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.

Thanx for reading and especially for reviews! It really inspires me to continue writing this story. It still annoys me that Bones died on screen, I thought he and Georgie had much more chemistry going on between them than she did with CJ. I kept hoping he would return somehow but was disappointed at the ending. Here their story goes on though (and CJ and Molly continue to be happy in the background) /XXX

Chapter 22: A man full of surprises

This time, they had finally exchanged phone numbers and he texted her over the next days; sometimes sad but mostly flirtatious, teasing and affectionate. She still could not quite wrap her head around that this cute, attentive guy was the same man that had used to shout at her so tersely when he was dissatisfied with her performance on the assault course or during the full kit run.

"For fucks sake, Lane. You need to do better than this or I will have to send you home! I can't have no fucking liabilities in this section!"

If someone had told her back then how he would touch her one day, gentle, sensual and hot, and how she would crave it, she would have laughed. If someone had told her that through their conversations it felt like he understood her like no one else and that he was growing to feel like one of the most trustworthy and dependable persons she ever had known, she would have said they were mental. But here they were, and all those things were true.

Each time her phone buzzed from a new text from him she jumped at the sound like a teenager in love for the first time, she just could not help herself.

One text came as she was having a coffee in the city centre with Lulu. Georgie tried to look casual while sneak-reading it, but Lulu knew her too well.

"Tell me, who is the guy?"

"It's nothing, just a bloke from work."

"Yeah, I figured it has to be because you have not dated at home since Matt. You really do have a soft spot for squaddies."

"Not for squaddies in general" Georgie defended herself. "There was Elvis, and now there's Jack. No one else."

"So, he has a name... Jack... Tell me!"

She realised Lulu had cornered her, so she gave in and told her. She told the whole story of how they had met, and she had disliked him at first, their unexpected night when he was "dead" and the mixed feelings she had had ever since, but which had morphed more and more into something similar to love as she got to know him.

"Wow, that's hot - and romantic, Georgie", the normally cynical Lulu admitted. "Where is he now?"

"In London, for his father's funeral."

"Okay, maybe not the time for a surprise visit then."

"I think not." She was quiet for a while and then said; "The only issue I have is that I don't know when I will see him again. Not just now, but it will be like that every time we part. It will be just as unpredictable as it was with Elvis."

"I understand... Georgie, I need to ask you this and I do it because I love you, not because I want to be pessimistic. Can you handle being with another soldier, and special forces? Not only that you will be away from each other much of the time but I'm also thinking of the occupational hazards... and what happened to Elvis. For a while after he died I worried you would go insane from grief."

"Don't you think I have thought about that hundreds of times? I know the risks and to be honest I'm not at all sure I can handle it if anything would happen to him. I just don't know how not to be with him either. Maybe it's bad for me, but I really, really like being with him. When he isn't here I may have doubts, but when I'm with him, all my reservations just disappear. I haven't felt like this since... you know... since Elvis."

Even then, the feelings had not been exactly the same.

"Bah, maybe it is a genetic defect with us Lane sisters. We 'let the bad ones in and the good ones go.'" Lulu quoted one of their mutual favourite songs with Robyn. "The good ones, like your exes Jamie, Matt - and my Rob, Marie's Tom - they're just not exciting enough. Maybe predictable good guys are not our thing. Well, except for that Marie actually sticks with Toby for some obscure reason."

"I wish it was, it would be so convenient, but I'm not sure you're right. I think Jack is a good one, just with a job that's not ideal, and even if Jack and Elvis may seem alike on the surface, SF soldiers both, they're very different underneath."

She did not say it out loud, but she somehow had the feeling that Jack would never had stood her up on a wedding day, no matter what came in the way. Elvis had loved her wholeheartedly but committing to the challenge of an everyday relationship had not been his strength. She could trust him to save her from brutal kidnappers, but maybe not to do the grocery shopping or push a stroller with a screaming baby. On the other hand, it was just a feeling with Jack for now, nothing proven, it was early days and she did not know him through and through.

"All I know is that I'm aching to be with him again."

"Oh, sis. I bet he feels the same." Lulu hugged her.

- OG -

Then, he called and asked if she would like to join him in London for the last days of her leave. London was the place he called home as it was where his family lived, and he had a place of his own.

"The funeral was today, quite a sad story, and I'd just love to be with you before we return to service both of us."

Whatever doubtful thoughts that had gone through her mind about their relationship, hearing his voice and the question she knew what the only answer she wanted to give was.

"Yes, I would love that too. Of course, I will come."".

She told her family she had been asked to return earlier, packed her bergen and then took the train for another secret detour to London.

- OG -

He picked her up at Euston station. Even though only days had passed since they last met, the sight of him took her breath away and made her stomach flip. She saw him already through the train window, so tall and serious, this time in a camel coloured midi length coat, a black turtleneck which by the looks of it was cashmere and another pair of jeans which flattering clung to his well-shaped legs. As she walked towards him on the platform it felt amazing to know that it was her he was waiting for. His face lit up in a broad smile as soon as he saw her, but he removed his aviator sunglasses se saw that had dark shadows under his eyes, almost worse than when he first came to see her in Manchester and she understood how tough the last days must have been for him. They hugged and kissed for long before they even moved from the platform.

"It is so good to see you again", he said looking down on her. "But I had almost forgotten how small you are."

"Sorry, can't do anything about that, but it is good to see you too, even if you're bloody tall and I will strain my neck kissing you."

He pressed his lips to hers again, this time let his tongue swirl into her mouth creating the now familiar surge in her abdomen.

