Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:54:02 +0100 From: Mikki Subject: Love in the Army Chapter 2 This story is copyrighted to myself its writer and cannot be copied in any way shape or form without my express written permission. This story is fiction and any resemblance to persons or events are purely coincidental. If you are underage or don't like stories of a homosexual nature please leave now otherwise please enjoy the story. I welcome comments please send them to Mikkiwriter@gmail.com I did originally plan this as a one off story but due to the wonderful feedback I have received I have decided to write a second chapter. Thanks to Nifty for hosting my stories and here's to another 20 years of our favourite story site. It's a big year for me as well as I hit 40 on the 28th of April Now on with the story...... Love in the Army Chapter 2 Tom over the last few months has taken a few months away from the Family Liaison as he was selected for officer training. Tom thought long and hard about it but with Ben away on operations in Afghanistan he decided what the hell. In his absence Alex had taken command of the flo and had been assigned help from a different barracks. Tom had passed out as a Major and was awaiting his official posting. Tom was to be posted to the flo but wasn't sure whether that would be still in the same unit or at another unit. He returned to 4th company a few weeks ago and at the moment he was still classed as a sergeant. The last few weeks have flown by. Tom was busier than ever with more and more wounded soldiers arriving back in the UK daily. Ben was now the permanent unit corporal following the terrible injuries suffered by Andrew. The unit commanding officer has also recently changed and the new one was no other than Major Darren Thompson who commanded the unit briefly before Bradley and Tom hated him. Tom was also busy planning his upcoming civil partnership ceremony with Ben. Tom was sat in his office when Alex walked in and said "Sgt Williams from the Royal Military Police on the phone" "Thank you Alex" Tom replied "Sgt Tom Rees can I help you?" Tom replied "Hi Tom its Phillip here I was hoping you can help me with an AWOL case a young private called Simon Tyler I believe you know him?" Philip said "Umm oh yes that's the young private that went off on compassionate leave after his grandmother passed away" Tom said "Yeah but according to his commanding officer he was supposed to report back yesterday and has failed to return" Philip replied "Yeah he was supposed to return yesterday to be honest I was so snowed under I hadn't checked up on him" Tom said "well Tom that's why I have phoned you seems there has been a big mix up when we arrived at his home this morning he was there and was amazed when we told him we were there to arrest him for being AWOL he showed us the paperwork he was given by hq and the date on that was next Friday" Philip said "He was only given one week as Major Thompson wants the lads ready for their next tour starting in five weeks" Tom said "Well I spoke to Major Thompson and he is not prepared to drop the charges as he is adamant that the mistake must have come from your department" Philip said "Why doesn't that surprise me he doesn't like me and told me last week that I am a coward and that I should be on active service and not in a desk job" Tom said "Yeah he is a right one I think he is the worst major I have to deal with" Philip said "ok Philip I will come over to see the young lad now and reassure him it is a mistake and it will be sorted and then I will try and get through to Major Thompson that the mistake is at HQ and not my departments" Tom said Tom arrived at the Military Police station and met Philip. Philip took him to the cell area where he saw a very upset Simon sat there. Tom walked over and said "hi Simon I am sorry about this cock up mate don't get upset I promise you I will personally sort this out ok in the mean time mate you will have to stay here" "it's not being here that's has upset me it is the fact I was taken from my home in handcuffs and brought back here like a criminal when it's not my fucking fault" Simon said "I can understand that would be upsetting for you and your family mate" Tom said "It didn't happen to you did it" Simon said crying Tom felt for the young man and sat down next to him and put his arm round him and said "listen to me ok I promise you this will be sorted and I will speak to your family and explain to them what has happened ok don't let this get to you these things happen sometimes" Simon calmed down and said "thank you" Tom walked out of the cell area and asked "could I use a phone please?" Tom tapped in the number and a man answered "Major Thompson's office" "Can I speak to Major Thompson please its Sergeant Tom Rees family liaison?" "Sergeant Rees what can I do for you?" Major Thompson said "I need to speak to you about a young private in your unit Private Simon Tyler" Tom said "The Awol case what's that got to do with family Liaison?" Thompson replied gruffly "Well the military police contacted me as it was the flo dept that sorted out Private Tyler's leave" Tom replied "Yeah now get to the point why are you phoning me about this case" Thompson replied "Well sir it seems that the letter sent to Private Tyler by HQ gave him a different return date that we agreed" Tom replied "There was no mistake in any letter sent from my department" Thompson replied "Well sir I am looking at the letter it is quite clearly says next Fridays date and not yesterday as the date of return" Tom replied "Well as I said he is up on a charge and will have to take it like a man as I have no intention of dropping charges. It's time the men in this unit understand I run thing differently to my predecessor and I don't take no shit and another thing I don't like sergeants trying to put the blame on me for their incompetence and I will be speaking to your superior officers about it" Thompson said "Ok that's your choice sir" Tom said "Anyway I haven't got all day speaking to you I got things to do goodbye" Thompson said slamming the phone down Tom wanted to scream and picked up the phone and rang his boss. Major Paul Dexter. "Hi Tom long time no speak mate" Paul said "Hi Paul sorry to disturb you I know you are busy but I have a big problem" Tom said "Oh what is the problem mate you sound pissed off" Paul replied "it's the new commanding officer of 4th company he is a nightmare to work with and has a serious attitude problem against me and my unit and I can't deal with it he will be phoning you so I thought I ring you for some advice on a case I have" Tom said "Yes Major Thompson is old school and doesn't see the worth of the family liaison stick in there mate he isn't worth chucking it in mate" Paul said "Yeah I know anyway this case a young private was given a week's compassionate leave but was sent a confirmation letter from his office telling the young private