A week had passed. Bible was busy handing out the post among the tanks, making sure he had forgotten no one. Like usual, June did not receive anything. While the men were busy reciting their letters to each other, she laid back on top of the tank, enjoying the sun rays that hit her face, slowly warming her up, wondering what her brother was doing at that moment back at home. Did he ever think of her? Would he ever thank her for her sacrifice?

The guys had grown more friendly to her again, but it was nowhere where it once was. June tried to stop caring about it, reminding her she was just here to serve her country and she was not here to make friends. Yet she could no deny that having a couple of friends made this whole war a lot easier.

She was jealous of the bond the guys shared with each other. They had been together since Africa. She had been with them for just a short while. Would she ever be a part of them? Or did the fact that she was a woman restrict her from that privilege?

"June."

Someone was tugging at her boot. Slowly she opened her eyes, the sun partly blinding her. She raised her head to see what was happening.

"We're heading out," Gordo said, disappearing behind the tank before she could reply.

By the position of the sun June judged she must have dosed off. With her fingers she rubbed the sleep from her eyes before sliding off the tank to stretch her legs for a bit before she had to sit for another while again.

A bullet whizzed past her ear. Before she could respond she heard another one.

June ducked down. A loud cry came from her left and her eyes quickly fell on Gordo, grabbing his leg tightly.

Her eyes widened as she acted as fast as she could. She kneeled beside him. A stain of blood was already forming in the fabric where the bullet had hit him. Her fingers gripped his leg tightly, trying to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Medic!" she called out in despair.

The bullet had gone into his thigh but she couldn't see if it had hit the main artery. Her eyes remained still on the wound, but the bloody mess restricted her from seeing what the damage was.

"Where the fuck did that come from?" Gordo asked, tightening his face in pain.

She shook her head. "No idea. Keep still, okay?"

Around them people had started moving. They started to fire back in the direction where the bullets had come from, but June's guess was that it was from a sniper. They could shoot all they want but they were never going to get a sniper, not unless they knew the location.

"Medic!" she called out again.

Her eyes shifted from the blood pouring through his pants to his eyes.

"Stay with me, Gordo," she demanded after she thought she saw his eyes rolling back. "Stay with me! MEDIC!"

A second pair of hands arrived. Wardaddy kneeled down next to her, also adding pressure to the wound. June seized the opportunity to quickly wipe loose strands of hair out of her face, accidentally smearing some blood across her cheek. She would clean up later.

"I think it's a sniper," she told Wardaddy.

He nodded while ripping open a pack of sulphur to spread across the wound.

"Where the fuck is Bible," she muttered softly.

She let Collier apply pressure while she released her grip to move to his head, taking it in her lap.

"You're doing good, Gordo," she told him.

He coughed loudly. June was expecting the worst but luckily he did not cough up any blood. The pain was taking a toll on his body. He seemed much more lifeless than a few minutes earlier. His eyes were not as bright as they usually were. His breathing became more sporadic.

"Just stay with me, okay?"

She turned to Collier, lowering her voice as she spoke so Gordo couldn't hear.

"If Bible's not here soon he'll die…"

Wardaddy shook his head. "He's not gonna die. I promised he'll make it through this war. I can't let him die."

June could only hope he knew what he was saying. Promises like that were very hard to keep in moments like this.

"I'm here. I'm here!" Bible breathed. He slid down through the mud to position himself next to Gordo.

She still held his head into her lap. Boyd ripped up Gordo's pants before taking a better look at the wound. June kept her eyes fixed on Gordo, making sure she would not lose him.

Wardaddy said something to Bible but the gunfire around her silenced their voices. She had no idea what was happening on the frontline. Were they actually shooting at anybody? Would there be an entire company of Germans waiting for them behind that embankment?

It felt like hours had passed when they finally managed to get Gordo to a camp they had passed a few miles back. In reality it had been much shorter. Both her and Wardaddy had accompanied Boyd and Gordo to the camp to make sure he would live to see another day.

Bible judged he would not be able to fix the wound on his own since he too feared the bullet had hit the main artery. But they were very lucky there was a surgeon stationed at the camp.

"Someone needs to let Grady know what is going on," Bible said after a long silence.

They were waiting outside of the tent where the surgeon was working on Gordo. June was seated on a crate that had been turned upside down. Her head was buried in her hands as she tried to stop the thoughts from clouding her mind. Even though the guys had been rough on her, she could not help but worry for Gordo. The Fury team would not be the same without him.

Wardaddy put out his cigarette with his boot. "You can go back, let him know. We'll stay here."

She had to admit she was surprised he did not order her to get back, but she appreciated it nevertheless. Staying away from the fighting was something she would not say no to.

Bible nodded. "What are we going to do when he has to stay here?"

June looked up. She had not thought about that. They were a man short and the driver was unmissable. Judging by the wound, Gordo would not be able to return for a while.

"We need someone else to drive," she replied, her gaze shifting between him and Wardaddy.

"Or we need a new assistant driver," Collier suggested, his eyes piercing through hers.

She cocked her head. Was she hearing this correctly?

"Are you implying I would become the driver?"

"That is exactly what I'm implying."

