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AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: And here is the second update for today! In this chapter we're going to see what Rowan and Wo Fat agree to, and we get to see a little bit of Steve off on his "date". I promise this will be a mostly cute chapter. For those of you who are worried about Rowan and Steve's little argument, don't worry that is going to get resolved soon too. Maybe even in this marathon (I'd have to check though) Don't forget to leave a review, and I'll see you guys tomorrow (this time I promise it'll be on time.)

Chapter 306

They had gone out, just not for dinner. She wasn't hungry anyway. Her stomach was all nervous and fluttery. It was obvious that this was the end of their relationship, in fact, it had probably ended the second Steve had found Rowan again. He had just forgotten to call her and tell her. She should have realized that this date was off since he hadn't actually talked to her in a month, but she had liked him and she hadn't read the signs right. But even though she knew things were over she was still holding out hope that maybe, since Rowan had sent him out with her with the implication that he was smothering her, that maybe things weren't all that good with the two of them.

Instead of dinner they had gone for drinks which they had downed quickly. Steve had drunk his longboard quickly because she could tell he was interested in going home. He kept checking his phone and looking over his shoulder as if he was being watched. She downed hers quickly because she was nervous. When it became clear that the two of them were too jittery to stay in a bar drinking, they left to talk and walk along the board walk. Or well… Steven was talking. She had made the mistake of asking for the story of how he found Rowan again and words just exploded out of him.

"So, the boat is the wrong boat. He's got her on a different boat, and I can hear her calling for me, right? So, I leap off, rush down to that other boat to get on it and Rowan's not there. I go back to get Wo Fat and he's fucking gone. She was with him the whole time. I'm crushed right? Like this was my one chance to get her back and I think that's it, I just failed. So, I get back to the Palace and he's left another bread crumb and it led me to her. Turns out I picked the right boat after all. Cause if I had gone after Wo Fat she would have disappeared again. By proving that my priority was actually getting Rowan back and not arresting Wo Fat, I proved that I actually wanted her back…"

Lynn was in shock. Not that Steve had found the girl, not by the story of how he won her back from her criminal brother, but by how animated he was. Just like she had been in shock to see how cute, cuddly and affectionate he was with Rowan when she had met them at the front of the house. She had never seen him that way, Steve had clearly been the muted version of himself when she had him. But it was clear that Rowan had brought him back to life.

"Yeah… then… you know, I was… well we were distracted for the first couple of days after she came back, you know catching up for lost time and all of that. Then she adopted Nahele…"

"Only she adopted Nahele?" Lynn asked. She had caught that first at the house. That Rowan had said that adopting Nahele was the first thing that she had done when she got back.

Steve colored. "Oh… yeah. She decided that she couldn't wait to adopt him. And since she had just gotten back and we were still getting reacquainted she thought it would be better if she adopted Nahele on her own. She didn't think we were ready… or that I wasn't ready… she didn't want to put any more pressure on me or us…"

"But you don't feel that way?"

"I spent that whole year thinking about the perfect family that was supposed to be mine. Me, Rowan and Nahele. I just sort of assumed that getting Rowan back would mean getting the whole family back and it would be me, Rowan and Nahele like it was meant to be. And I mean… I do have it, but it's not legal… on paper. If she had just asked me, I could have told her that I wanted in… but I unno… she's just super distant since coming back and twice as independent."

"Sounds like you're already having trouble."

Steve turned to her surprised. "No. No, I swear…." he said. "It's growing pains. She went through something traumatic, she's not the same Rowan that I'm used to and… well… I don't think she ever will be. I just need to get used to the new her. That's all."

"Do you like the new Rowan?" she asked. She was slightly hopeful that maybe… maybe the changes would be too much. Was it really all that bad to wish that maybe now that he had Rowan back and it wasn't like he imagined it to be that he might want… Lynn instead?

"Yes. My issue isn't liking her, it's that she reminds me a lot of her brother and well… I still haven't forgiven him… and I doubt I ever will."

Ah. Well that shot all her hope for a potential continuance in their relationship out of the air.

"Think you can explain to me the whole Rowan-gram thing now?" she asked trying to get off the topic of her bruised heart and ego.

Steve sighed. "A Rowan-gram… it was people Rowan would send to help. She usually sent the request through her app, and it was usually some sort of criminal that she had paid to come and well… rescue us. Back then… the app wasn't tracking me, which meant, if she was sending someone down to help me, she was doing it behind her brother's back…"

"So those people who came to the island to get us… they were sent by Rowan?"

