[Twists and Turns] - spooks fic
Twists and Turns
S5, S6, S7; Ros Myers, Adam Carter
They both liked to play games.
She's off the hook
Take a look
Let your imagination cook
- 'Secret Agent' by Melissa Etheridge (Adam)
The woman steps through the pods, hands in her pockets, head bowed and Adam falters. She appears small, almost brittle, not at all what he expected. Then she raises her head and he reels. She would look washed out, with her pale skin and hair, were it not for her green eyes which shine, intensifying in the harsh fluorescent light. He passes her a file and a thrill runs through his blood when their fingers touch.
Ros Myers may appear cold, but her skin burns.
“I think I'd be just as satisfied getting into your address book.”
“Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that.”
She walks away, leaving him to follow.
-
The web we weave is thick and sordid,
Fine by me
- 'War Child' by The Cranberries (Ros)
Ros enjoys their games, the way they toy with one another; teasing, goading, willing the other to break. He is a strong opponent, well-versed in her world of lies and deceit, and they are both masters of their craft. As the months pass, the risks become greater. She follows him into a death-trap, he pulls her from the water. They both shrug away these events with a shrug of the shoulder, but she knows they are getting closer, that the web of lies is getting more tangled.
Strangely enough, she can't bring herself to care.
-
Which way do you turn
Who will come to find you first
Your devils or your gods
- 'Crossroads' by Tracy Chapman (Ros)
She sits, restrained to the chair by leather straps, her head tilted back. Cramps shoot up and down her spine, but she makes no noise of pain, concentrating instead on the falling water. It seems ironic really, that she follow a captured colleague, only to be caught herself. She wonders how long it will take for the alarm to be raised, how long she will sit here before anyone realises she is gone.
She wonders if Harry will send someone looking for her, or if, like Zaf, he will state 'operational precedence' and leave her out here, in the cold.
Ros screams.
-
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool
- 'Losing My Religion' by R.E.M (Ros)
They have gone too far; their woven web is no longer tangled, rather it is ripped to shreds, which she clings to her with her fingernails. She watches Adam at arms length as he falls under another woman's spell. Ana is the spoilt wife of an Iranian diplomat, who spills her secrets in bed like a fool.
“Ros?”
Harry's voice is laced with concern; for her, for Adam, and at any other time Ros would be touched.
At any other time.
-
In thy arms
And thy wetness
On glosses lips I taste
Conspiracies, secrecies, sorceries laced (Ros/Adam)
- 'Dark Blood' by Cradle of Filth
Their kiss is hard, brutal and Adam holds her close, pressing her against him. They stumble towards the bed, but only make it as far as the sofa, falling onto the leather in a tangle of limps. She gasps, and he thinks the breath might have been knocked from her lungs, but she doesn't seem to care as she rakes her teeth along his skin. Adam captures her wrists, holding her arms above her head, his breath hitching as she uses her feet to slide his jeans down past the sharp angles of his hips, past his legs, to be kicked onto the floor along with his shoes.
“Ros,” he breathes as she arches her back, pushing herself towards him.
He releases her hands as he reaches down, twisting his hands in the material of her skirt until it bunches at her hips. He kisses her again and tastes blood, both hers and his. It reminds him of the dangerous world they inhabit, of the lies they both tell with such ease.
“We shouldn't-”
His sentence trails into nothing as she draws him closer.
-
She covers the Earth with a breathtaking cloak
The sun awakes and melts it away
- 'Ice Queen' by Within Temptation (Adam)
He is startled from his thoughts by his phone ringing and he answers, wanting it to be Ros.
It isn't.
“Adam, we have a serious problem.”
The phone clatters to the floor, breaking into pieces and Adam sits, all muscles in his body suddenly slack. Ros, Ros, a traitor? It seems unbelievable but as he gathers his mind together, he sees the logic. He leans forward, closes his eyes, hating that he can smell her perfume on his clothes.
She'd had them all fooled.
She'd had him fooled.
-
One more thing before we start the final face off
I will be the one to watch you fall.
- 'Infrared' by Placebo (Adam)
Adam watches as Ros enters the room and walks to the window, exhaling a long breath. Anger fills his veins, growing steadily more intense, and in three, long strides he crosses the room. Her breath hitches as he presses the needle to her throat.
“Don't, just don't.”
