Chapter 3

Fort Benning, Georgia, USA

December 1942

"Easy Company! You are at the position of attention!" I heard the tyrant exclaim as he finally came marching towards his company who he left standing for hours before he decided to come see if they followed his orders. I stood leaning against a hut, viewing the whole exchange in disgust. I then in disbelief witnessed him systematically pick on nearly every man in the company, NCO's included, in an attempt to dampen their morale and take their weekend passes away from them. I respected these men even more for being able to hold themselves back from beating the pompous Sobel to death. I lit a cigarette and took a puff before deciding to approach Sobel and his company. I reached his side just as he was finished chewing out the man with the brown eyes that I locked with when I first reached fort Benning.

"Captain Sobel." I greeted quietly and I watched with barely suppressed glee when he jumped in surprise as he realised I'm standing next to him. For reasons that I can't explain, I smirked at the tall brown eyed soldier once again and I noticed a crinkle at the corner of his mouth as if he was suppressing a smirk.

"Captain Belikova!" Sobel exclaimed with a salute that I returned reluctantly. I walked up and down along the line of men and noticed that all their eyes faced forwards and none locked eyes with me or broke their stance. They seemed to be well trained despite their non-existent experience in combat.

"You have a fine company of soldiers under your command Captain." I complimented the soldiers more than their leader but Sobel took it to mean that his training was the cause of this and then thought the compliment was more for him. I could half agree with that because of the training that I've seen him put them through no doubt made them want to train harder just to spite the sadistic man.

"Thank you Captain Belikova, that is a great compliment coming from you. Colonel Sink has told me stories of what you've done in battle. I am very pleased to serve beside you, however long you'll be with us." Sobel boasted with eager eyes. Well his tune seems to have changed since Colonel Sink talked to him about respecting me more.

"Thank you Captain Sobel, I'm sure your company would by far be the best when I'm through with teaching them shooting and hand to hand combat." I added absentminded. I was told by Colonel Sink yesterday that I was going to train Easy company to the high standard of my old unit, they would be the best and Germany better be scared when Easy company gets deployed.

"But Captain... We already learnt shooting and hand to hand at Toccoa" Sobel blurted out in surprise. I turned to look at Captain Sobel unsurprised with being uninformed of the change of training schedule. I looked back at the soldiers and saw them glancing at each other in surprise also.

"I am aware. This will be a... how'd you say? Advanced training?" I asked unsure of if what I said sounded right to their ears.

"It won't interrupt the schedule, your jump training doesn't start till January and till then it would just be physical training which I would say is not necessary since your boys are in top shape already" I finished telling Sobel loudly so the men heard my compliment, by the puffing of their chests in pride and standing straighter at attention, I would say they heard clearly.

"When would this training start?" Sobel asked suddenly, annoyance in his voice from no doubt me taking away his favourite play toys.

"This afternoon, tell your company to assemble in the field next to the shooting range after lunch, officers included. No excuses for not being there." I ordered Captain Sobel in an authoritive voice. I looked to my left and saw someone I know, I knew I would be running into him eventually since the last letter I received before the battle for Stalingrad said that he joined up for the airborne.

"Ronald Speirs!" I shouted, shocking the company, Sobel included. Ronnie stomped out his cigarette before walking over towards me.

"Captain Belikova!" He greeted with a smirk and salute which I returned when I noticed his shiny silver bars. He didn't seem too surprised to see me.

"First Lieutenant Speirs. What man in his right mind let you graduate officer school or even promote you to a first Lieutenant?" I asked teasingly with a matching smirk.

"Probably the same crazy man who decided that you should be a Captain, haven't heard from you in a while." Speirs replied cheekily before becoming serious.

"Yeah that's probably got something to do with my country being invaded." I snarked back grimly.

"Yeah heard about that, I knew you would be okay though." I smiled in response before turning to see all of easy company watching the exchange between us. I smirked at the shocked faces including Winters usually passive face.

"Till this afternoon Captain Sobel, lets go have lunch Ronnie" I departed, placing my arm through Ron's.

"I swear if you call me Ronnie one more time..." Ron threatened in a dangerously low voice, I just laughed knowing he was bluffing.

