Come home

Summary: Pre cannon. When a mission in Serbia is blown open, it will take all of Adam's willpower just to survive, for as long as it takes the rest of his cell to find him in the dust storm

Spoilers: A little of seasons 3, 4 and 5, very vaguely. If you are familiar with all the Carters, there will be nothing dangerous here.

Set: 1998

Rating: M for strong, intentional, sort of sadistic violence. Torture implied, only slightly described, but I still felt it too strong for a T. I've never written anything else this bad

Pairings: Adam/Fiona.

Genres: Angst, suspense, drama.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Spooks, only the original characters and their interactions are mine.

6/5/98/

"Do you want tea?"

"Please. Adam, you're buttons aren't matching up." Adam looked down.

"So they're not." He started correcting them, waiting for the kettle to boil..

"Cereal or toast?"

"Oh, toast definitely. It's my last chance to eat like an Englishman for three days." Fiona laughed. Adam put a mug of tea down in front of her, his shirt still half-undone.

"Come here." She grabbed him by the lapels, he offered no resistance, and carried on doing his shirt up.

"You know, it would help if you did something sensible with your clothes in the evening rather than just throwing them across the room."

"Wasn't very high on my list of priorities last night." Fiona laughed again. "I do pick them up in the mornings, I'm not completely useless."

"No, just mostly useless." Adam laughed. "Do you know what day it is today?"

"Ah... May 6th, Tuesday, and day twenty-seven."

"So yesterday or today-"

"But you haven't?"

"No."

"And no sign this morning?"

"No. There's no point getting exited yet, but-"

"But." Adam repeated softly, wrapping his arms around her. "That's news I'd like to come back to." Fiona returned the gesture. "Do you feel...? You don't feel sick or anything?"

"No, apart from... it's never easy when you go away like this, no contact." He smiled.

"I'll be fine. I've been doing this for more than ten years. It's only three days." Fiona nodded.

"I know, but-"

"I know. Serbia's a minefield, but I've got a metal detector. I know what I'm doing. And, if it makes you feel any better, Sam says I'm like a terrier on speed when you're away."

"Like a terrier on speed?"

"Single-minded to the point of obsessive about work, and apparently I develop a `kill mode`, whatever he meant by that." Fiona smiled fleetingly.

The doorbell rang.

"Sam?" Fiona asked.

"Probably."

"Wakey wakey in there." A male voice called through the letter box. Definitely Sam.

"Tell me the password and I'll let you in." Adam replied, fumbling for the keys.

"Oh shut up."

"Wrong." Adam said, and opened the door.

"Hey mate." Sam offered his hand to Adam who shook it.

"Hey."

"Forgiven me for last week?" Sam asked. He'd left Adam to get out of a building being stormed by police on his own, choosing to pursue a fleeing Ugandan spook, rather than helping his friend. Adam smiled, closing the door behind Sam.

"I'd have done the same thing. Nothing to forgive." Fiona walked over, Sam greeted her briefly, as he had Adam.

"How was Egypt?" She asked.

"Egyptian." Sam replied with a shrug. "We need to get going, Adam." Adam nodded and went back to the table for his briefcase. Fiona turned to face him and shook her hair back, staring at him. Adam didn't need telling twice. He laid his free hand on her neck, but her face was already tilted up towards his. She laid her hands on the side of his head as he lowered his mouth to hers. She closed her eyes. She and Adam had done the physical aspect of goodbye last night, this was just a nod of the head to it. Adam coaxed her mouth open.

Sam coughed indiscreetly. Fiona drew back.

"Be careful." Adam said, not looking round at Sam.

"Same to you."

"I'm always careful. Three days. That's nothing. You'll barely even have time to miss me."

o0o0o0o

"Morning Fiona." Sarah called, as Fiona walked in to the office.

"Morning."

"`As Adam gone?" Tash called from her desk, cockney accent as strong as ever.

"Yes. How did last night go?" Tash shrugged.

"Wasn't 'ard. Only 'ad to look at 'im once."

"He took the get-out clause well?" Tash shrugged again.

"Don't think 'e thought I was brigh' enough to've made i' up." That was Tash's speciality; pretending to be completely empty headed. As a result, no one seemed to mind her overhearing things, which had made her invaluable more than once.

"Which one did you use?" Fiona asked.

"Dog run over When d'the guys get back? We're a bit low on eye candy."

"Greg's back today." Sarah offered.

"'E don't count. Where's Sam?"

"Dropping Adam off." Fiona replied

"When's Adam back?"

"Three days, but don't you even think of trying to get your hands on my husband." Tash raised her hands.

"Jus' lookin' at 'im."

"Shut up." Sarah said quickly. All three women picked up paper from their in trays.

"Morning all." Chris's deep voice resounded through the room. All three of them responded.

"Is this the extent of my team that's in this morning?" Chris continued.

"Sam will be here in an hour or so." Fiona repeated.

"Oh yes, he's seeing Adam on his way. Greg?"

"Gets in at 1400 hours." Sarah supplied.

"Alright, I'm sure you all have work to do. Just make sure you've reviewed Jack's report by eleven and Greg's by the time he gets back, vet their conclusions." Chris disappeared in to his office, white hair visible long after the black of his suit in the shadow of the door.