A/N: Welcome to Fort Benning!

Chapter Eighteen

December 1942

Fort Benning, Georgia, USA

Alice liked Fort Benning more than Camp Toccoa, if only because it meant no Currahee. She'd held her own tiny Hanukkah celebration in the last few days of living at Toccoa, and now that they'd moved across the state, she appreciated the lack of that awful mountain more every day. The platoons still roomed together, so when she woke up that Friday morning it was to George on her right and the wall on her left.

"Alice, you've got to get up," Skip Muck said. He finished pulling on his jacket. When she just groaned into her pillow, he grabbed his own and threw it at her.

"Hey!" She rolled over on her side and grabbed Skip's pillow. Sitting herself up, she sent it flying at him. All she got for her trouble was laughter.

"Come on. Breakfast time."

Alice groaned again. They'd stayed up late the previous night, drinking, and she felt it. Without saying a word, she grabbed an outfit, stepped behind a screen, and changed. As much as they hated that Sobel was still around, training here went much better. Sobel didn't teach them, paratrooper instructors did. Every lesson felt exciting. They were doing Jump Training.

Hurrying after the men, she caught up to Guarnere and Malarkey trailing behind. It couldn't have been over forty degrees Fahrenheit and she could see her breath. Before too long, they'd entered the large Mess Hall. Alice grabbed her food and found her spot with the other officers.

"You look like shit."

"Shut up, Nix." Then she turned to Ron. "Don't say anything."

But Nixon didn't back down. "How much did you drink last night?"

Ron hid his smirk with a drink of his water. "Clearly enough to regret it."

The glare she shot him would've made anyone else cower in fear, but Ron Speirs just returned it calmly. The men sat opposite her, Nixon to the left and Ron to the right. As she went to snap at them, Dick sat down to her left. For his sake, she kept her mouth closed.

"You're holding your head like it's going to roll off," Nixon commented a few minutes later. He gestured to her with his fork.

Alice caught herself grasping at her face. She had stopped eating and just closed her eyes. Her throat felt dry. All she could think of was how much she wanted to die right about then. But at Nixon's comment, she straightened up.

Dick looked her over. "What did you do last night?"

"Guarnere and Toye challenged me to a drinking game," she mumbled. Her hand didn't leave her face. "Clearly I lost."

"But not for lack of trying, evidently," said Ron.

Alice removed the hand from her face slowly and sent him another death glare. This time Ron actually sent her a tiny smirk back. She pointed at him and went to respond, but Dick interrupted her.

"Don't take the bait, Alice."

She muttered under her breath in German, picking at her oatmeal. Forcing down her food, she tried to block out the raging noise of the crowds around her. To their credit, Nixon and Dick kept their voices at a decent level, and Ron mostly stayed quiet. She knew it irritated him that his platoon and the rest of D Company had been forced with the rest of the 506th to undergo more physical training before jumps could start, whereas Easy had been allowed to move straight into the second phase, basic jump school.

"What's today?" Nixon asked.

"Friday."

He scoffed at Dick. "No, the date. Not day of the week."

"December 23rd."

He let out a little hum, turning to his food again. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could tell he was smirking. She'd never told the officers her birthday. But somehow she had a suspicion that Lewis Nixon had gotten the information.

"So, any of you traveling during your week off?" Ron asked. He shovelled a bite of pancake into his mouth.

Nixon shook his head. "California's too far. It wouldn't be worth the travel time."

"Winters?"

Dick shrugged. "I'm probably staying around here. You?"

Ron also shrugged. He put his fork down. "My older sisters wanted me to come home. But I don't know if the train to Boston is worth it."

"You have siblings?" Alice uncovered her face for a moment to look at him. "It's been six months and I'm only now hearing about siblings."

He looked at her in mild amusement. With a shrug, he used his fork to point at her. "You never asked."

"I just assumed it would come up at some point after six months." At her snap, she hissed and grabbed her head again. "For fucks sake."

"Dick doesn't like those kinds of words," Nixon warned her. But then he smiled. "I have a sister too."

Alice let her hand fall to the table. She glared at him. "You what."

"I mean, you never asked."

"Unbelievable. Dick?"

He shrugged and shook his head. With a nod, she turned back to the other two. Ron finished up his food, and she decided she'd had enough. Alice took her tray with her. Once she'd cleaned up, she wandered back into the chilling winter air of Georgia.

The majority of the morning was spent in physical training. They did a three mile run. Following the run, they stretched and did weight lifting. Only after lunch did they continue with formal jump training. This was to be their last day of fall training.

Alice tried to clear her head. She drank as much water as she could, and stood alone waiting for the rest of Easy Company to finish lunch. Drinking on the Thursday night before the last ground training day had been stupid. She hated herself for it.

"You look better than you did this morning."

Alice looked over to where Lipton strode next to Talbert and Grant. She rubbed her forehead. "It was that obvious?"

Floyd Talbert smiled. "Only because Guarnere wouldn't stop boasting about beating you in drinks."

"What were you thinking," Lipton asked with a quick laugh.

"I clearly wasn't. The Lieutenants got a good laugh out of it at my expense this morning so I guess it did some good." She folded her arms. "You three ready?"

"Aye aye, Lieutenant." Talbert gave her a half-joking salute.

Alice rolled her eyes. Listening to the three sergeants chat, she stayed out of the conversation to preserve her still aching head. Soon the whole company had assembled. The instructors, the Sergeants Airborne, lined up in front of them.

"If you can't pass this, you wash out. Are you ready, soldiers?"

They all shouted back affirmatively. Alice followed the rest of Second Platoon to the ten foot platforms. Her body tingled in excitement. Since day one she'd had fine form, which of course pissed Sobel off royally. Secretly she hoped he'd wash out that day. The prospect of being a paratrooper kept her from thinking too hard about their hated C.O. Instead, Alice just controlled her breathing.

