Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Kudos and BBC. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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It was close to ten thirty that morning when Ros finally returned to the Grid.  Harry was seated behind his desk, his brow furrowed with worry as he waited for word about Alexa.  Ever since he’d found out that Nadia had been the woman Lucas and Jo retrieved a few blocks from Victoria Station instead of his god daughter, Harry had forced himself to control his temper, retreating into his office until Malcolm could find Alexa again.

Harry forced himself to remember the events of the night he’d brought Alexa back to the Grid after the four-hour flight from Moscow.  For now, as news of her disappearance from the Underground station began to sink in, Harry could not help but force himself to remember that night. 

Something had happened that night, Harry thought, even though he’d refused to admit it then.  But with today’s events, Harry knew that he had to start believing the possibility that there was more to Alexa than just the innocent god daughter he had always seen her to be.

Harry still remembered Alexa’s broken arm and how the flight attendants had fashioned a sling for her.  He recalled how emaciated she looked, her cheekbones dominating her pale face and the missing teeth.  

After Lucas had reported that he’d found Alexa a few days earlier in some third-rate club, and that the man responsible for her abduction and imprisonment seemed to have some sort of protection from FSB, Harry had tried his best to pull as many powerful strings as he could to punish the man.  He remembered how he hated Mikhael Lubienko then, and how he wished the man dead.

Whether he was effective or not with his influence on any contacts he had at that time, Harry would not know then, although years later, he’d find out that Mikhael was sent to prison after all, where he would end up maimed by fellow prisoners, his face scarred forever.  

As he sat behind his desk, Harry forced himself to focus on that night and only Alexa alone.  What had she done the moment she stepped foot inside Section D, he asked himself.  Had he let her out of his sight at all?

“Uncle Harry, can I get on the internet?”

“Hmm?” Harry had been lost in his own thoughts as one of the junior operatives handed Alexa a cup of tea.  They were sitting inside his office, him behind his desk and Alexa right in front of him, still holding a Russian nesting doll and book in her arms which she had refused to let go of the entire time.  Harry tried to remember the book’s title but couldn’t.  

“It’s been six months since I’ve been online,” Alexa said softly, lowering her head as if embarrassed.  She was sitting in front of his desk, her thin form covered by Harry’s own coat while he waited for Zoe, one of his operatives, to get her a change of clothes.  

Harry smiled as he typed his own password to unlock his computer.  He clicked on the icon for the internet browser.  “Now I don’t want any ‘Living the Vida Loca’ on my computer when I get back,” he said teasingly as he got up and pulled his own chair back so Alexa could sit down.  

She was still a teen-ager, he thought.  The internet was a Pandora’s box of surprises, and he couldn’t blame her for wanting to check out what was going on with the world.  Besides, Harry had just spotted Jools Siviter from the corner of his eye entering the Grid, standing inside the pod as the computers analyzed to see if the man had anything on him had anything that warranted review.  

Harry excused himself abruptly, shutting the door behind him securely as he faced Jools, who had been heading for his office.  “What are you doing here, Jools?”  He asked curtly.  “Isn’t it a bit late for you to be out and about?”

“Two thirty in the morning,” Jools said.  “Nothing’s too early when I hear that you’ve been able to secure your god daughter back.  Is Lucas North back from Russia?”

Harry frowned.  “Now why would you want to know that?  Last time I looked, North worked for Five, not Six.”

Jools raised an eyebrow.  “As long as North stays out of my agents’ way in Moscow, we will both work together just fine, Harry.  But for now, I need to talk to Alexa.”

Harry found himself blocking the door to his office.  “And why do you want to speak to her, Jools?”

“Mikhael Lubienko is a dangerous man, Harry,” Jools replied.  “I want to know what she knows before she forgets the facts.  You know how some prisoners develop a soft spot for their captors.  Besides, he’s been on our watch list for some time now and he’s responsible for the deaths of three of my men in Moscow.”

“Tonight is not the time for any debriefing, Jools,” Harry said.  “I want Lubienko as bad as you do, but we need to give her some time.  I won’t allow having her subjected to anything drastic tonight.  The poor girl needs to rest.”

Harry turned to look at Alexa through the glass wall of his office. She was facing away from the door, his coat still engulfing her as she sat before the computer.  Her head was bowed low, as if she were looking at something on her lap.

Jools took a step back, his chin held high.  Jools wasn’t used to being refused any of his commands, but he was also inside MI5.  He wasn’t ruling his own roost across the Thames at Vauxhall Cross.

“The doctor will be coming to pick her up shortly,” Jools said as Harry stared at him, surprised.  “This is protocol, Harry.  She needs to be debriefed, and medically examined.”

“For what?  She’s a victim, for God’s sake, not an enemy combatant, Jools.  She needs to be afforded some rest and privacy.”

