Disclaimer I do not own Spooks. No copyright infringement intended.
Thankyou to everyone who read and reviewed. Sorry for delay in updating but I have to go to work at some point! Oh this chapter is the fluffy one I promised Lady J, Littlemissruth and Fragglebo :D Mega long chapter sorry!
Words
Lucas narrowed his eyes as Wong walked towards the door. He knew Ruth was watching their captors intensely. He could practically hear her brain working out what was going on. He glanced towards her as Wong stepped out of the room for a moment. Mai remained sat on the bed as she ignored her hostages.
"You ok?" Lucas whispered as Ruth nodded.
"You?"
"No" Lucas whispered. "These jokers are really starting to annoy me. It's time we went home."
Ruth smiled slightly. It was good to see the old Lucas back. He had been a little too careful around her since the whole Albany saga. She didn't like it, she really didn't care if he had been forced to change his name. All she cared about was her friend and right now how they were going to get out of the situation they found themselves in. She heard Wong talk to a man with an English accent as she strained to listen to what was being said.
"Shit" She mumbled as Lucas widened his eyes in surprise. He had never heard her swear.
"What?"
"They are speaking Wu. I have no idea what is being said" She cursed. She closed her eyes as she realised she did recognise the accent of the man Wong was talking to. Lucas stared at her as tears filled her eyes. He was immediately worried. It was very rare for Ruth to get so scared and show it openly. She refused to meet his gaze but Lucas couldn't help but notice she was shaking slightly.
"What is it?" He whispered as she shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to say his name. She had barely mentioned the man in the last twenty years, even when he was supposedly dead she couldn't bring herself to talk about him. Only Harry and Ros knew what had happened. That was enough, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Mai looked towards her and frowned. I'm not 16 anymore, I am not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me upset. I am getting Lucas back to Ros and the children. I WILL see Harry and the kids again. I WILL not let him win this time. She sat a little straighter and narrowed her eyes without saying a word to Lucas. There was no way she could explain that the dead man who had destroyed her life once was outside talking to the man who wanted to kill them both. She just didn't have the words.
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Harry walked towards the lobby. He knew Beth and Dimitri were around the back of the hotel and that Adam and Ros were supposed to be on the way to meet him. Tariq had been ordered to move the obbo van as far away from the hotel as possible and get CO19 on standby. Harry had a very bad feeling about what was happening. He stood in the lobby knowing Ruth was somewhere in the hotel. He took a deep breath as the various delegates from Spain, Germany and Canada walked around him. He nodded as the Spanish trade minister smiled at him. Smirking slightly he knew that years ago he would have been flattered by the attentions of the pretty brunette but these days he only had eyes for one woman and right at that moment he had no idea where the particular brunette he had in mind was. He pulled his Iphone out of his pocket as he looked around the hotel.
"Adam? Where the Hell are you?"
Adam closed his eyes as he listened to his boss berate him. Ros raised an eyebrow as she broke the lock on the door in front of her.
"Harry, we've been a little delayed" Adam tried to sound calm as Ros smirked.
"What did I tell you about no heroics?" Harry barked as he walked past the reception area, giving the young man that worked on the desk a filthy look. She seemed to know better than to challenge him.
"No heroics" Adam repeated as he followed Ros into the hotel room.
He had no idea what Ros had seen but knew better than to argue with her. It seemed she had picked the fourth floor room for a reason.
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Dimitri glanced up at Beth as he tried to think what the best ocurse of action could be. She knelt beside him.
"Talk to Malcolm" She narrowed her eyes at the shoe box sized device.
"Yeah." Dimitri nodded.
"I'll cause a fuss, get the place emptied as quick as possible" She smirked as Dimitri smiled slightly. The tension rolled off him in waves.
"The fire alarm?"
"You know me Dim. Crude but effective" She winked as she walked across to the little red box on the wall. She turned back to Dimitri who was talking to Malcolm on the phone as she broke the glass. The shrill alarm sounded as she heard the footsteps of the other occupants of the hotel all rush towards the various exits. Dimitri winced as the shrill alarm made it difficult to hear what Malcolm was saying.
"Get out" he stood and turned to Beth as she raised an eyebrow. "Harry told us get the Secretary of State for Trade out and the Foreign Secretary. Think you've just achieved that. So get out."
"And what are you going to be doing?" Beth felt sick at the thought of leaving Dimitri in a building about to blow up. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Following you" He smiled slightly. "Malcolm says this is remote control. We can't diffuse it here"
"Shit"
"Exactly. Come on" He took her hand and almost dragged her out of the hotel. Beth glanced back at the bomb hoping that they had time to get out.
