Disclaimers: all the usual apply.

Chapter 12

Jessica POV

26 December

"Jane, I'm home," she called as she closed the front door behind her.

She'd walked her brother to the train station, sad to see him go but relieved she'd finally be able to get some well-deserved rest before there training started again, or worse the SOE came calling. The last few days had been a social whirlwind.

On the night she'd confronted Joe she'd half-expected to find Arlene sitting on her bed, crying. Instead her friend was calmly sitting at the kitchen table in a canary yellow dress, the colour bringing out her skin's natural tan, all her guns spread out in-front of her as she meticulously cleaned each one.

"Planning on taking on Hitler all by yourself?" she'd asked, leaning against the doorframe as she'd watched Arlene work.

Without looking up Arlene had replied, "I assume you know what happened?"

She'd nodded even though Arlene couldn't see her. "He arrived at the pub. He'd seen you with David and jumped to a conclusion."

Her friend had slowly placed the pistol down she'd been working on and looked up to her, her dark eyes as hard as granite. "There's a good bottle of whiskey in the top right cupboard. Pour us two glasses."

So she'd poured two glasses and they'd spent the rest of the night cleaning Arlene's guns, sharpening her knives, drinking whiskey and barely mentioning Joe.

The few days that followed were filled with family, biological and chosen, and friends. Arlene never mentioned Joe or acted like she'd had her heart broken. But that was her way, when she'd really been hurt, she'd simply move those feeling aside and put all her energy into anything else. It worked, until there was nothing else left to put her energy in to.

"Dear," Jane called from the kitchen, pulling her back to the present, "a handsome officer left a gift for you. I put it in your room."

"Oh, thank you," she replied already half way up the stairs.

Entering her room her eyes immediately found the parcel wrapped in brown paper gently placed on her bed. She walked over to the parcel and lifted it in her hands, her fingers tracing her name written in the unfamiliar handwriting on the front.

Never being the patient kind when it came to gifts she didn't bother carefully unwrapping it, instead making quick work of tearing the brown paper apart to find a plain wooden box underneath.

Sliding the wooden lid open she came face-to-face with a neatly folded piece of white paper. She lifted it out with one hand and while holding the box in the other she flipped it open.

Jessica,

I know this is a few days late, but I had to find the right one.

When I saw this it reminded me of you, which is one of the oddest things I've ever written down. I'm sure you're very attached to your current one, but hopefully you'll keep this one just as close.

Ron

She dropped the paper on her bed before she pushed aside the white tissue paper covering her gift.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, nestled between a few sheets of white tissue paper was a brand new switch blade. She took it out of the box, dropping the latter next to the letter, and flicked the blade open before turning the knife around in her hand.

It was slightly bigger than her old one, but the handle still fit perfectly inside her fist. The knife was expertly weighted and the grip was rough so it wouldn't slide out of her hand if it got wet. Turning the blade around and around she saw a delicate engraving near the hilt. Turning it so the sun filtering through her curtain would catch the words she read them out loud.

"To the most fascinating woman I've ever met."

She smiled and rolled her eyes.

Arlene POV

31 December

Sitting on top of Jessica's bed she watched her friend rifle through her limited closet for the tenth time as she tried to decide what to wear to the dance that night.

Her decision had been decidedly easier, but then again she didn't have two men to impress.

"So, you're going to the dance with Richard, but Ron gave you a pretty amazing Christmas present, and you like both of them. Just so I have all my facts straight," she said.

Jessica turned away from the closet and flopped down dramatically onto the wooden floor. "It sounds like a bad teenage novel or something."

"I don't think the boys gave the girls knives as presents in those."

"True. It is a pretty perfect gift though."

She picked up the knife from the bed and played with it. It was a thing of beauty. "Funny," she started, "we think knives and guns are beautiful."

"Knives, guns and dresses. We have multiple interests."

Jessica paused and looked intently at her. She knew her friend was waiting for her to finally open up about Joe, but she was still happily ignoring her feelings, and Jessica's love triangle was proving the perfect distraction.

"So, if you had to choose, which one would it be?" she asked.

Jessica sighed. "God knows. It would help if one of them was terribly ugly or an absolute monster. Damn them!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry two handsome, smart, good men are after you. Poor baby."

Jessica threw a discarded panty at her. "Shut up."

They both laughed, the carefree kind they didn't get to indulge in very often.

"Well, at least you have an entire day to decide what you want to wear. Although at this rate that may not be enough time," she teased, smirking at the chaos in the room.

