Even before he'd arrived, which had coincided with Dimitri arriving to collect Harry, Malcolm had guessed that it had been Ruth's choice that he should be the one to keep her company. An inevitability, much in the same way as when she'd driven up from Cheltenham and landed on his doorstep. Both of them desk spooks, whose destiny it was to stay out of the limelight. Until now, when Ruth through no fault of her own had become very high profile, in a situation that was a country mile ahead in the problem stakes. A problem that he wasn't best placed to cope with, because it would be taking him way out of his own sphere of experience. The result that came from loving another person, in the way that Ruth loved Harry and he her. Both of which had been combining to tell him that he'd be in for a difficult evening. Something that became all too clear as she launched into a one-way commentary that he knew was to take her mind off what was happening elsewhere. Telling him stories about her time at GCHQ and the reason that she'd decided to join the service. As far back as her university years apparently, he very much doubted. Until she finally got around to the real thing that was worrying her, by telling him that Harry had asked her to move in with him permanently and that he was prepared to sell his house to make it happen.

'It's all been happening so quickly Malcolm,' was true enough, although it did finally give him the chance to engage in the conversation by asking her 'what?' Despite already knowing the answer and where he would be heading. Further and further into a minefield that was labelled experience required. Until failing to get an answer, he tried again.

'Maybe you're just over thinking things and finding problems where there aren't any?' Eventually got Ruth to look at him, but not before reaching for the tissues.

'That's what Harry was saying, just before the phone rang. Half an hour later and he's gone. I'm scared Malcolm. Scared that he won't come back. Scared about what will happen when he does. I've even been wondering if it's my fault that he's in this mess. Look I know that I'm being irrational Malcolm and I'm sorry that I'm dumping this on you,' coincided with her replacing the tissues with Harry's discarded sweater and wringing it between her fingers as though she meant to unpick it stitch by stitch. A mortal sin if ever there was one.

He's quite sure that she isn't suggesting that she wants to back out, far from it, but agreeing that she's being irrational isn't the answer either, even if she is. Yes, it is complicated. But then everything about the way that they lived their lives is laced together by complications. Even his. But in their case, hers and Harry's, there's that wonderful alternative at the end of each day, that you can be completely honest with the person you're having dinner with. Besides which, she's ignoring her own worth in this. The other half of a relationship that is so very right. Something that maybe he can try to explain, now that she's opened up a simpler route. One that if he chooses his words carefully, will get her to accept that none of this is either hers or Harry's fault. So maybe to an outsider it might seem a bit rushed, but even he with his limited experience, knows that a newly formed relationship can move this quickly. A tiny figure called destiny that pops up out of nowhere. That and when she'd come back, it had been with the best of intentions. That neither of them had planned to fall on love, or that the decisions that they've made would have made any difference. That Lucas is the only one at fault and always has been. Made worse, because the entire section is now dancing to his tune. Well enough is enough. Even if in his opinion Harry is going about it the wrong way. The only thing about this awful situation where everyone is in agreement.

'I'm the last person you should be asking for advice when it comes matters of the heart Ruth. But are you really suggesting that when Harry walks back through that door, you'll want me to hang around for a few hours?'

'Of course not.'

'Then you've answered your own question Ruth. You and Harry are just made for each other,' didn't stop her from asking another question. One that he didn't have an answer to. At least not one that was sound enough to prevent her from burying her face in Harry's sweater. Especially as it was already three in the morning and they both knew that Harry and Dimitri would be half way to their destination.

'What if Lucas doesn't want to be saved and Harry doesn't come back?'

Bracing himself for a rejection. A rejection that didn't come, 'I'm going to make some toast because we both need to eat something,' he told her quietly. Hoping that at least for a few moments he could distract her and save himself from agreeing that it was a possibility, by offering her the most basic of human needs. A cuddle and then something to eat and drink.

.

On the grid, in an atmosphere was equally charged and having received the same red call, Tariq had been tracking Harry's car since he and Dimitri had left the safehouse. As far as he could see they were making good progress and according to the traffic cameras, there would be no obvious hold ups ahead. The night staff with their heads down were occupying their desks and busy with other matters and Jo and Ros had gone into the meeting room. Something that was making him feel strangely isolated without Malcolm's cheery presence to fill in the gaps with chatter. Why he didn't know, because without windows the grid always looked the same, day or night. Maybe it was the situation? Maybe it was the individual desk lamps as opposed to the overhead lighting, that was making it feel so ominously quiet? So full of tension.

