**GRACE POV**

I was 16 when I lied about my age to train as an Army nurse. Factory jobs held no adventure, and I would have sooner died than marry some dirty old man for money. With no living family and nothing to lose, I saw it as an opportunity to eat, get paid, and see the world.

I turned 17 in a field hospital in Aldbourne, England, surrounded by the atrocities of war. Never one to shy away from hard work or a challenge, my superiors soon determined that I had an aptitude for assessing and dealing appropriately with stressful situations. I also developed a reputation for never shying away from a man, no matter how gruesome his wounds, and found that I was often relied on to assist in calming those who were in the greatest pain so that the doctors could work more easily. The attention didn't always make me popular, but I hadn't exactly come to war to make friends.

"Grace, may I speak with you for a moment?" my supervisor asked, motioning me into a small office. I could hear the suggestive snickers behind me as he closed the door, but he leaned back out long enough to say, "Don't you ladies have some bedpans to empty or something?"

"Yes sir? Is there a problem?"

"No, Grace. Quite the opposite. We've been informed that there is to be an Allied invasion, involving a large number of American forces. The 101st Airborne will be jumping behind enemy lines, and will require skilled medics to assist them on the lines. They arrived here via troop ship to continue training, but there is a jump training school at Chilton Foliat where you can be caught up to speed and receive your wings before you join your new Company."

"Sir?"

"They have asked me to look at our staff and determine if I had anyone who would be able to handle the kind of quick thinking and emergency medical care that would be required of a combat medic. I told them I had one. I've discussed it with the Division commander, and he has been over your records. If you are willing, he would like to have you. They'd like to send you to Easy Company in the 506th. Are you interested?"

Two days later, I was at Chilton Foliat, completing jump training under a haughty hard-ass named Captain Herbert Sobel. Rumor had it that he had once been the CO of the Company that I was being assigned to. His field skills, or lack thereof, had gotten him reassigned. He wasn't pleased with that, and less pleased with having a woman included in his training, but I sucked it up and met every insult with more effort.

By the time he pinned on my wings, we had actually developed a grudging respect for each other. I respected that his hard training had made me more fit as a soldier, and he respected that I took his endless bullshit without complaint and refused to quit.

I barely had time to savor the moment before I was shipped back to Aldbourne to join Easy Company. I was, for the first time in this war, truly terrified. Would I be accepted? This group had been together for a long time, and I had already heard plenty about how skirts were meant to be chased, not accompany men into battle. At least I had the benefit of our shared Sobel experience to build off of. That was something. Wasn't it?

** SHIFTY POV **

"I'm telling ya, boys. I caught a glimpse of the new medic coming off the jeep. They sent us a woman," Bill was saying to a group of us in the barracks. A few cursed or grumbled, but that was to be expected, I supposed. It didn't really matter to me, as long as she could pull her own weight.

"I bet she ain't much to look at," Tab mused. "If she was, she wouldn't be risking her pretty face here. She'd be nursing at a hospital or home, getting married. Either way, I get first dibs. I can close my eyes if she's that bad."

You had to laugh at his sexually deprived logic, and we all did. Only Roe had met her, and he smirked and shook his head.

"You'd be surprised, Talbert. She ain't like what you're thinking."

Then a voice came from the direction of the door.

"Actually, I was a nurse. They requested me to become a combat medic, not the other way around. And I was 16 when I joined, so I haven't exactly had time for finding a husband. Most of the men I've met have been unconscious."

We all spun to face her, and Tab jumped to his feet, embarrassed. Tab had been way off about the way she looked. Her youth was still apparent, but she was beautiful. Roe walked over to the door and took her bag.

"Gentlemen… and Talbert… This is Grace."

Two weeks later, it was as though she had been there forever. She had trained under Sobel. She could put up with Talbert, who had been hitting on her constantly once he discovered that she was far from ugly. She was able to trade jabs with Bill and Liebgott, and she worked just as hard as the rest of us during training.

We developed a fast friendship starting that first day, talking late into the night. I learned that she was an orphan, and that she'd lied about her age to join and avoid getting stuck in a factory or a loveless marriage for money. Her face still held its youth, but her eyes looked much older than her 17 years. I immediately wanted to protect her. It wasn't long before we were essentially joined at the hip, and it seemed as though we always had a sense of each other, even if we weren't together.

