I don't own Our Girl. All rights belong to Tony Grounds and the BBC.

Chapter 4

As he sat in the truck taking him, Francois, Molly and the remainder of Dangles' team back to the Medical Centre the following morning, Charles James reflected on an amazing few days. It was strange to think that he and his team had been in this area for less than three days. They'd certainly packed a lot in!

He hoped that the Army relief team made it to the Med Centre today. While he'd enjoyed commanding Dangles' and Molly's teams, he found he much preferred his regular job, and the day to day responsibilities of running the Army team had really taken away from his ability both to help on the ground and to co-ordinate at both a country-wide and regional level. He also hated the way he had to keep Molly at a distance. Sure, when he was relieved they weren't going to be all over each other, but at least some physical contact, holding her hand occasionally, a kiss good morning or good night and one of her fantastic hugs wouldn't be against the rules. Plus he would get to be able to spend more time with her when she was off duty. There wouldn't be any issues with Corporal James spending time with Mr James the way there would be with a Corporal spending personal time with a Major. Last night had been a good example. When he saw she was crying he would have really liked to give her a hug and a kiss, particularly after the horrific day they'd both had, but that solution wasn't open to Major James since there was no opportunity for them to get out of public view. He'd had to make do with a quick hand squeeze and supportive words.

He loved spending time with Molly and the opportunity to do it while he did his job was really the icing on the cake. Unfortunately their jobs did mean that they were often apart for extended periods of time, but neither would have it any other way. He was happy for Molly to do what she was doing since she loved it and it gave her the opportunity to be what he'd always thought she could be, and she was happy for him to do what he did because it made such a difference to people's lives and because it made him happy as well. When one or other of them was away they missed each other, but that just made the homecomings even more fun! And, not being in war zones, most of the time they could communicate by phone or over the internet, so it wasn't like it was complete cold turkey.

As the trucks drew up to the Medical Centre and the troops disembarked and started helping the injured down and into the building, Charles realised that there seemed to be many more camouflage-clad bodies here than when he had left. I guess the relief has already arrived, he concluded, smiling at Molly who had also noticed the higher number of soldiers present. To his surprise, she looked melancholy. "What's wrong?" he asked, under the cover of helping her climb down from the truck.

"I don't know," she replied, "obviously it'll be great to behave a bit more like husband an' wife now, but I never thought I'd ever be under your command again and it's been really fun an' reminded me of the old days in Afghan. Seein' you in command is different from seein' you working with the Red Cross. In the Red Cross you're more human, you're a co-ordinator. You ask people to help, an' they do because you're a brilliant leader. In the Army you're more forthright, you lead an' people follow. It feels so natural. As if you were born to do it, Charlie. I've served with some good officers over the past few years, but none of them have been as good as you were. Dangles feels the same. I can't help feelin' that I've taken you away from your best destiny. That's why I'm a bit sad."

She wouldn't meet his eyes so, gesturing to Dangles to sort out the men and the injured and receiving a nod in return, he led her to the room that he had used as his office, pleased that it was deserted for the time being. He lifted her head with his finger, so he could look directly into her eyes. They were moist, "I've finished that period of my life Mols and I did enjoy it, there's no denying that, but I was just thinking that I'm ready to go back to my Red Cross job now. I've loved having you and Dangles under my command again, but I can do so much more through the Red Cross than I could through the Army; I can achieve so much more.

"And I'm not having any of your guilt. It's not your fault anyway that I left the Army. I left because I was injured and because I fucked up; predominantly because I fucked up. But also because I was tired. I wanted to work on building something, not destroying things. This is the best job in the world and I have no regrets about leaving the Army. My only regret is that we don't get to spend as much time with each other as I'd like, but I really treasure the time we do spend together." He kissed her quickly on the lips to emphasise his point, and then finished, "Now Corporal James, let's find this new senior officer so that I can do some more of that!"