two weeks leave. The young lad taking his leave as he thought and then was arrested for being AWOL now I have explained the mistake to Major Thompson and he said tough now this young private is now up in front of the court because of that idiot's mistake" Tom said "Well first of all the military police have the authority to drop the charges if they feel that there is no case to answer so that is one way around it" Paul said "Ok so who would I need to speak to?" Tom asked "Well Tom it is not something you can do it has to come from a higher ranking officer so if you email me all the details I will put the ball in motion mate" Paul replied "Oh ok no problem I can do that but what about Thompson I cannot work with him" Tom said "leave him to me I will speak to his superior Colonel Thomas and get him to sort him at the end of the day it is army rules that set up the Flo and if he cannot put up with that well maybe he should leave". Paul said "He has never liked me I had the misfortune of working with him when he was the unit commander before for a few months in fact I nearly quit the army because of him" Tom said "yeah he is one of the most difficult commanding officers I have had to deal with since I took this job mate and hq are well aware of his attitude problem" Paul said "its Ben I feel sorry for he has to work with the idiot for now but thankfully Ben is on his last few weeks with 4th company as he is on rotation and is joining 8th company from next week" Tom said "Oh so Ben will be moving barracks then?" Paul asked "yeah which is a pain we don't see each other much now but probably won't see each other at all when he moves" Tom said "Ok well email me all the details of this case over and I will start the ball rolling tell the young lad not to worry it will be sorted" Paul said "Ok sir thank you for your advice I will tell him" Tom said Paul rang off and immediately rang Colonel Thomas "Colonel Thomas's office" the reply came "Hello I wonder if I can speak to Colonel Thomas please its Major Paul Dexter family liaison" Paul replied "One moment please" the voice replied "Hi Paul what can I do for you" Rhydian replied "hi Rhydian sorry to disturb you but umm we have a issue with a young private in 4th company Tom Rees my sergeant who is assigned to that unit among others has spoken to Major Thompson and he isn't listening to what Tom is saying" Pail said "What's the problem?" Rhydian said "Well the young private was issued with one weeks compassionate leave because he grandmother passed away he was then given written confirmation for 2 weeks. The young man didn't return to barracks after the first week thinking he had been assigned two weeks and now he has been arrested for being Awol and Major Thompson is refusing to budge and has insisted that the young man goes up in front of the court" Paul said "Ok well I take it we have the letter the young lad was given?" Rhydian said "Yes we do have it Tom has just emailed me a copy of it and it is quite clear that it is a typo error and that the lad hasn't done nothing wrong" Paul said "Can you email me a copy and I will sort it personally I didn't appoint Thompson to 4th company but since he has been there the moral of men has gone down the pan and I have had several request for rotation" Rhydian said "my biggest problem is that he doesn't like the flo and Tom and him have a history I believe he nearly got tom kicked out when tom first joined 4th company he is always putting the flo down and we cannot work like that we need the support of the unit commanders so that we can do our job properly and he had a go at Tom for not being an active solider as well. I don't know if you know Tom but he has had three tours in Afghanistan and the last tour he did his best friend died out there this is not a best friend from the army but his next door neighbour and someone he had grown up with. Tom agonised whether to join the flo and he is passionate about his job and I am getting worried that he might quit and that would be a big blow to my department" Paul said "I know Tom he is a good guy and I will sort Thompson out I have been planning to sort out 4th company for a little while and this has made my mind up we need a big change in that unit" Rhydian said "Ok sir I will leave it to you I will email that letter to you and leave it in your hands thank you for listening to me rant" Paul said "That's ok we all need to rant sometime" Rhydian said Ben and the lads were in the barracks when Sgt Tim Bonner walked in and said the lads all stood and Sgt Bonner said "listen up Major Thompson orders all personal in 4th company are confined to barracks until 19:00 Wednesday" and walked out Ben was fuming and picked up his mobile and rang Tom who was sat at home awaiting Ben. "Hi babes" Tom said "Hey sorry babes Thompson has gone nuts and confined the whole unit to barracks so I cannot come home tonight" Ben said "What a bastard!" Tom said "I know babes but what can I do" Ben said "I know babes well I guess I will see you tomorrow" Tom said "Ok I love you" Ben said "Love you too" Tom replied Unbeknown to tom it wasn't Thompson who ordered the unit was confined to barracks but the colonels. Colonel Thomas had arrived at the base unannounced early that day and had spent three hours debriefing Major Thompson and relieving him of his command. Major Thompson would be moving to a desk job with immediate effect and a new commanding officer Major Daffyd Lewis would be taking command of 4th company. All rotation of troops would be cancelled and Rhydian hoped this would sort out the low morale in the unit The next morning Tom arrived at the base and spotted a lorry outside Major Thompson's house packing furniture into it. Tom thought that was strange but carried on and parked his bmw outside his office and went in. Alex was on the phone and said "he has just walked in sir" Alex said "Colonel Thomas on the phone for you" "Good morning sir what can I do for you?" Tom said "Good morning Tom I was phoning you to bring you up to speed on the private Simon Tyler" "Oh you are dealing with that case now then?" tom replied "well actually there is no case it was a genuine mistake and the private Tyler will be reporting back to 4th company today with no further action I want to thank you for your help in this and other cases you have helped with since you have been attached to 4th company" Rhydian said "Well if only Major Thompson has listened to me in the first place we wouldn't have had to go up the command chain sir" Tom said "that's another thing I wanted to speak to you about Major Thompson has been removed as commanding officer of 4th company with immediate effect" Rhydian said "Oh wow really because of this case?" Tom said "yeah that's was the deciding factor but we haven't been happy at the way 4th company has been commanded since Major Evans left and we decided that this was the time for a change so you will meet Major Daffyd Lewis who