A/N: Chapter 2 is now out! YAAAY!

First I would like to thank Horsesareamazing and skymoon1977 for reviewing the first chapter. I would also like to thank everyone else who give some of their time to read my story and added me as a favorite3

Second, I would like to point out that this is NOT a slash fiction. No offence to anyone or anything, but this story aims to show the brotherhood/ friendship between soldiers in war!

Third, for those who were wondering in the previous chapter about why were Guarnere, Malarkey and Toye in the 1st platoon barracks when they were in second platoon. Well, to answer that, I would like to say that I knew that already. But in the first episode in the scene where Perconte was arguing with Martin in the Barracks, I noticed Roe, Liebgott and Luz who were from first Platoon in the background. But I also noticed Malarkey by the door- He sat beside the 'BUTT' can by the door, and also a guy who looked like Guarnere behind Martin. They were both from second Platoon, so I just went along with it. And anyway I liked that seen between Perco and Johnny and just had to put it in any way!

So, anyway… I hope you all enjoy this chapter. And don't forget to leave a review once you're done :D

From the moment I met you I just knew you'd be mine

You touched my hand and I knew that this was gonna be our time

I don't ever wanna lose this feeling

I don't wanna spend a moment apart

Blue-Best in me

Chapter 2- Blooming Romance!

By the time we had reached the bottom, we thought that it was going to be empty, but how wrong could we get!

Lt. Nixon, Lt. Winters and ... *Gulp*

… Lt. Sobel.

All three of them were waiting for us, still in their P.T. gear.

"Ah shit!" breathed out Skip and I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement. We're fucking screwed!

When we were mere a couple of feet from them, I bent down to set Muck back to his feet. We both saluted the Lieutenants as we stood at attention.

"The both of you are late. Not to mention, Private Muck, who gave you permission to ride on another soldier's back?" Sobel asked, more like shouted, angrily with spit flying from his mouth after every word.

"No one, sir!" came the response from Skip who was trying in vain to stop his shaking hands by his side.

"And whose idea was it that you could rest on a soldier's back, while the rest of the Company ran the whole six miles, Private?"

Muck's loyalties overrun his fear for he kept his mouth shut. Sobel took one step forward, his face mere inches away from Muck's face, "I asked you a question, Private. Now whose idea was it?" Again, Muck hesitated.

"It was mine, sir!" Everyone's eyes shifted my way. Oh, fuck me and my big pie hole!

Sobel stormed up to me nostrils flaring angrily, "your idea? Who gave you permission?" before I could answer, Sobel turned to Lieutenants Winters and Nixon, "Did you hear me order anyone to help a fallen soldier?"

"No, sir!" they replied in union.

"Didn't I give a specific order not to help this man?" Sobel cried pointing at Muck.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"So why did you, Private Quest, allow yourself to help a soldier when I ordered, loud and clear, not to?" I opened my mouth to answer, but apparently he wasn't done, "Private, we are Easy Company and what do we do?"

"Stand alone!" I replied threw gritted teethes while clutching my hands in tight fists as my blood began to boil.

"That's right," he sneered in response before turning and starting to pace back and forth with his hands behind his back, "we stand alone, which means everyman in this Company is for himself, Private," he said, "if you see a soldier sneezes, falls and breaks his neck in the process, you ignore him and keep running! If a soldier trips over his own two damn feet and twists his ankle, you ignore him and keep running! If, you see Lieutenant Nixon here, for example, having a heart attack and dies, you..."

Nixon interrupted him, raising an amused eyebrow with a smirk, "Ignore me and keep running?"

"Lieutenant your next week's pass is revoked," Sobel deadpanned, "but yes, that's exactly what you should do!"

I felt the familiar rushing of anger threw my veins. Rage clouded my thoughts and before I could help it, words flew out of my lips, "with all due respect, sir," I interrupted his ranting, trying to keep some level of respect in my tone which was-obviously- hard at the moment, "but in the near future we're all gonna be facin' some real fucked up battles, sir. The enemy will be shootin' at us, hell, bombing at us even. Some guys will get a few scratches while others will be severely wounded, hell, probably even die. By then, sir, nobody will be thinkin' of themselves-unless they are selfish bastards, of course," at this I gave him a pointed look with a death glare that would make a zombie run back crying to his grave, "but, sir, we are never goin' to stand alone in battles, sir. We're gonna be fightin' side by side, like brothers. And you know what, it ain't gonna matter who or where a wounded soldier was from, because we'd never give a rat's ass of who the hell he was, or who he gawdamned served. We'd rush down to him and patch 'im up, best we could, while prayin' to every god there is that he'd survive to see the end of the friggin' war and after!" then I added a 'sir' as an afterthought at the end.

