Set sometime toward the end of S3, this fic is a result of a challenge by TheChicaChic and a photo of Peter Firth at The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (2012) shared by Wendy (image number 2) on PeterFirthFans. com . I'm leaving this as T-rated though it almost strays into M-rated territory on occasion. Thanks once again to my betas TheChicaChic, NatesDate and r4ven3 and to all of you for reading. Please review if you have a moment. Cheers, S.C.
It's the end of a long day and he's tired. He enters the building and goes straight to the bar to order a drink, observing the other patrons as he waits and spotting his team over in the corner of the room. After paying for his whisky, he picks his way through the crowded bar towards the table occupied by Malcolm, Colin and Adam.
"Harry!" Adam exclaims. "Glad you made it."
Before he can reply, however, Fiona steps up to her husband, grabs Adam's hand and pulls him to his feet and towards the dance floor, saying, "Hi, Harry. Sorry, but he promised me this dance."
He nods, envying Adam his luck for a moment, and turns towards the table, taking a seat at the edge of the booth. Malcolm and Colin are sitting near the centre of the bench and they greet him cheerfully before turning back to their conversation about something technical that his brain is unwilling to even attempt to grasp at this time of night.
All the other members of his team appear to be on the dance floor enjoying themselves. He spots Sam laughing with Zoe as they dance rather exuberantly, and a little to their left he finds Fiona and Adam moving with a little more finesse. They all appear to be having fun and to be quite inebriated, something that doesn't surprise him at such a late hour. He looks about for Danny, sure that he'll be here as it's his birthday celebration after all, and eventually he spots him on the other side of the dance floor dancing with Ruth. He watches the pair, his eyes lingering on her for several moments until he realises he's staring and quickly looks away.
He's been catching himself watching her more and more frequently lately, and he can't deny now that he feels a strong sexual attraction towards her. He's often thought about how they would feel together, what she would be like when aroused by passion, and what it would feel like to be inside her, and he knows he needs to stop thinking like that. Apart from the fact that he's her commanding officer and thinking of her in this way is inappropriate, it'll only lead to him becoming frustrated and losing sleep over it. He suspects, though he can't be sure, that she's also far from indifferent to him, and it is this knowledge that's making her more irresistible with each passing week. He needs to find a lover, he decides. It's because he's between relationships that he's having these inappropriate thoughts about Ruth.
Zoe and Sam return to the table just then, chatting and laughing away about something he's sure he doesn't want to know about.
"Time for karaoke, I think," Sam declares. "Hello, Harry," she adds as she spots him. "How was the meeting?"
"Dull as ditch water," he grumbles.
"You'll be all right once you get a few whiskys in you, Harry," Adam comments as he reaches for his pint, taking a large gulp of bitter.
"Fiona," Sam interrupts, "karaoke?"
"Absolutely," Fiona smiles. "Adam?"
"No," he shakes his head.
"Wimp," Fiona teases.
"No, no," Zoe objects, "just the girls."
"Okay, I'll get Ruth," Sam declares.
Ruth's having the time of her life. She hasn't had this much fun since university, she realises. She's had too much to drink of course, or she wouldn't be on this little stage in the corner, singing with the rest of the girls. They've just finished 'Don't stop believing', and Sam's just choosing the next song. The first notes of 'Girls just want to have fun' begin to play and she almost groans out loud. Trust Sam to pick that one! But once the others start singing, she can't help joining in. She loves the camaraderie that exists between them all. She's never had it before. GCHQ was rather snobbish and she never really fit in; too many bloody mathematicians.
The song finishes and they're pushed off stage by Danny and Adam, who've decided that the men of D Section shouldn't be outdone, and surprisingly, they've even managed to cajole Colin into joining them.
"You're not joining them, Harry?" Zoe asks as they make their way back to the table to get a drink.
"I wouldn't want to put them to shame by comparison," he replies dryly.
Ruth giggles and then blushes as he turns his eyes to look at her, a warm, sensual smile on his lips. She feels her heart begin to race and quickly looks away, following the other women towards the stage and stopping to watch the men sing 'It's my life'. Lately, she's finding it hard to control this crush she has on Harry, and she has to admit that it's beginning to get serious. Hardly a moment goes by now when she doesn't think of him, and she frequently catches herself watching him at work, imagining having whole conversations with him about anything and everything, or fantasizing about kissing those wonderfully pouty, sexy lips of his.
