"Alright gear up lads, and ladette," Captain Riley barked, shooting Heaven a nod, finishing the kit check; making sure the team had all they needed for their first patrol-they threw on their gear, spare magazines and MRE (meals ready to eat) snacks among other items stashed inside of their webbing.

"Alpha Two Zero move out," Riley commanded, he walked steady and smoothly towards the base doors, the sun was almost at its peak and its rays were boiling the team inside of their kit.

The sentries a top the guard towers gave the all clear and Riley stepped out first, the higher ranking marines were more confident in the steps they took while the new recruits trod lightly, anxious and afraid as they gripped their weapons tightly.

"Go on then," Heaven's warm hazel eyes lit up with encouragement as she saw the nerves gnawing away at Roach, who glanced over his shoulder to give her a reassuring nod.

If she could do that he could do this.

And so, with a new burst of inspiration, stepping off the base the man gave it one final glance before he looked forward to his team, the doors closing behind him.

The adrenaline ran synchronised through the marines their eyes scanned their surroundings, watching, with careful precision, in figure eight loops like they had been taught in their training.

Soon they reached the village that spec ops had taken over, the houses were worn down by sandstorms but more noticeable was the bullet holes smattered across the white walls.

A few young children played in the street, kicking a football, when suddenly Pheasant saw something that caught his eye: an emaciated morngrel, ribs protruding and eyes dull, bordering on lifeless. The poor little creature needed help.

Pheasant patted his thigh, "come here," he spoke warmly, the mongrel began to tremble in fear and Pheasant's brow crinkled in concern for the poor thing, "I'm not gonna hurt you boy," he said.

"Eyes on (look out)," Riley boomed over his shoulder, a grimace tightened on Pheasant's lips before the lanky man quickly chucked the mongrel his MRE snack, a sugary treat packed with calories, which the mongrel flinched at the food landed before skittishly approaching it, nose twitching as it sniffed out the food.

When the mongrel started to eat the food a grin spread across Pheasant's lips, accomplished and delighted.

Then he looked forward again, scanning the war torn village, when from behind him he heard the padding of paw prints, looking around he saw the skinny mongrel was following him, tail wagging.

"Good boy," Pheasant beamed as he momentarily let himself stroke the back of the dog, feeling the bumps of his jutting spin as the dogs wagged faster, smashing against his leg.

"I got a mission to do, see you later boy," Pheasant said as he followed Riley, deeper into the village.

The mongrel still followed him. But now they were deep inside the village there was no space in Pheasant's mind to to think about the mongrel.

Suddenly a man rushed out from a house on the left side, he moved frantic and looked erratic and immediately the guns of ten commandos were pointed at him, having a clear shot of his head.

"It is my daughter," he spoke in a quick, panicked tone, "seve need doctor," he continued in his thick Urzikstaian accent that was just about understandable.

"I'll go," Heaven said, steeping toward.

"No," Riley snapped at Heaven, upon hearing his words the woman stepped backwards into the loose semi circle formation of commandos, Riley's attention returned to the man, "bring the girl out here," then he paused to look at his team, "eyes on, stay here till Heaven is finished."

The man rushed inside his house, out of sight, before bringing out a young girl with silky, black hair that juxtaposed against the man's receding, oily hair. She had wide eyes, unraveling the bloodied towel from her hand she revealed a deep gash.

"Oh no," Heaven spoke in a soft, caring voice, as sweet as honey and as warm as the glow of an angel's halo, as, on instinct, stepped towards the girl and got down on one knee and immediately began to assess the wound.

Heaven's head looked up to the father, "how'd she get this injury?" she stared at him with expectancy.

He merely shrugged his shoulders, "playing outside."

"Ta for the mint info love," Heaven grumbled sarcastically as she started to clean the wound, meanwhile Pheasant was busy feeding the stray with what food he had on him, the mongrel keeping its distance out of fear of humans.