"Yes."

"And you seriously thought she didn't care about you anymore?"

Steve shook his head. "Yeah, I unno, the worst decision I ever made was letting Wo Fat trick me into thinking she didn't want me… I mean… I got all this evidence saying otherwise, but because… because I got that phone call, I ignored it. Because I let him trick me into thinking that she didn't want me, I just thought that… I unno she was just looking out for me. It was stupid. I should have gone after her, I wasted a whole year being stupid."

He had. One hundred percent, he had wasted her time and his…. And Rowan's. Cause clearly that girl had missed him as much as he had missed her.

"Well, I'm glad it worked out in the end," she whispered softly and Steve smiled sadly at her.

"I'm really sorry Lynn, I didn't mean to forget… I meant to call you… tell you that I got her back but uh… yeah… as I mentioned she's kind of had me distracted."

Lynn nodded. "Well, thank you for the drinks. Thank you for explaining."

Steve let her take his arm as they continued to walk. They might have been over, but this was the nicest break up she had ever been through.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Rowan sent Nahele to Kai's house early with a massive plate of cookies, talked to her brother for like two minutes before she decided that what he needed was a long walk on a beach with a shaved ice. And they did at least, one of those things.

Wo Fat took another chunk out of the shaved ice he was munching on and hissed as the cold hit his teeth. She clearly needed to set him up with a tube of Sensodyne, or get him a spoon or something.

"So, tell me, why did you tell him that you were fine with him going out on a date with another girl if you were so desperately not," he asked her.

Rowan, who was peering out from behind a wall at that point, shot Wo Fat a dark glare. "I'm fine with it. Why would you think I'm not fine with it?"

"Because you dragged me down to the beach to stalk them. You know I hate beaches."

Rowan stopped peering from behind the wall, taking her eyes off of Steven and Lynn who were walking away from them and down the boardwalk to stare at her brother. They looked good together, Steve and Lynn, like really good. Like they belonged together. She wasn't certain that she belonged anywhere, least of all with Steve. She shouldn't have let him go on this date, not when things were so precarious with them, this was going to implode in her face.

But she couldn't say any of that to her brother.

"You hate everything," she snapped, and then snatched the shave ice they were supposed to be sharing and took a bite of the half with her flavour on it. She had picked sour blueberry and Wo had picked grape. Both their mouths were stained and when he figured it out, he was going to kill her.

But he had stopped shaking so that was good.

"Why don't you just tell me about Jian."

"I was. You weren't listening."

Rowan sighed and rolled her eyes. She had lost visual on Steven anyway. She then scanned the area for a bench to sit on that she promptly dragged him to.

Once they were sitting down, she turned to him again. "Fine. I'm listening now, so why don't you tell me what happened? Huh?"

"Well I went to go see her, went to my old place, right. And when she came in, I said: "Got anything for a broken heart?" and I thought since it was cute and it worked once before…"

"Are you stupid? You've been gone a year, you can't be gone a year and hit her with that."

Wo Fat turned a glare to her. "Well that would have been nice to know before I went in there, Rowan."

"Okay, so she probably wasn't too happy that you came in there after a year and cracked jokes," she said waving her hand. "It's still salvageable, you know? You just gotta explain the situation and apologize."

"But I did explain the situation she wasn't happy with that either."

"She's sounding super unreasonable, why do you like her?"

"You're not helping Rowan," he growled. "She was wonderful and perfect for me and I fucked it up and you're not being helpful. You're supposed to be supportive and helpful!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, you're right I'm supposed to be helpful. I'll to try harder. So, you explained the situation and she wasn't happy, why don't you tell me what she said she was upset about, because I know she told you."

"Well she wasn't too happy about the email," Wo started but Rowan stopped him.

"What email?"

"Oh, well when I ran off with you, I didn't have time to call her or go to her to explain what was happening so I sent her an email to give her a bit of notice…"

"Wait you broke up with her in an email? Oh my god how did you get out of that apartment alive? Or with your testicles intact?"

"But that wasn't even what she was most upset about."

Rowan steeled herself. "It's me, right? Steve told her who I was and now she knows about our dysfunctional relationship…"

"We're not that dysfunctional…"

"Dude. I straight up adopted a 50-year-old…"

"How dare you! I'm only 44!"

