Summary: She was never meant to be in the war, but she'd promised her aunt she'd bring him home, going as far as she had to to get him home. She had no idea she'd learn so much along the way. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Saving Private Ryan, only my OC.
A/N: Yes, this is a woman-in-the-army thing, but there are a few twists along the way.
I really hope you like this, and it's my first Saving Private Ryan fic. It's an amazing movie and I hope you enjoy the story!
Anyway, here we go...
In This Together
-One-
The sky was grey. How comforting. The sea was rocky and good God was she feeling it. She couldn't see him anywhere on her boat and she just prayed they'd make it to the beach. The smells of sea, vomit and sweat were heavy in the air, those nauseating on their own, never mind the boat going up and down like a goddamn see-saw. The sound of the motors and the waves crashing against the boats filled her ears along with the beating of her heart, the pulse of her blood rocketing through her. She was terrified, but she'd promised her aunt she'd bring him home. Her dark brown hair was pinned up in her helmet, fingers trembling as she held her gun to her body. They hit the beach and all hell broke loose.
Bodies began to drop left, right and centre, and she knew the only way out of this was over the sides, so she didn't hesitate before launching herself overboard and into the water. She felt hands grab her and pull her to the surface, looking up to see her sergeant, Horvath, who was the only person apart from Captain Miller who knew she was a woman. He checked her over, almost like a father would a daughter before pulling her to some cover, finding Miller sat there himself.
"Come on, Alex." He breathed, letting her get her breath for a moment as he spoke with Miller.
"Sergeant Horvath...move your men off the beach!" Miller ordered, "Go!"
"Alright, you guys, get on my ass." He instructed, "Follow me."
Everyone, including Alex got up, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of her cousin. There were bullets flying everywhere, bombs blasting and the piercing screams of men dying all around her, but she had to make it up the beach, and she followed Horvath faithfully as she would to the end. That man was like a father to her, as Miller was, both looking out for her and watching her back. She owed them everything, even her life.
She ran, past men she knew who were laying, dying on the field before her. She looked around desperately for her cousin, not finding him anywhere. Horvath had reached the top of the beach, thank God, and so had a few of her other comrades, her brothers even. She felt a sharp pain shoot through her right leg, worried for a moment she'd been shot before she reached the bank, spotting Miller now there too.
"Stevens here, sir!" She yelled, her voice sounding a lot higher pitched than the average man.
She immediately checked her leg to see a black marking on her thigh, knowing the bullet had just grazed her. Holy fuck that had been close.
"God, help us..." She breathed, rolling onto her side next to her sergeant who nodded at her.
"You recognise where we are?" Miller asked Horvath who was loading his gun again.
"Right where we're supposed to be, but no one else is!" He replied, looking over at Alex as Miller gave another order to a soldier with a radio, "You okay?"
"Just a graze!" She replied, loading her gun and nodding at her Sergeant.
There was a thud of another person landing beside her and she looked over, sighing with relief at the familiar face.
"Reiben here, sir!"
She knew Reiben, but not personally; she just his face, yet she couldn't help but be relieved to see him. At least someone she knew had come out of this alive...so far. The graze on her leg was damn sore and the noise was hurting her ears, her eyes frantically searching for the one person she was here for. At twenty-one, to her, he was still a young boy, one year her junior and like her baby brother.
"See anybody else?" Horvath asked.
"Jackson, but that's about it!" Reiben replied, two other men landing beside him.
"Mellish here!"
"Caparzo! We've got DeForest back there with Wade!" Caparzo said, Alex's head snapping up at the name, "He's hurt so bad he said he sprung a hundred leaks. Wade said he's all used up!"
"Wade?" She asked, eyes scanning the area for him and there he was, trying to help another soldier.
She could've cried with relief, but she didn't. She had to keep strong, they were in the middle of a war for the love of God.
"Get his attention." Miller instructed, everyone calling the medic, but Alex more than anyone.
"WADE! WADE!"
"Alright, get him off the beach!" Miller ordered, Reiben and Alex jumping up to run to him.
They sprinted towards him, trying to avoid the constant machine gun fire and numerous explosions as they did. Alex thought she was dreaming for one horrible moment as they approached him, but he was shouting something about stopping the bleeding before the soldier he was helping was shot in the head. In those few moments he was more real to her than he had been all the time they'd known each other and the relief was almost overwhelming.
"FUCK!" He cursed, Reiben and Alex grabbing his arms, "Fuck! Just give us a fucking chance you son of a bitch!"
"Irwin, it's Alex!" Alex cried, "Come away! Now!"
"Son of a fucking cocksucker!" Wade yelled, he, Reiben and Alex all landing at the bank, Wade almost breaking into tears before looking at those familiar brown eyes, "Alex?"
"I couldn't let you go through this alone!" Alex replied, "I promised your mother I'd bring you home!"
"What, by getting yourself killed?" Wade asked, Alex scrambling towards Horvath who was calling her name, "ALEX!"
"This is all? This is all that made it?" Miller asked, Alex taking her place back by the sergeant and Reiben.
"It's pretty bad sir." Horvath said, " But there's bound to be more of us."
"Not enough," Miller breathed, "This is not enough."
Those words concerned Alex, but she had to stay focussed; they all did. She couldn't help but think of her mother, her beautiful mother who'd begged her not to join the army, but her father was a bastard who couldn't half use his fists, and Alex had always been somewhat of a tomboy and a rebel. She'd cut her hair and signed up, passing through basics before Horvath had pulled her to one side and taken her up on the fact that she was a woman. She'd proven herself as a brilliant soldier though, and Horvath and Miller had kept quiet about her gender, Wade being the only other person who knew.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by orders being echoed along the line.
