Escape of the Nerk Twins

Chapter XVI

I bet you wanted to know what I was going to write here, didn't you? Well, I'm not going to tell you! (Hint: It's about me not owning the Beatles) Post what you think I should have said in your review!

A/N: Happy Chapter Day! Thanks so much to my reviewers: Archive of Our Own - McLennonLuv; WattPad - Macca40, Marvel_is_best, cityofstarlight, and InmylifeIloveLennon; FanFiction - leah9712, ThisBirdHasFlownToRhye, and Swimmer girl 17. A message for Swimmer girl 17 - Thanks so much for reading this story and "Beatles in a Beetle"! I'm glad you're enjoying them so much, and I hope I updated soon enough for you ;0)

Unrelenting fluorescent lights beat down mercilessly on the dirty cream tiles of the cell. Its metal bars glared sternly at its long-haired occupants.

Ringo stood up on tip-toes and smushed his face against the bars, his nose sticking out through one of the gaps.

"If I get right here," he said to George, "I can see the window at the end of the hall."

"Is it an interesting window?" asked George from his seat on the cot in the back. The guitarist was twiddling his thumbs and staring at them intensely.

"Yeah," replied Ringo. "It's dark outside it."

"So you can't see anything outside," filled in George.

Ringo paced morosely away from the cell door and plonked down on the cot next to George.

"How long have we been in here?" asked the drummer.

"Four hours, thirty-nine minutes, and twenty-seven seconds," replied George with a sigh. "Please tell me we aren't starting this again."

"Truth or dare?" asked Ringo, leaning back on the cot to stare up at the drywall ceiling.

George groaned, "Dare, I guess."

"Break us out of here."

"I'm not even going to bother replying to that."

A clock somewhere in the police station ticked in the background. The cot creaked a little as Ringo adjusted to a more comfortable position. A telephone rang shrilly.

"How long have we been in here?" asked Ringo.

"Four hours, forty-one minutes, and fifty-one seconds," replied George. "And I'm not answering that question again."

Ringo pushed himself up from the cot and paced back to the door. He pushed his face against the metal, rather startling the man approaching on the other side.

"Oh, hi, Brian," said Ringo laconically, stepping away from the door.

George leapt up from the cot eagerly to see Brian and the policeman who had arrested them standing on the other side of the door.

"Terribly sorry for the mix-up," the policeman was saying, fishing around in his pocket for the keys to the cell.

"Now I know what it feels like to be a monkey," Ringo informed no-one in particular. Brian looked at him rather strangely.

The policeman found his keys and slid the correct one into the lock. He twisted it, and, with a loud click, the door swung open. George and Ringo bounded out.

"What would you be arresting John and Paul for, anyroad?" George asked the policeman over his shoulder as Brian ushered the two Beatles down the hallway and through the bland lobby.

"Anything to get those two back under control," grumbled Brian. "I've been working harder than ever to find them since I found out you two were in jail."

George stared at Brian. "We've been in jail for five hours! How long have you known?"

"Oh, about four," replied Brian smugly as he pulled open the front door. "It was easier to, ah, delegate the job of keeping you locked up."

"That's not fair!" complained Ringo as Brian led the charge to the waiting limousine.

"What's not fair is that I suddenly have to arrange a free Beatles concert in Glasgow!" countered Brian angrily before diving into the car.

"That doesn't sound too bad," replied George, yanking the door shut behind him.

"If it's free, unlimited numbers of people can show up," pointed out Neil, who along with Mal had been waiting in the car. "And you have quite a few rambunctious fans."

"It's a crowd control nightmare," said Mal bluntly, lighting a cigarette.

"I tried explaining that I hadn't meant free in terms of money, but Derek said that would be a bad idea," Brian informed them.

"Any more leads on where John and Paul are?" asked George.

Brian shook his head. "We did have one person call the hotline claiming that John and Paul had gone scuba diving in Loch Ness in search of the monster, but it turned out to be a dead end."

Hoax, mouthed Mal as Brian looked out the window for a second.

"Well, Scotland is a very big place," Ringo comforted Brian kindly. "I'm sure we'll find them eventually."

A/N: It's decision time! What clever disclaimer should I have used at the beginning of this chapter? I'll pick my favourite suggestion(s) and use them in upcoming chapters!