Disclaimer: Spooks is not mine. I recognise canon only to the end of S8E8, where the hotel explodes and Lucas goes flying. This story starts just after the end of S9E1, where Dimitri and Beth join the team.

Busman's Holiday
Prologue: The Lesser of Two Evils

"COME ON, HARRY!" Lucas complains, "I'm good for a lot more than a hand-holding mission."

"Of course, you are," Harry says agreeably, "but hand-holding is what I need you to do right now."

"Can't you send Ruth?" Lucas barely manages to keep the whine out of his voice. He hasn't been home two full days yet, and doesn't want to leave again right away. After his long visit to Russia, business travel has lost its appeal.

"Ruth is needed here," Harry says. "Despite having already participated in a mission with you and now hanging about on the Grid and reviewing our files, our newest team members are not fully vetted yet. She will be taking care of that."

"What, you think I can't run a couple of background checks and snap their photos for ID badges?" Lucas scoffs. "Let me do that and send Ruth to America!"

Harry's frustration is showing now in the way he puts his hand over his face and looks at Lucas between his fingers, as if hiding from the problem will make it go away.

"I'm sure you can," he finally says in that clipped tone that says it doesn't matter anyway, "but those tasks are part of Ruth's standing duties. She'll be able to complete them much more efficiently. Besides, you have a stake in making sure Beth and Dimitri pass the background checks. You recruited them. If anything should come up in the future, your assessment would be suspect."

"Dimitri," Lucas interrupts, "just Dimitri. You recruited Beth, and had you asked, I would have advised against it."

"All right," Harry agrees, "I hired her, but you brought her to my door like a stray cat in need of a bowl of cream, and I didn't ask because we need her. It's still not your place to vet the new recruits, and I still need you to go to America and collect that package."

Lucas sighs and rolls his eyes. He really doesn't want to go abroad again so soon after his jaunt to Morocco.

"Really, Lucas, you should jump at the opportunity!" Harry tells him, trying to sound encouraging. "This may be your last chance for quite some time to relax and sit in the sun. Just go and amuse yourself playing the tourist and watching the children play their games. Ruth tells me Williamsport boasts several quaint tourist attractions, including a paddle-wheel boat, a museum devoted to Little League Baseball, a local historical museum, and something called Reptiland not too far away."

If Lucas weren't so anxious to avoid crossing the Atlantic, he might be amused by how dismally Harry fails to look enthusiastic about "Reptiland" and the hordes of squealing children that undoubtedly infest it.

"Then, when the Russian team is knocked out of the tournament, you collect the package and come home. You'll be gone two weeks at the most. Just, think of it as a busman's holiday!"

"But Harry, I've barely had time to unmake my own bed. I don't want a holiday," Lucas protests. "I don't need a holiday!"

"Bollocks!" Harry snaps. "All of us do, any time we can get one, and you've not had a break since you came back from Russia."

Harry is at the end of his tether, and Lucas knows it, but he doesn't give in. That is perhaps the best sign of all that he needs some time off.

"When is the last time you had a holiday, Harry? Huh? I can't remember you missing any time since I returned to Section D. Perhaps you should go to bloody America and play baby sitter for a while."

"That is enough, Lucas!" Harry finally erupts. "Like it or not, this is your choice: do what I ask of you, or take a real holiday and try to amuse yourself for two weeks! At my last meeting with the new Home Secretary, he actually suggested that Section D should stand down for a month, 'to take stock,' he said, but I shouldn't wonder if he really meant for us to update our CVs. I managed to convince him that two weeks was enough time. It will take that long for Dimitri and Beth to gain full clearance and complete their induction training. I have to say, though, from losing Ben and Connie's betrayal, to Jo, not to mention your personal experiences with Oleg Darshavin and Sarah Caulfield, and now what's happened to Ros – By the way, how's the head, Lucas? Are your ears still ringing? I've heard it can take upwards of three months to recover fully from a concussion. Do you think you could pass the cognitive assessments if you had to take them right now? – Section D has had a bloody difficult year. I'm not entirely sure the new Home Secretary is wrong about us all needing a moment to catch our breaths. So, what'll it be, Lucas? A bit of child's play or mandatory leave?"

Harry's lips twitch slightly at his little double-entendre.

Lucas rolls his eyes. Yes, the mission should be easy, but Harry could have chosen another idiom.

"All right, I'll go," he concedes unhappily. "But please, have Ruth get me a seat in business class, even if she has to take the upgrade out of my wages. My legs are too bloody long to ride comfortably in coach."

"Thank you, Lucas," Harry says, and he really does sound grateful. It's almost enough to make Lucas believe he truly is needed for this specific task. "You won't regret it. In fact, if you can relax, I think you might actually even enjoy yourself."