A/N:

Thank you BobtheFrong for another review! I've been so worried about writing the Bastogne chapters, actually. They're such sad parts in the series and in the book so it's going to be very emotionally draining to write. But I'm glad that I've helped fall for Muck! That makes me happy :D

Thank you drovingallday96 and brackett WI for the story follow!

I'm sorry for the lack of updates! I've been so unbelievably busy lately that I have like no free time to write anymore. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it! More dialogue from the book and the episode – enjoy!

Bastogne, Belgium

December 19-21st, 1944

Easy Company's first day in Bastogne was surprisingly quiet. The woods were eerily silent, the wind gusts were the only thing that could be heard in the snow covered woods. There were no birds chirping, or any sort of animal life among the trees. Marie walked through the still forest, her boots crunching under the freshly fallen snow. The snow was so white that the sun reflecting off of it made it seem bright; glowing almost, practically blinding the soldiers when they first arrived. Because it was so cold, Marie was walking around as much as she could to keep her blood flowing; it was the only way to keep warm since the Army issued overcoat didn't do much. Marie felt tranquil in the forest, at ease even though it was known that there were Germans off in the distance. An occasional 88 and machine gun fire would burst off in the distance, but Easy Company couldn't see much through the powdery haze from the snow.

Some cracks from artillery fire made Marie stop in her tracks, listening intently to judge if the Germans were invading their territory. The bursts echoed, but didn't sound close and there were no shouts of the Easy men in the distance. Marie let out a shuddering breath, watching it rush out of her nose and mouth like smoke. She didn't want to start feeling on edge, although she knew in the back of her mind that an attack could happen at any time.

" 'Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.' "

She started to recite to herself, continuing her blind stroll through the forest. Everything was silent again, but Marie couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that was starting to build inside her. She was hoping that the poem would make her feel better.

" 'My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.' "

Marie drew her overcoat up higher on her neck, attempting to keep some warmth trapped beneath it.

" The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep-' "

"And miles to go before I sleep." A sudden voice added, startling her. She noticed a figure coming from beside a tree. His shape materialized through the haze and she recognized that it was Roe.

Marie gave him a smile. "And miles to go before I sleep." She finished. "I didn't know they read Frost in the Bayou." She joked. Roe gave her a small smirk. She noticed that all the color had drained out of his already pale face, making his appearance seem even whiter than before. The tip of his nose was red, along with his lips because of the cold weather. Marie imagined that she looked the same standing out here in the snow.

"What are you doin' walkin' out here all by yourself?" The Cajun asked her.

"I could ask you the same thing." She countered. "Just trying to keep myself warm by moving around." She felt a chill cut through her, causing her to bundle her clothes closer to her body. She still had the same uneasy feeling. Roe shifted his stance, she could tell that he had the same feeling, too.

"We should keep movin'." Roe stated, his voice low. Marie nodded stiffly, as she started to follow him.

They were walking a steady pace until he slowed up in front of her. Marie bumped into his back, not expecting him to stop. Marie was about to open her mouth and ask him why he stopped when she followed his stare through the haze. There was a group of frozen, dead soldiers; mummified by the frost and negative temperatures. Marie shuddered as she gazed upon the bodies. They were posed like they were alive, making the scene even creepier as their weapons clung tightly into their enclosed fists as if they were ready to fire upon the two medics. She gave Roe a concerned side-glance, only to see him swallow deeply as his eyes remained on the dead soldiers before him. Marie knew it wasn't safe to stay here any longer than they needed to. She placed a gentle hand on Roe's shoulder, trying to shake him from his submissive posture.

"Rigor mortis looks like it set in long ago, but we shouldn't take our chances hanging around here. We need to keep moving." She said quietly to him, not wanting to look at the frozen bodies anymore.

