Diclaimer not mine.

In these arms.

Harry closed his eyes as Ruth rested her head on his shoulder. He wasn't really sure who was shaking, him or Ruth but he knew he never wanted to let her out of his arms again. Ruth kissed his neck quickly and was about to pull back as gunfire exploded through the air. Harry tightened his hold on her, convinced that something has gone wrong he couldn't shake the thought it could have been Ruth laying on the floor with a bullet hole in her. Ruth froze.

"No." She sighed. Harry loosened his hold on her to allow her to turn slightly. His hand remained on the small of her back.

"Dimitri and Erin are ok." He silently thanked a God he had long since stopped believeing in. Erin shook her head sadly while Dimitri walked across towards him. He swallowed hard as Ruth bit her lower lip.

"I'm sorry."

"What happened?"

"Deery grabbed Erin."

"What!" Ruth's eyes immediately flickered across to her friend who was now talking quietly to Calum and Beth. Hayley sat in the back of Erin's car crying quietly.

"She picked up his gun. He dived for her. I couldn't stop him." Dimitri shook his head. "He grabbed it off her, punched her to the ground and the gun went off."

"He hit Erin?" Harry looked over to the Senior Case Officer. Calum was tilting her head back and examining her swollen cheek. He could see Erin was clearly annoyed and Calum looked as though he was about to burst a blood vessel. He turned his attention back to Dimitri as Ruth blinked back her tears.

"He was never like this." Ruth sighed, stepping away from Harry. "When he first crossed our paths he wasn't like this."

"He was never the most stable man." Harry spoke quietly. He knew Ruth still had nightmares about the French assasin and blamed herself for Deery's subsequent breakdown. He had lost count of the times he had woken convinced she had died at the hand of the madman in the older man's appartment.

"Not once he met us." Ruth bit her lip. There was no way she was going to cry in front of the rest of the team. Harry swore as his mobile phone rang.

"Tariq, make it quick and to the point." He snapped as Erin walked back to the couple and her friend.

"Beth and Cal are taking Erin back to Thames House."

"Good." Ruth nodded, her eyes on Harry as he listened to what Tariq had to say. Briefly she wondered where the rest of the team were. All she knew was Ros and Lucas had gone quiet and Adam and Zaf had headed across London. Now she wanted to know everyone was safe.

"Zaf has gone to get Sayeed." Erin continued. "I'm going to meet Adam at Picadilly Circus. Dimitri? Order a clean up team."

"Clean up." Ruth shook her head sadly and walked towards Harry's 4x4 wondering what sort of world she was bringing her daughter into.

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Lucas walked into the kitchenette needing to clear his head. His ears still rang from the second explosion and the image of Ros laying motionless next to him wouldn't leave him. He switched the kettle on and prayed that he could have a couple of minutes peace before he had to face Malcolm's questions, Tariq never ending supply of redbull or Zoe's intense staring at computer screens.

"Hey." He froze as he realised he wasn't alone in the kitchen.

"Coffee?"

"No thanks. Not exactly going to sleep tonight at this rate without caffeine. Adam has gone to meet Erin."

"Ok."

"Lucas."

"Ros." He closed his eyes as he felt her wrap her arms around his waist from behind. She kissed his shoulder blade before resting her head against his back.

"I know." She sighed. "Too many memories."

"I saw you laying next to me. I saw you not moving." He paused. "I was convinced you were dead."

"I'm glad you were wrong." Ros smiled slightly as she felt his hands cover hers. The kettle whistled as he turned in her arms and touched her face gently brushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ears.

"Me too." He whispered as he kissed her gently. Ros wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as her back hit the closed kitcheette door. Lucas pulled back slowly as she caught her breath.

"Do not scare me like that."

"Dunno." Ros teased. "If that's the response I get when you realise I'm not dead, I might try it more often." She fell silent as Lucas closed his eyes. Suddenly she realised how scared her husband had been. Her hands cupped his cheek, her thumb brushing over the stubble that was begining to form there.

"Ros."

"I am not going anywhere. Not while you, Amy and James need me. Is that understood?"

Lucas smiled. Her tone of voice completely incongruinous to what her body language was screaming.

"You may be around for a while in that case." He smiled before kissing her palm. Ros nodded before allowing him to step away and leave the room. Coffee long forgotten.

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Beth sat next to Hayley as Calum drove in silence. His mobile phone on the dashboard of the car. Beth kept her eye on the wingmirror convinced they were being followed. Hayley dried her eyes as Calum pulled the car into the busy main road that would take them back to Thames House. He narrowed his eyes as he realised Beth's worst fear had been confirmed.

"Hayley?"

"Yeah?"

"You are wearing a seatbelt?" Calum asked. Beth glanced towards her friend before checking her own.

"Yeah."

"Good." He pushed his foot to the accelerator. Beth shook her head knowing that somewhere the chase was being picked up on CCTV. The question was, did anyone back at Thames House know?

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"Ros?" Malcolm glanced up. "I've been doing a little work."

"Glad to hear it." Ros marched over to her old friend. "And?"

"And it seems that if we were to cross reference the safe house where Hayley has been saying with the information we already have on Mr Deery and properties owned by the Mace family."

"He's dead but this comes back to him." Ros narrowed her eyes.

"What do I always say?" Tariq spoke up.

"That you don't get enough pocket money. Keep your eyes on the work Geekboy." Ros smiled slightly as Tariq rolled his eyes. Zoe shook her head.

"Where are you going?" Ros hadn't taken her eyes off the information Malcolm was showing her. Zoe paused, her jacket half fastened.

"A contact of mine has contacted me. She needs to talk."

"Lucas go with her."

"I'm fine on my own."

"Ok." Ros nodded. "In that case I'm going with her. Lucas, keep trying to get hold of Harry."

"Ok." Lucas and Malcolm exchanged glances. It was well known that Ros considered Zoe to be a little bit of a liability in the field. She was second only to Ruth to ending up in trouble. The only time she didn't seem to mess up was when Adam was with her.

"As I was saying." Malcolm tried as Ros walked over to her desk to retrieve her leather jacket.

"Go on Malcolm." Lucas tried again.

"The money comes back to the estate of the late Oliver Mace."

"Late?" Tariq asked. "Dead more like."

"Indeed."

"So?"

"The man left a considerable amount of money to Tessa Philips Co."

"She opened a security firm when she left here." Zoe explaind. "Tom told me."

"What is it today?" Ros snapped. "Can't the dead just stay sodding dead?"

"Thankfully not." Lucas met her eye as the rest of the team fell silent. The pod doors whoshed open to allow Harry and Ruth to enter. Zoe narrowed her eyes, Ruth looked as though she had seen a ghost. Harry glanced at her before turning to Lucas.

"Lucas, get what you can on Tessa in the next five minutes. I think it's time you and I put her out of her misery." Ros rolled her eyes as Luca glanced at the floor. She felt sorry for Tessa in that moment. Harry Pearce was back in full flow.

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A/N Next time Harry verses Tessa. What did Deery know and why have Adam and Erin gone to Picadilly Circus. Dewi and Henry may pop up and poor Stan finds a whole lot more than he intended. Please review. This story has really taken on a life of its own!