One night as we lay talking about the war, she said, somewhat off-handedly, "I don't even have any family to see after the war."

"Are you kidding? You've got all of us; a whole company of brothers. You're like our baby sister around here."

"I'm not a baby, Darrell," she retorted, but I saw the smile on her face.

"No. You're not a baby. But you are my Gracie-baby, and you'll always have family as long as I'm around."

** GRACE POV **

So began my friendship with Darrell "Shifty" Powers. He was right. The guys did adopt me and, like a little sister, they alternated between merciless teasing and fierce protectiveness. We trained. We jumped. We endured the hellish days surrounding the invasion of Normandy, and stormed into Carentan together. I mended their wounds and they lifted my spirits, and Easy Company became my brothers.

By far, though, I was closest to Shifty. On the first night I met him we sat outside and talked for hours. He wanted to know everything about me, and how I came to be where I was, and because Shifty just radiated this absolute trustworthiness, I told him. He told me about Virginia, and about how his father had taught him to shoot. We talked about how he and Popeye Wynn had volunteered for the paratroopers to avoid being locked into factory jobs, and we shared our hopes and dreams for if we made it home from the war.

There was just something different about our friendship from the beginning. He had this sixth sense about me, and seemed to know what I was thinking before I said it. Sometimes, he'd look at me, and I was certain that he could see right into my soul. From some people, that might have been disturbing. From Shifty, though, it was calming. When he smiled at me, I knew that everything was going to be okay. Through the horrors of war, Shifty kept me grounded.

We were in Carentan when I realized what had happened.

Tipper had been gravely wounded, and Liebgott and several others carried him to me before continuing the fight. At last, the Germans retreated and we captured the town. Relieved, I knelt beneath the window of a building to finish dressing Tipper's wounds and prepare him for evacuation. From an open plaza about 50 yards away, I heard Shifty scream.

"Grace!"

I had enough time to look up and see the barrel of the German's rifle pointed at me before a shot rang out. It took a moment for me to realize that it had not been me who was hit. The German slumped, and I turned to look across the plaza, where Shifty was still looking down the barrel of his own rifle.

It had happened so quickly. Last I'd seen him he had been on the other side of the building with Lipton, running toward a warehouse in the opposite direction of my position. He never should have seen the sniper. He crossed the plaza toward us, kneeling to help me with Tipper.

"Where did you…? How did you…?"

"I don't know. I was clearing that warehouse, and all of a sudden I just had the worst feeling that something happened to you. I just took off running, like I already knew where you were."

"You could have been killed running out into the open like that."

"I had to get to you."

I met his eyes across Tipper's body.

"Shifty, what if you'd been hit? How would you have gotten to me then?"

"Grace, I will always find a way to get to you."

The realization hit me like a lightning bolt. In that moment, looking into his eyes, my whole world moved. I was in love with him.

** SHIFTY POV **

Something was different between us after that day with the sniper. We never talked about it, but I could feel it. She and I were still inseparable, maybe even more so than before. Connected, I guess I would call it. But I knew she was holding something back from me now. Something she didn't want me to find out.

Bill kept trying to tell me that he thought that Grace had feelings for me, but that didn't make any sense. He had been saying the same thing since before we jumped, but she never gave me any indication that it was true.

"I'm tellin' you, Shift. That little girl is hung up on you," he insisted. "And you probably are on her too. You just aren't paying attention to the right signs."

Then one night in Aldbourne, just before we jumped into Holland, I was teasing her with one of the replacements. It was her 18th birthday, and I said something about our "little sister growing up."

She didn't crack her usual smile or protest, and I noticed that the words no longer felt right coming out of my mouth. She still smiled when anyone else said it. To them, it seemed a perfectly natural thing to say, just as it always had. Her relationship with the rest of the guys remained the same.

Whatever had been changing between us was starting to become clear. She was still everybody's kid sister… except mine.

I was processing that when Talbert came swaggering over to us and snaked an arm around her waist.

"Hey there sweetheart. How about I give you a birthday kiss?"

"I don't think so, lover-boy."

Wait. Did I say that out loud? Across the table, I saw Bill smile. Grace stared at me, confused. Tab started to apologize.

"Jeez, sorry. C'mon, Shifty. You know I was just joking."

