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Desert Love	By : Krayzee_Aussie Category: Celebrities - Misc > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 4321 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction! I do not know Prince Harry of Wales, Prince Charles, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Queen Elizabeth, Camilla Parker-Bowles or Prince Phillip, Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith VC and I do not profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
  Harry sat inside the Coyote, bumping along the road back towards the main base in Tarin Kot. It had been two days since Desiree had been medically evacuated from Base Alpha, along with Banzai’s body. They had heard that the bullet had been removed, but she had lost so much blood over the two whole days, the doctors were surprised she was still going so strongly.
He leaned forward and looked out the windscreen at the front of the truck. He could see the gate of the main base ahead.
“Nearly home, lads,” he said through the radio. No one said anything. Both Australian and British troops had been down in the dumps since Banzai and Desiree had been flown ahead. Harry always felt his chest tighten whenever he thought of Desiree, crying in his arms.
Once they were inside the base, they dismounted their trucks and were allocated cabins to stay in. Harry was just cleaning out his pack when there was a knock on the door. He turned and looked out the open door. There was a man standing there, he wore the rank slide of a Brigadier. Harry stood fast sharply.
“Yes, sir?”
“At ease, Captain, my name is Brigadier Brent Ward” he said. “Just thought I would come and speak to you myself. Everything alright with you?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Well, you will be required to report to the board of inquiries for the incidence at Base Alpha in two hours. There is a lot to discuss about your time outside the fence,” he said pointedly. Harry felt on edge immediately. He knew he had seen far more action on this trip than the advisors and heads back in London had hoped.
“Yes, sir.” Harry looked thoughtful for a moment.
“Something you want to ask?” the Brigadier asked, apparently noticing Harry’s look.
“Well, yes, sir,” Harry replied. “Why is there a board of inquiry already?
“You’ll find that out at the meeting.”
“Will Major Kitana be there?” Harry couldn’t help but feel hopeful.
“She will be.”
“Thank you for letting me know, sir.”
The Brigadier left the cabin, leaving Harry to his own thoughts.
*******
                Desiree limped from the hospital tent to the meeting room on the other side of the compound. The hospital staff had wanted to wheel her there in a wheel chair, but she refused.
She eventually made it, knocking on the door sharply. The movement hurt her neck, but she bit her lip and shook it off.
“Enter.” She opened the door, saluting as she did so. “At ease, Major.”
She recognised the voice, it was Brigadier Ward. He was one of the advisor’s who was against her leading her own unit into battle in Afghanistan six years ago, when she was just a Captain.
“Take a seat over there, please, we will speak to you soon.” She looked to where he motioned, inside the room was all her Corporals and Scotty, as well as Captain Wales and his Corporals and Sgt. She raised an eye brow but did as she was told, sitting away from her unit as instructed.
They were called into the office one by one, all the corporals first, followed by the two Sgts. Every time someone walked out from the room, they looked both regretful and agitated.
Soon, it was just Harry and Desiree. Desiree had noticed Harry, glancing at her every now and then, but she had been careful to keep her eyes on the ground. She still couldn’t quite deal with him just now. She was still angry at him for disobeying her orders, putting himself in harm’s way to try and retrieve her. Had anything happened to him, she would never live it down, especially after receiving direct orders from the queen herself.
Scotty walked from the room. He looked frustrated but resolute. He threw a salute to Desiree, which she nodded to in response before he left the room.
“Captain Wales and Major Kitana. Would you please come in?”
Desiree looked at Harry in surprise. She hadn’t expected that they would be called in together.
She stood up gingerly and began walking towards the door, looking up to see Harry waiting at the doorway for her. He motioned for her to enter first. She nodded but said nothing to him, walking straight into the room.
“Major Kitana, where are your crutches, or wheel chair?” Lt Col Graham asked before she had even fully entered the room.
“Not necessary, sir.”
“Nonsense, I’ve spoken to your doctor. Cpl,” he looked to the corporal seated with a laptop in front of him. “Grab a chair for her, on the double.”
“Yes, sir!”
A chair was dragged to be positioned in front of the long table. Desiree suppressed a groan. “I assure you, sir, it really isn’t necessary.”
Brigadier Ward looked at her straight in the eyes. “Sit, Major. That’s an order. You’ve worked your ass off in the field, it’s time you get off your feet.”
Desiree gaped at the Brigadier for a moment, before gingerly sitting down onto the chair offered to her. She was not expecting a response like that from the Brigadier. Harry stood at attention a little away from her.
