A/N Thank you so much to all the readers and the reviews. I'm happy you're intrigued, I just hope you're pleased with the outcome! Thank you for the lovely review about Fin's character, I'm so pleased you like her.
I have posted two chapters as I didn't want to disappoint anyone by keeping you waiting too long.
Hope you enjoy.
...
Near Munich, Germany
Nix headed over to the APO, he was still struggling to get his head round the information Eve had given him last night. He didn't know how to react, he didn't expect it at all. Most things made sense, he still had questions, but they'd have to wait. Eve and himself had decided they wouldn't tell Winters and Speirs until Fin had left, it would be safer that way. Eve also had other news for Speirs, he actually felt quite sorry for Sparky right now. There was one thing he knew for sure though and that he wouldn't be able to look at Fin in the same light any more.
"Morning" Nix mumbled at Vest walking inside.
"Captain Nixon, good to see you Sir" Vest replied cheerfully walking back to the other side of the counter. "Think I have some mail for you, yeah I was going to drop it off this afternoon with all the other sack of battalion mail, but since you're here, yeah" he finished shuffling through some letters before handing one over.
"Thanks" Nix replied briefly, dropping the letter on the counter "Listen, I'm having some trouble finding some Whiskey..."
"Whiskey?"
"Yeah, a particular brand of Whiskey..." Nix leaned down onto the counter.
Vest nodded "VAT69?"
"Exactly"
"Got to be honest with you Sir, that ain't gonna be easy to find here in Germany, pickings are kinda slim here" Vest smiled.
"Yeah don't I know" Nix replied standing up.
"Even if I do find some Sir, it ain't gonna be cheap!
"Well that won't be a problem..." Nix smiled, their conversation interrupted by Janovec throwing the door open.
"Hey Vest you heard the news!" Janovec called "...err...Sorry Sir I didn't realise you were here" Janovec saluted Nix.
Nix looked at Janovec unimpressed "What news?"
"300,000 Krauts just surrendered!" Janovec announced happily.
Vest whistled "300?"
"Yeah, we're moving out in hour"
"In one hour?" Nix questioned
"Yeah" Janovec confirmed.
Nix stalked out towards the door. "Sir! Your mail!" Vest called handing it out as Nix walked back and took it. As he reached the door again he turned "Keep looking!"
Outside, Nix stood for a second, his hangover making for a terrible mood, fumbling the letter between his fingers he stepped out, Fin walked past without stopping, she handed him a bottle and disappeared down the street. Nix looked down VAT69! Not surprised at all!
Fin headed off highly pleased with herself. She had heard that Nix had been looking for his precious VAT69 and being in Germany, it wouldn't be easy to find, but Fin had made friends with a certain curvaceous, middle aged Fräulein who just happened to know someone who knew someone else!
...
Nix walked out into the crowd of the 101st all preparing to pull out, bags and men loaded onto trucks and armoured vehicles. He caught sight of Fin being pulled up onto one of the trucks by Luz. He was in awe of her. How could she stay so calm? But really it was quite obvious now after what he had read. He was starting to wrestle with his conscience though, maybe Speirs should know now, he would want to know if the tables were turned and this was about Eve. He needed to calm down first, Kathy's letter had made him angry and he needed to think about the whole Fin thing with a rational mind. Maybe Eve was right, Speirs shouldn't know until Fin had gone. Fin couldn't have any distractions. He himself wasn't happy about Eve being on the extraction team, but at least they would get a first hand account of everything with her there.
Nix looked at Fin smiling and joking with the men. All this time she had been with them and none of them had a clue!
Nix got out the letter and read it over again, taking it in as he manoeuvred his way through the men and vehicles. "Jesus Christ, the dog!" he moaned.
"Lew?" Winters enquired coming up behind Nix.
"Kathy's divorcing me"
"I'm sorry"
Nix folded the letter and put it in his top pocket "She's taking everything, she's taking the house, she's taking the kid, she's taking the dog" Nix briefly stopped and turned "It's not even her dog!" Nix removed his helmet and slammed it down "IT'S MY DOG! SHE'S TAKING MY DOG!"