Sobel stared at me with an open mouth as did the other two Lieutenants and Muck. Of all things that I could've inherited from my mother, I got her bad temper! Thanks for nothing, mother!

Everyone was quiet for a second or two before Lt. Sobel broke it, "Private Muck, you are going to report to the aid station and get that injured foot of yours checked," I stared, in astonishment, at him, "Private Quest," he continued, "I want you to escort Private Muck to the aid station,"

"Sir, Yes, sir!"

*hell had officially frozen over!

"Then I want you to report back to run Currahee, again, and you won't stop running, unless I tell you to,"

*spoke too soon!

"Ah, sir," interrupted Lt. Nixon again, "it's going to be raining soon, sir!" and as if to prove his point, sounds of thunder hit the grey sky.

"I am aware of that, Lieutenant, and that's another weekend pass revoked," Lt. Winters gave Nixon a sympathetic look as Sobel continued, "as soon as you escort him, Private, you start running this hill," he said, "and remember, I will be watching!"

"I can't believe he's making you run Currahee again,"

"Well Skip, buddy, believe it or not, but our dear Lieutenant hates my guts," I replied as I helped him to sit on one of the empty beds.

"No shit!"

"How may I help you?" a blonde nurse asked.

"I think I twis..."

"um, hold that thought," she called to some brunette nurse setting at the front desk to cover for her before making her way to the doorway where a Lieutenant was waiting. As soon as she was close enough, he took a hold of her hand and they rushed out.

Muck stared after them, looking insulted, "can you believe tha…" but he didn't get to finish as the nurse behind the desk came over with a clipboard.

"Hello, boys," she greeted cheerfully, "what seems to be the problem?"

"I think I hurt my foot, ma'am, while we were running Currahee," he replied. The Nurse inspected his foot.

"Well Private, seems to me like you got a twisted ankle" she said, "I'm afraid we have to keep you in here for the night,"

I let out a chuckle, slapping Skip's shoulder, "wait 'til the boys hear 'bout this, Skip. They ain't gonna like it one bit"

"Funny accent you got there, Private," the Nurse said wrapping a bandage around Muck's ankle, "where are you from?"

"South Philly, Pennsylvania, ma'am," I answered.

She chuckled, "hmm, you don't look like a Philly kind of guy to me,"

"Oh, really? And what kind of guy do I look like to you, Ma'am?"

She shrugged, "you look a bit, I don't know, Europe-ish? French, maybe?"

"Close, but nah," I replied, "I'm actually from Germany"

"Germany, huh? Should I be scared" she smiled, teasingly.

"'ey, don't worry," I raised my arms in mock surrender, "I don't bite,"

"Too bad we can't say the same for Sobel," Muck mumbled, quietly, but she heard him anyway,

"Sobel?"

"He's our CO," Skip explained and she nodded in understanding, "yeah, apparently he hates my dear friend over here"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "and how did you figure that out, Private...?" she trailed off reading his name tag, "Private Muck?"

"He's making Duncan run Currahee," he told her, simply.

"But, wait! I thought you boys already ran Currahee?"

"We did!" we replied in union.

"But how come he's making you run again?" she asked me.

"Like Skip said, he hates me," I replied simply with a shrug, "an' now I gotta go and start my runnin' before Sobel decides to plan me execution," I clapped Muck on the shoulder, "I'll leave ya to rest now, buddy"

He nodded, "good luck with Sobel!"

"Thanks I'll need it," I turned to the Nurse who was done wrapping his foot by now, "thanks for your help Nurse...?" I trailed off, realizing that I didn't know her name.

"Oh," she blushed realizing her mistake, "Sorry, I'm Scarlett Trigger,"

I took her small hand into my slightly larger one, "name's Quest, ma'am, Duncan Quest," I met her eyes and I felt a jolt of electricity hit me square on, that it took my breath away.

She has got the most beautiful green eyes I have ever seen. I could stare at them for years and would never get tired of looking at them. I tried to pull myself together, telling myself that it was rude to stare, but it seems like it got a mind of its own. Her eyes were addicting. I couldn't believe that it had taken me this long to realize it, but Nurse Scarlett Trigger was the most beautiful woman I have ever set my eyes on. Crimson, shoulder length hair, pale freckled skin and full, pink lips with a smile to die for. She is definitely an angel from the sky; there was no doubt about it!

A slight clearing of a throat, snapped me out of my daze. I realized that I was still holding Nurse Scarlett's soft hand. We both let go at the same time.

I looked down at the ground as heat rushed to my ears. I cleared my throat, awkwardly, "I guess, I'll... uh, I'll be goin' then," I gave a final nod to the blushing nurse and then to Muck, who was giving me an amused look, "good day!" and with that I made my way to the door, resisting the urge to catch a final glance at the beautiful angelic nurse.

