A/N: Hello again! Alex here with chapter 9! Of course, these characters (except Ella) belong to Tarantino and whatnot.

Pinecones had become essential to their entertainment. Someone would pitch, another would use Donny's bat and hit, and Ace would go running after the pinecone to fetch it. The dog knew how to sit and stay, he knew a hand signal from Ella that told him no barking, and to sic 'em if Ella said so. He responded best to her, but she made sure he would obey any of the Basterds. He was growing so fast that they just used a belt they lifted from a German uniform as a collar, making new holes as he outgrew it. His weight had almost doubled and he gained two inches in height in about a month. Another three months, Ella thought, and he'd be a year old and mostly fully grown. And if he wasn't with her, he was with Donny. Ella caught him babying the puppy the most, and once, Donny had fallen asleep with Ace snuggling next to him, his arm wrapped around the dog.

They had been on the move and attacking for almost three days straight, once in a dried-up riverbed under a bridge and in an orchard the next day, taking shifts over 36 hours to spot and shoot down snipers. The men were exhausted, and now they were getting word that they had to pick up and move again, to a French town called Nadine. At least they had gotten to fill their packs with apples and grapes. Aldo was giving them 24 hours to sleep and relax, and then they'd be gone. He put Ella and Donny on watch for the first twelve so they could switch off if they needed to. Soon enough it was just the two of them awake.

"So do you like it?" Ella sat by the fire her arms around her knees.

"Like what?" Donny said through a mouthful of beans. Ace was sitting obediently in front of him, on his best behavior in hopes of a spoonful.

"The Bear Jew."

"Fuckin' love it. Might even keep it when we get back across the water."

"Batting cleanup for the Red Sox, get on your feet for number seven, Donny 'The Bear Jew' Donowitz!" Ella exclaimed, doing her best to mimic a ballpark announcer. He had taught her almost everything she needed to know about baseball. "Tell you what, I'll come to Boston to see a game a month of they announce you like that."

"What about you, Miss She-Wolf?"

"I like it. Don't know if it would stick at home, though."

"Speaking of home," he mumbled after a minute. "You thinking about what you're gonna do when the war is over?"

Ella hadn't, really. Mostly because she knew that being in the military had been her whole life, and when they finished this war, she had to make a whole new one. "I dunno. I could always moonshine with Aldo."

"Ella Demski, don't you dare waste that mind you got. You're way fuckin' smarter than those guys," Donny blurted. By the look on his face, he had surprised himself by saying that out loud.

Ella blushed. She didn't feel heat in her cheeks often, but when she did, it was always Donny. "You're sweet, but what else am I gonna do? Wait tables? If you thought it was hard for me fitting in here, wait until I get home as the first female military officer. Everything from here out is gonna be dull, if anyone even takes a Corporal from a guerrilla tactical unit."

"Go to New York. I guarantee you there will be something there. There's something for everyone in New York."

Ella shrugged. "At least I'd be close to Yankee stadium," she joked.

Donny nearly spat out his beans. "The Yankees can suck my huge -"

"Donny! I was kidding. I'd never betray you like that."

"You'd better not." He pulled the sharp lid off of the empty can of beans and set the can on the ground for Ace. "Gonna take him back with you?"

"Of course! I'll just have him instead of a husband." She meant it as a joke but deep down, she heard some truth in her words. Honestly, what man in 1944 would date a woman that was a Corporal in the Army and acted like it?

"Come on," Donny groaned. "Like you'd have trouble finding a man."

"Donny, you know better than that. I'm not exactly the homemaker type." She looked at him with her best attempt at sarcasm, but it just turned into something like despair.

Donny felt a pang in his chest. Here she was, one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, determined, adventurous, intelligent...and, seemingly, doomed. Shaking his head, he got up and held his hand out to Ella. "C'mere." He hoisted her up, not without noticing how her skin was still soft after living on the road with a gun in her hand for months, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't be like that, El. I told you there's something for everyone in New York. You are..." He took a deep breath. "You are one of the greatest women I know. Tell you what. When we get old and if we haven't found someone to marry, it'll be you and me. Got it?" It was less than elegant, but he meant it.

Ella sputtered for a second. "Never thought I'd hear you say something like that, Donny Donowitz," she stammered.

