For King And Country (not mine)

Button House - Present Day

Kitty, do you know what's going on with those two?" Alison asked, nodding towards the Captain and Havers. The two men were standing together at the other end of the room, a metres distance between them.
They seemed to be talking about something that greatly interested them both. There were smiles and small chuckles regularly. It was probably something about weaponry or warfare.
"The Captain and William?" Kitty asked.
"Havers' name is William? How have I not heard about that before?"
"We try not to say it in front of them. The Captain and Havers get a little tense if you do. When they were alive and in the army together, you only called another soldier by their first name if you were dear friends. And we never shorten William's name to Will." "Why not?" Alison asked.
"They both get jittery. Pat called him Will once. He couldn't leave fast enough, and Julian found him sitting in one of the rooms upstairs, staring into space. Julian swears he saw a few tears, but sometimes he says things he doesn't mean to make a joke, so I don't know if that part is true."
"Wow."
"It's happened a few times. William always leaves the room when he thinks no one can see him. And the Captain never goes after him. He sits at their window and stares outside. That's the odd bit."
"That he stares outside or that they have a window?"
"That he never goes after William." Kitty clarified. "They're always together."
"I've noticed," Alison said. "That's the part I was wondering about. So the reason they're so close is that they were friends while they were alive? I thought maybe they'd died on the grounds at different times."
"They certainly did know each other," Thomas said, appearing at Alison's shoulder.
She jumped, startled, and readjusted herself to see Kitty and Thomas at once.
"Havers was the Captain's second in command. They spent more time together working in the Captain's office than they did with any other soldiers. The group were here for about eighteen months before Havers requested to leave for North Africa. He was leaving when he died." "Do you know how it happened?" Alison asked. Thomas hesitated.
"We don't usually talk about other ghosts' deaths," Kitty said.
"Soldiers were going through target practice drills outside. Someone put real bullets in where it should've been a blank. Havers was shot. He bled out only a few feet from the edge of the boundary." Thomas explained.
"The Captain got down here just in time to say his goodbyes," Kitty added. "He heard the gunshot and the shouting. He was in such a rush."
"Oh, are we bringing up that old story again?" Julian yawned, walking over to the small group.
"Don't be like that, Julian," Kitty said. "It's ever so sad."
"Yes, yes, we all know. Havers and the Captain have been in love with each other for the last seventy-five years and refuse to say anything because it was illegal when they were alive. It's one of the few things they hang onto from before." "Wait, Julian, are you being serious?" Alison asked.
"Of course I am."
"They have feelings for each other?" Thomas nodded when Alison looked at him. "Did either of them ever say anything?"
"We weren't watching them all the time. We have our deaths to get on with, you know!" Thomas said. "But I don't think any of us saw anything."
"Apart from the last two months of William's life," Kitty said.
"That was a dull and dreary time," Thomas admitted. "And not just because the majority of it was in winter."
"Gossiping, are we?" Fanny asked, swanning past.
"Alison was asking about the Captain and Havers," Julian told her.
"Oh, Havers, he's ever so lovely, Alison," Fanny said. "He keeps the Captain a little calmer when he's trying to stifle all of us."
"He doesn't mean to do it!" Kitty defended. "He's just-"
"Stuck in his own time," Julian added. "He can't get his mind out of the war."
"But he'd be a lot worse without Havers. And Havers would stay as quiet and withdrawn as he was when he first became a ghost if the Captain hadn't died here too." Thomas said.
"It'd be like that last two months before Havers' death all over again!" Fanny agreed.
"What happened before Havers died?" Alison asked. The ghosts looked between each other, all of them looking a little uncertain. "Oh, come on, you've told me this much. Everyone but me seems to know."
"It's not that we don't want to tell you," Thomas said.
"None of us knows, really," Kitty explained. "One day, they were as happy as ever, and the next, they were so tired and sad. They hid it very well from the other soldiers, but they didn't know we were here. So we saw that they weren't together much anymore. They always looked so heartbroken."
"That's why Havers put in for North Africa," Julian said.
"How do you know? You weren't even born yet, let alone dead." Alison pointed out.
Julian shrugged. "I had questions once, just like you. The curiosity soon dies. I've got a bet with Robin that it'll be another twenty-five years before they finally say anything. You know, to go big on the one-hundredth anniversary of their deaths?"
"We don't know for sure," Fanny told Alison. "We know that Havers wanted to go abroad to fight. He wanted to help in any way he could. But he didn't always feel that way. A larger part of him wanted to stay. He liked it here. He was happy. We think something big had to happen to push him to leave."
Alison looked back to the two soldiers across the room from her. They seemed so happy together now, with Havers gesturing as he talked about something and the Captain smiling along as he listened.
It was hard to imagine that they could ever be unhappy when they were in the same house.
"Alison-"
There was a groan and gagging as Julian experienced Mike walking through him. "Oh god, sorry! Mike, come over here." She led him away from the ghosts and they parted, Julian glaring as they walked away.
"Did I walk through one of them again?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, Julian."
"Look, I was just wondering what we should do about all of the military stuff up in the attic? It's vintage stuff. But it's in good condition."
"Captain? Havers?" The soldiers tore their gazes from each other, and she beckoned them over. When they were standing beside her, she spoke again. "Do you know anything about military gear that got left in the attic? Is it from the war?"
"Most likely, ma'am." Havers nodded. "Any surplus provisions that couldn't be carried home after the war ended all would've gone up there. We weren't a huge priority out here, so our stocks wouldn't have dented things too much."
Alison looked to Mike. "Havers and the Captain are pretty sure that everything up there is from their time."
"Maybe we can donate it to a war museum," Mike suggested. "I'm sure they would love to see some of it."
"Donate it?!" The Captain exclaimed. "Those are vital pieces of gear! They belong to us, not to a
museum!"
"Captain, the war is over," Alison said gently. "Think of how many people could better understand what you did here if they could see what's up there?" "Absolutely not!" The Captain insisted.
"Sir, maybe if we had a look, we could sort through the surplus. Keep some here at home with us, give some to a museum." Havers advised.
"Exactly, it was our home, our belongings, no one else's." The Captain said. "Those are the only things we have left."
Havers gave the Captain a small, almost indescribable look. Alison wasn't sure what he was trying to get across, but it spoke volumes to the Captain, who seemed to understand what Havers was trying to convey without words.
Both men had called this house home. Despite the homes they'd had before serving, this house was something different, and there was unspoken history in the way they spoke to each other.
"That's not true, Captain," Havers said. "We have each other."
The Captain softened slightly. When his gaze shifted to Alison, he looked almost embarrassed to be caught having such a tender moment with someone.
"We shall come up to the attic with you and help. But if there's anything specific that we ask you to keep here, you must listen. This house was our home too, and there are still things that hold sentimental value to us."
"Of course, Captain," Alison said. She grabbed Mike's arm and began to walk out of the room.
"Let's go up there now, Mike. Cap and Havers are going to help us."
Together, the group of four made their way up to the attic, and Alison gaped at the boxes everywhere.
"It'll take a while to clear, but we should be able to make a decent start of it," Mike said, hands on his hips as he surveyed the room.
"Where should we start?" Alison asked the present ghosts.
They looked at each other, then at the room, and immediately gestured towards the boxes of uniforms.