I'm not going to repeat the events that happened in 4-1 and 4-2, when I'm not bothering to change anything as it would get boring and repetitive. So this chapter slots into 4-1 and 4-2. Thanks for the review so far.

Harry picked Ruth up the next morning. They had a driver, so both he and Ruth sat in the back. The mood was very sombre and Ruth wasn't talkative. Not that he blamed her. He reached across the seat and held her hand in the silence. She squeezed his palm gently, still quiet as they drove towards the church.

"Don't wear black to my funeral, Harry," she said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"If… when I die. I know it's meant to be respectable, but I always feel... Just don't wear black."

"I wont wear anything," he said.

"Well, you turning up naked at the church might give some people a bit of a shock," she said, a smile hovering on her lips.

"I meant… there'll be no need. You're not dying."

"We all die, Harry. And in this profession, more quickly than most others."

"Ruth, you're not dying. And you will not die before I do, okay?"

"Okay, Harry," she said lightly. This wasn't the time to press the point. They didn't say anything further until they got to the church. Ruth let go of his hand and he looked at her sadly. He personally wouldn't care had all their colleagues known about them, but he knew she did. He wouldn't push her, but today it would have been nice to acknowledge each other publicly. They got out of the car one at a time, before heading into the church, and sitting next to each other.

Harry knew the echoing rumbling that he could feel under his feet and throughout the church was a bomb. He'd heard bombs go off before and knew the sound. Why did it have to be now? He caught Adam's gaze and could almost hear their beepers before they went off. Sure enough they all went off, almost simultaneously. Ignoring the glares and mutters, Harry and the others left the church.

While talking about the operation, Harry noticed that someone rather important was missing. "Where's Ruth?" he asked, almost rhetorically. He rushed back inside the church and took his seat next to her.

"Ruth, we need to go," he said quietly. She wouldn't look at him.

"Didn't you say something about there being time to grieve?"

"Yes. Well, there'll be a lot of families doing that tonight."

Now she did look at him, her eyes saying more than her mouth. "I want to say goodbye properly." He took her hand in his.

"I need you," he said simply. She looked down, but didn't respond. "Please." After a moment, she nodded, getting up to leave with him. She wasn't happy, but she'd do what he asked.

She and Harry took separate cars back to the grid which meant he arrived first. Adam and Zaf were with her. Once on the grid, the manic hive of activity took her breath away for a moment. There were a lot of extra people there, but upon entering the grid, both she and Adam saw Harry waving them over, so they followed him to his office. Ruth didn't get the chance to say anything because a message from a group called "Shining Dawn" had come up on Harry's computer. They listened as the messaged announced they basically had twelve hours before another bomb would explode, killing as many people as possible. The alternative was releasing Monroe, their leader, an American citizen. An action which was politically impossible, not only because Thames House had been invaded by Americans who wanted Monroe back.

Harry sighed heavily. "We've got twelve hours," he said, taking his tie off and unbuttoning the top two buttons on his shirt. Even though they were in company and it was hardly the most appropriate time, Ruth couldn't help staring at his throat, the sudden urge to peel back his shirt frightening in it's intensity. She looked away and listened to what Adam was saying. Staring at Harry wouldn't stop bombs from blowing up London.

Ruth was being sent off to Oxfordshire to baby sit professor Curtis who had had contact with various members of Shining Dawn. Before she left the grid she noticed something. She did not like the look that Harry was giving one particular women, Juliet Shaw. There was something between them, some past, or history. And Ruth didn't like it one bit.

"Come on Ruth, the cars waiting for you downstairs," Adam said. She shook her head out of her stupor and left the grid.

When the disaster was over, Ruth took Harry up to the roof. She wanted a private conversation with him with no one eavesdropping. So the roof seemed like the safest option. Her patience and subtlety were at a low level because she'd spent the best part of two days with minimal sleep and she'd been chased after by an assassin who'd wanted to shoot the nutty professor. Having someone with a gun on her tail was not a comfortable feeling, and she didn't have the patience right now to tiptoe around the subject.

"You slept with her, didn't you?"

"How do you know that?" The fact that he hadn't even bothered to ask who was referring to spoke volumes.

"It's written all over your face, Harry."

"Well I sincerely hope not," he said. "Half my job is hiding things behind a poker face."

"Maybe I know you better than all of your associates," she said.

"There's nothing there any longer," he said. "Nothing between Juliet and myself."

"Harry, I don't care what you had with her, as long as it's in the past then it doesn't matter. What I am slightly concerned about would be if you slept with her when you were married to your wife." His silence was damning. "Oh Harry." She turned away from him but he grabbed her and made her face him.

"I wouldn't do that to you."

"You don't know that," she said. "You don't know what will happen in the future. How tired and bored you might get of me."

"I am a different man now," he said firmly. "I've seen how much affairs hurt everyone involved. I would never do that again, no matter the circumstances, Ruth. If you think I'm the kind of man now who would cheat on you, you don't know me. And you never have."

"Forgive me, Harry," she said, her voice having biting sarcasm. "But having another woman on the grid you've slept with is not easy."

"I know," he said. "If a man arrived here that you'd slept with I would be insanely jealous. I want no one to have you but me."

"That could be deemed as slightly possessive," she said, but her lips were twitching anyway.

"How about… I want you to be happy. And if that means you want to be with me, so much the better."

"Mm," she said.

"Are you okay?" he asked, eyes running over her. "After…"

"Being chased by a gunman?" she asked. "I'm tired, but yes. I'm okay."

"I wouldn't want to send you into danger," he said softly.

"In order for us to both do our jobs properly, sometimes you might have to," she said quietly.

"It doesn't mean I like it," he said. "And it doesn't mean I value you any less, either."

"I know that, Harry," she said. He took her in his arms, her back to his chest so they were both overlooking the city. It was cold up on the roof, but comfortable with the pair of them close together, sharing their warmth. He kissed the top of her head gently.

"See, London still standing," Harry said. She smiled as Harry covered her hands with his own. She didn't have gloves on and the touch of his black leather gloves on her skin made her shiver. Not from the cold. "Do you want to go inside?"

"Not yet," she said. "I'm enjoying this."

"So am I," he murmured. They were quiet, their hands playing together for many minutes, until a particularly vicious gust of wind made her shiver.

"Let me take you home," he said.

"No," she said with a firmness that surprised him. "I'm not going home."

"Where…?"

"I'm going to the church," she said. "Where Danny…"

"Okay," he said. "I understand."

"I never got to say goodbye."

"I know," he said. "Shall I come with you?"

"I'd like to be alone," she said. "But I do… appreciate the offer, Harry." He smiled at her and kissed her, very gently.

"Do be careful of gun wielding psychopaths in the future," he said, before kissing her again. It started off gentle, but developed into something more. More ardent, and had they not been on the roof of Thames house, it would have become something much more physical.

They were interrupted by the door to the roof banging open. They sprang apart, but it wasn't quickly enough. Ruth blushed crimson as Zaf came onto the roof. By the look on his face, he'd seen exactly what had been going on. "There's a call from Grosvenor Square," he said to Harry. "You're needed on the grid."

Zaf vanished and Ruth felt horribly embarrassed that he'd seen them. Never mind what he would say to everyone else. God, the things people would say when this became common knowledge...

"It'll be all right," Harry said.

"I'm going to go to the…"

"Yes," Harry said, knowing she'd be going to the church. "Don't worry. Call me later." She nodded, and they both came down from the roof, Ruth's face still flaming. She didn't speak to anyone, just picked up her handbag before leaving and Harry could almost feel the icy breeze coming from her. He sighed heavily before going into his office to take the call.