Pitschen ma en gamba - Small, but powerful

by buxy

Ella Sawyer had not expected to end up with Easy Company when she had enlisted as a nurse. But who could have known that the Army decided to experiment with women in combat? Thrown into the world of soldiers and paratroopers, Ella quickly has to prove that strength can have many froms.

1. Chapter 1

This is my first story, I'm so excited!
I just discovered Band of Brothers last week and I am absolutely hooked. It's such an amazing programme.

I am not a medical professional, so feel free to point out mistakes. Also, I am not, have never been and probably never will be in the military (kinda hard when the country you live in doesn't have an army…) and therefore, I have no idea whatsoever of procedures and terminology etc.
If you have any advice, remark or idea, feel free to leave a comment :)

Disclaimer: I only own the characters you don't recognise. I do not wish to offend anybody by writing this story. I deeply admire the real members of Easy Company and I do not mean any disrespect. I write only about the actors portraying these extraordinary men in the HBO mini-series.

A/N: All translations are at the bottom, in chronological order. They are not all from the same language, in case you were wondering.

---

"Easy Company! Listen up! Gather up around me." Slowly, the men followed Lieutenant Meehan's request. "Move it up! Come on, gentlemen! Let's go!", he called, waiting for the soldiers to gather.

Standing on the hood of one of the jeeps, he continued: "The Channel coast is socked in with rain and fog. High winds on the drop zone. No jump tonight."

Some of the men groaned and muttered complaints to each other as Meehan finished: "The invasion has been postponed. We're on a 24-hour stand-down."

"Son of a bitch", Bill Guarnere swore, voicing what many of them thought.

Ella patted him on the shoulder in consolation before turning around and facing 'her boys'. "So, any ideas on what we're gonna do now?", the girl asked, tilting her head and innocently blinking up at her friends. Being only 5' 2, she looked even smaller next to her fellow paratroopers.

"Get rid of all this shit", Joe Toye huffed, tugging at his chute.

She scratched at the grease paint on her cheek and pulled a face. "Guess we'll get to smear this stuff on each other's faces again tomorrow", she said, getting a few smiles and chuckles out of her disgruntled friends.

.

Ella Sawyer hadn't expected to end up with Easy Company. Not at all. When she had enlisted, she had expected to become a nurse. She couldn't have known that the Army had decided to experiment with females in combat.

"You what?" Ella ducked her head at her mother's startled exclamation. "I want to sign up for the Nurse Corps, Mama", she quietly repeated.

Isabel Sawyer née Tomaschett sank back down onto her chair and took a deep breath in an obvious effort to calm herself. Ella stood there in silence, waiting. The only sounds that filled the kitchen of their tiny home were the ticking of the clock on the wall and the birds singing outside.

Finally, Isabel spoke. "Ella, charina, you know being a civilian nurse is hard enough. And you want to volunteer for the Army Nurse Corps?"

"Yes." It was all that needed to be said, no use beating about the bush.

"Why?" Ella raised her head to look at her mother. Her expression was calm and open, genuinely curious. The young girl sighed.

"I…" She faltered. "I just… I need to do something, Mama. We barely get by, even if I help out on the farms and at the clinic. I can't bear it anymore, being here, being reminded of-" She broke off and dragged a hand through her caramel-brown locks, exhaling heavily. "I just want to help", she finished weakly, looking at her mother, hoping that she would understand.

A soft, fond smile spread on Isabel's lips. "I know, love, I know. And I think, those men will be very lucky to have you as their nurse."

"Really, Mama? You…you'll allow it?" A bright grin lit up Ella's face, making her eyes sparkle with excitement.

Isabel's smile widened at her daughter's joy. "I will get Dr Miller to vouch for you and give proof of your skills. And I am coming with you to the enlistment office", she declared.

Ella flung her arms around her mother's neck. Isabel stroked her daughter's wavy locks and gently whispered in her ear. Her daughter's reply was slightly muffled, but no less heart-felt.

.

The next day, the two Sawyer women sat side by side in a small, bleak office in front of a large desk that had seen better days. Ella had just had a complete check-up where she had been weighed, measured and had even gotten vaccinated. It had been rather uncomfortable for her, but she had swallowed her embarrassment and endured the examination stoically.

"And you work at the clinic of this Dr Miller?", the nurse in charge of enlistment asked Isabel after she had finished reading Dr Miller's letter of recommendation.

"I am the nurse there. My daughter has been helping out for a long time and has often assisted me and the doctor. She didn't go to nursing school, but she is just as competent", Isabel replied politely.

"And you are 18 years old, Miss? Pardon the question, but you look a bit young."

Ella smiled brightly at the woman. "Thank you, how very kind of you, ma'am." Nurse Adams laughed.

"I can assure you, Ms Adams, Ella was born in 1924. She was born a few weeks early, you see", Isabel explained. Ella had indeed been born prematurely, almost 6 weeks before the due date.

Nurse Adams laughed lightly. "Oh, well, that'd do it. As long as you are strong enough, size doesn't really matter. 5'2 is within the requirements, after all."

A few minutes and a signature later, Ella had officially signed up for the Nurse Corps.

Isabel squeezed her daughter's hand and returned her proud smile.

---

It was early summer in 1942 and time to say goodbye. Ella was going to be trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, and would go there by train.

Isabel had taken Ella to the station in Dover. She hugged her daughter tightly and said: "I am proud of you, charina. Don't you ever forget that."

Ella smiled and straightened her uniform jacket. "Grazia, Mama. Ha di liab."

Isabel dropped a kiss on the crown of her head and gave her a light nudge towards the door. "Don't forget to write", she called as Ella got onto the train.

"I won't!", the young girl called back. She leant out of the window to wave at her mother as the train pulled out of the station.

.

The journey to Atlanta was long and boring. Ella had read her medical manuals from cover to cover more than once and was pretty sure that she would be able to quote them verbatim by now. She had also written in her journal, a gift from her mother for her 14th birthday.

Nobody had wanted to sit next to or across from her. Probably because she was a woman. Or because she wore an army uniform. Or both. It suited her just fine. Ella spent her time wondering what the future held for her. She was under no illusion about the training. It would be extremely hard and she didn't expect the men to welcome her with open arms. They were bound to be sceptic.

In Atlanta, a driver picked her up. Special arrangement, he said. "The Lieutenant Colonel wants to see you right away, Miss."

Ella asked him why, but the man didn't know anything else.

"'s all I know, Miss. 'm just a corporal, Miss, they don't tell us all that much."

Arriving at Camp Toccoa, Corporal O'Leary guided her to one of the buildings. "Don't worry about your bags, Miss, I'll take care of 'em."

Ella stifled a snort. As if she worried about her luggage. There was hardly anything worth stealing in there, apart from a few pictures and a knife, but those items just held sentimental value. Her family didn't have the money for extravagant clothing or luxuries. All she had – and all she needed, really – were the basics. Most of her clothes, except for the underwear of course, was army-issue anyways. She thanked him none the less.

.

Another corporal ushered her into the office. "Miss Sawyer, sir", he announced, saluting.

"Thank you, Lorraine. Dismissed."

A tall man with a serious face stood before her. He wore a moustache and the lines on his forehead made him look stern. He shook her hand, his grip firm just like she had expected. "Miss Sawyer, I am Lt Colonel Sink, Commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Please, have a seat."

Ella sat down, hands fidgeting in her lap. She waited as Sink settled into his chair behind the desk.

"I would like to discuss something with you", he spoke, looking her in the eyes. "You have signed up to be a nurse, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir", Ella answered, wondering where this was going. Was there a problem?

"As you know, the Army relies on the people of our country and their effort to help the war", the Lt Colonel continued, "For that reason, they have started a whole new experiment to ensure that our boys get the best medical care possible. And you, Miss Sawyer, are seen as the ideal candidate."

Ella's eyebrows creased slightly. Ideal candidate for what? "Sir?", she questioned.

Sink regarded her with a serious expression. "To become the first female combat medic in the history of the United States Army."

For a moment, there was silence. Ella had just barely managed to keep herself in check, otherwise her jaw would have dropped. They wanted what now?

"I realise, this is a lot to process", Sink allowed, "You would go through the same training as our other medics, that includes physical training as well. You would receive no special treatment whatsoever, meaning you would have to work even harder than any of the men." He folded his hands. "But as I said, this is a trial run and nobody would think any less of you if you'd rather become a nurse instead."

.

Ella had listened quietly to Sink's words. She had heard the underlying tone and didn't miss the implication. Finally, she wondered: "Why me, sir? Surely, there are more suitable candidates?"

He seemed surprised. "You are young, fit and healthy. Combat medics have to be quick and agile and judging by your stature, you are very nimble. You were top of your class in high school and you have already gathered some experience in the medical field beforehand. Plus, your presence would certainly help boost the morale of the men. You have a very particular charm, Miss Sawyer, if I may say so."

The young girl nearly scowled at the words about boosting the morale. But she expertly schooled her expression into neutrality and inquired politely: "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what do I get out of this?"

An amused look appeared on Sink's face. "You will be payed 50 $ more as a paratrooper. And if you succeed, you have the gratitude of the men, the Army and the country. Your story could inspire hundreds of people here, especially young women like yourself."

The girl contemplated the Lt Colonel's arguments. A bigger salary would mean more money to send home to her mother. Fame and gratitude weren't things she was interested in, but a small voice inside her whispered: "Aren't you tired of people looking down on you? Belittling you?"

It was true. All her life, Ella had been told so many times she couldn't do this or that. Because she was too small, too young or simply because she was a girl. And so, she made her decision.

"I want to become a combat medic, sir", she spoke.

Lt Colonel Sink nodded approvingly. "Excellent." He stood up, Ella quickly following suit. He shook her hand. "Welcome to the 101st Airborne Division, T-5 Sawyer."

Ella beamed and gave her new commander an impeccable salute.

"The men have been arriving all week, training begins tomorrow. You'll be assigned to Easy Company. I will inform your company commander now. He intends to make Easy Company the best of the best."

He called a runner. "Get me 1st Lieutenant Sobel", he ordered. The private saluted and scurried away, but not before staring at Ella with wide eyes. Sink turned to her again. "Well, Corporal. I wish you good luck", he said, effectively dismissing her.

---

The stares and whispers around her made Ella uneasy. There had been some wolf whistles and lewd comments before, but they had quickly been silenced, thankfully. Her cheeks were still burning with embarrassment.

What were you thinking? Basically living in the middle of a bunch of men?, she berated herself inside her head while at the same time being grateful that she had a bunk on the far end of the barrack. She was all too aware of the eyes boring into her, studying her intently as she quickly put away her meagre belongings, trying to keep her trembling hands busy.

She heard them talk quietly to each other. "Who's the chick?" "What's a girl doin' here?"

Taking a breath, the young girl steeled herself for the onslaught of questions that was sure to come. Her shiny new dog tags tinkled lightly when she righted herself.

"Say, baby-doll, didya get lost or somethin'?" It was the same man who had leered at her. He was wearing a suggestive smirk that sent a cold shiver down her spine and made her shoulders tense.

"Knock it off, Archer", the man on the bunk to her right said. His name tag read 'Martin'.

"Well, he's got a point", a third, redheaded man remarked.

"I heard that the Army was experimenting with women in combat. I thought it was a joke", commented another guy. He had a twinkle in his eyes that gave him a mischievous sort of charm.

Ella swallowed. "I'm one of your medics", she explained, praying her voice didn't betray how scared she felt.

"What? C'mon, you're tiny! I could lift you with one hand!", a dark-haired man with a prominent jawline burst out.

"Better a small medic than no medic", Ella replied dryly, looking him straight in the eye. She wondered where the sudden burst of courage had come from.

To her surprise, the man laughed and effectively broke the ice. "I like her", he declared, getting up and offering his hand. "Bill Guarnere."

Ella shook it and smiled tentatively. "Ella Sawyer."

One after the other, the men introduced themselves. "Damn, girl, you're skin and bones!", one of them – his name was Joe Liebgott – remarked.

"Thanks. You're of course the bulkiest person in the world", she replied, but there was no bite in her words. He winked.

"Hey, why's your footlocker labelled J.V. Sawyer? I thought your name was Ella." Don Malarkey looked utterly confused.

"It is. Everybody calls me that."

"What's the J.V. stand for then?", Muck wondered.

Ella flashed them a dimpled grin. "That's for me to know and for you to hopefully never find out."

"Get dressed! We're lining up! Move it, people!"

.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that some people didn't think Ella belonged in Easy Company. The dirty looks and whispered comments said it all. But the worst of all of them was the CO. The first day was all it took for Ella to know that Lt Sobel hated her very presence.

"You people are at the position of attention!", an angry voice yelled.

Immediately, everybody straightened their backs and turned their gaze forward. Ella focused on the back of one of her platoon leaders, Lewis Nixon.

Lt Sobel stalked down the lines, glaring at the men. He stopped in front of Frank Perconte. After Ella, he was probably the shortest person in the outfit.

"Private Perconte, have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a paratrooper?", Sobel questioned.

"No sir.", Frank replied.

"Then explain the creases at the bottom", the CO demanded.

Ella swallowed. Her mouth was uncomfortably dry and it had nothing to do with the heat of the Georgian sun.

"No excuse, sir", Frank answered after a moment.

"Volunteering for the Parachuting Infantry is one thing, Perconte", Sobel lectured, "but you got a long way to prove that you belong here."

Without further ado, he revoked Frank's weekend pass. The same happened to Luz because apparently, there was dirt in the rear side aperture of his weapon. Lipton lost his weekend pass because of a loose thread.

Ella bit her lip. This man wasn't just a perfectionist, he was unfair. And that made her nervous.

.

Sobel stopped in front of her. "Name", he snapped.

"Sawyer, Ella", she answered calmly.

His gaze scrutinised her. "Age?"

"Eighteen, sir."

His eyes narrowed and he leant a little closer. Ella felt herself tense up and hoped that Sobel wouldn't see it. "You look like twelve", he sneered. What a charmer. "How tall are you, Sawyer?"

"5' 2, sir." She forced herself not to look at him and kept her eyes trained on the back of Nixon's head.

Sobel was still looking her up and down. "Your hair is too long. Revoked.", he finally proclaimed, taking away a weekend pass she didn't even have. "If I see it touch your collar again, I will cut it myself, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." She had no doubt he would act on his threat.

"If you can't keep up, I will have you kicked out. I will not allow one female to hinder my company." The last words were said with a menacing twitch of his upper lip.

"Understood, sir."

He moved on. Ella let out a breath. The man to her right, Randleman, shot her a sympathetic glance.

After revoking Liebgott's pass, Sobel stomped to the front of second platoon, holding up Liebgott's bayonet. "I wouldn't want to take this rusty piece of shit to war!", he ranted. "And I will not take you to war in your condition!"

