"Too High a Price"

"Harry, I've got it!" Tariq shouted with excitement, "I've got it!"

Harry moved rapidly toward the young man's terminal. "Show me."

"Here," Tariq pointed at the intel on his screen, "the preliminary report had it mostly right, it is a group of French terrorists operating under the guise of an export business. Chatter indicates that they are planning to flood the UK economy with enough counterfeit BPS to crash our markets in about ten days." He looked up at Harry. "I've checked it through ten different sources; it's a credible threat, Harry."

Ros joined them, looking over Tariq's available shoulder. "Names, Tariq… anyone we know?"

"Don't think so," he said, "They're surprisingly all over the age of 70… Guillaume St. Jean, Claude Lesur, Marie Tousau and Jacques Chanteille."

"Hmm," Ros mused, "nothing familiar there at all. But who's ever heard of terrorists with pensioner discounts?"

"Don't know," Tariq muttered, "I'm still working on it."

Neither of them noticed that Harry had gone three shades paler than the nearest white wall. Ruth walked over scowling at Pearce.

"Harry? You all right?"

He started out of his stupor. "Yes, yes, I'm fine."

Ros looked at him, noting the sudden pallor. "You know one of them…"

It was not a question.

"Yes," came the soft answer. "Or at least I used to. Marie Tousau. I don't know what she is now, but 25 years ago she was French Intelligence." He paused for a moment, then added, "Well, we thought she was anyway." He looked at Ros. "She turned out to be a double agent for the Russians."

Ruth read well the look on his face. "I take it this was discovered during some type of black op?"

Harry stared at her for a moment. "Yes, it was run by 6, with an assist from 5."

"And?" Ruth prompted impatiently.

"And we uncovered a much bigger international plot than we could have imagined."

Ros sounded annoyed, "Could we cut to the chase, Harry?"

"Tousau along with other members of French Intelligence were here supposedly to help MI-6 derail a suspected French terrorist. I was tasked with getting information from Tousau on the suspected assassination plot on members of the royal family. It was well known that Marie liked…well," he looked down, his cheeks coloring slightly with embarrassment, "certain types of young men, and since I wasn't part of MI-6, she had no idea I was part of security services..."

Ros had to stifle a laugh as she said, "Your part in the black op was a twinkie, Harry?"

The incredulity in Ros' voice irritated him. "Why is this so bloody impossible to believe, Ms. Myers?" He glared at her. "I was young once you know." He caught her eyes unconsciously glancing up at the thinning hair on top of his head, and he growled, "And I had quite a mop of curly, blonde hair then as well!"

One of her eyebrows lifted, and then she smiled slightly at him. "I'd imagine that you were a handsome bugger when you were young, Harry."

Harry muttered something under his breath at her in regard to the fact that his status as a grandfather had not yet arrived, and Ruth found herself looking anywhere but at Harry as she tried to clear her mind of a young version of Harry with a head full of blonde curly hair.

"Look," Harry said, "if Marie is with these people, they are probably all working for the Russians. Tariq, any intel on when and where they are planning to release the counterfeits?"

"No, but I may have a possibility on a location they might be using as an address for their dummy export business. Maybe they're using it for storage or planning…"

Ros looked at Harry, "I'll get Lucas and check it out – "

" – No, Ros. You and I will go."

Ros was indignant, and Ruth terrified, but the same word came out of their mouths at the same time. "What?"

Harry stared at the two of them for a brief second, then looked again at Ros. "I was under the impression that I was speaking the Queen's English… Ros, you and I will go, and that's that."

"You're not a field op, Harry. Not to mention the fact that it's completely outside service protocol for an asset like you to be placed in that kind of danger on a recon mission."

Harry's hands donned his hips as he stood very close to Ros, his glare enough to freeze over hell. "I will not tell you again Agent Myers." She started to speak and he cut her off, "You may be the security chief here, but as head of Section-D, I outrank you by a bit. Now get your gear and be ready to go in five, clear?"

"Yes sir," Ros snarled before she stalked away.

Harry watched her go, and then walked into his office shaking his head. He opened a cupboard under the cabinet that served as his bar and took out a black turtleneck sweater and short black jacket. He also removed a semi-automatic 9mm pistol and set it all on his desk. He quickly removed his coat and tie, and was in the process of removing his shirt when his door slid open and Ruth walked in. She stopped dead at the sight of Harry removing his shirt. He froze when he saw the look of horror on her face, and his heart contracted with grief at the thought that she found him so repulsive.

He pulled his shirt closed and held it there. His voice was cold. "What is it, Ruth?"

She braved a glance up, praying that he hadn't noticed the desire she was certain must have flashed in her eyes before she looked away.

"S-sorry for barging in…"

His voice was short and curt, "What is it?" When he saw the hurt flash in her eyes he softened slightly. "Ruth, I don't have a lot of time, so…"

"Right." She glanced at the things on his desk and saw the gun. "Harry…"

He followed her gaze and let out a sigh. "Ruth, I'm an MI-5 operative going out in the field. I'd be an idiot not to carry one."

She took an angry few steps toward him. "That's just the point, Harry, you are not a field op. And you haven't been one for close to ten years. It's too risky, Harry. Think about what you're doing."

"I am the only person here is at all familiar with one of these people—"

"—Familiar, that's a good word for it," she muttered.

He stared at her. "What?"

Her voice was soft, unsure, "I'll just never really know who you are."

He stepped close to her, his hand dropping from his shirt, causing it to lazily open. "There have been many things I've had to do in the line of duty that I…regret, Ruth. It's part of my job, it's not who I am." He moved closer, his breath almost brushing her lips. "And I promise you that I do know how to take care of myself in the field, there's nothing to worry about."

Not wanting to feel what his proximity was doing to her, Ruth's voice turned harsh, "And what about Ros, Harry? What about her?" His glare of betrayal almost stopped her. Almost. "She'll be depending upon you for her life. And what if there's trouble? Are you prepared to—"

"—Okay, that is enough, Ruth." He wasn't sure if he was angry because she was questioning his ability or because she seemed far more worried about Ros than him. "Look, I don't have time for this, so if you'll excuse me…"

She stared at him, and to punctuate his meaning, he yanked his shirt off and glared at her, bare-chested. Completely flustered by the sight of him shirtless, Ruth fluttered quickly out of the office, and broken-hearted Harry put on his turtleneck, jacket, black gloves and after checking the safety, shoved the gun in the back of his pants. He walked out onto the Grid and felt the stares of Tariq, Ruth and Lucas, but chose to ignore them in favor of Ros who was waiting for him by the pods.

His strong baritone resonated through the Grid, "Ready, Ros?"

"As ever, Harry." She looked at him before stepping into a pod. "Just promise me this won't be like the last time you and I were out in the field…"

Harry stopped in mid-stride and sighed, but chose to ignore it. The last thing he saw as he stepped through a pod was the frightened look on Ruth's face as she watched them go, and although she had been abundantly clear that her worry was not for him, he wondered if she harbored anything but contempt for him anymore. He supposed not and followed Ros out of Thames House and toward his car, heading to find someone with whom he had not only been intimate in the name of the crown, but had also exposed as a double agent.

Marie had every reason to want to see him dead, and the sudden thought that perhaps the intel had come to MI-5 all too easily struck him as he and Ros parked near a secluded warehouse...

TBC