"I'm full of surprises, El." He smirked. "Whaddya say, then? To my deal?"

"It's a deal, Mr. Donowitz," Ella said, recovering a little. Her heart had started beating a little too fast. She was just staring up at him, finally seeing another side to him than the bat-wielding Army man. The side she had always secretly hoped was there.

Thunder echoed above them. Ella shivered.

"Want my jacket?" Donny murmured.

"Not cold," Ella replied.

He couldn't wait any longer. He had been waiting since the moment he saw her galloping towards him on that giant horse in England. He had been waiting since he had watched her terrorize that first Private in awe. Waiting since she went into town with Wicki and jealousy had hit him harder than he knew it could. Waiting since he realized that he didn't want any of those other women he had dated back in the States - none of them would measure up to Ella Demski. So he kissed her.

For a moment, she didn't know what to do with herself. In a way, though, she had wanted this all along. Wanted Donny all along. Relax, she told herself, and let him lead. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She felt his hands on her hips, pressing her against him, and a small gasp escaped her. That's when Donny stepped back.

"El, I'm sorry, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to stop myself."

It took her a second to fully realize what that meant. But now that he had gotten her going, there was no way she wanted to stop now.

"I don't want you to."

"W-what?"

"Donny, I don't want you to stop. But be...be a gentleman."

He didn't hesitate. He swept her up in his arms just as the rain started coming down and carried her to her tent. Shoving her pack aside, he laid her on her bedroll. This wasn't quite how he would have imagined - in a perfect world, he would be that gentleman, because she deserved that, not a bedroll on the ground. But war was a funny thing, and while it wasn't perfect, he had her, and that's all he cared about.

"El, I want you to know that this isn't because it's been awhile. It's because I don't want anyone else."

"I know." Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. As the rain pattered down onto the canvas of the tent, unfamiliar tendrils of fear crept over her. But then she leaned up to kiss Donny again, and knew that his arms were the safest place she'd ever be.


When Aldo woke up a few hours later and came out of his tent, the camp was fairly dry. It had only drizzled, and the canopy of the trees had kept the fire from going out. Ella was sitting on a stump with her book, scratching Ace's ears.

"Where's Donny?"

"He's asleep. Only for about an hour," she said, answering the question she knew he was going to ask.

Aldo watched her for a moment, his hands perched on his belt. He had known her for too long to not notice something was different.

"So, you and the Sarge, huh?"

Her head snapped up in surprise.

"Aw, Ella, you got a better poker face than that," he scolded lightly. "I'm gonna tell you that I don't mind, I see the way he looks at you and you back, and I figured you were gonna fall for him, but you're both soldiers. My officers, to be exact. And if you don't keep thinkin' like my officers -"

"You know better, Aldo Raine," Ella interrupted. "We're gonna finish this war before anything else." She was almost offended that Aldo even thought she would get all silly and forget she was an officer in the military. "Speaking of, is there anything you can tell me about what we're doing in Nadine?"

"Well," Aldo began. "There's this movie premiere that a lot of Nazi officers are gonna go to. We got a contact in the British army that can get us in there. Wicki, Hugo, and a Brit Lieutenant are gonna meet her in a tavern and get intel on it."

"She? Who's this contact?"

"German actress, I think. Von Hammersmarck." Aldo sat down at the fire, giving a sideways look to Ace.

"You mean our contact is German? And we're supposed to trust her? Some actress we've never met before?" Ella was stunned that their superiors would fall for this.

"She's been a contact for the British army for three years. I guess she's okay."

Ella frowned. "Aldo, I know you like me to be honest with you, and I don't like the feel of this one."

"Ain't up to me. This one's from the General. Plus, think of us destroying most of the German high command."

She shook her head. Her hand absentmindedly went to Ace's ears, scratching right behind them where he liked it most.

"I've already talked to Hugo and Wicki, and they're up to it."

"Well, they don't have a choice, do they?" Ella sighed. "I guess we have to trust her. Even though I don't."

"We'll make sure to tell her that if anything goes wrong, she has you to answer to."

"Fuckin-a she does," Ella said, interrupted halfway by a yawn.

"Go to bed, El. We're haulin' out in 10 hours. I want you rested up. And in your own tent," Aldo grumbled.

"Yes, sir." She got up and rolled her eyes, her back popping, Ace following her to her tent.