Jools scoffed.  “Just because she’s your god daughter does not make her exempt from protocol, Harry.  She still needs to go through debriefing and the medical check up is necessary to make sure that she’s okay, that she’s not bringing some disease from god knows --”

“Oh, shut up, Jools,” Harry snapped.  “Now if you’ll be so kind as to wait outside and I will let you know when she is ready.”

Harry leaned back against his chair, inhaling deeply as he did so.  He hadn’t entered his office right then, he remembered now.  He had waited till Jools skulked out of the office, the arrogant man throwing him a look right before turning the corner.  

Harry had then gone to Malcolm’s desk to check out something he was reviewing on his computer.  How long Harry had allowed Alexa to be in his office alone he couldn’t remember, but it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes.

Ros entered his office and sat down in front of him.  She was holding the envelope that had been couriered to him a few nights earlier and as Harry watched her, she pulled out a photograph and handed it to him.

“What is Nephthys?”

Harry looked at the photograph of Alexa and Lucas, her naked back to the camera and for a moment, Harry looked away.  But there was something that made him look again.  He peered at the photograph, focusing on the tattoo on Alexa’s back.  He’d never noticed it before, he thought.  But then Harry did not make it a habit to stare at the naked body of a woman who could be his daughter.

But as he read the words tattooed on her back, he knew.  

“Tell me about Nephthys, Harry,”  Ros asked again and this time Harry looked up at her, placing the photograph on the desk in front of him.  He took a deep breath, wondering where he would begin.  

Well, something inside Harry said, begin at the beginning.

“Eleven years ago, there was a rumor going on within MI6 that Michael Smith, one of Six’s top deep cover agents, had turned traitor.”

“Mikhael Lubienko,” Ros said.  

Harry nodded.  “That was his legend.  He’d been sent there two years previously by Jools’ predecessor to relay information back to England.  He’d entrenched himself quite well into Russian life, got married and right before we heard the news of his betrayal, even had a son.  The perfect cover.”

Harry sighed.  He got up and walked towards the bar to pour himself a scotch.  He lifted a glass for Ross but she shook her head.  “When Jools started running the show, things seemed to go downhill from there.  There were too many botched operations, misinformation, and most importantly, there were some illegal dealings involving nuclear arm sales that went on right under Mikhael’s nose.”

“That must have ticked Mikhael off,” Ros said.  “I hear he was at the top of his field.”

“Yes, he was. Much like you, Ros," Harry said with a small smile, remembering the few operations that Ros herself had set up without his knowledge in the past.  "And so he set up his operation, independent of his handler, and worse, without Jools’ knowledge.  Mikahel was so used to the way the old boss ran the show that he just went on as if Jools had never taken over.”  Harry took a sip, allowing the scotch to smoothly flow down his throat.  He sat back down.  

“Six months later, Jools denounced him as a traitor, and revealed proof that Mikhael worked for the KGB.  According to Jools, Mikhael had killed three MI6 agents and his own family before going into hiding.  The next time we heard about Mikhael, he was already working with the FSB.”

"I doubt he had much of a choice," Ros said wryly.  "But do continue, Harry."

“Nine years ago, I brought Alexa back from Russia and all she had in her possession was a book, a nesting doll and a Russian pop music CD.  I left her in my office for about twenty minutes and during that time, I believe now that she was the one who uploaded a file report by Mikhael Lubienko called Nephthys.  At that time, we’d thought that someone had hacked the systems, since we’d had had a few attempts that week alone, and we were still getting used to the new equipment,” Harry began.  “The report detailed an operation that Mikhael had set up at a dacha just outside of Moscow after receiving a tip that it would be the site of nuclear arms negotiations - the under the table kind, if you know what I mean.”’

Ros did not say anything.  She watched as Harry appeared to choose his words carefully.

“The file contained highly detailed surveillance transcripts of conversations between people we have long suspected of illegal arms dealing - and one of our own.”

There was silence between them as Ros mulled Harry’s words over, though she didn’t need too much time to do so.  She’d already known it the moment she’d seen the smarmy man walk through the pods a few nights ago.

“Jools Siviter,” Ros said.  “That’s why he’s back in the picture all of a sudden, isn’t he?  So what did you do with the report, Harry?”

“There was nothing I could do without ruining my own reputation, Ros,” Harry said.  “The report was detailed, yes.  It had photographs, yes.  But I needed actual recordings.  If Mikhael was able to transcribe the meetings and write it all down, then I needed the real thing.”

Ros’ brow furrowed.  “Mikhael would be too smart to include everything with one messenger,” she said.  “He’d have ensured that she bring one part of the report, and the recordings would have had to be delivered another way.”