- OG - OG - OG - OG -

Captain Neil Williams was a tall man with straight black hair and a round face. He was also, Charles noticed, wearing the yellow and black tactical recognition flash which denoted the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglian, so he would probably already be known to Dangles. He had arrived in Charles' reclaimed office about 45 minutes after his conversation with Molly and braced to attention.

After apologising for not being present at the compound to greet them on their return (it turned out he had been down the road with some engineers consulting on trying to strengthen one of the nearby bridges) he confirmed that he had been sent by Lieutenant Colonel Beck to relieve Major James and take control of the British Army units in the area. He had arrived with a 12 person detachment consisting of 4 extra medical personnel, including a doctor), 4 Royal Engineers and 4 extra soldiers. He had informed Charles that they were both due on a conference call at 12.00 with Lieutenant Colonel Beck, after which Charles would be officially relieved. They arranged to meet for a handover debrief and to get to know each other at 11.00, when Charles would introduce him to the NCOs and senior Red Cross representatives that he had not already met.

- OG - OG - OG - OG -

Nearly three hours later Charles, Molly, Dangles and Francois were sitting in Charles' office eating plantains and drinking tea. Charles was pleased that Captain Williams was not a martinet. He had managed to grab a few minutes with Dangles who had confirmed that Captain Williams had a good reputation in the Battalion and was a good officer. Their handover had gone well with Captain Williams and Colonel Beck both paying due respect to his NCOs' accomplishments, and for that he was happy. The Captain had officially relieved him and Colonel Beck had thanked him for his being prepared to help out at short notice and confirmed that when they all returned to Freetown they should go out for a drink. Captain Williams had taken his leave to get on with running his detachment, but not before informing Molly and Dangles that they, and the other soldiers who had stayed overnight last night, should take the rest of the day off. Dangles had nipped out to pass that information on to the men, but had returned, and now here they were enjoying lunch together and relaxing.

"Would you believe it?" exclaimed Francois, "It's stopped raining. That's two days in a row that it's stopped raining during the day. I wonder if things are improving?"

"God, I 'ope so!" observed Molly, "I'm bored of rain!"

"You should be careful what you wish for Mols," answered Charles, grinning, "It's pretty hot and humid here when it's not raining. I mean it's great if you're sitting in Freetown next to the pool or on the beach, but it's pretty minging inland, and once the sun comes out the mosquitos come out too and that's not fun!"

"I s'pose so, but I'm still bored with rain!"

"Still boss, it's a really nice part of the world," noted Dangles, "When you were working yesterday there was about an hour when the clouds cleared and you could see the tops of the hills. It was a bit like where we were in Afghan – but a lot greener, obviously!"

"It's still a bit of a mixed blessing if it does stop raining though," commented Charles, "It means we'll all be moving on. I mean, we can probably draw out our stay for a few extra days. Go out by road to some of the outlying villages, if we can, and make sure people are OK there, but they'll get the choppers working and you guys will be pulled out and we'll probably already be gone."

"Where will you go next Boss?" asked Dangles.

"I should think it'll be back to Freetown for Francois and I. Now that the British Army has sent an extra doctor, he's probably not needed here and there's a significantly greater population in Freetown and its outskirts that we can help more directly. We'll be based near Freetown and drive out to surrounding areas to give local medical support, I should think. It'll also be easier for me to co-ordinate the logistics requirements from closer to Freetown." he turned to look at Francois, as if inviting him to add anything.

Francois just smiled, "You're the boss. You tell me where to go! But I reckon that's about right. Now that the British Army has started providing support to the outlying areas we can re-focus and start the next stage of operations."

Charles grinned at Molly, "I hope you heard that Mols? I'm "the Boss"!"

"In yer dreams Charlie!"

- OG - OG - OG - OG -

Corporal Molly James thanked the driver that had dropped her and stood for a second to admire the brilliant view of Lumley Beach, and the beautiful sunset which was lighting it up, before turning around and walking towards the concrete aberration which was the nearby Radisson Blu hotel.

