She flung the door open and stepped out into the sweltering heat. Her heart was racing and her blood was boiling as Killian, Gold and Aziz followed her out of the container.

"We have to go to Kabul! We have to get Leila out of there. If Kazim knows where she is then…"

"Slow down, Swan. We know Kazim is headed that way but there is no way he can know where Leila is. No matter, we will send word to the team assigned to Leila and double the presence around the orphanage." Gold said, attempting to calm her down. "Now, go and get some rest whilst we figure out our next move." He said with a small smile.

"Yes, Sir." She said, sighing and turning to move back to the tent.

She must have zoned out because before she knew it, she was approaching their tent. Anger was still brewing inside her at the thought of Leila getting hurt. She shoved the flap out of the way, clearly alarming the rest of the section who were lounging around on their beds until she stormed in at which point all heads turned to her.

"Emma? What happened?" Neal asked, standing to block her path, a look of panic on his face.

"Don't worry, I can take a punch." She said bitterly.

"You serious?" Jeff asked.

"It's not a big deal, alright?" She said, shoving past Neal and collapsing on her bed.

"How'd it go then?" Rob called.

"He wasn't there. There were 3 guys in there, none of them were Kazim but one was his son, Leila's brother. He's the one that clobbered me and he blames me for his family falling apart and he said that Leila isn't safe anymore so all in all it was pretty shit." She blurted out at a ridiculous pace as the rest of her section just stared at her, mouths hanging open at her words. She sat up, rubbing her eyes with the ball of her palm and scrunching her face up, trying not to breakdown right in front of everyone. "Sorry." She said quietly.

"You've got nothing to apologise for Em. And listen, don't listen to what that piece of shit says. You saved that little girl and she is safe so you've got nothing to worry about." Rob said, walking over and sitting on her bed, placing his arm around her shoulders loosely. A small smile tugged at her lips and she couldn't help but feel comforted at his words. He had a way of doing that, even Jones had melted at his words once or twice.

"Thanks. Look, I think I'm just gonna take a walk, I'll see you guys in a bit." She said, standing and heading for the exit. Neal headed the same way and caught her up just outside the tent.

"Em?" He called. She turned and smiled when she saw him following her.

"Hey." She said in almost a whisper.

"Look, we'll get him. Kazim I mean. We'll get him and take him down and…" He stopped mid-sentence and placed his hands on her shoulders, moving his face a little closer to hers. "… He will never, ever hurt you. Not while I'm around." He spoke with such honesty that tears filled her eyes.

"Thanks Neal." She leant up and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "See you in a bit." She said, heading off towards her favourite thinking spot on base.

She walked for a while before she felt someone's presence behind her.

"Swan?" Jones was running to catch up with her though it didn't take much considering how slow she was going.

"Sir." She said quite curtly.

"Where are you going?" He asked, suspiciously.

"I just needed a walk." She said honestly.

"Look, none of this is your fault." He said.

"Yeah right." She snorted.

"You can't blame yourself. You did what you thought was right Emma…"

"Yeah I did!" She turned and shouted at him. "And what came of it? I ripped that family apart! If I hadn't stuck my nose in Leila would still be with that bastard and their Father and she would still be suffering! So why the hell do I feel so guilty? Because every time I close my eyes I see her face with that bomb strapped to her only this time she doesn't get away. I mean for god sake if I hadn't come out here, Sahau would still be alive right now!" She screamed in his face and didn't even care.

"Come here." He gestured towards one of the small offices. She followed reluctantly and climbed in when he opened the door for her. She looked around the small space, noticing the small desk covered in paperwork. He closed the door and leant his gun up against the cupboard, briskly moving towards her, crossing his arms in-front of his chest.

"If Kazim wanted Leila dead, she already would be. The son's bluffing to rattle you, take your focus off the mission at hand because you're worrying about Leila." He said sternly.

"That kid just looked me in the eye and told me that it's all my fault." She said.

"Well now I'm looking you in the eye and telling you it isn't." He said, standing directly in front of her.

"It is. I'm a 'Class A' screw up." She said, bordering on a break-down.

"A few weeks ago I would have agreed. But you've made me engage my brain. You've opened my eyes to so much. I have learned more since knowing you than 4 tours ever have."

"I don't think so." She said sarcastically.

"Well I happen to know so. When I first saw you I thought you would hold the platoon back. One of those bad apples that ruins the rest."