"Yeah, yeah, I know Tab. Sorry. Instinct, I guess. I'm gonna grab a beer. Anybody want one?"

Bill stood up, saying, "Yeah. I'll go with ya," and then, once we were away from the table, "So, you ready to admit there is more going on between you two?"

"Shut up, Bill."

** GRACE POV **

I'd been pushing my feelings down since we had left Carentan, and I knew that Shifty could sense that something was up. I just couldn't bear the thought of telling him and ruining this amazing relationship we had built. If I told him how I felt, it would change everything. He would be forced to try and let me down easy. Things would be awkward, and I would have to live with knowing that the man I loved would only ever see me as a child.

I always tried not to let it show on my face how much I hated him calling me his little sister, but that night, I think he saw it anyway and that's what he was wondering about when Talbert had walked over.

Shifty had said it was instinct that made him say something to Tab, and maybe it was, but that quick, semi-sarcastic response just wasn't him. It sounded more like jealousy than protectiveness. I had never seen him get jealous before, and I had no idea why he would have reacted that way. He should be used to Talbert's constant flirting with me by now. Shifty went with Bill to get a beer, and I could see them talking. When they returned, he stayed close to me but appeared to be back to his usual self again.

Overall, despite those few moments, it had been a good party. The guys had just finished singing to me when Lipton made an announcement. We were moving out again. The cheerful mood now subdued, we all made out way outside to head back to the barracks.

Bill was beside me as I split off from the group.

"I'm going to stop at the aid room for a minute. I need to see how we are on supplies before we start loading up tomorrow."

"Okay, Doll. Hey, Shift. You gonna go with her?"

"Bill, I'm fine. Nobody has to go with me."

"I know, but just in case you need some help or something. Right, Shifty?"

They were acting weird again, almost conversing with their eyes, and I finally turned away, annoyed.

"Okay, well, I'm going."

I made it several yards into the darkness before I heard the ground crunching behind me as Shifty caught up, and gave him a sideways look as I stepped into the aid room.

"You didn't need to come with me."

"I know."

"So, you gonna tell me what that was all about with Tab earlier?" I had my back to him, standing on my tiptoes as I reached for a box of bandages on the top shelf. I felt him move behind me, reaching over me to pull the box down, as his answer came against my ear.

"I don't know. I just didn't want him kissing you."

** SHIFTY POV **

I would have followed her here even if Bill hadn't said anything. I just had the overwhelming urge to have her all to myself for a few minutes. To be able to tell her that I didn't mean to startle her earlier. To find out what was going on between us.

I watched her move around the small room, counting aloud as she tallied supplies. She stood on her tiptoes, reaching for a box, and I found my eyes roaming over the curves I hadn't paid much attention to before. They were lingering on her hips when she startled me with a question.

"So, you gonna tell me what that was all about with Tab earlier?"

I moved to help her with the box, answering honestly. I did not know. I reached over her, hoping my change of focus would keep me from thinking about how badly I had just wanted to reach out and touch her. As my chest pressed against her back, though, she sucked in a breath and I realized my error.

I grabbed the box and sat it on the shelf in front of her, my left hand rested on her hip, and she looked over her shoulder at me. I could feel a heart pounding, and I wasn't sure if it was hers or mine. She tried to lighten the moment, but her voice was breathy.

"You didn't want Talbert giving me a present because you didn't get me anything either."

"I haven't had time to buy you anything. And I didn't want Tab kissing you because I don't want anyone else kissing you," I answered without thinking, my response surprising us both.

We stared at each other for a long minute, and Bill's words played again in my head. I was fine with everyone else looking at her like a little sister, but Talbert saw her as a woman, and that bugged me. I didn't have a problem with Tab in particular. I just didn't want anyone else kissing her. I didn't want anyone else touching her. I didn't want her sharing her life with anyone else. Not when she belonged with me.

The last thought hit me hard. I turned her to face me, running my fingertips down her jawline to tilt her chin up. She was watching me, her eyes full of uncertainty, nibbling nervously on that beautiful bottom lip, and suddenly all I wanted to do was kiss her breathless.

Could I? Would that ruin everything? Wouldn't it be weird if we…?

I didn't get to finish my thought. Clutching the collar of my shirt, she lifted back onto her tiptoes and cautiously brushed her lips across mine. For a moment, I was stunned, and she must have taken my reaction as a bad thing because she started to back away.

