Apparently I'm more productive when I don't have work to go to. Who knew? Anyway, I've tweaked some of the script from 3-10 for my own purposes.
The next morning, Ruth couldn't stop smiling. The only thing she wished had gone differently would be Harry's kisses. She wanted more. Though she had started to get a suspicion that with Harry, she would always want more. It would never be enough with him.
She tied her hair up, all the while thinking of Harry's fingers lingering on her neck. She wondered if she'd think of that every time she put her hair up. Well, maybe for the near future, she might. Ruth arrived on the grid early on purpose. She needed time to be sucked into depressing terror reports and chatter, in order to wipe the smile off of her face before her co-workers arrived. What surprised her was that she wasn't the first there.
Harry sat in his office on the phone and she hoped a disaster hadn't already happened this early in the day. Ruth kept watching him on the phone and could see his lips moving, but when his eyes found her, he smiled slightly. She smiled back in response, before going to the kitchenette to make them both a cup of tea. She wouldn't have done this had anyone else been present, but she had at least half an hour before anyone else turned up. After all, Harry had asked her out, treated her to a lovely meal and given her a wonderful evening. Making him a cup of tea might not be a huge move forward, but it was a small step.
Coming back onto the grid, she was pleased to see that Harry had finished his phone call, so she wouldn't be interrupting. With slight difficulty due to her full hands, she opened the door and put his mug down on his desk.
"Morning," she said, a smile pulling at her lips.
"Thank you," he said, indicating the tea. "How are you?" His voice and eyes were soft and they both knew they'd have to cover this up before the grid filled up.
"I slept like a baby," she said. And it was true, she slept better than she had in months. "Is everything okay? The phone call," she added when he frowned at her. "Yes, I'm nosey. Especially when a phone call makes you look so worried. It makes me think someone's planted a nuclear bomb on the London eye." He rolled his eyes at that and she smiled.
"Everything's fine," he said heavily. "Or work wise, anyway. It was Catherine."
"She's calling you?" Ruth asked. Harry's eyes lit up with joy.
"She is," he said. "It's the time difference, makes us miss each other. I just need to hear from her."
"Where is she?"
He took a deep breath. "Iraq."
"Oh, Harry," she said sadly.
"No, she's on her way home in a few days," he said, clearly trying to reassure himself more than her.
"Harry, she'll be fine."
"Doesn't stop me from worrying."
"Of course you worry," she said. "Do you ever think she might have got it from you? Would you have listened, had your parents told you at twenty three or four? Telling you not to go to a dangerous country?"
"No," he said, pouting. "And stop trying to defeat me with logic."
She smiled as he drank his tea. When the silence became a little uncomfortable, Ruth spoke. "I really enjoyed last night."
"So did I." He reached across the table and took her hand. "And I meant what I said about taking you to Paris."
"It sounds wonderful…"
"But?" Harry asked, correctly reading her silence.
"When are we going to be able to get the time off?" she said.
"Stop being so practical," he said, frowning at her in a way that made her smile. The pods whirred and Ruth dropped his hand instantly. She felt the loss of his touch, but couldn't do anything further about it.
"Shall we…" Ruth nodded and got on with her work. As much fun as it might be flirting with Harry, it wouldn't get any work done.
The next few days were a blur of paperwork and catching up on sleep. When they were alone, there was gentle flirting between the two of them, but nothing further. Soon enough they were swallowed up into another operation, though it wasn't a dire situation. Yet. They still hadn't managed to go out together again, which was a shame. Ruth wanted to enjoy Harry's company (and other charms) away from the grid. But it seemed she'd have to wait, as every time they arranged something, work or JIC meetings got in the way.
Snapping herself out of thoughts of the lack of Harry in her personal life, she picked up the phone. "Yes?"
"Hi Ruth, it's Adam. I need you to cancel my meeting with Harry."
"Okay sure," she said. "Everything all right?"
"Yeah, I've just met up with Danny and Fiona, and we're following up a lead."
"Fine, I'll let him know," Ruth said. "You never did tell me what you got Fiona for her birthday."
"I got her the chocolates, like you suggested." Ruth paused.
"I suggested?" she questioned.
"Yeah, it seems like your suggestion was the best in the end."
"Okay." From his tone, she knew that something was deeply wrong. And he clearly couldn't say what it was. "I'll pass the message on," she said.
"Bye." The line disconnected and she took a moment to gather herself before going into Harry's office.
"Something's wrong," he said.
"How do you know?"
"You knocked."
"Adam called to cancel your meeting."
"Okay," Harry asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"He said he was with Danny and Fiona. Also something about Fiona's birthday present and…"
"And what?" Harry asked blankly.
"He said he bought her chocolates, like I suggested."
"I thought that was my suggestion," he said.
"Exactly."
"Ruth, it doesn't matter. Ask him when he gets in."
"Look, please just listen to me. I know I'm a desk spook with no field experience, and you might think that I don't know what I'm talking about."
"Calm down," he said. "You know I value what you think, don't insinuate that I don't."
She nodded. "Then please. Take me seriously. Something's wrong." She tried to impart on him without words about how convinced she was that Adam was in trouble.
She saw the moment of decision on his face. "Red flash the entire team." She sighed in relief. "But if they're all sitting in the meeting room in twenty minutes and you've jeopardised an important operation because Adam made one verbal mistake…" He looked grim and she nodded.
"Thank you." She said.
"Ruth, we can't… because of our personal relationship, we can't… take advantage of each other at work." She sighed and walked back to him.
"Do you trust my professional opinion?"
"I always do," he said honestly.
"Well, in my professional opinion, there's a serious problem. I'm going to red flash the team." He nodded in agreement as she left. From the frown on her face, she was genuinely concerned. He only hoped she was right, for many reasons. If he had to discipline her professionally, that could get very awkward for them personally. Which is exactly why work shouldn't be involved in his private life. But he couldn't bring himself to regret it. He really liked her, and it had been years since he'd felt like this.
"Still nothing?" he asked. Ruth shook her head. The red flash was thirty five minutes ago now. They were meant to call in after ten at the latest, if they couldn't get to the grid. "Trace Adam's call." Malcolm did, and soon they found him on CCTV sitting with a woman outside a café. The woman looked middle eastern, but running her through face recognition had so far come up blank.
"I have an idea," Zaf said. Harry allowed him to talk him through the plan while Ruth and Malcolm kept trying to trace Adam and the others whereabouts. This was going to be a stressful day.