A/N: Thank you for your feed-back, and for all your fantastic support while I've been writing the equivalent of War and Peace – twice over – since I began in December 2014. I know that I've said it before but it is the absolute truth that it's your reviews that keep me going; I am now going to wait for S2 to get a bit further in, because I do have an idea bubbling away in my nut, but I need to see where we're going first.

Thank you again .

-OG-

Chapter Fifteen

He'd always had incredible self-control, when they were first together it had been because he was being all responsible, and anyhow she hadn't told him she was on the pill but even though that had all long since changed, she always did her utmost to get him to get carried away, but this was actually the first time that she'd won their little battle of 'when'. He'd always managed to use his iron will to control himself when she'd been pulling him towards her and telling him without a need for words that she wanted him, needed him, but his fingers or lips had always taken her to a shuddering climax before the main event ….. before tonight. Tonight she'd been irresistible so that it had been fast and furious and had left them both overwhelmingly happy, spent, exhausted and sweaty but still tightly wrapped around each other, so that just for once there'd been no jokey bickering about whose turn it was to sleep on the damp patch.

Afterwards his warm naked body on hers had made her want to cling to him and beg him not to go, to stay with her which would be bloody ridiculous behaviour in anyone's book, but it was just that she couldn't help being desperately afraid that something bad was going to happen to him. In spite of all the stuff he'd said about how it wasn't dangerous at all and how no-one was going to want to shoot him or anything, how they were just going there to help the poor buggers who were refugees, and in spite of all the lies that she'd told him about how she wasn't a bit worried, she was one hell of a long way away from being convinced. Experience told her that good things rarely last, that fate or luck or whatever it was called was always waiting in the wings to hit you with the shit end of the stick.

The murmuring in her ear as he spoke against her neck, telling her over and over again how much he loved her before he moved his body away made the tears gather at the back of her eyes and at the top of her nose. Normally she would have told him to shift himself a bit because he was heavy and was squashing her, but not tonight. Tonight she felt bereft as soon as he moved his warm weight off and she began to stroke his hair gently, whispering as she told him over and over to go to sleep. There was very little light in the room, just enough for her to see as his eyelids began to droop and flutter, and then closed, his eyelashes fanning out on his cheekbones as sleep overtook him but she lay there for hours trying desperately to keep herself from following suit as she listened to the comforting sound of his quiet, even breathing. The difference between this and any other time was that the hours between making love and morning were spinning past at the rate of knots and she didn't want to waste a single second of the time they had left by sleeping. She just wanted to hold him tight and store it all up for when he wasn't there. It all felt horribly 'last time-ish'.

"Is it that time?"

"Nearly"

Despite her very best efforts, she'd obviously drifted off at some point so that when she opened her eyes again suddenly it was morning, albeit very early, and her eyes were tired and gritty from lack of sleep and the prickling feeling of wanting to howl.

"Why does army shit always start in the middle of the night?"

"Early mornings are the best part of the day, or so they keep telling us"

"Yeah, I can see that, but can we go back to sleep now?" She peered at the digital display on the bedside clock "Still middle of the bloody night where I come from"

"Come here and give me another hug, grumpy mare, God I'm going to miss you"

"I'm not grumpy, just need my sleep that's all and I'm gonna miss you too, wish I'd said I'd come and see you off now"

"No you don't, you know that you'd hate it and how would you get home afterwards? Hitch a lift, go and see if you can find a nutter? … or maybe ask Lauren for a lift?"

"Might of done"

"Hmmmm, and that's not to mention getting back in time for work afterwards, and anyway you know what they say don't you? It's only going to be six weeks and I'll be home by Christmas"

"You nicked that from some old film about the war didn't you? And look how well that turned out, I mean I know we won in the end but took a bit longer than six weeks, didn't it? And Christmas is months off so you'd bloody well better be back by then"

"I'll be back, and I didn't nick it from anywhere, it's a famous saying from World War one"

"Is it? Not some'ing you remember then?"

"No it's not, I'm not as old as I look"

"Just as well, really" She put her hands up to stop whatever he had in mind as a punishment "Alright, sorry, sorry, sorry …. In that case you saw it in some old film when you couldn't sleep, when you had insomnia"

"What, when you fucked up my eight hours a night you mean?"

"What's that even s'posed to mean, how was it my fault? I weren't even here"

"Exactly" He tightened his arms round her and ran the back of his thumb up and down her arm as she spread her fingers apart and waved her hand around in front of his face, making her ring sparkle "I'm sorry, my darling, but I'm going to have to get up in a minute and get going"

"I know" She could feel the first tear as it began to roll out of the corner of her eye and onto the pillow making her squeeze her eyes tightly shut before blinking rapidly in an attempt to try and stop any more escaping and following suit.

"Hey, don't cry, please don't cry"

"I'm not, got some'ing in me eye that's all"

"I'm going to have something in mine if you start" He wiped the tear away from the side of her face with his thumb "I'll call you every chance I get, alright?"

