'I'm sorry Ros, I truly am, but it's not me that you'll have to convince anymore,' Towers told Ros, despite her having produced a statement, from a witness who had been walking his dogs on the beach and had seen Lucas driving away from the bunker. At a time when Harry wouldn't have been able to move or communicate. Proof positive that he hadn't let Lucas go, it was backed up, by a letter that had been counter signed by one of the doctors who had looked after him.

'They want Harry out and when I say they, you need to be looking closer to home,' he told her. Dashing her hopes of some sort of divine intervention, having been tipped off that Harry was at best going to be suspended, because the grape vine of gossip that buzzed around Westminster had come good for a change. In this case a friend of Tariq's, who worked in the post room at the Home Office and spent his daylight hours and sometimes nights, filing letters that had done the rounds from one section to another, including those that filtered through from the top floor at Thames House. The dark forces as they were known. The do as I say and not as I do merchants, that had nothing better to do than swell their own egos, by removing anyone who threatened to expose their frailties. Helped in this case by certain members of JIC, who had been looking for a way to get rid of Harry for years.

Not looking good had never stopped Ros before and it wasn't going to stop her now, so, 'read this and give me the nod and I'll be out of your hair Home Secretary,' she told him. She had more pressing things to do, while she still had the energy and the chance to put the brakes on what was happening.

.

'How did it go?' Asked four expectant faces as they followed her into the meeting room. Armed with a few sheets of paper and a plan, giving nothing away for the moment and wondering where to start, she was helped out by Malcolm, who more than any of them knew how tired she was. Starting the briefing, by pulling up a series of maps and flight manifests, that not only showed how hard he'd been trying to find Lucas, but that he'd already covered most of Europe.

Something that Ros has no intention of letting go, when she told him, 'to take a break and then keep searching,' in a manner that suggested that when he does he find Lucas, that she'll be on the first plane out.

'And Harry?' Asked Malcolm, keen to get back to what for him is the only thing that mattered, saving Harry's skin. After they'd been through what amounted to a mercifully short and unrelated to Lucas list of new threats, all of which Jo, Dimitri and Tariq had been asked to look into and he and Ros have divested themselves of work for a moment or two and are sitting on their own and taking a breather.

'For your ears only Malcolm, I have managed to get Towers on board. Now all we need to hope, is that the persuasive powers of our man in the white coat, are all they're cracked up to be. If Harry goes along with what he tells him, and my instinct is that he will, it might buy us enough time to find a way to put an end to this ridiculous witch hunt. Harry won't be on the grid any time soon though, which means I'm going to have to rely on you more than ever.'

'Anything you need Ros,' he told her - so much for retirement.

.

Ruth who is at home, or what amounts to home for the moment, also knows what the Home Secretary and Ros have cooked up, having received a quick call from Ros when she'd been on her way back to Thames House. Putting that to one side, hard though it is, she is fully aware that although it was Dimitri who found Harry, that it had been Ros's strength of character that had orchestrated it. Her sheer determination, that has over the past few days continued, making them if not quite friends, much closer than they were before. It was Ros who had come with them in the helicopter, who had sat with her at the hospital when Malcolm had gone home, bandying about expressions that had included next of kin and life partner. Sufficient that she'd been allowed her to stay by Harry's bedside, during those first long worrying couple of days, when Harry had been wrapped in thermal blankets, barely conscious. Her terrified and talking to him about anything and everything that had come into her head, with the force that was Ros Myers urging her to keep going. Ros who had come and gone to the canteen for cups of tea and snacks to sustain her, had been the one to drive them home when Harry had been released and who even now, is ensuring that they are given space to recover. That and knowing that although Ros might not agree with what Harry has done, that she'll stand by him and do anything she can to bail him out. That she owes Ros big time, they both do. The alternative being unthinkable, if what Ros has told her actually happens.

What she also knows and is the reason that she's currently sitting on the edge of Harry's huge double bed, watching him sleep, something that she's been doing for so long now, that she's forgotten when she herself last slept, is that she knows every detail of his dear stubble covered face. A face that still makes her stomach turn over, when she thinks back to the time when he was missing. The sheer magnetism of the man, that even when he's asleep, has from almost the moment when she arrived back from Cheltenham felt otherworldly, now making complete sense. Which is why she'll throw everything she has, into getting him through this nightmare and beyond.

Which starts now and the other reason that she'll be staying close, is that when he wakes up, he'll be faced with an ultimatum. From a doctor, who thanks to Ros's persuasive powers, is prepared to testify, that having examined Harry, everything that he has instructed him to do, is essential for Harry even to function. That after two betrayals, the second one coming so soon after the first, where not only was he threatened, beaten and drugged, but had his daughter held captive as well, that the case they have against him, should at least be suspended, if not dropped altogether.

