So, I finally managed to upload another chapter. I have just about finished the chapters for episode 4 and hopefully, I can post the next chapter next week or the week after. Sorry for keeping you waiting all the time, but I have a lot going on right now. I only have 3 weeks of lectures left and on top of writing my thesis and finding a job and family stuff, I also have some health issues to worry about. So, I'm really really sorry. I'll try and make up for it somehow at some point.

Still, a massive thanks to all of you who read this story and leave me reviews and PMs. You guys are awesome and your comments always make me smile!

A few days later, Easy Company was on the tarmac of the airfield again, gearing up for another mission. This one, apparently, was far too crucial to be called off. They were jumping into Holland with the objective of liberating Eindhoven and securing the roads for the tanks. Named Operation Market Garden, the mission seemed rather straight-forward and intelligence expected little resistance.

The squad leaders had their hands full in between readying their own kit and making sure that the replacements knew how and what to pack. The rest of the veterans helped where necessary, offering pointers and showing the kids how to organise their equipment so they would be ready to fight as soon as they hit the ground.

.

"You won't need the reserve, Andrews", Maxine advised, adjusting the straps of the boy's webbing. "We're jumping low. Dukeman, would you mind helping Higgins and Coombs?"

He shook his head. "No problem, Sarge."

"Thanks." Giving him a grateful smile, she turned back to Andrews, going over all the things he should have in his pockets. "Right. Ammo?"

"Right here."

"How much?"

He showed her, explaining: "There wasn't any room for more."

"That's okay. Put the rest in your musette bag. Lighter?"

Andrews patted the pocket and Maxine continued. "Rations?"

"Yep."

.

"Who the hell thought up these flags?", Malarkey wondered, shaking his head at the star-spangled banner on his upper arm.

Along with their new jump gear – complete with a re-designed parachute release mechanism – they had been issued a fresh set of ODs, which included a stupidly large brassard with their flag on it.

"Hell if I know", Muck shrugged. "He was probably blind, though."

.

A few feet over, Jessica grumbled about being under British command. The operation had been thought up and planned by General Montgomery himself, but unfortunately for them, the British were known to be overly cautious.

"God, manoeuvres are gonna take twice as long", she sighed, shoving a couple of magazines' worth of ammunition into her musette bag. "And why a daytime jump? Seriously, even if the Krauts are only old geezers and kids, it's not too hard to land a shot when there's a couple a' hundred paratroopers falling from the sky."

Ana María, who had so far been trying to ignore her and focus on fixing the radio she and Perconte had been working on for the past hour, set down her screw-driver and turned around. "Dios mio, can you please, please stop your griping?"

"What?", Jessica challenged. "C'mon, it's true! 'The element of surprise'? Yeah, sure gonna be a surprise when they can see us from miles away."

Sat on her haunches, the Puerto Rican pinched the bridge of her nose. "You've been complaining for thirty-five minutes straight", she said slowly in an attempt to restrain her frustration. "And while that is already annoying enough, you've also indirectly insulted Louise and Mia at least five times each, so please – give it a rest."

Stumped, because it had been quite a long while since Ana María had last been so obviously annoyed, Jessica closed her mouth.

Only to open it half a minute later to ask: "I insulted Louise?"

The radio tech rolled her eyes and continued to hold the circuit board in place while Perconte tightened the screws. "You've been ranting about the Brits the whole time. How incompetent and slow and unnecessarily cautious they are."

"Yeah, but I didn't say that Louise is the same", the blond Marylander argued. She paused, frowning. "Speaking of, where is she anyway? I can't see her anywhere."

Ana María shrugged. "With her stick, I'd imagine. Or helping the other non-coms with the replacements."

.

Louise twirled a lock of her ponytail around her finger, sharp eyes flicking this way and that on the map in her lap as they evaluated distances and angles. She had received a special assignment and because some vital intel had only come in this morning, she was now doing some last-minute reviews of the aerial reconnaissance data.

"There's too many hiding spots", said her spotter, Sergeant Ryan Gambrill from company HQ, giving voice to her own thoughts. He didn't take his dark gaze off the schematics they were analysing. "Holland is a sniper's paradise."

The blonde responded with an inarticulate hum. "You can say that again. We have our work cut out for us." She tried not to let on how worried she was. There were so many possible sniper perches that it was going to be virtually impossible to check and secure all of them.

