The Park wasn't unfamiliar territory to Georgie or River, two months ago it was the place she spent most of her days if she wasn't embedded on undercover ops. The building had barely changed, as she and River passed through security and approached the reception desk she was reminded of when she and River were at their peak. They'd worked well together once upon a time, and they were happy, truly happy.

"Hi, River Cartwright and Georgie Knightly, delivering for James Webb," River informed the receptionist as they stood in front of her desk.

"You're with?" She looked up at the pair.

"MI5, same as you."

"You're not showing up," The receptionist told them both.

River glanced at Georgie for reassurance, earning nothing but a furrowed brow in response, "We're over at Aldersgate," River muttered.

"Aldersgate?"

"Slough House," Georgie interjected, hoping to diffuse the unnecessary awkwardness.

"You'll both need a visitor's pass," The receptionist told them both, "Look into there, one at a time."

They each took their turns looking into the camera before being handed their passes, which were several steps down in quality from their previous MI5 agent passes.

"Thank you," River nodded, putting his lanyard on as Georgie did the same, River impatiently making his way over to the gates that led into the offices.

"Sorry, can you sit over there?" The receptionist called out as Georgie lingered beside her desk, "You have to wait for an escort."

River simply nodded, making his way over to the bench as Georgie followed behind him, the pair taking a seat, resting their heads against the wall behind them.

"You hate this, don't you?" Georgie looked at him.

"You don't?"

"Yeah, I do," Georgie sighed, "I'm just better at pretending not to give a fuck."

"Really?" River frowned, no doubt referring to the effort she had made to make her dislike of him known.

Georgie glanced down at his visitor's pass with a slight smile, "That's way worse than your passport photo."

"There's nothing wrong with my passport photo," River replied, "Let me see yours."

"No."

"Come on," River reached for her lanyard but she was quick to smack his hand again, causing him to wince.

"Cartwright, I could have you in a headlock in seconds, we both know that," Georgie reminded him as memories of how she winded and knocked him onto the floor three times during their first combat training during their first week of induction at MI5 came flooding back to the both of them.

After a painfully long wait in the lobby, former colleagues occasionally passing them by, their escort appeared and guided them upstairs, passing second desk on their way to Webb's office. Georgie hadn't seen the man in about two years, when he spent most of the time making constant remarks about how she was the 'one who got away.'

"Come," Spider called out as their escort knocked on his office door.

She held the door open for River and Georgie, closing it as soon as the pair had crossed the threshold, Spider's eyes lighting up in intrigue as he laid eyes on the pair he never believed he'd see in the same room.

"River and Georgie, didn't know it'd be you," Spider smirked as River stepped forward, shielding Georgie with his muscular frame as Spider approached the pair, holding his hand out to River.

River glanced down at Spider's hand as though it were shit on his shoe, but not feeling inclined to wait for the men to start metaphorically swinging the dicks around, Georgie stepped forward.

She spat in her hand, taking Spider's hand in hers and shaking it with enthusiasm, "It's pleasure to see you, Spider, let's not make this awkward."

"Just the same Knightly charm as always," Spider yanked his hand out of Georgie's grip, wiping his hand on his jacket.

"Did someone throw up on your tie?" River quipped.

"It's Karl Unger, peasant," Spider remarked, as though it might impress the pair who were dressed casually.

"Cut yourself shaving as well," River nodded, "That's annoying."

"Yeah, well, technically it wasn't me," Spider replied, "I get a wet shave most mornings at Truefitt and Hill."

"Truefitt and Hill," River nodded.

"Feels like they might be scamming you, Spider," Georgie quipped, "A baby face like yours, not much to shave off, is there?"

"I'm blonde, it doesn't show up in this light."

"Keep a lot of hard copy in here, don't you?" River remarked, inspecting the large filing cabinets that covered an entire wall of Spider's office.

"Bit above your pay grade, mate," Spider sighed, kicking one of the drawers shut as he returned to the safety of his desk.

