A/N:

Thank you missavc34 for the review and the favorite! I noticed that other BoB fics with female OCs never mention periods, so I thought I should add it to this story. I've always been curious about how women dealt with those kind of things back in the day. I know it's not a very pleasant thing to write about, but as you said: it's unavoidable in real life. I'm glad you think that I did okay writing the combat scene, they are so difficult to write aren't they? And there'll definitely be more Marie and Malarkey to come :)

Thank you MASHlover23 for the nice review! Your kind words really made my day, I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story! I'm also glad you appreciate how I'm writing Marie's character :D Thank you so much for your encouragement and support!

Sorry for updating later than I usually do! I've been really busy with a lot of things and didn't have much time to get this chapter written. Sorry for this being such a short chapter, too! There's a lot in Malarkey's book about Operation Market Garden that wasn't included in the show, so I have to focus on that in the next chapter so I can fit it all accurately into the timeline. Thank you all so much for reading and showing interest in my story! I really can't thank you all enough! ❤

EDIT: Sorry for posting this twice! Update alerts didn't seem to be working.

"That's not fair!" Marie retorted, standing in the middle of the CP makeshift tent, her hands firmly clenched to her sides. "I should be able to go on the search patrol if I volunteer for it!"

"Nuenen is crawling with Germans, I'm not going to allow anyone else to go back there. It's too risky." Winters replied to her, looking down at his report and not in her direction. The only light in the tent was coming from the lantern sitting next to him as the sunlight outside faded quickly out of sight. It was getting late, and they were running out of time.

"But what if one of them gets hit? They need a medic!" Marie pressed.

"No, it's too dangerous. Please understand that I'm not doing this to punish you. It's for your safety." Winters sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Marie's stubbornness was starting to wear on him, but he was too calm to let it show in front of her.

" 'My safety?' What about the safety of all the men going on this rescue mission, sir? I shouldn't be treated differently just because I have a va-" Marie started but was cut off.

"Go back to your foxhole, Marie. That's an order." Winters chided, interrupted her close vulgar slip up. The issue was concluded and her CO wasn't going to change his mind. Marie wanted to argue her point, but he had given an order. Winters might have been a friendly and reasonable man, but she had no doubt that he'd court-martial her defiance in a heartbeat. He had to follow protocol, after all.

"Sir." Marie replied testily. She saluted then left the tent without another word. She stomped back to her foxhole, not being shy with showing how visibly angry she was.

She desperately wanted to help find Bull, but once again she was told to stay behind. Tomorrow Easy would start heading north toward Nijmegen and Veghel, up Hell's Highway, then toward Waal and Neder Rhines afterward. There was a very limited window of time to find Bull before they were forced to move out. The more man power they had to head back, the more likely they'd find him. More ground would be covered, but Winters had denied her request. To her it seemed logical, but it didn't matter now. Marie saw her foxhole and slid into it. Malarkey and Toye were sitting around and talking; everyone was too nervous for Bull to fall asleep. Marie began to furiously take off her equipment, casting it aside to get more comfortable.

"So, how'd it go?" She heard Toye's husky voice say from in the dark. Marie couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or if he actually couldn't tell that she was upset.

"Not well." Marie sighed. "Winters never lets me do anything."

"You know he's just trying to protect you." Malarkey pointed out. "I think you and Winters are so alike that you don't always see eye to eye."

"I just hope they can find Bull without any casualties." She murmured as she started to calm herself down.

"You think they'll get hurt?" Toye questioned.

"You can't be too careful in this war." Marie replied. She glanced in the direction toward Eindhoven. It was being bombed; the lights of the explosion were visible from a few miles away. Even the sound managed to carry all the way over to them. Marie felt remorseful watching the town. Her thoughts automatically went back to the Dutch man, which she tried to shake away. No matter how hard she tried, she could only remember Eindhoven in a negative light.

"You okay?" Toye asked her.

Marie shrugged. Part of her wanted to tell them about her close, and almost unfortunate encounter, but at the same time she didn't want to burden them with the concern. The only one that knew was Bull, and she kind of wanted to keep it that way. She thought of Bull trapped and alone in German occupied Nuenen. She felt like she was going to be sick just thinking about poor Bull.

"It'll be okay. Everything will be okay." Malarkey soothed. He always told her that, but she had trouble believing him this time.

"How can you be so sure anymore? Nothing is going right so far."

"Don't try to worry too much about it, Hun. Try to get some sleep, we'll be heading toward Veghel in the morning." Malarkey replied. He cupped her cheek as he spoke to her softly, doing so to get her attention. She felt her body relax with his gentle and warm touch. She nodded, knowing that sleep was something she couldn't afford to lose any more of.

Toye glanced back and forth between them, his eyebrows raising in surprise at their peaceful interaction. "So… I'm guessin' you two made up? I didn't think you'd forgive each other that fast."

Malarkey and Marie both looked at him, not realizing at first that he knew about their fight. News in Easy Company sure did travel fast. Malarkey let go of her cheek, feeling embarrassed that Toye had practically pointed it out.

"Hey, I can be magnanimous when I want to be." Marie chuckled, trying to ease the awkward tension.

"You can be what?" Toye furrowed his brow in confusion.

