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A/N: Happy Wednesday my wonderful readers! Are you guys excited? Second last chapter before the end of the season! And it is getting really interesting and super cute. In this chapter we're going to be staying mostly with Steve but it'll give you a better insight into what's going on with him. The next chapter will be about Rowan but then after that we'll mostly be following Steven, which I'm sure you guys will like. I'll have more about what's going to go on in the next few chapters when we get there. So don't forget to review and I'll see you guys on Friday.

Chapter 287

Steve woke up to a warm feeling sitting in his chest. The kind of feeling he used to get when he was around Rowan. He turned his head to the side and his blurry eyes found a figure sitting beside him.

"Rowan," he said quietly, sleepily, as he stretched the kinks out of his sore body and found that it hurt the incision descending down his sternum even doing that. He may have stretched so hard that he popped a stitch or two.

Steve immediately groaned and curled up over his healing incision and the person beside him moved forward, putting their hands on him and asking if he was alright.

There were two problems with that. Firstly, it wasn't Rowan's voice he heard. Secondly, there was no electricity skating along his skin from the touch. And then he remembered that Rowan wasn't in Hawaii, she was off jet setting with Wo Fat. The man who lied to her and to him on a regular basis, who lied to them both to keep her to himself.

When he managed to straighten himself out, he found that it was Lynn hovering above him and he reminded himself that he was supposed to be happy to see the girl he was dating. He smiled happily at her.

"Hey, Lynn, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to visit you," she told him and he smiled his thanks at her. He reached out for her but she didn't offer him her hand.

"You called me Rowan," she told him. "You called me Rowan when you came out of surgery and you just did it again."

Steve turned to Danny who was suspiciously busy with the TV remote. "I did?" he asked both Lynn and Danny but it was mostly Danny he was asking.

"Yep. You've been calling Rowan's name every night, I just wasn't going to say anything," Danny answered absently.

Steve turned back to Lynn with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her.

"It's alright," she answered which just made him feel worse. She didn't have to be so understanding. "I think it's time you tell me who Rowan is."

Steve looked down. She had a point. It was time he stopped dodging the question. She just wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"Rowan is… well she's my ex," Steve answered.

"Oh, another ex," Lynn replied almost sarcastically.

"Oh, she's more than that," Danny shot off from his side of the room. "You can think of her as the uber ex."

"Shut up," Steve snapped right back before turning back to Lynn with a smile ready to dissuade her freak out but she was just scowling at him.

"Wait didn't you say you worked with Rowan? I specifically remember you saying that you…"

"Yeah I lied. I mean don't get me wrong Rowan helped me with a lot of cases, so it wasn't like I was really lying, but she's… she's actually just my ex." He cleared his throat before trying to explain again. "I had a really hard time picking between Rowan and Catherine. Rowan was the girl I was with before Catherine came back."

"Actually, she was the girl he was with when Catherine came back, she is also the girl he left Catherine for in the first place. He's always preferred Rowan, had himself a little family with Rowan and everything," Danny added.

"Are you telling this or me?" Steve cried and Danny just shrugged at him.

"Wait is this the woman in the photo with the boy?" she asked. "In that room you never want me to go in?" Steve lowered his eyes. "You told me that was Catherine."

Steve winced. "No… you assumed it was Catherine… I didn't correct you because I didn't want to explain what happened cause it's kind of twisted. But yes, Rowan's the woman in that picture, the sweater was Rowan's, and while we're at it, Ro, is Rowan's nickname, not Catherine's. I call Catherine, Cath. Uh… Rowan was Nahele's foster mom and for a while they both lived with me… but uh I didn't lie about Nahele… the state really did take Nahele back because my job was too unstable for me to… uh… for me to foster him by myself," he admitted.

For a minute Lynn just stared at him and Steve sighed. "I… god this is going to sound bad. I loved Rowan so much but Rowan was… difficult. She had this guy in her life, a criminal, my nemesis. She kept talking to him and I kept getting mad. I wanted her to stop. So, I told her if she didn't, I'd marry Catherine. And she left… and I bought a ring…"

"… So you bought a ring and almost proposed to a different woman to spite another one?" Lynn asked.

"That is exactly it," Danny answered for him and Steve sighed. There was no point in arguing because it was true it was what he did. It was what started this all.

"Catherine left before I could propose, just like I said. But I realized when she was leaving and I wasn't going to propose to her that I was relieved. But by then Rowan was in Japan with that criminal I mentioned, or at least that's what I thought. She had actually been kidnapped. So, we went to Japan to get her but the criminal got there first and then he faked her death and I got this phone call saying she didn't want to come back. But I've had this feeling that the phone call was fake because she thinks I never came looking for her and she says that I'm the one who called her and I don't know whose lying. So, it's this big whole mess and I don't know what to do," he cried as he finished this terribly long and twisted saga. Lynn looked like she was confused and he didn't blame her it as a very twisted story and he hadn't really explained it well

Lynn sat back, taking all of this in before carefully arranging herself and setting her narrowed green eyes on Steve's hunched form.