Just as Jessica opened her mouth to retort they heard a sharp knock on the door, followed by Jane's quick footsteps.

"Jessica, Arlene. Someone's here for you," Jane called up.

They eyed each other. Jane knew all their men by now since they made a habit out of dropping by regularly. Not that the older woman complained, she loved the fact that her home had become their little hangout.

Standing up from the bed she said, "I'll get it. You have enough to deal with here."

She quickly bounced out the room and down the stairs, but as she hit the bottom and saw who was waiting she froze in place, all her innocent humour from seconds before disappearing like mist before the sun.

She didn't know the two men waiting for her in the doorway, but she recognised the way they carried themselves and the suits they wore. The one was a few years older than the other, or looked it at least with his fast retreating hairline and slightly rounder stomach. The younger one had a sharp jaw and small narrow set eyes, but his smile when he spotted her was friendly.

"Thank you Jane," she said, composing herself and walking towards the open door.

Jane smiled warmly at her and scurried back to the kitchen where she was entertaining two of her own girlfriends over a pot or three of tea.

The younger man started to say something when she held up a hand. "Not in here. Outside."

They moved back so she could step outside and close the door behind them. "Okay."

Starting again the younger looking man said, "I'm Agent McAllister and this is Agent Hendricks."

She looked from the one man to the other, sizing them up as she replied, "I'm Lieutenant Walker, but you already know that."

"Yes ma'am," Hendricks replied, his eyes nervously jumping from her face to the house behind her and back again.

Clearly not a field agent then.

"And is it safe to assume you know who we are and why we're here?" McAllister asked as he casually lit a cigarette without offering her one.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The good ones never tried that hard. "SOE and I assume you're here to take us to the base where we'll be setting off from. You're early though. We were told the assignment wouldn't start until the new year."

McAllister shrugged but Hendricks replied, "We know, but things on the ground have changed."

Her stomach tightened into a familiar fist. "What things?"

"We're not at liberty to say," McAllister replied, the expression on his face giving the impression he loved being able to say those words.

"Listen here. Clearly he isn't a field agent," she glanced at Hendricks, "and you're either brand new or terrible because you are trying far too hard to look impressive. So, you either tell me right now what's going on, or you can go back to whomever sent you, and tell them to send someone that matters."

Hendricks shifted uncomfortably and McAllister nearly choked on his own cigarette smoke.

Impatiently tapping her one foot she asked, "Well?"

The two men looked at each other and nodded.

Taking a deep breath Hendricks finally answered her question. "We lost three agents in the region in the last few days. Your mission had to be pulled up. You'll receive a full briefing when we get to the secure sight. Without people on the ground the Allied troops will be invading Europe blind, you need to go now."

She looked at them, studying each man carefully as she weighed up their words.

Well, at least Jess doesn't have to decide what to wear anymore.

"Come back in two hours. We'll be ready to leave."

"Ma'am-," McAllister started to object but she ignored him.

"We're not leaving our men in the dark and we need time to pack. Two hours gentlemen. The sooner you leave the sooner we'll be ready."

They nodded and left, neither one arguing with her any further.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling hard she turned around and went inside. Time to go to war again.

Jessica POV

Dressed in her finest she strode purposefully to the officers' mess where she knew she'd find Clark, Alex and John and hoped to find Richard and Nixon. She'd already packed up her room and greeted Jane and Harry, an emotional affair that left her tired and feeling a bit frayed at the ends.

Arlene had volunteered to find their newest recruits if she found the other officers. She suspected the reason was that their men had taken to spending their free time with Easy and she wanted to see them, and Joe, one last time before they moved out.

She knew she was getting close to the officers' mess when more and more soldiers appeared. Most of them had become accustomed to the novelty of having the two female soldiers around, at least to the point where they knew how to hide their gawking.

"Captain Clark?" she asked a very young Lieutenant who was leaning against the door of the mess.

The man straightened out and saluted her, an action she quickly returned without having to think about it.

"He's inside ma'am," the man answered politely.

"Thank you soldier. As you were," she said as she brushed past him.

The sound of her high heeled shoes on the wooden floorboards drew some looks from the men gathered inside, but she ignored them, scanning the faces for those she knew. She spotted Alex first. His head was bent down as he intently studied the cards in his hands, but he must have sensed someone approaching because he glanced up. He smiled in greeting, but the moment his brain registered that she was wearing her dress uniform the smile faded and a frown took its place.

He said something to the man sitting next to him, who she could now see was Clark, and suddenly the entire table turned to look at her.