"Oh my god," Georgie laughed out of realisation, glancing at River with a grin that could still set his heart alight in a second, "He's in HR."

"You're in HR?" River smirked at Spider.

"It's not HR, it's vetting," Spider sulked, and Georgie was convinced she could see his bottom lip wobble.

"Call it what you like, it's still not really being an agent, is it?" River sighed, feeling as though he had the upper hand with Georgie on his side.

"Laptop," Spider ignored River's statement as he gestured for the device which River reluctantly handed over, "What's this? No flashbox?"

"No, I've heard of those, but I mean, it's Slough House," River reminded him as he and Georgie took their seats opposite Spider who sat comfortably in his desk chair, "Frankly, I'm amazed we've still got Jiffy bags."

"You want this back?" Spider held out the now empty padded envelope as he slipped the laptop into his desk drawer.

"Are you ever going to admit that you made a mistake?" River was quick to ask.

"Oh, we're doing Stansted," Georgie exhaled under her breath.

"Still on that?" Spider smirked.

"Blue shirt, white tee, that's what you said," River reminded him, the memory forever engraved in such a way that if someone were to wipe his memories he imagined that one would remain, "You fucked it, you did, not me, you, and you let me take the fall."

"Own your mistakes, River," Spider remarked as Georgie rolled her eyes in frustration, "Stansted was your fiasco."

"Well, I mean, I get it, I was clearly Taverner's favourite," River replied, the advantage of having once been Spider's friend was that he knew exactly how to get under the man's skin.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and that really annoyed you, really got under your skin, didn't it?" River began to ramble, "So you not only covered for your fiasco, you got me out of the way."

"I really hope this isn't for my benefit," Georgie sighed as she leant back in her chair.

"Hmm?" River glanced at her.

"You two may as well be comparing the sizes of your dicks, it's ridiculous," Georgie scoffed, kicking her feet up onto Spider's desk.

"That's not what I'm-"

"It's always about you isn't it?" Spider was quick to cut River off, "What about the people who lost their lives and limbs?"

"It wasn't real," River huffed.

"What is this then?" Spider spun his computer monitor to face the pair, displaying video footage from the Stansted incident, "Other than a new training module entitled 'How to avoid a fucking fiasco.'"

"I'm not convinced they'd fit that on the front cover of a textbook," Georgie muttered.

"He's dead, she's dead, injured, dead," Spider began to point out various people throughout the video, people who were fit, healthy and hadn't actually been caught up in a major explosion, "Maimed, that one-"

"No, actor-"

"Mortally injured, maimed, he's dying," Spider continued his efforts to rile River up.

"It was a training exercise," River reiterated sternly.

"Yeah, it was, it was an exercise, but if it had been real, they'd have died," Spider reminded him, "You fucked up, massively, un-fucking-forgivably, and you did genuinely injure some of them, wait, where is it?"

Georgie kept her eyes trained on the computer screen as Spider began to play a clip taken from the station's CCTV.

"I love this bit, it's my favourite, here he comes, here he comes," Spider grinned as River in the video collided with the police officer, "Painful, he won't dance again."

"So you've got the footage from Stansted backed up at The Park?" Georgie asked Spider.

"Why? You want a copy to wank over?" Spider smirked.

"Well, surely if you've got a recording of that, you'd have a recording of the control room, and then we'd be able to settle this little debate about what you really said," Georgie suggested, earning a smirk of intrigue from River.

"We lost it in an IT glitch."

"We lost it in an IT glitch?" Georgie nodded as River struggled to stifle his smile, "Now that is convenient."

"It's refreshing to see you defending him again, Georgina," Spider smirked, "Just like old times."

"Yeah, well there's no lives in your hands here in HR, is there?" River remarked.

"Yeah, and what have you got in your hands at Slough House apart from your dick?" Spider quipped, "Or is that where Georgie comes in? Hardly unfamiliar territory, is it?"

