Notes:
Correcting Series 9 aka Lucas lives.
All events happened in episodes 1 to 8 up to the conversation Lucas has with Harry in the warehouse.
Lucas North sat at the table, the only piece of furniture in the dilapidated warehouse, and waited. He waited for Harry to arrive. He waited to be judged. He waited to be arrested for treason.
He took a deep, shaky breath at the thought of being confined once more. An interrogation cell at Thames House, or a prison cell at Belmarsh. A cell was a cell and Lucas knew he couldn't face being imprisoned in one for the rest of his life. It would be a far cry from any Russian prison, but his soul would wither and die just the same.
His only hope was to convince Harry to let him rescue Maya from Edwards and give the Chinese what they wanted. He and Maya could then flee. Start a life together somewhere new.
Lucas closed his eyes as the bitter bite of betrayal burned its way through him. He had always been loyal to Harry, to Queen and Country. He had fought hard on his return from Russia to prove his loyalty and now he had thrown it all away. His past had come back to haunt him. To rip this borrowed life of Lucas North from him and restore his true self. A man who would commit murder for the thrill and excitement of it and who would certainly betray anyone for money and power.
Lucas looked up as footsteps echoed across the cavernous space to see Harry striding towards him. Harry sat down on the opposite side of the table his eyes never leaving Lucas as he did so. His face was expressionless, giving nothing away. Lucas knew first hand that Harry was a master interrogator. It wasn't going to be easy to tell Harry only half truths and keep his dangerous secrets to himself.
"Lucas," Harry said by way of a greeting. He placed a slim file on the table. "What's going on?" he asked, his voice neutral, giving nothing away.
It was an opening for a full confession. It was chance for Lucas to explain to Harry why he had been behaving out of character. To explain who Vaughn Edwards was and why Lucas had stabbed him in the leg in full view of a park full of children. To confess setting up a young junior office as a fall guy and allowing a young American computer technician to bleed to death in his arms.
Lucas placed both hands on the table and looked at Harry. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to see the look of disappointment and betrayal on Harry's face. He didn't want to confess that he had planted the Dakar bomb that killed 17 people. That was his old life. He wanted to keep being Lucas North. He didn't want to go back to being who he once was. He had no choice though. Lucas North was someone else. He'd lived their life long enough.
"My name isn't Lucas North," he looked down at his hands, he couldn't hold Harry's gaze. "My name's John … Bateman," he haltingly confessed.
Lucas had expected Harry to react to his admission in any number of ways, anger mainly. It had never crossed his mind that it would be greeted by silence. He looked up, to see Harry smiling sadly at him.
"I'm afraid that's not true, Lucas," Harry said. "You are, and have always been, Lucas North."
"Harry … that's … I'm John Bateman. I met Lucas when we were in Dakar. I stole his identity. I became him when I … when he died." Lucas explained.
Harry flipped open the file and pushed two photographs towards him. Each showed a young man, both similar in features and colouring. One was Lucas North, the other was John Bateman.
"This is you, isn't it?" Harry asked, tapping one of the photographs.
Lucas nodded.
"This," Harry tapped the other photograph, "is John Bateman."
"That's not right, Harry," Lucas shook his head in bewilderment. "I took Lucas' place at MI5. He had sent in his application and was accepted for interview and testing. I took all the tests. I did the interview. Not Lucas."
Harry pushed several photocopied forms in front of Lucas. "This is Lucas' handwritten application form."
Lucas looked the pages over and nodded. Frowning at the signature at the bottom of the last page. Harry pushed another piece of paper in front of him, covered in neat, precise handwriting.
"Can you identify what this is?" Harry asked.
"It's a copy of my field notes from the surveillance on the suspected hate group last week," Lucas confirmed. "Harry what has this…"
"Compare the two, Lucas."
Lucas gave Harry a puzzled frown, but did as he asked. The handwriting was the same on both documents. Lucas looked up at Harry to find the older man holding out a pen.
"Sign your name," he ordered.
Lucas took the pen, turned over the piece of paper that had his field notes on them and wrote his signature. With trepidation he compared it to the signature on the application form. It was a perfect match.
"Harry, I don't understand. I'm John Bateman." His voice shook with confusion.
"John Bateman was in Dakar at the same time as you." Harry confirmed. "He is also assumed to be the man that planted the bomb in the British Embassy. We knew he was working with Vaughn Edwards at the time," he explained. "Bateman was arrested in Russia for entering the country illegally and drug smuggling. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He died six years after you were detained."
Lucas shook his head. "Harry I … I remember planting the bomb in the embassy. I killed Lucas North. I … I have to be John Bateman. The things I remember … I..." He rubbed his forehead as he frowned down at the table. Nothing made sense any more. Why was Harry so insistent that he was Lucas North. Harry wouldn't lie, not about this. Was it some form of interrogation trick? To make Lucas confess? But he'd just done that, confessed to the bombing, to murdering North. He looked up at Harry who met his gaze, There was no condemnation on his face, no disgust, just concern. If he was John Bateman, surely Harry wouldn't have let them go unchallenged. Pain stabbed at this temples. He tried to remember his childhood, his time at university.
"Maya." He said into the silence.
"Maya Lahan," Harry nodded. "Born 20th September 1975 in York. Studied medicine at Leeds University. Currently working as a consultant in A&E at the Royal Bloomsbury hospital in London." Harry reeled off.
"She's real. I do know her. We went to university together," Lucas smiled with relief.
"I'm afraid not, Lucas," Harry said gently.
