Get Me: A fic about one character saving another

A/N: Inspired by an episode of Castle!

Harry was sat in the kitchen reading the newspaper when Ruth appeared in his kitchen fresh from her shower and ready to face the day.

"Good morning," she greeted, approaching his chair and leaning down to kiss him.

"Mmm. Good morning." Harry gestured to the newspaper. "There's a performance of Mozart's Fifth at St Martin in the Fields tonight if you fancy it?"

"I would love to but I can't. I'm going out for dinner with an old friend from school, remember?" Ruth replied.

"You don't sound too thrilled about it."

"Well, Sarah is lovely, but she's always been really competitive; talking about her fabulous, exciting life, non-stop."

"You're a spy Ruth, what's more exciting than that?"

"Yes, but she thinks I push paper at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Anyway, the last time I talked to her she'd just come back from the French Riviera with a millionaire she met in Monaco!"

"Do you want me to come? I could regale her with thrilling tales from the Department of Work and Pensions," Harry quipped.

"Definitely not. You are exactly her type, Harry; slightly older, suave, sophisticated. The last thing I need is to watch her trying it on with you." She paused for a moment before continuing. "You could do something for me though."

"Yeah?"

"You could ring me about 9ish and provide me with a reason to leave."

"What, an emergency at work?" he replied raising an eyebrow. "Perhaps a herd of cows on the rampage?"

Ruth slapped him lightly on the chest. "I'm serious. If you don't hear from me by 9 o'clock, you've got to ring me and get me out of there. Please?"

Harry relented, picking up his phone. "Okay."

"You won't forget?"

"I am setting a reminder as we speak," he replied, typing it into his calendar. Once he'd finished he held it up to show her. "See?"

Ruth read the display. 21:00 CALL RUTH TO RESCUE HER.

"Thanks Harry," she said, pecking him on the cheek. "Of course this is all dependent on us getting through the day without a national emergency? Is it wrong that part of me wants the day to blow up in my face?"

Much to Ruth's annoyance, the day went as smoothly as possible, so there was no legitimate excuse for her to cancel her plans. Jo asked her why she didn't just lie and say she was too busy, but Ruth didn't feel comfortable with that… Sarah was her friend and, though she might be slightly annoying, she didn't deserve to be lied to.

So, like the good friend that she was, Ruth left work at six to go home and change before meeting her at Princi's, an Italian restaurant in Soho. The evening was even worse than Ruth had imagined it would be and she had never been so grateful for a phone call in her life, and they hadn't even been served the main course.

"Excuse me," she said to Sarah as she fished her phone out of her bag and stepped away from the table, out of Sarah's earshot. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's me, your friendly neighbourhood rescuer." Harry's smooth voice came over the line.

"Oh thank God," Ruth replied, relieved.

"I take it you want to get out of there?"

"Yes! Most definitely. This is hell!"

"Well, why don't you come round and you can tell me about it."

"On one condition," she stipulated.

"What's that?"

"You have a large glass of wine and a Chinese waiting for me."

Harry poured Ruth a large glass of wine, as they sat at the table with their meal. She took it from him and gulped half of it down before he'd even finished filling his own glass.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Was it that bad? Did she go on about luxury yachts and holidays in the Seychelles?"

Ruth shook her head. "No. Worse. She was boring."

"Boring?"

"Yeah. All she did was complain about her husband saying now that she's married there's no romance in her life; it's just an endless routine of sameness."

"So your fabulous friend…"

"Is not so fabulous anymore." They ate in silence for a few moments before Ruth spoke up again. "That's not going to happen to us is it?" she asked nervously. "Marriage isn't going to change us is it? We're not going become one of those couples who go to the same two restaurants and only have sex on public holidays?

"I think we're pretty safe on that score," Harry assured her, with a slight smirk. "I mean, we both know how irresistible you find me."

"I'm being serious. You've said yourself you were bored with Jane… that's one of the reason you had affairs. And I don't want that to happen to us. I don't want you to become bored with me, and I certainly don't want to become bored with you."

Harry put down his fork. "Boredom was only one of the reasons for my marriage breaking down and by no means the main one. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I wouldn't have proposed to you if I didn't. I love you." Ruth smiled, but Harry could see it didn't quite reach her eyes. He took her hand across the table. "Ruth, I can't see the future; I'm not Mystic Meg, and I can't promise that there won't be times when we get fed-up or bored or annoyed with each other but that's part and parcel of all relationships; married or not. It's how we deal with it that matters. We could see if we could get it added into the wedding vows if you want... 'for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, in excitement and boredom, when having copious amounts of sex and when not'."

Ruth laughed lightly. "I'm not sure the vicar would approve that!"

"You're probably right. But I promise you, here and now, that I will endeavour not to become a bore and keep romancing you and making love to you until I die."

"And I promise not become a bore either or a nagging wife. And to constantly surprise you."

"That sounds… dangerous." mused Harry as they both went back to eating their meals.

"Oh I don't know," Ruth replied with a raised eyebrow as her foot found its way into his lap and began rubbing him through his jeans. "I think it sounds rather exciting,"

Harry decided he most definitely agreed.