Georgie Knightly hated hospitals, well no one actively enjoyed hospitals, but she actively hated them. She'd given birth with her mother at her side, which was enough of an experience to put anyone off of hospitals, the lingering smell of chemicals, the equipment that beeped every second of every minute, she hated it.

So when she opened her eyes, staring up at the white tiled ceiling, the familiar smell of cleaning products lingering in her nose, it didn't take her long to work out where she was. She slowly hauled herself up to sit properly, glancing down to see that she'd been dressed in one of those hospital gowns, a thick white bandage wrapped around her arm.

"Hello, trouble," A familiar voice startled her, "What a scare you've given us."

"What are you doing here?" She whispered while her bottom lip quivered as she took in every detail of the man's face as he sat in the rigid plastic chair beside her bed, the man she hadn't seen in eight months.

"I came to see you," He replied, standing up slowly before leaning against the safety rail along the side of her hospital bed, "I heard you got shot."

"Where did you hear that?" Georgie asked, ignoring the pain in her arm as she straightened her body up.

"The hospital called me, apparently you never changed your next of kin after everything," He told her, as though it were some sort of achievement.

"You shouldn't be here, Roman," Georgie muttered, conscious that in between her journey in the ambulance with River and waking up with a bandaged arm, The Park would've caught wind of the situation, which begged the question...

Where was River?

"Sorry, I'm looking for Georgie Knightly and Sidonie Baker," River said as he approached the hospital's reception desk, "Do you know where they're-"

He looked up to see that Lamb, who had just broken him free from a storeroom where one of Taverner's dogs had been keeping him locked up, was walking out of the foyer and towards the car park. 

"Lamb," River ran after him, "Lamb, I can't just leave without knowing how she is."

"Sid's still on the table," Lamb told him as he led River towards his yellow car.

"Is she gonna make it?" River asked, "And what about Georgie?"

"Why the fuck did you ride in the ambulance?" Lamb replied, riddled with frustration.

"Because I thought Sid was dying, and I thought Georgie needed me," River retorted as he stopped in the middle of the visitors' car park, "I'm not just gonna fucking leave them there, am I?...Would you?"

"Yes, it was a dumb dick move," Lamb replied, "Once you called it in, your ID was flashing lights and sounding whistles from here to Regent's Park, that's why that dog was waiting for you."

"Wait, how did you know I was here?" River asked.

"'Cause once you went walkabout, I got Ho to monitor the Park's alerts," Lamb explained bluntly.

"Why?"

"In case you did something as stupid as you just did," Lamb told him.

"Look, call me stupid if you want, but I just need to check on Georgie," River told him as the pair lingered in the car park, a sense of guilt loomed over him as he felt burdened by his failure to protect her.

"You don't wanna hang around in there," Lamb sighed as he made his way over to his car.

"Why's that?"

"You want to explain to her convict ex boyfriend how you got her shot?" Lamb answered bluntly, knowing that River knew nothing of the man's existence.

"Her ex boyfriend?" River frowned, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Roman Ward, been in and out of prison since he was sixteen for dealing class B drugs and various counts of GBH, he'd do anything for those girls and he's not the sort of bloke you wanna mess with." Lamb explained, having seen him listed as Georgie's next of kin when Roddy accessed her hospital records, the same records that told Roddy she had a daughter, which he had yet to link to River thankfully.

"She had a criminal around our daughter?" River remarked in disbelief, as though it were something he should've been consulted on.

"With all due respect to him, he lasted two years before going back inside." Lamb assured him, as though it might soften the blow.

"I'm just relieved to know she's got an ex that her dad must hate more than me," River sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"Are you getting in the motor or not?" Lamb asked as River's gaze lingered on the entrance to the hospital.

"I'll be five minutes," River insisted as he turned on his heel and sped into the hospital.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Lamb sighed as he ducked into the driver's seat of his car.

River made his way into the hospital, approaching the front reception desk, attempting to disguise the nervous disposition that lingered on his face, "Hi, erm, I'm looking for Georgie Knightly."

"Your relation to the patient?" The receptionist asked, and River knew there was no room for honesty, he also knew that this 'Roman' would've no doubt slipped in undetected.

"She's my partner," River answered, tapping his fingertips against the desk nervously.

"She's down in the Emergency Department," The receptionist answered with ease, "Ground floor, room D1."

"That's great, thank you," River nodded before hurrying down the corridor towards Accident and Emergency.