"Yeah, you'll do what, big brother?" I asked and stopped walking when we were far away from easy and they couldn't possibly overhear our conversation. I took a moment to really look at my brother, he was as handsome as ever if not more so. His green eyes were the same as mine and his dark hair hadn't changed at all except for the mandatory army hair cut. I could tell he was looking at me too. His eyes narrowed when he spotted the dark bags under my eyes.

"You haven't been looking after yourself properly," He noted in a dark voice and his face tensed where he wore a strict frozen expression. I could always see through his strict facades though.

"How is Natasha?" Ron asked curiously as we began to start walking again, towards the mess for lunch. My stomach was rumbling uncontrollably at the prospect of hot food.

"Dead, 1941', it was a mercy really, who knows what those animals would have done to her if she were still alive." I answered with a straight face, trying not to think about all the things the Germans had done to the women over the last 2 years.

"Sorry to hear about your mother, Ana," Ron said after a pause to digest the news. I smiled in thanks before we entered the half full mess hall and lined up for our food. We found a bench recently vacated and sat down opposite each other in silence, just enjoying each others presence after so long apart. Our silence was soon interrupted by the sound of a tray landing on my left. I looked up from the tray to see Nixon's smirking face and couldn't help but smile back at the snarky man. I saw Winters still standing up, unsure whether to sit unlike his bold companion.

"Mind if we join you?" Nixon asked after he sat down next to me and tucked into his lunch like a starving man. I nodded in agreement and Winters finally decided to sit next to Ron, opposite Nixon.

"That was quite a telling you gave Sobel, Captain." Nixon stated mischievously with a smirk between bites of his meal.

"Please call me Ana and I was just telling Sobel what I got told to do," I replied neutrally even though It gave me some satisfaction in seeing the annoying Captain caught off guard. I spied Ron smirking into his plate and decided to shut him up.

"Stop smirking Ron or I'll break your face!" I threatened loudly in irrational anger. I don't know about other peoples relationship with their siblings but mine is a constant tug of war of who can annoy the other the most.

"oh yeah like you could!" He replied still smirking, mockingly, keeping eye contact with me with identical green eyes. I hated it when he deliberately wound me up. We both have a temper, inherited it from our father unfortunately. From my peripheral vision I could see Winters pulling back from the table, looking like he wants to be invisible. Lew as Winters affectionately calls him breaks our intense stare with his thick New Jersey accent.

"I was wondering how you guys know each other..." Nixon prompted curiously leaning over the table in anticipation. I even saw Winters look up curious as to our answer.

"Ronnie is my annoying brother." I stated with a smirk, leaning back crossing my arms when I saw his face turn into a scowl at my nickname for him.

"Ana is my baby sister!" he huffed out in displeasure. I could see Nixon and Winters looking shocked and surprised and Ron and I shared a smirk at shocking the two Lieutenants into stunned silence.

"Well now that you mention it, I did think your eyes were pretty similar but I still don't understand-" Nixon broke the stunned silence and Ron decided to cut his sentence off, explaining our complicated family.

"We are half siblings but don't really think of it like that, have the same father who was married to my mother before divorcing her and marrying Ana's mother." Ron explained simply in a no nonsense tone. Of course he left out the part where our father was a notorious womaniser and drifted in and out of his marriages, he was a temporary figure in my life and from what Ron's told me about his childhood, he was a temporary figure there too.

"Wow Ronnie Speirs has a little sister, ay?" Nixon teased with his mouth full of food. My brother and I both glared at him instantaneously and he recoiled in surprise, not in fear like we wanted.

"Whoa, yeah you're definitely siblings, can't mistake it with that death glare!" Nixon continued cheekily. I relaxed and couldn't supress the small smile at Nixon's childish behaviour that has begun to grow on me unknowingly.

"Well, lunchtime has been fun but now I'm going to think of ways to torture your soldiers for this afternoons lecture!" I exclaimed with a huge smile as I thought of embarrassing Sobel in particular.

"Wow she's definitely your sister Ron!" Nixon cheekily said with a mischievous wink at me. I could see Winters nodding in agreement with Nixon and a small grimace graced his handsome face.

