Rewrite

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: You know, my wonderful readers, the month of November is supposed to be my motivated month. I do National Novel Writing Month every year, and is wear, this is the first time I've started off so weakly. I mean, I've barely written anything and nothing has been posted on any of my stories. I think I'm getting burnt out between work and everything else. I hope I can get out of this slump, I'm trying, I really am. For this chapter we got some cute stuff and people working together and someone's acting stupid. This is the dramatic conclusion to this episode, and then there's going to be some cute little stuff in the next chapter, I promise. As always don't forget to leave a review and I'll see you guys on Friday. (Hopefully. I really am trying guys)

Chapter 356

Rowan woke up in the back of a car. Hands bound head fuzzy. Not good. Not good at all.

All the strings around her were vibrating, red strings were already binding her up, probably Steve's doing because he probably knew she was gone by now. Was probably panicking.

She just didn't have the strength in her to open up the void. She didn't have any strength at all. She could tell, however, by the way the strings seemed to be dripping in this blue colored ooze that she had been drugged. She had never seen her strings right after being drugged before but she knew the second she saw those strings like that, that she had been drugged.

She wished she knew how.

She was lying in the back of an SUV across the back of the seats, the vehicle was moving so that meant she was still in transit.

But the more she stared at those strings the more she realized that her first assumption was wrong. The strings weren't vibrating because they were warning her of danger, they were jumbled and writhing, which meant Steve was aware of the situation and upset.

You know, it was really annoying to be able to see the strings and not be able to work with them. See, this was why she hated being high, granted it widened her view but it made her useless. Though she didn't have any energy left in her after what she did with the cars, so couldn't blame all of that on her drugging. Right now, she could see them she just couldn't reach them, it was like they were on TV.

She shouldn't have shown off at the exchange.

Didn't think Carlos Diego would be stupid enough to do this though.

The SUV came to a stop and after a moment the door opened and someone grabbed her the back of her head and dragged her out of the car. She yelped as she went, landing in the dirt, she was dragged up to her feet and then she had Carlos Diego glaring down at her while she glared up at him.

"I hate you."

Diego just laughed at her, well she was glad he found this funny.

"What a shame, because I love you," he said which was a lie, because he hated her too.

Rowan focused in on his strings and then pointed to the one she was interested in. "Ha, your uh… your death string is like… so short. I think… I think you're going to die tonight."

Diego stared at her like she was crazy and she noted that the men he had with them all took a step away from her. Diego just laughed.

"Estra como una cabra."

"I am not crazy!" she snapped to him. "You're taking on La Bruja again! You're the crazy one! Muy Loco!"

That got him to quiet down and in the quiet Rowan focused on standing up and what was going on with her. She was going through waves of dizziness and cloudiness. Damn what did he drug her with? And what was going down to her hands.

Rowan looked down to her hands and then back to him. "Here, take this back," she said and did the hand shaky thing that got rid of handcuffs and ropes mostly. In a flash they were off her hands, and the rope slammed into his chest.

He watched them fall to the ground and then watched as Rowan leant back against the car because standing was hard at that moment.

"Hijueputa!" he shouted. "Didn't you tie her up right?"

Rowan just laughed, none of his men would come forward to help him, she he had to tie her back up himself.

"You can act all brave," he hissed to her, just loud enough for her to hear. "But I know you're scared."

Yes she was, but she was scared of everything.

"I bet you're thinking your brothers are going to come to your rescue. Or maybe that husband of yours that's been making waves all through Bogotá. But that's not going to happen, I've made sure."

He was really, really underestimating her again, which was a very stupid idea. He also had no idea how determined Steve was when it came to chasing after her. He was going to find out the hard way

"Soon, soon, we're either going to burn the witch at the stake, or offer you up to the dogs," he said with a sadistic grin. She just stared at him, he took in her rapidly blinking eyes as fear, when really, it was the drugs in her system. She was trying to blink herself into a sober state.

"You're going to die tonight la Bruja and I'm going to make your brother watch."

He laughed, his men laughing with him while Rowan stood there surrounded by hostiles.

Rowan smiled back. "You're going to be dead before sunrise and it's going to be your fault."

He frowned at her. Frowned because his men had stopped laughing. Frowned because she still wasn't acting afraid.

"You're wrong."

Rowan's smile widened. "No. I'm Rowan Pierce. And I am always right."

And that would be when he hit her.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

They had all split up like Wo Fat had said they should.

Steve had splintered his team and sent them out to the locations. He, Wo and Con went to the one Steve was getting the most pull from, Chin and Kono went to one, Danny and Grover went to another, and Armando and JC went to the last one.

This left Nahele alone with the Moraleses and the men that Armando had brought with him.

Steve had asked if the men could be trusted, and without even looking up from the guns he was strapping to himself, Sin Nombre had said: "They all know what'll happen if they double cross me or Wo. Same thing that happened last time and none of these people are stupid enough to chance that right?"

