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.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Connie James first appeared in Season 6, in the 2-parter "The Virus" and the reference to her role as caretaker of the nuclear bunker in Surrey is part of Spooks canon.  Harry reactivated her back onto the Grid at the end of the episode.

Operation Renaissance is referenced later in Season 7, episode 7, "The Mole."

>>> <<<

As the image of Harry walking away from Montgomery Coultron and stepping out of sight as he left the interrogation room appeared on her computer monitor, Connie slipped the headphones from her head and got up.  She retrieved her mobile phone from her purse, slipped it into her pants pocket and decided to take a short break away from her desk.

She made her way to the rooftop of Thames House, a walk that would take her about seven minutes as she walked past colleagues with whom she’d worked with for years.  Though she had taken early retirement almost ten years earlier, it was Harry who had brought her back into the fold, releasing her from the tedium as caretaker of a Cold-War era nuclear bunker in Surrey.

Connie had a lot to be grateful for in Harry Pearce, for the man had been her champion for years, guiding her throughout most of her career and even working alongside her in an operation called Renaissance.  

Their operation then had been to convince the Russians that they had a mole within MI5 who would give them false information, and who would, in return, be able to disseminate valuable information from the Russians back to MI5.  Connie had been the operative assigned to play the traitor and it had worked, for she’d been able to culminate contacts within the KGB as well as FSB, Russia’s secret police.  

But it had worked too well and even Harry had never been able to foresee just how well the ploy had worked - at least to the Russians’ favor.  He’d been too blinded by idealism and dedication to his country, no matter what the country’s aims were, that even as Connie convinced the Russians that she was a reliable mole, they’d been able to turn her.

She indeed was a double agent in every way but not, in England’s favor.

For Connie’s loyalties had shifted shortly after the completion of Operation Renaissance.  As America’s power continued to rise, it had forced England to step aside and make room for this ever-growing superpower, a move that Connie and others like her knew would create an imbalance that would only grow deeper and deeper as America’s powers grew.

She dialed a number and waited as it rang and rang.  When someone finally answered, it was a curt, “да?”  Yes?

Connie began to speak in fluent Russian.  Harry, she told the man on the other end of the line, had just questioned the lone surviving psychologist involved in Alexa’s interrogation nine years earlier.  He had asked for protection from MI5.  

The man chuckled.  “As if it will help him now,” he said.  “Was he able to give a positive ID of Mr. Jones?”   

“Yes,” Connie replied.  Mr. Jones, of course, was the pompous Jools Siviter’s legend.  “It was all Harry needed.”

The man sighed.  “Coultron’s word is worth nothing.  He is a disgraced psychologist, a quack really.  But it is still a huge blow to our cause.”

Connie remained silent.  She waited as the man spoke to someone in the background, a car honking in the distance as he barked an order.  It seemed that the man was in a car somewhere in the middle of the city, she thought, her assumptions confirmed when he mentioned something about Seven Sisters Road.

“I have received the thumb drive,” the man said.  “It’s intact and nothing, it seems, has been altered.  I marvel at how the girl managed to keep it safe after all these years.”

Connie smiled.  “The girl is an enigma, yet she can be an important asset should we need her again in the future.”

“I’m not sure we can call her an asset,” said the man thoughtfully.  “She never was, at least for us.  She had to keep the information safe because she did not know who to trust anymore.  And that is  testament to Mr. Jones’ methodology.”

“But Mr. Jones is a liability now, don’t you agree?” She asked carefully.  “I couldn’t trust him to keep the secret safe if he were indeed exposed and brought before a tribunal.  I will fear for my safety.”

The man sighed.  “So you think it will come to that?”

“Harry Pearce will stop at nothing now,” Connie said as she took in the view of London before her.  “He has almost everything he needs.”

There was an audible pause.  “Almost?”

“The girl is supposed to deliver the proof needed to complete Nephthys.  That is, if she makes it alive.  Mr. Jones has sent someone in to terminate her.”  

Connie had learned from Jools an hour earlier that he had sent someone over to the brothel to keep an eye for Alexa and kill her.  Jools had simply tired of the girl, and there was nothing else, or rather no one else, to guarantee her life now that Nathaniel was dead, not even the discovery that Alexa was Harry’s daughter.

