A/N: It's been many, many years since I attempted fan fiction for something other than Harry Potter. Heh. But Daisy and William give me a lot of very intense feelings and I was sad to see that they're not more popular. This is "my" ending for them.
Prologue: Take All the Courage You Have Left
They said war was Hell.
William Mason, however, now knew that this was an understatement. There was nothing— nothing— that could ever be worse than this. Bullets flew through the air and shrapnel and dirt rained down on them. Men were collapsing in every direction; some dead before they hit the ground, others left critically injured, screaming and writhing in pain. They had warned him over and over again about the horrors of death and destruction. No one had mentioned how loud war was. Every deafening blast rang in his ears and seemed to taunt him.
You are a fool, William Mason. An absolute fool. The malicious voice he heard sounded suspiciously like Thomas Barrow's.
Another shell exploded from somewhere to the left. William continued to charge forward but veered to the right in order to steer clear from the falling fragmentation. William's heart banged painfully against his ribs. He felt something clank against his helmet and he ran faster. What was that? Well, it was too close, whatever it was, he told himself. You've got to be more careful. People are counting on you to come home. There's your dad. You're all he has left in this world. And there's Daisy, too. You promised… Well, he had promised his father and Daisy a lot of things.
William took a deep breath, stiffened his resolve, and raised his gun and bayonet. He could hear Captain Crawley up ahead calling them forward.
William obeyed the order, even though every nerve in his body was screaming for him to stop or better yet, just turn around and go home. He longed to leave Amiens as quickly as possible and go back to Yorkshire. But since enlisting, he had learned to push himself beyond his limits. He could continue to run even though he lost his breath. He could lift his gun even when his arms ached. It made him stronger, but it wasn't about personal improvement. It was so that he could better serve the cause. Everything was for the greater good. Whatever mistaken expectations he had had about the war, William had always understood that. He got through the pain and fear the way he got through every difficult thing: he thought Daisy and how proud she would be of him. He would have to write her a letter as soon as he had the chance.
Frantically, he scanned the crowd until he saw Captain Crawley stumbling into a trench. William raced forward, skidding into the trench to crouch beside Captain Crawley. "I won't be sorry when this one's over," William shouted instead of taking full advantage of the briefest instant that he had to catch his breath. Captain Crawley nodded fervently. They had been in battles before but this one felt different somehow. They both could feel it.
Their split second of rest ended. William gathered his courage again. He and Captain Crawley stood up, climbed out of the trench, and marched onward.
That's when William saw the bullet speeding towards them.
Captain Crawley, who was looking in the other direction, did not. "Sir!" William bellowed, realizing at once where the bullet was heading. Without really thinking and clenching his teeth, William threw himself forward with the intent to push Captain Crawley back down into the trench. Something sharp struck William, embedding itself deep into his shoulder. The bullet... His knees buckled and his jaw was wrenched apart. He didn't know if he screamed or not. He couldn't hear anything except his erratic heartbeat. Suddenly, his legs refused to carry his weight anymore. He fell forward, crumpling into a heap and knocking Captain Crawley down with him. They tumbled down into the trench.
God, if I don't make it through this… Please help them to understand… why I had to do it…
William let his thoughts drift off to Downton Abbey, thinking of Daisy. He had no way of knowing that at that very moment, a dreadful chill crawled up her spine. She stopped her dead in her tracks as she worked in the kitchen.
"Daisy, what on Earth's the matter with you?" Mrs. Patmore snapped.
"Someone walked over me grave."
Mrs. Patmore turned away, rolling her eyes. Daisy blinked slowly, wishing she could shake the feeling that something was terribly, terribly wrong.
