This is the action chapter I think everyone's been waiting for. Might be a few days before the next update.
Ruth woke up with a start. It was the middle of the night, and she felt very disorientated. The only thing anchoring her were Harry's hands on her body, one around her waist, the other between her thighs. He must have moved in his sleep, but his hands felt incredibly good on her skin. She wanted to kiss him, but knew that that would wake him, so she held back. She was really thirsty, and she reluctantly pulled away from him, but he didn't want to let go.
"No, don't go," he murmured sleepily. He pulled her close to him, the hand around her waist sliding up to cup her breast. She stilled for a moment in surprise, then smiled. He felt good. Well, more than good, but she really had to move.
"Harry," she said quietly. "I need to…" She broke off as she heard a smash from downstairs, like a window breaking. "Wake up!" she hissed, but she didn't need to. The noise already had him awake. He pulled his hands off of her, barely paying her any attention. He was completely rigid with tension, alert and listening, a lifetime of training.
"Get out of bed," he whispered, doing the same. She did, then watched as he lifted up the mattress. He removed two handguns very quickly, and Ruth's eyes widened as he checked they were loaded.
"How long have they been there?" she asked.
"I don't think that matters right now," he said. He passed her a gun which she took hesitantly. Then she heard footsteps downstairs, and tightened her grip on the gun. She knew she could use it if she had to. She watched as Harry sent an emergency call to the grid, then froze as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Harry?" she whispered. He put a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet as he gripped the gun, pointing it at the closed bedroom door. Ruth felt her heart racing, unsure of what to do. Then the door opened.
Harry shot twice, after the man walked in, clearly not aiming to kill. He kicked the gun out of the intruders hand, as the man on the floor moaned in pain. The man could be Iranian, and Harry spoke without looking at Ruth. "Turn the light on."
She did, walking closer to the injured man with trepidation. When she saw his face she relaxed. "Is it…?"
"No," Ruth said, watching the stranger writhe in pain. "That's not Ahmed." Then everything happened incredibly quickly. The door flew open, and that split second of distraction was all that was needed. Ruth cried out as she was grabbed from behind, struggling to get free. She knew without seeing his face, that it was Ahmed. She could just feel it. Then she stopped struggling as she felt the cold metal of a gun barrel against the back of her head. She looked at Harry, holding a gun steady as he pointed it at her. Well, not at her exactly, but it looked and felt like it. Her own gun had fallen to the floor, lost in the struggle.
"Let her go," Harry said calmly. More calmly than Ruth thought reasonable under the circumstances.
"I don't think so," Ahmed said, getting his breath back. "I want her back, and you are going to let me walk out of here with her."
"No I'm not," he said. "If you want to leave Britain alive, you will put her down and walk out of here, catching the next flight back to Tehran, and never set foot in this country again. Otherwise, I will kill you." Harry's voice wasn't threatening, but it carried a promise in the words.
"You won't kill me, Pearce," he said. "It would cost you your job."
"I don't care," Harry said. "You'd already be dead if you didn't have a gun to her head." Ruth noticed that he wasn't looking at her, but directly at Ahmed. She hoped she didn't look as afraid as she felt.
"But I do have a gun to her head," Ahmed said.
"If your main purpose was to kill her, she'd be dead. You want her back in Tehran, a dead wife is no use to you."
"An adulterous one isn't much use either," Ahmed said, getting angry. Ruth could hear it in his voice and she moaned as his arm tightened around her waist, feeling like an iron bar. "Do you know what they do to unfaithful wives in Tehran?"
"Let her go," Harry repeated, trying to stay calm and buy time. Ruth suddenly remembered that back up was on the way from the grid, so this stale mate wouldn't last too long.
"No."
"Even if you get her back to Tehran, you won't get away with it. Ruth will come back to Britain."
"I am not the subject of a tug of war," Ruth said, indignant, even with a gun to her head.
"Be quiet," Ahmed said with disdain. She felt a wave of anger brim up inside her. She fought it back with difficulty as it wasn't useful or productive right now.
"Ahmed, I'm going to ask you once more. Let her go, or your life will be a short one."
Ahmed laughed quietly. "You're in no position to make demands."
"How about now?" Harry felt the tension relaxing, as Adam's shadow came into view. He had a gun pressed against Ahmed's back and Harry knew the situation was over. There was no way it could end against them now. "Drop the gun," Adam said. "And take your hands off her."
Ahmed did, slowly, and as soon as she heard the gun hit the floor, she raced over to Harry, who wrapped one arm around her, keeping the gun trained on Ahmed.
"Kneel, hands behind your head." Harry waited until Ahmed complied before speaking.
"Adam," Harry said quietly. "I think you should go downstairs." Adam surveyed the scene, including the unknown Iranian on the floor (who seemed to have lost consciousness) and then nodded once, leaving them alone. They all heard multiple footsteps retreating, and knew that C019 had arrived with Adam. The thought was reassuring for them, but probably not Ahmed by the look on his face.
"Ruth, what do you want to do?" Harry asked quietly. She thought for almost a minute in silence, debating the options.
"Give me the gun, Harry," she said. He looked at her once, then nodded, handing it over. She pointed it at Ahmed who smiled at her.
"Are you really going to shoot me Ruth?" he said. "I don't believe for a second you'd pull that trigger. Too weak. Pathetic. You don't have it in you to shoot me, and we both know it. Stupid woman."
The suddenness of the shot made Harry flinch, the silence seeming complete after the loudness of the gun. Then she pulled the trigger again, dropping the gun onto the floor with a thunk. She wiped the tears away from her face, suddenly noticing she'd been crying. Then she felt Harry's hand pulling her close and wrapping around her. She slowly and completely fell apart.
