They'd been waiting over an hour now and there was still no sign of Face or Murdock. Hannibal checked his watch a third time, counting the minutes that had passed and coming up with the same conclusion. They were late. More than late.

"What the hell is keeping those fools so long," B.A complained, his large hands gripping the steering wheel, impatient to get going.

"I'm not sure, it's never taken Face this long before."

"The sucka's probably done a runner. You heard how much he was whining about missing that date he's got lined up tonight."

"I hardly think so, B.A. Sure Face is never exactly happy when a job cuts into his time with the ladies, but he's always come through for us." Hannibal shifted from the front seat and into the back, going through his prop bag and started putting a disguise together. "I'm gonna go inside, see if I can find them. Maybe Face's charm finally failed him." He winked over at B.A who just huffed impatiently.

Ten minutes later and Hannibal returned to the van with Murdock who was once again reiterating that entire morning's events, from the moment he woke up and took a leak to the second Hannibal turned up to his room. During that entire rant there was not one mention of Face and no one at reception had any recollection of the handsome, young Dr. Howard.

Hannibal got into the passenger side of the van and looked back at the hospital as Murdock made his sock puppet, 'Alfie' comfortable. Whatever meds they had Murdock on right now, really made him talk a lot and when people in the hospital stopped listening, Alfie came into existence. Of course this entire display wound B.A up instantly.

"Hannibal, this fool is talking to his sock like it's a real person! Why'd you bust him out? Hospital is the best place for him."

"Oh it is the best place, isn't it Alfie?" Murdock smiled at the sock puppet on his hand. The sock looked back at Murdock and nodded, the red piece of fabric that was its tongue, lolled around while two sightless buttons gleamed back, one at Murdock and the other at B.A such was the haphazard way it had been stitched. "Its chicken noodle soup for dinner later, Alfie loves those chicken noodles; will we be back for dinner colonel?"

"I doubt it, captain. This job has us a least a day's drive south and another day back again. Simple pick up and deliver." Hannibal explained as he pulled off the wig of Dr Lowe, who had so far been unable to track down his partner, Dr Howard.

"Well you know if Faceman can scam us a plane we can do it in a few hours."

"I ain't getting on no plane, Hannibal." B.A growled.

"There and back again, a sock puppets tail." Murdock continued. "It'll be Alfie's first flight and it'll be so much fun to have a co-pilot as crazy as I am, right B.A?"

"Get that thing outa my face, fool before I feed you it!"

"Sargent, captain!" It wasn't often Hannibal addressed them each by rank, usually only when their fights were getting out of hand or he needed the silence to think. "Besides, Face is AWOL so getting a plane is out of the equation."

"Doesn't sound like Face's style." Murdock said almost miserably, already he was missing his friend as out of all of them, Face was the one who made Murdock feel normal when he went along with his episodes.

"He has a date." B.A stated matter of factly.

"Still doesn't sound like Face." Murdock grumbled as B.A glared at him in the rear-view mirror.

"So what now Hannibal? We gotta move soon if we're gonna get there by morning." B.A looked to his CO who was still regarding the VA hospital with a suspicious eye.

"Go B.A. I'll call Face from the road; hopefully he'll get the message and can meet us there somehow."

"What's that?" Asked one of the orderlies responsible for holding him down. With the happy juice in his system it was really hard for Face to focus, but he was aware of sounds, even if his drug addled mind took a while to decode what those sounds meant. He was also in no fit state to put up much of a fight, which was probably why only one of the goons had hold of him.

He frowned down at himself, seeing that he had been removed of his clothes as was now sporting a pair of hospital PJ's. He was sat up, head feeling like a lead weight but full of helium at the same time, it took a lot of effort to simply lift his gaze to the man currently holding his jacket, pulling out his cell from the left pocket. "Swanky phone." The orderly complimented but all Face could do was gawp back.

"Just leave it," the second orderly said while pulling Face to his feet. "In fact turn it off, whoever it is will just have to leave a message." Face was steered towards the door, but he looked back at the phone as the orderly done as he was told and turned it off, before returning it to the jacket pocket and hanging it on the coat rack. He knew it was probably Hannibal calling him, wondering what the heck was taking him so long in springing Murdock so they could leave for the job, but right now there was nothing he could do to alert the team to his situation, he just had to hope Hannibal would somehow know…

"Come on pal, one foot, then the other." The orderly on his right commanded and Face turned hoping to give him his best glare, but he didn't think he pulled it off. The fact the ground beneath him seemed to tip and sway, like a boat on the ocean, Face had to muster all of his concentration to keep from falling. It was easy for the guy to say 'one foot in front of the other' but he wasn't high on God knows what. "We got a nice cosy room all set for you."

Face tried to speak, to respond to what was being said but all that came out was a groan and he felt his balance shift. To their credit the two burly men kept him up and hurried him along. Dressed how he was and some what out of it, he fit right in because no one seemed to blink an eye as he was shuffled along into one of the smaller rooms. This one had no furniture at all, just plain white, padded walls. Face realised immediately what was going on and despite his mind being soaked in syrup, he was still with it to know he had to get out of there. If he could just call out, maybe alert Murdock…

"You men," a female voice from behind drew the orderly's attention and they no longer tried to pry the drugged lieutenant from off the door frame. "When you've secured this patient, we need help to lock down the facility. Captain Murdock has escaped again."

