Rewrite
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Had a rough day so I'm going to post a day early. Any love would be greatly appreciated!
Chapter 3
Danny was grinning at Steve like an idiot. Steve was trying to ignore it but he could feel that giant grin beaming at him from the passenger seat of the Camaro. He was probably getting tan lines from it.
"You have got to stop doing that, what are you so damn happy about?" Steve snapped.
"What? I've got a lot to be happy about. We cracked our headless polo horseman case, and I get to come with you when you pick up your new pet," Danny said.
"Rowan is not a pet," Steve argued. "And I don't know if I'm picking her up, I don't know if she's going to be discharged."
"But you're hoping she gets discharged today," Danny sang which just made Steve's face twitch.
"No, I am not hoping she gets discharged today," Steve explained. "I just know that she really wants to get discharged today. I'm excited for her, I couldn't care less if it happens or not."
Danny was still grinning. "Yes, you are hoping she gets out today. You want to see those blue eyes of hers, you want to hear her singing, you want to show her the room you dressed up for her, the clothes you made Catherine buy for her, and you want to get her away from that sexy nurse who's got his eyes on her."
Steve purposely turned away from Danny so he couldn't see the anger on his face. Yes, there was a nurse, a guy named Alex which she thought was a freaky coincidence because the actor who apparently played Steve's character in her world was named Alex. He didn't follow but whatever. What did matter was that she called him dreamy, with his black hair and brown eyes. He was the same height as Steve, same sort of build, but all of his Five-O team had been teasing him that Alex was much more attractive than Steve, like this was the kind of nurse who was actually a model. And since Steve had killed Rowan's crush on him she seemed completely over any attraction she could have ever had for him. Which should have made things easier for Steve but instead apparently it just made him very, very angry.
"Do not ever mention Nurse Alex in this car again," Steve warned him.
Danny raised his hands in mock surrender. "Spoken like a man not about to fly into a jealous rage."
"I am not jealous, I'm just worried that the man might be taking advantage of her. I mean, common, we don't know how sick she is," Steve reminded him. Which wasn't entirely true.
The first night at the hospital scans were done on Rowan's pretty little head and found evidence of brain trauma. The doctor's didn't know how long ago it had happened, but for it to only be affecting her now it had to be recent. Except that she showed no outward signs of trauma. For the signs to be this serious it had to be a pretty serious and extremely recent incident. Except Rowan didn't remember having any incident and while it explained the TV show delusion, it didn't explain how she had known everything she had known.
Steve didn't think they'd ever get answers to that mystery.
Regardless, she had been held for more than five days as more and more tests were done on her. Which meant, as of today, she had spent almost a full week in the hospital with the Dreamy nurse and his stupid guitar.
"They've gotta let her go at some time. She's basically fine now," Danny told him. They sat in silence for a bit before Danny turned to him and said: "Hey, how much do you want bet that Nurse Alex is in her room with his guitar again?"
Without even realizing it, Steve began to speed. He shot a glare at Danny, "Hey! What did I say? Don't bring up that name in that car again," he warned. Danny merely laughed at him and Steve fought every impulse to flick on his siren and lights to get to her faster.
H5O-H5O-H5O- H5O
Rowan smiled up to Alex as he strummed the final chords of the song he had just been singing to her. She had just finished changing and was putting on her pair of converse when he had come in. he was still in his ER uniform, the blue scrubs, and even though he was working he had traded breaks with a friend to come see her off and sing her the new song he was working on.
"That was great Alex!" she said with a giant grin. "I love it!"
She was trying really hard not to be nervous. Sure Steve had said that he was going to take her home with him if she was given a clean bill of health but that didn't mean he meant it. She was a stranger and the two of them argued nearly as much as he and Danny argued, it was logical that he wouldn't want her around. After that she didn't know what she'd do or where she'd go. Probably be homeless.
"So is your brother coming to get you?" he asked, eyeing the door carefully. Steve was very fond of barging in while Alex was with her and glaring at the man until he left. No matter how nice Alex was to him.
"Again, Steve is not my brother," she told him, and not for the first time. He was always trying to peg what kind of relationship she and Steve had. Then she paused, because she didn't know how to define their relationship. So she just left it there, left it hanging like that.
"Well for someone who's not related to you, he sure is invested in your welfare," Alex said putting the guitar back in its case.
Rowan could only shrug because she couldn't explain it either. And then the door swung open and Danny was in the room staring down at her.