"Roman, you can't be here," Georgie whispered, knowing that she probably had minutes until the Dogs burst through the doors, considered her fit for questioning and took her back to the Park. That wasn't necessarily the problem, it was the relationship with a man like Roman Ward that no one at the Park had ever known about that would undoubtedly raise questions, "Last time I checked you were in prison."

"Got released last week," Roman replied, sitting in the chair beside her hospital bed, "I was waiting for the right time to come visit you and then I got the call."

"Roman, we're not together," Georgie was quick to remind him, having visited him in prison eight months before to end their relationship, "You can't just show up at the hospital when I've been shot and expect me to be normal about it."

"I came back for you and for Nellie, to make things work," Roman insisted as he stood up, leaning against the side of her bed as he brushed her hair from her face, "You know I was basically the closest thing she had to a dad."

"Don't do that," Georgie sighed, shrugging away from him, "You went back inside for beating up a man in a pub."

"Yeah, because he was coming onto you," Roman shrugged it off as though it were nothing.

"You put him in hospital, Ro," Georgie reminded him.

"Yeah, and who put you here, huh?" Roman replied, "Don't think I've not worked it out, Georgie, I've seen..."

Georgie raised her eyebrows as his voice trailed off, "Have you been fucking following me?"

"Who's this?" Georgie looked up to see River lingering in the doorway, glancing between Georgie and the man wearing a leather jacket who he'd never seen before.

"Roman," Roman stood up holding his hand out for River to shake, "You must be River, I've heard enough about you over the years."

River glanced down at Roman's hand, choosing to ignore it as he tentatively approached Georgie, "Do you feel up to walking?"

"With all due respect mate, she ain't going anywhere with you," Roman answered, folding his arms across his chest as he stood up opposite River.

"I wasn't asking you, was I?" River replied despite being given a brief rundown of his criminal record, before turning to Georgie, "The Dogs had me locked up downstairs, Lamb got me out but we don't have long before they take us into The Park for questioning, so we need to go, now."

"The fuck is this prick talking about dogs and parks for?" Roman frowned, because he was none the wiser, when he'd got the call telling him that Georgie had been shot he'd assumed it was a case of wrong place wrong time, or one of his former associates had come to collect payment.

"I'm gonna need clothes," Georgie sighed, glancing down at the hospital gown.

"We'll find some," River assured her, "I'll push you in a wheelchair or something, it might help us blend in."

"Georgie, you've just been shot," Roman reminded her.

"Yeah, in the arm," Georgie nodded as River held out his hands and helped her off of the bed.

"Georgie, you can't just run off, they've not even discharged you," Roman replied, hoping to keep her in his sights, "You've not even told me how you got shot."

"She got shot in the line of duty, so unless you want me to pull some strings that lead the head of MI5 asking about your involvement in what happened to her, I suggest you let us go," River told him firmly, assessing from Georgie's body language that she hadn't told Roman what line of work she was in, and from what Lamb had told him, he could see why she wouldn't.

"Subtle, River, real subtle," Georgie sighed.

"Line of duty? The fuck's he talking about?" Roman protested.

"Roman, I've got to go," Georgie insisted, glancing at River as his phone buzzed, "If you want to talk you've got my number so-"

"We need to leave...now," River interjected, showing her his phone screen with a message from Lamb that read 'Dogs.'

"Just look after her, yeah?" Roman sighed, his eyes on River.

"I mean it goes without saying," River quipped.

"With all due respect she got shot when she was with you," Roman remarked as he stepped towards River, his words laced with fully loaded threats, "So if anything happens to her on your watch, I'll fucking kill you."

"Right, we're not doing this now," Georgie muttered, ushering River out of the door, "We need to go."

"Here we are," River replied as he laid eyes on a wheelchair, "Let's get you out of here."

Georgie took a seat in the wheelchair and let River push her towards the exit, she had no clue which part of London they were in, she had none of her belongings, and her clothes that she'd been wearing were too damp to consider changing into.

"How's Sid?" Georgie asked, noticing how River had failed to mentioned her.

"Let's just focus on getting you home." River sighed as they approached the exit, relieved to see none of The Dogs waiting for them.

"You're deflecting, you always did that when you were trying to protect me," Georgie quipped, "Just be honest with me, River."

He couldn't not tell her, he knew that, and it was inevitable that she'd eventually find out from Lamb who'd undoubtedly be less gentle with his delivery of the truth.