"Danny's got a pretty good voice," she comments after a bit, trying to shift her mind onto something other than Harry Pearce. She has to practically yell to be heard above the music.
"So do you," Fiona smiles. "You two should sing a duet."
"Oh, God, no," she shakes her head.
"That's a brilliant idea, Fiona," Sam smiles. "Go no, Ruth. You have a lovely voice."
"No, really," she insists.
Then before Fiona and Sam can press her any further, Zoe interrupts. "Oh, no, they're not! They're not singing 'The final countdown', are they?"
"I'm afraid so," Fiona grins and they all burst out laughing.
"Still," Ruth smiles, "at least it isn't 'Living la vida loca'."
"Or 'Wake me up before you go-go'," Zoe adds.
"Oh, yes!" Sam smiles enthusiastically. "That's the one we'll do next."
"No!" the other three exclaim almost simultaneously.
"Come on," Sam insists. "It'll be a laugh."
"Where's Adam going?" Zoe asks as much to distract Sam as out of curiosity, and they all turn to watch him rush past them and their table, handing Harry his microphone and dashing out of the room towards the loos. Harry looks a little surprised, but he quickly recovers and turns back to watching Danny and Colin as do the others. Ruth's eyes linger on him a moment longer before she determinedly looks away. If she's not careful, he'll notice, as will everyone else, and the last thing she needs is for everyone to realise that she's in love with him. 'Wait a moment!' she thinks in alarm, 'In love with Harry? Oh, dear God, what's she going to do now?!'
"Look at Harry!" Fiona exclaims suddenly and they all turn to look at him.
"What?" Zoe asks.
"That microphone," she giggles. "The way he's holding it. It looks like-"
"Agh!" Sam exclaims. "Fiona! I do not want that image in my head."
Zoe bursts out laughing and murmurs, "Who's got a phone on them?"
"I do. Why?" Ruth replies distractedly, still staring at Harry and the suggestive way he's holding the microphone, his arms resting on his thighs as he leans back in his seat, his hands loosely clasped round the mic, holding it upright near his crotch.
"Give it here," Zoe says urgently and she complies before she realises what Zoe wants it for.
"No!" she hisses as Zoe takes the picture.
"Why not?" Zoe grins.
"Give it back," she demands. "You can't do that. He's our boss." She snatches the phone back before Zoe can do something stupid, like email it to everyone.
"Come on, they've finished," Sam demands, interrupting Zoe's protests and attempts to get the phone back. "Let's get back on stage."
Pleased to have a distraction, Ruth leads the way while Fiona approaches Harry and takes the microphone on their way up. Sam chooses the music yet again, and much to the dismay of the rest of them, 'Wake me up before you go-go' begins to play. Once they start singing, however, they have fun regardless.
He can't help himself any more, he's staring again, watching her singing 'It's raining men' along with the rest of the women of his section. Adam, Danny and Will North, who appeared a few minutes ago, are up on stage now, dancing with Fiona, Sam and Zoe. Ruth is the only one who's unaccompanied and he finds himself desperately wishing that he could just get up and go to her. He watches as another man, a stranger, tall, blond, young, handsome, strong, gets up on stage and begins to dance with her, and he feels jealousy flare up inside him. Ruth appears to be enjoying the attention, and he finds himself almost unable to watch... Moments later, however, he's glad he didn't look away when they all sing, "So that each and every woman could find the perfect guyyyyy," and she turns and looks right at him.
Her gaze is bold as she holds his hostage for several seconds, until the man she's dancing with moves between them, blocking her from view. His breathing is shallow and his heart is beating fast as he returns his gaze to his drink and picks it up, draining the glass. And in that moment, he realises that he can't fight it any more; he doesn't want to... He just wants Ruth.
By the time he looks up again, she's moved off the little stage and is rounding the corner towards the bathrooms with Sam. He waits for her to reappear, working out what he should do, what he should say when he sees her. He'll ask her to dinner, he decides.
"Not going to join them at all then, Harry?" Malcolm asks, nodding at the stage where Adam, Danny, Will and Colin are getting ready to sing again.
He shakes his head and gives him a wry smile as he replies, "Not really my scene, Malcolm."
"No," he sighs. "Mine neither. I'm thinking of calling it a night."
