A/N May 4, 2019: If you currently are reading this story, note that all chapters have been updated. See author's note for chapter 1.

Chapter 18: Operation Save 2 section

They left within the hour and headed East, closer to the border of Russia and the area where 2 section last had been spotted. Drones had been sent up and Bones received frequent reports from the headquarter during the day.

"It seems there is a deserted farm over here" he showed them on the map. "Or, previously deserted I should say. The drones have registered that there is activity now and we need to find out who it is, if that might be where our guys are and if they have company."

They moved slowly, both because of the terrain and thick layers of snow and because they wanted to remain unnoticed. They did not speak much, just moving ahead was strenuous enough even for trained soldiers. Sometimes Georgie walked behind Bones in the line, watched his tall figure moving purposefully without seeming like he needed any rest and could not help wondering what went on in his head. He seemed the complete professional, totally focused on the rescue mission, as he should be, and she cursed herself for being unable to do the same to 100%. Sure, her attention was on the operation and her concern for her section did not waiver for one minute, but his presence disturbed her. A bit like a fly buzzing when you try to sleep, you want to ignore it but cannot. It was as bad when they changed so he walked behind her. Then she was even more conscious that he now was watching her, watching her steps as she moved and refused to allow herself to pause and breathe, did not want him to think she was holding them back. Then again, she thought, his attention was probably not on her at all, more likely on the surroundings and the communications he received through his headset. Then she stumbled, and he proved her wrong by catching her before she fell to the ground. Neither of them commented it and she could not decide if she resented it or was grateful, but now she knew for sure he had his eyes on her.

When they found themselves a few kilometres from the farm it was already late afternoon and they split up to be able to approach it from two different directions, with the intention to first spy, later strike if this was indeed where 2 section where held.

"It will get dark in an hour, so let us see what we can find out before then. We will have to spend the night here, no use heading back. Lane, on me. Spanner and Peanut, you go this way and come in from this direction."

As they approached the old farm, they crawled through the snow and thicket, spying from a distance using binoculars. It was nearly dark when Spanner confirmed over the radio that he had sight on the soldiers, held prisoners in the main building and they all exhaled in temporary relief. It seemed an almost unlikely stroke of luck that Bones had been right about their whereabouts and that 2 section seemed to alive. The challenge to get them out of there, still alive, remained.

Watching from a distance, it was apparent that 2 section had company and it seemed far from friendly. They identified approximately ten armed men around the farm, inside the buildings or hanging around in the yard and armed with this intel they withdrew for the night to strike in the early morning hours.

"We will move at first light. Bravo team, find some shelter over there where you can spend the night and we will do the same", Bones ordered.

Georgie prayed that nothing would happen to her friends during the night, as she and Bones retreated and at some distance from the farm found a small shed. It seemed sheep might have been kept there in the past but now it was empty, and they took shelter there for the night. The walls were not insulated and the raw cold seemed to sneak underneath even the army winter uniforms. They had a meal, army rations naturally, which they clumsily ate as they would not remove their gloves even for a few minutes. Their fingers were stiff from the cold anyway. Then they brought out their camouflage green sleeping bags, which always made Georgie think that the one sleeping in it looked like a cabbage worm. Bones was an exception, he still looked good tucked into it she noticed.

"We should stay close to keep as warm as we can" he stated. She knew that was logical but still had not expected him to suggest it and when he lay down behind her back she found it impossible to relax with him so close. Even if the setting was different, it reminded her too much of that other time. She was too aware of him, of his presence. She felt warmth coming from him even in the cold air, she felt the lean hard body pressed to hers even when padded, wrapped in that sleeping bag. They were lying there silent and she tried to be still, tried to breathe slowly, pretend she had fallen asleep. She ought to be knackered after the hard day, but she only felt incredibly restless and could hear from his breathing he was not sleeping either. She must be imagining but it felt like he had his lips to her hair.

"Do you ever think of our night together?" It just came over her lips, she had not intended it to.

He was quiet for so long that the silence was ringing in her ears and she regretted asking.

"Please don't ask me that here, Georgie."

Maybe it was the fact that he called her by her name that made her insist.

"If not here, then when? I'm not sure when I will see you again. Please, just tell me; do you?" she begged.

There was another long pause.

"Every day" he then admitted so close to her ear she could feel his warm breath.

"Every day?" she asked in disbelief.

"Maybe not every day, but it feels like it."

She turned to him, wriggling clumsily in the sleeping bag but finally faced him and tried to meet his eyes in the dark.

"I don't want to", he continued. "I have tried stop thinking about you, but I can't, and you just keep crossing my path, or I keep crossing yours, I'm not sure which."

"You haven't shown any interest since that night… I thought it was nothing to you."

He snorted.

"Then at least I managed to be professional in some way. You know I couldn't, not in Bangladesh, we were there to do a job and nothing could come in between. There was also the fact that even if I wasn't your CO anymore, I had been and I didn't want that to reflect badly on either of us. Then when we met again… Georgie, I know you're with another guy now and I wouldn't want to interfere with that."

"I don't know how you knew about that, but I'm not. I was, I had a boyfriend for a while but not anymore. I didn't love him."

Words poured out of her, eager for him to know the truth; that Matt meant nothing to her. Their faces were so close, yet she could barely see him in the dim light and was unsure of his reaction. She wanted to kiss him so badly, she thought it maybe looked like he finally had let his guard down and was looking at her like he wanted her too but maybe it was just imagination and the darkness that made his eyes look that gooey. Either way, he held back. No kiss came, and he spoke almost harshly.

"We can't Georgie, not here. We must stay focused or we will risk our lives and those we're supposed to rescue. This is not the time and place. Please try to sleep, and I will stay awake and keep watch."