They continued to plan and strategize for a while before they packed the maps away and turned their attention to their equipment. After they had double- and triple-checked their parachutes, weapons and kit, spotter and sniper helped each other with their harnesses, cinching straps and checking buckles.

"I guess it's too late to go to the toilet now", Gambrill quipped, wriggling a little to test his range of motion.

Louise snorted. "I'd say so. Though I'm sure you could still have a wee. But us girls? We're doomed", she said, making him guffaw with her dry-witted tone.

Over in D Company's area, T-5 Esther Bowman was shaking her head over the replacements in her squad. They acted like blushing maidens when they noticed that as the only woman in the company, a man would have to help her with her chute.

Awkwardly shuffling and mumbling excuses, they turned to their sergeant for help.

"C'mon, guys, don't be prissy", Sergeant James Caracea sighed. He would have done it himself if he didn't have his hands full already, checking the replacements' harnesses and making sure they had their rifles secured and properly slung across their chest.

Spying Easy's Doc Arricante walking past, Esther whistled through her teeth and waved her over. "Hey Mia, would you mind giving me a hand?" Seeing the other woman frown at the unfamiliar phrase, she added: "I can't get my chute on by myself and I don't want to put anyone in an uncomfortable position."

"Oh. Of course."

Caracea grinned. "Now watch and learn, boys", he said, greeting her with a friendly nod.

.

Esther had her harness and webbing on in record time thanks to Mia's competent assistance. The messy-haired medic tightened the straps and made sure the buckles connected to the quick-release button on the chest didn't come loose prematurely.

"Thanks, Mia." Patting down her seventy-nine thousand pockets, Esther fished out a crumpled pack of smokes.

Mia smiled and accepted the proffered cigarette. "You're welcome."

Sgt Caracea shared a look with the two women, then addressed his squad: "And that, boys, is how you do it. Next time, I expect you to help Bowman without a fuss."

They mumbled a sheepish "Yessir".

.

After Mia had left to join her own stick again, one of the new kids muttered: "She's weird."

"Yeah. All shifty-eyed and so quiet", another agreed.

Private Steve Kapopoulos overheard them. "Careful", he warned. "She's friends with Lieutenant Speirs."

"What?!"

"You're kidding, right?"

"With the Lieutenant Speirs?"

"That's right", Walter Lipinski, another Normandy veteran, chimed in. "And she was on her own for almost three days after D-Day. Alone. With no weapons."

The replacements' eyes grew round like saucers while Esther smothered a grin and made a mental note to tell her friends in Easy Company about this conversation later.

The horn of a jeep caught Catherine's attention and she straightened to see who it was.

"I can't think of anyone I'd more like to see leaving", Frances commented.

The mother of two was inclined to agree. Getting out of the jeep was none other than Captain Herbert Sobel, their much-loathed first CO

"He's our new S-4", she said, chagrin clear in her voice.

Her friend stared at her in open horror. "Supply officer?! Him?!"

"Yeah." Catherine chuckled. "You can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out."

Pulling a face that was a mixture of sympathy and disgust, Frances shook her head and made a quiet retching sound.

Then, Catherine spotted Lipton coming over, his arm slung around the shoulder of somebody she hadn't seen since D-Day. Bull walked behind them, ever-present cigar between his teeth, smile on his face.

"I don't believe it. Is that Popeye?" Frances glanced at her before going back to gaping at the man in joyful disbelief.

Letting out a short laugh, Catherine said: "Yeah, that's him. What I want to know is how he got cleared for the jump."

.

As it turned out, Popeye hadn't been cleared at all. He came over to greet the two women, hugging them with a big smile on his face. That smile soon changed into a bashful grin when he found himself on the business end of Catherine's patented 'disapproving mother' expression.

"So, going AWOL from the hospital, are we?", the Hawaiian asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

Popeye shifted, glancing to Lip and Bull for help.

They just grinned.

"Um...yeah", he answered. "Didn't want to miss the jump."

"Mhm, and what makes you think you can make the jump?"

He smiled despite feeling like a little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Like I told Lip: I can jump. I just can't sit."

Frances giggled and remarked: "That's a good point, Cath."

The ranking medic dropped the act and laughed, eyes softening as she reached out to pat Popeye on the shoulder. "It's good to have you back, Popeye", she said. "Just be careful, please? You don't want to catch an infection."

He beamed and promised, admitting: "Well, you really had me fooled for a moment, Mom. I thought you were gonna send me back."

"What, after Sobel gave you a ride here? Not a chance."

