A/N: I do not own any of the characters from Band of Brothers, only the character of Katie Millard. I mean no disrespect to the real men of Easy Company, these characters are based on those from the TV series.

I don't have much knowledge of army etiquette and am trying my hardest but if there are any mistakes my apologies. Also if there are any historical mistakes my apologies again but I have taken some artistic license. Some events may also be far fetched but hey this a fan fiction so when aren't they?

Please review! I would love to know what people think!

I'm know that in the TV series Luz is already with Easy when Tab returns but it was better for yours truly to have them come in at the same time so no complaints please though I doubt anyone is as picky as me with a detail like this.

Again this is a long one. I honestly don't expect them to be this long but then I can't stop writing and can't find a good place to start a new chapter at.

June 8th, 1944

It took a couple of days for Luz and Tab to turn up, days of non-stop worrying with my hope they were alive depleting each day. I kept myself busy by organising the evacuation of the wounded and treating those who got infections. We hadn't moved on from Culoville; according to Nix, Easy were staying put until it was the right time to take Carentan, and by that I assumed he meant until more of Easy turned up. People had shown up in little clusters including Bull, Perconte, Muck, Martin, Christenson, and Grant.

I was sat up against a war memorial, speaking to Frank and Dukeman about Burgess who had been hit with some shrapnel in the face. I had been kicked out of the medic tent again, told I was working ridiculous hours. "He's gonna be fine." I told them.

"Except he's gonna be scarred for the rest of his life." Dukeman added.

Frank shrugged. "The dame's will love that though, war wounds on a war hero."

I laughed before smacking Frank in the head. "Is that all you think about?"

He looked at me like I was insane. "What else is there?"

"Has anyone see the Duchess?" I heard a loud jovial voice ask from behind a truck. I looked up and stood, waiting to see who it was.

Liebgott turned. "Well look who decided to finally show up!" He smirked in his snarky tone.

A crowd gathered around the new comers and someone pointed towards me. "She's there Luz."

The crowd parted slightly and Luz stepped forward, smiling as he always did. He was acting like he hadn't been missing in German occupied territory, like I wouldn't have been sat worrying about him and Tab every second that my mind wasn't preoccupied with something else. His smile only grew when his eyes set on me. "You missed me, Duch?" He teased.

I ran at him and hit him with such force we both fell to the floor. He hugged me tight and for a moment I didn't care that we were lay in amongst a bunch of soldiers. I was just glad to have him back.

"Duch?" I heard a voice ask. I looked up to see it was Tab, looking at me as if he wasn't sure I existed. I scrambled off Luz, who complained at the loss of contact with me and flung myself at Tab who managed to not fall under my added weight.

His hands rubbed my back as if he was checking I was real. "I didn't know if you'd have made it back." He whispered, his voice shaking a little.

I let him go and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Have some fucking faith in me Tab." I smiled. Everyone I cared deeply for was safe or as safe as they could be.

I took a step back from the two of them, scanning them for injuries before clipping them both over the head. "Where the hell have you been? Do you not understand how worried I've been? You couldn't have walked any faster?" I demanded.

Tab scoffed. "You think we haven't been just as worried about you? It's not our fault we fell so far outside the DZ." He defended himself.

Shifty and Smokey stepped out of the crowd, Shifty who was usually so well put together was so dishevelled it took me by surprise. I hugged them both quickly telling them I was glad to see them too.

Liebgott appeared next to Tab, nudging him in the arm. "Hey, Tab. Get a load of this." He held up a Nazi flag that he had recently looted and was very proud of.

"It's the real stuff?" Luz asked, rubbing the material between his thumb and forefinger.

"Yeah, of course." Liebgott answered, snatching it out of Luz's hold like he was going to soil it. Luz replied simply by smirking at him.

Tab started rooting in his bag and then held up a Kraut rain poncho. "You like this?" Like Liebgott he looked proud of himself.

I didn't like the men's obsession with looting dead bodies. I could take it when it was for ammo because that was necessary but I could understand why they did it. They wanted something to take home and show off proudly, they wanted something to prove what they had been though. This however didn't make it any easier for me to swallow. It just showed how they were getting harder as men, unaffected by dead bodies. I got that this hardening was necessary; hell I had done it to deal with the copious amounts of blood I had to deal with but none of us should have to be this hard to death.

Tab grabbed my hands and looked at them intensely. "Jesus, Duch. This is a bit grim."

He was referring to my blood caked hands. There were light smears of blood across my skin but my nails were crusted with the substance. There wasn't much running water so I hadn't been able to scrub them properly.

I shrugged. "Occupational hazard. Hot, right?" I joked, making the three of them laugh.

"Most definitely." Luz replied with a smile.

"Let's go! First platoon!" Harry's voice carried across the courtyard.

Men weren't moving quick enough for my liking. "1st Platoon on your feet! Get moving!" I ordered as I passed the war monument, picking up my gun, helmet and pack. People started to move faster on my command.

"Well someone's found their Lieutenant voice." Luz teased. His eyes found the gun I was carrying. "And a gun?"

I shrugged. "Both became necessary."

