Thanks once again to everyone who is reading this story and particularly to those who have left reviews. Apologies that there wasn't an update last weekend. Technology beat me, or at least the internet connection dying on me beat me. Anyway, here's the next update, not much longer to go with this I think.

xxx

Harry closed his office door behind him, before pouring himself a very generous measure of single malt and wearily slumping into his chair. It had been a whirlwind of activity since he'd returned from Cyprus a day and a half earlier and apart from a few hours sleep last night, he'd hardly stopped. He'd walked back into a maelstrom on the Grid. Adam and Jo were both struggling to cope with Ben's death and Adam had disappeared completely prior to him arriving back, the rest of the team were frantically trying to manage the fallout from the explosion both with the Press and the Government and both Dickie and the Home Secretary seemed to have taken it personally that he'd been 'sunning himself in Cyprus' rather than manning the wall, when they'd been the ones encouraging him to go in the first place. Fortunately the one plus point had been the return of Ros; although they'd hardly exchanged two words since he'd got back, she had taken the Grid into hand and had become the de-facto Section Chief in Adam's absence, handing out tasks to everyone and making sure that everything was followed up on. All that had been left for him to do last night, was visit with Ben's parents and break the news of their son's premature death to them, doing a job that they had no idea about as they still believed him to be a freelance journalist. Their reaction had been just as he expected, it was not the first time Harry had had to do this, but each time he hoped it was the last. Anger, grief, bemusement, denial, pride in their son had all jockeyed for position whilst they had clung to each other and cried.

He sighed deeply before taking a large mouthful of his drink, relishing the burn as he swallowed. In all the furore he'd managed to send Ruth a quick message to let her know that he'd arrived back safely and had had a short reply in turn, but he hadn't yet managed to speak with her. He still couldn't quite believe the timing with which everything had happened, and he had no real way of knowing where Ruth's thinking was now that she'd been given both the time and opportunity to get her head around everything. He glanced at his watch quickly, it was just after eight thirty in London so therefore not too late to call Cyprus. He took out the notepaper with her number written neatly on it from his wallet and smoothed it out with his hand before lifting the phone and dialling. As he waited for the phone to connect he smiled slightly, imagining Ruth at the other end, getting ready for bed, or perhaps curled up reading a book that she just couldn't put down. The phone to his ear he glanced out of the office, most people had left for the day, he could see Ros at her desk talking animatedly on the phone while he knew Connie and Malcolm were still around somewhere, as for Adam... he frowned as the phone continued to ring out, he was after ten thirty in Cyprus so Ruth would surely be at home and even if she'd been fast asleep she'd have had time to answer the call after this many rings. His thoughts were disturbed by a quick rap of the knuckles against his door.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" Adam's head popped around the door as it slid open.

Harry hung up the phone in response to the question, "not at all," he answered, "I was just trying to call Ruth. Make sure she's okay," he shrugged helplessly, "I'll try again later."

"She's probably just out with a friend."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Harry muttered to himself quietly so that Adam couldn't hear him.

Adam took the seat opposite his boss, "How is she?" He questioned remorsefully. "I'm sorry, but that with all that's happened I completely forgot to ask earlier."

Harry waved away the apology with his hand. "Understandably you've had other things on your mind." He stood up and made his way over to the decanter behind him. "Drink?" He offered, before pouring without waiting for an answer.

"Thanks," Adam, smiled briefly before taking the glass and drinking a large drink, "I needed that."

"You and me both."

Silence stretched out between the two of them as they both stared into their drinks, each lost in their own thoughts, Adam focusing on the last few days, while Harry was worrying over the last few minutes and the whereabouts of Ruth at such a late hour. "So how was she?" Adam asked again, dragging Harry back from his musings.

"She's well," Harry said with a smile, "considering everything she's been through over the last eighteen months, she's coped remarkably well."

"And the two of you?" Adam looked closely at the older man, noticing the shadows below his eyes, "will she come back?"

