Author's Note:

Thanks a bunch Jessie for another great review! And I'm glad you mentioned how Marie is kind of cast aside when it comes to treatment (I was aiming for that actually) that's unfortunately how things go for her, she's always stuck in someone's shadow. Her self-esteem issues don't help with that, either. But her time is coming! I promise! And it's awesome how much you relate to Marie! :) As for Marie and Malark, we'll see what happens~ ;P

And thank you Straight Edge Queen for another review! I always look forward to your encouragement! :D


Normandy, France

June 6th, 1944

Marie's eyelids fluttered open. She rubbed her eyes drowsily, realizing that she was still sitting in the dark and noisy C47. She looked down at her hand, it was still entwined and clutching Toye's hand for dear life. Her hand had become numb for holding his for so long, but she saw that he was asleep so she didn't want to move it and wake him. Marie glanced around the plane, most of the guys seemed content. Some were smoking, most resting their eyes, she saw that even Malarkey had fallen asleep too.

Falling asleep helped ease some of Marie's anxiety, but she could still feel the bit of nervous butterflies in her stomach. It was either the butterflies or her feeling queasy from the airsickness pills; she didn't know which she'd prefer. The plane began to jitter a little, making Marie hop in her seat. Marie shrugged it off as a bit of turbulence, then shut her eyes to catch up on some more sleep.

The sound of explosions and distant gunfire made Marie's eyes shoot open. She recognized that sound anywhere: ack-acks. Marie peered at the end of the seats to where they would be jumping out of. Buck was looking outside - flashes of red and orange reflected off of his skin and his mystified eyes. Something bad was happening outside.

The plane jerked and rocked more, causing everyone to become stirred awake. The sound of the antiaircraft artillery was deafening, even more than the sound of the C47 engine. Buck turned to the platoon of wide-eyed men and motioned for them to hook up. This was it. All of Marie's fears came rushing back at the thought of jumping out into the immediate fire of the enemy. The red light suddenly flashed on, the sight of it made Marie's stomach drop to her knees. The plane was travelling way too fast to jump out at this speed, what were the pilots thinking? As the light turned green, solider after soldier leaped out the door. Marie saw Malarkey and Guarnere already jump out of the plane. Marie's place climbed up in line when the plane lurched, knocking everyone over hanging by their hooks.

For a split second Marie was afraid the plane had been hit. She gained her footing again then stood up, readying herself to jump out of the plane. Buck motioned her to move up waving his hands frantically as she struggled her way up the line. Staying on the plane was even more dangerous than actually jumping out into the artillery littered air. Marie made it to the door and peered outside. Bombs, fires, explosions, planes going down, and hundreds of men gliding down to the earth in parachutes – it was hellish but poetic at the same time.

"You have to jump, Marie!" She heard Buck scream into her ear over all the noise. Marie's feet were planted at the edge of the doorway, peering into the darkness that occasionally flashed with bouts of fire. Marie saw that the plane was losing altitude at an alarming rate. The lower the plane got, the easier a target it was for the Germans.

"Are we close to the drop zone?" Marie screamed back at Buck, trying to strain her voice over the gunfire.

"No! We've just passed Sainte-Mère-Église, but that doesn't matter! You have to go now!" Buck was ready to push her out if she didn't go.

Marie jumped out of the plane, waiting for the static line to open up the cover chute. Marie had so much adrenaline running through her veins that she almost forgot to count how long until the chute opened.

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi…

She felt herself being suddenly hitched upward and prayed that a piece of shelling wouldn't hit her chute. She frantically glanced around, realizing that no one was landing around her; she could barely even see the ground as she approached it. She saw the light from the explosions reflecting off of something on the ground, she squinted her eyes, concentrating on what it was. She felt her heart skip a beat. It was water.

For an agonizing few moments, Marie thought she was going to land directly in the water. Her heart bled for those carrying 200 pounds that had landed in the water, she was lucky to barely be carrying anything. She thought of Malarkey, Muck and Emilia landing in the water and drowning from being pulled under from all the weight they were carrying. She shook the horrific thoughts of death out of her head and steered herself the best she could to avoid landing in the black and murky unknown. Eventually she hit the bank, her boots squishing under the wet mud. She rolled off her ankle and landed softly on her side. She didn't even care that she was covered in mud, she was too relived to have landed on the ground.

Marie stood still on the ground for a moment, listening for familiar voices, or voices from the enemy lurking nearby while trying to slow her breathing. She packed her chute when she thought the coast was clear, then proceeded to find the rest her platoon. It was bad luck that she'd been so delayed from jumping out when Malarkey, Guarnere, and Toye jumped. They could be about a mile away from her at this point. She had no idea where the hell she was or even if she'd landed at the DZ.

