God is in the Details
Summary: My take on what happens in the 24 hours after 3.7, when Ruth is rescued from Andrew's house.
Disclaimer: All Spooks characters belong to Kudps and the BBC.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews - they are very much appreciated. I forgot to mention in part one that Ruth's thoughts and comments about her disciplinary hearing are taken from the transcript included in "The Personnel Files."
Apparently the feeling was mutual, though Harry was much better at hiding his surprise.
"Danny? Is everything all right? I wanted to stop by to see how Ruth was doing." Harry stood on the front step, not wanting to barge into Ruth's home.
"Harry. Come in; I'm sure Ruth won't mind. She's gone to bed already. She was so tired and tense from her night at Andrew's that she's already turned in." Feeling like he needed to explain why he was at her home he added, "Ruth didn't want to be alone in her house tonight. She asked me to stay in the guest room." Danny leaned against the wall while Harry moved towards the sofa and removed his jacket.
"Do you mind if I sit down? It's been a long day trying to clean up the mess Andrew left behind. Guy Facer is convinced we're hiding the laptop with the G&J Key, no matter that I've told him otherwise a dozen times." Harry sat at the end of the sofa after Danny waved his hand in a 'go ahead' gesture. "So other than being tired and tense, how did she seem? Adam told me she didn't need to go to hospital, but we both know that this type of experience can do more mental damage than physical."
Danny's response was pre-empted by the sound of Ruth's loud cries coming from upstairs. He turned and bounded up the stairs two at a time, following the sound of her voice to her bedroom. Harry followed Danny but stopped in the hallway outside Ruth's bedroom. He didn't want to intrude on her during such a private moment but his concern for her wouldn't allow him to stay away.
"Andrew. No. Please." Ruth's sobs grew louder and more insistent. "Get off me... hurting me." The rest of her words were incoherent and Harry leaned back against the wall, his mind racing at what Ruth may have been put through.
Inside the bedroom, Danny sat at the edge of her bed and wrapped his arms around Ruth, running a hand slowly up and down her back. "Ruth, shhh, you're fine. It's just a bad dream. Andrew's not here and he can't hurt you. Shhh." Danny kept rubbing her back until her sobs quieted down. After a few minutes her tears ended and the tension left her body, leaving her slumped against Danny. He murmured a few more words to her, and then she lay back down in bed while Danny covered her with the duvet. After planting a kiss on her forehead he walked out of the room.
Harry was still waiting just outside the bedroom but followed Danny down the stairs and into the lounge before speaking. "Danny, I didn't ask Adam, but I need to know. Was Ruth… assaulted by Andrew?" Harry didn't take a seat but instead remained standing. The urge to pace was growing stronger but he needed to hear the answer to his question first.
Danny knew from the tone of Harry's voice what he was really asking and started to shake his head. "No, I don't believe she was. I didn't stay in the ambulance with her but they checked her out and said she was fine to go home."
Harry didn't sit down, instead starting to slowly pace across the lounge as Danny continued. "Ruth told me about what happened last night. Once she realized it was Andrew that was behind the attacks, she tried to get to her phone and get out of the house. He got to her quickly and tackled her, pinning her to the floor. After that he tied her to the banister, where she was until we arrived."
Harry nodded and finally sat in the armchair closest to him. "Why was she having dinner with him anyway?"
Danny shrugged his shoulders. "We didn't talk about that, but they knew each other from GCHQ; they were friends. I'm not sure it was anything more than that."
"Hmm."
Danny's mind was starting to put together pieces of a puzzle that he hadn't been aware of before today. The disciplinary hearing for Ruth over that John guy. Harry coming to Ruth's house to check on her after the ordeal. Harry had always shown concern for his officers; it was one of his qualities that made those officers so loyal to him. But Danny had never known him to visit anyone's home after an op went wrong. Other officers had abused their privileges with regards to meeting civilians and getting information on them, and Harry would simply called them into his office and set them straight. So why the different treatment for Ruth? Danny's thoughts were interrupted by Harry's voice.
"Danny? Did you hear me? Do you think Ruth will be okay to come in to work tomorrow?"
"Sorry. Work tomorrow? I'm sure she'll insist on it. Adam told me she wanted to go back to the Grid today." He glanced towards the stairs. "I think a good night's sleep will be the best thing for her."
Harry stood from the chair. "I hope you're right. Well, I should get going. But in the morning, if you don't think she's ready to come in, convince her to stay home. Her official debrief can wait a day or so." He moved to the sofa and picked up his jacket, putting it on as he continued towards the front door.
Danny followed Harry to the front door. After opening the door, Harry turned back to him. "Thank you for staying here with Ruth. I... Good night, Danny." Harry turned and walked through the door, leaving Danny to wonder what else he'd wanted to say.
Closing the door and ensuring it was locked, Danny moved back to the lounge, standing near the sofa. Fidget had come out of hiding and was sitting in the chair recently vacated by Harry. After checking the time, Danny decided to head to bed. He didn't know how well Ruth would sleep and it could be a long night.