"Oh look, it's Nurse Alex and his guitar. I just made me an easy 20 bucks" he said with a giant grin and a clap of his hands. He then turned to Rowan. "You ready? Steve's getting the news about your health and then we're taking you home."
Rowan nodded happily jumping to her feet and twirling. "What do you think of my outfit? Didn't Catherine pick me some great stuff?" she asked. Catherine had kind enough to pick out an entire wardrobe for her, but this was what she had sent over for the day Rowan got released, a pair of burgundy denim shorts and an army green off the shoulder tee-shirt to match. She loved her burgundy converse the best though.
Danny nodded to her. "Yes, you look beautiful," he said before turning to Alex with a strange smile on his face. "And you may want to run."
Alex took that news in stride. Nodding to Danny respectfully before crossing to Rowan and putting a hand to her shoulder. He handed her a small slip of paper and said: "For when you get a phone."
While Rowan smiled Danny shook his head: "Boy if you don't get out of here…"
Alex moved in swiftly to kiss her cheek before exiting the room, just as Steve came into view. Steve must have seen the kiss because he was glaring at Alex's retreating back. When he came into Rowan's temporary room there was a scowl on his face and she found herself frowning back at him.
"What was that?" he asked pointing in the direction that Alex had just disappeared in.
Rowan was going to tell him it was less than nothing, as a kiss on the cheek was literally nothing, but Danny had other ideas.
"Oh, that was Nurse Alex, by the looks of the guitar they were singing again," he said. "He also slipped her his number and kissed her on the cheek, real smooth like. A real Smooth Dog if you catch my drift"
Rowan's cheeks flamed and she glanced away from Steve whose scowl was darkening and cheeks were reddening. The way Danny said you would have thought they got caught screwing. "It was nothing," she insisted.
"He gave you his number? You don't even have a phone!" Steve complained.
Rowan shot a look to Danny to see if he'd be any help in the situation but he just stood there with that dumb grin on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. So he was going to be no help at all. Rowan turned back to Steve and decided it was time to change tactics.
"What did the doctor say? He told you I'm good to go, right?" she asked. She had hoped so since they had told her to change but maybe they had changed their minds.
"Yeah, you're good. You're not crazy, but you may have latent hallucinations, and I've got meds I need to pick up for you," he told her.
"A girl who doesn't exist can get a prescription?" Rowan shot back.
"Oh he didn't tell you?" Danny asked, pointing at Steve. Steve shot him a warning glare but that didn't shut Danny up. "He badgered the Governor into getting you a citizenship, and then badgered the citizenship people until the paperwork went through, which was this morning. So, congratulations on officially existing."
Steve avoided her eyes while Rowan just stared at him. No he had not told her that. Danny probably knew damn well that Steve hadn't told her that too. "Oh wow, thank you," she said to him, but he still wouldn't look at her.
"We going or not?" Steve asked, hitching his thumb over his shoulder signalling that he was ready to go.
"SHOTGUN!" Rowan screamed and then ran out the door. She heard the first of both older men complaining—Danny about riding in the back, Steve about her mad dash for the door—but she didn't care. She was finally free.
H5O-H5O-H5O- H5O
Steve had watched as Rowan looked around at the room that was now hers. She didn't jump and down for joy but she didn't seem to not like it either. She was pretty neutral about it.
"Uhm… are you sure it's okay that I stay here?" she asked for the millionth time. "Catherine won't mind?"
Steve shook his head. If he was being honest, he hadn't asked Catherine about how she felt with this strange girl staying in his house. He merely told her that Rowan had nowhere else to go so he was giving her a place to stay. She had said that made sense and he hadn't thought to ask if it bothered her. "I already told you its fine," he said instead of relaying all of that information to Rowan.
She turned back to the space and sat down on the bed, a strange smile on her face. "We'll look into getting you a phone tomorrow," he said.
Rowan shook her head. "No, no, no rush on that. I owe you too much as is," she told him.
Steve tried not to let that get to him. He didn't want to tell her that he wanted to get her a phone so he could keep tabs on her. "You don't owe me anything," he said instead. "And I'd like to get you a phone please."
Rowan stared at him, her blue eyes unreadable. "Can we agree to talk about it later, like maybe when I get a job?"
The thought of Rowan leaving his house and trying to work anywhere where he couldn't get access to her right when he wanted to didn't sit well with him. It made him more than a little anxious. "Okay, you just got out of the hospital, let's pace ourselves here."
"What are you talking about? You bought me a whole wardrobe, made sure I was a citizen so I could get my head meds and you're letting me stay here rent free," she argued. "I need to do something!"
