I'm back where I belong
Yeah I never felt so strong
I'm feelin' like there's nothing that I can't try
(I'm back, baby)
And if you with me put your hands high
(Put your hands high)

If you ever lost a life before, this one's for you
(And if you with me put your hands high)
And you, and you and you and you
(Your dreams are filled, you're rapping with the best)

Rori revved the engine in the pickup lane at the hospital while she waited for Hank to come out. It felt so good to be behind the wheel again. They'd been back in Albuquerque for two days and the guys had made her stay home and rest, which she wasn't exactly opposed to. But, she was definitely ready for date night. Though, she wasn't a hundred percent sure she was ready to tell them about the baby, she had finally agreed with Dr. Beckett that it was a good idea and had planned to tell them over dinner. Hank climbed in the passenger seat just as the dispatch radio crackled to life.

"Home invasion progress, homeowner inside," the dispatcher said over the radio. The address that followed was right around the corner.

"We're going, aren't we?" Hank asked. Rori winked at him and picked up the radio mic. She couldn't help it. Maybe she was an adrenaline junkie. Maybe it was the nicotine withdraw.

"Show Five-O in route," Rori said into the mic. "Send an officer as well, please."

"10-4," The dispatcher replied.

Rori flicked on her lights and tried her best to ignore Hank's glare as she pulled away from the hospital. She knew what he was thinking. She was supposed to be taking it easy, not responding to a home invasion. She dialed Steve's number.

"Hey, you two on your way?" his voice came loud and clear over the speakers in the car.

"To a home invasion," she replied. She expertly drifted the car around the corner of an intersection onto the road leading up to the address the dispatcher had provided.

"Need backup?" he asked. He knew better than to argue when she was making a command decision, but Rori could hear the concern in his voice. They all knew she wasn't a hundred percent yet but Steve and John both knew that they would do the same.

"Yes," Hank interjected as he gripped the door. "Because she shouldn't be doing this anyway, she's supposed to be taking it easy."

"Hank is texting you the address," she said and gave Hank the stink eye.

"See you two there," Steve said and ended the call.

"We're never going to have a normal date, are we?" Hank asked. He typed the address into his phone and sent it off to Steve.

"Probably not," Rori replied. She knew they were right. She shouldn't be responding to this, especially without back up and Hank would never let her do it if he knew she was pregnant. She was hoping that the APD officer or the guys would arrive in time to help her out, but a home invasion in progress with the homeowner inside meant a civilian was in danger and she had a sworn duty, pregnant or not. "Grab my gun and badge from the glovebox."

He did as he was asked and she parked down the street from the target house where a woman was standing, phone in hand. Hank handed over the gun and badge as soon as the car was stationary. "Stay in the car," she told him.

"You don't have to tell me twice," he replied. "You should wait for the other officer or the guys."

"Henry, really?" she asked.

"It had to be said, be careful," he replied.

She nodded and popped out of the car. The woman standing on the sidewalk looked her up and down, taking in her short, red bodycon dress and high heels.

"You the one that reported the home invasion in progress?" Rori asked.

"You're a cop?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Rori confirmed as she put her badge on a chain around her neck and grabbed her tack vest from the trunk. She tossed her heels in and slipped into the extra pair of tactical boots she kept in the trunk. "I need as many details as possible."

"The guy kicked in my neighbor's door and it looked like they were fighting," the woman said. "I think he had a gun."

"Stay here," Rori said.

"You're going in alone?" the woman asked.

"Backup is on the way, but your neighbor doesn't have time to wait for backup," she replied. She headed to the house with her gun drawn. The front door was standing open, clearly kicked in, and she could see two men fighting inside. One of them was her old boss from the convenience store and the other was a rough looking Hispanic guy who was covered in tattoos. "Five-O!" she announced as she entered the house. "Stop!" Rick, her old boss, stumbled backward and the tattooed guy turned his attention to Rori. He kicked her gun from her hands and planted a fist in her jaw in one swift motion. Her head snapped back and she landed on her rear. Maybe she was off her game more than she thought. She bounced back up and went on the offence a little stronger, throwing a punch and landing it in his face. It didn't faze him. He whipped around, put her in a left arm lock and popped her shoulder right out of its socket.

