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The next morning Adriana woke to the sounds of quiet talking. She opened her eyes to see the three amigos, Malarkey, Muck and Penkala in the foxhole. Guarnere was still holding her against him and mostly because she was warm she didn't move but Penkala saw her.

"Mornin' Rosie," he said quietly.

"Hey Penk," she greeted him. "Muck, Malark."

The boys nodded at her. Apparently Guarnere had told them how he had found her the night before because they were acting strange.

"What are we talking about?" she asked, still not moving from Guarnere's hold.

He seemed glad.

"Dyke," Muck said gruffly.

"As I was sayin'," Guarnere continued. "We are screwed."

"You ask me, I'm glad Lt. Dyke's never around," Penkala said folding his arms.

"Hey you know, we're doin' alright, even with," Malarkey paused. "Foxhole Norman."

"Yeah Don, we're doin' alright. We're doin' alright now. In case you haven't noticed there's a little town down there and in that town there are these guys, and these guys are called Germans, and these Germans got tanks," Guarnere explained like Malarkey was just another replacement. "And our side is going to want to go into that town. And guess who they are going to want to go knocking on the gawd damn door."

"I know Bill," Malarkey said rather forcefully. "It's me your talking to here."

"Jesus Christ, we have gotten through all this with a CO who's got his head so far up his ass, that lump in his throat is his gawd damned nose," Guarnere spat.

"Hey first Seargent!" Muck said in his always cheerful voice as Lip walked up.

"Hey boys. Adriana," he greeted her separately.

She nodded to him.

"Hey Muck, what's the word?" Lip asked.

"Uh you know. Sitting around freezing our asses off," he paused and glanced at Guarnere. "Singing Dyke's praises."

"You know," Adriana said as Lip sat on the edge of the hole. "I wouldn't want to be a replacement officer coming in here. You get thrown in with a group of guys who have known each other for what? Two years?" she asked.

Lip took over.

"Guys who have been in combat since Normandy. He's just supposed to show up and lead them? I mean, hows a guy do that? How does anyone really hope to gain the respect of the toughest most professional, most dedicated sons of bitches in the entire ETO?"

He glanced around at them for an answer.

"Seems to me," Adriana said. "You would have to march off to Berlin and come back with Hitler's moustache or something."

They shared a laugh then Lip said," Listen you boys don't worry about Dyke. We all just do our jobs and we will be fine."

They all nodded and he walked away. Adriana didn't know if she believed a word of what had been said, but it was her job to get these boys through the war and if lying about Dyke got them home, god damned if she didn't do it. As she lay there against Guarnere listening to the hum of conversation she thought about Hoob, bringing tears to her eyes but they didn't fall. Then she thought about his last request. 'A kiss from a beautiful girl.' She smiled. She had kissed two men in this company, neither the one she wanted to.

Her mind then drifted to Luz. She hadn't spoken to him much since the bombings on Christmas eve when they had spend the night together in the foxhole. As she had been on her way to tell him she loved him, Winters had promoted her to Lt and her dreams and notions of love went out the window. She had felt awkward in his presence since then.

'Until now,' she declared.

She wasn't going to waste time and have him die without her there.

'Thanks Hoob,' she said to herself as she stood.

She bid Guarnere, Muck, Malarkey and Penkala goodbye and climbed out onto the snow. Hoob's death had shown her what really mattered and she wasn't going to let that pass her by. She half jogged half walked around Easy company looking for that damn man. She hadn't noticed his absence since she had been trying to avoid him, but now she was afraid he might have been killed and she didn't know. Finally Perconte told her to check Doc Roe's hole. She did and found Luz getting his arm stitched up.

"What the hell happened?" she asked surprising both of them.

"Oh hey Rosie. Haven't seen you for awhile," Luz said looking away from her.

It was not like him to get his feelings hurt easily, but Adriana figured it wasn't without warrant.

"I got stabbed by a branch," he said looking at the ground.

"Was the branch being wielded by a German?" she asked playfully.

She saw a smile cross his face.

"It was still attached to a tree," he confessed.

"But a German was throwing the tree at you right?" she asked, her smile widening.

Luz sighed as Roe finished. He climbed out of the hole and threw his good arm around her.

"No Rosie. I ran into the branch that was on the tree that was still in the ground."

She snickered and leaned against him.

"Thanks Doc!" Luz yelled over his shoulder.

Roe nodded.

"You know we really need to give that man more credit. We would all be bloody and some of us dead without him," he said pointedly.

Adriana nodded.

"I would be dead a few times over if not for him. For all of you," she said stopping and turning him to her.

As he looked at her everything suddenly went into slow motion. She realized what she was about to tell him would change everything. If he knew she loved him, he would be happy, that she was sure of, but would he be more focused on her? Would he still be able to function as a soldier with the distraction of her? Would he be able to think rationally when presented with the choice of sacrificing himself or others to save her? Suddenly she wasn't so sure this was the best thing to do.

