NEW CHAPTER! YAY!

I want to thank all my readers and especially my reviewers! I own nothing but Adriana Roosevelt! Thanks guys!

Adriana didn't sleep that night, but she pretended she was so Luz could get some shut eye. It had only been a few hours since he and Perconte had quieted down when the Germans started to sing. She listened to the tune she knew well being sung in a foreign language.

"What the hell do they have to sing about?" Perconte grumbled.

Apparently he hadn't been as asleep as Adriana had thought.

"They are allowed to have a religion, Perco," Adriana reminded him. "They are human, just like us."

"They ain't like us," he hissed quietly so as not to wake Luz. "They are bombing the shit out of us all god damn day and night."

"We are doing the same to them," she said meeting his gaze.

"Well they started it," Perconte huffed folding his arms.

Adriana shook her head smiling. They sat in silence for an hour or so and listened to Christmas song after Christmas song. Adriana was mostly listening to Luz's breathing and heartbeat, but he woke with a start when a shell came screaming overhead. Before he was even fully awake, he threw himself over Adriana. Even will all the shelling and craziness, Adriana couldn't stop herself from being ecstatic when she felt him flush against her. She scolded herself at once, but only half heartedly.

Over the commotion, she heard someone shouting for a medic. It sounded like Winters. She almost wanted to go check it out, but thought it better to stay in her hole. Roe would have everything under control. She was content to stay under Luz's protective, and rather warm body. She didn't find out who got hit until the next morning.

She and Luz had fallen asleep in their foxhole after the shelling. They were both so exhausted, they hardly even moved from their position during the barrage. The next morning, Adriana awoke to an empty foxhole so she sat up and stretched. The cold was making her extremities stiff and she was beginning to think today wasn't going to go well at all when she remembered what she was going to tell Luz.

All at once her heart became heavy. She was suddenly terrified he wouldn't accept her feelings for him, although if she stopped and thought about it for half a second, she would have know there was nothing to worry about. After debating with herself for a few minutes, she grabbed her Thompsons, climbed out of the hole and began her search for the radioman. Before she had gotten twenty feet however, Winters appeared out of the fog.

"Morning sir," she said good naturedly.

"Ahh Roosevelt. Just who I wanted to see," he said stopping.

Although she was not happy about being delayed on her mission to find Luz, she stopped too.

"Really sir? Why?"

"Last night during the shelling, Harry got hurt and* was sent to the aid station," Winters began.

"Lt. Welsh? Will he be alright?" Adriana asked.

"Yes, Roe assures me he will be fine, but with him gone, we need someone to lead first platoon. You are the next in line."

He held up a 1st Lt. bar. She couldn't believe it.

"But sir, I was a 2nd Lt," she stammered.

"I know. Think of it as a promotion," he said pinning the bar on her collar.

"Thank you sir," she said still lost for words.

"No need to thank me. You are the perfect one for the job. Get it done," he said nodding.

Adriana saluted and watched him walk away. She slowly let her mouth fall open and suddenly her legs wouldn't support her. Luckily there was a log behind her. She sat down hard and let her face fall into her hands. On the one hand, she was overjoyed to have her Lt position back, but that meant she couldn't tell Luz how she felt about him. She shook her head, all of a sudden too tired to move. She thought about all her previous Christmas mornings. When she was a child she would be the first into the living room. Out of all her siblings she would run back and forth between the living room and her family literally pushing them forward. This was her worst Christmas to date. Not because they were in a war. Not because it was freezing. Because she couldn't tell the man she loved, she loved him. Without her knowing it, tears began to roll down her cheeks.

January 2, 1944

Ardennes Forest, Belgium

That morning Easy Company had traveled from Bastogne to the woods of Foy. Easy was supposed to clear the woods before the assault on Foy itself. During the long walk through the woods, Easy encountered MG fire and lost a few men, but for the most part met little resistance. The most exciting thing of the day was when Hoob shot the German scout off of a horse then went from foxhole to foxhole showing it off. Adriana and Lipton was helping Shifty dig his foxhole when Hoob came around.

"And down he goes right out of the saddle. Like a sack of potatoes. Outstanding accuracy on my part if I do say so myself," Hoob said smiling and waving the fire arm around.

"Which you do," Lip said as he continued digging.

"Which I do," Hoob agreed. "Hell Shifty, I think I could've even given you a run for your money."

"No no, I'm not a good shot," Shifty said modestly. "Now dad, he was an excellent shot, excellent, I declare, he could shoot the wings off of a fly."

"Hey Lip, that German, what do you think he was going?" Hoob asked.

"Probably a little recon," Lip said out of breath. "Must have figured no one would have heard a horse."

"I bet he was just trying to get the hell out of dodge," Adriana said leaning against the edge of the hole.

Hoob agreed.

"What happened to the horse?" Shifty asked.

"It's probably still runnin'," Hoob said. "I hope its ok."

"You all dug in?" Lip asked.

