this is a little back story and ectera so. enjoy. p.s. please comment :)

"so. Remind me again how you have this Donny?"

Mila sat between his legs while he laced up the corset everyone said was the "latest is fashion" but really was the latest in torture.

"I don't really know"

Another yank on the strings in the back and a grimace to accompany the yank.

"I do not want to wear this. Why do I have…ack …damn it Donny"

Mila was obviously uncomfortable. The corset dug into her chest and sides probably leaving bruises and other undesirables underneath. The whole thing strikes me as funny she thought. The biggest least fashionable man in the world telling me that I should wear a corset because It is fashionable? She laughed heartily in her mind.

Her breath was quickly taken away from her again. Only to return after Donny finally stopped.

"what's wrong?"

"Oh nothing. You are just trying to kill me. That is all. How can you yank that hard anyway?"

"oh buck up ya pansy. I got shot and stabbed!"

Another pull on the corset

"hold still sis. You don't want me tying it too tight ya know."

His big hands yanked on the strings again. Mila fidgeted and wondered how she could possibly fit in this tiny little thing. The men said she had to look quote un quote pretty for her date.

Aldo's exact words were

"ya got him. Now ya got to keep him. Cant have him loosing interest. wouldn't be good if your gonna be a spy for us."

"so why exactly do you have this thing anyway Donny?"

Zim and Sako, who were watching the spectacle unfold, decided to pipe up with something embarrassing like they always do.

"the reason he has that certain piece of ladies clothing is simple, mademoiselle."

"you see. There was this guy. He really really liked transvestites. For this story lets call him. Hermann. He was an important part of the SS. A high officer or something. You see. Someone we thought was ripe for the picking if you know what I mean."

They're smiles only got wider as they continued

" Donny did look pretty in that dress, Mila, he really did"

Wow. How the hell did they get Donny in this thing. She thought. Mila must not have realized she said it out loud. "Why the hell did Donny want to get in this thing? What!"

Another tug at her back. This time it seemed frazzled. Mila turned her heavily made up face toward Donny. He was red. Too red.

"I uh. I had to. It was weird."

"Ha. don't worry Donny. You aren't the only one I see who has secrets. How did Smith do my hair so pretty? How did Zim do my make up so nice. And how the hell did Hugo produce such a beautiful pink dress?" her face beamed as she humiliated each of them.

Each man at turn blushed such a Scarlett color. Mila never expected a group of men living in a forest to know so much about beauty and fashion. quite frankly it was hilarious.

Donny ended her hour long torture and it was time to get into the beautiful dress that Hugo had made for her. Donny decided to help with that to for some unknown reason. It was easy on their parts to help her get ready and soon she looked like a proper woman, a proper woman in serious pain.

The tent they were using was pretty big for tents so Donny and Mila could talk in private. He wanted to talk to her earlier but she was grabbed away by all the other men. Donny seemed to

visibly calm when they were alone. All trace of his swagger disappeared. The slightly demented smirk he always wore slid off his face.

"Mila. I don't want you going out there, I don't"

His eyes darted around. However calm he looked. He really wasn't. Mila had never known Donny to worry. Some sort of emotion Mila couldn't possibly quite name flitted across his face. It was far from his usual confidence and swagger.

"I….."

he started to say something but his voice cracked and stopped. He turned around. His shoulders slumped. Mila was at a complete loss as for what to say. Donny would explain in time what was bothering him but she would not push it. She walked toward him but he did not move. He seemed to be remembering something. Probably a memory lost deep in his mind. It must be that.

Donny POV

Watching her was all he could do. Martina was like an angel. Beautiful, Italian, blonde. Everything a young Jewish boy could ever want.

She turned toward the ocean to watch a wave roll again, but he watched her. She smiled at him but all he could think of was how have I gotten so lucky? How could I come to Italy in the heat of war and find this woman. An angel, mine, the love of my life.

He was probably twenty two. He didn't know for sure. Being off to war there wasn't any way to figure time but he already felt older than he did when they were sent on this mission to Italy. His angel spoke to him.

" I have to go Donny. I cant stay here. they will be looking for me I'm in to deep and I don't want to drag you down with me."

"where you go I would go with you?"

Her long elegant hand floated up to stroke his long black hair behind his ears. He wasn't yet a man but no longer a boy. He loves her. She is his.

"you are so brave"

He wanted to tell her to stay but he knew she wouldn't. she was a spy and one of the best to be exact. That was how they met. A typical love story. The spy and the soldier. but they didn't care how cliché it was. He would ask her to marry him. To go back to America and live in Boston with him. The dream he had been fighting for. Everything for her. But he knew she wouldn't go.

The waves crashed onto the shore underneath their feet. Light was now gone from the skyline and the lights of the city rose behind them as the primary source.

I cant loose her, he thought, I cant let this happen.

All of it would prove moot. She left. And so did he. Aldo had, true to his word, waited for him to return. But he did not return the boy that had selfishly left. He returned the man that he had become. Ready for war, ready for fighting and death. He had shut himself off to everyone he could love. The loss of another lover would not fare well with him a second time.

