanding to be said. The realization that she had changed so drastically and he had so obviously hadn't. The old fear that he wasn't good enough rising to the surface.

She continued to stare at him, a single hand resting on his cheek and just the sensation of her touch calming him down slightly.

"Do you want to tell me what that was all about?" she asked.

Steve shook his head. No. He didn't want her knowing how much power she held over him. How pathetic and weak he felt in the wake of this discovery. He was supposed to be the strong one, he shouldn't have been rendered incompetent by the mere thought of losing her.

Rowan nodded, disappointment shining bright in her eyes so Steve looked away from her. "Would you like a pancake?" she asked instead.

Now that Steve could get behind. He nodded quickly and Rowan smiled and got off of him. He didn't feel cold against the tiles, the heat she had instilled in him burned brightly under his skin. He watched her, drinking in every inch of her as she plated two pancakes, decorated them with icing sugar and fresh fruit and then put them in front of him.

But food was far from Steve's mind by that point. He carefully put the plate on the floor and grabbed Rowan's wrist. He pulled her back onto his lap, his hand gripping her hips and grinding her against the hardness that was ready for her. He groaned at the contact, growling as her fingernails dug into his shoulder blades and her mouth came to plunder his.

This was the hunger that mattered. This was what he needed to calm the shaking in his bones. The feel of her against him, the sounds she made when he found his way inside her, and the way his chest constricted as they clung to one another in a state of ecstasy. Nourishing that hunger, that was what mattered.

He swallowed back the urge to bare his soul to her because he knew he wouldn't be able survive handing her his vulnerable heart only to watch her break it. So he stayed quiet. He caged the words behind his teeth. And busied himself with taking all he had missed from Rowan over the year. Branding her with a million marks on her neck, collarbone and chest the way she had branded his heart.