A/N it's taken a little longer than I would have liked to post an update - basically the ending to this story came to me before I'd had a chance to continue where I left off so I have been working on getting that written down and then had to come back to fill in the gap! Anyway all of your lovely comments really spurred me on to continue with this so here is chapter 4 - hope you enjoy it.
Charles spotted Georgie and Maisie as he left the bar - the rest of 2 Section trailing behind him. He nervously approached them, feeling hugely concerned for Georgie but also angry for allowing himself to voice his own doubts when he knew that she was still so vulnerable.
"Are you OK Georgie?" He asked tentatively.
"Of course she ain't!" Maisie snapped at him, releasing Georgie from her embrace and turning to face Charles.
"I'm fine." Georgie replied firmly, directing her reply more toward Maisie as she wiped the tears from her face and tried to compose herself.
"It's my fault, all of this, it's all my fucking fault." Charles said, shaking his head.
"What are you talking about? What's your fault?" Maisie snapped again.
Charles could feel the panic rising within him but he had to say it, he couldn't hold it in any longer "You tried to tell me about Azizi." He blurted out, a look of despair etched across his face "I didn't listen - or I chose not to. If I'd have just listened then maybe we wouldn't have gone on that god forsaken mission in the first place and Elvis..." he trailed off, before adding "well he'd still be here wouldn't he?" He lowered his head, breathing deeply, just saying the words felt like a huge weight off his shoulders.
Maisie took a second to digest what he had said, looking over his shoulder momentarily at the others who all looked equally as stunned as she was. She spoke carefully "With all due respect, Boss, now really ain't the time for 'what if's.'"
"Can you give us a minute?" Georgie suddenly interrupted. Her eyes were fixed firmly on Charles. He looks broken, she thought. She realised for the first time that he was blaming himself for Elvis' death - just as she had been blaming herself. I wasn't able to save him she had thought. All the times that Elvis had saved her life and she wasn't able to save him just once. All the if's and maybes that had been running through her head since it happened - all the things she would have done differently, things she shouldn't have said, things she should have said. It was driving her crazy and she imagined Charles was probably doing the same thing.
Maisie looked at Georgie then to Charles and back at Georgie again. She gave a nod in agreement and walked over to join the others. They headed off toward the taxi rank to give Georgie and Charles some space.
"Georgie..." Charles began to speak before she cut him off -
"Do you remember, when I was in hospital in Mombasa - after I was rescued?" She began. Charles nodded slowly, wondering why Georgie was bringing this up.
She continued "I said to you 'you must think I'm an emotional wreck.'" She paused "And you said 'What, you think I don't cry?'" She raised her eyebrows at him, biting her bottom lip. Charles realised it was her way of giving him permission to be open with her. He nodded in understanding.
"He was my best friend Georgie." He breathed, trying his best not to break down there and then.
The tears stung at Georgie's eyes once more as she nodded her head quickly and let out a small quiver.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have trusted Azizi - Richards tried to tell me." Charles explained.
Georgie shook her head "We all trusted him. What happened - it's not on you, right?" she said, blinking back the tears.
Charles sighed, looking at the ground, he was scuffing his feet against the pavement. "We've got a tour coming up and I don't know how I'm going to get us through it." he admitted, looking up at Georgie.
Georgie exhaled, she looked around for a moment, almost as if searching for an answer "We all just need to go home and get our heads back in the game. What use are we like this?"she said.
"I promise you Georgie, I'm going to sort myself out." Charles said firmly "You were right - the army... it's what we know."
Georgie looked up at him "He'd want us to carry on you know that?" she breathed. "He'd never want us to give up. We can make a difference."
Charles nodded and they managed a small smile at each other. "I'm not going to let you, or any of the guys down Georgie." he replied, putting a hand on her shoulder and then pulling her into a hug. "I won't let you down Georgie" He confirmed, almost as if trying to convince himself.