That had been such a terrifyingly powerful sentence that Steve had just taken his word at for it. But if Rowan ever complained about Steve being too aggressive when it came to rescuing her, he was going to remind her of exactly the kind of stuff her brothers were prone to. Especially in the name of saving her from whatever drama she had gotten into this time.

Then they had drove. In infuriating silence. All the way to that compound that Steve felt was pulling him.

But when they got there the compound was empty, there wasn't a single soul there, and definitely no sign of Rowan.

They were obviously at the wrong place. And that was a problem, because the compounds were so spread out, and they were expecting Diego to have major numbers which meant a team of two would not be able to take them on to save Rowan. But there also wouldn't be time for the others to get there to help them storm the fortress.

That, and Steve was 100% certain now that she was nearby. The pull was stronger, really strong, tugging him towards the jungle. But her panic was coming through clearer now. And that was jumbling up his senses and his headings.

Sin Nombre had gone into that building with the mask on, by the time he came out the mask was on the side of his head. Wo Fat looked the same except he now had a cigarette again. Seriously, they had to cut him down on smoking.

"We gotta get moving," Sin Nombre said already heading towards the car. But Steve was pacing.

As Rowan's panic became tied up in his the more anxious and worried he got. The two brothers watched him pace for a minute, watched him mutter to himself about how she had to be there he just didn't know where she was or which way to go.

He was stopped only when Wo Fat grabbed him. "Stop it! Doing this, whatever it is, is not going to get us Rowan back. So, calm down."

And it was like with those words, that one order, a radiating soothing energy washed over Steven. Quieting the strings, or at least the vibrations of whatever Steve was feeling.

That too was weird. Add that to the list of things he'd have to ask Rowan about.

The worst thing about it was that it took out the compass too. He had no idea which way to go all because Wo Fat had put his hands on him.

"I'm trying to be calm, but she's here. I can feel that she's here, or at least I could until you touched me," he snapped to him and Wo Fat frowned.

"They gotta be in the jungle then," Sin Nombre said no doubt halting any questions Wo might have had about his affect on the void. Because if he could affect Steve, he must have been able to affect Rowan.

"Okay, I've stopped touching you, can you and your Rowan-compass find her now?" Wo asked very kindly putting a few steps of distance between them. But Steve didn't have an answer.

He was panicked, and so was Rowan, and like Rowan if he panicked, he couldn't get a good grip on his own power over the void. Hell, he rarely had power over his own void powers. And now, for some reason, thanks to Wo they were muted.

When Steve didn't answer right away, Sin Nombre huffed.

"We don't have time to wander around the jungle looking for Rowan," Sin Nombre argued heading to the trunk to put away the bigger weapons he had pulled out. He got the trunk of the SUV opened, looking into for a bit and then slammed the trunk back down.

He turned to them both a strange smile stretched over his lips.

"Ya'll should go looking without me."

Steve frowned. That was an odd reaction. And it sort of meant that something was in there. And judging by Sin Nombre's reaction and sudden unwillingness to leave the car, he had a feeling he knew what it was.

"What's in the trunk?" he asked dryly.

"Weapons… but uh… my lucky weapons and I don't like sharing. So… uh…. you tell me what you want and I'll get it… also I think… I think maybe I should stay behind or maybe you Wo… just in case she's gotten out and loops back to the car…"

Steve shoved Sin Nombre out of the way and opened the trunk.

There, nestled between all the guns and weapons was Nahele, wide eyed and staring at him.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Steve shouted, as he grabbed Nahele's arm and dragging him out of the trunk before he could hurt himself.

Wo Fat, the king of composure, simply said: "Wow he really is his mother's son."

Steve shot him a glare and then watched as the two went to the trunk of that car and started digging for something.

"Are you shitting me right now?" Steve asked pointing a glare at Nahele. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I just… I wanted to help you find mom!"

"Nahele!" he cried. "I wanted you somewhere safe, sitting in the back of a SUV filled with weapons and ammunition is not safe. Not when I was expecting to drive into a hostage situation with a lot of people with guns shooting at me!"

"I know… I know it was stupid, but like… mom does stupid stuff for us all the time!"

"That doesn't me we do it too! Someone has to be the logical one here, and it can't always be me!"

Nahele sighed and then looked around. "Is mom not here? Does anyone else have eyes on her?"

Great he was starting to sound like Steve too.

"No, she's not in the building but we think they're near-by I'm not sure where though," he said and Nahele thought about it.

"Well why don't you pull her? Or open a portal to her."

"What? I told you I can't…"

"No I know, but mom said that you two are connected, and the last time we did a jump and we had been gone for too long, she got jerked back. She said that was you doing that to her, so… why can't you do something like that again? Pull her back to us?"