He grits his teeth as he holds her close, making sure she can't move. Adam is under no illusions that she is a formidable opponent and a fight between them could go either way. He may have the advantage of strength, but Ros was faster, more agile.
And she wouldn't fight fair.
“Sometimes we have to give each other up; sometimes we just have to.”
He hates that she is right, hates that he would do the same.
Hates that she would give him up without a second thought.
-
It's the part in life
When it's all the words
To fate and circumstance resigned
Goodbye
- 'Goodbye' by Tracy Chapman (Ros)
It's the second time in as many months that she has been restrained to the chair, though this time is markedly different. It is not dark, she is not alone, and she knows who is responsible. Juliet approaches, tapping the syringe, and despite Ros' efforts her facade crumbles, leaving a woman who does not want to die. Harry is next to her, asking Juliet to stop, but the other woman doesn't bat an eyelid as she wrenches Ros' head back, exposing her neck.
The needle enters, sliding effortlessly through skin, and Ros digs her nails into her palms. For a moment, there is nothing, then excruciating agony which floods through her veins. She can hear Harry's shouts, hears him struggling against his bonds, but soon sound fade and she is left in a silent world.
Suddenly, the pain stops and she slackens in her chair, no longer caring about anything.
Yalta, Harry, everything be damned,
She closes her eyes.
-
Do my eyes
Do my eyes seem empty?
I've forgotten how this feels
- 'I've Been High' by R.E.M (Ros)
The first gasping breath of air sends fire through her lungs and Ros sits bolt upright, Adam forced to flinch back to avoid being hit. She is in a coffin, her coffin, and the mourners outside think she is dead. Hell, she thought she was dead. She closes her eyes as Adam wraps his arms around her, whispering for her to be quiet. She remembers Juliet, remembers the needle, remembers Harry.
“We don't have time for this. There's never enough time.”
“Not for us.”
There, a semi-confession, an acceptance that there are things they can't control. She wants to stay here, in this church with Adam, but he leaves the room, leaves her. Ros covers her mouth with her hand, holding back tears, and takes a moment to compose herself.
Her body feels weak, her throat aches, and when she stands she half-expects to fall down.
Instead, she holds her head up high and walks away, blinking her eyes against the sunlight.
-
There's no change, there's no pace
Everything within its place
Just makes it harder to believe that she won't be around
- 'Flame Trees' by Cold Chisel (Adam)
The Grid is the same, all trace of Ros Myers gone. Adam looks away from what used to be her desk, hating when it gets filled by another, and goes into the utility room. He has taken to watching Ros' meeting with Magritte, watching her, listening to her voice. It isn't healthy, and he waits for Harry to notice, to take him aside and tell him 'enough is enough.'
Not that he'd obey, not that he'd be able to.
Adam clicks the mouse. Ros' file appears.
The footage plays.
-
No fear cavalier, renegade, steer clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
And I decline
- 'The end of the world as we know it' by R.E.M (Ros)
Russia is colder than she remembers, and she hunches her shoulders as the wind whips around her, bitter and fierce. A month has passed since she left England; a month of dingy hotels, a month spent looking over her shoulder. She stops on the bridge and leans her forearms against the rail, looking down at the water below. The current is fast, and she wonders how quickly she would be drawn beneath should she fall.
Ros shakes her head as she reaches into her pocket and withdraws a slim phone. It had been in the bag Adam had given her, nestled between the fake passport and money, and today was the day she would call. Harry has forgiven her, of that she is sure, but as for the others...
She chooses not to dwell on that thought as she dials the familiar number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, stranger.”
There, she is back.
Ros Myers is reborn.
-
Almost got what I want
Almost found what I lost
- 'Almost' by Tracy Chapman (Ros)
She looks at this stranger, whose name she doesn't know, wanting answers.
“Malcolm, did he make it?”
His eyes close for a brief moment and she knows what he will say before he opens his mouth. Ros' stomach twists and she looks at the rising plume of smoke. She wants to cry out, sink to the ground, but she does neither and flinches away as the stranger touches her shoulder, offering sympathy she doesn't want.
Saying nothing, she turns and goes back to her stolen car, driving the twisted journey to Thames House. She barely notices her surroundings and bites the inside of her cheek as tears threaten to fall.
If she hadn't said anything, hadn't taken those few moments...
She shakes her head, refusing to consider that thought.
It is too painful.
"We don't have time for this. There's never enough time."