Narrator POV

The talk they were having in the tent ended abruptly. He told her about Martina. She told him about her husband. Before they really had time to get it all out it was time to go.

Though the forest was deserted Mila still felt as if she was being followed. She wrote it off as paranoia. otherwise the trip to the village was uneventful. She walked into the diner to find no one in sight.

Maybe he is late or something? She thought to herself. If so it wouldn't be too much of a big deal. She sat in her usual booth to wait. The owner of the diner brought her her usual of thick black coffee. Her mind couldn't help but stray to Donny and his Martina. Love seems to be delightfully tragic doesn't it?

The owner of the diner came over to chat with Mila. The woman named Olga, had apparently suffered the loss of her son to the Nazi armies.

"he was a good boy my Hans. We moved here to get away from the war. I got this old diner from my long passed away uncle and we have been running it ever since."

"Have you ever had more than three people at a time in here?"

Mila's rude query met with a smile from the woman.

"it is how I like it. To many people bring problems."

The woman paused before asking a question of her own.

"what about that man that I saw you with. The blonde one?"

She winked at Mila. Her wrinkled face broke into a smile. She wasn't that bad of a woman. Mila smiled tentively. she didn't have the heart to tell her that Karl wasn't any kind of guy she would be interested in. hell, he disgusted her. She really could not tell her why she was with him in the first place. Olga must have seen the look on her face because she latched on pretty quick.

"oh you have someone else in mind?"

She leaned foreword and smiled. Her yellow teeth glowed in the light. Mila looked away sadly. She decided to give a little of her background to this kind woman. She reminded her of her mother in law. She was a good woman to. She remembered the long nights she would spend with the woman after her late husband went to war. She was very kind and understanding. It seemed like many lifetimes ago.

"I had a husband. He was killed in the war. I loved him very much"

She was done talking about it. In the silence that followed she heard Olga get up and shuffle away. She was left to her own devices.

As the night grew later and the contents of her cup seemed to disappear she decided it would be best to leave. It started to get dark and it was blatantly clear that Karl would not show up.

She finally exited the diner at a quarter to nine. A bright orange light above the roof tops drew her attention immediately.

Screams seemed to be coming from that general direction and morbid curiosity won out better judgment as she ran to help'

Thick black smoke clouded out any light the moon would have given. Shapes and screams moved around the fire. Black figures coughed and ran away. Orange tendrils curled around the

building. Distant cheering could be heard.

Why are people cheering? this is terrible.

Her mind raced as she ran. The building that was burning was too far gone to enter but after a quick look at the top Mila could tell why there was a chorus of drunken cheering from the clouded shadows around. There. Sitting on top of the building was a star of David. Who ever it was was burning a synagogue.

A drunken voice behind her warranted her anger. The smell of burning flesh from the poor souls trapped inside was nauseating. All she felt was distress and anger. She always labeled herself as smarter than the average woman. This was the work of Nazis. Or Nazi affiliates. They would get away with it tonight.

The man behind her wobbled into view holding a flaming rag and a bottle of alcohol. He was easy to distinguish. It was Karl the Gestapo officer that had asked her out. His eyes met hers and grew wide in recognition. in a split second she was gone.

Tears blurred her eyes. she was dimly aware of feet running behind her and a voice calling out her name. the village backdrop gave way to trees. She lost her shoes and ended up running on gravel. Little pieces of it cut her feet and ankles. She didn't care. She just kept running. strong arms wrapped themselves around her midsection.

She struggled and kicked like her life depended on it. If it was Karl it would depend on it. There was no reason why he would keep her alive after her witnessing what she did. If her life ended at least this nightmare would be over. But that thought didn't comfort her as she scratched what bit of skin she would reach. Her pitiful efforts of self preservation would not save her if she really was in trouble. she realized the voice was not speaking in German or French. But in a thick Boston accented English.

Mila stopped struggling and collapsed in Donny's arms. He held her there and didn't complain when she sobbed her hatred and sadness into his chest. He whispered sweet nothings into her hair as if she were a child. Soon she quieted down. Her body utterly tired.

Soon she was asleep. He still held her in his arms. Donny leaned up against a tree and stroked her hair for a time. It was a good thing that he followed her he reasoned. His best friend had needed him and he was there. Donny felt slightly better about going in the first place. He knew if he was caught that she would have been pissed. He saw the fire and the burning synagogue. He heard her sobs and felt her distress. There was nothing he could do to help the souls in that building but to his friend he could be anything she needed.

Mila POV

I dreamt of all the horrors I saw. I dreamt of my husband going up in flames and all the men I had killed circle around me like hunters to their prey. In my mind I felt like I deserved it. There was no reason why I shouldn't. I had taken their lives but they had taken many many more innocent ones. At the same time I felt as if I was floating.

My emotions are just as raw as they were then. At some point I had hoped they would harden and these things wouldn't bother me as much as they do. That must be a woman's curse. Or at least my curse. to live on the edge of hysteria and in those days everyday was the edge. every second would thrive just to push us through the emotional barriers we