Winters averted his eyes, few men looked up, but continued on their way. Nix's shouting caught Fin's attention, she stood up and looked over the VAT69 wasn't enough then?
"Let's go! Load up! Come on!" A Sergeant shouted clapping his hands.
Fin crouched back down and helped haul the lad's bags up on the truck floor.
"Sarge! What do you have in here? Germans?" Ramirez asked hauling the heavy bag over to Fin. Oomph!
"Hey Perconte! You got a lighter?" Speirs asked approaching the truck as Fin fell back with Bull's heavy bag landing on top of her as the men watched laughing.
"No Sir I don't smoke" Perconte replied trying to protect his looted silver lighter. "Hey where we headed?"
"We're going to the Alps, let me see that lighter!" Speirs ordered.
"The Alps?" Perconte took his lighter from his pocket and reluctantly handed it over to Speirs, scowling as he did so.
"Yep"
Fin struggled under the bag not realising that Christenson had now sat down and was resting his feet on the bag, pinning her down, leaving her with no chance of moving it. Fin began to laugh as she struggled which wasn't helping her get up.
"Is that near Berlin Sir?" Bull asked as Speirs examined the very nice silver lighter.
"Nope"
"That's in Bavaria, birthplace of national socialism." Webster piped up from behind Speirs.
"So does that mean no drop into Berlin?" Luz asked playing with his baseball and glove.
"No drop into Berlin" Speirs confirmed looking up from admiring the lighter "Hitler ordered the Waffen-SS to hold up in the mountains, repel all the invaders, he wants them to start a guerrilla war" Speirs finished lighting his cigarette.
"Invaders! Damn I like the sound of that!" Bull said grinning in response.
"They'll die the last man trying" Speirs said turning to walk off, smoking his cigarette.
"Sir?" Perconte called holding out his hand.
"What?" Speirs turned to him.
"My lighter" Perconte stated hopeful.
Speirs looked at it, then back up at Perconte then back down at the lighter, then he tossed it up to him "Alright, nice lighter" Speirs looked past Perconte and scanned the truck "Where's Fin?" he had started to call her Fin just like the men did.
"Thanks" Perconte replied, catching his lighter, he looked behind him turned back laughing, pointing down "Sir" Speirs looked past Perconte to see Fin under a bag with Christenson pinning her down with his feet, both of them laughing. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, she can sort that out herself! He turned and walked over to his jeep.
"Waffen-SS huh!" Perconte directed at the men and Fin who had finally been released and rescued by Luz "Hey looks like you're gonna get your wish anyway O'Flannery those guys fucking crazy!" Perconte teased swirling his finger to the side of his head.
"It's O'Keefe" he mumbled, looking up at a breathless, grinning Fin seating herself next to Luz.
Speirs looked over from his jeep, they had let her go. They treat her like they would a little sister, much to his relief.
As all the vehicles set off, the men broke into song "Gory, Gory what a hell of a way to die, Gory, Gory what a hell of a way to die!" Luz elbowed Fin to join in "Gory, Gory what a hell of a way to die, he ain't gonna jump no more! The risers swung around his neck, connectors cracked his dome, Suspension lines were tied in knots around his skinny bones, the canopy became his shroud, he hurtled to the ground and he ain't gonna jump no more! Gory, Gory what a hell of a way to die..."
As much as Fin wanted to say it a out loud, she chose not to, but the German countryside was truly beautiful. She had only ever really seen Germany at night, always taking cover in safehouses during the daylight hours, it was nice for once to see it in the glorious sunshine. Luz put his arm round Fin's shoulder and smiled as they both still sung, she thought he was enjoying this too.
"Hey" Luz whispered nudging Fin with his elbow "I got a letter off Bill"
Fin perked up "You did?! How is he? And Toye?" Fin asked eager to hear news.
"Yeah they're both doing great, but he had something interesting to say about you!" Luz sounded serious, making Fin a little nervous, did Bill remember what she said? "Said something about British Special Forces Fin...are ya?" Luz enquired but before Fin could answer he added "It would make a lot of sense to why ya good at some stuff"
"I received some training from British Special Forces, it was sort of mandatory for front line positions" Fin wasn't really lying, she just wasn't revealing the whole truth. "Ooh look!" Fin said pointing over to a field as they trundled past "Lovely shades of yellow" she admired.