Right, Left, Right, Left. That's it! Deep breaths and start over!

This was my second Currahee run, not including the first time with the rest of my company.

"I fuckin' hate rain!" I grumbled. It had started drizzling not even fifteen minutes ago. Now I'm soaked, cold, and not to mention my whole body was aching in pain.

*I'm not sure if I could keep it up much longer! So, so tired!

Going down the mountain was worse than going up in this type of weather. You have to be careful where you land your feet while keeping up your pace. It was a fucked up task that was for damn sure!

My foot landed in a pool of mud and the next thing I knew, I was rolling down the hill like a frigging soccer ball. Seconds ticked by before I finally came to a stop… by crashing into a tree. "What the hell have I done to you?" I screamed up into the heavens, "huh? What have I done to deserve all this shit?" Sighing in frustration I decided that I can't afford to waste any more time, so I stood up and resumed running, ignoring the aching pain all over my body.

I reached the bottom to find Sobel waiting for me, like before, wearing a rain coat.

*doesn't he have anything else better to do?

"I want you to run back up one more time. Once done, you may report back to your barracks," he said.

I huffed and puffed, forcing my arm up to give him a salute, "ye- yes, sir!"

"I expect you tomorrow up at 0530 for another run with the whole Company, Private," and with that I ran back up for my final run for the today.

Guarnere's POV

It was 2100 hours, and everyone in the barracks was either sitting around playing cards and joking, or fast asleep. Everyone was present except for two people, Skip Muck and Duncan Quest.

They had visited Skip at the aid station before dinner. He gets to stay the night there, Lucky bastard! He told them that Sobel was forcing Duncan to repeat Currahee for some time as a punishment for helping Muck with his run. The door opened and Duncan came in.

*Speak of the devil!

"Jesus Christ!" Toye breathed out. The kid looked like shit. He was soaked to the bone and looking like he would pass out at any given moment. He made his way over to his bed, falling down face first on it. Not even a second late, they all could hear his soft snores echoing around the now silent barracks.

"Jesus Christ!" Perconte cried, "Kid looks like a friggin' Zombie!"

"And a soaked wet one, too!" Penkala added.

"What'd ya fuckin' expect?" grumbled Toye in response, "He just ran Currahee for god only knows how long"

"The bastard's got the worst luck in the world!" Guarnere told them.

Eugene 'Doc' Roe walked up to the nocked out Duncan, checking to see for any serious injuries. Finding none, he proceeded to pull him up into a sitting position and started pulling at his shirt.

"Whoa, there, boy!" cried Luz, holding his hands out in a 'stop' motion, "You can't take an advantage from a kid like that?" Penkala and Tipper snorted from where they were playing cards besides him, shaking their heads at him.

Eugene paused, giving Luz a strange look, not sure if Luz was serious or being his usual joking self, "I have to take off these wet clothes or else he'd get sick,"

"Oh!" Luz smiled sheepishly at him, "well, then. You may proceed!"

"Yeah, guess I'll help ya with him. These guys are a bunch of cheaters anyway," Guarnere threw the cards at Toye and Martin before making his way over to Quest's bed. He crouched down, taking off Duncan's boots while Eugene took his shirt off. Poor kid was so tired, he could sleep through bombings. Suddenly, Eugene took in a sharp breath, swearing quietly to himself.

"Whazzah matter?" Guarnere asked him, curiously.

"Come here and take a look at this!" he beckoned for him, pointing at Duncan's bare back. With a grunt, Guarnere got up to stand besides Eugene.

"Jesus!" He breathed. The Kid was too skinny for his own good. You could literarily see the outline of his ribs and spine. But the worst of them all were the purple bruises and the scars all over his back. Some looked freshly new, "You think those came from a fall sometime in Currahee?"

"Nah!" he shook his head as he traced his fingers through the scars, "they're much older than that, almost like, uh, a couple of weeks back, give or take a few days. I ain't sure."

Guarnere gave him a wide eyed look, "Shit, you think he done those intentionally?"

Eugene shook his head with a frown, "impossible, wouldn't be able to reach that far back" he pointed out. They dried the kid off and laid him down to sleep, "he's going to be under watchful eyes from now on. We gotta make sure he's eating to gain some meat into his bones," before he left, Eugene glanced at Guarnere, shaking his head, "whateva' happened to him, it looks bad!"

Guarnere nodded his head in agreement, suddenly feeling waves of protectiveness for this kid fill his heart, "I'm gonna find out what happened to him, Doc!" Eugene patted his shoulder before going to his bed, "and when I do," Guarnere continued in a whisper, "umma make sure it ain't happening to 'im again!"