We made our way over to Harry who had just took a drink form his canteen, shuddering at the taste. I guessed it wasn't water.

"Listen up. It will be dark soon so I want noise and light discipline from here on." he ordered while he put away his canteen. Harry was a good leader despite his penchant for alcohol and I liked him. "No talking, no smoking and no playing grab fanny with the man in front of you Luz."

The men sniggered. "What if it's a girl in front of me?" Luz asked seriously.

"Then definitely no grab fanny Luz." I order while smiling.

"Don't get your hopes up Duch, when I said girl I was referring to Tab here." He ruffled Tab's hair who smacked his hand away and gave Luz a glare. I laughed at the two of the, overjoyed to have them back.

"So where we heading to Lieutenant?" A soldier I didn't know asked.

"We're taking Carentan."

"That sounds like fun." Frank moaned.

"It's the only place that armour form Omaha and Utah beach can link up and head inland." I told the group, remembering the maps I had studied.

Harry nodded. "Lieutenant Duchess is right." I smirked at the name. "Until we take Carentan they are stuck on the sand. General Taylor is sending the whole division."

Luz sighed and went into a General Taylor impression that made everyone smile. "Give me three days and three nights of hard fighting and you will be relived."

Hoob crossed in front of me. "Lieutenant, I'll take point."

Harry nodded. "Hoobler will be lead scout." He looked into the crowd, adjusting his bag strap. "Blithe, glad you could join us."

I followed Harry's eyes to a shy, scared looking blonde man. "Thank you, sir." He responded respectfully.

"1st platoon fall in behind Fox Company." I rolled my eyes, Fox Company were a bunch of idiots who I would be surprised if they could tell there left from right. "You people from 2nd and 3rd platoons, follow us. Shake a leg."

We all started walking, following Hoob and Harry. "And remember boys, flies spread diseases…" Luz started, back in his General Taylor impression.

"So keep yours closed." Luz, Tab and I finished the joke together, smiling at one another.

"You gonna explain at what point you were given a gun then?" Tab asked.

I shrugged. "I wasn't really given it. When I dropped in I picked one up, used it a couple of times and no one's took it off me so…" I let my sentence tail off because no one had outright given me permission to have a gun but no one had took it off me either.

"Is everyone else ok?" Luz questioned, eyeing me slightly nervously.

"Burgess took a hit in the face, Popeye one in the arse. You best get thinking of some jokes for when he gets back." I told Luz, smiling as I did so. "Everyone that I can think of has turned up, no one has mentioned anyone missing past you two, Shifty and Smokey. Oh, no one from Lieutenant Meehan's plane has been seen." I had forgotten the last piece of news due to the fact it had become old news fairly quickly. I was already settled in with Winters being our new CO.

We let our conversation drop to comments here and there as we got out of town to adhere to the noise discipline. It was a long walk and it was made even longer because we had to keep stopping to find Fox Company as the kept getting lost. We got to an area where the land was strewn with dead German soldiers and there were fires dotted about the place. We were making good progress when I heard Hoob mutter "dammit" under his breath.

Harry moved next to him. "What?"

Hoob sighed. "We lost F Company, sir."

I rolled my eyes. It had been funny the first time, hell it had been funny the second but now on the fifth time, it was just damn infuriating. "Again?" Frank came and stood next to me, giving me a questioning look. "We lost F Company."

"Again?" he exclaimed and shook his head. "Hey, Blithe, Skinny guess what?"

"Frank, go spread the word to get everyone to hold up. We gotta find these idiots before we move on." I ordered.

"Yes ma'am." He walked off to do as I had said. It was odd having Easy call me 'ma'am' on occasion but I could deal with it as long as it was only when I had given an order.

"Hoobler, take Blithe and go find F Company." Harry directed, the two of them walking off to find them.

We all stood around for ten minutes before I went and stood next to Harry. "You know I think it would probably be more beneficial to the war effort to leave them out here."

Harry smirked. "Yeah I wish we could just leave 'em." Harry slapped himself in the face, trying to hit a gnat and it made me laugh.

Winters and Nix came storming over, not looking happy at all. "Did you send somebody…?" Winters began to ask.

Harry cut him off in an annoyed tone. "Yeah, I got Hoobler and Blithe out there." I could understand Harry's annoyed tone. Winters seemed to be doing a lot of micro-managing at the moment and it was beginning to annoy people. For once, everyone who was in charge was actually more than competent so no one needed checking up on but I suppose he was just trying to make sure he did his job right.

"Why have we stopped?" Nix demanded.

Harry was too busy drinking from his canteen so I answered for him. "Lost F Company."

Nix shook his head in disbelief. "This is about officers crapping out on their training, Nix." Winters told him while looking at his watch. "Come on, let's get this show on the road."

He started in the direction Hoob had left in with Nix on his heels. "Harry can I go?" I asked, I was fed up of just standing about.

He shrugged. "Don't get hurt." He turned his attention back to his canteen and I made my way over to Winters and Nix, walking quickly to catch up.

"God, you're like the annoying little sister we can't get rid of." Nix teased once I was walking next to him.