will take command later today I think you will get on ok with him he knows the benefit of working alongside flo dept" Rhydian said "Ok that's good news sir" Tom replied "Yeah I think we all knew he was the wrong man for the job" Rhydian said "Anyway that's all I needed to speak to you about Tom and Tom don't hesitate to speak to me directly about anything ok" Rhydian said "Ok sir thank you sir" Tom replied Tom put the phone down and shouted "Alex" Alex walked in and saw Tom had a smile on his face. Tom said "guess what?" "No idea what's going on?" Alex said "Well it looks like Thompson has cooked his goose and has been removed as the commanding officer" Tom said "Really that explains a few strange goings on today" Alex said "Yeah I thought it was strange when I saw a lorry outside his quarters taking furniture away when I arrived" Tom said "yeah and there was a lot of top brass here last night when I called in to drop some files off I saw Colonel Thomas walk into Major Thompson's office". Alex said "There was also the strange confinement to barracks of the lads also Ben had to stay last night" Tom said "Yeah I heard about that never known that to happen unless they are on manoeuvres the next day" Alex said Private Gary James walked into Ben's room and said "Ben Bonner want to see you" "Thanks Gary I will go and see him now" Ben said Ben walked to Tim's room and knocked on the door "Come in Ben" Tim said Ben walked in and saw a major standing there with Tim "Ben I'd like you to meet our new commanding officer Major Lewis" Tim said "Hi welcome to 4th company sir" Ben said smiling "Thank you Ben I have heard a lot about you from a friend of mine Major Evans" Major Lewis said "You know Brad then" Ben said "yeah we go back a long way and he only had praise to say about you the second best corporal he has worked with" Daffyd said "That's good enough for me as I can imagine who he best corporal was" Ben said smiling "Right lads get all the lads out on parade ground I will meet them there in 10 minutes ok" Daffyd said "No problem sir" Ben replied thinking to himself thank god that idiot has gone. 4th company were all assembled out on the parade ground and Sgt Bonner called for attention as Major Lewis walked up and down the line of his men. Major walked into the middle and shouted "listen up men I am Major Daffyd Lewis and I have taken command of this unit I want to re-establish this unit as one of the best teams we have so I have a few announcements to make first of all guys all rotation requests have been denied no one is leaving the unit. Secondly recently the units morale has been really down I hope with my leadership we will get that back up to where it was before Major Evans moved on" Just as Major Lewis was talking a Military Police officer and a young private walked over to Major Lewis Private Simon Tyler reporting back for duty sir the young MP said "Thank you" Daffyd replied "Private Tyler joins the parade please" Daffyd said Simon smiled and said "yes sir" and marched and joined the unit. Ben smiled at Simon and Simon gave him thumbs up. Tom was sat in his office finishing off some paperwork when Alex buzzed "Major Lewis to see you sir "Alex replied "Ok send him in please "tom replied Tom stood up as Major Lewis walked in and said "pleased to meet you sir" "Likewise Tom I have heard a lot about you from Bradley Evans" Daffyd said smiling "Oh you know Brad do you sir" Tom said "Yeah you could say that Brad and I have been in a relationship for 3 years" Daffyd said "Oh you are that Daffyd yes he did mention you to me when I first started to see my partner Ben" Tom said "Tom can I ask you to keep that between us I don't want the men to know just yet" Daffyd said "Umm that might be difficult as I am in a relationship with one of the men in your unit sir" Tom said "Yes I am aware of that Tom and maybe you can tell Ben but no one else" Daffyd said smiling "I take you met my right hand man Corporal Alex Mills when you arrived sir" Tom said "Yeah he seems a nice lad" Daffyd said "yeah this department wouldn't function properly without him but it is getting harder and harder with more and more work and just us two we were promised a couple of newbie's but it never happened" Tom said "Yeah must be difficult" Daffyd replied "Now Tom if you need anything my door is always open I know my predecessor didn't like the family liaison dept but like Brad I know it's worth so don't hesitate to call me ok" Daffyd said "Thank you sir" Tom replied "You can drop the sir Tom call me Daffyd unless we are on formal duties ok" Daffyd said "Ok Daffyd its nice meeting you and say hi to Brad next time you see him" Tom said "Will do Tom well I'd better get back and let you get on" Daffyd said "Oh one thing Daffyd please don't confine the lads for tonight I would like have Ben home" Tom said smiling "That's was Colonel Thomas's orders" Daffyd said "Oh ok but not tonight hopefully" Tom said "No the lads are free to do what they want tonight" Daffyd said Tom felt really happy after Daffyd left and went out into the outer office and said "what you think of our new commanding officer then" "Yeah he seems a good guy" Alex replied "Yeah that's what I thought the sort of guy that you can go to if you have a problem" Tom said Tom went back to his paperwork when Alex buzzed again "Yes Alex" tom said "Paul on the line for you" Alex said "Hi Paul what can I do for you?" Tom asked "Hi Tom you know I promised you some help a while back?" Paul said "Yeah and nothing happened" Tom said "Well I got a young private and a young lance corporal who have just come into the family liaison operations unit Private David Milton is young private who was injured in training who wanted to stay in the army not sure if he will be suitable but if you willing to give him a go" Paul said "well don't forget Alex was injured like that and he is a great guy so yeah I will give him a go I'm sure me and Alex will have him under our wing" Tom said "The other one is Lance Corporal Philip Trent. Philip was injured in Afghanistan last year and was a case that my office dealt with. His injuries are more physiological than physical he has scars but apart from that he has a good heart and he wants to help families". Paul said "well he sounds like a man on a mission I think he would fit in just fine send me their files and get them here so we can get them started" Tom said Paul said "oh yes Tom nearly forgot you need to report to HQ tomorrow for a debrief" "Oh ok" Tom said Later that day Tom was sat at home thinking why he had to go to HQ. Ben arrived home and saw tom sat there and walked over and said "what's a matter babe?" "Well for some reason I have to go HQ tomorrow for a debrief but don't know why" Tom said Ben smiled and said "I'm sure it will be ok babes" Ben then sat next to him and kissed him. Tom smiled and said "god I'm glad you are here tonight I don't think I would get through tonight without you" "You are