The plan was simple. The women were gonna go out, and the boy's were gonna play poker. Kaira had gotten changed into her red sequin dress. She walked out into the bathroom as Eliot was waiting by the door to the apartment. He whistled as Kaira walked out. Kaira smiled, suppressing a chuckle, and maybe blushing.

"Damn, mama. You're gonna have to be careful at the club. Lots of boys are gonna want their hands on you. And I don't blame them." Eliot flirted a bit, a cocky grin on his face.

"Oh, baby, you know I would never let that happen." Kaira wrapped her arms around Eliots neck and she held his head, his hair through her fingers.

Kaira leaned into Eliot. "Though I'll make an exception for you, baby." Kaira whispered to Eliot's ear, a grin on her face.

Eliot grinned as well. Eliot looked Kaira up and down, and you can imagine what he was thinking.

"You're the most beautiful woman in the world, Kaira." Eliot said, quiet.

"Thank you, babe. You're not too bad-looking yourself." Kaira said, smiling.

Eliot smiled at Kaira. She pulled him into a kiss. They both started breathing heavily. Eliot went to start to remove Kaira's dress as they kissed, but she stopped him.

"Hey, babe, not now. I have to leave soon. I don't want my dress messed up." Kaira said, getting her breath back.

Eliot backed off.

"Later?" Eliot suggested.

"Oh, absolutely." Kaira teased.

Eliot nodded again, and Kaira nodded again. Both of them were looking fine as hell, and it would be a waste. So Kaira pushed Eliot up against the wall. She then held his head and ran her fingers through his hair as they locked lips. Eliot's hands were everywhere, getting lower against the wall as Kaira was a bit higher than him as they kissed. Just then, they heard a knock on the door. They stopped and groaned. Kaira fixed herself, and Eliot opened the door. It was Hardison.

"Hey, man, you coming down? Sophie's getting impatient, waiting for Kaira, and poker still needs set up - what the hell?" Hardison said, noticing the sex hair both Kaira and Eliot had as Kaira moved to be seen.

"Hey, Hardison." Kaira said, trying to hide what happened.

"Did y'all-?" Hardison was hesitant to ask.

"No, we were just-" Kaira tried coming up with an excuse.

"Playing cards." Eliot added.

"Yeah. Modified blackjack." Kaira said.

"Like I believe that." Hardison said.

"Y'all nasty." Hardison said as he walked away.

"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot muttered.

He shut the door and turned to Kaira.

"Well, so much for that." Eliot said.

"Yeah. I'm gonna get cleaned up. We can continue this later." Kaira gave a wink as she left.

She quickly went into the bathroom and brushed out her hair and fixed her makeup and went downstairs.

Hardison and Eliot brought in the poker table. Parker, Kaira, and Sophie were chatting by the island.

"Not even for a little while?" Parker questioned.

"Unh-unh. I told you - we have plans." Sophie said.

"Parker, you just have to talk to him." Kaira said quietly, so Hardison wouldn't hear.

Hardison and Eliot sat the table down on the floor.

"Hey. It is a valid strategy." Hardison argued.

"It's not a strategy, man! It's just annoying when you bet every hand." Eliot argued.

Kaira walked over to Eliot.

"Babe, it's a strategy I used to use when my uncle taught me to play. I used to be quite the hustler, you know." Kaira teased Eliot, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Eliot's hands wrapped around and ended up on Kaira's ass.

"Hmm, were you now?" Eliot said, obviously having trouble focusing on Kaira's eyes.

"Oh yeah." Kaira chuckled.

"And you ain't that slick, Cowboy." Kaira teased, whispering in Eliot's ear, letting go of Eliot.

They did not care about the looks they were getting from the rest of the team, especially Nate, who had come down the stairs.

"I just got a phone message from Detective Bonanno, saying that he wants to come over. He's - No, no, no, no. No, no, guys. No." Nate said, walking over to the window.

"Oh, come on. Your father had a poker game for 30 years. Police, criminals at the same table. This is good for you." Sophie told Nate.

"Yeah, yes, I want to be like my father. Good insight, Sophie." Nate said.

The team met by the island.

"Living in your own head. The only conversation you have is with your own crew. That ain't right." Eliot said, grabbing the cards and heading back to the table.

"Yeah, name one person you can have a conversation with who isn't on this team." Hardison said as Nate went to grab coffee.

"And don't say Maggie." Kaira, Hardison, Parker, and Sophie yelled.

"Nathan, Eliot, and I have our service buddies, I have a few family members I still talk to." Kaira said.

"I mean, Hell, even Hardison has his little internet friends, even though they're all elves and gnomes." Eliot said.

"They're orcs. I said "orcs", man. You just don't listen." Hardison said.

"Kaira and I have dinner plans. Even Parker's meeting a friend tonight." Sophie said as she got on her white coat.

"Mm-hmm. Remember Peggy from that jury job in Los Angeles? Technically, she's Alice's friend." Parker said.

"You're Alice." Kaira, Hardison, and Eliot said.

"You're Alice, actually." Nate added over top.

"But she moved here from Boston last year, so we've been doing brunch and other normal-people stuff." Parker said.

"And we're very proud of you." Sophie said.

"We really are, Parker." Kaira smiled at Parker.

"Well, brunch isn't hard. I mean, there are forks." Parker added.

"So, girls' night out, boys' night poker - character building for everyone. Have fun." Sophie said.

She turned to Eliot.

"Do not let him go off and sulk." Sophie told Eliot.

She left, Parker behind her.

Kaira turned to Eliot. "You have fun with the boys, okay?" Kaira told Eliot.

"And you have fun with the girls, babe. But don't get too drunk. I am not carrying your drunk ass back home. Again" Eliot said.

Kaira playfully hit Eliot. "Oh, come on, Cowboy. I'll behave myself." Kaira teased.

They gave each other a quick kiss before Kaira walked away.

