"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

"Bad," Harry grunted.

"Trevor didn't kill himself." Lucas decided to approach the issue directly and ruthlessly rather than tiptoeing around it – the team were knackered enough and Lucas doubted their patience would withstand a gentle and hesitant response to the newest problem in their pile of plenty.

"What?" Ros asked, although it wasn't as venomous a response as Lucas had anticipated; as it was evident that even Ros' sarcastic tones crumble a little after 36 hours of non-stop chaos.

"Well, obviously we'll have to wait for an autopsy but we think he was strangled," said Lucas, and Zaf nodded. Lucas was fine with briefing everyone, especially as Zaf had been looking rather unwell since arriving back. Physically, he was paler and Lucas caught the slight tremors of his hands, but his expression also held a terror that Lucas had experienced too many times.

"So, he's not the mole?" Dimitri asked.

"He could be, although I think it's more likely that it was the actual mole that killed him," concluded Lucas.

"To stop us searching for them because they knew we would assume it was Trevor," Erin said.

Harry rubbed a hand across his forehead. "The good news?"

"Well, I wouldn't say it's good, but it's advancement for the op," Lucas started.

"Spit it out," Harry barked.

"I've checked Trevor's phone and in the last 24 hours he made six calls to Mr Alastair Cooper."

"Right, well I think it's about time I took that bastard out for dinner again," Ros sighed.

"Tread carefully, Ros. If he knows something we don't want him to hide – he might be our most substantial lead yet," warned Lucas.

"Or it's another lie." It was the first time Zaf had spoken since he and Lucas had arrived back at the Grid.

"Either way, it won't hurt to try and figure out his involvement with Trevor but also the agenda behind their meeting with Rupert at the Embassy," Lucas explained. Zaf didn't respond.

"Harry, we need to go to Istanbul," Ros said simply.

"No," he said loudly.

"It's the only way to put an end to this," Ros told him.

"It's a very good way to get yourselves killed!" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry." Ros leant forward, lacing her fingers in front of her on the table. "We can't let this go on. How long do you think it'll be before Fahir Akbulut and Kerem Polat try to pull something else? And next time, there might be a real bomb with deaths and trauma and Robert Camden banging down the doors of Thames House."

"Ros, I understand why you want to do this-"

"It's an entirely operational decision." Her lie was smooth but Lucas knew she was trying to sort this mess out for Zaf's sake - however, unknown to Lucas, Harry also believed that Ros was trying to right her wrongs from her ordeal with Yalta.

"It's risky," Harry grumbled.

"Adam would say it's doable." Zaf had spoken softly but every ear caught his words.

"That's exactly what he would have said," murmured Ros. "You know it, Harry. If we get this right, it's a big break. Ruthlessly remedying a load of rogues trying to take us down – plaster that in the newspapers and anti-Five fanatics will be silenced for weeks."

Harry sighed.

"No sight-seeing, and I want you all back here alive by next week."

He rose, pacing back to his office - Lucas, Erin and Dimitri also returned to their work stations but Ros lingered for a second in the Meeting Room to talk to Zaf.

"Well, at least we'll get another round of duty-free goodies," she tried, but watched how it took a lot of effort for Zaf to twitch the corner of his mouth into a smile that didn't even begin to meet his eyes.

"Zaf, do you want to do this?"

"Yes," he said, and then tried clearing his throat. "But I don't know if I'll be able to face it."

"No one would think any less of you if you stayed here," she told him. "Heading up surveillance and reports is still a decent step after what you've been through."

"But it wouldn't feel like a step in the right direction," Zaf replied. "I'll never be able to put this behind me unless I face up to it. But I'm scared to. Screw that, I'm terrified, Ros." He shrunk back into his chair and lowered his eyes.

Ros had always liked Zaf's honesty but his words were painful to hear, especially as it was something so harrowing to hear that she would never have imagined it coming from his lips.

"You're not by yourself. Lucas is one of the best, and we'll have the team here. And I'll even store away my wit for a little while to be entirely focussed on the op."

At that, Zaf allowed a tiny smile but Ros could tell he still wasn't entirely convinced.

"You're right – you should do this. It will help, but it doesn't mean it won't hurt."

"How do I deal with it, then?" Zaf asked desperately.

Ros spoke before she could stop herself. "By doing something extraordinary for those extraordinary people who no longer can. When Adam died, I went to pieces. More than I was ever willing to show. But, Harry gave me Section D and every day the only thing making me turn up for work each morning was because it's what he would have wanted."

She stopped because Zaf was looking at her from under his eyelashes and she instantly regretted having said so much.

"I don't want that to burden you, though," Ros said efficiently. "You do this if you can - and I have every confidence that you can do this, Zaf."

"I've never heard you speak like that," he said softly.

"That's because I still need to come into work each day. To stop Fahir, and the next, and the next, for as long as I'm still breathing. If our focus drifts from what we do, we can't do it anymore."

"I can't just bury it though, Ros. Nothing feels the same anymore and I can pretend and joke around, but when I go home I don't get to watch telly with Jo or go to the pub with Adam. I'm still waiting for it to happen and the thought of never seeing them again-" His voice had become hoarse and Ros watched Zaf squeeze his eyes close briefly, hauling in some air and shaking it back out.

Ros couldn't stand tears. But more so, she couldn't stand them from people she cared about. No one would believe it, but their hurt caused her to hurt too.

All she could think to do was to reach out and squeeze his hand.

"Let's go to Istanbul, Zaf. Let's do this for them."