Sorry this didn't go up first thing in the morning like usual. Had some last minute edits that needed done.

Shout out to Phoebe Miller for beta reading!


Fact #153: Things go faster when red tape is ignored.

Season: 5th Season

"Harvey. Sit." Donna didn't even look up from her phone. She simply pointed a manicured finger at her boss.

Harvey grumbled.

"And don't growl at me," she said. "It's for your own good."

"If you were really concerned about my wellbeing you'd help me get out of here," Harvey said and sat back on the hospital bed with a resigned sigh.

Donna lifted her head and stared at him. "Excuse me?"

Harvey stayed silent.

She set her phone in her purse sitting beside the uncomfortable chair and rose to her feet. "It must have been someone else that got the call that you had been in an explosion and were currently being rushed to the hospital. Someone else must have taken care of your client meetings, availed Jessica of what was going on, and made sure Mike had something to do to keep him busy. Someone else must have been sitting vigil in your room for four hours waiting for you to come back to the land of the living, because as you said yourself, I'm not that concerned about your wellbeing."

Donna remained stone faced despite the victory she felt at seeing a sheepish look cross Harvey's face. He must have still been on the good stuff for his collarbone, because otherwise he would have met her head on after that.

"Louis better not break my puppy while I'm gone," Harvey said, redirecting the conversation away from himself and Donna.

"He'll be fine. The kid's put up with Louis before," Donna said. She sat on the edge of the bed. "Speaking of, Louis wants to know if you've heard from our ever mysterious Irish client."

Harvey raised a brow. "Really? I'm in the hospital with a fractured clavicle and a concussion and he wants to know if I've been in contact with a client?"

"Well, there were a lot of words involved, including a preamble that made me think that he thought you were going to die, and then he asked about Shamrock," Donna said. "He's probably more concerned about whether or not she's alive since she didn't show up at the hospital and they haven't released the names of the victims."

Harvey frowned and massaged his temple with his one good hand. Donna had noticed he did that when his headache got worse. Of course, he refused to admit that or show any weakness in front of her. In front of anyone.

"You need to sleep," she said.

"No, I need to get out of here and back to work," he said.

"Harvey, even when you get out of here, you're not allowed back to work for two weeks, maybe more if the neurologist doesn't think you've made enough progress," she said.

"It's just a headache!"

"And you couldn't even read the card Jessica left you without getting nauseous."

"I'm fine, Donna. I'll be fine in a few weeks." Harvey leaned his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.

Donna was about to get up and go back to the chair when Harvey spoke again.

"I think someone's going after Shamrock because of that information she had Louis look into," he said.

She let out a breath harshly through her nose. Of course he would be thinking about work. "I thought you said you couldn't find anything in her financials."

"I couldn't, and that's what's pissing me off."

"No, what's pissing you off is that Louis probably found something in her financials."

Harvey smirked.

"I bet he's happy now that he didn't get invited to that meeting," he said.

"I'm just glad you didn't take Mike," Donna said quietly.

Harvey peeked at her through cracked eyelids. "What was that?"

"Can you imagine how insufferable he would have been? He's bad enough when he's got a papercut," she said with an eye roll.

Harvey let it slide. Donna knew he was glad that his protégé hadn't been along for the ride that day. Not that Mike hadn't tried to convince him to take him with him. He hadn't had any luck and wound up with a pile of paperwork for his efforts, which in turn saved him from a stay in the hospital. Or worse.

Donna stood up from the edge of the bed. "I'm going to go get a coffee."

"I'll have my usual."

"So one venti no-fat caramel latte with whipped cream for me and a water for you. Got it," she said and disappeared from the room before he could object.

She edged around a wet floor sign and the lithe janitor mopping at nothing, then turned the corner. Before this, she had rarely spent time in a hospital. Being a corporate lawyer was a difficult and exhilarating job, but it wasn't typically a dangerous job. People retaliated with countersuits, not bullets. They had to be on the watch for corporate spies, not bombs.

Hopefully this would be a one time thing. She only needed one experience to last her a lifetime.

She turned another corner and came face to face with another redhead.

"Shamrock."


Kono waited until the redheaded legal secretary was out of earshot. She plopped her mop back in the bucket and dug her phone out of her uniform pocket.

