After the song was over
After spending a few days at Camp Bastian in order to acclimatize to the conditions, sections one to three, Captain James C.O. and their female medic Molly Dawes were sent to a small Forward Operating Base. Their task at the FOB was to monitor and patrol the local village, the mountain pass and the surrounding areas due to increased Taliban activity.
Fear had gripped the local village and the children were no longer going to school, Captain James and Captain Azizi of the Afghan National Army were tasked to work alongside each other in closing down any Taliban activity and getting the local village children to return to school.
Shortly after arriving at the FOB, whilst out on patrol Molly had befriended a young Afghan girl named Bashira, she had reminded Molly of her own sister back home in the UK due to the similarities in their ages. Intelligence had suggested that further increased activity from the Taliban was now a cause for concern, resulting in the need to step up patrols, particularly in the village.
Bashira had been beaten by her father for consorting with the young British medic, after an incident whereby Molly had taken it upon herself to break away from her section to return a scarf dropped by the girl in the village square.
In Molly's head all she had done was to chase after the girl to return her scarf, on catching up with her, Molly had witnessed first hand the kind of control the child's father had over her.
Finding herself on the receiving end of a stare from Bashira's father of pure contempt, it had even occurred to her that she had been staring into the eyes of pure hatred and evil.
Captain James had lost sight of her whilst on patrol, he began to fear for her safety: a frantic search of the village revealed Molly's whereabouts, which resulted in her getting an angry dressing down for her actions.
He had told her it was a foolhardy act that could have brought about dire consequences for her, he had taken the time to spell it out in no uncertain terms she could have been subject to "KIDNAP. TORTURE or worse still RAPE!"
After the scarf incident, Bashira's mother had presented the child to the makeshift med facility set up in the village, she had been badly beaten by her father, causing her to receive heavy bruising and lacerations to her eye.
After much deliberation between Captain and medic where he indicated she should travel to see her own doctor, he had eventually relented allowing Molly to check out the condition of the eye.
Whilst Molly was placing steri-strips over the wound and being hurried along by her Captain, she was attempting to reassure the girl, telling her that they were patrolling the mountains the next day and would ensure that no harm came to her or the village. Feeling grateful for the treatment to her eye, Bashira warned her friend not to go to the mountains.
Molly was noticeably concerned about the information she had received, appearing preoccupied when Smurf entered the Med Tent back at the FOB.
Smurf questioned her mood, convincing her to raise her concerns with their Captain.
Molly and Smurf found Captain James reclining in the paddling pool sent over by "his Mummy" when they approached him to ask for a word, they were met with an initial indifference and irritation at being disturbed from his relaxation.
James told them they had 5 minutes to talk, when suddenly several of the lads had chosen to remove their clothes and bombard his paddling pool forcing the Captain to swiftly jump out, overhead a helicopter could be heard bringing what James had told them earlier in the day were 'Some very special guests."
Preoccupied with the impending guests arrival James was dismissive of Smurf and Molly's request to speak with him, not wanting to give up they bided their time and decided to approach him again later on.
The Corp of Army Music had been the special guests and had set up to start playing, initially the lads were upset that the Ginger Ninja, as Molly called him, but Prince Harry to everyone else had not been the surprise guest they were expecting.
The section, looking slightly crestfallen, thought this musical interlude was something that would have to be endured rather than enjoyed.
However, once they started playing and the tunes were both familiar and popular the lads began to sing along and enjoy their concert.
Smurf and Molly approached their captain for a second time to reveal that Molly had intelligence in relation to their patrol to the checkpoint the next day.
Captain James suggested they move to the Ops tent, indicating that Major Beck should join them, seeming reluctant to listen when she began to reveal her information.
Listening to her account Major Beck overruled him and set up a mission for the section to be in place at dawn and divert any insurgent activity, they all waited patiently which paid off, the insurgents attempted to destroy the checkpoint by firing an RPG at the troops, there were no injuries suffered by British or ANA troops but the Flyboys as Captain James called them were used to destroy the target where the insurgents had been holed up. There were several fatalities amongst the insurgents, leaving one with severe injuries to his leg.
Molly had treated him before he was medevac'd away for further treatment and questioning, Molly's actions in the field saving the injured man had won her high praise from Captain James, telling her he was seriously impressed both by the Intel and the treatment she had administered. What he didn't say was that he was already developing strong feelings for her and it was nothing to do with her abilities as an excellent soldier and medic.
