to my two guest reviewers, thank you both so much for reviewing it really made my day to receive them - I didn't think I would be getting very many for this story, so it meant a lot to get them.
Christine walked down the line of barracks looking for one man in particular before she left the camp for the weekend to continue her training with the OSS, finding his gangly form in PT gear. "Captain Sobel," she called catching his attention before she jogged to where he stood. She looked up at him with her brows drawn together before she quickly stood at attention and saluted him.
He gave her a quick nod. "Walk with me Private, what do you need," he said knowing she needed to learn saluting faster, having brought it up to Colonel Sink who'd informed him she was learning a multitude of other things and that she was confident by the end of next week to know it all. And as much as he wanted to get in her face and yell as he would any of the other men he couldn't help but be impressed by how fast she was already picking it all up.
"I've heard that a common punishment for infractions is to revoke weekend passes," she said keeping pace with his long legs as he marched through the camp.
"Yes Private Woodridge, you will also receive the same consequence for you own; I hope you do not expect special treatment," he said looking down at her displeased.
She released an irritable breath and swallowed her angry retort. "Of course not sir," she agreed. "I was told to inform you that I don't have many passes that can be revoked, I get one every two months the rest of my weekends are continuing my training."
"How so?" he asked slowing his pace.
"Well," she started, "on weekends like this one I'll go up to Virginia and show them my progress here or actually train there like I will this time. But most weekends I'll remain here and complete the list that's mailed to me, such as learning German Intelligence," she told him.
He nodded as he thought on what she said, not liking that she only had so many weekend passes for him to revoke. "Do you get reports?"
Her brows furrowed as she looked over at him, seeing him staring straight ahead as they came up on Easy Company. "Yes sir," she answered.
"Good, I expect one every Monday except the weekends you have to yourself. Show me that you are not complete waste of time," he said raising his voice so the men heard, proving she would get no special treatment.
"Of course, sir," she said glaring daggers at the back of his head. "I also have two requests if you have the time, sir, if not it can wait until Monday."
Sobel and many of the men turned to her surprised at her audacity, and even more that he hadn't yelled at her yet. "Continue," he said interested in what her requests were, Colonel Sink having told him she knew exactly what she wanted to get out of the paratroopers and there wasn't much she wouldn't do to get it.
She nodded knowing he might refuse both but knowing they were both rational, and she wasn't above going to Sink and asking him because he would very easily permit it. "When I go to war with Easy Company I won't be taking all of the same equipment as them, much of mine will be different and I won't be carrying half of what they will. I was wondering if you would allow me to carry my gear as my full pack," she said waiting for his response.
Sobel looked down at her wondering exactly what she asking, and if she was asking to carry less than the men behind her who stared intently at her back. "When you say you'll be carrying less than the men," he said trailing off and letting her finish – knowing this moment could decide whether the men would accept her, and he wished she'd ask to carry less so that they wouldn't.
"I understand how it sounds," she said having known he'd see it that way – she knew he didn't want her there. "But most of my missions will be to infiltrate enemy camps and take their intelligence, and depending on who is in the camp possibly taking only one of them alive. The key to my success is stealth and that means I carry less so I can move silent and quickly. That puts me at a great inconvenience if I'm under fire but it's a necessary risk and I need to learn how to make do with what I'll have available to me."
He stared down at her curiously before looking at the few men behind her whispering amongst each other. "Request granted," he said shocking them all, even himself.
"Thank you sir," she said surprised at how easily he had agreed.
He gave a curt nod. "It was a reasonable one," he told her, realizing she was very serious about her training – more so than half the men in the camp. "What was the second request?"
She took a breath before speaking, this being the one he was more likely to refuse. "To keep my being here unnoticed by anyone outside the regiment I will not achieve a higher rank, I'm very aware I'll always be a private. And so I understand that asking to sit in on your officer meetings is a waste of your time,"
"But it would be invaluable information to you," he said. Colonel Sink had made it clear to him she would take every opportunity there was to learn more details of being paratrooper whether they applied to her or not, and the very frank answer as to why was she would have more information as Christian Woodridge if she was taken prisoner. "You'll be held accountable for knowing everything the officers will, as well as the tests I have them take," he told her loudly, his voice proving his distaste for her – which he only did because the others were hanging on his every word. "And I expect that report first thing Monday morning."
She brought her hand up for a salute and watched him turn on his heel and walk away. After staring after him a few moments she raised her hands in surrender and shook her head, wondering what Colonel Sink saw in that man.
