A/N: Happy Birthday to my beta extraordinaire, r4ven3. Thank you for your input.

Chapter 14

Thursday evening, Catania

Ros walked into her hotel room and deposited her luggage on the bed, then opened the door to the adjoining room. Adam was on his phone and looking at a laptop.

'Ros just arrived. I'll update her on what you've found and we'll let you know how we plan to proceed from here,' he said before disconnecting the call.

'Do we know where they are?' She asked directly.

'Ruth hired a car on Tuesday afternoon under the legend of Emily Mortimer. The agency doesn't have a way of tracking the car so unless it's turned in we won't know for certain where they've gone. Presumably they are headed north but given that it's been two days since they started driving, the search area is vast,' Adam said.

'Has Emily Mortimer passed through border control to leave the country?' Ross asked.

Adam shook his head. 'No, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. If they've been able to obtain passports then they are likely rotating through them to make it difficult for anyone to track their location.'

'And there's been no activity on any of Ruth's other known legends?'

Adam shook his head again. 'Malcolm, who's checked himself out of hospital, has several ongoing searches. Harry said he's planning to try using photos of Ruth and Zaf to see if any likenesses come up from border control, police services, etc. We'll check in with the Grid in the morning for an update.'

Ros, who had been pacing since she arrived, dropped into the nearest chair. 'So that's it?'

Adam shrugged. 'For now. I don't like sitting around anymore than you. It's late. When did you last eat?'

It was Ros' turn to shrug her shoulders.

'Let's find something to eat. In the morning, Malcolm will have something for us and we'll be moving closer to Zaf and Ruth. But for now, it's late and we're tired. Let's go,' he said as he stood and walked to the door. Ros stood as well and followed him out of the room.

Friday morning

Ruth spent the morning at the hospital with Zaf. His color was looking better but he still tired easily and Ruth knew that he wasn't yet well enough to leave and continue their journey home. They were careful in their conversation, never knowing who might be listening outside the door. They masked their conversation as though they were a couple on a trip across the continent.

'I really think I'm well enough to travel,' Zaf remarked, earning him a pointed look from Ruth.

'You will finish your course of antibiotics and we'll not leave a moment earlier,' she responded, earning her a smirk from Zaf.

'Whatever you say, dear.' He waited for Ruth to smile in acknowledgement of his joke, but it never came. 'What's wrong?'

Ruth pulled her chair closer to Zaf's bedside. 'I can't shake this feeling that the Redbacks are going to turn up at any moment.'

Zaf reached out his hand to Ruth, who grasped it in her own. 'Are you going back to London?'

Ruth's head jerked up at the question. 'What do you mean?'

'Are you planning to travel with me to London? Or were you going to get me close and then disappear into the wind again?'

Ruth struggled to get her words out and Zaf could see she was angry.

'Hey, you don't have to defend your actions to me, I know exactly why you did what you did. But I don't want you to put yourself at risk by returning to London simply to get me home.' He paused to give her a moment to think about what he'd said. 'Be honest, were you planning to return to England for good or just to see me home safe and then leave and start over again somewhere new?'

Ruth shook her head. 'Zaf, I'm dead in England. I can't stay there. I will see you back to London but then I need to leave again. I'm not sure where I'll go, but I've done it before and I'll do it again.'

'It doesn't have to be that way. I'm sure Harry -'

'No. I'm not going to see Harry. It was hard enough to leave the first time. Once I know you're safe, I'll slip back into the crowd. Zaf, it's okay. I made my choice with Cotterdam and I'm sticking with it. Section D needs to stand on that wall and keep the country in check. Harry needs to be there and that's more important than he and I and what might have been.'

Zaf nodded, not wanting to prolong the discussion, then yawned. 'So, back to travel plans.'

Ruth stood. 'I should let you sleep. I'm going back to the hotel and look at travel options. I'll return in a few hours and we'll talk then.' She squeezed his hand and gave him a smile before walking out of the room.

Ruth took a circuitous route back to their hotel room. She'd made arrangements for a late check out and planned to move to a place closer to the hospital. As she travelled, she thought about where they should go next and whether the Redbacks had any idea where they were. She hadn't seen the men from Cyprus since they left Limassol, but Ruth knew they likely had a wide network of agents and that anyone around her could be just waiting for the right time to grab her and Zaf.

She passed a travel agency and on impulse, stopped in and booked two tickets for Peter and Pippa Granger to Manchester, for three days from now. It was very likely they wouldn't use them, but it would be there as an option. In order to throw others off their trail, she decided to find a different travel agency and book tickets in the name of Zafar Younis and Katherine Miller to London from someplace well away from Italy, just to throw off anyone who was looking for them.

Midday Friday

Heads turned when a computer in the tech suite began loudly beeping. The sound brought Malcolm running from the kitchen where he'd been making tea. A chair was quickly commandeered to enable him to quickly access the computer's search.

'Harry!' he shouted, before realizing that Harry's door was shut. 'Jo, get Harry, now,' he hollered and the young woman did as he asked.

'What have you got?' Harry asked as soon as he walked through the door.

'Tickets in Zaf's name and Ruth's Cyprus legend were just booked for a flight from Lisbon to London for Saturday evening,' Malcolm reported.

'Portugal? I thought they were in Sicily?' Harry asked, thoroughly confused.

'Get Adam and Ros on the phone,' Harry asked Jo while Malcolm continued to work with the computer.

Adam and Ros were just as confused but after a few minutes of debate, they had their orders from Harry and they prepared to leave Italy.

Ruth spent Friday afternoon and evening with Zaf before returning to the new hotel. The neighborhood wasn't great but it was close to the hospital. She was hopeful that the doctor could give them an idea of how much longer it will be before Zaf can be discharged. She tried not to get her hopes up just because he looked better.

On Saturday morning, Ruth was waiting for the lift just inside the main entrance when the door slid open to reveal Zaf's doctor.

'Ciao. You are Zafar's partner, yes?' the doctor asked.

'Yes, I'm Ruth. How is he doing today?' she inquired, hopeful that the doctor would have news about Zaf's release.

'Zafar is improving but he must stay here for another day. I was just telling Zafar and his friends the news.'

Ruth blanched at the mention of friends and grasped the doctor's arm. 'Friends? What do you mean? We don't know anyone here.' She turned and jabbed at the call button for the lift, which was still on the ground floor.

'No, no,' Ruth repeated as the she waited for the door to close. She thought back over their travels and wondered how the Redbacks could have found her and Zaf. Her mind raced with what she should do next; whether she should alert security or if she could bluff her way into separating Zaf from the men. Did they want to abduct him or would they just kill him here in hospital? Did they know that she used to be a part of Five? If so they would likely take her, so how could she avoid capture and keep Zaf safe?

With no good answers the lift doors opened and Ruth stepped into the nearly vacant corridor. She turned right and cautiously approached the end, where the corridor branched both left and right. Thankfully Zaf's room was on the opposite side, which allowed Ruth to remain somewhat concealed yet see into the room. The door to a patient room behind Ruth opened and a patient was wheeled out on a gurney. The noise from that activity meant that she couldn't hear any voices from Zaf's room. She could see the right side of one man but not his head. Strangely, there was something similar about him but Ruth's mind was so focused on escape strategies that it didn't register with her who the man was until he turned around at the noise happening behind Ruth. Her hands flew to her mouth in shock.