I scoffed. "You're not even carrying a gun, you'll be happy I'm here if a German pops out."

We walked in silence for a bit, making our way into the trees. "Any knowledge about numbers in Carentan?" I asked Nix.

"Supposedly a regiment. How big that regiment is, is unknown."

"And they call you the intelligence office." I shook my head in mock disappointment and Nix shoved me playfully.

"About Carentan…" Winters started. "…I want you to be a sniper."

I couldn't help but beam, I had hoped he would ask me when he became CO. "For what platoon, sir?"

"Well, I want you to remember that you are a nurse first, soldier second so if you hear a medic call, you go to the first. Because of this there is no point putting you in a platoon because you will more than likely be separated from them."

I nodded. "So you just want me to float about?"

"For lack of a better phrase, yes. I turst your instincts and knowledge about battle. You will go into Carentan between 1st and 2nd platoon and find a position that will let you do your job. Remember what I said, nurse first, understood." Winters sounded serious about this and I couldn't blame him. It was no good having one extra soldier if all the men were dropping like flies because there weren't enough medics.

"Yes, sir. Thank you for this." I said, gratefully.

"Geez, his sending you into combat where you could possibly get shot, I wouldn't be thanking him." Nix grumbled.

I laughed before squinting into the dark, seeing a figure moving about. I could make out a head of blonde hair which tipped me off to who it was. "Blithe's right there." I pointed through the bushes.

Winters looked at me oddly. "How can you even see him? Its pitch black."

We made our way towards him and when we got there, he was pointing his gun at a dead German, looking afraid and jumpy.

"He's dead private." Winters told him as we appeared out of the bushes. Blithe swung his gun on his but the second he saw who it was, he dropped it. He was panting for breath, he seemed terrified. "Did you locate F Company?"

"Yes, sir." Blithe whispered. He turned to look at the soldier. "I thought… I thought he had me." He stuttered, taking a step towards the body.

Nix stepped up next to Blithe and he looked at the badge sewn onto the Krauts uniform. "Fallshcirmjäger." He read from the badge.

"Paratrooper?" Blithe asked.

Nix nodded. "Division thinks there is a regiment of the holding Carentan."

I sighed heavily. "Taking Carentan is going to be harder than I thought, we all know what paratroopers are like." Winters and Nix looked at me with a smile. Paratroopers were tough and stubborn, no matter what side they were on.

"Well, there's one less to worry about." Winters noted.

Blithe fingered the soldier's lapel where a small, delicate white flower was residing. "That's Edelweiss." I told Blithe.

"Mark of a true soldier because it only grows in the Alps above the tree line, he must have climbed there to get it." Nix continued my piece of knowledge.

"Come on, we need to get on the move again." Winters started to talk to Blithe about where F Company were.

Watching Blithe, I decided I needed to keep an eye on him. He was far more nervous than any of the other men, he was clammy, he stuttered and everything made him jump. Definitely had to keep an eye on him if possible.

D-Day plus 6, Carentan

All of Easy were crouched at the edge of Carentan. I was at the front of 2nd platoon, the logic being the others would serge forward, firing would start and then I would know where I had to be to snipe those necessary. All my friends were dotted about, all having my pre-battle warning to be safe or I would kill them and each of them took up a piece of worry in me. Luz, however, was who I was most worried for. He was at the front with Harry and would be the second soldier to enter Carentan. He would be out in the open with no knowledge of where the fire would come from.

Winters was looking at his watch and was speaking to Harry but he was too far in front for me to hear. He stared at his watch for about ten seconds and I could clearly see him say "go" to Harry. And so it began.

Harry whisper shouted to 1st platoon. "Let's go 1st, let's go!"

He ran forward, Luz hot and his heels with the rest of first following and then the rest of us. I only made it about five steps before the machine gun fire started. Soldiers dropped to the ground, either injured or dead. Another soldier screamed "in the ditch! Down! Down!" and everyone followed his order, desperate to get out of sight. But now they were sitting ducks, perfect targets to be shot at.

I glanced into Carentan and could see where the fire was coming from; the bottom, middle window and top right and top left window of the café. Movement caught my eyes and I saw two soldiers had made it through and to cover. The black box on one of the backs told me one of them was Luz.

"Get those MG's moving would ya!" Strayer screamed from safety.

Winters was out in the open just like I was screaming at people to move. I looked to the left at me, catching sight of scared faces, not able to move.

"Get yourselves moving! Get out of the ditch!" I yelled over the machine fire. I could hear the bullets hitting the ground, making a clunking sound and disturbing gravel. I grabbed one of the solders and pushed him forward. "Do you want to be a sitting target?! Move yourselves! Now!"

Adrenaline pumped through me that made me feel invisible, neither panic nor fear coming near me. I continued to yell until they got moving. Once a healthy amount started into Carentan, I looked for a position that I would be most useful in. I found a place, to the left of the café there was a ridge that I would be able to hide behind and be able to take out the bottom gun.