He threw the bayonet down. It stuck in the ground, hilt up.

"Now thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass has lost it!" He paused. "Change into your PT gear, we're running Currahee."

With that, he stalked off.

Lt Winters about-faced and addressed the platoon: "Second platoon, fall out. You have two minutes."

.

Ella had changed into her PT uniform in less than a minute. It was a matter of taking off her uniform and retying her boots. She wasn't foolish enough to undress in front of a room full of men.

She jumped when the door flew open and her bunk neighbour Johnny Martin stormed in. "Dammit, Perconte, what are you thinking of, blousing your pants?", he groused angrily.

Ella sighed and turned her attention on braiding her hair again, making sure that it didn't touch her collar. Plaiting her caramel-brown locks while walking out of the barracks, she passed Sergeant Lipton, who gave her a small smile.

"How come I don't see you yell at the girl for having too long hair!?", they heard Frank snap at Martin inside. Ella just sighed and continued walking, her braid finished. I do have a name, you know.

"Ah, Easy Company", a man from another company chuckled just as Ella fell into step next to George Luz. "Hey, while you're running, don't worry, we'll take your dames to the movies for you."

Liebgott retorted: "Yeah, good, they need some female company."

Another man called to Ella: "Speaking of movie, doll, wanna join us? You look like you could use some experienced company."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry, wouldn't want to trip over your ego", she shot back, shoving down the discomfort his words caused.

Easy Company laughed and they ran past the men, knocking their caps of their heads.

---

Out of all the training Ella got over the next weeks, Sobel's was the worst. All the instructors were strict and unrelenting, but Sobel was actively trying to break her. He was only waiting for an opportunity to yell at her in front of everybody, belittling her and sometimes even calling her names.

But in all fairness, she mused one night, it was Adrian Michaels, who bothered her the most. He was part of Dog Company and did everything to sabotage her. Trying to inconspicuously shove or trip her when the companies trained together was common practice and usually resulted in her getting chewed out by Sobel.

The worst part about it, she actually knew him – far too well for her liking. They had gone to high school together for a while and he had taken a special interest in her. In the worst way possible. He had made it his mission to make her life miserable. Cruel pranks, taking away and breaking her things. Over time, he had escalated his bullying more and more, locking her in a closet for hours, hitting her, at one point even- No, she didn't want to think of that.

Anyways, Ella was very careful to ensure he wouldn't catch her alone. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was scared of him. She still had nightmares sometimes about the things he had done to her in high school.

Her friends did the best they could to shield her from the insults and always found a way to cheer her up when Sobel revoked another weekend pass or issued another punishment. Within a few weeks, Ella had become like a little sister to basically everybody in Easy Company, right up to the platoon leaders, Lieutenants Winters and Nixon.

Winters was always very polite and respectful, but seemed a little aloof. Ella guessed that was just his personality. But she noticed the subtle glances he cast her way, the tiny concerned frown when he noticed her struggling or the slight quirk of his lips when she excelled.

Nixon was almost the complete opposite. He was easy-going and had more than once joined her during meals, striking up a conversation. At first, Ella had been slightly bewildered why an officer would choose to sit with her, an enlisted and a woman no less. When she had finally worked up the nerve to ask him about it, he had simply shrugged and said: "I like you. You remind me of my sister." Ella enjoyed his sarcastic, dry humour and after a while even felt comfortable responding with her own witty remarks.

Apart from Michaels, only Cobb and Archer treated her with little to no respect. Cobb gave her dirty looks and disagreed with everything she said, but otherwise pretty much left her alone, so Ella simply accepted that they didn't get along.

Archer, with his insulting comments and almost predatory stares, was really making her nervous though. Sometimes, she caught him watching her while she was changing, openly eyeing her up. It made her skin crawl and she dreaded the day that she let her guard down and didn't have any of her friends near her.

.

Some of the men in the regiment naturally still had doubts, but they seemed to at least tolerate her. Most changed their mind after they found themselves on the receiving end of her medical skills, usually after a bar fight or just a night of excessive drinking. Each of them was pleasantly surprised by how unfailingly friendly and considerate she was while treating them. As Skip Muck put it, Ella was the epitome of "kill 'em with kindness".

Joe Toye, probably the biggest sceptic of them all, who kept calling her 'shorty' or variations thereof, warmed up the small girl after a particularly boozy night. In hindsight, he'd had to admit that he had overdone it, waking up with the hangover of the century that made him even crankier than usual. They had lectures all day and he could barely concentrate with the killer headache pounding behind his eyes. The instructor's loud voice made it even worse. The rest of the guys left him alone, some of them nursing their own hangovers. Slumping into his seat for lecture number 2, he groaned when a small figure slid into the seat next to him, shooting him a shy, sidelong glance.

"I ain't gonna help you out, shorty, so fuck off", he growled.

The girl shrugged, not batting an eyelid at his rudeness. She smiled at some of her friends as they walked by and greeted her. Even Joe had to admit she had a beautiful smile.

To his relief, Ella left him alone. Not that she'd ever spoken much to him, or asked for his help. She sat there quietly, taking notes with the tip of her tongue stuck out between her lips in deep concentration. Toye, on the other hand, lost the thread about 5 minutes after the lecture had started. He just wanted to curl up and die. Wrapped up in his own misery, he completely missed the slim hand that stealthily placed a water bottle and a couple of aspirins in front of him. Staring at the medicine for a long moment, Joe blinked and looked over to his seat neighbour. She was scribbling in her notebook, just like before. But when he grunted a grudging "Thanks", the corner of her mouth quirked up a fraction.

The aspirin soon kicked in and his headache lessened a little. Not much, but at least it didn't feel like his head was splitting open anymore. Over the course of the day, Ella slipped him five bottles of water and four aspirin tablets, shyly tapping his shoulder to get his attention.

By the time Toye felt the fifth light tap on his arm, his headache was almost gone and his thanks was no longer a reluctant grunt, but a sincere whisper. It was the smile, he thought to himself. She had taken his grumpiness in stride, giving him a cautious smile every time he acknowledged her stealthy care. He felt a bit guilty for the insecurity and wariness hidden in her eyes. Maybe he had been too hard on her. But she looked so small and fragile!

.

When their last lecture ended and the instructor dismissed them, the men were hungry and everyone was eager to get to the mess hall. Toye heaved himself out of his chair and stared blankly at his painfully empty notebook. Maybe he could borrow Bill's notes in the evening and copy them.

"Here."

He raised his head. Ella was standing before him, a couple of papers in her outstretched hand. Frowning, Joe took them and blinked in surprise. She had handed him all her notes from today. They were neatly structured, with detailed sketches and little mnemonics. Her handwriting was small, but clear.

"I thought you might need them", the young girl spoke, shifting from one foot to the other. A light blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Thanks", Toye managed, "I'll… I'll copy them tonight, give 'em back tomorrow?"

She shook her head. "No, no, you can keep them. I-", she cleared her throat and broke eye contact for a moment, "I have mine."

Completely dumbfounded, Joe gaped at her. "You wrote everything out twice?"

Ella nodded, blush deepening. "I hope you can read it", she offered, starting to walk away. He stared after her. Then, a thought struck him. "Hey, wait up!", he called.

When they walked over to the mess hall to join their comrades, Toye glanced at the girl walking beside him.

"Ya know, Shorty, you're actually quite alright", he admitted quietly.

Ella gave him a tentative, but warm smile. "Thank you, Toye. You're not so bad yourself." And he would deny it to anyone who dared ask, but the way her eyes lit up made him smile, too.

---

The medical lessons were demanding, but Ella enjoyed them nonetheless. Her experience from helping out at the local clinic back home gave her a slight advantage as some of the medics had no medical background at all.

She got along great with Easy's other medic, Eugene Roe. Although Roe was quiet and liked to keep to himself, the two of them sometimes spent hours studying together, going through their manuals and playing round after round of 'How do you treat…?', 'What are the signs of…?' and 'What do you do when…?'

Roe opened up around her, asking about her family and telling her about himself in return. He even told her to call him Gene, saying that he liked that better. He had taken to calling her Ellie whenever it was just the two of them.

She loved working with him, he was level-headed and had a calming effect on people. Apparently, so did she. At least, that's what her friends told her.

"You got a gift with people, Shorty", Luz said one day while they were eating lunch. The nickname Toye had given her had stuck. "You just know what to say or do to make 'em feel better." He waved his fork at her in emphasis.

Gene, who had been listening quietly as usual, nodded. "It's true, Ella", he spoke in his soothing Louisiana accent. Ella just blushed.

When they were helping at the infirmary, their days got a bit more hectic, but also a lot more interesting. Though some of the tasks were not exactly fun, Ella could think of worse things to do. She didn't even mind doing inventory as long as she could do it her way. The repetitive motions of counting, organising and cataloguing supplies gave her time to think.

If she was paired with Gene, they entertained themselves by teaching each other French and German respectively. Although Ella already spoke some French thanks to her mother, she was nowhere near as fluent as him, and Gene only knew a few basics of German. They figured it would come in handy if they were sent to Europe at some point. Plus, they both liked languages, so it was a good way to pass the time.

.

It was a day like any other. They were lined up and waiting in the heat of the Georgia summer for Sobel to arrive and revoke half the company's weekend passes.

"You people are at the position of attention!", he barked. Ella no longer jumped at his yelling. She simply wondered if he might have some problems with his hearing.

Sobel stalked down their lines and began his inspection. He found something to criticise on everybody and was revoking weekend passes left and right. He then stopped in front of her and looked her up and down with the same disgusted look he always wore with her. "Name."

"Sawyer, Ella."

"What are you still doing here, Sawyer? How can you think anybody even wants you here?"

Ouch. That had stung.

"I am their medic, sir." Did her voice tremble? No, she must have imagined it.

"And what makes you think you'll succeed? You're a woman."

Sobel really was in top form today, she darkly thought to herself. "I do what I do best, sir", Ella responded before she could stop herself.

His eyes narrowed and he glared at her. "And what would that be, Sawyer?", he spat.

"Being a medic, sir." Phew. That was close. It wouldn't have gone down well with him if she'd said 'being stubborn'.

Sobel scoffed. "As long as you don't get any of the men killed, girl. Make sure the men get everything they need?" He revoked her pass, claiming some hair had fallen out of her braid.

Ella bit her lip. His parting remark had hit a nerve. While Sobel was busy revoking more passes, the girl quickly blinked a few times to push back the tears that gathered unbiddenly in her eyes. Pull yourself together!, she scolded herself. Normally, Sobel's insults never got to her this much. Then again, he had never indirectly called her a whore before.

Revoking Darrell "Shifty" Powers' pass, Sobel stomped to the front and informed them that once again "thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass has lost it!" before telling them to change into their PT gear. They would be running Currahee. For the ten thousandth time.

Getting an odd sense of déjà vu, Ella hurriedly changed into her PT gear. Like on the first day, she only had to take off her OD's and retie her boots. It was just easier this way. They had all gotten over the initial discomfort of her changing in the same room as the guys, but Ella still didn't want to show too much skin. She wasn't ready to answer the questions that would come with it.

Lipton glanced at her. "You alright there, Ella?", he asked as they were preparing to run. The girl simply nodded and forced her facial muscles into a thin smile. Now was not the time to talk about her feelings.

.

Running up Currahee Mountain wasn't so bad in itself. It was Sobel that made it a nightmare. Especially because he seemed to follow the exact same pattern every single time. Right down to the phrases he liked to yell.

"Where do we run?", he shouted, running in the front.

"Currahee!", they responded.

"What's Currahee mean?"

"We stand alone!"

"How far up, how far down?"

"Three miles up, three miles down!"

Depends on how much equipment we carry. A small huff escaped her.

"Now, what company is this?"

"Easy Company!"

"And what do we do?"

"Stand alone!"

Next to her, Muck stumbled and twisted his ankle when he hit a pot hole. He cried out and Ella immediately grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Do not help that man! Do not help that man!", Sobel cried instantly. "You do not stop!"

She shot Muck an apologetic look. He waved it off. "'s okay", he panted.

"You have 13 minutes to get to the top of this mountain if you want to serve in the paratroopers!", Sobel shouted. "Hi-yo, Silver!" And he ran ahead.

"God, I hate that phrase", Ella ground out before increasing her own pace. She had had enough of Sobel's insults. Today, she was going to wipe that condescending sneer off his face.

.

Her lungs and legs were burning. Her foot slipped on the gravel and she had to put a hand on the ground to steady herself.

"Come on, you can make it!" God bless Lt Richard Winters. He was always encouraging them, telling them to keep going, that they could do it. "Come on!", he called to her when she stumbled again. Ella grit her teeth and regained her footing.

"That's it, Shorty, you can do it!" At his praise – and the use of her company nickname – a beaming smile lit up her face. She looked at him over her shoulder, winked and willed herself to go faster. The prospect of seeing Sobel's smirk drop off his face was totally worth the sore muscles she was no doubt going to have for the next few days.

Sobel's expression went from bored to shocked and angry when that insufferable girl came racing up to the top stone, slapping her hand down onto the marble surface. She whirled around and grinned cheerfully when she passed him on her way back down.

Her voice rang through the air as she called to her brothers in arms. "You can do it, boys! Come on, your legs are longer than mine!", she taunted in jest.

"Just wait till I catch you", Toye yelled after her between panting breaths. Sobel heard her laugh. He scowled. Because it slowly dawned on him that this girl was still refusing to give up. If she continued like this, she would actually become a paratrooper.

.

Ella was among the first to return to camp. She dropped to the ground and rolled onto her back, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

"Damn, Shorty", Wayne "Skinny" Sisk panted as he dropped next to her. "That was brilliant."

She huffed out a wheezy laugh. "Yeah. Thankfully, we have lots of lectures coming up", she said. "Because I'm gonna be sore as hell tomorrow."

"That", Joe Liebgott shouted as he came stumbling over to them, "was fucking amazing!"

Ella laughed and forced herself to stand up and move around so that her muscles wouldn't cramp up. "Danke, Joe", she said, wincing in pain. Her leg muscles were protesting so vehemently, they were almost numb. "Ich werde es aber nie mehr machen."

One after the other, the men came back. And each of them hailed Ella as a hero. When Skip came hobbling in, the girl immediately made him sit down and checked his ankle. "Probably just a sprain, but you should come to the infirmary later to be sure, alright?", she advised. Skip just waved it off. "Nah, if you say it's fine, it's fine."

Lt Dick Winters watched as the men surrounded the small girl, all exhausted and drenched in sweat, but with wide grins on their faces.

