The Homecoming Job

Leverage Consulting & Associates opens for business as the crew reunites to help Reservist Corporal Robert Perry who was wounded in Iraq my mercenaries working for Castleman Security, a private military contractor. To get Perry the rehabilitation he needs but cannot afford, the team must infiltrate the upper echelons of the Washington military/industrial complex to bring down Castleman's president and the shady Congressman on his payroll.

## The Client

* Corporal Robert Perry, a soldier injured in Iraq by private soldiers. Castleman Security covered up their involvement and the Army determined that he was hit by insurgents. Perry wants them to pay for his rehab so he can work.
* Dr. Laroque, a doctor who is desperately trying to help the wounded reservists.

## The Marks

* Charles Dufort, CEO of Castleman Security
* Congressman Robert Jenkins

## The Con

Nathan Ford has Hardison call the team in to help Corporal Perry. Sophie Devereaux from an audition, Eliot Spencer from a retrieval in Berlin, and Parker from a job in Monaco.

The Leverage team infiltrates a party hosted by Charles Dufort in honour of a Congressman. Sophie poses as Lily McCready from Executive Orders, a London based security company. Hardison and Parker break into Dufort's office. Parker gets into a voice-activated safe with Eliot's help and Hardison accesses Dufort's computer with the team's help to get an RFID code. They discover that Castleman is covering up the firefight, not because of the mistake, but because Perry saw the men unloading something.

Eliot, Nate, and Sophie go to the hospital to warn Perry. Eliot takes out the two men sent to take care of Perry and Nate and Sophie get him out of the hospital.

The team turn Congressman Robert Jenkins and Dufort against each other. They convince Jenkins that Castleman has stopped doing him favours, and convince Castleman that Jenkins has stopped giving him defence contracts. Eliot stops an order of wood panelling intended for Jenkins' house that Dufort is paying for as a part of his bribes. Parker removes pages of a law and inserts pages that the team has written with the usual Castleman contracts.

From the information that Hardison overhears in their phone conversations the team track the shipment down to a shipping yard and container 541. The container is guarded by multiple teams of Castleman contractors and a webcam. It is full of a portion of the $9,000,000,000 in US currency sent to Iraq for "reconstruction" that was stolen from Iraq.

Nate and Sophie distract the security while Parker breaks into the container and sets a bomb on it. Hardison drives a truck away from the site. The security sees that the container is now empty. Eliot lets Hardison through the gate but when the Castleman guys catch him the back of the truck is empty.

Congressman Jenkins and Dufort are convinced to arrive at the container around the same time and argue. A group of reporters arrive and begin to question them.

### The Reveal

The container that blew up was actually number 542, not 541 and Congressman Jenkins is asked to open it, Eliot having given him the key at the gate with the directions. The container is opened and the stolen cash is discovered, Dufort and Jenkins lie and say that they uncovered corruption and theft, promising an investigation. The reporters appear to believe them until they receive footage from the webcam. The footage shows Dufort and Jenkins arguing about who is to blame for losing the money and incriminating themselves in the process.

Hardison arrives at the hospital with the truck, he pulls down a poster to reveal a crate full of cash which the team gives to Corporal Perry and Dr. Laroque.

## Guest Cast

* Robert Pine as Robert Jenkins
* Richard Cox as Charles Dufort
* Jack McLaughlin as Robert Perry
* Lee Reherman as Grady

## Aliases

* Lily McCready (Sophie)
* Tom Abrams (Nate)

## Episode Notes

* The lack of funding for military reservists medical care is a major issue in the US at present. Veterans are entitled to long-term care at VA facilities, but many live too far from a VA hospital to commute regularly. Private hospitals can provide these services at VA expense, but with higher costs per patient the norm, and a funding cap, these patients rarely get the same care as veterans able to access a VA hospital.
* The Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel plays the building that houses the Leverage Consulting and Associates offices. The hotel has a long show business history and is a frequently used location for film and television. Its greatest claim to fame is as the site where the Academy Awards were first held; the Oscar statuette was designed on a hotel napkin.
* In his blog, Leverage actor John Rogers notes that all the vets appearing in the hospital scene are actual vets, including Jake McLaughlin, who played Cpl. Perry. McLaughlin served four years in Iraq.
* Rogers makes a cameo appearance as one of the casting directors of the commercial for which Sophie is auditioning.

## Trivia

* The team's high-tech cell phones are introduced in this episode. Also introduced are two traditional in-jokes: the use of "seriously?" in response to an absurd situation (first heard when Parker pushes Hardison off a roof in untested gear) and Eliot's "very distinctive" line (first used to describe the weapons Castleman's security used in Perry's video).
* This episode includes the first contribution of consultant Apollo Robbins as choreographer of a three-hand pick-pocketing sequence, which was done in one shot.
* This episode is the first time the group goes by the name Leverage Consulting & Associates, and their headquarters are first used.
* This is the first episode where the painting of Harlin Leverage III is shown, it is in the background of most later episodes.
* Castleman Security's logo is a castle (or rook), the back row corner pieces on a chessboard.
* Castleman Security makes another appearance in The Rundown Job as the target of the initial heist in the episode.
* Series creator John Rogers and writer/producer Amy Berg plays a casting agent for a soap commercial that Sophie auditions for.