In the dark, he paced up and down. Occasionally, unconsciously, he cried out in fury, but there was no one around to hear him.

Tonight had been a major lapse in judgement. He hadn't recognised the girl until she was in the car beside him and he could see her up close – her disguise was good. But her hair had given her away – it was the main thing he had noticed three days ago, as he observed her and her partner poking around the crime scene. He loved returning to the place he'd done his work, to soak up the atmosphere in the stark light of day. The far end of platform one at Kings Cross station gave him an unimpeded view of York Way; he had found that as a train spotter, he became even more invisible than usual. People literally looked through you, even cops a lot of the time. Those two hadn't even registered his presence.

She had made him show weakness, and for that he was indescribably angry. When he understood who she was, he should have stopped and got rid of her, but the temptation had been too great. The Suitor rarely lost control, and now he had. It wasn't even his right time for killing, but her presence, her smell, the blond hair: it had all been too much. He had decided there and then that he had to possess this one – she was special.

Now he had to deal with the consequences. He had come very close to getting caught. He would need to lie low for a while. And as for the Sergeant… well, he planned to use certain of his contacts to find out a little more about her. He could wait. And when the time was right, they would meet again and he could finish what he started. She was special all right – too special to let go. The thought calmed him, and a smile played momentarily on his thin lips.

Her dreams were full of darkness and fear, and seemed to be interminable. They bled into each other. At some level she knew she was sleeping; she tried desperately to wake, but somehow never could. Now she was running frantically down a corridor. It was vital that she got to the end because chasing her was the man, and if he caught her, he would kill her. The bones in her legs had dissolved, and her progress was tortuously slow. She tried to use her gun but her fingers, like her legs, were devoid of any strength and she couldn't depress the trigger. Ahead, at the door, Dempsey was holding his arms out to her, willing her to move faster. Behind her, the man was gaining, gaining…

Harry came awake, her heart hammering. She opened her eyes, and at first, she didn't understand. The room was white, that was wrong – and her bedclothes were white too. The pillow felt unfamiliar against her cheek: scratchy, with a faintly chemical smell. She turned her head slightly, and to her surprise, saw Dempsey, uncomfortably asleep in a plastic armchair next to her. What was he doing here?

Then it came back. Kings Cross, and Tina. The car. The man. Him on top of her, the two of them grappling… and then falling backwards into darkness. Her stomach contracted and she had to fight a wave of nausea as she remembered the moment when she had understood who he was. His eyes… she would never forget those eyes.

There was something wrong with her head. Gingerly, she put her fingers up and felt bandages. There was pain too. She must have smashed it falling out of the car. Experimentally, she flexed her limbs. Other than the head wound, she seemed to be all right. A miracle. In the chair, Dempsey stirred. She watched his lids flutter open, dark pupils struggling to focus.

"Hi" she whispered. He looked at her, confused. Then, as it had for her, understanding dawned.

"Angel." He sat up straight, quickly alert. 'How ya feelin'? The doc says it's just a little bump. You're gonna be fine in no time."

"I'm okay," she said, but she knew her face probably told him otherwise. Suddenly, all she wanted was to have him close to her, to remove the pain.

He seemed to read her thoughts. Wordlessly, he moved to the bed and took her in his arms. He held her for a long time.

'I'm sorry," she said at last, speaking slowly, not trusting the tears to stay away.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I was such a fool. Getting into that car. Trying to prove a point. You were right."

"Listen angel, I shoulda been there. Some partner I was."

"But, I told you not to come. I was so focussed on showing everyone I could handle the situation – " she pulled back then, looked at him. His brown eyes were full of tenderness, and she couldn't help thinking of their contrast with the killer's. He stroked her hair.

"Harry, you was just unlucky. Damned unlucky. That you lived to tell the tale at all's the only thing that matters."

She didn't want to think too much about that.

"What happened after I…?"

"Sonofabitch got away. We had backup units all over the area within two minutes but somehow he slipped through the net."

She sat back against the pillows, taking it in. Dempsey returned to the chair.

"I froze, Dempsey," she said slowly. "I couldn't shoot him. Something inside me… I just couldn't do it."

"It all happened so fast, that's what it was," he said, not meeting her eye. "You was in shock. He was driving at 50 miles an hour. Extreme situation."

She shook her head. "Maybe. I don't know. I'll tell you something though," she fingered the stiff material of the hospital sheet, "I've never seen anyone so cold. We looked at each other, and I knew. His eyes…it was like gazing into the abyss. After that, I lost it a bit."

She looked so desolate, with her bruised face and bandaged head, Dempsey's heart contracted. The truth was, he had been asking himself all night why she hadn't pulled the trigger while the man was driving. But going over it wasn't going to help, and would knock her confidence down even further.

"Listen kid," he said awkwardly, "I gotta go and follow up some of those leads this afternoon. Remember the cracker toy place Chas found? I'll drop by later on. Spikings'll be here in a while too; you can work on the e-fit with him. Hey," he smiled at her in what he hoped was an optimistic way, "so we didn't catch him, but one of us has been up close enough that when the bastard comes on our radar again, we're gonna by 100% sure of him."

Harry shuddered. "Okay," she sighed, "tell Spikings to bring the case files when he comes will you? I don't know how long they're going to keep me in here but I'm not going to sit around doing nothing until they let me out."