The drop couldn't have been more different. The only thing this jump and the one on D-Day had in common were the fact that they were paratroopers jumping out of airplanes and dropping behind enemy lines.

But that was where the similarities ended. No gunfire. No planes exploding or falling from the sky riddled with flack-sized bullet holes.

Just a few fluffy clouds high up in the peaceful air as they landed in their designated DZ. There were no enemies in sight and while they hurried to get rid of their chutes, grab all the equipment and get out of the open field, it was considerably less stressful than a few months prior, when they were running for cover in the pitch dark, dodging bullets as they went.

"Let's go", Theresa urged her squad, pulling Pace to his feet without missing a step. Casting a scanning glance across the field, she took a quick headcount, satisfied when she saw all her guys up and moving.

.

The welcome they received in Eindhoven could only be described as exuberant. The citizens were absolutely ecstatic and within moments of the Americans' arrival, the streets were filled to the brim with people celebrating their liberation in one gigantic spontaneous party.

While Louise appreciated the sentiment, she could barely stop herself from snapping at the enthusiastic civilians. Her eyes were scanning rooftops, balconies and windows, searching for a glint of sunlight off metal or a shadow where there shouldn't be one. But getting jostled this way and that, smothered with hugs from all sides, made it extremely difficult to focus on her task.

"I don't like this", Ryan said while he wiped lipstick off his cheek.

Louise agreed. "A sniper could cause absolute bedlam and slip away unseen." She tugged a replacement back by the scruff of his collar when a brightly smiling woman beckoned him to follow her. "I don't think so, sunshine", she scolded. "Back to your squad."

A bright flush appeared on his cheeks. "Yes ma'am." And he scurried away.

Politely fending off another eager woman who attempted to kiss him, Ryan squeezed past a few people to get to Louise's side. "Let's find the officers. Lieutenant Nixon said we'd get further intel from the Dutch Resistance."

Together, they pushed through the crowd, too focused on their goal to bother with "excuse me"s when they bumped into somebody. Finding the officers was easier said than done in the teeming bustle, but eventually, Louise caught sight of a white vertical stripe on the back of a helmet. "I got them."

"Thank God, 'cause all I see is backs and heads. And lots of Dutch flags."

She shot him a wry smile. "Try eating your veggies, helps you grow tall."

"Shut up", he laughed.

.

Winters greeted the pair with a nod and a brief smile. "Fields, Gambrill."

"Sir", they replied. Louise noted with satisfaction that all the officers were flipping up their collars to cover their insignia.

"We gotta get to those bridges", Winters said, turning to lead them through the crowd.

As they continued, Nixon plucked Ana María out of the joyful mob, the radio operator sputtering a relieved thanks. With her small stature, she'd had a hard time trying not to get swept away by the mass of people.

Louise spotted Catherine herding an entire cluster of soldiers, clearly exasperated since some were apparently rather enchanted by the attention the members of the fairer sex bestowed on them. She snickered at the sight.

The atmosphere shifted a few yards down the street, revelry and exhilaration giving way to bitterness and loathing. Women were muscled into the centre of the circle that had formed, restrained and held still by members of the Dutch Resistance as their clothes were torn. Their cries and pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears as they were forced to their knees to have their hair shorn off. The hands wielding the clippers were unconcerned with being gentle – swiftly and roughly cutting away neatly coiffed locks.

Some women sobbed and begged, struggled and screamed. Others were silent, their expressions empty. They offered no resistance when they were hauled away, swastikas painted on their foreheads to denounce their shame.

"Qué diablos...?", Ana María breathed, unable to take her eyes off the scene in front of them.

Welsh asked: "What did they do?" His tone mirrored the appalled look on his face and echoed the shock they all felt.

Louise's jaw tightened, a sick feeling spreading in the pit of her stomach. Her suspicions were confirmed when a faintly accented voice behind them said: "They slept with the Germans." She pivoted to see that the speaker was a man with rather unremarkable features. He wore an orange bandage on his arm.

He smiled briefly and continued: "They were lucky; the men who collaborated are being shot." He sounded disgustingly cavalier about it.

Louise got a sudden urge to punch the man's teeth out. At the edge of her field of vision, the blonde registered a figure stopping dead in their tracks. Turning, she caught a brief glimpse of Mia staring at the man, her expression a picture of abject horror.

.

The moment lasted barely more than a split second before the young medic disappeared into the throng again, but it was enough to spur the British sniper into action. Grabbing Ana María by the shoulder, she murmured: "Ana, find Catherine, tell her Mia heard what the man just said. Have some of the guys stay with her."

