A New Reality.

The new flat Channing had bought for her to denote her new wealth was so large it felt so alien compared to her old place, and it just felt so…so cold because she had not really spent a lot of her time here to furnish it.

Matters didn't help that she hadn't even wanted the place in the first place since she had been comfortable with what she'd originally had, but Channing had a desire to shower her with gifts and trinkets, although truly Ros had no idea really what he wanted to get out of it in return.

Yeah, Channing may have been sweet even if he truly wasn't her type, and she found some of his manner annoying, but he was still her business partner even if she wished he would just mind his own business about her living space.

But no. Channing wouldn't hear anything of it, especially after he had seen her last flat. In truth, she had been rather insulted with Channing's attitude since she had liked her old place, but she had caved in especially since the businessman had promised her a much larger workspace where she could work on her inventions. The message was clear even if it actually insulted Ros' intelligence - Channing wanted her to work all the time on her inventions so they could both be rich. Her life didn't work like that, and if she joined the Bureau then it would be hard for her to work on her inventions at all.

Ros had agreed to live in the place, even if she knew Channing was trying to buy her, but in truth, work had been coming in slowly for her and the gang and the deal she had made had really been a help while Ed and Beckett were both distracted.

Now Ros was sitting by herself, wishing Channing had gotten her a place that came with a smaller living room so then she wouldn't be feeling like she was sitting in the middle of a castle while she tried to think of what had been happening.

Everything had been going so well, but now, in less than 24 hours, it had only taken a few short hours before the foundations of her perfect world had fallen apart.

Not only was Ed hospitalised after being injured during the mess with Kitty McHaig, but Beckett had done a deal to get them involved with a new Bureau.

Ros had spent the last few days deliberately going out of her way to avoid Beckett while spending time with Ed while he recovered in the hospital though it wasn't hard.

Nick had his new Bureau to concentrate on.

No, that was unfair, and as she sat on the couch next to the still unwrapped cushions which had come with the couch Ros mentally chided herself. She knew she was being unfair, but she just so ambushed by everything that was going on.

It was bad enough Ed was hospitalised, but for Beckett to make a deal like this and only finding out about it at the last minute…

Ros didn't want to work for a new Bureau. In fact, she didn't want to work for any kind of spy agency like she was a female version of James Bond. Yeah, she had never had any problem with working with Roland once or twice, but that was different; she wasn't a part of the Bureau or any kind of organisation like it.

She knew if they joined something like that then they would be buckled down with Whitehall infighting; she could see it now if anything went wrong then they could be pushed from one enquiry to the next, being accused of all kinds of treachery.

But Beckett did say they would have access to more work…

Annoyed that her own brain was betraying her although she had to accept the logic, Ros thought about Beckett's points. Yeah. They'd have access to more work, but the problem with that was they would be forced to work with the people whom Jan believed to be worth their attention. Ros knew that would be companies and organisations that were more important for the national interest than anything else.

On top of that, they would lose their independence.

Ros hated working for other people. It was different with their line of work simply because she knew they didn't have much authority over her and her work, but Ros had always had problems with working for other people despite her intellect and her professional attitude. Some bosses were just so mundane, and some had no common sense.

In this case…

Ros had no idea what Jan was like, but she had the feeling that if Beckett hadn't agreed then she would have simply thrown him, her and Ed into prison and threw away the key and walked off without a backwards glance. The idea of working for someone like Jan filled her with dread because it would be all 'secrets acts' and other bits of crap like that.

She didn't want to work for that type of person, but Ros knew, logically, she had no choice. There was no doubt in her mind if she didn't come to heel like a dog, then Jan would go out of her way to track her down and press-gang her into working for the Bureau. So she had no way out, she couldn't win.

Ros leaned back in her seat, breathing in softly while she thought about her friends. Nick may not have any choice with this, but Ed, the one person she had expected to be with her, was going along with it. When Ros had confronted him about it when she discovered his decision, he had looked at her with pained eyes.

"I would have agreed with you a long time ago, Ros," Ed had said to her as he lay stiffly on the hospital bed. Ros had listened and watched him sympathetically, knowing he must have been in agony. "God knows I would have shouted at Beckett, argued with him over signing us up for the Bureau-"

"Then why didn't you?" Ros had asked him.

Ed had just stared at her with his pained eyes. He seemed to have aged greatly after everything he had been through. "Ros - I've taken a good, long, and hard look at everything that's happened to us; we've been shot at, bombs have blown up around us, we've blundered into dozens of operations, and you had an Artificial Intelligence parasite that jumped the species barrier into your head…"

Ros had shuddered at the reminder of what Jean-Daniel had done with Cyberax, and how she was still mobile and yet others like Roland weren't. Ooh, that was a low blow.

"Don't tell me this is all about them-!" Ros had glared at Ed, but he glared back at her, more fiercely, his anger or annoyance, she couldn't tell what he was feeling, but she could tell that whatever it was, he was suddenly feeling it intensely.

"No, it's not. I don't care what this Jan has promised, but Ros, I've lost my taste for doing this sort of thing without a safety net. Suppose we can get out of this mess, or even better Jan never made the arrangement with Beckett? What would happen if we get shot at?" Ed challenged her, though his voice was incredibly soft as he looked at her sympathetically, knowing precisely how she was feeling. "Look, I don't want to lose our independence; I don't like working under someone, mostly because some of the bosses I've had in the past are bastards. But let's face facts - we don't have any choice; these are not the type of people you want to say no to. And besides, …we'll be able to catch up with Kitty before she does any more damage. And let's face facts; we're going to be kept busy. Looking at the bright side, we'll have loads of work opportunities. I've been getting bored recently, and that's led to some of my injuries. "

Ros closed her eyes as she finished going over what Ed had said to her. He had some good points, she had to admit; yeah, before all of this she and her friends had been approached by Jan they'd had a lull with work and for someone who loved living life to the edge, Ros knew such things were horrifying for Ed who was a daredevil and adrenaline junkie.

But she had to admit his primary good point was how whenever one of them was injured, or put into a mess like Ros herself had when Cyberax had been placed into her brain, they'd had no-one but themselves to fall back on. Even then it hadn't been enough, but they'd managed in the end even if they hadn't been able to help Roland and the other unfortunates who'd had the Cyberax program shoved into their minds.

Even to this day, Ros had no idea what the French criminal genius had been thinking when he had unleashed the program. Surely it occurred to him if Cyberax went active without anything to contain it, it would corrupt and destroy everything. And in a world which was becoming more and more computer-dependent, that was incredibly dangerous.

One by one different program would come under the control of Cyberax, and then it would turn on the human race and unleash a terrible war the human race could not hope to win.

It was funny, but when Ros had first suggested to Nick and Ed about working together and going freelance since they had worked so well with each other during that SACROS mess, she had never imagined she would be brought into an organisation like the Bureau.

Ros sighed and she stood up to pour some wine for herself - yet another one of Channing's extravagant gifts - and wondered to herself just how long she had to wait before Jan became tired and forced her to join.

She knew, either way, she wouldn't have any choice in the matter. Somehow she was going to be brought into the Bureau.