A/N: Hello again! I'm sorry it's been a while but hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait-it is quite dramatic! Before you start reading, you should bear in mind that I don't actually work for British Intelligence (or do I?) so I'm just going off what I know from the show to write in the operations. Seeing as this is not the major focus of the plot, I'll once again ask you to humour me when you get to these parts in the story.
Chapter Seven
The following morning Emma woke to find that she was still wearing her hoody and leggings that she had thrown on the evening before. She then realised that she couldn't actually remember going to bed.
"Sasha," she mumbled.
"Good morning, gorgeous," he was stood by the wardrobe buttoning up his shirt.
"How come I'm still dressed?" she asked.
"You fell asleep on the sofa last night whilst we were watching TV. You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up, so I carried you into bed," he explained. He didn't reveal how he had spent half an hour before that watching her sleep soundly in his arms and listening to her breathing softly. He loved seeing her look so content, especially after she had been so anguished recently.
"Oh, I see, thanks babe," she said as she got up to kiss him on the cheek. "I better go and get out of these clothes and shower, though."
Sasha watched as she padded into the bathroom. "Are you feeling better today?"
"Yeah," Emma called out from the bathroom.
She then proceeded to turn the shower on to disguise the sound of her being sick, again.
She didn't mean to lie to Sasha; she just didn't want to worry him. And besides, she had been feeling better, just up until this morning, and once it was all over she felt ok again. She knew that if she told him then he'd try and persuade her not to go into work, even though she was perfectly capable. It was just easier not to tell him.
Admittedly part of her didn't want to tell him because then she'd have to deal with it. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but as long as she could manage it and get on with her life then she was happy to ignore it. And that was what she planned on doing.
"As you can see from these photos, Hudali has in fact been trafficking underage prostitutes and child soldiers for the past five years. And it has recently come to our attention that he has also started to dabble in arms dealing also. He's entering the UK this week…" Harry paused to look at Emma who had just let out a large sniffle. "Is everything alright, Emma?"
"Yes, yes, I've just got a bit of a cold coming, I think," she lied. "Sorry, carry on."
Harry swiftly got back to his briefing. Erin wasn't so easily convinced; she mouthed at Emma: 'you sure?'
Emma nodded enthusiastically, a little too enthusiastically perhaps, but still, Erin returned her attention back to Harry. Ruth however, continued to watch Emma from afar. She saw her subtly wipe her eyes with her sleeve and just about manage to stifle her sobs.
Emma had no idea why she was crying. She was a spook for Christ's Sake, and she never cried at work. It was just for some reason she found the images up on the projector screen so upsetting. They were upsetting; it was photographs of abused and exploited children. But she'd seen worse in her time in this job and had never had an outburst in the middle of a meeting before. She chastised herself for letting her emotions get the better of her, took a deep breath and managed to regain her composure.
"So, are things all sorted between yourself and Sasha now?" Erin peered round her computer screen to ask Emma later on that morning.
"Yes," Emma responded with a smile. "We cleared the air last night. He admitted to being a dick and apologised, just like you said he would!"
Erin let out a satisfied chuckle, "See, I told you that you had nothing to worry about."
"He was really lovely actually; I fell asleep and he carried me…" Emma began before stopping suddenly mid-sentence.
"Emma," Erin prompted, noting the sudden change in facial expression on her friend.
"Jesus Christ! What is that smell?!" Emma asked, her stomach churning as the pungent scent flooded her nostrils.
"What smell? I can't smell anything," Erin told her, perplexed.
"How can you not? It's so strong," Emma said, astounded.
"Ruth, can you smell anything?" Erin asked her colleague who was sat a few metres to the left of her.
"What?" Ruth perked up; turning her attention away from the paperwork she was filling out, to look at Erin.
"Emma can smell something, but I can't. Can you?" Erin asked again.
"No, what type of smell is it, Emma?" Ruth enquired.
"It's sort of…sickly. I think it's coming from over there," Emma pointed in the direction of the techie's work area.
"Is Tariq using…body lotion? Surely not," Erin squinted as she struggled to see what he was rubbing into his arms.
The trio got up and went over to investigate. Erin was right.
"Oh hi guys," Tariq greeted the approaching women.
"Hi, we just came over so see what product you were using. Emma could smell it from over there," Erin explained.
"Oh, it's this new Japanese moistuiser I found. It's not sold over here yet but I managed to get some online by hacking into the company's mainframe and redirecting an order. It's especially good for dry elbows, which is something I really suffer from, you know. It's brilliant!" Tariq explained, beaming.
The women paused for a while, taking in how overwhelmingly metrosexual Tariq had just revealed himself to be. Erin eventually managed to squeak out: "Wow!"
