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Christmas Spirit

Zoe walked along the corridor towards the Grid. She had spent the last half hour listening to Dimitri and Beth bickering as they walked along in front of her. Both arguing the merits of Dimitri's contact and the information Sienna Sapphire had given them She smiled as she thought about the source of their information. Richard had been a good officer but had decided that military life wasn't for him. Admittedly the jump from SBS Officer to Drag Queen wasn't really a logical career path but as Sienna he seemed happy. She listened as Dimitri explained exactly how Sienna had come by the information. Beth seemed oblivious to Zoe as she continued to argue good naturedly with Dimitri who was insistent his asset was reliable. It was clear as far as Zoe was concerned that there was definite chemistry between Beth and Dimitri. It seemed they were the only two that didn't see it. Zoe let the couple walk away from them as she saw Zaf walk around the corner.

"Hi" He smiled.

"Hi" Zoe turned as she saw him look down at his feet. "What's wrong?"

"Adam and I have an address to check out. Seems Dimitri's contact was right, this Craig Fisher character is staying in Stepney. We have to check it out. I won't be able to come round tonight." Zaf looked genuinely disappointed

"Hey" She stepped closer to him. "It's fine, look if you want you can come round later. Or if it turns in to an all nighter I'll buy you breakfast" She bit her lip as his face lit up.

"It's a date" He kissed her cheek as she blushed. "C'mon Harry wants us all in the Briefing Room in the next ten minutes" He walked away as Zoe rolled her eyes and followed him.

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Adam stared at the toy Christmas tree that was now sat on top of his desk. The small toy was obviously part of Beth's efforts to make the place a little more festive. At that moment he felt anything but festive. He opened his desk drawer and deposited the offending toy in the draw where he couldn't see it before slamming it shut. He looked up to see Ros raise her eyebrows at him

"What?"

"The location for Craig Fisher"

"What about it?"

"Take a back up team. The more I think about it the more I think this is more than just a random attack. He's been in prison since 1987. The case took almost two years to go to trial, after psychiatric reports and everything. He initially attacked Harry and Juliet at Christmas didn't he? I mean you have read the reports" Ros waddled over to him. Her back was killing her and she knew there was more to this case than she had been told.

"Yeah. Seems the group started vandalising family planning clinics and attacking doctors and nurses that work there" Adam leant back in the chair as Ros perched on the edge of Zoë's desk.

"Yes but it wasn't until the pro-life groups began to pressurise the Tory government that these idiots started getting really nasty, using the legit campaigners as a cover they bombed an abortion clinic in the West Midlands, killing a medical student and causing an outcry. Harry and Juliet were undercover. Both were abducted and tortured." Ros watched as Adam nodded.

"It was Christmas week" He answered.

"Yes" Ros closed her eyes as Malcolm joined them.

"Ah yes" He replied as both blonde spooks turned to him. "I wasn't working here then. Only ever been a technical officer but it was well known what went on in Court" Malcolm looked angry as he spoke. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "In those days I had just moved to London from Wales. I was working in product design. IT was we now know it was nonexistant"

"What went on Malcolm?" Adam was beginning to get annoyed. What he thought would be a straightforward arrest was turning out to be far more complicated.

"When the judge found him guilty under several sections of the 1975 Anti Terrorism Act he turned and yelled at Harry."

"So?" Ros folded her arms as she tried to concentrate on what Malcolm was telling them. It was proving more and more difficult as her abdomen began to hurt. The cramping pain informing her that the baby was not happy with her staying still so long. She shifted uncomfortably as Lucas crossed to her.

"You ok?" He stared at her as she nodded once. Her hand rested on her swollen abdomen.

"Go on Malcolm" She ignored Lucas as Adam raised his eyebrows sympathetically.

"So its not so much that fact that he shouted. It is what was said." Malcolm pinched the bridge of his nose as Ros stared directly at him.

"He said that there was time. He'd be watching and waiting. When Harry was happy, when he was really happy he would be back."

"So almost thirty years ago this nutter threatened Harry. Now what?" Lucas frowned.

"Harry is happy, for the first time in a long time he has some happiness in his life. Now Fisher is back" Malcolm watched as all three field agents stared at him. The sound of the Pod doors whooshing open startled them all as Ruth returned. She looked more subdued than any of them had seen her in a long time. Adam sighed as he walked across to his friend. The rest of the group began preparing for the meeting. The Christmas festivities had all but been forgotten. It was only as Adam reached Ruth's desk and Lucas and Ros began to discuss the case that Malcolm opened Adam's desk drawer and retrieved the toy Christmas tree.

