Later that morning

When she wakes, she's alone in bed, and for one terrible moment, she thinks it was all a dream. But then, as she rolls towards his side of the bed they've shared, pressing her face into his pillow and inhaling deeply, trying to catch a whiff of his scent, she smiles, her motion bringing to her awareness the delicious feeling of complete muscle and joint looseness and relaxation that only sex can bring, and she knows it was no dream. She feels positively languid this morning and is tempted to just close her eyes and go back to sleep, and it's only the strange sounds coming from outside that slowly penetrate her lethargic brain and prod it into wakefulness.

She lifts her head listening. The sound is getting louder and before long she's identified it as the noise from the blades of a helicopter. 'Bollocks,' she thinks as she sits up, quickly scanning the room for something to wear; the team has found them. Her eyes alight on a pile of clothes on the night-stand, and she realises that they're actually her clothes, dry and neatly folded. She scrambles out of bed then and begins to slip them on, but once she has her knickers, socks and jeans on, she realises that the bra is not her own and neither is the shirt or the jumper. Frowning in surprise, it takes her a moment to remember that hers had been ruined. Any further thoughts on the subject, however, are cut short when she hears voices on the stairs. Quickly, she slips the garments on, surprised that they're actually not a bad fit, runs her fingers through her hair to get rid of the worst tangles, and turns to scan the room for any signs of a male occupant or any indication of what she and Harry had been up to last night. Finding none, she turns to the make the bed just as someone knocks on the door.

"Ruth?" Adam's voice calls. "Are you decent?"

"Come in," she replies, having hastily straightened the covers, and turns to face him.

He enters the room smiling, and she sees him quickly scan his surroundings before his eyes come back to settle on her and he takes a few steps forward. "Oh Adam," she smiles, giving him a hug, "I'm so glad you're all right. We didn't know if you'd survived and I was so worried."

"I'm fine," he grins at her as he pulls back. "Zaf fished me out of the sea before I drowned. I'm glad you're all right too, Ruth. We were really worried about you. Harry said they didn't hurt you?"

"No," she shakes her head. "He... we got out in time. Is he all right? He almost drowned last night."

"And almost cracked his head wide open by the looks of it," he grins. "But you know Harry. I had to threaten him with TRING before he'd let the paramedics look at him."

"You threatened him with TRING?" she laughs. "Oh, Adam, I'm sorry I missed that. He can't have taken it well."

"Actually, he just glared at me," he shrugs. "Clearly the head injury or the near drowning must have addled his brain. Anyway, ready to go?"

"Yes," she agrees, thinking that it's more likely that it's the sex that's put Harry in a good enough mood to forgive Adam taking such liberties. She follows him out of the room, pausing on the threshold to take one last look at the place where she and Harry had finally found their way to each other, a small smile spreading across her lips before she turns away, silently sending up a prayer that what began between them here will survive, grow and last forever.

They descend the stairs into the kitchen where everyone seems to be gathered. Harry's sitting at the table, his head bent forward as two paramedics examine his wound. Zaf's over in the corner of the room with his phone pressed to his ear, listening, and the owner of the house, Fred, is standing with his back against the wall, taking everything in.

As she follows Adam into the room, Zaf looks up and smiles at her before murmuring something into the phone and motioning for Adam to come over. Harry lifts his head and catches her eye briefly, giving her a warm look that has her heart skipping several beats, but earns him a sharp reprimand of, "Please stay still, Mr. Stevens," from one of the paramedics. He scowls as he lowers his head once more and she can't help smiling.

"Glad you're all right, Ruth," Zaf says quietly near her ear then, almost making her jump. When had he got so good at sneaking up on people? "We were really worried about you."

"So was I," she smiles, "but all's well that ends well. Did you find them and stop them, Zaf?"

He nods and murmurs, "Just two hours ago after we got word from Harry." She opens her mouth to ask for more information, but he squeezes her arm gently and whispers with a meaningful glance at Fred, "Tell you more later."

Barely five minutes later, they're all ready to leave, Harry sporting a brand new bandage on his head as he shakes Fred's hand and thanks him for his help.

"Don't mention it," Fred smiles. "Most excitement I've had since my Ellie passed. Life's rather dull up here."

She watches Harry nod and smile before he turns to join Adam and Zaf outside, leaving her alone with Fred. She sees the three of them immediately strike up a conversation as they walk towards the chopper, Harry clearly listening to an update on everything he's missed.

He doesn't look nearly as frightening as he had last night, she thinks as she turns to Fred and smiles at him. In fact, he looks sad and lonely, and she suspects that his unkempt hair and facial hair are a result of not having anyone to look good for any more. A surge of sympathy and concern for him bubbles up inside her as she thanks him for his help, promising to return the clothes he's so kindly lent her.

"Don't worry about it, Lass," he smiles. "You keep 'em. My Kate won't be needing them any more." She frowns at that and he sighs and adds, "She was killed in action... in Iraq. Broke my Ellie's heart."

"Oh, Fred," she exclaims with feeling, reaching forward to touch his arm as she realises the enormity of what this man has lost. "I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, Lass," he smiles, patting her hand as tears glisten in his eyes. "You take good care of yourself now, see? Don't let your boss get you into any more trouble, you hear?"

"Boss?" she frowns. "Oh, you mean my husband."

"Husband my foot," he laughs, making her eyes widen in surprise. "Bet he'd like to be though," he smiles. "Bet you'd both like that." She blushes and looks away, feeling mortified that he'd heard them last night. "Nothing to be ashamed of, Lass. Keep him in the bedroom is my advise. Safest place for the both of you," he grins, leaving her speechless.

Luckily, however, she hears Adam calling her then, so she swiftly makes her excuses and leaves, relieved beyond words to escape as she rushes to the door where Adam's just appeared. "We need to go," he says impatiently.

"D'you have a copy of the Official Secrets Act on you?" she asks.

"Yes," he frowns. "Why?"

"I think you need to ask Fred to sign it. He's smarter than he looks," she replies with a smile before she walks over to the chopper and gets in.

She looks out the window as they take off, soaring over the house and towards the coast, heading home. She sees the beach where Fred had found them, looking calm and beautiful in the early morning light after the storm, and she's struck by a sudden desire to visit this place again someday before her attention is claimed by Zaf who shouts over the noise, "So what's it like being married to Harry, Ruth?"

She turns to him, seeing his cheeky grin and the mischievous look in his eyes before glancing at the others, Harry's face calm and unreadable and Adam's mirroring Zaf's. "I don't know, Zaf," she shrugs. "It was only ten hours or so, and I slept through most of it. It was all right." Harry's eyes twinkle at her, so she swiftly looks away, determinedly pushing aside thoughts of what happened while they were awake last night and very early this morning.

"So... does Harry snore?" Adam asks with a grin and she knows that he's watching her reaction very carefully despite his teasing, apparently relaxed attitude; he's a spook after all.

"I wouldn't know," she replies serenely, not quite sure how much the two have ascertained about their sleeping arrangements last night and not wanting to risk appearing as if she's hiding something. "I sleep like a log. I've been known to sleep straight through fire alarms at Uni." Then she turns to look out the window again, but not before she sees the quick shrug Adam gives Zaf. Good, she thinks with relief, hopefully she's dispelled any suspicions they have about what happened between her and Harry.