"It's brilliant; was well worth the hassle. Do you want to try some?" Tariq said shoving the pot of cream in Emma's face, causing her to jump back as the concentrated smell of the lotion hit her. It stung her nose and caught in the back of her throat. The scent was so sweet, too sweet, it was making her gag. Her insides were doing summersaults. She needed to get to the bathroom, and quickly.
Just like yesterday, Emma found herself sprinting to the Ladies'. 'Not again'she thought to herself as she felt the all too familiar sensation of abrupt sickness build up.
It was another close call, but once again she made it to the toilets without disgracing herself; all those years of chasing round London after terrorists with bombs/guns/hostages/secret files had clearly paid off!
Erin and Ruth watched as Emma raced out the room, before exchanging similar looks of confusion with each other.
"What did I do?" Tariq asked crestfallen.
"I think the smell of your cream made her sick again," Erin said.
"Oh," Tariq replied, frowning. "I thought it smelt quite nice; it's got a slight jasmine scent. It's not even that strong anyway."
"No it's not," Ruth noted thoughtfully.
"What's going on?" Sasha asked, joining the congregation to find what the cause of all the hustle and bustle was.
"Emma doesn't like my new moisturiser," Tariq retorted sulkily.
"Moisturiser?!" Sasha exclaimed.
"It helps with my cracked elbows, ok," Tariq said defensively.
Sasha frowned, and Erin rolled her eyes at him.
"Where is Emma now?" Sasha asked.
"She ran out…" Tariq began before Ruth promptly interrupted him.
"To get me some crisps. I told her I was starving so she kindly offered to pick me up a packet from the cafeteria."
"Why was she running then?" Sasha asked suspiciously, having picked up on what Tariq had said early.
"She wanted to beat the queues. That place is gets chock-a-block around mid-morning, what with everyone wanting their elevens' and everything," Ruth told him, convincingly enough for Sasha to nod and ask no further questions. That was until Emma returned a little later, empty-handed.
Ruth quickly interjected, "Oh no! Were they out of Quavers?"
Emma looked at her, startled and confused, before noticing Sasha's close presence and quickly catching on, "Yes, unfortunately there were none left."
"Oh, what a shame! Section C always manages to snap them up first. I was really looking forward to them as well," Ruth said, feigning disappointment. "Never mind, thanks for looking for me, Emma."
"No problem," Emma said, heading back to her desk. She walked past Tariq, who was glaring at her.
Ruth then glanced at her watch before commenting: "Well it's practically time for my break now anyway, so I think I'll nip to the shops and get a packet myself."
Ruth then went to collect her coat, but while she was there, she also picked up Emma's.
"Why don't you come with me Emma and we could maybe drop by Starbucks on the way?" Ruth suggested.
"Well, my break's not for another hour yet…" Emma started; the thought of even walking past a coffee shop was enough to make her almost throw up again.
"Oh Harry won't mind," Ruth insisted. He would mind, but then she'd do that thing that he liked when they were at home this evening, and all would be forgotten and forgiven. "I could do with some company."
"Ummm," Emma stalled; trying to think of another excuse, but by this point Ruth had thrust her coat upon her and was practically dragging her out of her seat. "Ok then, I guess."
"Thanks for covering for me back there," Emma said to Ruth as they walked out of the building.
"That's ok; I know you don't want to worry Sasha."
"Yes, I meant there's no point as I'm probably fine. I've just got a weak stomach at the moment. So, for that reason would you mind if we went somewhere other than Starbucks, somewhere that doesn't have such a strong smell of coffee, perhaps?"
"We can go anywhere you want. That was just a spur of the moment suggestion to get you off The Grid so we could talk," Ruth explained.
"Talk about what?" Emma asked innocently, though she knew what was coming.
"I just think we should have a chat that's all, so where do you want go?"
"Could we maybe just sit here?" Emma pointed at the benches on South Bank overlooking The Thames. "Unless of course you really are desperate for some Quavers, that is"
"Oh, I think I'll just about manage to survive without them!" Ruth joked as she took a seat. "I don't even like them that much; I'm not sure why I said them. I'm more of a Skips kind of girl to be honest."
"Really! Well I'm partial to a bag of Wotsits myself!" Emma revealed with a grin, sitting beside her colleague and pulling her coat tightly around herself to block out some of the cold wind.
They both giggled lightly before Ruth switched to a more serious tone to ask: "Are you alright Emma?"
"Yes, I'm fine, I told it's just I've got a…"
"Weak stomach, I know you did," Ruth finished the sentence for her. "It's just, are you quite sure? I mean, it might be something else."
Emma gulped and looked away. She wasn't ready to have this conversation, not even with herself let alone anyone else.
"It's just you've been being sick a lot recently, and you've clearly got a heightened sense of smell, plus you seem to be quite tired lately, and emotional too," Ruth relayed the symptoms. She was trying to broach the subject as delicately as she could, not wanting to make Emma uncomfortable.
