Individually and collectively, the members of Section D had always managed to roll up their sleeves and move on after a loss. This time it was different and none of them could pinpoint why it felt as though the grid had been picked up, only to be dumped on its head from a great height. Something from which they would never recover. Certainly, the makeup in terms of personnel was a contributing factor, with Lucas's recent repatriation and with Ros only days back from what she joked, as much as Ros Myers ever joked about anything, had been a fun packed trip to Russia. Fragmented being the best way to describe how they felt, at a time when more than ever they needed to be united. To function in a way that suggested to anyone who was keeping an eye on them that all was well. Which of course it wasn't. How could it be, only a few days after Adam's Remembrance Day sacrifice. A day that would forever remind them of Adam, who had been described by Malcolm as admirable and was coping by indulging in what amounted to displacement activities. Jo who had only returned to work out of respect, because she more than any of them had spent a lot of time with Adam recently and Ros like Harry, angry and making very little effort to disguise how they were feeling.

Harry with the additional burden of dealing with the fallout and in whose eyes, the section had ceased to function as a complete unit for the best part of two years. Adam's recent death, unleashing what had been building like a tidal wave of disillusionment and hurt. To the point where he was becoming reckless and with Dolby now sitting in the hot seat, was walking an even finer line than he usually did with authority. Dolby believing and despite Harry denying all knowledge, that the recent disappearance of Arkady Katchimov had Harry's fingerprints all over it, a case in point.

Lucas, still very much the new boy and wary about Harry's motives for keeping him side lined, still saw Harry as the person he'd always been, whereas Ros, Jo and of course Malcolm, who were the only survivors from the time when Ruth had sacrificed herself to save Harry, knew why the spark had long gone out of their boss. Why his confidence in the system which had never been perfect, was now standing at a crossroads. Something that when Ruth Evershed had stumbled into his life, had been liberated by moments of undisguised love between them. Only to be extinguished by the Cotterdam conspiracy and by Oliver Mace in particular. Not to mention, their combined failure to prevent Ruth from leaving. Something which had been buried along with all the other mistakes and what if moments, that had been catalogued in the name of The Greater Good. Enough to suggest that Harry was teetering on the brink and no longer cared about his future, or the country that he'd so vigorously defended.

Something which was more than far from the truth and Harry knew that his behaviour wasn't acceptable and hadn't been for a long time. That it was getting to the point where one or maybe all of his team would confront him, or even go over his head and report him. That his only defence, would be that his grief was as real now as it had been on the day that she'd left him. Heightened today as he sat in what was another unproductive meeting of the JIC and turned his thoughts to the latest casualty. Wes Carter, the young boy who had cried in his arms and by doing so, had turned his own pent-up anger into tears. Not only for the loss of Adam but for Ruth. Very much alive, but none the less lost to him. That it would take something monumental to pull him out of this malaise and that reaching for the whisky bottle wasn't the answer. Especially now, when he'd made a promise to Adam that he'd look after Wes. Never imagining that the moment would come. Ros being the only person who had recognised that dying before his time, hadn't worried Adam, in fact the thought had exhilarated him. Telling him that she and Adam would never have worked, he wasn't so sure about. Because Ros like him, had constructed a persona to suggest that they survived best on their own.

.

Two thousand miles away, on an island where the sun never stopped shining and where life if not perfect, how could it be when the man that she loved wasn't the one she was living with, was bearable, Ruth had met Nico outside the school gates and after a brief chat about his day, was doing what she always did at the end of each week and was heading for the market place. Somewhere, that as the months had turned into years, she'd found a way to blend in. To almost and there had always been an almost, look at the surroundings and believe that this was where she was destined to remain. Which meant that unlike Harry's, her life had a structure and a predictability about it and what was wrong with that, she'd told herself almost every day since she'd met George. The doctor, who after a lot of persuading, had finally succeeded in getting her to move in with him and his son. He was lonely and she was lonely and at first it had worked, this no strings attached arrangement that they'd constructed. Strings which had inevitably tightened and made ever more complicated, when George had dropped the bombshell by suggesting that they get married. If not for them, then for Nico, had been his latest attempt to persuade her. On a balmy night when he'd drunk far too much and she had been stone cold sober.

