The Heart of Harry by Mandy MI-5 (pen name cowbell)

[MandyM15]

[b]this story is set at the beginning of S10. Harry has been suspended whilst the inquiry into Albany starts and Ruth is at home. This is my idea on what 10.1 should be. DISCLAIMER: I don't own Spooks, Kudos or BBC.

Ruth opens the cupboard which houses her mismatched mugs and boils the kettle. It is 6.35 in the morning. The morning after the night before when Harry heard that he could be left out in the cold and had disappeared off the Grid. Ruth had not slept a wink and although she tried every way she could think of, she had not been able to get hold of Harry.

Where was he? “I just need to tell him” she kept saying to herself over and over again. She screamed it silently to him when he was on the rooftop with Lucas, John even. She loved him. She loved him so much it hurt, she ached for him. She could no longer glance through his office blinds and wonder what it would be like to just march in there, grab him by his lapels and plant a great big kiss on those wonderfully pouty lips.

She would have taken his place opposite Lucas’ pointed gun if only… if only. So many ‘ifs’, so many years and missed opportunities, so much bad timing! Why hadn’t she said yes when she had the chance. It was the only time she silently said ‘no’ and only then because she felt that neither of them had the right to be happy on such a tragic day.

The kettle switches itself off and Fidget meows at her feet aware of a soft rap on the door. Who on earth would be at her door this early in the morning? Ruth wraps herself tightly in her old blue towelling robe and blearily approaches the door, tripping over Fidget on the way. Opening the door as much as the chain would allow, Ruth peers through the crack. There is no one there, a gust of wind, cold but no one there. Feeling the chill of the early morning on her naked calves she shuts the door but just as she turns she hears a thud and sees a shiny black shoe wedged into the gap.

Fear ripples through her as she leans heavily against the door in an attempt to free the unwelcome intrusion when all of a sudden the most recognisable and delicious voice yells out “Ow, I thought you’d be happy to see me!”

Barely able to believe another chance could come her way after everything they’d been through she reaches for the chain and tentatively whispers his name, “Harry?”

Pulling the chain free, and forgetting the missing belt on her robe for a moment she pulls back the chain and opens the door. Stood there in the suit he was wearing yesterday, a day’s growth of gorgeous stubble adorning his chin and a sorry looking Scarlett sitting at his feet Harry greets her with a tired and sorrowful “Ruth”.

The first time he said her name was in question. Would she open the door one more time to this lonely, tired and over emotional man? She did, still unaware of the beltless robe starting to gape open as the morning breeze swept into the hall.

“Ruth!” The second time he said her name was in delicious realisation of the embarrassing wardrobe malfunction that happened during the past few seconds.

She looked down and quickly pulled the two sides of the revealing robe to the middle. Harry let go of Scarlett’s lead and she trotted off to find her old friend Fidget in the kitchen leaving Harry and Ruth to find the words they needed for this new situation. Surely they were past all the ridiculousness of the past decade; surely they could be honest with each other now. Harry shut the door behind him and slowly looked Ruth up and down.

“I shall need to buy you a new dressing gown I think, although I quite like how revealing this one is” Harry said with a twinkle in those beautiful hazel eyes.

Here it was, Ruth’s big chance. The chance she’d secretly wished she’d taken so many times before, but had avoided. Harry stood there, in her hallway, drained, out in the cold with everything bare just wanting her, nothing else. Everything had been said. Ruth tentatively took a step closer to Harry.

Harry also took a step closer. Ruth backed up. She suddenly realised that despite her heart reaching out to Harry, she was not exactly in the state she had hoped when this moment finally came. Hair dishevelled, a touch of morning breath and the tatty dressing gown weren’t exactly building her confidence in taking this final, huge step.

“What’s wrong Ruth?”

“I…I um just need a second. Come in, um, take off your coat… and …..um, hang on.”

Ruth ran upstairs as Harry watched on, sneaking a glimpse of her bare legs running up the stairs. He smiled to himself, took off his coat and flung it over the banister and the bottom of her stairs. The first time he had smiled in days. Losing Ruth to Lucas’ blackmailing and kidnapping, the Albany mess and not knowing, for the first time in some 40 years where his career was headed all faded in to insignificance as the anticipation of finally showing Ruth how much he loved her became imminent.

