I apologize for the late start on this new story from my series. I started working on it right around the time of the opening of a new show at my work, so I've been very busy trying to get things ready for that. Now that my job has settled into a new season, I have more down time to write my ideas and story concepts. I hope you enjoy this new story.

This third story in my series will be threading the plot of series 7 episode 4 of Spooks. I am warning my readers now that I will be changing some small details in their plot to fit with the timeline for this one. Much like I did with the 3rd episode of Spooks in my first story. I promise to stay true to the canon with regard to its own story structure.

Thank you for your support, and reviews and/or criticism is most welcome and helpful.

Chapter 2: Playing Both Sides

Lucas returned to the grid after accompanying his asset, Aram Beyda, to the hospital. It was suppose to be a simple meeting with an asset who arrived from Damascus. Lucas was assigned to pick him up from the train station and transport him to the MI-5 safe house. It was in a crowded station in the middle of the day. They did not expect an assassin to be there waiting for Beyda.

Lucas was lucky to catch sight of the man from across the sea of people and reached Beyda before the assassin did. They tried maneuvering through the people to get to the nearest exit when the assassin struck. He managed to stab Beyda and cut Lucas, but Lucas elbowed him in the throat and knocked the wind out of him before taking him down.

However, the damage was done. Aram Beyda was losing a lot of blood. He managed to pass information and a mobile SIM card to Lucas before he passed out. Lucas called for backup to get Beyda to the hospital without drawing unwanted attention to the situation. The last thing he wanted was to be headlined on the BBC news.

When he returned to the grid, he barely had time to type up his notes and prepare for the briefing on what he found. Harry Pearce was already calling for the team to assemble into the conference room. Lucas downloaded what he could find on the international terrorist, Muhammad Khordad, and was heading in that direction when he saw Nyssa and her team exiting the conference room. They had just finished their own briefing on the marketplace operation and was about to leave.

Lucas smiled as he approached her, and she responded in kind. After the kind of day he was having, it was nice to see a friendly face.

"You're back," Nyssa said. "How was the op?"

"It didn't go as well as I hoped, but I received some vital Intel from it," he answered. "Harry has called for a briefing. Did everything go well at the marketplace?"

"Not really! It was a textbook case when you send in a kid with no spy training to take point in an operation. It didn't go quite as planned, but we didn't go home empty handed. We managed to capture another Al-Qaeda member for you to interrogate. This guy might know something useful."

Lucas smiled then noticed that both Lucy and Jack were heading toward the pods. They stopped and turned back to watch Nyssa and Lucas. It was as if they were waiting for Nyssa to join them.

"Are you leaving?" He asked. He looked a little disappointed. Nyssa merely smiled, but her eyes gave him the answer to his question.

Even though she was temporarily sharing his flat, they still saw very little of each other. Harry had Lucas and Nyssa working different operations, which gave them very little down time together. He had hoped that Harry would give them the same assignment, so he could keep a close eye on her.

Ever since he first had contact with the mysterious faction that ruined her career and threatened him, he had been extremely protective of her. He never told Harry or Ros about the telephone call or the photographs left at his flat. How was he suppose to approach that conversation? Explain to them that he took it upon himself to find these people by putting him and Nyssa in danger without backup? Now, he was exposed to them. They knew his name and Nyssa's. He knew this was no game, so what possessed him to behave like it was?

Nyssa took his hand and stared into his concerned blue eyes. She placed her other hand on his cheek and smiled.

"Yes. Our part in the op is done for now. Harry told us we could leave but to stay in touch in case he calls us back."

Nyssa could tell that Lucas was still not happy. She understood that they were not spending a lot of time together and shared in his frustration. But, that was the nature of this business, which was why not many relationships survived.

"We can catch up later today. Jack and I have a client to see tomorrow, and I have to get ready for our dinner date at Mom's house. Call me later when you've finished up," she said before planting a quick kiss to his lips.

"Dinner at Marilyn's. Of course!" Lucas had almost forgotten about that. "I shouldn't be too long."

"You said that you and Jack are meeting a client tomorrow? Is it dangerous?" he asked, changing the subject. Nyssa noticed his concern and gave him a look.

"Lucas, since you've met me, I've dealt with an enforcer for the Irish mob, a loan shark and his flunkies, and a high-rolling con artist. I think I'll be okay," she said with some irritation. "Besides, this client is a supermodel turned fashion designer. According to Jack, her complaint seems very white collar. I doubt it's that dangerous."

"A supermodel. Jack must be very pleased with this new case."

"Let's just say that when I finally agreed to it, he wouldn't stop thanking me. He's says that this little assignment takes care of his Christmas and birthday gifts for the next year." She giggled a little, and Lucas smiled.

Ros emerged from the conference room and saw Lucas talking to Nyssa from across the room. She sighed and walked quickly toward the couple. Lucas still had a job to do, and Nyssa was becoming a distraction. He needed to get his head back in the game.

"Lucas, if you are quite finished with your little liaison, we would like to have a chat about the operation. That is, if it's alright with you, Nyssa?" Ros asked in a sarcastic tone.

Lucas looked at Ros and nodded while Nyssa merely closed her eyes and took a breath. She was still finding it difficult to get along with Ros.

Ros turned on her heels and left for the conference room leaving Lucas to say a quick goodbye and get back to work. Lucas turned back to Nyssa who opened her eyes and stared back into his. She said nothing and gave him another quick kiss before she whispered her goodbyes. Nyssa turned and walked toward her team. He watched her enter the pods and watched the door close before turning back toward the conference room.

The meeting with the team was quick. Lucas gave the background Intel he gathered on Muhammad Khordad that he found in their computer archives. While he was researching for the briefing, Malcolm managed to study the SIM card that Lucas gave him when Lucas returned to the grid. All the information was presented as always with the team deciding what steps to take going forward. In the end, using the SIM card was the best option.

