Another story, and this one gets darker in the later chapters. Set at the end of Series 7, and Ruth never left. Also Adam didn't die either (I am living in denial very happily).

"I have to go," Harry said.

"I know," she said. Harry looked at her for a moment. They were in the privacy of hi office, and Ruth felt relieved at that. She could speak her mind.

"You're not going to try and talk me out of it?" he said

"No," Ruth said with a smile. "I'm not. Because I know nothing I say will make a difference anyway, so why bother. You'll go to meet Sarkisian anyway."

"I do have to stop a nuclear bomb going up in London," he said. "In order to do that, I have to stop those Russians from targeting Adam and Ros and Connie. You know that."

"Oh yes," she said. "I know all the logic behind your decision." She sighed and shook her head. "Just be careful," she said, letting the emotion colour her voice for once. "I want you back in one piece. Okay?"

"Yeah," he said shortly. He pulled her close and kissed her fervently, desperately.

"No, don't kiss me like that," she whispered against his full lips. "It's too much like goodbye."

"No," he said. "It's a kiss which is telling you to stay safe until I see you again."

"Just make sure that I see you again soon," she said, allowing a small smile to creep onto her face.

"I will," he said. He kissed her fervently again, then looked into her beautiful blue eyes. "You know I can't stay away from you."

"Hold onto that," she said. She squeezed his hand tightly and then sighed with disappointment as he walked away from her, out of his office. She watched through the glass as he left and caught his eyes as he went through the pods. Ruth closed her eyes when alone, feeling an acute sense of loss. God, she hoped he'd be careful.

There was a light knock on the door and Ruth turned as Malcolm poked his head around the corner. "Are you all right?"

"No," she said, her voice feeling thick. "No Malcolm I'm not. I might never see him again."

"I know," Malcolm said. Instead of offering false comfort he nodded sadly. After a minute or two of silence he felt he had to "Harry's smart. He's been around a long time."

"Am I worrying for nothing then?"

"No you're not," he said. "Harry's walking into the arms of people who want him dead."

"That's comforting," she said sarcastically.

"I need you on surveillance," he said gently. "When you're ready."

"Thanks," Ruth said. She was alone for a few moments and felt two tears fall down her cheeks. "Oh come back to me Harry. I want you safe with me," she said to herself. She shook her head, wiped her cheeks and went back onto the grid. After all, she had work to do.

About an hour later the nuclear bomb was disarmed. Ruth could breathe a small sigh of relief, knowing that the centre of London (herself included) wasn't going to become ground zero. She could now use her full intellect to worry about Harry. She'd called him about a dozen times but it kept going straight through to voicemail. Worry was crossing the line into full blown panic now.

"Malcolm, I need you," she called across the grid even as she pressed redial. The phone was pressed to her ear hard, but all she heard was Harry's voicemail yet again as Malcolm walked over to her. "Harry. I don't know where he is and I'm trying to stay calm, but he did walk straight into the arms of his enemy. Help me to find him."

He instantly went behind his desk, typing away. "Did he have his phone on him? I'll track it."

"He did. Last I knew," Ruth said as she attempted to hack into the FSB's cameras at their base in London. It was supposed to be impossible but within ten minutes she had all the footage queued up and ready to play.

"His phone's been stripped of its battery and SIM," Malcolm said. "I can track its last known location though."

"Which is?" Ruth asked, knowing she wasn't going to like the answer, even as she asked.

"It was travelling in a car, which belongs to one of Victor Sarkisian's henchmen. That's where it was before it was disabled, and I'm guessing being thrown out of the car window."

"How long ago?"

"About half an hour," Malcolm said. Ruth closed her eyes as waves of heart wrenching pain went over her.

"He could be dead," she said. "They could have shot him a hundred times by now."

"They won't have," Malcolm said with what she thought of as massive overconfidence.

"They're Russian! They have no morals at all, and they wouldn't flinch at murder. How can you say that?"

"Because why bother moving him if they're only going to shoot him? If they wanted him dead, he would never have left the FSB base alive."

"We don't know that he did," Ruth said. "We know his phone did, not him."

"Then I suggest you watch that CCTV you've just hacked into," Malcolm said gently.

"Okay," she said, her voice sounding very small. She rewound the footage to the time when Harry left the grid. Then she played it back, zooming through it, looking for Harry. She soon found him, being led into the meeting room, a black bag over his head, hands tied in front of him. Well, he got there alive, she thought to herself. That's something. She played the footage at normal speed and watched as the bag was pulled from his head. A conversation ensued and several phone calls from Sarkisian. Ruth guessed it was Harry telling them about the nuclear bomb threat.

Then nothing happened in the room. They were clearly waiting, but for what Ruth didn't know. She rubbed her wedding ring as a talisman as she willed something to happen, not daring to fast forward on the footage in case she missed something. A phone call was received and Ruth wished this footage had volume so she could know what was going on. She could see that there was a lessening of the tension in the room and guessed the information that the bomb had been disarmed had got through. She waited with baited breath as the rest of the events unfolded in front of her eyes.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he listened to the call. The bomb had been stopped. No one had died except Connie James, and quite frankly that loss didn't bother Harry one bit. He watched as Sarkisian put the phone down. "You were right," he said. "There was a nuclear bomb. It' been disarmed."

"Great. Can you loosen these?" Harry asked, looking at the plastic tie on his wrists.

"I'm afraid not," Sarkisian said, an evil smile on his face. "You're coming with us." Harry sighed.

"That was not part of the agreement," Harry said firmly.

"You walk right into an FSB base alone, and expect to walk back out again?" Sarkisian said. "You are a top level MI5 spy. And lets face it, what would you do if you were me?"

Harry rolled his eyes, he couldn't help it. Then he felt two Russian thugs hands on his shoulders, pulling him forward. Well, he just hoped the team would manage to get him back before he got to Moscow. Because if they didn't… God, he didn't even want to think about it. He curled his fist tightly, feeling the hard metal of his wedding ring on his skin. Ruth. Oh, Ruth. He wanted to see her. He wanted to kiss her again. To relive that last kiss, and believe it would happen again. And soon.

Harry was distracted from his thoughts by the Russian bodyguards leading him outside. There was a car waiting there and Harry sighed with anticipated discomfort. Sure enough, it took only a few moments for them to shove him in the car boot. Harry winced as they slammed the boot shut, the noise making him uncomfortably aware of how vulnerable he was. This had not been part of the plan at all.

Thank you for reading, and it would be great if you could leave a review for the first installment.