Rico sat on the bed in the empty hotel room, confused. Were the past few days a lie? Was this all a scam to rob him? If so, why not do that the first night? Why play with him like this? He wasn't good at figuring things out. Thinking was Kowalski and Skipper's thing, not his.

Kowalski! Skipper! Oh no! The communication device was gone with his clothes! He looked around the room and realized that there wasn't a phone in the room. Well, no matter. He didn't know the phone number for the base. He had no way to contact them.

He walked to the window and looked out. It was still night. But, he recognized the area. In fact, from there, he could see the hotel that the unit used as a base. He just had to get to it. With no clothes.

He went into the bathroom and was grateful to see towels. Grabbing a large bath towel, he wrapped it around himself in an attempt to cover as much of himself as he could. Opening the door, he looked out into the hallway. It was deserted. He quickly made his way to the nearest stairwell. The door at the bottom led out into an alleyway.

His senses were on high alert. Being caught naked in an alleyway would be extremely dangerous. He carefully made his way along, keeping a sharp eye out. Thankfully, it was the early hours of the morning and the streets were very quiet, though not completely empty. Somehow, he managed to get to the unit's hotel without being seen.

Skipper answered the door when Rico knocked. Skipper was NOT happy! He grabbed Rico's arm and pulled him into the room where Rico saw the other three looking equally upset. The yelling then commenced. "Where have you been? Johnson and Manfredi were combing the city for you! Why did you turn off your communication device when you knew you were supposed to keep it on?" Skipper finally noticed what Rico was wearing. "And what happened to your clothes?"

His eyes never leaving the ground, he told them about Dani. While he talked of their dates, he put on a spare set of clothes. His cheeks were burning as he told them about Dani taking him to the hotel. He couldn't bring himself to say what happened in the room, but he didn't need to. It was quiet for a few minutes after he finished.

"Rico," Kowalski said gently, "Dani was our man's girlfriend. Johnson and I have been investigating her."

"Wha?"

Skipper sighed. He could see the hurt look in Rico's eyes. "She used you Rico. Played you like a cheap instrument." Even though Skipper knew Rico had been hurt, it didn't change the fact that he had messed up. Big time. "And now our mission has been compromised. Go down to the lobby and wait till one of us comes and gets you. The rest of us need to discuss what will happen now."

"Ay ay." Rico left the room.

"Skipper," Johnson said, "don't be too hard on him. He couldn't help but fall for a pretty girl who noticed him."

"That should have made him suspicious! If some pretty girl started coming on to me in a bar, I would be suspicious!"

"Because you have that experience," Manfredi said. "Rico hasn't. His experience with girls is limited. Trust me, Skipper, when you're damaged, girls avoid you. Can you blame him for falling in love with the first girl who took an interest in him?"

"But she now has one of our communication devices. We can't talk to each other, without them hearing our conversations!"

"You know," Kowalski chimed in, "that just might work to our advantage."

"Yes," Johnson said, catching on quickly. "We could use it to trap them!"

"How?"

Manfredi found Rico down in the lobby, sitting with his head in his hands. Rico looked up at Manfredi approached. The one-eyed man nodded a 'come on' with his head and turned. Rico followed him dejectedly. He was going to be kicked out of the unit and that hurt him even more than Dani had. The unit was everything to him. He didn't know what he'd do if he was forced to leave.

All eyes turned to Rico when he and Manfredi entered the room. Skipper stared at him, arms folded across his chest. "I'm not going to lie to you, Rico. You messed up badly. And on our very first mission." Rico's head hung even lower. "But Johnson has a plan that just might turn this all around."

After a few moments of quiet, Rico raised his eyes. "Ah sta'?"

"Yes, you get to stay, providing this mission succeeds." Skipper, and everyone else in the room, was shocked when Rico rushed him and threw his arms around Skipper. "Whoa, whoa! Stand down, soldier. I said only if this mission succeeds." He managed to pull himself away from Rico, and saw the hope shining in the younger man's eyes.

"Okay. Now here's the plan."