"Yeah, Skype me, you promised"

He swung his legs out of bed and sat for a few seconds looking down at the floor before turning slightly sideways to look at her again "You can have a think about where you'd like to take me on holiday when I get back, somewhere I can have you all to myself because I have the feeling I'm going to be sick of the sight of everyone else if I can't see you for six weeks"

"You said you'd see me on Skype, don't forget will you?"

"Nope, but I can't cuddle you on Skype can I?"

"I'll start planning your 'welcome home' party"

"Interesting"

"Hope so, course it might be a little bit on the small side, I was thinking just you and me"

"Sounds like my favourite type of party"

-OG-

No matter how difficult she found it she just about managed to keep the smile pinned on her face as she waved him off and had even held off on the waterworks until after he'd driven up the road. She'd then flung herself full length on the bed and simply bawled. Hot tears were streaming out of her eyes in a never-ending flood and her nose was pouring with snot but she didn't give a shit, even though she was going to have to get ready and go to work shortly and would arrive there with eyes like one of those droopy faced dogs, all red-rimmed and swollen. Six weeks? How the fuck was she going to do without him for six weeks?

Using the shower gel he always used meant that she was almost inhaling the lemony fragrance which was him and which made the tears start up all over again. Then she'd had to spend ages looking for her sunnies, before earning herself all kinds of strange looks on the bus. It had been a grey miserably overcast and chilly morning when he'd left but it was now pissing down which matched her mood beautifully, but made her look a bit of a dipstick wearing sunglasses.

Lauren wasn't due in at work until later on. Molly knew she was going to be running late because she was taking the little tosspot to Brize Norton even though she hadn't said a word about it or even come close to offering her a lift back after, in spite of the fact that she'd be on her own in the car. But then Molly hadn't asked, wouldn't ask, there was absolutely no bloody way on earth that she was giving Lauren the opportunity of saying no.

When Lauren finally showed up she had that bustling air of patronising superiority that was making Molly hate her more and more with every passing day, although what she'd got to be so fucking superior about was beyond her. But her make-up was intact, her lippie on and no hint of panda eyes anywhere, so it didn't look as if she'd been exactly devastated at him going off for six weeks, although she'd immediately started on about how upset Smurf had been and that he'd said how glad he was that she'd gone there with him to wait and see him off. In spite of what she was saying, Molly thought she seemed far more concerned that her mum had told her it was dangerous to have her hair bleached while she was up the spout so that she couldn't wait to get on-line to check it out for herself.

"You look like shit …..Have you been crying?" She looked across as Molly and sniggered slightly, full of fake concern "Didn't see you there with that bloke of yours, everything alright is it? Everyone noticed you weren't there, they were wondering where you were"

"Were they? Well, everything's fine thanks for asking" Molly wanted to add 'sorry to disappoint you' "I'll bet they didn't ask my Charles, oh no I forgot, he's an officer inne? He don't 'ave to answer questions from squaddies" She took a deep breath "You know I can't drive Lauren, so how the fuck was I meant to get home? Unless someone offered to give me a lift of course, but then they didn't … so ….. "

She shrugged determined there was no way Lauren was going to goad her into a slanging match, at least she didn't think so, however tempting it might be to turn her head and look at the smug cow before slapping that self-satisfied smirk off her gob. Then temptation got the better of her, this wasn't the best day of her life that she could ever remember.

"You know, I never thought I'd ever say this but I do feel a bit sorry for Smurf, knowing that you shagged him when you wanted my Charles but he didn't want you can't be a good feeling can it? Oh nah, course, he don't know, does he? Don't s'pose you've told him … hope no-one else does"

"You'd bloody better not, I'm telling you"

"Why, what you gonna do? But you don't need to worry Lauren I won't ….. well at least I don't think I will ….. try not to anyhow" She gave this short sharp and very derisory laugh "I might think he's a knob, no, I know he's a knob, but he don't deserve that"

Lauren was staring at her with a mixture of horror and defiance all over her face before her customary bluster kicked in.

"You're just jealous, you're jealous because I'm the one who's married, who's going to have a baby, what have you got? Posh bloke using you till something better comes along"

"Yeah course he is" Molly began to laugh out loud "And course I'm jealous that you've got Smurf, always wanted a little dickhead like him and you know some'ing Lauren, anyone can get themselves knocked up if they're not careful who they shag around with, but don't you worry about me, I think I'll live" She was still smiling happily as something else occurred to her "And don't worry that I'm going to push your front teeth down your bleeding throat either cos I'm not, I'm practising for when I'm the Captain's wife and have to be careful about who I mix with, when I mustn't be tempted to wallop anyone"

Molly was now happily making it up as she went along. Charles certainly hadn't said anything about her having to make any sort of changes to the people she mixed with or to the way she behaved, although she was sure that he wouldn't be too charmed if she got done for assaulting someone even if it was bloody Lauren and she'd asked for it. But Lauren wouldn't know any of that and it had been a difficult morning coming as it did after hardly any sleep and her already missing him like she'd had something amputated. Anyway she was thoroughly enjoying herself, Lauren had been bleeding asking for it for months. On the whole Molly would have really preferred it if the other girl had been a little bit upset, but she wasn't, not that she was prepared to show anyhow. Instead she tossed her head with the roots that needed doing and slammed out of the room to go and find someone to whinge to if she could find anyone prepared to listen to her and Molly found that she didn't give a shit.