really worried about this aren't you" Ben said "yeah I have never been recalled to HQ for a debrief unless there has been a big case on and at the moment we have a few outstanding cases and they are coming in thick and fast but it is nothing I cannot cope with and with the two new recruits coming on board it will be a lot easier for Alex and me" Tom said "Oh you are two new recruits?" Ben said "Yeah a lance corporal and a private joining us soon" Tom said Ben stood up and said "come on" he led Tom upstairs and into the bedroom. Ben started to kiss Tom again. Ben was soon stripping Tom out of his uniform and was dropped to his knees and started to suck on Tom's cock. Tom was moaning loudly as Ben sucked his cock faster and faster. Ben smiled and dropped his tight combat trousers and slowly lined his arse up and slowly pushed Tom's cock into his tight arse. Ben moaned as he felt his lovers cock go into his ready arse. Ben slowly started to ride tom's cock as Tom moaned louder and louder. Tom reached over and started to wank Ben's cock. Ben was moaning louder and louder as Tom lifted Ben legs over his shoulder and started to fasten his pace. Ben shouted "oh fuck" as his cock throbbed sending a huge load of his cum flying over Tom's hot body. Tom carried on pushing his cock in and out of Ben's tight arse. Tom soon pulled his cock out just as it throbbed sending his huge load of cum flying all over Ben's back. Tom grabbed Ben and kissed him and said "fuck I've missed you" Ben laughed and said "yeah I can see that" The lads crashed back onto the bed and drifted off to sleep in each other's arms. Tom woke up about an hour later and looked over at Ben who was sleeping and thought to himself "I am the luckiest man alive" Tom got up and jumped in the shower and then dressed in a t shirt and trackies and went downstairs and started to make something to eat. Ben woke up shortly later and noticed tom had gone. Ben got up and could smell something cooking downstairs he jumped in the shower and quickly dressed and headed downstairs and saw tom in the kitchen and said "babes why didn't you wake me?" Tom smiled and said "oh you looked so cute lying there asleep I thought I let you sleep a bit" Ben laughed and said "you silly bugger" Tom laughed "dinner will be about 10 minutes ok" Ben walked into the kitchen and put his arms round Tom and said "I love you" Tom smiled and said "yeah and I love you too" Next Day Tom was up early he needed to leave by 8am to get to HQ. Ben was up with him making sure he was ready. Ben knew why Tom had been recalled to HQ but had been sworn to secrecy. Ben and the unit were going to be there for the special ceremony. Alex was also in on it. Tom walked downstairs in his dress uniform and said "do i look ok?" Ben smiled and said "fuck you look hot as fuck in that" "ok that enough of that babes" Tom said laughing Tom said "well here goes nothing I'd better be off babes I see you tonight" Ben said "hold on you forgot something" Ben walked over and kissed Tom and said "now you can go" Tom laughed and said "well babes I'd better be off" Ben said "don't worry too much and take it in your stride" "Ok babes" Tom said Ben watched as Tom reversed his car out of the drive and immediately ran upstairs. Ben changed into his dress uniform and ran downstairs and picked up his mobile and rang and tapped in Rhys's number "Hi mates are you there yet?" Ben said "Hi Ben we have just arrived and your parents and the boys are here too" Rhys said "Well ok I will see you there but keep a low profile Tom is on his way there" Ben said "Ok we will we have been ushered into a side room and we had to park our cars out of sight" Rhys said "Yeah well I'd better get to the barracks see you soon ok?" Ben said "Ok mate" Rhys said Ben arrived at the barracks about ten minutes later and the unit was quickly into the troop carrier and on their way to the HQ barracks. Tom arrived and was met by Major Paul Dexter. "Hi Tom" Paul said "Hi Paul so what's this all about?" Tom said "It protocol Tom you have been away from the unit for a little while and we need to debrief you on a few other changes taking place shortly" Paul said "Oh ok" Tom said Tom noticed that there was a lot of activity going on around the parade grounds and said "so what's going on down there then?" "Umm not sure really I think it's some on the units going through the motions" Paul said An hour later Paul's phone rang "Major Paul Dexter" Paul answered "Paul we are all ready mate" Bradley replied "Ok mate" Paul replied Paul said "ok Tom time for a break mate lets go downstairs" "Ok "Tom said Tom followed as Paul walked out onto the parade ground and was shocked to see his family sat there alongside Ben's. "What's going on?" Tom said Paul laughed and said "Well actually I lied to you there is no debrief it's your official passing out mate" Thank you very much" Tom said laughing Colonel Thomas was standing in the middle as Paul and Tom marched out Tom was taken aback as he noticed that the whole of 4th company were standing there he noticed a smiling Ben and shot him a smile. Colonel Thomas shook Tom's hand and said "Tom you are an inspiration to many of these men standing here and it is with the greatest of pleasure that I issue you with your promotion to major with immediate effect. You will head up the Family Liaison operations unit for 7 units allowing Paul to concentrate on the remaining units. Tom then noticed someone being pushed in a wheelchair towards the middle and noticed that it was Corporal Andrew Thompson Andrew smiled and took the microphone and said "without the family liaison unit at 4th company which Tom headed I don't think I would be here today. Tom in particular has made sure that I have had the care and support I needed since that terrible day in Helmond province when I was badly injured. I met tom when I took over as the corporal in 4th company from him and I had to rebuild the unit back up. I have one particular memory when I first started at the unit tom had requested that we visit a colleague who had been injured in hospital. I decided that I wouldn't join them but Tom overruled me. I glad he did because it made me realise that as a unit we have to stick together and that has been what has happened to me since my injuries which is something I thank him for from the bottom of my heart." Tom had tears in his eyes and then spotted someone else walking up. Tom saw it was Rhys and Julie. Julie took the microphone and said "I have known Tom since he was six when I moved into the house next door with my children after my husband died and straight away he and my oldest son became best friends. That was what they remained and Matthew joined the army same time as tom and was in the same unit until he was killed five years ago. Tom has been our brick he has helped me and my family no end and I have and always will love Tom as my son. Tom was now crying and then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see