Face frowned and the sudden distraction was enough to ruin his efforts to avoid being locked up and with a grunt, the two men had him inside the padded room and on the floor.

"You got some strength in ya, buddie." One of them quipped as he backed off leaving Face struggling to get back up before his was closed in. He stumbled into the door as the lock was turned and he weakly banged his hand into the cushioned fabric. "Sleep it off pal," he heard the muffled voice say. "You'll be out in a couple of days."

Face's legs buckled under him and as he slipped down the padded walls to the floor his foggy mind tried very hard to make sense of his situation. For a start, how was it that Murdock had escaped? That's what he had been sent in to do. Hannibal must have come in looking when they hadn't turned up, but if that was the case, why hadn't his CO found him yet!?

The walls felt a little too close as the gravity of the situation dawned on the drugged lieutenant and he realised he might be trapped in here. The doc and his men had said for a few days only, until some job was complete. He couldn't rely on them being truthful; after all, desperate men with something to hide could seldom be trusted. He would have to get out of this place himself and with luck, even if Hannibal and the others were fooled, it wouldn't be for long. Despite their differences and the occasional spats, they knew each other well, they knew him well and they knew he wouldn't just abandon a mission, not even for a pair of legs as good as the ones on Colleen. The crooked smile he now wore was made more crooked by the drugs and he tried once again to shake away their hold on him.

The room was much more secure than any of the ones Murdock had stayed in and while the place was on lock down following the crazy captain's bust, there was very little chance that Face could vacate the hospital undetected for at least a couple of hours, by then the drugs might have worn a little and he would be able to think and move unhindered.

Face lifted his head as far as he could and frowned down at the blurry white floor, resisting the urge to close his eyes once again to shield them from the glaring starkness reflecting back at him. He figured he'd passed out but for how long he couldn't even guess, his internal clock was well and truly confused thanks to the meds. He been so relaxed, that he'd drifted off, still sat against the door and he could feel the moistness on his chin from where he had been drooling. Feeling mildly embarrassed and self conscious about that he wiped it dry with a sluggish, heavy arm, almost giving himself a black eye in the process, such was the state of his motor functions.

With a groan he looked up at the small window set in the door and realised if he was going to get any indication of the level of security, he would have to get up there and take a look. If he had only been asleep an hour, then the security level would still be quite high and he would need to bide his time, however if the hall seemed calm, he'd likely been out of it a lot longer and could put himself to work and try to escape.

With a determined huff, Face pushed his feet against the floor and keeping his back firmly against the door, gradually pushed himself up, using the wall to steady him. Half way to the window he had to pause and blink away the gradual tip the floor was doing. He looked down at the ground, willing it to stay still and after a few seconds the motion stopped, so he pushed himself to his full height peering through the shatter proof glass. To his surprise Dr Morgan was peering back at him, together with another man, this one in an expensive black suit. The guy in the suit was short and round, completely bald and wore dark glasses but some how Face knew this man was regarding him with the same amount of contempt he would grant a bug in his morning coffee.

"H-hey!" He shouted his voice horse as it clawed its way past the dryness of his throat. His attempts to clear it were about as futile as getting some help, for the guy in the suit simply shook his head and started to snarl at the doctor beside him. Clearly this man was in on what ever Face had stumbled into and the lieutenant tried very hard to focus on their lips. He was very good a lip reading, being in his line of work demanded a level of observation that most people didn't have. He could spot things most would pass over as unimportant, but to a man like him; they could be the key to getting into the personal space of someone who had something the team needed. Lip reading came naturally to him because of that particular gift, but he wasn't exactly operating on all cylinders right now and could only make out every other word.

"What am I paying you for…"

"It'll be done…locked up…drugs…suicide…no trace…"

Face felt himself going cross eyed and he had to blink a few times to right his vision, by then only Morgan remained, the suit having strode angrily away. Face frowned back at the weary looking man, seeing nothing but regret and fear in his eyes, telling the observant lieutenant that Dr Morgan was likely in just as much trouble as Face was himself.

"Wait..!" he pleaded as Morgan started to move away. The doctor paused and looked back at the glass as Face weakly hammered his palm against it, he met the captive mans eyes, seeing the unspoken call for help but simply shook his head and walked away.

Face closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the glass in frustration before exhaling a calming breath. The words he had read in their conversation worried him and for good reason. From what he could understand, he was a loose end, one they meant to tie up in a staged suicide. It would be easy to do too, by now they had to realise Face was not the pharmaceutical rep he claimed to be, as far as they knew, he could be just another junkie looking for a hit. A couple of injections here and there and Face is down from an overdose and no one even blinks!

Why had he wandered down that corridor? Why had he let that raised, desperate voice sway him from his given task? With a sigh Face opened his eyes once again seeing the white floor, tip and buck beneath his bare feet.

"Getting soft in your old age, Peck." He softly berated himself as he attempted to straighten up. There was no way to exit the room from the inside, no lock to pick, not even a handle, but since he hadn't suffocated that meant there was a way for the air to get inside. With no windows it had to be a hidden ventilation system and he had to find it. With the possibility that his captors would tie up this particular loose end fairly soon, Face couldn't take a chance on waiting any longer, he had to try and escape and soon.