"Hoob's dead," she said to buy herself time.

"I know," Luz said eyes downcast.

"He died in my arms."

She watched Luz's jaw clench.

"I'm sorry Rosie," he said sincerely.

She decided to leave out the part about the kiss, but then wasn't sure why she would.

"He asked for a kiss before he died."

She immediately realized why she wasn't going to tell him. He instantly met her gaze, his eyes asking the question he couldn't. All of a sudden the air between them was very awkward.

"It wasn't a long kiss," she said trying to distract from the fact that her lips had met his.

Luz seemed to gain some composure.

"It was a last request. That is probably the last request of all the guys here."

"God I hope not," Adriana said turning and walking again.

Luz fell in step along side her and they had very comfortable conversation until they reached their foxhole where they found Muck and Penkala.

"What are you boys doing in our foxhole?" Adriana asked good-naturedly.

The two looked at each other.

"This is your foxhole?" Penkala asked genuinely confused.

"I told you we should have taken a right at the tree," Muck said sarcastically.

"Don't worry boys, we don't mind sharing," Luz said hopping in followed by Adriana.

They were barley there for five minutes before Buck walked up to them and started talking about them doing stupid things.

"Sure thing Buck. Nothing stupid," Penkala said. "We got it. Right?"

He elbowed Muck.

"Right," Muck said shivering.

"Alright?" he looked down. "George? Adri?"

"I hear you," Adriana said nodding.

"Nothing stupid Buck," Luz promised.

Adriana saw Buck's square jaw clench before he walked away. She also noticed Luz shivering. She scooted closer to him and elbowed him until he opened up his jacket and let her in. The change in temperature was instant and they both felt better. Muck and Penkala pretended like they didn't notice.

"Don't do anything stupid? Who the hell is talking to? A bunch of morons who volunteered to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Can it get anymore stupid than that?" Penkala asked.

"Probably not," Luz said still shivering a little.

"I swam across the Niagra once," Muck said.

Luz laughed at him.

"I swear," he said seriously. "On a bet."

"In what? A barrel?" Luz asked clearly missing the point.

"No… god, I didn't go over the falls, George, I swam across the river," Muck said exasperated. "Ten miles up from the falls. I tell yah, that current is damn strong. It must have carried me at least two miles downstream before I got across. But I got across."

They all laughed.

"Now personally, I didn't think it was all that stupid, but my mom, my sister Ruth, they gave me all kinds of hell."

"Good for them," Adriana said with a smile.

"So did Fae," Muck added with a dreamy sound to his voice.

"Ahh sweet Fae Tanner," Luz said with a grin.

"Shut it George," Muck said kicking him.

"Well, they had a point. You're an idiot," Penkala pointed out.

Adriana stood at Muck glared at is friend.

"Alright boys, I have to go make the rounds. Get some rest."

"What the hell are you making rounds for?" Penkala asked. "Isn't that the Lt's job?"

"That it is Penk, that it is," she said leaning down so he could see her collar.

He was confused for half a second then his eyes landed on the silver bar on her collar.

"Well shit," he said.

Adriana nodded as they saluted her and as she walked away she could hear Penkala asking, "When the hell did that happen?"

After finding and checking on almost everyone, one man was still unaccounted for. She couldn't find Lip. She jogged around a little more and finally came upon him sitting in a hole cleaning Hoob's luger. He didn't have to look up to know her soft footfalls.

"How are you Adri?" he asked.

"Cold," she confessed softly.

He glanced up at her and lifted the blanket next to him. She smiled and slid down the side and made herself comfortable next to him. Suddenly he turned to her and looked in her eyes.

"What the hell is a beautiful girl like you doing in Bastogne?"

Adriana sighed.

"Well I guess it's in my blood to fight. My father was in a war too."

"That's not what I asked," Lip said looking at her hard.

She wasn't sure how to answer.

"You mean to tell me you had no other options? You had nothing better you could be doing with your life? What about a family?" Lip asked.

Adriana turned on him.

"I could ask the same thing of you Carwood Lipton. Why are you here? You're married. Why aren't you with her starting a family?"

Lip sighed.

"I guess it's not as different as I thought. It's only because… well,"

"I'm a woman," she finished.

Lip nodded and a comfortable silence fell between them.

"I do want a family though," Adriana said after a few minutes.

Lip looked up at her.

"I have always wanted kids."

"And who's going to be the father?" Lip asked like it was a normal thing to ask of women.

Adriana shook her head.

"I don't know Lip. I mean what kind of man is ever going to want me? I'm all scarred. On the inside and out."

She sadly slid a hand over the scars she had received on D-day and let her fingers rest on her neck. There was a raised imprint where the German had choked her to death. The bullet wound in her hip was still healing and she knew it would leave a nasty scar and the bullet wound from D-day on her shoulder still ached from time to time. The various other scrapes she had received from just crawling through the dirt and climbing through jagged bushes covered her face and neck. She suddenly felt very self conscious and Lip saw it.