Passing on his praise and feeling immensely proud for one of his troops to the Major, Molly had been congratulated in front of the entire section.
Captain James told everyone to relax before reminding them it was their turn to provide the entertainment the following evening, he informed everyone that he would be singing a duet which would require a female volunteer.
Sweeping a pointed finger in Molly's direction, it would appear as the only female the job was given to her, he had laughed and began to move away before she could protest too much, but not before harping on about how he would be singing with such majesty that the Corps of Army Music would be practically begging him to swell their ranks. Cocky sod she thought to herself.
Molly, knowing she couldn't sing a note was bemused to say the least, the rest of the lads seemed to know what song he wanted to sing with her, Mansfield was particularly vocal saying, "well, at least he won't make me sing the lady parts with him again, had enough of that during training!"
After a very long day, Molly had decided to get some peace and quiet from the lads; she had chosen to sit on top of the 'shitter' to read the letter from her sister handed out during post delivery earlier in the day. Settling down under the Afghan stars, Smurf had climbed up disturbing her solitude.
He exclaimed, "I've never seen a dead body before, have you? Then proceeded to reflect that both he and his Mum had chosen not to look upon the body of his twin brother who had lost his life on a previous tour. Not wanting to shut him down, when he was in such an emotional state, Molly simply listened, before telling him to "Sod off and leave me alone to read my sisters letter!' Doing her bidding, Smurf climbed back down, leaving her to catch up with the news from home.
Fatigue over taking her she climbed down from the toilet block to head back to her sleeping quarters.
On passing her Captains tent, he spotted her and called out "Dawes" before handing her the lyrics for the song they would sing together the next evening.
An exchange of banter, a smile revealing how much he enjoyed her company and a "Piss off Dawesy" gave rise to her confidently commenting that he had called her by her Sections pet name of Dawesy, and the further remark that she must be winning him round with her 'incredible charm and magnetism'. Outwardly, he had laughed with her, inwardly he had to concede that she had indeed won him round, in more ways than one: he was now so looking forward to singing his favorite song with her, and secretly hoping she would realize he was falling in love with her.
The next day in the village shocked everyone in her Section, Molly had demonstrated her immense courage and bravery by removing her own protective clothing, moving forward and calmly reassuring her little friend to remain still whilst bomb disposal removed the suicide vest strapped to her small body.
Within seconds of the vest being removed, Bashira was placed in a vehicle due to transport her to safety so that the Taliban connections held by her father could no longer be a threat to her life.
A short time later the vest had detonated, causing debris to fly everywhere, some of which had landed in her Captains eye requiring him to seek medical attention from his favorite medic.
Further shared banter masked the fact he had wanted to hold and kiss her and tell her he would never have forgiven himself if she had been hurt. He dreamt of showing her how much she affected him and the thought of loosing her was too painful to comprehend. Molly's own feelings for him being so close to her while she treated his eye were now very close to the surface, whenever they looked into each others eyes there was a softness there, and the eye contact had definitely increased over the past couple of weeks.
For some time now they had been sharing private jokes and an almost flirty type of banter whenever he had dropped by the med tent to get his blisters checked. Molly had felt for a while that he used his blisters as an excuse, the blisters were never mentioned, instead their conversations had been about shared experiences, likes and dislikes, home life and a general getting to know each other, so much so; she felt they were much more than C.O. and Medic, they were kind of speed dating in a warzone.
Returning to the FOB provided a chance to relax and make preparations for the up coming duet, Captain James suggested they got together to rehearse the song, Molly entered his tent, only to find herself and the Captain alone "is it just us? Where's Dangles?"
James smiled at her "I didn't invite him! I know he can play, so this time is for us to see how we sound together!"
Molly felt a little blush on her cheeks, so liking the sound of the words, together and us, if only she thought, "I've gotta warn you Boss, I can't really sing, I can clear a karaoke Bar just by getting on stage"
James laughed warmly before moving to his laptop to play the song for her "Oh, come on Dawes, after todays stunt I would think a little thing like singing with me would be a doddle! Lets see what you're made of? I'm convinced we'll be magical!" Molly laughed, " Magical eh! On you're head be it, I really can't sing a note! But seeing as its you, I'll give it a go!"
As they rehearsed, Molly could feel him getting closer as he danced around towards her, he was giving her the kind of looks that set a million butterflies dancing in her stomach.
