Donny trudged through the mud just a few steps behind Aldo. They'd been off intercepting a supplies caravan a few days walk from Clichy and now they were finally getting back to their base camp. It'd been a tough mission and Donny's leg ached a little.

"Whudyah say boys, how abouts we drop in on the Madame and see if we can't wrangle a hot shower and maybe a bite?"

The other boys whooped and hollered. They loved the Madame and her girls. Donny was ambivalent though. He could use a hot shower but he hated how the whores fawned over him. They were too painted up and perfumed and tried too hard to try to entice him to their beds.

Utivich moved up to meet Donny's stride as they walked. "So what Sarge, you not happy about the whorehouse? At least you get your letters."

Donny didn't prickle when Utivich mentioned his letters. He liked Utivich, he was easy and he didn't pry like Hirshberg and Omar.

"Yeah, s'been a while since I heard from her."

Utivich nodded and Donny knew he wanted to ask about her, who she was, where she was from. The men were curious about the woman the Bear Jew was always writing. He told them nothing, exploded if anyone asked, hell he'd almost killed HIrschberg just for looking at her picture.

Before Utivich could ask Donny made sure none of the other men were listening "Her name's Nili. She's a nurse."

Utivich just nodded and smiled a little "She the one that took care of you after the ambush in Sicily?"

"Yeah, she did. Ya' know Utivich, from the minute I saw her I knew she was it. It's a real fuckin' funny thing."

"Whats she look like?"

Donny thought about it for a moment, then took another peak, they had fallen back behind the other Basterds and they were all engaged in trying to fish together money and talking about what they would do at the whorehouse.

Donny reached into his left breast pocked and pulled out the small Hebrew Bible he kept there. He opened the worn leather cover and took out the envelope that kept his pictures safe. He handed Utivich the close up. He trusted him.

Utivich studied the picture closely and Donny watched as his mouth opened a little and he mumbled something to himself as he shook his head. "Well... shit"

Donny felt his heart swell with pride "Yeah, she's somethin else isn't she?" He reached for his picture but Utivich held it tight.

"I know this girl."

Donny's eyes widened as he studied Utivich "You do?"

"Yeah, this is Nili Cohen, I went to schule with her brother Abe, we grew up together."

Donny regarded Smithson with a new light. This man knew about his girl, knew about her family. He'd never asker her because it seemed like there was a sad story there, but he was so curious.

"Really? What's her family like?"

"The Cohen's are good people, the father owns an appliance store in the Bronx, her mother bakes for the local market. Esther Cohen makes the best pastries in the 5 burroughs."

Donny nodded and smiled a little, hopefully some of that baking talent rubbed off on her daughter. He'd see soon enough when she was baking things up for him in their little brownstone.

"She have any siblings besides the brother you went to school with?"

Utivich's face darkened a little at the mention of her brother, the same look she got when she'd mentioned him in passing.

"There were 3 Cohen kids, Abe, Nili, and a little sister Rosie. Abe was my age, Nili a year younger; they were thick as theives. They never fought like me and my sister, they were more like a team. Once when we were kids Abe got into it with this big wop kid, Frankie and Frankie was beating the piss out of Abe when Nili jumped in and stomped that boy's foot so hard she broke it." Utivich chuckled and Donny smiled thinking of what she must have looked like as a kid jumping in to save her big brother.

"Abe enlisted right after he got drafted by the Yankees, that boy was the Bronx's golden child. Every mother on the block wished he was her son and that family couldn't have been prouder. He joined the airforce and easily made the cut to become a pilot. He shipped out in '42 and a few months later he was shot down over the English Channel on a bombing raid. I left Columbia and enlisted after I heard. He was my best friend growing up, and this girl; she was like my own sister. Nili enlisted with me."

Donny took in every word Utivich told him, commiting it all to memory. His heart ached for his girl and the loss of her brother. Now he knew why she looked so sad when she spoke of him. He was her hero and he'd been killed. That was why she had said she wasn't interested in servicemen.

"Well, shit Utivich."

Suddenly Utivich's face turned serious "You don't fool around with her Donny. She's a good girl."

Donny bristled at that. "I'm not fooling around with anything Utivich, why do you care, did you hold a candle for her or something?" Donny would kill him if he tried to take her.

Utivich shook his head "No Donny, cool it for God's sake. I was just saying, Nili's a great girl. Like I said, I love her like I love my own sister and since Abe's gone I feel like I owe it to him to watch out for her."

"Well, I'll tell you this right now Utivich, and don't you forget. No one else will ever love that girl like I do. She's it for me, there's never going to be anyone else and as soon as we kill every kraut fucker standing in the way I'm gonna to marry her. You have my word, and I've give her the entire fuckin' world on a silver platter."

Utivich softened, and he let an honest smile creep onto his face. "I don't think Abe would have let her settle for anything less."

The men fell into an easy silence as they continued the trudge to Clichy. Donny had gained a new respect for the Little Man, and the Little Man saw a whole new side of the Bear Jew.

Donny rubbed the white towel through his hair as he stepped out of the bathroom into the thickly perfumed air of Marie San Laurant's "salon". He'd had a hot shower for the first time in near a month and he was more than thankful. He moved down into the parlor and motioned for Utivich to go take his turn. He heaved himself down into a chair next to Aldo who had the buxom Madame perched on his lap.

