Liebgott, Webster, and Sisk were selected to go find a Nazi officer who was supposedly hiding out in the country. The second I heard this, I wanted to come with them. I asked Lipton why just the three of them were going and he shrugged and said, "It's just one guy they're bringing in. There's no need for a lot of men."

"What if the man gets violent?" I countered. "What if one of them gets hurt?"

"None of them are going to get hurt, Diana." Lipton assured me. He was giving me a sympathetic look and looked like he was going to say something else. I sighed and waved my hand for him to go ahead and speak his mind. He smirked. "Diana, I know how you're feeling, I really do. But I can assure you when I say that Liebgott is going to be fine. The two of you are so wound up about each other lately that neither of you can focus on anything else."

I snorted. "That noticeable?" I smirked to show him that I was kidding. Lipton snorted and looked amused.

"Trust me, with the way the war's going right now, we might be going home soon. That is if the Japanese would hurry up and surrender already."

"I heard that Easy might be going to the Pacific." I said, thinking about going into another hell hole. "Based on what Elizabeth has told me, it's hotter there than it ever was in Georgia."

"Well, even if we get sent to the Pacific, I know that we're gonna be fine." Lipton said. "This company's gone through hell already; I think we can go through it again."

I stared at Lipton for a while. It didn't seem like it, but he was only two years older than me. And yet he was wiser than anyone I had ever known. I smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you, Lipton." I said. He seemed to understand that I meant more than just talking to me about the Pacific. Lipton returned the kind gaze and slapped my shoulder with enough strength to knock me down. I kept my footing and gave him a mock glare, to which Lipton laughed.

A few hours later, Liebgott returned with Webster and Sisk. According to the official report, the German officer was killed trying to escape justice. Webster, however, kept scowling and avoided Liebgott for the rest of the day. After dinner, I grabbed Liebgott by his jacket sleeve and pulled him along until we were inside the next building. I didn't dare bring him all the way to my room, in case someone saw and decided to pull a Dike on me.

"What happened with that officer?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him. Liebgott exhaled heavily and glared at the wall above my head.

"I interrogated him, he ran off, Sisk put him down." Liebgott answered in a clipped voice.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "And that's all that happened?"

Liebgott shuffled his feet. "Webster didn't agree with my interrogation tactics."

I blinked, knowing exactly what that meant. I remained silent for a full minute before I looked back up at him. "You're sure that he was in charge of one of those camps?"

He blinked and nodded. "Yeah, we're sure. He confessed."

Something inside of me hardened. I thought of all those Jewish men starved and tortured. I realized a few days ago I had realized that if Liebgott wasn't American, if his family stayed in Austria, he would've been one of the Jewish men taken to a camp. The idea of that happening to him, to anyone, made me want to punish the people responsible for all of that pain.

"Good," I said darkly. Liebgott looked down at me and he had a look of understanding on his face. A few men walking past glanced into the doorway we were standing in, but since there wasn't anything scandalous going on, they quickly moved on and let us be. I ignored them and just looked up at Liebgott; he, however, frowned at them. That dimple between his eyebrows was there again. Liebgott forced his face to relax and looked back down at me. "C'mon; let's go somewhere we can actually talk."

"What about Sink's rule?"

Liebgott shrugged. "We're not going to do anything. We're just gonna talk. Is talking against the rules?" He sounded frustrated, and I couldn't blame him. We left the doorway and started walking down the road. The sun was setting and long shadows were stretching along the streets. We walked down the center, locals and soldiers alike walking past us. At some point we passed Perconte and Luz, and they both raised eyebrows. Luz threw us both an over-exaggerated wink.

"Have you ever realized that we're friends with young children?" I asked Liebgott, nodding over at Luz and Perconte. Liebgott shook his head, but there was a broad grin on his face.

We ended up walking to the town square, where most of the population was the locals. Very few soldiers came this way, and if they did it was always for looting. That explained why the locals threw us dirty looks and most of them refused to turn their backs on us.

"You'd think that we were the bad guys," Liebgott muttered, sticking his hands deep into his pockets. I nodded in agreement, looking around the town square with narrowed eyes. One mother hurried her children away from our sight, speaking fast to them. Liebgott snorted with amusement when he heard what she said, prompting me to ask what she said. "She said that we were nasty Americans who'd rob them blind. I really should teach you German."

"Where in the world am I going to use it?" I asked with a huff of amusement.

Liebgott shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe we could actually talk to one another without anyone being able to eavesdrop. Except Webster; he'd be able to understand us."

"I could use it next time I see Sally," I said. "I could tell her everything I feel and she won't have a clue."

Liebgott looked at me sadly. "So the letter was that bad, huh?"

I told him everything about the letter, but I changed the details of what I did afterwards. Liebgott would question me about the truth a few years later. Instead I just said that I walked around the entire town a few times. Liebgott got that look in his eyes, as if he knew I was stretching the truth, but for once he didn't push it. When I finished, he shook his head and looked back to me.

"Is it considered inappropriate to punch a much older lady?" He asked. I laughed out loud without meaning to. Liebgott grinned at the sight of me laughing, and he straightened his back. "So what're you planning to do once we're back home?"

I shrugged. "Well, I'm not going back to her, that's for sure. I'll probably stay with Mary and Phillip for a while, get back on my feet. After that, I have no idea."

Liebgott looked me up and down, looking like he was thinking hard. And then, "Why don't you come to California with me?"

"Really?" I asked, blinking up at him. "Are you sure you want me around?"

"Positive," Liebgott said. "You get anything you need from your sisters, I come and get you, and we run off west."