When she opened her mouth to protest, he added;

"That's an order." Then softer; "Just turn around and sleep, you need it."

If she had thought she saw some emotion before, his expression was now blank again, the emotionless mask carefully adjusted and put in place and she knew there was no point trying to get him to say something more. Disappointed and with her pulse resounding fast in her ears, she turned around again, thinking it would be impossible to sleep now. She could not decide if she should be cross because he rejected her, or happy because he at last had acknowledged that he had some feelings for her behind that stone-faced facade. He had been thinking of her, he had admitted as much.

She must have slumbered eventually, because she woke up to the cold morning light. Bones was already up and came in through the door after having checked the surroundings.

"Time to move."

They both felt it was a fateful day, as it might end up with 2 section being freed, or all of them being killed.

They returned to their positions from the evening before, near the farm, as did Bravo team on the other side of the buildings. They would have to simultaneously achieve keeping the captives safe and eliminate the enemy, which would be a challenging task for the four against the ten men they had identified. Bones had informed headquarters about the situation and helicopters with backup forces were prepared to come on demand but could not be called in before they had first freed 2 section as any helicopter noise would warn the guards and jeopardize the whole operation. There was a risk that if the mafia men where warned, they might decide to go in and execute their prisoners. If that happened, the operation would fail spectacularly.

"Ready?" he asked her, fixating her with his blue gaze.

"Ready", she confirmed with a nod. As ready as you can be when everyone's life was at stake. She felt fear, but it was overshadowed by the adrenaline rush and determination to do what she could to save the lives of 2 section. In this moment she was not a girl worried for her friends, she was a soldier ready to initiate a rescue operation.

At this early hour, only one man was guarding the prisoners indoors, they could see him through the windows. Another two were patrolling the yard and the rest seemed to be asleep. When they initiated the attack, Bones aimed Bones the guard and pulled the trigger. With only a muffled sound due to the silencer, the bullet flew through the air, entered through the window, hit the guard right between the eyes and he fell to the floor. Already dead surprisingly quiet and neat. Simultaneously and equally silent, Spanner and Peanut took down the two men patrolling the yard. With attention to the surroundings they then moved fast and entered the main building through a back door. Bones and Georgie were able to enter the room where 2 section where held without stumbling on any of the other men. The prisoners had woken up when their guard fell dead to the floor and understood a rescue operation was underway. Georgie started to free them from their ties whilst Bones kept watch in the room and Spanner and Peanut continued to silently secure the area. Until they had released 2 section and made sure they were safe, the did not want to stir the remaining of the mafia men.

Despite that the 2 section soldiers were not in the best condition, they managed to get them through the back door towards the woods, so they could take cover among the trees. Once they were temporarily secured, the supporting forces could be called in and soon the sound of approaching helicopter rotor blades was heard over the tree tops. This alerted the sleeping men and soon gun fire echoed over the yard, but Georgie already knew that they had made it. The 2 section soldiers were freed, and the remaining mafia men were either captured or killed.

Georgie immediately assessed the condition of her fellow soldiers and was relieved that all were alive, and none seemed lethally injured. Maisie had taken a bullet in her calf and was in serious pain, but they had been allowed to put a tourniquet on and the bleeding had ceased, so if she only got to hospital she would be out of harm's way. Rab seemed to be almost equally taken by the injury of Maisie, and by now it was not a secret to anyone that he loved her. The others were quite fine, apart from bruises and the aftermath of the fear they had experienced over the last days as they sensed that their guards did not have any plans to release them or exchange them as hostages, rather just were deciding on when and how to eliminate the waste they had stumbled on. The impression was that the mafia guys had been awaiting orders from someone higher up in the chain of command, as the killing of foreign soldiers likely would cause unwanted commotion that could put them in the spotlight.

During the helicopter flight back to the base, Georgie sat opposite to Bones.

"Well done, Corporal Lane. You were an asset to the team today."

"Thanks boss, I'm just glad you were right, and we got them out alive."

Looking into his eyes, there were so many other things she wanted to say to him, do to him, but once again this was not the right time and place.

- OG -

That evening, after their return, a meal and shower, she sitting alone on her bed in the empty dormitory, drying her hair with a towel. The rest of 2 section were in the army hospital for medical surveillance after their ordeal and she was endlessly grateful that this was the reason it was empty here, not that they were dead. How close it had been. With the mission completed and the adrenaline gone from her system, she felt emotionally drained and thoughts were spinning in her head.

'I don't know how I would have handled it if any of them were killed. I'm not cut out for this anymore, I feel far too much.'

Then she noticed Bones leaning in the doorway in his usual nonchalant manner, watching her intently with an expression which was hard to interpret. When he saw that she had noticed him, he came over and sat down beside her on the bed. She thought he would say something, but instead he cupped her face between his palms and his lips came crashing against hers. She coiled her arms around his neck and he kissed her, so it felt like she did not have a bone left in her body but was melting away. She did not want him to stop but he did.

"Someone can come here... do you want to join me to my room, my single room?" he smiled.

She felt so different about that question than she had the first time he had asked it. Now there was nothing she wanted more.

"Do you have a single malt this time, too?" she smiled in return.

"No. No whiskey. I want to be absolutely sober for this."

Afterwards, she had no idea how they had made their way to his room, if they had stumbled kissing or if he had scooped her up in his arms and carried her, but once they were there, he kissed her mouth, her eyelids, her cheeks, neck, earlobes so she got goosebumps all over her skin. Then, he made love to her as if he loved her.

She was not sure, but she thought she heard him murmur with his lips to her heated skin "I have been waiting for this for so long."