This is completely AU. Characters from Spooks but set in 19th Century India because I like the time period. I will be introducing other characters in later chapters.
April 1857: Delhi, India
Miss Ruth Evershed picked up her notes from her desk and opened her parasol to protect herself from the fierce blast of heat she anticipated upon stepping outside. Her notes she tucked securely into her travelling case, acutely conscious of the fact that it was her responsibility to see that Major Harry Pearce's military intelligence did not fall into the wrong hands through an absence of proper care on her part.
As his private secretary for the past two years, she had grown increasingly knowledgeable about military matters. Before that she had served as the librarian at his Elizabeth Street house, so had come to the role with a great deal of learning, but of the purely academic kind. But in this position she had felt able to expand her knowledge so that she now had a greater insight into motivations of man and to the machinations and intrigue of politics and the uneasy colonial environment.
Her eyes took a moment to accustom to the brightness of the light outdoors. Delhi had always had colour, and bustle and brightness. She found it's spirit invigorating, infectious even. It was easy to forget that India was deeply troubled at this time, awash with unrest and simmering tension, something the correspondence she received from the regions from officers in the British army confirmed on a daily basis.
As her thoughts returned to work, she wondered once again whether she had been correct in her decision to stay in the city. A couple of her friends had already left India, packed off by their husbands for England, as military men talked in hushed tones of a native disquiet. But she had stayed, finding it quite impossible for some reason to think now of separating herself from the Major.
She sighed. She must give up thinking of work now, the sun was still high in the sky and she should enjoy the daylight while it lasted.