The past few weeks had been less fraught than the beginning of her trip to Sierra Leone. The weather had continued to improve and, only two more days after they had returned from the minibus crash site, Charles had told her that he couldn't justify staying in Buluna any longer and that he and Francois were heading back to Freetown the next day. Her team had been withdrawn from the Buluna medical centre only a few days after Charles had left. The helicopter ride back to Freetown had been considerably less hairy than the ride up and for that she was grateful.

After a few days of normal duties to charge their batteries, her team of three had been supplemented by two additional medics with nursing training and sent off to another medical centre in the south of the country where she had been instructed to take charge. They had been well-resourced and, with the rains starting to abate, there had been no problem with communication and re-supply. They had been able to work 8 hour shifts and keep well on top of the flow of patients. They had finally been called back to Freetown in the middle of this week.

With the rains now starting to die out the engineers had been busy rebuilding roads and other infrastructure and the overall situation was starting to become considerably less dire. People had begun to return to and rebuild their homes and the British Army was starting to think about withdrawing some of its troops.

She knew the NGOs were changing their focus as well. She had been in touch with Charles by phone and Skype regularly over the past two weeks and she knew that over the past 2-3 days he had been handing over his responsibilities to the team that would run this region over the longer term. Today was due to be his last day of handover, and he was expecting to take this weekend off, and hopefully they would get some time together, before flying back to the UK at the beginning of next week. He had agreed to meet her and Dangles in the Baw Baw Bar at the Radisson Blu to celebrate a job well-done and remember old times. He had said that he would see if Lieutenant Colonel Beck would join them, strictly informally of course, and she had also asked Jackie, who agreed to come along a bit later after her shift finished.

As she walked into the bar she saw Dangles and Charles already firmly ensconced in a corner, both with bottles of beer. There was a glass of white wine (her preferred tipple) also waiting on the table. Dangles was wearing camouflage trousers and a T-shirt, like her, while Charles was clad in his khaki trousers and a dark blue shirt. As she headed towards them both men got to their feet and greeted her with a hug. "Is that mine?" she asked, pointing to the wine.

Charles didn't miss a beat, "Nah I got that for Jackie." He told her, grinning, "Why? Did you want one?" Grinning at her pout, he continued, "Of course it's for you, you muppet!"

She glared at him, "Since I haven't seen you for two weeks Charlie I'm gonna let you off with that, but tease me again and you'll be busted, savvy?!"

Dangles grinned at them, "I've got to say Boss, whatever the other boys reckon, I say you've got balls of steel if you want to come between Dawesy and her drink at a time like this!"

Luckily at that point Colonel Beck turned up, neatly deflecting any further "discussions". He was also dressed casually in slacks and a shirt, looking every inch the off-duty senior officer. But he enquired casually whether anybody wanted a drink and happily ventured to the bar to pick up bottles for Dangles and Charles. Molly had been a bit worried that having the Colonel there would make everything too formal but Charles had assured her it wouldn't be like that and it turned out not to be. The Colonel took part in all the conversations, wasn't over-bearing and told Dangles and Molly to call him by his first name (which of course they didn't).

As the night wore on and Jackie arrived, they ordered dinner and settled in with a couple of bottles of wine. Just as the main course arrived, Colonel Beck jerked as though remembering something.

"Corporal James. Last bit of business for the day – I'm glad I remembered. I had a meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Roberts earlier," Molly wondered why he would be meeting with the commander of all RAMC units in Sierra Leone but he continued, "You're off duty for the rest of the weekend. But you're ordered to report to his office at 11.00 on Monday." Molly didn't know what to say. She and Charles could spend the weekend together. As Molly gaped like a fish, Charles jumped in to help her out, "Thank you sir. It will be great to spend some time together." And Molly nodded, and finally managed to squeak out, "Thank you sir".

"Not at all, Charles, and remember – it's Roger – I'm not your boss any more." Then he looked quickly at Dangles before smiling again at Charles, "And while we're on the subject, let me say what an honour and a pleasure it was to serve with you again Major. I know your subordinates agree with me. I don't suppose there's any chance of persuading you back into uniform?"

