They bring the body back to the safe house and lay it on the table; tomorrow Harold will call the undertaker. Shaw has left Harold to do what he needs to in private saying she will be back later. Harold's tears flow and great wracking sobs escape his lips as he looks at the body of his partner, friend and lover lying lifeless on the table. If only they'd found him sooner.
John's body is dirty, bloody, bruised and broken. His clothes are also dirty, torn and in disarray, testament to the horror that John had gone through in the last hours of his life.
They'd found him after much searching half buried in the mud in the harbour. Shaw had done what she could to try and revive him but it was no good, John's body was already cold.
Silently, through his tears, Harold reverently strips John of his tattered clothing. He washes his body from head to foot, grimacing at the numerous cuts and bruises that cover it. Gently he cleanses his face, washes the dirt from his hair. When he was finished John looks as though he is asleep, at peace. Harold couldn't imagine the pain his torturers had put him through.
Shaw arrives back in time to help Harold re dress John. They work in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. Tears fall anew as Harold realises he will never be held in the tight embrace of John's strong arms, never again see the blue eyes darken with desire. He will never again feel his soft lips on his own. Never again hear his voices raspy whisper over the comms link. No more will he hear his name called at John's moment of climax. Harold feels guilty, blames himself; if he'd not sent John on this particular mission he'd still be alive and whole. He shudders at the thought of what was done to his beloved John.
Shaw's feeling s are there, nearer the surface now than when she first joined them, she feels sadness at the loss of the man she viewed as a brother, but it's tinged with anger at the senseless loss of his life. And though she knows Harold will not approve she vows to herself that she will track down and eliminate the people who did this to her family, because that's what they are to her, family.
Finally they are finished. John is dressed in a new black suit and white shirt; even his shoes are brand new. Harold places a pillow under John's head and covers him with a blanket. Then as Shaw leaves he sits beside the body and holds John's hand and talks to him, tells him all his secrets, everything that he couldn't say before. In the morning he will call the undertaker, but for now he will talk and reminisce about their lives together.