Despite him having only just arrived home when the red call had come and being dog tired, he was wide awake again. Mainly due to the fresh cup of coffee that Jo had made him and her encouraging smile. That and having been told by Ros that Dimitri was with Harry as his back up, but that she was designating him as their only means of contact. Their eyes and ears to the things that they wouldn't be able to see in the dark. Harry who was keeping his phone free in case Lucas rang him, again unarmed, was taking a huge risk. His only protection, being his ability to get Lucas to believe that he genuinely wanted to save him and persuade him to accept a new life. Something that they all knew would get Harry into deep water and maybe even worse, since Ros had gone on to explain Harry's motives and that she hadn't been able to get him to change his mind. That although she didn't agree with what he was doing and given the chance would have taken Lucas down, that she and they had to back his decision. That absent or not, Harry was still the boss and neither he or Jo should forget it.

Overstepping maybe, she'd also made it clear that once this was over, that there should be nothing said about the fact that Harry and Ruth were, without going into details, together. Something that they'd all realised as soon as Lucas had kidnapped Ruth and was why Malcolm was with her tonight. Because it was private, it was theirs and she didn't want it talked about. Top of Harry's list, it was the only thing she divulged. The others being what amounted to a new will, with explicit details about his finances and how he wanted his things to be distributed. The real surprise though was that she would find a letter in his safe at home, recommending that she should get his job in the event of his death. All going to make her wonder if Harry had for some reason begun to doubt the wisdom of what he was doing, but enhancing her resolve that he was going to walk back in with everything intact, as the others soon found out.

'We keep our heads down and we bloody well concentrate. We treat this as we would any other mission. The only difference being, that for the second time in a week, it's Harry whose life might be on the line. Which means that we put every ounce of our energy into ensuring that he comes out of this unscathed, even if it means you and I Jo, summoning a helicopter and flying the bloody thing to Kent ourselves. Because I for one, don't intend going to go down in history as the Section Chief that lost the man whose given his life to the service of his country.'

.

The roads were remarkably traffic free compared to the last time that they'd driven the same route. Lucas having not surprisingly chosen what he knew, where he felt safe. They were heading back to the marsh. This time though Lucas wouldn't be holding all the aces. That's what Harry had been banking on and had been relaying to Dimitri once they'd left the motorway and were heading along roads that were all too familiar. Until needing to approach from a different direction to ensure that their cover wasn't blown, they found themselves on narrow country roads and under an ominously darkening sky. The signposts that they hadn't had to rely on until now, all but disappearing as the hedgerows closed in around them. At which point, they were totally reliant on Tariq's voice to get them to where they wanted to be. Hoping without conviction, that it wouldn't start to rain until they'd parked up and walked the half mile or so, to where Harry was going to watch Dimitri scale the church tower. The perfect position and with a line of sight if anything should go wrong. Then and only then, was Harry going to put in a call to Lucas, gather himself together and in a calm frame of mind, take the first steps of however many might be needed.

Which was totally at odds with the earlier part of the journey, when caught up in a different mindset, he'd done the unthinkable, by being distracted because of the unfinished conversation that he'd had with Ruth. What she wanted, was certainly balanced out by what he wanted, he was quite sure about that. The way that she'd held onto to him until Malcolm had arrived and the look on her face when he left her standing on the steps. All going to make him believe that she'd been about to say yes to his question, until that bloody phone had rung. The cold night air, only a tiny part of the reason that she'd look so vulnerable. So small. How every ounce of him had felt a real physical pain because he'd to leave her. Trying to reassure her, without actually putting it into words that he'd be back, before he'd turned on his heel and left her.

Now though wasn't the moment for him to be dealing in sentimentality. He had a job to do. Clear skies had been forecast. Clear enough for him to see Lucas and to have that conversation. So why in god's name had the weather chosen this moment to change? A change that would leave him with the prospect of a showdown with a person that he'd be barely able to see. Like one of those ghastly Russian dolls, that as soon as you peeled off one layer, there was another one to confronted you. Divine retribution or just the way of things, both crossing his mind as he stepped forward.

What he didn't know was that the Dimitri had lost sight of him and was pleading with Tariq to give him some guidance as to where he was. With Ros and Jo hanging on to his every word, but unable to say anything without breaking their silence. Something that was marginally less important than the fact that none of them could see Lucas either, which had he known, might have made him stop and rethink. Difficult to do, now that the rain was impairing his vision, at the same time as the wind was beginning to get up and blocking out any sound. What was it about this wretched marsh and why when he'd spoken to Lucas, hadn't he had the foresight to tell him what he had planned? Knowing that his hands were starting to sweat despite the rain, and with Malcolm's words 'she'll be the last thing that you'll remember' resonating in his head, he rubbed his eyes an took another step. At the exact same moment as the hooded figure of Lucas loomed out of the darkness and blocked his path.