"I'm sure you saw worse in Salford, I hear babies there are practically born with a knife and gun in hand, a city full of dirty, poor Neanderthals," Cermac teased as Heaven tried to ignore him, focusing on trying her best to deal with this wound.

"I second that one mate," Harrow laughed heartily.

Heaven snapped, her glare as hot and burning as the sun that blazed above her as she quickly stared Harrow down, "I'm not taking that from a Mancunian and a Norfolk bloke, Cermac you come from a shitty, rain city full of WAGS (wife and girlfriends of sportsperson) and druggies," she spat at him viciously while he chortled cheerily to himself about Cermac having a bollocking.

"Fooking 'ell she owned you," Cermac exclaimed.

Except when their eyes met the laughter stopped.

"Harrow you're a good marine because all that Norfolk inbreeding gave you webbed feet and hands and eyes in the back of your head, but I guess that's just good old normal for Norfolk," Heaven sneered before the team erupted in laughter.

"Oh you two got fucking destroyed," Pheasant exclaimed as the laughter died down, and Heaven finished bandaging the young girl's wound.

"You'll be okay love, I promise," Heaven smiled, a smile as soft as a feather and as loving as a mother holding her newborn, before she patted the girl on the cheek and stood up, picking up her rifle and slinging it back over her, the girl bid a hasty retreat inside the house as did her father after he uttered a quiet and quick, "thank you."

"Push on," Riley commanded as he started to walk further into the village, the rest of the team matching his slow, carefully placed steps as underfoot grains of sand grated against their tough combat boots, the stray following them.

And the stray followed them all the way back to their base after an uneventful patrol., returning to the smell of sweet and sour chicken cooking as Colonel Simpson approached, "Alpha Two Zero," he greeted them, immediately their spines straightened, "at ease," he said as they returned to slouching, "you've returned just in time for lunch if you're quick."

And quick was definitely the word to describe them as they packed away their kit as neat as possible before scrambling for scran at the cookhouse.

"How long's this base been operational?" Briggs' attention turned to Captain Riley as he shovelled food into his mouth.

"For about six months it was purely a spec ops base, but it's only a few weeks ago they decided to send in the commandos. It's pretty hot (strong enemy presence) out there, but we can handle it," Riley explained, as he spoke Briggs nodded along with it.

"Will we be working alongside spec ops?" Roach asked, speaking quick as he wore a hopeful smile, with all the excitement of a child on Christmas.

"Perhaps. I don't know for sure," Riley spoke with a nonchalant shrug of his burly shoulders.

"After lunch we have another patrol at 1900, be ready," Riley said as he took his tray over to the bin, scraping off the leftover scraps he didn't touch.

Pheasant looked to him and suddenly an idea came to him. Taking his plate he used a knife to scrap off the sauce, then he speedily made his way up the sentry tower and threw out the chicken for the dog, the dog's ears perked up at the impact of the chicken before devouring it as quick as possible.

"Thanks for letting me up here guys," Pheasant smiled welcomingly before going back down the stairs and putting his plate and cutlery away.

"If that dog snaps fuck knows what diseases it might have," Lieutenant Smith at Pheasant as he stood besides him, both scraping away the remains of their lunch, "you're an idiot to try and domesticate it."

"He thinks he's Snow White or something, next he'll be singing to birds," Roach interjected, earning a small from the amused pair of men.

"Fuck off," Pheasant said with a pure smile.

"Wanna watch a film before our next patrol?" Pheasant asked.

"What film?".

"I was thinking Battle Royale, it's super gory," Pheasant explained.

Roach's eyes appeared to gleam with sadistic intensity as he agreed, gathering all the troops on base who were interested. They sat on cheap plastic chairs in the rec (recreation) room and Pheasant turned on the DVD player, making the words 'hello' appear on the machine, Roach automation said a quick 'hi' back.

"The fuck was that?" asked the soldier, a member of the royal artillery, sat next to him.

Roach shook his head at his own stupidity, "nothing."

