Thanks once again to everyone who took the time to read and review the last chapter. Your input and thoughts are very helpful (and led to a small tweak of Ch 9) and any further reviews would be much appreciated. Now back to London and Cyprus!

xxxxxx

"That went well then?" Malcolm commented from the door to Harry's office where he had just witnessed Adam slamming down the desk phone after a brief, heated conversation with Harry.

Adam's only reply was a brief grunt as he ran his hands over his face, slowly shaking his head he did so and sinking further down into Harry's chair. "I've a bloody good mind to change every setting on this chair purely to piss him off when he gets back."

Malcolm smirked slightly at Adam's empty threat, Harry was well known for being particularly pedantic about his desk chair and accused someone of changing the settings anytime he was away for more than a day, though no one would dare to touch it. "So what did he actually say?" Malcolm queried moments later, when he realised that Adam had no intention of volunteering any information about the himself.

Adam twirled the chair round to face Malcolm. "He's such a bloody..." he started , before trailing off, searching for the right word in his mind.

Malcolm quirked his eyebrow at Adam's obvious frustration; when he'd stalked off to make the call his anger had been front and centre, and it seemed that even after the robust discussion they'd obviously just had, whatever Harry had said to him in explanation had done little to ease any tension. "Nice chap? Jolly good bloke?" he joked finishing off the end of Adam's sentence as he made his way further into the office, pulling the door closed behind him as he did so.

"Cold hearted bastard is slightly closer to what I was aiming for." Adam shot back quickly.

Malcolm moved to sit down in the chair opposite him. "That's hardly fair Adam. Harry may be many things, but he's not callous."

Adam sighed deeply before leaning back in the chair, tipping his head back and staring at the ceiling. "No I know he's not, it's just that he can just be so bloody obtuse at times."

"I wouldn't disagree with you there," Malcolm chuckled, "so come on then, what did he say?"

"Not much really," Adam scratched the stubble on his chin as he recounted the conversation with Harry in his head. "He just said that he didn't feel it was appropriate for him to tell me about Ros at the time as he didn't want me distracted while he was away, and the details surrounding her coming back were purely on a need to know basis until things were squared with Grosvenor Square."

Malcolm looked puzzled, "but surely he was aware that her just arriving out of the blue would..."

"Apparently she wasn't due to come back until Harry was back," Adam responded, "he wasn't aware until I told him, that Ros was actually already quite literally in flight."

"So how did Connie know?"

Adam shrugged, "how does Connie know anything," he asked rhetorically. "It seems at times that that women has got more assets and informants than the rest of Section D combined."

"But I thought the info came from the Home Office?" Malcolm questioned, "I could have sworn that..."

"Who knows," Adam tailed off despondently, realising that the working out of the whys and ways of Connie James would take significantly more time than he had at present. He suddenly realised with a flash of understanding, just how Harry felt when his Officers went off-piste while out in the field for one reason or another and kept him in the dark over their actions whilst doing so.

Sensing the frustration coming from the younger man, Malcolm decided to move to the real reason he'd sought Adam out after his phone call. "And how was Ruth?"

"Sorry?" Adam looked at the older man slightly perplexed at the conversation shift, his mind still partly on Connie and Field Officers running amok.

"Ruth," Malcolm stared at him for a moment in concern. "How is she? I take it you did ask after her when you were speaking with Harry?"

Adam groaned and once more covered his face with his hands. "I didn't even think to ask," he glanced over at the older man looking decidedly shamefaced. "Christ, and I accuse Harry of being the cold-hearted one."

"How did it go?" Ruth entered her bedroom wearing only a towel wrapped around her body after deciding to take a quick shower while Harry spoke with Adam to find the man in question sat on the side of her bed, dressed and pulling his socks on.

"Not well I'm afraid," Harry said with a sad smile up at her finishing up the job in hand and placing both feet on the ground. "I'm afraid I'm not flavour of the month where Adam's concerned at the moment."

Ruth sat down beside him making sure her towel was firmly secured. "Anything I can help with?"

Harry shook his head before leaning over and kissing the side of her forehead as a gesture of thanks. "I wish it was that easy." He hesitated for a moment, unsure of how she'd react to what he was about to tell her. "The call was about Ros."

"Ros." Ruth bit her bottom lip, of all the people they'd spoken about the previous night, Ros hadn't really come up in conversation, whether by design or accident she wasn't sure. "She's still with Section D then?"

"It's complicated." Harry said with a humourless laugh. "It all got rather messy a few months ago for various reasons, she'd come to be someone I trusted and confided in, despite the part she'd played in your exile, and she let me down. It also didn't help that personal feelings and relationships were also involved and.."

Ruth paled at his words as a wave of nausea overtook her suddenly. "You and Ros?" She managed to somehow get the words out, dreading the answer. Of all the people in all the world...