The Puerto Rican frowned and blinked a few times to regain her composure after what she'd just witnessed. "What?" Her mind, still reeling, tried to catch up with what her friend was telling her.

Louise's lips were pressed in a grim line. "What do you think's gonna happen if any of these brutes find out that Mia's German?", she whispered urgently.

Ana María's dark eyes grew wide. "¡Carajo!"

After reassuring Louise that they'd look after Mia, she rushed off into the crowd. With liberal use of her elbows, she'd reach Catherine in record time.

Louise watched her go, brows furrowed. She desperately wanted to go after the quiet girl herself, but she couldn't. She had work to do. Taking a deep breath, she carefully rearranged her features into a blank mask before tuning back in to what Mr van Kooijk was saying.

If the others noticed her grit teeth or clenched fists, they were smart enough not to mention it.

.

Catherine didn't waste any time after Ana María had finished explaining the problem at hand. "Okay, Ana, thank you", she said, brown eyes already searching the crowd for the people she needed. "Spread the word, but only to the NCOs and tell them to keep it under wraps. Mia hates causing a big to-do."

"Sure thing, Mom."

While the diminutive radio operator braved the masses once more, Catherine made her way to Toye, who luckily wasn't too far from her. "Toye!", she called, pushing past celebrating people.

He stopped and moved towards her. "What is it, Mom?" He took in her troubled expression. "Catherine, what's going on?"

She repeated what Ana María had told her.

Toye's expression darkened, jaw muscles hardening. "Where is Mia?", he demanded.

"Ana María said she went in that direction" – she pointed straight ahead – "and she won't have gone far. Keep an eye on her."

He regarded her seriously, gave her a nod. His look promised pain for anyone who dared upset the quiet medic.

It was already late in the evening when Louise finally made it to where Easy had set up camp for the night. Together with some of the guys and a group from the Dutch resistance, she and Ryan had spent all day clearing potential sniper perches.

She'd been relieved though not overly surprised when they had confirmed the reports of the young informants who said that the Germans had all left.

Rolling her shoulder to try and relax the knotted muscles, the sniper looked over the clusters of soldiers in search of a familiar mop of moderately gravity-defying hair.

"Looking for Mia?" Lipton came up beside her, studying her with a knowing look.

Sweet Cesar's sandals, the man is a mind-reader. "Yes."

The First Sergeant pointed to a group sitting in a loose circle. Even in the dark, Louise could make out the figures of Mia, Frances, Toye, Guarnere and Luz.

"They're taking good care of her", Lip told her. He had watched from afar as they had drifted over one after the other until the messy-haired brunette and her self-appointed protector were surrounded by their friends.

Louise rubbed her eyes. "I know, I know. Just..." She shook her head. She didn't want to think about what might have happened if those people had discovered they had a German in their ranks. "I've never seen her so upset", she confided.

Lip smiled sympathetically and patted her shoulder. "She's tough. She'll be okay." Her friends would see to that. Luz, Toye and Louise herself were closest to Mia and they all looked out for the girl in their own ways.

"Yeah." Louise nodded her thanks, then headed off to find herself some grub before joining the small group.

.

Bill had to admit that when Luz had first befriended Doc Arricante, he hadn't understood it. The woman didn't say much, her expression was near-impossible to read and she was just...odd, for the lack of a better word. But Luz had been dead-set on becoming friends with her and had slowly paved the way for everyone's acceptance of Mia as an integral part of Easy Company.

Now, as he watched Frances teach her a card trick, Bill thought back and remembered when he had first come to respect the young medic.

He had been walking towards the mess hall with Grant and Luz, chewing the fat and grousing about Sobel. Their attention had momentarily been pulled towards the infirmary when a slim figure slipped out, walked calmly to the bushes out back and vomited.

They had watched as Arricante threw up, small hands braced on her knees.

The expressions of disgust and – Bill was ashamed to say, in his case – glee changed to astonishment when she straightened after rinsing her mouth and promptly headed back inside as if nothing had happened.

"I swear, if you look up 'composure' in a dictionary, there'll be a picture of that girl next to it", Luz had said with a fond shake of his head.

Chuck had smiled and commented that this probably made her a pretty good poker player.

Bill remembered making a joke along the lines of how Mia could hide anything behind a smile. But after today, he realised that he hadn't been too far from the truth.