Ruth Evershed
"Harry?"
"Yes?" He looks up.
"Dr Galloway's given us all she can and Tariq's running it through facial recognition now."
"Good," he nods.
"I was wondering if I can let her go home," she says. "DCI Nelson brought their daughter back half an hour ago and she's getting tired, cooped up on the Grid."
Harry purses his lips thoughtfully. "I'd rather not. We don't know anything about these people and the resources they have behind them yet. She tried to stop him. We don't want a repeat of what happened with our witness when we were dealing with Shining Dawn." Ruth nods in agreement. It's exactly what she's been thinking. "Put her in a safe house overnight. Hopefully, by morning things will be clearer. In fact, go with her. Get some rest, Ruth."
"I thought I might take her home with me," she suggests tentatively.
"Ruth-"
"Wait," she interrupts. "Hear me out. A safehouse is no place for a little girl and, now that Beth's moved out, I have a spare room. And a cat. She'll like that. You can post a couple of agents to watch my place instead of the safe house and the security's top notch if you remember." She knows she has him there. The moment she'd finally found a place to live, Harry had overridden any objections she'd had and installed a state of the art security system, insisting that she needs extra protection because of her connection to him.
He sighs, rubbing his forehead, a sure sign on mounting stress, and she has to suppress a fond smile as she watches him. Their relationship is so complicated and so confusing, their past words and actions forming a web of tangled memories and mixed emotions that she finds impossible to untangle, to understand, to deal with, but the love she feels for him in these unguarded moments is still overpoweringly strong, particularly when he seems a little vulnerable in some way. How can that be, she wonders, not for the first time and, almost certainly, not for the last.
A few weeks ago, she'd turned down his proposal, and to be entirely honest, she's still not sure exactly why she'd done that. She'd talked of the things he's done, but she's almost certain now that's not the real reason she'd said no. She's always loved him, has always known he's not clean, has done things, unspeakable things, but she's loved him anyway because she's understood why, has admired him for the sacrifices he's made, for his courage and tenacity, and for the gentleness of his heart in spite of it all. Even with what happened to George and Nico, she'd understood why he'd done it, had never blamed him – not really. She'd blamed herself, but not Harry.
"Okay, fine," he sighs, lifting his eyes to hers. "But if there's any doubt-"
"I'll ring you," she assures him quickly.
He nods and she smiles before turning to leave the room.