a smiling Ben there. Rhys then said "tom made a promise to my late brother that he would look out for us and he has without him I would not be a fully qualified nurse today. I will be starting to work with injured soldiers shortly myself and my fiancée and son will be moving to be near to the rehabilitation unit where I will be working. So from the bottom of my heart I thank you tom for everything you have done for my family and in particular for being there for matt" Tom walked up to the microphone and said "I really don't deserve this praise what I have done is my job to the best ability I can. Rhys and Julie you are my family and always will be". Major Bradley Evans walked over and said "I met Tom when I took over 4th company and knew straight away he was someone special. With him as 4th company corporal he was a person the men looked up too and despite us getting a few knocks along the way the unit stayed solid. When tom decided to leave I was shocked but understood his reasons. When he decided to join the Family liaison operations unit I saw the compassionate man I saw that first day I met him. So it is with great pleasure that if give you this honour". Tom was crying and Ben whispered into his ears "Love You Major Rees" Tom laughed and whispered "wait till you come home tonight you swine" Tom couldn't believe that his family and Ben had hidden this from him and walked over to his mum and said "you hid this well I had no idea this was happening?" His mum laughed and said "well actually it was Ben he had us all organised from last week when he found out" "Oh so this was organised that long ago" Tom said "Well yes but Ben phoned us yesterday worried that it might not go ahead because of Major Thompson apparently he didn't want to do it" Lucy said "Well yeah I bet he didn't want to he hated me but we don't need to worry about him now" Tom said Tom walked over to Paul and said "i cannot believe you had me thinking i had done something wrong when you told me to be here yesterday" "Sorry mate it had to be done and when i received the orders to issue you your major rank it was obvious we needed to do this" Paul said Tom laughed and looked over at Ben and mouthed "you wait" Ben laughed and went back to his unit. A few weeks later Major Tom Rees had just arrived home after a busy day at the barracks. His partner corporal Ben Andrews was out on operations in Afghanistan again and Tom was worried as always for his safety. Tom had been home for an hour or so when there was a knock on his door. Tom walked to the door and saw acting Sgt Alex Mills and lance corporal Philip Trent standing there. "Hi guys what can I do for you?" Tom said Alex sighed and said "sorry sir this is not a social call I am sorry but Ben had been injured in an attack and is on his way home to hospital as we speak" Tom felt his legs go and he crashed to the ground sobbing. Alex and Philip helped him up and took him to the settee and sat down and said "HQ wanted someone else to inform you but I insisted it was me because I know how much Ben means to you Tom" Alex said Tom stood up and said "ok I need to be strong right so will you take me to the hospital?" "Of course I will Tom" Alex said "Has Ben's parents been informed?" Tom asked "Yeah as we speak two other colleagues have gone to inform them" Philip said "Well i need to make a phone call to my parents they will want to know" Tom said Lucy was sat watching a program on the TV when he phone rang "hello" Lucy said "Hi mum" Tom said "Oh hi tom is everything ok?" Lucy said "No mum it's not Ben's been injured i am on my way to the hospital where he has been flown too now" Tom replied "Oh hell I m sorry tom me and your dad will be there as soon as we can ok" Lucy replied Daniel saw his wife crying and said "what's happened?" "It's Ben he has been injured Tom is in pieces" Lucy said crying "Oh hells will that godforsaken place leave our family alone first Matt and now Ben" Daniel said hugging his wife "We need to pack Tom needs us "Lucy said Lucy packed a small suitcase and headed downstairs while Daniel phoned into his work to tell what had happened. Lucy and Daniel were putting the case into the car when Julie spotted them and said "where you off to?" Lucy walked over to Julie and said "we have just had some news Ben's been injured so we off to be with Tom" Julie took hold of Lucy and said "let me know if there is anything I can do and tell Tom to be strong I will ring Rhys see if he knows anything" "Just look after the house for us we not sure how long we will be gone for" Daniel said "Ok no problem take care and drive safely" Julie said "Thanks Julie I will ring you when I know anything ok" Lucy said Staff Nurse Rhys Taylor was working on the intensive care unit when his charge nurse Jayne called him over and handed him a file. "This is a new case which will arrive in the next hour or so you need to familiarise yourself with the case he is injured solider from Afghanistan so his injuries could be substantial" "Ok no problem" Rhys said picking up the file Rhys opened the file and saw the name Corporal Ben Andrews and knew straight away this was Ben. He walked over to Jayne and said "we have a problem I cant deal with this case I know him he is the partner of my late brothers best friend and since matt died Tom and Ben have been a big part of my life there is no way I can deal with this case sorry" "You are right I wouldn't want you to deal with this case you would be too close to it" Jayne said "Ok I will deal with this case you take the other one who is due in another solider Private Marcus James" Jayne said "ok no problem" Rhys said taking the other file away with him to read through the details of this young man's injuries he was sat in the quad when he spotted a very upset Tom walk through the door. Tom didn't spot Rhys straight away and went over to the main desk and asked if Ben had arrived yet. Rhys called Julie and said "that's Ben Andrews partner Tom Rees" "Oh ok I will go and talk to him now" Julie said "Would you mind if I went and talked to him I have known Tom all my life and he was there for me when Matt died" Rhys said "Ok not your case but Tom seeing a familiar face might help him" Julie said Rhys walked over to the desk and said "Tom" Tom looked over and saw Rhys standing there and started to cry. Rhys took hold of Tom and led him into a side room and said "I am sorry mate Ben is not here yet he will be here in the next hour" "Are you dealing with Ben then?" Tom asked "No mate I am not I am too close to him to be on his case" Rhys replied "Yeah I suppose" Tom said "But that doesn't mean I won't be seeing him a lot as we deal with all the cases here" Rhys said Rhys stayed with Tom for a little while and said "listen mate I have to go but I will be back later on ok?" "Yeah ok thanks Rhys" Tom said "Hey it's the least I can do after all the help you have given me over the last few years mate" Rhys