It was apparent that Easy Company didn't have enough men, even with all the new replacements that had been shipped to them the past few weeks. The company was spread too thin, not to mention that there was a big chunk from the 501st missing where the gaps were supposed to be filled. The large gaps made it so men from other companies, and even Germans would wander right into Easy territory without knowing it. Roe and Winters had caught a German while Marie had already headed back to where most of the men were gathered. With the lack of medical supplies along with everything else, Marie was hoping that they could've snagged some useful from the kraut, but Roe only managed one rolled up bandage.

Marie waited, leaned up against the trunk of a tree near the CP tent. She listened in on Strayer, Winters, Sink, General McAuliffe, and even Emilia was present. They mumbled quietly and urgently to themselves, Marie was only able to pick up snippets of their briefing, but she didn't like what she heard. The sporadic artillery fire and the lack of men made the higher ups nervous, which didn't help the rest of the company's own nerves. As the higher ranking men left, Marie watched Winters turn back and give Emilia a fleeting look of worriment before stalking off back to the tent so he could finish shaving. Emilia sighed, brining her hand to her forehead in deep thought as she remained in the place of the meeting. Marie watched Emilia, able to read the stress that was clearly written all over her face. Marie waved to her friend, giving her a lopsided smile, but Emilia didn't respond. She only followed Winters and went abruptly back into the CP tent, wiping back the tarp with enough force to make it look like it was going to tear off. Marie winced, taken aback from her good friend's coldness toward her. The temperature and situation of Bastogne had already sucked all the good spirits out of everyone, and they'd only been here for a little over a day. She sighed, deciding to go find Malarkey and check up on how he was doing. She needed to tell him what she heard from Sink anyway, knowing that he wouldn't want to be kept in the dark. She wandered aimlessly around Easy's grounds, only seeing all the men were digging up foxholes.

She eventually found him digging up a foxhole with Roderick Bain, one of Malarkey's good friend's since Camp Toccoa. The two of them hastily dug their foxhole, dumping the snow and dirt on the side with the flick of their shovels. She walked around the other end, careful not to be pelted.

"Hey." Marie greeted, staring down at the two tired soldiers.

Malarkey's large, dark eyes gazed up at her. He broke out into an instant smile, making his high cheekbones protrude even more than normal. She could see that he was exhausted and freezing, but he was still trying to remain upbeat against the odds. Marie returned his smile, blushing slightly at the caring look in his eyes.

"Hey there, Hun. How's it going? We were wondering where you were." He commented, sticking his shovel in the ground.

"Need a hand?" Marie asked, crouching down to get a better look.

"If you can find a shovel." Bain grunted. The breeze picked up, causing all three of them to shiver as the stinging cold air touched their skin. Marie hugged herself and forced her teeth not to chatter.

"Give me the forty-five degrees and rain of an Astoria winter any day." Malarkey muttered.

"Hell, Malark, compared to Ilwaco, Astoria has winter drought. We get more than eighty inches a year." Bain replied, giving a dry chuckle.

"I heard some news from the brass." Marie said, changing the subject as she bit her lip. The two men stopped digging and looked up at her thoughtfully. "As I'm sure you're both aware, we don't have enough men to spread across the Bois Jacques forest to support us. Most of the 501st is missing and the 506th don't have enough manpower to cover all the gaps in the five hundred yard front. We only have 150 men and Sink seems pretty worried about our place right now."

Both men nodded solemnly as Malarkey blew on his hands for warmth. Marie stood up, hoping that she could find an extra shovel somewhere. She was surprised that Guarnere wasn't in the foxhole helping them since he shared that one with them, too. Lipton came through the snowy haze then, his rifle slung around his shoulder casually. His cheeks had gone rosy from the cold as he let out a shuddering breath before addressing them.

"Hun, you should go find Roe and Spina to see if they have any more supplies to give you. The three of you should even up what you carry." Lipton suggested.

"Yes, sir." Marie answered, giving Malarkey a glance over her shoulder before leaving. He gave her a reassuring smile before she disappeared into the blinding snow and traveled deeper into the front to find the medics.

Marie was glad she didn't have to venture too far before she found them. They were huddled together in one foxhole, looking like they were already going through their supplies to find what they had. Marie slid into the foxhole beside them, as Spina moved his shovel out of the way so she'd have room.