"Sophie, don't let Kaira drink tequila! We don't want that to happen again!" Eliot called out.

Kaira turned to Eliot, walking backwards a bit.

"Oh, calm down, babe. I promise I will behave myself, and I will come home with the same amount of clothes as now." Kaira yelled.

Eliot gave a light chuckle.

"I love you, Princess." Eliot yelled as Kaira went out the door.

"I love you too, Cowboy." Kaira called, shutting the door behind her.

A bit later, their guests for the night arrived. Bonanno and Eliot's friend Shelly were there (A/N All right, I know I called him Shelby before. Just know I'm talking about the same person.). They had started playing. Hardison bet on a pair of twos and went to reveal his hand.

"Bam!" Hardison exclaimed as she started laughing, collecting the pot.

"You bet out on a pair of twos." Eliot realized.

"Yeah. Never tell me the odds." Hardison said.

"Han Solo." Shelby said, taking a swig of beer.

Hardison's phone rang.

"Hey, you know what? I like your friend, Eliot." Hardison said.

"Hey, respect the game. Respect the game." Eliot said.

Hardison got up to take his phone call from Parker.

"So, what line of work are you in, Shelly?" Bonanno asked Shelly.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Shelly said.

Eliot and Bonanno started laughing.

"Right." Bonanno said, still laughing as he shuffled the deck of cards.

"Yeah... he actually would." Eliot pointed out, trying to act positively.

"You know he's State Police." Nate pointed out.

"Well, we'd have to make it look like an accident, then. Like that guy in Uzbekistan." Eliot said.

Shelly then pretended to choke. "What's in this salad?" Shelly said, straining his voice.

"Terrorism and peanut allergies do not mix." Eliot said. Hardison came back over.

"Eliot." Hardison said.

"What?" Eliot questioned.

"The guy Parker just asked me to get the 411 on." Hardison said, handing his phone to Eliot to look at the picture.

"Parker your girl?" Shelly asked Hardison.

"You know, man, I've been trying, but sometimes I think she gets, like, second thoughts. You know, I just sometimes want to take and get a nice pedicure" Hardison started ranting.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yah, you know, I just don't want to have this conversation right now, thanks." Nate got up and walked to go downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Eliot asked.

"Gonna go get a bottle of scotch downstairs." Nate said, leaving.

"You know, he's worse than before he went to prison." Hardison pointed out.

"He was in prison?" Shelly questioned.

"Yeah, he went to jail. But he escaped." Eliot said.

"Shouldn't that bug you? Being a cop and all?" Shelly questioned Bonanno.

"You get used to it." Bonanno said.

Shelly started laughing.

"Man, you should talk to Kaira about Parker." Eliot told Hardison.

"Why would I talk to Kaira about Parker?" Hardison questioned.

"Man, they're friends. It's like two peas in a pod." Nate said.

"Wait, Kaira? As in "hottest woman you've ever met", mob boss grandaughter? That Kaira?" Shelly questioned.

Eliot chuckled a bit. Hardison also had a smile.

"That Kaira." Eliot said, a smile on his face.

"Hey, you're lucky you don't gotta work with those two, cause man, they all up in each others business." Hardison messed around with Eliot, and got a light puch to the shoulder.

"I'm telling her you said that." Eliot said.

"Oh, hell no, man, I ain't getting my assed kicked by your wife." Hardison argued.

"Wait, wife?" Shelly questioned Eliot.

Eliot grinned, confirming.

"Eliot Spencer, locked down. Ain't that something." Shelly joked around as he took another sip of beer.

Nate went down to the bar and grabbed a glass and a bottle of scotch. Just as he was about to take a drink, he heard his name being called.

"Nate!" Hurley ran over and hugged Nate, laughing.

"Hurley." Nate realized.

"Yeah!" Hurley exclaimed. He saw the glass on the table.

"Oh, man, are you drinking again?" Hurley asked Nate.

"Yeah, I'm still drinking, Hurley." Nate said, drinking.

"Ooh, that's a shame." Hurley said.

Then Nate started pushing Hurley outside.

"Ah, you can't be here. How did you find me?" Nate asked.

"Oh. So, I was in Mexico, where you sent me, right?" Hurley said.

"Yeah, yeah." Nate said.

"Tacos are amazing. And no, it's brilliant." Hurley said.

They made it outside.

"And how did you find me?" Nate asked.

"Hardison told me." Hurley said as they made it to the other side of the street.

"Oh, of course he did." Nate muttered.

Hurley got out a pin.

"Look at that. Sober two years. That's my pin. Wanted to show you that, my friend." Hurley said.

"I'm not your friend." Nate insisted.

"Look, I was a wreck when we met, Nate. But you guys, when you decided to help me - you and your crew-" Hurley explained.

"Yeah, we wanted to take you down for embezzling, Hurley." Nate pointed out.

"Okay, bad start, but-but you helped me. And you were a friend when I needed one." Hurley said.

"I wanted you to go to prison." Nate said.

"And now I'm totally clean and sober, I have a good job, a good life, and I owe that all to you." Hurley told Nate.

They stopped.

"Yeah, all right. No more trouble?" Nate asked Hurley.

"I met this nun, Sister Lupe, when you sent me to Mexico, and now I work for her church. They needed to raise money for their orphanage, so I helped them set up this online business, and we sell their handmade statues of the Virgin Mary. I had to do a delivery in Boston, so I decided to-" Hurley handed Nate the statue.

"You-you deliver these?" Nate questioned.

He had Hurley keep walking after seeing two men in black coats.

"Yeah, yeah, I-I drive 'em across the border and I deliver them to these different warehouses across America. I got a whole trunkful of them in my car." Hurley said.

"Yeah, any deliveries at night?" Nate questioned Hurley.

"Oh, well, warehouses are open 24/7. It's a global economy, Nate." Hurley said.

"Hey, Hurley-" Nate tried to get Hurley to stop talking.

"I just needed to let you know-" Hurley said.