"You good, babe?"

"Yeah, brah," Kono said. "I just overheard Harvey and his secretary talking. He said he thinks someone's going after Shamrock because of something to do with her financials."

"Great, one thing that we won't have an easy time accessing. Is that it?"

"He said that he couldn't find anything wrong with them, but mentioned that a Louis might have. You know what Louis he's talking about?"

"Louis Litt. He's an arrogant pain in the neck, but he's good with numbers. If Shamrock suspected something was amiss with her books, she would go to him."

"Okay, so how do we find out what he knows?" she asked.

"I don't know. I mean, maybe if Steve cornered him in a dark room, he might spill something useful, but once we let him go we'd get sued out of the shirts on our backs and wouldn't be able to afford to live in a gutter in Jersey."

"Speak for yourself. I'm staying in Hawaii and living in a tent," she said. "What if we got that computer guy from NCIS to–"

"Shamrock."

Kono cursed softly and scooted the mop bucket around the corner to the side of the nurses' station. She peered down the corridor briefly.

"Shamrock's here," she hissed into the phone.

"What?!"

"She's right down the hall, talking to Harvey's secretary."

"Keep your head down. Try to avoid her and get out if you can. I'll be waiting in the car outside, okay?"

"On it."

Kono hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. She turned her back to the hall, ducked her head, and casually mopped at a scuff mark on the floor. Two sets of footsteps approached from behind.

She held her breath.

The footsteps walked on by.

Exhaling sharply, she pivoted just enough to glimpse Shamrock and her mountain of a bodyguard walking into Harvey's room. Not wanting to stay and risk getting caught, though she wasn't sure what they would do to her in a public setting like a hospital, she pushed the mop bucket towards the elevator and jabbed the down button.

Once in the elevator she stripped her uniform off, parked the mop bucket in the corner, and took her hair out of its ponytail. She stepped off on the ground floor like she had never been there in the first place.

Danny was waiting exactly where he had said he would be in the parking lot.

"Did she see you?" he asked as soon as she got in.

"Nope. Walked right by me and into Harvey's room," she said. She grabbed the handle above the door as Danny whipped out of the parking lot onto the street. "What now?"

Danny waved a hand at her. "Now we go with your plan."

"My plan?"

"Call McGee and see if he can get into Louis Litt's files remotely."

Kono raised her brows, but pulled out her phone.

Danny glanced at her. "What? What's the face for?"

"Danny Williams, a by the book cop, is asking me to ask a hacker to illegally obtain information for a case we're not technically on, in a state we don't have jurisdiction in," Kono said. Her mischievous grin said it all.

"I still think hand grenades being used on shop doors and busting our fearless leader out of North Korea colored outside the lines more than this."

"North Korea, yes. Hand grenades? Eh," she said and held the phone up to her ear.

Danny rolled his eyes. "You've got to stop taking law enforcement tips from Steve."


It was five in the evening. Traffic was bad. He hadn't eaten yet. There was a sense of urgency and tension. And he was loving every minute yet.

Since this was Danny's case and his hometown, Steve had really tried to take a step back and defer to his partner on theirs plans, who they talked to, what course they would take. He wasn't used to taking a backseat on a case. It took more self-restraint than he usually employed.

But he had finally been given the reins. Danny and Kono were too far out. Steve and Mags were closer. He'd been given permission to go full Super SEAL in order to beat Shamrock to the punch.

Walking up the stairs of the apartment building wasn't necessarily exciting, but he didn't know what was waiting for them at the top. Armed with his trusty sidearm on his hip holster and a backup in an ankle holster, with his partner's ex-partner as backup, he was ready.

Mags seemed less thrilled.

"Look, I know you've probably got some strategic reason for not taking the elevator, but when we go down, we're taking the elevator," she said.

Steve paused on the landing to wait for her.

She was steady going up each flight, but her limp was becoming more pronounced. Steve knew from experience, though, that looks could be deceiving, and that she was quick with a mean left hook.

"Retired life making you soft?" he asked jokingly as they climbed the next flight side by side.

Mags grunted. "Yeah. Retired. That's funny."

