Girl talk

The Grid was quiet as Beth walked through the pods. She was exhausted and fed up. The Russian billionaire they have been investigating was a sleeze and beginning to annoy her.

"Hi." Ruth smiled as she saw the young blonde walk towards her desk. "Why are you here?"

"Was going to file my report." Beth sighed. "You ?"

"Harry is at Whitehall. I was just going to finish this report before meeting him."

"How long have you two been together? Seems like forever." Beth rested her head on one hand. Ruth smiled slightly.

"One day some young spook will ask you that. About you and Dimitri."

"My Sailor Boy." Beth shook her head. "I hope so."

"He lost his leg. Because he saved my life." Ruth looked away. "Beth."

"He would have done exactly the same if Erin, Zoe or anyone had been there. He doesn't blame you, he blames the psycho that set up the bomb. And so do I."

"I blame me." Ruth sighed. "I."

"You are being ridiculous." Beth looked up. "Now come on, where are you and Harry going?"

"I don't know. Terri and Graham are babysitting. It's our wedding anniversary." Ruth glanced at the wedding and eternity ring on her left hand. Beth raised her eyebrows.

"You didn't say anything." Beth watched as Ruth shrugged.

"Someone was trying to blow up London Bridge. Hardly seemed important." Ruth smiled as Beth rolled her eyes.

"Spill, how did you meet? Everyone here knows you two are the big love story of Thames House."

"There's been others. You and Dimitri for a start."

"Ruth!"

"We met at work. I had a secondment from GCHQ, ended up staying. Thanks to Tom Quinn putting a good word in for me." Ruth smiled at the memory.

"And what?"

"Beth?" Ruth blushed before turning back to her computer.

"And when did you fall for him?"

"I always liked him. He had a reputation, so I knew of him before I came here." Ruth bit her lip. "But nothing happened then. I was too concerned about what other people think. Zoe already thought I was bonkers."

"But brilliant, Adam told me."

"So I kept my distance. Until the day he died."

"What?"

"Obviously he really didn't die." Ruth looked far away as she spoke. "We were trapped on the grid, it was a smaller team then. Just Harry, Tom, Malcolm, Colin, Zoe, Danny and I. We had a EERIE exercise. Harry had to pretend that the virus we believed was attacking the outside world had killed him."

"Who was in charge?"

"Tom. It was awful but I knew then. When it turned out that Harry was ok I was furious. The others were obviously relieved but I was so angry."

"Because you had been lied to?"

"Not just that." Ruth looked up. "Because I thought I'd have to live in a world without him. That was when I knew."

"So you got together then?"

"No." Ruth shook her head. "We should have but no, I was too shy, too concerned about my professional reputation."

"And Harry?"

"Got frustrated with me. He knew how I felt, he knew I was scared. We got together just before I had to leave."

"I heard you were in deep cover."

"Um, yeah." Ruth knew that was the story most people had been told about their analyst faking her death and then returning almost three years later. "It went wrong, I wasn't supposed to be able to come home."

"Oh my word." Beth bit her lip as tears filled Ruth 's eyes. "I didn't know. Oh Ruth."

"So to cut a long story short I ended up back here. Harry never stopped loving me." She smiled, wiping a tear away . "I was angry , furious and feeling guilty. I loved him so much but I was scared of myself I think so we didn't really get together until after Jo died."

"I never knew."

"No." Ruth nodded. "Look, don't waste time. Dimitri has to adapt to another way of life now. He's never wanted to be desk bound but that is the way things are headed. He has a prosthetic limb, it had to change the way he feels about himself."

"Doesn't change how I feel." Beth twisted a tissue in her hands as Ruth watched. The gesture so familiar it seemed it was burned onto her memory.

"Tell him." Ruth smiled. "I should have told Harry years before I did. Tell Dimitri." She paused. "Don't make the same mistake I did."

"We got there in the end." Ruth smiled as she heard a very familiar male voice. Beth turned to see her boss walk towards then. "And I'm sure you will too."

"I hope so, Harry." Beth blushed as Ruth got to her feet. "Have a good night."

"We will." Harry took Ruth's hand as he led her out the Grid. Beth watched them go before picking up the phone.

"Hi. Dim." She spoke. "It's me. Can I come over? Now?" She smiled as he agreed. She hoped Harry and Ruth were right, that things would be ok.