"Lamb said they're still operating on her, that's all I know," River explained as they exited the hospital, passing an empty black Range Rover, that undoubtedly meant the dogs were inside the hospital.

"You promise that's all you know?" Georgie asked, looking back at him.

"I thought my promises didn't mean anything," River sighed as they approached Lamb's car.

"Well they're all I've got right now," Georgie muttered honestly as they reached Lamb's car.

"Then I promise, that's all I know, George," River assured her.

"It was Taverner that told her to follow you, that's why Sid got sent to Slough House," Georgie told him, "And I suppose I should be grateful she was following you, because fuck knows what would've happened if you'd had to go into that house alone."

"Let's just get you out of here," River sighed, choosing not to acknowledge the notion that she cared about him as he opened the passenger door, met with a pile of rubbish on the seat, which he quickly brushed onto the floor.

"A wheelchair?" Lamb scoffed, "That was a flesh wound to her arm at best."

"She still got shot," River reminded him as he helped Georgie out of the wheelchair, not that she needed it, before helping her into the passenger seat.

"And she looks like you broke her out of the bleedin' mental hospital," Lamb retorted, gesturing to Georgie's hospital gown and lack of shoes.

"I could start on your appearance, but I suppose we'd be here till Christmas," River muttered as he climbed into the back seat of the car.

"Can we just go?" Georgie sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I need to get back to Nellie."

"Oh, you ain't going home, Knightly," Lamb told her as he quickly pulled out of the car parking space and sped towards the exit, "None of us are."

"How's Sid?" Georgie asked, knowing he'd tell the least filtered version of the truth.

"They say she might live," Lamb remarked.

"Thank fuck."

"No thanks to him," Lamb glanced at River.

After about twenty minutes traveling across London, the trio found themselves driving along Aldersgate Street, headed for Slough House. No one in the car had uttered a word for the entire journey, but it had dawned on both Georgie and River that Lamb knew more than he was letting on.

"Slough House?" River frowned as he glanced up at the familiar building from where he sat in the backseat, "Why've you brought us back here?"

"Because you're my agents and you were there when another of my agents was shot, so I'm doing your debriefs," Lamb told the pair, "What the hell were you lot doing at Hobden's?"

"He's got something on his laptop that the Park want, I think he's connected to the kidnappers," River explained.

"Sid and Georgie thought this too?" Lamb remarked.

"Sid followed him following Hobden," Georgie explained, "She told me she'd been put in Slough House to watch River."

"Was that before or after she got shot in the head?" Lamb asked.

Lamb pulled into an underground carpark, not far from Slough House as he parked across two spaces, "Who was it?"

"Who was what?" River asked.

"Who shot her, you pillock?" Lamb remarked.

"I don't know, we couldn't see his face, he had a balaclava on and tactical gear," River told him.

"So a pro?"

"Yeah, but, well...kind of," River muttered. 

"For fuck's sake, Cartwright," Lamb sighed as he climbed out of the car, River promptly doing the same before offering Georgie a hand out of the car.

"Can you let me think for one minute?" River quipped as the three of them stood around the car, "Would that be fine?"

"Knightly? You got any light to shed on this?" Lamb turned to her.

"I don't know, it was strange, it was like he wanted us to think he was one of the Dogs," Georgie told him, "But it just, it wasn't quite right."

"And he didn't speak the whole time," River added, "Like he was worried we might recognise his voice."

"Right," Lamb nodded, "Well, we better get you inside, because no offense, Knightly, you look fucking dreadful."

The three of them made their way back onto the road, headed towards Slough House, River gave Georgie his jacket, allowing her to look less like someone who'd broken out of medical custody. They entered the building, making their way up the stairs to be met with the sight of Jed Moody, lying unconscious on the floor as Min and Louisa stood over him.

"There's your answer, Cartwright, Jed fucking Moody," Lamb sighed as they reached the landing, turning to Min and Louisa, "If you had issues with him, I could've spoken to HR."

"No, we didn't know it was him," Louisa insisted.

"I'm not sure that counts as a defence," Lamb remarked.

"He had a gun," Min added.

"Better," Lamb nodded, "He used it earlier, shot Sid and Knightly with it."

"He killed Sid? Why?" Louisa replied.

"No, she's fine, she's alive," Georgie insisted.

"She was twenty minutes ago," Lamb quipped as River placed his hand on Georgie's shoulder, hoping his presence might comfort her.