"Yeah," Hoob answered. "Yeah, just thought I would take a walk. Shoot the shit."

"Yeah well you're a good shot Hoob. Just glad you're on our side," Lip said smiling.

"Thanks Lip," Hoob said with a grin as he walked back to his hole.

"Hey guys."

It was Shifty.

"Thanks for the help."

"No problem Shifty," Adriana said sitting next to him and patting his shoulder.

"Hey Lip. Rose."

It was Buck. He nodded his head. Lip and Adriana climbed out of the hole and followed Buck a little ways away as Malarkey jumped in and shared a smoke with Shifty.

"Where's Dyke?" Buck asked.

"He's around," Lip answered.

"Could you be a little more specific there sergeant?" Buck asked.

"Not really sir," Lip replied.

"Damn it, I haven't seen him all day. I didn't see him when we were coming through the woods, and I have to figure out how we ended up."

"Two wounded," Adriana said.

"Who?" Buck asked sounding surprised.

"Brown and Stevens," she answered.

"God damn it," Buck swore. "Well where is Dyke. Where does he ever go?"

"I don't know but it would be nice if he stayed there," Malarkey put in.

"And it would be nice if he took Lt. Shames with him too," Shifty said.

"Shut up boys," Lip said.

"Shutting up sarge," Malarkey said, but just as the words left his mouth, a single gunshot rang out.

Buck, Lip and Adriana jumped into the foxhole with Malarkey and Shifty. They all grabbed their rifles and stayed low.

"Patrol?" Malarkey asked.

"Naw we would have heard," Lip said.

"One man, maybe a sniper," Buck said.

"What do you see Shift?" Adriana asked.

"Nothing," he said after a long pause.

"Aww geeze its Hoob! He's shot!"

"Sniper?" Buck asked.

"No no, he shot himself!"

Adriana was on her feet in an instant followed by Buck and Lip. They darted through the trees until they saw a gathering of people and heard Perconte yelling for a medic. Adriana slid to a stop by Hoob's leg. He was babbling about his new luger just going off.

"Shit Buck I wasn't touchin' it or nothin'," Hoob said writhing.

"What were you doing with a loaded gun in your pants?" Buck asked holding Hoob's head still. "Shit where's Doc?"

"Medic!" Perconte yelled again.

"God, it's his leg," Adriana said ripping his pant leg open.

Blood poured out like a river being released from behind a damn. Adriana did the best she could at stemming the blood flow until Roe could get there, but Hoob was reaching for her. She climbed over the men and knelt behind Hoob's head taking Buck's spot.

"Take it easy Hoob, you're going to be fine," she said leaning forward and meeting his eyes.

She held his gaze.
"It hurts like a son of a bitch Rosie," he said through chattering teeth.

"I know Hoob, I know, but you will be alright," she said stroking his cheek. "Doc!"

Adriana noticed his shivering and she leaned back to pull her field jacket off and lay it across Hoob. Buck did the same thing with his then Adriana leaned forward and held Hoob's face gently against her. Roe came running up soon after and took over the care of the wound.

"You think it was a German leg Hoob?" he asked when hearing how he got the injury.

Any other time Adriana would have found it funny because Roe hardly ever made jokes, but Adriana almost missed the comment because she was so focused on poor Hoob.

"Hey Rosie," Hoob said.

"Yeah Hoob?" she said leaning down close to his face.

"You think I'm a good shot right?"

"The best shot I know, Hoob," she answered smiling gently.

"Hang in there Hoob, it's not even that bad," Buck said patting his head. "You jump out of a fuckin' plane, your tough."

"How we doing Doc?" Lip asked.

"I can't see anything; we've got to get him back to an aid station," he responded.

Adriana realized at that moment that Hoob was in trouble so she leaned lower over him and softly put her forehead against his. He opened his eyes and met her gaze.

"Am I gonna die Rosie?" he asked so only she could hear.

She said nothing, but a tear dropped onto his cheek. He smiled and brought a hand up to her cheek. She caught his hand and held it in hers.

"You want to know what I have wanted since I met you?"

"Tell me Hoob," she said.

"A kiss from a beautiful girl," he said with a cheeky grin.

Adriana shook her head and pressed her lips tenderly against his. She felt him smile into the kiss then she pulled away only a little so he could talk.

"Now go do that to Luz," he said nodding.

Before she could answer he was suddenly struggling for breath. She felt tears pouring down her cheeks as she held him tighter.

"No no, Hoob stay with us," she pleaded.

She thought she saw him give her a smile before his body jerked and then he was still.

"Damn it," she cursed holding Hoob's cheeks.

She lifted his head and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. She held his limp form against her and tenderly kissed his forehead.

"Doc," she sobbed.

He continued working on Hoob's leg.

"Doc!" she half screamed.

He and Lip jumped as they realized Hoob was no longer with them.

"The… uh bullet cut the main artery," Doc said quietly.