"Oh my god, yes six years off. The point is, I'm some random white girl that adopted you and you adopted right back, you know? And then you just sort of disappeared with me, I get why she would be concerned. Especially since you felt the need to lie about me…"

"I didn't lie, I just… omitted a few things." Rowan shook her head and he turned to her. "Okay fine, you don't want to be helpful, let's put the spot light on you. What the hell is going on with you huh? Why is McGarrett out with this woman?"

Rowan opened her mouth to tell him and he shut her down. "No, I know how it happened, I know what it is you said. But what I want to know it what lead up to this, are you and Steve fighting?"

"Well no…"

"But something's going on."

Rowan groaned and sunk into the bench. "It's gonna seem stupid."

"Are you two arguing again. I know things tend to go back to the way they were once he gets you back but it's only been a month and you've been gone for a year. I thought the turn around would be longer."

"He doesn't like the new me."

She had just blurted it out and now Wo Fat had turned to her shock on his face. "I'm sorry. The new you? He doesn't like the new you? Did he… did he say that to you?" Rowan nodded and Wo Fat stood, a hand going under his jacket where she knew he hid his gun in an under-arm holster. "I'm going to shoot him. I know you love him but I'm done with this. I'm just going to shoot him…"

Rowan reached up, grabbed the back of his jacket and tugged him back to the bench. "It's not his fault. He's right, I've changed and it's a big change and he just needs time to get used to the new me."

Wo Fat rolled his eyes. "You've barely changed Rowan. The man is nuts."

"No, he sees a lot you in me now and well… you know how he feels about you," Rowan reminded him and he just sighed quite aggressively. "But lately… I unno, we've gotten so distant. I think… I think he might be regretting bringing me back."

"That's absolutely nonsense, Rowan. He did so much to get you back, pined for a whole year, there is no way he doesn't want you now. Even if you resemble me in some way. Which you don't. That's the whole reason I'm having issues with Jian."

"He means in mannerisms," she whispered. "I act like you."

"Mmm, yes you do that now. But I like that you're a little like me, you got all the good parts of me and none of the violence. Well… less of the violence anyway."

"Yes well, I'm quiet and aloof now and he's not used to it and sometimes I swear he looks at me like he doesn't know me," she said. "And… I know this is just me being paranoid, but what if he'd rather have Catherine? Huh? I mean, I'm not what he expected, he's clearly disappointed and… I don't know…"

Wo Fat thought about it for a moment. "Well… I mean… this new you is just as lovable as the old you. Both Con and I had no issues loving you and we literally watched you change in front of our eyes. Or at least I did. I'm sure Steven just needs some time to adjust. I bet this tension and distance has something to do with work…"

"Well there was that serial killer he was worried about. He hasn't gone back to work since we found the chess piece in the house."

Wo Fat turned a wide-eyed surprised look to her. "I'm sorry, what chess piece? What serial killer? Is this the same one that was leaving bodies for Steve to find?"

"Yep that's the one. He was using other people to kill and then killing them and leaving chess pieces in their mouths. Steve thought he might have got him, but Nahele found a chess piece on the kitchen island the night after and Steve was certain that meant the guy was in the house…"

"Did you look at it with the void strings thing?"

"Yes, all black strings."

"And he hasn't gone back to work since you found it?"

"No and that was a week ago," she admitted. "I believe that would also be when the nightmares started. Huh… maybe that is what's wrong with him."

"Yeah, yeah, probably. But uh… let's dial back a bit. You're telling me a serial killer got into the house and left a trinket for Steve to find?" Rowan nodded and his eyes narrowed. "And you weren't home, right?"

"No both me and Nahele were home at the time."

"For fucksake Rowan!" he thundered. "You were in the house when a serial killer was there? Do you have any idea what could have happened?"

Rowan watched him realizing that this was probably exactly what Steve was so upset about. But Wo Fat wasn't going to let this go so easily.

"Okay, I know you just got back, and you've already said you didn't want to, but now, after this, do you think that maybe, until Steve catches this bad guy, that maybe you and the kid should be… off the island?"

"Leave?"

"Wouldn't it be safer? We already know the serial killer can get into the house…" "—And the Palace." "… and the Palace… and the Palace?! Okay, yeah this a bigger deal than I thought."