Should he make a cup of tea? Sit himself on the sofa?

Five minutes passed with Harry sitting on the stairs, waiting.

“Sod it” he said to himself, “we’ve come this far…..”

He got up and began his ascent up the stairs. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, breaths coming faster, elephant sized butterflies somersaulting in his stomach, and he was only half way up the stairs!

Running water is all he heard as he neared the top of the stairs. He felt so weak with anticipation he thought his legs might give way but he kept going, reaching the source of the sound his hand reached out for Ruth’s bathroom door.

Harry pushed the door open and was met with a cloud of steam and the scent of jasmine. Once the steam dissipated Harry could make out the layout of Ruth’s bathroom. The toilet and basin were to the right and to the left the source of all that hot, beautifully scented steam, Ruth’s shower cubicle.

Paralysed by possible rejection and overwhelmed by the moment Harry stood stock still.

In the shower Ruth was busy washing her hair and wondering what was taking Harry so long to come upstairs. Perhaps she should have been more forthright, told him to take off more than his coat! Just then she felt a shudder, a closeness that had come at the same time the steam seeped from the room. She opened the door and smiled, her body hidden.

Harry, brought out of his steamy trance by the sound of the door opening looked up at the smiling Ruth and smiled back….

Harry’s smile was quickly wiped off his face with a look of complete surprise as Ruth grabbed him by his lapels and pulled him, fully clothed into the shower. How long had she wanted to do that! Within minutes he was soaked to the skin, her favourite blue shirt clinging to his chest and the soap from Ruth’s hair cascading down her body. He could hardly believe what was happening. Fiddling with the knot in his tie she pulled him close and landed a perfect, soapy kiss on his lips before he could speak a word.

The expectation of this moment faded into oblivion as the reality far exceeded it. Harry’s jacket and tie came off, then his shoes and trousers until he was stood, wrapped up in Ruth arms in just his drenched shirt, his black briefs and, of course, his socks!

They kissed each other like it was the first time either had kissed anyone before. Harry’s trembling fingers worked their way round Ruth’s body, to the small of her back as he pulled her closer to him.

“Harry” Ruth smiled as she nibbled on his earlobe, the water pelting down on them both.

“Miss Evershed, you are beautiful” he whispered into her soapy hair

“Are you planning on keeping your socks on Sir Pearce?” grinned Ruth

“ummmm…” Harry muttered as he looked down

Ruth worked her way, with light kisses down Harry’s body, unbuttoning his shirt on the way until she reached his feet. One by one Harry lifted his feet until they were free of his sopping wet socks. On the way back up again Ruth stopped at Harry’s briefs, looked up into his lust filled hazel eyes and grinned.

Harry didn’t know how the events of the past week could end up here, from seeing Ruth unconscious in the warehouse Lucas had deposited her in to being here. Here, in Ruth’s shower, naked, but not out in the cold, naked but not alone, naked with Ruth, beautiful, wonderful and incredibly sexy Ruth. No longer did he care about state secrets, he would have happily sold Albany even if it was real. Powers could leave him out in the cold, he didn’t care. All that mattered was being here, with Ruth, forever.

“Ruth” Harry gasped … “can we take this to the bedroom?”

“lets…..” Ruth replied, leading Harry out of the shower.


Three hours later and Harry, happier than he can ever remember being, lifts his head from Ruth’s pillow and gazes down on the most beautiful sight that has ever met his eyes. Aware that she should have been on the Grid hours ago and that her phone, although on silent has been buzzing away on the bedside table during their entire lovemaking he shakes her gently from her post coital doze.

“Mmmm” greets Ruth as she realises that Harry, her Harry is lying right next to her.

“Good morning gorgeous” growls Harry, he continues, “your phone….. keeps buzzing, do you want ME to answer it?”

“Probably just some national emergency, some thermobaric bomb….” she jokes snuggling deeper into Harry’s strong and secure embrace.

“Ruth!” exclaims Harry.

“OK, ok… hang on” she protests leaning across Harry’s chest to reach her persistent mobile phone.

“hello…” Ruth answers in annoyance.

Harry looks concerned as Ruth’s face turns downwards into a frown, she hangs up and looks at Harry with concern and sadness as it becomes blindingly obvious that their time in each others arms must come to an abrupt end… for the time being at least.