She quirked her head in the direction of an empty table and Clark got up, reaching the table just as she did.

"SOE?" he asked, the tone of his voice suggesting he already knew the answer but desperately wanted to be wrong.

"They arrived a while ago. We're meeting them in thirty minutes to move out."

He ran his hand through his messy hair, his eyes quickly darting to the table watching their every move.

"You're hair's getting long. You'll need to cut it soon," she said, hoping to lighten the mood.

He dropped his hand from his hair and looked back to her. "They're early. That can't be good."

"They've lost more agents that they'd anticipated. I suspect their struggling to maintain contact with the local resistance movement because of it. And if the invasion of Europe is going to be a success," she said, trailing off at the end, the rest was pretty obvious.

"Neither one of you are SOE, you can pull out of the assignment."

She gave her friend a lopsided smile and he frowned, knowing her answer without her having to say it out loud. It was after all the same one he'd give her if the roles were reversed.

"We'll use our usual protocols to get messages to you. We still have the radio correct?" she asked.

He nodded. "Tucked away safely in my room."

"Good. Don't expect much, but we'll do our best. And you can call on your British Intelligence contacts as well."

"They do owe me. A lot. Arlene went to tell the other men?"

"M'hm. We're meeting at my billet."

He reached for her hand and gently held a few of her fingertips in his. "Be careful. Both of you. And find us the first chance you get."

"Take care of yourself and the boys. We'll meet you over there."

He clenched his jaw as they shared a loaded look, each one trying to commit the other one to memory just in case this was the last time they saw them.

Clark let go of her fingers and waved Alex and John over. The two men were already standing, having dropped their cards face up on the table the moment they'd realised what was happening.

As they approached she glanced behind them and saw Richard, Nixon and Harry staring intently at them. For a second she wondered where Ron was, but quickly pushed the thought aside.

"So it's time, huh?" Alex asked drawing her attention away from the three Easy men.

"It's time."

"Happy fucking New Years," John remarked dryly, his young features hard.

"You two take care of the new recruits. Train them harder than before."

The anger drained from John's face as he said, "Jess, we'll be fine. You and Arlene need to watch out for each other. You gotta be there waiting for us."

She smiled softly at her friend, her brother. "We'll be there. Don't you worry about us."

He nodded. She knew he wanted to hug her, she sure as hell wanted to hug all of them, but they were already causing enough of a scene.

"Can we see Arlene?" Alex asked.

"She went to the new recruits, but we're meeting at my house in a few minutes. You can catch her there before the SOE arrive if you hurry."

Alex slapped John's shoulder and they quickly walked for the door, their card game all but forgotten.

As she watched them leave she asked, "You're not going with them?"

"I'm walking you home. I'll see her then."

She looked back to her friend. "Will you let David know? Not the details of course, just what we'd agreed."

"Of course."

She glanced towards the table of Easy officers, her heart sinking even further.

"Who do you want to talk to?" Clark asked, following her line of sight.

"Nix and Richard. I adore Harry but," she started when Clark interrupted her. "But you shared a house with Nixon and you were going on a date with Richard."

"Yip."

"I'll go call them."

Just as Clark started to leave she grabbed his arm to stop him. "Tell Speirs as well. Our agreed story."

Clark's eyebrows knitted together for a second but he nodded and she knew he'd do as she'd asked. She watched as he said something to Nixon and Richard before both men made their way over to her a little reluctantly.

Well, this isn't melodramatic at all. Way to play it down team.

"Hey boys, what's got you two looking so glum?" she asked in her cheeriest voice.

"Well, they all look like their sweethearts just sent them Dear John letters so this can't be good news," Nixon retorted.

"Oh, you know how dramatic those three can be. They're just going to miss us that's all."

"Miss you? So you are leaving," Richard said, his blue eyes boring holes into her.

Stick to the story. Stay strong, don't look into his blue eyes for too long.

"Arlene and I've been temporarily assigned to help British Intelligence. We're going to be stationed at an undisclosed location while we help them work through all the intelligence they're receiving from Europe."

Nixon raised an eyebrow at her. He didn't believe her story, but he had no way of proving she was lying.

"I've told Harry and Jane I'll be gone for a while and I wanted to say goodbye to the super annoying brother I never asked for," she said, playfully punching Nixon's arm.

Nixon narrowed his eyes, but the upturned corners of his mouth gave him away. "Oh, ha-ha, you're real funny. And just so we're clear, I don't believe a word of your story, but I'm going to pretend I do."

