Disclaimer: All the people in this fic are the property of those lovely people over at Kudos and the BBC. No profit is being made from this fic either.

A/N: This is currently a WIP, but I will try to update regularly. It's set roughly eighteen months post- 5.05 and is Ruth/ Harry (of course) with a bit of casefile. Spoilers up to 5.10.

Chapter One- Replay

It had been, in the beginning, a fairly routine operation. As routine as operations ever were. A check into the life and plans of one of Russia's richest oil barons, who had travelled to England on a moment's notice a month ago and who showed no signs of leaving. Someone in Whitehall had wanted it investigating, so Adam had been playing at secretary for the past two weeks. So far, he had discovered nothing incriminating.

Therefore, he was completely taken aback when the first gunshots echoed through the seemingly empty warehouse. What had, only moments before, been a rendezvous point with the newest member of his staff was now a war zone. Events moved with a startlingly clarity and terrifying speed. Adam reached out and knocked the young agent, Anna, to the ground as he drew his gun. All at once, the gunfire ceased. Astonished, Adam froze, still alert. He felt, rather than heard, the footsteps behind him and the whimper of the girl lying on the floor. Then the person behind him clicked off the safety of his gun and the barrel was pressed, cold and blunt, into the back of his head.

"I would ask for your name, sir, but I already know it. And you know mine. So, now I shall tell you what is going to happen to you and your little companion."

The voice was high and nasal, not English, and hard to place. Adam knew that his adversary was a good six inches taller than him, and far stronger than he was, despite being at least twenty years older.

"It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of meeting someone from MI-5. The last time they won. Not this time, Mr. Spook. This time I shall win. But first, you shall tell me what you have found out."

Without missing a beat, Adam replied.

"We know almost everything. We have the location of the bomb, the date. The operative. The only thing we don't know is the exact time and your method of transport. Security personnel are surrounding this house as we speak."

The gun tapped lightly against the side of Adam's head and the man, now kneeling beside him, tutted.

"You can do better than that, Mr Carter. Much better. So, this is who Harry Pearce has working for him these days. An arrogant 'shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later' sort of spook. Is that all I merit?"

Another whimper from Anna made Adam turn his head to the side. She was lying on her front like him, her red hair covering her face, her arms stretched out in front of her like a drowning woman reaching for safety. Her white fingers shook, contracting and relaxing, quivering centimetres from the ground. She had only been with the service six months. The fifth recruit hired since Ruth had left. Her predecessor had lasted the grand total of eight days. Five people in nearly eighteen months, and this one, who had lasted the longest, was the youngest, the most innocent. Adam was recalled to the present situation when the man above him began speaking again.

"I suppose that you want to know where you went wrong-Adam, is it?"

"Yes," Adam replied through gritted teeth. He needed to keep him talking. He needed to buy time, time to think about what he was going to do, how to get out of there alive.

"Well, I wasn't suspicion of you from the beginning. You are a good actor, I will give you that. A very convincing and good secretary. However, no-one fools me. It didn't happen twenty five years ago. I lost a battle, but not the war. It has taken me a little longer to regroup than I thought it would. Still, what does not kill me makes me stronger- I never could remember who said that."

He was cut off abruptly as there was a loud crash from behind them. Adam moved with the instinct based on a lifetime of training and experience, lashing out behind him with his arm, knocking the gun out of his hand. In the intervening seconds before he was on his feet, another crash resounded behind him. With a grunt, the man behind him fell to his knees, unconscious. Ages later, Adam would swear that he had travelled back in time and that he was lying on leafy damp ground in a forest when the woman opposite him spoke.

"You know, Adam, you really must stop getting into situations where I have to knock people unconscious with heavy objects to stop them shooting you. Although, last time it was a shotgun rather than a pistol. And it was Friedrich Nietzsche who said "what does not kill me makes me stronger," she added.

Now fully upright, Adam turned.

"Ruth. What in the name of everything are you doing here?"

TBC

A/N2:Please, pretty please, leave a review, they make my day. I am also currently beta-less, so any help would be much appreciated.