"What why?"

"Rowan. What if he decides he wants to hurt Steve? Both you and the kid are tempting targets. In fact I'd go as far as to say that you two are the most logical targets… starting with you."

"Okay, and you go ahead and tell Steve that."

"Are you kidding me, he'll shoot me."

Rowan smiled at him. "Thank you for worrying, Wo. But I think it might be best if I stay here. I'll be extra careful, I promise."

Wo Fat sighed but sat back. "If you say so." He took a long look at her and then tugged her to his side. "I think you should just talk to Steve, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. And if his problem really is the new you just ask him to… work a little more on being accepting. Because you're worth it, and so is whatever the two of you have."

That was a very nice thing for him to say. Considering how much Wo Fat didn't like Steve and her relationship with him. The least she could do was help him out too.

"You know, it's okay," she said after a moment pressed into his side. "We're not in a good space, you and I, you can tell her that you dropped things with me cause it's kind of true at the moment. Then when we figure things out you don't have to tell her until she calms down. Lord knows it's going to take Steve forever to calm down anyway so... you've got some time to help her see how much she loves you and how she shouldn't keep you from your sister."

"I don't want to do that to you. I've betrayed you enough."

"It's not a betrayal if I'm telling you to do it." She dropped her head to his shoulder and said: "I want you to be happy and if this girl makes you happy then you gotta do something about it. She's right, you know, it's a strange dynamic we have and it takes some time to adjust to as well. So get things started with her, give her some time to adjust and then when things are good with us we can revisit the issue with her."

Wo Fat nodded and tugged her a little closer to him. For a long while they just sat there in silence, both of them knew they missed the other but both were too proud to say it.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

After a week of staying at home, Governor Mahoe forced him back to work when he really didn't want to go. But she was right, he couldn't stay home on the off chance that the serial killer came back to get his family. But when he went back to work those nightmares got worse, and though Rowan no longer pressed him to talk about those nightmares, he couldn't keep waking her and Nahele up with them.

So, after a week of trying to work, jumping for his phone and getting very little sleep he went and hunted down someone who could help him. What he found was Alicia Brown, a former FBI profiler who had a lot more experience with people like their serial killer.

Steve took Danny up to Alicia's house where they were both sitting in her living room. They handed her the small chess piece and explained a little bit of what was going on. Then Steve explained where he got that particular chess piece from, or… well he was trying to get there.

"It's from the same chess set as all the other pieces, which tells me that whoever compelled Anthony Lee Hein, David Larsen and more than likely Pierre Shaw to kill on their behalf, that they're still out there."

"And I take it you're here because you want my help?" she asked.

"Yeah, I mean, you were a behavioral analyst with the FBI for 15 years. You profiled a lot of serial killers," Danny said, even though Alicia's focus was all on Steve.

Steve was actually getting a little bit of a vibe that she might be interested, and normally that would have stroked his ego, but he was still too worried about Rowan and Nahele and the potential danger they could be in to really care at that point.

"I'm also retired."

God why was she being difficult? Didn't she want to help?

"That chess piece you're holding is our only solid lead. We have allocated absolutely every available resource to this case. It's been a week, and, well, we, uh, we have nothing."

"Well, that's not unusual in cases like this," she said. "Where the killers suddenly goes to ground, that's when it becomes a waiting game. Patience. That'll be the key."

"Patience is definitely not his strong suit," Danny said with a chuckle as if he didn't understand why Steve was so upset about this particular case. This serial killer had threatened his family.

"He left that in my house. In my house," Steve growled. "With my girlfriend and our kid at home! In fact, my kid was the one who found it! What, is he taunting me? I… help me understand, please."

"On the contrary, commander, I, uh… I think that the killer admires you." Oh, fucking great. "The knight is the protector of the realm. In chess, that is a very powerful weapon in close positions. I think he sees you as a potentially dangerous adversary. Unlike the victims who are mere pawns expendable foot soldiers."

Steve was clearly spiralling. So, Danny stepped up. "This is just my opinion, but I think that the chess metaphor with the people moving around and the thing with… I don't, uh… I don't buy it personally. No disrespect, Ms. Brown, maybe this guy is not a smart as you think he is."

"And yet here you are in my home asking for help." Okay so she had a point. "Don't make the mistake of underestimating this person, detective. He doesn't just have people killing for him, he has them sending him pictures, evidence of his work. That is a highly sophisticated form of manipulation."

