Coming Home Pt. 01

However, he didn't say that and simply saluted again, "Thank you, I'll bear it in mind sir."

The older man just nodded and smiled before turning away and then pausing mid-stride he glanced back.

"Good NCOs are hard to find and you were good Sean. Don't stay away if.... well, you know."

"I do. Thank you, sir."

Taking a deep breath Sean watched as his commanding officer walked out of the door, before looking around the room that had been his home for the last few years.

Studying every detail of its small 20 x 18 foot area and storing it in his memory he tried to remain positive as he wondered, not for the first time, if he was doing the right thing. The Marines had been his life for the last eight years and the idea of the real world outside of the military terrified him.

Aside from trying to figure out what he was going to do there, there was the ever-present thought that would he even be welcomed when he turned up at his family home like the proverbial bad penny?

He knew he would find out soon enough.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he sat and let his mind wander back to when it had all started.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He had left school at eighteen with his father expecting him to join the family business; starting at the bottom he would learn the building trade with a view to eventually taking over from him. However, the concept of spending the next forty years working five and a half or even six days a week from dawn till dusk doing something he didn't enjoy was not one he wanted to consider.

The idea of ending up like all of his father's workforce and spending his hours after he had finished work in whatever pub, getting a beer belly and complaining about life at home, wasn't for him.

Sean Parkes had a very different plan in mind for his future

His 'A' level examination results at school had been exceptional and had seen him accepted for a place at several universities. Giving them all careful consideration, he had, along with Naomi Chancellor, the prettiest girl at school, decided to go to Bristol.

It was the Thursday evening shortly before his planned departure that he finally told his family what he was doing.

Sean had expected an argument when his father discovered his plan to go to university and study history but not the vehement torrent of vitriol that he was subjected to. Frank Parkes had made it very clear that, regardless of what his son wanted, he was going to join the family business and learn a trade instead of swanning off for three years to 'get drunk' and 'chase girls'.

"You can't stop me dad. I'm going and that's all there is to it."

"That's what you think." Frank smirked, "I've known about your little scheme for several weeks now. I've already called them and told them you aren't coming."

"You've what!"

"And I sent back your student loan. Told them you didn't need it as you had turned your place down."

"Fuck you." In that instant Sean knew he had to get away from his father or his life would never be his own.

Turning his back and leaving his tearful mother downstairs, he went up to his room and gathered up everything he needed, stuffing it into his rucksack and holdall.

"You're going to go then Sean?" His younger sister Briony stood in the doorway.

"I have to Bri. If I don't get away now I'll be trapped here forever."

"What about Naomi?" She brought up the subject of the girl he hoped might become his girlfriend at some point in the future.

Stopping for a moment Sean gave his sister a hug. She was three years younger than him and he had always looked after her, joining in her games, walking to school with her and such like.

He knew he was going to miss her.

"She was coming with me. We were both going to study there but now I don't know what I'll do."

"I'll... I'll miss you." Briony managed to say before bursting into tears and running back into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Finishing his packing he went back downstairs and said a hurried and emotional goodbye to his mother.

"If you go you'll no longer be part of this family." Frank Parkes stated angrily, "I warn you Sean!"

Ignoring his father completely he simply walked out of the front door vowing never to return.

Not sure of what he was going to do now his plan had changed, he made his way over to Naomi's house where he had been surprised to see her outside, busily loading her bags into her car.

"Sean!" She stared at him, an expression of alarm on her face, "What... what are you doing here?"

He looked at her luggage suspiciously, "What's going on Naomi? We weren't supposed to be going until Monday."

Eschewing looking him in the eye her cheeks coloured, "I... I was hoping to... to avoid this."

"Avoid what? What are you talking about?"

She had handed him an envelope then, "It's all in here Sean. I'm not going to Bristol with you."

"What the fuck!" He exclaimed angrily, "We said we would get a flat together and I thought that you and I might...."

"I'm sorry Sean I like you but not like that. And I've got a place in Edinburgh. It's a better course and I...." She let her sentence tail off without finishing it.