said Rhys hugged Tom and said "see you later" and walked out to see Ben being rushed into the ICU room and his case being pushed into the next room. Rhys was soon in the thick of it with his case and didn't get finished for three hours later. He was walking out of the side room when he saw Ben's parents arrive. Rhys had met them a few times and he walked over and said "hello Mr. and Mrs. Andrews Tom is in here I'll let the doctor know you have arrived. Mrs Andrews walked into the waiting room to see a very upset looking tom sat there. She walked over and put her arm around him and said "have they told you anything Tom" "Not yet they still working on him" Tom said "We just seen Rhys he directed us here and said he was going to tell the doctors we are here" Mrs Andrews said "Well maybe they will speak to you" Tom said just then the door opened and Lucy and Daniel arrived Tom saw his mum and ran into her arms sobbing. Lucy looked over at Mr and Mrs Andrews and saw the tears rolling down their face as they saw their sons' boyfriend sob. Lucy managed to calm Tom down and sat there when a doctor walked in and said "Ben Andrews's family?" "Yeah that's us" Mr Andrews replied "Ok well if you would like to come with me to my office I will discuss Ben's injuries" Dr Roberts said "well is it ok if tom comes as well he is Ben's partner and he will need to know what's happening" Mrs Andrews said "Yes of course Rhys has already filled me in on the background so that's no problem" Dr Roberts said Tom Mr and Mrs Andrews left the relatives room just as the family of Private James arrived. Mr and Mrs Rees stayed there Rhys spoke to the James family and led them to the relatives room and said "Dr Roberts will be with you soon" Rhys saw Lucy and Dan sat there and said "hi Mr and Mrs Rees nice to see you where's tom?" "He has gone with the Andrews family to see Dr Roberts" Lucy said "Oh ok well I will see you later duty calls" Rhys said "Ok Rhys" Lucy said Tom and Mr and Mrs Andrews sat in the office when Dr Roberts said "well Ben injuries are not life threatening but it will be a while before he can leave hospital and lead a normal life again. He has crush injuries to his legs and at this moment we are not sure whether he will walk again" Tom started to cry and said "when can we see him?" "You will get to see him shortly he is being moved into a side room as we speak from ICU" Dr Roberts said "Not room 3 I hope" Tom said "Umm why not room 3?" Dr Roberts said "That's where he was the last time he was in here around 5 years ago when he was injured before" Tom said "I was reading that he had been here before in his records and I was a junior doctor and I think I was assigned to assist on his case then" Dr Roberts replied "Yeah I think I spoke to you about getting him discharged I am a Major in the family liaison unit but wasn't a Major then" Tom replied "Ben will need an operation on his legs and hopefully we can get mobility back in them" Dr Roberts said "I really hope so we supposed to be having a civil partnership ceremony later this year and I would like him to walk down the aisle for me" Tom said "Well that's something for Ben to aim for then" Dr Roberts said "Yeah absolutely" Tom said smiling Tom and Mr and Mrs Andrews went back to the relatives' room and Tom saw the other family sat there with Major Paul Dexter with them. Paul looked up and walked over to Tom and said "umm what you doing here?" "I thought Alex would have informed you Ben has been injured so I am victims' family not Family Liaison operations today" Tom said "no I have been snowed under with this case and another one so maybe Alex hasn't been able to contact me well you know where I am if you need me mate" Paul replied "Thanks Paul" Tom replied Six months later Tom has returned to work at the barracks and is as busy as ever dealing with the day to day problems the flo have to deal with. Ben meanwhile is still in hospital receiving treatment on his legs he has had a total of 7 operations on them and is slowly getting his mobility back. Tom visits the hospital when he can and gets a daily update from Rhys. Tom and Ben's civil partnership ceremony is taking place tomorrow and Tom has resigned himself to the fact that Ben would be in a wheelchair at the ceremony. However there has been a conspiracy going on and Ben has actually been walking unaided for a few days but he has sworn Rhys to secrecy as he wants to surprise Tom at the ceremony. Tom has asked Rhys to be his best man and Ben has asked Alex to be his. Both men accepted their roles. Ben's younger brothers were given usher roles. Rhys was so proud that Tom had asked him but knew that if Matt was alive he would be Tom's best man. Tom was in his home village in south Wales and headed to the local cemetery and to Matthews grave he place the flowers on the grave and said "Matt I miss you so much and tomorrow will be strange without you being there" Tom walked away and headed back to his parents home. The next morning It was chaos in the Rees household with everyone trying to get ready for Tom and Ben's ceremony. Unbeknown to Tom Ben was already at the manor house hotel where the ceremony was taking place and Alex and his wife Lisa were helping Ben get ready. Ben said to Alex "do you think I have done the right thing not telling Tom I am walking again?" Alex laughed and said "he will be balling his eyes out when you walk down that aisle later and he will so proud of you like we all are so don't worry about it" Tom and his family arrived at the hotel and were directed to the marquee on the lawn where the ceremony and reception would take place. Tom was taken aback on how beautiful the tables were decorated. Rhys and his wife Susan were already waiting for Tom and Rhys walked over to Tom and said "don't be so nervous everything will be fine" "I know it will be but can't help having a few nerves mate remember what you were like a few months ago when you got married" Tom said smiling Soon the marquee was getting full as guest started to arrive. Tom smiled and looks round and saw a proud Lucy and Dan sat down taking to Ben's mum and dad Sarah and Joe. Then he spotted Julie and Kath and 9 year old Jon. Tom walked over and said "god you have grown since I last saw you" Kath laughed and said "yeah it's been a little while since I last saw you Tom" Rhys's 5 year old son Matthew was sat next to Jon and Tom smiled and said "ok champ?" Matthew laughed and said "yeah this place is cool" Tom laughed and walked away shaking his head Next to arrive were Major Bradley Evans and his partner Major Daffyd Lewis Tom walked over and said "hi guys thank you so much for coming" "i wouldn't have missed it for the world" Brad replied Next were the entire 4th company unit with the respected partners. Tom was really surprised how many of his and Ben's comrades had turned up. Major Paul Dexter and his wife Catherine arrived shortly after the guys from 4th company. Tom then noticed