"So what exactly are you doing here?" Toye asked, his gravelly voice catching her attention. It was the question they all wanted to know, right after who the hell was she.
She turned to the small group of men who'd stood behind her and Sobel listening to her speak; seeing Liebgott among them – his was the only name she knew after yesterday. "You'll find out in the briefing on Monday," she told them before turning and finding Winters behind her. "Lieutenant Winters," she said raising a hand in salute.
He smiled slightly before doing the same. "I see you're learning." Nixon hadn't talked about anything other than her yesterday, and even when he did he always came back to her; she was proving to be quite the distraction, already half the second platoon was watching her instead of preparing to run up Currahee.
"I'm getting there," she said as she walked around him, hearing the moment she'd passed him his voice call out for the others to do what they should've already been doing – and she looked over her shoulder to find Winters casting her his own look, she had a feeling he didn't quite like her being there either.
…
"You should've heard her, Nix," Winters said as they ate dinner. "She basically told Sobel, this is what I want, and then he gave it to her."
Nixon gave a small laugh. "Did I say she was great, or what," he said earning himself a sharp look from Dick. "Alright, I heard you when you said something didn't add up about her being here and you're right," he told him placatingly. "But technically I'm not supposed to know."
Winters looked up from the cup he was drinking out of. "So how do you know?" he asked, not thinking she would've just told him.
"I observed," he answered. "I took note of what particular skills she has, and Christ Almighty Dick you should see that girl fight, she's an animal. Anyway, I made a guess that she was OSS and she told me I'd have to wait til Monday so I put on the Nixon charm,"
"And she said you wouldn't leave her alone until she told you," Dick finished seeing in Nixon's smile he was right.
He laughed as he watched Dick's mouth straighten from the smile it'd been curled into. "See, you like her," he said not giving him the chance to disagree before he spoke again. "But the whole point of the story was I was right."
It took Winters a moment before he understood what Nixon had said. "You're not serious," he said thinking it was impossible – of course he knew there were spies, they were essential in winning a war, but to have one in Easy Company was simply not possible.
But Nixon only shrugged before taking a drink. "I guess we'll find out on Monday. I'm assuming you're not taking your weekend pass."
Winters gave him a rye look. "What do you think, Nix?" he asked, both knowing the answer to that particular question.
With most of the men gone Winters had almost forgotten the strange woman that would join their Company come Monday, at least until he walked into the mess hall Sunday and found her sitting at a table with several papers spread out in front of her. "Private Woodridge," he greeted. "There's no need," he said before she could stand to salute. He sat across from her and looked at the papers strewn around her to see different symbols drawn on them. "What are these?"
"German insignias," she answered unhappily. "I have to know what they mean and who to salute based on what they're wearing, as well as their exact rank."
He nodded then understanding. "This is why you over think who to salute," he said watching her nod.
She held up a piece of paper with the insignia facing her, and he saw on the back of it was an English rank. "Heerführer?" she asked in a thick German accent, a language she'd known for years.
He looked at the English word not sure. "Possibly," he offered.
She looked on the back of the page to see the word was Lieutenant, not General. "Fat load of help you are," she said making him smile. She set the paper down with a sigh before resting her chin on a hand and looking at him. "How was your weekend?"
Dick looked at her young face and wondered again why she was here, he'd thought she was at least twenty from the way she carried herself, but staring at her now he wondered if she was even eighteen. "It was quiet," he answered.
"I envy you that," she told him. Her weekend had been filled with the director giving her a list of what she'd need to know by the beginning of the new year – granted there were several things she'd been continuously training for such as decoding messages and tactics, but she knew she wouldn't get a single day's break.
"Lieutenant Winters."
Winters looked up at the man who set his tray down beside Woodridge and returned his salute. "Sergeant Speirs," he said in greeting, seeing the rumors the two were thick as thieves was true – he was never too far behind her if he wasn't already at her side. "I was trying to help Woodridge but I'm afraid my German isn't up to par."
"Neithers is mine," Speirs told him before looking at the several papers lying around. "You sure you can have that memorized by Friday?" he asked knowing she was still going through the American ones as well – those he at least could help her with.
She shrugged. "I guess we'll see," she answered staring at the papers hatefully.
Speirs smirked before gathering them in a pile and putting them back in the folder she had on her lap. "I took this from your bag, figured I could help with these," he said laying the folder of American insignias in front of her. "She can work her way into the right answer for just about all of them, now it's about putting them all together to figure out the rank," he explained to Dick before pulling out a paperclipped stack of papers with several drawings on each page both men already knew the answer to.