"You can't distract me that easily!" Luz replied "I'll accept this explanation for the time being" he winked.
Fin offered the lads a cigarette and they all lit up. Ron still wasn't happy that Fin was smoking, he still had it in his head that she did it because of the stress he put her under when she found out about his wife and child but that wasn't the only reason, it had been bloody cold in Belgium and the minimal heat from a fag actually made her feel warm.
"First thing am gonna do when I get home is get my job back at the cab company in 'Frisco" Lieb said as Fin listened in on the conversation. "I'm gonna get me a nice Jewish girl with great, big soft titties..." Lieb was cut off by a nudge from Webster directing him over to Fin "Watch your mouth" he warned
"Now that's how long ya been out of the game Webster, Fin don't mind our talk!" Lieb said looking at Fin for confirmation.
"That's right Webster, nothing wrong with some big soft titties!" Fin laughed.
Lieb carried on "Marry her then I'm gonna buy a house with lots of bedrooms for all the little Liebgott's we're gonna be making!" he finished proud of his plan for the future. "Hey Fin, what you doin after the war?"
Fin stared at Liebgott pondering "Settle down maybe, haven't really given it much thought to be honest, I never thought I'd see the end of the war, been in it so long now"
Ignoring Fin's lack of enthusiasm Liebgott asked "What type of man do ya go for?" As the lads on the truck all suddenly sat up straight and grinned at her like she was to choose one of them.
"I like my men, like my tea, Strong and British!" Fin smirked to a host of boos
"Nah you love us Yanks really!" Shifty called over.
"Yes I do Shifty! I certainly do!" with that admission Fin got some unexpected, but pleasant kisses from the lads sat closest to her.
"Somehow I can't see you settled down, wearing an apron, cooking dinner for your husband" Luz looked at Fin with sincerity in his eyes "I think you'd get too bored"
"But maybe I need some mundane normality" Fin stated, her life had been far from normal and she always wondered whether she would ever know what normal was. Fin turned her attention to Janovec who was reading a newspaper, hoping that there might be something of interest.
"What are you reading Janovec?" Fin asked
"An article" came the reply
"No shit!" Luz grinned looking at Fin " What's it about?"
"It's about why we're fighting the war".
"Why are we fighting the war?" Fin enquired curious to know a newspaper spin on current events.
"It seems that the Germans are bad…very bad" Janovec replied not looking up.
"You don't say, the Germans are bad, huh?" Luz teased, nudging Fin, "hey Fin, this guy's reading an article that says the Germans are bad!"
"Oh that's a relief, I almost thought we were on the wrong side!" Fin smirked sarcastically.
As they drove further through the countryside they passed a sign with large white writing.
You are now entering enemy territory
Keep on the alert!
...
After a long journey, Fin was desperate to stretch her legs, her arse was definitely going numb from sitting too long, she started to fidget. "What's up Fin?" Luz asked.
"My arse has gone numb" Fin replied shuffling around on the bench in the little space that she had.
"I'll give ya ass a good massage if ya like?" Luz asked hopeful.
"I would actually let you!" Fin laughed, but both of them knowing full well it wasn't going to happen.
The 101st Convoy came to a stop in a small town. Fin jumped up and exited the vehicle. Overhearing the conversation Christenson followed "I'll massage your ass!" he offered.
"No I will! You never got to see mine, so maybe I should get to see yours?!" Perconte chipped in.
"If we're getting in line to massage Fin's ass, I'm next!" Malarkey announced as Speirs approached scowling at them all "Or not..." Malarkey mumbled hoping Speirs hadn't heard.
"We're here one night! We need to clear a building of civilians to occupy!" Speirs ordered. The enemy could be all around them and this was the best way to ensure they could stay safely.
The sun had started to set "On me!" Speirs ordered as the rest of the men jumped down off the truck. They all headed to a tall apartment building and entered through the door. Speirs led the way up the stairs.
"Fin get up front!" Speirs called behind him. Fin pushed through the men and was by Speirs' side in seconds. "We're going for that apartment there first" he said pointing straight ahead "I need you to translate what I say"
"Yes Sir" Fin acknowledged her orders.