"Say that again, Spider," Georgie warned, "With a bit of feeling."

Spider hesitated as Georgie clenched her jaw, analysing the way he avoided any eye contact.

"You best call our escort before I do something that'll have me kicked out of the service for good," Georgie told Spider, "Or do you need a reminder of that time I put you in hospital in combat training? You never were one for the hands on part of this job."

Spider picked up the phone, "Escort," He put the phone down, returning his attention to River, "You know why they call it Slough House?"

"Yes, but I imagine you're going to tell us what it is," River sighed.

"It's because, while it may only be three miles from where I sit, it's so far from the beating heart of the service it might as well be in Slough," Spider remarked, clearly proud of his little joke.

"Yeah, if you have to explain a joke, it's cause it's not working," River told him.

"I heard your grandfather had to pull whatever strings he still had access to in order to stop you being kicked out altogether," Spider spoke softly as he stood in front of the pair, hands resting on his hips, "That must've hurt him, having to beg for his grandson like that."

Georgie watched as River bit at his lip, his knuckles going white as he gripped the arms of his chair before he stood up dramatically, just inches from an undoubtedly intimidated Spider, "Fuck you, Spider."

"This is a professional work environment, I don't go by that anymore," Spider told him as River and Georgie made their way towards the office door, just as their escort appeared to guide them out of the building.

"They're all done here, show them out," Spider told the young woman.

"Thanks, Spider," River nodded, turning to the escort, "He loves being called that by the way."

"Well, that was a delight," Georgie sighed as she and River were led back towards reception.

"Spider being Spider I suppose," River muttered, and as much as he resented the power Spider had over him, he was grateful to be reminded of what it felt like to have Georgie on his side again.

"You're just as bad," Georgie smirked ever so slightly, "You know exactly how to push his buttons."

"You've got to admit it is funny though," River glanced at her as they turned another corner, "How easy it is to wind him up like that."

Georgie looked up at him as they walked, a slight smile on her face, "Yeah, it's fucking hilarious."

"Minister," The escort's voice pulled Georgie out of her conversation with River as she laid eyes on the defence minister, Robert Brown, the man who had inadvertently destroyed her career, leaving Diana Taverner's office.

"Georgie?" Robert's brow furrowed, stopping Georgie in her tracks, River doing the very same out of reflex.

"Minister," Georgie replied, fulfilling a need to maintain some sort of professional distance, she glanced at River who remained beside her, unsure of what to say, "This is River Cartwright, River this is the Defence Minister, Robert Brown."

"This is the River?" Robert raised his eyebrows in intrigue.

"How many Rivers do you think I know?" Georgie quipped as River laughed under his breath.

"We really do need to get back to reception," The escort told Georgie and River.

"I couldn't borrow Miss Knightly for five minutes, could I?" Robert smiled at the young woman who was responsible for the agents' swift exit from the building.

"Of course, Minister," She nodded.

"I can stay if you need me to," River assured Georgie, as though she might need some sort of backup at that moment, her robust facade returning almost immediately.

"I don't need you to stay," She insisted, "Just go back to Slough House, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Georgie, are you sure?" River asked as he gazed down at her, searching for anything in her eyes that would answer his plea.

"River, just go," Georgie sighed, "It's fine."

"You heard the lady, Mr Cartwright," Robert decided to put his two pence into the situation.

"What do you want?" Georgie turned her attention to Robert as River was led back to reception.

"How have you been?" He asked as they leant against the railings, overlooking the various desks where agents sat doing tasks that were nowhere as mundane as Georgie's work at Slough House.

"Never better," Georgie scoffed.

"That's not how I wanted it to end, Georgie," Robert placed his hand over hers, sending a shiver up her spine, "But I didn't have a choice."

"Photos of the Justice Minister's daughter doing lines of coke plastered across every newspaper in the country just to protect your image?" Georgie quipped.

"My people needed to keep my name out of it," Robert told her, as though it were nothing.

