A/N A big thank you to all of you who have taken the time to give a review. We finally turned the bend in this Chapter and the action should come hot and heavy shortly. Hope you enjoy this chapter that contains a little confrontation between Bates and Robert. Is there trouble in RoBates paradise?

Same disclosure… this isn't mine because if it was, Bates and Anna would be busy doing their best imitation of "Cheaper by the Dozen" Downton Abbey style.

John was shaken. He knew it, but didn't want to admit it. His world had been slowly but surely crumbling around him this past month. Starting with Vera, followed in short order by his dad, Liam, his mum, and now Mick and his accusations towards the country he'd sworn to defend, Bates felt like he was living inside of a typhoon.

His beliefs, the truths that he had based his life on, all seemed false and had him questioning the choices he'd made for his life. His future, which once appeared so clear, was nowhere to be seen now. It was grey, and clouded over like London in the fog, and he felt a chill run through his body as he tried to reassess what his options might be.

He stayed in his room for a while, trying to corral his thoughts. Make some sense out of the past fortnight. But it was useless. There was no one unifying theme that would serve as a base for him as he reviewed, rearranged, and tried to create some semblance of order in his now fractured life.

The only thing he could turn to right now to give him any hope of direction was the Army. That is, providing he just didn't think too hard about what Mick had said; And if he just let his military career with it rules and regulations and requirement of blind obedience just take him over. Bates knew he would be able to function within that structure. No reflecting on the past, or even the future. All he had, and knew was the now. His life going forward would be simpler to lead if he just stuck to the rules and followed orders. He felt like two of the characters in the recently published book, "The Wizard of Oz"

Blimey, I'm part tin man, part scarecrow he laughed bitterly. Mindless and without a heart was the only way he could survive this time in his life.

Having finally decided that his military career would be his guide, John felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders, Relieved, he headed to Colonel Crawley's stateroom. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation with Robert. He knew he had done his best and got the most information possible from Mick. But feared it may not be enough for his commanding officer.

A couple of loud knocks and John heard Robert bid him come in.

"Sgt. Bates…Good…Good. I was hoping to hear from you soon. What did you find out from Doogan? Did he confess his guilt and answer all our questions?" Robert, who was seated, looked up eagerly into Bates' face

"He did indeed, sir. That is he confessed and gave up his reason for turning traitor." Bates hoped that would suffice, but Robert pressed on.

"What reason did he give? Let me guess…Irish independence? Or was it that tired old belief that we've been persecuting the Catholics around Ulster? Religious freedom, I bet. Bloody left-footers!" Robert was sure that it was either or both of those reasons for Doogan's turncoat behavior.

"It was none of that, sir. Rather, Private Doogan claimed it was a moral stand that fueled his actions. He acted in protest of the refugee camps that we've established in South Africa. He was assigned as a guard to the camp and claimed to see such horrors, such inhumanity, that he felt he must do something to ease the camp dwellers' burden. He disagrees vehemently with Lord Kitchener's tactics and sought to bring to the light the real reason that this war is being waged." Bates felt his cheek twitch as he addressed Colonel Grantham.

"And what of accomplices on board this ship…Did he name them? How many more do we need to round up before we reach the Cape? Are there additional plans to disrupt our mission? How much do they know?"

"I'm afraid he wouldn't say, Sir" Bates noted the look of obvious distress pass across the colonel's face.

"Wouldn't say? What do you mean he 'wouldn't say'? Bates, my good man…that is…Sergeant Bates…that response is simply not good enough. You make it sound as if you gave him a choice of whether or not to answer the question! The lives of all of the men on this mission, the mission itself are all hanging in the balance. You must get him to give up his accomplices and their plans. Use whatever force is necessary. I don't care how you get the information, just get it... You're dismissed!"

Robert looked down at the papers on his desk, but after a few moments looked up to see John still standing at attention.

"Sergeant Bates… You're dismissed. Did you not hear me?" The colonel's tone became more strident. He wasn't used to having his commands ignored.

"I heard you perfectly Colonel Crawley. But, I'm requesting permission to speak, Sir"

Robert eyed Bates carefully and noted the muscles twitching in his cheeks, his gaze unblinking. Something was obviously bothering the man. He decided to hear what his sergeant had to say. "Permission granted, Bates."