Because Steve had no idea how to consciously control that. Because Rowan had been charged and he had a feeling that it didn't work if Rowan wasn't charged.

"Okay so, since Nahele's here, Con thinks he's the one who should stay behind…"

"Why you saying that like it shouldn't be me?" Sin Nombre said. "He doesn't want you hanging out for long periods of time, alone, with his kid…"

Steve shook his head and turned away from the burgeoning argument trying to focus on that feeling that always lead him to Rowan but it was still out of his grasp at that moment.

"You're the oldest, Wo, shouldn't it be you charging off after our wayward sister?"

"Yes, it should, but you're the skilled assassin and better shot so…"

"Wow, so now you're gonna admit I'm the better shot!"

And then it hit him, a flash of divine inspiration. Nahele was right about one thing. They were connected, he and Rowan. She had always been able to reach through the void to him before, hell even he had managed to reach through the void to get to her a couple times now, why wouldn't he be able to do it again.

"Shoot me."

Both Sin Nombre and Wo Fat stopped arguing and turned a surprised stare to him and then to each other.

"I mean I don't know how that would help but okay," Sin Nombre said and then they went for their guns.

"No, not like that!" Steve cried.

"Oh okay, cause I was really confused for a second," Sin Nombre said.

"The energizing gun. Shoot me with the energizing gun."

"What the hell would that do?"

"Kid's right. We're connected. Rowan and I. Maybe… maybe if we charge me I can send her the energy and she can pull us."

"And who stays with the kid?"

"I'll stay in the car, locked and everything, I promise," Nahele said already heading to the car. Once he was in it, they pulled Steve away just in case the energizing ray and Steve messing with the void affected the car.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Wo Fat asked but Steve just shrugged.

Sin Nombre already had the gun out. "Fuck it, let's try it."

Steve stood there, watched as Sin Nombre leveled that energizing ray to his chest and then fired. For a moment he felt nothing except static, like his whole body had fallen asleep and gone into pins and needles. When that went away, he felt warmer, starting from that point where the burst of orange energy had hit him and then radiating out.

And then his vision shifted. Strings began to appear. In and out of his vision, all over the place, all different colors and amidst them was the writhing mass of red that was how he felt for Rowan.

It was sensory overload and he noted that none of the strings were wild around Wo, they were all calm and normal and instinctively edged closer to him.

"Did it work? Do you feel anything?" Wo asked. He went to put a hand out to steady Steven, but then remembered that he apparently affected the void and lowered it.

"Uh I think so."

"Okay and how do you send her energy then? What do you have to do?"

Steve didn't know. But he closed his eyes and then he thought of Rowan.

The second his heart called out of her he felt the tension in the strings, the electric hum in the air. This was working, he just had to concentrate on it.

Steve focused and with all his heart he thought of Rowan. Envisioned that orange electric energy moving through the strings and to her. And he waited, waited for something to happen but nothing did.

Had she not got it?

"It's not working."

"Are you sure?" Sin Nombre asked.

"I… I don't know… I don't…"

And then Sin Nombre took his hand. "Try again. We'll do it together. Just focus and think of Rowan."

And though this was weird he did as asked, closing his eyes again and thinking, again with all his heart he thought of his Rowan. Trying to envision her, wrapped up in his red strings, protecting her, that orange electric energy being absorbed into her through them.

But it wasn't until Wo Fat took his other hand that he felt everything slide into place.

And a portal opened in front of them.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

Diego had put this giant metal collar with a chain attached to it around her neck. Because, and she was quoting here, the dogs would go for the jugular and then the fun would be over. And there needed to be a lot of fun because they were filming this for Wo's pleasure.

He had walked her into the jungle to where, in the middle nowhere there was just a pit full of dogs. Five at least, all barking, all starving. She just wanted to give all of them a hug but she figured if she did that they might try to eat. Would definitely try to eat her.

She had this metal collar around her neck which did not help with the walk cause she kept tripping and going down and the chain kept cutting his hands. Oh, if only he knew she had been doing it on purpose.

They were setting up a video camera, several of them, all aimed on the pit. So the plan really was to make Wo Fat watch her get torn apart by dogs. Ew. But effective.

It would also mean that Wo Fat would probably do everything in his power to torture Diego in the same way, and she had a feeling that Steve would help him.

She looked down into the pit of barking dogs feeling bad for them.

"When were they last fed?" Diego asked one of his men.

"Last week," he replied almost hesitantly. None of them would make direct eye contact with her. It was kind of funny.

"Really? That's animal cruelty, don't'cha know."

Deigo turned towards her a dark sneer on his face. "I'm getting really sick of you. If you're not careful I'm going to start having fun before we get that camera ready."

Rowan knew she should stop with the sass but she wasn't going to hit him with one really great one liner about how he probably couldn't get hard enough to have any fun with anyone. Then it happened.