"What're they all so happy about?" Nixon was observing the excitement with a crooked smile. Skip had just given her a smacking kiss on the cheek, causing Ella to blush furiously while the men cheered and howled with laughter. Winters had to smile at their antics. He told his friend how Ella had grinned at Sobel. Nixon laughed.

"That kid really is something", he said, shaking his head in disbelieving amusement. "Smiling and laughing when running Currahee", he muttered, "unbelievable."

---

"Sawyer, J.V.!"

The girl in question raised her hand. "Over here!"

Vest ambled over and handed her a letter. An excited grin lit up her face as she read the sender.

"Who's it from?", Luz asked around his cigarette.

Ella ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter. "My mother", she replied, eyes fixed on the paper.

"Yeah? What's she writing?", George inquired. Ella usually shared the contents of her letters, as did many of the other men. It was just another way of bonding and getting to know each other better.

My charina Ella,

How are you? Does your CO still give you trouble? If so, know that whatever he tells you is wrong. You are an extraordinary girl, charina, and I don't just say that because I am your mother. Don't let him get to you, he is just another one of those ignorant people.

I enjoyed your last letter very much. Your friends sound like quite the characters. I would love to meet them one day. I'm glad Joe Toye has become your friend. I know his scepticism bothered you, don't you try to deny it, Ella. Tell him, he should try drinking at least one litre of water before going to sleep after a night at the bar. That always helps with a barbagiat.

The papers have written a few articles about you. I'm sure you can guess what they wrote. I couldn't even finish some of them, they made me too angry. It is a shame, I wish they could see you for the person you are. If you ever read one of those articles, please, don't take them to heart. These reporters are simply looking to make the front pages and you know they would do anything for that. Scandal sells and they don't care whose name they ruin. But don't worry, I am sure it will soon quiet down. It always does, doesn't it?

I have exciting news for you, mia figlia. I met somebody. His name is James Buchanan. We met at the library, would you believe that? He is a wonderful man, Ella, and I like him very much. He is funny and caring and the way he looks at me makes me feel special. You would like him, too, I'm sure of it.

I know this comes very unexpected, but you have a right to know, charina. James makes me happy. And believe me when I tell you, I will never forget you and I am not trying to replace you. Nobody can ever take your place in my heart. I still think of you very often and I miss you every day.

Jau hai gugent tai, charina Ella.

Your Mama

Isabel

Ella smiled. Noticing Luz looking at her expectantly, she started telling him what her Mama had written. She left out the parts about Toye and the newspapers, though. Some things she wanted to keep to herself.

"And she met a man. She really likes him", Ella concluded.

George grinned. "That's great. I hope it works out for her."

She nodded. "Me too. She deserves to be happy." Her smile faltered a bit. Her mother had had it hard in life, even before she'd had to rear her children on her own.

---

Friday night meant for most people that the weekend was near. For Easy Company, it meant marching 12 miles in the dark with full pack. Sometimes without being allowed to drink even a sip from their canteens.

This Friday night was no different. Ella was merely functioning, the monotonous trot causing her to shut down. She had a headache and was feeling almost numb from the tough day she'd had with many lectures, medical training, getting shouted at by Sobel and so on. Plus, the lack of sleep was starting to get to her.

Ever since Sobel had made that comment about her getting the men killed, Ella had begun to have troubles sleeping. Sometimes she lay awake for hours, listening to the breathing and snores of the men she had come to call her friends. Other nights, she would jolt awake after a nightmare and be unable to go back to sleep for a long time.
It wasn't the first time that this happened to her and Ella knew it would pass, but she still worried it would affect her performance. She couldn't afford to make mistakes, especially not with Sobel just waiting for a chance to get her kicked out. Secretly, she hoped the training would tire her out enough so she could get a night of undisturbed sleep.

This night was particularly dark, the moon only a small glimmer behind the dark clouds. Almost all of them had stumbled at some point. Just now, Ella tripped over a rock and would have fallen if Johnny Martin hadn't quickly reached out to steady her.

"Ouch", she winced. "Thanks, Johnny" She gave him a grateful smile and got back into the steady pace, limping with every other step for the next few minutes until the pain subsided.

"Imma say something", Bull muttered behind them.

"To who?", Luz asked, just as bored and frustrated as the rest of them.

It was silent for a moment, before Bull called out: "Lieutenant Winters?"

"What is it?", Winters asked from where he was marching.

"Permission to speak, sir?", Bull requested.

"Permission granted."

"Sir, we got nine companies, sir", Bull drawled.

"We do", Winters confirmed.

Bull paused for a second before continuing: "How come we're the only company marching every Friday night, 12 miles, full-packed uniform, in the pitch dark?"

Winters asked back: "Why do you think, Private Randleman?"

"Lt Sobel hates us, sir", Bull answered.

Lt Winters didn't reply straight away. He let himself fall in line with Ella's row. "Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Pvt Randleman." He was silent again for a second, before adding: "He just hates you."

That got everybody laughing. It wasn't often that Winters smiled or made a joke. Bull didn't seem to take it personal when he responded: "Thank you, sir."

The men now started telling each other that Sobel hated them, too. Johnny Martin looked over at Ella and remarked dryly: "I think he hates you the most."

Ella chuckled sardonically. "Lucky me."

.

At the end of the march, Ella was convinced she was going to collapse if she had to stand around any longer. Her vision was already starting to blur a little. They were standing in line, Sobel pacing before them.

"Lt Winters, I want canteens out of the belts with the caps unscrewed", he demanded.

Winters relayed the order to the company: "Easy Company, canteens out and open."

They obeyed. When they were ordered to pour the contents onto the ground, Ella didn't think much of it except that it was a waste of water.

"Who is this?!", Sobel suddenly yelled. "Christenson! Why is there no water in your canteen? You drank from your canteen, didn't you?"

He stormed through the lines until he was right in front of Christenson, who tried to defend himself. "Sir, I-" He didn't get any further.

"Lt Winters!", Sobel bellowed.

"Yes sir?"

"Was this man ordered to not drink from his canteen during the Friday night march?!", Sobel questioned, glaring at Christenson.

"He was, sir", Winters confirmed.

Christenson was sent to repeat the entire 12 miles of the march. Sobel stormed back to the front of the company to quietly chew out Lieutenant Winters. Ella just wanted to sleep. She heard her own blood rushing in her ears.

Finally, they were dismissed. The young girl felt bad for Christenson and resolved to check on him in the morning as she staggered to her bunk. Getting changed took longer than normal, her motions sluggish and a bit uncoordinated. Ella collapsed onto her bed, not even bothering to pull her blanket over her slim body. She was asleep as soon as her head made contact with the pillow, not bothered in the least by the noise of her comrades bustling around.

Lipton looked over to Ella's bed and smiled softly. They had all noticed the dark smudges under her eyes. Wordlessly, he manoeuvred between the bunks and grabbed the blanket that was in a heap at the foot of her bed. Silently wishing her a good night, he tucked in the small girl before getting into his own bed. Nobody said anything about it.

.

The next morning, Ella stood in line behind Lieutenants Nixon and Winters at the mess hall. She had never been particularly hungry in the morning, a remnant of times when her family could only afford food once or twice a day, but she had to eat before the lectures. Gene nudged her forward and gave her a pointed look when she grimaced at him. "You gotta eat something, Ellie", he reminded her seriously. She nodded and gave him a smile.

"So, what did you do?", she heard Nixon ask his friend.

"Picked six men and gave them latrine duty", Winters responded. They moved to sit down at a table, while Ella got her food – or whatever slop was dished out. She could still hear them.

"The lucky six?", Nixon wanted to know.

Winters listed them off: "McDonald, Toye, Perconte, Lipton, Muck and Guarnere."

Ella smirked. So that's why Bill had been so annoyed. He hated latrine duty. She waited for Gene to join her, still listening to her superiors' conversation. She knew she wasn't supposed to eavesdrop, but it wasn't like she was going to tell anybody what she overheard.

"Why them?", Nixon questioned.

Winters shrugged. "It was their turn."

"Sobel's a genius", Nixon huffed, "I had a headmaster just like him in prep school; I know the type."

"Lewis, Michelangelo's a genius, Beethoven's a genius", Winters pointed out.

Gene grabbed his tray and the two medics walked past the lieutenants' table just when Nixon leant forward and asked his friend: "You know a man in this company who wouldn't double-time Currahee with a full pack, just to piss in that guy's morning coffee?"

A light snort escaped Ella as she fought to keep in her laughter.

Nixon glanced at her and grinned. "See?" He gestured at the girl, who hastily moved on to the other table, cheeks flushed.

Winters just shook his head, but there was a small smile on his lips.

---

Jump training was something Ella found highly amusing. It was very important that they landed correctly, she understood that, but she still felt absolutely ridiculous jumping off a platform with a full pack and counting out loud. At one point, she had to bite down hard on her lip because the urge to laugh got so strong.

When it was her turn to stand in the door, though, her face was totally blank.

"Go!", came Sobel's command.

Ella jumped and counted: "1000, 2000, 3000, 4000." Her feet hit the ground and she let herself drop to absorb the fall, just like she had been taught. As per usual, she ignored Sobel's disparaging comment. She had gotten so used to them by now, she barely registered them anymore.

She got up and cleared the way, moving to stand with her comrades and watching the others. They all winced in unison when Walter "Smokey" Gordon basically fell head first from the platform.

"You just broke both your legs, Private Gordon!", Sobel shouted, sounding even more exasperated than usual, "are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Smokey stood up and shook his head. "No sir!"

He came over to them, looking a bit flustered.

"That was a hard landing, Smokey. Anything hurt?", Ella asked, genuinely concerned. Instinctively, her eyes flicked up and down his body, searching for injuries.

He smiled bashfully. "No, it's alright, Shorty. Thanks for asking though."

.

The medical training now became more hands on. They still had lectures, but they had now moved on from dummies and puppets to living 'test subjects', as their instructor morbidly called the people they practiced things like applying bandages or setting up IVs on. The instructors were very pleased with the Easy company medics. Although each had their own personality, method and style, they were efficient, calm under pressure and able to think on their feet, all valuable qualities for a good combat medic.

The instructors were especially impressed by Ella's natural ability to focus on multiple things at once. She could be clamping the artery of a panicked man, while giving directions to the inexperienced men assisting her, and still manage to make conversation with her patient on top of that, calming him down and distracting him from the pain. Lieutenant Christian Everett, who was often overseeing the medics' training, even mentioned that in his regular progress report to Lt Col Sink.

The men also started going through the obstacle course in more than just their PT gear. Ella had done it many times already under Sobel's watchful eye as punishment for perceived infractions. Her fellow paratroopers had sometimes 'casually' walked by and stopped to cheer her on has she had raced from one obstacle to the next, sometimes shouting loud enough that Sobel's jabs faded into the background.

Now, they all had to do it. Yelling encouragements to each other as they went, everybody tried to get through the course as quickly as possible.

Hopping in and out of the rope squares with their hands behind their heads was the easy part. Ella had had plenty of practice at home already, playing jump rope with her brother as kids. Crawling through the narrow wooden tunnel wasn't that hard either for her, after all she was small and wiry. Somersaulting out of the tunnel, the next obstacle was the wall.

And boy did Ella hate that wall!

It was perhaps just over 7 feet high and during her punishment runs, this had usually been the one where she had lost the biggest amount of time. After all, that thing was almost 2 feet taller than her. But thanks to all the times she'd been through this course, the girl now knew exactly how to overcome the obstacle.

"Come on, Ella! You can do it!", Malarkey called from the top of the wall. Ella was already running full-tilt at the obstacle. Planting one foot firmly against it, she propelled herself upwards and grabbed on. She didn't even feel the splinters embedding themselves in her palms. Using nothing but her arms to pull herself up, she heard cheers and applauding whistles from around her.

.

Grinning, Ella jumped down on the other side, immediately dropping onto her stomach for the next round of crawling, this time through the mud, under coils of barbed wire. Unlike the rest of the men, the medics didn't have to carry a rifle, which allowed them to move a lot quicker.

"Jesus, what the hell is this?", Muck panted out next to her.

It really was an appalling sight. And the stench was even worse.

"That's pig's guts, boy!", Bull informed them.

Ella was once again glad to be small, because she could easily shimmy past the barbs over their heads and not have a face full of mud. Wrinkling her nose, the girl tumbled into the ditch and nearly gagged as the animal blood soaked through her ODs. While no stranger to having blood on her clothes – it really was inevitable when working on farms and at a clinic – that was vastly different from rolling through a ditch filled with innards and blood.

Getting back to her feet, she could already see the finishing line getting closer as she broke into a run again, dashing across the field towards where some of her friends were already standing and cheering for their comrades. She came flying across the finish line with so much speed that Luz put an arm out to catch her so that she wouldn't crash into anyone. The girl's momentum nearly made him stumble, but Lipton and Floyd "Tab" Talbert steadied them.

"Whoa, kiddo, where's the fire?", Luz joked, smiling at the way her green orbs sparkled.

Ella simply laughed, still breathing heavily. "Nowhere, I was just so excited to see you", she replied, eyes dancing with mirth.

Then, she took a look at their clothes. Everybody was covered in sweat, dirt and blood. The small brunette scrunched up her face. "Well, gentlemen, I guess it's safe to say we all need a shower." The three men laughed.

Luz wiggled his eyebrows. "May I escort you to dinner afterwards, Miss?", he asked in a very good posh accent, taking her hand. Ella fluttered her eyelashes at him and pretended to be flattered, putting a hand on her heart. "I would be delighted, good Sir."

In that moment, Skip came by. He had heard the exchange and decided to get in on the fun. "What? You go out with that guy, but not with me?", he cried in mock outrage.

Before Ella could say something in response, Guarnere came up behind her and said: "Get outta here, ye idiots, this girl's already taken", draping an arm over her shoulders and glaring at the other men.

Ella let out a startled noise that sounded vaguely like a mouse being tread on and the men that witnessed the charade exploded with laughter.

Nixon and Winters had observed the interaction from afar. They only shared a meaningful look.

"Look at Sobel", Nixon muttered out of the corner of his mouth, dark eyes fixed on their CO.

"He looks like somebody pissed in his morning coffee", Winters remarked dryly, quoting Nixon's words from a few days ago back to him and making him snort.

---

Even though the men in Easy company loved the young girl like a sister, there were still some men in the 506 that did not want her there. One incident made it clear to anyone in Camp Toccoa that if anybody messed with Ella Sawyer, there would be hell to pay.

Private Jackson Archer had given up trying to sabotage her after a while, seeing that she had gotten extremely good at avoiding him. Even his whispered comments about how he liked to watch her shower didn't work anymore. Probably because she now knew for certain that he had never even gotten close to the shower while she had been in it. There was always at least one of the guys keeping watch in front of the door. Instead, Archer had now devised a new plan to get rid of the girl he hated so much. Everyone in their barrack knew where Ella kept her journal, the one she wrote in regularly and that she put all her letters in. The letters weren't what Archer was interested in. After all, she usually shared their contents with them when they asked. No, it was the journal that he was after. And he knew exactly how to get it.