"Thank you, Sir. I spent several hours with prisoner Doogan this morning. He'd been roughed up before I had a chance to interview him, however. I believe the intent, according to one of the guards was to soften him up for the interrogation." Bates noted that Robert did not seem surprised, and wondered if it had been done with the colonel's blessings.

"I do not believe that there is anything more that I can do personally, sir, to "persuade" the man to talk any further. He gave us his reasons, of which he is quite proud, and his belief in his cause he feels is just. He'll not betray others who share his beliefs. There is nothing more I can do, sir to gain any more information."

Robert was sitting on the edge of his desk now, regarding Bates with a new light.

"Can do, or are willing to do, Sergeant?" "Think carefully before you answer, Sergeant, but if I ordered you to go back and use whatever means necessary to get the answers to my questions…You understand that it would be a direct order from your superior officer to do so… Would you still refuse?"

As a soldier, John knew what the answer should be. But as an honorable man, he knew there was only one answer he could give. He prayed that Robert wouldn't ask it of him.

To disobey a direct order would ruin his career. Colonel Crawley could bust him down to private or worse throw him in the brig. Bates decided that the best course of action was to say nothing. If Robert ordered him to obey his command, then and only then John would simply have to refuse. His life, his dreams for the future in the military would be over.

Robert stood now and walked directly towards Bates. He stopped a few inches in front of him and studied the man further. John was the finest soldier and batman he'd ever served with…A man of honor and integrity. He was on track to rise to the top rank that an enlisted man could achieve. Yet, here he stood willing to disobey a direct order and throw it all away. Over what? Principles? And whatever the sergeant perceived as the moral thing to do?

The Colonel was suddenly overcome with the enormity of the situation. Should he give Bates a direct order, knowing already in his heart that his sergeant would refuse to obey and destory not only his career, but quite possibly his life? It was the colonel's right as his commanding officer, certainly, to demand obedience to his orders. But did he really want to test John's mettle and risk losing him as an excellent comrade-in-arms and a friend?

The alternative seemed so much simpler. He could simply dismiss him with no further words. It would spare Bates the humiliation of being sent to the brig for insubordination and failure to carry out a direct command. Colonel Crawley knew that Bates would never acknowledge it, but he would owe Robert for sparing him.

John continued to stand at attention as Robert slowly walked around him. He stood and waited for the order that would end it all. His relationship with the colonel was borderline between being respectful of each other's abilities as soldiers to a slight familiarity apart from the military, more of a friendship. The longer John stood, the more nervous he became. Not because his response to a direct order from the Colonel would be a refusal to do so, but rather because he knew that refusal would be the end of his career and his connection with Robert.

Colonel Crawley finally stopped walking and turned his head so his lips were inches from Bates' ear.

John found himself holding his breath waiting for those three little words…"That's an order" to come from the colonel's mouth. He heard Robert inhale and then slowly hissed three words into Bates' ear.

"You're dismissed, sergeant."

John felt a wave of relief wash over his body as he spun towards the door and quickly exited his commanding officer's stateroom. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest arhythmically as he made his way back to his cabin.

Colonel Crawley had spared him. He hadn't been forced to choose between his career and what he knew to be right. Again a sigh of relief emerged from his lips as he sat on the edge of his bed. John was well aware that had it been another officer, he might very well be sitting in the brig with Doogan now. He wasn't sure what prevented Robert from pushing the order, but he was grateful that he served under such a humane commanding officer.

The rest of the day went by with no drama. John spent the remains of the day, relaxing in his cabin reading some Yeats, evoking memories of his very early childhood in Ireland. Before they moved to Whitechapel, before it all went terribly wrong.

The next morning John woke up refreshed, for the first time in a month. He hoped that the worse was behind him. The thought of getting started on the mission in a couple of weeks excited and invigorated him.

As he made his way to the mess hall, he couldn't help but notice the noisy hum that was emitting from the room. Something must be up, he mused to himself. Spying Thomas Fellowes in line for food, John somewhat reluctantly made his way towards the Private.

"Good morning Fellowes. What's the news? I can't help but notice a buzz in the air. Do you know what it's all about?"

Once he got over the surprise of Sgt. Bates cordially addressing him, Thomas cleared his throat and nodded to the Sergeant. "Aye, Sgt. Bates. Guess you haven't heard the latest then?"

"Indeed, I have not Fellowes. What is it?"

"It's Doogan sir. They found him dead in his cell this morning. The guards said he broke his neck. Must have slipped and fell and broke it."