There was a sickening jolt that went through her that dropped her to the ground. Diego hadn't had a good grip on the chain around her neck so it ripped through his fingers again.

"For godsake I didn't do anything yet."

"Ow," Rowan whispered.

She could feel it, void energy skating through her but it was coming at her all wrong, she'd say it was coming in backwards, like someone was trying to stuff toothpaste back into the tube. "Ugh just leave me here, I'll feel better on the floor."

Except she wasn't on the floor she was in the dirt and it did not have the same soothing qualities. She just wanted to be difficult and didn't want to move.

"You wanna stay on the ground with the bugs?" he asked and Rowan frowned. Opening her eyes she saw something with too many eyes and too many legs crawling towards her and she yelped and rolled herself away, taking down two of his men as she went.

Diego crashed after her grabbing her and pulling her up. "Dios mio, you're a disaster!" he shouted at her and Rowan pushed him away.

"Wow, you got some nasty breath, if you guys brought my purse, I might have a mint in there."

That insult had him for a minute and then he looked down to her hands. "How did you get out of the ropes?"

Rowan looked down to her own hands, she hadn't remembered voiding herself out of those. "Uh…. Are we sure I was bound? Cause it would be just like you to forget that."

He officially hit his breaking point right then and there. He took her and dragged her to the pit where he then dangled her over it. The only thing that was keeping her from falling was her feet still on the edge and the chain around her neck.

"Fuck the video. How about I just let him find you in pieces, hmm?

Rowan just laughed, because now that the power was in her she knew that he was fucked.

"You know Diego, you know what the difference between last year and right now?" she asked. "Well, for starters I know what I'm doing now."

Immediately the others began to whirl around looking for portals or dangerous magics coming at them, but nothing was their yet. She was searching for the right strings, and all of them were heading for her. She just needed to open the door.

"You're bluffing."

Rowan's smile widened. "I'm not. And you know what else? Every witch has a familiar."

The portal opened right behind him. The gun was put flush to his head. Steve smiled dangerously at Diego who had glanced back the second he felt the gun make contact.

"I'd think carefully about your next move," he snarled.

Diego glared at him, and then to Rowan and then quite maliciously he dropped the chain. But Steve didn't panic and neither did Steve. Rowan dropped, right into a portal vanished before a single dog could jump up and get her.

More portals opened, more men came out. Shields of translucent orange opened in front of each person shielding them from the men that had opened up fire on the opening portals.

Wo Fat, Sin Nombre, JC, Armando, they were all there, all protected. And then the freaky stuff started happening. Wind picked up, ground gave way, bats began to swoop out of the sky, lighting flashed through the trees and not from storm clouds either.

Panic took hold and the translucent shields dropped allowing the four men to take down each and every single man Diego had with him that were scrambling to attack shadows and run away.

Steve stayed where he was, he wasn't watching to see where Rowan was, he knew where Rowan was. Controlling the strings from the void like a puppet master.

When all of them men were done and all that was left was Diego two portals opened. The first opened up under his feet and deposited Steve by the treeline.

The second opened up between the four men, the portal flanked by two on either side. Armando and JC on one, Wo Fat and Sin Nombre on the other.

And Rowan was in the middle.

She looked terrifying as all hell.

She was full void too.

Her hair wildly floating around her, electric bolts of pure energy skating around her aura and along his skin. Diego looked horrified by the sight of her.

And of course, just like Rowan, she was singing.

I saw the light in the sunrise, sitting back in a '40 on a muddy riverside.

Diego reached for a gun, the closest one he could get. Rifling through his fallen comrades' bodies until he found one.

Getting baptized in holy water and shine with the dogs running.

Diego turned and opened fire on the five of them. Though Steve saw nothing in front of them, each bullet was absorbed by something. Something that, when impacted glowed the same orange as Rowan's powers. So, she had learned how to put up her shield and make it not look visible.

Saved by the sound of the been found, dixie whistled in the wind, that'll get you heaven bound.

Yeah, Steve realized now, seeing as the five people, probably the five people from the original incident were advancing on a very freaked out Diego who no matter how he ran ended up going through a portal and ending up right back where he started.

Steve rushed forward to join them. He didn't care if Rowan had separated him so he would be able to claim to not know what happened, or if she did it because she was worried he would mess with her powers, but he knew what was coming next. And he was going to be apart of it.

You brought me to Colombia and now I've put you in the ground.

Steve got to them, pushed his way between Rowan and Wo Fat and then took her hand.

They were before him now. Diego was on his knees, begging them, telling them he'd do anything. Each and every man raised their weapons at the screaming, spitting sobbing man in front of them. Even Steven, because Rowan didn't have a gun, so he'd be her gun. There would be five bullets in that man. Five bullets for the five people he had been fucking with.

Now It's my country.

And they all opened fire on Carlos Diego.