Chapter Thirteen

There was an atmosphere of quiet excitement on the plane that became louder and louder as they got nearer to Cyprus. Charles had told them all to shut up several times and Molly had ended up hiding her smile behind the collar of her jumper so he wouldn't see her laughing at him. It turned out he was far less tolerant after he'd been crammed in the back of a plane with them all for a few hours. Not that she could say she blamed him, she couldn't wait to get off the plane and have a couple of hours peace and quiet.

Nothing he could've said would have calmed them down once they touched down in Cyprus. The mixture of excitement of being almost home coupled with the fact they had to say goodbye to Monk, who was waiting for his flight back to the UK, meant the excitement spilled over as they piled onto the bus to their accomodation.

Molly slid into the seats right at the back with Spanner and Peanut, watching in a mix of despair and amusement and Charles attempted to regain some kind of order to get everyone on the bus so they could get going. He gave up in the end and admitted defeat, realising they were never going to get anywhere if he didn't. They were all on the bus at least and he'd have to settle for that.

Two section hadn't calmed themselves down by the time they got to their destination either, but they had at least dispersed as they went off to find their rooms and Molly was left with a few moments of peace and quiet as she collected the key for her room and set off to find it.

"Molly." She stopped at the sound of her name behind her, turning around to see Charles jogging down the corridor to catch up with her.

"Sorry, I was miles away." She smiled, starting to walk again as he reached her. She paused, glancing at the stairs and trying to work out which way to go.

"I think I'm upstairs too, a long way away from two section I hope." He grumbled.

She laughed. "They're excited, it's nice."

"I'm just glad it's all over with and we're heading back to civilisation for a bit…. Well kind of anyway…"

"Kind of?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to have to face my parents and Rebecca." He grimaced. "And I'm not sure which one of those is worse."

She stopped outside her room as they reached the top of the stairs, pointing to the door. "This is me."

He stopped too, lingering for a moment. "Do you want to get a drink later?" He looked nervous, as though there was some part of him that was doubting she'd say yes.

She hesitated for a moment, looking at him. "Maybe… Can I let you know later?"

He nodded. "Is everything okay? You've been really quiet." He'd been half expecting her to get up and wrestle two section into submission on the bus earlier, but instead she'd sat there quietly and watched.

She chewed on her lip for a moment. "I said I'd walk up to the cliffs with Spanner and Peanut, said we'd have a drink and a bit of a send off for Bones."

He reached out and squeezed her arm. "You should, go and spend time with your team. We've got plenty of time to have a drink."

"Thanks." She mumbled. "I should get going though or we aren't going to get up there before it gets dark."

"Go on." He nodded in the direction of her door. "I'll see you later."

She stretched up onto her toes, kissing him quickly before she turned and unlocked her door. "I'll see you later."

"See you later." He echoed softly, lingering for a moment as the door closed behind her before he went off in search of his own room.

They'd walked up to the spot at the top of the cliffs in almost silence, the three of them each lost in their own thoughts. It felt weird, because the last time they'd been there they'd been a team of four. She could still see him now, sitting at the top of the cliff with his beer in his hand grumbling about something stupid the brig had said to him. She'd told him to shut up at the time, that he was ruining her peace and quiet. She'd do anything to have him back now- even if it meant she had to listen to his constant stream of complaints and swearing.

The three of them sat down when they reached the top, on the same group of rocks they had done last year. Peanut reached into his backpack and fished them a beer each out, opening them and then passing them around. They sat in silence for a moment, sipping at their beers but eventually Molly felt like she had to say something.

She cleared her throat, looking back and forth between Spanner and Peanut. "I just wanted to say, it's been so lovely working with you both… Knowing that you've both had my back through all of this… well I don't even know how to put it in to words. I know Bones would've been really proud of you both, and he might not have said it very often but he was. We'll all miss him, more than I think any of us thought we would've done when he was being a pain in the ass…." She laughed quietly, how many times had she told him if he didn't stop she was going to shoot him herself? She raised her beer and looked back at Spanner and Peanut. "To Bones." She offered, the tears she'd been trying so hard to blink back breaking free and rolling down her face..

"To Bones." They echoed quietly.

Spanner got up. " Ah...C'mere." He mumbled, hugging her tightly. "Don't tell anyone mind you, don't want them thinking I've gone soft."

She smiled against his shoulder in spite of herself, wrapping her arms around him for a long moment before he released her. "Thank you." She said softly, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"You know." Peanut said quietly. "I think he'd have been pretty proud of you filling his boots like that too boss."

It was quiet again as they sipped at their drinks, nothing but the sound of the waves lapping at the bottom of the cliff. The sun slowly dipped behind the clouds, the sky turning pink and orange as they sat and watched.

"Can I ask you something?" Spanner said, breaking the silence. Molly nodded and a slow smile spread over his face. "You and Captain James?"

Molly felt her cheeks flush, the question had taken her by surprise. "What about me and Captain James?" She asked, trying to feign innocence.

Peanut laughed. "You're a rubbish liar, we've been stuck in the back of a plane for hours watching you two make eyes at each other…. We're happy for you boss!"

She laughed, shaking her head. She wasn't even sure why she'd been trying to hide it in the first place. "Thanks." She mumbled.

"We've known him a really long time, he's a great guy." Spanner nodded. "It's about time you were both happy."

"Steady on there you too." She shook her head at them. "Early days and all that. Besides, I think I've known him longer than you!"

Spanner and Peanut both rolled their eyes. "Whatever you say Boss… we'd better get you back though, wouldn't want to keep you from him." Peanut teased.