Just then, guns were heard cocking, and Nate yelled for Hurley to run.

Back in the living room, the boys were waiting for Nate to come back. That's when the gunfire was heard.

"I'm out. Hardison, come with me." Eliot said.

"You see what I'm sitting on?" Hardison questioned.

"Yeah, you're chasing an inside straight, man. I can't tell you how offensive that is!" Eliot walked behind Hardison.

"Pat, Shelly, we'll see you guys in a little bit, man. We're gonna goo some pizza." Eliot said.

Hardison followed him out.

"Pizza." Hardison said.

Bonanno and Shelly got to talking.

Back outside, Nate and Hurley hid behind a car. Hurley was panting, catching his breath.

"Man, those guys are really mad at you." Hurley said.

"At you, Hurley. I think they're mad at you. We got to get off the street." Nate said.

They ran inside a church and ran to the basement.

Hardison and Eliot were walking along the street.

"So, what, random shots fired in the big city on a Friday night? That's not unusual." Hardison said.

"Look, man, violent crimes in major cities is at their all-time low in over 40 years." Eliot said.

"Excuse the hell out of me, public-service announcement." Hardison said.

"Nate's not at the bar, shots fired - come on, man." Eliot said.

Just then, Hardison kicked some shell casings that were on the ground. Hardison then got down and picked up a card on the ground.

"There's no writing. Just a magnetic strip." Hardison said.

He got out his phone and started messing with it as Eliot picked up the shell casing.

"Somebody was firing while they were running. Call Nate." Eliot said.

"Doesn't have his cell phone on him." Hardison pointed out.

"Then earbud." Eliot suggested.

"No, man, look - wherever he is, whatever trouble he's gotten into - we're flying blind." Hardison said.

Back at the church, Nate and Hurley were trying to figure out what was happening. They stopped in front of a door.

"They are not after me, Nate. Look, I don't mean to be negative here, but I've made my amends. And you're still breaking the law and stuff." Hurley said.

"Hurley, you are in over your head, again. Until I figure out what's going on, we are not leaving this basement." Nate said.

He opened the door, and revealed it was an addiction support group meeting. Nate went to leave, but Hurley stopped him. So, reluctantly, Nate stayed with Hurley in the meeting.

Back on the ground, Hardison and Eliot tried to track down Nate. They crossed the street again.

"Call Sophie, Parker, and Kaira." Eliot said.

"Can't - they're busy. Well, Parker's busy." Hardison said, the jealousy coming out.

"Man-" Eliot tried to stop him.

"Look, look, man, look. I'm betting this is a hotel room key, okay? I've hacked my phone to read the strip, and..." Hardison scanned the card.

"Bam - Palaestra hotel. Even got the room number." Hardison said.

"Palaestra hotel's a couple of blocks over." Eliot said.

"Yeah." Hardison said, putting his phone away.

"Let's go." Eliot said.

"You know anybody else who can do that? Do you? No, I don't think so. Damn the tux. Damn the tux." Hardison ranted, walking away.

Eliot closed his eyes and groaned and started walking.

"Didn't you teach Kaira to do that?" Eliot muttered as he followed Hardison.

Back at the church basement, Nate and Hurley started mingling with the guests. Nate took Hurley aside and reminded him he wasn't his friend, and accused Hurley of being a drug mule. Nate then explained to Hurley the statues is what they put the drugs in. Hurley insisted Sister Lupe wouldn't do that. Nate told Hurley he had been duped by sister Lupe. Nate then told Hurley it wasn't his fault. Nate then indulged Hurley, saying Hurley was right, and he was wrong. Nate then said they were staying in the basement until he figured out what was going on, and Hurley hugged him, and Nate told him he shouldn't hug him. Nate tried getting a phone, but was unsuccessful as the meeting started.

Meanwhile, Hardison and Eliot made it to the hotel and to the room floor.

"This about the guy that Parker took the picture with?" Eliot asked Hardison.

"Yes, it's about the guy that Parker took the picture with." Hardison said.

"You're kidding me." Eliot muttered.

"Who goes to a cocktail lounge in a tuxedo? Who does he think he is?" Hardison asked Eliot.

"I don't know, man." Eliot said as they made it to the room.

"He's not even wearing a tie. Did you see him?" Hardison told Eliot.

"Maybe, every once in a while, take the hoodie off and put a suit on - maybe light some candles." Eliot tried telling Hardison, who mentioned the chocolate festival, saying Parker was enjoyinh eating chocolate (A/N Look, I get Aldis likes calling himself sexual chocolate, but that's a bit much, Hardison). Eliot then told Hardison to back away from the "Witch of the Warcraft".

"You know, I'm about sick of you and all my games. It makes -" Hardison said, about to open the door.

"Hang on." Eliot said, grabbing Hardison's arm to stop him from opening the door.

"What?" Hardison said.

"Why's it dark?" Eliot questioned.

"I don't know." Hardison said.

Just as Eliot peaked in, gunshots rang out, so they both got to cover. Eliot took care of the shooter and disarmed the gun. And Hardison dealt with the other guy. Eliot gave the gun to Hardison.

"Don't play with that." Eliot growled as Hardison grabbed it.

Eliot went to peak into the room again and shut the light off, but Hardison cocked the gun.

"Hey, hey, where y'all going? Why - believe this - where you..." Hardison tried acting tough, but Eliot ran over and starting to fight the guys.

Hardison still aimed the gun at the goons.

"Let me shoot him, Eliot! Move! Move!" Hardison exclaimed.

Eliot started taking care of another guy, ignoring Hardison.

"Let me shoot him, Eliot! Move out the way, Eliot! Let me shoot him, man! Let..." Hardison said.

Eliot took care of the last guy. Hardison was done and walked up to Eliot.

"And how did you even know?" Hardison asked.

"Told you not to play with that thing." Eliot told Hardison.

Hardison went to check the bodies.