Harry let out a quick bark of laughter at her question, his reaction coming from the surprise he felt as she spoke. "Me and Ros? No" he shook his head firmly as he noticed the look on her face. He shuffled slightly more towards her on the bed, putting his arm around her waist and drawing her closer to him. "Ros and I have never been anything other than colleagues," he said quietly but firmly, putting her mind to rest. "It was Ros and Adam."

Ruth turned to look at him, shock written all over her face, "Ros and Adam? Really?"

He nodded, "it was complicated and I don't know much of what went on... but yes, I believe they were close."

Ruth let out a deep breath as she processed the information. "Adam and Ros," she started, "wow, I would never have imagined them together."

"They became closer after you left. There was a incident which nearly killed them both. I believe the experience drew them together."

"That makes sense, life changing incidents can make you re-evaluate everything you thought you knew." Ruth dropped her hand to his thigh, running her hand over the material of his trousers. "So what was Adam phoning about?"

Harry pursed his lips as he gauged exactly how much he could tell her. "Your death, believe it or not, isn't the only one we've had to fake in recent times."

"Ros?"

"Yes. I can't go into the details, but there was a situation and faking her death was the only solution."

Ruth smiled wryly, recognising quite how much she'd missed out on while in exile. "So exactly the same as me then?"

"Not quite," He ran his hand up and down her towel clad side trying not to get too distracted by the patterns her fingers were making on his thigh. "With Ros, it was only ever meant to be a short term solution to get the Americans off our backs and at the same time it gave us the opportunity to plant a person who officially no longer existed, into an operation in Russia. She was worked on a covert op that very few people even knew was happening."

Ruth turned on the bed, moving out of his loose embrace to face him. "so what happened?"

"Ros was due to be extracted from Russia sometime in the next couple of weeks, but somehow and without my knowledge, she's been extracted early and is due back," he glanced at his watch briefly, "sometime in the next half hour or so."

"And that's what the call was about."

Harry nodded, "Adam didn't have a clue, well he knew she wasn't dead and was in Russia but as far as he was concerned Ros coming back to London wasn't even on the horizon. He wasn't particularly happy to find out about it all from Connie, who really should have known better and kept her mouth closed."

Ruth looked slightly puzzled, "and how did she know, this Connie? I mean, I don't know her, but it's not often an Analyst gets this information first."

Harry shrugged in frustration. "In all honesty, I don't know," he took hold of her hand that had slipped off his thigh and was now lying between them. "But unfortunately what I do know, is that I'm going to have to go and sort all this mess out, hence why I got dressed rather than offering to scrub your back in the shower."

She smiled briefly at his teasing words, but moved quickly to the meaning behind them, "You're leaving already?" She asked, already resigned to the answer.

"I'm afraid so," Harry looked up at her and gave her a lopsided grin, "I'm sorry."

Ruth attempted to smile but it failed to make its way to her lips. "You'll call me when you get home though?"

"Call you?" He asked slightly bewildered. "I've got to go and make some phone calls, rattle a few cages and then I was hoping I could take you out for lunch somewhere and then you could show me the sights of Polis this afternoon."

"You're not leaving Cyprus then?"

Harry reached over and kissed her lips softly, "not just yet... and certainly not without working out what we're going to do about..." He stopped speaking, unsure of how to vocalise his thoughts and instead indicated between the two of them with his free hand.

She smiled in relief, "Lunch would be lovely then."

He grinned back at her, glad that she accepted his actions for what they were. "I also thought that you'd probably appreciate me having a shave as well," he teased, as he leant back in to kiss her again reasoning that any phone calls he needed to make could wait at least a few minutes more.

Connie looked across the Grid as Adam glanced at his watch again in frustration. As much as she'd enjoyed getting one over on him earlier, she now felt the frustration and helplessness come off him in waves as Ben Kaplan, Lucas North and multiple other Agents swarmed across the capital as the clock ticked every closer to 11.00am and the start of hundreds of services, across both London and the wider nation. She and Malcolm along with multiple other Analysts and Technical Specialists had been glued to their desks, tracking data, following up leads, but for every one lead they followed and discounted, another two sprang up in their place. She pushed her seat back and made her way over to him as he stared at the hands on the watch face again, as if willing them to slow down time. "Is everything alright Adam?" she asked quietly, not wanting anyone of the myriad of others on the Grid to hear their exchange.

"I'm fine, everything's fine," he bit out, "apart from the small matter of us chasing our tails around London in an attempt to stop a massive terrorist attack and I'm stuck in here, when I should be out there doing something."

She lay her hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him down before leading him slightly further away from the frenetic activity on the Grid. "You've got to keep it together Adam." She pointed at the people scurrying all over the open space in front of them. "Every person in here is depending on you."