"Zip it you two." She tried to suppress her laughter. "I'm still your boss, I might have to take a leaf out of Bones book if you don't stop."

"You haven't got time, you're too busy with Captain James." Spanner quipped, ducking out of reach as she took a swing at him playfully.

Two section were sitting around the fire, drinking and chatting when they got back. "Don't even think about getting that bloody guitar out." Peanut muttered at Spanner as they walked in.

"Here you are boss, hope we didn't keep her too long." Spanner winked, as they slid into their seats and Molly sat down next to Charles.

"Zip it you two." Molly glared at them both, Charles laughed quietly.

"Everything okay?" Charles asked, his voice low in her ear.

She nodded. "What have you lot been up to?"

He glanced over, making sure no one was listening and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Well, I had to talk to Lane about the fact I'm putting her transfer through."

"How'd that go down?" She asked, glancing at Georgie who was sitting at the other end staring at the ground.

"Like a lead balloon." He sighed. "It's the right thing to do though?"

"Definitely." Molly agreed. "I've been getting the spanish inquisition from Spanner and Peanut about me and you."

Charles raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

She nodded, laughing quietly. "They're happy for us apparently. They like you."

"Well, all I've been hearing from two section is how amazing you were so I think you've added a few people to the fan base this tour." He joked.

"Just doing my job." She rolled her eyes, jabbing him in the ribs playfully.

"Oh don't worry, I set them all straight. Can't having you getting too big headed can we." He smirked.

She was about to say something when she saw Georgie get up and walk away out of the corner of her eye. "I'll be back in a minute." She said, getting up quickly.

Charles quickly cottoned on to what she was doing. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Molly nodded, ducking out and jogging to catch up with Georgie who had stopped, leaning against the railings looking out over the beach. "Hi." Molly said quietly, leaning beside her.

"What do you want?" Georgie sighed, not looking at her.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay?"

Georgie snorted, rolling her eyes. "Like you care."

"Look." Molly sighed. "We've got off on the wrong foot here and I know it's as much my fault as yours. I'm not the easiest person to get on with, but a lot of my frustration is from the fact you'd be a bloody good soldier if you'd actually engage your brain and listen."

"Whatever." Georgie sighed.

"I'm really trying here Georgie." Molly sighed in exasperation. "I could forgive most of the stuff you've done, I've probably done worse. It's the not following orders bit that bothers me- not because I'm on some kind of power trip or something, it's for your own safety. The rules are there for a reason Lane and if you don't follow orders you follow chaos- Bones used to say that all the bloody time"

"I liked Bones." Georgie said quietly.

Molly nodded. "I know… and I know for a fact that he wouldn't have let you get away with any of this, and given some time he probably would've set you straight. Your head isn't in the right place, we all get that you're fragged after what happened with Elvis. It's okay not to be okay. I know all this stuff with Cha- Captain James hasn't helped either."

"Maybe he's right. Maybe I do need a fresh start." Georgie said slowly.

Molly smiled, nodding in encouragement. "I think you need to do something, and probably talk to someone. Get yourself sorted… for Elvis."

Georgie's lip trembled, her eyes full of tears as she looked at Molly. "Is it too late to say I'm sorry?"

Molly shook her head, putting an arm around her. "No, it's not." She said softly. "But, how about we go and have a beer and see what them lot are up to? I think we should be celebrating what we managed to pull off on this tour, not sitting over here crying."

Georgie nodded, wiping roughly at her face before getting to her feet and following Molly back over to the others.

They'd been sat there for hours before she realised quite how tired she was. Spanner had got hold of a guitar from somewhere and started to sing, getting louder and louder the more Peanut protested. She'd finally allowed herself to relax as she sat next to Charles, chatting to him and the rest of two section. Georgie had blended back in with everyone else and nothing else was said about their conversation earlier.

As she tried to suppress another yawn she realised it was probably time to call it a night. "I think it might be time for bed." She said quietly, Charles nodded in agreement.

"I'll walk back with you." He said quietly. "I'm sure these lot would be happier without me here to cramp their style."

Molly laughed, standing up. "Right you lot, I'm calling it a night. See you all in the morning."

"Don't do anything stupid." Charles said, his face stern as he looked around at them all. "Fingers, don't think I won't find out what you get up to. It's decompression, not an excuse to run riot."

"What you picking on me for Boss?" Fingers cried, pretending to be offended.

"Night you lot!" Molly laughed, turning to walk away.

"I don't even want to think about what they're going to get up to tonight." He groaned as he walked back towards the building with Molly.

Her hand slid into his as they turned the corner. "Don't think about it… They deserve to have a break and let their hair down. I'll deal with them in the morning if I have too."

"I might hold you to that." He joked.

"We can come to an arrangement… I'm sure you can make it worth my while." She raised an eyebrow at him as they headed up the stairs.

They paused outside her room for a moment, a look of indecision crossing his face. "I'm sure we can come up with something." He mumbled, pressing his lips against hers.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" She said quietly, pulling away to look at him for a moment.

"Ditto." He smirked as she turned around to unlock the door of her room.

"Ditto? Bleedin' ditto is all I get." She folded her arms as she stood in the doorway, pretending to be upset. "I'm not sure if I'm going to let you in after that." She joked.

"Oh come on." He grinned. "I'll make it up to you, promise." His lips met hers again, guiding her backwards through the doorway as he pushed the door closed behind them.

The End!

Just wanted to quickly say thank you to everyone who's read this- I've really loved writing this one and I really hope you've enjoyed reading it too- Let me know what you thought?

Thanks again!

Bex xx