Ruth was technically rostered off all weekend and had originally planned on spending all that time at Harry's. But seeing as he'd made her angry enough to actually shout at him—something she wasn't sure she'd ever done before—she obviously wasn't much in the mood to see him.

She knew she needed to apologize for getting so upset and not discussing the problem with him and just walking out. She knew it was the adult thing to do, and if they were going to be married and build a life together, they needed to have a way to disagree in a less explosive way. Only she didn't really feel like being an adult just now. She wanted him to be the one to apologize first, to admit he'd been wrong to say those things to Malcolm and not to her first.

Beth was rostered off on Sunday, too. Originally, Ruth was supposed to come home on Sunday and then spend some time with Beth to reveal the 'special friend' she'd alluded to. But they'd had that conversation last night over a bottle of wine. It had been fun, confiding in a friend like that, venting about the problems she was having with her romantic relationship. It was all so normal and comforting. Ruth hadn't had a friend like that in a very long time. But having gone through all that last night, they didn't really need to spend the day together today. And Ruth didn't really want to talk anymore. Nor did she want to hide in her room away from Beth.

So there was only thing for Ruth to do, she knew. She got dressed and left home and got coffee and spot of breakfast on the way to the Grid. She'd let herself sleep in a bit, so it wasn't really like an ordinary workday, but she arrived at Thames House by about ten in the morning. Beth had mentioned the Azakstan situation, and Ruth knew they'd need to monitor that closely. She might as well review the intelligence about the AFF and make sure they had the matter well in hand.

Ruth made a mental list of sources she wanted to check as she took the lift down to the Grid. She wasn't thinking about anything but her task at hand when she went through the pods and made her way to her station. The weekend team was there. Since there wasn't an active operation at the moment, it was quiet. Lucas and Beth and Dimitri were all rostered off today. Tariq may have been in, but Ruth didn't bother checking the forgery suite for him. She said hello to a couple junior analysts who were in. And it wasn't until she started putting her things at her desk that she realized the light was on in Harry's office. Because Harry was in his office.

She looked over in surprise. He was rostered off for the weekend just as she was. But it seemed that he had the same idea that she did. Since they weren't going to spend the day together, might as well come to work. Ruth mused to herself that obviously she and Harry were perfectly suited if they were both here on a Sunday after having a fight.

Harry looked up from his computer and made eye contact with her. They stared at each other for a minute or so, neither of them making any move toward the other. Ruth knew she should be the bigger person and just apologize and get it over with so they could move on. But at the same time, she knew she deserved an apology from him. And he was the one who needed to make amends.

With a small huff, Ruth turned away from him and settled in at her computer. She'd come in today with the intent of doing some work on this Azakstan issue, and she wasn't going to let personal troubles between her and Harry get in her way.

Thankfully, as soon as she got down to actually working, everything else fell away. It was nice coming in on a Sunday without an active operation. There weren't any distractions. Rarely could Ruth actually get through things without someone bothering her about something nowadays. Came from being a Senior Analyst, she knew. The other analysts came to her with questions or to review something or to present their reports. The field officers came to her for things. Harry and Tariq rarely did anything without letting her know. She was an important part of the Grid, and it was good to be valued. But every so often, Ruth just wanted to quietly sit and read through scads of Russian intelligence without being interrupted.

"Ruth?"

Spoke too soon. There came an interruption. She'd been so engrossed in what she was doing that she hadn't even noticed Harry get up from his desk and leave his office and walk across the Grid to her desk. She tore her eyes away from her screen to look up at him. "Yes?" She hoped her tone conveyed a neutral attitude. She was feeling quite neutral toward him at the moment. She wasn't angry like she was last night, but she also wasn't ready to ask for his forgiveness for her anger. Not just yet. Though if he wanted to apologize, she wouldn't stop him.

"It's getting late. Would you like to have dinner with me?" he asked quietly.

There weren't many people around, but he didn't go advertising around that he was asking her to dinner. In the back of her mind, Ruth realized that and appreciated it. She also hadn't noticed until a quick glance at her computer told her it was almost eight at night. "Oh," Ruth answered. Her attention was taken by the result that just popped up in her records search.

"I don't like how we left things last night," Harry continued. "I thought we might talk."

Ruth was only half-listening to him. The result she'd seen was more important. "Harry, hang on, you've got to see this."

