I would like thank everyone who has reviewed this fic and made me feel loved.

To LiliFayre – Thanks for the support you have given me! Hope you're Dad is getting better!

To Fuzukat – Thanks for pointing out the misspell on Harvey's name!

Chapter Three: The Snag

"Why is everyone acting so weird?"

Hardison sighed as he pushed the janitor cart through. Lord, he love the girl, but sometimes Parker's empathy is either rather sharp or just way out there in the ballpark. The two of them were currently disguised as part of the cleaning crew at the law firm. It was already pretty late but Mike had warned them that there was a good chance that a lot of lawyers were still working. And he implicitly stated to avoid Louis at all cost because Louis Litt is the most paranoid, nosy, and annoying man in the firm and would jump at the chance to find anything fishy going on.

"Hey, how are you guys doing over there?"

The Hacker exchanged looks with Parker before checking over his mobile.

"So far everything is cool. We haven't really bumped into anyone yet and finished installing the transmitter in the IT floor – dude, your law firm must have spent millions on the tech alone. The entire floor is reinforced, cooling vents, and I have to admit that the people ain't too bad."

"Hardison," That was Eliot and from the annoyed tone, the Hitter was pissed about something. "Geek over the tech later, did you get anything from there?"

"Nope!" Parker answered, making a popping sound at the p. "Just a bunch of company files containing finances and forms. We're trying to find the good stuff. Didn't Mike say something about valuables in the partners' offices?"

"Parker, didn't we already say no to side stealing?" Mike asked tiredly. "Seriously, Parker, Eliot and I just finished with the police report and it doesn't look too good."

Instant concern rose up in Hardison as Parker shared a look with him. Normally if Mike was worried, it usually amounts from nil to small concern. But if Eliot was worried about it with Mike…

"What do you got?" the Hacker asked as they came toward the conference room which was supposed to hold all of the information on the case.

"At first glance, the damage looked like it came from a small badly made pipe bomb." Mike began but Eliot took over from there.

"Except the leftover pieces of the wiring and timer show to be something more complicated than a homemade bomb. Judging from the materials and the way they were twisted – style of it looks like special ops ex-KGB."

Hardison sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while Parker looked both puzzled and amazed.

"Eliot, how can you tell it's a Russian bomb? Isn't wiring all the same?" the Thief asked as they reached to the door of the conference room. She took the key card they had stolen along the way, up to the reader. They entered the room with the cart left outside and turned on their flashlights.

"It's a distinctive style." Eliot replied and Hardison could tell he was more frustrated with the danger than the question. "If Alton Corp is hiring ex-KGB, then there is something really big going on. So watch your backs. We don't know if the mole is the ex-KGB or not. Mike and I are heading over to Alton to get their files on finances."

"Okay, it shouldn't take us too – " but anything else he was about to say failed to go through as he eyed wall-to-wall boxes lined up in four rows. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Mike, don't these people know anything about electronic files?"

"Yeah, it's ironic how people don't trust UBS storage." Mike replied sarcastically. "It's a classic delay trick to bury lawyers in paperwork for days. We can get all the files electronically at Alton, and if Nate asks, we can get the ones from the client. But the paperwork being done on the case itself is store either in the Department of Justice, or in the firm itself in the computers except the work being done on the hardcopies. Without the hardcopies, we won't know what Pearson and Hardman have been doing." Mike explained with a small amount of amusement.

Parker looked over the boxes before sighing. This was too much work to steal. Looking over the cart, she imagine they could squeeze about six of the boxes but it would take about 13 trips to get everything – half that if they could find another cart.

"Alright, I'll try to see if I can lock down parts of the building and – " Hardison began but then the lights suddenly turned on and both the Hacker and the Thief turned around to see a man who looked just a little shorter than Eliot with a shaved head, wearing a rather boring gray blue suit with a silver tie, black leather shoes, and a rather suspicious ratty looking face. Hardison felt his stomach drop as he realize that this man was most likely Louis Litt.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked in a quiet menacing tone as he shut the door behind him. There was a rather predatory look in his eyes as his gaze switched between Hardison and Parker. The two exchange looks and knew that they would have to hurry. It may be possible that Litt had not called security but they were not going to take that chance.

