Road to Redemption
Chapter 4
The Mountain Pass
Charles was up early the next morning and had already got a flask full of rather questionable black coffee but at least it got him functioning for the day. He watched while Jackson got into the truck followed by Blue and Spanner lifted Molly up into the back before getting into the truck himself. She was now dressed in a niqab again and only her eyes showing so she would blend in with the locals.
She looked towards him, he smiled at her and waved still not having said a word to her since they arrived yesterday afternoon. She gave a little wave back and he could tell by the crinkling of her eyes that she smiled back. Just this small token made his heart swell for this woman.
He watched as the barrier lifted allowing the pickup truck to drive out in a cloud of dust. He knew that his section were part of this mission so knew he would get to see her again and hopefully make sure she stayed safe, although as Blue had told him last night, she could keep herself safe.
As the truck disappeared he walked across to the ops room and 2 section were already there, Colour Sergeant King standing out front and bringing the men into line as he walked into the room.
Charles was surprised to see that Georgie was sat there in the middle of the group, he knew she had been confined to barracks so would not be on this mission. He started outlining what they were going to be doing and showing them on the map where they were going and it was a remote region some considerable distance from Kabul.
"Are we going to get Omar?" asked Georgie
"No Lane" he answered, "We are supporting SF on their mission, which is break up a terrorist cell, put them out of action and destroy their weapons" he sighed "We need to stay focused Lane on the task in hand, on our part of this mission and not worry about anything else."
"But if he's in the mountains surely we should be getting him before the Americans do?"
"We are all on the same side Lane, doesn't matter who gets him" his stern faced expression firmly in place "You are confined to barracks and will not be playing ANY part in this mission. I am not even sure why you are sat here anyway."
"What? You can't mean that? You will need a medic" she retorted forgetting they were in a room full of squaddies
"We have a medic Lane" he replied nodding towards Mimi "Corporal Ja… Dawes maybe in a different team now but she is still a medic so I think we are more than covered, don't you?"
All eyes now turned to her she coloured slightly before looking down and conceding that this may not be sensible to pursue at the moment but she would have a word with Charles later and get herself on this mission.
-OG-
Charles made his way back to his room come office and the first person to burst through the door was Georgie Lane and he sighed. How come he had never noticed before that she was even more messed up than he had been? Whereas he had finally sort the help he should have done after Belize, if not before, she had continued to believe that she didn't need that.
"Charlie I need to be on this mission, I can help…..Mimi is not experienced enough to be going" Charles couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.
"Firstly, I have told you repeatedly how to address me professionally and appropriately. You are in my charge here, not my friend Lane. Your lack of professionalism will no longer be tolerated by me or anyone else, do you understand?" he barked at her furious at her complete arrogance and lack of respect.
She nodded at him wide eyed and clearly shocked at the way he had spoken to her and his words. He had always listened to her before.
"You have been confined to barracks by the Brig" he started "Rogers can do this, she is more than capable." He was reminded of Molly on that first tour, how she stepped up and crawled through that bloody minefield to get to Smurf "As I have already said Corporal Dawes is out there, she is an experienced medic so can help her if necessary"
"But she is with SF, she won't be able to if 2 section need a medic"
"Lane" he shouted "This isn't open for discussion…..you have been ordered to remain in barracks and see the therapist….Rogers can cope" he sighed and fiddled with his pen before returning eye contact "You are not indispensable Lane, maybe you need to realise that"
"Is this to do with Molly and what we did?" his eyes narrowed and he looked towards the ceiling.
"No Lane" he sighed giving direct eye contact "This is following orders…and after your current behaviour I am inclined to agree with the Brig that you need to remain here and work through your issues"
"Your wrong Charlie, I'm a medic and will be needed out there, especially if Omar is involved"
"LANE, how many more times? Captain James, Sir or Boss…entirely your choice I don't mind which but fail again and you will be on a charge!" he stood up wanting this over, she seemed intent on retribution and justice for Elvis without thinking about the team and potentially going off on her own agenda without sticking to the plan. "The Brig ordered a psych evaluation I suggest you go and attend unless you want to make matters much worse for yourself"
She blinked a few times he had never refused a request from her before. Georgie turned on her heels and marched to the door slamming it hard on her way out. He raised his eyebrows opening his eyes wide and shook his head. He wasn't sure if this was PTSD or she was still grieving for Elvis or just plain arrogance that he somehow had never noticed before but either way he was questioning whether she should be out here.
