Forgot the disclaimer at the beginning, so all recognisable belong to the BBC. I'm just borrowing them for now. But I'm keeping Jorge, Beto, Ruby and Candy and any other U.S. characters.

Chapter Ten

Sunday 18th May

'I'm gonna sit right down and cry over you, I'm gonna tell my mama,'

"Hello Mum,"

"Hello darling, I wasn't expecting you to call today. How are you?"

"I'm…I'm…"

"What is it Harry."

"It's Nikki, Mum,"

"What's Nikki dear; I saw last Saturday. She seemed fine."

"Last Saturday?"

"We went to see my group's production of South Pacific."

"Oh, was it good?"

"Yes, thank you. It was very good. And would you believe no scenery fell down!"

"You must have missed it," Harry insisted.

"Now what's got you all in a bother?"

"I've just been talking to Leo."

"Leo Dalton? Your old boss?"

"Yes. He's taken on a new case, some bones have been discovered; he's going to go and find out if they belong to a missing British Service man."

"That sounds very noble of him; the family will be pleased if they finally get some closure over their tragic loss."

"No Mum, you don't get it. The bones. They're in Afghanistan!"

"Oh, that is a bit of a trip! But what's this got to do with Nikki?"

"She's going with him!" Harry cried.

"But isn't that her job, darling?"

"No, it is not her job. Her job is to do post mortems at the Lyell Centre and investigate crime scenes in and around Central London not bloody Afghanistan!"

"Alright Harry, calm down. Maybe she wants to go?"

"Who WANTS to go to Afghanistan?"

"Leo Dalton obviously does, he wouldn't have forced her to go would he? He's not that kind of a boss."

"No he wouldn't have forced her to go; she would have volunteered, off on one of her crusades to change the whole world. Do you know how much trouble she can get herself into when she stays at home?"

"Harry; she went to Budapest when you were in trouble."

Harry blew his breath through his teeth, paused and then said quietly,

"I know, Mum. I know. But Leo's not in trouble. Not yet. If he just stayed in London then there would be no trouble at all."

"But that family will never know what happened to their son!"

"Mum, how many hundreds of families do you suppose really knows what killed their children when they send them off to war? What's one more mystery?"

"It's one that Leo obviously thinks he can solve or he wouldn't be going. What exactly is the problem Harry?" Anne asked pointedly.

'What is the problem?' his brain screamed as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"She could get herself killed! I don't want her to go. I don't want any of them to go."

"And why not?" probed Anne.

"Because I don't want them to get hurt, I don't want them to be in danger. Because I don't want to lose them Mum, I can't lose them, I can't lose her."

"You moved away Harry, you moved on. I thought you wanted Nikki to move on. She is moving on Harry, you have not made it easy for her but she is trying and maybe she needs to make her own decisions and her own choices even if they seem a little crazy."

"Going to Afghanistan is more than a little crazy! It's suicidal!" Harry pulled up short. He really hadn't meant to say that to his mother.

"Sorry Mum,"

"It's alright darling. It does seem a bit extreme. Why are you telling me all this?"

"Could you talk to her? Try and get her to change her mind?"

"If you feel that strongly, shouldn't you be calling her?"

"I will Mum, I will, but if you could as well. Sometimes she can be stubborn Mum, and whenever I try to tell her not to do something it makes her even more determined to do it but maybe you can talk some sense into her."

"Harry, she is a grown woman who is capable of making her own decisions. I'm sure she thought carefully about this before saying yes. I can't change her mind if it's already made up can I?"

"Well please just tell her to be careful. Please." Harry begged.

"Alright darling. I'll talk to her. But you'll have to prepare yourself for the fact that she will go."

"I know she will Mum, I know but I'm just so scared."

"She's always been ok before hasn't she?"

"Yes…but…but…but this time I won't be there to keep an eye on her will I?"

"You said there were other's going."

"Hmm, Jack the forensics expert."

"So she's not going to be on her own, they'll be assigned protection. You need to calm down Harry or you'll make yourself ill."

"Alright Mum. Sorry. It was just a bit of a shock."

"I'll talk to her sweetheart and I'll send you an email and tell you how it goes. Is that ok?"

"Thanks Mum."

I'm Gonna Sit Right Down: Thomas & Biggs (Elvis)