"How was the funeral?" she asked as they started walking, hand in hand.

"Depressing. So many people were there to say farewell and yet, I know that very few liked him. He was a man with a lot of power and very few friends. Strangely enough, my mum loved him and I'm so sad for her... and sad for myself too, that he never let me know him for real. We can talk more about that later, or not. Let us go home to my place now."

He drove a black Tesla and even if she knew little of cars she was impressed by its beautiful, sleek lines and smiled to that in comparison, she had not bothered to get a car at all. Everything inside it looked expensive and it smelled like it was fresh from the shop.

"Well, this is nicer than my car."

"What car do you have then?

"I don't have one, I don't need it."

"Neither do I. I mean, I have it, but I don't really need it. I thought it was so beautiful, so I couldn't resist it. A dark beauty like you", he grinned cheekily and for a moment the sorrow washed off.

"Are we going to your apartment now?" she asked.

"Actually, we're going to my house."

"Your house? You have a house in London?"

She could not even imagine what that might cost, and it seemed strange as he was away most of the time.

"My family has invested in property over the years and some years ago I got this one to do what I pleased with, and I decided to live there."

He said it like it was nothing remarkable at all.

She assumed it would be a smallish house in the outskirts at least. She came to think of what Molly had told her when she had visited Charles in Bath for the first time and they had stayed at his parents' house. 'I got freaked out just by the size of it! And the bloody staircase! Made me feel like I was in a horror movie. Lucky Charles was there, or I would have turned and ran.

She was still smiling at the memory, when Jack turned into a street called The Boltons and stopped the car outside a gigantic townhouse in a lovely, green and obviously very posh neighbourhood.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"I'm afraid not. This is home. Are you disappointed?"

"I don't know what to say... I don't know anyone who lives in a house this big, not even families with kids."

He just grinned, walked around the car and opened her door.

"Come on, get your pretty little arse out of the car and into my house", he smirked.

"I only use part of it" he explained whilst unlocking and opening the door to let her in, like it would make the house itself smaller.

He took her by the hand and they walked from room to room. Some were almost empty, but everything that was there was of immaculate taste and looked exclusive. She recognised the Barcelona chair, Nogushi's famous coffee table and a hideously expensive lamp she recently had seen featured in an interior magazine. The rooms he seemed to use most managed to be quite cosy combined with the exclusiveness, due to thick carpets, colourful cushions, curtains and flowers. She wondered if he had done this on his own or had help from someone, his mum or an ex maybe. She knew nothing of his past love life except the rumours of a string of girls and that nurse in Nigeria and that hardly counted. She suddenly felt a brief sting of jealousy at the thought of him with other women.

They ended up in the kitchen where he made some coffee by putting pods into a poncy coffee machine.

"Do you like it? The house, not the coffee."

"I do... I mean, what is not to like apart from that it is so big that I probably will get lost."

"I hope you like it, because I hope you will want to spend some time here with me." He looked searchingly at her.

The house had made her feel a bit intimidated, but he stepped closer and put his arms around her. His embrace was by now both reassuringly familiar and yet tantalizing and being this close with no one else around to disturb them , they both forgot everything but each other for a long while.

- OG -

Later that evening, he cooked for them.

"You actually cook?" she said incredulous when she realised he was not going to call for takeout or prepare something prefab but was taking out ingredients from the fridge and cupboards to start preparing a meal from scratch. It was yet another thing she had not pictured that he would do.

He shook his head, laughing.

"I'm not an advanced chef but I have a few favourites I do quite well. Today we have pasta carbonara on the menu. I already know you don't cook from when you burned that omelette."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but very badly. I would never make a good housewife."

"You're probably right, you would make a lousy housewife for so many reasons." He laughed again, and she had the feeling that he did not see that as a problem at all.

"What would you expect from your wife?" she asked coyly.

"If I ever were to get married, which I'm not sure I will, I would expect it to be with a strong woman who pursued her own dreams, not only followed my wishes. As long as she does that I can live with having to cook my own omelettes."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I would also expect her to be funny, kind, smart and brave and amazing in bed. If you know someone like that, will you let me know?"

He gave her a wicked smile, silenced her offended exclamation with a kiss and handed her a glass of red wine. Feeling a hot flush, she took a big gulp, knowing she had it bad for this man.

They sat down by the table and started eating the surprisingly delicious pasta.

"You don't need to answer, but I'm just a bit curious. You said once your family is well-off, but are you like really wealthy? What with this house and dealing in properties?"

"I guess we are." He shrugged his shoulders, like it did not matter. "I don't think or talk much about it, especially not at work. We have the family business and then both my grandfather and father have been doing wise investments, in property, stocks and so on."

"We don't have to talk more about it. It was just a surprise."

"A negative one?"

"No... no, but I guess I got a bit intimidated by this house, and it also makes me feel that I know you less well than I thought I did by now."

He took her hand and laced their fingers together.

"Don't be intimidated. This is just varnish. I'm the same."

"I just realise there are so many things I don't know about you yet."

"I'm not hiding anything, Georgie, not anymore. Just keep seeing me and you will know everything, and probably discover I'm a quite common bloke."

"I doubt that, you seem to be one of a kind."

When they fell asleep beside each other that night, or rather cuddled up as close as ever possible, she thought he was right. It didn't matter what family and background he came from, or what girlfriends he might have had. She felt like they belonged together and that was the only thing that really mattered. He was a bit like one of those Babushka dolls, where you open up layer after layer until you finally reach the tiny doll in the core. She hoped that this, the two of them together, was part of the core not an empty shell.