An ultimatum that comes with conditions. That he can leave the house, but that he has to stay well away from the grid. At a time when Ruth knows without doubt, will cause Harry's blood pressure to rise. Especially as she's about to start back on the grid herself, something that even now terrifies her, unless Harry can be with her.

Which brings her full circle back to Ros, and how thoughtful she's been. Making sure that someone had cleaned the house from top to bottom, made up the bed and that the fridge had been well stocked, with what can only be described as healthy food. Pretty much what they'd been living on for the past few weeks at the safe house, but much more inventive than salads and pasta dishes that they'd thrown together.

More than that though, with Harry sleeping for the best part of two days, she's had plenty of time to look around his house and its contents, so why on earth he would think that she wouldn't want to live here she can't imagine. It's comfortable and it spacious, he even has a piano and as for the kitchen – well it's just amazing. Not at all what she'd pictured when he'd been describing it. All up for discussion later, because the doorbell had just rung.

.

'I'll love you and leave you then,' the doctor told them. Brandishing what Harry now also knows are instructions not recommendations. Instructions designed to save his career, by playing the sympathy card, backed up by the evidence that Ros and Malcolm are still putting together. None of which, now that Ruth looks at them in black and white, Harry has ever considered to be necessary as far as she's aware.

Fresh air and plenty of gentle exercise – walking is highly recommended and a short break away from London to somewhere quiet, are all non-negotiable. Stick to his current medication for another week and on no account is he to drive. All of which, will give him a good chance to get his head together and build up his strength, in advance of what is to come and from her point of view, is the best news that she's had in days.

The consequences if he breaks any of the conditions, will lead to his instant dismissal, despite her knowing that Ros is building a case for the defence and that the entire team are apparently prepared to bat on Harry's side.

Which means that Harry's response once the doctor has gone, surprises her. 'Assuming that you're coming with me, we'd better pack a bag,' he tells her.

.

'This Ruth list of yours, what's on it?' she asked him, as they left the small guesthouse where they've booked in for four nights and are crossing what is a quiet road, with the sea in front of them. Despite having seen quite enough of the sea thank you very much, neither of them had been to Suffolk and now that the children are back at school, it promises to be quiet. That in between time, until another influx of tourists, had been guaranteed by their landlady when they'd signed the register.

'Let's find somewhere to have a cup of tea first, God knows I need one after coming all this way in your little car,' Ruth knows is a joke, having felt Harry slowly begin to unwind during the journey.

'As opposed to you letting me drive the Range Rover?' She suggested.

'Probably, possibly,' is accompanied by broad smile. One that shows her a different side of Harry, from the man who has been trapped in a web of conscience for so long, that he's forgotten how to enjoy himself. A Harry that is linking her arm through his, only to be broken, when they are sitting outside a seafront café with a pot of tea in front of them.

'The list?' she prompted him again, feeling her whole body starting to relax as well.

'Two of which I'll achieve tonight,' he told her. 'The first being that I want to take you out to dinner and the second, well we've been doing that for a while. Whether or not it constitutes gentle exercise, rather depends on you,' he told her, with a real twinkle in his eyes. 'The third is the question of us living together and leads me to the last and most important part of this conversation.'

'Which is?' she asked, as he reached across the table and took both her hands in his, looking directly at her, the smile now gone. Making her heart accelerate to an alarming level and her mind to go into overdrive, at the prospect of what? Whatever he was going to say, it wasn't Harry's way to indulge in grand gestures, or hers either for that matter, so he wasn't going to propose surely? Both of them very private people and probably the reason that they've lived alone for so long. Whether they will be able to cope under the same roof long term, isn't in doubt as they've already survived six weeks of unspeakable trauma to get to this moment. A testament to the future, one that she intends to say yes to on every count so far.

'Just tell me,' she asked him.

'I've had enough Ruth. I'm going to resign. Before the bastards have the satisfaction of booting me out. More importantly and I'm glad that we're here as opposed to being in London, I'm not just asking you to move in with me, I'm asking you to leave the service as well. To spend our time together, enjoying days like today, wherever you want that to be. I don't expect an answer straight away, take as long as you like. But whatever your decision Ruth, I am going to leave the service.'

Shocked-definitely. Surprised-she was staggered, though as always in her case, not quite speechless. 'As in blue sunny skies, wide open spaces, tourists as opposed to terrorists, somewhere like this would be nice,' she told him.