"What've you boys got?" She questioned, already setting her pack in front of her.

"One kraut bandage, one syrette, very little else." Roe mumbled, counting the contents of his own pack.

"Same, I don't even think I have any bandages." Spina added with a weary sigh.

"I need some scissors, you got any, Hun?" Roe asked.

Marie shook her head, showing the two medics the pathetic contents of her own pack by pulling it open as wide as it could go. She forced a smile on her face, though she felt grim from what little they had. How were any of them supposed to do their job swiftly and effectively with barely any supplies? The three of them continued to dig into their packs, stopping as they heard heavy footsteps approaching them. Marie cautiously peered over the foxhole to notice a figure stomping in the snow toward them. As the figure got closer, Marie noticed that it was Dike. She let out a low groan, wishing that it was anyone other than their incompetent CO.

Dike stopped to peer over the foxhole where the medics were huddled together. He placed his hands on his hips as his eyes swept over the three Docs. Marie suppressed the urge to glare at him and tell him to go away. She couldn't stand being even ten feet from this man without getting annoyed.

"1st Sergeant Lipton!" Dike hollered.

Lipton approached the CO quickly, seeing the medics holding onto their packs as they sat together in the foxhole. He looked back up at Dike to question what the problem was.

"Sir?"

"What's this? Three medics in one hole?" Dike observed, his face becoming scrunched up as he gazed down at them. Marie glanced over at Lipton as he gave her an apologetic look; he was the one who told her to find the other medics, and now she was most likely going to get in trouble from it.

"Yes, sir." Spina replied, his tone on the verge of testing him.

"What's going to happen to us if you take a hit, huh?" Dike demanded the three medics, but none of them answered. Roe continued to fumble with his equipment as Spina stared at him, blankly. Marie turned her back to the CO, packing up the little medical supplies that she had.

"Sir?" Lipton stressed, still unsure why he was summoned.

"1st Sergeant, where's my foxhole?" Dike asked.

"It's back here, sir." Lipton replied, patiently, pointing in the other direction. "Maybe you uh- maybe you missed it. I'll walk you back, sir, you're really close to the line here."

Marie mouthed a 'thank you' to Lipton, knowing that he was trying to get him away from her and the other medics. Dike glanced back at them in foxhole, his brows furrowing in frustration. She thought he was going to make another comment about the medics being together, but he didn't.

"Goddammit." He rasped, turning on his heel and following Lipton back to where they came from. The three medics watched as their confused commander disappeared in the forest, shaking their heads to themselves. Spina smirked, standing up to continue to dig his foxhole a little deeper. Marie would've cracked a joke about him, but the fact that a man like him was leading them against the Germans made her sick.

"Anyway, I don't have much, but I do have some Foille ointment that'll help with the potential frostbite issues I'm sure we're going to get." Marie said, pulling out the individual tubes to hand off to the other medics.

"Thanks." Spina replied gratefully, taking the ointment and placing it in his pack with his free hand. Roe did the same, nodding a 'thank you' to her. She climbed out of her hole and made her way back to her platoon.

Marie returned to see Malarkey and Bain still working rigorously at finished up their foxhole. Marie walked over to them, noticing how eerily the foxhole looked like a coffin. Malarkey stopped digging for a moment as he realized Marie staring down at them, a strange look etched on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, panting from working and the cold air.

"Nothing, it's nothing." She shook her head, pushing the thought of her head. She jumped in the L-shaped foxhole, offering the two soldiers her canteen of water. Malarkey took a couple of gulps while Bain refused any, giving his head a shake. "Are you guys almost done?"

"Almost. The foxhole has to be six feet in length and two feet wide. We need enough room to be stretched out for sleeping." Malarkey explained, measuring the progress of the foxhole with his shovel. Marie noticed Malarkey peer past her shoulder and make a face, she turned and followed his gaze to see Smokey sitting up in a nearby foxhole. His machine gun was perched in front of him while a large towel was wrapped on top of his helmet. "Jeez, Smokey, why not put a big arrow pointing to your head that says: 'krauts shoot here.' " Malarkey laughed.

