The minute they shut Harry's door behind them that fateful morning, Harry and James disappeared and were replaced by Makepeace and Demspey, efficient police officers, partners who had each other's back. One last look at each other, one last hug and then they left their private life behind. They knew they had to keep things separate because first, they didn't want anyone to know about them and certainly not Spikings, and second, it's much safer for them when they face danger on a daily basis to compartmentalize their feelings.

They had barely arrived at their desk that Spiking was shouting from his desk, "Dempsey, Makepeace, in my office, NOW!"

Raised eyebrows from both partners ensued, Harry whispered to Dempsey "What have you done now?"

"ME? Nothing….at least that I'm aware of", he shrugged, just only realising that there was tension in the air among his colleagues and that Chas was already running around his arms full of files with a frown on his face. "Something's going on here, I can feel it!"

Spiking, sitting behind his desk, seemed rather nervous as he started talking

"Dempsey close the door behind you. Sergeant, take a seat. We need to talk."

Harry frowned and felt rather nervous. Something was adrift, she threw a quick look at her partner who looked as unsettled by the situation as she was. Did he know about them? But how?

"Sir? What's happening?"

"Last night, the body of a 24-year-old woman was found in the Thames. We think she'd been there a little while considering the state of the body. The legist found traces of drugs in her body and considering the bruises, we can only assume she was beaten up and raped. Judging by what she was wearing, we can assume she was a prostitute or at least made to look like one.", stated Spiking very matter of fact as he showed his officers the pictures of the body.

As sad as the loss of life was, this was their daily bread so to speak, so Harry struggled to see why this case was so special and made Spiking so nervous.

Dempsey started talking "So, boss, you want us to look into it?"

Spiking was stroking his thin air, looking unsure of what to say, knowing that all hell was about to break loose, "Well, hum, lieutenant, this time, you're going to take a back seat. It's your partner who is going to do the leg work on this one."

Dempsey wide-eyed, his heart in his mouth, "What do you mean I'm taking a back seat? She's my partner, where she goes, I go and that's that". He was quite vocal about that. "No ifs nor buts!", he thundered, "She's not going anywhere without me! What the hell is happening here?"

"Dempsey!", intervened Harry, "Sorry for my partner's overprotective stand Sir. What do you want me to do?", shooting daggers at her partner across the room.

Spiking's face was red, he was sweating and to be honest rather uncomfortable with the whole situation. He had to keep a lid on his temper and refrain from throwing Dempsey out because he had always known that the next few words would be the hardest he's ever had to say to his sergeant. He always tried to protect her, he had promised that much to her father when he took her on. Dempsey had taken over this role with much gusto, he was quite sure of it, which is why he dreaded the next few words he had to say.

Sighing nervously, giving her partner a quick warning look, he started to explain, "We suspect that this girl belonged to a much wider human trafficking operation discovered fortuitously by MI-5. Girls are brought over from South America or Eastern Europe for the enjoyment of much older, British gentlemen if one dares to call them like that. The issue is that those men are part of the establishment and as such, we need to tread carefully and have enough solid evidence to make them fall. We can't make waves. That's why MI-5 requested a female undercover agent to join the operation. And that's where you come in Sergeant."

"Hell, no! No way! She's not going undercover! They're nuts, those guys! It's far too dangerous!", roared Dempsey from the other side of the room as he was nervously walking up and down the length of his superior's office.

"Dempsey! This is not YOUR call and neither is it mine if I'm honest. It comes from upstairs. Sergeant Makepeace is the only undercover officer we have who has both the skills and connections to infiltrate the organisation.", explained Spikings hoping to make it clear to his lieutenant that the matter was now closed for discussion.

"You have 48-hours to get up to speed with this whole sordid affair, Sergeant. You'll be hired as the so-called matron of those girls. Checking the new recruits, building them up to their new job, educating them enough so they can mingle confidently among the establishment and become reliable escorts to reputable men. Your new boss will be Jack O'Cryon, an Irishman well versed in prostitution, drugs and anything nasty really. Here are the files for your perusal. You will be on your own out there, Harriet. Dempsey will be your control and if he says to come back in, you come back, girl, OK? Otherwise, you'll be on your own and we'll give you a new identity with full background and address during this operation. Your new name is Jacqueline Stewart. Good luck, Sergeant."

Makepeace, as in a trance, nodded, picked up all the files and left the room under the eyes of her partner, stunned by her silence, her reserved, British efficiency the polar opposite of the feelings he was experiencing right now. He was absolutely furious, couldn't believe that Spikings would actually offer her to the lions like that. He was absolutely gobsmacked. He looked at Spikings, eyes unwavering, muttering "I must be dreaming…". Spikings wouldn't look him up in the eyes, uncomfortable with the situation he was in.

Dempsey, seething, shaking with anger, walked with purpose to his partner, pulled her up from her hair and marched her out of the office before she had a chance to say anything.

"Dempsey, what do you think you're doing? Get your hands off me…Dempsey, I'm warning you!", demanded Harry vehemently. Their colleagues were used to their shouting matches and thought better than to intervene and kept their heads down.

Dempsey walked them both into the men's lockers room throwing a frightened Fry out who happened to be at the wrong palace at the wrong time. Locking the room for some privacy, he turned to his partner, eyes full of fury, shouting at the top of his lungs

"What's wrong with you, Sergeant? Have you got a death wish I should be aware of? You're seriously not considering going ahead with that operation, are you? It's pure suicide!"

"It's my job, lieutenant! I follow orders just like you should do! I didn't choose to work for the MET to pick and choose the operations I'd be working on. I have the skills required to work on that operation and it could save hundreds of women's lives, so yes I'm going to do my duty and I suggest you stop interfering RIGHT NOW lieutenant!", her eyes were dark with anger, she will not be told how to do her job.

He couldn't believe it. He looked at her with eyes big like saucers. Was that the same woman he held in his arms last night, the one he knew he already couldn't live without?

Trying his hardest to calm down and to have a clear head, he walked to his partner, took her hands in his and started to argue his case, "Harry….do you fully understand the magnitude of this case, the risks you're putting yourself in? You DON'T have to do this. You CAN say no. You know full well what it's like to be in deep cover, what it does to your soul. You were there when I became Johnny Lupino and it nearly killed me, Harry! If you had not been there, I wouldn't be here today. You know that. I owe you my life, Harry, and I can't willingly just sit there and let you risk yours like that. Harry, don't do that,' he implored emotions clouding his thoughts, "please…!"

"James, if I refuse to go undercover on this operation, I can wave my career goodbye. You know that very well. I don't really have a choice. And it all comes down to one question, James: Do you trust me? Do you believe in me? Am I a good enough cop to pull this one out of the bag?", her eyes clearly urged him on, her fingers tracing the worry lines on the face of the man she was falling for.

His voice was soft and confident when he answered, "You know you're the best partner I've ever had. You're a great cop and there's no one else I would trust to have my back every day". He gathered her in his arms and carried on "But it's different now, I don't want to lose you to that maniac. What do you expect me to say, babe?"

"James,...we knew that from the beginning. This thing between us can't interfere with our job. Our duty is bigger than us. Think of those women. If one of them was your sister, you'd move Heaven and Earth to rescue her. I know you, James, you're a good man, you care about people. That's the sacrifice we have to make. I'm sorry James, I have taken my decision." And with one last kiss, she left, he sat in the lockers room his head in his hands, knowing in his heart of hearts that she was right but he felt sick to his stomach as though his life had reached rock bottom. How can one go from feeling on top of the world to utterly miserable in the space of a couple of hours? When he walked back to the office she was already gone and that was that.