Harry dismissed everyone to continue with their work while Malcolm worked on connecting the SIM card to his console. As everyone slowly filed out of the room, Harry called for Lucas to come into his office before the team reassembled at Malcolm's station.

Harry slid the door to his office open and entered leaving Lucas to close the door behind him. Harry motioned for Lucas to take a seat and sat in his own favorite chair behind his desk to face him. Both men sat in silence for a few seconds before Harry spoke.

"How are you and Nyssa coping?" Harry asked.

"Fine. She is anxious to return to her flat. She says that it's more private with plenty of space to work on her father's car," said Lucas.

"Do you suspect any other reason?"

"At the moment…..no! But, given her past behavior, it wouldn't surprise me if she were planning something without us."

Harry nodded in agreement. Malcolm was still working on identifying the name attached to the number code on the Blacklist memo that Nyssa obtained a few weeks ago. Nyssa had not made any attempt at gaining further information about the memo since turning it over to the team. That, alone, made Harry suspicious that she already knew more than they did about it.

"I don't think that would be wise of her to return to that warehouse just yet," he said.

"I agree, but not allowing her a little freedom might cause her to push us further away."

And, do something dangerous without telling me.

Harry pursed his lips at the thought of loosening his surveillance of Nyssa's activities. Ever since Sam Walker told him that Nyssa had a list of the names from his decades-old operation Sugar Horse, he had wanted to keep Nyssa as close as possible. There was a mole in his organization, and the people with the knowledge of Sugar Horse was a short list. Perhaps, this mysterious shadow faction might be involved, and that was why they were so interested in Nyssa.

But, Nyssa knew nothing about Harry's involvement with Sugar Horse and even less about the extend of their knowledge on the shadow faction. To fully protect her like he wanted, he would have to disclose what he knew. And, he was not prepared to do that, nor had he any intention to do so.

He had to trust that Lucas would continue to remain close to her now that they were on more intimate terms. He could trust Lucas to tell him everything that she was up to.

"You're right!" said Harry. "It has taken nearly a year to get her to trust us this far. This shadow organization hasn't made contact in over a month since those men bugged her mother's house. Have you noticed anything usual recently?"

Lucas remained calm but hesitated before he answered the question. It was in that moment that he had the opportunity to tell Harry about the phone call and the pictures at his flat, but he stayed silent and shook his head no. Why could he not tell Harry? Even Lucas was at war with himself over the matter, but his instincts said to stay quiet.

A knock on the door brought both men out of their thoughts and back to the present. Connie entered and told them that Malcolm was ready to activate the SIM card. Harry acknowledged her and waited until she left before turning back to Lucas.

"Stay close to Nyssa and report to me what she is doing. We can't have her investigating on her own again, and if the FSB is involved, I don't want them getting their hands on her either."

"Right." Lucas nodded.

"Now, let's go and see what Muhammad Khordad has to say." Both men stood from their chairs, walked out of the office, and headed toward Malcolm's station.

While Lucas and the team were dealing with an international terrorist, Nyssa and Lucy decided to have lunch at a local café before Nyssa went home to make a vegetable casserole to take to Marilyn's house. Jack opted to check on their new client before the meeting tomorrow. After hearing Jack's desciption of her, it did not surprise Nyssa one bit.

"So, you and Jack are meeting a new client tomorrow?" asked Lucy while stabbing at her Asian salad. "What does Pretty Boy MI-5 think about that?"

"I really wish you wouldn't call him that." Nyssa felt a little irritated that her sister could not help but make remarks about Lucas at every opportunity.

"My, we're very defensive when it comes to him." Lucy smiled, and Nyssa made a face at her sister. "Don't get me wrong, Nyssa. I'm glad that he makes you happy. I just wish you didn't always go for the bad boy types."

"What are you talking about?" Nyssa asked slightly confused.

"Well, he's a British MI-5 operative. If Dad were here, he'd say that you gave 'sleeping with the enemy' a whole new meaning," said Lucy while Nyssa rolled her eyes.

"I need you to do something for me," Nyssa said changing the subject. "I need you to reach out to your arms dealing contacts. The scarier the better, and set up a meeting for me."

"Why?" Now, Lucy was the confused one.

"I need to get the attention of the NSA officer that wrote that Blacklist memo, and I have an idea how I can do that."

"I don't know, Nyssa," said Lucy sounding concerned. "You know that I don't really trust Lucas, and I don't agree with nearly anything he says. But, I do think he's right about this. You can't put yourself in danger like this without help. Jack and I can only do so much."

"Harry's going to find out who this guy is anyway. So, I'm not really withholding anything from them, but I've got to get to him first. I have my own questions, and knowing how Harry and the team operate, I won't get my answers. Now, are you going to help me?"

Lucy took a moment and sighed before she answered her. Nyssa was so stubborn, that she knew her sister would do this with or without her. It was better to comply with Nyssa's wishes and stay in the loop of things. That way, she had a better position to watch her sister's back.

"Okay, I think I know somebody who can fit the bill. I'll set it up and let you know."

"Good. Now, I've got to get back to the flat and start that casserole. I don't know what Mom has planned, but she says she has a surprise for me. Whatever that means."

"I can only guess." Lucy smiled.

"Don't worry about me," said Nyssa as if sensing what her sister was thinking. "I know what I'm doing."

With that, Nyssa stood from her chair, turned, and headed for her Indian motor bike.

Lucy watched her sister go with a sense of dread. Out of all of Nyssa's plans to find answers about her blacklist, this one bothered her the most.

"I pray that you do know what you're doing," she said under her breath as she paid for the meal and left.