As Charles confirmed that there was no chance the conversation moved on. Jackie, seeing that Molly was still a little stunned, leaned over, "Nice to have friends in high places, isn't it Mols? Just think, while I'm stuck there with the antiseptic wipes you can be relaxing on the beach with your husband!"

- OG - OG - OG - OG -

As Molly stood outside Lieutenant Colonel Roberts' office on Monday morning, clad in her camouflage utilities and looking like a proper soldier again, she reflected on a brilliant weekend. They had all had a bit too much to drink on Friday night and Dangles and Jackie had had to help the Colonel back to base. The last she remembered was hugging Charles after the others had left, but it transpired that after the Colonel had dropped his bombshell Charles had nipped out to reception and booked a room for them for the weekend. And not just any room, but a beautiful Deluxe Suite with lovely sea views. After she fell asleep at the end of the evening he had carried her up to it.

Of course, she hadn't known about this until she woke up the next morning with a horrific headache! He was still asleep, but woke up pretty quickly. That might have had something to do with her falling over him as she clambered out of bed to the toilet. In her defence, she hadn't known quite where she was and she was so used to sleeping in single army beds for the past few weeks that she hadn't even considered she might be in a double bed, although in retrospect the soft sheets might have given it away if she'd been concentrating and hadn't been dying to go to the loo! A point that he'd made quite strenuously!

It had got better after that though. They'd enjoyed a three course breakfast on their balcony and then he'd taken her over to the base to grab some clothes and then out shopping to buy a bikini, and they hadn't shifted from their beach towels, apart from to put on more suntan lotion and/or mosquito repellent, or to buy drinks, for most of the rest of the weekend. At night they'd concentrated on rediscovering each other physically and done quite a damn good job of it.

This morning they'd enjoyed a final breakfast, kissed each other goodbye and then gone about their business. As it happened, he had a meeting to go to as well, at the same time as hers. She hadn't asked what it was about and he hadn't volunteered. He was due to fly back tomorrow and she wasn't expecting to see him again until she was sent back to the UK, which hopefully wouldn't be more than another week or two.

She knocked on the door and heard the command to "Enter". She marched in, drew herself to attention and told her CO's CO, "Corporal Molly James, reporting as ordered, sir". She was quite surprised to see Colonel Beck in the office as well. Both Colonels smiled at her and Colonel Roberts told her to be at ease and then spoke to her, "So Corporal James, there are two reasons I asked for this meeting. Number one, was that I wanted to congratulate you on your performance in country since this crisis broke. I've received numerous reports from the Sierra Leone government, your contemporaries, superiors, The International Red Cross and even your subordinates, highlighting that your performance, both in medical care and leadership, was above and beyond what we would have any right to expect; initially when your unit was cut off, then at the minibus crash site and finally when you took on your detached duties."

She replied, "Thank you sir, but I was only doing my job."

"Yes, I was told you would say that. However, I believe that your work at Buluna was above and beyond the call of duty. I'd like you to know that I have submitted your name for a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service and I fully expect it to be confirmed, as of the next Operational Honours and Awards announcement in March."

She was gobsmacked. "Thank you sir" was all she managed.

"No, thank you Corporal James. Since you joined the RAMC your conduct has been absolutely exemplary and you've been a credit to the Corps.

"Which brings me onto my next reason for calling you here. I've been following your career for some time, both on official army business and outside – I am aware that you have worked with your husband when you have been on leave – and it's clear to me that you are under-utilised in your current role. Each of your previous operational COs has picked up on the fact that you are much more intelligent than you pass yourself off as, and your first CO, Captain James suggested that you have the ability to become an officer, although at the time he felt that you did not have the confidence for it. You have certainly demonstrated in recent months that you have both the competence and the confidence now and I wondered whether you had given any thought to becoming an Army officer?"