“Thermobaric bomb?” asks Harry

“It’s about you…. although you’re not supposed to know that” replies a confused Ruth.

“What do you mean?”

“The enquiry is starting and we’re all being called in to give our reports on what has happened this past week”

“When were they thinking of asking me!?” retorts Harry, hurt that he was being kept, not only out in the cold but in the dark too.

“Not sure… sorry.” She leans on her elbows, looking down on the man she has loved for the longest time and finally says the three words that have been left unsaid, “I love you Harry. I haven’t told you that yet have I?”

“No….. I have always known though. I love you Ruth. How wonderful to finally tell you, I don’t think I could have held it in any longer! You know what, sod Five, Powers, the DG, sod the lot of them Ruth. All that is important now is you. I love you, I love you more than I have ever loved anyone” he declares wrapping his arms around her once again. “it’s OK, go in, tell them what you need to tell them. I’ll take Scarlett for a walk….oh, my clothes are wet” realises Harry.

“I don’t want to leave you Harry, maybe if we just hide here under the duvet all of this will just blow away”

“It won’t Ruth, you know it won’t… I’ll still be here when you get back, like I said, I can’t go anywhere….. unless I wear some of your clothes!”

“mmm, tempting” Ruth jokes, “I will pop onto the Grid, tell the ‘powers that be’ all that I know and then I’ll make my excuses and get the bus to Marks and Spencer to get you some new clothes. You’d better be waiting for me right here when I get back Sir Harry” replied Ruth with a mischievous grin.

“I promise…” said Harry as he narrowed his eyes and absorbed as much of Ruth’s naked form as he could before she got up and got dressed.

Wandering around Marks and Spencer Ruth forgets all the difficult questions she has just faced at the Grid and returns to her more pleasurable memories of her morning with Harry, hoping he is still in bed waiting for her.

Back at Ruth’s Harry has just woken from the most delicious dream involving him, Ruth and a hot, steamy shower. He rubs his eyes, looks around the bedroom he now knows and realises it wasn’t a dream as his clothes lie drying on the radiator. He gets up, wrapping a discarded bath towel around his waist and checks his trousers for his mobile phone. He pulls it out, dripping and laughs out loud.

His hotline to world crisis’ and his method of receiving important red flashes has drowned after a passionate, spontaneous and very wet encounter with the woman he loves. How wonderfully ironic as he decides it pretty much sums up the priorities in his life right now.

Ruth finds herself in the Men’s underwear department and after some careful and amusing perusal she chooses a five pack of Medium black briefs and some black socks size 9-12 before heading to the other Menswear departments. Sifting through all the trendy stripy shirts Ruth finds what she is looking for, a simple navy blue shirt, nothing looks better on Harry than a simple blue shirt with the top two buttons undone…..

”mmm, Harry..” Ruth’s mind wanders as she wonders why she is taking so long knowing that Harry is naked in her bed right now! She grabs the first pair of tan trousers she can find and runs to the checkout.

Outside the bus she needs is waiting for her, she jumps on and twenty minutes later finds herself opening her front door.

She tiptoes up the stairs, throwing her coat over Harry’s still discarded on the banister and seductively opens the bedroom door. She spots Harry’s phone on the bed, his clothes on the radiator but no Harry. No Harry? And then she hears it… running water, cheeky bugger!

Ruth drops the M&S bag onto the bed and goes to find Harry, anticipation already building as she opens the bedroom door. Whatever she had been expecting to see, it wasn’t this……

"Harry!" cried Ruth, shocked and unable to believe what she was looking at.

Lying on the floor, still wearing Ruth's bath towel Harry's hands are tied behind his back with cable ties, his head is sporting a nasty gash and his eyes are closed. Ruth rushes over to him, throws herself on the bathroom floor and listens for a breath.

Nothing happens, nothing comes. Ruth pushes her lips against his and breathes deeply into his mouth, still nothing happens. She clasps her hands together and starts compressing his chest, remembering "Nellie the Elephant" she hammers out the perfect beat on Harry's naked chest. Still nothing.

"C'mon Harry, not now, I can't lose you now. I love you…. dammit Harry, come on!" shouts Ruth as she continues to hammer down on Harry's chest.

The lips she was passionately kissing just a couple of hours ago are now turning blue as she gives him her biggest breath and prays out loud "please God, please!"