John felt a cold chill race up his spine. Mick's prophetic words that he would indeed have to die came echoing back to Bates.

"At any rate…No big deal, right Sarge? It saves His Majesty having to waste some valuable wood and rope building a gallows to hang him. He were a villain and doomed to meet his Maker once we reached Cape Town. His clumsiness just made it happen a week or two earlier," Thomas continued to snark.

Before Bates could reply, Fellowes quickly turned on his heel and left, leaving John stunned and saddened by the news.

His appetite gone, the young sergeant began to head back towards his cabin. But he stopped himself and decided instead to go to Colonel Crawley's room. He wondered if Robert had been told of Doogan's death yet. He also hated to admit the possibility, but John wondered if the colonel's need to know everything from Mick lead to the "accident" that claimed Doogan's life.

John rapped on the Colonel's door and walked in after Robert said to enter.

"Begging your pardon, sir. But I was wondering if you had heard the news concerning Private Doogan?"

"News? What news is there regarding that traitor? Robert spat the sentence out. Has he finally decided to cooperate and tell us who his associates are and their plans? Or don't tell me you were able to get him to talk, Sergeant?"

John was relieved at Robert's line of questions. It meant two things. One that Colonel Crawley hadn't heard of Mick's demise yet. And knowing this greatly eased his concern whether Robert had been involved in the private's accidental death. Bates felt the tension leave his body. He knew Robert like a brother, knew he was good at a number of things…but acting wasn't one of them.

"No sir, it's not that. I regret to inform you sir. But, private Mick Doogan had a fatal accident overnight. He's dead."

Colonel Crawley remained behind his desk. It was obvious that the news had shocked him.

"How did it happen?"

"The guards think he slipped or tripped somehow and broke his neck. There is no coroner aboard ship. So it is the ship's doctor's best guess at this point. Am I correct in assuming that we will hold a burial at sea?"

"What..?" Robert was clearly not prepared to deal with Doogan's death. "Burial at sea? Yes. I assume that's the proper way to handle it. Will you follow up on the details, Sergeant? Let me know the date and time and I'll be at the service."

"And what of his family, Colonel? Will you write them?" Bates knew that Mick's mom and dad were both alive and that he was the oldest of 5 children.

"You knew him far better than I, Sergeant. They would probably prefer receiving a letter from someone that actually had lived and worked with the man. No need to mention his situation or where he died…Nothing to be gained by it." The colonel paused and then continued. "Thank you for the information, Sergeant Bates."

Robert then turned so his back was to John… "That is all."

Sergeant Bates returned to his cabin. Only this time he didn't seek solace in his novels or poems, but rather hunkered down in his room, alone with his thoughts, specifically the ramifications of Doogan's "accidental" death. He brooded over whether an accident was truly what Mick succumbed to. He found it very difficult to believe the guard's description of what happened. But he also realized that it really was not his role to serve as an investigator into the private's death. It would be up to the Colonel to make the decision if there should be an inquest. And based on the number of days before the ship reached land, Bates knew that due to their circumstances the decision had already been made. The case of the traitor, Mick Doogan had been decided and was closed. John sat up and leaned over the small desk in his room. Finding paper and a pen, he began to write the Doogan family.

The rest of the voyage to South Africa went smoothly...Which was a miracle as far as Bates was concerned.

When they were a day out of Cape Town, Robert summoned John to his stateroom.

"We have a slight problem sergeant. But I think I've figured out a solution. Just want to run it past you, as it does involve your team."

"I'm eager to hear what you've decided, then Sir."

Bates had an idea where Robert's concern lay. Each team consisted of 4 members. Currently John's team consisted of Culver, the recently cleared for duty Jamie Smythe and himself. But that left them a man short. There had been a lot of time and effort expended in spreading the word to the Boer guerillas in the Transvaal that a renegade 4 man commando group had been seen conducting most effective raids on small British encampments. In order to pull off the masquerade there had to be four men on the team.

"I need to add another member to your team, Sergeant. I've thought long and hard about this, and well… my choice I believe is the correct one."

"I'm sure you've come to your decision through hard and sober deliberation, sir."

"Indeed. I have. I've asked him to join us." No sooner had Robert spoken than there was knock on the door.

"Ah, excellent, that must be him now. Right on time." Robert stood up and walked over to the door, opening it. He turned to John and then proceeded with the introductions.

"I'm delighted to inform you who I've selected as your new team member.… Thomas Fellowes."