Ruth woke the next morning feeling much better than she had 24 hours ago. The sun was beginning to shine through the window and at some point in the night Fidget had settled on the foot of the bed. With a glance at the clock she stretched and then rolled out of bed, knowing that a shower was just what she needed.
Downstairs, Danny had just finished making himself a cup of tea when he heard the water start to run. Rummaging through the fridge and cupboards, he set about to make a basic breakfast of eggs, toast, and tea.
As she finished dressing, Ruth smelled food cooking and realized that Danny was already up. Since Danny was generally the last person to arrive on the Grid, Ruth had assumed he wasn't a morning person. Even if he wasn't, whatever he was cooking smelled delicious so she followed it down to her kitchen.
Danny heard the steps creak and he turned in time to see Ruth walk into the kitchen. "Good morning, Ruth. Are you hungry?" he asked as he turned off the cooker. Not waiting for an answer, he slid some scrambled eggs onto two plates. After setting the pan in the sink, he moved the plates to the table where toast and hot tea were already waiting.
Ruth smiled at the scene before her. "Good morning, Danny, and yes I am hungry. This is just what I needed." She sat opposite him at the kitchen table and for a minute or so the only sounds were those of breakfast - knives scraping butter and jam onto toast, spoons stirring sugar and milk into tea, and forks scraping eggs off the plate.
"How did you sleep last night?"
"I feel good, though I dreamt about Andrew last night." Ruth looked down at her breakfast, not wanting to elaborate.
"I know," Danny said after taking a sip of his tea.
"What do you mean, you know? Did I wake you?"
Danny didn't want to embarrass Ruth so he chose his words carefully. "Ruth, it's fine. You woke up about an hour after you went to bed. You were crying, said Andrew's name, said no, said that he was hurting you, and that was it. I sat next to you on the bed and rubbed your back until you stopped and then you went back to sleep. I didn't hear anything else from you the rest of the night."
When Ruth didn't say anything or even look at him, Danny reached across the table to take her hand. "Ruth, it's okay. There's no need to feel bad or be embarrassed. I'm not going to tell anyone, and I'm sure Harry won't mention it either."
At Harry's name, Ruth's eyes shot up to meet Danny's. "What do you mean, Harry won't say anything? You told him?"
Danny was so caught off guard by her reaction that it didn't even occur to him to lie. "No, Harry was here last night. He came to see how you were doing. You had your nightmare shortly after he arrived."
Ruth pulled her hand from Danny's, pushed her dishes aside and dropped her head onto her arms. Danny could just make out the sound of her repeating, "No, no, no."
"What's the matter? Ruth, you had a nightmare, so what! You'd just spent a day tied to a banister with a man you knew dead at your feet. I think you're doing quite well with it all, frankly."
Ruth lifted her head. "I... I just don't want Harry to think I'm not up to being in Section D. After my disciplinary hearing, and now this, it's not going to take much more for him to send me back to GCHQ."
Danny smiled and Ruth snapped at him. "You think that's funny? You've not had to work there!"
"Ruth, Harry's not going to send you back to GCHQ over this, or the hearing. He simply wanted to see how you were doing. I'm not sure Harry would let you go anywhere else; he values your work too much. Besides, I think he felt bad about it all."
"Why would Harry feel bad? Feel bad about what?" Ruth was bewildered at Danny's statement.
"Harry was so wrapped up in trying to find the person responsible that he didn't think it odd that you were taking a sick day, or that you let Sam know by text. When I finally asked Harry where you were, he told me you'd sent Sam a text to say you were sick. That didn't seem like you to me, especially since you don't even know how to change your ring tone." Danny paused as he took a bite of his eggs. "How is that, anyway? You can hack into the DGSE database but you can't figure out your mobile?"
Ruth knew that Danny was teasing her now as this wasn't the first discussion they had about her boring ringtone, as Danny called it. "I told you, the ringtones on my phone are all boring, so why bother changing it? It's not that I can't change it, I just don't want to," she said with a smile.
Danny wasn't buying her story. "Uh huh. So that day you spent 30 minutes fiddling with your phone and it ended up halfway across the Grid after you threw it? That was what, creative differences?" He was trying, most unsuccessfully, to hold in his laughter.
Ruth was smiling now. "Something like that." She glanced at the clock. "It's getting late. We should really be heading into work."
Danny stood and picked up his breakfast dishes to move them to the sink. "Yes, Ruth, heaven forbid you arrive merely on time today rather than your usual hour early."
Ruth mirrored Danny's actions. "Well, better early than late, but you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Danny flashed her a smile. "Besides, don't you still need to run home and change? I know you weren't planning to stay here last night."
"No, I wasn't, but I did already take a shower so I only need to change my clothes. Let me give you a lift. You'll be a bit late to work, but I don't think anyone will mind. Harry did say you could take today off if you needed it."
"There's no need for me to stay home. Bad enough I missed the last two days plus I have to be debriefed. No, I need to go in. I don't want to get any further behind."
Ruth headed for the stairs before turning back to Danny. "A ride would be great though. Give me five minutes?"
"Sounds good."
