He didn't return the next day or the next. The fighting had been particularly fierce these last few days after Christmas. They all turned an anxious eye toward the forest, but no one dared give voice to their fears.

She tried to busy herself as much as possible. Their patient had regained full consciousness and needed more attention. They all prepared the makeshift hospital for any wounded men that might find their way there. She made several trips out into the rubble to see what she could salvage. Mostly, her time was spent in worry: worrying whether she would ever escape this nightmare, worrying whether she would have to face it without Woody.

And then on the third day, they could hear the sound of the jeep, and she said a silent prayer. She ran to him, Garret be damned, as he bounded inside the building and scooped her into his arms.

"I come bearing gifts," he said as he handed Garret a bundle. Jordan ignored Garret's slight scowl.

"This is morphine!" Garret said unwrapping the bundle. "Where did you...?"

"We ran into a unit that needed ammo, so we were able to make a trade. I knew you could use it."

Garret offered his hand in thanks, genuinely surprised and grateful. "Thank you, captain." He headed off, but not before shooting Jordan a look. This doesn't change anything.

"I don't think your dad likes me, Jordan," he teased.

"Don't pay any attention to him." She took him by the hand, and led him to the table for a hot drink. By heating a mug of powdered milk and adding cocoa powder from the C-rations, they had managed to come up with a reasonable facsimile of hot chocolate. It had been so long since any of them had tasted the real thing, they had forgotten what it tasted like anyway.

"I've got good news," he said sipping at the drink. "I managed to get a radio patch in to your unit. They're sending a truck for you as soon as we get another break in the weather."

She sat up and looked at him with stunned eyes. "Oh..."

He frowned and set the mug down. "I thought you'd be happy. That's good news, isn't it?"

"I just thought..." She looked away and wiped at her tears. She had grown used to this. Of course, she knew that it couldn't last. If this world, whatever it was, was going to follow real 1944 history, then the Allies would hold off the German attack and march on to Berlin. The war would be over in a matter of months. They couldn't stay here.

He exhaled and reached out for her hand. "Jordan, my unit is going to be moving out eventually, anyway. You know that. And this place isn't safe for you."

"You just found me!" she said through tears with an angry edge to her voice.

"I will always find you." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. With his other hand, he touched her chin and brought her face around to his. He was smiling, and she tried to smile back as she held his gaze for a moment.

And then there was an ear-shattering explosion, and the church seemed to shudder to its foundation. The air was filled with the screams of incoming artillery fire.

She was aware of voices, movement. Woody grabbed her and pushed her under the table. "Stay down, Jordan!"

"What the hell is going on?" Garret shouted over the sound of the bombardment.

"We've got the Germans on the run. They're getting desperate." Woody shouted back. "Is there a basement? Somewhere we can get these people?"

"There's an undercroft! Take the stairs behind the altar!"

"Let's go! Move! Move! Move!" Woody waved his arms as Nigel and Bug frantically moved their patient onto a litter and hurried toward the undercroft. Father Rene was shuffling as quickly as he could amid the crumbling walls. Jordan scrambled out from under the table.

"Cavanaugh, get downstairs! That's an order!"

Jordan looked around the room in a panic. "Lily! Where's Lily!"

"Go, Jordan!" Woody shouted. "We'll find her!"

"Lily!" Garret stumbled around the room yelling over the explosions. They heard a faint wail then. She was balled up in the corner, too frightened to move. He ran to her, and pulled her to her feet as she covered her face with her hands.

Woody took her arm and handed her off to Jordan. "Get downstairs! Both of you!"

"What about you two!"

"We're right behind you! Now, go!" He turned and ran from the chancel back into the nave where he and Garret grabbed up supplies. She sent Lily scrambling down the stairs and turned back to Garret and Woody.

She opened her mouth to say something. They looked up at her, Woody raised his hand to call to her, and then suddenly, they weren't there. There was the horrible shriek of incoming artillery, an earth-shaking explosion, and then nothing but smoke.