"Ah sir, we were told to do some cleaning." Hardison said as he added a Brooklyn accent to his voice. The ratty man wrinkled his nose before giving a snort of disbelief.

"Really? So how did you get in? With a key?" Litt asked with a mocking sneer. Hardison could hear Mike swearing in the background and Eliot telling them to just make a run for it.

"Yes!" Parker replied instantly. This surprised Litt for a moment before he shook his head.

"All right, enough with the games. Tell me who hired you and I'll make sure that you two won't go to jail. I'll just have you do community service for the rest of your miserable lives."

"We were told to do some cleaning, sir. Not our fault that we were told what to do." Hardison protested earnestly. The patronizing nod the man gave him was enough to make him grit his teeth. God, why can't this ratty man be stupid?

"Let's go over this, you people are supposed to be hired by this firm to do general cleaning. That means I, a partner of this firm, am one of the bosses. Now, general cleaning means hallways, bathrooms, and open public trash bins. This, a 'secure' conference room, is not open public. So tell me who paid you and we'll go from there."

Hardison was about to say something when Parker whipped out something from her back and the next thing the Hacker knew, Litt was shaking like a crazy man while a loud constant ticking filled the room. When it stopped, the man fell face down on the ground unconscious. Parker, however, looked very pleased with herself as she collected the wires to the stun gun. Then she noticed Hardison giving her a look of disbelief.

"What? He had a cell phone in his hand."

"Holy shit! Did you guys just tased Louis!" Mike shrieked into the earbud. Looking down at the fallen man, Hardison gave the body a light kick but no other movement came from the man.

"Technically, Parker did," Hardison corrected as he bent over the man to check for a pulse and was relieved to find one. However he then noticed the cell phone in the man's hand and swore as he saw the number being dialed. "Okay, we need to go. Our man down managed to dial security. Looks like we won't be getting those hardcopies."

"Fine, we'll be at the south side entrance in ten." Eliot replied while Mike still moaned over the whole stunning thing.

"Nate is going to kill us."

Copy that, Hardison thought as he and Parker quickly closed the door, leaving behind Louis Litt sleeping on the floor.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, did he wet himself?"

Everyone on the comms had to hold their laughter in as Mike went on the hilarity of it all when the associates come in the morning to find Louis like that.

The look on Louis Litt's face was worth all the excitement that was going on back at work.

The man looked horrible in the hospital gown with gauze taped on his nose. And the dark bags that came with a nose break made him look like a pissed off ratty raccoon. Harvey had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking because in reality, what happened to Louis was a serious matter. Hell, the man was sort of a hero since he kept the intruders from taking anything in the conference room – files that were directly related to Harvey's case.

Jessica had forced him to tag along with her visit to Louis who was staying in the hospital for a day for observation before he was allowed to go back to work. Needless to say, Louis was pissed because of the news that the security guards didn't catch the intruders and that the security camera could not get a good look at their faces at any angle.

"They assaulted me!" the junior partner ranted. "How can security possibly let them get away?"

"Louis, we are doing everything we possibly can. Right, now we can't get the police involve, but I assure you that I am getting to the bottom of this." Jessica replied as smoothly as possible. "Now, do you remember what these people look like?"

"Of course I do," Louis snapped and Harvey was amazed at the calm mask Jessica used. But then Louis was rarely rude to Jessica, so she must be making excuses with him. "Both of them wore similar cleaning uniforms like the company we hired. One was a tall male, African American, in his twenties – Brooklyn accent. Thin build but hard to say with the uniform on. If you get a sketch artist, I can describe him. The other was female, also in her twenties, tall, blond, and no distinct accent. Rather good looking and crazy because she was the one who tased me!"

Harvey coughed as he tried not to laugh out loud at the idea of a woman tasing Louis. Actually, the senior partner always thought that a normal woman's reaction should be to tase the man whenever the junior partner opened his mouth. However from the sharp glare Jessica was giving, this was no time to be making a joke.

