He's mouth gets the better of him, when he's smiling like he won. But at the same time a fond, of the fact she's letting him, while not letting him, and goading him about the fact he obviously must have put some work into it. Licking his fingertips from the grease and coconut from his last bite of shrimp being popped in right then, before he said, a little argumentatively bright, "I didn't say none of it."

And, sure, maybe he did. Have a little to do with it. But maybe some of it was dumb luck, too. Maybe a whole damn lot of the beginning, actually.The HPD happening to assign Danny to Jack McGarrett's murder. That Chin hadn't gone rogue or bitter after what the HPD did him. That taking a chance on Kono, with only Chin's word to go on, when he'd not known the man since his teens, for more than a handful of hours, worked out as well as it had.

Certainly not Max, with his baffling tendencies and oddest quirks. Jenna who'd decided to go rogue on her whole department, and showboat him with a suit, only to have a hotel full of black book intel. When Lori was lashed on to the whole of Five-0 as a leash. Some of it was astronomically things he couldn't have, then, predicted. Or truly known on sight.

Had an idea about within a few weeks, sure.

But not when he was recruiting them, or being saddled with them, that very first day