She was far more interested in the text she'd just received that told her that he loved her and that he was missing her already, and that they hadn't even gone yet because of there being some delay or something, so that she now knew that Lauren had lied, she'd simply driven all the way there, dropped dickhead off and then turned round and come straight back… like a bloody taxi. So much for the emotional farewell.

-OG-

EPILOGUE

"Hello, is that Molly? Oh of course its Molly, who else would it be? It's Daisy"

"Ummm, sorry … Daisy? I don't ….."

"Oh no I'm sorry, Marguerite, dear, Marguerite James, Charles'mother, the family all call me Daisy, you know like the flower"

"Oh shit, what's happened?"

"Nothing, sorry, I didn't think, I certainly didn't mean to scare you, no, everything's fine, it's just that that son of mine has asked me to do something for him and I need to sort it out with you"

Charles had been right about the failings of Skype, he'd kept his promise and called her almost every other day, sometimes for a short chat every day, but despite all his smiles and fervent assurances that she was imagining things, she knew that he was keeping things from her and it left her feeling lonelier for him than ever. He had been right when he said that Skype was a poor substitute for a cuddle but it was better than nothing and although she'd started out feeling a bit dumb blowing kisses at an 'I' pad screen, it was now second nature, even if it wasn't anywhere near enough.

She missed him as if she had a limb missing and even though he'd been away for nearly five weeks and they were now on the countdown to the homeward stretch, she still hadn't quite come to terms with the emptiness of the rooms when she got in from work which was strange for someone who'd lived alone for a long time before she'd met him, and who'd been very happy with that arrangement. She still found herself storing up little nuggets of stuff during the day, silly things that had struck her as funny or strange or bloody ridiculous and she still found their bed incredibly empty and lonely without him, especially when she woke in the night. She did her very best to be cheerful and her normal snippy self when she talked to him, but she'd drawn up a sort of advent calendar to help her count down the days till he was back.

It wasn't the only countdown calendar that she was operating, she had a second on the go to mark off the days until Lauren pissed off on maternity leave, it was sometimes a close run thing which event couldn't come quick enough for her. The atmosphere between them had been poisonous for quite a while after their little 'discussion' but had sort of settled down a bit eventually, on the surface anyhow, but they would never ever be what you might call friends again. Molly couldn't see her being asked to be godmother to their poor little baby somehow, but she had a funny feeling it could get well awkward if, as she suspected, Smurf asked Charles to be godfather, he was always so full of bloody hero worship that it was a distinct possibility.

Daisy parked the car with the sort of insouciant disregard for marked parking spaces that would have had Molly's driving instructor turning purple with apoplexy, her philosophy seemed to be of the 'near enough is good enough' variety.

"Come on then, you go on in and I'll wait for you here"

"Nah, don't be daft" Molly looked at her watch "We're early, let's go and get a cuppa till … you know… it's time"

-OG-

"Do I look alright?"

"You look lovely dear, now off you go and stand by the barrier so that he'll see you as soon as he comes through"

"You come too"

"Don't be ridiculous, it's not his old mum that he wants to see, it's you" Daisy patted her arm "I'll go and wait in the car"

Sick, churning, excited anticipation in the pit of her stomach had meant that she hadn't been able to swallow the tea, which was horribly weak and milky anyway because her hands were shaking so badly that she'd slopped way too much milk in it. She had no idea what Daisy had been chattering about, something to do with Sam and Christmas because she was suffering from some sort of tunnel vision which meant she could only concentrate on the board and the arrivals doorway and had had to keep on saying 'sorry?' to Charles' mum.

And then he was there. Looking around anxiously as he came through with his teeth looking very white against tanned skin as he gnawed at his bottom lip with his eyes screwed up in concentration scanning the room, obviously looking for her. He missed her on his first sweep because she was actually standing right in front of him, but then he'd swept her off her feet into a vice-like hug, his eyes screwed tightly shut as neither of them said a word for ages beyond 'hello'.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

"I am now, where's mum?"

"Daisy's waiting outside in the car, she's all tactful your mum isn't she?"

"Yup, she's not bad as mum's go" He put his arm round her waist and started to steer her in the direction of the exit doors, waving and nodding in acknowledgment of people as they went, but without stopping to speak to anyone.

"Don't you have to say goodbye and bugger off to that lot?"

Molly nodded and waved in acknowledgement of 2 section who were standing in a group together with their friends and family and forming an avid audience.

"Nope, seen enough of them in the last six weeks to last a bloody lifetime, and next time I'm in an airport it'll be you and me going somewhere hot and sunny where you can wear your bikini all day and make an old man very happy, now come on let's go and find my mother and go home, you promised me a welcome home party, remember?"

"Did I? …. you sure? …. Well in that case, if I promised …. …"

"I thought for one horrible moment you were going to play hard to get again"

"Nah, pushover that's me"

-OG-