A/N: I don't own anything here, except for my own character Alice and some plotlines that do not match the TV-series. I don't mean any disrespect and I have enormous respect for all the soldiers who fought in the Second World War. This is fiction.

I tried to mix in more flashbacks in this chapter! Good/bad? Please let me know! Also, thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed the latest chapter, you're the real MVPs! Along with those I mentioned in the last chapter, thank you Kingkilter!

I try to write as much as I can, but I do work 6 days a week, so sometimes I get slow, like right now. The plot hasn't really begun yet, but we're slowly easing in to it! If you have any ideas/opinions about my character portrayal or constructive criticism about Alice, please let me know!

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"The invasion has been postponed, we're on a 24-hour stand down. Drill sergeants, take charge!"

Mehaan stepped down from the vehicle after his announcement, and Alice sighed. She'd just figured out how to put on the leg bag properly (most men had no idea, so she'd been in the dark about the process) and started to digest the fact that they were jumping. Apparently not.

"C'mon Cookie" Luz called, using the nickname from the first day. "They're showing a movie."

"I'll be right there" she called, struggling to get the bag off. Oh well.

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"Looks like you're in a bit of trouble there. Can I help?" A handsome officer, whom Alice most certainly had met before, asked. She couldn't remember his name to save her life, and now he was actually saving hers.

Alice looked up. Her chute was stuck to a tree, having looped around the trunk somehow, and left her tangled in the different wires, whose purpose was to help her steer. She sighed and nodded at him. "Thank you, sir."

"No problem at all, private."

As soon as he'd cut her loose, she bent down to pick up the leg bag. She had predicted it would fall off during the jump, but apparently the Brits managed to make it pretty stern. Alice grabbed her gun, before swinging the leg bag around her shoulder, carrying it as a satchel. The officer looked impressed.

"I thought most men lost their leg bags during the jump." His voice was full of surprise, and though it was dark enough for her not see his face, she could tell by the tone that he was probably smirking, or at least cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not a man, for starters" Alice offered. "Alice Price, Easy company."

"Ronald Speirs. Dog company."

"I guess they spread us out pretty good, sir" she said.

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"JUMP!" Winters yelled, before taking the jump himself. Alice shuddered and followed suit; there was not enough time to think. Bombs and artillery were blasting all around her, and she realized that the huge parachute would make an excellent target.

She floated through the air, desperately wiping tears of terror off her face. 'Don't let anyone see you like this' she thought. 'Get it together.'

Not that there was any risk of them seeing her. She could vaguely make out a few chutes below her, and falling soldiers littered the sky, but she couldn't recognise a single face. Someone's chute appeared to get shot holy and the poor man plummeted down into the sea of fire.

Alice was too numb to even mourn the John Doe.

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The noise leaving her gun was too loud to comprehend. A loud booming noise, followed by a German cry for help, and then another shot was heard. Lieutenant Speirs seemed calm about killing someone, and of course, Alice should be too. It was what they all signed up for.

She'd just robbed someone of their son or husband or brother or friend. "Pardon" she muttered as they stepped over the dead bodies, Speirs picking up the dead soldiers' watches and other trinkets.

"So, how long 'till we reach our objective, sir?" Alice asked casually. Speirs didn't even look up, he just glanced up at the road and shrugged.

"An hour or two, depending on our pace." She nodded at him, slightly intimidated. Longing for a cigarette, but aware of the risk smoking would put them at, she bit her lip. Speirs finally stood up and looked at her. "Sobel was your CO, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Drop the formalities, Alice. We've just invaded Normandy." Speirs smiled. "Anyway. If Sobel trained you, I suppose you don't mind running the rest of the way?"

"Absolutely not, si-" she cut herself off. "Ronald. Let's go."

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"Heigh-ho Silver!" Sobel roared and Alice sighed. This was supposed to be an exercise for stealth missions; if that asshole yelled like that in Normandy, they would all be fucked. Nonetheless, she kept running, head held high.

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"Fuck!" Alice cradled her ankle, inspecting the red swelling on her lower leg. "It's not broken, at least" she muttered, slowly getting up again. Lt Speirs hadn't bothered to stop and wait for her, so she had no choice but to run fast enough to catch up to him.

They passed a lot of beautiful nature on the way to the meeting point; and a lot of destruction. Alice was aware of how this day would turn out, and had read about it a thousand times. Experiencing it was a whole other thing. She knew that many soldiers just turned off their emotions, and saw their surroundings as nothing but a battlefield or mission, and Speirs was one of them. He didn't seem bothered or stunned by anything.

Alice felt like she had to live it. The mission she had was different from the others; she was sure of the outcome of the war, and even if her life was lost, the world would recover. And she had to take all this destruction in. She had to know, she needed to know. Whether it would result in PTSD later on, it was information, memories and experiences that were necessary for her life to make sense.

And she was here voluntarily. She had no obligation to fight for her country on the front lines, and definitely not in this time period. The extent she had gone to in order to secure a spot here was ridiculous. The rumours about her, however twisted they had become, were a price she had to pay, and she did.

Once again, voluntarily.

"Alice! You made it!" Joe's voice woke her up from the train of thoughts.

"Lieb! Good to see you in one piece" she said, slowing down. "Sir" she saluted Lt SPeirs before turning back to Joe; he looked like he'd hit something on the way down, or gotten into a fist fight, but he was alright - and - in one piece.

"What happened to your leg darlin?" Eugene Roe asked, noticing the limp right away.

"I fell on the way here, it's just a bit bruised" she shrugged. Roe nodded and got out a bandage.

"I'm on my way to the barn" he gestured. "But I got time to patch you up." He did a good job with the bandage, neatly tucking in the end before getting up again.

"Catch you later, doc, thanks" Alice called, but the man was already gone. He was strange like that, but Alice had no doubt he would be the best medic they could wish for. "You haven't seen Lieutenant Nixon have you?" she asked Joe, only slightly worried. He grinned.

"Right over there."

The look on her face must have given away more than she thought, because Joe snorted and laughed. Nix, in his turn, looked up and saw her, and relief washed over his face. Alice smiled and started making her way over to him, trying not to limp. He was the best friend she had here, right after Joe, and she was just so grateful that he was alive.

"Damnit Price, you almost got me worried."