"Okay. So… I'm going to try and sum this up here. This ex of yours got kidnapped, someone lied to you about whether she wants to come back, you think someone's lying to her too, probably to keep her from wanting to come back. You love her and I'm guessing you miss her but you're here and not looking for her," Lynn explained for him and Steve winced but nodded. There was no point lying to her. "Well then you go looking for her. Seems pretty self-explanatory."

Steve just stared at her. It sounded so easy but Lynn didn't know Wo Fat. She didn't know the lengths that man was willing to go to keep Rowan. She didn't know that Rowan could apparently open up a portal and vanish.

"I don't know where she is," Steve whispered.

"You're Five-0, I'm sure you can call someone who can look for her," Lynn told him. And Steve conceded that that was true. There were many people he could call. He just didn't know where to begin. Mainly because his Rowan had the ability to teleport. How do you track someone who could teleport?

"What if she doesn't actually want me?" he asked and from other side of the room he heard Danny scoff.

Lynn smiled patronizingly to him before turning her gaze back to Steve. "Well if she doesn't want to be with you, she'll tell you. But hearing her say it herself, in person, will make you feel better. At least you'll know. You won't be wondering anymore," she said.

Steve thought about. On the one hand she was right. Finally getting face to face with Rowan and hashing everything out would make him feel better. If it went in a way that ended with the two of them getting back together, that is. If she actually looked him in the eye and told him that she didn't want him anymore… well… let's just say he knew that his fragile heart couldn't take another hit like that from Rowan.

He let Lynn change the topic but he knew, that for the rest of the day, Rowan Pierce was going to be on his mind.

H5O-H5O-H5O-H5O

They were told the surgery lasted all night and not a single one of their friends left them. They all stayed until the doctor told them that they were both okay.

And during the week the two of them recuperated they were visited by their friends at alternative times. But Steve and Danny were changed by this, though they acted like they were the same. For starters, Danny was done with this dithering. Steven was still very much obsessed with Rowan, he knew that and it was time they stopped pretending the man could get over her. So, in the darkness of the night, when Danny was certain the nurses weren't listening, he told Steve over and over about what happened on that plane.

That Steve put out a call to the void, and Rowan came to him.

Steve hadn't wanted to believe it, but Chin, Kono and Grover had told them a story. Of a red-haired girl on the beach who used her powers to take a plane that was going to nose dive into the surf off of Waikiki beach, and pulled it through the void and to the shore to make sure that Steve and Danny weren't too badly hurt in the crash landing.

Though he didn't say it, Danny could see that Steve was starting to believe, Danny saw it in Steve's eyes.

That night however, everyone was back in their little room. The two of them finally given the a-okay from the doctor for a larger group to visit and for a little more excitement then usual. This led to all their friends packed into their room, bearing gifts and cards, taking turns reading all the ones that had come in out loud.

Danny had Grace and Charlie sitting on his bed, while Steve had Nahele sitting beside him. The boy, who had gotten taller and much more muscular since they had all seen him last was holding on to Steve's hand like he was afraid the man would vanish.

"Get your tuchas out of bed tough guy," Kono read out. "You got six months to get into game shape for the Turkey Bowl. With love and Aloha, Nicky 'The Kid' DeMarco."

It was the third card where Danny had been forgotten and Steve just knew he was gonna hear something about it.

"Did he… uh… mention me at all?"

And there it was.

Poor Kono was a little flustered. She turned the card all around and then said: "Uh… Nope. Just Steve."

Danny nodded and Steve rolled his eyes. Luckily the group moved forward. Jerry picked up the next card. "Here's one from Governor Denning. Commander McGarrett, on behalf of myself and the entire State Capital 'ohana, we wish you best wishes on a speedy recovery. Sincerely, Governor Denning."

Steve smiled. "See that's nice, isn't it?"

Danny sighed again. "Is that it?"

Poor Jerry flipped the card over just like Kono did as if looking for a special message. "Uh… yeah."

Oh god Danny was gonna tank this thing. Kono quickly went looking for the cards. "You know, uh, I'm sure there's one in here for you." The two of them went about searching for it and Jerry thought he found one but he was wrong.

"You can read it anyway," Danny said flippantly and Steve lay back trying not to shake his head. If he was allowed, he'd get himself in a fucking wheel chair, get himself down to the gift shop and buy and sign a card himself. Anything to avoid the bitch fest that was coming.

"I think its from Sang Min. The handwriting's terrible."