-OG-
He thought he would go for another coffee at the mess hall and as it happened both Dangles and Brains were sat there so he joined them.
"Hello Brains….Dangles" he smiled as he sat next to Brains "You had an opportunity to read your letter from home yet Dangles?"
"Yes Boss" replied Dangles looking at Brains
"Where's Fingers?" he asked "You three always used to be joined at the hip"
"Well he's calmed down a bit since then" sniggered Dangles "All loved up with Marie."
"Georgie's sister" added in Brains giving a sideways glance.
"Ah, yes I remember now"
"You glad to be back on active service then Boss" continued Dangles. He didn't know much about what went on between him and Molly as Jackie would never tell him. He was sad that their marriage had broken down though and he wasn't sure who he should be pissed at. He didn't see that much of Molly with her and Jackie going out on their own if ever she was down near Aldershot.
"Yes Dangles" he smiled "It's been a long road for me to get back here….acknowledge I had PTSD which I let screw my life up" this was quite momentous to admit to; him being their Captain but he had known them for years, since before their first tour and felt he owed it to them for some of his questionable decisions during that disastrous tour of Bangladesh.
"And Molly" asked Brains, he was always the one that seemed to notice things, one of the deeper thinking characters of the group. He and Molly had also kept in touch over the last 18 months since their final split. Although she had been cagey as to why it had gone tits up, he had his own thoughts on why and wouldn't be surprised one little bit if Georgie Lane had been involved somewhere along the line.
He sighed "Another of my monumental fuck ups" he turned to look at Brains "Not realising what you've got until it's gone, or you've thrown it away in my case".
Brains nodded, "must have been a bit of a surprise seeing Molly out here then."
"Indeed Brains" he gave yet another small laugh.
While neither men knew for sure what had gone on and both still fiercely loyal to Molly they recognised their Captain had worked hard to get back to how they remembered. He had got them through a few tours over the years and, had been an excellent Captain and had their respect. He seemed as he was and in charge again and wasn't likely to be manipulated by Georgie as part of her own agenda. After all it was her going off piste in Nigeria that screwed up the SF operation to get those girls back and that Nigerian medic beaten to a pulp.
"Anyway, how have you two been?"
"Well Brains is all loved up now Boss" grinned Dangles "Only bloody got himself a girlfriend hasn't he."
Charles threw his head back and laughed. Harmony restored between them as a group and he was pleased, he had always had an attachment to 2 section even though some had transferred out.
"Do you see any of the old team, Kinders, Baz and the rest?"
"From time to time Boss" answered Brains "If we are all in the country we try…..we had a reunion in Wales…..you know for Smurf"
"I didn't know that."
"Well it was after Belize as it was the 5 year anniversary" said Brains sheepishly "You were still in Headley" he continued "but we haven't been able to do it since as we are all so scattered."
"Yeah! Jacs and I have had the odd barbeque and they have all turned up," grinned Dangles "hard to believe we were all fresh faced 20 somethings on that first tour."
"Really I hadn't realised you had all met up."
"Well after that tour when Elvis was killed you didn't want to meet up….Molly came though" stated Brains.
"Sorry" he said quietly "I got a bit lost for a while."
"We know" said Brains sadly "We weren't about to tell anyone you were our CO, we had been through a lot together."
Charles nodded awestruck at how much had gone on that he seemed to be unaware of or hadn't noticed. He had vague recollections of Molly telling him she was going out to see Jackie but couldn't remember it being for a social event. He looked down at his hands, but then they were already starting to have arguments about his PTSD and he stopped listening to most of what she said.