This time she was beyond gobsmacked. When she had walked in here this morning, she had had some thoughts on what this meeting might be about but this was as far away from those as it was possible to be. "Sir?" she stammered, "I don't– I mean– uh, no sir."

He looked at her in a benevolent manner, "Well, I think you should. Colonel Beck and I have discussed it at length, and I have talked with many of your previous COs. All agree that you would make a very able Army officer. You'll be going home within the next week. Please discuss it with your family over Christmas and New Year and, if you are keen, come and see me in January. We can get you over to AOSB and hopefully into the May intake for Sandhurst." He came around his desk and held out his hand to her, "Congratulations again Corporal James, and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year."

She shook his hand then came to attention, saluted and left the office. She stood on the other side of the door, desperately trying to compose herself.

"Molly" the most welcome voice in the world came from the wall next to her on her right. She swung round and there he was, leaning against the wall wearing his Red Cross gear, and smiling his patented half smile. She started towards him when he asked, "How did it go?"

Her welcoming smile transformed into a glare, "You knew?"

"Roger told me on Friday. But he swore me to secrecy."

Then another voice came from behind her, "It's true Corporal. I did, but I figured you would probably need someone to talk to afterwards, so I asked Charles if he could spare some time to join us for lunch and he agreed. Though it will NOT be a liquid lunch. I must be getting old; it took me most of the next day to get over that!"

She looked from one to the other, then smiled. "Thank you sir, I could do with a chat, even if it is with this idiot."

- OG - OG - OG - OG -

The three were enjoying their lunch in the mess tent when a loud two-tone warble cut across proceedings. "Shit!" exclaimed Charles, taking out his phone and turning apologetically to the Colonel, "sorry – I have to take this" and then he spoke into his phone, "James – Go ahead!" He immediately moved towards a relatively quiet area.

"Uh oh" said Molly quietly. Colonel Beck looked at her questioningly. "That's his emergency signal. That means he's likely to have an emergency international call-out." They proceeded to work on their meals, making small talk until Charles got back.

Molly looked at him questioningly, "Is it-?"

Charles gave a lopsided smile, "Yes, a typhoon in the Philippines. I have to get back to London as soon as possible, and then on from there. But the first flight out of Freetown isn't until late this evening."

Colonel Beck was already rising to his feet, "Come with me you two. There's an RAF supply flight this afternoon. Come back to my office and I'll see if I can get you on it."

The Colonel was as good as his word and within 30 minutes had arranged for Charles to get on an RAF flight to Northolt which was due to leave at 16.30. Then, waving away Charles' objections, he arranged for a chopper to pick Charles up in Freetown and transport him to the airport.

"Don't be silly Charles. You've done a great job for the Army while you've been here and we always do our best to help in disaster situations. Right, you've got three hours until the chopper picks you up. I guess you'd better go and get packed!" He grinned at Molly, "Corporal James – you are assigned as military liaison to Mr James. Stick to him like glue and make sure he gets on that flight later. I'll clear it with Colonel Roberts. Now clear off – both of you!" he stuck out his hand, "Good luck Charles, don't make it three years before we next see each other!"

With copious thanks they were off. They headed back to the hotel, but found that they had a spare hour after Charles had packed. Naturally they were able to find something to do with their time!

- OG - OG - OG - OG -

Molly James was just brushing her hair after the shower which followed her morning run when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it" called her Nan from downstairs. She had agreed to stay with Molly to keep her company when it became clear that Charles may not get back from the Philippines for several weeks. Molly loved their house and normally had no problems being on her own there. It was just that after getting back from Africa she had been looking forward to spending some quality time with her husband and his continued absence was grating. She had been spending the weekend with her family last week, and complained about Charles still being stuck in the Philippines when her Gran had offered to spend some time with her. She had been really grateful for the company as Charles' absence had dragged on for longer and longer.