One of the rare times Easy Company actually had the afternoon off, the medics still had lessons. The rest of the men were outside, playing basketball and enjoying their downtime. It was a simple thing for Archer to stroll into the barrack, rummage through Ella's footlocker and take her journal. Smiling evilly to himself, he settled on his own bunk where he spent the rest of the afternoon reading the young girl's journal.

Ella stumbled out of the infirmary that evening after a long, tiring session of training, head swimming from the many different scenarios that had been covered in class. Yawning widely, she stretched out a kink in her shoulder and headed to the barracks. A few of the guys were there, playing poker, writing letters or simply lounging on their bunks.

"Long day, Shorty?", called Frank Perconte.

Ella nodded and gave a tired "Uh-huh" as she walked by. In the middle of the room, she froze.

.

The men looked up.

Ella had turned to face Archer, who had been sitting on his bunk all evening, reading something. They hadn't really cared what he was reading.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was casual, but it had a dangerous edge to it. Her friends glanced at each other in confusion.

"Oh, just reading somethin', baby-doll", Archer replied, the picture of innocence. If it weren't for the smug look hidden deep in his eyes.

"I can see that. Why are you reading my journal?", Ella repeated, a trace of stone behind her words.

Luz and Frank traded shocked looks, cigarette nearly dropping from Luz' lips.

"What the fuck, Archer?", Liebgott called.

Archer looked at the notebook in his lap. "Oh, it's yours? I didn't know", he exclaimed, opening his eyes wide in feigned shock.

The girl's green eyes flashed. "Really? That's funny, because it is written on the first page." Her entire demeanour was still deceptively, almost eerily mellow. She pointed at the journal. "It says: 'This journal belongs to Ella Sawyer.' And below that, there is an inscription from my mother, which you won't be able to understand because it's not English. Plus, you took it from a footlocker labelled J.V. Sawyer, and if you look very carefully where the 'Ella' stands, those two initials have been crossed out."

A smile appeared on her face and the ones watching the scene unfold gulped. It was so out of place, just like the rest of her behaviour. Most of them knew they would be shouting at Archer, some even getting physical. And yet, their pint-sized medic did nothing of that sort. Ella was as sweet and friendly as ever.

"Now would you please give it back?", she asked.

"Archer, what do you think you're doing?", Martin questioned.

"You stay out of this!", Archer snapped.

Ella glanced at them and nodded. So, they kept quiet, but watched, ready to come to their girl's defence at any moment.

.

Archer shrugged, getting to his feet and looking back at Ella. "Hm. I guess I did know it was yours. But I read it anyway. Good stuff. A bit too soppy for my liking."

Ella raised an eyebrow and made a non-committal sound. He mistook it as an invitation to provide examples.

He flicked through the pages. "Here, for example." He started reading in an overly dramatic voice:" 'Mama took it surprisingly well. I'm glad she understands why I have to do this. Now I can really help provide for our family.'"

He stopped and looked up at her. "Aw, how touching. Couldn't you have gotten a job at a factory if your family's in so much need for money?", he questioned. Upon receiving no answer, he went back to reading:" 'I do worry about Mama, though. I hope she'll be alright. I shouldn't be leaving her all alone after Papa, but I couldn't stay.'"

Ella had gone white, her body taut as a bowstring, expression shifting to something raw. Encouraged by the lack of protest, Archer continued: "Or this one, this one's great, too. 'Had another nightmare tonight. Couldn't go back to sleep, so I wrote to Mama. I'll probably rip up the letter in the morning. She doesn't need me adding to her worries. It would only hurt her, too. I thought I was past this. Lucky Sobel doesn't know how miserable he can make me. And I sure as hell won't tell him.'" He laughed.

The men were nervously looking back and forth between the two, uncomfortable at hearing their young friend's private thoughts, her innermost feelings.

There were tears starting to gather in Ella's eyes now. She took a step towards the man. "Archer, you had your fun, please give me back my journal", she said, voice pure steel.

He chuckled, completely ignorant, and sifted through the pages. "How about this one, this one's my favourite. 'We had to run Currahee again. Sobel revoked everybody's weekend passes, even the officers'. Told me I would get the men killed. Made me think of Nico-"

"Stop." Ella stood right in front of him, teeth grit tightly. She was visibly shaking. It was clear to everyone in the room that it took every ounce of restraint she had not to lose her composure.

"If you ever use his name again", she said slowly, looking him straight in the eye, "you'll be living on liquid food for a long time. Now give. me. my journal."

Archer paled slightly at her tone and the intense gaze. But he still had a few cards up his sleeve.

"Fine." He tossed her the journal.

She caught it, gave him another dirty glare and started turning away.

.

"I know about Adrian Michaels."

Ella stopped dead, the last bit of colour draining from her features.

"I know you're scared of him", he continued triumphantly.

Her breathing hitched.

Archer continued goading her. "I know what he did to you", he sing-songed.

The look on her face was heart-wrenching.

"I know what he-", he didn't get any further.

There was a loud SMACK! and Archer was lying on his back, holding his eye. Ella stood above him, trembling like a leaf, fist clenched, eyes burning.

"Sawyer!" Everybody jumped. Lipton was standing in the doorway, taking in the scene.

"It wasn't her fault, Sarge!" "Archer provoked her!" "He's been harassing her all the time!" "Shorty was only defending herself!"

Lipton held up a hand to silence the men's protests.

Archer got himself up from the floor. "That bitch punched me!", he shrieked, stabbing a finger in the girl's direction.

The sergeant looked at Ella, who was staring fearfully at him, wide eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Is that true?", he asked calmly.

The girl dropped her gaze. "Yes, sir", she mumbled.

"But-", Luz started to protest.

Lipton cut him off. "Why did you hit Private Archer, Corporal Sawyer?"

Ella swallowed and forced herself to meet his eyes. "He took my journal and read from it. He- he wouldn't stop, sir. I'm sorry, Sergeant, I shouldn't have hit him."

.

Lip felt bad for the young girl. He had seen enough of the exchange to know that Archer was the only one to blame. He looked at his comrades. They all looked agitated. "Is it true?", he asked them. They nodded as one.

Luz said quietly: "Look at her, Lip." Shaking his head sadly, he added: "Any one of us would have punched him a lot sooner." The masks of fury on some of the men's faces spoke loud enough.

Lipton nodded. "Archer, go put some ice on that eye", he ordered. The private huffed and stormed off.

Ella was still standing in the same spot. "I just wanted him to stop, sir", she whispered.

Lip put a hand on her shoulder, not missing the light flinch she gave. "I know. Don't worry about him. Go take a shower and then try to get some sleep. We'll take care of the rest."

The girl managed a trembling smile and went to grab her shower kit. "Liebgott, go with her", Lipton ordered.

The lanky man nodded. The two of them left the barrack, Liebgott's arm slung around Ella's shoulders. The men chuckled when they heard him say: "Well, kiddo, that was one beautiful right hook. Say, are you ever gonna tell us what those initials stand for?"

It was the first time Ella cried since arriving in Toccoa. No, that wasn't right. It was the first time since arriving in Toccoa that she cried while awake. Standing in the shower, hands slapped over her mouth, the young girl sobbed, tears of shame, humiliation and pain streaming down her face, hoping that Liebgott wouldn't hear her where he was keeping watch outside.

.

Archer was gone before noon the next day. At breakfast, everyone, not just the men from Easy Company, knew about the incident. It was conversation topic No. 1.

The entire company, led by Winters and Nixon, marched into Col Sink's office after breakfast and demanded that Private Jackson Archer be transferred. Each of the men that had witnessed the altercation handed the speechless Colonel a detailed report of the incident.

Winters and Nixon gave their personal assessment of Archer and Ella, both commenting how Archer had been treating the young medic with little respect.

Private Archer was called into Sink's office as soon as Easy Company left and was informed of his transfer. During all this, Ella was at the infirmary, getting her knuckles checked out at Lt Winter's insistence.

---

Sobel's regular raids for contraband were always a cause for annoyance among the men. Even if everything was in order, everyone's property was still strewn all over the floor. The barracks generally looked like a tornado had gone through afterwards.

This time was no different. The men returned from their training and got quite worked up about the state of their quarters. Grousing and cursing, they started sorting through the mess, gathering up what was theirs and putting everything back in order.

Ella dug around in her footlocker, muttering under her breath. "Kumm scho, das gits doch nid. Wo isch es?"

Johnny Martin, who was just putting away the last of his possessions, looked over. "What language is that even?", he asked.

He wasn't a big talker and could come across as slightly bitter or aggressive, especially when he used his stern, bitchy glare. But underneath all the sarcasm and snarky remarks, he was a good guy. One night, when Ella had woken up in cold sweat, he had quietly stated: "You must miss home."

When she'd affirmed, Johnny had instigated a hushed conversation, talking about Ohio and his wife, while she in turn told him about her mom and her brother. From then on, he would surreptitiously check on her every once in a while, making sure she was doing okay. And he would never admit that the 'Good night, Johnny' she whispered each night after lights out made him smile. Or that he actually returned it.

"Huh?" Ella turned her head, still rifling through her things. "Oh, I can't find something." She sat back on her haunches and scowled. "For crying out loud!" She gave the footlocker a frustrated kick and plonked herself onto the floor, back leaning against her cot.

"What you looking for?", Luz wanted to know.

She looked up. "My knife." Her dark expression mellowed. "My brother gave it to me before…before he enlisted." She was silent for a moment before her temper flared once more. "And now Sobel had to wreak goddamn havoc in here and fucking confiscate my knife!"

The men turned and stared at her like she'd grown another head. They had never seen her angry or heard her curse like that.

Guarnere guffawed. "Jeez, I didn't think ya even knew how to swear, kiddo", he said, "Guess we're rubbin' off on her, guys." The rest of the men laughed.

Ella huffed, but in the end, she couldn't help but join the laughter.

.

In the evening, Ella walked past Winters on her way to the mess hall and stopped abruptly. "Lieutenant?", she called.

He turned around. "What is it, Corporal?", he asked in his usual calm and friendly manner.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Ella blushed and said: "Congratulations on your promotion, sir."

Winters smiled. "Thank you, Corporal."

She saluted and continued her way.

The newly appointed 1st Lieutenant shook his head in amusement as he watched the young girl walk to the mess hall. He hadn't quite managed to make sense of her yet. There were so many sides and layers to her, she still was a bit of a mystery to him and the rest of the company. But that didn't matter. They all had a right to privacy. What mattered was that Ella was extremely likeable and fit in perfectly with the men.

.

"Didya hear?" Penkala leant over the table. "Sobel was made Captain."

Ella nodded and replied after swallowing her last mouthful of whatever the kitchen was trying to pass off as food. "I saw Lt Winters earlier. He's 1st Lieutenant now."

"Jesus Christ, Shorty, how the hell can you eat so fast?", wondered Malarkey, sitting to Penkala's left.

She shot him a bland look and deadpanned: "Because I eat and don't talk all the time."

Next to her, Muck snorted and nearly choked on his water. Penkala and Malarkey laughed.

"And", the girl added, twirling her fork in her fingers, "I try not to taste it. God knows I'm not picky but this stuff-" she motioned to the mystery meat on their plates – "this does not deserve the title 'food'."

"No argument there", Roe muttered on her other side. "It's a miracle we don't have half the Company lying in the infirmary with food poisoning."

Ella's giggle quickly turned into a cough as the water she had been sipping went down the wrong pipe. "Damnit Gene, don't make me laugh when I drink", she rasped out, trying to clear her throat. He just gave her a semi-apologetic smile.

---

Ella was surprised to see Winters overseeing the kitchen staff the next day. But not as surprised as she was about the meal itself. "Spaghetti?", she marvelled. It had been ages since she had seen food that was actually identifiable. Squeezing in next to Guarnere, the girl inspected the content of her plate. A guy across from them complained: "This stuff's orange. Spaghetti ain't supposed to be orange."

Perconte remarked: "This ain't spaghetti. This is Army noodles with ketchup."

"You ain't gotta eat it", Guarnere pointed out.

Ella chewed thoughtfully. While it certainly wasn't Mama's cooking and didn't exactly taste like spaghetti, it wasn't half bad. Apparently, many others thought so, too, because they were eating like starved wolves, shovelling as many noodles into their mouth in one go as possible.

Perconte wasn't done complaining. "Oh come on, Gonorrhoea, as a fellow Italian you should know that calling this crap spaghetti is a mortal sin."

Hoobler leant over from the other table and went to grab Perconte's plate. "I'll have it", he said, mouth still full.

"I'm eating here!" Perconte pulled his plate closer.

"Hey! Get outta here", called Guarnere.

Ella just shook her head at them and shoved another fork of noodles into her mouth.

Right then, the door flew open and Captain Sobel stomped in. "Orders changed! Get up!", he bellowed. They all shot to their feet. "Lectures are cancelled, Easy Company is running up Currahee! Move! Move!"

In all the commotion, Ella sought out Gene's gaze, worry filling the pit of her stomach. Uh-oh.

.

Just like the medics had feared, running Currahee on a full stomach didn't go too well. All around them, the men were vomiting up their lunch. Ella didn't feel too peachy either, but as she hadn't eaten as much as the men, her nausea came more from the sight of her sick comrades.

Sobel, who was of course running with them, didn't help matters either.

"You're a washout, Private Hoobler! You should pack up those ears and go home!"

"Looks like Gordon's done! Aren't you, Gordon! You finished? You do not deserve to get your wings!"

He came up to their row. "What about you, Sawyer? Still think you can become a paratrooper? You have no place here, women don't fight, they knit and gossip!"

The girl didn't bother reacting. Sobel had yet to realise that all his insults and jabs only spurred her to try harder.

"Private Randleman, you look tired.", the Captain continued his taunting, "There's an ambulance waiting for you at the bottom of the hill. It can all be over right now. No more pain, no more Currahee… no more Captain Sobel."

"We pull upon the risers", Luz intoned.

Everybody joined into the song, Ella providing the top voice.

"We fall upon the grass.
We never land on our feet, we always hit our ass.
Highty tighty Christ Almighty, who the hell are we?
Zim Zam, goddamn, we're Airborne infantry!"

They continued chanting and making their way up to the top.

.

The infirmary was busy that afternoon. The entire Easy Company was sitting on cots, chairs or even the floor, heaving up their spaghetti. Ella, who was one of the last people to keep her lunch down, was walking between the rows, checking on the men and making sure they stayed hydrated.

