I'm back with my second fan fic. This story was a challenge to write in the sense that there were lots more details to iron out in trying to work something that is worthy of posting.

I sure hope you'll enjoy. It's still Steve and Danny-centric and set somewhere in season 2.

It was late in the evening. Steve was still sitting at his desk cudgeling his brains to find a possible connection between two bank heists that had left three innocent people dead. Kono, Chin and Danny had already gone home but he remained behind, obsessed by this tiny clue that could solve this case.

He sighed and rubbed the strain out of his eyes. He stood from the desk and went to refresh his glass of water at the cooler. The office cleaning ladies were nearly done their job for the night and were starting to pack up their supplies.

"Commander McGarrett, you are working late tonight," one maid observed.

"Yeah, it's been one of those days," he said through a yawn. "Sorry."

"You should call it a day. You might find what you're looking for in the morning after a goodnight sleep."

Steve fashioned a weary smile at the wise words. "You might be right." He glanced down at his wristwatch showing eight thirty-five. "I'll follow your advice and wrap up."

"Goodnight sir."

"Goodnight."

Steve watched the three ladies exit the briefing room before returning to his desk. He stared at the PC screen, hoping the answer would finally pop up at him. He then huffed out in frustration and shut off his laptop.

He was ready to leave when maintenance men in uniforms showed up with their equipments.

"Huh, excuse me," Steve hailed the three men who were dismissing his presence to go about their business. "May I help you?"

"No. That's all right. We're here to clean the vent shafts," said one of them.

Steve frowned in suspicion. "You have an authorization?"

The man produced a piece of paper from one of his breast pockets and handed it over to Steve. "Here you go, sir. It was signed by the governor himself."

Steve studied the document that, at first glance, appeared to have been drawn up in due form and he recognized Denning's signature. "Could you just wait here for a second?"

The men shrugged and nodded.

Steve went to his office and dialed Denning's number. "Governor Denning? This is Steve McGarrett. I'm sorry to disturb you so late sir but I have three men at the Palace who say they're here to clean the air ducts. I have the paper in my hand with your signature but I just wanted to confirm that you indeed authorized it?"

"Yes I did, Commander. I'm sorry for not advising you. I guess it slipped my mind. It's something that we do once a year."

"Funny but I've never seen them before."

"It's probably because you were never at the office that late in the evening. By the way, what are you still doing over there at this hour?"

"We've hit a brick wall in our investigation in the Yuri case and – well – I thought that with peace and quiet I could find the missing link."

"And?"

"Nothing. My brain is oatmeal. I'm done for the day."

"Good. Get some sleep. You'll see better in the morning."

"Yeah. Goodnight sir."

"Goodnight Commander."

Steve hung up and headed out of his office to give the slip back to the man in charge. "Okay. You're clear. I'll leave you to your chore. Goodnight."

"Goodnight sir."

H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50H50

The next morning, the team met at HQ to discuss their latest brainstorming. None had good news to report, save perhaps for Danny who arrived wearing a broad smug grin.

"What are you grinning about?" Steve asked, a bit annoyed by his partner's smirk.

"I hereby announce that I have found the missing link," Danny boasted.

"Really? How d'you do it?"

"Well unlike a certain smart-alec partner of mine," Steve was seen turning his tongue inside his cheek and looking upward in annoyance, "I finished work at a decent hour. I went to my crummy, yet cozy tiny apartment where I settled on the couch with a cold beer and a great alien movie."

"Not that dude giving birth again?" Steve bellyached.

"Yes , that dude giving birth. It's a classic. Then it came to me."

"All right Einstein, care to share your theory with us?"

"Yuri's brother."

"Danny, we've already established that Guido was in Spain at the time of the heists," Steve argued.

"Nah not Guido, Kale."

"He's fourteen!"

"And skinny enough to have crawled inside the vent shaft to get inside the room."

Kono turned to Steve. "It's worth looking into."

"Wait a minute." Steve held out his hand. "Do you guys smell that?" he asked as his nostrils were suddenly assaulted by a sharp, suffocating odor.

Suddenly, Lori collapsed onto the floor shortly followed by Kono and then Chin. Steve tried to prevent Danny's fall by grabbing a hold of his arm, but only managed to sink to his knees along with his partner's dead weight. Realizing what was happening, Steve held his breath and quickly pulled out his iPhone from his cargo pants but as he was about to dial 911, he started to cough. As he sucked in a much-needed breath he was instantly overcome by the toxic vapors that constricted his throat and soon after, he fell unconscious on top of Danny.

Outside in the parking lot, a man dressed in a business suit waited patiently in his car for the signal to go in. Once he saw the two policemen positioning themselves on either side of the Palace main entrance, he exited his car and walked casually toward the entrance.

"The gear's inside by the door, boss," said one of the two pseudo cops in a nonchalant manner.

"Thanks. Are the others inside?"

"Yes. They're waiting for you."

"Good. Don't let anybody in. If anyone asks, there's a fire drill."

"Got it."

The man sucked in a deep breath before stepping inside the building where he donned his gas mask, after which he made his way to the Five-0 briefing room.

"Quickly, get busy. We don't have much time," he ordered. While each of his four accomplices settled to the task at hand, he went to McGarrett's office and looked around, searching for nothing in particular. He sat behind his desk and pried open each of the locked drawers.

He frowned at a picture of the lieutenant commander posing with Navy comrades. He pulled it out of the drawer and stared at it. His eyes narrowed in contempt and in a fit of rage, he smashed the framed picture against the corner of the desk before tramping out of the office.

"You got the loot?" he asked eagerly.

"It's safely tucked inside the van," replied one of his henchmen.

"Ok, let's get out of here."

They came to the back door and stepped outside. They removed their masks and scanned the area for any prying eyes as they made their way to the awaiting van. As for the leader, he removed his mask near the door and casually exited through the main entrance. The two guards followed him to his car.

"What about the surveillance cameras?" asked one of the phony cops who took a seat behind the wheel.

"They're all in close-circuit. The boys did a good job last night. There won't be any trace of us ever been here."

Barely sixty seconds after they'd driven away, an explosion occurred inside the Palace.