He leaned over behind her, and Ruth tried to ignore the way her body shivered to have him near. Damn the man. She could feel his breath on her neck. "Read it to me," he requested. "My Russian is rusty."

"It's an email to a member of the AFF in London about acquiring a sample of Paroxocybin," Ruth summarized.

"Remind me," he requested, standing up straight again and giving her some space. She turned away from her computer to look at him and saw him frown with concern.

Ruth rattled off some facts about the algae-turned-nerve-agent and the treaty with the Soviets to have it destroyed.

He gave a curt nod in thanks for her information. "And the AFF want it to attack the Russians?"

"Or to get the Russians out of Azakstan," she added.

"Right. Come with me, we've got to talk to the HS."

He turned on his heel and went back to his office. Ruth followed quickly behind him. He punched in the Home Secretary's phone number and put the phone on speaker. Ruth sat beside the desk while Harry stood. He liked to stand when he was trying to determine a course of action. He could give good news or bad news or relay whatever information was necessary while sitting, but when he was in a position to make a decision on what to do, he was standing more often than not.

Ruth tried not to let herself dwell on that, the thought she'd had with Beth last night, how Harry was so used to being the one to always make decisions. It comforted her on the Grid. He was in control and in charge and would do the right thing always, even when it was an impossible decision to make. There was no one she trusted more than Harry. But in private, he still had the same habit when it came to the personal side of things. And she didn't know if he could get out of that habit and let her be a part of the life they wanted to share, and she didn't know if she could find a way forward for them otherwise.

The Home Secretary answered the call after the second ring, bringing Ruth's thoughts back to the present. "Harry?"

"Home Secretary, if you could spare us a couple of minutes. I have Ruth Evershed with me, our Russian analyst," Harry told him.

Ruth chimed in, "Good evening, Home Secretary."

Harry continued, "We've intercepted an email to the AFF cell in London. We think they're trying to acquire a WMD."

"It's a nerve agent called Paroxocybin. It was developed in the Sixties from an algae. Both we and the Russians worked on derivatives," Ruth explained.

"It was banned, wasn't it? We signed a treaty with Khruschev. All samples were destroyed," Towers said.

"The email claims one wasn't, that it's in Azakstan, and the AFF plan to use it against Russian troops," Harry informed the Home Secretary.

"Well, have you told Moscow?" Towers asked.

Harry stiffened. "You're asking me to share intelligence with the FSB? With people who have spent the last fifty years trying to destroy us?"

The Home Secretary's annoyance was evident. "It's all in the past now, Harry. Russia's an ally. We do business with them."

"There's a risk Russia could acquire the Paroxocybin for itself," Ruth pointed out. She knew the Home Secretary was right, but she also knew that Harry had good reason for distrusting the Russians.

"Well, send one of your officers to witness the operation."

"Home Secretary, with all due respect…"

But Towers had no patience for whatever protest Harry had. "I'm not interested, Harry, in your old-fashioned beliefs. Either do the job or get out of the way and let someone else do it for you."

The line went dead, leaving Harry and Ruth on their own. Harry turned to her and said, "Lucas should be the one to go. You'll arrange it?"

Ruth nodded. She could coordinate everything and ensure that Tariq got a satellite in place so they'd be able to monitor everything from the Grid. Her mind started whirring with the people she'd need to call and the things that needed to be done for the operation. "I'll need about twenty-four hours," she concluded.

Harry gave a nod of his own. "Good. But come have dinner first. Just something quick."

She knew he wanted to clear the air between them before this operation. She knew he wanted to have some time away from the Grid, just the two of them. She knew he wanted them to forgive each other and go back to kissing in secret in his office and going forward with finding a way to tell everyone they were engaged. Ruth was even wearing her engagement ring on her finger today, not having taken it off yet after being at Harry's and going home to tell Beth last night.

But Ruth knew this operation took precedence over their personal life. And this conversation she and Harry needed to have to clear the air would take far longer than just a quick curry around the corner before getting back to work. And she just didn't have the time.

"I've got to get to work on this, Harry," she told him. "And with all of this going on, I don't think we should have dinner together."

"You're still mad at me, are you?" he accused.

She didn't care for that tone from him at all. "I'm not getting into this with you now. I have work to do."

And with that, she turned and left his office. She did have work to do. And she'd rather do that than fight with her fiancé again.