Come home

I HAVE NOT finished yet. As I told a few of you in PMs, I have a cannon character to introduce (they turn up next chapter, any guesses as to who?) and someone to kill.

17/5/98

Fiona walked back in to Adam's room and returned to her seat on his left. He looked at her steadily. He was much more with it this morning, they'd taken his morphine down and put local anaesthetic in his wounds. She'd eaten, he hadn't been able to face it for the pain in his mouth, so had been stomach tubed. She'd also just been sick again.

"Are you alright?" He asked her. She smiled.

"You're asking me?" He smiled back, lop-sided and black eyed, then looked at her sincerely. "Just before I left," He began. "it was day twenty-seven, and today is May the..."

"Seventeenth." Fiona supplied.

"So it's day... thirty-eight, or have we started again?" Fiona shook her head. There was a brief silence. "So..."

"I don't know Adam, I didn't check." He looked at her.

"Why?" She hesitated.

"I know it sounds stupid now, but, it was our news, our business, not just mine. I just... I didn't want you to be the last to know." Adam smiled at her.

"Well, I'm back."

"I know. I've got a test."

"So..."

"OK."

Fiona returned to Adam's side a few minutes later, hands washed, waiting. She'd sat down before she realised her hands were shaking.

"Hey." Adam said quietly when he noticed, picking up his right hand and offering it to her. She took it. "The worst it can be is negative, and if it is, we'll keep on trying."

"And if it's positive..." Adam just smiled at her. They didn't need words for that.

"Two lines for yes, one for no, none for `test is an idiot`, isn't it?" Adam asked. Fiona nodded, smiling nervously. That was so like Adam. "How much longer do you think?"

"I don't know." Fiona said softly, turning the strip of plastic in her hands. Adam leaned to look at it too. Fiona froze. Her breath caught in her throat. The uniform, clinical white of the panel was marked. There was no mistaking it. Two lines.

She turned to Adam. He was looking back at her, a grin spreading across his bruised face. She felt a laugh starting at the back of his throat and threw herself in to his arms, still wary of the left one. She wasn't sure how long they held each other, laughing for joy.

"I love you." She said quietly. "I love you so much." She felt the warmth of his reply against her ear.

"Good. Because I love you too." Fiona smiled and put her head closer to the uninjured side of his.

"I can't believe it."

"I can." Adam replied. "We did it. We won. There was never anything wrong with you. You're perfect. You always were." He started laughing again. Fiona felt herself joining in, tears in her eyes.

There was a tap on the door. Fiona drew back from Adam.

"Am I interrupting something?" Sam stuck his head round the door.

"Kind of." Adam replied. Sam raised his eyebrows.

"News?" Adam grinned up at Fiona.

"Are you going to tell him, or am I?"

"You can." Adam looked squarely at Sam.

"Fiona's pregnant." It was strange to hear Adam say it so calmly, so definitely, with that note of triumph in his voice. Fear over it had been driving her mad for days, now it was a point of pride. Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Congratulations." He walked to the right hand side of Adam's bed, clipboard in hand. "I'm sorry to dampen the mood, but there are some things Chris has ordered me to ask you." Adam sighed.

"I wondered when that was going to happen."

"Sorry." Sam said. "You know it has to be done." Adam nodded.

"Let's get it over with then."

"OK." Sam started. "Josif Mihailovitch; did you see him in captivity."

"Yes." Adam replied flatly. "We were cell mates for a few days."

"We were told he'd been executed. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"How sure are you about that?"

"Fairly. He was shot in the back of the head."

"You saw?"

"Yes." Adam said shortly. Fiona slid her hand in to his. Seeing that and knowing it could just have easily have been him... Sam nodded, then looked away, then back at Adam.

"Look, Adam, there's no easy way to ask this, it's a horrible question."

"Get on with it." Adam said, looking straight at Sam, who couldn't quite return the stare.

"What do we need to change around?" How much had Adam given up? That was what Sam was asking. "We won't judge you for it, no one expects you to have held out for that long under that kind of torture."

"Nothing." Adam said slowly. Sam was too slow to hide his surprise, so gave up. Fiona hadn't bothered in the first place. But she'd always known Adam was strong, just not quite that strong.

"Bloody hell mate." Sam said. "Not many could have done that. We saw what they put you through." Adam frowned.

"They sent us a tape." Fiona offered. "We asked for proof of life, so they sent us a tape of-" Adam nodded.

"So that's why they filmed it." There was a very long silence. Sam broke it.

"Chris asked me to ask you... if you want to come back." Adam didn't hesitate.

"Don't be daft Sam. Of course I'm coming back. If I'm not a spook, what am I?" Fiona smiled. It was a hard life, but all three of them had chosen it. "Just get Chris to get a temp for, what? Six weeks?"

"He may as well get one continuously." Fiona put in. "I'll be out of the field in... nine weeks or so."