Chapter 1
"Briefing room now!" Henno Garvie shouted at his team, who were currently sat in the mess hall playing some card game, "And someone get Caroline."
"I'll do it." Pete said as he got up from the table. He placed his cards down on the table and walked out of the mess hall in search of Caroline.
The guys all dropped their cards and hurriedly got up and followed Henno, who was walking out of the hall at a brisk pace.
"Anything interesting?" Alex asked Henno as they all walked out of the mess hall and towards the building where the briefing was to take place.
"We'll find out in a minute." Was Henno's sharp reply, he had yet to be briefed on the situation, something he wasn't keen on.
Alex just nodded and shared a look with the rest of the team. Something was going on and they were eager to find out as to what it was.
They walked into the briefing room where Dempsey, Dotsy and an unknown man were stood waiting. The team took their seats and the room went silent, a slight tension in the air as they waited. That silence was soon broken by the sound of footfalls heading towards the room. The door opened and in walked Pete with Caroline in tow.
"Sorry we are late, sir." Caroline said, "I was dealing with a problem with one of our suppliers."
Dempsey nodded and motioned for them to join the rest of the team.
Pete sat next to Henno, and Caroline sat at the nearest available desk, next to Jem and Ricky.
"This is Mr Jones from the Home Office." Dempsey said, introducing the mysterious man.
"Morning all, we have a rather delicate situation going on at the moment. It has been noticed that recently there has been an increase in military grade weapons going missing from bases and ending up in the hands of criminal gangs both here in the UK and abroad."
"Nothing new there." Pete muttered.
"True," Jones continued, "However, a large number of them have been traced back to Catterick Garrison. We believe that there may be a group of soldiers stealing weapons and selling them on the black market. Unfortunately, we have been unable to produce any tangible leads and don't want to start a full blown investigation as we may lose the culprits. The government want this dealt with as quietly as possible, preferably to save face, which is where you come in."
"So what's the plan?" Henno asked, curious as to what they were expected to do.
"Undercover work?" Jem piped up from the back, his eyes twinkling with hope. As long as he didn't get passed over on the job again.
Dempsey nodded, "As Jem said, this is an undercover operation. Jem and Caroline will be going undercover as a themselves,"
"YES!" Jem hissed excitedly, professionalism going out of the window for a second.
Caroline raised an eyebrow at this, "As ourselves?" She interrupted.
"Yes Caroline, as yourselves but with a few differences. You and Jem are recently married."
"That'd never happen." Ricky mumbled, causing a chuckle from the guys, bar Jem who stuck his middle finger up at his best friend.
"Caroline, you'll be working at Sagittarius as an intelligence officer. Before you ask, it has been cleared with the owner. Basically, you were forced to resign or give up any chance of a promotion due the fact you were found to be romantically involved with Jem. Jem you are to be RTU'd for your part in the relationship, which means you will be returned to the Green Howards, based now out of Catterick Garrison." Dempsey continued, as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"So we are being sacked?" Caroline exclaimed, not happy at this. Jem looked just as put out as she did.
"Temporarily, once the operation is over then you will both be reinstated." Dempsey replied, "This is the most credible cover story that we could come up with. It will also be airtight should the group do any checking."
"So, while I am stuck married to Jem in Yorkshire," Caroline glared at Jem, who smiled cheekily her way, before continuing, "What will that lot be doing?"
"Surveillance and backup, should backup be required." Dotsy responded, "We have sorted you out a house in Richmond, just off base. It has been fully fitted with cameras and microphones in every room. You are expected to behave like a newly married couple at all times."
"And that means at ALL times." Dempsey reiterated.
Caroline let out a groan, "Luckily I've had a lot of practice at faking it." She mumbled before realising what she had said, especially when the team started laughing, "I meant going undercover, you bunch of pervs."
"Sure that's what you meant." Alex jabbed back, causing Caroline to give him the finger.
"Can we get back to it?" Dempsey snapped. He reached onto the desk behind him and grabbed a bag.
He reached into the bag and pulled out two ring boxes which he handed to Caroline.
"Caroline, your 'engagement' ring contains a tracking device as does Jem's wedding ring, these are to be worn at ALL times."
Jem reached across and grabbed one of the boxes, which contained Caroline's rings. He began examining them, trying to figure out how there was a tracking device in it.
"Hold up one second, if they have to behave like a couple at all times, does that include at home also?" Jamie asked, staying silent until now.
"Yes, in case you end up under surveillance from the group." Dotsy replied, "That means sleeping in the same bed also."
Caroline scowled at Jem, "You better not snore, Jeremy."
"You better not steal the covers, princess." Jem shot back playfully, "And don't call me that."
"I'm your wife I can call you what I like, sweetheart." Caroline replied with an equally playful manner.
"We have all the necessary documents ready for you both including your marriage certificate which requires your signatures." Dempsey spoke, "Caroline, we also have a new driving license and passport for you. A joint bank account has also been set up for the operation."
Dotsy handed Jem a folder, with all the documents that had just been spoken of, and a pen to sign anything that required a signature.