On one level he felt a sense of pride that he had helped instil that loyalty into them, that they all looked out for one another, and had helped make them the soldiers they had become. On the other would he have sunk so low if one of them had told him he was ill or would he have treated them in the same contemptuous way he treated Molly.
"Well I guess we should be making tracks and follow in behind SF" he said standing up and hearing the sniggers from the two men. He turned back to them with raised eyebrows and shaking his head "Don't you ever grow up" snorting a laugh.
-OG-
Blue and his team were making their way up to into the hills, because of their Intel had easily found the isolated house where the insurgents were holed up. The plan was that Molly and Spanner would remain on the perimeter while Blue and Jackson went into the house. Blue called them in, it would appear it was just a family living there and not a terrorist cell, however on finding what could be close to a million pounds worth of heroin knew that they had something to do with Omar and selling drugs for arms.
The husband said he was due to take it into the mountains to Omar and he would help them if they helped his wife, she was in labour. It was agreed that Molly would help her while they waited for 2 section to catch them up and then their medic Rogers could take over.
They didn't have to wait long, maybe 2 hours before they arrived. Molly grabbed hold of Mimi's arm and started dragging her to the bedroom "What do you know about delivering babies?"
"Nothing Corp"
"Shit, which makes two of us" as Mimi pulled out her phone, Molly raised her eyebrows and Mimi grinned "I'll google it" Molly grinned back and shook her head "Why didn't I think of that?"
"You must be out of practise Molls" laughed Brains
It was getting dark now and Blue and Charles went outside to formulate a plan for what they were about to do.
"Molly and your medic can help the woman until we need to leave at dawn" said Blue
Charles nodded in agreement "Hopefully she will have had the baby by then and we can radio back for medical support for her" added Charles
"When we leave with the heroin and the husband in his truck we will all be fitted with trackers so you can follow from a distance" said Blue, they would pass Omar across to get him back to Kabul while they swept up any strays to give them a clear run back.
It sounded like a good plan – what could go wrong?
-OG-
Quite a lot as it turned out. One of Omar's men came to the house and there was an argument between him and the husband as he made his way into the house. Two section were already hiding on the roof while Blue, Jackson and Spanner were at the back of the house.
Molly hadn't realised that an insurgent had entered with the husband and he saw her. Fortunately, she was still in local dress. He grabbed her by the elbow and started dragging her out the house and yelling at the husband.
"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck" whispered Blue into his comms "We have a problem, he's found Molly and taking her with them" On the roof Charles was already starting to get to his feet before Kingy pulled him down.
"No Boss, Blue and the rest are already down on the ground" He nodded but moved closer to the edge to see what was going on. He saw as Molly and the husband were bundled into the truck and before it had time to pull away Blue, Spanner and Jackson jumped in the back.
At least she had some protection and wasn't alone.
As the truck left they descended the stairs.
"Rogers how much longer before this bloody baby is born and we can get moving?" said Charles sharply. He wanted to get moving up to the pick-up zone and be in better radio contact with Blue so he could find out what was happening and if Molly was OK.
-OG-
Molly was dragged from the truck along with the husband and was pushed down on her knees. He was put in a chair and held down as Omar came out. The heroin was handed over and there was a lot of shouting. While she understood some Pashto, they were speaking too quickly and loudly for her to pick it all up. But when all eyes turned to her she was pretty sure that he had blown her cover. She had to hope that the guys were close by because she wasn't armed, her gun was still back at the house.
She watched while the man was handcuffed to the back of a truck and she could see that there were explosives in there, so he must have blown the cover of Charles and 2 section as well. How the hell was she going to be able to warn them. A young man got into the driver's seat, started the engine and left.
They were now looking at her at least two guns pointed at her head. She had to say in the 18 months since joining the team this was the most danger she had been in, and the most scared she had felt. She closed her eyes in preparation, in hindsight she wished she had talked with Charles, but at least she had seen him, smiled at him maybe for the last time and had waved goodbye.