With each moment, she stepped closer to her own fall. At last she reached the platform. Liebgott stood in front of her, Malarkey behind. Her heart raced as Liebgott disappeared. She stepped to the edge.

The sand pit she needed to aim for lay ten feet down. She spotted Dick and George in the few seconds she had as Liebgott gathered himself. He moved away. The whistle blew. Alice stepped.

One thousand.

Two thousand.

Three thousand.

Four thousand.

The impact traveled up her side to her chest. Before she could think too much, she rolled out of the way. One down, four more to go. She tried, and failed, to suppress a grin as she moved to stand behind Liebgott again.

He glanced back at her. "Pretty good form, Klein."

"Not too bad yourself."

They quieted down. Every few moments, the line moved. Her heart continued to beat faster and faster. She needed to pass these falls. Soon Alice put her hands on the metal rungs of the ladder up. She stepped up. Then she stepped again.

Her feet hit the platform. Liebgott shuffled forward. She could hear Malarkey's quick breathing behind her. Liebgott stepped. Then he disappeared.

Alice moved forward. A gust of wind hit her face. At the ground, Liebgott moved away. She breathed in. She stepped off.

One thousand.

Two thousand.

Three thousand.

Four thousand.

Her body slammed the sand. She rolled sideways, letting the impact travel through her body. With a grin and a deep breath, she rolled away again. The sand fell from her as she rejoined the line. Two down, three to go.

After two more successful falls, Alice found herself staring at Liebgott's back again, metal platform beneath her feet. One more to go. She found herself focusing on him. His nearly black hair had become sandy. His shoulders were tensed. As he stood at the edge of the platform, she found herself willing him to succeed.

He disappeared. Her feet hung slightly off the edge as she stepped up. The whistle blew. She felt herself tipping off the edge. The wind swirled around her.

One thousand.

Two thousand.

Three thousand.

Four thousand.

She rolled with the impact pain. Sand filled her hair and sprayed into her face, but she didn't care. Alice's grin spread all the way to her eyes. The boys cheered as she moved to the group who had finished. Week One was over.

Alice grabbed George in a hug as he bounded over. She brushed the sand out of his hair. His embrace was warm and comforting in the otherwise wintery field.

"One step closer to paratroopers," he said with a grin. Then he smirked. "Don't look now, but Sobel's pissed."

She turned to find their CO. Captain Sobel stood glaring at the celebrating soldiers of the three platoons. Laughing, Alice moved to First Platoon. She found Gene Roe standing with a small smile a few feet from most of the men.

"Nous l'avons fait, Gene!" Alice gave him a quick cheek kiss. She laughed at him as he shuffled his feet.

"Yeah, we did." He smiled at her. Pointing to her hair, he folded his arms. "You might wanna get the sand out."

She grimaced. Running a hand through her hair, she felt the scratchy sand bits that had accumulated. Alice bit her cheek and tried to shake it out. Soon enough, they were called into formation. The Sergeants seemed impressed that every member of Easy Company had passed.

"Easy Company, listen up. Good work today! This is officially the end of Ground Week. When you get back from Christmas leave, you'll be heading to Tower Week. You are expected to be ready for training on Monday the fourth, bright and early. If you're late, you're out of the Airborne. Got it?"

"Clear, Sergeant Airborne!"

"Good! Dismissed."

Sobel dismissed them, and called Dick and Nixon after him. The platoons slowly split, several groups talking about where and who they would be going to see on their week and a half of leave. For the first time in six months, they'd get to see home. Or at least, some would.

Alice suddenly felt a pit form in her stomach. Home. The concept of home brought up a whole load of memories, emotions, and thoughts. Home meant more than one thing to her now. It meant the Elbe River in Germany, it meant Paris, but it meant emptiness, a deep ache that a part of her was missing. And that part was something she could never reclaim, not even by storming the Bastille and taking down the Nazi Invaders in France. The place remained, the people in the home did not.

For all intents and purposes, home for her now meant Easy Company. She'd let the men into her heart. She knew some, like George, Gene, Nix, Ron, and Dick, and even others like Lieb, Malarkey, Muck, Penkala, Toye, and Guarnere, held her in high esteem. Of the enlisted, she definitely held George Luz and Eugene Roe as her best friends. Gene hadn't been able to afford the trip home and back. George hadn't decided. But she supposed she would spend most of her free time with the officers.

"You're thinkin' too hard again, sweetheart." Bill's Philadelphia accent came close to her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You do it too much."

"What?"

"Think. You think too much."

Alice looked at him with a smirk. "You don't do it enough, Wild Bill."

He laughed and gave her a quick wink. "I just think about important things. Like whatcha doing tomorrow."

"I thought you and Toye were heading to Pennsylvania?"

"Answer my question."

Alice shook her head. "Staying here. What else would I do? I'll probably spend time with the officers." She laughed at his disgust. "Staying at Fort Benning isn't too bad."

"If we weren't sworn to keep you our little secret, I'd tell you to join Joe and me."

Alice huffed. That, of course, was the other problem. George had broached the idea of having her go with him to Rhode Island to meet his little sister Maria, who he always talked about, but they couldn't explain Alice's role in the US Military. "But, I am supposed to be a secret, so there's not much to be done. After all, my home isn't something I can exactly go back to."

"That's a depressing note."

She hummed again. "You're telling me?"

"Yeah, well. If you're gonna insist on doing all sorts of thinkin', don't think about that."

He split from her with a wink. Pulling a cigarette out of her trouser pockets and giving it a quick light, Alice walked with her hands under her arms. The warmth of the smoke filling her body did wonders for the cold and her stress. Dinner would be served soon. She intended to make the most of her few minutes by smoking and clearing her head.