They all let out a sigh and leaned away from their friend's body. Perconte shook his head and stumbled away as Buck took his and Adriana's jacket back. He put his on, and laid Adriana's over her back. She was busy. She looked down at the man she had come to love as a little brother. She stroked his scruffy cheek and choked on a sob. Buck placed a gentle hand on her back and began drawing slow, soothing circles into her back. After a few minutes with everyone shocked into silence and Adriana sobbing against Hoob's chest Lip stood.

"I'm going to tell Winters."

"No," Adriana said not moving. "I'll do it."

"You sure?" Lip asked.

She stood and nodded.

"Ok. Thanks," Lip said walking toward the foxholes to tell the men.

Adriana cast one more look at Hoob's body then turned toward Winters' and Nixon's tent. As she walked she let the cold air rush over her face and she realized her tears hadn't stopped. As she brought her hands up to wipe them away she saw that they were covered in blood. Hoob's blood. She felt a lump rise in her throat and tears in her eyes, but she pushed the lump back and wiped her eyes with the clean part of her sleeve. By then she was at the tent. She pushed back the flap and went in to find Winters shivering behind a pot of coffee and Nixon pouring over some maps.

"Sir," she said nodding to both of them.

"Adri," said Nixon happy to see her until he saw the blood on her hands.

"Is everything alright?" Winters asked.

"No sir," she said pausing for a second. "Hoob is dead."

"What the hell happened?" Nixon asked.

"He got a luger from a dead Kraut and it went off. He was wearing so many clothes we couldn't see how bad he was bleeding. Roe said the bullet cut the main artery in his leg," she explained all while looking at her hands.

"Aww hell Adri. It wouldn't have made a difference if you had known. You cut that main artery in the leg, that's it."

"Yes sir," she said quietly. "I'm going to go back and make sure the boys are all dug in sir."

"Adriana." She turned. "Where's Dyke?"

"You want to see him sir?" she asked.

"No I just expected to get this kind of information from him," Winters said through chattering teeth.

"Well I was there sir," she said shivering just remembering the experience. "I figured it might as well be me."

With that she turned and left the tent. As she stepped back into the cold she thought about their CO.

"Where's Dyke?"

Adriana had probably heard that question a thousand times that day alone. Hell she had asked it a few times herself. There were long stretches where no one knew where Lt Dyke was. He would disappear. Go off on long walks. It wouldn't have been so bad if Dyke was just another man in the company, but he was supposed to be leading the company. Winters was a CO everyone could respect. Moose Hyliger probably would have done a good job, but he got shot before they had a chance to find out. Then came Norman Dyke. Dyke wasn't a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.

Since being promoted, Adriana had entertained the idea of being the CO of easy, but had quickly dismissed that from her mind. A woman in the airborne was already unheard of. They didn't need any more firsts. She continued walking mostly for lack of something else to do until she realized she had stopped. Perconte had a hand on her shoulder and was talking to her. She finally began registering what he was saying.

"Hey Rosie, you doing ok?"

She couldn't speak. That damn lump in her throat, but she met his eyes.

"Aww Rosie," he said pulling her into him. For a minute she didn't move, only let herself be enveloped by his warmth. Finally she let the tears come. She clenched his field jacket and cried into his neck. She felt his body shaking with sobs just like hers. She realized this was strange. She was usually the one sobbing hysterically and whoever the man hugging her was tried to comfort her. She very much enjoyed not being talked at. Mourning for the same individual was comforting enough. After what felt like hours, and might have been, Adriana didn't think any more tears would come. She would find out later she would be wrong, but for now she was correct. She knew now would be the time to push Perconte away and say she was fine, but she wasn't. She wanted to be in his hold forever. Eventually though, he pulled back so he could see her.

His cheeks were flushed and tear tracks stained his face. His brown eyes searched her face probably seeing just about the same thing she was seeing. There was nothing Adriana had to say, so she smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Get some sleep," she said.

"Where you goin'?" he asked, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.

"Gotta check on the boys," she replied.

With that they parted and quite soon, Adriana found herself walked up to Guarnere's foxhole. She must have had a strange look on her face, because Bill and Babe were staring up at her.

"Hey Bill," she greeted him glumly. "Babe."

"Hey Rosie," they said watching her carefully.

"You got any room in there?"

"Corse I do," Bill said elbowing Babe.

As she slid in Bill grabbed Babe and pulled him close.

"Get out of here will yah? I think she needs me."

Babe nodded and climbed out of the hole muttering something about having to take a piss.

"What happened girl?" Bill asked as Adriana seated herself and curled against his side, a sob already escaping her.

"Hoob is dead. His luger went off and cut the artery in his leg."

Adriana felt the comforting weight of his arm around her back and his lips against her cheek. She heard him swear quietly then he hugged her tighter. This was the way they stayed while Adriana cried until she fell asleep. Guarnere didn't sleep, but watched over the young woman. He worried this war would be too taxing on her already fractured heart.

Alright guys, if you want to make my day, REVIEW!