"Not for us."
S5, S6, S7; Ros Myers, Adam Carter
They both liked to play games.
She's off the hook
Take a look
Let your imagination cook
- 'Secret Agent' by Melissa Etheridge (Adam)
The woman steps through the pods, hands in her pockets, head bowed and Adam falters. She appears small, almost brittle, not at all what he expected. Then she raises her head and he reels. She would look washed out, with her pale skin and hair, were it not for her green eyes which shine, intensifying in the harsh fluorescent light. He passes her a file and a thrill runs through his blood when their fingers touch.
Ros Myers may appear cold, but her skin burns.
“I think I'd be just as satisfied getting into your address book.”
“Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that.”
She walks away, leaving him to follow.
-
The web we weave is thick and sordid,
Fine by me
- 'War Child' by The Cranberries (Ros)
Ros enjoys their games, the way they toy with one another; teasing, goading, willing the other to break. He is a strong opponent, well-versed in her world of lies and deceit, and they are both masters of their craft. As the months pass, the risks become greater. She follows him into a death-trap, he pulls her from the water. They both shrug away these events with a shrug of the shoulder, but she knows they are getting closer, that the web of lies is getting more tangled.
Strangely enough, she can't bring herself to care.
-
Which way do you turn
Who will come to find you first
Your devils or your gods
- 'Crossroads' by Tracy Chapman (Ros)
She sits, restrained to the chair by leather straps, her head tilted back. Cramps shoot up and down her spine, but she makes no noise of pain, concentrating instead on the falling water. It seems ironic really, that she follow a captured colleague, only to be caught herself. She wonders how long it will take for the alarm to be raised, how long she will sit here before anyone realises she is gone.
She wonders if Harry will send someone looking for her, or if, like Zaf, he will state 'operational precedence' and leave her out here, in the cold.
Ros screams.
-
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool
- 'Losing My Religion' by R.E.M (Ros)
They have gone too far; their woven web is no longer tangled, rather it is ripped to shreds, which she clings to her with her fingernails. She watches Adam at arms length as he falls under another woman's spell. Ana is the spoilt wife of an Iranian diplomat, who spills her secrets in bed like a fool.
“Ros?”
Harry's voice is laced with concern; for her, for Adam, and at any other time Ros would be touched.
At any other time.
-
In thy arms
And thy wetness
On glosses lips I taste
Conspiracies, secrecies, sorceries laced (Ros/Adam)
- 'Dark Blood' by Cradle of Filth
Their kiss is hard, brutal and Adam holds her close, pressing her against him. They stumble towards the bed, but only make it as far as the sofa, falling onto the leather in a tangle of limps. She gasps, and he thinks the breath might have been knocked from her lungs, but she doesn't seem to care as she rakes her teeth along his skin. Adam captures her wrists, holding her arms above her head, his breath hitching as she uses her feet to slide his jeans down past the sharp angles of his hips, past his legs, to be kicked onto the floor along with his shoes.
“Ros,” he breathes as she arches her back, pushing herself towards him.
He releases her hands as he reaches down, twisting his hands in the material of her skirt until it bunches at her hips. He kisses her again and tastes blood, both hers and his. It reminds him of the dangerous world they inhabit, of the lies they both tell with such ease.
“We shouldn't-”
His sentence trails into nothing as she draws him closer.
-
She covers the Earth with a breathtaking cloak
The sun awakes and melts it away
- 'Ice Queen' by Within Temptation (Adam)
He is startled from his thoughts by his phone ringing and he answers, wanting it to be Ros.
It isn't.
“Adam, we have a serious problem.”
The phone clatters to the floor, breaking into pieces and Adam sits, all muscles in his body suddenly slack. Ros, Ros, a traitor? It seems unbelievable but as he gathers his mind together, he sees the logic. He leans forward, closes his eyes, hating that he can smell her perfume on his clothes.
She'd had them all fooled.
She'd had him fooled.
-
One more thing before we start the final face off
I will be the one to watch you fall.
- 'Infrared' by Placebo (Adam)
Adam watches as Ros enters the room and walks to the window, exhaling a long breath. Anger fills his veins, growing steadily more intense, and in three, long strides he crosses the room. Her breath hitches as he presses the needle to her throat.
“Don't, just don't.”