Hell, she thought, I'm blushing again; he's so close and he even looks like he means what he's singing. God he's gorgeous when he smiles she mused, I'd do this every night if I got to see his eyes twinkle like that, don't get ahead of yourself Molly, he's just happy to be singing she reminded herself.
As the rehearsal finished James put his hand on her shoulder, his thumb caressing her jaw, as he said, "This is our chance to shine Molly, let them all see how good we are together!"
There it is again, those words, us, together and oh god he's just called me Molly, maybe I'm not getting ahead of myself.
Molly felt herself blushing again at his touch, making the excuse to leave his tent saying, "Err, I'll see you later then Boss, I need to get ready, you know, take a shower and change my clothes and all that!"
James smiled back at her "Ok, oh and Molly" "Mmm" He winked, "I can't wait for later!"
Blushing again she left his tent, Molly busied herself taking a shower, washing her hair and deciding what to wear, all her thoughts were on how he had looked at her, what was the "I can't wait for later" bit all about she mused.
Come on Molly girl, she said to herself, you really need to pull this out of the bag, show him what you're made of, all of a sudden there was an intense need to impress him, to let him know who she really was. If she had her way there would definitely be an us, a them together, with the magical thrown in for good measure.
Searching through her kit bag, she found a black vest top, she changed into the only push up bra she had with her and would need a clean pair of combats to complete the ensemble, no problem she thought, at least from the waist up I look like a woman.
Molly dried her freshly washed hair before brushing it until it looked glossy; she rooted about for some lip-gloss and applied several coats of mascara. Checking her appearance she was pleased with the end result, at least I could pass as sexy she thought, hoping to draw his attention and show him she was not just some dusty squaddie.
Captain James had showered and changed his uniform, he had applied the aftershave Molly had commented on as being "proper nice" just a few days earlier in the Med Tent, he hoped she would get close enough to smell it again.
God I'm acting like a teenager going on a first date, he thought, at least I'll get to sing my favorite song to her I really hope she can read between the lines and understand I have developed such strong feelings for her.
They both made their way to the back of the stage, Dangleberries had already set up and was now running through his sound check, Captain James mouth hung open when he saw Molly,
"Jesus, Molly you look beautiful, Stunning in fact!" He reached out his hand and touched her cheek "I, Err, only hope I can remember the lyrics, did I say how gorgeous you look!"
Happy with his reaction, she giggled "Thanks Boss, you don't look too shabby yourself" Taking his offered hand to get up on the stage, she couldn't help brush past him and notice his aftershave "you smell proper nice as well!"
He smiled down at her and winked, inwardly thinking, mission accomplished, I'm so going to enjoy this.
He strode confidently towards the microphone to introduce Molly and Dangleberries "Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome to the stage Miss Molly Dawes and on the keyboards Mr. Dangleberries."
The first few chords struck up, before Boss-man began swinging the microphone and moving in time to the music, Molly giggled both at her introduction and to see him so happy,
"Don't go breaking my heart"
"I couldn't if I tried" Smiling at her and looking directly into her eyes, he winked.
"Oh honey if I get restless"
"Baby you're not that Kind"
Ba Bab Baa
"Don't go breaking my heart"
"You take the weight off of me"
"When you knock on my door baby" Molly reached out to touch his arm before her next line
"Ooh I gave you my key" Smiling towards the lads he said, "she gave me her key boys!"
Everyone joined in with the chorus "Ooh Ooh, Nobody knows it…."
Although Molly had told him she couldn't sing, the looks and winks he gave her meant her confidence grew and he was right they were good together!
The evening continued with some of the lads jumping onto the stage to sing their own version of their favorite songs.
Molly watched the boys for a for a while before returning to the Med Tent, on seeing her enter the tent Captain James strolled over and gently knocked on the tent flap, "come in" she answered, surprised it was him, he closed the zip behind him and with two large strides stood in front of her, "Molly, it has to be said you were simply perfection tonight!"
"And I must say Boss, I loved it!" She looked up into his eyes and placed her hands on his chest, "I mean, I loved being there with you!"
He reached down and kissed her, slowly at first, then pressing his lips harder and kissing her passionately.
Molly returned the kiss with the same passion, "That song" He whispered "Was for you, I want you to know that when we get out of this place, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I keep hold of your key forever, I love you Molly!"
"Well that's ok then, looks like you'll be keeping my key cos I love you too!"