Dick smiled and took the top paper. "What's this one?" he asked watching her stare at it for a minute before her mouth curled into a smile – Nixon was right, she had a great smile.
"That's you," she answered recognizing the bar he wore on his color to go along with the patches.
Ron turned to her unsatisfied. "And what's his rank?" he asked already knowing her answer.
And Dick realized it too when she paused and looked at him. "A lieutenant," was her slow answer, knowing something went in front of it. Both men sat biting back a smile as she stared hard at Dick's uniform knowing the answer would come eventually. "First," she mumbled entirely unsure of herself.
"We'll keep that in the don't know pile," he told her seeing the small smile behind the hand she held against her mouth.
The three sat in the mess hall for some time before Dick excused himself leaving Speirs to continue going over them with Christine until her mind was numb and she could go through them all and miss only five. "I guess it's progress," she said as they walked back to her barracks, and she was glad to find it empty. "I don't suppose Sobel would let me go to you to wrap my breasts every morning."
"It doesn't seem likely," he said, a fire raging in his blood at the thought of anyone else coming that close to her – he didn't trust the men with her, whether or not she could snap them all like a twig; he couldn't get past the thirteen year old kid he'd met a few years ago, he still considered her his responsibility.
She gave a half hearted shrug as she set the folders on the cot she'd been assigned. "I'll probably end up asking Winters to do it," she said knowing from the things Nixon told her that Winters would hate the idea let alone having to be faced with her; and the thought of it made her almost smile as she sat on the bed and looked up at Ron. "You can always visit, scare the men into remembering why they shouldn't come near me," she said knowing he didn't want to leave her alone with a group of men; something that touched her because she wasn't at all worried about it.
"I know you're not entirely serious but I will take you up on that," he told her, running a hand over her hair gently before leaving the barrack.
She sat for a moment on the bed considering just calling it a night before she grabbed the German folder and went back to looking them over. Half an hour later she started hearing the men return to camp, swarming around the barracks like bees with their incessant buzzing. "What is the goddamn mess, Private Woodridge?"
She looked up at the sound of Sobel's voice to find a smiling man standing in front of her. "That was good," she told him, for a second she'd thought it was Sobel.
His smile widened as he stepped closer. "Thank you, George Luz," he said holding out a hand.
"Christian Woodridge," she answered shaking his hand.
He stared at her a moment, taking in her loose dark hair spilling down her back and her pretty face – looking more a woman in that moment than the entire week she'd been there. "That's not your real name, is it?" he asked seeing the corner of her mouth curl.
She shook her head. "Christian Woodridge is a real person, but I don't have the fortune of actually knowing him," she told him looking to the men entering the barrack.
George turned to the guys behind him. "She goes by Christian Woodridge, but that's not her real name."
"Do we have to wait til tomorrow for your real name?" Malarkey asked sitting on his bed with Muck beside him.
"Hey," Muck said standing, "you don't know our names. "I'm Muck, that's Malarkey, Eugene, Johnny, Perconte, Talbert,"
"You can call me Floyd," he said with an easy smile as he shook her hand.
She looked back to Muck as the guys around Talbert elbowed him for flirting. "George Luz," she said pointing to the man still standing to her right making him smile at her remembering his name, "and Liebgott."
"You know Liebgott?" Talbert asked looking to Joe, having thought he'd have her in the bag.
"Course she knows Liebgott," a thick philly accent drawled as he stepped into the barrack, "he insulted her. Bill Guarnere," he said holding out a hand to her.
She shook his hand still sitting on the floor. "We call him Gonorrhea," Malarkey told her. She looked up at the man she was still shaking hands with. "I'm gonna call you Bill," she informed him, making him smile, before releasing his hand and looking to the man behind him
He stepped forward and offered her his hand. "Joe Toye."
"So," Muck said now laying on his bed with a hand under his chin looking at her, "you know our names."
All the men in the barrack looked at her waiting for her to speak and she sighed before sitting back knowing she wouldn't be studying her papers anymore that night. "Christine Roi," she answered knowing they wouldn't be satisfied until she did. She sat quietly as she listened to several voices saying how pretty a name it was and that it suited her, waiting until they quieted: "you can call me Chris."
"That's not really a girl's name," Malarkey told her.