"Shifty, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

I was on fire. I said nothing, instead backing her roughly against the shelves and crashing my lips to hers again. Now it was her turn to be stunned, and she wasn't immediately sure where to put her hands. Without breaking the kiss, I pulled her arms around my neck and groaned as she ran her fingernails through my hair.

"I need to tell you something but I'm afraid it's going to change everything."

Her voice was strained and nervous. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, tensing in my arms.

"You can say it, Grace," I whispered against her lips. "I want you to say it."

"I'm in love with you," she finally admitted.

I'd been expecting it, but it still made my heart swell. I took my time exploring her mouth and smiled into the kiss when I felt her body relax. The skin of her neck was soft, and I lifted her off the ground so that I could work my way down toward her collarbone, pulling at the buttons of her blouse as I went. In my ear, I could hear every quiet little gasp and moan.

My hips shifted involuntarily against hers. Her eyes were hazy, her mouth slightly open. I brushed a strand of hair back from her face and ran my fingers down her cheek. I wanted her. More than I had ever wanted anyone or anything in my life.

"Darrell…"

Oh. My. God. That was so sexy.

"I'm right here, baby girl."

"You probably think I'm just a silly girl with a crush, but…"

"I think you're the most amazing woman in the world."

** GRACE POV **

"I love you, Grace. I'm in love with you."

He said it slowly, emphasizing each word, fingers under my chin so that I was looking into his eyes. I felt him sit me on the desk and lost myself in his kiss again. His tongue brushed mine. His hand slipped inside my blouse, sliding it off my shoulders so that it fell away. We both moaned, and he was mumbling against my lips.

"So beautiful…"

His fingertips grazed my breasts, popping the clasp of my brassiere. His teeth marked the skin at base of my neck. My body was buzzing, the blood rushing to every spot he touched, and my own fingers went to work on the buttons of his shirt. He yanked it off quickly, dropping it to the floor without breaking contact, and pulled me roughly against him. Skin to skin. His fingers tangled in my hair. I felt his muscles underneath my hands. I felt his arousal against the apex of my thighs, and without trying to, we found a rhythm against each other as we kissed.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. His tongue ran across one sensitive nipple and I cried out. Encouraged, he repeated the motion on the other and I shifted my hips against his. I just needed him. I needed him to keep touching me. Kissing me. Making me feel the way he was making me feel right now.

"Darrell, please…"

I wasn't even sure what I was asking for, but he never had to ask. He knew what I wanted. What we both wanted. He lifted me from the desk again, carrying me to a bunk in the corner and falling across me. I lifted my hips as the tugged my pants over them. He knelt over me, making quick work of his own belt and trousers. His eyes held a fire and determination I had never seen before. It gave me chills.

"I want you, Grace," he whispered in my ear, settling back across me with nothing between us now but dog tags. "I really want you all to myself."

"Don't you know already? I'm already all yours."

That was enough to draw a groan and a deep kiss as he joined our bodies. I could see him above me in the dim light, eyes squeezed shut and arms trembling as he willed himself to be gently and allow me to adjust. The sting subsided quickly and I shifted against him, urging him to move. Our bodies were as in sync as our minds, and the rhythm was immediate and mind-blowing.

"God, Grace. You feel so good."

We were a blur now. Damp from sweat, slipping easily against each other's skin. Kissing whatever parts of the other that we could reach. Encouraging with soft moans, cries, and mumbled words. I could feel the wave cresting over me, my body tensing and my breathing coming in shallow gasps. He could feel it too, and he pulled my hips to him, talking against my lips and skin.

"Let it go, baby. Let me feel you."

I dug my fingernails into his shoulder blades as stars exploded behind my eyes. His name tumbled from my lips as my release shredded his own restraint and he followed me over the edge. We curled up on the bunk together for a long time, exchanging soft kisses and touches along each other's skin.

"We have to go back to the barracks, don't we?"

"Yeah. If we don't show up soon, they'll be looking for us."

"I don't want to move. I like being here with you. I'm not ready for you to let go of me yet."

He smiled and brushed a strand of hair off my cheek.

"Gracie-baby, I'm never gonna let go of you."

"Never? Promise?"

"Always. I promise always."