"What are you talking about?" he asked absently cleaning the Luger. "Any man would be lucky to have you. Any man here would marry you in a heartbeat. Even the ones who are already married," he said smiling gently.

"Even Winters?" she asked trying to make a point.

"I think even Major Winters would be hard pressed not to marry you if you asked," Lip said completely serious.

Adriana rolled her eyes but didn't have time to do more because someone behind them started speaking.

"I heard about Hoobler," came the voice.

Adriana and Lip turned to see none other than their fearless leader.

"Shame."

Adriana glanced at Lip. All foxhole Norman had to say about Hoob's death was that it was a 'shame.' Adriana scoffed. He probably had never even talked to Hoob. What did he care if he was dead. She didn't say anything for fear she would not be able to keep the insults from rolling out, but Lip responded as calm as ever.

"Yes sir. It is," he said still cleaning the gun.

"Is that the Luger?" Dyke asked.

"Yes it is," Lip said patiently.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Dyke asked leaning forward like he wanted it.

"I don't know yet," Lip sighed, seemingly unaware that Dyke looked like he might grab it and run.

Adriana watched him carefully. His eyes held lust for that gun, but suddenly he changed topic.

"Where you from Lipton? Where did you grow up?"

"Huntington West Virginia."

"Huntington!" Dyke said pausing a moment. "I don't know it."

Adriana was sure Lip didn't care if he knew his home town or not.

"What kind of work did you do there?" he asked.

Adriana was glad that he didn't seem to care much about her or her back story, even though he would probably find it more interesting than Lip's.

"My brother and I helped my mom run a boarding house."

"And your father?"

Lip shifted uncomfortably next to Adriana before answering.

"He was killed when I was ten sir. Automobile accident," he answered.

Adriana, of corse, already knew this. Three years of being a family and you got to know everything about everyone.

"That's sad," he said in a dry monotone.

After a minutes pause he spoke again.

"So what made you want to join the paratroopers?"

"I read an article on paratroopers in 'Life' magazine. Talked about the training. How hard it was. Said if you wanted to make it as a paratrooper, you had to be the best and I wanted to fight with the best sir."

"You miss it?" Dyke asked cryptically.

"Miss what?" Lip asked confused.

"Huntington."

"Honestly sir, I try not to think about it that much," Lip said.

Adriana could see he was starting to lose his patience. Apparently Dyke could too because he was gone as suddenly as he came. Lip snickered to himself then turned to Adriana.

"Get back to your hole will yah? That boy will be missing you by now."

Adriana didn't have to be told who he was talking about. She kissed him on the cheek then clambered out of the hole. Lip watched her go, then went back to cleaning the Luger.

After leaving Lip's hole, she had gotten herself hopelessly lost. In every direction she looked, there were white torrents of snow. She could hardly see trees in front of her. She wasn't going to find anything in this storm so she decided to sit and wait it out rather than getting herself further lost. She pulled her coat tighter around her neck and sat between two trees trying to stay out of the cold wind. Almost instantly she began to shiver.

For some reason it never crossed her mind that she could freeze to death there between two trees until that moment when she stopped shivering. By then she knew it must be too late, but then Doc Roe popped out of the trees ahead of her. It took a minute for him to see her, then register she wasn't a German. He jogged to her side.

"Adriana?" he asked still unsure.

"Yeah Doc it's me," she said calmly.

He knelt down next to her and touched her cheek. He pulled his hand back quickly.

"We need to get you warm," he said taking her hand and helping her to her feet.

She leaned heavily against him because she couldn't feel her legs.

"Take it easy," Doc said pulling one of her arms around his shoulder and putting his arm around her waist.

He mostly carried her back to his foxhole. He lowered her down into the only slightly warmer temperature of the hole, but he was glad to see her start to shiver. He jumped in with her and pulled a blanket out of his pack. He threw it over her and tucked it in around one side and tucked himself in on her other. He pulled her close and wrapped her trembling form into his chest. Without another word she fell asleep.

The next morning she and Roe awoke to cheering. She stretched feeling significantly better than the day before. She crawled out from under the blanket and pulled Roe after her to see what was going on. They jogged to the circle of men where they found Peacock. Bull was speaking.

"Congratulations Lt. Peacock. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more," Bull said genuinely happy to see him leave, but not for the reason Peacock thought.

"Thanks," Peacock said.

The man was all smiles as everyone congratulated him.

"Really glad that you're going home," Luz said shaking his hand.

Adriana giggled as Peacock thanked him.

"Best news I've heard in weeks," Christenson said patting his arm.

"Thanks guys. It really means a lot you know?"

"Aww get out of here," Adriana said stepping up to him and hugging him.

They did three cheers for him, then sent him on his way.

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