"Gather weapons and ammo!"
Everyone jumped from the bank, grabbing whatever weapons and ammunition they could before resting back against the sand, loading their guns and strapping the bullets to their bodies.
"Reiben!" Horvath yelled, "Reiben, where's your BAR?"
"Bottom of the channel, Sergeant." Reiben huffed, "The bitch tried to drown me."
"Find a replacement." Horvath ordered, Miller ordering for Bangalores, "Heads up! Pipes comin your way!"
Then there was another thud, Alex rolling over and gazing at the man beside her.
"Jackson here, sir!" He yelled, looking at Alex who turned away, spotting Wade trying to fix up a soldier who was screaming in pain, the sound horrendous to her ears.
She just stared, listening as her cousin tried to fix the poor guy and told him not to look, the soldier crying through his pain as the wound bled. And then came the words that Alex really wasn't ready for.
"Fire in the hole!"
Suddenly, a body hit her own and as the explosion died down, she realised it was Jackson on top of her, who moved when it was safe to do so. She heard the voice of her sergeant and sprung into action, following the other men.
"We're in business, definitely!" He yelled, "Other side of the hole!"
Everyone clambered over the other side, Alex wincing as her grazing was hit by Caparzo who landed on top of her, squashing her between himself and Mellish. She groaned in pain as both Caparzo and Mellish shuffled at once. However, it was better to be safe in between them than being in the open and being shot, wasn't it?
"Fuck, I can't move..." Mellish huffed, Caparzo shuffling uncomfortably against the soldier beneath him who groaned in pain.
"Sorry, kid, am I crushing you?" He asked, "My apologies for trying to stay the fuck alive."
Alex just closed her eyes and ignored the sarcasm, thinking of happy times before Miller's voice cut through them.
"We've gotta get this draw open. Reiben! Stevens! Mellish! Let's get in the war." He ordered, "Grab some cover and put some fire on that crew. Davis, Debernardo, Young, Bolt, get ready."
They prepared themselves to run, Alex saying the Lord's prayer in her head and taking one last look at her cousin before Miller's voice rang out again.
"Cover and fire!" He yelled, guns going off in one huge crescendo as Alex, Mellish, Reiben and Caparzo headed out, grabbing bodies to shield themselves before firing at the crew above them. "Go, go, go!"
"Oh, fucking Christ..." Alex breathed as a bullet hit the body that was keeping her sheltered, ducking and reloading before awaiting the next order.
"Cover and fire!" Miller yelled again, everyone shooting as he sent more soldiers out to join them, "Go, go, go! Come on. Come on."
Alex shot at the crew, watching as the others did before resting behind the body, thoughts trailing to her mother, her aunt, Wade, her friends and her comrades, all those men laying dead on the beach beneath her. She knew that being out here was a crazy thing, but she loved Wade too much to let him go through this alone and their mothers wanted them home. They were in this together and they'd get out together too, she had faith in that. She had faith that had kept her strong through all her time in the army, faith that had kept her belief in the fact that she and Wade would get home stronger than ever before.
Her sergeant's voice broke her thoughts and she looked up at him as he spoke to Miller, noticing Jackson sprinting and diving into an impact crater.
"Captain, if your mother saw you do that she'd be very upset!"
"I thought you were my mother!" Miller replied, Alex managing to crack a smile as her sergeant grinned at her.
Suddenly, two shots were fired and the last members of the crew above them were killed, Miller looking over and shouting to his soldiers.
"DOG-1 exit! Right here!" He yelled, Horvath calling next.
"We're in business!"
Everyone jumped over, making their way towards the fort and trying to avoid being shot in the process. Alex was struggling to keep the contents of her stomach down, the fear of being this close to the enemy getting to be too much and she dropped to her knees.
"Stevens!" Horvath yelled, Alex feeling two arms grab her and pull her to a large wall where the men all cowered as Reiben threw a grenade into the fort.
She looked up to see Jackson gazing back at her, weak smiles exchanged before they ducked away from the blast, all of them jumping in while Miller requested a flamethrower.
"Come on, Doyle!" He yelled, the whole fort suddenly going up in flames.
Burning bodies tumbled out, one soldier turning to the others who were shooting.
"Don't shoot! Let 'em burn!"
With that, Horvath ordered that everyone cease fire and the soldiers began exploring the trenches. Alex sat on one side of the trench Horvath climbing up beside her and collecting some dirt, putting it in a tin labelled France to go along with his others. He looked at Alex, the young woman sitting with tears streaming down her face as she recovered from the most traumatic day of her life so far, the sergeant putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You did good, soldier." He said, "Proud of you."
"Thanks, sir." Alex replied, jumping as a pair of arms suddenly grabbed her tight.
She turned to see her cousin, both of them breaking into happy tears and gripping each other tightly. Even in the middle of that god awful war zone they'd survived and they'd found each other, Wade holding her like there was no tomorrow.
"Oh my God!" He cried, "You're alive!"
"So are you!" Alex replied, "Jesus, Wade, I couldn't find you anywhere!"
Wade smiled, Alex pulling her helmet off before letting her shoulder-length waves down, the younger soldier gasping at how short she'd cut them.
"Christ, where did all that beautiful hair go?" He asked, Alex chuckling in response.
"I had to cut it off for basics didn't I...?" She replied, "It's just long enough to pin up now."
"Why are you here, Alex?" He asked her, "Why are you here for me?"
"Because I made a promise to your mother." She told him, "We're in this together now, you and I."
Wade smiled and hugged her again, Alex asking him to check on her grazing as they awaited more orders from Miller. At least they'd both gotten out of this battle alive.
-TBC-
Please let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!
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