"The maid leaves the lights on when they clean the room." Eliot explained as Hardison grabbed an invitation to the Venezuelan Consulate.

"What would you need four guys..." Eliot looked back at the bodies.

"Two guys..." Eliot recounted.

"Hey, we beat up some dancers." Hardison said, showing Eliot the invitation.

"Dancers?" Eliot questioned.

"Yeah. "A night of Tango celebrating the culture of Venezuelans"." Hardison read off as Eliot fixed his hair.

"Those were Mexicans. the first two guys were Mexicans." Eliot pointed towards the door and spoke over top of Hardison.

"They're Venezuelans." Hardison said.

"Twinkle-toes back here knows a little more than how to do the tango, all right? They aren't dancers." Eliot explained, pointing back to the bodies.

"We messed up. They whole career all screwed up. Let's just check the room." Hardison said, walking towards the room, Eliot behind.

Back at the church basement, Hurley spoke first. Nate kept asking people for their cell phones. Nate said he'd talk next. He spoke and ended up getting a cell phone to call his "ex-wife".

Back at the room, Eliot was looking through a luggage bag. He threw it on the bed.

"I got his overnight bag. Looks like there's enough clothes here for about three days. He's a big guy." Eliot looked at the tags.

"All his clothes were made in Mexico." Eliot pointed out.

"I just found a valet ticket. Whoever this is, his car is sitting in the parking lot." Hardison said.

That's when his phone started ringing. Hardison answered the phone.

"Yeah?" He said.

Very quickly, he realized it was Nate in cover. Hardison told Eliot it was Nate on the phone. Hardison asked if he was drunk, which Nate denied. He said he was with Hurley.

"He's with Hurley?" Hardison questioned, looking at Eliot.

"Who the hell's Hurley?" Eliot asked.

Eliot remembered who Hurley was.

"The-the dude from the rehab job?" Eliot questioned.

"I guess." Hardison said.

"Put it on speakerphone." Eliot said.

"Hey. Can you talk?" Hardison asked.

Nate basically said no. He said again he was with Hurley and he was safe, and was with new friends.

"Yeah, I think we met a couple of your friends. Mexican hitters - or there was a Venezue - Mexican hitter - the first two were Mexican hitters." Eliot said.

Nate said it reminded him of the Irish church he got married at.

"So, what, the guys who were shooting at you, they're Irish muscle?" Hardison questioned.

Nate confirmed it.

"So there's two sets of hitters - Irish and Mexican - and both after Hurley?" Eliot questioned.

Nate then mentioned a car.

"The car." Eliot said.

"The car. What car? Oh! Uh, we just found a valet ticket. Are you saying that there's something in Hurley's car?" Hardison questioned.

Nate confirmed, and said about the bag of drugs, which why he wouldn't just whisper that, the author doesn't know.

"All right. We're on our way. Let's go. The ticket." Eliot said, getting Hardison and leaving.

Nate finished his conversation, getting a round of applause from everyone, and a hug from Hurley.

Eliot and Hardison made it to the garage. They found the valet guy knocked out on the ground. They ran up to him and Eliot checked for a pulse.

"We got a pulse." Eliot said.

That's when they heard tires screeching. heading towards them. Eliot stood up and found an umbrella. Hardison got to cover. He grabbed it and went right into the path of the car, rolled out of the ay of the car, and threw the umbrella in, causing it to open, blocking their view, causing them to crash the car. Eliot and Hardison ran over to the car, at first stopping to make sure it was clear. They ran up to the gold car. The car doors were opened, and Hardison opened the trunk. They quickly checked the car.

"Nothing up front." Eliot said.

"Back's empty." Hardison said.

"They got the drugs." Eliot realized.

They ran off again.

Back at the church, Hurley told Nate how proud of him he was. Nate told him he wasn't calling his wife, and they left. Just as they went to leave through the main doors, a Latina woman dressed as a nun called out to Hurley.

"Hurley." She said.

"Sister Lupe!" Hurley said, excited to see his friend.

She then pulled out a pistol.

"Sister Lupe." Hurley said, more annoyed than anything.

She had them go into the main room of the church (A/N I don't know the names of the rooms, sorry!), the gun still trained on them. Hurley had his hands up as Nate kept his cool.

"This is so not cool, Sister Lupe." Hurley said.

"Muy Malo!" Hurley exclaimed.

"Back away from him." Sister Lupe said, her gun trained on Nate.

"He's leading you outside to an ambush." Sister Lupe told Hurley.

"What?" Hurley muttered.

"I saw two men with guns out there." Sister Lupe said.

"Mexicans?" Nate questioned.

"No. Local, like you." SIster Lupe said. She quickly realized she messed up.

"Wait, are you not-" Sister Lupe questioned.

Nate then grabbed her arm to point the gun down and coldcocked her.

"Oh! You just coldcocked a nun! In church!" Hurley exclaimed.

Nate just looked at Hurley.

"Talk about making amends." Hurley muttered.

Eliot and Hardison were walking along side the street, trying to find the church. Hardison's phone rang.

"Hello?" Hardison answered the phone.

Nate was at the church, Hurley getting Sister Lupe on the benches to get her comfortable.

"Yeah, did you get the bag of drugs?" Nate asked them.

"No, we lost the bag to the same guys who were searching Hurley's room. Is he okay?" Hardison said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's been running drugs across the Mexican border. No, no, it's not his fault. But so he was in Boston making a delivery when the Irish mob - probably the Callaghan family - decided they were gonna take him out." Nate explained.

Hardison and Eliot crossed the street.

"Well, there's your Irish hitters from earlier." Eliot pointed out.

"Yeah, exactly. Callaghans run the drugs in Boston, and they didn't want the Mexicans infringing on their territory. So they're gonna kill Hurley to try and send a message to the cartel unless, of course, I can make a bargain with them, which is why I need that bag of drugs." Nate explained, pacing around.

"Do you know where the Mexican cartel is based in Boston?" Hardison asked.

