Disclaimer: Still not mine...

Yes, I FLANned - here's chapter 2, which tells it all from Harry's point of view.

Thanks to Kate for the speedy beta ;)

Chapter 2

Harry sighed and leant back against the headrest. He had far more important things to do than go to Cheltenham. We need to nurture our inter-service relationships. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't heard it from the DG's mouth himself. And part of the nurturing was Harry's trip to GCHQ.

"I'm not entirely sure a visit by me will do a lot of good, sir."

"Rubbish, Harry. You can tell them a few of your war stories, suitably edited, of course and remind them how invaluable we think their contribution to the war on terror is."

The DG's tone had indicated it was non-negotiable and Harry had returned to the Grid feeling incredibly irritated, a feeling that had resurfaced and was growing as his car got closer to Cheltenham.

-----

He was eventually met at reception by a thin, mousy-haired young man who looked as if he'd dressed in the dark whilst wearing handcuffs. Harry wasn't a vain man but his military service had instilled in him a sense of discipline where appearance was concerned. His current position within MI5 meant that a suit and tie were de rigueur, at least for him. There were times though, when he regretted the relaxation of the Civil Service dress code; this was one of them.

"Mr, er, um…" The boy's voice trailed off.

"Pearce. I'm here for the lecture. James Davies is expecting me." He extended his hand towards the youth and was rewarded with a brief, limp handshake.

"Brian will escort you, sir," the security guard shot him a pitying look, "the lecture is in Conference Room D, just in case you get lost." The probability of this happening was obviously high.

They had waited for the lift and travelled up to the fifth floor in total silence. Well, not total silence. Brian seemed to have a nervous habit of humming to himself every so often. Harry wondered how his colleagues put up with it.

They hadn't got far when a head popped out from a doorway and Brian was summonsed to the telephone. Without a backward glance, he trotted off leaving a bemused MI5 senior officer stranded in the corridor.

Harry was pacing up and down when approaching footsteps caught his attention. A young woman, head down, was hurrying in his direction. She stopped abruptly, narrowly avoiding walking into him.

"Oh God, um, er… sorry. I-I'm in a bit of a hurry, sorry…" She stumbled over her words and started to blush as she met his gaze.

The phrase 'lost for words' had never seemed so apt. Harry was speechless and felt glued to the spot as he watched the petite brunette standing in front of him. She was gorgeous. He took in her appearance, noting her lipstick mirrored the deep red of her blouse. Her skirt was long, flowing and multi-coloured. By rights, the combination should have screamed 'fashion disaster' but it suited her. She was a refreshing and welcome change from the usual grey and beige GCHQ staff.

Harry suddenly became aware that her eyes had moved to the visitor's pass clipped to his jacket and she was saying something.

"…but visitors are supposed to be escorted at all times."

"My escort got called away to the phone, said he'd be back but that was," he checked his watch, "fifteen minutes ago."

At her request, he relayed the name of the young man in question and she rolled her eyes and sighed. "Brian – he'd forget his head if it wasn't screwed on. OK, where are you heading and why are you here?"

Her tone was vaguely impertinent and caused him to briefly raise an eyebrow.

"Conference Room D, the MI5 lecture…" He wasn't given a chance to say anymore; not that he minded when he found out she had the same destination.

She pointed along the corridor and set off at a brisk pace, talking all the time. It was clearly a sign of nerves and he wondered if she was always like this.

"I hope he doesn't turn out to be one of these dry-as-dust types who won't tell us any of the juicy bits."

Harry bit back a smile at her remark. She clearly had no idea he was delivering the lecture. They'd reached a set of double doors and she blushed slightly as he held one open for her; a reaction he thought rather sweet.

"Ah Harry, there you are. We thought we'd lost you and that would never do!"

James Davies was wearing a migraine inducing combination of shirt and tie, which Harry valiantly tried to ignore as he was greeted with a warm handshake.

"Oh good, Miss Evershed rescued you. I'm sorry about Brian, he's a bit…"

"…of an idiot." Harry was forced to stifle a laugh at the muttered comment of his guide.

"Don't worry about it James, Miss Evershed has been looking after me."

"Good. So Miss Evershed, have you been formally introduced?" James turned to look at his colleague.

"Er, no."

"Right, well this is Harry Pearce; he's from 5 and is our speaker today. Harry, Ruth Evershed, one of our most talented analysts."

She looked totally shell-shocked and Harry felt guilty that he hadn't identified himself earlier. He held out his hand and she managed a weak smile as she took it. He smiled back at her and noted, with some interest, that she held on to him far longer than was necessary. She dropped his hand suddenly, presumably as the same realisation occurred to her.

-----

As Harry delivered his lecture, he was aware of the intense gaze he was being subjected to from Ruth. He'd managed to catch her eye a couple of times and was rewarded with a shy smile. As he remarked that he wasn't able to tell his audience 'all the juicy details' of operations he'd been involved with, he shot a quick look in her direction but she dipped her head and took a keen interest in the notepad on her knees.

By the time he had finished, Harry was determined to speak to Ruth again. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her but he had a vague idea about asking her out for a drink. She wasn't wearing an engagement ring or a wedding ring, which he took as a hopeful sign. A gloomy voice in his head attempted to dampen his enthusiasm, pointing out that a woman as attractive as her was unlikely to be single and even more unlikely to be interested in him. His inner pessimist was temporarily silenced as Ruth started to walk towards him. Unfortunately, it was soon revived when James suddenly appeared and began to introduce him to several other people.