Adam sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I don't know Harry does it," he confessed quietly.

She looked at him questioningly, "does what?"

"The waiting." He bit his lip, "the not knowing. At least when you're out there you feel like you have a modicum of control, but in here..."

"In here, you're the leader, the puppet master." Connie reminded him, a stern undertone to her voice. "Everyone in here is extraordinarily good at what they do, you just have to trust them to do their jobs and then make the decisions that have to be made."

Adam nodded as Connie squeezed his arm gently in an effort to soften the words she'd just spoken. "It sounds easy when you put it like that! Thanks Connie." The two of them made their way back over towards the centre of the Grid, "you've certainly changed your tune from earlier," he began, curious as to why she was suddenly the support he needed, when a few hours ago she'd been trying to pull the rug from beneath his feet.

Connie shrugged. "You're a good leader Adam... but you need to learn that..."

Whatever she was about to say was lost as two of the pods whirred open in unison and Adam caught his first glimpse of Ros in months as she walked out onto the Grid, Jo by her side. "Ros," he murmured, not knowing quite how he felt seeing her again like this.

"Looks like the blonds are back in town." Connie noted as the two women having both glanced over the activity on the Grid started to make their way towards where she and Adam stood.

"We have a confirmed lead!" Their progress was suddenly halted by Malcolm standing up suddenly and in the most commanding voice anyone had ever heard from him, he spoke clearly over the hubbub of the Grid. "Alpha Three has found the source and is minutes away now."

"Alpha Three?"

"Who's Alpha Three?" Ros' clear voice cut across the Grid as numerous people looked on in puzzlement at Malcolm's insistence on using code names at all times during an operation.

"Ben Kaplan," Malcolm answered quickly. "And at the moment, he's the only hope we've got of stopping Remembrance Sunday being forever associated with one of the largest Terrorist attacks to ever take place on UK soil.

Ruth waved as she spotted Harry at the entrance to the small family run restaurant she'd chosen for lunch. She'd managed to get them a table in the sun which even in mid November was comfortable to sit out in without getting chilly. She smiled as he waved back and watched as he made his way over towards her.

"Sorry I'm a few minutes late," he said with a grimace. "I was having a full and frank exchange of views with Dickie."

"Dickie?" She asked, as he leaned over and kissed her cheek warmly in greeting.

Harry took the seat opposite her as he clarified. "Richard Dolby."

"He's still the DG then?"

He nodded, taking a sip of the water that was already on the table. "He is. To be fair he's also the person that told me that you had been pardoned and who managed to arrange your new passport... but that still doesn't stop him from being a right pill..."

"Harry," Ruth warned in amusement as he warmed to his theme. The waiter arrived at their table and after reeling off a line of specials in Greek, he left with Harry looking completely nonplussed and Ruth grinning softly at his expression. "Sorry," she laughed gently, "I spoke to him in Greek when I arrived, he must have presumed you spoke the language as well."

Harry leaned over and grasped her hand gently, turning it over so his fingers could wrap around hers. "It's fine," he said with a warm smile, "you'll just have to choose for me."

She nodded, a faint touch of colour suddenly rising to her cheeks. "I will." She grinned over at him across the table, suddenly marvelling that they were finally here, finally having their second date. She'd discounted the previous night in her mind as a date as it had all happened so organically. This however, this was a meal out, a meal out together and...

"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked, seeing the sudden distant yet warm look in her eyes.

"The fact that you managed to have a shave." She answered but not exactly truthfully, though the smoothness of his skin when he'd kissed her moments ago hadn't gone unnoticed.

He grinned broadly, "I'm glad you approve..." he began, before he was interrupted by his phone ringing. "I'm so sorry Ruth," he said in frustration, glancing quickly at the screen as he pulled the phone from his pocket, "it's the Grid, I have to take it."

She nodded in understanding as he pushed his chair back and made his way outside where he could talk freely without disturbing any of the other diners. As she followed his back through the restaurant she glimpsed the time on the clock on the wall, it had just gone one o'clock in Polis she noted, quickly realising that that meant it had just gone eleven in London, the traditional start time of every remembrance service on the country. The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month she pondered silently to herself, while still keeping an eye on Harry. She smiled to herself as she thought of what she planned to show him that afternoon and what she hoped would happen that evening, before she realised that all was not well. His pallor had turned white and his hand had moved to cover his eyes as he sagged against a small wall for support. As she stood up and quickly made her way over to him to find out what had happened to cause such a reaction, she realised with suddenly clarity that this was what the future held for her if she went back to London with him. Interrupted meals, constant phone calls out of hours, sudden bombshells and a man who was so entwined with his job, that it was hard to see where Harry the man stopped and Harry the Section Head started...

TBC