"I lost my job for you," Georgie reminded him, "The parents at my daughter's school continue to judge me, my father still can't stand me and now I'm working with the man who fucking abandoned me on our wedding day."

"The coke was a mistake, Georgie," He insisted as Georgie rolled her eyes, "But you, you weren't a mistake."

"Do you fucking hear yourself?" Georgie laughed humourlessly, "You have a wife and children at home, and you're here telling me that I wasn't a mistake."

"You're a beautiful woman, and what we had well that was special, no matter how short lived," Robert told her as she white knuckled the railing in front of her, "Maybe we could revisit that sometime?"

"That's never going to happen, and if you so much as suggest that it will, I'll be sure to pay your lovely wife a visit and tell her what really happened in Manchester," Georgie muttered, just loud enough for him to hear, "Go fuck yourself."

After leaving The Park, Georgie headed to the pub where she was due to meet Lydia. By the time she'd left The Park there was no sign of River, not that she'd expected him to wait, she assured herself that she was relieved not to see him, that she'd had enough of him for one day. It was probably best for them both not to spend so much time together, it might have been six years, but the pain was still raw.

"Hello, stranger," Georgie looked up from her phone as she approached the pub, met with the sight of Adam, who in the years that followed Georgie's heartbreak, went from River's best man to Georgie's best friend.

"It's good to see you," Georgie grinned, shoving her phone into her pocket and wrapping him in a hug, he'd been on a number of missions across the globe for the past two months meaning the two friends had had minimal contact over text since she last saw him, "I've missed you."

"Likewise, George."

"It's been one hell of a fucking week," She muttered as she clung to him

"And I can't wait to hear all about it," Adam smiled, an arm around her shoulders as they made their way into the already busy pub, "You want the usual?"

"Make it a double," Georgie sighed as she spotted Lydia and Sid in the corner booth, already nursing their own drinks.

"That bad?"

"River bad." Georgie exhaled, watching the way Adam's face changed in response to her statement.

"River?" Adam remarked in shock.

"He's also at Slough House," Georgie told him

"I mean I knew Stansted was a fuckup, but I assumed he'd have been fired, not sent to spy purgatory," Adam remarked as they stood at the bar, waiting to be served.

Adam had joined the service at the same time as Georgie and River, although he had only lasted two years before joining the military instead, seconded to special forces half a year into his career as a soldier. He'd been at Stansted, on standby as part of the training exercise, he didn't have any direct contact with River that day, perhaps if it had gone the way it was meant to then he would have. Special Forces would've been called in to detain and extract the suspect, but they never reached that point, it was too late and the special forces unit were stood down. 

"His name's Cartwright, remember," Georgie sighed as the bartender approached, "And from what I heard, his grandfather pulled any and every string to keep him in the service."

"Two double vodka and cokes please, mate," Adam nodded at the barman before returning his attention to Georgie, "Has he said anything?"

"He keeps saying he wants to talk, he wants to tell me why he did what he did," Georgie answered, "I'm not sure if I can relive it again."

"What's the alternative? Let the resentment you have for him fester until you combust?" Adam replied honestly, "Maybe now's the time to hear his side of things, George, now that you're where you are, and from how it sounds, he's not going anywhere."

"And neither am I," Georgie exhaled as Adam handed the bartender some cash before the pair headed towards their table.

"Just promise me you'll think about having that conversation with him," Adam said as they approached Lydia and Sid.

"I'll think about it."

"About time!" Lydia exclaimed as she stood up, wrapping both Georgie and Adam in hugs.

"Spy business stops for no one," Georgie replied as she took a seat beside Sid, opposite Adam and Lydia.

"What have I missed?" Sid asked.

"Lamb had me and River drop the laptop off at The Park...to Spider," Georgie sighed, taking a large gulp of her drink.

"That must've been fucking awkward," Lydia remarked.

