DISCLAIMER: We don't own anyone but Jay and Sam oh and of course Kris. No disrespect is meant to the real men.

Well once again Ber 1719 and I have teamed up to bring you another combined tale, a little different, but we really hope that we don't disappoint. We love reviews as your muses are so demanding we like to keep them happy. We hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

Sam pulled into the driveway, shutting off the engine and just sitting in the car listening to the engine tick as it cooled. The house was non-descript and fit well with the neighbors, but in the last year it had become more like a tomb than a house. She loved her Nana, but ever since her Poppy had died two years ago she found herself hating coming home.

Glancing at herself in the rearview mirror, she wiped the mascara smudges from under her eyes. She still couldn't think of Poppy without tearing up, his death had been so sudden. Frowning she thought of Nana, she'd not shed one tear at the funeral or any other time for that matter. Some days she wondered if she had ever loved Poppy at all. Shaking her head she gave herself one last critical look. The dark brown eyes staring back at her were so familiar. Nana had told her sometimes it was hard to look at her; she looked so much like her Poppy. Heaving a sigh she pushed the car door open, time to face the latest problem.

Unlocking the back door she plastered a smile on her face and called out, "Nana, I'm home, what's for lunch?" Giving a laugh she closed the door and headed for the kitchen to find it empty except for the television on the counter playing the noon time news. The fact that Nana wasn't at the stove this time of day had her more than worried; it had her scared.

When Poppy died two years ago, Nana had just given up. She ate very little and slept even less. When Sam had commented on it and she'd remarked rather snarky, that without her Ron, what was the point and since she'd not slept without him beside her in the last fifty years how was she expected to sleep. It had been the only outward show of emotion about losing Poppy Nana had shown.

Walking slowly through the house she called out, "Nana, it's Sam, I'm home. Where are you?" When no one answered she felt her heart accelerate and felt her whole body tense. This had been her biggest fear coming home to find Nana dead. Swallowing she approached the sun room and saw the back of Nana's head as she sat seeming to stare out at the back yard.

Stopping at the door she gripped the frame tightly and took a deep breath, "Nana, are you okay? Come on, its noon and I was kind of hungry." When the woman on the couch didn't move she felt the tears begin to slide down her cheeks, what she'd feared had come true, Nana had sat down and given up. Not that she would really blame her, Poppy and her and been together for fifty years and with his death, the older woman had just felt so lost.

Pushing off she walked slowly around the couch until she could see Nana's face. The eyes were open but she was staring off into nothing and her hands were clenched tightly at her sides. One of them holding a letter so tightly crushed it could tell anything about it. Reaching out slowly she touched Nana's shoulder, expecting to find it cold, instead she got the shock of her life when the woman jumped and dropped the paper she'd been holding.

"Dear Lord Samantha, are you trying to send me to an early grave or what? Next time give an old woman some warning." Nana's eyes seemed glazed and confused, but she was alive and functioning. Sam dipped her head and gave a prayer of thanks before lifting up and giving Nana a bored expression.

"Well I've only been calling you for the last few minutes and if anyone has had the life scared from them it's been me. I thought you were dead and then you weren't in the kitchen…"

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, I let time get away from me, I'll go and fix lunch now. Uh, I'm sorry." Leaning in she kissed Sam's cheek and headed off to the kitchen humming to herself as she went.

Sam shook her head and listened as her Grandmother moved about the kitchen making lunch. Sitting down on the couch she looked out the window in the direction she'd been looking and saw nothing but trees. Not much help there, looking down at the floor she found the piece of crumbled paper she'd been holding crushed in her hand.

Reaching down she picked up the paper and laid it on the table pressing the edges open. Frowning she realized it was a letter and it was addressed to her grandmother.

Kris,

I'm sorry I didn't come to the funeral but I hope you can understand why I couldn't. The thought of seeing you so devastated brought me to my knees and I knew to see you again would only cause pain for both of us.

But I digress, I received a letter from Wild Bill and he and Babe have been very active in getting Easy members together for the 65th Anniversary of D-Day. Well it just so happens that the BBC has taken an interest in the human side of it and is looking for members of Easy to give personal recounts of battlefields. They will pay for everything and the trip will start in April and end with a 6 June, ceremony at Normandy.

I know you are rolling you eyes and are thinking without him what's the point, but please come Kris, I want you to, more importantly I need you. To be honest I think you've been hiding ever since the end of the war, hiding behind him, come and do this, it'll be Babe, Bill and myself, with some other Easy members at Normandy. I know you've not been back since the movie premiere, but please come. For me! I've missed you more than words can express.