She gave her friend a lopsided smile. She was going to miss him. "I'll see you round Nix. Now take care of yourself while I'm away."

Her friend reached for her as he stepped forward, pulling her into an embrace. "I'm an Intelligence Officer doll, I'm gonna find out what's going on here. So you stay safe," he whispered into her ear.

He held onto her for another heartbeat before letting go and smoothing out his uniform as he turned and went back to his table.

She smiled at her friend's back, hoping this wasn't going to be the last time she'd see him.

Richard cleared his throat, pulling her attention away from Nixon and her melancholic thoughts.

"Richard, I'm so sorry to cancel our plans last minute. I'm sure you'll be able to find someone else to go with though. Attractive officers are never short of willing companions."

He smiled at her, his lips turning up into a soft curve that wrinkled his eyes in the corners. "Maybe, but none of them are you so I think I'll stick to Nix's company."

Her cheeks warmed and she quickly glanced down at her shoes, for a moment feeling more like a school girl than a soldier going off to war.

"I wanted to give you this earlier," she heard Richard say, looking up in time to see him take out a velveteen box from inside his jacket, "but I never got the chance."

She reached for the box, relishing the feeling of the soft fabric underneath her fingertips. Taking it from his grasp she pushed down on the clasp to open it. Inside, neatly laid out on more soft fabric, was a locket with a wildflower pattern engraved on the outside.

"Open it," he said and without looking away from her beautiful gift she did as she was told, opening the face of the locket to expose the compass that it hid.

"A compass disguised as a locket," she murmured to herself.

"I found the compass in London when Nixon dragged me there. We were able to find someone that does engraving."

She finally looked up from her gift to find him staring at her, his eyes searching her face for the answer to a question he hadn't asked.

"It's beautiful Richard, really."

"One of the first training exercises you had with Easy we were delayed and sitting in a field. There were still a few wildflowers blooming and you picked one and played with it."

She smiled, she remembered that day. It had been unseasonably warm and they'd stumbled upon some of the last flowers while waiting for Sobel.

"I know you already have a compass but it looked pretty beaten up. So I hope you can use this one."

She softly closed the lid of the box and reached for Richard's one hand. "I'll never take it off. Thank you."

His smile faded as his face became serious. "Wherever you're going. Be safe."

"You too," was all she could manage. With a squeeze of his hand she turned and left, Clark falling in beside her.

Arlene POV

"Arlene wait!" a familiar voice called after her as she left the Easy mess.

She turned, replaying the story they had to tell over and over again so she'd be sure to get it right.

Their men knew the truth of their assignment, they had to trust each other so lying wasn't an option, but everyone else had to get a version of the truth.

"Bill, darling. What can I do you for?"

"Cut the crap doll, what's going on? You leaving and going to fight the Krauts all by yourself without inviting your friend Bill?"

She smiled fondly at him. "Like you would let me live that down. God, I'd never hear the end of it! Jessica and I are temporarily assigned to the Brits to help them process intelligence, nothing exciting I promise. Honestly I'm going to be sitting in a chair all day getting soft and fat."

"C'mon, your five fellas look like someone stole their broad and it's all because you're going to be spending more time behind a chair?"

Man, their team really needed to work on their poker faces! Good thing they weren't coming with them.

Bill just levelled her with an unwavering look, his thick jaw firmly set.

She sighed, she wished she didn't have to lie to him. "Bill, you don't go do doing anything stupid while I'm gone. Okay?"

His shoulders slouched forward as he ran a hand through his hair, his square jaw relaxing for the first time since he'd chased her down. "Wherever you're going doll, just take care of yourself and the Cap. And give 'em hell."

She took a step towards him and leaned forward so she could place a kiss on his cheek. She felt him smile as she pulled away, sadness suddenly weighing down her insides.

She shot him a little wink before turning around and walking away before her emotions got the better of her.

As she neared Jessica's house she finally acknowledged the disappointment that was intermingling with the sadness in the pit of her stomach, weighing her insides down. A part of her had hoped Joe would have been the one to follow her outside, but he hadn't. He'd been in the mess hall when she'd arrived, and she'd felt his eyes on her the entire time she's spoken to her men. For one brief moment as she'd turned to leave their eyes had met and she swore she saw regret in his, but she'd set her jaw and marched out of the hall.

She stopped dead in her tracks and shook her head and shoulders. She had to get a grip on herself and her emotions. Between Joe, Bill, Easy and her own men she was a mess and that wouldn't to. Time to put all those feeling away somewhere safe where they can't hurt you or Jessica. Time to go to war.