"You know what?" Louis said with the tone of someone making a great discovery, "I bet it was Alton Corporations that did this! They must be desperate about something in those files and they attacked me when I caught them!"

"That's only speculation, Louis." Jessica said kindly and patted his hand. "Right now, just rest. Once the hospital lets you out, I'm sure Harvey would be more than happy to let you look over the finances with the case."

The senior partner was about to object but Jessica's look made him stop while Louis scowled.

"You're right; I am going to look at those finances. Hell, I'm going to get them to give over their personal ones too! I'll find those hired men if it's the last thing I do!" the junior partner ranted.

The man continued to rant out exactly what he would do to catch the people involved and how much he would sue them for damages. Actually it was creative of Louis, but seriously boring for Harvey. Honestly, he thought the burglars did Louis a favor in breaking the man's nose. Maybe when it heals, it'll improve the junior partner's looks.

"That's all nice, Louis, but while you're recovering, I'm going to do actually work with the files you risked your nose job for." Harvey commented with a smirk when Louis finally took a break to breath. Jessica rolled her eyes while Louis's face turned ugly with a sneer.

"Right, funny, considering the fact I never had one."

"Really? The nurse I banged last night had a pretty good description of you getting it done. Although you should sue since I didn't see a change."

"If you hadn't lost Ross, you wouldn't even need those damn files by now!" Louis snarled before he pressed his lips tight.

The three fell silent as Harvey glared down at Louis who refused to meet his eye. What Louis had said was a low blow and everyone knew it. While Mike was not a favorite with the associates who were jealous of his position with Harvey; the kid was actually popular with plenty of people in other departments. The guards watching over the lobby were always kind enough to watch out for the kid's bike – because no fancy pancy lawyer would be even caught dead riding a bike and Mike proved himself to be humble and pathetically lost half the time.

Head of IT was like a friendemy with Mike due to some bet but once in awhile, the man comes out of his little hole to challenge Mike in some computer game that kids these days play. Although the fact that two week after Mike had vamooshed, the IT guy had demanded to know where Mike was and sulked for a whole week before he cleaned up his act. Donna suspected that the IT guy was actually in communication with the kid but Harvey didn't want her in trouble if the IT guy quit due to fear of Donna.

Janitors even knew the kid by name because he was the only associate who actually carried their waste basket over to them. That, and Harvey suspected that all of them were playing fantasy football or whatever. Hell, even Louis like the kid in his own weird out creepy way. Mostly because the kid's work made him look good. Plus the kid was a source of amusement for the junior partner which was rather pathetic.

"Don't forget that it's been four years, Louis and still – " Harvey began dangerously but Jessica placed her hand over his bad shoulder and squeezed it. The force was not enough to make him relive the pain but it was enough to make it twitch at the contact.

"Louis, just rest. As soon as the doctor calls, I'll send someone to pick you up. You're welcome to take tomorrow off as well." She said with a small smile. Then turning over to Harvey, she led him out of the room.

They said nothing on the way back to work. What else was there to say about the can of worms that had been opened after four years – although three after Louis's bitching. Jessica had allowed Mike to leave because she believed that the kid was too soft, too naïve, and to be quite honest, did not have the political attitude to survive in her company. There was no mistake that the kid was good at his work, but she needed lawyers who think of the good of the firm. Mike Ross had been too idealistic which was something that was rare in a Harvard law graduate.

Of course the kid never actually went to Harvard Law but no one important knew that.

When the car stopped, Harvey was about to get out when Jessica spoke.

"There is a reason why Louis is still a junior partner and it has nothing to do with his abilities. Louis has everything the firm needs to be a senior partner, but I don't have a junior partner with the balls to watch over the associates. I should have if things were different. So don't take it out on him, Harvey because the last thing we need right now is a pissing contest. Someone attack a junior partner in my firm on company property because of your case. Win it."

He knew that Jessica had done what she said she would not do four years ago – apologized about letting Mike Ross leave the firm. The kid would have been a junior partner by this time if he stuck to it. But that was the past and the kid was gone. Who knew if he was just passing time by helping losers cheat on their tests because Harvey had others things to worry about. There was no time to think of what ifs.

