10

Lucas felt sick. He knew he had the start of yet another concussion but how he had got it or where he was still remained a mystery. He laid still, eyes closed trying to take in as much information he could about his surroundings. He had a feeling he was alone in the room but he had no idea what had happened since he had been dragged out of the car. Hoping and praying he had been alone he had a sinking feeling Ros was in just as much trouble as he was.

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"Rosalind Sarah Myers." Ros remained impassive as she heard the balaclava wearing man state her name. "Or should I call you Mrs North?" The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't place it. Every cell in her body tensed up. She knew the protocol. Name, rank and number and only when you had no other way of extricating yourself from the situation. Seeing as whoever the man in front of her was already aware of her name she saw no point in denying who she was. A hand reached forwards, brushing the blonde hair away from her face.

"Section Chief, Domestic Anti-terrorism MI5, aka Section D."

Ros remained impassive, her best 'Ice Queen' expression in place. "All you need now is my number."

"And I bet you don't give that out lightly." The man smirked as he walked up to her once more. He crouched to where she was sat. Her stomach churned, fear for what may have happened to Lucas combined with memories of what had happened to her at the hands of Harrington mingled to almost paralyse her. She kept her eyes on the wall opposite as she felt the man's breath on her neck. He smirked under his balaclava. "You are the Section Chief, the second in command. You know exactly where the bitch is and you are going to tell us."

Ros raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think so."

"You have a reputation. You don't scare easily but if anyone crosses those you care about."

She remained impassive, forcing herself to remain calm as she felt her pulse race. The thought struck her that if he knew so much about her he may know about Amy and James as well as Lucas. She looked him in the eye as he pulled back from her.

"I tell you what." He sounded almost reasonable. "I will give you time to think over what I said. I mean, the man in the car with you is not in a position to say a great deal. My men." He sighed. "Can be a little heavy handed at times." He walked out of the room as Ros felt her blood run cold.

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Erin sat in her customary chair next to Alec and Dimitri as she looked around the Briefing Room. Adam and Zaf had got there before her both looking a little out of sorts. She knew both had seen more dead bodies than they would care to admit, so she imagined it was the manner of the man's death that had bothered them rather than the death itself.

"Adam." She started as Beth and Ruth joined them. "What was it?"

Adam shook his head, keeping his eyes on the polished oak table. "Bad. It as bad."

"Yeah." Zaf agreed. "Brutal."

Harry took his place at the end of the table as he looked around. Ruth checked her phone again.

"Ros and Lucas?"

"Neither answering their phones." She answered, a slight frown on her face. "Not like them. Not since the kids." She paused as a realisation hit her. "The children."

"I'll ring Carrie." Adam picked up his phone, dialling his wife. He knew she understood the dangers of the job they did and how rarely things may rebound onto their home lives. It was the last thing he wanted but he knew Lucas and Ros would want to make sure Amy and James were safe. A few minutes later he ended the call as Ruth handed out images that Tariq had pulled from the CCTV. Dimitri was the only one not to look at the image. He didn't need to.

"This man was seen approaching the doorway to the flats where Alec lives." Ruth explained.

"He should be dead." Dimitri announced. "He died the week I transferred here. He should not be walking around London attempting to assassinate former Prime Ministers and MI 5 officers."

Alec picked up the photograph, staring at the image. "Dead?"

"He's SBS. Or was." Dimitri looked at Harry. "I went to his memorial, just before Lucas and I went to stop that Pirate group. He was shot in the neck. Died instantly."

"Ok." Harry stared as he thought about Dimitri's words. "He's clearly not dead."

"I don't understand how."

"That's not relevant right now." Erin picked up the image. "This man?"

"Nathan Michael Johnson." Dimitri paused. "If I am right. Then that is Nate. My friend." He ran a hand over his face, knowing he sounded ridiculous. "A man who's funeral I went to tried to kill you, Alec and Morgan."

"I don't believe in ghosts." Harry stated firmly.

"And it is well passed Hallowe'en." Will smirked as his joke fell on deaf ears. Zoe and Ruth shot him a look.

"Ok." Catherine looked at the image. "I'll go through his records. We have to see how he managed to not be dead for the last few years. Personnel faking their deaths as part of an op is not unheard of."

Ruth paled slightly as she caught Harry's eyes. Neither wanted to remember that fateful day she had left him on the riverbank, nor the phone call summoning him and Adam to the morgue to identify a body. She turned her concentration back to the matter in hand.

"Find out everything you can." Harry turned to his daughter. "I want to know everything about this man, from his birth records onwards if necessary."

Catherine nodded.

Harry's phone bleeped at the same time Adam's did. Ruth watched as Harry looked at the message. His face dropped, deadly serious he looked around the room. "Malcolm, find out who and where this message came from. ASAP." He threw the phone over to his friend as Malcolm just managed to catch it.

"What is it?" Zoe asked as she saw Malcolm's eyes darken as he looked at the image on screen.

"Lucas, badly injured by the looks of things." Malcolm got to his feet as Adam confirmed he was looking at the same thing.

"There's a hyperlink." Tariq stated as he looked over Adam's shoulder. "Click it. Might just be something I can run through." Adam clicked the link before reading out the message.

"Some of this is in Farsi, I think."

"Send it to me." Ruth stated, already on her feet. "I'll start translating it." She headed back to her desk, as Harry watched her and Malcolm leave he looked at the rest of the team.

"We do not stop until we find Ros Myers and Lucas North. Do you all understand? We locate and return both officers and we do what we need to make sure that happens." He got to his feet as the rest of the team realised the meeting was over. Calum stopped Dimitri just before he was about to follow Erin out of the office.

"You think this man is capable of killing John Morgan in cold blood?"

"Yes, if ordered to." Dimitri paused. "And before you ask, yes I think he was involved in whatever has happened to Ros and Lucas." He shook his head. "He's working to orders, we need to find out who's pulling the strings."

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