"Yeah, rest," Steve told her.
"Well I don't want to do that!" she snapped back. "I'll feel useless if I just stay here doing nothing."
"You can come to work with me," Steve offered.
At this Rowan stood, hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Come to work with you?" she echoed. "We gonna give me a vest?"
"Well, you're not going to come on scenes or chases with us," Steve told her.
"Okay, then what am I going to do? Stay in your office and answer your phones?" she asked.
"No, everyone calls my cell anyway," he said. He didn't like where this was going and he didn't want to have to admit that he expected her to sit in his office, do nothing and just wait for him. He could already hear her sarcastic remark in his head. What? Like a Dog? Woof. Woof.
Rowan stared at him a bit before lowering her eyes. "Look, I appreciate how much you seem to care about my welfare, I do, really. But you don't need to watch me 24/7, I can take care of myself."
Steve felt the glare on his face, he watched her blue eyes raise up to him and then widen in fear at whatever face he was making, but he couldn't seem to make it stop. "Okay, what I mean is that you can leave me to my own devices and I promise I won't get into trouble." When he continued to glare at her she winced and amended her response. "Okay, I can't promise I won't get into any trouble…"
"Look, just give this a few days, okay?" he said. "You can say what you want but I feel responsible for you and nothing's going to change that."
Rowan nodded again and the two fell silent. Steve couldn't bring himself to move though so they just stood there staring at each other until the silence got awkward and Rowan couldn't take it anymore.
"Just one more note, I think I remember you saying this to Danny in an episode, but if you think I'm doing that three minute shower thing you've got another thing coming. I'm not a guy and I have a lot more to do than you."
"Okay, except that is one of the house rules so we save on water, it's called a Navy shower and it'll be good for you," he said trying to smile or show that thinking about her in the shower was making his blood heat.
"Okay, yeah, but as I said, I'm a girl and I have more to do, so this army—," "—Navy!" "—Whatever! The point is, my showers are going to be longer."
"I don't see why…"
"Because I have to shave from ankle to thigh, I have to wash everything, shampoo, conditioner, and don't even get me started on what I have to do when I get out of the shower, that's a whole 'nother hour of prep," she said. Steve just stared at her. It had never occurred to him that girls had more to do, and now he had the image of her lathering herself stuck in his head.
"Alright, look, we'll discuss this later, you hungry or what?" he asked.
"Sure, just… uh… let me get settled in and then I'll be down to help prep okay?" she said.
It was a clear dismissal. Steve was to walk away but he was still staring at her and he couldn't make his feet move. It was only when she turned her back on him to look in her new closet did he manage to turn his back on her and walk away. Happy he managed to not tell her that his room was right across from hers.
H5O-H5O-H5O- H5O
Steve couldn't sleep. It wasn't that Rowan was being loud, in fact she had turned in when he did. It wasn't that he was angry, because she had been nothing but polite the whole night and whatever minor spats they had over elbow space in the kitchen or who was going to do dishes, or what TV show to watch were small and nothing to get be obsessing over. It wasn't that he thought she was going to hurt him, because other than that slap he certain did deserve she had barely touched him since they had met.
Steve couldn't sleep because he knew she was across the hall. He knew that if he just got up out of bed, if he walked five steps down the hall, he could open her bedroom door and see her there. That alone should have been comforting, but it wasn't. It was keeping him up. It made him toss and turn. It made him kick the covers off and the pull them back up again. His skin was crawling, something in his gut was twisting and turning over, and he had this feeling that something was wrong but he heard nothing to back that theory up.
After what seemed like hours of this Steve finally got up. He took those five steps down the hall and quietly opened her door.
Rowan wasn't there.
Steve's stomach dropped immediately but his heart flew up into his throat. He hadn't heard her leave. He hadn't heard footsteps, but there was the bed, unmade and empty.
He rushed down the stairs, looking for any sign that she had been there and saw that the back light was on. He moved towards his lanai and spotted someone sitting in one of the beach chairs. He opened the door and found that Rowan was just sitting there, a small blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her knees up to her chest as she stared out at the water. She had gone to bed in a pair of grey shorts made out of the softest fabric Steve had ever seen and a shirt he didn't recognize as one of his own until right that moment. Her wearing his clothes was a sight he could definitely get used to.
"Sorry," she said without turning to look at him. "I have a bit of insomnia. I wasn't really sleeping at the hospital."
