**WINTERS POV**

"He died of his wounds sir," John Martin informed me.

Apparently, Eugene Jackson had walked into the blast of his own grenade during last night's patrol and died in the basement of a building before Doc could even get a good look at his wounds. While the patrol had succeeded in capturing two prisoners, it was clear that the men did not feel that the sacrifice of another one of their own was a worthwhile trade. I had to agree with them, and the thought that Sink wanted another patrol tonight was eating away at me.

To make matters worse, I still hadn't had the opportunity to talk with Rose, and my dreams about her had become a nightly occurrence and were so vivid that it was hard to tell them from reality. When I had woken this morning, I could still feel the pressure of her lips against mine. I was leaning with my hands pressed against the shower wall, still thinking about the way her body felt, when the water turned cold. Even then, I couldn't move right away. I needed the shock. Clearly, my day was not getting any better.

"Well executed. It wasn't your fault," I had tried to reassure him. "Talk to your men."

Now, I was staring out across the river as Colonel Sink told me that he would be "expecting more of the same tonight." For the sake of my troopers, I certainly hoped for something very different. As he pulled away, Spiers spoke up next to me.

"Should I brief the men… and woman?"

"No, I'll do it. Wait, what? Woman?"

Spiers seemed slightly confused as he looked over at Lew, who was watching my face carefully for some reason.

"Yessir. Nixon said that your instruction was to put Rosalie James in Jackson's place on the patrol tonight."

I was going to kill him. He was forcing my hand and he knew it. He knew that the idea of her on that patrol would eat me alive. I'd have to talk to her now. I let out my breath through my nose and glared at him as I passed. I could see him suppressing a chuckle as he turned to follow me to the briefing. That chuckle turned into a full-fledged laugh when I stood in that room and did something that I never thought I would ever do.

I began the briefing talking about what Sink had said about the success of the previous patrol, and answered the legitimate disbelief from the remaining participants that the plan was not being changed at all. I looked down at the map on the table, pointing out the area from which they would start and that we had recovered all of the boats from the previous evening. I could hear the resigned sighs all around me, including my own. Then I glanced up and met her eyes. Eyes that, last night in my dreams, had burned into mine from beneath me on my pillow, just as they were burning into mine from across the table now.

I couldn't move, but I heard myself saying, "I want you all to get a good night's sleep tonight, which is why, in the morning, you will report to me that you made it across the river but were unable to secure any live prisoners. Everyone understand? Good. Look sharp for tomorrow. We're moving off the line."

Nix finally tugged my arm to get me moving out the door and followed me out, congratulating me on my brilliant strategy and telling me that he would write the report for me.

"I can't believe that you put me in that position."

"What position?"

"You knew that putting her on that patrol would force me to…"

"Force you to talk to her? Yes. And you still need to. Dick, this is getting ridiculous. You're distracted every time you see… Hello! See? She walks out of a building and you're not listening to anything I'm saying. Jesus, Dick. Make up your mind what you want to do and talk to that woman. Today! Now, come on. We have a promotion to award."

I heard him. I heard everything he said, and my first instinct was to turn and follow him but my feet carried me toward the doorway where she stood. She looked up at me, startled, and I leaned in close to her ear.

"Meet me at the CP in an hour. We need to talk."

**ROSE POV**

"Then, he just walked off with Nixon and Spiers. What the…?"

"Rose," Bull held me by the shoulders, stopping me mid-pace and giving me his most reassuring smile. "Whatever he wants to talk to you about, it's going to be fine."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I just do, okay? Look, what's the best thing he could want to say? That he loves you and he wants to be with you, right?" He held my chin until I met his eyes and continued, "And the worst would be that he didn't. Right?"

"What if he doesn't?"

He didn't hesitate.

"Then he doesn't know what he's missing. Rose, if he isn't the one, it just means that he isn't the one. It doesn't mean that anything is wrong with you. Just make sure that you say everything you need to say too. Don't let him do all the talking. Now, go on." He pulled me close and wrapped me in a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of my head and another to my cheek before whispering in my ear, "I'll be right here waiting with another one of these when you get back."