I started to run to the left, two other soldiers who I didn't know with me, obviously seeing the same opportunity I did. I saw Lip's squad going to the right while the rest scattered to find sufficient cover and then work from there. I moved swiftly, crashing through a gate and falling into position, my back slamming against the wall so I was out of sight, my gun pulled up against me. There was a clucking noise behind me and I realised I was by a chicken coop.

One of the soldiers who had been following me dropped to the floor, hit by a bullet. The other pressed himself against the wall opposite from me. I eyed the soldier on the floor, he wasn't moving so I looked to see where he was bleeding. The blood was coming from his head, a quick death. The soldier opposite me looked to me and then made to go forward, keeping his eyes on me. I shook my head sharply, signalling that he was already dead.

There was now machine gun fire from our previous position just outside of Carentan as well as regular gun fire from the right side of the town. It was all so noisy that my ears were already beginning to ring.

The soldier opposite me, unpinned one of his grenades and threw it towards the café. It missed its target, only kicking up a bit of debris. Before I could blink, the soldier crumpled to the floor, bleeding from the centre of his forehead. I thought of the layout of my town in my head, trying to remember what I saw as I ran through. It clicked in my head, there was a warehouse with an iron staircase, the perfect spot for a sniper in the kraut coloured uniform to hide and not be easily spotted. He continued to fire, changing his target to the direction that Lip's squad would be positioned.

I knew I had to work quickly so that I didn't draw the attention of the machine gun. I took a deep breath and stepped out, spotting the flesh colour immediately. I took aim and took one shot before stepping back, taking another deep breath. The ceasing of firing from that direction told me I had hit my target.

I needed to take out the machine gun as soon as possible. Rather than stepping out, I just positioned myself so that my gun was poking out. They were further into the building than I expected so they were basically in the shadows which meant it took me longer to take aim. I finally managed to pinpoint one and pulled the trigger. The machine stopped firing for a moment but then the remaining operator had a new target and started firing in my direction.

I hid behind the wall and before my eyes squeezed close in fear, I saw he wasn't aiming at me, he was aiming at the platoon that were running behind me to get into their own position. I had to hold back a girly scream as the bullets hit the wall I was behind, hit the chickens I was stood next to, making them cluck wildly and stir up a bunch of feathers.

In that moment, the adrenaline didn't help, I no longer felt invincible, I thought I was going to die. My mind went to my grandparents and my friends, how they were going to react when they got the news. Then they went to Speirs. I wondered what would have come out of our meetings as the war went on. I cared for him, did he care for me? Did he feel like I did when he was around?

The assault stopped when the sound of a grenade rang out. I was panting like I had just ran a marathon. I came from behind the wall to see Harry underneath the window that had smoke billowing out of it. He had threw the grenade into the window, he had basically saved my life. Lip and Frank ran alongside the café and tripped when a kraut came barrelling out of it, clutching a hand gun. He went to take aim at Frank, my hands moved by themselves as I shot him twice.

The two of them looked to me. I was still panting. "You alright, Lieutenant?" Lip shouted.

There was a cry for a medic over to the right side which kicked me back into action. I shook my head to clear my thoughts before holding my thumb up to tell him I was good. I ran so that I was underneath the café and ran alongside of it, passing Lip, Frank and Shifty who had joined them. They were attempting secure the warehouse.

I followed the medic cry's to find Doc already patching up the guys shoulder. I ran to cover, making a plan in my head of where to go next. To take out the machine guns at the top I would have to get far back to get the right angle or go into the building both of which were stupid ideas to do on my own. There was another cry for a medic so I began towards it, just as 2nd platoon spread out. I spotted Bill but a grey blur caught my eye. A kraut soldier was hid behind a building, taking aim at Bill. I didn't think as I lifted my gun and shot, not taking the time to think about my aim. He fell to the ground instantly, the shot being a fatal blow.

I carried on moving towards the cry for a medic, passing Luz and Hoob throwing grenades into windows and then storming the building. I found the wounded soldier, he was in the middle of the road with no cover. Blood was gushing from his stomach but he was still conscious and was smart enough to have his hand over the bleed. I needed to move him before I could do anything.

"Keep your hand where it is, Private." I ordered while I slung my gun over my shoulder. I grabbed his bag strap by his shoulder and the shoulder of his jacket and started to drag him to the left where there was a building he could stay behind. It took all my strength to get him to move, the debris scattered about causing a lot of friction. The material hurt my fingers as I pulled and tugged until I finally got him under cover.

I rooted through my bag finding a sulpha packet, syrette and a bandage. I moved his hand, pressing the bandage to the wound. I tugged the top off the morphine with my teeth and plunged it into his neck, his whimpers of pain dying. Pulling the bandage off slightly to give myself enough room to sprinkle on some of the sulpha before pushing it back on. I rolled him towards me to get the bandage strap behind his back. The bullet was still lodged inside of him with their being no exit wound. I tied it tight before putting the morphine syrette on his jacket.

I had no choice but to leave him there until the aide station was set up. I couldn't move him any further but at least he would be safe where he was. I stayed still for a moment, listening for a yell that would bring me to my feet again and got it moments later. I was off back into the fray, following the groans of pain.