She came up to Gene, who was leaning against the wall, his complexion pale with a slightly green tinge. He was sweating and swallowing convulsively. "Gene, per l'amur da Dieu, sit yourself down and grab a bucket or go to the latrines." Her Cajun friend gave her a grateful look and hurried out of the room.

Ella turned back to the rest of 'her boys', as she had come to think of them. "Feeling any better, Shifty?", she asked, handing him a glass of water. "Rinse and spit, drink the rest", she instructed. He did as he was told.

"I'm not feeling sick anymore", he then announced, sounding very relieved.

Ella smiled. "Good. Lie down for a bit and give your body some rest. The worst is over", she said before moving on.

Finally, everybody was settled. Gene had come back looking a lot better. Some were still throwing up a bit, but they had a bucket close by. The others were resting, talking and laughing, distracting each other from the unpleasant experience.

Wiped out, the young girl blew a few stray locks out of her face and leant against the wall. Her stomach had been churning ever since the run and the smell hadn't made it any better. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to quell her nausea.

Gene appeared next to her. "Ça va, petite?"

She nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Just need some air."

They had opened the windows wide as soon as they had gotten to the infirmary to help with the sickness and the stench. Gene took her by the elbow and lead his young friend to the window. "Merci, Gene." Ella stuck her head out and inhaled deeply, relishing the feeling of the cool air on her face.

.

"Hey, Shorty! Since you've now seen the mystery contents of our stomachs, don'tcha think it's time you tell us a secret of yours?", Muck called over.

"What do you mean?", Ella asked back, already knowing the answer.

"What's J.V. stand for?", the men chorused.

She laughed. "Sorry guys, you're gonna have to guess."

The mystery surrounding her initials had become a running joke in the unit. Every now and again, somebody would ask her, hoping she would slip up. They had even started betting on when she was going to reveal the truth, to who and what her real name actually was. Ella let them have their fun and even made a few comments about certain names, boosting the betting pool even more.

"How about Jasmine?", Talbert offered.

"Nah, she don't look like a Jasmine", Guarnere countered.

The girl chuckled. "What does a Jasmine look like, then?", she challenged, mouth curling into a sly grin.

The Philadelphian immediately launched into a description of a Jasmine, the rest of the guys throwing in their own suggestions.

---

In early November 1942, the Regiment moved to Fort Benning for parachute training. If they completed 5 jumps successfully, they would finally be real paratroopers.

Sitting between Luz and Toye, Ella was quietly humming to herself, letting the vibration it created in her chest soothe her nerves. This was the first jump they would do from a C-47. The young medic wasn't scared about jumping per se. It was the unfamiliarity of the situation that made her slightly nervous. What if something went wrong? What if somebody's chute didn't deploy? What if, what if. Tons of similar questions raced through her mind.

"Get ready!", their jump teacher yelled over the noise of the plane. "Stand up!"

They stood and on the command "Hook up!", they hooked themselves to the static line.

"Check equipment!", the instructor called.

Dutifully, Ella checked her own webbing and made sure that everything was where it should be on Toye's gear, too, while she felt Luz checking her equipment from the back. Giving Toye's harness a few experimental tugs, she then heard the command: "Sound off for equipment check!"

"Five okay!", Luz yelled behind her, slapping her on the arm to indicate everything was okay.

"Four okay!", Ella shouted and clapped Toye firmly on the shoulder.

"Three okay!", he continued the procedure.

Then, suddenly, they were moving forward and the door came closer. One after the other, the men jumped from the plane on the instructor's command.

"Go, go!", he called and Toye disappeared.

Ella took his place by the door. The sergeant gave her a cheerful grin. "Ready?", he yelled over the noise.

"Yes, sir!", she shouted back, adrenaline rushing through her veins.

"Go!"

She jumped before the rational part of her brain could inform her how insane she was for doing this. The prop blast tore at her, jostling her around, making her lose her orientation for a moment. Her training kicked in a millisecond later and she was counting the seconds, reaching up to grab the risers. Her free fall slowed with an abrupt jerk when her main chute deployed.

.

All of a sudden, the air became very peaceful, only the wind whispering softly in her ears. A huge smile broke out on her face. It was amazing.

She landed safely on the ground, absorbing the shock just like she'd been taught. Disentangling herself from her parachute, Ella couldn't stop a whoop of laughter from bursting out of her.

Joe Toye came over to check on her.

"That was fantastic!", she exclaimed, smiling brightly at him. "Oh, I can't wait to do it again."

"Ya won't have to wait long, Shorty. We got 4 jumps left", he reminded her.

"Hi fellas, lovely day, isn't it?" Luz strolled up to them. His shit-eating grin widened even more when he saw the small girl's eyes glowing with excitement.

Ella was all smiles for the rest of the day. And even the grumpiest of the men had to admit it was cute. And contagious. Everybody had to smile at the way she was beaming with innocent joy, how she was almost bouncing with glee.

"Like a goddamn puppy", Martin grumbled good-naturedly as he watched her. Bull and Muck, who were standing next to him laughed and Muck added: "That's why we love her." Johnny cracked a smile.

.

4 jumps later, the men from Easy Company were officially certified Army paratroopers. At the ceremony, some of them even got promoted.

Col Sink pinned the jump wings to their uniforms, a proud look on his normally stern face.

When he got to Ella, he smiled. This extraordinary young girl had managed the impossible.

"Congratulations, Corporal Sawyer", he said.

A radiant smile lit up her pretty face. "Thank you, sir."

.

After the ceremony, a celebration was in order. Which meant lots of alcohol for the men. Ella didn't drink – her mother would kill her – but she still had a great time. She sat at the bar with Luz and a rather drunk Toye, watching in amusement how some of the men chanted "1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000" while Guarnere was downing his beer. He set down his empty glass and grinned, revealing the jump wings held between his teeth. The men cheered.

"Corporal Toye." Ella turned in her seat, half-expecting Sobel to stand in front of her. She laughed when she realised it was only Luz, impersonating their CO. "There will be no leaning in my company." Toye got himself in a more upright posture.

"Are those dusty jump wings?", Luz continued his impression. "How do you expect to slay the Huns with dust on your jump wings?"

Toye grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him closer. "Luz, just give me a drink."

A smile spread on Luz' lips. "Hell of an idea, Joe." He put a beer in front of him and reached for his own glass. "Three miles up, three miles down."

Suddenly, somebody called: "Ten-hut!" Everybody got to their feet and stood at attention. Col Sink had joined the party.

He smiled congenially at the men. "Well, at ease, paratroopers." They relaxed. "Good evening, Easy Company!"

"Evening, sir!", the company responded.

"Now, Parachute Infantry is a brand -new concept in American military history. But by God, the 506 is gonna forge that brand-new concept into victory!", the Colonel spoke.

"Yes, sir!", Easy company shouted as one.

He carried on. "I want you to know that I'm damn proud of each and every one of you. Now, you deserve this party."

Chuck Grant stepped forward and handed him a beer before returning to his place.

.

Sink looked at his men. His eyes searched the crowd and finally landed on Ella.

"Another brand-new concept in American military history is the introduction of women in combat." The young girl blushed right up to the tips of her ears. "And I think you all agree that we can be damn lucky to have such a fine young woman in our regiment."

The men cheered and clapped her on the back. Ella shuffled her feet, clearly not comfortable in the spotlight. Sink smiled and directly addressed her. "You have worked hard, probably harder than anybody else in this room. You have shown remarkable strength and extraordinary tenacity. Therefore, I would like to be the first to congratulate you on your promotion. Congratulations, Sergeant Sawyer!"

The room erupted with cheers and applause. Ella's jaw dropped. Mortified, she hid her face behind her hands. She, Ella Sawyer, had been made a T-4! She now held the rank equivalent to an NCO. That meant she was the ranking medic, too. Luz enthusiastically clapped her on the shoulder, a wide grin on his friendly face.

Sink finished his small speech by returning to address everybody: "Also, I want you to have fun, and remember our motto: Currahee!"

"Currahee!", Easy Company echoed, raising their glasses.

.

It was Lieutenant Winters who presented Ella with her new uniform jacket, the chevrons already neatly sewed on. They had all received a new set of dress uniforms, complete with shiny, high-laced boots. And Ella had been the only one who hadn't gotten a new jacket. She had gotten both a male and female uniform, which she – and the men – had found extremely funny. But no jacket. She had already wondered why. Now she knew.

Lieutenant Nixon came up behind her and helped her out of the old jacket, handing it off to the Colonel's aide.

"Congratulations, Sergeant", Winters said, a proud smile on his lips.

Ella saluted him, beaming up at him. "Thank you, sir."

Nixon, always less formal than his straight-laced friend, simply hugged the girl and said: "Congratulations, kid."

As soon as the two lieutenants stepped back, Ella was swarmed by the boys. They shook her hand, hugged her, a very tipsy Penkala even planted a kiss on her cheek. Somebody put the music back on and soon, people were talking, laughing, drinking and dancing. Ella was content to sit at a table and chat with her comrades when Malarkey came over and held out his hand.

"Wanna dance?", he asked cheerfully.

"Uh… sure. But I'm warning you, I'm out of practice", she replied, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

They danced to a lively jazz song and enjoyed themselves immensely. Ella, who had learned how to dance at a very young age from her mother, found that her body still remembered exactly what to do, although it was quite different dancing in jump boots than in normal shoes or pumps.

"You call that out of practice?", Malarkey laughed.

Soon, Liebgott came over. "Mind if I cut in?", he asked.

Malarkey shook his head. "Nah, I need a drink. Dancing makes me thirsty", he said and excused himself.

.

Ella was convinced she must have danced with at least half the company. After Liebgott, it was Guarnere, then Muck, Popeye, Shifty, Gene, Luz... the list was seemingly endless. At the end, she was exhausted, her feet hurt and she was thirsty. But she'd had a wonderful time. She asked Luz for a club soda and sat down at the bar. Some of the men were pretty sloshed, but as long as nobody got violent or did something stupid, it was fine. She had an eye on them to make sure no-one got alcohol poisoning by accident, but she wasn't the only non-drinker that looked out for the guys.

She talked to Gene for a while before an intoxicated Skinny came over and dragged the introverted Cajun to another table, insisting he had to see something. Ella took that as an opportunity to call it a night. She bid the boys goodnight and went outside.

For a moment, she simply stood there and breathed in the cool, clean night air. The men had been smoking inside and while she didn't really have a problem with it, the smell could get overwhelming after a while. Plus, the silence out here was a stark contrast to the noise inside the bar.

"Mind if I join you?"

Ella turned around. Lt Winters stood next to her. "No, sir, not at all."

They stood in comfortable silence. Finally, Winters asked: "Were you planning on going back in?"

The girl shook her head, making her ponytail swish from side to side. "No. I was about to head back to the barracks."

He nodded. "Would you like me to walk you back?", he offered.

"I wouldn't want to keep you from the party, sir", she immediately said.

"You wouldn't. I was about to call it a night, too."

A smile spread on her face. "Well, then yes, that would be nice, sir. Thank you."

.

They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds their footsteps and the occasional hoot of an owl.

"How does it feel, being the first female paratrooper in US military history?", Winters inquired finally, looking over to the small medic. Molten silver reflected in her eyes as she looked at the path in front of them.

"I don't know, it's… I never thought about it that way. I just want to help", she answered. "But… it's nice. I had to prove it to myself. That I could do it, I mean. That I wasn't weak."

A quick frown passed over his face. "You are one of the toughest people in the entire Company, Ella."

She glanced up at him, his unexpected use of her first name taking her by surprise.

"Thank you, sir. You cannot imagine what this means to me." She gave him a smile full of gratefulness.

"Why did you volunteer, Ella?", Winters asked after a pause.

"Many reasons, sir", she responded, thinking about it. "One was the money. My family isn't exactly well off, especially after Papa…and after my brother died, my Mama and I, well, it was hard. But…I also had to get away, sir. Too many memories." She didn't elaborate any further and Winters didn't pry.

.

They arrived at the barracks. "Thank you for walking me home, sir", Ella said.

"It was my pleasure", he replied, a sincere smile on his lips.

"Good night, sir." Ella opened the door to her billet.

"Good night, Ella."

He started to leave, but stopped and turned back a few steps later. "Oh, Ella?"

She looked at him.

"What does J.V. stand for?"

Ella laughed. A very pleasant sound, he thought. "Sorry, sir, can't tell you."

He chuckled. "It was worth a try." Then he went on his way.

Lying on her bunk later on, Ella looked up at the ceiling. "Hesh das gseh, Nico? I muas glaub öppis richtig gmacht ha." A happy smile on her face, the young girl fell asleep.

---

A few months later, the company was sent to Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Now, the focus was on manoeuvres. Unfortunately for everybody, Sobel proved to be thoroughly incompetent in the field.

Ella was squatting next to Gene and watched the Captain as he beckoned Petty over to consult the map. She traded a frustrated glance with her fellow medic and rolled her eyes.

"We're in the wrong position!", she heard Sobel hiss. Great. Fantastic. They looked on as Winters came up to their CO and discussed the situation quietly.

Apparently, Sobel gave him a direct order, because he then whispered: "2nd Platoon, move out! Tactical column!"

"He can't be serious", Ella muttered to Gene as they got up. He shrugged, just as lost.

They didn't get too far. After only a few steps, the 'enemy' team popped up from the ground, weapons trained on them. The drill leader came up to Easy company, announcing gravely: "Captain, you have just been killed, along with 95 % of your company." His pencil hovered above the clipboard in his hand. "Your outfit?"

Sobel gave him the information, after which the instructor ordered: "Leave three wounded men on the ground and report back to the assembly area."

As Sobel picked out the three men, the two medics traded another glance, this time filled with unease. What if this happened in the field?

Ella shared her worry with Gene that evening. "There isn't much we can do about it", he said, toying absent-mindedly with his fork. "We do our job, that's all there is."

The girl nodded, twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. She would have to cut it again soon, it kept growing like crazy. "I know. And I know we can't stop the guys from getting hurt. But I'm afraid if he stays our CO, it won't be long till there's nobody left who needs us."

Gene sighed deeply. He was thinking the same thing.

.

Soon, they were moving out again. 1st Platoon had gotten a new leader after Nixon had transferred to Battalion Intelligence; Lieutenant Harry Welsh. Ella wasn't entirely sure what she thought of the man, but he seemed nice enough. And he didn't give her any trouble for being a woman. When he'd first been introduced to the men, he had walked up to her and shaken her hand.

"Nice to finally put a face to the name. I've read a lot about you, Sergeant Sawyer", he'd said.

"Sir?", she had questioned, unsure what he was referring to.

"Oh, your name has been in the papers quite a few times now. But don't worry, they have no idea what they are talking about."

