CHAPTER ONE

A BAD DREAM

Elvis! No Elvis! she screamed - 'its ok babe I'm here' he said wrapping his arms tightly round her 'its ok I'm here'. Georgie had woken sobbing again reliving the horrible moment when she heard Elvis call in the rooftop bomb, hearing it go off and running to Elvis's burning body being flung from the top of the building arms and legs burning as he fell dying to the floor below. What she couldn't have known was it was Jackson who had raised the concern of the rooftop bomb to his boss using their now familiar hand signals and Elvis who was at the other side of the roof had called it in only to watch helpless as the bomb was remotely detonated and his mate and team member Jackson had fallen to his death, with Georgie believing she was watching the death of her beloved fiancé and Elvis watching helpless on the roof as the scene unfolded below. His beloved Georgie was hysterical with Maisie, Fingers and Brains all holding her back as they could see there was nothing anybody could do and trying to console her. He raced down the side of the building and as Captain James got hold of her to calm her down they turned to see Elvis racing towards them.

'Elvis' she sobbed I don't think I'll ever get that day out of my head, 'I know babe' he said it's a killer - fucking Omah has a lot to answer for!

They lay wrapped in each other's arms in quiet thought, Georgie trying to calm down and Elvis thinking about his gorgeous fiancé and what she was going through and Jackson his mate who had 'bought the farm'. It had been a rough few days for Elvis; being Officer in Charge he had a job to do that nothing can prepare you for, but it was a job he would do regardless; it fell to him to break the news to Jackson's parents, he had met them a few times so they knew each other quite well which somehow made breaking the news even harder. Not something he ever wanted to do again, and then along with Captain James, Spanner and Spunky they had carried the coffin with Section Two forming a Guard of Honour. Elvis had delivered the eulogy managing to make people laugh at some of the stories he could relate, Georgie had watched in amazement as he managed to hold it together as he told of their time together and how proud he had been to have Jackson in his team. There wasn't a dry eye in the church as the funeral ended by the singing of the hymn Jerusalem which was followed by the burial with close family only.

Elvis, Captain James, Georgie and the team had all gone back to the hotel where Jacksons parents had served drinks and nibbles for all who attended before saying their goodbyes and heading back to Elvis's house to reflect on the last few weeks. So much had happened both happy and sad and it was going to take time before the two of them could come to terms with that fateful day, something Georgie in particular was struggling with.

Eventually, Elvis said 'come on you, it's time to get up we've got things to do', 'don't remind me' she said but she knew it had to be done. Today was the day they were going to see her parents to break the news that they were back together.

The last time they had seen Grace & Max was the day of Georgie's wedding to Jamie when both parents had made it very clear they never wanted to see him again. Today was going to be a tough one!

'Are you sure you're ready for this babe', he said. 'Definitely Hun and then when we've done this you can introduce me to your beautiful daughter' she smiled. Elvis couldn't wait for the two most important girls in his life to finally meet.

Following the end of the campaign in Afghan, the army had given Section 2 a month at home. Special Forces were on standby as always but hopefully they would get some downtime. Elvis and Georgie had gone straight to his home in London to take a few days to chill and had decided that after Jacksons funeral they would go and break the news to Georgie's family then spend some time with Laura. First thing Georgie had to do was get Fingers to agree to give her a week before he went to see Marie, her parents couldn't know anything until she'd seen them. Thankfully Fingers agreed, he would be going to see Marie tomorrow, so they couldn't postpone the meeting - they had to go today.

Georgie had booked them both in the Midland Hotel, not presuming for one minute they'd be welcome to stay at home while they were in Manchester.

They showered and had breakfast, packed a few things in a bag then set off, both wrapped in their own thoughts and barely speaking. Soon enough the familiar signs were upon them as they turned the car into the road they both knew so well. As they pulled up outside the house Max was cleaning the car and Grace was in the garden, they both looked up as the car pulled up to see George getting out the car and ran towards her to welcome her home, then stopped in their tracks as Elvis got out of the driver's seat.

'No! you have got to be bloody joking - he is not welcome here!' said Max, 'Georgie what the hell are you thinking' said Grace –' Mum, Dad, can we go inside please, I don't want a floor show for the neighbours'. With that Georgie and Elvis walked in the house, leaving her parents looking at each other in shocked disbelief.