Well this is the final chapter/epilogue. I hadn't expected it to be anywhere near this long (it's at least 10,000 words longer than I expected) but I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it and trying to make some sense out of their relationship in s9. I thought this was as good a place as any to leave them, as otherwise I would have been writing about them forever and that was never the intention for this story. Thanks to everyone who has read this and particularly to those who have reviewed - it is much appreciated. Until next time...

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Ruth arched her back, stretching her arms out as she moved her eyes away from the screen. She had spent the last three hours meticulously going over a report the Home Office had sent through and needed a break as the words were starting to swim in front of her eyes. She stood up and looked over into Harry's office, he was pacing behind his desk on the phone to someone and he didn't look overly happy. As she caught his eye, she mimicked drinking to him and he nodded back at her, a small smile playing about his lips before he turned his attention back to whichever poor soul he was in the process of giving a tongue-lashing too.

She picked up her mug and wandered over to the kitchen to make them both a hot drink. It was mid afternoon on the Grid and there were only a few people about. Lucas was hunched over at his desk looking for all the world like he was writing up a report, but who knew. After their conversation about him the other day, Harry had read him the riot act, letting him know that he wasn't performing to the previous standards set by other Section Chiefs, while at the same time, not letting him know that he had suspicions that things were possibly more serious than performance issues. He had bucked up slightly since then, but Ruth still had strong misgivings about what was going on underneath the surface with him. She still desperately hoped her suspicions were wrong and that Lucas was just going through some bad patch in his personal life that was spilling into his work; after all, she more than anyone, knew exactly how that could happen. She also knew Harry was equally concerned about him and that he still felt guilty about Lucas' extended stay in Russia courtesy of the FSB. Ruth knew he would move heaven and earth to try and save Lucas if indeed it turned out he had got himself into some trouble, she just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Lost in her thoughts, she was brought up on her way to the kitchen by Beth's cheerful voice echoing out of the door"So did you slip happy pills into his morning coffee this morning Levendis?"

Ruth groaned to herself, she really needed to have a quiet word with all the staff, and make them realise that the kitchen wasn't the soundproof room they all seemed to think it was, judging by the conversations she kept stumbling across.

A deep laugh floated out, followed by "No, Why?'

"He called me into his office this morning, I thought I was going to be given a bollocking following that incident last night with the car, but all he said was, that he'd rather the car had a prang rather than me and that he thought it worthwhile sending me on an that advanced driving course the police hold every couple of months."

"Shit, that's great news. I've been angling to do that course ever since I came across from the SBS," another chuckle came out, "maybe I should try mounting a 'small kerb' as well and knocking off the bumper, see if he's as generous with me."

"You cheeky bugger..." Beth's voice came through strong, "you know very well that I was driving at night without the lights on, how the hell was I supposed to realise that some idiot thought it would be a good idea to put those bollard things across the road."

"He does seem to be more cheerful at the moment though. Back to how he was when I first joined"

"I can't speak to that" Beth chuckled again, "he's been a grumpy bastard ever since I've arrived," there was a pause where the sound of water splashing into mugs could be heard, " having said that, I came in early a couple of days ago and I swear I heard him whistling as he crossed the Grid and he did shout us all coffees for the morning meeting yesterday."

"Do you think he and Ruth have kissed and made up?" Dimitri asked, "Or at least got over whatever it was that was causing them to constantly have a go at each other; they were virtually finishing off each others sentences in that briefing on Omid Diswani the other day."

Ruth felt a faint blush steal up to her face, as well as a sense of deja-vu, as she again paused in the same position she had been in the other day while listening to the same people conversing about her, Harry and Lucas. Being the topic of conversation between colleagues still wasn't something she relished and she couldn't believe how close to the mark Dimitri was in his comment. Since their conversation the other night, she and Harry had started to make an effort with each other and she was surprised at just how natural and easy it was to spend time with each other now that they had banished some of the ghosts from their past.

After leaving The Cricketers the other night, just before one in the morning, Harry had hailed a taxi for them both to share, preferring this time to keep his private life as far away from work as possible and choosing the anonymity of a taxi driver rather than the scrutiny of his Driver. They had been quiet on the journey over to her place having talked themselves out over the course of the evening, choosing instead to enjoy the feeling of peace between them together. Although they had sat at opposite sides of the back seat, Ruth had rested her hand on the spare seat between them and Harry had moved to rest his hand next to hers, so their fingers were touching but not holding but still offering comfort. She smiled to herself at the memory; when they had arrived at her flat Harry had insisted on walking her to the door to make sure she got in safely and despite some nerves, he'd obviously plucked up a little courage, leaving her with a 'good night Ruth' and a soft kiss that had fallen somewhere between her cheek and her lips.