Ella had nodded and watched him go. She knew she'd been in the papers a few times, but she'd figured that they had lost interest by now. Were they still saying the same things about her? She would have to find out.

And find out she did. The same day, when Vest was doing mail call, she received a letter from her mother. Filled with the most recent newspaper articles about her. Because they were in a hurry to pack and leave, Ella tucked the letter into her pocket to read later on.

They were loading their bags onto the trucks and waiting to leave. Ella was chatting to Martin and Guarnere, fiddling with her now shorter hair. It was still long enough so that she could put it up in a ponytail or bun, but as it reached just past her chin, she could even wear it down without getting yelled at by Sobel. It didn't touch her collar, after all.

"Ya need help with that, kiddo?", Bull drawled, pointing to her bag.

She nodded. "Please." The tall man picked it up and effortlessly flung it onto the back of the truck. "Thank you, Bull", she called. He just waved it off.

.

Aboard the train, Ella was – just as luck would have it – seated across from Sobel. She decided to ignore him, busying herself by writing in her journal and reading her mother's letter. Isabel had only recently moved to Ohio with James Buchanan. It had been a strange feeling, knowing that she wouldn't go back to Delaware when she came home, but Ella had discovered that she didn't mind.

Luz, who had plopped himself down next to her, leant over and snagged the letter from her hand.

"Hey!"

"C'mon, just tell me what your initials stand for and I'll give it back." He looked at her with such pleading eyes that she had to laugh.

"This is not seriously still about that bet, now is it?", she asked. Luz nodded. "My goodness, you don't give up, do you?" Ella shook her head in amusement.

"Why is it such a secret? It can't be that bad", Luz wanted to know.

Ella shrugged and chewed on her bottom lip. "It's not. It's just… nobody calls me by my given name anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Because that's no longer me." She looked at him and there was a certain haunting darkness lingering in her eyes. "Luz, please, can we talk about something else?"

Luz was nearly bursting at the seams with curiosity, but he didn't want to cause her any pain by pushing. Especially not in front of Sobel. He gave her one of his trade-mark smiles and waved the letter in his hand. "So, I wouldn't find out if I read this?"

"No. Why don't you go ahead and read it, I'd tell you what she wrote anyways", Ella offered.

He grinned happily and started reading, ever-present cigarette dangling from his lips. Meanwhile, the girl began looking through the newspaper articles. They were mostly just like she'd expected. One or two painted her as a hero, a symbol of women's rights, some called her an 'experiment bound to fail' and a fair few speculated who she'd had to "charm" to get into the Airborne. They all claimed to have 'close friends of Miss Sawyer' as informants, which she knew was rubbish.
Ella shrugged it off. Sure, it wasn't nice to see her name get dragged through the mud, but in the end, it didn't really matter. Her comrades respected and liked her for who she was and wouldn't believe a word of those articles. At least she hoped they wouldn't.

.

A few hours later, they were still on the train. Ella had long since fallen asleep on Luz' shoulder. Careful so as not to wake her, he had repositioned her, her head now resting in his lap.

They all loved the girl to bits and always tried to make her as comfortable as possible when she fell asleep on one of them, most thinking of their own sisters back home. Ella tended to forget about herself while making sure that everybody else was alright and so this was their way of giving something back by letting her rest.

One day, Luz thought to himself, gently running a hand through the girl's locks and smiling fondly when she unconsciously leant into his touch, maybe one day she's gonna tell us. And he vowed not to pester her that much anymore. A little, sure, but not enough to make her sad.

---

They ended up in New York, Brooklyn Naval Shipyard, boarding a huge troop ship, the S.S. Samaria. It took an entire day to get the 5000 soldiers on board and assign them to their bunks.

Ella felt mildly claustrophobic in the belly of the ship, where hundreds and hundreds of soldiers were packed together like sardines. There were rows upon rows of bunks rising towards the ceiling, at least 6 on top of each other. And Easy Company was allocated a space right in the middle.

It was tight and hot, the air stale and filled with the smell of hundreds of unwashed bodies cramped together. Ella was extremely grateful to be a medic; she could bring the sea-sick men up on deck to get some fresh air. And there were many who got sea-sick. All medics carried pills against motion sickness, but they were of little use when the men just threw them back up.

"Deep breaths, Web, that's it", she cajoled, rubbing his back comfortingly as he gripped the railings. He groaned.

"I know, it's nasty. But it'll pass. Just try to take it easy." She helped him sit down and lean his back against the railings before squatting down before him. "We'll stay here for a moment alright? Fresh air always helps with nausea."

Webster's face was still an impressive shade of green, but he managed a weak nod.

After a while, his stomach settled and some colour returned to his cheeks.

"See?", Ella smiled. "Now why don't you go back and lie down a bit? If you're asleep, you won't feel the movement either."

Webster nodded and got up.

"Need a hand?", she asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Thanks, Ella."

She waved it off and ambled across the deck, checking on other soldiers who were hanging over the railing.

.

"Hi, Chuck. Feeling a bit sea-sick, hm?"

He nodded, leaning heavily against the railing. She handed him one of the pills and motioned for him to take it.

"Just take deep breaths. And try to focus on something else", she advised.

"Like what?", he asked, grimacing when his stomach roiled uncomfortably.

The girl moved to stand next to him, back to the ocean. "On the sounds of the ship. On the conversations around you. On the game of cards you might play with the guys. On the feeling of your pillow. Anything at all."

Grant smiled gratefully. "Alright, Shorty, I'll try. But…I think I'll stay up here for a while."

She chuckled. "Good idea", she commented. They struck up a conversation that did wonders to distract him from his nausea.

.

Ella was sitting on her bunk, fourth from the ground, nestled into the far back corner. She was leaning against the cool metal of the ship wall and sorting through her medic satchel, trying to see if she needed to resupply on anything. So far, it was only the sea-sickness pills.

"Hey Shorty!"

She leant over the rim of her bunk to look down. "Yeah?"

"We were just talking about you", Guarnere said.

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah", Malarkey piped up. "So, is your first name Janet?"

She sighed and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She was tired, hot and the closed quarters were starting to set her on edge. Not now.

"No, it's not."

"Damn", Hoobler chimed in from his own cot. "That was my bet, too."

"Mine, too", Smokey sighed.

Now she did roll her eyes.

"What's the matter?", Perconte grinned.

"You're annoying, that's the matter", the girl grumbled.

She loved the guys, she really did, and normally, she easily put up with their nonsense and teasing, but being stuck with them on this ship was just too much. They were all bored and restless and they had been unusually relentless with their pestering.

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that", Christenson chimed in.

"Yeah, you're usually not so grumpy", Muck observed. "Normally, you're our very own ray of sunshine." That comment almost made her smile.

"Maybe it's because it's, you know…", Penkala lowered his voice to a stage whisper, "that time of the month."

Most of them didn't see how Ella's expression shuttered closed, as they were laughing and grinning at each other. Only a few noticed the shift, the darkening of her eyes. One of them was Joe Toye.

Since the day she had given him a complete copy of her lecture notes, the two of them had become friends. And while he wasn't someone people would call exceptionally perceptive or considerate, he could tell this was a sensitive topic for the girl. He glared at the sniggering men.

Ella shoved her supplies back into her satchel, swung her legs out of her bunk and jumped to the ground. "I'm going to the sick bay, I'm low on sea-sickness pills", she informed a surprised Gene. "You need anything else?" He shook his head. "Alright. Be back in a few." With that, she elbowed her way past the many soldiers, leaving a group of puzzled Easy Company men in her wake.

"What was that?", Muck wondered. Nobody had an answer.

.

Returning from the sick bay with a satchel full of sea-sickness pills, Ella was back to her normal self. She hummed quietly to herself and went under deck, squeezing past unfamiliar men and expertly ignoring the catcalls. She had just reached Easy Company, when-

"What the hell is going on here?!"

The men jumped, looking thunderstruck. A few of them scattered immediately. Ella got a good idea of what had occurred: Liebgott and Guarnere were both being held back by several others, both breathing heavily, a few scrapes and bruises on their faces.

"Guarnere called Sobel a Jew", explained Talbert.

"Liebgott took offence to that, cause he's, too", added Penkala.

Ella looked from one man to the other. Liebgott looked angry and affronted, Guarnere irritated and just this side of sulky. She raised an eyebrow.

"He threw the first punch!", Bill stated indignantly.

Liebgott shot back: "Only after-"

"Enough!", Ella cut them off, stepping right between the two. She gave them both a stern glare. "Look at you, you're acting like children", she pointed out incredulously.

They both averted their gaze and stared at their feet.

"Of all the things you could start a fight over, you chose Sobel? Seriously? We haven't even been on this ship for 3 days and you're already squabbling and brawling like teenagers."

The bystanders watched in something akin to awe as the young woman reprimanded the grown men like boys fighting on the school yard. It was almost comical to see these two tough soldiers look properly chastised.

.

"I'm sorry", Liebgott said contritely, "His comment just really rubbed me the wrong way."

She sighed. "I get it, I do. But it's not me you should apologise to."

Guarnere swallowed when the girl's eyes landed on him and looked at Liebgott. "I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have said what I said."

Liebgott nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry, too." A signature smirk crept on his lips. "Hope I didn't break your nose."

The Philadelphian snorted, fight already forgotten. "Ha!"

Ella shook her head. "Alright you two, sit down and let me have a look."

The two immediately obeyed. While she checked their scrapes and bruises, they watched her closely, trying to gauge how mad she was at them. They had never been on the receiving end of her glare and they also didn't know how much it would take for her to become truly angry. They didn't want to find out either.

"You're lucky, just a few scratches", she declared, a light smile playing around her lips. "Now get to your bunks and try not to bash each other's faces in." She fixed them with another stern look.

"Yes ma'am", they automatically responded.

"Sobel? Really?", Ella muttered, moving to the back of the room and climbing up to sit on her bunk.

That's when she noticed everybody staring at her. "What?"

The men, including Guarnere and Liebgott, all of a sudden burst out laughing. It really had been a sight to behold, two of the most hot-headed soldiers of the company being glared into submission by a sharp glance of their small medic.

"Oh, the look on their faces!", Malarkey crowed, wiping tears out of his eyes.

Ella couldn't help but laugh, too. Below her, she even heard Gene's laugh, a sound she heard only too seldom.

---

In the middle of September, 1943, Easy Company set up camp in Aldbourne, England. Ella ended up being billeted together with Johnny Martin. Their host was Mrs Elaine Morris, a motherly woman in her late thirties whose husband was away at war. She was quite baffled to see that one of her guests was a young woman. Somebody – most likely Sobel – had neglected to inform her of that fact.

That they had to share a room wasn't a problem for Ella and Martin. After all, they had been sleeping in the same barrack from over a year now. Sleeping in the same bed didn't bother them either. Johnny was married and Ella's family was poor, so she had shared a bed with her brother for a long time.

"Well, in that case, I'll let you get settled", Elaine, as she insisted they call her, said. She showed them to their room. It was small, but tidy and bright. There was even a bathroom right next door, only for them. Ella beamed at that luxury.

"Why don't you come down afterwards and have some tea with me?", Elaine offered, smiling at the young girl's joy.

"That sounds great, Elaine, thank you", Martin said.

Ella nodded. "We'd love to."

When Elaine had gone back downstairs, Ella looked at the bed. It was easily big enough for three people and there were two separate blankets. "Which side do you want?", she asked. Johnny shrugged. "I don't care. Left?" It was the side closer to the door.

"Okay." She bounced a little on 'her' side, then flopped backwards and let out a content sigh. "This is great", she declared, still grinning blissfully. "A huge bed? A heated bedroom? A bathroom inside the bedroom? This is paradise."

Johnny chuckled, clearly amused by her excitement.

.

That night, Ella took her first real shower in ages. The water was hot, even after Johnny had taken his own lengthy shower. There was soap and shampoo. Two toothbrushes. Grinning like an idiot, she even took the opportunity to shave. While she had been blessed with only very little body hair, Ella just felt more comfortable without it. Washing herself and lathering her hair, the girl quietly sang a lullaby her mother liked while rinsing the suds out of her locks.

On the other side of the door, Johnny smiled to himself as he listened to Ella's singing. She had a beautiful voice. He didn't recognise the language, but the melody was soothing. Soon, the water stopped and a few minutes later, the door opened and Ella leant against the doorway, dressed in her sleep clothes, happily humming around the toothbrush in her mouth.

She leant out of sight, spat and rinsed her mouth, turned off the light and crossed the room, running nimble fingers through her damp locks. Yawning, the girl crawled onto her side of the bed, snuggled into the blanket and blinked owlishly.

"G'night, Johnny", she mumbled, eyes already closing.

"Night, Ella", he said, getting into bed as well.

---

Their training was now all about realism, preparing them for the upcoming invasion of Europe. The medics still trained with the rest of the soldiers to some extent when it came to hand to hand combat or digging trenches and foxholes. Sure, they could fire a gun if need be, but they were medics first, riflemen second. So, while the others were at the shooting range, they were busy at the infirmary, getting further training from Army nurses and doctors.

Ella, as the highest ranking and most experienced medic in their company, even had the honour of teaching the men about first-aid. She was extremely nervous about speaking in front of so many people. Thankfully, Gene was there to help her out during the lectures and the practice lessons, so she wasn't entirely alone.

"Very good, Lip", she praised as she walked down the lines, watching the men practice applying pressure bandages. Her voice was clearly audible in the room as everybody was focused on their task. Only sporadically, a mumbled comment or remark from one of the men was heard.

"Nice work, Christenson." "Don't make it too tight, Hoob." "One knot is enough, Shifty, you don't need to make 8." "Easy does it, Toye, you're doing fine. It took me a while, too, until I got the hang of it. There, that's it." Her calm assurances did wonders for the men's concentration and motivation.

Lt Welsh uttered a low curse after his fourth attempt to tie the bandage had failed. It just kept slipping away. Nixon, who was next to him, shot him an amused look.

"It's alright Lieutenant", Ella said lightly, popping up next to them from out of nowhere. "Here, I'll show you."

She knelt down next to him, took the bandage and slowly demonstrated the motions again. "You want to put this on the wound. If possible, someone applies additional pressure to it. Then, you wrap this around, like so." She glanced at the Lieutenant to make sure he was following. "It has to be tight, but it mustn't cut off the blood circulation, because then you run the risk of losing a limb. Tie it off and there, you're done."

With deft fingers, Ella opened the knot and took the bandage off. "Now, why don't you try it on me." Patiently, she let Welsh bandage her arm. "That's it, very good. Pull it a bit tighter. Bit more- there we are."

.

