From the end of 10:1, my ideas. Very HR centric but I'm not using any spoilers, just thoughts from my head.
A few nights had come and gone once Harry had told Ruth about Elena and Sasha. She hadn't exactly avoided Harry but she had made damn sure that whenever she spoke to him, someone else was in earshot so he wouldn't say either too much or things she didn't want to know. This was the night that something was going to have to be said though. Both herself and Harry were working on the grid, everyone else having gone home from the hard days work. Ruth drew a deep breath and got up, going through into Harry's office. She saw him looking at that old photograph of Elena again. He tried to hide it when she came in, but she knew.
"I've had a thought," Ruth said, choosing not to comment on the photograph for the moment. "I have no proof whatsoever but to me it's the only thing that makes sense about all this. But before I discuss it with you, I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes?" Harry said, waiting for her to continue.
"Are you still in love with Elena Gavrik?" Ruth looked him straight in the eye wanting to know if he was lying to her. He paused for a few seconds before replying but it felt like an eternity to her.
"No," he said quietly. "I do feel… regret and guilt about how she's had to live her life over the past thirty years. Hiding what she did. Because the majority of it was my fault. But no, I am not in love with her."
Ruth nodded and changed the subject slightly. "Who apart from you had your security codes? Everything they would need to impersonate you."
"No one," Harry said instantly. He had spent the past few days thinking over the same thing so he didn't need to give it any more thought.
"Who could get hold of them?"
"No idea. Which gives us a slight problem. Some computer genius I would guess. And I'm almost positive you could get them if you put your mind to it. Anyway, what was your idea?"
"I was looking at it from the other perspective," Ruth said slowly. "Who would benefit from you being set up like this? Who wants to see you dead? And I could only think of one person with the motive and the ability to set you up in a situation like this."
"You're talking about Gavrik, aren't you," Harry said after a moments pause. "He wouldn't be able to get hold of my security codes. I know he wouldn't."
"Yes, but he could have if Elena told him how she used to contact you herself," Ruth suggested, wondering if maybe she'd pushed too far.
"If Gavrik had found out she was a Western spy, he wouldn't have let her live to see daylight," Harry said simply. "He would have considered it the deepest betrayal, both of him and of Russia. He would have thought it much worse than her simply having an affair."
"Hmm," Ruth said quietly. Harry wondered for a moment whether she was being patronising but could see she was deep in thought. "It was just a suggestion. Do you think Sasha Gavrik will kill you?"
"I think he doesn't want to but he will when his patience runs out and I am no longer useful to him," Harry said. "There's nothing I can do on that score anyway. I won't do anything that will harm him."
"Even if it means he kills you?" Ruth asked, trying to ignore the way her heart froze at those words.
"His life was a confusing mess before he was even born," Harry said. "Its my fault, so yes. Even if it means that he'll kill me." Ruth sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.
"I'm going home," she said, getting up from her seat. She thought about saying something else but eventually decided against it. Harry nodded and watched her leave. When the grid was empty he poured himself a generous helping of single malt whisky. After the week he'd had, he felt he deserved it.
Hopefully I'll get the next chapter written and posted soon. Please review!