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"So, Max, you wanted to see us?" Danny Williams asked, striding into the ME's office with his partner, husband, and soulmate, Steve McGarrett, following behind.

"Ah, yes. I was just. . ." Max paused, staring at the carrier in Danny's hand. "What is that?"

"This?" Danny made a sweeping gesture indicating the carrier. "This is a baby carrier. With a baby. My baby, well, mine and Steve's baby, to be precise. Haven't you seen a baby before?"

Max was affronted. "Of course I have seen an infant. What a meant to express was 'Why is there a baby here, in my lab?'"

"We were at the doctor's when you called. You sounded like it was important, and it was on the way home, so we came by here first," Steve explained.

"Oh, I see." Max seemed to accept that explanation and launched into the evidence he wanted Steve and Danny to see. He was interrupted by Steve's phone.

"McGarrett." He listened a moment. "Yeah, we'll be right there." He hung up and turned to Danny. "Chin and Kono have a location on our suspect. We're going to meet them there."

"Steve! We can't go meet them now! What are we going to do with Matt?"

"We'll take him with us," Steve replied.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Danny started to wave his hands, until he realized that one of them was still holding the baby carrier. He set it on the floor to better gesticulate. "We can't take our baby on an arrest! You and I get shot at on a regular basis—I'm not going to expose my kid to that! Or what if we get involved in a high speed chase, another thing, may I point out, that happens on a regular basis?"

Steve thought a minute. "Max will watch him, right, Max?"

"Well, actually. . ." Max started to protest, but the men were gone, leaving him staring in bewilderment at the carrier on the floor. "Well, Matthew, if I may call you Matthew, I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with infants, and I'm not sure this is the appropriate place for you. What do you suggest we do until your fathers return?"

Matt burbled and waved his legs in the air.

"I'm afraid that's not a very helpful suggestion," Max said. He examined the infant closely, as if Matt were a specimen on his table. "This would probably be considerably easier if you were in dragon form. I might be able to devise some means of entertaining you."

As if understanding Max, Matt shimmered and a tiny baby dragon appeared in the carrier.

"Ah, much better. You know, I have never had the chance to examine a dragon. I've asked Detective Williams and Commander McGarrett, but they have not allowed me the opportunity. May I perhaps conduct some experiments."

Matt just stared at him and blinked.

"I'm going to take that as a yes. Now, if I could just get some scale samples. . ."

Matt obligingly let Max scrape off a few scales, which he examined under a microscope. "Very interesting. Much thicker and sturdier than fish or reptile scales. I can see why they're regarded as armor. May I test that?" When Matt didn't respond, Max reached out with a pen and firmly poked the infant. Matt squealed in surprise, but did not seem to be affected otherwise. "Indeed. The scales do seem to afford you some protection. Tolkien posited that dragons were vulnerable at one point on their chest. May I examine you to ascertain the veracity of that theory?" The infant was again silent, so Max cautiously approached Matt, lifting the dragon's chin to peer at his chest. Matt craned his neck curiously to see what Max was looking at. "I see no sign of vulnerability. May I perhaps take a mold of your teeth?" At the continued lack of response, Max got the materials for the mold. He inserted it in Matt's mouth. Matt clamped down, thoroughly mangling the mold and narrowly missing Max's fingers. "Hmm, perhaps dental x-rays?" Max examined Matt's mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. "Perhaps not. But perhaps you will permit me to obtain a full skeletal x-ray?"

When Steve and Danny returned a couple of hours later, they found the lab adorned with x-rays of Matt. The infant himself was perched on the counter in dragon form, peering over Max's shoulder as he examined yet another sample under the microscope.

"What in the world is going on here?" Danny demanded.

"Oh, Dectective Williams, you have returned. My apologies for the mess. I was taking the opportunity to perform an examination of your son in order to further my knowledge of dragons."

Danny was not pleased. "Oh, you were, were you? I'll have you know my child is not some kind of science experiment to be poked and prodded. He's a child. Would you do that to a human baby?" Max opened his mouth to answer, but Danny continued before he could say anything. "What am I saying? You probably would. You cut up dead bodies for fun. Well, you're not doing that to my child, do you understand."

Max was properly chastised. "I wouldn't dream of it, Detective Williams. I apologize if I was out of line."

Danny calmed somewhat. "It's okay. Just don't do it again."

"If I may be so bold as to suggest it may be advisable to refrain from leaving your child in my care in the future."

Danny nodded emphatically in agreement. "I think that's an excellent idea indeed."