that Andrew Thompson and his wife and family arriving he smiled when he noticed that for the first time since the incident in Afghanistan that Andrew was walking and not in a wheelchair. Tom walked over and shook Andrew's arm and said "nice to see you up and about again mate" "Yeah I can walk a bit but i still need the chair sometimes but it is getting less and less thankfully" Andrew replied "Well thanks for coming mate" Tom replied "Hey why would I want to miss an army piss up" Andrew said laughing "Ladies and Gentlemen please stand" shouted Ben's Brother Harry Rhys took his place next to Tom at the front as "Love changes everything" played Tom turned round and gasped as Ben walked down the aisle dressed in his dress uniform with Alex at his rear Tom looked at Rhys who was smiling and said "you swine you knew" Rhys laughed and whispered "he wanted it to be a surprise" Tom was in tears as his soon to be husband stood next to him and hugged him. The ceremony was soon over with both best men signing the marriage register as witnesses as well. The registrar said "you may kiss the groom" Tom grabbed Ben and kissed him and whispered in his ears "I love you and I am so proud of you babes" The reception was in full swing and Rhys stood up and tapped a glass and called for order. "Ladies and gentlemen I was so proud when Tom asked me to be his best man in place of my late brother Matthew. When I was growing up in South Wales Tom was always in our house or my brother was at Tom's. The two of them caused chaos wherever they went. Since Matthew died five years ago Tom has been there for me and my family through thick and thin. I have got to know Tom and Ben as a couple well and I know that Matthew would be so proud of Tom and Ben today so Ladies and Gentlemen lets be upstanding and toast TOM AND BEN" Alex stood up and said "I first met Ben five and half years ago when he was injured out in Helmand he is a truly remarkable young man who despite being injured was desperate to get back on active service. He returned to 4th company 8 months later and during that time the unit had gone through a very difficult time. Ben's love for Tom is unbreakable. Tom I met around the tome of Matthew's death and I remember the chat we had overlooking the village where he had grown up on the day of Matthew's funeral. Tom soon became a friend and I have had the pleasure of working under him in the family liaison operations unit ever since. Ladies and gentlemen please toast Tom and Ben" Tom stood up and said "Ladies and Gentlemen I want on behalf of my husband and me to thank you all for coming today. I met Ben when he joined 4th company around about 7 years ago and secretly fell in love but Ben never knew. The only person I told at that time was Matthew. Shortly after Matthew's death we met again and we express our love to each other and today seeing my beautiful husband walk down that aisle was the most special present he could ever give me. I would like to propose a toast to two people from 4th company who sadly didn't make it be with us today so please join my husband and myself in a toast to "Matthew and Charlie gone but never forgotten" Ben kissed his husband and said "I never guessed" Ben and Tom were dancing on the dance floor when Tom walked over to the dj and asked him if he had "you'll never walk alone" Gary said "yeah it's on my playlist" Tom took the microphone and said "ladies and gentlemen i have asked Gary to play a special song which has special memories for me which I want to dedicate to all members of HM forces currently serving in conflict. Tom walked over to Ben and started to dance as the words "when you walk through a storm with your head up high" played " When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of the lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on walk on with hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of the lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on walk on with hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk You'll never walk You'll never walk alone. Ben walked over to the microphone and said "ladies and gentlemen a toast to absent friends" Ben and Tom kissed each other and enjoyed the rest of the reception with their family and friends A few weeks later Rhys was in work when he noticed two uniformed police officers talking to Jayne. Jayne looked upset and pointed to Rhys he knew something was wrong straight away. "Are you Rhys Taylor can we go somewhere to talk please?" pc Rod green asked "Umm yeah this way" Rhys leading the police officers to a side room "Ok what's happened?" Rhys enquired "there is no easy way to say this but there was a car crash this morning in South Wales and I am sorry to have to report that your sister Kathleen and your mother Julie were both fatally injured" Rod said Rhys just looked at the officers and then collapsed in shock screaming "oh god no" Jayne walked in and saw Rhys and walked back out and picked up the phone she looked down the phone list and found tom's mobile number and dialled it "Tom Rees" Tom answered "Hi Tom This is charge nurse Jayne Greening sorry to disturb you but Rhys needs you mate he is hell of a mess his mum and sister have died in a car crash" "I am on my way Jayne I will be there within the hour" Tom said Jayne walked back into the room and saw Rhys was still crying his eyes out she walked over and hugged him and said "Tom's on his way" Rhys said "thanks Jayne" Jayne also called Susan Rhys's wife and she arrived before Tom but was struggling to calm Rhys down. Tom walked into the hospital to see Jayne and said "where is he" Jayne said "he is in there pointing to room 2" "thank you Jayne" Tom said Tom took a deep breath and opened the door and saw his friend sitting on a bed crying his heart out Rhys spotted Tom and jumped off the bed and straight into Tom's arms. Tom looked at Susan and said "you ok?" "I can't believe it to be honest but one of us needs to go to south Wales and be there for a orphaned little boy" Susan said "Oh fuck I didn't think of poor Jon Rhys" said crying into tom's shoulder A few days later and the Taylor and Rees family were reunited in grief again as the funerals took place of Julie and Kathleen. Tom and Ben were there alongside Rhys and his wife Susan and their son Matthew and Kath's son Jon who Rhys has taken in to his home. Tom watched as Julie was buried in the plot next to Matthew which she had bought at the same time wanting to be buried next to her beloved son. Kathleen at her request was cremated and her ashes were to be scatted over the mountains overlooking the village. Tom walked with Ben up to the same hillside he had stood before and said "you know I seriously love this place but I also bloody well hate it too" "Yeah I always feel at home in this place" Ben said "Well babes as long as you are at my side I don't care where we live" Tom said A couple of months later Tom was at the hospital and saw a