Harry looked around the grid, becoming increasingly worried. Ruth hadn't shown up for work, and what was worse, she hadn't called to explain her absence either. On the rare occasion that she'd been late, usually due to a traffic accident, she always called. But nothing this morning. He looked at his watch, trying to fight down the worry he felt when he saw the time was fast approaching half past nine. "Does anyone know where Ruth is?" he asked, hoping he sounded casual, not worried to distraction. Judging by the looks both Dimitri and Lucas gave him, he wasn't that convincing in his casual tone.

"She left a message with the switch board late last night," Dimitri said, fishing out the paperwork. "Said she had to take immediate compassionate leave."

Harry snatched the papers from him, hurriedly skimming over them. But apart from what Dimitri had just said, there was no more information. Just the regular MI5 forms, which had been automatically filled in with useless information. Or useless to him at any rate. "Sorry Harry," Dimitri said. "I thought you knew." Harry could read under the words to what Dimitri really thought. He thought Ruth would have called me if there was a problem, Harry thought. He felt a brief flash of pain that she hadn't before he got himself under control again. What if she was in trouble? What if she'd been captured and was currently being tortured? He considered his options, then looked at Tariq.

"Trace the GPS in her phone," he said. "I want to know if she's still in London." Tariq nodded, his fingers clicking against the keyboard quickly. A minute later, he'd found her and Harry felt something inside him unclench, as the worry that unfriendly forces could have taken her began to recede. The map showed a red dot, indicating her phone. In Exeter. "Bring up the address." Tariq did, with a few more taps of the keyboard and Harry sighed. "Property owned by Elizabeth Evershed," he said under his breath. "Thank you."

He spent perhaps five minutes debating what to do. "Lucas, can you hold down the grid today? I need to go."

"Down to Devon?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry didn't deny it, but said nothing. "Everything will be fine here."

"Okay," Harry replied. "I'll call for some temporary cover staff."

"Go," Lucas said. "We'll manage. We're still filling out the paperwork over the Iranian suicide bombers anyway."

"Thank you," Harry said sincerely. He called his driver to meet him out the back of Thames House to take him to Waterloo station. The train would be much quicker than attempting to drive out of London and through the mayhem of traffic on the roads. Before leaving Thames House, he called Ruth's mobile but she wasn't picking up. He sighed, but knew he'd already made his decision.

"I've got to go." He went through the pods and didn't look back.

It took a little over four hours, but when he stood in front of Ruth's mothers house, he felt a little apprehensive. After all, she hadn't asked him to come, he'd just decided to race down here. What if he wasn't welcome? No good now. It was far too late for second guessing, and anyway, she still wasn't answering her phone. He felt more than a little worried about her, so he felt at least a little justified in making the journey down to Devon. He shook his head and rang the doorbell.

It took maybe two minutes for her to answer. When she did, he felt a little speechless because this wasn't a Ruth he'd seen before. She looked exhausted and devastated. There were black circles under her eyes, and she'd been clearly crying. Her hair was a mess and she still wore pyjamas though it was past one in the afternoon. She blinked at him for a moment, before rubbing her eyes. "Are you really here, Harry?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," he said. "Should I not have…" He didn't finish his sentence, because she almost tipped forward, hugging him as she burst into tears. After a moments surprise, he stroked her back gently as she cried into his shoulder on the doorstep for endless minutes.