Ok heres the next chappie for Gems before she goes away sniff, for kate for her persistance and for Em my wonderful beta (who also pointed out what a muppet I am!)

Ta x Enjoy and R&R x

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Harry had been pacing for longer than he could fathom. There was something about that simple sequence of steps that, with time, made him feel better. Whenever his paces took him to the door through to triage, he would stop and look up, expectantly, hoping some one would come running through to tell him, no the world wasn't ending and yes she was fine. He was doing this now, stood waiting, weighing up the likeliness that if he turned round to start another sequence of steps that some one would come running through. He did it each time, hoping that if he wasn't watching the door it would some how miraculously open. A watched pot never boils came to mind and he turned on his heels. Ruth had said to him once that he paced, he had never noticed it until now. Pacing was supposed to help you forget everything or work things out, this time Harry was failing to do either. He had no idea why Oliver Mace would want to kill him. Well, that wasn't true. He could think of a million reasons why, but why now? That was what he couldn't work out. Why now? The other question he couldn't fathom the answer to was what he was going to do about Ruth? He needed to know why she did it, but then what? Did he leave her? Did he stay? Could he trust her if he did? Did she still want him to? What would he tell Adam and Malcolm? If they didn't stay together, did he sack her? Then lose everything all in one foul swoop?

Too many questions. He was back looking at the door, staring at its clinical frame, the metallic handle, the frosted glass and the green shiny no-entry signs.

"Harry" he had forgotten Malcolm was sat on the horrible blue plastic chairs. "You really should go home and get some rest, you've not slept for three days, when she wakes up she'll need you there but you're no use to any one in the state you are."

Harry had lost him at "when" he couldn't get past the hope that she was still there with both of them.

"Malcolm. How long have you known Ruth?" Harry walked over to the chairs and sat, one away from his colleague, giving them both a little space. Malcolm breathed in, deep and heavy, and looked at his hands. He didn't really want to broach this subject, not now, but he knew it would take Harry's mind off what had just happened.

"It was 1989 at a college party in Oxford. Her friend Gemma, we had been good friends, we grew up together, she invited me along. Ruth was sat in a corner, the only one there with a glass of wine in her hand, that's why I first went over, the beer was god-awful." He chuckled to himself, chancing a glance at Harry he saw a small smile playing across his face. He could tell he was still in love with her, he didn't think that would change, not even after what had happened. He forced the thoughts from his head and carried on. "I sat down next to her. She gave me one quick glance and, I think, decided I wasn't worth talking to. I'd already drunk a bit with Gemma before we got to the party and missed her subtle brush off so tried to start a conversation. I wasn't really interested in her, not that way anyway." He said in response to Harry's raised eyebrow. "I just didn't want to have to drink the beer. I some how managed to get her into a conversation about the wine and she offered me a glass. We just talked from there, I think she thought I was seeing Gemma, it seemed to make her more comfortable knowing I was attached. I wasn't though, I just let her think that. I never did that again, I always said it, 'what did I learn from Ruth?' 'Never to let a person assume something that's false, they think its worse then lying'. She was really angry when she found out about my little untruth. She went to talk to someone else and saw Gemma with another girl. She shouted at me across the party. If I hadn't been so drunk we would have hit it off better." He shook his head slightly, wishing this was an altogether better memory. It just reminded him how he took her for granted, took their friendship for granted. "I saw her a few more times when I went to visit Gemma, we got on so well. Gemma was intellectual, funny and interesting, but Ruth was something else. She had a spark, something that made her stand out from the crowd. I was never interested in her in any other way than friendship but she captivated me. Soon I was making excuses to travel up there. The year after we met I sold my share of WhizzFizz and joined MI-5. We kept in touch Christmas cards and such. Then she arrived on the grid." He turned to Harry who was now sat with his head in his hands again. "How did you first meet her? What did you think of her?" Harry looked up, a slight pain in his eyes.

"The first time I met her was when I fell for her. We had been looking for an analyst for months, years even, we knew someone was needed, some one who was special. The powers that be came to me with her file, they has conducted research on her. She was the GCHQ star but was obviously tired of working for works sake. She had requested a secondment and I needed an analyst, I went through her file, the more I read the more intoxicated I became by her. The transcripts of conversations captivated me; her back ground was so tragic yet it was evident that she had used it to become stronger. I was falling for someone I had never seen a picture of, let alone met." Harry stood up again, taking two steps from the seat. He rubbed his forehead, keeping his back to Malcolm. "The first day I met her, well, she bowled me over. I knew she was coming but I was knocked back when she arrived. She was gorgeous as well as intelligent." He turned. "I'm not saying I planned what happened, or picked her because of how I felt, she was perfect for the job, just perfect." Malcolm nodded. He knew Harry didn't let his emotions cloud his judgement, even today he had done what was best for the operation, rather than what he knew he wanted to do. "I was never sure how she felt about me, but how I felt for her never changed. It was Juliet who first made me ask her to dinner you know? Just after her accident, I've never properly thanked her." He stopped for a few seconds, pondering what he had just said.

Malcolm raised his head. "What are you going to do now?"

"I have no idea. I still love her, I think I always will. But by societies standards I shouldn't. I should be outraged, never want to see her again, want to leave her and find some one who will treat me better." He flopped back down into the chair and screwed up his eyes. "But I don't, I want to run in there and scoop her up in my arms, tell her everything will be alright, that I'll never leave her and hold her forever. I don't want to lose her Malcolm," he sighed, "but I don't know what to do."

They sat in silence. Malcolm left and returned coffee in hand, and both sat un-drunk beside its owner. Harry glanced at the clock: they had been there six hours. He picked up his cold stale coffee and downed it in one. There was a noise at the end of the corridor and a young nurse was making her way up to them. She stopped a few metres from Harry.

"Mr. Pearce?" She asked. Harry looked up at her, she looked tired and stressed, . NHS he thought to himself. This nurse held a concern he didn't often see in peoples faces now-a-days. He made a note of her name, Tas. Funny name he thought, wondering if it was her full name or a short for something.

"Yes" Harry nodded eventually.

"Are you here for Miss. Evans?"

"Yes, how is she?"

"Recovering, . she She was had ingested a cocktail of drugs. The amounts of each were small: alone they wouldn't have affected her, but the fact she took them together meant she was highly taci-hycardic when she arrived, . we We momentarily lost her but she's back and doing much better. We need to keep her in in-defiantlyindefinitely but she should be fine." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, . he He didn't really know why, that wasn't good news, but under the circumstances it was all he had hoped for.

"And Mr. Crane?" Harry asked.

"Oh Alex?" She blushed slightly, it seemed Adam had made a bit of an impression on her. "He will be able to go home tonight, can you take him?"

Malcolm nodded. Both men sat back down in their chairs, took a deep breath and smiled slightly. Everything was going to be alright, at least for tonight.