"Well, no. They're not exactly major players here, so I don't know where their safe houses are. They're probably holed up somewhere laying low. But I'll you what - I know who you can call." Nate said.

Back at the living room, Shelly was giving Bonanno choking lessons. Shelly went to the fridge as Bonanno answered the phone.

"Hey, Hardison." Bonanno said.

Shelly looked at all the orange soda liters in the fridge.

"Where in Boston would the main safe house for any Mexican drug smugglers? Yeah, just theoretically, right. I'll text you some addresses." Bonanno said.

He started texting some addresses.

"Take it they're not coming back with that pizza, are they?" Shelly guessed.

"You get used to it." Bonanno said.

Back at the church, Nate showed that the gun Sister Lupe, who had her headdress off, had was fake.

"Fake. Children's toy." Nate tossed the gun to Sister Lupe.

"I was only trying to scare you off." Sister Lupe stood up.

"What, so you could get your drugs?!" Hurley exclaimed, putting the statue in her face, then walked to the side to cool off.

"Hurley." Sister Lupe tried to explain.

"No! Don't talk to me. You played me for a sap!" Hurley exclaimed.

Sister Lupe took off her nun gown.

"Nate was right. I'm a dupe. And I'm hurting people again!" Hurley exclaimed.

"No, you are helping people!" Lupe tried to explain.

"What, by selling drugs?" Nate questioned.

"Cancer drugs. Do you know how expensive cancer drugs are for families without health insurance in this country?" Lupe tried explaining.

"She's lying, Hurley." Nate said.

"No! I am part of a group that liberates drugs from factories in South America. Then we smuggle them to churches and hospices in the U.S. There are children who would die if we didn't do this." Lupe explained to Hurley.

"No. No! No. I am not falling for that again." Hurley said.

"I lied to protect you." Lupe argued.

"Then why is the cartel involved?" Nate asked Lupe.

"The cartel found out we had a regular route into the states. They planted their drugs in Hurley's car. I only found out about it after you left, I swear. I flew up here to warn you." Lupe explained.

"So the local branch of the cartel is gonna take delivery of the drugs and kill Hurley to cover their tracks." Nate said, walking in between them.

"What do the Irish want?" Hurley asked.

"They want to steal the delivery and kill you to send a message." Nate explained.

"That's a lot of killing me in there." Hurley pointed out.

Nate put his hands on Hurley's and Lupe's shoulders.

"Listen - you said there were two men waiting outside?" Nate questioned Lupe.

"Yes." Lupe said. Nate took Hurley and Lupe and they left.

Eliot and Hardison arrived to the safehouse.

"All right, this bar is the last address, man. Maybe I should handle this one by myself." Eliot said.

"So, what, you don't need me either, now? You don't need me?" Hardison started ranting.

"Listen to me, okay? So Parker's out with a handsome guy, okay? And he's also a thief and also does cool thief stuff, and you're the computer geek, dude-" Eliot tried giving a pep talk.

"Is-is that your pep talk? Are you kidding? What the hell's going on? Really?" Hardison questioned Eliot, annoyed.

"It's a little rough, but the fact-" Eliot tried saying.

"It's a little rough? A little rough? As a friend, you're dead to me. Please, do go on. What are you trying to say? I'm not exciting? What is it?" Hardison questioned Eliot.

"That's not what I'm saying. If I said that, then that means I would be thinking about you and Parker, which I never do, cause I'm with Kaira." Eliot said, way too defensively (A/N I mean, come on, Eliot. Like, babe, you ain't that subtle.).

"Than say what you need to say. What are you saying?" Hardison questioned Eliot.

"Maybe you're slow-playing it just a little bit." Eliot said.

"I'm slow playing? Like, I need to be more assertive or something? This coming from the man who took four years to ask his woman out." Hardison asked.

"And I regret waiting all the time. Assertive is good." Eliot said.

"More assertive?" Hardison said.

"Yeah. Focus." Eliot said.

"Like definitive dexter's dictionary definition of - all right, cool. That's all I need." Hardison said, psyching himself up.

Hardison and Eliot started their handshake.

"Come on." Eliot hyped Hardison up.

"That's all I need. You know what? I got this." Hardison said.

"Come on." Eliot said, nodding to the door, smiling.

"I'm gonna go in there by my damn self. I'm gonna get them drugs by my damn self. Assertive. Let's get this. Let's get this." Hardison said, hitting his hands on Eliot's chest.

"Don't do that." Eliot muttered.

Hardison started walking towards the bouncer.

"Yo, my man. Let me spoke at you real quick?" Hardison said, walking up to him.

"Yeah, what's up?" The bouncer said.

"I need a minute, if I could." Hardison said.

"Don't do it." Eliot muttered just as Hardison headbutted the bouncer, knocking him out.

Eliot steadied Hardison as he held his head.

"What are you doing, man?" Eliot questioned Hardison.

"No, it's cool. Shake it off. Shake it off." Hardison shook his body.

"Assertive." Hardison gave Eliot a little push.

"That's what I'm talking - this guy's not even - hey!" Eliot tried to stop Hardison from going inside the bar, but failed.

So he followed Hardison into the bar. Hardison was high and mighty walking in.

"Buenas noches cabrones. Feliz Navidad and kiss my happy black ass." Hardison said out loud to the entire bar of patrons.

Then one of the guys stopped Hardison.

"Who in the hell are you?" The guy asked.

"Who am I? Who am I? I'm your worst damn nightmare. I know who you are. I know who all of you are. I know what you do. I know about the shipment. I'm a dirty cop!" Hardison started ranting as Eliot walked up to Hardison.

"By the way, I don't think that bouncer outside is affiliated with these guys. Just so you know." Eliot told Hardison.

Hardison put his hand in front of Eliot to get him to be quiet.

Back at the church, Nate was dressed as a priest as the two Irish hitters walked in. Hurley and Lupe were hiding behind the benches.