"Don't worry Winters, I have more sinister plans involving Sobel than your men." I whispered to the well respected officer, in an effort to put him at ease as I walked past and headed for the door of the mess hall. I could tell that he genuinely cared for the men in his company, a rare occurrence in the army, that made me respect the red haired Lieutenant even more. I had just exited the mess when something hard knocked into me but I managed to keep my balance and reached my hands out to steady the other person who stumbled into me. I looked up slowly to meet the chocolate brown eyes that I remember belonged to the smirking man in Easy. I quickly snapped out of my haze and took a step back, removing my hands from his arms.

"Sorry Captain, wasn't looking where I was going." The man spoke with a husky masculine voice that caused a shiver to travel up my spine. He quickly gave me a salute, remembering who I am.

"It's alright private, I wasn't being very attentive to my whereabouts either." I confessed with a small smile that wasn't commonly seen on my face.

"I'm Private Joseph Liebgott but I prefer just Joe, would you care for a cigarette ma'am?" The mysterious brown eyed soldier asked, getting a pack of American cigarettes out from a pocket on his uniform.

"Sure, I've never tried American cigarettes before. By the way, please don't call me ma'am, just Ana's fine when we aren't in front of other officers, Sobel called me ma'am when he first met me and I nearly throttled him." I replied at ease in the soldiers company. We moved to sit on a wooden picnic bench opposite each other, out of the way of the mess room doors. I took a cigarette from the offered pack and Joe provided me with his lighter. Joe took a puff of his own cigarette before he started talking again.

"Yeah we saw you getting angry when we were standing a few feet away, it's all in your eyes, your emotions I mean. So what's the verdict with the cigarette?" Joe answered back, completely at ease in my presence too which is strange as most men are always tense before me except Ron and now Nixon and Winters sometimes.

"Yes it's quite enjoyable thanks, not as strong as the Russian brands though." I replied truthfully, puffing away on what the Americans call 'Lucky strikes'.

"The boys and I were wondering if you would like to come to a poker game tonight at our bunks, get to know our new officer better and that." Joe asked with his heavy accent that I haven't yet identified, after he finished his puffing stick. I hesitated, unsure if it was really appropriate for an officer to participate in their card games let alone being a female in a barracks of men after hours before I resolved myself to attend so I can strengthen my relations with the men I'll be fighting alongside with as well as to get to know them, just like I did with my squad back in Russia.

"Sure, what hut?" I answered a minute after pondering the request from Joe.

"Hut 206, 8 o'clock. Shit, I'm gonna grab myself an apple before your lesson starts in ten minutes." Joe exclaimed after looking at his watch. I looked at my own watch and saw that 10 minutes had passed by without my knowledge.

"Sorry I kept you from your lunch, I've got to go too." I apologised, feeling guilty for starving the tall, skinny man.

"It's okay Ana, don't worry about it, see you in a bit." He replied with the smirk I was fondly getting used to before walking back towards the emptying mess. I turned away from the direction of the mess with a smirk of my own and met the intense eyes of my brother standing 20 feet away, glaring at the back of Joes head before he switched his focus to me. I wiped my face clear of any emotion that I was displaying but I knew just like Joe said, my green eyes gave away my true feelings. If my eyes didn't then I'm sure the stomping of my feet as I passed my brother in silence sure did. I'm surprised no one has figured out the relation between Ron and I yet, the similarities I've heard are uncanny. Why does Ron always pick the wrong times to act like a protective brother?

...Line Break...

I'm the first to show up at the field, the place for my first lesson this afternoon, unsurprisingly. I bring along a small shovel, that they would jump with and a M1 Garand with a bayonet attached at the end of the barrel. The first trickle of men appear a few minutes after I arrive. Sobel was the last to arrive apart from the still missing Joe. I was about to open my mouth to start speaking when I saw Joe arrive, was clearly running from the red face he was displaying and Sobel wasted no time in picking on the poor man.

"Private Liebgott! Being late is inexcusable-" Sobel started to rant and I decided to cut him off before he got too carried away which I knew he was prone to do.

"It's quite alright Captain, Private Liebgott was running an errand for me, his lateness is excused." I lied expertly in a low tone that could be heard clearly through the company. The men exchanged confused looks between themselves as I assume they saw him getting lunch and not running an errand for me. Two men that looked initially confused started to grin wolfishly and decided to let out a low whistle. Sobel frowned and was about to say something before I cut in before him.