Her thoughts were disturbed by Beth's deep throaty laugh, "I don't know about kissing and making up. She's hardly been home the last few nights."

"Well maybe that's why, maybe she and Harry have been..."

Deciding that the idiom of 'eavesdroppers never hearing good of themselves' was true and that she really didn't want to hear speculation from Dimitri about what she and Harry had potentially been up to over the last few evenings, Ruth cleared her throat loudly and made her way into the kitchen noticing, but choosing to ignore, the quick glance between Dimitri and Beth and the slight look of horror on their faces. She busied herself making a couple of mugs of tea and after initial chitchat, Beth and Dimitri had quickly made their excuses to leave and made their way back to their respective desks, wondering just how much, if anything, she'd overheard.

Ruth let herself into Harry's office just as he was hanging up on a call. "That was Malcolm," he said as a greeting, "he wants to catch up tonight, says he has some information for me."

"I hope that wasn't him you were berating earlier on the phone?" Ruth chided him playfully as she gave him his tea and sat down opposite him.

"What... no." Harry recalled the conversation he'd been having when she'd signalled to him from her desk to see if he wanted a drink."That was some idiot from Six who seemed to be under the impression that I was working for him and not the other way round. He smiled openly, "I hung up on him when Malcolm called."

Ruth laughed softly, "did he say what he had found?"

"No, he didn't want to say anything over the phone. He just said that the bugs and taps he'd put in place the other night had yielded some interesting results."

"So where are you meeting him?" Although Malcolm had had to come onto the Grid the other evening, they all believed that he should try and stay away as much as possible going forward, to avoid provoking any suspicions or chatter amongst the team should he be spotted.

"I said I'd pop round to his house about six-ish this evening." Harry looked over at her as he had a sip of his tea. "Would you like to come along as well?"

Ruth nodded. "That would be good... as long as you're ok with it?"

Harry smiled, "I wouldn't have mentioned it to you if I wasn't." He suddenly looked a little nervous, "I was thinking that afterwards, if we finish early enough, we could go out for dinner?"

Ruth nodded again, before taking a sip of her tea, "that would be nice, I enjoyed dinner with you and Malcolm the other night." After explaining to Malcolm what they had needed from him, he had taken a couple of hours to get everything set up and adjusted so that Tariq, unless he did the deepest sweep of the systems, wouldn't detect any of the monitoring devices in his standard daily sweep. Afterwards she, Harry and Malcolm had gone out for an Indian, catching up on each others lives and reminiscing about friends and colleagues who were no longer with them. It had been an enjoyable evening and all three of them had promised that they should try and do it again soon.

"I was actually thinking, just the two of us... if you'd like to of course?" Harry looked unsure of himself all of a sudden, hoping against hope that he wasn't pushing her too fast. Since their alcohol fuelled chat, as well as the dinner with Malcolm, they'd managed to grab a quick lunch together on one occasion and had shared a couple of chats on the roof of Thames House. He'd been a little worried the day after their drink, that Ruth would revert to form and having spent the night thinking about things, would have panicked again and run; but she had surprised him and had obviously sensed his worry, coming into his office first thing the next morning, looking tired and more than a little hung-over, but smiling at him and offering to make him a cup of coffee, before hesitantly adding that she was very glad that they'd had their chat last night. This dinner invitation was Harry's first opportunity since then, to take them to the next stage and he hoped his suggestion would be well received.

He needn't have worried. "That would be very nice." She beamed at him, her smile lighting up her face in way he hadn't seen very often since her return from exile.

Harry nodded, "that's great...wonderful in fact." he met her eyes and smiled, "I'll book somewhere for around 8?"

"Lovely." She smiled at him again before standing up as his phone started to ring again, no doubt the Agent from Six whom he'd recently hung up on. "I'll leave you to it. I'll meet you by the pods about 5.30 to head over to Malcolm's?"

Harry nodded and smiled as he picked his phone before putting his hand over the receiver so whoever was at the other end couldn't hear him, "I'll look forward to this evening Ruth."

She touched his hand briefly, letting her fingers slowly move over his as she headed back out to the main area of the Grid, "so will I, " she said softly, before leaving him alone in his office. As she settled back down at her desk, she smiled to herself, for the first time in a long time she was suddenly looking forward to the future and what it might bring.

The End