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A Different Mission.
Molly swore quietly to herself as she dodged past a group of tourist and ended up stepping into a puddle. Not only was her new white trainers were now mud stained but she had got caught out in the rain without an umbrella or a coat, so she was pretty sure she looked like a drowned rat. Then she got held up at the bank which made her late; she didn't think her day could get any worse until she pushed open the door to the sweet little tea room she had discovered a few weeks back and was greeted to the sight of 2 members more than she was expecting of her old section crammed around a small table in the corner.
"Oi, Dawesy!" Fingers called out, causing everyone to look around at him.
"Shut up, you plank." Brains hissed as he elbowed him. "You'll get us kicked out!"
Molly sighed and walked towards them, hesitantly. She had been excited when Brains contacted her and said he wanted to meet up with her for a catch up. She was even happier when he was willing to make the trip to Bath especially as this would be her last free afternoon for a little while. She had kept in touch with all the boys via the group WhatsApp but she hadn't seen any of them since that day at Hyde Park. Although she joined in with their banter, she felt things were different between them now they knew the truth about her and Charles. She had been hoping to find out from Brains whether the others hated them or not.
When she reached the table, Dangleberries stood up and kissed her cheek before moving to sit in the empty chair next to Fingers, so she wouldn't have to climb over him.
"What? The others couldn't make it?" She questioned lightly as she sat down.
"Nude-nut has got his nephew's Christening, Kinders had some work thing…Baz was going to come but apparently he's got some sickness bug….he swears blind its nothing to do with him going out with his mates for his birthday last night, mind ..." Brain tried to ease her concern, knowing what she was thinking.
"And Mansfield has a date!" Dangleberries added, excited to share that particular piece of gossip.
"Really?" Molly asked, jokingly doubtful as she tied her wet hair into a loose bun, hoping it didn't look a mess. "Mansfield has a date? Are you guys just trying to spare my feelings?"
"Honest! Hand on heart!" Brains grinned. "He met her on Tinder!"
"Yeah, he was gonna cancel but we told him you'd understand…I mean, it's gonna take like another 10 years before someone else swipes right!" Dangles supplied.
"Poor girl." Molly smirked, shaking her head a little before looking towards the two surprise visitors. "Nice to see you two though…"
"Well, we couldn't let you and Brains have all the fun, could we?" Fingers replied.
"Hope you don't mind me telling them, Moll." Brains looked at her a little unsure. "But we all wanted to check, make sure you're doing okay."
She smiled widely at him. "Course I don't mind… and I'm fine…"
"Really?" Fingers questioned and then gestured around the room. "Then why are we in a fancy ass place like this and not having a good old pint!?"
"I like it in here!" Molly defended. "It's proper nice."
"Bossman is already changing you…making you all posh!" Fingers grumbled before receiving a kick under the table from Brains. "Ow! What?"
Molly looked at each of them; Fingers looking confused, Brains shooting her a concerned look and Dangles seemed more interested in the menu. She was pretty sure Fingers was joking but there was a part of her that was worried they were going to treat her differently now she was with Charles.
The awkward silence was broken when two waitresses appeared, one carrying a tray with two large teapots and the other with a 3 tier afternoon stand filled with sandwiches and little cream cakes.
"We ordered while we were waiting for you…" Brains explained. "Considering you pretty much drunk all our tea stock in Afghan, we took a guess that's what you wanted."
"This looks great…" Molly smiled at him. "Thanks."
"I'll pour shall I?" Dangleberries said in a fake posh accent as he picked up the tea pot.
"We should have ordered two of these bad boys!" Fingers claimed as he took a sandwich then looked up when he heard Molly giggling. "What?"
"Nothing…just you were complaining earlier that we were not in some pub but you seem pretty happy sat there drinking tea and eating cucumber sandwiches…"
"Hey! I can do sophisticated!" He sat up straight.
"Yeah right, Mate." Molly snorted.
"Says the cockney living it up in Bath!" He shot back. "I mean, do they even have a footie team here?"
"It's more of a Rugby city…" Molly pulled a face.
Although, she had to admit that she enjoyed the game that Charles had dragged her to a couple of weeks back. She didn't quite understand the rules but she loved that all the supporters were mixed together, cheering, chanting and bantering but without the risk of a fight breaking out like in football.
"So, you here for good then, Mols?" Dangles questioned.
"Nothing official…" She shrugged, sipping her tea. "We're just seeing how things go for now…"
"And how are things going?" Brains asked.
"It's good…" Molly couldn't help but smile. "I know it seems a little mad but things are working really well."
"So, you've been here the whole time? Since before Christmas?" Fingers dropped four sugar cubes into his tea cup.