"Why the fuck did he shoot you?" Louisa asked Georgie, "Where were you?"

"We were at Robert Hobden's, Sid followed me, then called Georgie," River explained, "I never asked them to come."

"What was Moody doing there?" Louisa asked.

"I don't know why he was there, he broke in dressed like this," River explained, "What was he doing here?"

"Well, we didn't get a chance to ask," Louisa replied, "But he'd been in your office, your cork board was off the wall."

"Can you account for your movements?" Lamb asked, rolling Moody into his back and rummaging through his pockets.

"Well, we were over the road," Louisa answered.

"In the pub," Min added.

"Fuck me, if this is nicer than going back to your place, I pity you," Lamb sighed as he patted down Moody in search of the gun, "Where's the gun?"

"It's over there," Louisa gestured to the other side of the landing.

"He looked like using it?" Lamb glanced between them, "Look, let's get this straight, this isn't a court of law, did he look like using it?"

"He didn't point it exactly, no," Min answered as Georgie and River watched Lamb pull an envelope of cash from Moody's pocket and shove it in his own.

"Yeah, well you might want to reconsider your position on that," Lamb sighed.

"I didn't mean to kill him," Min added.

"Of course you didn't, if you meant to kill him, he'd still be alive," Lamb remarked, "What's this? Dirty bastard."

"What, was he gonna bug your office?" Louisa asked as the group inspected the bugging devices in Lamb's hands.

"It'd be an odd move after shooting one of my joes," Lamb replied, "No, he was cleaning up, prior to getting out."

"Well, the prostitutes of Paraguay or whichever non extradition destination he was headed for have had a lucky escape," Lamb sighed, pulling two phones out of Moody's pocket, "Two mobiles, Jed, Jed, Jed, I'm surprised you had enough friends to carry one, this one's barely used, just one incoming call."

"You should ring it," River replied.

"Thank fuck you're here, I would never have thought of that," Lamb quipped before calling the number and holding the phone to his ear, "I'm afraid he can't come to the phone right now...We need to talk."

Georgie glanced at River, Lamb's tone suggested that it was someone he knew, but he did also speak to everyone like that, or rather, anyone who he believed didn't deserve his time or energy.

"Right," Lamb shoved the phone into his pocket, making his way down the stairs past River and Georgie, "Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone."

"Where are you going?" River asked.

"None of your fucking business."

"So, do you have a change of clothes for me or am I meant to walk around here like an extra on Holby City?" Georgie asked as she turned to River.

"Come with me," River sighed, leading her into their office, he crouched down beside his desk, pulling out his gym bag which contained a t-shirt, hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, which he supposed were a better alternative to a hospital gown.

"Thank you for this," Georgie smiled as he handed the bag to her, "And for getting me out of there, I'd probably be down at the Park by now if you'd not come back."

"Well, I've got making up to do, haven't I?" River smiled tentatively, "I'll wait outside, alright?"

"Yeah," Georgie nodded as River left the room, closing the door behind himself.

She placed the bag on his desk, pulling out the items of clothing and placing them on her desk before untying the back of the hospital gown and discarding it on the floor. She slipped his t-shirt on, the scent just as she'd remembered as the black fabric swamped her torso, the sleeves covering the wound to her upper arm. She pulled on the sweatpants, catching sight of her disheveled reflection in the window as she tied them.

Tears began to pool in her eyes, slowly streaming down her cheeks, her face was grazed and her body was bruised, she looked like a woman who'd just been tackled down a flight of stairs and shot in the arm. She rolled up her sleeve, her gaze focused on the bandage that had been wrapped around her arm, knowing that just hours ago the doctors were retrieving a bullet from her body before stitching her up as she remained unconscious, a bullet that had it hit her elsewhere could have had fatal consequences.

"Georgie," River's voice came from the other side of the door with a gentle knock, "George, are you alright?"

"Mmhmm," Georgie called out, her voice wavering as she wiped her damp cheeks, despite the tears that continued to fall from her eyes, "I'm fine."

"Georgie, I'm going to come in, if that's okay," River told her, slowly opening the door, not wanting to overstep, relieved to see that she was dressed as she stood with her back to him, "Georgie."

"River, I'm fine," She insisted, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

"Georgie," River whispered as he stood in front of her, "Georgie, look at me."

Georgie looked up at him with little hesitation as he kept his eyes on her, reminding her of just how safe he'd allowed her to feel when they were younger.