"Oh right. So, I'm supposed to go off on my own now." He didn't mention his argument with his father or the fact he no longer had a place at the university.

"You'll be fine in Bristol and I'm sure you'll meet someone." Her caustic retort made him take a step back.

"I don't want anyone else Naomi, I want you but it's obvious you don't feel the same."

"I've told you Sean, I like you but only as a friend. That's all." She looked at him, her eyes wide open as if she was pleading with him to understand.

Staring at her in disbelief he felt like everything in his life had fallen apart in just a couple of hours when suddenly it dawned on him.

"Danny Hancock. He's going to Edinburgh." His look changed to one of rage, "I'm a fucking idiot. You're going up there to be with him. That was always your plan wasn't it? I bet I was just a back-up in case things didn't work out."

He didn't wait for an answer and crumpling her letter in his hand he had thrown it away before picking up his bags and starting to walk down the driveway.

"Sean.... Please... wait, don't go.... not like this."

Ignoring her he didn't look back and just continued walking away.

"Sean... please, please.... I'm sorry... I..."

Eventually her voice faded into the distance as he kept on going, not really knowing where he was heading.

He had to find somewhere to sleep, he realised that, and not wanting to rely on friends who would want to know the ins and outs of what had happened he picked the Grand Metropole hotel in the centre of town. If his parents came looking for him they were unlikely to even think of there.

That week-end he had been intent on getting completely legless and coming to a decision about his future. But then, on the Saturday night, he had met her.

It had been just a few hours but in that short time he had fallen in love with his dream girl. She had been absolutely perfect and had taken his virginity just as he had claimed hers but in the morning she had gone.

He had woken on the Sunday morning to find he was alone. He hadn't known her name or where she was from only the fact she was going to Nottingham to study.

Spending the day wallowing in misery he knew he had to get away from everything.

Sitting down he wrote a long letter to his sister, telling her about the girl he had met, although he left out all the salacious details, and after falling in love with her had lost her. Finishing off he told her that he was leaving and would write again sometime in the future.

Then on the Monday morning, determined to move on, he packed his bags and checked out.

Leaving the hotel without a destination or plan he found himself standing outside the railway station. Not knowing what else to do he bought a ticket on the first train leaving and, fifteen minutes later, he was on his way to Plymouth.

It was while he was there that he walked into the recruiting office and, forgetting his plans for trying to reinstate his university place, had joined the Royal Marines. Partly it had been to get away from everything he had known and partly it was to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and join the Navy.

Initially he had had to take a pre-joining assessment. First sitting the Navy's NSRT (Naval Service Recruitment Test) which, given his education had been a relatively straightforward task. Then he had to undertake the PJFT (Pre-Joining Fitness Test), something he had also found fairly straightforward because of his sporting background.

Sailing through the first phase he had then gone on to spend the next four weeks doing the recruit orientation phase of the training with an erroneous confidence. Sean had always thought of himself as a fairly fit eighteen-year-old but his first weeks had quickly shown him otherwise.

The next 32 weeks at the CTCRM training centre at Lympstone in Devon was the hardest thing he had ever done. However, he had stuck with the program and he had eventually passed out as a Royal Marine and received his green beret.

Going in he had been a skinny teenager weighing around 190lbs but by the time he finished his training he was a muscled 225lbs and in the best condition of his life.

Posted to 42 commando he had spent the next eight years making some life-long friends and undertaking two tours of Iraq and two more of Afghanistan as well as a number of other, less dangerous, deployments.

Receiving two commendations for bravery and the CGC (Conspicuous Gallantry Cross) on his last tour overseas, he had been promoted twice, first to corporal and then to sergeant.

He hadn't really bothered with life outside of the military being totally estranged from his family and his previous existence but things had taken a turn for the better when, at 23, he had met Rebecca Alderson.

For a moment a feeling of utter desolation washed over Sean and he shuddered remembering another of the best, and then the worst, of times in his life.