Smokey rolled his eyes, his body visibly shaking as he kept his eyes on the line. The sound of boots hitting the snow made Marie's gaze snap around. It was Guarnere, looking tense as he settled on the foxhole floor, his hands shoved in his overcoat pockets. He muttered something to Bain that Marie didn't catch, but judging by Bain's reaction, she could tell it wasn't pleasant.

"Hun." Malarkey's voice softly cut in. Marie took her eyes off of their distressed looking squad leader. "Who are you bunking with?"

"Oh, I don't know, actually." Marie admitted. She'd spent so much time walking around, she didn't really assign herself anywhere.

Malarkey frowned. "Are you serious? That's really important."

Marie shrugged, lazily. "I know, I'll find someone to share a foxhole with. Maybe Toye?"

"He's at the edge of the line." Guarnere interjected.

"So?"

"No, choose someone else." He answered, gruffly.

"Okay…" Marie muttered, not in the mood to argue with Guarnere. "Maybe Jackson or Babe." Marie noticed Malarkey's face deflate in disappointment at her answer. She wanted to desperately share a foxhole with Malarkey, but the rule was no more than three a hole, the exception being emergencies. Marie climbed out of the foxhole, deciding that she'd try to find Babe first. She pulled her overcoat tightly around her again but before she walked off she heard someone slushing in the snow behind her. She turned to see Guarnere trudging toward her, his face contorted in discomfort.

"What's wrong, Bill?" Marie asked, growing concerned. He averted his gaze, glancing around the forest, awkwardly shifting his feet. He jutted out his jaw, not looking her in the eye as she waited for an answer. Marie rose her eyebrows at him the longer he remained silent. "Bill-"

"I don't know if I should be tellin' you." He mumbled, almost growing cross as he continued to avoid her gaze.

"Well if it's medical, than I'm the perfect person to tell." Marie retorted, crossing her arms.

Guarnere groaned, stomping his boots into the snow. "Whenever I piss it's like freakin' needles and knives."

Marie thought for a moment. "Well that could be a number of things, Bill. It could be a urinary tract infection, kidney stones, prostatitis, epididymitis, pyelonephritis, obstructive uropathy, Chlamydia infection, orchitis." She listed, counting with her fingers.

"Well, how the hell do I fix it?" Guarnere snapped.

"I don't know what's causing your painful urination, all I can say right now is to drink a lot of water. You should check with Doc Roe just in case it's a male problem." She instructed, not wanting to be the one to pull down his pants and check him, though she had a pretty good idea that his problem came from Lulu's. Before he could retort, Marie dismissed herself and left to find Babe. She found the young Philly man wrestling with a tarp that was meant to cover his foxhole.

"Babe." She tried to alert him.

"Hello, Hun. How's it going? Damn cold out here." He grunted, still keeping his focus on the tarp that was meant to cover his foxhole. He stuck out his tongue in concentration as he tried to get rid of the creases.

"I was wondering if we could be foxhole buddies." She asked.

He stopped wresting with the tarp a moment. "Really? I thought you and Malark would be the ones sharing a foxhole."

Marie blushed. "Well, there's already two others in his foxhole, so I had to find someone else." She kicked some of the snow with her boot as her face continued to burn.

"Yeah, sure." He replied, finally spreading the tarp over the foxhole. "Okay, it should be ready now. It's getting late, so it'll probably be a good idea to get some shut-eye." He lifted the flap to let her inside.

"Thank you." She said, sliding into his foxhole.

The sun was still out, but it was setting quickly. Wandering around the woods at night wasn't something she wanted to do. Even though the tarp offered some warmth, she was still shivering. She bundled herself up the best she could as she lay against the snowy edge of the foxhole. Babe did the same; the two of them far too tired to say another word to each other. Despite the freezing temperatures, the two of them drifted off to sleep.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening - Robert Frost