“At ease, Captain,” the Brigadier commanded. Harry changed his stance and looked to meet the eyes of the higher ranked officers that sat before them. “I’m sure you’re wondering why you’ve been called in, although I’m also sure you’ve formed your own ideas why.”
Desiree tried not to smile sardonically. She was pretty certain she knew why the Brigadier was here. He wanted to see her overseas service done, send her back home to a desk job.
“We need to discuss your last mission,” a Lt Col that Desiree didn’t recognise spoke up. She noticed the hat badge on his slouch hat on the table before him. He was a spook. Intelligence. “There were some, uh, hurdles, we had not expected you to encounter. You especially Captain Wales.”
“I’ll say,” Desiree muttered. It was the Intelligence corps fault that she didn’t have the intel she needed to conduct a successful mission. Lt Col Graham looked at her pointedly and raised his eye brow, his way of warning her without say a word. She had seen it often.
“We’ve already spoken to your men, asked for their accounts as to what happened in the field,” Ward continued, ignoring Desiree’s insubordination. “We checked the cams and radio traffic. We do have some questions about your actions.” Ward looked straight at Desiree.
“First of all,” the Intelligence Officer began, flicking through papers. “I understand that three days ago you were ambushed within the village of Deperat? After you had already retaken the village from Taliban insurgents?”
“Yes, sir,” both Desiree and Harry answered at the same time.
“How did this ambush happen?”
Desiree felt her sharp tongue itching to launch into a sarcastic tirade. She was surprised when Harry did it for her. “If we knew that, it wouldn’t be called an ambush now, would it, sir?”
The officers around the board looked shocked at his response, and the intelligence officer went slightly red in the face, Desiree tried not to laugh. “Now, Captain, we are just ascertaining that we have the right information.”
“I really don’t think anyone can fabricate any of this,” Desiree said calmly. “Or hide any of it either. Both us bear scars from someone back here not heeding my warnings.”
“All the same, the questions need to be asked,” the intelligence officer replied, clearly getting frustrated at her input. She twitched her nose and looked at the Brigadier. He seemed to be smirking at the intelligence officer.
“Then perhaps, can we get to the questions you really want to ask, and not the questions that beat around the bush?” Desiree asked, looking straight at the Brigadier.
He met her gaze and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Straight to the point seems like a good idea to me.” He nodded to the intelligence officer.
“R-right,” the officer stammered and began rummaging through his paperwork again. “Uh, you suffered injuries during the ambush at Deperat. Yet, you refused to be evacuated as would have been advised by your medics?”
“At no point did they advise that,” Desiree replied, knowing very well they had indeed not recommended that action.
“I agree, at no point did they advise that action be taken,” Harry added.
“Would I be mistaken in saying that your medics did not suggest it because they knew you would refuse their recommendation?” the intelligence officer continued.
Desiree bit her lip then. She looked at Lt Col Graham, who looked back at her expectantly. He knew the answer to that. “Possibly, sir.”
“Captain Wales, would you say because of these injuries sustained at Deperat, that Major Kitana’s judgement was affected?”
Desiree looked critically at the intelligence officer. What the hell?
“No, sir,” Harry replied confidently. “She reacted to all scenarios the same way I would have. And her injuries were non-life threatening.”
“If I’m not mistaken, Captain Wales, you too were injured in the action at Deperat?” Lt Col Graham asked, looking at Harry with a concerned look.
“It was only a minor flesh wound, sir. Desiree most certainly saved my life a couple of times while we were out there. If anything, it’s my fault she sustained some of those injuries.”
Desiree looked at Harry incredulously.
“Is that so?” the Brigadier asked in surprise. “What do you say to that, Major Kitana?”
Desiree turned to meet Brigadier Ward’s gaze. “I was simply carrying out my job, sir. Whether or not I saved his life as he says, I don’t know, I was doing what needed to be done.”
“What about at Base Alpha, Captain Wales? Would you say that Major Kitana’s actions were well thought out once you slipped outside the base gates to shut down the attack on the base?” the intelligence officer continued.
Desiree noticed Harry hesitated for a moment, glancing from each officer on the board. She knew that he would be well within his right to say that her actions may have been dubious. The point in her mind was that it worked. “I feel that Major Kitana acted very bravely, drawing the fire from the enemy positions, giving Corporal Jones and his section the opportunity to flank the West side of the base and take down the assailants situated there.” Desiree felt her stomach drop. He had avoided the question. She was certain that the Brigadier would capitalise on that.
She was surprised when it was the intelligence officer who spoke again. “That was not what I asked, Captain. I asked if you thought her decisions were well thought out?”