It was now the 22nd of December and it was looking increasingly as if he wouldn't be able to get back by Christmas. They had talked five days ago, before he had left for a tour of Red Cross aid stations to assess the situation, but since then he had been quiet. She wasn't worried because he had asked Francois to send her a daily update and he had confirmed that everything was OK and Charles was working to get everything sorted so he could be back for Christmas. If no contact for a few days was the price of having Christmas with her husband, then she could handle that.

Charles' absence was even more deeply felt because she really needed his advice. She had been totally blindsided by her CO's invitation to apply for officer training. She knew that Charles had every confidence she would make a good officer, but she didn't know that anyone else shared his opinion. To find out that all her former COs believed that she had officer potential was mind blowing. But it was a big decision. She enjoyed being a Combat Medical Technician but she couldn't perform that role as an officer. She couldn't see herself becoming a doctor (with many years of additional training needed), so what role could she take as an officer in the RAMC? Also, would she fit in as an officer?

She was aware that the COs were right. The old Molly would have wondered whether she was good enough to be an officer. The new one didn't because she had the confidence now to know that she could function as an officer if she wanted to pursue that role. That's what four years and change in the Army (and the support of a brilliant husband) had given her – the confidence to know that she was good at what she did and she could do anything she set her heart on if she wanted to. But did she really want to be an officer? She enjoyed the easy acceptance and camaraderie of being an NCO. Would she still have that as an officer? Did officers have something similar? All of her friends were privates and NCOs and would becoming an officer impact those friendships? These were questions that she didn't have answers to that she would need to discuss with Charles.

"Mols!" came the shout from downstairs, "You need to sign for this package!" Grumbling to herself about being pulled away from her train of thought she quickly pulled on a pair of tracky bottoms, her slippers and a sweatshirt and headed downstairs. As she got onto the stairs she felt the icy draught from the open front door chill her. It had been a nasty shock getting back from the warmth of Freetown to this, one of the coldest Decembers in recent years.

She shuffled along to the front door where her Nan was standing, apparently talking to the delivery guy, and could just see through the half open door that the delivery man, who was wearing jeans and a blue shirt and jumper, had his back turned to her. It was strange; she couldn't remember ordering anything. Maybe someone was sending a present for her or Charlie. "Okay, okay, I'm coming," she grumbled, opening the front door, "Where's the package?" she asked, just as the "delivery man" swung round to face her and she was transfixed by a very familiar set of brown eyes.

"Looks like your Christmas pressie's 'ere. Go get 'im Mols!" cheered Nan as Molly closed the distance in no time at all and was drawn into a tight hug by her husband. They both held onto each other like they were drowning, and he lowered his forehead so it was against hers, desperate for that extra contact. She was vaguely aware of Nan telling them, "I'll leave ya to it" and heading inside.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, they drew back and looked at each other. She could see her love for him reflected back at her in his light brown eyes. Suddenly he grinned and went to speak, but she placed a finger on his lips to shush him, "Charles James, if you ask me if I've missed you, you'll be sleepin' on the sofa for the next week! Now just shut up and kiss me!" And so he did.

A/N 1 AOSB stands for Army Officer Selection Board which is a three-four day course which must be passed before an officer candidate can go to Sandhurst. I considered having Molly promoted to sergeant, but she is already pushing the envelope as a corporal at her age, and it's unrealistic that she would be promoted to sergeant with only four years of service. From my research it seems that six years is the minimum, while 8-10 years is the average. In my mind it's not certain that Molly would go for officer training. The key question for her would be what she would do as an officer in RAMC? Molly's role as a Combat Medical Technician is not available to officers although some nurses are officers and there is also the role of Medical Support Officer that she could do. It would mean a fairly significant change of role for her though and you have to wonder whether this is something she would enjoy…

A/N 2 I'm uploading the final part of this instead of the third chapter of Road Not Taken because I'm having a bit of writer's block with that one. Please bear with me – I did warn you that my update schedule would be slower than on Captain's Log.

A/N 3 Hope you enjoyed this. Please leave a review if you did!