He grits his teeth as he holds her close, making sure she can't move. Adam is under no illusions that she is a formidable opponent and a fight between them could go either way. He may have the advantage of strength, but Ros was faster, more agile.
And she wouldn't fight fair.
“Sometimes we have to give each other up; sometimes we just have to.”
He hates that she is right, hates that he would do the same.
Hates that she would give him up without a second thought.
-
It's the part in life
When it's all the words
To fate and circumstance resigned
Goodbye
- 'Goodbye' by Tracy Chapman (Ros)
It's the second time in as many months that she has been restrained to the chair, though this time is markedly different. It is not dark, she is not alone, and she knows who is responsible. Juliet approaches, tapping the syringe, and despite Ros' efforts her facade crumbles, leaving a woman who does not want to die. Harry is next to her, asking Juliet to stop, but the other woman doesn't bat an eyelid as she wrenches Ros' head back, exposing her neck.
The needle enters, sliding effortlessly through skin, and Ros digs her nails into her palms. For a moment, there is nothing, then excruciating agony which floods through her veins. She can hear Harry's shouts, hears him struggling against his bonds, but soon sound fade and she is left in a silent world.
Suddenly, the pain stops and she slackens in her chair, no longer caring about anything.
Yalta, Harry, everything be damned,
She closes her eyes.
-
Do my eyes
Do my eyes seem empty?
I've forgotten how this feels
- 'I've Been High' by R.E.M (Ros)
The first gasping breath of air sends fire through her lungs and Ros sits bolt upright, Adam forced to flinch back to avoid being hit. She is in a coffin, her coffin, and the mourners outside think she is dead. Hell, she thought she was dead. She closes her eyes as Adam wraps his arms around her, whispering for her to be quiet. She remembers Juliet, remembers the needle, remembers Harry.
“We don't have time for this. There's never enough time.”
“Not for us.”
There, a semi-confession, an acceptance that there are things they can't control. She wants to stay here, in this church with Adam, but he leaves the room, leaves her. Ros covers her mouth with her hand, holding back tears, and takes a moment to compose herself.
Her body feels weak, her throat aches, and when she stands she half-expects to fall down.
Instead, she holds her head up high and walks away, blinking her eyes against the sunlight.
-
There's no change, there's no pace
Everything within its place
Just makes it harder to believe that she won't be around
- 'Flame Trees' by Cold Chisel (Adam)
The Grid is the same, all trace of Ros Myers gone. Adam looks away from what used to be her desk, hating when it gets filled by another, and goes into the utility room. He has taken to watching Ros' meeting with Magritte, watching her, listening to her voice. It isn't healthy, and he waits for Harry to notice, to take him aside and tell him 'enough is enough.'
Not that he'd obey, not that he'd be able to.
Adam clicks the mouse. Ros' file appears.
The footage plays.
-
No fear cavalier, renegade, steer clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
And I decline
- 'The end of the world as we know it' by R.E.M (Ros)
Russia is colder than she remembers, and she hunches her shoulders as the wind whips around her, bitter and fierce. A month has passed since she left England; a month of dingy hotels, a month spent looking over her shoulder. She stops on the bridge and leans her forearms against the rail, looking down at the water below. The current is fast, and she wonders how quickly she would be drawn beneath should she fall.
Ros shakes her head as she reaches into her pocket and withdraws a slim phone. It had been in the bag Adam had given her, nestled between the fake passport and money, and today was the day she would call. Harry has forgiven her, of that she is sure, but as for the others...
She chooses not to dwell on that thought as she dials the familiar number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, stranger.”
There, she is back.
Ros Myers is reborn.
-
Almost got what I want
Almost found what I lost
- 'Almost' by Tracy Chapman (Ros)
She looks at this stranger, whose name she doesn't know, wanting answers.
“Malcolm, did he make it?”
His eyes close for a brief moment and she knows what he will say before he opens his mouth. Ros' stomach twists and she looks at the rising plume of smoke. She wants to cry out, sink to the ground, but she does neither and flinches away as the stranger touches her shoulder, offering sympathy she doesn't want.
Saying nothing, she turns and goes back to her stolen car, driving the twisted journey to Thames House. She barely notices her surroundings and bites the inside of her cheek as tears threaten to fall.
If she hadn't said anything, hadn't taken those few moments...
She shakes her head, refusing to consider that thought.
It is too painful.
"We don't have time for this. There's never enough time."
"Not for us."