He put on Battle Royle, where the soldiers ripped it to shreds. 'How could the battle royale be going on for years but the kids didn't now about it till they were chosen for it?' was one of many things shouted at the screen, but as the credits rolled they agreed they love to watch it again for the violence.

Pheasant turned off the DVD player which flashed the word 'bye' on the screen, this time Roach's lips were sealed as the soldiers wandered off.

"We've got our next patrol coming up in fifteen minutes, get your kit ready," Riley warned as he got up from his chair, the team nodded and as Pheasant put away the DVD he returned to his quarters and readied his gear.

He stood in a quiet corner of the base, an undisturbed place that was cool from the shadows cast by a building. Here he could breathe as he had a secret cigarette to burn away the minutes before he was out on patrol again.

Extinguishing it as he smoked it right down to the butt he stepped back into the bustling base, checking his watch he saw he had five minutes left.

"Good work," Riley commented as he saw Pheasant stood in his gear, "glad to see someone ready so quick. Even if you did have a cheeky fag," he said, for the first half of his sentence Pheasant wore a proud smile that quickly dropped to a shocked frown.

"It's obvious, did you really think you got away with it?" Riley uttered as a low chuckle escaped his lips.

"I kinda did sir," Pheasant said sheepishly.

"I'm not going to tell the Colonel but just be careful about it. This job might be stressful but I need you fit," Riley said, Pheasant merely nodded silently.

Soon enough the rest of the unit slowly fell in their formation, and as the base doors opened they walked out with no hesitation this time.

"There he is!" Pheasant exclaimed as he stepped out, seeing the dog mongrel to his feet and he hungrily licked his muzzle and salivated, with nothing to offer him he simply pressed on and pushed the mongrel out of his mind.

As they approached the third house, the house with the little girl, some movement stirring in the wound caught Riley's keen eye, "I think that's for you Heaven," he started blandly, Heaven's eyes darted to the window and saw the little girl waving with her bandaged arm, a massive grin spreading across her lips.

Heaven returned the wave and the smile before pressing on deeper into the village, now the sun was setting the sky was darkening but most importantly the heat was cooling off which made their patrol much easier.

The rest of the patrol was uneventful, the dog waited by the base doors and the team dressed down to simple shirts and trousers, Pheasant jealously eyed Heaven's blue tribal tattoo running all down her arm.

"Nice tattoo," was all he could think to say as she noticed him staring.

"Thanks, you got any?" she asked with a warm tone.

"Just two, a heart on both my hips," he explained, "but I want loads more."

"Get then while you're on leave," she suggested, he only laughed.

"Can't be thinking about leave when we've only just deployed," he explained.

His comment earned a small giggle from Heaven, "fair point mate."

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a long, loud yell, "dinner," the cook exclaimed, soldiers soon came running for dinner-beef stew. The Corporals drowned theirs in tabasco sauce while Pheasant ate one and a half portions, once again sneaking the mongrel some of his food.

Settling down for the night the commandos bantered about under the pale moonlight, stars sparkling in the dusk sky coloured with deep navy skies and almost neon pink wisps of clouds. Pheasant was busy snapping photos with a camera to send to his family, whilst one by one the commandos retired to bed for a early start the next morning till only Roach, Briggs and Pheasant up-they'd dubbed themselves to insomnia gang.

"Wanna know something?" Pheasant asked as he watched Heaven walk away from where they were sat on sandbags.

"What?" Roach inquired.

Pheasant's gaze returned back to Roach and Briggs, "I'm so proud of Heaven, I mean I'm proud of all of us but her especially. To go from army combat medic to a commandos combat medic. That's insane. She was the first woman to ever pass the AACX (All Arms Commando Course), that takes serious guts. At least now she proved it taking balls is optional," he joked.

"I'm glad we have her on our team," Roach agreed, Briggs nodded.