At 6' 2" with his short brown hair, deep brown eyes and a muscled physique that made her heart race 23-year-old Becky had fallen in lust with him the moment she saw him at the other side of the bar. The slender, petite blonde, she was 5' 4" and weighed in at 98lbs, had blue eyes that reminded him of another girl from his past.

He didn't have much experience with girls and even now he could still recall just how nervous he had been when he had gone across to talk to her, terrified she would dismiss him out of hand. She hadn't and, giggling and blushing, she had accepted his offer to buy her a drink.

She wanted him and hadn't played hard to get, happily sleeping with him that same night. They had continued to date, with Sean spending all of his off-base time with her, and although he knew he was never in love with her things had been going well.

Then the news that he was being posted overseas had come through and everything changed.

Becky had started to become a little distant and, on a couple of occasions, she put off seeing him when he was not on duty, saying she was busy. Shrugging it off as a reaction to his going away he hadn't said anything and let it go.

From day one he had known something was wrong. Her replies to his letters and e-mails were perfunctory and often late, while on the odd occasion he managed to talk to her on the phone he felt she was cold and disinterested

He had been deployed for nearly three months when he got the letter he had been expecting. She had met someone else and was moving in with him.

Throwing himself into being a Marine he had tried to forget.

He hadn't loved Becky he knew that but it still hurt to be thrown over yet again. Naomi had been the very first girl he had liked and had hoped she would become his girlfriend at uni, then there had been his mystery girl who had stolen his heart and now Becky had walked out on him.

Clearly girls were not his strongpoint.

Despite his friends attempts to set him up with one nice girl or another he had avoided anything that vaguely resembled a relationship. A few one-night stands and the occasional visit to the brothels of St Pauli or Amsterdam, when he was on leave, served to satisfy his baser needs.

He had had his heart broken years before and he was certain now that he would never fall in love again.

Fortunately for him his time had been mostly taken up by overseas deployments, primarily to Afghanistan. Overall he was content, he was doing something he loved and even without a woman in his life he had his comrades.

Then the other thing had occurred...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"You ready to go sarge?"

A voice from the doorway jerked him back to the present and out of his melancholy.

"Oh yeah.... right. Just give me five minutes and I'll be with you." He informed the young Marine driver who was taking him to the station.

Quickly throwing the last items into his kitbag he took a final look around him and picked up his gear, taking it out to the jeep where the driver saluted and loaded them in the back. Officially he was still a Marine for another week so he was in uniform and entitled to the privileges of his rank.

"Train station sarge?" The young Marine asked sliding into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, the railway station." He murmured, settling back for the short journey.

Dropping his bags at his feet he said goodbye to the driver and, after checking for his travel warrant, he entered the station.

Waiting for his train Sean bought himself a cup of coffee from the stall on the platform and sat down, taking a few moments to look at his fellow passengers.

"Where are you off to then? A bit of leave son?"

An older man dropped onto the bench next to him.

"Yeah, something along those lines." He responded somewhat curtly, not really wanting to get into a conversation.

"Been in long?" The old gentleman persisted.

"Eight years. Joined up when I was eighteen."

The old man smiled and held out his hand, "Name's Henry, I was in for twenty but I guess it's changed a bit since my day."

Sean's interest was piqued when he heard that and, shaking Henry's hand, he turned to face him.

"Sean. You were a Marine?"

"Certainly was. Captain Henry Walsh, formerly of Her majesty's Royal Marine Commando's." He told him with a grin.

"Pleased to meet you sir." Sean said, meaning it, "Are you travelling up to London?"

"I am and it's Henry. It would be nice to have someone to chat to on the journey, if you don't mind that is."

"It would be my pleasure, Henry." He held out his hand.

Suddenly the thought of the lengthy journey didn't seem so bad after all.

Getting on the train Sean stowed his bags and then settled into the seat opposite the old soldier.

"I expect your wife will be pleased to see you home." Henry said once they were moving.