In no time, the Lieutenant had flawlessly applied the bandage. The young medic smiled encouragingly and got up, moving down the line. Welsh looked over to his fellow Lieutenants, newfound admiration for the young girl on his face. "Damn, Dick. She's good", he muttered to Winters, who simply nodded.

The men learnt a lot during the few lessons of first-aid they had. At the end of the last class, Ella said: "Now you know all you need to administer first aid in the field. Generally, if you or your comrades are wounded, you call for a medic and you don't stop calling for a medic until one shows up."

A few chuckles drifted through the room.

"If, for whatever reason, we don't come to you immediately", she continued, "try to stay calm, remember what you've learned and keep shouting. We'll get to you as soon as we can. Thank you for your attention, that's all folks."

"That was great, Ellie." Gene leant against the desk, smiling lightly at her.

"You think?", she asked, feeling rather self-conscious.

Her Cajun friend nodded. "Sure. You know what you're doing and they know it, too. You'd be a good teacher." Ella smiled shyly at his compliment.

.

The medics were constantly rotated through the platoons and squads, allowing them to get used to the individual dynamics. On one of the days Ella was with 1st Platoon – lead by Captain Sobel – she once again got proof of just how poor the man's sense of direction and his map reading skills were. They were jogging through a field when Sobel suddenly signalled for them to stop. He called for Tipper before ordering: "Perconte. Luz. Get the men…get- Take cover behind those trees!" Ella sighed.

"Alright, let's go", Luz called, "Move it out, fellas."

"Sobel's lost again, isn't he?", Skinny asked.

Frank groused: "Yeah, he's lost." Then, he quietly called over to his friend: "Hey, Luz! Can you do Major Horton?"

George answered in a dead accurate imitation of the good Major: "Does a wild bear crap in the woods, son?"

Ella giggled as Frank suggested: "Maybe the good major can goose this schmuck, get us moving?"

Luz was hesitant. "No, no way. I'm not gonna…"

Muck pitched in: "Oh yeah! Luz, you gotta! Come on."

Resigned, Luz gave in. "Alright, just this once." He shushed them as they got into position.

Ella had the perfect view of Sobel as she lay on the ground as their look-out, peering through the shrubbery. She could see him in deep conversation with Evans and Tipper, obviously trying to work out where the hell he had led them. Tipper looked rather exasperated with the CO's ineptitude, while Evans seemed just as confused as Sobel.

"Is there a problem, Captain Sobel?", Major Horton's voice rang out.

Sobel whirled around, looked their way and bellowed: "Who said that?! Who broke silence?!"

Ella could see Tipper saying something while trying to keep his facial expression under control. Sobel's face fell and he nervously glanced around. A small wheezing sound escaped her as she bit back a laugh.

"What is the goddamn hold up, Mr Sobel?!", Luz called again, still using Horton's voice.

"A fence, sir, a – A barbed-wire fence, sir!", came Sobel's reply.

"Oh, that dog just ain't gonna hunt."

She bit her lip. Her shoulders quivered from suppressed laughter. Behind her, she could hear the guys desperately trying not to ruin the whole thing.

"Shut it, shh", Luz hushed them before falling back into his impression. "Now you cut that fence and get this goddamn platoon on the move!" Ella buried her face in her arms, shaking with barely contained laughter.

.

While they were running along the road to make up for lost time, Ella wondered if she had actually cracked some ribs from trying so hard to stifle her laughter. Her sides hurt like nobody's business. She and Luz couldn't look at each other for the rest of the way because they always started giggling.

As soon as they were back at headquarters and away from Sobel, 1st Platoon just lost all sense of self-control. Some of them were laughing so hard they couldn't even stand anymore. They were howling and roaring, doubled up with laughter. From other soldiers, they just got confused and slightly worried looks.

It took a long time until Ella didn't burst into fits of giggles anymore whenever she thought of Sobel's panic-stricken look. When they told the other platoons what had happened, they had a hard time finishing the story because they couldn't stop laughing.

.

Of course, Sobel found a way to retaliate once he was informed that Horton had actually been on leave. He never found out who had impersonated him, but that didn't matter to him. He just took it out on Winters.

Ella had been speaking to Nixon and Winters when Evans came barrelling down the road in a jeep. He got out, marched over to Winters, handing him a letter and saying "With Captain Sobel's compliments, sir" in a tone that was far too smug to be good news. The brunette medic's eyebrows shot sky-high as she watched him strut away. She then looked over to Winters, who sighed: "Oh, for crying out loud…"

Nixon leant over to read as well. "Misspelled 'court-martial'…", he pointed out, taking a drag from his cigarette.

The young girl blinked in surprise. Realising, that she was essentially listening in on her superiors, Ella blushed right to the tips of her ears, muttered a hasty apology and hurried away.

Nixon looked after her retreating form. "Something I said?", he joked.

Winters cracked a small smile. "She's a T-4, Nix. She just realised we're officers."

Nixon shrugged. "So? I can still talk to her from person to person, can't I?"

"Some might think it's inappropriate, Nix", Winters pointed out, only for the sake of it.

"I don't care", came the predictable reply.

They both watched as some of the guys playing basketball nearby roped the girl into playing with them. She was shorter than all of them, downright tiny in comparison to Bull Randleman, but her agility easily levelled the playing field.

---

"We're gonna mutiny", Johnny quietly revealed one night. Ella turned to face him, propping herself up on her elbow. He had to force himself to return her piercing gaze. It was as if she could see right into him. She was quiet for a long time, simply looking at him from her side of the bed.

"You do realise that if it fails, you could be shot", she then remarked mildly. Johnny did a double-take. He had expected her to try and talk them out of it.

"Yeah. But Sobel's gonna get all of us killed in the field."

Ella nodded sombrely. "I know. Just… I don't want you to get shot, Johnny. Or any of you guys.", she whispered, her hand briefly touching his shoulder.

He shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

"Then I'll come with you", she resolved.

Martin shook his head. "You can't turn in your stripes, kid, you'd be kicked out. The guys need you."

"Maybe, but I can still be there."

.

The next day, Ella anxiously paced the hallway in front of Sink's office. She heard the Colonel yell at the NCOs. Not that she could fault him for it. A mutiny was the last thing he needed on his plate when preparing for the invasion of Europe.

Suddenly, the door opened. Harris came out. "See ya around, Shorty", he said, giving her a resigned smile. He had been transferred out of the 506th.

A few moments later, the rest of the guys came out, looking a little shaken, but relieved.

"Got busted to Private", Ranney explained, sounding not even remotely angry.

Ella expectantly looked at the others. "We're fine, Ella", Lipton assured her.

She let out the breath she had been holding and gave them each a hug. "Thank God."

They left the building. Up ahead, they saw Winters overseeing the kitchen staff unloading a truck. They all saluted him in unison as they marched past. Winters returned the salute, a look of worried bewilderment in his eyes.

.

Colonel Sink was a well-informed man. His job required him to be. And it wasn't a secret that Ella Sawyer was close to almost everybody in Easy Company, from privates right up to Lieutenants Nixon and Winters. So, he figured that if anybody apart from the NCOs had known about this act of mutiny, it would be her. Plus, she was reputed to be honest and he hoped to get a different perspective of what could have driven nearly every NCO in the company to turn in their stripes.

"Sergeant Sawyer? Colonel Sink wants to see you in his office", the runner informed her when he found her chatting with the NCOs in the barn that served as mess hall. The men looked at each other, dread filling the pits of their stomachs. Ella simply got up from her seat, called a friendly "Later, boys" and left.

"Shit." Guarnere spoke, voicing what they all thought.

.

"You wanted to see me, sir?", Ella asked politely after saluting the Colonel.

"I want you to be truthful with me, Sergeant Sawyer", Sink said without preamble. "Did you know about the mutiny Easy Company's NCOs planned?"

Ella didn't hesitate. "Yes, sir, I did", she replied candidly.

"And did you try to deter them from seeing their plan through?"

"I informed them of the consequences their actions might have, sir."

Sink raised an eyebrow at her.

"Did you consider participating in their plan?", he continued his interrogation.

"Yes, sir, briefly."

"What made you change your mind, Sergeant?"

"One of the men discouraged me from it, sir."

Sink nodded. She didn't want to give any names and he respected that integrity.

"Did you, in any way, convince any of the NCOs to take part in this?"

Ella frowned. "Sir, I'm only a Technician Fourth Grade. I don't have the same authority they have. I'm in no position to convince them to do anything, sir", she answered.

"Alright." Sink knew she hadn't been directly involved, but he wanted to see if she would admit to knowing about it. "Tell me, Sergeant, why did the NCOs mutiny?"

.

For the first time in the conversation, the girl hesitated. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

"Sir, we fear Captain Sobel might put Easy Company in more danger than another CO would", Ella explained, trying to express herself in a diplomatic way.

"How so, Sergeant?"

"Captain Sobel has gotten his platoon lost repeatedly on manoeuvres, sir. I witnessed a few of those mishaps myself. Additionally, he has gotten almost his entire platoon killed in a training exercise, once again because the map was misread. The NCOs only worry about the safety of the men, sir."

Sink nodded, thinking about her words. Ella's heart hammered against her ribs, but she forced herself to keep her face blank and look into the middle distance.

"Thank you, Sergeant Sawyer. I will take your account into consideration. You can return to your outfit."

Ella saluted, turned and left. As soon as the door fell shut behind her, she leant against the wall and blew out a breath, knees suddenly turned to jelly. She felt like she had been put through the wringer and Sink hadn't even yelled at her. This is definitely worse than being called to the headmaster's office in high school, she thought to herself as she headed outside.

.

Opening the front door of the building, Ella was surprised to see the worried faces of the NCOs. "What did the Colonel want, Ella?", Lipton asked.

"He wanted to inquire about my involvement in the mutiny", she responded, running a hand through her hair. A few strands fell out of the neat bun she wore at the back of her head, tumbling forward to frame her face.

"And?", Johnny probed, an anxious look on his face. He was seriously worried that he had gotten her into trouble by letting her in on the plan.

She smiled. "Don't worry, it's fine. I told him I knew about it, nothing more. He then wanted to know why you did it, so I told him."

Talbert frowned. "What exactly did you say?"

Ella looked at them. "That Sobel has no sense of orientation whatsoever and that he is going to get us killed."

"No way", Grant marvelled.

She grinned. "I might have formulated it a bit less directly. But in essence yes, that's what I said."

Guarnere laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. "You, lil' lady, are a genius", he said in all seriousness.

"Thanks. But I'm no lady, or do you see me wearing a dress?", she retorted.

They walked back to the mess hall in good spirits.

---

Sobel was transferred out of Easy Company and the men couldn't have been happier. Their new CO, Lt Thomas Meehan, had been in Baker Company before. He was well-liked and wasn't at all bothered by Ella's presence. He sought her out only hours after being appointed their commander to discuss certain matters with her.

"I understand you are one of Easy's medics and you have been with the men from the beginning.", he said. "I'm not going to tell you how to do your job or how you interact with the men, that is none of my business. I know you are aware that fraternisation is illegal and will result immediately in your dishonourable discharge and despite what the papers might say, I have no doubt you don't have intentions of that kind."

Ella had to smile at that. "If there is any problem at all, if one of the men mistreats you in any way, I want you to come to me or one of the officers. I guarantee you, your side will be heard", he promised.

She appreciated his openness and told him so. He dismissed her with a smile. He didn't know that Lt Winters had told the young girl almost exactly the same thing during their first week of training at Toccoa.

They also got a new platoon leader, Lt Buck Compton. He had strikingly light hair and eyes, and got along great with the enlisted. He was slightly sceptical of her first, but changed his mind after he saw Ella could hold her own just fine during a session of hand to hand combat training. Suspecting the men were going easy on her, Buck requested to be partnered with her. Despite the fact that he was notably bigger than her, the young girl did remarkably well. What he had on her in height, strength and sheer body mass, she compensated with speed, extraordinary agility and an audacity that bordered on recklessness sometimes.

.

One time when he threw a punch, Ella stepped right into it, blocking his arm and swiping his feet from under him. He landed heavily on the ground and blinked up into her face, where a cheeky, infectious grin was spreading.

"Well, sir, I see she had you fooled, too", Luz quipped, ambling over.

"Don't worry, it happened to all of us, sir", Lipton assured the man, helping him up from the ground.

Not one to hold a grudge, Buck held out his hand to the small girl. "Well, Sawyer, you are full of surprises."

Ella shook his hand. "Thank you, sir. Keeps the guys on their toes."

Because Buck hung out a lot with the enlisted men, he soon got wind of the betting pool on Ella's initials. "I could just order her to tell me", he said to Winters, Nixon and Welsh one evening.

Nixon snorted around his glass of whiskey. "That won't get you anywhere. Don't you think we already tried that?"

They hadn't. It was an unspoken agreement among those with a higher rank than Ella. While not knowing bugged the hell out of them, it was a way to keep the men entertained. And they figured Ella had her reasons for keeping her full name a secret. Nixon, as intelligence officer, knew a bit more than the others of course, but he wasn't revealing anything either.

---

It was now the end of May 1944 and they had moved from Aldbourne to Upottery. They were doing regular training jumps and they all sensed that something was going to happen soon. The only question was when.

Ella was sitting next to Gene while Lt Meehan outlined the operation. It was huge. "Each trooper will learn this operation by heart, and know his and every other outfit's mission to the detail", Meehan finished his briefing.

Dukeman stood up and raised his hand. "Lt Meehan?"

"Yes, Dukeman?"

"Sir, are we dropping tonight?", he asked.

Ella wondered the same thing. It would be an awful hurry to get geared up and ready till nightfall.

"When it's time for you to know, we'll let you know", Meehan answered. Guess that means 'I don't know either' in Army-language. "In the meantime, study these sand tables, maps and recon photos until you can draw a map of the area by memory", he ordered.

"Now, we will drop behind this Atlantic Wall five hours before the 4th Infantry lands at Utah. Between our assembly area and the Battalions' objective, there is a German garrison." He pointed at the map. "Right here in this area, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont."

He looked at the men. "Easy Company will destroy that garrison."

.

By the end of the day, Ella was ready to scream if she had to catch one more glimpse of anything related to the operation. She knew everybody's mission inside and out, she had actually drawn a map from memory, burning it immediately afterwards of course.

The young medic decided she needed a distraction from all the names, times and places swirling around in her brain. Walking down the long line of tents, she settled on the hood of one of the jeeps, a slight distance away from the soldiers' billets, and lay back. Breathing deeply, she felt her headache abate as the cool air filled her lungs.

What her mother was doing right now? Ella didn't even know what time it was back home. She pulled out one of the first letters from home. She had read it so many times, she knew its contents by heart. Her mother had been livid when she'd found out her only daughter wasn't a nurse but a combat medic, in the Airborne of all places.