Steve forced himself to smile again. "Sang Min?"

"I would've offered you my liver, McGurrett but we both know it's no god," Jerry read out and around them everyone laughed. "I'm guessing he meant good." Yeah not the time for teasing, just keep reading.

Kono finished going through the pile and turned to the flowers. There were two lucky bamboo trees with a card between them and that one was the winner. Those were the first two to appear in the room and no one had seen them be delivered. They just appeared the night after their surgery.

She smiled largely as she held it up. "Hey look, I got one for Danny," he announced. "Uh… this one's signed by three people. To Danny: You're not chopped liver to me, get better soon and To Steve: You should have known better. Next time you're on your own. There's no name and it's simply signed R."

Everyone paused and then exchanged glances. Steve's eyes were boring holes into Kono, having gone ramrod in his bed.

"Ah, Steve, you're squeezing too hard," Nahele yelped and Steve immediately let him go with a quick apology.

Kono moved on with the card. "Uh… the second set says: To Steve: I don't want you to think I care. I don't, I'm actually really upset that the bullet just killed your liver and not you. Please do everyone a favour and don't get better. And to Danny: Next time keep your liver to yourself. Neither of you are getting any sympathy from me but, Danny, please get better so she will shut up. And uh… I can't quite make out the signature but I think it might be Wo Fat."

"Fucking no… no… she wouldn't send us a card, and then make Wo Fat sign it," Danny cried. "Is she fucking nuts?"

"And the last one says: "To Steve, You don't know me but I know getting shot sucks so feel better! And to Danny: You gave him your liver, now he can't commandeer your car. And I can't read that signature either but it had a little doodle of a bunny beside it…"

"Okay I like that one, the bunny has some really good ideas," Danny said but Steve was just scowling.

That fucking bitch had sent him a card and had his arch nemesis and her bodyguard sign it? Steve reached out immediately. "Give me that."

He looked it over, his eyes lingering on what he knew was Rowan's cursive and felt his heart hurt that there wasn't some sweet mention or a desire for him to get well.

Chin and Grover chose to walk in that time, saying their Aloha's and hellos to everyone and their apologises for being late.

Steve had no doubt that the card that Rowan had left would be passed around, so he held onto it tightly and refused to relinquish it because as it stood it was all he had left.

"Wow! You know, if a stranger was to pass by this room, they'd get the impression you two boys are a couple of rock stars.," Grover exclaimed and while Steve struggled to smile Danny was down right surly.

"Yeah. Yeah. Him, him, not me. I'm just the roadie I think."

Steve rolled his eyes. God Danny was no going to let this go.

"Well, we have some good news and bad news," Chin said. "For starters Dae Won, yeah, he was killed. Not sure how, cause he was in holding, but something happened, we're thinking allergic reaction."

Yeah Steve knew what happened. Dae Won knew how to contact Wo Fat. Wo Fat must have done something to make sure he didn't talk to Steve.

"The good news is, the Korean supplier turned himself into the DEA a few days ago. His entire operation has been shut down."

Around them everyone cheered but Steve wasn't excited. How could he be? The only reason someone like that would turn themselves in was if someone scarier than the DEA was chasing them. Which was probably also Wo Fat's doing.

Max clapped his hands. "As reluctant as I am to bring attention to the outstanding matter of my going away party, unless we are at Rum Fire in 23 minutes, we will lose our reservation."

Danny nodded. "No, I get it. Listen if I had a choice between a cold beer and sitting around here with us, I know what I'd do."

"Well since you put it like that," Grover said.

And then it was Chin's turn to clap. "Alright, you heard the man. Let's leave them alone."

Everyone began to file out. Nahele leant in to give him another hug. He had homework to finish and Kong was waiting downstairs for him. Steve was just happy the boy had been coming to visit him.

Grace took Charlie's hand. "I'm gonna take him for a walk and snack before he starts bouncing up the walls. Mom's not coming to get us for a while so when we get back, we're gonna play cards," she said.

As soon as everyone gone Danny went for the remote. He had been holding onto it because Steve had this habit of not letting him watch what he wanted to watch. That meant whenever he could he kept the remote on the side table by him, which was empty because Steve was getting all the get-well flowers and balloons and gifts.

"Where's the uh…"

He didn't even get to finish the question. Steve reached over to the one table they shared, coincidentally between them, and took the remote before Danny could. Great. Well, that was Steve getting to control the TV again.

"Uh, channel 36, there's a game on," Danny told him but Steve wasn't even listening.

"No, I wanna watch this."

They watched for two seconds. It was a soap opera. This shmuck wanted him to watch a soap opera? What was he punishing him? "You're gonna make me watch a soap opera?"