"Damn you, Ruth, must you always be so bloody observant?" Emma said, shaking her head.
"I know, I know, it's a curse, I'm sorry," Ruth said, smiling faintly. "I just care about you, that's all."
"I know," Emma sighed.
"Are you late?" Ruth asked.
"Yes, we both are. We should get back to work now before Harry implodes," Emma tried to joke but her tone fell flat. She wasn't going to get out of this one so easily.
Ruth frowned and looked Emma in the eyes. "Emma it's me, I'm here for you. This will just be between me and you. I hate to think of you bottling everything up by yourself. So talk to me, please, and I can help you through it. So are you?"
Emma sucked in a deep breath of air through her teeth before squeaking out: "Yes."
She then promptly proceeded to burst into tears.
It had only just hit Emma herself earlier-probably at the same time as Ruth had realised-when she was slumped on the bathroom floor. Dates had begun flooding her mind. She began doing the sums and piecing the puzzle together. She let out an audible gasp as the realisation came to light. But she quickly suppressed her shock by telling herself that she must be wrong. She told herself it couldn't possibly be that, she didn't want it to be, so it wasn't, she wasn't…
"Are you pregnant?" Ruth asked quietly, leaning in towards Emma.
"I think…I think…I…mmmight…be," Emma managed through her sobs.
Ruth pulled her into her arms and held her tight. She stroked her hair and rubbed a soothing hand across her shaking back, comforting her, and shielding her from the passing public who were staring at the scene.
"Don't worry, you'll be ok. I'm here, calm yourself," Ruth told her, still hugging her protectively. She had never had children of her own, but in many ways she looked upon Emma as a daughter. Ruth had known her from when Emma had joined the section straight from university, and over the years the pair had built a strong relationship. Ruth had been there for Emma many times in the past and was always willing to support her through anything. Ruth recognised that if ever there was a time where Emma was in need of a mother figure to provide such support, it was now. And she was more than ready to step up to the plate.
Ruth had tried to persuade Emma to take the rest of the day off and rest, but to no avail.
"You may be able to get away with such a thing, but unlike you, I'm not sleeping with the boss," Emma had joked, having finally finished crying by this point.
Ruth blushed. "If I told him you weren't well, I'm sure he'd understand."
"It's fine; work will be a good distraction. Plus, I don't want Sasha to suspect anything," Emma said, beginning to walk back to Thames House.
"You won't be able to avoid it forever though, when are you going to discuss it with him?"
"Not until I know for sure," Emma stated.
"And when will that be?" Ruth persisted.
"Whenever I get a chance to pick up a test or go to the doctor's I guess," Emma said with a shrug; the longer she avoided finding out, the longer she had to pretend that this wasn't really happening.
Ruth had of course sussed Emma out though, and was not going to allow her to put it off for too long, as she knew it would only make the situation worse. She continued to broach the subject as tactfully as ever though, "I could pick you up a test if you're too embarrassed. I could go in my afternoon break."
"No, Ruth, really it's fine you don't have to do that," Emma told her, shaking her head. She continued walking briskly towards the entrance of their work place, until Ruth suddenly stopped her by grabbing her arm.
"Emma, you've got to face up to this. The sooner you know for sure, the better, because then you'll have more time to make a decision about…the future. You can't just avoid what's happening in hope that it will just go away, because it won't. I know you're scared, of course you are, but I'm here to help you," Ruth told her.
"I know. Ok then," Emma relented. Ruth was, as always, right. "Thanks Ruth, for everything."
"No problem, you know I mean it," she replied, before the pair turned and headed back into work.
They returned to an angry Harry. "Where the hell have you two been? I've been trying to get hold of you. A matter of great urgency has just come up."
"Sorry, love, we were just having our morning break," Ruth apologised, her doe-eyes softening Harry instantly.
"Right, ok, well now you're back we can get on with proceedings."
"What's happened?" Emma asked.
"Azba Khan," Harry stated.
"The extremist I've been turning," Emma said.
"The very one. It turns out that the terrorist cell he's part of has connections to AQ, and we've just received intel suggesting that they're planning an attack here in the UK. The decoded message indicates that if successful, it will result in thousands of causalities. Time and target is unknown, however we know it is going to be soon, and most probably here in the capital. We need to you to meet with Khan immediately to get the details from him," Harry explained hurriedly.
"But he's not even close to becoming a trusted asset, as shown by the fact that he didn't warn me about this upcoming attack. Besides, he probably doesn't even know all the details himself yet," Emma pointed out, struggling to see how she would be able carry out the task effectively.
"Well he's the only hope we've got, so you're going to have to get something out of him, and fast. We need to act quickly on this one, Emma, so set up a meet with him now," Harry ordered.
"Ok," Emma complied, though still skeptical.
An hour later, Emma was getting ready to leave to see Khan. She was fitting her ear piece, when Harry came over to speak with her privately.
