Two weeks later

Harry was busy when his office door opened with no knock. "Ah, Ruth what is it?"

"How did you know it was me?" she asked, taken aback for a moment. "You didn't even look up."

"You never knock," he said simply, putting his pen down and closing the file. "What is it?"

"I'm worried about Tom," Ruth said, taking her seat opposite Harry's desk.

"What about him?"

"He's taking this too seriously," Ruth said.

"We have people lives in our hands on a daily basis. You can't take this job too seriously Ruth."

"No, I mean he seems out of control. With himself." That made Harry look at Ruth curiously.

"Explain."

"At first, he really wanted to do this," Ruth said and Harry agreed.

"He thought it was a great idea to flush out possible terror cells, which it is."

"Exactly," Ruth said. "Now he's changed his mind. He says this is immoral and he's excessively worried about Fred Roberts family."

"Well, I am too," Harry said. "I don't enjoy the fact that his wife and daughters are being watched by terrorists."

"Of course not," Ruth said, and then she sighed. She didn't know how to explain it without Tom exhibiting the behaviour she was talking about in front of Harry. "He keeps saying that this is wrong. We've gone too far and its immoral. Please, I'm worried about him. I'm talking to you as my boss, not the man I'm in a relationship with. I think we have reason to be worried about him."

He looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "I'll have a word with him, see if he's alright."

"Thank you."

"What is it Harry, I'm busy," Tom said as he came into his office.

"Close the door," Harry said. "I'm concerned about what I'm seeing Tom." He hadn't just taken Ruth's word for it, but after what she'd said he'd watched Tom carefully, and admitted that she might have had a point.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Are you okay with the Fred Roberts surveillance you're monitoring?"

"Yeah, yeah. Course Harry. Why?"

"You seem… you don't seem comfortable with this operation."

"Do you not ever feel that we're…"

"What?" Harry asked as Tom tailed off.

"Never mind," he said, closing off. "It doesn't matter."

"Tom…"

"I'm busy. I have to go." Nothing further was said, because Tom left his office incredibly quickly. Harry sighed, and wondered if Ruth was right. Maybe Tom really was having a problem with this. Spying in general. He hadn't been right since he'd become involved with Christine Dale. Maybe he wanted out, but just didn't know what to do? How to get out. But then again, maybe Harry was reading too much into it too. Sighing, he returned to his paperwork.

That was until Danny burst in an hour later, without knocking. "This better be good," Harry said.

"Tom's gone," he said heavily.

"Gone where?"

"He's taken Roberts and just… gone."

"He'll have taken him to see his family," Harry said, getting up from his chair. "We have to go after him."

Danny nodded and left his office, Harry following quickly. "Can you two keep an eye on the family and call if anything happens. I don't want any casualties from Tom's stupidity. Try and see if he's passed any speed cameras too." Malcolm nodded and Ruth agreed quietly. Her eyes caught Harry's for a moment as Malcolm worked and he nodded to the silent message. She'd willed him to be careful, to not do anything stupid and he knew what her silence was saying. "I'll be careful." Ruth smiled, grateful for that.

Danny, Adam, Zoë and Harry went up to the roof. Tom might be halfway up the country by now and he'd be sensible enough to avoid main roads, but with a helicopter they had a good shot at finding him before he caused mayhem, especially with Ruth and Malcolm working on it back on the grid.

"Go away." Harry was sat on his sofa, a large whisky in hand after decommissioning Tom Quinn. By any standards today had been a bad day. He knew it would be Ruth ringing the doorbell but he didn't want to talk to her. He'd say something he'd regret because he was in a God awful mood, and he didn't want her to run from him because of his temper.

"Harry, its freezing and wet, let me in!" she called through the letter box.

"No," he said, not loud enough for her to hear him.

"I'll be standing here all night, and the longer I'm here in the cold and the rain, the more annoyed I'll be when you finally let me in."

Harry sighed, but knew from experience that when she'd set her mind to something there was no arguing with her. He drained his whisky, poured another and set it on the table before answering the door. He felt a twinge of guilt as he saw the rain dripping down her, her hair drenched and her coat completely soaked. "Sorry. I'm not in a sociable mood. You might want to get out now. I might say some things I'll regret."

"Harry, you can't make me leave you alone to wallow in grief," she said as she quickly removed her coat.

"I thought you liked running away," he said quietly.

"I've apologised," she said quietly. "I meant it. I'm not a liar. I know you're upset, but I'm not leaving you to your depression." Harry looked sadly at her and she sighed. "Harry, I'm not just here for sex. I'm here if and when you need me."

"I'll be miserable tonight," he warned.

"That's okay," she said quietly.

"You might end up hating me."

"I'm wet through, you've made an excellent start on that already."

"Alright then," he said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Make yourself at home, the whisky's flowing."

"I hate whisky," she said honestly.

"You said you loved it," Harry said, surprised.

"No, I said I loved the taste of whisky on you, if you remember rightly. That's a very different thing." He smiled at her again and sat down heavily. "Scarlet will be hiding from you."

"I know." Ruth sat down opposite him and ran her fingers through her wet and tangled hair. She wasn't here to say anything, she was just here to be there for Harry if he needed anything. So she slipped her shoes off, tucked her feet under her skirt and waited for Scarlet to make her (slow and wary) way into the lounge.

I will be skipping a few episodes in series three. Hope no one minds. I'm trying to get HR to make their relationship mean more than just the physical, and I hope this is believable. Thanks for reading, and especially reviewing.