Harry rubbed at his forehead with his hand, "In all honesty Adam, I don't know." He took a sip of his drink, "I hope so but I really don't know. We didn't get much chance to talk about it."

Adam raised his eyebrow, "didn't get much chance to talk," he said with a cheeky grin, the first smile to grace his face since the incidents of the day before. "So if you weren't talking then..."

Harry schooled his features before reacting to Adam's teasing, though he could feel a faint blush rising up his neck. "It was rather a shock for Ruth to suddenly see me out of the blue," he responded at length, loosening his tie and undoing the top few buttons of his shirt as he did so. "Strangely enough, our conversation rather focused on the events of the last year and a half, rather than Ruth coming to any snap judgements. She was still trying to get her head around all the implications when I had to leave earlier than we both wanted."

"So she may decide to stay then?" Adam asked in surprise.

Harry shrugged, "I hope not but that's for her to decide. If she does come back then she has to consider if she wants to come back here to work, where to live and probably a hundred other things that I haven't even thought of."

Adam nodded slowly before clearing his throat nervously. "About the whole where she could live aspect... I had thought that she could move in with..."

"Adam," Harry's voice rumbled warningly, "if and when Ruth and I do make any decisions about our relationship, then we'd discuss moving in together with each other rather than..."

"I'm glad to hear that the possibility of the two of you living together is still on the books!" Adam grinned widely, realising that Harry had inadvertently admitted that he and Ruth still had feelings for the other after seeing each other again, "but I wasn't actually referring to Ruth moving in with you."

Harry took another drink to mask his expression, "oh," he commented blandly.

"I was think she could move in with Jo." Adam spun round in his chair to look for Jo at her desk but there was no sign of her. "I spoke with her yesterday, all hypotheticals at this stage of course, but she's keen to get back to work properly, she needs to get back to work, it's the only way she's going to get through all of this, especially given that what's happened to Ben has knocked her right back. But when she gets back home she thinks too much, that's why she's ben doing all the running to block everything out. Having Ruth there, someone who understands what the job entails, someone to talk to would help her enormously."

"And does Ruth get a say in all this?" Harry asked.

Adam shrugged. "The two of them always got on well, and if she doesn't live with Jo then other than moving in with you where else is she going to go?"

"A flat or a house of her own," Harry answered quickly. "She may..."

"Harry," Adam continued as if his boss hadn't spoken. "Ruth's not going to be taking out a long-term rental at this stage, lets face it," he said bluntly. "I'd imagine that if she does come back, the main reason for that is sitting in front of me rather than any great love for the job and MI5, and though you may both want to give each other some space initially, if things go well then within a few months you'll both be wanting to..."

"Adam!" Harry sat up straight in his chair, "that enough. Any relationship between Ruth and I is just that, between the two of us. It's not something open for discussion around the office... do I make myself clear?"

Adam smiled slightly at the irate look on Harry's face. "Crystal."

"Good." Harry's face softened slightly, "and how are you? Sorry I didn't get any chance to speak with you yesterday when I returned. I didn't see you and Ros indicated that it would be best to leave you to your own devices for a while."

"I'm fine. Honestly," he added seeing he look of scepticism on Harry's face. "It hit me hard yesterday, mainly because I felt so powerless, but at the back of my mind, I think that I also thought that if you'd have been here, then there would have been a strong chance that that could have been me in Ben's place." He drained the remainder of the whiskey in his glass before continuing. "All I could think about was Wes, what would have happened to him if I died, because I know that had I been in Ben's position then I'd have ignored any orders I'd have been given as well."

Harry nodded in understanding as he stood up to reach the bottle to replenish both of their glasses. "It's tough," he said in a conversational manner, "watching from the side lines so to speak. You just have to have faith in your own judgement that you're making the right decisions..."

"And if you make the wrong one?"

"In this job you never quite know if you've made the right or wrong call." Harry grimaced and took another sip of his drink. "You just have to be able to live with the consequences of your actions and realise that sometimes... most of the time, there is no easy answer."

"But."

