Title: Dragons
Disclaimer: I do not in any way whatsoever own anything I'm writing about. (lol) I'm not making ANY money or getting anything out of writing this fic, it's only for fun. Spooks, Ruth, and Harry ALL belong to BBC/Kudos/Dave Wolstencroft and many other people I don't know about. Got the point?
A/N: Anyway, after my LOOOOONG disclaimer, let the story begin.
A/N #2: Oh yeah! Remember to review at the end please! ) Also,any inadvertant Americanisms are my fault so please forgive.
Dragons
BY
Sakura
"Nooo..." Her voice trembled quietly in the midnight silence but it grew in volume and intensity as the seconds ticked by.Her fingers wrapped themselves in a tight fist around her sweaty sheets as she experienced nightmares she thought she had put away.
"Mum! Mum, don't leave! Don't leave me mum! I promise I'll be good! Muuu---" The hysterical little girl collapsed in tears in the middle of the street. She watched as her mum got into her car and drove away, and for a moment she believed that she would come back.
She didn't.
Her father immediately scooped her up into his arms before she got hit by a car, and brought her into the house. Later that night, when she was supposed to be asleep, she found her father sitting by the fireplace in the sitting room. He was burning pictures of HER. She watched through the crack in the door as he cried, wishing that she could somehow take his pain away.
Ruth pounded a fist on her pillow. "Come back, mum..."
Tom was packing up the rest of his things at his station when she came to say goodbye. Boxes were piled high on the desk and the drawers were all emptied out. Nothing of his was left, only a few pictures and a small digital clock. He didn't acknowledge her at first. After Tom put the lid on the last box, he turned around to face her. His arm was outstretched, and in his hand there was a book that she recognized as hers.
"I've been meaning to return this for sometime now Ruth. I'm sorry." He gave a half-smile and waited for her to take it. She didn't. "It was a gift. Keep it." She looked at him in the eye, and searched their depths. Her heart fell a tiny bit when all she could see was his acceptance of the fact that he was no longer a spy. He was ready to move on and live. He was ready to leave.
"Don't leave...D-Don't go"
"Where's my baby?" She asked frantically, but no one answered. The nurses hurried out of the room and only the doctor stayed behind. " I want my baby, where--"
"I'm sorry Miss Evershed, the baby was stillborn. There wasn't anything we could do..." The doctor's next words were cut off by an unearthly shriek. She jumped at the sound and then realized that it had come from her own throat. She was still gasping for air because of the struggle during her labor, the news of her baby had felt like a punch in the stomach. She couldn't believe it. She had pushed and pushed and screamed and then had finally given birth in what felt like a lifetime, and in the end, the baby was...dead. She collapsed on the hospital pillows, and the only sound she could make was a dreadful, heartbroken keening for the child she had just lost.
She thrashed around violently, in a stormy sea of blankets and pillows, and moaned incoherently to herself. Then she continued reliving everything in her life that she wished she could forget.
"I have to leave you for a moment Ruth." His gentle words barely registered in her brain, but somehow she managed to reply. "I'm staying here with Danny." He looked into her eyes, those blue orbs that were filled with utter despair, and resisted the impulse to look away. Right now, the only thing he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and never let her go, but the insistent voices of the press brought him back to reality. Her gaze broke and she paid no more attention to him. All she could do was mourn for Danny. She stroked his face gently and spoke meaningfully to him as if he was still alive. Only then did her shoulders slump dejectedly and she allowed the tears to fall. She didn't notice him as he left her side.
"I can't do this alone anymore..."
"Today you die. Today you will pay for what you've done Harry, for all the pain and death you've caused," Angela closed her eyes briefly, enjoying her victory. After she cocked the gun, she spat, "For Paul!" She positioned her finger at the trigger, ready to release the bullet meant for him--
That was the last thing she ever said. She fell to her knees, the impact of the bullet in her back forcing her down. Angela was no more, and Harry was safe. Ruth exhaled sharply as she watched the exchange. Her eyes were glued to the screen, she'd been watching the CCTV footage from inside Thames House.
'Thank god...Oh thank god...'
The dream abruptly came to a halt. The scene changed in a swirl of faces, colors, voices and indistinguishable sounds.When she finally stopped spinning she had reappeared in a room she had definitely seen before. She was in Harry's office. It was late and nobody else was there, no lights were on except for the lamp on his desk. She noticed that the computer was on and there was a repeating message typed in an eerie font across the monitor.
"LOOK IN THE TOP DRAWER ON THE LEFT. ENJOY!"
She did as the message said, albeit reluctantly. The silence in the office unnerved her, and despite the the instinctive twinge in her gut, she reached for the handle of the drawer. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her when she opened it. Harry's severed head popped out like a Jack-In-The-Box and began to laugh. It shrieked and cackled in a voice that wasn't his own, this one was scratchy and harsh. She bit her lip to keep from being sick, and she watched in total horror as his head began to speak to her.
"I don't love you. I never did."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
She fell off the side of the bed, tangled in the comforter. Since her legs were bound in the blankets, her panic increased tenfold and she dragged herself towards the wall next to the bedside table. Ruth brought her knees to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably, like she did when she was a child. The bedroom door opened andHarry rushed in to find her scrambling on the floor, attempting to shield herself.
"Don't...no.." She whispered, hiding her face in her hands.
"It's me Ruth, you're safe. You're at home with me, it was only a dream." He whispered as he took her shaking hands. He tipped her chin up and forced her to look at him. "It's me. You're with me Ruth." Something in her broke and she threw herself into his arms.
Despite their awkward positions, Ruth kept him on the ground. They stayed like that for several moments, bathed in the moonlight. Ruth stopped trembling and pulled away. She took his face in between her hands and looked him over.
"You're not dead." She said more to herself, reassuring herself that he wasn't dead like in her nightmare and he was still with her. "No, I'm right here." He smiled at her and then stood. "Go back to bed Ruth. I was working on some things in the kitchen, I'll be back." She nodded as he helped her up off the floor. "I'll be right back." He repeated. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and then disappeared into the lit hallway. Ruth looked around at the bedroom, observing how the bedsheets were rumpled and some of the pillows were on the floor. She stepped out of the blankets and folded them neatly onto the mattress.
Ruth rubbed her eyes and yawned. She was actually quite tired. The past few nights had been like this, the nightmares had come back full force ever since Danny died. Harrywas extremely tolerant and she felt so indebted to him for putting up with her overactive,overly imaginative mind for so long.She settled comfortably back in the bed and closed her eyes. She still couldn't sleep, knowing that the dreams could come back.
Soon she felt a pair of arms encircle her. Those arms were attached to a warm body that she could feel pressed against her back, and she finally let herself relax. He was lying next to her, and for once in her life she knew that he'd never leave her the way the others had.
"Go to sleep, my love. I'll chase your dragons away." She smiled at the endearment. He rarely used any, so it was all the more gratifying to hear him say it. She gripped one of his hands and held it gently.
"I love you Harry." Her quiet comment was followed by a yawn and before she knew it, she was fast asleep. Thanks to him, all of her dragons were gone.