“He answered it quite well, I thought,” the Brigadier interrupted. “Kitana did what she thought was necessary.”
“Then explain to me why Captain Wales felt it necessary to try and stop her from running out into that drainage ditch?” the intelligence officer asked, flatly. The Brigadier raised his eye brows expectantly at the Lt Col. “Sir.”
The Brigadier smirked. “Lt Col, how much time have you spent outside the wire, working alongside men, sleeping in the same truck as them, fighting in the same ditches as them, risking your life next to them day in and out?”
“Well, I haven’t, sir,” the Lt Col replied, somewhat bashfully. Desiree raised an eye brow at that.
“So you don’t truly understand the bond these men, and women, feel for each other. Especially in a fire fight?” The Lt Col was silent. “I do. And from all accounts, I’ve only seen great things from this fine officer. She has saved many lives, and I keep hearing the stories, as do you. And now, she even has the Prince of Wales singing her praises. Why bring her abilities into question?”
Desiree had to stop herself from gawking. Brigadier Ward was defending her.
“I question, because she endangered said Prince of Wales when she ran out to retrieve a dog.”
“That was a canine asset!” Desiree exclaimed, leaping to her feet. She immediately regretted it, pain surging through her right hip. “It wasn’t just some dog, that Combat Assault Dog has saved many lives along side me, including H’s. And she was still alive, if there was any way I could save her, i was taking it!”
“And in doing so, assaulted Captain Wales.”
Desiree faltered at that. She had indeed, assaulted the Captain when he stood in her way. She bit her lip.
“Now hold on, sir. I wouldn’t go that far,” Harry began to argue.
“Oh yes, about that. Should we also talk about how he,” Ward interrupted Harry. “Disobeyed a direct and lawful order?” Ward asked the Lt Col. Desiree stared at the Brigadier. “Sit down, Kitana.”
“Um, well,” the Lt Col started to stammer as Desiree carefully lowered herself back into the chair. “Sir, I think it’s clearly obvious that we have now proven that women should not be taking on frontline roles. I thought you of all people would be on board with that?”
Desiree was struck dumbfounded by the Intelligence officer’s words. “So this is a witch hunt?”
“Hold on, Major.” Ward turned to look at the intelligence officer. “Yes, I’ll admit for years I stood against allowing women into frontline roles. For the most part, I still do. But not this particular woman. I will not tear down this woman. She has stood up and claimed this role as well as any man I know. Her company personally hold the record for the most successful hunting parties in this part of Afghanistan. That is far too much to overlook and say that women should not be in frontline roles and push her into that category. She clearly belongs here.”
Desiree nearly fell off her chair in shock. She moved her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
“But sir, because of her, the Prince very well could have been shot.”
“But I wasn’t, and it was because of her. She saved my life, twice. Yes, she knocked me on my ass when I tried to stop her from running into dangers way, and yes, it may have been because she was a woman that I tried to stop her and my protection instinct kick in. And, as it has been stated, in doing so I have disobeyed a direct order, the only person who should be on trial for anything at all here, is me.”
“Exactly, although you can’t blame the man for his concern, which is what I have been saying for years. Women shouldn’t be here because men are likely to risk their lives to protect them, Major Kitana here is no different, but I will not allow you to drag her name through the mud in order to achieve your agenda, Lt Col Hendrichs.”
Lt Col Graham finally spoke up. “As her commanding officer, I plan on recommending her for several medals. The Medal of Gallantry, a distinguished service medal and the Victoria Cross.”
“Now hold on there,” the intelligence officer began to argue.
“You would need a second on that, as well as recommendations from her unit subordinates,” Brigadier Ward replied expectantly, Desiree noticed he glanced at Harry from the corner of his eye.
“I would second that, sir, and be happy to write a recommendation,” Harry replied, picking up on the suggestion from the Brigadier.
“Ah, good, Captain.”
“Wait a minute, what’s going on right now?” Desiree exclaimed, not believing all that was going on before her.
“Oh you’re still here? You’re dismissed, Major. I’ll come and speak to you later. Back to the hospital with you.”
Desiree went to argue. “That’s an order, Major,” Lt Col Graham reinforced.
Desiree bit her tongue, looking critically from officer to officer before her. She sighed and began trying to stand up. Harry hurried to her side, carefully helping her up. “I’m fine, thank you,” she said, batting his hand away. She limped from the meeting room and back to the hospital.
******
                Harry finally left the meeting room, after filling out paperwork for his recommendations and speaking in length with the Brigadier Ward and Lt Col Graham. Lt Col Hendrichs had hurriedly left after Desiree had been dismissed.