Harry nods as he watches Sam re-emerge from the hallway to the bathrooms without Ruth. He frowns slightly in concern, but is forced to turn his attention back to Malcolm as he says, "The funny thing is that this kind of thing has never been something I've enjoyed, not even in my youth."
"Not even for the women, Malcolm?" he teases lightly.
"They're the wrong kind of women, Harry," he smiles.
"I know what you mean," he murmurs as his eyes scan the room for Ruth once more. Concern starts to eat away at his gut suddenly, and after years of working in the field, he knows better than to ignore that feeling, so he gets up and excuses himself to go to the bathroom.
He walks down the dim corridor towards the loos, passing several snogging couples. The music isn't as loud here, and as he nears the ladies, he hears her voice coming from the hallway just beyond the bathroom. "Stop," she demands very clearly and he moves swiftly, shifting his weight onto the balls of his feet, his hands raising at the ready as he moves past the bathroom doors and rounds the corner. It's the big, blond bloke she was dancing with and he has her pinned up against the wall, kissing her.
For a split second, he thinks that she's enjoying it, that she wants this and his heart plummets. But moments later, the man pulls back with an exclamation of surprise and growls, "You bit me! You bitch!" He raises his hand to strike her, but Harry's too quick for him. Moving at a speed that surprises even him, he grabs the raised hand and twists it sharply behind the man's back, taking him by surprise as his feet propel them both towards the wall straight in front of him and to the man's left. He slams the bastard hard against the wall and hears him grunt in pain as his shoulder takes the brunt of the force. Then he swiftly delivers two jabs against his side into his right kidney before hissing in his ear, "She said stop, you miserable piece of shit."
He feels the rage course through him, but he's not even aware of being out of control until he hears her voice saying softly, "Stop! Please, stop." He's already pulled his arm back to take another swing at the bastard, having already blackened his right eye, when her hands grasp his bicep, pulling insistingly against him. For a split second, he thinks that perhaps he's misread the situation, that she was enjoying it after all, but as he turns to look into her eyes and she murmurs softly, "He's not worth it," he realises that she's worried about him, not the other man. She doesn't want him to get into trouble for attacking a civilian.
"Come," she says softly and pulls him away, leading him by the hand through the fire exit to their right and out into the alley that runs behind the bar. They reach the corner of the street and she turns to face him, looking up into his eyes and whispering softly, "Thank you, Harry." Then to his immense surprise and relief, she reaches up and presses her lips against his. He responds swiftly, wrapping her in his arms and cradling her close, deepening the kiss he's craved for so long, feeling her abandon and open herself to him.
He has no idea how long they continue like this, their mouths fused together, his arms wrapped around her, pressing her against him, his hips pushing forward against hers, her hands under his jacket, nails scraping over his shirt. Dimly he hears the door of the bar several yards behind them open, and he feels her freeze and pull back a little. "Harry?" Adam's voice calls. "Are you out here?"
He watches as her eyes widen in surprise and fear even as he can still clearly see the desire in their depths. Then she pulls quickly away and turns round the corner, and he watches her go with regret for a moment before sighing and turning to face his officer. "What?" he demands in irritation.
"Sorry," Adam smirks, "I didn't realise you'd pulled. Who was she?"
"A delightful and rather grateful creature," he sighs.
"So it was you who attacked that bloke then?" he replies. "I thought it sounded like you. What happened?"
"He didn't stop when she asked him to," he shrugs.
"Well," Adam nods, "he's in there now making a fuss about being attacked by someone who was trying to mug him, or some such tripe. So I just came out to warn you not to go back in."
"Like hell I won't," Harry growls as his anger flares up again and he attempts to step round Adam and re-enter the building.
"Harry, wait," Adam objects, laying a restraining hand on his arm. "He's beaten up pretty badly. You must have really laid into him." Harry glares at him, so he quickly adds, "Oh, I'm not saying he didn't deserve it, but there's nothing else you can do right now. If they find out who you are, he could press charges and that wouldn't be good. Not for you, and not for the Service. Let it go. We're all moving on to a club anyway." He pauses for a moment and then asks, "By the way, have you seen, Ruth? No one can find her."
"Perhaps she went home," he suggests with a frown.
"Without telling anyone and without her coat?" Adam replies. "Unlikely. I'll go back in and find her. You'd best meet us up front."
"Right," he nods and makes his way towards the front of the building. 'Bloody Adam and his awful timing,' he fumes.