Eek! Another two week gap. Sorry! I seem to have a lot more things to do this year which are getting in the way of my writing time. Not to mention work! Anyway, on with the story...
Harry got home in a dark mood. Both for being thrown off the grid, and that for a few days he'd be kept away from Ruth. Graham looked up from his breakfast as Harry went into the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I've been suspended," Harry said shortly.
"Why?" Graham asked, a slight smile hovering on his lips. It was the most animated Harry had seen him in about a week.
"I made a bad judgement call," he said. "And two people died."
"Oh," Graham said. "That is a bad call."
"I couldn't have known what he'd do," Harry said, shaking his head. "There will probably be people watching the house," he added.
"Why?"
"To make sure I don't do anything stupid, I'd imagine," Harry said. He sighed very heavily. "And to keep an eye on me."
"How bad is it?" Graham asked seriously.
"I could lose my job," Harry said, taking his tie off. "It's all a bloody mess."
That night Ruth couldn't sleep. It'd been a long time since she'd slept without Harry by her side. Even if he got home late or had to leave early due to a JIC meeting or whatever urgency Whitehall required him for, he usually spent part of the night with her. It was a comfort to her that she hadn't realised quite how much she relied on his presence next to her. At the moment her bed felt too large and too empty. She was now resenting not giving full attention to her move with Harry. Because if she had, she'd now be in the same house as him, rather than in her own lonely one.
She sighed and rolled over, staring at her pitch black ceiling and hoping that sleep would take her soon.
It was only barely the afternoon when Adam approached her. "I need you to put the Khurvin file on a memory stick," he said. "Discreetly."
"Why?" Ruth asked quietly, making sure Juliet wasn't in earshot.
"For Harry."
"How is he?" she asked. She couldn't quite articulate the need she felt to see him. It was insane, it'd only been a little over a day. She could function without him for twenty four hours. He surely wasn't sitting at home wishing for her. Though she liked to hope he was.
"He's fine," Adam said. "Trust me."
She nodded and went to work on the memory stick for Harry.
On the bus heading home that evening, Ruth was pretending to read. She noticed instantly when Harry came on the bus, moving to sit behind her. But she didn't move, didn't make a sign that she was aware of him. Clearly her spook training went deep.
"No one's listening," Harry said quietly.
"Oh?"
"I'm sure." She sighed heavily and turned to look at him, not bothering to ask exactly how he was sure. It wasn't important right now.
"I miss you," she said. "The grid really isn't the same without you there."
"I miss you too," he said. "I'd go mad if I had to watch daytime television all the time," he added. She let a half smile appear on her face and he grinned.
"Did Adam…"
"I have it here," she said. She put her arm against the seat, memory stick in hand. Harry reached for her, his touch very soft and gentle as his skin brushed hers.
"Thanks," he said quietly. She couldn't resist from curling her fingers into her palm at the absence of his touch. It didn't take long before his hand was back, holding hers. After almost a full minute in which neither of them spoke, he shifted slightly and she knew the moment was ending. She pulled her arm back by her side as he got up to leave. "I'll be over later. I have to see you," Ruth said simply.
"Be careful," he said, not wanting to tell her that she shouldn't come over. He needed to see her too. Somewhere less public. She nodded in agreement. He brushed aside her hair and leaned forward, kissing her neck sensually. She closed her eyes as his lips and tongue briefly caressed her skin. A promise of more later, with luck.
"Later," he said, voice low. She nodded and watched as he left, her mind now miles away from the forgotten book in her lap.
Harry was in the kitchen, waiting for Ruth to come through the back door. He knew she would. It only took twenty minutes longer than he'd expected when the door opened.
"How are you?" he asked, eyes running over her figure.
"I was careful," she said, answering the question he was really asking her. "No one followed me and…" he wrapped his arms around her tightly, interrupting her. "And I missed you," she finished, speaking into his chest.
"God, it's good to see you," he said, kissing the top of her head.
"Is the house…"
"Clear," he said. "We still have a little bit of privacy."
"Good," she said. She kissed him thoroughly, needing to touch him. For several minutes they didn't speak. Words weren't necessary.
It hadn't surprised Graham in the slightest when Ruth appeared in the kitchen late at night after Harry's suspension. However he couldn't help it, Graham was curious about this woman whom his father seemed so overly attached to, in a way Graham had never seen before.
So when he woke in the middle of the night, thirsty, he couldn't help but listen at the doorway of his fathers bedroom when he heard voices. Well, he probably could help it, but he was too damn curious to stop himself.
"Sleep," Harry murmured.
"I can't," Ruth said. "I keep turning things over in my mind."
"Like?"
"How is your suspension going to work?" she asked. "What if this mess isn't cleared up, or… if it is but your proved in the wrong? That you should never have let Khurvin go. What then?"
"Let it all just crinkle out," he said with a sigh.
"Don't quote Adam to me," she said, but even Graham could hear the smile in her voice. "I don't want us to be kept apart," she said more seriously. "And I hate taking orders from that… woman."
"Ruth, you know we don't talk about her in bed," he said firmly.
"She's just such a bitch."
"She might not have my various charms but that doesn't mean you can't work for her." Ruth laughed lightly.
"I am worried though," she said. "Plus I'm going to have to sneak out of your house at God knows what time in the morning like some teenager. It's humiliating for a woman my age."
"It's only temporary," he said. "If it's any consolation I've missed you too. Over the last few days."
"I didn't realise before," she started, then tailed off.
"Go on."
"How much I need you at work. Or not exactly need, just... look forward to seeing you. How I've come to rely on seeing your face to brighten my day. Not until it's no longer there. My world can be… lonely sometimes. Especially without you." There was a heavy sigh and she continued. "That came out more sentimental than I meant it. Blame how tired I am."
"I'm worried about Adam," Harry said after a few moments silence, not knowing what to say to her words. "I think he's…"
"He's doing okay," Ruth interrupted. "Despite what you said, I am keeping an eye on him, he's my friend too."
"I know that." Ruth sighed very heavily.
"We're going to have to come clean at work, aren't we?" Ruth said. "Properly, I mean. Fully in the open. If this goes on, your suspension… I can't be kept away from you. I need you."
"Everyone important already knows," Harry said quietly. "It won't matter."
"I value you… value us too much," she said. "I no longer care what anyone says. You're more important to me."
Graham decided this was probably an opportune moment to stop eavesdropping and he quietly walked back to his bedroom, feeling more than a little guilty.
"It's taken you a while to realise that," he said after a few moments silence while he absorbed her declaration.
"Yes," she said simply. "And I'm sorry for that," she added sincerely.
"Don't be," he said. "I wouldn't want to change one thing about you. Because then you wouldn't be the woman I love." She turned towards him and kissed his chest as he held her.
"I am sorry it took me so long," she said against his chest. "I know you've been… patient."
"Mm," he agreed. "I might… disappear for a few days," he said. "To sort this case out. If I do, I don't want you to worry."
"But you're not going to tell me where you're going to go, are you?" she asked.
"No," he said. "Sorry. It's not that I don't trust you, it's…"
"I understand," she said, kissing his chest. She did, even if she'd have preferred to know.
"Can you sleep?" he asked.
"Have you set the alarm?" she asked.
"Yes."
"I'll try then." She kissed his shoulder and fidgeted in bed until she was comfy. Harry watched her in the silence of the night. Or as silent as London ever got. He didn't think sleep would come easily to him, his mind was turning over everything far too much for relaxation. But watching Ruth, for the moment, was enough to calm him.
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