"She's tough as nails, I knew some people who served with her. Told me she was, I mean is, fearless. An IED (improvised explosive device) blew off her last Captain's legs and she rushed in to save him as she was taking fire. Without her running out there he would've died, even though she could've died with him. She's brave as hell, and I respect that," Briggs explained, the other two commandos nodded.

Eventually Pheasant slipped his Queen News of The World album into the DVD which instantly belted out 'Will You Rock You', he threw off his shirt and started stomping to the tune, stretching out a hand which Roach grabbed, the two started dancing and singing their hearts out to Queen.

As they danced Roach couldn't ignore a feeling he had. When Pheasant's bare skin brushed against his it felt him with a tingling, fluttering feeling. A small burst of euphoria he craved more than an addict craved their next high. He found himself increasingly pushing his body onto Pheasant's own. Roach was desperate for that touch of magic he felt when he was with Pheasant. That feeling that made him feel as if he was weightless, soaring and free. He caught glimpses of Pheasant's heart tattoos on his hips and his delectable treasure trail, it felt almost intimate. Roach wanted to be closer to Pheasant.

But just under forty minutes later the album had finished there was no reason to dance, both soldiers noticed Briggs has retired to his quarters.

They returned to their sandbags and Pheasant put his shirt back on, "you know how earlier we were speaking about Heaven?" Pheasant asked, Roach nodded as quiet as ever, "I really relate to her. I had a struggle to get in there. I had a history of self harm and psychiatric medication and being sectioned (detained under mental health act). I was in a real dark place. After a year off of them at the age of sixteen I went to a recruitment office and they told me I couldn't join. I applied anyways and got rejected, I appealed it at got rejected again. Another year later same thing, and the same thing next year, and when I was eighteen I applied for my twice, first one for rejected but the second one I was accepted."

"I always wondered what all those scars were, I mean I knew what they were...but I still wondered," Roach said in his usual soft spoken voice, as quiet as inside of a buried coffin.

"I gotta be honest Roach," Pheasant said as he sighed heavily, as if trying to exhale his gnawing emotions, "I told them I only self harmed once but I done it for years. And they kicked around a diagnosis of psychotic depression but it was never confirmed, so I could join the military."

"Pheasant, speaking as someone who loves you, don't you think the commandos might be a bad place if you self harm and possible have a mental illness. It's just not safe," Roach said, Pheasant chewed on his lip anxiously, bitting off the skin.

"It was never confirmed," Pheasant said, swallowing a hardening lump in his throat, "and since training I've stopped self harming. Before that I only done it twice in the year previous," he explained before dropping his head in his hands.

"I just want to be as brave as Heaven," Pheasant said as he looked to Roach through tear filled eyes, Roach pulled him closer. Pheasant's head rested on Roach's shoulder and the two simply sat in silence for a long moment.

"Don't tell anyone about this," Pheasant said.

"I won't," Roach answered.

And they continued to sit in silence under the stars.

From the darkness Pheasant eyed something in the rec room: an acoustic guitar.

"Oh sweet," Pheasant exclamation, springing to his feet with all the energy of a rambunctious terrier as he dashed and grabbed the guitar, bringing it back to the sandbags while Roach grabbed a beer from his bergen.

Roach vaguely remembered Pheasant telling him he could play, and soon Pheasant was serenading Roach with song after song, who smiled and sung along hilariously out of key.

Soon enough Roach was yawning and his eyelids growing heavy. He fought sleep for as long as he could be defeat was inevitable, he sluggishly turned his sleepy gaze to an exuberant Pheasant, "I'm tired mate, I'm gonna go to bed now," Roach said as he got to his feet.

Pheasant nodded, "alright, see you in the morning dickhead," he teased, Roach rolled his eyes and as he retired to his bed he heard music playing, glancing over his shoulder he saw Pheasant dancing again.

Roach couldn't look away. Something was drawing the man in. This force stronger than gravity that craved Pheasant's body, the warm touch. Roach wanted Pheasant, but he couldn't understand why.