She quickly made her way to the nearest cover she could find. She jogged, slightly hunched over, to a hedgerow that she saw off in the distance. Not slowing her pace, she took a dive for the hedge then waited in silence for a moment. She was stuck in the middle of nowhere with no weapons, no maps, and all by herself. Marie's heart hammered in her chest as her head buzzed with the aftermath of all the noise from the plane and explosions. Her eyes were sharper than ever before as her instincts heightened while sitting in enemy territory in the dark. She knew that she couldn't wait at this hedgerow forever, she needed to find a way to jump in with some paratroopers and make her way to the DZ.

Her BDU's clingged to her body with a mixture of mud and sweat. Even in summer, she never imagined France to be this hot. She took out her canteen and hastily took a swig of water, forcing not to gulp it all down in one shot. Marie froze when she heard unfamiliar voices being carried in the wind. She focused on the words, and realized that they weren't speaking English.

"Ich dachte, ich hörte etwas."

"Ich habe nichts gesehen."

"Halten Sie Ihre Augen für die Amerikaner."

Marie listened to the voices pass by, growing further and further away. She wished she knew how to speak German, but Emilia was the translator, not her. When she no longer heard the Germans, she exhaled with a shaky breath of relief while clutching onto her knife. Le Grand Chemin, 0700 hours. She reminded herself, remembering the conversation she'd had with Emilia a few days before. Marie stuck her head out of the hedgerow, looking left and right to make sure she was alone. She adjusted her helmet that was sitting askew on top of her head, then hustled her way out of the hedge. Marie spotted some brush about ten yards from where she was standing, then scurried her way over to them. When she got to the brush, she kneeled down again, making it a routine to stay as quiet as she could.

Buck mentioned Sainte-Mère-Église. That's miles away from the DZ. I hope I'm not too far off. She thought to herself, feeling worried. If what he said was accurate, then she'd have a lot of walking ahead of her. Being a lone combat medic, not to mention an unarmed female one, was bad news in the middle of kraut territory. Marie peered out of the brush. She scurried out of the bush when she felt her foot catch on something. She started to tumble forward, but she caught herself in time before she completely toppled over.

Dammit! Marie swore to herself, glancing down at what tripped her. It was a train track. Marie squatted down, looking at both ends of the track running in opposite directions. She had to pick a way to follow, but she wasn't sure which one. God I wish I could track like Em. She thought to herself. She knew it wasn't smart to base her tactic from eeny, meeny, miny, moe but she didn't see any other options. Marie started following the tracks toward her left. She trudged along until she started feeling her feet and legs started to ache. It vaguely reminded her of the great march to Atlanta that 2nd Regiment had to do. That felt like a lifetime ago.

Marie heard boots coming toward her. She immediately crouched down. She saw a group of figures approaching her, counting at least five or seven of them. She knew it was too late for her to make a beeline back to the bushes, if she moved now they would notice her. The figures had stopped moving and looked startled like they'd seen her.

Damn! Marie thought, biting her lip as she stood crouched down and frozen. Her heart beat rapidly like it was having palpitations in her chest. She feared that she was going to get shot, or worse.

"Flash!" She heard a voice whisper-yell through the darkness. The voice sounded familiar to her immense relief.

"Thunder!" She called back with a lowered voice.

The figures appeared through the darkness, as they drew closer Marie stood up, trying to make out who it was. The familiar face of Dick Winters came into view, followed by some other men that were still too much in the shadows for her to recognize.

"Lieutenant!" Marie exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Man, am I glad to see you!"

"Sergeant Docherty, it's good to see you, too. You alone?" Winters asked her, shaking her hand as they reunited.

"Yes, sir. I landed by some lake and made my way here." Marie informed him. Marie peered over Winter's shoulder to see Lipton come into the light. She smiled at the other friendly, familiar face. "Lip!" She greeted, shaking his hand. "I'm glad you made it down!"

"Likewise." Lipton responded, smiling at her. "You're not with 2nd platoon?"

Marie frowned and shook her head. She prayed that they were all okay. Marie looked as the rest of the men came into sight. She didn't recognize any of them, they all looked like they were from different companies. Some of them weren't even from the 506th, they were from the 101st and 502nd. One soldier standing in front she saw had the Able Company insignia on his helmet.

"Wow, we're scattered all over the place, huh sir?" Marie commented as she scanned over the other men.