"Ah Miss Bailey, you'll get your party" He smiled as he replaced the tree on the desk. He smiled slightly as he remembered the Booze Cruise Colin had insisted they all go on to get cheep alcohol for the Christmas party. It seemed that once again, after all these years there was at least one member of Section D that wanted to keep the Christmas spirit alive.

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Ruth saw Adam cross the Grid as she walked to her desk. She didn't want to talk to him but knew he hadn't seen her so down in a long time. It was easy to see she had been crying.

"Ruth" Adam started as he reached her desk. She turned her facr away from him as she turned to her computer.

"These files are too old. They don't really give us any new information. Connie was a good analyst. Probably better than me, she didn't miss anything. The only thing I can see from these files is that Fisher and those that helped him were absolute monsters"

Adam nodded, he knew Ruth didn't want to talk about how she was feeling so down. He touched her forarm, forcing her to look at him as Beth and Dimitri could be heard chatting away at her desk. Snippets of conversation involving tinsel, secret Santa and alcoholic punch could be heard as Ruth sighed.

"Zaf and I have an address for Fisher, the Bail Hostel he is supposed to be staying in. We're going to go round there after the meeting" He turned on the charm smile as Ruth nodded.

"Be careful" Ruth's eyes widened as she remembered snippets from Juliet's field report. She knew Harry was now the only member of the original team that had investigated Fisher and the FLF that was still alive and on active service. Connie had died before she had returned and Ruth knew Juliet was still in rehab following a gunshot wound to the head. He was the only one Fisher and the FLF could possibly know anything about.

"Adam" Ruth felt the panic rising. "We may have a problem. I really am not sure but we could have a serious problem"

Adam nodded once, knowing if Ruth was going on gut instict, then the chances were she was probably right.

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Harry sat in his customary place at the head of the Briefing Room table. The piece of A4 paper that had arrived on his desk a few hours earlier was sat on the table in front of him. It looked almost innocent to the casual observer and could have come from any student's A4 notepad. It made him feel sick. It was happening again. Craig Fisher had told him this day would come and he'd been nieve enough to believe it was the ramblings of a madman angry at being put in prison. It seemed that Fisher was being true to his word. He reread the message again before throwing the paper on to the table. He looked up as he heard Ros and Lucas talking. It sounded like they were actually being civil to each other and Harry began to hope they were finally beginning to get back on track. He hoped they weren't making the same mistake as he had with Jane. Staying together for the sake of the children never really worked, Catherine and Graham were perfect examples of that. Oh God, how to I keep them safe? How do I protect Graham, Catherine and the baby? How can I keep Ruth from getting hurt? Stop the team from getting in any more danger, stop them going through the same Hell Juliet and I did? His mind was made up. Before Ros could open the door to the Briefing Room Harry had stood and slipped quietly out the side door and away from his team.

"Ok, where's Harry?" Lucas addressed an almost empty room.

"Don't know" Ros caught Ruth's worried expression as she spoke.

Ruth remained silent as she crossed to the table and picked up the paper. The colour seemed to drain from her already pale face. Handing the note to Ros as the others began entering the Briefing Room she stared silently at the piece of paper willing herself not to cry. Carefully cut from newspaper and in different typefaces the words spelt out exactly what Ruth and Harry had feared the most.

"HAPPY XMAS! i'M HAPPY HOPE YOUR HAPPY2. C U SWN OLD FRIEND"

"Shit" Adam stared open mouthed as Beth swore. Somehow the few decorations that had made it in to the Briefing Room seemed horribly out of place. Ros rested her hands on her hips as she sprang into action, issuing orders to the team as Ruth remained almost catatonic.

"All other lines of inquiry are on hold. Adam you and Zaf get down the Bail Hostel find Fisher" She turned as Dimitri ran a hand through his short hair. "Our priority is getting Harry back. That is it. Find Craig Fisher and find out what the hell he thinks he is playing at. This ends before anyone gets hurt"

Ros looked across to Ruth whose eyes were fixed on the paper in front of her.

"We will find him" Ros stated as Ruth nodded once briefly.

"There were no notes in the 1980s" She was straight into work mode.

"We will find him" Ros repeated.

"Ruth?" Lucas had already made his mind up to look after the Intel Analyst as much as he could. He still felt guilty for letting her down so badly after everything with Vaughan.

"Harry's gone dark" Adam stated as Zoe closed her eyes.

"He'll be back. He wouldnt go after Fisher alone" Ros stated.

"No" Ruth sighed as she looked out of the Briefing Room door. "Harry is on his own"

authors note. Is Harry ok? Has he really gone after Fisher? More fluffydrama next time. Please review.