"I understand that is a delicate situation, and that Khan is far from being a trusted source. He is an unpredictable character I know, which is why we'll have armed police surrounding the building. We've got surveillance inside, so we'll be here watching his every move. If he tries anything, people will be there to step in, but try not to let it get to that if you can help it. You're going to need to push him, but tread carefully as you do so. You said it yourself that over the past few months, he's become much closer to the ring leader of the cell, so I've got a feeling he does know the target, especially seeing as the attack is most probably planned for so soon. Do everything you possibly can to get the information out of him. I know you've only been working on him for a short while, but I think you've built up enough of a relationship for him to trust you. I have every faith that you are capable of squeezing the information out of him."
Emma nodded along as Harry talked. She knew how serious the threat was, and she also knew that what Harry was effectively telling her was-albeit dressed up as a polite pep talk-that under no circumstances, must she come out from the meeting without the target and time of the attack.
As Emma headed towards the pods, Harry called out: "Emma, you must do…whatever it takes to find out."
Emma nodded slightly; she knew what that meant.
"Emma you're doing really well, he's close, I can feel it, just keep working on him," Erin spoke encouragingly into her headset from The Grid.
Harry swiped the headset from his Section Chief to listen in on the conversation between Emma and Khan himself. He was close to buckling, but needed a nudge. "You're going to need to be a little more drastic," Harry directed. "You need to be persuasive enough to make him want to tell you."
Emma took on board his instructions. "I just wish our circumstances were different," she said to Khan.
Azba looked puzzled. "Why do you say that?"
"It's silly really, I know, as we've only met a few times but I feel like we've forged some sort of bond over the past few months, like we've become quite close. Or maybe that's just me, it probably is," Emma said coyly. "It's just perhaps maybe in a different life we could, well…be more...together."
"How do you mean?" Khan asked, intrigued.
Harry sighed in satisfaction; Azba was falling head first into the honey trap, just like he knew he would.
The whole section was watching the interaction between Emma and her asset take place. Everyone was on tenterhooks, looking on intently as the scene played out.
Only Harry could hear what was going on though. He praised her through the coms, "Well done Emma, I know this is difficult for you, but it will be worth it in the end, I assure you."
Sasha was the most concerned out of everyone. "What is she doing? Why is she getting so close to him? Surely that's not safe," he said.
"She's doing what she needs to do to protect her country," Harry stated.
By this point the pair were merely inches apart from one another and it was clear what was about to happen.
"No!" Sasha cried out. "You can't let her do that, don't make her do that Harry! Let me talk to her." He reached out to take the ear piece from his father but was stopped by Dimitri who gripped his wrist strongly.
"Come on, mate, let's get you away from here, it's probably best if you don't watch this," Dimitri said, pulling Sasha away from the screen.
"No, I'm not going anywhere; I won't let this happen…" Sasha shouted, but it was too late; Emma was kissing Azba. Her soft lips were crushing against his. His hands were gripping her against him. She ran her fingers softly through his hair, just like she did when she kissed Sasha.
In that moment, the rest of the world around him stopped for Sasha; he was unaware of Dimitri trying to tug him away, unaware of Tariq practically gnawing through his pen from the tension, and he was unaware of Erin reassuring him: "It doesn't mean anything, she's working. She had no other choice." All he could focus on in that moment was his girlfriend being kissed by another man, being held by another man, another man who wasn't him. 'Why does she have to make it seem so…believable?' he asked himself, agonising over the scene that he saw before him.
The kiss seemed to go on for eternity. When they did finally break away, Sasha felt numb. He didn't know what to do or say; he just stood there, still and silent. He was only forced out of his trance some time later when the congregation around him suddenly burst into action. He heard his father shouting orders.
"Get the bomb squad down to Trafalgar Square. NOW!"
"Try and evacuate if possible."
"Send C019 down to seize the members of the cell."
"Block off the surrounding streets so nobody else can be let in; we need to keep this contained."
"Get me the Home Secretary on the phone."
Sasha was not part of the commotion; he remained stood motionless in the middle of it all as everyone else ran around him in an adrenaline-fuelled frenzy.
A little while later he heard a collective sigh of a relief from the team as Harry confirmed: "The bomb has been diffused."
So she'd done it. Emma had saved the day, and just in the nick of time by the sounds of it. She had just followed orders by doing what was necessary. What she did was for the greater good. Sasha knew this; he knew that it was just part of her job. He also knew that it could have been a lot worse in that it only took one kiss for her to get Khan in a suitably vulnerable state for him to reveal all. Even though Sasha was fully aware of all this, it didn't make it any less painful.
A/N: So Ruth is on to Emma. Well of course she would be! Also, dramatic Harry is my favourite kind of Harry!
I know this chapter was quite intense, but the next update will be much more amusing, I promise!
Please continue to review, you lot are great!