“Well, even if that had been Mikhael’s plan, it would never have worked,” Harry said bitterly.  “I found out three days later that Jools had illegally held Alexa against her will at Vauxhall Cross for interrogation.  I was able to put a stop to it but by then the damage was done.  The girl was incoherent.  She didn’t know who she was, and she was hysterical.  She saw Mikhael everywhere, as if he were the devil.  It was as if her memory had been tampered with.”

He sighed. “There were three psychologists in that room with her, and all three declared her mentally unstable, that whatever Alexa said would not be able to stand in any court.”

“Surely you could have reported Jools to the JIC,” Ros said softly.  The Joint Intelligence Committee oversaw all the secret service divisions, including MI5 and MI6.  “She was tortured inside that room, Harry.”

Harry shook his head.  Sweat had gathered on his brow and he wiped it with a handkerchief.  “I don’t know, Ros.  But I was faced with a huge problem.  If Alexa brought back the Nephthys report and uploaded it into my computer, a report that accuses the head of MI6 of treason, and I myself report him to the JIC, do you know how that would make me look?   She’s my god daughter.”

Harry sighed.  “Besides, by the time she calmed down and I asked her about Nephthys, she just looked at me like I had sprouted horns.  When I mentioned Mikhael’s name, she would start screaming.  Nathaniel almost had her committed.”

Harry’s face was pained as he remembered those days, days when he’d rush to the George household to calm Nathaniel down and convince him not to do anything so drastic.  The girl was broken, he remembered telling Nathaniel.  She needed time.  

“Harry,” Ros’ voice broke through his reverie.  “I’m sure you didn’t let this one go.  Knowing a high level officer is involved in dealings that go against the Non-Proliferation Treaty isn’t something you can ignore.  Not you.  It’s the reason why you do what you do, to stop people like him.”

Harry nodded.  “You’re right, Ros.  I didn’t just let it go.  Even though I couldn’t submit that report to the JIC, I could at least get more substantial proof.”

“And did you?” Ros asked.  “Send someone to get more proof?”

But even as Ros asked the question, she stopped, catching herself.  Of course Harry had sent someone to Russia to get more proof, she thought.    

Only he didn’t come back till eight years later.

>>><<<

“Where is she?” Lucas demanded angrily as Jo sped along Seven Sisters Road, her eyes on the rear view mirror to make sure that they had not been followed.  

Grabbing Nadia from the street had been quick.  It had taken the two men following her by surprise.   By the time they made their way through the crowd towards them, Lucas had shoved the woman he assumed as Alexa into the back of the car and jumped in right behind her.  But as soon as Lucas discovered the deception, his face turned bright red, his eyes flashing dark blue as he pulled her baseball cap from her head.

He hung up the phone after telling Harry the news that Nadia and Alexa had somehow made the switch somewhere between the hospital and Victoria station, his eyes never leaving the woman who sat calmly before him, dressed in medical scrubs and an oversized black coat.  

Lucas grabbed her arm but Nadia did not resist him.  She was not going anywhere.  This was the reason why she was here, Nadia thought.  

“Where is she?” Lucas demanded again.  He dug his hands inside her jacket pockets, patting her to make sure that she wasn’t carrying any weapons - not that it would have made a difference to Lucas.  He was beyond caring as he roughly brought his hands across her body, not caring whether his touch was inappropriate or not.  

A piece of paper fell from one of the jacket pockets onto the floor board between them.  Lucas reached for the card and stopped as he looked at it.  A chill came over him.  

The business card featured a fleur de lis logo and the name Близнецы.  

“Gemini,” Lucas breathed, reading the Russian text easily.  Russian culture and language had been one of his specialties, and one of the strongest traits that got him immediately hired into MI5.  “Where’d you get this?”

“Alexa was holding it while she was in the metro,” Nadia said.  “She left it inside the coat.  This coat.  Before we switched clothing.”

Lucas read the address printed below it and turned the card over.  He held his breath as his eyes alighted upon the handwritten word on it.  Nephthys.  

“Is this is where she’s going?” Lucas demanded, his eyes boring into Nadia’s.  “Did she say anything else?”

Nadia did not answer.  She only nodded.  She’d heard about Lucas North and about the eight years he’d been imprisoned in Russia, and of the tortures he’d had to endure.  Nathaniel had told Nadia as much, just as he had added that he knew Lucas had been betrayed by someone in MI5, falling into a perfectly set up trap in Moscow that had him held at Lushanka prison for eight years. 

Suddenly Lucas ordered Jo to stop the car.  As Jo parked the car at the first space she could find on the main strip of road, Lucas opened the door and leapt out.  “Take her to the Grid and make sure she stays there,” he ordered.

“Lucas!” Jo called out, “wait!”  

She watched his slim figure blending in with the crowd that had formed along the entrance the an Underground station.  It was no point calling for him now, Jo thought as she looked at Nadia who had leaned back and snapped her seatbelt across her body, her eyes looking straight ahead.  

Lucas was gone.