"Since when did you become the romantic?" I asked. He shrugged, that mean-looking smirk planted on his face. I stared at his face, feeling a white-hot feeling surge through me. He met my eyes and held me there.

I was back at the aid station when Hanson and Foley carried a limp body inside. I felt my body go cold when I recognized Grant. Dark blood was clotted on Grant's forehead. "Is he dead?" I asked. They set him down and Foley shook his head.

"He's still got a pulse." Foley answered, gasping for air. I heard people talking by the entrance and looked over to see a crowd of Easy Company staring at the four of us. Liebgott was at the front of the crowd. I tightened my jaw and turned away, farther in the aid station.

"Roe!" I shouted. My friend came almost immediately. I quickly set up an I.V, occasionally having to shove Hanson and Foley out of the way. Speirs entered the room almost as soon as I got the plasma ready and handed it to Roe. The two soldiers filled Speirs's in on what had happened. More men were gathering outside.

"Does he have an exit wound?" Roe asked me, ignoring the audience we now had. I inspected Grant and nodded my head. Roe used his free hand Grant's neck and he inspected the pulse and wound just as I had. "He needs a surgeon. There's not much either of us can do."

"We need Gruber," I muttered, looking up the men surrounding us. I looked to the doorway and my eyes landed on Perconte first. "Perconte, there's a doctor in town. His name is Christian Gruber. We're gonna need him to save Grant. Bring him to the aid station!"

"Say no more," Perconte said before bolting in the direction of the hospital. Speirs was glaring down at Grant's form.

"Did you see who did this?" Speirs asked in a deadly quiet voice.

"No," I said, shaking my head for emphasis. "These two just brought him in."

Speirs looked back at Grant's limp body, his intense gaze softening ever so slightly. I forced myself to remember that Speirs was just like us; he hated seeing his men in pain just like we did. Speirs started questioning Foley and Hanson about the man who had shot Grant. From what I could gather, they had found a drunken G.I while on patrol. The man had shot down several men already and when Grant tried to stop him, the shooter got Grant.

There was a sudden movement with the crowd and Perconte was shoving the men away so that the Austrian doctor could get through. "Can you help him?" I asked Gruber as soon as he was close enough.

The Austrian doctor was staring down at Grant with a sad expression. He blinked at me. "He won't make it through the night, let alone the needed surgery." That was the wrong thing to say in front in front of Speirs. The commanding officer stalked towards him until he was nose to nose with Gruber.

"You have to be able to do something," Speirs snarled. Gruber looked at him calmly.

"I have a friend in Saalfelden." Gruber said. "He's a brain surgeon, but even he'll tell you that it'd be a waste of medical supplies."

"What's your friend's name?" Speirs asked, ignoring everything else Gruber had said. The second he had the name, Speirs and Foley picked Grant up again and carried him to the Jeeps. Hanson looked after them for a brief second before running after them. Gruber shook his head with a heavy sigh. Roe and I glanced at each other before running after them.

"Keep his head elevated!" I yelled at them. The crowd of Easy parted for Grant's body but I still had to physically shift some of the guys out of my way. "And drive as carefully as heavenly possible! The bullet can still shift and kill him. And make sure his vitals are constant; any change can be dangerous."

"I'm going with y'all," Roe said, climbing into the Jeep and taking the spot right beside Grant. Foley herded the audience that had been watching and started sending them out for the shooter. Hanson didn't hesitate before joining in.

"We'll be back soon," Roe said after loading Grant into the truck. Speirs nodded, letting me know that he had listened to what I said. The two men drove away into the night, taking Grant's fate into their own hands.

The search party began instantly. I stayed inside the building where Easy had been living. I turned Toye's brass knuckles around in my hands, wondering if I actually wanted to use them. I was only pacing in that room for about thirty minutes when shouts sounded on the other side of the door. I stopped pacing just as Perconte burst the door open. Martin, Liebgott, and Bull were dragging a man I didn't recognize. Malarkey, Talbert, Foley, and a few others followed. I saw that Foley already had bruised knuckles.

It wasn't until they tied the man to a chair that Martin noticed I was even there. "Um, McCall," Martin said slowly. Liebgott's head shot up and his eyes locked onto me fast. I narrowed my eyes at Martin. "You probably don't want to be in here."

"Like hell I don't," I said darkly. I looked behind him to the shooter. "This is him?"

"Yes ma'am," Bull said, watching me carefully. "He's a replacement from I Company." I moved forward until I was right in front of the man. I had already slipped Toye's brass knuckles onto my fist. Talbert was the first to see them and he hissed softly under his breath. I ran my thumb over the sharp end of the brass knuckles.

"You're sure it's him?" I asked, not tearing my eyes from him. I could feel their eyes on me as Bull confirmed it. I tightened my grip on the bit of steel wrapping around my right hand.

All of the rage and pain I had felt since Skip died came bubbling to the surface. I thought of the men we had lost in Austria, either because someone else was drunk or being stupid. I knew that there was a good chance of Grant not surviving the shooting. So I moved as fast as I possibly could and landed my right fist on the man's cheek.

He let out a loud grunt of pain. I felt my own fist sting from the collision and I backed away from him, having gotten what I had wanted. I paused beside Liebgott, mainly because he reached out and grabbed my right hand. We moved to the back of the crowd, where Liebgott removed Toye's brass knuckles as gently as he could. The metal had sunk deeply into my skin, enough to draw blood.

From behind us I could hear that the other men were going to town on the shooter. Liebgott muttered, "You know you didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, I did," I answered. "I'm sick of losing people." Liebgott nodded before turning around and joining the crowd. I moved around the edge of the crowd until I was beside Malarkey. He also had fresh bruises on his fists.

Nobody's hands were clean anymore.