Having spoken with the Brigadier, Harry was pleased to know that Desiree’s military career was safe, although she may well never serve in Afghanistan again. Harry couldn’t say he was disappointed in that. Considering all the injuries she had sustained, he wasn’t sure she would be entirely effective anymore.
He went back and met with the two units, who were all milling around the vicinity of his cabin.
“What’s going on, sir?” Sgt Scott asked, concerned laced in his voice.
“Why are they head hunting Major Kitana, sir?” Timmy asked as well. Everyone began to speak at once.
“Alright, alright!” Harry said loudly, holding up his hands to quieten the mob. “Everything is fine, Desiree is not being charged, but in fact she will be recommended for some medals. For those of you who feel she deserves it, I would advise you start thinking about what you think she is deserving of.”
“That’s what all those hard line questions from the intelligence officer were for?” Corporal Jones asked doubtfully.
“No, he was gunning for her head. The Brigadier, however, you all convinced that she was worthy of high accolades,” Harry replied with a sense of pride. The troops around him looked around at each other, all smiled.
“Sir, do you reckon if we recommended her, she could get the Victoria Cross?” Corporal Marshall asked, almost excitedly, as if a child was asking for a present.
“I’ve already seconded a recommendation from Lt Col Graham. More recommendations couldn’t hurt.”
There were cheers all around.
Harry left the mob to discuss it and returned to his cabin. He took his shirt off and checked his wounds, they were beginning to itch which was a good sign. He quickly replaced his shirt and then left, deciding to head to the hospital. He wanted to speak to Desiree, as the last time they had really spoken was before she had put him on his ass.
When he arrived, he found Desiree already had a guest, he could overhear them talking. He slowed when he heard Brigadier Ward’s voice.
“I must say, Major, I was dead against you coming here the first time, but since then you’ve proven yourself very worthy of your position, so much so you’ve been in country 2 more times since then.”
“Thank you, sir.” Desiree’s voice sounded strained, as if she was refraining from saying something.
“I should be thanking you, you’ve changed the opinion of an old man. Although, I do firmly believe the defence force will never find another woman of your calibre,” Brigadier Ward said. “I had been against that program from day one, and then against your progression even more. When they said they wanted to send you here, I petitioned every single person to have you stopped. Everyone was far too scared to say anything. And now, you’ve got all of the Taliban scared, so much so they want you dead. Well, I never thought I would say this, but i would prefer it if you didn’t leave the country.”
“Well, why should I then?” Desiree asked, quietly.
“Well, for your own safety more or less, because having you here, does now endanger everyone else. As you saw from your last mission, you lost your CAD, and three men were seriously injured, not life threatening, and several more receiving minor injuries, including one of the monarchy. They are gunning for you, my dear, and they will stop at nothing to kill you.” Harry could imagine the pain on Desiree’s face now. “I’m sorry to say, but you can no longer serve on this front line. As much as I do love having you here, giving it to the Taliban, not only by taking out their strongholds but just by being a woman, the negatives now outweigh the positives.”
Harry grimaced, the fact that the Brigadier kept mentioning her gender irked him. It really did not define her at all. He decided then and there to walk into the room.
“Hey, Des,” he began, walking through the doorway and pretending to only just notice the Brigadier. “Oh gees, sorry, sir. I didn’t realise someone was in here.”
“Oh, that’s quite alright, Captain. I was just leaving.” The Brigadier looked back to Desiree, who was lying on her back, the bed set up so she could sit up but she looked up into space. She looked disheartened. “I shall speak to you when you get back to Australia.”
Desiree bowed her head in response, but didn’t look at the Brigadier. He frowned and shrugged before leaving the room.
Harry turned to look at Desiree, she still laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. “Hey.” He pulled a chair over and sat next to her bed. “Are you okay?”She didn’t respond, continuing to stare into space. “Desiree.”
“I’m...fine.” He could hear the tightness in her voice.
“What did the Brigadier want?” he asked, curiously. He wasn’t sure how long he had been speaking to her before he arrived.
“They’re sending me home, I won’t be doing frontline duties anymore.” She turned her head to the side, away from him.
“What will they have you do?” He looked to her hand, it was balled into a fist.
“Probably training, according to the Brigadier. Send me to 2CDO to test and train new operatives and set up scenarios I encountered and how I got around them here.”
“That’s not so bad,” Harry said, hopeful his tone didn’t sound to cheerful.
Desiree sighed and released her fist. “No, I suppose not.” She turned her face back to look at him, before sitting up and crossing her legs to face him. “I could be behind a desk, I suppose.”