Speirs broke through the door, a shocked German woman started shouting at them. "Tell her she's got five minutes Fin" Speirs ordered
Fin walked over to the woman "Bitte geh" (Please go) Fin began "Du hast fünf minuten" (you have five minutes) Shouting broke out in the room they were in and Fin could hear shouting coming from the rest of the building too, English and German being spoken rapidly and angrily.
Fin caught sight of a scared looking little boy sat at the table. She felt instantly guilty, They were the innocents of war, her heart melted for his large blue doe like eyes. The German woman turned to Fin "Wir haben nirgendwo zu gehen" (we have nowhere to go) she said desperately "Das nächste haus ist besser" (the next house is better)
"Sir, she says they have nowhere to go and that the next house is better" Fin called over to Speirs who had removed his helmet. Speirs stomped over and shouted "No! It's only gonna be one night! She now has four minutes!"
"Es ist nur für eine nacht" (it's only for one night) Fin replied more assertively knowing that Speirs would start to lose his temper with the woman soon.
The German woman argued and cursed at Fin, but Fin ignored her as she smiled at the boy trying to reassure him it's ok
When the family had left the apartment Fin walked behind them to see if the rest of the lads needed any help with clearing the building, before she left she looked to see Speirs making himself at home, it was just the two of them, but they both knew Fin wouldn't be able to stay. Fin smiled and walked out.
Speirs watched Fin leave, he fought the urge to call her back, there would be no way she could stay with him tonight without anyone noticing. He reluctantly let her go.
"You're staying with us" Luz called over to Fin as she approached him standing in the corridor outside of another apartment a few doors down from Speirs, "three bedrooms, me, you and Tab" Luz said. Fin smiled.
Later that night, Fin, Tab and Luz sat around the lounge in their apartment.
"Get a feel for the glove and ball Fin, you're gonna play with us as soon as we get a chance" Luz said chucking his baseball glove at Fin.
"So it's just like rounders right?" Fin replied catching the glove. "Why do you need a glove?"
"The ball is going very fast Fin, it protects your hand and assists the catch " Luz replied throwing the ball across the room to her gloved hand.
"We don't use gloves in rounders and cricket, the ball moves very fast especially in cricket" Fin answered, catching the ball and returning it.
"Probably not as fast as it does in Baseball" Luz argued back, chucking the ball harder at Fin, who was still catching it with ease.
"Bet it does" Fin replied taking the glove off and catching the ball with her bare hand.
"Well if ya want to break your hand Fin"
"That wasn't hard enough" Fin said chucking the ball back. "Is it because you're all soft?" Fin teased.
"What do ya mean girl?" Luz eyed Fin suspiciously.
"Well you Yanks are all padded up in American Football and Rugby is pretty similar if not more vicious and our lads don't pad up! " Fin chuckled.
"That's why Americans are better looking!" Luz quipped back.
"Well..." Fin began to argue back but before she knew it Tab had tackled her and Luz had jumped on top "Oi get off you buggers!" Fin laughed slightly in pain. Then Tab started to tickle her and Fin started to squirm uncontrollably.
"Someone's very ticklish!" Tab laughed going in harder.
Fin spluttered and coughed as she fought to breathe "Stop it!" she screamed!
The door swung open "Alright kids! Pack it in! Speirs is on the prowl!" Bull said laughing from the doorway at the eye watering mess Fin was in.
...
The next morning, they prepared to move out, Easy were ordered to move onto a town and search the woods.
Fin walked out of the apartment building heading straight over to her truck as Speirs stepped in front of her almost causing her to collide with him.
"What did I say about having too much fun with the men?!" Speirs growled quietly.
"Are you angry with me?" Fin asked, but Speirs didn't reply he just stared at her, Fin continued, "Because if you are, we get to have angry sex and everyone knows there's nothing better than angry sex!" Fin grinned.
Speirs smirked "Get on the fucking truck!" she had a way of diffusing his temper quite quickly, one of the traits he loved about her.
...