"Guarnere, Toye thank you for volunteering." I said with an evil smirk pointed straight at the dark haired men. Their grins soon dropped from their faces as I put on an expression that my brother calls 'pure evil'.

"Volunteering for what exactly Captain?" Guarnere asked hesitantly in a thick Philly accent. Private Toye was shuffling his feet next to Guarnere anxiously.

"To demonstrate what you've learnt so far, you're partnered with Toye to spar, ready when you are." I answered in a matter of fact tone, crossing my arms expectantly and ushering the men to watch the two men. They both hesitated for a second before getting into positions like they were taught and started to throw punches that sometimes landed correctly and some that were deflected. After 5 minutes I told them to stop.

"Not bad, could be better, Private Randleman spar with me?" I commented not overly impressed at the shallow bits of knowledge the hand to hand combat teachers taught. Private Randleman was the biggest man in the company and from what I've heard, he is also one of the kindest. Randleman hesitated and I smiled to reassure him that it's ok.

"Sorry ma'am it's just I've never hit a woman before." He explained in his rough country voice.

"You still might not now." I teased lightly with a smile that lit up my normally cold green eyes. Randleman gave out a deep chuckle before shredding his kit and getting into a prepared position. The rest of the men seemed to all awaken with renewed interest when they realised I was going to spar with the biggest man in their company. I accidentally met the eyes of Joe and saw the worried crinkle in the middle of his eyebrows that he was displaying, it's laughable how much they doubt my abilities just because I am a woman.

"Ready, Captain?" Randleman asked anxiously, probably in fear of hurting me but I was completely relaxed and standing normally upright while Randleman was in a position with his knees locked, bracing himself.

"Sure." I replied, completely at ease. I next thing I knew, Randleman was running towards me, ready to land a punch to my torso. I quickly manoeuvred myself out of the way and ended up behind him where I forcefully kneed his bent leg and sent him tumbling to the ground. He turned over onto his back and looked very surprised. I offered a hand to help him up and he accepted it gratefully.

"How'd you move that fast?" Randleman asked in bewilderment. I just smiled mischievously in response until a weasel faced man pushed his way to the front of the men.

"That's not much of a fight, I thought you were going to show us better moves than our instructors!" Private Cobb sneered.

"Would you like to spar with me private Cobb? with 12 years experience in the army behind you I'm sure you'll make a good spar partner." I asked with a cold glare aimed at the rude little man. He frowned confused and I could hear him mumble clearly 'How'd you know about-'. I just shot him a inviting smirk and a gesture of my hand to where Randleman and I were standing a few minutes ago. He walked over to where I gestured and positioned himself similarly to Randleman. I nodded as an indicator to start and he immediately rushed towards me with his fist raised, aiming for my face. What he didn't count on was me grabbing his fist before it made contact and twist it and his whole arm behind his back painfully. I pulled on his shoulder forcefully, dislocating it swiftly. The private let out a scream of pain but I wasn't done yet. He tried to kick me behind him but I quickly beat him to it and sent a hard kick into his non-dominant leg and he fell onto the ground hard, he didn't bother to get back up again. I waved the company's medic over, Eugene Roe.

"Take a man to help you move Private Cobb over to the infirmary, you'll find that he has a dislocated shoulder and bruised tibia." While I was conversing with the quiet medic I heard a conversation from behind me, coming from the direction of the men.

"Hey Johnny, I think I got let off easy!" I heard come from Randleman's distinctive voice. "Yeah Bull, I think your right." The voice of another unknown male answered softly.

"Ok, pair up with a partner and start sparring!" I said loudly, getting the men's attention and jumping most of them out of their shocked haze. They quickly paired up and I smirked when I saw Lew playfully putting up his fists like a prized boxer in a threatening manner towards his partner Winters who just rolled his eyes at his childish companion. Thankfully Sobel didn't see Lew's messing about. The sadistic officer in question ended up being partnered with First Sergeant Evans- a perfect match from what I have heard from around base about the two most hated men in nearly the whole 101st.