"Not married." Sean held up his left hand, "No girlfriend either."

The old man could see there was something else, something behind his eyes but tactfully changed the subject.

"How long are you home for?"

"At the moment for good but if things don't work out then who knows."

Henry nodded but didn't press the point, "So, what now?"

Sean chuckled, "I'd like to know the answer to that question myself."

For the next three hours the pair chatted like they were old friends, discussing the ways in which the Marines had changed and their experiences whilst they were serving. However, there was one particular incident which Sean didn't mention,

Instead, he went quiet for a moment and stared out of the window without seeing anything as he thought back to a few months before in a place a long way away.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was a hot, dusty afternoon and he had been grateful for the shadows caused by the buildings as his squad, along with several members of the local police force, patrolled through the back streets of the small town. Despite the shade it was still almost unbearable but infinitely preferable to being shut up in the back of an APC out on a bumpy rutted trail somewhere.

They had been out walking through the streets and alleyways for hours, looking for the insurgents that had been reported infiltrating the outskirts of the town. The patrol hadn't met with any success, for which he was both grateful and dismayed. He was pleased that they hadn't been shot at and, at the same time, worried because he knew they would have to do it again tomorrow.

Like the rest of his squad, he tried to look everywhere, shifting the weight of his SA80 in his hands and trying to ease the straps of his Bergen as they cut into his shoulders. Every window, doorway or rooftop could hide a terrorist with a Kalashnikov or an IED and he knew his men's nerves were on edge.

He was particularly aware of young Liam Frane. From the same town as Sean at just eighteen he was the newest member of the platoon. He had only been with them a couple of weeks and he reminded him of how he had been when he first joined up.

Lifting his hand Sean raised two fingers and indicated towards the end of the narrow street they were in, mouthing Liam and Danny he silently ordered two of his men forwards to cover the policemen.

That was when the shot rang out and one of the local officers they were training crumpled to the floor without a sound.

"Sniper." He shouted knowing his men would follow their training and take cover.

All of them did except for Liam.

Watching him sprint across the open street towards the fallen officer Sean knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Liam! Get down you......"

The IED went off with a loud boom showering the soldiers with a deluge of stones and dust and blowing out a wall.

As if that wasn't enough a moment later several semi-automatic rifles opened up on them.

"Return fire." He had ordered somewhat unnecessarily as his squad started to shoot back.

The remaining three policemen were pinned in a doorway sheltering from the bullets while Liam was laying in the street, clearly very badly injured.

"Baker, request back-up and medics asap."

With an instruction to the unit's radio operator Sean had dashed forwards, firing at the two figures that were up on the adjacent rooftop.

Whether it was pure luck or good judgement he never knew but somehow, he hit both of the attackers, one falling back while the other toppled into the alleyway. That was when he felt the bullet hit him in the left thigh.

Stumbling Sean managed to keep going, ignoring the pain, and reached the doorway. Crouching down he opened fire covering the three Afghan policemen as they took the opportunity to run back towards the other British soldiers.

More bullets hit the wall above him and he made out three more terrorists ahead of him, partially hidden by the dust, moving to get to the building he was sheltering against. As fragments of dirt rained down on him he realised that if they got to the rooftop above his men it would be a slaughter. So, without thinking, he stood up and ran forwards again, knowing he had to stop them.

Kicking in the flimsy door the first two insurgents had just entered the building when he came upon them. The last of the three turning and bringing his weapon up just as Sean opened fire, hitting him twice in the chest and sending him flying backwards.

Reaching the doorway, he found himself face to face with the second terrorist, the other man's rifle pointed straight at him.

There was a split seconds pause as they looked into each other's eyes and then the two of them fired simultaneously.

Hitting Sean squarely in the chest the impact knocked him backwards out from the building onto the street. Although his body armour took the brunt of the terrorist's shot, at such a close range it had enough force to break two of his ribs. While his own bullet had blown away half of the other man's head, splattering blood and brains across the wall and killing him instantly.