Not long later they pulled up into the next town, civilians milling around looking sad at the arriving Allies, obviously disgusted by the invasion. Fin didn't care one ounce for their opinion right now.
Fin jumped out with the men."Finney, Perconte, Luz, O'Keefe, Christenson on Bull" Speirs ordered as he gave his instructions to the Sergeant. Bull turned to them "Listen in, we're sweeping the area, just stay alert"
"Yes Sarge" they almost chorused in unison. Fin looked over to Speirs eyeing her she could almost hear what he was thinking stay safe. Fin turned and jogged after her platoon as they entered the woods.
This was a pleasant kind of woods, the tree branches swayed softly in the light breeze and Fin almost felt like it was a normal stroll. Luz looked over at Fin "What's that smell?" he questioned. Fin hadn't noticed anything yet, she slowed and took in the air, he was right, there was an odd smell. Fin shrugged her shoulders.
Bull jogged up to Fin and nudged her, directing her eyesight to O'Keefe. "O'Keefe!" he called
O'Keefe looked up "Sarge?"
"Why are you so jumpy, boy?" He asked
"I'm not jumpy" O'Keefe answered nervously
"I can hear ya heart pounding in Arkansas" Bull laughed nudging Fin again.
"Hey Luz!" Perconte called over
" Yeah?"
"Kind of remind you of Bastogne?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it. Except, of course, there's no snow, we got warm grub in our bellies, and the trees aren't exploding from Kraut artillery, but yeah… Frank… other than that, it's a lot like Bastogne."
"Right?"
"Bull, smack him for me please? Luz called as Bull dropped his step from Fin to line up with Perconte
*Thump*
"Thank you!" Luz chimed
Fin giggled, she loved these lads! They carried on their patrol in relative silence, the smell getting more and more apparent. Fin looked behind her to see the lads all sniffing the air, they thought this was all odd as well.
"Sure is quiet" O'Keefe observed out loud, saying what they were all thinking.
"It certainly is" Fin replied suddenly stopping "Sarge" she called. Bull jogged up to her "Look ahead, the place is untouched" drawing Bull's attention to the clear forest floor, no debris, no signs of humans "and listen, no birds" Fin felt unnerved.
Bull turned to the men "At the ready" he ordered as he lead the platoon forward. They didn't go far before a clearing came into sight, they cautiously approached the edge of the wood.
As they stepped out of the tree line, Fin first noticed the barb wire fence, then the rows of small hut like buildings, Fin's first thought it's a prison then she noticed the smoke rising from the ground and from the top of some of the buildings and then... there they were countless skeletal figures approaching the fence no! Fin thought they were only rumours. She forgot herself and ran forward.
"Fin wait!" Bull called running after her
Fin grabbed the fence "Juden?" (Jew?) she asked
A tall, man with almost transparent skin, his face sunken, his bones clearly visible replied "Ja" (yes)
Bull grabbed Fin pulling her away, clearly horrified at the scene unfolding before him "What is it Fin?"
"I thought they were rumours!" Fin blurted "It's a concentration camp" Fin broke away and approached the fence again she put her hand up to have it stroked by the man "Die Wachen sind gerade gegangen" (the guards have just gone) he said
"Welche Richtung?" (which way?) Fin asked
The man pointed his boney finger over to the woods, a bit further up from where they had come out of.
Fin turned to Bull "the guards have just left, we need to bring them in" Fin demanded. Hearing everything Fin said Luz and Christenson walked over "We'll go with ya Fin"
Fin turned back to a shocked Bull "send Perconte to get Winters and Speirs, tell them not to over feed these men, they will eat themselves to death if they do, give them water, small sips only" she instructed "Bull!" she snapped
"Yeah, yeah Fin" Bull sat down on the ground.
Fin turned to Perconte "Go get Winters and Speirs!" Perconte turned and sprinted back through the woods. Fin turned to Christenson and Luz "Let's go" the three of them sprinted in the direction the starving man had pointed.
"Fin, what is that place?" Christenson panted next to Fin.
"It's a death camp, to exterminate another race, Jews in this case" Fin replied disgusted at her own words.