Love,

Buck

Putting the letter back on the table she looked into the kitchen to see Nana going about her daily routine as if the letter had never come. Frowning she realized if she wanted to know what was going on she'd have to dig herself, because Nana wasn't going to offer any information.

Walking into the kitchen she leaned against the doorframe and watched quietly as the older woman sat things out for the noon meal. Waiting until she had nothing in her hands, Sam pounced. "So Nana who's Buck?"

The older woman dropped the spoon she'd just picked up but didn't turn to face her granddaughter. Her whole body had tensed and she had to take a deep breath before answering, "oh just someone who was a friend a long time ago why do you ask."

Moving up beside Nana she gave her the same look that could be classified as pure Speirs, "well you see this letter," shaking it out in front of Nana, "was crumpled in your hand and ended up on the floor. Apparently he wants to see you very badly." Lifting her eyebrow she was puzzled by the look on her Grandmother's face.

The warm blue eyes had turned cold and instead of crumbling under the question, her face had grown tight and impassive. "Humph, sometimes you are too much like him for your own good. That is the same look he wore when he wanted the answers without giving any of his own. Fine, you want to know who Buck was…he was a friend of mine, one that I've not seen in over sixty years. Satisfied, or do you feel the need to interrogate me?"

"Nana, you know I'd never do anything that would hurt you. I was just curious, why does he want you to do the BBC interviews and what does the 65th anniversary have to do with you and Poppy?"

Krista laid the spoon down and stared at the ceiling. Part of her was screaming to see Buck and the rest of them, yet the other part, the one that always was afraid, wanted to stay her safe in her own home. Shaking her head she smiled at Sam, "there is so much you don't know about me or Poppy. Hmm, maybe I should contact Buck and then we'll go from there. Well for now, eat your lunch and we'll talk later."

Nodding she sat down and ate what was put in front of her not really caring what it was. At least Nana was going to explain the letter, that was a start from a woman who'd rather cut out her own tongue than talk about her past.

The meal had been quiet and to Sam, Nana had seemed even more reserved and at times nodded to some conversation only she could hear. When the lunch was finished she'd quietly stood collected the plates and washed them. Turning she leaned a hip against the counter and stared at Sam. "You know, maybe this would be good for both of us to get away. I think that Buck might have been right about one thing in that letter, I've been hiding here."

Saying nothing else she moved back into the sunroom taking the letter with her. When the door closed behind her Sam sighed and went to the kitchen to get another glass of tea. The closed door spoke volumes, Nana wasn't going to include her in this and whatever it was would remain a mystery until she felt like talking.

Moving back into the living room she glanced at the photos lining the mantle. Most were of her mother when she was younger or of herself. But there was one photo she loved and it had been moved to the back behind the others after Poppy's death. Pulling the photo out she ran her finger over it wiping away the dust. The photo was of Poppy and Nana. Him wearing his uniform and her in a dress, they are wrapped in each other's arms and smiling. Frowning she gave a closer look to the uniform. She'd always assumed that it was taken later in his career, but upon closer inspection she noticed he was wearing Lieutenant rank instead of the Lieutenant Colonel she'd expected.

Putting the photo back into place she did some quick math in her head. Her grandparents had been married for fifty years when he died. Yet they never talked about how they'd met, in fact it was almost like time never existed before 1955. Sitting on the couch she finished her drink and ran the still cool glass over her forehead, this whole thing had given her a headache.

When the door opened an hour later, Nana walked out and went to the chair across from her and sat down. "Sam I have a question to ask, would you like to come with me? I know you have work but I really wish you would come, it would be mean a great deal to me."

Lifting an eyebrow she tried to recover from her shock. Nana never asked her for anything and she certainly didn't share. The fact the woman wanted her to go meant this was something incredibly important to her. Giving her grandmother a smile, "I'd love to go with you. I just need the dates and you know I'll be there."

Nana nodded and picked up her knitting, "good I'll write everything out for you tonight. You'll want to pack some warmer clothes, even though its summer the coast of France and be cold that time of year."

Sam watched the older woman across from her knit calmly as if talking about the coast of France was an everyday occurrence. "Nana, do you realize I know very little about you or Poppy. I mean I never asked, but the two of you have always been so secretive about things, why?"

