"What?" Harry and Chas said at the same time.

"You're not a cop anymore." Harry reminded him, coming out of her reverie.

"Harry's right Dempsey." Chas confirmed.

"So what? You're the boss, you could get me a clearance so I can investigate, ask questions, have access to all the files. Like a detective or something like that." he surmised.

"It's not that easy."

Dempsey snorted.

"Come on Dempsey, you know there are rules and procedures. I can't do whatever I want, this is serious." Chas reasoned.

"What's serious? Their neck or your pension?" he raged. "Come on Chas I need your help!"

Chas sighed. "Let's face it Dempsey, even if you were still a cop, I wouldn't give you the case" Chas was rational. "You're emotionally involved."

"Of course I'm emotionally involved!" he bellowed "that's MY kids we're talking about! What do you expect me to do? Sit here nicely and wait to see who's murdered and who's not?" He walked to the window and leaned on the sill, catching up his breath. Then he went on with a much calmer yet determined voice. "I'm doing it Chas, whether you help me or not."

Chas shook his head. He should have expected this. Dempsey was no man to sit and wait while his family was in danger. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "Ok, I'll see what I can do." he conceded and stood up. He had people to see and phone calls to make. "You can already consult all the files you want, just ask Fry, he's in charge of all research in the records and if you…"

Harry hadn't moved or said anything for a few minutes now so that her interruption made both the men jumped. "Get me that clearance too."

"What?" the men said.

"I said 'get me that clearance too'" she repeated in a resolute voice.

"Oh no! You're not doing this!" Dempsey exclaimed.

"It's not up to you to…"

"You're NOT doing this!" he repeated furiously.

"This is also my family!" she retorted. "What do you expect me to do?" she used his own words against him.

Chas felt he'd better leave them alone for a while and left the room without anyone noticing him. He had orders to give to Thompson anyway. It felt strange. There hadn't been so much tension and electricity floating in the air of this office since… well since the time Harry and James had been working here.

Inside the office, James was pacing. Harry hadn't moved an inch, her arms crossed, her eyes resolute.

Dempsey shook his head, upset; there was no way he would let her do that. "I thought you said that..."

"Forget what I said." She dismissed his comment before he could even say it aloud. It was true, only yesterday, she had made it clear that she didn't want them to have anything to do with police work anymore, but yesterday her family hadn't been in danger. "Things are different now, I want to do it."

Damn! Harry was so stubborn sometimes! He decided to try another approach and knelt in front of her. "This is gonna be dangerous Harry. I don't want you in the front line."

"You will be." She countered.

"That's not the same." He dismissed her comment immediately.

"How's that?" she exasperated.

He shook his head and walked back to the window.

Harry bit her lip and frowned. He was concerned, maybe even afraid, but she had to do it, they had to do it, together. Determined, she stood up and walked to his side. "You know, one day somebody told me that it was with me you stood the best chance to stay alive. I believe this person was right." She paused and grabbed his hand. "I don't want to lose you."

"Me neither." His voice was low, tired. "So why don't you stay with the kids. We'll find you a safe house and…" he stopped; she was shaking her head slowly.

"What happened to those words? In sickness and in health, till death sentence do us apart."

"Damn it Harry, you're not funny!"

"I never intended to be. I'm just trying to make you see…" Her voice was calm now. The threat hanging above her family still weighted heavily on her, but now that she knew they would act she felt calmer. She only had to make him see that it was the right solution. "We're a team James! Whether it's at SI10 or in our private lives, we've got to stick together! Don't you remember what you told me that day at the museum? 'We're a team, we're partners, we know each other's moves before we do them'. You were right. We need each other."

She tried to meet his eyes but he kept scrutinizing the horizon through the window. "You work in, I work in." she whispered.

He finally turned to face her. He cupped her face in his hands and gave her a small kiss on the lips. His arms slipped around her shoulder and he rested his forehead on her hers. "Let's get our kids into safety and find those bastards… partner!"

She smiled weakly and nodded. She knew he was about to kiss her again so she freed herself from his embrace on the pretence to go and read one of the New York files. She wouldn't have been able to explain why but now that she knew they would be working together on the case she didn't feel like being near him. Her emotions were once again raging and colliding with fury in her heart and in her mind. She felt betrayed, lost, sad, furious and scared and didn't know how to deal with it. For now, it was easier to be looking at facts and data than facing her own crumbling reality.

Dempsey watched her shifting through the papers, it had been years since she last did that. When he had left the force two decades ago he would never have believed he would have to plunge into this again, nor that he would be doing it with Harry. They had both agreed that this job was far too dangerous and time-consuming to have a family and there he was, signing up again for the job and taking his wife with him into his madness. God he hoped he wouldn't regret this!