"She's not really a girl," Liebgott said kneeling beside her to see the pictures she was looking at. "What with her dick and all," he added.
She turned to him sharply to see his smug face as he looked at her. "My balls are bigger than yours too," she told him watching his grin spread into a smile as the others laughed.
"The mouth on her," George said laughing with Muck.
Liebgott turned back to the pages laid out on the floor. "These German?" he asked, turning to her to see her staring at him startled.
She picked up one of the papers and held it up so he could see the word on the back. "Oberst?"
"Yeah," he told her.
She turned the page over to see it was in fact Colonel. "Finally, someone that speaks German," she said before putting that insignia with the ones she already knew.
The corner of his mouth curled as he stared at her face. "You know, I can help if you need it," he offered with a sly smile, and Talbert rolled his eyes before stepping around the papers and sitting on his bed.
Christine turned to Liebgott unfazed by the little amount of charm he had. "You've insinuated that I wasn't a woman twice now," she told him. "I'd say you'll help without my asking."
"Oh really?" he asked, his brows drawing together as he continued staring at her.
'Mmhm' she hummed nodding before leaning closer and lowering her voice. "Because up close and with my hair down I look a lot more like a woman," she said watching his eyes and catching when they flicked to her mouth.
He watched her mouth curl into a smirk before she gathered the papers and returned them to the folder. "I thought I was helping."
"You can help tomorrow," she said using his shoulder as leverage to stand. "It's about time for lights out which means I'm going to shower."
George turned to her with a smile. "In a camp full of men, I'm afraid I cannot allow a woman as beautiful as yourself to travel alone."
"Or if you don't want Luz, I could join you," Floyd offered with a charming grin.
"Or," Muck chimed in, "we could take turns standing watch while you shower," he said nodding when the others voiced their agreements.
She rolled her eyes half amused. "Or I could ask Lieutenant Winters," she retorted before putting the folder on the shelf above where she hung her shirt and jacket and grabbing a towel.
"Me and Toye gotta go to our barracks, we'll walk with you til you find Winters," Bill offered.
"Thank you," she told him honestly surprised by the offer, but he only shrugged smiling.
"Gonorrhea," Malarkey reminded her.
She turned to the red haired man and shook her head. "I'm not a lady about many things Malarkey, but that word is never coming out of my mouth," she said leaving the barrack to a chorus of laughter.
Toye followed after her and Bill turned to Luz. "Put me in for the bet, she already likes me more than Tal."
"Ah shut up," Floyd told him. "I haven't started yet." He threw the first thing he could find but Bill was through the door and catching up to Toye and Chris.
"What bet?" Malarkey asked.
George motioned to the door. "Who'll get her," he said as though it were obvious. "I for one, bet myself considering I won the first one."
Perconte scoffed. "All you did was see her first."
"Yeah but I made her laugh," he said remembering her smile, it softened her face. "And she seems to be immune to your charm Talbert."
He waved a hand not concerned. "I haven't given her all I got, I bet you anything she'll be mine by the end of the week," he said confidently.
"Well my bet's on Liebgott," Muck said lying back on his cot.
Malarkey turned to him surprised. "You're not betting on yourself?" he asked.
But Muck shook his head. "She's not like the girls you find back home," he said knowing he couldn't handle her – as pretty as she was.
"No she's not," Johnny said, having staid quiet as he'd watched her. "You heard the way she talked to Sobel, that's a woman that knows what she wants. I'm betting Joe."
He smiled as he stood, still feeling her hand on his shoulder as she pushed herself up. "Well when she does fall for me," he said sitting on his cot, "I won't be tied to the bet. But I'll take half when it happens."
"I'll be sure to tell her you said that," George said as they all laid back in their beds waiting for the lights to go out. "Who do you think she is, I mean she's gotta be someone to be in the paratroopers?"
In all honestly they had no idea, it didn't make sense for a woman to be allowed in – a woman, in a company of men; the idea itself seemed impossible. "Well she did tell Sobel her mission would be to infiltrate German camps, that sounds like some deep shit," Malarkey said.
"Maybe she's a spy," Muck said wondering if that was even possible.
But George snorted. "She's not a spy," he told them. "Right?" he asked not entirely sure, it almost made sense. "Hey Lip," George said when Lipton walked in, "do you think Woodridge is a spy?"
He looked at Luz startled by the question. "I don't know George," he answered honestly, "but we'll find out tomorrow," he said. It was as close to an answer as any of them, they'd just have to wait.