Back at the bar, Hardison was still acting tough. Hardison turned to Eliot.

"Let me take - Let me take this one." Eliot said.

"I got this." Hardison whispered to Eliot.

"When I say get back, I mean get your ass back!" Hardison told Eliot, putting his finger in Eliot's face.

Eliot backed up, standing beside a guy. Hardison started asking for the guy in charge, and the guy standing up challenged Hardison, so Hardison frisked him, getting his I.D, discovering the guy's name was Aaron Cortez. Aaron was not happy with Hardison questioning his name, so he called Hardison a racist, to which Hardison responded that of course, he was racist, he was a dirty cop. Eliot was ready to throttle Hardison.

"Now, I understand you got a shipment coming in, Aaron?" Hardison asked Aaron.

Aaron turned to the guy beside Eliot.

"What business is that of yours?" Aaron asked Hardison as the goon went to pull out a gun, but Eliot disarmed him and knocked him out.

Then the whole bar started in on it.

"You're new in town, so I'm gonna let your ignorance slide. Po-po gets a taste or you no-no get to play." Hardison said.

He turned around, and Eliot held up a guy he had knocked out, making it seem he was still awake.

"So either you got to make a deal, or somebody's got to squeal." Hardison said.

Aaron signaled more of his guys to attack Eliot.

Back at the church, Nate tried talking to the Irish hitters. He offered to have them help with the flowers. He signaled Hurley and Lupe to go.

Back at the bar, Eliot had knocked out almost everyone at the bar. Well, minus one stubborn guy he was currently choking.

"See, I know why you're here. You want to expand, and personally, I think you should. The leprechauns, they could use a little competition. They're getting a little soft. And we're all for that. Ain't that right, Luigi?" Hardison said.

Eliot exhaled as he put his thumb up and got his breath back. And Eliot rubbed his eyes.

"So, you-" Hardison's phone went off again.

"Excuse me." Hardison said.

He saw it was Parker that was calling.

"Got to take this. I got some business." Hardison said.

He left and started talking to Parker.

Back at the church, Nate stalled the best he could, getting the hitter's to the confessional booths.

At the bar, Hardison was wrapping up his conversation with Parker about the file, saying it was in the frame. Parker hung up, and Hardison walked back. He started saying about framing a guy on the phone. Aaron asked what Hardison wanted. Hardison said he wanted the drugs he got today. He got the drugs and gave the duffel to Eliot. Hardison offered to give Aaron Hurley as soon as he found him. They shook hands and left. They walked around the corner.

"You saw that, right?" Hardison said, holding the statue.

"Yeah, I got to hand it to you - you did a great job." Eliot said sarcastically.

"See some rope-climbing punk be that damn assertive." Hardison said.

He dropped the statue on the ground. They noticed something off.

"Man, that look right to you?" Eliot asked.

"No, it does not." Hardison said.

Back at the church, Nate was still stalling. Hurley knocked a candle over and they started chsing Hurley and Lupe. Hurley got shot in the back of the leg, but Lupe put a gun on the guys head. Lupe told Hurley to run. Nate drove up and told Hurley to get in, though Hurley argued, saying they needed to get Lupe. Nate drove away. After they drove a good distance, Nate got on the phone with Hardison, and helped Hurley get out.

"Why are we ditching the car?" Hurley asked. Nate opened the back door.

"Cause we didn't just ditch the Irish mob so police could pull us over in a stolen car." Nate explained, shutting the door.

"Hardison - yeah, listen, I got Hurley, but I lost the nun. Tell me you got the drugs." Nate said.

"What?" Nate questioned, stopping.

"Okay. Okay, listen, go to the pharmacy, and get what you need. And tell Eliot to buy whatever he needs to sew up a gunshot wound." Nate ordered.

They all met at the pharmacy.

"Hey guys." Hurley said, seeing Hardison on the counter, reading the instructions for the drug test he bought, and Eliot.

"Hey, what's up, man? Shut up. Get on the table." Eliot said, not happy.

Nate handed the pharmacist some money.

"All right. You're closed. Another 100 when we leave." Nate told her.

"You got it." She said.

Nate walked up to Hardison, who was holding a pill.

"What's the problem?" Nate asked Hardison.

Nate picked up the broken shard and poured the pills in his hand.

"These are legit." Nate said.

"Picked up this drug testing kit from the pharmacy." Hardison said.

Eliot had gotten Hurley up on the table.

"Pull your jeans up." Eliot told Hurley.

"It's a little tender." Hurley said.

"Pull them up!" Eliot growled as he did.

Hurley groaned in pain. Hardison got the test ready.

"They sell them so mommies and daddies can test what little Johnny's got hidden in his sock drawer. Now, look - if it turns red, little Johnny's got to go to rehab. If it turns green, little Johnny checks out." Hardison said.

He shook the container and the liquid turned green.

"If they're not for getting high, what are they for?" Hardison asked.

"These are the cancer drugs." Nate said.

"So she's telling the truth." Hurley said as Eliot stitched him up.

"Who?" Eliot asked.

"Sister Lupe. Look." Hurley showed Eliot a photo of Lupe.

"Yeah, that's not a nun." Eliot said.

He tightened the turnakit, and Hurley groaned again.

"Shut up. Usually my wife Kaira does this." Eliot growled, annoyed with Hurley.

Hurley looked at Eliot.

"You and Kaira? Man, that's awesome." Hurley said, genuinely happy for Eliot.

Eliot growled again, telling him to be quiet, but part of him was taken back.

"Where's Hurley car? The one he drove across the border - where is it?" Nate asked.

"It's back at the hotel." Hardison said.

Nate got a smile on his face, having made part of a plan.

"Guys, come on. I know where the real drugs are." Nate said.

They all left. Nate gave the pharmacist another 100 dollars and left Hurley. Though, he got up and joined them.

They made it back to the parking garage of the hotel, but when they ran up to where the car had been, it wasn't there.