"They got us zeroed! Move!" Lip was yelling from the warehouse stairs. I didn't know what he was on about but I quickly learnt. There was an explosion up ahead of me, making me crouch for cover. A solder was thrown back, but I couldn't see the damage with the smoke. Once that had cleared I could see he no longer had his left leg. Below his knee was all red, blood and torn flesh. I ran towards him, grabbing a bandage as I went.

"Hey, you're gonna be alright." I told him as he cried in pain. I quickly wrapped the bandage around his stump before grabbing a syrette and jabbing him with it. Bull came out of the house that we were outside of, looking at the soldier's leg. The groans of pain had lessened but not died completely. "Bull pick him up and take him behind that building." I ordered, pointing to where the soldier I had just fixed up was. It was the best place for anyone, it was out of the firing range and good cover at least until we set up an aide station.

"Yes, ma'am." Bull picked the soldier easily, using his remaining leg as support as he put him on his shoulder.

I ran for cover of my own and bumped shoulders with someone behind a blown out wall. I looked at them to find it was Tab. He looked relieved to see me.

I sighed. "At least I know you're ok." I panted out. I couldn't believe how out of breath I was. I had done do much running along walls and the adrenaline was getting to me.

"Same for you." He replied.

I looked out behind the wall to see Lip stood out in the open. He was signalling everyone to move. "Move! Move! Get out of the street!" He yelled. Take your own orders, I thought.

A shell landed in front of him, throwing him backwards. My heart stopped, my mind going to what had just happened to the other soldier who now only had one leg. I rushed forward, hearing heavy boots following me. As I got closer I could see he was alive and had both legs. I dropped to the side of him, scanning his body for blood, landing on his face, hand and groin. The face cut would be fine, a couple of stiches and he would set. The blood on his groin however worried me.

Tab landed on the other side of him and started wrapping his bandana around his arm as make-do tourniquet. "Hey, buddy." Tab greeted softly.

Lip was staring at his groin, obviously worried he was missing vital parts. I didn't think twice about reaching for his trousers and expanding the tear that was already there to peer inside. I patted him on the thigh. "You're all good Lip, everything is exactly where it is supposed to be." I assured him. He nodded his head, obviously way past embarrassment when losing his man parts came in.

I got out a bandage and tied it tight round his thigh, I planned to take him myself but there was a collection calls for a medic, all coming from different directions so I looked to Tab. "Can you take it from here?"

He nodded. "Be careful, Duch."

"You too." I looked around to pick which direction to run in, choosing to run to my left, back past where I had just come. I ran along the building fronts, seeing Tipper run into a building up ahead. I stopped in an alley and looked across the street to see if there were any injured there. There were no bodies so I came out of the alley and continued down my original path.

I passed Liebgott and some other soldier and nodded towards them. I heard a whistling behind me before the shop front I was passing exploded, throwing me to the side and raining glass and rock over me. I groaned at the pain from the throw, I started to move to get up but my left arm protested slightly. I looked to see it was because a shard of glass was lodged in it. The left side of my face was hurting too, I guessed it had been scratched up from the debris.

"Duch, you ok?" Liebgott asked, rushing over from where he was before.

I immediately started looking through my medic bag, grabbing a bandage from it. "Lieb, pull the piece of glass out." He looked at me like I was insane. "Do it, now." I demanded.

His hand held onto my shoulder, inching towards the glass. "Now!" I almost yelled, desperate to get this over with. His fingers grasped the glass and pulled it out instantly. I bit my lip to stifle the scream as the glowing pain swamped me. I pushed the bandage over the top of it. "Tie it tight." I told Liebgott and his hands fumbled to follow my command.

"Holy fuck, Tip." Someone mumbled from behind us.

Both Liebgott and I turned to see Tipper limping out from the blown out shop. Half his face was mangled, the eye swollen shut. His opposite leg had a gaping hole in it, making pristine white bone visible. Blood was dribbling out of his mouth and down his face. He reminded me of the first patient we had lost after the drop and alarm bells went off in my head; shock would kill him.

I scrambled to my feet and made my way over to him but Liebgott was already there.

"You're looking good Tip. Real good." He was comforting him in a soft voice. I started to get morphine, sulpha and bandages out of my bag. "Come of you gotta sit down."

Liebgott moved forward, cradling Tipper to his chest as he helped him sit down, holding his head in a half cuddle. Liebgott didn't know it but he was probably going to save Tipper's life by acting so calm and comforting him.

I jammed the morphine into Tipper's leg and started sprinkling sulpha into his leg cavity. "Hang in there buddy, the Duchess in going to get you fixed up." Liebgott continued to soothe while I started to plug the cavity with bandages, just tying one around it wasn't going to do; it went too deep. It took five bandages to fill the gaping wound and I tied a couple on top to keep them in place.

"You're good to go Tip." I told him. Cry's for medics continued to ring out and I cringed at the sound of them, hating to have to leave another patient. "Get him under cover, Lieb."

I turned and left, running towards the cries. It felt like that's all I was doing, running round like a headless chicken, blindly hunting for an injured soldier. But that was all I could do at least until an aide station was set up. Plus, with the platoons being scattered all around the town it meant the injuries were scattered everyone so I had to keep moving.