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Ruth glanced at Lucas as they both sat silently on the floor. She knew what was going to happen. They were going to be traded, just as Zaf had been. She briefly wondered where Zaf was and hoped whatever happened the rest of the team had got to safety.
"You are getting out of this" She whispered to Lucas. He shook his head.
"No"
"What?"
"We are both getting out of this." He watched as she physically jumped at the sound of the fire alarm sounding through the building. Mai and Wong seemed surprised as Wong stormed towards Ruth and grabbed her blouse.
"You, up"
"What?" Ruth pulled back from him as she tried to fight the anger coursing through her. "You know what that alarm means? The hotel is on fire!"
"False alarm" Wong laughed. Lucas shouted something incoherant as the fire alarms got louder and louder. Ruth continued to try to struggle in the larger man's grasp as the Englishman they had been talking to outside the room entered. Lucas swore as he realised Ruth had fallen silent in Wong's arms. He recogised the man that had walked in but had believed he had died years earlier.
"You" Ruth shook her head. "You are the buyer I take it"
Lucas glanced from his friend to the man in front of them. He was beginning to realise the threat from the fire alarm was probably less than authentic. He hoped the people in the room with him didn't realise the same thing. The man walked to Ruth as Mai shook her head and laughed.
"You believe in ghosts?" She laughed.
"No" Ruth shook her head. "No I stopped believing in ghosts a long time ago."
"Hello Ruth" He reached out to touch her cheek as Lucas stepped forward. He could see Ruth was scared of the man in front of her. He had no idea why. Right at that moment he hoped their comms were working.
"Touch me and I will kill you" Ruth narrowed her eyes.
"You were such a sweet child" He answered.
"Robert Wells" Lucas spoke calmly. His voice was dangerously low. "You touch her and if she doesn't kill you I will ensure that this time your death is a little more permanent" Robert stepped back and shook his head.
"Mai, are you ready?" He turned away from Ruth as her eyes widened.
"She may not be, but I am" Adam smiled as he pointed his gun straight at Robert. Lucas shook his head before guiding Ruth away from the thick set former military policeman.
"You took your time" Ruth smiled slightly as Adam raised an eyebrow.
"That's all the thanks we get" Ros smirked as she held her gun on Wong. Ruth couldn't drag her eyes away from Robert. She felt sick, she had to get away from him. All her instincts told her to run, there was no way she could stay in the same room as the man she had had nightmares about for the last twenty years.
"Thanks" Lucas glanced at his wife as Adam disarmed the larger Chinese man. The fire alarms continued to sound as Ros answered her mobile phone. She closed her eyes and swore as she heard Zaf warn her about the bomb.
"Adam, get Mai out of here." He nodded and dragged the small woman. Mai laughed as she let Adam lead her out of the hotel room. Ros kept her gun trained on Robert as she untied Lucas' hands.
"What's so funny?" Lucas felt the familiar stab of fear in his stomach. Something was wrong. He knew something wasn't right. He knew Ros and Adam had probably crept down the fire escape or jumped from the balcony above as the fire alarm sounded but something in the way Ros narrowed her eyes, the inflection of her voice. He knew something was wrong.
"You think you have won. The bird will always fly" Wong laughed.
"Zaf says there is a bomb"
"Shit" Ruth's eyes widened as Lucas swore.
"Nightingales always find their way home" Wong laughed as Robert continued to stare at Ruth. It was then Lucas realised he had a gun.
"NO!" He grabbed Ruth, pushing her to the floor as Robert fired a single shot through Wong's chest before turning the gun to his own head. The room fell still as Ruth landed with a thud beneath Lucas. She shook violently as Ros turned her gun on the dead man at her feet.
"He's dead Ruth. This time he is really dead" Ros spoke as she helped them both to their feet. "We go now!" She bundled Lucas and Ruth out of the hotel room door. Ruth couldn't help but fight the urge to hang back, to return to the hotel room just to check the men really were dead. Instead she let her friends lead the way to the staircase. Lucas kept a hand on the small of her back, pushing her along as Ros marched ahead.
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Beth ran to the obbo van as if she was in the Olympics as Dimitri followed behind her. She had to get to Tariq, someone had planted a bomb that could be detonated at any second. She knew Tariq had followed orders and got the van out of the potential blast zone. Tapping her ear she spoke to Harry.
"Any sign?"