"Mostly, yeah…it was just easier." She shrugged. "We wanted to spend time together and he has a lot more room here then I do at my place… plus with Sam, it made sense."
"What about your family, though? Didn't they miss you over Christmas?" Dangles asked.
"You kidding? With the size of my family, I think they were relieved that there was one less person at the dinner table." Molly joked, forcing a fake smile onto her face and hoped they brought it.
Her deciding to stay with Charles had caused one of the many arguments her and her family had had since that day Smurf had collapsed. She found when she got to Bath, she had nothing to worry about with his family. His parents had welcomed her with open arms, proving they weren't just putting on an act when she met them at the hospital. While their house was impressive, Molly instantly felt at home there and the longer she stayed the harder she found it to leave. It wasn't just Charles that she couldn't imagine not seeing every day but Sam too. While she wouldn't come close to classing herself as even his step mum, she had fallen hard and fast for the little boy who was like a mini copy of his father.
Christmas had come around too quickly and Molly hadn't been ready to make the choice between her family and her boys. Charles had been understanding and told her they could have their own special Christmas before she went to London or after she came back but in the end she just couldn't leave them. Her family hadn't been as easy going, her Dad called her selfish and her Mum accusing Charles of all kinds of things, like controlling what she did.
She had cried all night, feeling both guilty and hurt that after everything her family still wouldn't listen to her. Despite trying her hardest to forget about it all and the James family putting on a wonderful Christmas, Molly couldn't help but feel a little sad whenever she thought about her family. She had gone to visit them a few days after Christmas but it didn't feel like home to her anymore…She loved spending time with her brothers and sisters but she hardly saw her Dad plus things were strained between her and her mum and Nan. She had always been so close to the both of them and always felt they were on her side, until now.
"Anyway, how was your Christmas?" She turned the topic back onto them. "Didn't get into any trouble, did ya?"
"Ha, I ain't telling you…you'll just report it back to the boss!" Fingers pointed at her.
"Fingers!" Brains hissed at him. "This is why I didn't want you to come!"
"What? I'm only joking!" He rolled his eyes. "You know that right, Molls?"
"Really? Cos I know it must be weird for you all now…" She replied. "I know you must think we lied to you all…"
Brains frowned a little. "But you didn't…not really….It's not like we asked you if you were dating the boss."
"We weren't," She claimed. "We didn't start officially until after tour…"
"Look, Molls…you were right, it is a little mad that you and Captain James are together now but that's just because we had no idea." Brains told her. "But after what happened in Hyde Park, we all got talking and realized we probably should have seen it coming…Looking back now, we can see that the two of you grew close."
"Thought you had hated each other in the beginning though…" Fingers reached for another sandwich.
"Well, I thought he hated me…but I guess he was just trying to test me…make sure I was up to the job since he didn't know me from Adam and I didn't hate him…I was bit bloody intimidated at the time…You all kept going on about how great a captain he was but all I seemed to do was screw up…I didn't exactly make the best first impression but when it mattered, he listened to me and gave me a shot." Molly replied. "When I thought I wasn't cut out for being on tour, he gave me confidence and helped me to become better… Smurf was being an idiot and none of you were talking to me but he got me through…"
The three of them looked at each other guiltily, remembering how Smurf had told them that Molly couldn't be trusted and how she had tried to drop him in it with Captain James. They had believed him and didn't give her a chance.
"Molls, we're sorry…" Brains started.
"You don't need to apologize…" She stopped him. "It's all forgotten about…everything ended up okay…"
"So that was when it started then?" Fingers asked, taking the last sandwich. "You and the boss?"
"No, not really… But that was when he started to see me as one of the team and I guess I started to relax a little around him." Molly tried to explain. "We began to talk more to each other, mainly about the job and Afghan and that but we just got closer…we were able to make each other laugh…he never made me feel stupid or that he was better than me…we just clicked."
"Meanwhile we were listening to all Smurf's bullshit about you and him…" Brains couldn't help but look back and see things much clearer. "Then when that Elvis guy turned up, he got all jealous."
"I kept telling Smurf I didn't think of him like that and I thought I had got through to him…" Molly sighed. "He probably worked out that I liked someone else but I guess he looked up to the boss so much that he never thought in a million years that it would be him….It was easier for him to hate Elvis."
"Well, he was already brewing about Special Forces turning up and getting involved in our tour."
Molly decided not to comment; the more they looked into Smurf's behaviour, the more they saw how obsessed he had become about impressing Charles. She trusted her old section but was worried if it got out, others might use it to ridicule him although Smurf having a future in the army was looking very unlikely.
"Have you seen him?" Dangles asked. "Smurf, I mean?"
"Not since before Christmas." Molly answered. "He was still in intensive care but his mum has been keeping us updated…What about you guys? Been making a nuisance of yourselves at the hospital yet?"