Steve subtly looked at her. She was wearing a long sleeve shirt despite the warm temperature and had well-worn jeans on. Her grayish brown hair was pulled back in a braid like before, except this time he could see a pattern of scars spider webbing up her neck, nearly hidden entirely by her braid where the scars poked up from the collar of her teal shirt.

"What made you want to become a PI in the first place?" he asked.

"Well, when you retire from being a cop before your time and you've got some life left in you, you've got to find something to occupy your time," she said.

Steve left it at that, but only because they had arrived at the fifth floor.

McGee had managed to get into one of the computers at the law firm despite the short notice. Steve wondered if he'd catch any flack for it. He hoped not. Not everyone could get a free pass like Five-0 did back home.

At least the outcome of the hack had been fruitful. According to Louis Litt, there had been several small idiosyncrasies in the books for Shamrock's legitimate shipping company. Nothing big enough to draw attention. He had apparently made some notes in a separate file about the current person in charge of payroll needing fired.

Out of all the names mentioned that were associated with the idiosyncrasies, the name Lorenzo Hudson stuck out for some reason. Some of the deposits in his accounts were not criminally large, but odd. Call it a gut feeling or a hunch or whatever. That was the name Steve wanted to check out.

"Here it is, apartment 519," he said and pointed to the door at the end of the hallway.

They stopped in front of it. Mags inhaled deeply, catching her breath, and set her hands on her hips. She motioned for him to continue.

Steve rapped his knuckles on the door.

Someone in the apartment shuffled across the floor.

Steve knocked again when no one came.

"Lorenzo Hudson? It's Five-0. We just want to talk," Steve said.

"Don't think anyone around here is going to know what Five-0 is," Mags said.

The apartment was silent for a long moment. Then there was a thump and muffled yelling.

Steve tried the handle. Locked. He braced himself and rammed his boot heel into the door. It took another two kicks to finally send it flying open.

He and Mags stormed in with their guns drawn. The place was neatly kept with a clean entryway and living room and no dishes in the sink in the mini kitchen except for a single plate and cup.

In the dining room attached to the kitchen and living room, on the other hand, was an overturned chair with a man tied to it. It looked like Lorenzo Hudson if the picture on his employee file was anything to go by. Mags turned him upright while Steve checked the open window that led out onto the fire escape. He couldn't see anyone running away.

Lorenzo yelped as Mags ripped the duct tape off his mouth.

"Who are you?" Lorenzo questioned.

"Private investigators," Mags said. "Had a few questions for you, but it seems like someone beat us to it."

"Who was in here with you?" Steve asked.

Lorenzo laughed nervously. "It was just a buddy of mine. He thinks he's hilarious."

Mags stepped back and crossed her arms. "Uh huh."

Steve caught her eye. "I agree. That's some friend you've got there."

Lorenzo flexed against the duct tape securing him to the chair. "You going to let me out of here or what?"

"Or what," Steve said and stalked around to face him. "Who was here?"

"I told you–"

"And I don't believe you," Steve said. He glared at him, analyzing every part of him. The man didn't seem like someone who would be able to frame a crime lord or set up something of this magnitude. Steve could usually tell a dangerous man when he met one, and this guy didn't scream dangerous. "You're lucky, you know."

"Lucky? I'm tied up and two hired snoops busted down my front door, which is going to cost a pretty penny to fix," Lorenzo said. "How am I lucky?"

Steve put his hands on his knees so he was eye level with him. "Because we got to you before whoever paid you off did. You're not as slick as you think you are."

Lorenzo paled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the crap, Hudson, we know you're skimming accounts and taking bribes on your job," Mags said.

Steve pressed his lips together. They didn't know that for sure. Mags was leaping to a conclusion.

"I just needed a little extra cash, that's all!"

The right conclusion.

"It wasn't anything big," Lorenzo finished lamely, as if that made it alright.

"Doesn't matter." Steve shrugged. He inwardly grinned. A plan was forming. "You stole from your boss."

Lorenzo's mouth opened and closed a few times. "Oh god, she hired you, didn't she?"

Mags furrowed her brows at Steve in question.

"We're not at liberty to say," Steve said. "But I can tell you that this whole thing will go a lot easier if you tell us who's been making deposits in your bank account."