"They were essentially swinging their dicks about the entire time," Georgie was quick to summarise the uncomfortable reunion.

"Metaphorically, I hope," Sid replied.

"Yeah," Georgie nodded, "And then we bumped into Robert."

"Robert?" Adam frowned, having missed a chapter during his work based travels, having assumed that Georgie's relocation to Slough House was just because of the cold headlines.

"Robert Brown, the defense minister, who I had an affair with," Georgie muttered.

"Well, I can see why that would be awkward," Adam laughed.

"Rob asked if we could 'revisit it,'" Georgie told her friends who stared back at her in disbelief.

"As in resume the whole affair thing?" Lydia whispered.

"Yep."

"And what did you say?"

"That if he ever suggested it again I'd pay his wife a visit and tell her what kind of man she's actually married to," Georgie replied, twirling the straw in her glass.

"Good for you," Sid nudged her reassuringly.

"Anyway, enough about me," Georgie turned to Adam, "How was your tour?"

"Business as usual," Adam replied, given there was little he could disclose about work in a crowded pub.

Georgie spent almost three hours at the pub before deciding to call it a night. Before heading to the tube station she realised that she'd left her phone charger at the office, which she wasn't sure she wanted to wait till the morning to retrieve, besides the pub was only a five minute walk from Slough House.

She hadn't expected to have company when she arrived back at the office, but as she reached the office that she shared with River just about make out his silhouette as he sat in the dark, watching a video on his computer with his earphones in.

Unsure what else to do, given that she needed to retrieve her phone charger she flicked the light on, startling River.

"Fuck!" He hissed as he pulled his earphones out his ears, turning in his chair to see Georgie leaning against the doorframe.

"How long have you been here?" Georgie remarked, "You look like a mole."

"A mole?" River replied as Georgie approached his desk, retrieving a battered fascist magazine from River's desk.

"Are you a closet nationalist now?" Georgie sighed, flicking through what remained of the magazine.

"I found it in Hobden's rubbish," River told her.

"River." Georgie huffed as laid eyes on the pile of rubbish that he had yet to clean up.

"Yes, yes, I know I still need to clean up," River told her as he rubbed his tired eyes, "I just ended up down a pretty dark rabbit hole."

"All rabbit holes are dark, they're underground," Georgie smirked.

"Thanks."

"What's this?" Georgie gestured to his computer screen. 

"Greg Simmonds, you know him?" River replied.

"Yeah, sleazy businessman who can't get over the fact Britain won a war seventy years ago," Georgie answered as she leant against his desk.

"A war that he seems to think was actually fought against ethnic minorities and political correctness rather than the Nazis, yeah," River sighed.

"Yeah," Georgie sighed as she sat on the edge of his desk.

"You ever listen to one of his speeches?" River asked, glancing up at her as he removed the earphones from the computer, letting the audio play out loud.

"These immigrants say they don't like our religion, they don't like our way of life, and yet it's us that get arrested by our own police force for saying the wrong things, for telling jokes, I tell you this is a war-"

"Yeah, I can't take anymore of that," River sighed as he paused the video, "MI5 reckon that he has been funding a lot of these new hate groups, spends his time rubbing shoulders with politicians while immigrants have their homes burned down."

"I'm not sure this is a great way to be spending your spare time," Georgie replied.

"You've seen my work on the floor," River pointed dramatically at the pile of rubbish in the middle of the office.

"Oh, cry me a river, River," Georgie exhaled as she stood up from his desk, approaching her own to collect her phone charger, "What I'm seeing here isn't doing your image any favours."

"Alright, you're here after hours, what's your excuse?" River leant back in his chair.

"I left my phone charger."

"A phone charger, you came all the way back for a phone charger?" River remarked in disbelief.

"I was having drinks nearby," Georgie answered as she shoved the charger into her bag.

"Well, thanks for the invite," River muttered.

"Last time we had plans together you didn't show up," Georgie replied, watching the expression on his face drop, "Besides, you would've hated it, being ripped apart by my friends."