There was a cry for a medic that was consistent so I moved to that one first. The cries were coming from out in the open were there was a least five bodies. I could see soldiers running through a building that had arches, firing to the open field that the shots were coming from. There was a chaplain who was going to each body, praying over them but not doing anything other than that. I rolled my eyes and ran out into the fray, bullets pinging off rocks all around me.

I crouched over the first body and felt for a pulse and couldn't feel one. I moved onto the next one and did the same and go the same response. As I got closer to the next body, I could see his limbs were moving slightly, twitching a little. I feel to my knees next to him.

"You're gonna be alright. It's all fine." I reassured, my eyes landing on his injury. A bullet had took a chunk out of his neck and the blood was flowing freely. I clamped both my hands over the wound.

His eyes found mine. "Hold on, alright. I can fix you up." I went to get a bandage from my bag but the moment I moved one of my hands, blood would gush out at an alarming rate. I tried to tug the bandage out as quickly as possible because I couldn't just keep my hands there until someone turned up but I couldn't get it. The blood spread out over the ground and soaked into the knees of my trousers. I became frantic, not knowing what to do while bullets continued to land close by.

The soldier grabbed my hand that I had been using to get the bandage and clutched it. He opened his mouth. "It's…ok." He said, so faintly it hurt me. Speaking must have used up the last of his energy because the light went out of his eyes moments later and his hold on my hand slipped.

I removed my hand from his neck and looked at his now lifeless body. It was the first time I hadn't known what to do when treating someone. I always knew what to do, always. It was scary to realise that this couldn't always be the case. I stood to move onto the next body, knowing I couldn't linger on this for ever. I needed to carry on.

Before I could reach the next body, I heard heavy boots behind me and an arm snaked round my waist. I was tugged through one of the arches, away from the bullets that had been skimming past me the whole time, I was extremely lucky not to have been hit. My back was pushed against the wall and the soldier crowded me.

I pushed on their chest, transferring the blood from my hands onto their jacket, feeling hard planes of muscle beneath their uniform. The soldier gripped the back of my neck, squeezing it to get my attention while the other was on my hip pushing me into the wall. His entire body was pressed onto me causing sparks of electricity all over and my breath to hitch. I looked up and found black eyes glaring down at me.

"What happened to not being reckless? To not going on suicide missions?" Speirs ground out, squeezing my hip and neck again.

I stared back into his eyes. "I didn't do either. My job is to save lives, I was doing that." I pushed against him harder than before but he didn't budge. I tried to push his hand from my hip and off my neck but instead he just caught both my hands, linked our fingers together and held them to the wall. I raised my eyebrows at him, shocked at his brazenness.

"You were in the middle of fire. I've said it before, you are not invincible." He looked at me face and the bandage over my arm as if to prove his point.

Gun fire was decreasing which meant we could establish an aide station and get the casualties to safety, I needed to move, I needed to stop things like this happening between Speirs and I as much as it would pain me to do so. "Look, if every time you pop up it's just to moan at me then stop popping up." I bit out, tugging my hands to try and get them free.

"No, I'm not going to stop." He said this softly, his voice a tender caress in the chaos of battle.

I frowned. "Why? I can tell you just like telling people to do so just go find your platoon and leave me alone."

He laughed a humourless laugh. "This isn't about telling someone what to do."

I was even more confused now, my brows puckered together. "Then what is it, Ron? Why do you do stuff like this?"

"Because I care about you!" he said it with so much conviction, there was no doubt in my mind that he meant it. My heat stuttered when he said it, so glad that he did. His eyes searched my face and I knew my eyes would be wide. His hands released mine quickly and he stepped back from me. I missed the contact instantly.

"Be safe." He ordered before turning, gun raised, ready to fight and left me. No matter what was said between us, he always left me.

I shook my head, trying to get my head back to where it needed to be. I started to walk back the way I had come, looking out for a superior officer. I felt all fuzzy and weird, like I was floating my way through the debris covered streets.

"Lieutenant Millard!" was whisper shouted from the side of me.

I turned to see it was Strayer and his entourage, hiding behind a wall despite the fact they were far away from remaining fire.

"Yes, sir?"

"I heard you set up an effective aide station on D-Day, I want you to go set one up now. Do you have a location in mind?" Strayer asked brusquely.

I thought of all the buildings in Carentan and came up with only one possibility. "There's a pub that's on the opposite side of the town to where the firing is." I told him. "Are the supplies trucks moving in, sir?"

Strayer nodded. "Yes, they arrived five minutes ago."

"I need all the medics at the pub then please, sir."

10 minutes later I was in the pub ordering supplies into the correct room, directing casualties to the necessary treatment bay and medics to casualties.

"Walking wounded to the back!" I yelled as injuries started floating in that weren't life threatening.

"Lieutenant?" A tentative voice asked from behind me. I turned to see a timid looking medic from Dog Company, I recognised him as the medic who had dropped his bandages before D-Day. I nodded at him to prompt him to talk. "Where should we move the fatalities to?"