tired stressed out looking Rhys. Tom walked over and said "hi mate" "Oh hi Tom don't have much time this place is mental today" Rhys said "Ok well ring me we need to catch up" Tom said "Ok mate" Rhys said hurrying along the corridor Tom spotted Jayne and said "hi Jayne can I talk to you about something?" "Yeah sure come this way" Jayne said "Don't think I am being nosey but I am worried about Rhys he seems really stressed out" Tom said "Yeah he has been lately he is working all the overtime he can get but it is taking its toll on his work" Jayne said "Can you spare him for an hour or two?" Tom said "Yeah why?" Jayne said "I want to talk to him away from this place" Tom said "Well ok but I warn you he won't go quietly" Jayne said "Leave that to me I will sort him" Tom said Tom had Jayne to call Rhys Rhys turned up at the quad and saw tom standing there "Right young man you and me have some talking to do" "Umm I told you I am busy" Rhys said "No I have already cleared it with Jayne get your coat you are coming with me no arguments" Tom said sternly Rhys knew better than arguing with Tom when he was in that mood so he fetch his coat and the two men left the hospital for a nearby park. Tom said "ok spill what the hell is going on?" "Nothing everything is fine" Rhys said "Rhys don't bullshit a bullshitter mate" Tom said Rhys looked at Tom and broke down and finally said "Sue has left me I got two boys to look after and have my job and it is getting way too much for me i don't know where to turn mate" "Ok let's start at the beginning what you mean Sue has left you?" Tom said "Well not exactly left I threw her out caught her two timing me" Rhys said crying "Oh Rhys I am sorry why the hell didn't you phone me" Tom said "You have enough on your plate with Ben didn't need me ranting on" Rhys said "Rhys don't your remember what i told you after Matthew died I am here for you mate I cannot believe you didn't tell me what else you not telling me?" Tom said "I'm broke I am just about paying the mortgage on the house but other bills I am struggling to pay" Rhys said "Rhys I know you don't want to say this but the time has come to sell your mums house and use that money to support you" Tom said "No I can't I just can't bring myself to do it" Rhys said "you have two young boys to support and you have a house and a job here you don't need that house and you know if you want to visit your mum and Matt's grave you can stay at my parents house". Tom said "Jon is a handful as well I find him hard to live with and he won't listen to me and i don't know how much longer I can cope he is disrupting Matthews behaviour as well" Rhys said "Ok why don't Ben and i take Jon to our place for a while and let you and Matthew have sometime alone" Tom "wow you like a fairy god father" Rhys said "well you got the fairy part right" Tom said laughing Rhys laughed and said "hey I never meant to imply that sorry Tom" "Rhys don't be silly I know you didn't we have known each other too long for that" Tom said smiling "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I didn't want you to think I was a failure" Rhys said crying "Rhys you are joking mate you are not a failure you are a hard working young man and I know that Matthew your mum and Kath would be proud of you and for that I am extremely proud to have you as my adopted brother you know that" Tom said Rhys rang Jayne and asked if he could take some time off to sort out a few things which she agreed to. Tom also took some leave and Tom Ben and Rhys with Jon and Matthew jnr arrived in South Wales. Rhys and Tom went into the Taylor house and looked around Rhys felt lost and started to tear up. Tom put his arm round Rhys and said "come let's be strong and get this place sorted. Ben joined the lads later and they were going through a lot of stuff. Tom then found a scrapbook he opened it and saw lots of photos of him and Matthew when they were young. Tom smiled and shouted "Rhys come and have a look at this" Rhys and Ben both walked into Matthews's old room and saw the scrapbook Rhys was laughing when he saw a picture of Tom dressed as a cowboy. Ben said "wow you were as cute then" Ben and Rhys went back into the other rooms when Ben called out "Rhys come here a minute" Rhys walked in and said "what's a matter?" Ben said "did you cash these in when you mum died?" "What are they" Rhys enquired "Life assurance policies for your mum and Kath" Ben replied "What no I didn't because I didn't know they existed" Rhys said Tom walked in and said "what's going on?" "I have just found some life assurance policies for Julie and Kath" Ben said Rhys said "I can't believe mum never told me about them" "right Rhys go and use mums phone next door and tell them about the accident and see if they will pay out they might not as it is two months later but you can but try" Tom said Tom and Ben carried on clearing a lot of stuff from the house when Rhys walked back in "So what they say?" Tom asked "I have to send copies of the death certificates to them and they will settle apparently they still received payments every month because I haven't closed mums bank account yet the direct debits have gone through as normal" Rhys said "That's something else you need to do go to the bank and close the account mate" Tom said Rhys Ben and Tom cleared the house out and placed it on the market a few days later. Rhys finally received two cheques from the insurance companies he placed the one for Kath into a bank account in Jon's name. The other one he used to pay his debts off allowing him to live fairly comfortably for a little while. Rhys and Sue finally divorced and Sue was now settled with her new man and has cut all contact with Matthew Jnr. She didn't contest the divorce and told the court that she didn't want a settlement but she wanted to get on with her new life and put her life with Rhys behind her. Jon was now living full time with Ben and Tom and was staring to behave again. Tom realised that Jon was used to be the centre of attention at home as an only child himself he knew that feeling well so living with Matthew jnr and Rhys he wasn't and that is why he behaved so badly. Rhys shocked both Ben and Tom when he announced he had met his soul mate a person he said he felt connected to the first day they met and that person was a young male nurse called Shaun Weston. Rhys and Shaun were now living together and Rhys told Tom that he has never felt happier. Ben was now a civilian and was working at the barracks in the naafi shop. He didn't want to go back on active service after the last attack so took the route out of the army. Tom is still in charge of the Family Liaison operations unit and still enjoys his work but every night he goes home to find the man he loves and his adopted son he adores waiting for him..... The end Thank you all for your wonderful comments which have inspired me to write this story. Please feel free to contact me at Mikkiwriter@gmail.com .