Ruth presses her fingers to Harry's carotid artery, feeling desperately for a pulse. There it is, small and distant but there it is, he's alive. She prays a silent "thank you God" as she rummages in her bag and grabs her mobile phone. Quickly she dials 999 and hysterically gives the relevant details to the operator.Ruth moves Harry onto his side, wraps the towel round him tighter and sits beside him sobbing in disbelief that it has all gone so horribly wrong so quickly.

"Who has done this to you Harry?" cries Ruth, "who has done this to us?"

The sirens screech to a halt outside as Ruth hurtles down the stairs to let the paramedics in, hoping that Harry is still breathing upstairs.

At the hospital Ruth sits, head buried in her hands waiting and waiting and waiting. She can’t tell anyone, no one knows that Harry is here, just her. Footsteps are running towards her, she looks up as a nurse approaches.

“Mrs Pearce?”

“Ummm… well, sort of”

“Mr Pearce is conscious and asking for you, it is Ruth isn’t it?”

“Yes!”

Ruth leaps from her chair and runs down the corridor in the direction the nurse had just come from. She bursts through Harry’s door to find him sat up in bed, bandaged head, bandaged wrists and a tube running from his nose and coiled around his ears, but he is smiling. Smiling at his Ruth.

“You saved my life Ruth”

“Without you Harry I wouldn’t have a life, so what choice did I have?”

The words surprise her as she speaks them but this honesty with Harry is so refreshing, no need to hide behind small talk and denial any longer.

“What happened? Was it the Chinese, did they find out that Albany was fake? Was it one of Kachimovs men? Who did this to you Harry?”

“umm, no, although that would have been a better story”

“What then?”

“have you told anyone that I’m here?”

“No, not yet. I didn’t know how bad it was… didn’t want to worry anyone”

“good, let’s keep it that way”

“Harry, you still haven’t told me what happened.”

“you know how you told me to wait for you, you know, in the bedroom….”

“yes”

“I had this crazy idea…… I, umm wanted you to find me… in compes, so to speak”

“Harry this is hardly the time for a lesson in Latin!”

“I look all around for…”

“wait, in shackles?”

“umm, yes. Didn’t want you thinking I was old and boring in the bedroom so I went looking for some handcuffs or similar to surprise you with when you got home”

“Harry!”

“I know… anyway I got out of bed, and looked around the bedroom but I couldn’t find anything suitable so I put on your towel, because I wasn’t sure walking around your house naked was a terribly good idea just yet, and went in search of the required item…”

“and…”

“I ended up in the bathroom rummaging through your cabinet”

“and that’s where you found the cable ties…..”

“yes, very strange to have cable ties in your bathroom cabinet I thought but I decided, in a very spook type way, they would work perfectly! By the way Ruth, why do you have cable ties in your bathroom?”

“The bracket holding the shower onto the wall is broken, I use a cable tie to hold it together… did you not notice when we were in the shower?”

“no, not really… I had other things on my mind Miss Evershed!”

“so, what happened next?”

“I should have waited until I got back into the bedroom and heard you get home but I was so excited about surprising you that I tied my hands together right away…”

“so how did you end up unconscious and bleeding?!”

“socks…”

“sorry?”

“the socks you took off me in the shower earlier were still on the bathroom floor, I slipped and not having any hands free to steady myself I guess I hit my head on the basin and ended up flat out on your bathroom floor” Harry said sheepishly.

“you could have killed yourself!”

“yes….. I nearly did it seems, but you turned up and rescued me”

“no more kinky sex ideas Sir Harry, OK?”

“I promise… but I want to prove to you that I’m not old and boring”

“I didn’t think for a minute that you were” Ruth moves closer to Harry and takes one of his hands in hers. “You set my heart racing more than anyone has ever done, I look into your eyes and I am completely lost, When you undo your top button and loosen your tie at work all I can concentrate on is that small triangle of flesh that has just appeared. Harry, you excite me and are quite possibly the least boring person I know!”

Harry smiles, “Ruth, take me home…….”

[A Cousin]

So you're cowbelll!

Very fluff-tastic! Your characterizations are very good as well. Harry is most definitely not old and anything but boring!

[MandyM15]

thanks cousin, very kind comments x