"How do ya know this?" Luz asked keeping pace
"I heard rumours when I was with the Red Devils, but we thought it was just propaganda to scare us" Fin replied
"The Nazis were open about this?" Luz asked.
"No we were told by civilians, but we just didn't know what to believe, I mean if someone told you, it's hard to believe isn't it?" Fin asked looking for reassurance of her guilt for not listening to the rumours.
"It's unbelievable Fin" Christenson reaffirmed.
"We've got to get these bastard guards! They need to be held accountable!" Fin said as they ran deeper into the woods.
...
Speirs' jeep pulled up and he jumped out with Winters and Perconte. The first thing that hit him was the stench. He walked closer not believing what his eyes were seeing, dozens and dozens of scrawny, skinny men were standing at the fence, their faces sunken, they were crying. They were happy. Liberated Speirs thought.
He located Sergeant Randleman and approached him "Where's Luz, Christenson and Finney?" Speirs asked Bull who was still sat on the ground in shock at the poor souls standing behind the barb wired fence.
"They went after the prison guards Sir" Bull mumbled.
"What? When?" Speirs tried not to sound too angry, they were in a hell of a position right now.
"That man over there told Fin, they hadn't long left, so Fin and the others took off after them" Bull mumbled some more, his eyes never leaving the prison camp fence.
Speirs quickly turned to locate Liebgott, finding him standing at the back by the truck he walked over "Ask the tall one by the gate which way the prison guards went" he ordered.
...
Winters ordered the gate bolt to be cut. The gates were slowly opened and the ragged, starving men slowly swarmed out, greeting the American soldiers with open arms and smiles, using far too much energy that they didn't have.
Fighting his own urges to go himself Speirs sent Tab and Shifty after Fin, Luz and Christenson. Speirs moved forward into the camp. The sight was stuff from nightmares. He walked over to a smoking pile to suddenly realise it was charred, burnt bodies, it wasn't the only pile. Speirs fought the urge to cover his mouth and nose to keep out the stench, for some reason he felt it would be rude to do so.
Speirs looked at his troopers, the pain and sorrow etched across their faces. None of them would ever forget this day. The men, the walking skeletons started to hug the soldiers as they gave them water. Speirs needed Fin here, she needed to translate for him, German was being uttered and he couldn't respond, he needed to know what they were saying, he needed to help them.
Speirs approached Winters who was stood with Liebgott who was translating.
Bull stepped in front of Speirs "Fin said it's a concentration camp, she'd heard rumours about them but didn't think they were real. She said not to give them too much water or food, they'll eat themselves to death Sir"
"Thank you Sergeant" Speirs replied moving away from Bull to deliver the information to Winters. The man speaking to Liebgott and Winters confirmed what Fin had said about the place.
Nix joined them "Christ, there's piles of bodies everywhere"
"...they burned some huts first with men still alive inside, some men tried to fight back but they killed them" Liebgott translated.
Speirs shook his head in disgust.
"Why are they here?" Nix asked Liebgott
"Fin said it's a concentration camp for Jews" Speirs replied.
Liebgott turned nodding in agreement with Speirs, Liebgott felt anger and sorrow all at once, too confused he stayed silent.
"We need to get medical staff from Battalion here immediately" Winters ordered.
...
Fin, Christenson and Luz kept running, they had found tracks but still no guards, Fin was beginning to think that the guards had too much of a head start. "Fin stop!" Luz called
Fin stopped and Christenson stopped beside her "They're gone Fin, we can keep running all day and we probably still won't catch up"
Fin looked determined to keep going "We can't just let them get away"
"They won't, another patrol will pick them up Fin" Luz said softly pulling Fin over into a hug seeing the upset and distress on her face. "Come on Fin, you're medical, we need to get you back to that place" Fin agreed, she was a medic and she should have stayed at the camp.
...
They met Tab and Shifty on their return. Fin made the return journey in silence, arm in arm with Shifty who kept their companionable silence. Back at the camp, Battalion had arrived, Fin immediately reported to the Senior doctor and was set to work. They had to firstly and heartbreakingly move the men back in behind the fence. Fin crumbled.
Speirs watched as Fin returned and instantly set to treat the men. He could see she was in distress, the men surrounded her, eager to see a woman, they hadn't seen one in a long time. He could see Fin struggling to help them all, she wanted to help them all, he could see that.