I sighed heavily, disappointed that we must have already lost someone. "Right at the back there's a room on the left that's empty. Put them in their but make sure their dog tags get to the CO of their Company."

He scurried off to do as I had said. I looked around the room where the critical patients were to see there were three not being seen to, all three losing blood rapidly, the bandages covering their wounds soaked through. "You, you." I pointed at two soldiers and motioned them to follow me. I went to one of the untreated soldiers and changed his bandage quickly, pressing my hand down on the wound. I nodded my head to one of the soldiers who had followed me. "You, hold pressure on this until a medic is free."

"Yes, ma'am." His hands took the place of mine.

I did the same for another patient and got the other soldier to hold pressure there. I went to the third and he had five bullet wounds. I could see why he had been left with no medic, it was highly unlikely he would survive but I needed to give him a chance. I quickly set up a plasma drip before rolling him to the side to see if he there were any exit wounds and when I found four, I put sulpha onto them before rolling the soldier onto some bandages that I had strategically placed. I sprinkled the wounds with sulpha and wrapped the bandages tight. One of the bullets was still close to the surface so I began to dig that out to avoid infection setting in. Once the bullet was out I sprinkled more sulpha was and tied the bandage.

Once done I double checked every one else's work, having to change the bandages on one patient and set up a plasma drip on another. I double checked the people I had treated in the field; all three were doing well for the moment. By this point, all the critical patients had been treated so I directed two of the medics to stay and ensure that the previously critical patients stayed somewhat stable and were evacuated as soon as possible. From there, the rest of the medic's went a treated minor injuries but I got stopped by Nix with his hand on my wrist.

I tugged my arm. "Nix, I've got shit to do."

"Go get your arm fixed up and then you can carry on." He ordered, nodding towards the bandage on my arm that I had bled through.

I shook my head. "It's fine. What are you doing in here anyway, are you hurt?" I questioned, scanning his body.

"Not a scratch." He replied sulkily which confused me.

I frowned. "Then why are you in here?" Aide stations aren't places people volunteered to be in. There was blood, death and pain everywhere with very little respite from it all.

"A friend asked me to make sure you got your arm patched up." He told me with a smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows.

There were only two people who Nix would actively call his friends aside from me; Winters and Speirs. Considering that I hadn't seen Winters since the taking of Carentan began and therefore he would have no way of knowing I was hurt, there was only one other option to who could have got Nix to come and make me get sorted out. The fizzy feeling in my stomach that had been stomped out by the duties of the aide station began again and I felt a blush rise.

"If I get my arm fixed will you promise to never mention this again?" I pleaded. The men already thought me and Speirs had a thing going on, I didn't want the officers thinking that too.

"You've got yourself a deal." He smiled brightly at me, a teasing glint still in his eye.

Doc Roe was about to walk past but I stopped him. "Have you got a patient at the moment?" he shook his head. "Well you do now. I need you to patch me up again." I turned and walked into the room which held the minor injuries and took a seat on top of the bar.

"What you do this time?" he asked while unwrapping the bandage to look at the wound.

"Piece of glass in the arm, nothing major." Once he had looked he held the bandage back to my arm and I put my hand over it so that he could get supplies ready.

"Well its major enough to need stitches, ma cherie." His voice was as soft as always, even amongst the chaos. He got out a morphine syrette, planning on giving me a small dose to numb the pain enough to stitch me up. It was uncommon to have to do stiches in the field, injuries needing them were usually serious enough or accompanied with injuries serious enough to be evacuated and then the stiches would be done then. And when stitches were put in, they were put in the way you would sew a tear in your trousers; pinch the material together and go at it.

"No morphine." I told him with a shake of my head. He gave me a puzzled look. "I can't get back to work if I'm high on morphine, it'll be fine."

He started to get the needle ready knowing better than to argue with me. He took a lighter and heated it up to kill on bacteria. I held the needle for him while he cleaned out the wound quickly.

"Did you pull the glass out yourself?" Doc asked.

"Nope, I got Liebgott to do it, I'm not badass enough to pull out my own piece of shrapnel." I smiled at him as he braced his hand on my arm, needle and thread in hand.

He gave me a look. "But badass enough to have stitches with no pain killers." He commented, looking non-to happy about the situation.

He pinched the two pieces of skin together and started to push. The burning pain began and I had to hold in a squeal of pain that threatened to escape. My eyes squeezed shut and my mouth formed a grimace. I felt the skin give and the needle went through and the pain decreased for a moment replaced by the strange sensation of thread tugging on my arm.

"Morphine?" Doc offered, sounding hopeful.

I shook my head and heard a heavy sigh before the pain began again. As Doc went on, sweat appeared on my brow and it became harder and harder to hold in my sounds. I thought it was never going to end, with each time the pain receded I hoped he was done but it would just begin again. I could take it though, it was worth it if I could get back to work once over.

"Right, all done." Doc announced, tying a bandage around my arm to cover the stiches.