"Wait, hold on," Lorenzo said. "I want a lawyer."

"I'm not a cop, genius," Mags said. "You think your boss is going to let you have a lawyer if we don't get a name?"

Steve invaded his personal space and tipped the chair back precariously. "Who's been paying you off?"

Lorenzo shook his head.

Mags slapped the duct tape back over his mouth. "I say we leave him here and let his buddy come back."

Steve frowned.

"What? If he's not gonna talk, he's not gonna talk. Not my problem," she said. She flicked a hand at Lorenzo. "Of course, Shamrock might send someone else to come visit you again. Someone who's not us two civilized people. If your buddy doesn't kill you first."

"Mmph hmmph mm hmm!"

Steve grabbed the corner of the tape and ripped it off. "Try saying that again."

"I don't know! We've never met in person and I've never gotten a name," Lorenzo said.

Steve stepped back. "Start from the beginning."


"And apparently he's been in contact with them since then," Steve said.

Danny set his fork down next to his plate. "Why can't anyone leave paper trails anymore? It's turned into the age of the geek."

"Want me to call McGee again?" Kono asked.

"And Chin. We'll track down Lorenzo Hudson's mystery employer from two different directions," Danny said. "And Hudson is at Callahan's station?"

"Yeah. That's where Mags and I dropped him off," Steve said.

"Good." Danny took a sip of his beer and stared at the pasta on his plate.

Steve shared a look with Kono.

"You worried about Shamrock getting to him in lockup?" Kono asked.

Danny sat back and shook his head. "She's bold. Not stupid. I'm more worried about this being another dead end. We keep blindly swinging in the dark and I keep thinking sooner or later we're going to hit something."

Steve sat forward with his elbows on the table and his voice lowered. "But you're worried that someone in the dark is going to take another swing at you when we hit them."

"And this time they might not miss," Danny said.

"I'll call McGee," Kono said and excused herself from the table.

They had reconvened at Danny's parents' house that evening to eat. His parents were upstairs in bed and the others were dispersed throughout the house, but out of the dining room and kitchen so the team could have some privacy to share information. It felt like they were coming up with more questions than answers. Nash hadn't come up with anything more on the Japan front. Mags was pulling up short with her criminal contacts. This Lorenzo Hudson angle was still up in the air.

"Are you sure Hudson had no clue who the first guy was?" Danny asked.

"I grilled him about it after he told us how he got in contact with his employer," Steve said. "Guy had a mask on, gloves, was very careful. All he saw was dark hair and said he sounded like he was maybe from Boston. I didn't see him slip out. Just vanished. Professional."

Danny sighed. "Now that, that sounds like Shamrock."

"You think she'll be pissed we got to Hudson first?" Steve asked.

"Oh yeah, but I'm kinda resigned to the fact that she's pissed at me," Danny said with a chuckle. "It was due to happen sometime. I'm honestly surprised the monster hasn't turned her teeth on me up to this point."

"Us. You're not in this alone, bud."

The grin that flitted across Danny's face was sincere but sad. "Thanks, babe."

Kono walked in from the backyard. "Okay, so, McGee said he can start tracing the deposits in Hudson's account and the emails, but he agrees that the burner phones from Hudson's apartment are a dead end."

"Have Chin forward us whatever he can dig up on Hudson. At least then we'll be doing something productive, and the more eyes, the better," Danny said.

Steve pushed himself up from the chair. "I'll get the coffee–"

There was a solid thump from the other room.

"You half-pint punk!"

A table rattled against the wall and a vase fell.

"Eric! Eric! Reuben, stop it!"

Danny leapt up at Tiffany's distressed yell. Steve and Kono followed him into the living room. They froze at the edge of the rug while Danny charged into the fray and separated his nephew and cousin.

"What the hell guys? Are we in high school?" Danny questioned, shoving each of them to a separate corner of the room. He raised his hands up and gestured wildly. "What's going on?!"


Next week on "Dragons", we see what the heck is going on between Eric and Reuben, and I think this ridiculous arc is going to finally wrap up.

Thank you guys so much for sticking with me and continually reading, reviewing, faving, and following!