'I do not want you there! You will tell your commanding officer immediately that you are transferring to the Nurse Corps, do you hear me! I will not lose you in this blasted war, too!' her letter had said.

Ella, knowing her mother needed some time to wrap her head around the idea, hadn't done anything of that sort. And sure enough, a few days later, she had received the letter she now carried with her wherever she went.

My dearest Ella,

I have to apologise for my harsh words. I only want you to be safe, you know that. I take it from your last letter that you have found friends among the soldiers. I am glad to hear that and I hope you are happy. Tell me, do you trust these men? Will they protect you in the field?

My charina figlia, I would be very grateful for your swift reply. I would love to hear more about your friends, they sound like good people. And promise me, you'll tell me AND your superiors straight away if they ever do something to hurt you.

Don't forget to take care of yourself, child. I am very proud of you. Jau pens a tai.

Lots of love

Your Mama

Isabel

Ella missed her mother. She wanted to hug her one last time, tell her how much she loved her. They would be jumping into occupied France in the next few days and who knows if or when she would get the chance to write again.

.

"Nice night, huh?", a voice pulled her from her thoughts. It was Liebgott.

He crossed the distance between them and leant against the jeep. "What are you doing out here, all on your own?", he wondered.

Ella ran a hand through her hair. It was already getting in the way again. "Needed some peace and quiet. I felt like my brain was going to explode if I looked at that intel for another second."

Liebgott chuckled and hopped onto the hood. They were quiet for a while.

"Lieb?", she asked softly.

"Hm?" He had stretched out and was gazing at the sky. He turned his head to look at her.

"We're friends, right?"

He propped himself up into a sitting position. "Course we are. Why you askin'?"

The young girl shrugged. "I don't know. Wasn't sure."

He frowned, but kept silent, waiting for her to go on.

"I never really had friends before, you know? My brother was my best friend. But that's different."

That confession left Liebgott dumbstruck. This kind, funny, extraordinary girl had never had any friends? He couldn't believe it. It must have shown on his face, because Ella let out a small sigh.

"I was always the odd one out. I mean, who would want to hang out with the weird girl that always wore her brother's clothes and helped at the clinic instead of going to the movies or the park?" If only those had been the only reasons why nobody had wanted anything to do with her…

The self-deprecating shrug she gave, along with her sad and lost expression, nearly broke Liebgott's heart. "I would. Hell, any of us would", he said with conviction. "You're our girl, Shorty. And I don't think any of us guys care what kind of clothes you wore."

That got a small laugh out of her. He ruffled her hair fondly. "C'mon kid, let's get you back to your tent."

.

They ended up getting pulled into an animated game of Blackjack by Luz and Perconte. Ella played a few rounds teamed with Liebgott while the boys taught her the game. Then, deciding she was ready to play on her own, the girl slowly but surely drove Frank up the wall by cleaning him out more with each hand.

"Jesus Christ, this is impossible!", the short Italian ranted. "Ey, Luz, you sure she's not cheating?"

Ella laughed. "How? I just learned how to play an hour ago. It's beginner's luck, Frank. Now hand over those smokes."

"You don't even smoke", he nearly whined.

"No, but I won them."

"I still can't believe you didn't know Blackjack. Everybody plays Blackjack", Luz stated as he was shuffling the cards.

She shrugged. "There was a lot of gambling at the local bar. But it's no fun playing when you have nothing to bet. So we always played stuff like Crazy Eights, Go fish or Bullshit."

Luz grinned widely. "Just you wait, kiddo. We'll teach you Poker and Rummy and Craps and then you can fleece Perco like nobody's business."

---

Ella knelt on the ground, her entire gear spread out in front of her. "Segner char!", she huffed. It was ridiculous how much equipment they were carrying. As a medic, she had a load of medical equipment whereas the rest of the guys had weapons. Kindly enough, command had issued them with a leg bag just a few hours before. Nobody had any clue how the thing worked, but they meant more space for gear.

Joe Toye wasn't amused at all. He was circling his tarp, listing off everything he had to stuff into his bag in an annoyed fashion. "Three-day supply of K-rations, chocolate bars, Charms candy, powdered coffee, sugar, matches, compass, bayonet, entrenching-tool, ammunition, gas mask, musette bag with ammo, my webbing, my .45, my canteen, two cartons of smokes, Hawkins mine, two grenades, smoke grenade, Gammon grenade, TNT, this bullshit", he tossed down a coil of rope, "and a pair of nasty skivvies!" They too ended up on the pile in front of him.

Frank asked: "What's your point?"

"This stuff weighs as much as I do!", Toye bitched. "I still got my chute, my reserve-chute, my Mae West and my M-1!"

Ella sniggered quietly. Frank joked: "Where're you keeping the brass knuckles?"

Toye seemed to seriously contemplate this. "I could use some brass knuckles."

Vest came by on mail call, yelling for Sergeant Martin. Ella pointed him into the vague direction where she had last seen Johnny, then tossed a packet of cigarettes at Toye to make him turn around. She had started hoarding them early on and mostly used them for bargaining, bribery or sometimes as a consolation.

"What?", Toye griped.

"You should be glad, I'm about half your weight", she pointed out, waving to her own tarp full of equipment.

He scowled. "You don't have to carry any weapons."

"Which is extremely comforting, seeing that we'll be landing behind enemy lines", Ella shot back dryly, shoving a bundle of undergarments into her musette bag. She didn't see how Toye's jaw flexed briefly. "All I got to defend myself is a scalpel, a pair of scissors, a bunch of needles and a knife that technically got confiscated 2 years ago."

He looked up sharply at her last comment. "What?"

She gave him a cheeky smile. "Remember how Sobel confiscated my knife? I may or may not have reclaimed it the next day."

Toye gaped at her, blinking in disbelief. "You broke into Sobel's office?"

She looked scandalised. "Are you joking? No, I bribed Vest. Had to give him 2 packs of smokes. And a chocolate bar!"

He barked a laugh. "Who'd'a thought! By the way, I'm keeping those cigarettes."

.

Ella was quite happy with her packing skills. She had managed to fit everything essential in her musette bag. She didn't trust those leg bags as far as she could throw them, they were only attached with a flimsy cord. She squeezed as many medical supplies into her pack as she could and shoved part of her stash of bargaining material right down with it. In case of emergency, she had a complete med kit stashed in the pockets of her uniform while her belt pockets were filled with any odds and ends that were small enough to fit in there. Her precious knife was tucked away safely in her belt, her jump knife strapped to her boot like everybody else's.

Putting on the webbing was an adventure in and of itself. Ella stopped offering to help after a few of the men made a fuss about her hands checking belts in the vicinity of their private parts. "Kinder", she muttered, shaking her head in amusement.

Gene was one of the few who had no problem accepting her help. "You're a medic", he said with a shrug, and it really was as simple as that.

The girl efficiently cinched the belts, tucked away any loose ends and gave the whole thing a few firm tugs. "There you go", she said. Gene shot her a quick smile and moved off to get his face covered in grease paint.

Ambling over to her own gear, Ella started shrugging on her webbing, thanking the powers that be for her dexterity, which allowed her to reach the straps behind her back without a problem. She took the paper Vest handed out with the remark "From Colonel Sink", skimmed it quickly and put it away, returning to putting the straps in their proper places.

Luz, ever the comedian, started reading in Sink's voice: "Soldiers of the regiment. Tonight is the night" – he slipped out of his impression – "of nights. Today, as you read this, you are en route to the great adventure for which you've trained for over two years."

Guarnere, who had been eating ice cream sitting on the floor and leaning against his full pack, put down his spoon. "So that's why they gave us ice cream."

Ella heaved a sigh. She wasn't even half-way geared up and she already felt like a pack mule. Luz stepped over Guarnere's legs and started helping with her webbing. Ella watched him cinch the straps just as calmly and efficiently. When he was done, he righted himself and gave her an enthusiastic grin. "Ready for some face paint?"

.

Luz smeared a liberal amount of the greasy black goo across her cheeks. Automatically, she closed her eyes. "Stop wrinkling your nose", he said at one point.

"Sorry. It tickles." She relaxed her facial muscles. Luz' fingers ghosted over her face, up her nose, down the chin to the neck, leaving dark streaks.

"There, you look fantastic", he cracked when he had applied the finishing touches to his work of art.

"Well, if you say so. Think I'm gonna win the beauty contest?", Ella joked back, throwing herself into a pose and making Luz laugh.

She then returned the favour, taking the tin of paint from his hands and reaching up to apply it to his face. "Close your eyes", she instructed, "I wouldn't want any of this stuff getting into them."

Luz did as he was asked. Her gentle, nimble fingers brushed against his skin, leaving smears of war paint. It was an odd sensation, intimate, but in a completely non-romantic way. More like a moment shared between siblings. That's what Ella was: Easy Company's little sister.

"My brother and I once did the same", she spoke, spreading some of the greasy goo on his nose. "We played by the river and decided that mud made fantastic camouflage paint." George smiled softly. "We thought Mama was going to have kittens. But she just laughed and took us back to the river, forcing us to wash the dirt off in the cold water."

He could hear the wistful smile in her voice. Her fingertips drew a few more random patterns on his forehead, then he was good to go.

"Oh, if you could see yourself. It's the crème de la crème", she quipped when he blinked his eyes open.

---

24-hour stand-down. Ella suddenly had too much time on her hands. After she had gotten rid of the grease paint and dumped her fully-packed gear in her tent, she found herself wandering through camp. Humming a small tune, the girl passed the movie tent and walked on. She saw Nixon and Winters leaning against a jeep, talking quietly. She saluted them and continued her aimless stroll.

With the jump postponed, it now meant that they would be dropping behind enemy lines in Normandy on June 6th. The girl had to smirk at the irony that was only known to her.

A light breeze had come with dusk. It lightly caught her hair and blew it into her face. The young girl smiled and pushed the wayward strands back. She had wanted to cut it for some time now.

"Now's as good a time as any", she said to herself and headed towards her tent. Fishing a pair of scissors from her pack, she went to the latrines and stared pensively at the person in the mirror.

It was a far cry from the girl she had been when she'd enlisted. There was not an ounce of fat on her body. She had always been slim, but now, she was downright wiry. Her eyes sparkled in the same deep green as always. Just like Mama's, she thought. Her skin was tanned from the hours training in the sun, a few freckles peppering her nose and cheeks. The scar through her left eyebrow was still there, a white line interrupting the dark brow.

Ella smiled. The crescent-shaped dimple on her right cheek appeared, making the smile look lopsided. And finally, her hair. There were lighter strands in it, bleached from the sun. It had fallen past her shoulder blades when she'd signed up. Now, the caramel-brown locks brushed only just past her shoulders.

Taking a few strands into her hand, Ella brought the scissors up. Carefully, the girl cut her hair, trimming it properly just like her mother had used to do it. Checking and rechecking the length, she was finally satisfied. Because they were now lighter, the curly strands curled even more, while the waves in the other ones became more pronounced.

Tugging the ever-present hair tie off her wrist, Ella experimentally put her locks into a ponytail, then into a bun, before letting them down again. Grinning happily at her reflection, the girl cleaned up the cut hair and left the latrines, feeling strangely content with herself.

.

It was pitch-dark outside. But thanks to Sobel's notorious Friday night marches, Ella had no trouble locating her billet. Slipping inside, she found Johnny Martin sitting at the small makeshift desk, writing a letter. Bull and Guarnere weren't there.

"Hey, Johnny", she greeted quietly, putting the scissors away.

He turned his head. There was an odd look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

The man from Ohio sighed. "My wife wrote me. She keeps up with things back home. Guarnere's brother… he was killed in Monte Cassino. Wherever that is."

Ella sat down on her bunk, a sharp twinge stabbing through her heart. "Oh. Does he know?"

"I couldn't tell him", Martin confessed. "So, I swapped our jackets. I don't know if he found the letter. Or if he read it."

The girl nodded, pulling her feet up to sit cross-legged on her bunk. "He'll find out sooner or later anyways. Better now than in 5 months."

"You think so?" Johnny clearly didn't agree. "Now? Hours before the jump?"

Ella shrugged. "There's never a right time to find out", she stated, arms coming up to wrap around her shins. "All I know is that I would want to know from a friend. Not find out months later through some impersonal telegram or form letter."

Martin's frown deepened. He didn't know her to be this bitter.

She yawned and hastily covered her mouth. That innocent gesture, a relic from more civilised times, always made the men smile. It was one of those things that reminded them that Ella was still an innocent young girl at heart. Sure, she could banter and joke with the best of them and hold her own just fine, but she barely swore and had a lot better manners than some of the men.

The girl let her body tilt over to the side, head hitting the pillow. "I'm going to get some sleep while I can", she declared, wriggling around to get comfortable. Once she was settled, Ella rubbed her nose, yawned again and closed her eyes. "Night, Johnny", she mumbled sleepily.

"Night, Shorty."

---

June 5th was coming to an end, and they had once again geared up, checked, double- and triple-checked their equipment and smeared their faces with black grease paint.

Ella and Gene were the last people standing. Everybody else was half-lying on the ground leaning against their packs, the only remotely comfortable position. They sat in two rows in front of their assigned aircrafts. Meehan called: "Gentlemen, Docs Roe and Sawyer are handing these out for airsickness." He waved the small packet in his hand. "Orders are every man takes one now, another 30 minutes later."

The two medics walked along the line, handing out the small packets before letting themselves flop to the ground at the end of the line. Ella winced as one of the straps bit into her thigh and reached down to pull it in place.

Winters addressed his stick: "2nd Platoon, listen up. Good luck. God bless you. I'll see you in the assembly area." He then pulled each soldier to his feet, looking them in the eyes. It was a nice and comforting gesture. Ella, the last person off the ground, gave her lieutenant a smile.

Getting into the plane was harder than it looked. With all the bulky equipment, they had to practically shove each other up the steps. Ella felt Winter's hand on her back, keeping her from toppling backwards. Several hands reached down to pull her up. She grabbed on and hoisted herself into the plane. Falling into her seat opposite of Gene, she took a deep breath. This was it. They were going to war.

---

And that was it for the first episode. I'm not really sure if I should continue... any thoughts?

Translations:

charina: darling (both noun and adjective)
Grazia: Thanks, thank you
Ha di liab: I love you (can also be used with close friends)
barbagiat: hangover
mia figlia: my daughter
Jau ha gugent tai: I love you
Kumm sho: Come on
das gits doch nid: this is impossible, it can't be
wo ish es?: where is it?
per l'amur da Dieu: for the love of God, for God's sake
Hesh das gseh?: Did you see that?
I muas glaub öppis richtig gmacht ha: I must have done something right
Segner char: Good Lord
Kinder: children