I walked around the pairs of men sparring and helped some with advice of mostly remembering to keep their guard up all the time. I came round to see Joe sparring with a small dark haired man with large brown eyes. I could from where I was standing that Joe was frowning in annoyance as the other man was grinning cheekily, I walked closer to hear what they were talking about.

"Aww Joey stop your pouting, I'm just too quick for ya," I heard Private Luz say teasingly as they circled each other.

"'Hey, stupid! Where do you think you're going? Get back there with the herd, you muttonhead!'"George exclaimed suddenly in a impersonation I knew too well.

"What the fuck you just call me?" Joe asked angrily, his face starting to become red in rage. I decided to step in before George Luz was beat into the ground.

"Westward Ho 1935, John Wyatt played by John Wayne." I explained, walking over to them surprising them. George Luz's jaw dropped to the floor in shock. He tried to talk but he couldn't seem to get his words out.

"Snap out of it George." Joe said nudging George with his elbow, embarrassed at his reaction.

"Marry me." George managed to stumble out finally. By now all the company had stopped sparring and was watching the exchange before all three of us. I just laughed him off awkwardly and tied my high ponytail into a tight bun at the crown of my head.

"Sorry private Luz but I'm not looking for a husband at the moment." I replied truthfully with a kind smile, letting him down gently.

"It's alright, there's always after the war ay?" He got his words out easier than before. I nodded reassuringly when in my mind I was thinking if I was even going to survive the war at the rate I was going at. I could Joe glaring at George angrily, probably from before when George was mocking the short tempered man. I walked away as a sign for them all to continue with their sparring matches. I came across a red headed man and a light brown haired man awkwardly trying to hurt each other but it was clear to see that their hearts weren't really in it.

"Malarkey, Muck, put some effort in it at least," I said to the two men who just seemed to be content to lay a half hearted punch.

"What if you lose your equipment on the jump and don't know how to fight properly without a weapon?" I asked rhetorically, trying to get through to the men.

"You'll die! Is that what you want Private Malarkey?" I asked in my 'officer' voice. They both seemed to snap to attention before me and Malarkey shook his head quickly.

"Private Muck?" I asked him the same and received a swift shook of his head.

"Malarkey your sparring with me." I ordered and saw the young soldier take a deep gulp in fear. Most likely of what I did to Private Cobb earlier but this situation is different. Cobb needed to learn a harsh lesson. Malarkey just needs to be guided some. I nodded for him to start and he came at me, intending for a jab to my side which I caught easily. I shook my head unimpressed

"You need to move faster private, also if you aimed for my gut, the blow would be more effective. Again." I explained letting with fist go and got back into a ready position. He nodded and moved to land a fist to my gut like I said, I knocked his arm away and he immediately recovered and threw another jab that hit home in my shoulder and made me take a few steps back.

"Better Malarkey." I complimented. I could see his face crease anxiously as he just hit a superior officer but my remark made him smile pleased at my compliment.

"Thanks but I know you let me get a hit in on purpose Captain." Malarkey replied with a small smile.

"Lets keep practising till you get a jab in fairly then. Again." I said getting ready to defend myself. The hand to hand combat lesson carried on into the late afternoon and I feel like I've made some improvement with some of their stances as well as trying them to move faster which I can imagine will be much slower when we get dropped into occupied territory because of all the excess kit we would have to carry.

...Line Break...

I walked up the steps to the wooden hut, 206. I decided to take my hair down from it's usual tight ponytail, in an attempt to appear casual in front of the men. My long hair flowed down around my clean OD's I decided to put on for tonight and decided like most days to not wear the dreadful garrison cap that always seemed to mess my hair up even if it was tied up. I heard quite a few loud voices from inside before I raised my hand and knocked 3 times loudly to get their attention. The voices seem to stop all of a sudden and I heard one set of heavy footsteps approach the door. The wooden door opened to reveal Joe's face, that turned into a smirk I knew all too well by now.

"Hey Joe." I greeted like we've been friends a long time.

"Ana, come in. Your lucky we were just about to start." Joe said in response. Joe stepped back to let me into the room. Nearly the whole company was assembled in the small room and all eyes were on me when I stepped over the threshold.