...
The next day, Fin, Luz, Christenson and Bull were ordered to Speirs' Office. He had to discipline them, but he'd go gently on them. They had all been in shock.
"This wasn't an order from myself or Battalion, which one of you gave the order to track the guards?" Speirs asked more softly than his usual tone. He had to still maintain order amongst his men.
Bull went to speak up, but Fin spoke before him, no one was taking the rap for this apart from her.
"Sir, permission to speak" Fin requested.
Speirs snapped his attention to Fin "Speak"
"It was my fault, they didn't have a chance to protest or stop me, I took off without permission and they had no choice but to follow"
Speirs turned his attention to the rest of the men."Right, get out! You're dismissed" Speirs ordered Bull, Christenson and Luz "Stay where you are Corporal Finney"
Bull, Christenson and Luz reluctantly marched out leaving Fin on her own with Speirs. Bull wasn't happy, she may have instigated it but out ranking her, he did little to stop it, he felt the responsibility lay on his shoulders. She was only trying to do good.
The door closed. Speirs perched on the edge of his desk and folded his arms across his chest. "At ease" Fin relaxed. " What the hell do ya think you were doing?" he hissed.
"Sorry Sir, but I couldn't just let those bastards walk away after seeing what they had done, they weren't that far ahead"
"You could have got killed...AGAIN!" Speirs shouted then abruptly lowered his voice so that his orderly couldn't hear outside. "I thought we agreed you were to do nothing stupid!"
"It wasn't stupid Sir"
"Yeah it was, I'll have you locked up to keep you safe! Don't think I won't hesitate to give that order!"
"Yes Sir"
Speirs stared at Fin, he couldn't stay angry at her, he would have done exactly the same thing in her position, if it had just been the men that had chased after the guards, he probably would have praised them, but this is what happens when you fall in love with someone under your command. He could see that she was tired and devastated. Fin had stayed at the camp, working well into the night treating those men. He stood up and approached Fin. He backed her up into the table behind her against the opposite wall. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. Fin returned his sensual kiss, raising her arms, she wrapped them round his neck and shoulders. She needed him, she needed his embrace, for the first time in a long time, she felt scared and vulnerable. What humans could do to other humans had shocked her to her core. It was a sight she never imagined she'd ever see and she was fighting a war, she had seen a lot of devastating sights already.
He leaned his head down to her neck, kissing her gently, comforting her "You really need to start keeping your promises. "You drive me crazy when I don't know where you are" he whispered wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and lower back. He returned to kissing her neck. Enjoying his touch, Fin lifted her head and sighed in ecstasy, she felt safe. Fin glanced over at the door to his office and caught sight of a very shocked Tab. What was he doing here and why didn't he knock? Fin couldn't think straight therefore she winked and smiled there was no point in panicking, she couldn't exactly undo what Tab was seeing!
...
That night Fin slipped out, ordered to Ron's room, she was running late... again, the lads had kept her busy with questions about what she had heard about the camps. She approached Ron's building. Fin was interrupted, she turned to the hum of a jeep pulling up behind her.
"Loralie" the male voice spoke.
Fin looked over "Taylor"
"It's time" he replied smiling.
Fin looked up at Ron's window, he'd turned out his light. He had gone to bed, she smiled stay safe my darling and walked towards the jeep and got in. Her only regret was she hadn't given him a proper good-bye.
"Will I be flying myself in? I haven't flown an aircraft in a while, I could do with the refresher" Fin asked hopeful.
"Didn't you fly that bomber just before you joined the Yanks?" Taylor asked turning the jeep back around.
"I wouldn't really say I flew it, more like prolonged it's fall!" Fin giggled as they drove off into the night.
Taylor laughed "No you're going to jump, Flying Officer Ainsworth will be your pilot, they're still shooting planes down. We've got to try and keep you alive until you land, then it's up to you"
"Freddie!?"
"He volunteered, he also happens to be one of our most experienced"
"Here take this" Fin said dropping her L tablet into Taylor's open palm as he drove one handed.
Taylor laughed "You're confident!"