Fear

Ruth lay face down with her eyes shut as the cold seeped into her bones. She felt sick, knowing the man who had taken her off the street had stripped her of her coat and shoes. Her left hand throbbed where her wedding and eternity rings had been forcibly removed. Anger filled her bones as she thought about her little girl and how she had been used to manipulate her. She prayed the little girl was safe as she imagined her crying for her mummy.

"Gracie-Jo." Ruth whispered. "Mummy is comping." She forced her eyes open knowing that there was no way she was going to sit round waiting for Harry and the others to rescue her.

Xxxxx

"Harry." Ros walked into his office as Harry leaned heavily on the desk. Everything about him radiated anger and fear. "Catherine has had extra security put on Graham and the kids. I called the hospital; spoke to Sabrina Masood. Tariq is being taken off life support this afternoon and moved from ITU to HDU."

"Progress."

"Yes." Ros glared at her friend. "Don't you dare give up on Ruth. You know she's not done weakling. Whatever I once thought of her. She's tougher than she looks."

"The inverse is true for you."

Ros raised an eyebrow, ignoring the remark she glared at him. "Calum has the CCTV footage outside the nursery. Ruth never stepped inside the building."

"They know where my daughter goes to school. Where Amy and James go." He looked up. Ros nodded once.

"Ruth never even entered the grounds. Do you want to see the footage? Malcolm and Catherine is going through it now."

"No." Harry's voice was a growl. Ros knew him well enough to know when he was on the verge of exploding. It was rare these days - Ruth had always been a calming influence but without her there was nothing to hold him back. He looked Ros directly in the eye. "Ruth is dead."

"Bullshit." Ros snapped. "She's alive in that footage and you never give up on her. Not Ruth. Not you."

"He called. Ten minutes ago. You were Briefing the others. I demanded proof of life." He paused, eyes closed for a moment. "He refused. Told me she had cried for me and the kids. He told me what he did to her."

"Ruth has been taken hostage before." Ros glared at him. He had never looked so defeated. "The woman isn't going to behave like that! He's lying. He's trying to get under your skin. And you are letting him. Man up Pearce! As an operative Ruth is one of us. As an analyst she is Section D and we are going to bring her home. We find her."

"He said Tariq was target practice."

"It's all smoke and mirrors, Harry. Secrets and lies. It's the world we live in." Ros glared. The door opened as Zaf barged in.

"What!"

"You need to see this." Zaf turned , leaving the office as Ros and Harry followed him.

Xxxxxxxx

Will parked the car a few feet away from where Ruth's little blue metro sat abandoned. He made a mental note to have the car taken back to Thames House. He left the car before jogging along the street to the school gate. He knew very little of what had happened in Section D before he had joined - Erin had eluded to Ruth being in the field in 'deep cover' for over two years but the details hadn't been filled in. He ran a hand through his black hair, trying to work out what the kidnappers would have done. Sighing he looked across at Beth appeared.

"She's worried about the kid." Will frowned.

"Gracie-Jo." Beth corrected. "Her name is Gracie-Jo Pearce."

"Ok." Will frowned. "How they do it? Get her phone number and trick her into thinking her daughter was sick? I mean Ruth isn't stupid."

"Her daughter was in trouble. That's all she cared about. If it were Catherine or one of the boys she'd have done the same." Beth explained. "That camera covers the school and the street outside. We have that footage."

"Yeah." Will nodded as Beth looked around the street. "School is the one place the kids should be safe."

"True." Beth nodded. "Ruth is tough though. She's been through more than we know about. Baghdad. Undercover, everything else."

"So what do we do?"

Beth swore under her breath, wondering if anymore of her friends would be attacked. Pulling out her mobile phone as it rang she turned away. "Hi Dim." She closed her eyes as she listened to her partner. "Is he Ok? No. No news on Ruth. Ok." She ended the call before turning back to Will. "Kevin was attacked. Dim's taken him to A&E."

"Sienna? That Kev?"

"Yeah." Beth tapped her phone against the other hand. "Tariq, Kevin and Ruth. Indian Muslim man, Ex special forces turned drag queen and now intelligence analyst. What's the connection?"

"Beth?"

"Section D. That's the connection." Beth turned to him. "Tariq and Ruth obviously linked and Kev has helped us before." Will pulled a face. "All the race war stuff we've been dealing with was a sideline. He's coming after us."

Will shook his head, not quite believing her as he followed her towards the Car.

Xxxxxxxx

Ruth lay on the cold concrete floor going through all her injuries in her mind. She knew she had been drugged- the familiar brain fog that clouded her thoughts was only just beginning to lift. 'Left ring finger broken, concussion, rib injury and possibly fractured ankle.' She mentally sighed; knowing that her captors had to believe she was unconscious if she had any chance of surviving. She thought of Harry finding out she'd been taken. She knew he would be terrified and angry - not a good combination. She felt her heart break as she thought of her husband and children. A man's voice caught her attention as she realised her captor was talking to Harry. She knew there was no way that she was going to wait around for Harry to get himself killed trying to rescue her. She had to get home. Somehow.

Xxxxxx

A/N please review if you are reading this x