A/N Thanks to all of you reading this story and especially to those who have taken the time to write a review.
(Harry) What a nightmare! I really didn't, don't and won't like working with the Americans. In fact, it was not working with the Americans; it was working for the Americans. It seemed, to me anyway, that they really relished throwing their weight around and I'd have loved to been able to speak my mind, arrogant arseholes. I loved how Ruth called them out with their American-speak: L-Z, cowpuncher, bushwhacker; oh, what the hell!
(Ruth) My god, those people! L-Z, cowpuncher, flotus, potus. Why don't they just say what they mean? I was really glad that Harry didn't give me a reprimand for my comment in that meeting. I was just so stressed about the spilled tea in the Americans' diplomatic crate. Malcolm and I worked for hours getting those documents back in pristine condition. Good result though…we found out the Americans are demanding restitution directly from the Libyans for the Lockerbie bombing; without letting the British government know and without restitution for UK victims. I was very pleased that Harry took my analysis about the GCHQ traffic regarding the Libyans so seriously. I think he is starting to see what I can offer the team here and that makes my heart very, very happy.
(Harry) We completed another experience with the Americans and it is now one for the I'm-glad-that's-over book. They drive me mad. Ruth continues to amaze with her information though. She made connections about the GCHQ traffic that the rest of us didn't.
(Harry) This past week has been dreadful. A group of young thieves broke into my house and stole the Firestorm codes. I had to go to my team and ask them to wait a few hours to report the loss while we all tried to figure out a way to get the codes back, thus saving my job. In the end it was a teenage boy with a photographic memory who saved the codes and my arse. I was grateful to him and the team for the success of this operation although I heard rumblings from Zoe and Ruth about how wrong this was-using a teenager. And morally it was wrong; we never should use children to do our work but our backs (and especially mine) were against the wall, so to speak. I really hate some of the decisions I have to make and I could see the disappointment in Ruth's eyes when I made this one. It made me feel awful to see her look at me that way. Wait a minute. I shouldn't care what she thinks but I do, I do. God help me.
(Ruth) Harry lost the Firestorm codes. He lost them! All because he took work home when we are never, ever supposed to do that and…and he asked the rest of us to refrain from reporting the loss and help him get the codes back, putting all of our jobs in jeopardy if we failed. It took a teenager with an eidetic memory to save the codes, allowing Harry and the rest of us live to fight another day. I was so disillusioned in Harry that he allowed us to use this boy, and he was a boy. What would he do if it were his own boy? I thought more of him than that but again; I don't know all the facts so I probably shouldn't judge him.