"Molly, I can explain."

She stared at him, trying to focus as the room started to spin around her. Her chest was tightening, her palms becoming clammy. She waited, waited for whatever pathetic excuse he was going to come up with. She'd seen that boy before, in the video from home; and she remembered him saying daddy. It didn't take a genius to work it out.

Captain James remained on the bed, his head now bowed forward unable to even look at her. "I wanted to tell you," was all he could muster. "But the appropriate moment never came up."

"So when would you? After we'd had sex? When we got back to Brize? Or when you introduced him to me for the first time and I had no idea who the fuck he was?!" Captain James winced, her words cutting through him. He wasn't used to people speaking to him that way. The fact that he deeply cared for her only made it worse.

Molly straightened her clothes and grabbed her rifle. She couldn't see the point in staying there a moment longer. Just as she reached the door, she turned back to him, anger controlling her. "You lied to me."

"Not once."

"Well you were very fucking economical with the truth." She grabbed the handle, slamming the door behind her as she left.

"Dawes." His long strides enabled him to catch up quickly, walking franticly besides her, trying to get her attention. But Molly continued, purposefully ignoring him. She walked along the sandy path, heading towards the mess tent, hopeful that if there were other people around he might leave her alone. But as they got nearer, he refused to back down. He was persistent; she'd at least give him that. "Dawes!"

"Take the hint!"

"As your Commanding Officer I have a duty of care towards you. I'm concerned about your state of mind right now."

"Whose fault is that?"

"Molly, please."

Molly stopped in her tracks and turned to him. Tears silently fell down her cheeks. "You've really hurt me."

He shook his head, mentally kicking himself for doing that to her. "All I want is to make you happy."

"Well you fucked up big time."

"Please let me explain." Molly stared at him, waiting for whatever bullshit was going to come out of his mouth next. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to hear it, but for just one moment, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He paused as he mustered up the strength to finally admit the truth to her; his chest rising all falling frantically. "He's my son."

"No shit, Sherlock."

Captain James flinched, but chose not to react. The worst thing he could do would be to start another argument off of the back of this one. He needed to concentrate on the task at hand, and tell her everything. "He's seven year's old. His mother and I were married, but she left me when I was on my second tour. We're getting a divorce, but he's still very much a part of my life."

Molly closed her eyes, absorbing his words. It was a lot to take in.

"You can hate me if it helps."

"I don't hate you…I just…I wish you'd been honest with me front the start."

"I'm sorry."

She stood silent for a moment, before taking a deep breath, building up the courage to be the strong person that she knew she was. "It's too late for that. Now I need to go and get ready for my shift at the hospital. Boss." She walked away, keeping her head held high. If she didn't have feelings for him, then she would have felt so proud of herself for finally developing a backbone. But she did have feelings, and strong ones at that.

She took a moment to calm herself down and gather her thoughts, before heading to the hospital. She wasn't due to start for hours still, but she needed a distraction and that was the best place to find it. She was there to work after all, so that was precisely what she going to do. She needed to clear her mind of everything to do with Captain James that wasn't wholly professional, and move on.

As she strode confidently through the entrance and along the corridor, she spotted Jackie walking towards her, clipboard in hand.

"Moll? What are you doing here?" She called out as soon as she spotted her.

"The boss volunteered me for a shift. Where do you want me?"

Jackie thought for a moment, before shrugging. "It's pretty quiet to be honest; I reckon we've got enough cover. You might be best off going back and seeing if there's something else you can be doing."

"Please, Jack, there must be something?"

"You had a barney with your fella already?"

"Eh?" Molly frowned, trying to play it cool, and pretend that she had no idea what Jackie was talking about. Unfortunately she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, risking her secret being revealed without her saying a thing.

"Oh c'mon, Moll, everyone's seen the video."

"Everyone?"

"Yeah, of course, Major Beck's very proud of it. I must admit though, it was pretty predictable. Smurf doesn't shut up about you."

"Smurf? Oh Jack, it ain't like that, he kissed me."

"Kinda looked like you were kissing each other from where I was sat."

"There's been an attack," Sara shouted, running along the corridor in a clear state of distress, bringing their conversation to a grinding halt. "Molly," Sara's voice audibly shook. "Captain James has been injured."

Molly could feel the breath leave her body and the ground around her collapsing. This couldn't be happening. "I don't understand, I saw him maybe half an hour ago and he was fine."

"He went on a patrol with 3 Section; MERT's bringing him in now."

I'm sorry about the ending of this chapter, but I've been re-reading the accounts that originally inspired me to write this, and it reminded me of how quickly things could change out there. Whilst it was possible to have fun, and make silly videos etc., I don't want to detract from the fact that it was a war.