Was written as a response to a challenge by cbjfan44 on the Spooks Information Central Forums to write a fic about Peter Firth's/Harry's soft hands.

I managed to come up with this short, silly, fluffy thing, hope you enjoy it.

As usual, I don't own Spooks or the characters, Kudos does. and Peter Firth owns Harry's soft hands...

No beta, all the mistakes are mine

"Ruth?" Harry asked impatiently

"Harry?" She asked from the other side of the phone

"Where are you? It's 10 o'clock already, and you missed the morning briefing"

"I'm sorry, I…" Harry could hear from her voice that something was wrong

"Ruth? Is everything OK?" Now there was worry in his voice

"Yes, No, I mean… No! Don't do that! Ouch…" and then the line went dead.

Harry stared at the phone for a minute; after his third attempt to call her back has failed he decided that he has no choice but to go over to her house.

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He's been waiting at her front door for almost ten minutes and was starting to contemplate going in through the windows when she finally opened the door.

"Ruth? What's going on? Are you…" He fell silent when he saw the tears in her eyes and the scratches on her arms.

He didn't give her a chance to answer his questions; he pushed her into the house and closed the door behind them, looking suspiciously around him, "Where are they?" He whispered.

"Where is who?" Ruth was now very confused.

"Whoever did this to you," Harry pointed at the scratches.

Ruth looked down at her arms and a smile came to her face when she finally realized what was going on, "It's only Fidget, who did you think did this?"

"Fidget?" It was Harry's turn to look confused.

"My cat, she got into a fight with one of the neighborhood cats, and the vet gave me this ointment to put on her wounds," she looked frustrated again, the tears coming back, "The minute she figured out I'm going to do something to her she started to put on a fight, I haven't been able to hold her long enough to put on the ointment"

Harry tried to keep a straight face as he imagined Ruth chasing the cat all over the house, "where is she now?'

"In the bedroom, under the bed."

"Show me"

"Sorry?"

"Show me where she's hiding, maybe I can help"

She looked at him in surprise for a few more moments.

"Well, do you want me to try and help?" Harry asked impatiently.

Still looking a bit puzzled Ruth sighed and led the way to her bedroom.

Once there she pointed at her bed and said, "She's under there, I haven't been able to persuade her to come out."

"Do you mind if I give it a try?"

"Sure, "Ruth shrugged, "Just be careful, she bites"

Harry smiled at the slight hint in her tone, and then said, "Do you mind leaving as alone for a minute?"

"um, sorry? What?".

"Me and Fidget, we need some privacy, I'll let you know when you can come back"

The thought of Harry alone in her bedroom had surfaced many conflicting emotions, but she was willing to try anything right now, so she gave him a final questioning look, mumbled "Good luck" and left the room.

She waited in the kitchen, listening hard for sounds of struggle from behind the bedroom door, but none came. After about 10 minutes her cell phone rang, looking at the caller id she answered in surprise, "Harry? What…?"

"Can you please come in, "He whispered, "and bring the ointment with you"

She quietly walked to the bedroom and opened the door, what she saw there left her speechless and unable to move: Harry was sitting on her bed, Fidget on his lap, purring quietly as he stroked her gently. Ruth was hypnotized by the slow movement of his hands on the cat's fur; somewhere deep in her heart she wished they could switch places.

"Ruth?" Harry asked quietly, pulling her out of her hypnotic state.

"How did you…?"

"Trade secrets, "Harry winked at her and then reached out his free hand, "The ointment?"

She handed him the tube and looked in astonishment as he gently rubbed the ointment on the wound, the cat didn't move an inch, still purring and closing her eyes in what seemed like pure bliss. Once he was done he gently put down Fidget on the floor, stood up and said: "Right, your turn."

"Pardon?" Harry was really pushing her to the edge of her self control.

"You need to put something on these, "he pointed at the scratches, "Where do you keep the first aid kit?"

Ruth just stood there, looking at him, not really knowing what to make of this situation.

"Ruth? First aid kit? Or are you going to put up a fight as well?" his smile made her think that that was actually what he wanted her to do.

"No, no, it's in the bathroom cupboard, let me get it" she rushed into the bathroom, only now realizing she was holding her breath.

Once she came back he told her to sit on the bed and set down beside her, he took out an antiseptic cream from the kit and slowly started applying it to the wounds on her arms. It didn't take her long to figure out how Harry managed to subdue Fidget – his touch was soft and gentle and very calming.

Before she realized she was doing it, she made a quiet little purring noise. Stopping for only a second Harry looked up at her and smiled, then he continued applying the cream, and Ruth closed her eyes, enjoying his soft touch.

Anyone else wants to switch places with Ruth's cat? ;)