"Come on, man. It was right here!" Eliot exclaimed.

"I'll ask the valet." Hardison said, leaving.

"They're gonna kill Sister Lupe." Hurley said, panicking.

"No, no, they need her to bargain with. Unfortunately, we have nothing to bargain with." Nate said.

Eliot shoved the bag at Hurley.

"You can have your bag." Eliot growled.

"Now, come on. It wasn't his fault." Nate calmed Eliot down.

Hardison ran back.

"Yo! They said it was towed to the city impound after the cartel boys crashed it." Hardison reported.

"All right, you and Eliot, go get us that car. Hurley, you and I are gonna make a phone call." Nate ordered.

Eliot and Hardison ran off.

"Who are we calling?" Hurley asked as they walked forward.

"We're gonna give the drugs to the Irish." Nate said.

"We don't have the drugs." Hurley said.

"Well, right now they're the only ones who don't know that." Nate said.

Once Nate got a plan in place, he called Callaghan.

"Yeah, I'm calling about the problem you're having with people trying to sell their product in your territory." Nate said.

"Who is this?" Callaghan asked.

"I'm the guy who's gonna make the deal. You want the package? How much it worth to you?" Nate said.

"Well, my boys said it's 10 million street value, but I'll trade you the whole lot for one blessed sister of the sacrament." Callaghan offered.

"Done." Nate said.

"And we want the courier. Got to teach our cousins in the South they just can't set up shop in our town." Callaghan counteroffered.

"No, not the courier." Nate said.

Hurley was leaning against a car.

"Yes. Trade me." Hurley said.

He nodded to show Nate to go ahead.

"Okay. The nun for the drugs and the courier. The Palaestra hotel parking garage, one hour." Nate said.

He hung up the phone.

"Hurley, I'm gonna try to get you out of this in one piece." Nate said, looking at Hurley.

"It's okay, Nate." Hurley said.

"She got you into it." Nate pointed out.

"Yeah, but I got myself into trouble the first time we met, and you risked your life to save me. So I want to prove to you that I've earned that second chance you gave me." Hurley said.

Nate made another phone call.

"Who you calling now?" Hurley asked.

"I'm calling the bar that Hardison said the cartel is waiting at. I'm gonna tell them if they want their drugs, they can come here and get it in one hour." Nate said.

"The drugs we don't have?" Hurley questioned.

"Mm-hmm. Now you're getting it." Nate said.

At the impound lot, Hardison and Eliot arrived at the gate.

"Are you talking-" Eliot was about to say.

"I got this." Hardison said.

"Then go. Go! Go!" Eliot encouraged Hardison.

They walked up to the security gate.

"How you doing? Hey." Hardison greeted her.

"Yeah." The woman said.

"Um, we are looking for a gold sedan." Hardison said.

The woman looked at her records.

"Okay. You're gonna have to be more specific than that. You just described five cars I have back there." The woman said.

"Yeah, it was towed from the Palaestra Hotel earlier after an incident - should be a police report." Eliot said.

"Oh. Yep. Okay. There's a police report. So you're gonna have to come back in the morning and get it straightened out." The woman said.

"We can't just pick it up tonight, pay for it?" Hardison questioned.

"Ordinarily, yes, but in this case, I need a detective to sign off on it, which means you're gonna have to come back in the morning." The woman said.

"Morning. Okay. All right. Thank you so much." Eliot said, leaving with Hardison.

"Listen - you go distract her. I'm gonna jump this fence. I'm gonna get this -" Eliot was saying when Hardison cut him off.

"No, no, no. I'm gonna jump the fence. I'll jump the fence. Yeah, I can hack a car faster than you. I can hack the lock on the gate. Come on, man." Hardison said.

"You already proved yourself with the Mexican cartel. Quit this crap." Eliot told Hardison.

Hardison held up his fist to start rock paper scissors.

"Okay. you got a tell. I already told you." Eliot said.

"Are you scared? You scared? Let's get it." Hardison said.

"Let's go." Eliot said, getting ready to start rock paper scissors.

"All right." Hardison said.

They went and Hardison won.

"Bam! Do something." Hardison got in Eliot's face then left.

Hardison started ranting as he left. Eliot smiled and then he went back to flirt with the guard. Let's just say it got awkward real fast (A/N I mean, it's CK, so I would get flustered too, but I'd hope I'd have the decency to have some respect for boundaries.). And Eliot may have found out after the fact that there were dogs in the back. And Hardison was not happy getting chased by multiple German Shepard dogs. Eliot's phone rang and he left.

"Yeah?" Eliot answered the phone.

"Eliot, any trouble getting Hurley's car? No?" Nate asked.

"No, Hardison's on it." Eliot said.

"Okay. Can you get me another one?" Nate asked.

"An identical gold sedan." Nate said.

"You bet." Eliot said as he hung up the phone.

After some time, they got everything they needed. Hardison drove up to Nate in the gold sedan.

"What happened to you?" Nate asked as he walked around the passenger side of the car.

"Security system." Hardison said.

"Does Eliot have the other-" Nate went to ask.

"Yeah, he's right behind me." Hardison said as he popped the trunk.

Nate checked that the drugs were in the car.

"This is tricky, Nate." Hardison pointed out.

"It always is." Nate said.

Nate told Hardison to get the front plate and shut the trunk.

Then the deal went down. Hurley and Nate met with the Irish hitters and Lupe. Nate told them to show the drugs, then the nun, then the courier. They offered to meet halfway. They started shoving Lupe as Nate started meeting in the middle. Hurley got nervous, saying he couldn't do it. Hurley then got in the car and drove off as Nate grabbed Lupe and dropped the duffel. Hurley rounded a corner as Nate got Lupe to safety. After a chase through the garage, the plan came to be. The car the Irish were chasing was the Mexicans, and they met with Bonanno. A couple of the Irish ran off, but thanks to Shelly, they didn't get far.