Steve took the chair next to her and just stared at her, hard. He didn't know what that meant. Was it because Alex was keeping her up or because she was too uncomfortable to sleep at the hospital? Whenever he went to see her she had always been out or too sleepy to stay awake and talk to him. "It's alright," he said even though his heart rate was just starting to slow down and it felt like it was going back up again.
"It's very pretty out here," she whispered. "I was looking at the stars and watching the water, I thought it might help me go to sleep but I think it just got me more excited."
Steve nodded, glancing up to the sky and then out to the water. It was a stunning sight and it made him proud that she liked the view from his lanai.
"Catherine picked out some bathing suits for you, maybe you can come swimming with me tomorrow," he offered.
Rowan finally looked to him, her eyes alight in the darkness and he was struck breathless just staring into them. The warm smile on her face wasn't helping matters either. "I've done enough swimming in the ocean, thank you," she said. "I'm more of a pool girl anyway."
Steve nodded to her, glancing down to where his hands where clasped tightly. It seemed she was always shooting down his ideas of spending time together. "Do you even want to stay here?"
He pointedly refused to look at her when he asked that question though he did hazard a glance and saw a confused look on her face. "Of course I want to," she told him. "Really, where else am I going to go?"
"Okay, so you're just staying here because you have nowhere else?" Steven shot back.
"Well yeah," she said. "But this is great. So long as we don't kill ourselves with arguing."
Steve could only stare at her. Something was tight in his chest and he couldn't understand it. He didn't understand why he needed her to want to be here with him, why it mattered that she wanted to stay. When he didn't comment, Rowan lowered her knees and leaned towards him.
"Is this because I didn't get super excited about the room?" she asked him. "Because I can explain that."
"Oh yeah?" Steve shot back, because maybe hearing her reasoning would make him feel better.
"Steve, that room, how much money did you put into it?" she asked him. Steve was slightly taken aback by the question. Was that her problem? "Because it looks like you just dropped your lifesavings on me and I'm not okay with that."
"Okay, no, it was not my lifesavings. I didn't redo the whole room. We just got you the necessities… and a new bed cover… and new pillows… and new furniture," he listed off.
Rowan shook her head. "You're just trying to bury me in debt to you aren't you?" she asked.
Steve smiled, that sounded like a good idea, but he had not thought in the least that she would have to pay him back. It made him happy to hear that she clearly had every intention of paying him back, she had morals, she had standards, and she was clearly an independent person. She was going to match him well. Whatever the hell that meant
"You should try to sleep," he said standing up. Rowan followed suit, being sure to keep her blanket wrapped around her form until she got into the house and dropped it back on the couch where she had found it. She smiled at him as she said goodnight again as he made sure she went into her room and got in bed. He walked away to go to his own room, but minutes later he was back across the hall and staring into her room. He didn't know how long he stood in her doorway watching her sleep curled up on her side with a peaceful look on her face.
And he wasn't going to think about it either.
H5O-H5O-H5O- H5O
Rowan woke up early the following morning. She didn't like the act of waking up that early, but she liked having her whole day to herself afterwards. But she wasn't waking up to get a head start on the day, she was waking up to get a head start on breakfast.
She had already made coffee and had pancakes on the stove and had moved on to cutting up fresh fruit to decorate the plates when someone came into the kitchen. Rowan looked up expecting Steve but it was a woman instead. One she recognized.
This was Steve's mother. With her short reddish-blonde hair, and her red smile set with a dangerous glint. She wore normal mom clothes, mom jeans, a white wife-beater with a black cotton dress shirt over it hanging open. She was staring at Rowan with a knowing look. The kind that made Rowan think that Steve told his mother all about the crazy girl he had living with him, especially her crazy tv show delusions and her knowledge of things she shouldn't know.
"You must be Rowan, I'm—," she started but Rowan cut her off. "You're Steve's mom. I know who you are."
She nodded, her eyebrows raising. The smile on her face got a little bit more dangerous. Rowan knew she should have shut up, but she remembered watching Steve suffer through his mother's actions and she didn't want to relive it live and in person.
"I know why you're here too," she told her before she could stop herself. At this Doris McGarrett cocked an eyebrow at her but Rowan didn't move to elaborate.
"Something smells good," Steve called from the further recesses of the house and in a few seconds he came into view. Wearing his navy seal tank top that he loved so much and a pair of loose black shorts. His muscles were rippling as he stretched and the sun was highlight all of his defined features. Damn, why did he always have to look so good?
"Oh, hey Mom," he said leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I see you've met Rowan."
"Yes, I did," she said, her tone low and dangerous. Luckily Steve didn't notice because he was too busy helping himself to coffee and pancakes.