"Son of a bitch!" she shouted. She ignored the pain, swung around, and grabbed a chunk of his long hair in her right hand as she brought her knee to his chest. He doubled over, the breath knocked out of him, and she slammed his head against the heavy, oak coffee table in front of him. He fell, limp, to the floor.

"You okay?" Rick asked. She could see the shock in his eyes. She hadn't seen him in a couple years and she had changed a lot since then. She was the quiet one back then.

"Fine," she replied. She stabilized her left arm against her body. Her shoulder was definitely out of place. "Just fucking peachy. Is this your place?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"What did he want?" she asked.

"Some package I was supposed to deliver. I'm a mail carrier, I must have delivered a hundred packages today," he said.

Steve, Danny, and John came in, guns drawn, wearing their tactical gear over their own fancy date wear. This was not how she had planned this evening to go and now she was definitely not telling them about the baby tonight.

"You alright?" Steve asked, his gun trained on Rick. John stepped closer, assessing her situation with concern filling his eyes.

"We're good, he's the homeowner," she said. "Clear the house."

"Anyone else live here?" Danny asked.

"I live alone," Rick replied. The guys moved off to clear the house. "Is that the pilot guy from the store?" he asked of John.

"Yeah," Rori replied. She collected her gun and tucked it in the front her tack vest.

"All clear," John said when they came back. The tattoo guy started to stir.

"Book em, Danno," she said. Danny glared at her for half a second before moving in to cuff the man. That was something Steve had started shortly after the two had met and she had used it every now and then to be playful. "John, get Hank from the car. Steve, cover Danno, that guy needs a little extra force." All three left the room with the tattoo guy, who was groggily stumbling after Danny, and Rori sank down to sit on the coffee table. She felt a little woozy and weak in the knees.

"So, you're a cop now?" Rick asked as he sat next to her.

"Five-O," she said. "I'm now Director Rorianna Rivera."

"Director?" he asked, unbelievingly.

"Yup," she replied.

"You always wear a mini-dress to work?" he asked as he regarded her outfit.

"Only on date night," she replied.

"Rori, what the hell?" Hank asked as he walked in, medical bag in hand, and looked her up and down. He looked around the room at the broken items and shook his head.

"How was I supposed to know he was a ninja?" she asked.

"You could have waited for backup," Hank suggested in his doctor tone.

"If I had of, Rick would be dead," she said. "Rick, this is Doctor Hank Lawson, he's gonna make sure you don't have a concussion." Rick had a pretty good bump on his head that was probably gonna need some stitches.

"That's not—" he started to argue.

"Shut it, your head is a mess," she said.

"And your shoulder is popped out," Rick argued.

"Don't worry, she's next," Hank said. The look in his eye said he wanted to check her first, but he knew his place in situations like this. She would always have him check a civilian over herself. John and Steve came back just then.

"I want to know who this guy was and what he wanted. Rick, do you keep records of all the packages on your truck?" Rori asked.

"The office does," he replied.

"Okay, we'll get them in the morning," she said. "In the meantime, I want an officer on the house."

"I'll call dispatch," Steve offered.

"And I will cancel our reservations," John said. "Love the outfit, by the way," he added with a wink. Rori rolled her eyes and turned to Rick and Hank.

"He's fine, the cut needs stitches, I'll have to get my other kit from the car in a minute," Hank reported. "Let me set your arm."

"Yes sir," she replied playfully. Rick moved back out of the way as Hank stood next to Rori.

"It's going to hurt but I have some ibuprofen in the car," he said.

"Henry, it's hardly the first thing I've been through that hurts and it won't be the last," she said. "Just do it and get it over with." He grabbed her arm by the elbow and stabilized her just above the shoulder. "Wait," she said. "Tell me something to distract me."

"Me, John, on call room," he said with an evil grin and snapped her shoulder back in place.

