The shinny black Mercedes S-class pulled up by the gates to the army barracks that were guarded by armed soldiers. They soldiers stopped the car as walked over the the window were Grace had rolled down.

" Evenin' ma'am. Do you have any ID?" The soldiers asked, he was tall and young looking, about twenty one maybe a few years older. Grace nodded and pulled out a small card holder, she flipped through it and found her identification.

" Here." She said handing over her military ID card, he looked at it for a few moments before straightening up and saluting to her with slight fear in his eyes. Grace chuckled softly and took back her card.

" At ease soldier." Grace told him as he relaxed and the gates opened. The car then drove forward as Richard turned to Grace, who sat on his right side.

" What was that about?" He asked with a smirk and Grace shifted in his seat in slight pain from her stomach.

" After the accident, I was promoted to captain." Grace said with a sighed as the car drive through the barracks.

" Captain Freebird?" Richard tested it out on his tongue. Grace raised her left eyebrow looking at him as he smirked. Grace was about to speak before the car pulled to a stop causing all words to stop. Grace looked out the window with a sigh.

" The Welsh bastard. I swear one day I will kill him." Grace growled and reached for the handle to open the door, only to have Richard place his hand over hers in an instant.

" Holy mother of macaroni, I will never get used to that." Grace spoke in fright at his fast movement causing Richard to laugh quietly. He reached down and lifted her lift hand and slipping a silver ring onto it. Grace looked down and the fairly large diamond that sat upon the silver band, with a few smaller ones on either side.

" What?" Grace asked confused to the ring that fitted perfectly over her pink warm skin. His cold pale hand gently caressing her hand sending tingles through them both.

" People will not believe our engagement unless you have a ring." Richard spoke lifting her hand to his lips and placing a cold soft peck on her knuckles, while never breaking eye contact with her. Grace was about to speak but the door opened on Richard's side for him to turn and step out of the stylish car. Grace turned to see a wheelchair sitting at the side of her door waiting for her. She rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh, knowing full well that she will have to use it. She shifted her wounded leg out of the car and then her good one and used the door as a support as she pulled herself up out the car and limped over to the chair before plopping herself down in it.

" No, let me." Richard said moving forward nudging the soldier aside and taking the handles on the chair Grace sat in. As he chuckled, he walked up to the doors too a single floor building.

" You're enjoying this far too much Richard." Grace mumbled knowing he would hear it. They moved through the halls which were painted a plan white with blue carpet, a typical office in other words. They stopped at a door as the soldier that was with the knocked before saluting and walking away from them.

" Enter." A voice called for the opposite side of the door. Grace kicked the door opened as Richards pushed her in with him behind.

" Captain!" He spoke loudly as he shot up from his chair and stood straight giving a salute to her.

" Put your hand down before I shoot you myself. Boss, you look like a tool." Grace said as Richard closed the door as they both chuckled.

" And who is this?" Her boss asked Grace in his thick southern Welsh accent as he looked to Richard who now stood by Grace's left side.

" Boss meet Richard, my fiancé. Richard meet Eddy." Grace introduced them as they reached out and shook hands with a friendly hello and smile.

" So your engaged now?" Eddy smiled brightly to Grace as he went to walk away from behind his desk.

" I would stay were you are if I were you, unless you want me to paint the floor with your toes for putting me in this contraption." Grace told him with a stone hard expression causing Eddy to laugh happily.

" Very well." He said as he took his seat again.

" Well? What did you call me here for?" Grace asked him, his face instantly sank into a saddened somber as his eyes fell to the desk and his hands linked with each other.

" It's Spiky and Simens." Eddy began as Grace edged to the edge of her chair looking at him as her heart picked up with worry.

" What about them?" Grace asked trying to pull the answers from a reluctant Eddy.

" Their patrol was hit by an IED." He began as Grace sank back into her chair.

" No no no no." Grace continued to mutter over Eddy.

" They did not survive." Eddy told her as she continued to say no until she finally smashed her hands onto his desk.

" YOU'RE LYING!" She yelled as the room then feel into a silence. Slouched back into her chair as tears formed in her eyes.

" Your lying." She whispered as her head fell forward into her hands.

" I am so sorry Grace, Richard. Maybe you should take her home." Eddy said sombrely as they both nodded and Richard then proceeded to take the handles and push Grace towards the door.

" Richard, may I speak with you alone please?" Eddy asked as he was almost out the room.

" Go." Grace whispered to him as she placed her hands onto the wheels and pushed herself outside the room and waited as Richard turned and walked back into the room.

" Richard, you have too keep an eye on her." Eddy proclaimed as Richard raised an eyebrow wondering what he was getting to.

" After she got out of hospital, she hit rock bottom. She would get drunk until she was legless. It would end up either myself or one of the other men in our squad that would help her. But one night, I had a bad feeling. So I went to the bar she would normally drink at to find she was not there. So I called the other men and asked if they had seen her and they all said no." Eddy said sitting act in his chair while he told the story to Richard.

"When I arrived at her flat, Simens had driven to meet me." He continued as he turned a picture around to face Richard. It was clearly taken in Afghanistan with a large armoured vehicle behind a group of seven men and Grace in the middle of them, smiling happily.

" This was taken a few days into our deployment. This here, is Simens." Eddy said pointing to the guy standing on the end of the group. He had dark, almost black eyes and hair which matched his dark coloured skin. He was clearly well built with biceps covered by a tight fitting dark green shirt and desert combat camouflage trousers and thick boots.

" That's Spiky." He said pointing to the young man who had an arm around Grace.

" They were as close as they could get. So when we got to her door we knocked but there was no answer. We knew she was in because her TV was on playing some crime drama she always liked to watch. We continued to knock and yelled for her but there was still no answer." Eddy said as Richard looked at the photo.

" We had to kick down the door. And what we found, I will never forget it." Eddy said in a cracking voice.

" She was laying on the floor, unconscious barely breathing. Three empty bottles of whisky laying around; also an empty pill bottle. Now you know she never takes her pills, says she wants to feel the pain as a reminder. But she had taken the whole bottle." Eddy looked to Richard who had a upset yet angry scowl on his face.

" We drove her to the hospital, got her there just in time. When she came around after being out for three days, do you know what she said?" Eddy spoke as he leaned forward in his chair.

" She asked me to kill her, to finish her off as her life was no longer worth living." He said as a tear fell form his eye.

"She had given up on life, the attack had taken so much from her. For a long time after that she was like a shell with nothing inside. The men and I kept checking up on her, but she would never speak. She barely eat or slept." Richard scrunched his eyebrows together and looked to Eddy.

" What changed?" Wondering why the woman he was now forcefully engaged to was so full of spirit, compared to the one he was describing to him right now.

" We don't know, one day she just snapped. Reverted back to her normal self with the new obstacles." He explained as Eddy shook his head quickly and sighed.

" What I am saying is, don't let her go back to how she was. You are her rock now, not us. If she does go back that the way she was, I fear that she will die this time around." Eddy said as he stood up with Richard; who made his way to the door and placed his hand onto the handle.

" Please, Richard. Take care of her, if not for me. For Spiky and Simens." Eddy asked him pleadingly.

" You have my word." Richard spoke as he opened the door and walked out of the office.