Please excuse that it took me so long to post the new chapter, but I was rather busy and then I was on vacation for two weeks

A special thanks goes to my kind reviewers! I'm glad to present you the next chapter and I'd be glad to hear your opinion (again ;)).

Please excuse any mistakes, but I didn't want to let you wait any longer for this (short) chapter.

Enjoy!

Almost immediately began the shelling but Maggie was lucky because the Krauts didn't seem to be able to locate her properly. She searched for her leg-bag and noticed with terror that it was gone. Without a knife to cut her cord loose she didn't have a chance to come out of her harness because her weight didn't allow her to open the clasps.

She froze immediately when she heard somebody coming close and was very relieved to hear a whispered "flash". She answered with "thunder" and was totally happy to see a shock of red hair under the approaching helmet.

"Dick. I'm so glad to see you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, apart from loosing nearly my whole equipment… What about you?"

"I'm okay. But I lost my leg-bag and don't have a knife."

The shooting increased and the impacts were much closer to them now because of their whispered conversation.

"Dick, give me your knife and search for cover. I'll be fine by myself."

"I will not leave you alone while the Krauts are trying to kill you!"

"Hey, I will not get killed. I haven't fulfilled my schedule yet. You know the wedding-stuff and so on…" Maggie tried to loosen Dick up with some gallous humour.

After Dick nearly had been shot, he threw his knife up so that Maggie could catch it and finally searched for cover in a nearby field.

Maggie cut her cord and landed with a loud "thump!" that caused the Krauts to fire a new round into her general direction. Maggie noticed that she couldn't put her full weight onto her left foot and guessed that it was bruised. After a short round of soft whispered curses, she crawled into the direction in which she assumed Dick to be.

Arrived at the field, Dick heard somebody else and whispered "flash" and received "shit" for an answer. Dick went to the other trooper and told him that "shit" wasn't the proper reaction to their password.

"Excuse me, Sir, but I lost my whole equipment and I'm a little jumpy at the moment."

"Yeah… What's your name, trooper?"

"Hall, Sir. I'm with Able Company, Sir."

"Able? Oh my god, one of us has definitely missed his drop zone…"

Before Hall could answer, the men heard a loud "thump" nearby. Hall took a pistol that he had found in the field and aimed into Maggie's general direction.

"Hall, don't! That should be one of our comrades!"

"Oh sorry, Sir!"

"Thank God, there you are. Are you okay?"

"Yes, Sir. I think my ankle's a little bruised but besides from that I'm peachy."

"Do you think you can walk?"

"Stop worrying about me Dick, I'm fine." Just when she had finished that sentence, she noticed the presence of another person and turned around.

"Hall, what are you doing here? Where are your comrades?"

"As far as we know, we all missed our drop zone…" answered Dick instead of the still baffled young trooper.

"Oh, great. What do we do now? I'd suggest we search for another cover because the Germans seem to have zeroed in on us."

"Great idea, trooper!" answered Dick Maggie's suggestion with a hint of sarcasm. She gave him a sour face and started walking.

They marched into the direction contrary to the beach and watched carefully for any Germans and comrades.

After the trio had walked for a while, they ran into a small group of paratroopers. Maggie couldn't stop herself from jumping into Bill's and Lip's arms because she was so happy to see them alive and healthy. The boys hugged her just as enthusiastically as Maggie had hugged them but all of them were deflated when they noticed that nobody was properly equipped. With the help of Dick's fly-compass and a Map from one of the 82nd-guys they found their route to the CP, but before they could really start their march, they heard a carriage approaching.

They jumped into the ditch and Dick told them to hold their fire. But because he was still hurt and angry because of his brother's death, ill jumped out of the ditch and opened fire on the approaching Germans. The rest of them went after Bill and – due to the surprise effect - they were successful in killing respectively chasing away the Krauts. Maggie slapped the back of Bill's head before Dick started his lecture about obeying orders. Lip gave him a disapproving glance and started to walk away.

"Bill, I know you're angry, but you nearly got us all killed!"

"Sorry, Mag. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I'm afraid - no I'm glad - that you don't know what I'm going through at this moment."

"I can hardly imagine how hard it must be for you, but you have to think about your comrades and not just your personal revenge on the Krauts. Bill, I love you like a big brother and I don't want to lose you; especially not because you're acting like some trigger-happy maniac!"

"Understood, honey. And besides, I love you too."