"I could've died," Georgie muttered, "And I know it's dramatic, and I know it's fucking selfish when Sid's in a critical condition, but I can't stop thinking about Nellie."

"Georgie, you're okay," River assured her, not knowing whether to wrap his arms around her in the way he once would've without question.

"I'm not okay though, am I?" She sniffled as tears continued to run down her cheeks, "I got shot, and my daughter's at home none the wiser with my brother, who's also clueless."

"Georgie," River wrapped his arms around her shoulders, her body almost collapsing into his with relief as he held onto her and she gripped onto the fabric of his jumper that clothed his back, "You are okay."

They stood like that in silence for almost twenty minutes, until the sound of Georgie's tears dissipated and River's jumper was damp with her tears. He hated to see her in a state of such distress, not daring to contemplate that she would have once been in a similar place as a result of his actions.

"We should probably join Min and Louisa," Georgie muttered as she pulled away from River, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"I'll take you back to yours if you want, if you need to be with Nellie," River offered, and Georgie was touched by the gesture, "I mean, we'll only be waiting for Lamb if we stay here."

"It's fine, she'll be asleep now anyway," Georgie sighed, "And if Alex sees me in this state-"

"He'll hate me more than he already does?" River remarked.

"Yeah, probably," Georgie nodded with a tentative smile.

"Do you want to put this on?" River picked up the hoodie from his desk.

"Yeah, alright," Georgie nodded, slipping the hoodie on as River stood opposite her, "Sorry about your jumper."

"Oh, that's nothing," River assured her.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" Georgie replied, wiping the last of her tears from her red cheeks.

"No," River replied, in what was arguably a stretch of the truth as he ran his thumb over Georgie's cheek, wiping away the dampness that she'd missed, lingering for perhaps longer than he should've, "You're all good, perfect...I mean fine, you're good...You ready?"

"Mmhmm," Georgie nodded as River led her downstairs to the small kitchenette that offered nothing more than a microwave, a kettle and a couple of tables that definitely hadn't seen a bottle of disinfectant as long as Lamb had been at the helm of Slough House.

Min and Louisa looked up at the pair as they entered the room, noting Georgie's disheveled appearance that was more obvious under the kitchen's harsh light. Her skin was pale but her cheeks were red and blotchy, her hair was tied back but a mess, her face and knuckles were covered in various grazes.

"God, you look awful," Min muttered mindlessly, earning a kick under the table and a disapproving frown from River.

"Seriously?" River retorted.

"Yeah, I do look awful, I got shot by Jed fucking Moody," Georgie quipped as she took a seat at the spare table, pulling her knees up to her chest as she looked at Min, "What's your excuse?"

"Erm, well..." Min's voice trailed off as Louisa and River smiled to themselves.

"Exactly," Georgie huffed, folding her arms across her chest as she leant back against the wall behind her.

"You want a drink?" River asked Georgie.

"I mean a double whiskey would be great if you've got it," Georgie muttered, earning looks of confusion from River, Min and Louisa, "I'm good."

"So, what happened?" Louisa asked Georgie as River proceeded to boil the kettle, "How'd you get shot?"

"Just unlucky I guess," Georgie sighed, not wanting to unpack everything she'd gone through at that house.

"So what do we do now?" Min asked, glancing between his three colleagues as River put a teabag into a mug and some hot chocolate powder into another.

"We wait," Georgie sighed.

The group remained seated in the kitchen for another half an hour before Lamb returned, glancing between the four of them, "What happened to the gun?" He asked as River held it up, "Give me that."

Georgie glanced at River, wondering whether they were being let go, in all fairness she could've easily gone home after Lamb had left, and yet she stayed.

"Alright, come on, pillocks," Lamb sighed.

River and Georgie followed him out of the room as Min and Louisa reluctantly trailed behind. They cautiously stepped over Jed's body, following Lamb down the stairs towards the exit.

"Keep an eye on the place, eh, Jed?" Lamb called out as the group made their way out of the office and onto the fire exit, "Has anyone else got a car here?"

"I have," Min answered.

"You in a fit state to drive?" Lamb asked, aware that Min and Louisa had both consumed enough alcohol to think that returning to Slough House for a nightcap was a good idea.

"I can drive, I hold my drink better than Min," Louisa assured him from behind River and Georgie.  

"Alright, Cartwright, you're with me," Lamb declared, "Knightly, you and the two fuckbirds follow."