Malarkey smirked. "Hey, Latin Honors, stop trying to stump us and go to bed." He gave her a playful shove. Marie let out a hearty laugh, but it soon faded as the her mind remained on Bull being MIA.

"I'd like to, but I'm not tired. I can't sleep knowing Bull is out there all alone." Marie muttered honestly.

"Let's talk 'bout somethin' else." Toye interrupted, wanting to focus the attention on other things. "I heard Sobel had some words to say to you two before we jumped into Holland."

Malarkey groaned. "Sobel hasn't changed. Still tries to find ways to get ya in trouble."

Marie nodded, agreeing with him. "He's still mad at me about that pregnancy thing."

"He's just mad that it wasn't you, and that you tricked him. He made a fool of himself waving and shouting those results out in the open like that." Malarkey sighed, recalling the unpleasant memory. "Not to mention he got the news that he wasn't going to be in charge of Easy that same day."

"Does he think that's my fault?" Marie questioned.

"I think he's always had it out for you and Em." Toye interjected.

"Eh, he deserved it. He called you horrible things and constantly belittled you in front of the company." Malarkey added. "I know he did that to everyone, but he shouldn't of called you some of those things. He just didn't treat you and Emilia right."

"What? Like 'slut'? His names didn't bother me after a while. Emilia and I knew that when we joined it wasn't going to be like daycare. Sobel was a mean, miserable bastard - that's all." Marie concluded. She didn't want to spend her free time talking about Herbert Sobel.

"How is Florence? Have you heard from her?" Toye asked, getting her hint to change the subject.

Marie shrugged, frowning. "She never returned any of my letters. The only one who writes me is Jane." Marie's voice trailed off, thinking about when all the girls were together. It had seemed like a lifetime ago; thinking about the times before they were sent off to war felt foreign. Marie, Emilia, Florence, Jane, Barbara, and Diana all together; happy and unharmed; it felt so strange. "I wonder if she's all right… I worry about her."

"No news is good news, right?" Malarkey chimed in, trying to be positive.

"Not when it came to Diana…"

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, shifting around uncomfortably. Their conversation had sure gone south awful quickly. Marie felt bad; the whole point of starting conversation was to get their minds on things other than the war, casualties, and Bull.

"We really should get some sleep." Malarkey cut in, finally breaking the heavy silence. He shifted in the foxhole, turning over to get comfortable. Marie and Toye watched him, pondering whether they should follow his lead, or try and wait up for the patrol team searching for Bull to return. Neither one of them knew that they could get much sleep with knowing Bull was out there, but they had to try.

Marie tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. She had started to nod-off a few times, but the tiniest sound of movement would snap her back awake. She greatly anticipated the patrol's return, but every time she checked, it wasn't them. No matter what way she turned or what she attempted to tell herself, she couldn't get relaxed enough to fall asleep. Toye watched her with sullen eyes as she restlessly moved about. He sat fully erect; his M-1 resting across his lap. He volunteered to keep watch to let Malarkey and Marie sleep, but so far it was just one out of two.

"Please get some sleep, Hun. You're makin' me nervous." Toye whispered to her. "The sun is gonna be coming up soon."

"It's no good, Joe." Marie sighed. She sat up, adjusting her helmet as she did so. "Let me keep watch, you need some sleep."

"You don't even have a gun. You really think you can fend off Germans with that little knife of yours?" Toye raised his eyebrows in mild derision.

"I'm trying to do you a favor." Marie replied, but she knew Toye wasn't going to switch places with her. She laid back down and turned over again, forcing her eyes closed. Eventually Marie felt her mind aimlessly drift off, exhaustion overcoming her will to stay awake.

The next thing she knew, Malarkey was shaking her awake. She opened her eyes, surprised to see the sun was up. She hadn't even realized that she'd fallen asleep; it had only felt like seconds since she'd closed her eyes after talking to Toye. She rubbed her eyes, not feeling very well rested but grateful that she was able to sleep for a couple hours.

"C'mon, Hun. We're moving out." Malarkey informed her. She stood up and prepared herself for the trip to Veghel. He helped her out of the foxhole, then they proceeded to meet up with the rest of 2nd platoon. Marie noticed that the patrol was back, to her excitement.

"Bull?" Marie questioned, hopefully.

Malarkey reluctantly shook his head. Marie felt her stomach drop in disappointment. She followed the platoon with lethargic steps as they headed down a path in the never-ending grassy plain. The roads were all starting to look the same to her the longer they remained in Holland. She continued to walk with her eyes downcast for a long time, as the rest of the company did the same. There was very little conversation amongst the men, whom all felt just as rotten as the next soldier.

"Bull!" She heard Martin's voice suddenly call from way ahead of her. She snapped her head up, looking in the direction where she heard Martin. A truck was quickly driving down the dirt path, right towards them. As it came closer into view, Marie could make out the shape of someone familiar sitting in it.

Sure enough, it was Bull Randleman.

An excited smile spread on her face. She let out a relieved chuckle as she watched Bull climb out of the truck, the men swarming him. From what she could see, he looked unharmed. Marie broke out in a run toward him, feeling the hopelessness flee from her system. Everything seemed restored now that Bull had returned. When Easy had to retreat Nuenen, it felt like they'd all left their fighting spirits along with Bull – but now their spirits had come back. Marie knew that all of them could now face what was awaiting them just up the path.