"But nothing, Adam." Harry looked across at the younger man seeing an expression on his face that he'd seen on his own in the mirror a hundred times before. "You weren't to blame for Ben's death. If he had listened to you and abandoned the car where it was, what would have happened?"

Adam slumped in his chair and rubbed his hand across his eyes, "there's a large probability that there would have been multiple deaths and numerous casualties."

"Exactly. I know it's difficult Adam, but you did exactly what I would have done in ordering Ben to abandon the car and we would have both been wrong. Ben was right to do what he did, as difficult as it is to accept his death, he made the right decision at the time."

The younger man nodded. "I know." He looked up and attempted a wan smile, "after it all happened here yesterday, I had to get away, that's why I wasn't around when you got back. I went to watch Wes play rugby and it brought it home to me. I don't want him to be an orphan Harry."

"What are you trying to say Adam?" Harry looked at him carefully as if judging what to say next, knowing there was a deeper meaning to Adam's words. "Don't make any rash decisions that you may come to regret, you're a fine Officer, one of the best."

Adam raised his glass in a mock salute to his boss, "I won't," he promised as he took another mouthful.

"About Ros," Harry began as he tried to steer the conversation in another direction. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you she was coming back. I had planned to of course, but it was all rather rushed, and even then I hadn't expected her here until after I returned from Cyprus. The last intel I had was that she was arriving Tuesday. Your call yesterday morning caught me completely by surprise."

"You're forgiven Adam said with a wry smile. "Sorry for going off the deep end like that, it was just such a shock, especially given what had happened between Ros and I, and Connie was so gleeful about telling me..."

"And you and Ros now? Will that cause any problems?"

Adam shook his head, "Ros and I, what we had was of its time. And even then the job didn't make it easy. To work together and be together and this job there has to be something more, I had it with Fiona, I think you and Ruth had it... sorry have it," he corrected himself before seeing the warning expression on Harry's face and pressing on. "Anyway, it's a good job she did get back when she did. I don't know how we'd have coped without her presence on the Grid yesterday."

Harry nodded in agreement slowly, his mind ticking things over. Something was suddenly niggling him but he couldn't think what had set it off. "Yes," he answered distractedly, "Ros can always be relied on in a crisis."

Adam looked across at his boss in concern. A shadow had suddenly come across his face and he was tapping the top of his empty glass distractedly with his finger. "Is everything all right?"

Harry pursed his lips deep in thought. "What exactly did Connie say to you about Ros?" He questioned.

Adam scratched at the stubble on his jawline as he thought. "Just what I've already told you. Why?"

"It may be nothing, but..." Harry screwed up his face as if trying to recall something that was just out of reach. "No forget about it. I'll talk to you about it properly tomorrow. I need to follow a couple of things up first."

"Are you sure?" Adam asked, concern lacing his words.

He nodded, "and please don't mention anything to anyone about this in the meantime."

Adam looked confused. "Mention what?"

"That's the spirit." Harry said with a small grin, though he realised Adam didn't really understand what he'd been talking about. Something had been gnawing away at him ever since Lucas had returned and although he couldn't put his finger on it, it was causing him concern. His gut feeling was trying to tell him something, what he didn't yet know, he just wished Ruth was around to confide in and more importantly, do a little discreet digging on his behalf.

Adam was about to answer when they were interrupted by the sound of activity around the pods which permeated through the not quite closed door of Harry's office. Standing up to see properly through the glass walls in the office, Adam's face broke out into a wide smile when he realised what the disturbance actually was.

'"What's going on?" Harry asked, seeing the grin on Adam's face.

"I think the reason for Ruth not answering your call earlier has just been explained." Adam answered, making his way from the window quickly to open the door fully and head out to the main part of the Grid.

Harry looked at him questioningly, a warm feeling starting to spread through him that had nothing to do with the whiskey he'd been drinking. "You mean..." He started, pushing his chair back as he went to join the rest of the team.

Adam turned and nodded in confirmation. "Ruth's back. Malcolm, Connie and Jo are with her now."

TBC