I wiped my brow and took a shaky breath. "Thanks, Doc." I smiled softly at him before hopping off the bar. I patted him on the shoulder as I surveyed the room, looking for an injury that needed my attention. I found a guy in the back, the bandage covering his calve moist with blood.

I walked over to him, dragging a low stool to it on. "Hello, I'm Lieutenant Millard." I pulled a supply box next to me before lifting the bandage on his calve slightly to look at the damage. I had been expecting a bullet wound but actually it was a break with the bone sticking out. "How's you do this?"

I started to clean the wound, getting ready to set it. "Explosion blew me sideways and I landed funny, ma'am." He was watching his leg apprehensively, obviously not knowing what I planned to do.

"You're lucky then it could have been a lot worse. I need to put the bone back in and set it. I'm not going to lie, it's gonna hurt." I gave him a soft smile, before placing my hands in the necessary places. He gave me a feared look but nodded. "Ok, 1, 2, 3." I pushed the bone back in before manipulating it to realign with the other bones. The man yelled in pain, grabbing the attention of most the room. "It's all done." I assured him as he took panted breathes. From there I poured some sulpha onto the wound, put a bandages on before breaking the stool I was sat on and using one of the legs as a splint for him. I told him he needed to be evacuated to give the wound time to heal.

I moved onto my next patient was was clutching his arm in an odd way, but there was no blood. "What happened here then?" I questioned, examining his arm with soft touches. He had dislocated his shoulder for sure.

"My buddy tried to pull me out the way of an explosion but fell back from the force." The soldier explained, looking a bit sheepish at having a fairly un-war like injury.

"I've just got to pop it back in then and strap you up in a sling." I explained. I bent his arm at the elbow before placing a hand on his shoulder and another on his elbow. "Ready?" The man nodded, not looking scared at all. I twisted and pushed his arm in the direction it needed to go, hearing the satisfying pop of it going into place over his screams of pain. Again all attention came to us. I examined his shoulder again before putting the arm in a sling with strict instructions not to remove it.

I decided to circle the room but was distracted by Winters being treated by Doc. He was wincing as Doc seemed to be pulling a fragment of a bullet from his shin.

"You ok, sir?" I asked, eyeing the wound. It was pretty minor but would cause a limp.

Winters nodded. "Just a ricochet according to Doc." He told me.

"You gonna be able to stay off that leg?" The leg needed rest if he wanted it to heal quickly.

Winters looked pointedly around the room, at the chaos caused by battle. "Doesn't look like it."

A head of blonde hair caught by eye and I looked across the room to see Blithe huddle in a corner, staring vacantly at one spot. I nudge Doc as he cleaned Winters bullet hole. "What's wrong with Blithe?"

"Nothing, except he can't see." Doc informed me with a sceptical look.

I frowned. "He can't see." If he had been blinded for some reason there would be some evidence of injury but he looked fine physically but his unseeing eyes held a haunted look.

Doc shrugged. "So he says." His tone suggested he didn't believe him. Buck had come in to speak to Winters and I gave him a smile of hello before walking towards Blithe.

"Hello Blithe. It's Lieutenant Millard." I spoke softly to him not wanting to make him jump. He still started slightly but his eyes didn't move to me.

"H…hello ma'am." He stuttered, his voice broken. I waved a hand in front of his face but there was no reaction from his eyes. He really couldn't see.

"What's wrong private?"

He shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. I took his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze. He looked more afraid than the men who had been shot. "Things… things just went black on me…I…I can't see a thing."

I rubbed my thumb over his knuckles. "It's going to be fine, Blithe. You're going to fine." I assured him, hoping my tone comforted him.

A tear escaped his eye and he wiped it hastily. "I didn't want to let anyone down." I got what he meant. If he couldn't see, he was no use to the war effort.

"You haven't, this isn't your fault, Blithe. Sometimes things just happen." I gave his hand another squeeze. "We'll get you out of here, get you back to England."

He shut his eyes and leant his head back onto the wall behind him. A deep breath rolled through his chest, it coming nosily out through his mouth. He tilted his head back up and opened his eyes, a look of shock residing in them as he looked round the room. There was an awareness back in them that wasn't there before.

"I can see." He told me, his voice sounder slightly stronger than before. Shock rolled through me as he was apparently cured of his blindness. "I… I think I'm… gonna be ok."

We stood together as he seemed to get his bearings. He was looking at me seemingly for some sort of explanation as to what had happened but the only one I had wouldn't do him much good. He didn't need to know he had most likely lost his eyesight to fear.

I nodded my head. "Right, well you stay here for a bit and then you go re-join your platoon later."

"Yes, ma'am." I pointed him in the direction of the room where we were keeping some for observations and he went off in that direction.

I turned back to Doc, Winters and Buck, them all watching me with awe. "How did you make him see again?" Buck asked sounding as shocked as I felt.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I think he just needed someone to talk to, someone to calm him down. I saw it back in London; hysterical blindness they would call it. Once the men were certain they weren't fighting their vision would come back."

They all gave me a strange look before their discussion went back to the plans now that we had taken Carentan while I went back to treating patients but my mind was on Blithe. War did things to people, things that many would never come to understand.