"I'll win it and I'll even get Louis compensation for his nose job." The senior partner answered with smirk before getting out of the car. The chuckle that reached his ears made him relaxed. At least Jessica was going to put this whole thing behind. Harvey had no time to sit around talking about anyone's feelings much less Louis's or his own.

Because Harvey has a case to win and that's all that matters.

"So, let me get this straight. You found out that there is an ex-KGB being hired by Alton Corp."

Nate pointed to Mike and Eliot who sat to the right of him, each of them drinking long necks.

"And you two got caught and tased one of the partners in the firm."

This was said to Hardison and Parker, the former drinking his orange soda while the later was trying to get the last few drops of her Yoo-hoo. Hardison shrugged his shoulders while Parker completely ignored him.

"Technically, Parker did do a good thing. The dude called security and we would have been locked in until they did." Hardison pointed out without looking like he was defending the Thief.

Nate sighed as he closed his eyes at the latest developments to their job. Technically, he really couldn't blame Hardison or Parker with their actions. They have been in the game long enough that Nate trusts their judgment well enough. However it leaves them with a problem. Security is no doubt going to be tight and it sounded like the guy had a good look at their faces. Already, they were down three for the job with the law firm. Not that he wanted Parker in for the law firm – the job he had in mind was not her style. He had hoped to use Hardison instead.

"Anyway we can find out what what's going on with the law firm without the hardcopies?" Sophie asked with a worried frown. Nate looked over to Mike who shrugged.

"Only if we're going by assumption. I can look through all the files that we grabbed out of Alton but I wouldn't be able to tell what was given to Pearson and Hardman for sure."

"Plus we don't know if the mole is true or not." Hardison added.

"Fine, we'll worry about them later. Anything about motives for Alton to go against our client?" Nate asked hoping for some good news.

"Nothing obvious. We did a day and night watch over the place, but nothing out of the ordinary. Security guards aren't anything extra ordinary. The CEO is seen a couple of bodyguards but they're nothing special as well – ex-marines." Eliot reported as he leaned against his chair.

"Systems are good and standard for a company like Alton, they're secure, but nothing like the other companies we took down in the past." Hardison added.

"Security consists of a keycard and a pin, but levels can actually be bypassed by the fire escape." Parker stated as she reached for another Yoo-hoo.

"I checked the city records with our client and Alton Corps but there's nothing for Alton to gain by taking over. The location isn't the best if they want to set up a factory, and there are way too many newer properties for Alton to buy if they want to expand on the space. I mean that piece of land was considered to be a dump for nearly thirty years. Back then there were only a few novelty shops and a bank near it." Mike said when it came his turn. Parker looked at him in surprise at the news.

"Bank? I didn't see a bank near there."

"It closed down after it was robbed and got burned down in the process back in 1973. Robbers were never caught and no one knew how the fire got started. Three people died, I think." Mike added before he finished off the rest of his beer.

Nate was silent as he processed everything that was said. Something told him that there was more going on than a simple take-over. Because it was starting to look less corporate and more like a personal angle going on. Which meant that they need to figure who is the real mark in this job.

"Hardison, look into the top people in Alton. I want everything on the CEO, CFO, the board, the whole works. I want to know about their finances, background, their families, and their movements. Parker, you're going to work with Sophie and get into the Justice Department. Get copies of the paperwork and find out which judge is being called on the case. Eliot, Mike, you guys are going to find out about the KGB. I just want you guys to find him – do what you have to do."

Nate got up and was about to leave when Hardison asked him.

"What about you?"

"I am going to find out more about the bank."

This was fun to write because of Louis. He's not my favorite character (Donna!) but he is fun to write. So were Harvey's reactions to Louis. I know it seems like I'm bashing Louis a bit but really that is all Harvey's fault!

How do you guys like Parker in this part? For those of you who don't know, Yoo-hoo is a milk chocolate drink which is rather good.

So tell me how much you like this chapter while I think on what to do with the next part.