"Well, maybe you were right." She said harshly.

"No, I wasn't. You made me realise that we have to fix the small things so that the whole, huge Afghanistan can work."

"But I haven't fixed anything, I've broken it." She said, the tears beginning to gather in the corner of her eye.

"No you haven't, you were right all along. We do need to get involved. We need to give that little girl a life. The only way we're going to fix the big things is by fixing the small, you taught me that."

"Really?" She felt overwhelmed. He nodded, his mouth hanging open loosely, his brows furrowing.

"You should be proud of the person you've become. I know I am." He said honestly but still in his Captain's voice. Jones was still talking, Killian hadn't made an appearance just yet.

"Thank-you, boss." She said quietly.

"I'm not always going to be your boss. Not when we get home." He had relaxed a little now and she thought that just maybe Killian was about to make an appearance.

"We?" She asked, confused and elated at the same time. Then, he scratched behind his ear, a nervous trait she had noticed in him. He unfolded his arms and put his hands in his pockets. He looked down at the ground for a second and when he looked up again he had a smile plastered on his face.

"Have you ever been to Dublin?"

"No, but it sounds a bit shit." She said gently. He laughed and that put a smile on her face too.

"Nah, it's perfect."

"Ah well, I don't do perfect. Not sure it exists really." She sat down on one of the two small chairs that stood against the wall, separated by a coffee table. He laughed again and sat down on the edge of the coffee table so he could be closer to her.

"There's a house there, my parent's house. Where I grew up." He said with a sense of pride that she admired.

"I don't like those old houses with big staircases that people fall down." She said, remembering a time from her childhood when her Dad had fallen down the stairs and they were convinced he wouldn't make it.

"It's truly beautiful, especially at Christmas." He said in a tone of admiration.

"You inviting me for Christmas, boss?" She asked, jokingly. He turned his head slowly and he had that look in his eye that told her he wasn't kidding. "Oh." She said a little more breathy than she had intended. Suddenly, the air around her felt dangerously thick. He stared at her for a few more seconds before slowly moving towards her, intertwining their fingers. She stared at their joined hands. It was a simple gesture but she knew that they were both pouring everything they wanted to say into that one small moment. She was pulled back to reality by a harsh knock at the door.

"Sir?"

Shit. She thought, if Neal caught her in here they were both screwed. He stood briskly, pulling his hand from hers as he spun around frantically.

"Urmm." He turned to the wardrobe and gestured for her to go inside. She simply nodded and stepped inside, making sure she had left no trace of her presence. It was dark in the cupboard but the small gap between the doors gave her enough of a visual.

"Come in Cassidy!" He shouted. She heard the door swing open and shut again.

"Sir?" He sounded nervous, she just didn't know why.

"Everything alright?" Killian asked, he stood with his arms crossed, leaning back against his desk, he was good at acting casual when the situation was anything but.

"I wanted to ask you something, Sir. If you don't mind?"

"Course not, what is it?" Neal stepped into her sightline where she could now see both men. He dug in his pocket before pulling out a small object that she couldn't quite see properly. Then, he moved it between his thumb and index finger and held it out to Jones. A ring. A silver ring with a diamond at the centre of it. "Well, I'm flattered Neal but you're really not my type." Killian said jokingly. Neal snorted but not as much as normal. She could see his hand shaking slightly.

"No, Sir. It's… I want to give it to Emma." She felt like the breath had been pulled from her lungs, and she had to slap her hand over her mouth to keep her gasp from being heard. Her head was spinning. Neal wanted to marry her? She couldn't understand how he could think that they could marry when they barely knew eachother.

"Neal…" Killian's voice pulled her from her frantic thoughts. He had a stony look on his face and his voice was back to Captain Jones rather than Killian. "You need to put that ring away and we are going to act like this never happened." He said coldly.

"But, Sir…"

"Do you have any idea how many army rules you would be breaking?" Killian's voice was getting louder by the second.

"Isn't love more important than regulations?"

"Nothing is more important than army regulations Cassidy."

"But I…"

"Put the damn ring away!" Killian shouted. Neal stepped back sharply, clearly shocked by his outburst. He put the ring slowly back in his pocket and turned towards the door. His face looked like he had just been repeatedly punched in the stomach, he looked totally wrecked. She was about to let out a small sigh when Neal spoke.

"Sorry Sir. I just wanted some advice. I thought you were the best person to ask, I mean how did you propose to your wife?"