Even that, Connie thought, was not a good enough reason for Jools to stick to the unspoken code of leaving your peers’ family untouched.  As far as Jools was concerned, Alexa had been a nuisance from the very beginning, and he was more than happy to be finally rid of her.  He had no more use for her.

“And Lucas North,” the man said.  “He loves her, yes?”

“They have a son together,” Connie replied, her voice softening.  “He is eight years old.”

The man spoke to someone in the background before returning to his conversation with Connie.  “In that case, we have to make sure he is happy.  I have yet to see a return on this investment and I’m not about to see our valuable prisoner exchange to have been for nought.  He should never forget the price for his freedom.”

With that, the man said good-bye and hung up.  Connie realized then that she’d held her breath during that last exchange, not knowing what to expect of Valentin Dorev, the new FSB resident in London.  Valentin was next in line to succeed Arkady, who had yet to report for work in the past two days. 

Connie could have told Valentin that MI5 had Arkady in their custody, though she knew that even that was a lie.  She’d searched for the man everywhere, wondering if her security clearance had somehow not been high enough to guarantee her the knowledge of his whereabouts.  

But Connie also knew that there was no need for her to disclose such information, for Valentin knew that already.  Arkady’s disappearance had moved him up in the hierarchy within the FSB, a position that was much coveted by many an ambitious operative, because Arkady had made a fatal mistake.  

He had sabotaged an operation that would have brought England into a state of complete blackout from the rest of the world, an act that resulted in a major embarrassment for the Russians that Valentin himself was still mopping up.  If Arkady would have been caught alive, he would have wished for death to come take him instead because Valentin himself would have offered him no mercy whatsoever. 

As Connie put her mobile phone back inside her pocket, walking back to the doorway leading to the stairs that would take her back down within the inner workings of the Grid, she forced herself to take a deep breath.  

Her face, which had worn the visage of controlled calculation earlier, now took on the look of someone to be trusted with one’s secrets again.  She was, after all, a legend within Section D, her skills as a senior information officer unparalleled, and her success with Operation Renaissance, though it was known only to so few people, had afforded her with valuable connections within the FSB that no one else had been able to replicate.

She was Connie James, after all.  And for over twenty years, she’d been one of Russia’s most successful double agents, second only to the man who’d helped recruit her, the very same man she had just helped fall from so high above his station.  

Jools Siviter, even Connie had to agree, had become a huge liability.

>>><<<

The gunfire that erupted in the hallway cut both men almost in half right before their eyes, and Lucas grabbed Alexa, shielding her eyes as he brought her against his body and together they fell to the floor.  It hadn’t come from his own gun, he thought.  It had come from behind the men, from the front of the establishment.  

The women continued screaming but suddenly hushed, and for a moment Lucas shut his eyes, gritting his teeth as he imagined the women dead on the landing.  But as he lay there with Alexa trembling next to him, Lucas heard the voices of men telling the women to be quiet in Russian.  He heard Tashia curse again but this time, her voice sounded more annoyed than furious.

In the silence that followed, Lucas looked up towards the back door that Alexa had been frantically trying to open earlier.  It was then that he saw that someone had secured the three deadbolts and in her panic, Alexa had been unable to unlock them.

Lucas gripped his gun tightly, his heart thundering within his chest as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from within the hallway.  He brought the gun in front of him, his other hand still keeping Alexa against him, keeping her face shielded from what was about to happen.

She was gripping him tightly, her fingers shaking as she held onto him.  

It’s alright, he wanted to tell her, but Lucas knew it would simply be a lie, for even he found it difficult to believe himself.  He pulled himself up to a sitting position against the back wall, wishing things wouldn’t end like this.  He raised the gun as the footsteps drew closer.

A tall blonde man wearing a long dark coat over a smart blue suit appeared before them, his hands held out in front of him, palms facing them.  A smile graced his face, though his blue eyes were cold.  Two men appeared behind him, guns in their hands and they kicked at the bodies on the floor, but none of them moved.  Blood seeped onto the floor beneath them.

