Taking Advantage?

Ruth couldn't remember the last time she had felt so angry. The op had gone exactly the way they had planned. Alec had done everything he had supposed to. Harry and her had played their parts. Only now she was sat staring at a thin set man she had only ever seen in photographs.

"Ruth?"

She glared at him, knowing that there was no way she was going to let him see she was frightened of him.

"The last person who abducted me is dead."

"Not a sentance I hear every day." He smiled at her. She narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry about the Chloroform but we wanted to get you out of there with as little disturbance as possible."

She turned to see a larger set man with a bruised eye and swollen nose. She kept her face neutral, knowing that he was just the hired thug. The man she now knew as Spencer was sat opposite her. Memories of her reunion with Harry filled her mind but she was determined not to let her mind play tricks on her. She was different now. She had a life, a family and friends. She was not going to die in a cold, damp cellar in some Godforsaken Hellhole.

"You could have spoken to me, like a normal person."

"You broke my friend's nose."

"Well, being abducted really isn't the sort of thing I tend to go along with." She felt her heart bear in her chest. The anger at everything that had happened spilling out. "You could have had your friend, Tony here just kill me. Why didn't you? You had Maria murdered and dumped in cold blood. Or am I still useful?"

"I believe you can help us."

"I believe not." Ruth got to her feet, glad that she still had her high heel shoes on. They were impossible to run in but gave her enough height to look the man in front of her directly in the eye. "I am going home."

"Not yet."

Ruth paused as his hand circled her wrist. A death glare that Ros would be proud of forced the man to let her go. It was then she realised the soon to be former Deputy Director of MI 5 was not in charge. He wasn't pulling the strings. Someone wanted her alive - and there was nothing either the paid assassin behind her or the treacherous man in front of her could do.

"How much are they paying you? Bethsheba? Its all down to money, isn't it? How much?" She glared as the man in front of her visibly paled.

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Harry stared out over the city as his hands gripped the metal barrier surrounding the roof. He loved the cityscape, it calmed him but with Ruth missing there was no way he was going to stay calm. He knew at his age it would be easy to murder him and make it look like natural causes but Ruth? She was still in her forties, there was no way they could make the death of a young woman with barely any health issues look like anything else than murder. He had to find her.

"Dad?"

He turned sharply as he heard his oldest child call his name. "Yes."

"Lucas said you would be up here."

"Did he?"

"He's just got back from Forensics with Dimitri."

Harry nodded, knowing that with Dimitri's old friend currently working for the local police's forensic unit they had a way of accessing information more easily than they were used to. Appropriate channels could be circumvented.

"Good."

"And Tariq has accessed the off shore bank account of Damion Spencer."

Harry smiled slightly. "Follow the money."

"Yeah." Catherine smiled. "We know who we are up against now. Dad, Dimitri says that the blood found at the scene doesn't match Ruth's. Its a completely different blood group. Malcolm has managed to hack into the cameras that cover the entry and exit to the corridor."

"Cath."

"You don't need to see it." She raised a hand, in a gesture that was so familiar to him it hurt. "Ruth was alive. It seems she was out of it but the man carrying her had blood on his face and a very nasty swollen eye. Seems she gave him a broken nose and eyesocket."

"Good." Harry smiled slightly. He knew he wouldn't be able to rest until she was back on the Grid - in his arms but he couldn't help the pride that she had fought back. Ruth was not the best field officer but she had always tried her best. He shook his head. "This is my fault. I should never have agreed to this. None of it. Ruth is a desk officer."

"Ruth makes her own decisions." Catherine stared at him. "Now, we know who took her, we know she was alive when she left the hotel. We just have to find her."

Before Harry could answer his daughter spun on her heel and headed towards the stairwell that would lead them back to the Grid. Sighing heavily Harry followed.

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Erin stared at the CCTV footage on the computer in front of her. She knew they had all the exits to the hotel covered. There, had in theory been no way anyone could have entered or left without one of them seeing. The fact Ruth had been taken was a failure she was beginning to take personally.

"Get over yourself." Ros glared at her as Erin looked up. "Ruth did everything according to plan."

"But she is still missing." Erin snapped. Ros raised an eyebrow.

"I've known Ruth Pearce for years. She isn't the quiet little mousey analyst you all think she is. Give the woman some credit. She turned as she realised Harry was back in the Grid. He nodded to her and beckoned them all into the Briefing Room, hating the idea that Ruth would not be by his side.

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"Say that again." Ruth scoffed.

Spencer glared at her as Tony Yang walked over towards the door.

"You can be of use to us. You already know about my involvement with Bethsheba. I did consider your colleague. I wont say friend after last night's little performance. Alec White isn't the most reliable, despite the fact he has no reason to be loyal to Harry or your Section now."

Ruth narrowed her eyes. She knew the man in front of her had known Harry for years, since his army days and would know a little of his history of infidelity with his first wife. She held his gaze, slightly disbelieving what she was hearing.

"You believe Alec to be unreliable. Well, that's not exactly news to me. You saw how he behaved last night. He's a raging alcoholic. It's only a miracle he hasn't drunk himself into an early grave." She hated talking about her friend in such a way but she knew the legend and was determined to stick to it, knowing it was the best way of getting back to her friends. Spencer nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. But Harry betrayed you."

Ruth kept quiet, holding the other man's gaze. "And you have no reason to remain loyal to him. Or any of the Section. If Alec found out about it I bet you any money in the world Adam Carter and Malcolm Wyn-Jones knew what was happening. I dare say Ros Myers did too."

Ruth felt sick, this man was genuinely trying to turn her. She knew everything he said was lies based on what he had witnessed in the ballroom but she also knew going along with it was her best way of getting back to the Grid.

"My marriage is none of your concern."

"We need an analyst."

"Go and find one."

"Ruth, wouldn't you like to be part of changing history? I know you know your work inside and out. I know you are a woman of morals. This is a way of changing the world for the better. Bethsheba isn't just about making money. Its about a new world order. Removing Section D would just make that come about more expediently. You could do that and make Harry pay for his indiscretions. Make them pay for making you look a fool."

She glared at him. A million thoughts went through her head. There was no way she was going to be disloyal to Harry and her friends but she knew she had to make Spencer believe he had turned her. He had to think she was on his side.

"What do you want me to do?"

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