-----

The ringing phone finally brought James Davies' long-winded explanation about GCHQ's new email monitoring software to an end. Harry absently ran a hand over his face and wondered how ill-mannered it would be if he just got up and left.

His deliberations were interrupted by a flurry of movement. "Sorry, Harry. I've been called away to an urgent meeting. I shouldn't be long so perhaps we can continue this afterwards, somewhere more convivial?"

"Well, I…"

James was already out of his seat and opening his office door and Harry reluctantly followed him. His mood improved when he saw Ruth waiting by the lifts and he felt even happier when she agreed to the request to keep him 'entertained' for an hour. He quickly suppressed the inappropriate thoughts he'd had in response to James' parting remark about being left in her capable hands.

Ten minutes later they were safely installed in The Crossed Keys at a corner table. After a slightly hesitant start, Harry decided to stick to the relatively harmless topics of film and literature; an astute move as they found common interests and conversation began to flow more easily. He was discreetly checking his watch, aware that James would soon appear, when Ruth's phone rang. She relayed the news that her boss wouldn't be joining them, after all. Seeing that she was not in least bit disappointed by the change in plans, he seized the initiative and suggested they order some food.

Their conversation had turned to the subject of 5 and Harry was encouraging her to apply for a secondment.

"You should, I'm… we're always on the look out for talented people, although I don't expect James will appreciate us poaching one of his best analysts."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll get over it." Her tone indicated that James' feelings were clearly not her top priority.

Harry's phone rang and he cursed inwardly. "Sorry, it's probably my driver wondering where I've got to."

He was right.

"I really do have to go Ruth. I've got an early meeting so I need to get back to London tonight." He felt incredibly reluctant to leave her but he had no choice. An idea suddenly occurred to him. "Can I at least give you a lift home?"

She hesitated and then declined the offer. Harry wasn't going to give up easily and he insisted that it was no trouble. She eventually accepted, smiling bashfully at him.

Once they were both settled in the car and Harry had established how well his driver knew the area, he turned and looked expectantly at Ruth. He was met with silence.

"I might be a spook Ruth, but I can't mind read. You need to tell us your address."

As she gave the driver general directions, Harry was wondering how long it would take to reach her house. The traffic was light and the rain had stopped. Typical, he thought; the two things that could usually be relied upon to delay a journey were now conspiring against him and it would soon be time to say goodbye to her.

As they proceeded through the almost empty streets they chatted about Cheltenham, comparing it to London. Harry was delighted to discover she liked to visit the capital as often as possible and he wondered how easy it would be to engineer an evening out with her on one of her forays to the city.

Determined not to have to say his farewells until the last moment, Harry was out of the vehicle before it came to a complete stop. He helped Ruth from the car and insisted on walking her to the front door. Their parting was delayed as she hunted for her keys, which she promptly dropped. As he handed them back to her, he felt his fingers tingle as they brushed her palm.

"Thanks for the lift and er, this evening."

He gave her a warm smile. "You're welcome, on both counts. Remember what I said; if you're still interested in a secondment to MI5, you know where I am." At her slightly confused look he continued, "Thames House; it's a big building on the corner of Millbank and Horseferry Road. You can't miss it."

Harry cringed inwardly at his rather poor joke but Ruth laughed and shook his hand. This time, he couldn't resist holding on to her longer than was strictly necessary.

He waved goodbye and climbed back into the car. His trip to GCHQ had certainly been far more rewarding than he had envisaged. As he leant back in his seat and closed his eyes, he hoped Ruth would apply for a secondment. She had seemed genuinely interested in working for 5 and, as far as he was concerned, it was his section she was going to get posted to if she did.

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Several months later

Harry's charm offensive on Debra Langham had finally yielded a success. Two weeks ago she had phoned and asked him, somewhat breathlessly, if she could see him urgently. She had details of two GCHQ staff who had applied for secondment to 5, one of whom was ideal for Section D.

As he'd waited impatiently for her to arrive, he tried not to get his hopes up. This was the third time Ms Langham had assured him she'd found his perfect member of staff, but on the previous occasions she hadn't. Well, in truth, she had found at least two people who would make excellent additions to his team but they were not the person he was looking for.

He looked up as the alarm for the pods went off. The wailing was doing nothing for his nerves and he stormed out of his office inviting anyone who was listening to 'turn that bloody noise off'. One of the admin staff was desperately keying a code into a numeric pad on the wall but it had no effect. Harry stabbed his finger at the buttons and the racket finally stopped. Debra Langham emerged sheepishly from the middle pod and started to apologise profusely.

Once they were finally settled into his office, he'd practically snatched the files from her. The first one belonged to a young man with a string of letters after his name and was soon discarded. When he opened the second file, Harry felt his heart soar. Clipped to the secondment request form was a photograph of a familiar brunette.

-----

Harry was sitting in the meeting room listening to Tom. He was getting restless. She should be here by now. Suddenly the door burst open and he was greeted by the sight of Ruth trying, and failing, to hold onto a pile of files and folders. As some of them crashed to the floor, Harry introduced her to the others.

"Everyone, this is Ruth Evershed from GCHQ. She's going to be handling intelligence analysis in this department."