"This afternoon, you are also required to have some 'wedding' photographs taken. It was a simple ceremony at the registry office with two witnesses. It'll be easier than photoshopping them and creating an elaborate story. We will let you work out the finer details of your relationship by yourselves." Dempsey added.
"My mother is going to kill me that she wasn't at my 'wedding'." Jem joked, "I think she's almost given up on the idea of her son getting married."
"That is a point," Caroline spoke up, "What the fuck am I meant to tell my parents when they find out that one, I got married without telling them, two, that it wasn't in a church and finally, that I have been forced to quit?!"
"Your parents are that set on a church wedding?" Alex asked, "I didn't even know you were religious."
"I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when you tell them." Dotsy jibed, he had met her parents once briefly, when she had been taking them out for dinner, and knew they would be quite upset and disappointed in their daughter.
"You could tell them we thought that if we got married sooner rather than later then the army may not be as harsh when it came to punishing us for the relationship." Jem suggested, "And that we had managed to get a cancellation at the registry office and there had been no time to explain to them about the whole situation."
Caroline looked at Jem and pondered the suggestion for a minute, "That may take the edge off a little bit but they are still going to be hurt that I never even told them about you, let alone the fact that they never got to be at our 'wedding'."
"When are we due to go undercover?" Jem questioned.
"Monday." Dempsey replied, "You have just the weekend to get your story straight and get prepared."
"I guess we are going to have a 'romantic' weekend together, principessa." Jem joked.
"You know what a romantic weekend is? I thought you just fucked them and left before they woke up." Caroline teased.
"She got you there mate." Alex noted, the guys laughing under their breath.
"Low blow darling." Jem sparred back, "When was the last time you dated seriously?"
Caroline gave him a mutinous glare as if she was telling him to back off, he would have been slightly scared, were it not for the sheen of tears in her eyes.
"Sorry." He apologised, "I shouldn't have gone there."
Caroline just looked away and tried to dispel the tears before anyone else noticed. Her last relationship had been quite some time back but the scars, caused by her ex, had yet to heal fully.
Jem looked down at his hands, the atmosphere suddenly changing. He needed to break the tension. He began twisting Caroline's rings between his fingers, a smile playing on his face. He got up from his chair and dramatically dropped down on one knee in front of Caroline. He held one of the rings between his thumb and forefinger, presenting it to her.
"Caroline Walshe, will you marry me?" He proposed as the men in the room began chuckling.
Caroline rolled her eyes, "It's not like I have a choice in the matter."
"So is that a yes then?"
"Yes, I will marry you." Caroline replied and held her left hand out.
Jem slid the engagement ring onto her finger with a smile. He didn't know why but it felt weird when he asked her that and especially when she gave her response. A nice weird though. He pushed the thought out of his head and stood back up.
"Aren't you meant to kiss now?" Dotsy jested.
"I thought that happened after you exchange rings." Jamie joined in, "Which you ought to do."
Ricky stood up and cleared his throat, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…" He began jokingly, a smirk on his face at the look on Caroline's and Jem's faces.
"Caroline, do you take this man to be your unlawfully wedded husband?"
Caroline almost burst out laughing, "I do." She replied and slid the ring onto Jem's finger.
"And do you, Jeremy," Ricky's smirk increased at the glare Jem sent him, "take Caroline to be your unlawfully wedding wife?"
"I do." Jem agreed and slid the wedding ring onto Caroline's finger, noting how perfectly natural it looked sitting there.
"By the power vested in me by nobody and nothing, I now declare you husband and wife. Now you have to kiss the bride." Ricky finished.
"Go on then!" Pete broke in, "Make us believe you two are married and in love."
"Yeah, go for it." Alex dared.
Henno rolled his eyes at the teams enthusiasm for this 'wedding'.
Jem looked at Caroline and he began to feel nervous. That never happened for him, especially not about kissing a woman.
"I mean we don't….." He trailed off.
"It's fine," Caroline uttered, "If we can convince this lot, anything is possible." And with that she pressed herself onto her tiptoes, draped her arms over his shoulders, and kissed a very shocked Jem.
Jem's eyes widened in surprise briefly, the kiss was like nothing he had expected. It was soft, gentle, light, almost as if she was testing the waters, testing his reaction. He wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her back. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to get lost in the sensations he was feeling whilst kissing her. He lightly traced his wife's lips with his tongue as he deepened the kiss. He could taste the waxy residue on her lips from the lipstick she was wearing and could smell the faint scent of the perfume that she wore.
Caroline tightened her grip on him. Her head was spinning, she hadn't expected to feel like this whilst kissing him. It's because it has been a while was her thought, nothing else. Definitely nothing else. She probed his lips with her tongue before slightly parting her own as their tongues intertwined in a dance.
It felt like they had been kissing forever when the pulled apart, though it had only been for a short while. They let go of each other, breathing laboured and stared at each other. Eventually they turned to look at the others.
The shock on the guys faces made Caroline almost smile.
"Well, you said make it believable." She said.