"Which friends?"

Georgie paused momentarily, knowing it would sting to tell him that his once best friend was now hers, but eventually concluded that honesty was the best option, "Lydia, Sid and Adam."

"Adam as in my mate Adam?" River frowned.

"Adam as in was your mate until you, well..." Georgie sighed, "He's been a good friend since all that."

"Right," River nodded, not having ever pieced together why his friendship with Adam had faded out in such a way, "Well, I suppose-"

Georgie followed River's gaze as his voice trailed off, glancing over her shoulder to see Lamb stood on the steps down to their office, his presence startling her, "Fuck."

"If people are happy to spend time in this building after 5PM, then I'm not really doing my job," Lamb remarked, glancing between the pair who's dynamic continued to intrigue him. 

"I left my phone charger," Georgie replied.

"I was gonna clean up the rubbish, sorry," River added.

"Fuck off," Lamb muttered.

"'Fuck off' as in go home, or 'fuck off' as in you don't believe us?" River asked.

"At the end of the working day, your pitiful, miserable time is your own," Lamb told the pair, "But if I find out you are indulging in extracurricular activities that could upset the equilibrium of this blessed sanctuary, then I will make it so that you wish you were in a Siberian gulag."

The pair nodded slowly as Lamb quietly left the room, glancing at each other in confusion, "What do you think he meant by extra curricular activities?"

"Probably best that we reach our own conclusions," Georgie sighed as she stood up from her seat.

"Do you want a lift?" River asked before she left the office, "My car's outside, I can drop you off."

"I can handle myself." Georgie reminded him.

"I wasn't trying to suggest otherwise, I just...well, it's late and if anything happened to you," River replied, and as much as Georgie hated to admit it, she was touched by the notion.

"i'm not sure it's a good idea," Georgie sighed, "Besides, I live over by Borough Market, it's a bit out of the way."

"It's a twenty minute drive, it can't hurt," He assured her, and as she gazed back at him she knew he was right, it was a few miles in his car, they could spend it in silence if they really needed to.

River was right, it didn't hurt. Georgie reluctantly accepted his offer, knowing that at that time of night she'd end up getting approached by a drunk man on the Metropolitan line and have to make a quick getaway. Their conversations for the majority of the journey were mainly work based, which allowed both of them to avoid the elephant in the room. They both silently wondered how long it would go on like that, avoiding the harsh truth of the conversation that needed to be had. It wasn't healthy to avoid it, but maybe it was easier, and perhaps they preferred it easier.

"Just there," Georgie gestured to the parking space beside the curb outside of her flat.

"How long have you lived around here?" River asked as he pulled into the vacant space.

"About three years," Georgie replied, staring up at Nellie's bedroom window, the curtains were drawn but there was the slightest pink glow from her nightlight, "I grew out of the old flat, this is the most that anywhere has felt like home in a long time."

"Do you live with anyone?" River asked, wondering whether she shared her space with anyone or whether her flat was decorated just as her old flat was, there were so many details he'd missed, the simplest of things and he longed to know whether they'd changed or remained the same.

"It's just me," Georgie answered, "I should really head in, I can just about tolerate Roddy on a full eight hour's sleep, anything less and we're in frying pan to his head territory."

"You'd get no objections from me," River smiled and Georgie laughed, a genuine expression that wasn't resentment or frustration and as River stared back at her it was as though they were twenty again, before everything went as badly as it did.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Georgie replied, her smile faltering, "Thanks for the lift."

"Anytime," He nodded, watching her climb out of his car and make his way inside her building. He waited a few minutes, just to make sure she'd made it inside and that she was safe.

Just as he flicked his key in the ignition the building door opened and out stepped a person River recognised, Georgie's brother, Alex. He walked down the street alone, which left River puzzled, as it was late and from what Georgie had inferred Alex was a single dad, but the little girl Georgie called her niece was nowhere to be seen.