That could have gone better, Lori thought as she left McGarrett's office. She was glad that Five-0 had solved the case and rescued the girl from her kidnapper, but everything was muted by the news that Kono had lost her badge. It was awkward enough to join a tight-knit team like this, particularly since the situation was forced on them all by Governor Denny. But now, faced with losing a team member, everyone was on edge. Particularly McGarrett.

After the news hit, McGarrett had stormed off into his office, and Lori followed him. In hindsight, it probably wasn't a good move, she realized. She'd just wanted to lend a hand in clearing Kono of the charges. But for whatever reason, her offer was only met with McGarrett's angry stare. His hostility stunned her for a moment, before she turned on her heel and left for the small conference table that was currently serving as her desk.

She opened up the screen of her laptop and started flipping through the files on her desk, but she couldn't concentrate on anything. All she could see were his eyes fixed on her, angrily narrowed while he stood, arms crossed behind his desk. He acted as if she were to blame for Kono's troubles.

This doesn't make sense, she thought, as she ruffled her fingers anxiously through her hair. McGarrett has a stellar record, from Annapolis to Afganistan, in his time at NI and his service with the SEALs. His work with Five-0 has been a bit outside of standard police tactics, but it seems like he'd always done whatever it took to catch the criminal and solve the case. He shouldn't have let Ling go in his efforts to catch Wo Fat, but clearly, Steve is a professional.

He's a professional! Lori slammed her hand down on the table in frustration. Why is he taking Kono's troubles so personally? And why is he directing his anger at me?

Lori took a deep breath and stopped herself. This is ridiculous, she thought. I shouldn't even care what McGarrett thinks. I have a job to do. I don't know why a man with his training and experience would blame me, but that's his issue, not mine. I know what I have to do, she decided. Resolved, she pulled out the case file on Jen's kidnapping and started to make some headway on her report.

"Hey, you're going to make the rest of us look bad."

Lori looked up, slightly startled, to see Danny coming out of his office.

"Sorry, what?"

"It's 6:30 and you've been heads down for a couple of hours. I don't know who's worse, you or Steve. Everyone else left a while ago. You okay?" Danny asked, approaching the desk where Lori was working. He looked at the neat piles of documents laid across the table and admired her meticulousness.

"I'm fine, thanks. I'm just going to wrap this up and head out," Lori said, with a small smile. She glanced briefly at McGarrett's office. "Is everything all right?"

Danny smiled. Lori was certainly a beautiful woman, but it was clear he was practically invisible when Steve was around. He wasn't surprised. This was one of the many reasons why he rarely met women when he was out. He was a good guy, attractive, smart (and smart-mouthed). But Steve…well, he was a friggin' super-SEAL, and women could sense him a mile away.

"Yeah, Superman will be fine. He's worried about Kono. We all are," Danny answered. "He's like a mother hen sometimes. I don't know who's worse when it comes to her, Steve or Chin."

Lori chuckled. Danny was a nice guy, a good cop too. Not really her type, although when she thought about it, he probably should be her type. Lori was a brilliant analyst when it came to her work, but her reasoning and judgment were less than ideal when it came to men. She wasn't the type to pick the safe one, the easy choice.