Jessica POV

Somewhere over the French coastline.

The engine of the airplane roared in her ears as the wind from the open door swept around them, filling the deafening silence hanging over them.

They'd been briefed and given gear before being rushed onto a waiting plane that would drop them over France. From there they were to assume their new identities, link up with the local resistance movement and start gathering intelligence which they needed to get back to the Allied forces.

Simple enough, in theory at least.

The blade in her hand caught the light of the full moon as she twirled it round and round. She stilled and watched the light dancing on the steel. She wondered how Ron had taken the news of her leaving, if a part of him was upset that she hadn't sought him out before jumping into France.

No, put him out of your mind, she chided herself, closing the blade and putting it back into the strap around her ankle. Bending forward she felt the weight around her neck pressing against the inside of her civilian clothing.

She reached for her chest, pressing the warm metal back against her skin. They weren't allowed dog tags on the covert operation, in case they got caught, but she had Richard's compass safely hanging from her neck.

She smiled to herself, between Ron and Richard they sure knew how to take care of a girl.

Feeling someone looking at her she straightened out and was met with Arlene's dark, unwavering eyes. Their roles were simple. Cousins who'd been forced to live together since the war had started and their men had died in the initial German assault. They knew each other more than well enough to play their parts without having to think, and that was crucial because all their effort had to go into getting their ever changing mission done and staying alive.

She wasn't as worried as she would have been with anybody else sitting opposite her. Arlene was the most dangerous person she knew, and they were on the same side.

Arlene POV

She recognised the glint in Jessica's eyes. Determined and deadly. She found it oddly comforting considering they were heading for German occupied France ahead of schedule because of the causalities already sustained in the fight.

She leaned her head back against the metal hull of the plane and closed her eyes, allowing the deep rumble of the engine to momentarily drown out all her thoughts.

Her peace and relative quiet lasted only a few moments though before memories of her day with Joe in the snow danced before her shut lids. There was the all too familiar stab in her chest, and she knew all she had to do to ease the pain was open her eyes but she couldn't bring herself to do that, not yet. One more moment of fond memories, before they'd have to jump.

She wasn't a very religious person, it was difficult to be after everything she'd seen and done, but sitting there she said a little prayer. She prayed they'd stay alive long enough to see their friends again, and that they too would survive the fight that lay ahead. She prayed for the strength to do what was necessary when the time came and the luck needed to live through a hail of bullets. And lastly, she thanked God for the woman sitting opposite her, at least she was jumping with her family.

"It's time," the co-pilot shouted over the noise.

Her eyes snapped open and she stood, holding onto the cables running overhead to steady herself.

Jessica was at the door, the co-pilot standing next to her as they waited for the pilot's signal to jump. When the signal came the co-pilot shouted something in Jessica's ear a second before her friend disappeared into the darkness.

She moved forward without hesitation. The man leaned in as he firmly grabbed her shoulder. "Go give 'em hell ma'am!"

In the second it took her brain to register his words she'd stepped out of the open door and into the night's sky like she'd done dozens of times before. The drop was perfect, their landings textbook.

They quickly stashed their chutes and moved into a hedgerow that would provide cover until morning. Two young women wandering about alone at night in war-torn France was really just asking for unnecessary attention.

Once they'd settled in next to each other, their bodies pressed together with a thin blanket for cover, each one with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, she allowed herself to breathe.

"I'll take first watch," Jessica whispered.

"Okay," was her only reply, no more were needed.

After a few seconds of sitting in the frozen dark in silence Jessica whispered, "Happy new year."

She almost laughed, but the cold air chocked the sound in her throat. "Happy new year," she hoarsely replied instead.

Her last thoughts before sleep took her was of Joe's dark eyes as he watched her leave for France and war.

XXXXXXX

Hello! I was going to wait to post over the weekend, but then I decided "screw it" and just posted earlier. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even if you're disappointed Jess never got to go to the dance with Richard. (I feel like I need to say sorry here) The next chapter or two will see the girls working in France behind enemy lines. So yes, we have ourselves a spy mission! Thanks so much for all my amazing reviews, likes and those that added the story to their alert. It means so much to me and I really, truly appreciate it.

Now, I usually don't comment on current events, but with all the natural disasters currently/recently impacting the USA, I just wanted to say my thought are with everyone touched by these events. Here's hoping you are all as okay as can be given the circumstances.