"Stupid nurse with her stupid morphine," Van Pelt muttered under her breath. She grumbled for a while more.

"Did you just say 'nurse cup'?" Lisbon snapped at her.

"No!" Van Pelt snarled. "Why would I say that? How dumb do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're dumb! I think that stupid blonde nurse was dumb, and I think stupid morphine is dumb!" Lisbon roared back.

Needless to say, they were suffering terribly as the extra doses of morphine that the stupid blonde nurse had been giving them were no longer in supply. Both women were grumpy, grouchy and downright mean! It was probably a good thing that they were, at long last, being released from the hospital. And although they weren't sure why they had just started suffering from withdrawls, and indeed why the hospital would let them go when they were, they weren't going to complain. About that, anyway.

"She wasn't even a real nurse," Van Pelt whined as she and the boss waited for the cab they had called. "I bet when the official inquiry comes to a close, then they'll find out that she was a fraud! Stupid nurse. Why didn't Jane know she was a stupid con-woman?"

Lisbon thought for a moment. "I don't know. The way she was throwing herself all over him was just disgusting."

"Yeah," Van Pelt agreed.

"What's more, I bet it was a ruse! I bet that she was just trying to distract from that fact that she was a stupid fraud and not a real nurse, either."

"I bet she isn't even a natural blonde!"

"You know what else? I bet the Mysterious Dark-Haired Man was working with her, so that she wouldn't be discovered!"

Suddenly both women fell silent. Across the street, wearing green scrubs, was the aforementioned Mysterious Dark-Haired Man. Coincidence? Probably, but what's the fun in that! Van Pelt and Lisbon both glared.

"There he is! He's a jerk!" Van Pelt muttered.

"Yes he is!" Lisbon narrowed her eyes. "But let's be fair, he's probably just some nurse that hangs out all the time."

"Probably," Van Pelt agreed. "Morphine may be fun, but these withdrawls sure aren't! It's like-"

She was cut off by a silvery-blue car pulling up in front of them.

"Would you ladies like a ride?" Jane asked with his typical grin.

"Yes, but not with you," Van Pelt replied rudely, and then felt bad. "I'm sorry. Sure, we'd love a ride."

She slid into the back and let Lisbon have shotgun. Strapping on their seatbelts, they peered out the window at the opposite side of the road. Both started in surprise.

"He's gone!"

"Who's gone?" Jane looked out the window.

"Never mind." Lisbon leaned back and frowned. "Maybe it's the withdrawls."

"Maybe," Van Pelt agreed doubtfully.

"What?"

"The Mysterious Dark-Haired Man," Van Pelt explained. "He was across the road, and now he's not."

"You mean that man?" Jane pointed to the crosswalk.

Lisbon shook her head. "Nope. That's not our Mysterious Dark-Haired Man. Now take us to HQ."

"You're suspended."

"Well, I don't care. We'll say that I'm there to get some stuff, but I'm not leaving Cho out in the cold, wherever he is!" Lisbon replied. "Now let's go before I break something."

"Amen, sister!" Van Pelt agreed empathically.

Meanwhile, back at HQ, Rigsby was the only one of the team left. He nibbled on a donut and a hamburger. Paperwork was spread out over his desk, but his mind was occupied elsewhere. He was thinking about Van Pelt. Van Pelt, smiling sweetly. Van Pelt rolling her eyes at him. Sitting at her computer, her back straight, her fingers curved gracefully as she typed on the keyboard, finding whatever information they needed to know. Van Pelt lying on the gurney, blood seeping from a bullet wound. Van Pelt pale in the hospital. Van Pelt giggling and incoherent on morphine. Van Pelt grabbing his arm and asking him to read a fanfic with a Welsh accent. Van Pelt walking through the door. Van Pelt frowning at him, asking him if he was okay. Van Pelt flicking his ear-

"Ow!" Rigsby exclaimed, wincing.

"I asked if you were okay!" Van Pelt replied.

"Oh. Oh, yeah. I'm fine." Rigsby looked back at his paperwork. "I'm glad you're out of hospital."

"Me too." Van Pelt sat down. "But Wayne, I'm suffering from withdrawls and it's not fun. I'm all cranky, and then I'm emotional and it's like I'm living in a badly written Fanfic!"

Rigsby though privately to himself that it had felt that way to him ever since she had been put in the same room as Lisbon to recooperate. He wasn't about to tell her that, though. Instead he tried his most supportive smile. "It's okay, Grace. We'll get through this."

Van Pelt smiled back at him and opened her mouth. Before she could speak, however, a dark-haired man came strolling into the bullpen. His face was emotionless, his eyes dark and focused. He wore a black suit. His feet clipped against the floor with definitive, solid footsteps. There was a blood-red tie around his neck.