A fic set near the end of series ten, involving Elena, but with less of the plot we saw on screen. I'm editing it a bit. Enjoy.
"Just like old times," Harry said, watching Ruth in profile as she sat next to him in the land rover. She still hadn't turned to face him yet and he hated to admit how much that hurt him. Then she did look at him but he couldn't read the look on her face.
"You look tired," she said.
"I feel tired," he agreed.
"So why did you call me?" she asked, her face still stony.
"I haven't seen you for a few days," he said honestly. He didn't have a deeper reason than the fact that he missed her with a powerful ache.
"It was your choice," Ruth reminded him. "If… you had wanted me to stay then I would have. But you told me to go and work for Towers. You made your choice. So I don't know why I'm even here."
"I need to talk to you," he said quietly. "You have the wrong idea about myself and Elena."
"I don't think I do Harry," she said, shaking her head a couple of times. "I never should have come here today." Ruth turned as if she was going to get out of the car and Harry reached for her hand to stop her. When he touched her she jumped as if she'd been electrocuted. He withdrew quickly from her but was pleased to see she was no longer trying to leave.
"I feel a lot of guilt for Elena. I made a mess of everything thirty years ago. I couldn't have ruined everything more completely if I tried. It was early in my career and I got dangerously close to an asset, more than I ever should have."
"You don't have to explain this to me," she interrupted quietly.
"I do," he said. "I owe you this much. I slept with her to start with because I needed the information she had. But then I started to care for her, and that was the problem. I didn't want to leave Elena, knowing that she was married to someone she didn't like, who would kill her if he ever found out she spied for Britain. Not to mention the immense guilt I feel over Sasha. It was just such a mess. But I don't want you to think I love her because I don't. All I feel is guilt."
"I want to believe you," she said when the silence became oppressive. "And guilt is something I understand all too well. Jealousy too it would seem. You don't need to explain this to me, you don't owe me anything. I don't work for you anymore and there's nothing between us. Now I have to go and get back to work. Towers doesn't know I'm here." He didn't say anything to stop her and watched as she got out of the car and found her own. He stayed still, his eyes watching as she drove out of the car park. But the one tiny thing that buoyed him was that she had said she was jealous. And that would not be an emotion she felt if she really didn't care for him. With that happier thought he drove out of the car park and went back to the grid.