"I don't have any experience as the main driver. I've always been an assistant driver," she exclaimed, still not sure whether he was serious or not.

Wardaddy took another cigarette from his package and stuck it between his lips before lighting it.

"Then consider yourself promoted."

He got up and entered the tent where they were working on Gordo, leaving a stunned June behind.

She turned her torso to Bible. "Was he serious?" she asked him with raised eyebrows.

"I guess so," he replied, a faint smile playing on his lips. "You okay with that?"

"No," June scoffed. "You're putting someone with no combat experience behind the wheel of something I have only driven during basic training, which was well over a year ago."

Bible inched forward and placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it softly.

"You'll do fine," he spoke reassuringly.

"Just don't ignore me for another week when I accidentally drive over and kill someone," June wanted to say, but she kept her mouth closed.

Boyd disappeared to tell Grady about the news, leaving June behind at the camp. She was still seated on her crate, enjoying the sun while ignoring the comments that were thrown at her head. By now the soldiers remarks didn't even bother her anymore. Over the time she had learned how to deal with them and she just let them go over her head. She knew she was a better person than they were and that was all that mattered.

Some time had passed when Wardaddy threw open the flap of the tent. He stood before her, blocking the sun she had been enjoying from her face, casting a cold shadow on her.

June raised her eyebrows, awaiting the news while pushing her crate to the left so she was back in the sun again.

"He'll make it," Collier spoke. "He's gonna go to another aid station where he'll receive more care."

June smiled softly. "That's great news."

She narrowed her eyes as she looked into his, trying to read what he was thinking about but it was once again impossible. His stern eyes could literally mean anything. Was he happy? Angry? Scared?

"You got to keep your promise," she added, trying to get an answer to her ever burning question.

But his expression did not change at all. Instead he spoke. "Let's go. We need to find you a replacement."

"Oh, good," June said, jumping up from her crate, standing besides him. "For a moment I thought you were putting me up in that driver's seat all by myself."

They started walking.

"I'm not trying to get anyone killed," Wardaddy replied and June was sure she could hear a hint of amusement in his voice.

With Collier by her side, the comments suddenly stopped. His authoritative presence seemed to protect her for the remarks that seemed to had been hitting her just minutes earlier. June was lying if she did not admit she liked the peace and quiet. Never before had she been able to walk across camp in such tranquility.

They entered Cpt. Waggoner's tent. The tent sheltered him from the outside world. The only natural light came from a couple of bullet holes in the canvas. He was studying a map guided by the light of a lantern.

He looked up when Collier cleared his throat. June stood awkwardly next to him, not sure what to do. Waggoner had a much higher rank than she had, was she supposed to salute him? Say nothing?

"Oh, right," Waggoner spoke, nodding his head when he remembered. "You're coming for your replacement?."

"We are," Collier replied, a soft smile playing on his lips.

Waggoner put down his pencil and folded his map, tucking it away in his breast pocket before leading them out of the tent.

"Don't expect too much," he warned. "Finding experienced replacements at this point in the war is hard. Hell, finding replacements at all is fucking hard."

"I appreciate your efforts," Wardaddy replied.

June walked behind them, her eyes focussed ahead. With the arrival of a replacement, she was no longer the new one. All the shit jobs she had to do would go to him. All the snarky remarks would go to him. She was a little ashamed to admit it, but she liked that. Maybe it would make her feel more part of the team, especially after everything that had happened. She wanted nothing more than to belong again.

"Ellison?" Waggoner called out when the came to a halt before a make-shift office.

There were several men seated behind tiny desks which were balancing on the unstable mud of the German countryside. They were typing away on typewriters like June had had at home. Writing letters and reports, these men had nothing to do with the combat side of war.

Her eyes scanned all the soldiers, wondering if one of them would be assigned to Fury. Neither of them looked like they had any fighting experience. Their uniforms were still fresh and clean. Their fingers were not caked with sand and blood. There was no trace of hair on their faces. Was this really all Waggoner could get?

A scrawny boy just a little taller than she was stood up. He saluted them.

"That's me, sir," he spoke nervously. He dropped his hand to his side and immediately clenched his fist.

Both her and Wardaddy were speechless. His nervousness was not a good indication. Combat situations would be much more stressful than this moment could ever be. How was he ever going to manage? How were they going to manage not getting him killed?

For a moment she thought Wardaddy was going to decline. But even he had to realize they had no other options but to take him in. With the proper guidance, he might be of some use. An unexperienced driver was better than no driver at all.

"What's your name boy?" he asked him, taking a step forward to get a good look at him.

June continued to study his features, coming to the conclusion he probably was a few years younger than she was.

"Ellison, sir," he replied with the same nervousness as before. "Norman Ellison."

A/N: Wow! Thank you all for the reviews. I've never had so many in such a short amount of time, please keep them coming! Also, sorry this took a long time. Sadly, university has started again and I have a lot of courses this semester which means a lot of homework :( The upside is that we're seriously going to discuss Fury during one of my courses so I'm very excited about that.

But most importantly: NORMAN. YES! I managed to write him in! I'm not exactly sure where I'm gonna take it from here, but we'll see.

So, please let me know what your thoughts were and until next time. Take care! (Oh, and happy Valentine's Day!)