"Fuck!" she growled in pain but also because of that image he'd just given her. Oh how she would love to join the two of them in an on call room at the hospital. Many good memories had happened there.

"It's done," Hank said. "I'm gonna go get you a sling and the suture kit from the car. Don't move that arm." She nodded.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rick asked when they were alone again. He reclaimed his seat next to her.

"Yeah," she said. The pain was starting to ease off now.

"You've changed a lot," he commented. They had once been pretty good friends. She would never have told him her deep, dark secrets, but he had been a good friend. Especially when she'd lost her family. He'd been supportive, but then it had become obvious to her that he was falling for her, so she had let herself lose contact with him when she left to start Five-O.

"Just a little," she said.

"That's a nice ring," he said. She glanced down and realized she was wearing her engagement ring. Normally she would have taken it off for something like this.

"Thanks," she said. "You jealous?"

"That you and the pilot finally got together? No," Rick said. "But, does he know about the doctor?"

"Oh Rick," she said. "Such an innocent mind."

He laughed because, when they'd started working together some seven years before, she had been the innocent one. Raised under the proverbial rock. Barely married to her husband. No kids yet. Monogamous.

"What does that even mean?" he asked. "Wait, you're not with the pilot? The look he gave you I was sure."

"No, we're married," she said. "John, Hank, Steve, Danny, and I."

"You're right, I'm way too innocent," Rick replied. "What made you do that?"

"Have you seen them?" she asked.

"Have you seen you?" he asked. He brushed a hair away from her face.

"Actually, I have a mirror at home," she joked. "I wouldn't normally wouldn't divulge that information, but I wanted to, you know."

"Let me know you're off the market?" he asked. "I got that." He looked a little hurt and maybe she shouldn't have said anything, but she didn't need yet another thing to deal with right now. "You're pretty badass now," he commented after a moment of silence. "That guy was kicking my ass."

"I didn't exactly come out of it unscathed," she said. Hank came back in and Rick scooted away from her, realizing he was just a little closer than normal ex-coworkers would sit. Hank eyed him curiously and started to help Rori with the sling.

"The guys said they were going to talk to a girl about the ninja guy," he said.

"Um, okay," she said.

"You weren't ready to come back," he said quietly as he fastened the sling.

"Hank, I'm fine," she said.

He offered her the ibuprofen and she shook her head. "The swelling is going to get worse and it's going to hurt more, you need to take something so that doesn't happen."

"I'm fine without it," she said. "Just get me an ice pack or something." He eyed her curiously, but didn't argue the situation as he turned to Rick to start stitching up his head. Rori watched as he carefully stitched the gash together. Her phone rang, she pulled it from her tack vest and she slid the accept bar. "Rivera," she said into the phone.

"Hey," Steve said. "He's a freaking romantic!"

"What?" she asked. She wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean.

"Mikeal Tran, the ninja. Our mailman delivered a package he mailed to his girlfriend to break up with her. I guess he changed his mind and tried to intercept the package. Why he thought it was our mailman's house I don't know."

"That was fast," she commented.

"Yeah, well, he cried like a baby in the backseat of the radio car," Danny said. "Told me all about his girlfriend."

"We just talked to the girlfriend. She opened the package earlier today and was pretty shook that he would go to such lengths to get it back," Steve added.

"Tran said he was sorry," John said. It sounded like he was in the back seat.

"You can tell our mailman he'll be okay," Danny said.

"Can we not call him our mailman?" she asked as she glanced at Rick. Hank was busy finishing the stitches in his head and either didn't hear her comment or ignored it. "We're sure that's all there was to it?"

"We're sure," John said. "Officer Henderson is booking him on attempt to tamper with mail and aggravated assault on a police officer. He had a warrant for felony drug possession too, won't be getting out for awhile."

"Thanks guys," she said with a sigh.

"Pizza?" Steve asked.

"Sounds great," she replied. "We'll meet you back at the house in a bit, gonna finish up here." She hung up and tucked her phone away in her pocket.