"I forgot to tell you, Rowan. My mother's going to be staying here for a while until she gets her own place," he told her.
"She should take my room then," Rowan told him. "I don't mind sleeping on the couch."
"Nonsense, there's a second guest room I can stay in. I'm used to cramped quarters so it won't be too bad for me to stay there," Doris told them waving off their concerns.
Steve had come to stand beside Rowan and she was acutely aware of the way Doris was watching them as she doled out more fresh fruit for his plate. The way Rowan watched him with expectant eyes as he took a giant bite and then groaned.
"These are good," he said shoving another mouthful into his already full mouth. He swallowed quickly before continuing. "I think we know how you can pay me back."
Doris continued to stare at her with her unwavering dark brown eyes and Rowan refused to look away. Steve finally noticed the tension between them and put his plate of pancakes down.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Doris turned to him with a smirk on her face and said: "Rowan was about to tell me why she thinks I came back."
Then it was Steve and Doris staring back at her. She looked up at Steve's face, she saw the distrust and worry there and knew, just knew, that she couldn't shatter him. She didn't want to be that person who told him just what his mother was doing, why she was back, and that she was going to make him feel like she loved his arch nemesis more than him.
So instead she put on her most brilliant smile and flashed them both with it. "She's here to visit you, of course," she told him, relief bubbling up in her as a grin dawned on his face lighting it up in a way that made him look like a kid in a toy store. "She missed you."
Steve picked up his pancakes again and smiled at both the women at the kitchen island. He shoveled more into his mouth as Rowan got a third plate ready to hand Doris. They were all quiet for a bit until Rowan handed Doris the plate and then turned to Steve. "Hey Steve? I was wondering if we could look at phones today," Rowan said. "Would that be okay?"
"Yeah of course," he told her. "I was looking at adding you to my phone plan."
"That would be great, do you have the details, like what kind of plan it is?" she asked. "Like… somewhere I could read it?"
"Yeah, I think I can pull it up on my computer," Steve offered.
"Now?" Rowan urged.
Steve nodded, moving to go around his mother, pancakes and coffee in hand. If he thought the request odd he said nothing, just moving towards the den to as he was asked. Both women kept the smile on their faces until he was out of the room. When Doris turned back her smile had faded and so had Rowan's.
"You're here for the microfiche," she blurted out, her voice nothing but a low whisper. "I know you're going to take it out from under the floorboards, and when you get a new place you're going to hide it in a wall. Some dude it going to steal it and you and Steve go on a mission to get it back. Shortly after you up and abandon him again."
Doris blinked her eyes at her, she was clearly surprised but not by much. Rowan wasn't even close to being done. "I know why you didn't shoot Wo Fat too. I know who he is to you and the mistake you made on that mission where you 'killed his dad," she had said that last bit with air quotes and that had been enough for Doris.
The shock on her face was apparent, but Rowan continued. "I know Steve's gonna badger you for answers and instead of giving him the truth like he deserves you drop off the face of the earth again and it's going to kill him. He finds out about the mistake. He finds out who Wo Fat is and when he does he's going to be upset because it didn't come from you. Because it looks and it feels like you love Wo Fat more than your own children. Seeing as you keep picking him over and over again."
Doris was staring at her now. She looked afraid, she looked like she might cry. "I don't know if it's true. Maybe you don't love him more than Steve, and if that's the case tell him that. You're his mother, he just wants you to be there for him. He wants his mom back," Rowan felt an awful lot like she was begging.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you cared for my son," Doris whispered her eyes narrowed at Rowan like she was trying to figure her out.
Rowan flinched. She had been acting like she had been oblivious to Steve's rugged handsomeness and his soft and fluffy heart, but she wasn't. That crush on a fictional character was getting stronger and stronger as she stood in front of him and witnessed that rugged handsomeness and kindness in person. But he was with Catherine, and she had no intention of ruining a good thing to chase after a man she barely knew.
"No," Rowan answered before Doris could get the wrong idea. "It was heart breaking watching it on TV I don't want to live through it. I don't want to watch that man go to pieces on the inside if I knew I could say something now and prevent it."
"And you won't tell him?" Doris asked.
"No. He's asked me to not tell him things about himself," Rowan replied. "And none of this should come from me. It should come from the woman who chose to take him down this path."
Doris just stared at her. Rowan had said her piece, she was done now. She offered a plate of pancakes to her and tried to smile. But it didn't come out right. She didn't know why she felt so strongly about protecting Steve she just knew that she did and if she had to, she'd tell him all about Doris and her motives.