"Okay so what does that mean for my girlfriend?"

"I supposed it depends on how close to this killer you get. I suppose leaving this piece in your house was a message. That he could get in at anytime.

"Great so, she is in danger, that's what you're telling me. That both Ro and Nahele are in danger. This guys gonna go after them?"

"I think if he thinks that you're cornering him, if he decided he wants to take you on head to head, he might go for your weak point."

And Rowan and Nahele were, very much, his weak point.

"The governor of Hawaii has empowered us to do whatever is necessary to, uh, to catch whoever's responsible. So, I need you to tell me what it's gonna take for you to come and work for us. Temporarily, of course."

"I'm sorry, Commander, but I'm… I'm retired."

But Steve had Rowan and Nahele to think about, and he wasn't taking no for an answer. So, he looked around until he spotted a picture of Alicia and a young girl. Maybe her daughter. Well if their bad guy could manipulate people, Steve could do the same thing. Into helping, of course, not murdering other people."

"You understand that innocent people are dead, innocent people with families. That's gotta mean something to you."

She nodded. "It does." Oh, oh good, maybe this was working. It was making her tear up though. "My answer's still no."

She stood up, offered back the chess piece, no doubt signalling the end to this conversation. She wished them luck and they let themselves out. Steve left the house, being certain to leave the chess piece behind just to keep her mind on the serial killer and what it meant to catch him.

But Danny wasn't going to let this go now that they had a little bit more insight into this guy's thinking. And Steve wasn't about to let it go either if Rowan was in danger.

"So, what are you going to do?" Danny asked Steve looked down at his phone where he knew Rowan had uploaded the app. She thought it would make him feel better if he could have access, he had limited access of course, but he had the locate function and few others she thought he might like to use. And it had made him feel better. Now he was going to use it to his advantage. He pulled it up and chose the E.T. phone home function.

"I'm going to call Fat."

"You're gonna what?"

But Sandy was already connecting him. When he answered he got a hesitant: "Fat?" from him and Steve launched right into.

"It's Steven. She's alright," he said quickly no doubt sensing that that would be Wo Fat's next question. "I just uh… I have a potential threat that I wanted help with. She uh… she tell you anything about a chess piece?"

"Yes, I heard about your serial killer leaving a chess piece in the house while she and the kid were home. What do you want? Resources? You want me to track them down? Not sure if I could help, maybe put a few lines out on the dark web…"

"Wait… she told you about that? I thought… that that you two…"

"We're not, she's still mad at me. But when she logged a chess piece into Sandy as a threat, I needed to know how the hell a chess piece could be deadly. She relayed the story to me and I told her to take the kid and get the hell out of Hawaii."

Steve's heart stopped in his chest.

"She doesn't need to stay with me, of course, I have other safe houses. They'd be safer there until you can sort out your serial killer."

But that could take months. NO, he had just gotten them both back he couldn't lose them again, even if that was him being selfish.

"No… I can't… I don't… I don't trust you not to…"

"Fine, then what do you want me to do, hmm?"

"I want… I want people to watch her."

"You want me to send people down to Hawaii to sit on her? Why can't your people do that?"

"I don't have the resources to have someone sit on her permanently, and you know… you know she won't like having an escort."

"True, so you'd want this to be on the DL?" he asked but didn't wait for Steve to answer. "Fine, I can probably put someone on her, and someone on the kid. I'll keep you posted with IDs wouldn't want you shooting the wrong person following her."

"Fair… and… uh… thank you."

"I'm not doing it for you," Wo Fat growled and then hung up the phone.

Steve avoided Danny's eyes as he pocketed his phone, but he couldn't ignore the stare that Danny was giving him, even if he wasn't looking it. It was like he could feel Danny's eyes boring into him.

He glanced up, saw the dry and unimpressed stare he expected and then sighed. "Just… just leave it alone Danny."

And Danny did. Together the got back into the Camaro and left Alicia Brown's house behind. Steve just wanted to go home, just to see Rowan, to check in and make sure she was alright. He wasn't going to tell anyone, but he felt a lot better knowing that Wo Fat was going to send his people down to watch her. Because if Wo Fat's people killed the serial killer before they got to Rowan or Nahele well… he wouldn't be too mad about that. In fact, he might even hug Wo Fat.