The world always fell away when this happened. Which was precisely the point. Harry's lips and tongue teased her into a whimpering puddle of desire. But then his hand moved to that familiar place on her belly and she was jolted back to the present.

Ruth pulled away from his kiss with a smile. "Mmm, that was lovely."

He could not resist dropping a couple more pecks on her lips. "I quite agree."

Harry's hand always seemed to drift to her belly when they kissed like this—not that they really ever kissed precisely like this—because he knew that if it were not for that scar from her surgery, she would not be here to kiss him.

She had nearly died in his arms that day in the woods. It felt like a lifetime ago, sometimes. Other times, it felt as though the two months since that day had whizzed by. The sirens drowned out the way Harry had cried and begged for Ruth when she'd lost consciousness. The emergency team had to pry her out of his arms and give him a mild tranquilizer just so he'd calm down. But the doctors had done magic that day. They'd repaired the damage. And when Ruth had woken up after her surgery to find Harry sitting beside her bed, she had smiled. And she had told him she loved him. And he had kissed her.

And now he kissed her once more. He'd lost count how many times over the last months. He had stayed with her through her recovery in France before she was cleared to travel back to the UK. Malcolm had sorted all of the paperwork—once Harry had made a call to the Home Secretary and asked for a favor to bring Ruth Catherine Evershed back to life—and they'd been able to go home. Together.

"Do I really have to be here? I mean, what are people going to say?" she asked for the thousandth time. She saw the way Harry's expression tightened at her questions, and she knew he was mildly annoyed. But she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable with the whole thing. That was why he'd started snogging her in the lift to begin with, to make her calm down. And it had worked, but he'd not answered her.

Harry took hold of other hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "This is the last time I'll ever be here. And I know your friends want to see you. See us."

"See us?" she asked in slight surprise.

He gave a small smile at that. "Ruth, why do you think Malcolm had an alert out for the name 'Ruth Pearce'? It's because he and all the rest of them were rooting for us, as mortifying as that prospect might be. The both of us made a right mess of things. But that's all in the past now. So let me get that last box of things from my office and we can say our goodbyes to Malcolm and Jo and Ros and Lucas."

"I don't know Lucas."

"Believe me, you don't need to. He's not very pleased that I'm leaving," Harry said darkly.

"Oh?"

"I may be the reason he was in a Russian prison for eight years. But I did manage to get him back a few months ago. He's not entirely adjusted yet and probably thinks I'm abandoning him again."

She rubbed his arm comfortingly. "It's not like you to abandon your people. Are you sure you're making the right choice?" She had worried—and still did—that Harry wasn't thinking rationally when he told her he was going to retire from the Service. It was quite a sacrifice for him to make, just to be with her. And while she wanted nothing to do with MI-5 ever again, she did not relish the idea of Harry coming to resent her for being the reason he left the life he'd been devoted to for thirty years.

Harry sighed in slight annoyance again. He'd been over this with her again and again. Maybe she'd eventually understand, when he asked her to be Ruth Pearce officially and not just as a legend. "I'm making the right choice," he said simply. And he was. He knew he was. It was time for him to step off the wall. He'd only stayed up there to make Ruth's sacrifice worthwhile. But now that he had her back, his penance was through. And their reward was to be together. He'd not do anything to put her or their future in danger ever again.

The lift stopped and they were shown the old, familiar hallway that led to the pods. Ruth gave Harry's hand a squeeze. "I love you," she said. Just because she could. Just because it bore repeating.

He smiled, perhaps brighter than he'd ever smiled within Thames House. "I love you, too," he replied.

They walked together to the Grid where they would leave one life for a new one. A life all their own. Together.