"Can't Georgie come with us?" River asked as the five colleagues stopped at the bottom of the fire exit's staircase.

Lamb turned to face River with his eyebrows raised, glancing between the former couple, "They should market Slough House as marriage counselling, seeing as you two couldn't even look each other in the eye a week ago and now you're all concerned for her fucking wellbeing again."

"She literally just got shot," River quipped as Louisa shot Georgie a knowing glance while Min frowned in confusion.

"In the arm," Lamb reminded him.

"It doesn't matter," Georgie insisted, attempting to brush past Lamb's previous statement, "Where are we going?"

"Roupell Street, south of the river," Lamb told her and the group.

"Why?" Georgie asked.

"To assist with the rescue of Hassan Ahmed," Lamb declared before heading out onto the street, Georgie and Louisa sharing a mutual glance of concern. 

"So...you and River." Min muttered from where he sat in the backseat of his own car while Georgie sat in the front passenger seat beside Louisa.

"What about me and River?" Georgie huffed, keeping her eyes on the residential streets of South London as they neared the target building.

"It's just Lamb said-"

"Lamb said a lot of things," Georgie sighed as Louisa glanced at the young woman who seemed tired not just with the exhaustion of the day she'd had, but from carrying whatever had been weighing on her mind since she arrived at Slough House, "So if you're gonna waste my time repeating it, you best make it good."

"Well, what he said made it sound like you and River were...well, a thing," Min's voice faltered.

"Because we were," Georgie answered bluntly, with less resentment than usual, "And now we're not."

"What happened?"

"Min, stop asking questions," Louisa hissed.

"Are you always this nosy?" Georgie asked, glancing over her shoulder at the man with a furrowed brow.

"I, I'm just...well I'm just concerned about how it might effect the workplace dynamics," Min muttered.

"I'm not sure there's any room for worrying about workplace dynamics in a place like Slough House," Georgie scoffed, "And I've got nothing more to say on it except I'm surprised that Ho didn't dig anything up on it."

"We're here," Louisa sighed as they pulled up alongside the pavement, laying eyes on Lamb's yellow car as they parked in front of it.

"So, what now?" Min huffed, glancing between the two women who's gazes were focused on their wing mirrors, keeping an eye on River and Lamb as they remained seated in his car.

"We wait for Lamb's cue," Georgie sighed as she watched Lamb climb out of his car, walking away from it before crouching and stroking a passing black cat.

"Stroking a cat," Min muttered before Lamb stood up and made his way across the street towards one of the houses, presumably their target building.

He knocked on the door of the house in question before pushing it open, the door being unlocked immediately raising concerns, as he pulled a gun from his pocket and raised it as he stepped inside.

"Shit, that's not good," Georgie hissed as she, Louisa and Min scrambled out of the car as River did the same.

"Go around the back, Georgie on me," River called out as they sped towards the house, splitting into two pairs as Georgie and River approached the front door, River turned to Georgie as they lingered outside the house, "You can wait here if it's too much."

"You mean if I'm worried that entering a stranger's house with you will get me shot again?" Georgie raised her eyebrows, "I'm fine, as soon as I'm not, you'll know."

"Okay," River nodded, still not reassured by Georgie's words, imagining what might be waiting for them inside that house, fearing what situation he could be catapulting Georgie into.

"Lamb?" Georgie called out as the pair tentatively entered the house, slowing pacing along the hallway, River stopping in his tracks and holding his arm out to stop Georgie too as he laid eyes on a bloodstain on the wall and the carpet.

"Lamb?" River's voice wavered as the pair continued through the hallway, River leading the way.

"Kitchen," Lamb answered as Georgie and River made their way to the back of the house into the kitchen that could only be described as a crime scene, in fact that may be somewhat of an understatement.

"Oh, fuck," River muttered as he and Georgie stood either side of Lamb, assessing the scene before them, despite having both been on operation with bloody endings neither of them had ever been witness to such brutal scenes. Blood covered the table and the floor, a headless body lay on the cold lino floor while its head rested on the dining table.

Georgie knew how bad it looked, the Slow Horses turning up to a crime scene, their DNA would be everywhere, Hassan Ahmed was nowhere to be seen. It was almost as though The Park might have willed it to happen, or at least, they wouldn't lose sleep over letting the slow horses take the fall.

we're back! thank you for bearing with me! more river and georgie to come i promise!