"We've been in a couple of times…" Brains told her. "Baz and Nude-Nut try to see him once a week since they're closer to London but last time we were there, his mum said they are hoping he can be moved to a hospital nearer to Newport."
Molly nodded a little but she already knew that. Charles had been using his connections in the army to help them sort that out. Molly had been right that first night at the hospital, Candy had wanted to get rid of them. When Molly had phoned her the next day to see how Smurf was, she had asked her out right if she was in a relationship with Charles. She couldn't deny it and she didn't want to but once the truth was out, Candy changed. She was still polite and gave her regular updates about Smurf but Molly knew things were different now…She knew she was no longer welcomed like a member of the family.
"His mum said he's been doing good though…" Dangles continued.
"Yeah, he's got a long way to go but he is responding well to treatment."
The last time she had seen him was a week after he had collapsed when Charles and her travelled back to London especially to visit him. He was still heavily sedated so they had sat by his bedside making awkward small talk with his family. She decided then she would wait till Smurf was a bit more himself before she went to see him again. She didn't know how things were going to be between them now…so much had happened and the last thing she wanted was to make things harder for him on top of everything else he was dealing with.
"So, I guess with you and the Bossman, it means you won't be able to stay with 2 Section?" Brains moved the conversation back to her.
"It was only meant to be a temporary reassignment anyway…" Molly answered with a shrug.
She knew that if it wasn't for her relationship with Charles she would have been offered the chance to stay with them and she would have jumped at it but she had no doubts that she was making the right choice.
"I hope things ain't going to be weird between you and the boss, now." Molly chewed her lip nervously. "I know Smurf is your mate and all but he didn't steal me away from him …and he didn't take advantage of me or anything…"
"Come on, Molls." Brains shot her a look. "Do you really think we'd think that lowly of Captain James?"
She smiled in relief. "Good cos he didn't…he was the one who kept insisting on waiting out…"
"Does that mean you were trying to take advantage of him?" Fingers smirked until he felt a kick to the shin again and glared at Brains. "Oi! Stop doing that!"
"That was me this time." Molly told him. "No one took advantage of anyone, alright?"
"Come on, Dawesy…you can tell us…" Dangles grinned. "All those secret missions and singing duets…"
"Hey! You were with us when we were singing that stupid song!" Molly shot back. "And I'm not having this conversation with you Bellends!"
The three of them grinned at each other as Brains topped up all their teacups and they started to dig into the cream cakes.
"I'm glad you all came…" Molly said softly after a few minutes of them silently eating. "I was worried you'd hate me…us."
"Don't be a twat!" Brains pulled a face at her. "We're happy for you and Captain James."
"Yeah, you just better invite us to the wedding!" Fingers pointed a mini cream slice at her.
"Alright, steady on!" She managed to grab the cake out of his hand before he had chance to put it in his mouth. "We've only been together 5 minutes…"
"So if you're not going to have a fairy-tale wedding or sticking with us...What do you plan on doing next?" Brains questioned.
"Another tour…"
"In Afghan?"
"Yeah, going out to train Afghan medics." She smiled.
"Wow…When do you go?"
"In a couple of days." She admitted.
"You're not hanging about, are you?" Fingers quipped.
"Just seems the right thing to do and the right time." She replied. "It was such a shit end to our tour…I feel like I need to go back and finish what I started."
"You will be careful though, won't you, Moll?" Brains asked. "You won't go and do something stupid will you?"
"Yeah, cos this time you won't have us to watch your back!" Dangles added.
"I've already had this lecture from the boss…" Molly rolled her eyes and then noticed Fingers sniggering. "What?"
"Nothing….just , do you call him boss and sir at home?" He asked. "Does he inspect your pyjamas before bed and make you do a 5k run in the morning?"
"Piss off…."
"Wait a second…" Dangles cut in. "Do we even know the boss' first name?"
This time it was Molly smirking as they all looked at each other questionably. "And because you were being twats about it….I'm not gonna tell you!"
"Oh come on, Molls." Brains begged. "You're one of us…"
"Actually, I officially left 2 Section when we went on leave." She replied smugly and proudly. "I'm gonna stick by my man…"
"Urgh, I think I'm gonna be sick…" Fingers moaned.
"Yeah, we don't have to listen to you two being all loved up now, do we?" Dangles added.
"No, not that… I think I ate too much…" He sat back in his chair.
"You're like bloody children." She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Come on, lets pay up and go get some fresh air before he barfs everywhere and I get band from here."
TBC
Okay, so this was meant to be the last chapter but decided to add a little extra one with the 2section boys! Sadly no CJ / Molly (Or Elvis) but saving that for last one! Anyway, please review!