"Who is this lady anyway?" Luna asked before chugging down another portion of her ice water.

"She used to be a behavioral analyst with the FBI." Steve answered, shifting in the passenger seat of Luna's Jeep.

"Oh." Luna gave a small nod, not wanting to bother Steve any further.

This last week had been a blur of a thousand different emotions for them.

The shock of finding those chess pieces in their homes had them, along with the rest of the team enthralled on an investigation that dispute all of their efforts left them with the same burning question.

Who was commanding the game?

Steve had been more frustrated with the situation, considerably more than Luna and with good reason, whoever this was had broken into his home, whereas Luna's gift was merely left in her shed.

Any memories of their last Thursday date night had faded as they threw themselves in their work, desperate for whatever answers they could uncover.

"How've you been holding up?" Danny asked Luna from the backseat.

"I've been alright." Luna said steadily as she knew all eyes were on her.

"You sure?" He pressed further trying to find any signs of deception.

"I've survived worse Danny. I think I can handle property invasion." She didn't say it to be conceited or boastful, only to prove a point, not that's she thought that either of them would believe her, but she gave it a try.

"Now why would a woman of 30 be prompted to say that?" Luna rolled her eyes at Danny's nosey ways.

"Things that go bump in the night don't only favor you old folks." She smirked through the rear-view mirror as she spoke in a mocking tone.

"I will have you know I am 42 years young……and I still get carded when I go out to the bar." Luna chuckled.

"That right there just proved my point beautifully. I think I've only ever heard people over the age of 35 say that. Besides- chicks at the bar probably just flatter to get you to buy more drinks and tip handsomely." Steve had turned to look at Luna during this little exchange, curiosity peaked by her quickness to change the subject and without attracting anymore prying from Danny.

The relief in her eyes was apparent as the witty banter continued, going in the exact direction that she guided it into.

He shook off his curiosity for the moment as they arrived at the house of Alicia Brown, former behavioral analyst for the FBI who had now retired to a beautiful house in Manoa, they were immediately invited in and given a chance to speak their piece.

Now sitting across from Luna and Steve sharing the couch, was Alicia herself examining the ivory bobbles, Steve's a knight and Luna's a rook.

"They're from the same chess set as the other pieces, which tells me that whoever compelled Anthony Lee Hein, David Larsen, and more than likely Pierre Shaw to kill on their behalf that they're still out there." Alicia shifted in her seat, clearly annoyed that her retirement was being disturbed.

"And I take you're here because you need my help." She said with a slight smugness in her voice.

"Yeah, I mean – you were a behavioral analyst for the FBI for 15 years. You profiled a lot of serial killers." She narrowed her eyes towards Danny.

"I'm also retired." She said firmly.

"Those chess pieces your holding are the only solid leads we have. We have allocated absolutely every resource to this case. It's been over a week and we uh, we have nothing." Steve chuckled out in frustration.

"Well, that's not unusual in cases like this, where the killer suddenly goes to ground. Patience, that'll be the key." Danny scoffed.

"Patience is definitely not his strong suit."

"He left that in my house. In my house." Steve's voice trembled with anger, pointing to the little knight as if it were cursed.

For everyone involved it really was a curse, a curse of the mind, especially for Steve and Luna.

It haunted each of them to the core, not knowing who was behind all of this.

"What, is he taunting me? Please, help me understand."

"On the contrary, Commander, I think that the killer admires you. The knight is the protector of the realm. In chess, that's a very powerful position in close positions. I think he sees you as a potentially dangerous adversary, unlike the victims- who were mere pawns… expendable foot soldiers." Luna took this time to halt her silence as Steve was now left speechless as he pondered Alicia's theory.

"What I don't understand is, why me? I'm new here, I started here last week. It's doesn't make any sense. What rook for rookie?" Luna asked scoffing to herself in frustration.

"You said that the killer left this one in your pool shed?" Alicia asked.

"Yes." Luna said.

"I think that the killer fears you. Breaking and entering is risky – showing fearlessness when it came to leaving the knight with Steve. For whatever reason he chose to be more cautious when the rook for you."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked dumbfounded that anyone would be afraid of her.

"Well, its obvious, isn't it? Going back to chess – the rook trumps the knight. Next to the queen they're the most powerful pieces in the game." This notion didn't give any comfort to Luna, it only added to her current dilemma of confusion.

"Alright now you've completely lost me." Luna was at a loss for words, that and Danny chose to interject into the conversation.

"This is just my opinion, but I think the chess metaphor, with the people moving around and the thing. I don't – I just don't buy it. No disrespect – Miss Brown. Maybe this guy isn't as smart as you think he is. I mean your insinuating that he fears Luna and not Steve?" Alicia turned to glare at Danny.

"And yet here you are…in my home asking for help. Don't make the the mistake of underestimating this person Detective. This person doesn't just have people killing for him, he has them sending him pictures, evidence of his work. That is a highly sophisticated form of manipulation. And as for that last question, yes, that's exactly what I am insinuating. Something about you Luna, has this person on their toes." Luna's eyes widened as she hitched a tight inhale, the shock of this explanation causing her to freeze.

"The governor of Hawaii has empowered us to do whatever necessary to catch who's responsible. So, I need you to tell me what its going to take for you to come and work with us. Temporarily of course." Alicia seemed clearly bothered by him asking that of her.

"I'm sorry Commander, but I'm retired." Steve looked behind the former FBI agent and saw a picture of her arms wrapped around who he assumed to be her daughter.

"You understand that people are dead. Innocent people with families. That's gotta mean something to you." Alicia bit her lip and cleared her throat.

"It does…. My answer is still no." She said handing Steve back the two chess pieces.

"Good luck." She directed the phrase at Luna who was clearly lost in thought at this whole conversation.

"We'll let ourselves out." Danny said as the three took their leave.

"That was a waste of time- huh?" He asked as they all walked back to Luna's car.

Luna walked ahead of the two slowpokes trolling behind.

She chugged down the rest of her water, thoughts running aimlessly in her mind, thinking of what she could do to make time and fate work faster.

Something to get them to the answers that they needed.

"You, sure about that last answer now?" Danny pressed yet again.

"Yes." She said as she revved her engine and turning the car around to get out of the neighborhood.

"But I'll feel a lot better once I get an IP address on whoever this is."

The rest of the way back to the palace was quiet, Danny headed home as there wasn't really much work to get done while Steve and Luna headed up into the five-0 lair to see if Luna's hacking skills could get them anywhere further than their dead end.