“Lucas North, да?” The man asked and Lucas found himself nodding.  The man turned to Alexa.  “Alexa George, Хранитель секретов.” Keeper of secrets.

Alexa stared up at him.  “What’s going on?”  She asked Lucas.  

“Who are you?” Lucas demanded, keeping his gun aimed at him.

Valentin turned to look at Lucas.  “We will be formally introduced one day, Mr. North,” he said in Russian.  “Though I would be very careful where I aimed that gun.  After all, I just saved your life.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” Lucas said as he got up to his feet, pulling Alexa up with him.

Valentin turned to look at Alexa.  “Do you have Nepthys?” He asked and when Alexa didn’t answer, he asked again, his voice bearing an edge of impatience this time and Alexa nodded.

“Good,” Valentin said.  He walked towards them and as Lucas stepped away from the door, still holding on to Alexa, Valentin unbolted the locks and opened it.  Crisp fresh air rushed into the space between them.  “The police will be here soon and I suggest you leave through here.  There will be a car waiting for you at the end of the alley and it will take you both to Thames House.  From there, you two are on your own.”

“Who are you?” Lucas asked, not ready to trust this stranger just yet.

Valentin pulled open the door wider.  “An unhappy agent is of no use to me, Mr. North.  I have yet to see what you can do for us but I have faith in you.  I trust that the decision to trade you for another spy who was, in my opinion, not as valuable as you are, was the right one.”

As the realization of his words sank in, Lucas lowered his gun and began to make his way towards the door but Alexa stopped him.  She glared at Lucas angrily.  “You are a double agent,” she hissed.  “Mikhael was right not to trust you.”

Lucas eyed her angrily, fighting the urge to say something he would have regretted but he only pushed her towards the door, only to have her resist him.

“Oy, you two,” Valentin snapped irritably, bringing up his arms in mock exasperation.  “Work out your differences at Thames House, if you please.  But if you don’t want any more of these men trying to kill you, then do as I say.  A car is waiting for you if you should choose to trust me.”  

One of the men behind Valentin muttered under his breath, reminding him that they had to leave soon.

“We will speak soon, Mr. North,” Valentin said as he turned away and flanked by his men, disappeared in the hallway.  The women at the foyer whimpered as they walked by and as the front door shut behind them, Lucas grabbed Alexa’s hand.  Not caring whether she was willing or not, he pulled her behind him and running along the alleyway towards the street, they saw a black sedan pull up, its back door opening.

Alexa pulled away but Lucas yanked her forward.  “You’re not seriously thinking of getting in there?”  She asked.

“What else do you want me to do, Alex?” Lucas demanded as he stopped and let go of her hand.  “Minutes ago, someone was choking the life out of you and if I hadn’t arrived, you’d have left that house in a body bag, and leave Liam without a mother.”  

Lucas could feel the heat rise to his face as he glared at her angrily, the tide of anger and rage too strong for him to stem with the last ounce of patience he had in his body.   Adrenaline coursed through his veins and he wanted nothing more than to get away from everything.  In the distance, the sound of a siren drew closer.

“I saw the video of Mikhael shooting you in the head nine years ago, Alex, and I was sent to bring your body back before they’d throw it into the Moskva river.  When I couldn’t find you in that morgue, I stayed in Moscow even though I didn’t need to.  I didn’t know you and I didn’t care about you either,” Lucas said angrily as Alexa stared at him, her face turning pale. 

“But I do know you now and I do care,” Lucas continued.  “Too much that I’d risk everything just to save you from yourself.  So stay here if you want because you can’t trust me.  But if you can at least remember that we both have a son together, then think of that and get in that damn car right now.”

Without turning to look back at her, Lucas ran towards the car as the sirens ceased, tires screeching as police cars descended upon the brothel on the other end of the street.  Alexa ran after him and as Lucas opened the door wide for her, she stepped into the car before him, her heart caught in her throat expecting the barrel of a gun aimed at her.  

“It’s about time both of you got done with your lovers’ quarrel,” Ros said as Lucas got in and shut the door.  “I was getting tired of waiting for that happy ending.”