Nana laughed, "Samantha, we were never secretive, you just never asked and well, who wants to listen to old people talk about things that happened long before they were born."

Sam pushed off the couch and began to pace in sheer frustration, only to stop when her grandmother laughed softly. "Alright Nana, what's the joke I'm missing?"

"Oh I'm sorry, there is no joke it just amazes me sometimes how for you to be his granddaughter you are more like him than his own child was. Like the whole pacing thing, I expected to see you run your hand through your hair any moment."

Sam frowned and shook her head. The fact was she'd been about to do just that and the fact she was so much like Poppy was kind of funny. Sitting back down she was silent for a moment listening to the grandfather clock tick. Finally she stood and went over to kiss her grandmother. "I'll be back later to pick up the information. Try not to scare me again okay?"

Nana nodded, "yes dear, I'll do my best not to die and scare you when you come back." She watched her granddaughter leave chuckling softly. When the door closed she found herself alone again with only the ticking clock and her memories for company.

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London-2009

"Well at least the hotel is nice don't you think Nana?" When she heard the grunt she rolled her eyes. Ever since they'd landed Nana had grown quiet, more so than normal. Sam had tried to draw her into any type of conversation but the old woman had kept her silence. Now they were going to be heading down stairs to meet with the others and Nana was still pacing from the closet to the bathroom and changing outfits.

"You know Nana, if I didn't know any better I would think you were nervous about seeing Buck again. I mean you've only changed outfits five different times, what's going on?"

Kris dropped into a chair and tossed the jacket she'd been carrying onto the bed, looking at her granddaughter she heaved a tired sigh. "There's nothing wrong and I guess I'm a little nervous about seeing them all again." Holding up her hands she shrugged, "they were my friends and I don't want them to think I've grown into an ugly old woman."

Sam smiled, getting up she went over to hug Nana. "Don't you worry; you've got a long way to go to ever be considered an ugly old woman. In fact I do believe I saw several gentlemen checking you out on the way through the airport. Now come on, no sense putting it off."

Kris pushed herself out of the chair with a tired sigh. She hadn't slept on the plane and now found herself exhausted. She'd go to dinner and then retire early. Let Sam keep everyone company. "Alright then young lady, let's get this over with."

The elevator ride down was quiet and as soon as they stepped off a man from the BBC, Tom was what Sam thought his name was, was there to lead them to a private dining room. Sam saw Nana stop just outside the door and take a deep breath, and then stepped forward into the room.

The conversation stopped as they entered and one man quickly got up from the table he was at and moved quickly to meet up with them. The man stopped in front of Nana was a smile on his face; his ice blue eyes saw nothing but Kris. Without a word her grandmother opened her opens and the man stepped forward and embraced her like a life line.

Not wanting to seem like a peeping tom Sam looked behind the man to see a younger version of him standing with a smile on his face. The young man stepped around the couple that were still embracing and talking softly to one another, holding out his hand, "hi, I'm Jay, the man currently wrapped like a vine around someone is my grandfather Buck Compton."

Sam shook his hand and looked over at the embracing couple one last time before offering him a smile. "Samantha Wills, granddaughter of the woman wrapped up in that embrace."

Before either could speak again, a strongly accented voice called from across the room, "yeah better watch out boy, that's Ron Speirs granddaughter and I'd know her anywhere."

Looking around she saw a couple of men seated at a table waving for her to come over and join them. "Well you gentlemen have me at a disadvantage, obviously you know me but who are you?"

Both men laughed and introduced themselves as Edward 'Babe' Heffron and Bill Guarnere, or Wild Bill if she preferred. The one called Bill eyed her for a moment and busted out laughing, "damn if you aint' like looking a female version of Sparky…how's your temper."

Laughing she sat down and eyed the man, "fair, but I have my moments."

Both men busted out laughing, "yeah we figured, they didn't call him Sparky for nothing. So have a drink, let you gran and Buck catch up. Come on over here young Compton, keep the lady company."

Across the room Buck stepped back to smile down at Kris, "God you look wonderful and even if I hadn't have known you immediately that granddaughter looks just like him."

Kris wiped her eyes, "yes she does, acts like him too, same mannerisms everything." She looked down and sighed, "some days it hurts to look at her. But let's not speak of that now, the coming days are going to be hard enough, let's join the others and just laugh." She laid her hand on his forearm and squeezed, "please Buck, just humor me for now."

Nodding he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her over to join the others.