Thanks Kate :)


The Grid, 5 hours earlier.

Harry didn't stop on his way to the pods as he barked out his orders: "Malcolm, I need you to dig deeper into Mace and the Casper Network, find me something! Jo, find Ruth!"

"Harry, Where…?" Malcolm didn't get to finish his sentence before Harry was inside the pods and out of earshot.

"Right," Ros said a few seconds later as she got up and took her coat.

"And where are you going?" Malcolm asked anxiously.

"After him of course," she pointed at the pods.

"You're going to follow Harry? Are you mad?"

"Look, "Ros sighed, "We've been in this scenario before, Ruth turns Harry into a sentimental love struck fool, he needs us to look after him."

Malcolm shook his head and kept silent.

"Lucas, I need you to go and watch over Sharon, call me if anything happens."Ros then turned to Jo and Malcolm, "You two do as Harry said." She then left the grid, Lucas leaving right after her.

Malcolm and Jo stared at each other for a few moments until Jo's phone broke the silence with its loud ringing.

"Yes?" Jo answered, "Really? That's great! Can you text me the address? Thank you so much"

"What was that about?" Malcolm asked as Jo put down the receiver.

"I've found Ruth." She smiled proudly at him.

"What? How?" Malcolm jumped out of his chair and ran to Jo's station.

"We've been lucky, after she left the Sherlock Holmes museum she took one of our Spook cabs, it was the driver on the phone."

"Fallen into her own trap, oh the irony," Malcolm smiled.

"Sorry?" Jo gave him a puzzled look

"Oh, never mind. What are you waiting for? Go and get her!"

---------

Ruth was sitting on the sofa in her hotel room reading a book when someone knocked on the door. She silently closed the book and looked up; hoping that whoever it was would think she was out of the room and leave.

"Ruth "a whisper came from the other side of the door, "it's me, Jo, open up."

Ruth let out a breath, ran to the door, opened it and pulled Jo inside, shutting the door quickly behind her.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"No time to explain, I need you to come with me back to the grid."

"To the grid? How am I supposed to pass through security?"

Jo smiled and pulled out a blond wig from her bag, "We're going to sneak you in."

"No, sorry, it's too dangerous, I can't do it," Ruth shook her head in protest.

"Please Ruth; we really need your skills in this one. Harry needs you"

"Harry? What happened?"

"I'll explain on the way, now can you please come?" Jo pleaded.

"Fine," Ruth sighed, taking the wig from Jo.

---------

Ros was sitting in her car, watching the building Harry went into 30 minutes earlier when her cell phone vibrated.

"Lucas?" she answered.

"Someone just arrived at the safe house," Lucas whispered on the other side, "They already took down the guard we left there."

"Let them take her," Ros ordered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, let them take her and stay on their tracks, they might lead us to Mace"

"Right, fine" Lucas ended the conversation.

Ros turned her attention back to the building, a few minutes passed before she saw Harry's car leaving the underground car park, she then turned on her own car's engine and, leaving the lights off, drove after Harry.

---------

"Keep your head down," Jo whispered in Ruth's ear as she pushed her through the entrance to Thames house, "Don't want any CCTV footage of your face."

"Foreign delegate, "Jo smiled at the security guard at the entrance, "She's with me."

The guard took a brief look at the documents Jo had presented and nodded for them to go on.

They then proceeded through the pods and entered the grid. Ruth stopped and surveyed the familiar surroundings; it felt weird being there after so long but it also felt somewhat right. She felt a small pinch in her heart as she looked at Adam's and Zaf's workstations and it missed a bit when her gaze fell on Harry's empty office, old memories of their conversations there resurfaced and she desperately wanted him to be there now.

"Ruth! Can I get my hug now?" Malcolm smiled as he approached the two women.

"Of course," Ruth smiled and hugged him warmly.

"I rigged the CCTV cameras inside the grid," Malcolm pointed at the overhead camera when they parted, "as far as they are concerned everyone left for the night an hour ago."

"Have you heard anything from Ros and Lucas?" Jo asked as Malcolm led them to his workstation.

"Not yet, Ros is outside Harry's house and Lucas is following Sharon and her abductors. I'm sorry Ruth, I'm sure Lucas won't let anything happen to her," Malcolm added when he saw Ruth's miserable expression.

"Right, "Ruth mumbled and then tried to put on a more optimistic expression, "I'll try and help you with whatever I know about the Casper network. It's not much though. Where can I work from?"

"Well, as it happens, your old workstation just became available a while ago," Malcolm said sarcastically, "Let me log you in"

As Malcolm led Ruth to her station she couldn't help the strong feeling of déjà vu, it was hard not to think that the last three years were just a bad dream and that she never really left the grid. She was drawn back to reality as she started to work, looking for connections between Mace and the Casper Network.

----------

Ros was focused on the events that unfolded outside of Harry's house, so when Lucas opened the car door and sat beside her she literally jumped in her seat.

"Jesus Lucas," she gave him a reprimanding look, to which he replied with an amused smile.

"You better call Malcolm," he said as they watched Harry and Sharon being guided into the black car.

Ros nodded and dialed Malcolm's number, "Malcolm, Mace got Harry; we're following them so keep an eye on our signal. Now would be a great time to find the connection between Mace and Casper."

She hung up and started following the black car.

-----------

Malcolm cautiously approached Ruth who seemed to be absorbed in her work, he decided not to tell her about Harry just yet, and instead asked, "Any findings?"

"I think so, I first tried to trace the network from myself," She pointed at a sketch she made, "that didn't get me too far since my only connection was John, but I also know that Sharon was connected to John because he brought her to me and that she must have also had some connection to Mace's people, so now I'm trying to trace back her network. Honestly I could use her hacking skills right now."

"I'm still worth something you know!" Malcolm seemed a bit offended by Ruth's last remark, "I actually managed to get into their website, but I needed some kind of lead to trace back from. I think that Sharon's network might do the trick…" He then trailed off as he sat next to Ruth and started typing.

"Eureka!" He exclaimed a few moments later and pointed at the diagram on the screen, showing an almost direct connection between Sharon's user and a user called OM.

"I have found several indications that show that this OM user belongs to Mace, "he added, "I think we got him!"

At that exact moment Malcolm received a text message from Ros telling him they had stopped. Malcolm looked at Ruth and said: "I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier, but Mace got Harry. Ros and Lucas are there, we need to get them this information"

Ruth immediately stood up, but Malcolm gently stopped her, "I think it's best to let Jo go, you're not a field officer."

"No," Ruth protested, "I need to be there and help him."

"It's ok Malcolm, I'll make sure she gets back safely," Jo said.

Malcolm sighed and said, "Fine, but you get to face Harry if anything happens to her."

-----------

Ros and Lucas were standing a few feet away from a small warehouse when Ruth and Jo reached them. Ruth silently acknowledged the two officers, trying not to betray her feelings at the sight of Ros.

"They went in ten minutes ago," Ros whispered, "I think Harry was sedated, he was practically carried in."

Ruth cringed as she imagined that scene; she started asking what the plan was when someone from behind them said: "Well, I should have known that Harry's disciples wouldn't be too far behind."


Next chapter - the final showdown