Harry noticed her eyes were red. She had been crying recently. It hurt him to see her like that. “How are you feeling, really?” he asked again. He reached forward and took her hand, squeezing it. She looked at him in surprise. “I mean, really, how are you? You don’t need to sugar coat it. I’m sure you just lost your best friend. You need to talk about it.”
Her face looked confused for a moment, before she suddenly broke. She leant forward, putting her head to her hands and began to sob. Harry quickly stood up, wrapping his arms around her as he had at Base Alpha. He felt her heavy sobs in his chest and felt his own throat begin to tighten. He wasn’t sure why seeing her like that affected him but he consoled her.
“Banzai was something else. I can’t believe she’s gone. This would have been her final tour before she retired.” Desiree cried harder. Harry began to pat her hair, sitting on the bed beside her and pulling her closer to his chest. It felt so natural for him to do that, he wondered why he didn’t feel as awkward being closer to her as he usually did with other people.
“I’m sorry, Desiree, she was a beautiful dog, smart too. She saved my life, I’ll make sure she is commended for that.”
“I just want her back.”
“I can understand that,” he replied, as she began to wipe away the tears. He reached out and grabbed a tissue from the stand by her bed, before beginning to help her wipe tears away. “She wasn’t just a dog, or a CAD, you could tell she was your best friend as well as your partner. A bond like you had with no one else. I feel very privileged to have witnessed you two working together.”
                Harry didn’t leave the hospital until late, staying until Desiree had fallen asleep. They had talked about many things. Harry had told her some of his best stories from the palace. She had told him some of her best warries, living with two high standing military parents. Not to mention her adventures with her siblings.
He felt like he had gotten much closer to Desiree last night than he had the whole last week. He had sat next to her and watched her fall asleep, all the while still holding her hand. Even though her face was still battered and bruised from the attack four nights before, he couldn’t help notice how peaceful and beautifully defined her face seemed while she was resting.
He woke the next morning, showered and dressed before heading straight back to the hospital. He walked into Desiree’s room, expecting to see her lying on her bed, only to find her bed empty and stripped. He looked around puzzled before walking out to find a nurse.
“Excuse me,” he said to a male nurse as he was going through charts at the next room. “Where’s Major Kitana?”
“Oh, good morning, Captain Wales. She was flown out this morning. She’s returning to Australia with her CAD. This war is over for her, sir. Didn’t she tell you? Brigadier Laskey gave her the news yesterday evening.”
Harry was stunned. “Thank you, Corporal.” He turned and left the hospital, walking slowly to the mess. When he entered, Sgt Scott appeared.
“Sir, how’s Desiree doing today? Can we go and visit her?”
Harry looked rueful. “Sorry, Sgt. She’s gone. They flew her out of here this morning. Along with Banzai’s body.”
“What? No ramp ceremony?” Sgt Scott asked incredulously. He looked angry. Before he could say anything, a Captain they didn’t recognise approached them.
“Captain Wales, Lt Col Graham wishes to speak to you.”
Harry hurried to Lt Col Graham’s office. He knocked once and waited for a reply.
“Come on in, Captain.”
Harry strode in, removing his bush hat. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Yes, Captain. Have a seat.” Harry sat down, and looked at Graham expectantly. “Mate, you’ve been around Desiree for a week, so I’m not going to beat around the bush because I know you’ll be so used to having it told to you as is. You’re going home, mate. The queen was briefed on what happened and she’s calling off the rest of your deployment. You got a good six months, but she wants you home safe now.”
Harry wanted to argue, but he knew Lt Col Graham was not the person to argue with. It was out of his hands. “Understood, sir. When do I leave?”
“Pack your things, your flight to Kandahar leaves in two hours.”
“Wow, she really does want me home, doesn’t she?”
Lt Col Graham smiled sympathetically at him. “Anything you’d like to ask?” he asked, his tone suggesting he knew something was wrong.
Harry was thoughtful for a moment. “Sir, Desiree, I mean, Major Kitana. Why...” he trailed off, unsure exactly of what he wanted to ask.
“Desiree has never been too good with goodbyes, especially with people that have a big impact on her life. I’ll have to go and speak to her boys soon, they won’t even see her when they get back to Australia, she’s going straight to her posting at 2CDO when she’s healed up enough.” He looked regretfully at Harry. “Don’t feel down about it, mate. It means she’s got a lot of respect for you. That family has never been too good at expressing themselves.”
Harry left the office, not feeling any better. He had answers, but for some reason, he didn’t feel better knowing that Desiree was going home with Banzai. He wished he could put his finger on why, but right at that moment he couldn’t.
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Desert Love