A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews once more - hope you're all enjoying this. And as for this chapter...it's not the end of this joke. There is another part of it to be revealed in the next chapter!

Sarah x

"I can open the door," Serena insisted after ten minutes of Ric attempting the very same. Not for the lack of effort, though, she found herself unable to pick the lock. "I'll get them for this," she promised, absolutely positively seething.

"What happened to keeping out of it?!" he demanded.

"They've locked us in a cupboard, Ric!" she exclaimed disbelievingly. "Do you actually expect me to be pleased about that?!"

"No, but revenge isn't going to help the situation," he told her, his tone deliberately calming and level. It was easily seen he was trying to stop her plotting anything, as it had already gone far enough.

"Is that what you were thinking when you rigged their staffroom to collapse?" she demanded, turning to meet his gaze. "This is your fault," she accused. "If you hadn't messed with them, we wouldn't be here. I would be finishing up, ready to go home. Instead I'm stuck here with you!" she continued, with slightly more venom than was strictly necessary.

"Am I not good enough company for you?" he challenged jokingly, but Serena was in no mood for his smart comments. She was tired, irritated, hungover (she really needed to curb this wine habit of hers) and had spent all day on AAU with Michael. She didn't appreciate being locked in a storeroom with Ric Griffin.

He walked away from her and sat down on the floor, his back against the wall, to make himself a little more comfortable. They were here until Mo and Jonny saw fit to release them. Or there was an emergency. Or the hospital caught fire. Whichever came first, Serena wasn't too fussed if it got her out of here. She didn't mind Ric – she even quite liked him in small doses – but the prospect of such an undetermined amount of time cooped up with him and his irritatingly calm complacency did not appeal to her.

"How can you be so relaxed about this?" she almost shouted. "They must think they're very funny, laughing out there while we're stuck in here."

"Is that what you're worried about?" he chuckled incredulously. "That they're laughing at you? Of course they are! They think you helped me, and they've got us back for it!"

"I told you! I told you I'd get blamed for it!"

"You could just see it as an opportunity for some peace and quiet," he suggested with a soft smile. She saw his point; the lights were on, it was warm enough, and it wasn't terribly cluttered. It could have been worse. It could've been an AAU storeroom.

"That's not the point," she argued. "I should be at home cooking dinner and God only knows what else."

"For God's sake, Serena. Just think of this as the sleep you missed out on last night. You're hungover anyway," he reminded her. "The best thing you can do, for both of us, is sit down, shut up and go to sleep!" he told her sternly.

She glared at him before she sat down next to him, finally accepting she was at the mercy of the evil staff of Darwin. It annoyed her more than anything else, but she had to admit to herself that if the roles were reversed, she probably would've found it hilariously entertaining.

"How do you know I barely slept last night?" she asked him, realising she'd never told him.

"You mentioned it at lunch," he dismissed it.

"No," she drawled in her usual fashion. "I said I had one too many drinks last night. I didn't say anything about not sleeping."

"Marks under your eyes," he told her. "Happens every time you're tired."

"I didn't think anyone ever noticed that," she confessed, not sure how she felt about him paying her that level of attention.

"Well, I do," he retorted. "Will you just go to sleep, or am I going to have to kill you?" he threatened, and she realised her inability to shut up was getting on his already frayed nerves.

She put her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to sleep away her time here. It wasn't getting her very far, though. She kept planning all the things she could do to Mo, Jonny and Jac – there was no way she wasn't in on this – once she got out. All the jokes she pulled over the years. Eggs in the shoes, as she suggested to Malick. The most efficient thing she could come up with would be to take the screws out the computer chairs. Or maybe replace their sugar with salt. Or cling film at eye level behind the doors? The possibilities were endless, and she'd done many of them before, usually on Imelda.

"It isn't working," she announced into the silence.

"What do you expect if you're going to do that?" he challenged, referring to the way she was sitting bolt upright, stiff with annoyance and caution. "Serena, you can't expect to fall asleep when you're not relaxed!" he told her.

"Stop shouting at me!" she snapped. "I'm not a child."

"Really?" he replied sarcastically. "Because you're doing a magnificent impression of my grandson."

"Stop nagging me," she warned, her patience wearing dangerously thin as she resisted the temptation to open her eyes to see the amused smirk she just knew he was wearing. She actually hadn't realised she knew him so well before now, but she was finding that she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Come here," he sighed. She did open one eye this time, and looking around to see if he was actually serious. And he was serious. She glared at him, and of course, he completely disregarded it. "Oh, grow up," he ordered her. She was hesitant, but she did do it; she shimmied herself closer to him. He put his arm around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, becoming very wary of him now.

"Helping you relax," he replied. In fairness, though, she was more comfortable leaning against him than she was poker-straight. Deciding there was no harm in it, she let herself react by resting her head in the crook of his neck. She really was tired, actually. After drinking too much and tossing and turning all night, she was pretty exhausted. Maybe Ric was right and this was a blessing in disguise.

As she drifted slowly toward sleep, she felt Ric smile into her hair. "Silly woman," he chuckled. She allowed herself a small smile as she let everything go and fell asleep.

She woke with a start when Jonny's loud Scottish voice shouted to them, "Wakey-wakey!" She stirred and woke Ric by shaking his hand. "No, seriously," Jonny pushed. "Hanssen's wondering why your cars are still here. It's nearly ten."

"Then why are you still here?" Serena snapped as Ric helped her up.

"I'm on a double shift," he explained. "Come on, get to it!" he ordered urgently, clapping his hands at them. The pair of them brushed past Jonny to get out onto the ward. Looking down at herself, Serena discovered she looked nothing short of scruffy; her trousers were creased, her shirt was falling off at one shoulder and her hair wasn't sitting right. She felt her lipstick had smudged when she fell asleep leaning on Ric, and she was slightly unsteady with being woken so quickly.

"Ms. Campbell, Mr. Griffin," Henrik Hanssen asked behind them. "Might I ask what you are doing in the hospital at this hour?" he asked. "You were both supposed to clock off at six o'clock, or am I mistaken?"

Serena was in half a mind to tell Hanssen exactly what was going on, but she wanted revenge too much to tell him – he'd put an end to it. So instead she thought up a quick excuse: "We were working on a case. Mrs. Holden, Keller bed three? We came up for some insight from Miss Naylor but she'd already left," she rambled, surprised at how easily the lie came out. Jonny looked really quite impressed.

"I must say, Ms. Campbell," Hanssen added. "You do look rather worse for wear," he informed her, eyeing her slipping shirt, rubbed-off lipstick and slightly messy hair with a glance. Part of her thought she saw a rather odd look in his face. Oh, no..wait, he didn't think...no, he wouldn't think that. Would he? It worried her now, that Hanssen was wondering if she and Ric were...involved. Surely he didn't think that? Was it possible that he'd added their disappearance with her post-sleep state and come up with the entirely wrong idea?

She caught Jonny stifling a laugh to Hanssen's right, just out of the Swede's line of sight. She was very tempted to wring his neck, there and then.

"Long day," she smiled. "Now, if you don't mind, I think I'd better be getting home," she said, glaring at Jonny as she passed him. Ric quickly followed her and got in the lift beside her. "Ric, if you tell anyone about that, I will make your life a living hell," she warned him, albeit with a tiny smile.

"Of course you will," he sighed. When the doors opened for the third floor, he surprised her; he kissed her cheek and said, "Good night, Serena."

Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to review and let me know what you think!
Sarah x