See, there were multiple gold sedans in the impound lot. So, they got another one. Eliot switched the plates and he and Hardison met with the Mexicans. He gave them the car, and kept a couple of packages of the drugs. Hardison said they'd also have protection and they'd deal with Hurley. Hardison just asked for a two-minute window. Hurley then met with Nate and they did the deal with the Irish. When Hurley drove off, they used the confusion, and a little help from Eliot in an SUV, to hide Hurley. So when the Mexicans pulled out in the same car, the Irish chased after them. So when Callaghan shot at the car, it was the Mexicans.

They all drove off, letting Bonanno deal with the clean-up.

Then they all met at the bar. Kaira had left her little meet-up not long after Peggy had left and joined Eliot and Hardison for a conversation. Kaira was on Eliot's lap, Lupe was standing beside them, and Nate was getting a drink from the bar.

"The barbershop - with me, right? - Told him to get a Jheri curl cause he didn't know what one was - told him it'd make his hair real straight and pretty. Boy looked like he was beat with a bottle of baby oil for about a month." Hardison said, causing laughter.

Nate joined Hurley, who was recovering, sitting at a table.

"Hurley, how you doing?" Nate asked.

"I can't believe you had to bail me out of trouble again." Hurley said.

"No, no, listen, Hurley - you put your life on the line tonight because it was the right thing to do. You realize that, right? And by the way, for the record, you're not the same guy you used to be. Okay?" Nate told Hurley, taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, I know I'm not your friend, Nate, but for what's it worth, you're mine." Hurley said.

He offered his hand for a handshake. Nate chuckled as he accepted. Eliot and Kaira were laughing, let's just say Kaira and Eliot may have been teasing each other about what they hadn't finished earlier that night. Lupe had said goodbye and was leaving.

"She's not a nun, is she?" Hurley asked.

Hurley was not happy. Though, he ran into Peggy on his way out. They introduced themselves and got to talking. Hurley offered to walk Peggy home, which she accepted and they left.

Hardison then walked over to the table, knowing he wasn't gonna like what the couple were gonna be saying.

"Oh. Hey, hey. Can I just ask you one thing here because... How in the hell would you give Hurley information about how to fine me - ever?" Nate questioned Hardison.

Hardison chuckled.

"You know, Nate, it seems like lately you've been so focused on the part of the job where we wreck people, I thought it might be nice to show you we actually do some good in the world. I know you're mad, but-" Hardison said.

"Hardison... Thanks." Nate said.

They clinked glasses and drank. Hardison left. Kaira and Eliot were very smiley as they got up.

"You, uh.. we're gonna..." Eliot tried to say.

"Oh, yeah, no, hey." Nate basically told them to go.

They walked into the bar part, where Parker, Sophie, and Hardison were talking about the girl's night. Eliot leaned into Kaira.

"Don't talk to them. Then they'll make us stay." Eliot whispered.

Kaira giggled a bit.

"Hardison, hey." Kaira said.

They all started talking, and Kaira mentioned she got tequila, but Eliot stopped her, though Kaira teased Eliot, and after some talking, Kaira finally got Hardison to the side as Eliot was talking to the other girls.

"Hardison, hey, look, I know you've been struggling with Parker, okay? But, look, Parker is different, yes. And she is still trying to put the pieces together." Kaira tried to explain.

"What are you saying?" Hardison asked.

"I'm saying that maybe you have to help Parker put the pieces together. But not force her, cause I will kick your ass." Kaira gave the not-so-subtle threat.

"Got it." Hardison said, getting the message.

He then smiled a bit.

"Thank you, Kaira. I guess just seeing you and Eliot, and seeing how well you two work, and how stable your relationship is, I would like that. And I would like that with Parker. I guess seeing her with another guy, especially a guy that was more like her, I got-" Hardison explained.

"Jealous. I heard. Eliot told me. And I saw how Parker was today. She wants to like the things you like. She's trying, Hardison. Give her some time." Kaira told Hardison.

Hardison nodded and they went back.

A bit later, when everyone was done, they went home. Eliot and Kaira got upstairs and went to bed. After heading into the bedroom, where Eliot, uh, "helped", Kaira get undressed, and Kaira did the same for Eliot, they laid in bed. Eliot was looking at his wedding band.

"What's on your mind, baby?" Kaira asked Eliot.

"You know, after hearing Hardison talk about Parker hanging out with another guy, and talking with him, I realized something. You're the most stable relationship I've ever had with a woman. Ever." Eliot said.

Kaira just looked at Eliot, confused slightly.

"Well, I'd hope so, babe." Kaira said, still confused.

"I don't mean like that, I mean - before we started dating, it was just one night stands or it'd last a few months. But I realized I was truly in love with you, and I wasn't interested in any other woman. Sure, I tried, maybe to just see if what I was feeling was real. And kissing you after the first job with this crew, when we agreed we'd take things slow, it was the moment I realized, I shouldn't wait anymore. I wanted you." Eliot said.

Kaira repositioned herself so she was laying closer to his neck.

"Do you regret anything about us?" Kaira asked.

Eliot looked at Kaira.

"My only regret is that I wish I wasn't such a damn idiot and waited so long to tell you I love you." Eliot said, regret on his face.

"Hey, look at me babe." Kaira held Eliot's face as she faced him towards her.

"My only regret is how I reacted the first time you tried telling me you loved me. I got scared. I didn't think I was ready at the time. But the second time you told me you loved me, I knew I was ready." Kaira admitted.

"I remember." Eliot chuckled.

"Still working off the slap?" Kaira joked around.

"Hmm. Maybe." Eliot smiled a bit.

Kaira leaned in, and softly locked lips with Eliot.

"We've come far, haven't we baby?" Kaira smiled at Eliot.

"Yes, we have mama." Eliot smiled.

"Forever and always?" Kaira said.

"Forever and Always." Eliot said.

The couple kissed one more time before going to bed.