"You have no idea." Winters sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "We're miles away from the drop zone. We're about three-quarters of a mile east from Sainte-Mère-Église. That makes us five miles away from Utah Beach. I threw together this mixed unit, and now we're making our way to the rallying point."

Marie nodded in response. She was glad he knew where he was going. Marie looked back at the men, noticing that they were giving her bemused looks. She shifted in place, feeling uncomfortable under their stares. Something about those strangers made her feel uneasy.

"So it's true. The 506th did allow girls into certain companies." One soldier said, giving her a strange grin that made her skin crawl with discomfort. Another one smirked next to him, letting out a low chuckle. "Those lucky dogs must be enjoying a nice roll in the hay every night. What else would they need women for?" He looked her up and down, his tongue curling with delight as his eyes roamed her body. She hugged herself, trying to shield her body from their prowling eyes.

"You were useless in the dark, huh? Typical. You women with your sense of direction." Another one laughed. Marie felt herself blush from embarrassment and shrink back. The worst part was that they were right about her getting lost. The men continued to smirk, except for the young soldier from Able, he stared at her with large and sympathetic eyes.

"Hey!" Lipton snapped, reeling his head around at the jeering men. They all fell silent instantly. "She's a damned good soldier, better than all you numbskulls put together. She's also the best medic we have in our regiment. You do NOT talk to her like that. Ever."

"That's right." Winters agreed, turning around to face the men. "Never insult a Doc, she may just skip over you if you're injured on the field. She's what you have hanging between life and death out there." Winters turned and winked at her. Marie smiled bashfully at their defense. As Winters and Lipton started to lead the way, Lipton squeezed her shoulder in comfort as he walked by. Feeling a sudden burst of boldness from Winters and Lipton's words, she turned around facing the misogynistic soldiers and smiled at them triumphantly while flicking them the bird.


They trudged along for about twenty or thirty minutes in the darkness, following the railroad. Marie prayed that everyone had made it from her plane, along with Muck and Emilia. She had watched several planes go down before any paratroopers were even able to jump out. She shivered at the horrible memory, hugging herself as she stared down at the ground as she walked along. If anything happened to Emilia or Muck, she wouldn't know what she'd do with herself.

"What's your name?" She heard a soft voice say. She looked up to see the private from Able Company staring back at her.

"Marie Docherty." She answered, extending her arm.

"John Hall." He said, shaking her hand. He was about to open his mouth to say more, when a rustling sound came from the hedgerow on their left sides. Winters signaled for all of them to stop.

Marie was hunched over, her hand on the knife that was strapped to her side. She got ready to draw it just in case.

"Flash." Winters said into the shadows of the hedgerow.

"Thunder." A familiar voice replied. A figure came out of the darkness, Marie recognized that it was Bill Guarnere followed by Joe Toye and finally Donald Malarkey. Marie's heart did somersaults of joy to see her dear friend alive and well.

"Don!" Marie went over and wrapped her arms around him in excitement. Their helmets clinked together and made him stumble, taken off guard as she threw herself on him.

"Marie! You're okay!" Malarkey exclaimed as he got his bearings back, wrapping his arms around her as she clung to his neck.

Guarnere cleared his throat. They broke their embrace instantly. Marie felt like a fool for acting like that in front of Winters, her squad leader, and the rest of the guys. She felt her face grow hot as she kept her eyes down on her shoes. Winters went over with Guarnere where they were headed and they started to move out. Marie hadn't even noticed until she heard their footsteps crunching against the gravel of the tracks.

"Welcome back, kid." Toye muttered to her, tapping on her helmet as he passed. She quickly caught up next to Malarkey, ignoring the sneers from the men that had tagged along with Winters.

Marie caught up with Malarkey, who gave her a boyish smile that made her feel right at home. She took his hand by impulse and entwined her fingers with his. Malarkey didn't pull his hand away, they held hands for a little while. She felt a comforting warmness spread throughout her body. Despite being in the middle of a war, she felt more safe and content for the first time in days.

"I need both hands to hold my M1, Hun." He whispered to her apologetically, letting go of her hand. "We shouldn't let our guard down."

"Oh, right. Sorry!" Marie apologized, quickly bringing her hands back to her sides.

"Will you two quit fraternizing, and catch up!" Guarnere barked from ahead of the line. Irritation rang clear in his voice, making Marie feel guilty.

Malarkey shot a look to the back of his squad leader's head. "Sorry about him. He just found out he lost his brother. You know he doesn't mean it."

Marie knew that his brother died, but she only nodded her head. Before she could open her mouth, the sound of neighing horses pierced the air.