"No, Zaf is headed towards you now. Good job on the evacuation"
"Lucas? The others?"
"No Beth"
"You have to get out of there!" Beth stopped at the side of the van, breathing heavily as she saw Zaf talking to the head of CO19. It seemed the armed officer shared her opinion. Everyone had to get out and away from the hotel. To stay where they were was tantamount to suicide. Zaf seemed to be arguing the opposite.
"Beth, Dimitri. You stay with Tariq. Tariq, keep this channel open. Get hold of Malcolm, make sure he still has a feed to the CCTV cameras and for God's sake keep the media away!" Harry barked. He could imagine the headlines in the rags the next day. He closed his eyes and prayed that he'd see his friends arrive in the lobby when he opened them.
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Tariq felt the van rock under the force of the explosion. He heard Zoe scream in his earpiece as he hit the floor. The searing heat as the van was almost lifted from it's wheels shook the gadgets and survellance equipment from it's positions in the van. The eerie calm that enveloped the van made him feel sick as he heard Dimitri swear.
"Tariq?" Beth gingerly stood up as she held a hand out to help him to his feet.
"You ok?"
"No" Beth shook her head. "Someone just activated that bomb"
"Yeah" Dimitri touched his forehead gingerly. "I spotted that."
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Harry hit the pavement outside the hotel lobby in a hail of glass and debris. Smoke and debris engulfed him as he was vaguely aware of hearing a woman scream. Then there was silence. For minutes there was only the sound of car alarms protesting and the strong stench of smoke in the air. He forced himself to get to his feet as he realised Zaf was running towards him, closely followed by Dimitri.
"You ok?" Dimitri asked.
"Get away from the bombsite, or you will both be decommissioned" Harry glared as he saw how battered and bruised both young men looked.
"Yes boss" Zaf answered before completely ignoring him and stepping further into the hotel.
"Everyone was out Harry. All the delegates, public, staff they are all safe." Harry smiled slightly. His team had done it's job.
"Our people?" Harry watched as Zaf glanced at Dimitri.
"Beth and Tariq are safe. Obbo van has seen better days" Zaf smiled slightly.
"Dimitri?" Harry knew the younger man knew what he was asking.
"You frightened the life out of us." Dimitri sighed. "Adam got out. He's fine. Made an arrest too. Mai will be in a fit state to answer questions in the morning. You were out of it for a few minutes."
"I was blown through a plate glass window on to concrete. At my age that is not exactly good for you" Harry narrowed his eyes. No one had mentioned Ruth, Lucas or Ros. History had repeated itself. They were dead. Ruth was dead. Amy and James were orphaned. Harry felt sick as he closed his eyes. They had done the job, they had arrested the assasin, got the trade conference finished with the much needed treaty signed but they were dead. Ruth was gone. My Ruth. He suddenly felt weak. It was only when he heard her voice that he opened his eyes.
"Harry"
"Look, I need to call Zoe" Zaf smiled as he walked back to where Beth was arguing with a very disgruntled member of CO19. He smiled slightly as he saw Tariq shake his head and walk away, leaving the blonde to argue with the man. Even though Beth was smaller and physically much less intimidating he couldn't help but feel sorry for the policeman.
"Harry"
It was then he shook his head and turned to face her. Ruth smiled slightly, her face and hair covered in dust, a small wound on her forehead meant blood had run along her face. She looked like hell, to Harry she had never looked better.
"Oh my God" He stared at her as she held his gaze. "Oh Ruth".
In seconds she was in his arms as he clung to her. He clung to her as if his life depended on it as she cried. She pulled back slightly as she touched his face, aware that he had a nasty cut above his left eye.
"They couldn't find you" She stared at the wound as she brought herself under control.
"Ruth"
"Ros and Lucas went to the hospital, Lucas took the brunt of it." Ruth watched as Harry frowned.
"How long ago?"
"A few minutes. He pushed Ros out of the way, his elbow. Well it didn't really look elbow shaped. Am I shouting? I can't really hear you" Ruth explained as the tears ran freely down her face. He shook his head.
"Wong?"
"Dead" She hugged him again as she began to shake in his arms. It was then he realised Beth had arrived.
"Harry?" She bit her lip and looked towards the hole in the hotel where the third floor should have been. "Sorry but, " She sighed as Ruth pulled away from her husband.
"Yes Beth"
"If everyone got out. Where is Andrew Lawrence?"
A/N I have no idea if this chapter is any good. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for the reviews! Oh and Littlemissruth, you were right! But why was he there? Where's Andrew? More soon!