This is the beginning which is at the end of the story. I guess the end of the story is an odd place to start it.

Anyway gentle reader, my question to you is - is your seat set to 'upright', have you folded away your tray table and is your seat belt securely fastened?

Good.

Then take my hand and let us set the remote to rewind as we travel back through the mists of time to discover what happened ....

In the Beginning…

Even as an elderly man Lucas North could still remember the day he met his wife.

It was the same day that, like a cat, Adam Carter had expended his nine lives and finally resolved the question of whether he was mortal like the rest of them.

A day that had ended with an unusual silence on the grid and an eerie trail of smoke silhouetted in the skies above central London. Chiaroscuro, Lucas had thought when he'd seen it – the difference between light and dark and the colours in between.

But it was also the first day for eight years that Lucas North had woken up and had the freedom to decide what he wanted to do with himself.

And what he wanted to do was work. And so, apparently, did she.

Harry had been the first to mention her.

"Jo's back," he'd said to Malcolm, sounding pleased.

"Good," he'd said. "We need all our officers on board. Where is she?"

"With HR," Harry had replied.

Lucas listened to their conversation but didn't comment. There were too many unknowns, too many unfamiliar names now for him to single out only one to question.

Later he'd looked up from his desk, distracted from his thoughts of what Elizabeta might be doing now by the sound of Ros' voice.

"Have you met Jo?" she'd asked in a disinterested tone, clearly hoping to dispense with the social niceties as soon as possible.

Lucas hadn't paused to considered what he might expect but she wasn't it.

The girl was willowy but also curvaceous, with short blonde hair fashioned into a sleek style and quite beautiful with large soulful eyes. She was younger than he'd expected given that she'd obviously been working here for at least a little while.

He'd met a raft of female agents in his career and they generally had a toughness about them, a no nonsense, down to business type quality. Ros was a perfect example. Connie too.

This one was very …un MI5.

Lucas smiled, "I don't think I've had the pleasure."

"Lucas, Jo – Jo, Lucas," Ros said shortly, not even bothering to look up from her paperwork as she made the introductions. He stepped forward to shake her hand heartily, and greeted her with a confident, "Pleased to meet you."

Jo smiled back at him pleasantly, but her manner was reserved.

He was very tall, but lean, and his face was angular with piercing blue eyes. He was undoubtedly handsome but he had a disturbingly perceptive manner about him that seemed to indicate that with very little effort he might know you better than you did yourself. Jo disengaged her hand and took a step back from him.

Shortly after her arrival, Connie had hastily pulled her aside in the corridor to inform that they had a returning agent on board and had filled her in on Lucas' back story.

"Harry will be pleased to have you back," said Jo politely, not really sure what else to say to a man who had been shut off from the world for eight years.

He hadn't commented on that, and had instead changed the subject and asked her what her role was.

"Junior field officer," she'd replied quietly.

He nodded, "well I look forward to working with you."

**

Jo had watched Lucas suspiciously at first. She'd seen the way Harry was treating him already. Three days and it was like Adam had never existed, that Lucas had been Harry's right hand man the whole time.

She had lost Adam and he'd been replaced by this man. This tall, foreign stranger would be the new Adam. She felt like screaming that she missed the old Adam, that she wouldn't accept this new one and that they should take him back. But she knew enough about the world to know that screaming wouldn't do any good.

Over the past few days, Lucas had been preoccupied with thoughts of his ex wife. He'd wondered at what stage she'd given up waiting, given up hope. Who her new husband was, how he treated her. And he thought about her child – somehow that thought hurt the most of all.

Though he was tired from the long nights on his bedroom floor, he'd also had time to consider his new colleagues. Ros and Connie he found straightforward. Both consummate professionals, cool and level headed, tactical game players. Ben hadn't made much of an impact on him, but he was pleasant enough. He could see that the young man had good instincts though he was in need of further training.

The other girl he couldn't make out. She was efficient, and seemed to have the trust of the team, but she was quiet. Unlike him, she seemed to have no difficulty picking up from where she had left off before, though it wasn't immediately obvious to him what she was back from. Maternity leave didn't seem likely. She would have been plumper if that were the case and she didn't appear to be recovering from an illness either.

Later that night, Harry had invited him into his office and offered him a drink. He'd accepted gratefully. After all these years with so little company, he was hardly going to turn down the offer of a friendly drink and conversation with someone he knew to be both intelligent and insightful.

"So, how are you finding your new place?" Harry had began.

"Oh, you know, it's not quite up to the standard of luxury I've become accustomed to courtesy of the Russian State, but I'm making do," Lucas replied with an ironic smile.

Harry nodded. "And you've had your medical?" he continued.

Lucas nodded, "The doctor said I was in surprising good condition considering, though I could do with putting on a few pounds."

"Sounds like sound advice to me," Harry said sagely.

"Are you planning to come to the funeral tomorrow? The rest of the team will be there. We'd like you to attend also – if you wanted to, that is," he continued.

"Oh, well," Lucas said hesitantly, "I'm not sure if its appropriate. I didn't know him that well, but I know he meant a lot to the team."

Harry nodded and said quietly, "He did. Ros in particular though she doesn't like to admit it, and Jo too, especially over the past few months."

Lucas looked at Harry quizzically, "where's she been these past few month's, by the way? Has she been ill?"

Harry was tired. He didn't want to have that conversation with Lucas, definitely not now and preferably not ever. He just wanted to pour himself another glass of whiskey and go home and try not to think about what Wes Carter's face might look like tomorrow. And yet if Lucas didn't know he would probably unwittingly put his foot in it and say something to upset Jo. And so many things could upset Jo. He sighed and got up to unlock his file drawer, then rifled through it and handed Lucas a file marked 'Joanna Portman.'

He grimaced and commented quietly, "It's not happy reading I'm afraid." Then his voice changed and he said brusquely, "Don't let Jo see you have that and make sure you return it to me tomorrow morning."

Lucas nodded, curious now as to whether the file would reveal that the girl had been squeezed out of service on at least a temporarily basis for some unknown disciplinary offence or whether it would show her to be suffering from some form of mental instability.

**

Hmm, hope you like it so far. Compared to the other chapters this has been really difficult to write - but so, so fascinating. Bear in mind when you're reading it that they are not in love here. I can see that the backstory is going to stretch to at least 5 or 6 chapters to get everything I wanted to in. Next chapter wil be set the next day at Adam's funeral.