Steve ignored him. "The game's gonna keep me up. I wanna go to sleep." Oh, oh, yeah cause he was so damn tired. "This will put me to sleep."

"You wanna sleep, I could bounce this lamp off your head. You'd go right out."

Steve just smiled at him, tauntingly. "You want me to turn it up?"

"Whosever idea it was to have me share a room with you to help me with my recovery is a complete idiot."

"You realize you didn't have to give me your liver?"

What the fuck was wrong with this guy? Did he think livers grew on trees? "Where were you gonna get one, Steve? The supermarket? Of course, I had to give you my liver. What are you talking about?"

For a moment the two of them stared at one another from their beds and Steve sighed.

"I'm gonna have to listen to this for the rest of my life, aren't I?" Steve asked. "I'm gonna have to listen to this forever, this speech about the selfless sacrifice you made on my behalf."

Danny looked away first. "No, no, no, because, Steve, I am not like you, okay? I give without the expectation of thanks. Alright? And do me a favour, please? Try to take care of that thing. I had it for 39 years. It means a lot to me. You'll probably wreck it in two weeks."

"How am I gonna wreck it?"

"I unno. You like getting shot at," Danny stated matter-o-factly. "What do I know?"

"I like getting shot at?" Steve echoed. "You think I chose to get shot? How about this. If I hadn't have taken those bullets for you, it'd be my liver in your body. How about that?"

"Hold on."

"Hold on?"

"You didn't save my life Steve, let's get that straight. You were on the wrong side of the plane when we got shot at. That's A. B, there is zero chance if the roles were reversed here, you'd be giving me a piece of your liver, okay? No chance."

Now that was hurtful. It really was, because Steven loved Danny and he 100% would have given him his liver if Danny needed it.

"How can you say that? You saying I'm not generous?"

"No, you're not generous." Oh wow, he had actually said it. "I've never even seen you take your wallet out of your pocket. There's no way you're giving me one of your vital organs."

Steve lay back and shook his head. "If this liver comes with your negative attitude, I swear to God, I'm gonna cut it out myself."

"Crazy, he's crazy," Danny muttered to himself just loud enough for Steven to hear. "It's not like I'm asking you for a thank you, Steve. I'm not saying give me a speech or a gift or anything like that. But you, you just… you're a big giant ingrate, you know that? My son, who I gave bone marrow to, he was more grateful than you are. But come to think of it, he's four, and he's more emotionally mature than you, so it makes complete and total sense."

"That's what this is about, this is about the gifts. You're pissed about all the attention you are not getting."

"It is not the gifts!" Danny cried. "You wanna talk about being pissed off? Why don't you just admit that you're punishing me with a soap opera because Rowan said nice things to me in the card and nothing about you?"

"That's not the reason."

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't Danny."

"Okay."

They were quiet for a moment and then Steve said: "She didn't even say she wanted me to get better. Just… I should have known better and now I'm on my own? And she had Wo Fat sign the card? I mean… did she read what he said?"

"Well… to be fair… I could have been much worse."

"Dear Steve: I'm quite upset that the bullet only killed your liver. Why the hell would she let me read that? Is she trying to rip my heart out?"

"Well I thought the card was nice."

"Of course you did, they said nice things about you."

"Did they though?" Okay so Wo Fat basically said he had no sympathy for either of them, but that sounded normal for him. To be honest, Danny had a point, the fact that Rowan managed to get him to sign the card in the first place was remarkable. He wondered how many cards they had gone through before Rowan gave up and settled with that message? Or was she smart about it and made him tell her what he was going to write before she handed him the card.

"Steven. Will you please, pretty please, just admit you're still in love with that girl?"

"You think I'm in… with her? Are you out of your mind?" Steven snapped. "You read that card. I'm never talking to that bitch again. I'm on my own… well you know what, so is she. She is on her own. And I'm going to start hitting her harder."

Danny turned him, really? He was that upset about a card?

"And how are you going to find her Steve? You don't even know where she is."

"I unno I'll think of something."

"Oh, we both know if Rowan was right here, right now, you'd be on your knees begging her to stay with you."

"No, I wouldn't. Look we all know this is about the gifts. You want your own card so much, here, I'll go down to the giftshop and get you one. There will that shut you up?"

"Okay that's enough," Danny said taking the paper-thin curtain that went between their beds, for visual privacy only, and drew across and past his face so Steve couldn't see him anymore.

"You do realize the curtain doesn't block sound, right?" Steve called but when Danny didn't answer he added: "I know you can still hear me."

But not even that got him to answer. Danny refused to make even the barest hint of a noise. An elephant could land on him and he wouldn't even make a peep. He was done helping Steven. If he was going to be stupid, Danny was going to ignore him.

What neither knew was that, outside in the hall, someone was listening. And that someone wanted to help.