Something that if she'd said yes to, would have just added to the lie that she was living. A lie which in her imagination, enabled her to turn the clock back and put a whole new spin on what her life might become. Worse at night and where she'd lost count of the times that she'd lain awake long after George had fallen asleep, wondering why the hell she'd done what she'd done and believing that there had to be a way back. Back into Harry's arms. Her memories which were still as vivid as on the day that she'd left him, recalling what he'd said. Then that kiss. How they'd melted into each other as she'd always known they would. Thoughts that always got the better of her and as hard as she tried to prevent them, still had her wondering why she hadn't said yes to what Harry had made clear, had been a relationship that he'd known they both wanted. That even when she'd said no, how he hadn't given up. How close they'd come at Havensworth and especially on that first night in the corridor. His eyes burning into hers as he'd walked towards her and how ever part of her had wanted to throw caution to the wind and drag him into her room. Not that it would have involved much dragging or going through the motions as she did with George. George who was kind and would do anything for her, but would never be able to raise the passion that had threatened to overwhelm her when Harry had looked at her and still did when she thought about him.

So engrossed in her daydream, that it wasn't until she'd thanked the stallholder for her purchases and turned around, that she realised Nico wasn't standing behind her. Her first thought, being to wonder if what she'd been thinking about, had somehow been transported into Nico's mind and he'd run off. Dismissing this as ridiculous, didn't stop her from panicking. Except this was Polis not London and she was worrying unnecessarily, she told herself, as her legs which had turned into jelly, propelled her through the crowd in the direction of the ice cream van where they always went after they'd finished their shopping. The queue of children, none of which was hers, all blurring into one as she ran blindly now, with no idea where she was heading, until there he was, a few metres in front of her. At which point both her worlds collided like an enormous train crash of emotion as she recognised the man who was sitting on the bench and talking to Nico.

Up until this moment Nico had no such concerns. Other than he knew that he shouldn't have walked away and left Ruth and that she'd tell him off. But he'd been bored and the man had told him that he was a friend of Ruth's and that she'd catch up with them. He'd looked over his shoulder, so had been able to see Ruth standing at the fruit stall, so that was OK. He'd been less certain when they'd turned the corner in the direction of the park and he could no longer see her, but because it was where they always sat to eat their ice creams before Ruth drove them home, she'd know where he was, the man had told her. It was like a game of hide and seek.

Which hadn't lasted long, because now he could see her coming. Running rather than walking, which was strange because Ruth didn't usually run. Besides, she looked frightened and that made him feel frightened as well. He tried to get up, but the man had stopped smiling at him and was holding tight onto his arm. His fingers digging in which was hurting him.

Ruth was more than frightened, she was terrified. Telling Nico in as calm a voice that she could manage that they had to get into the car. Knowing that they didn't have a choice. The gun he was holding did that for her. The face that she'd imagined she'd never see again, here in Cyprus. The analyst within in her knowing that this was Baghdad reunited, or at least the Indian part and worse still why Mani had tracked her down. That by taking Nico as well, he had exactly what he needed. Bait which would force her to tell him where the uranium had been hidden, whilst at the same time she would be imagining Harry's reaction when he found out. Because however hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to hold out for very long, if at all. Nico who was looking at her for assurance, forcing her to smile. To pretend to him that everything was alright.

The car now gaining speed as they headed out into the sparsely populated countryside and in a direction that she knew was the opposite from where they lived. Where George would soon be arriving home from work and expecting them to be there. The meal being prepared. That he'd panic and calling the police wouldn't solve anything, but that George wouldn't know that. A thought that made her put a protective arm around Nico's shoulder. This small boy, who through no fault of his own and without knowing why, was being dragged into her former life.

Fighting back unwanted tears for Nico's sake proving hard, because the only person who could save them was thousands of miles away and would have no idea what was happening. Never mind know where she was.