"Monsiuer Donowitz, your letters have been overflowing in your absence. Your girl back home must have much to say to you, I am hoping you are not in trouble. We feared we may have been watched so we stopped retrieving mail for a few weeks. Now you have a stack of letters waiting for you." The Madam gestured for one of her younger girls to bring over the stack of mail and Donny grabbed them up from her plump fingers not even notcing the way she eyed him and purred.

He'd been waiting for weeks to hear from Nili, he'd been so preoccupied with getting the layers of dirt and sweat and blood off him that he'd forgotten to ask for his letters when they first entered.

Now he had a stack of 5 sitting in his lap with Aldo and Marie watching him expectantly, the other bastards were all taking time with some of Marie's eager working girls. Donny ripped into the newest letter first disregarding his usual ritual of going for the oldest. He hoped what was inside did not start with "Dear John..."

My Sergeant,

It's been weeks since I've heard from you, and I am praying every minute of the day that it isn't because you're hurt somewhere where I can't get to you. I'm writing now to tell you that I've just gotten word that I will be transferred from Sicily and although it hurts me to leave this place, as it holds my memories of you I'm hoping that my new assignment may bring me closer to you.

I am being moved to a hospital just outside Clichy in France. I know from your last few letters that you were somewhere in France, and I have to ask that if you are able, please, please come to me.

I miss you Sergeant, and I want nothing more than to see you again.

Yours always,

Nili.

Donny let the letter fall as he stood up sharply. "Aldo, I need to get into town tonight."

The older man just took another bump of snuff and wrapped his arm around the woman on his lap. "Well, shit Donny, why do you gutta do that? I wanted to talk to you about where we hit next from here. Did your girl dump you or somethin'? If she did we got whores right here to take care of you, no need to go find a girl in town."

Donny picked up his letter quickly and carefully put it back in his envelope before he turned back to his Sergeant. "No, Aldo. I do have to go find a girl in town, my girl. She's at the hospital in Clichy."

Aldo leaned back in his chair and whistled low "Well, that's a horse offa diff'ernt color now isn't it."

Donny was itching to go and he knew he was going to find a way there even if he had to fight through Aldo Raine himself.

"Aldo." His voice was a low growl and Aldo knew nothing would stop the Bear Jew.

"Alright Don," He turned to Marie "Can your girls get Don some clean clothes and a ride to the hospital?"

Marie narrowed her eyes in thought and she quickly conferred in French with a few of the girls that lazed about the room. She got them up and sent them running in different directions.

"I can get you clothes and a ride to within a mile of the hospital. You will have to walk from there. Be ready in a half hour."

With that Donny was up and out of the room in a heartbeat.

Nili was dog tired as she finally finished her rounds and retired back to her room. The nurses' barracks in Clichy were larger than the ones in Sicily, they were set up in a small inn and Nili had her own room with a small attached bath. She drew the bath and began to undress herself.

After her bath she dressed herself in her nightgown and took to the comfort of her little bed. She pulled out her writing utensils and an old chart board and she began to write from her bed.

Her heart was heavy when she wrote him now. It had been over a month since she had heard from him. She had been in Clichy for almost 2 weeks and he had yet to come to her. Everyday without word from him brought her closer to thinking that he was gone from her forever. Still she wrote him every single day. She had promised.

She was finishing up her letter when she heard a sound at her window. She looked up but thought nothing of it, probably only a Junebug hitting the window. She bent her head again when she heard two more sharp little impacts, then a third and a fourth that put a hairline crack in her window. She sprang up and ran over to the window and looked down to see a man standing below her window, his face obscured by a thick cap. She opened her window to shout out at him and when she stuck head out her breath hitched as he looked up at her.

"Hey gorgeous, can I climb up?"

Before she could speak he was on the thick ivy snaking up the old inn and making his way up to her second floor window.

The climb was short, maybe only 15 feet and Donny made it easily to with a few inches of her window before she dissapeared inside and he climbed in behind her.

"Sergeant?" Her voice was questioning but he knew she recognized him.

He couldn't contain himself as he grabbed her up and kissed her with a fury that'd been brewing for six months. He reached down brazenly from her waist to her bottom and then to her thighs where he picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. She yelped into his mouth in surprise and almost struggled a little but he easily held her in place while he walked her to her bed and laid her down gently while he poised himself on top of her.

His blood was fire in his veins. He hadn't been able to control himself when he saw her standing there in her nightdress with her tangled hair curling all the way down her back and her cheeks flushed.

"Nili." His voice was sandpaper rough as he finally pulled his lips from hers. "I've missed you so much, baby doll."

She raked her fingers over his face and into his hair, trying to validate for her still questioning mind that he was really there.

"Oh I've missed you too," Her lips showered his face with little kisses "I was so scared."

He just chuckled a little weaving his hands through her hair as he supported himself on his forearms. "I told you, like fucking cockroaches, baby. That's why you better not get sick of me."

Nili couldn't help but laugh at him. He was still the same. Still her bull headed Sergeant.

"So, since I'm here, and since you're underneath me..." He let his voice trail off as he roved her body with his eyes

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as she pushed herself up on one forearm and use her other to point a finger into his chest pushing him away from her.

"I've told you I'm a nice Jewish girl, Sergeant. I may love you, but I'm not going to bed with you until I'm a married woman."

His face moved into a stupid smirk as he rolled to his side on her small bed and he put his hands behind his head and chuckled lightly. She didn't know what he was getting at, something she'd said had put him right back into his old bluster.

"What?" She turned on her side to face him, her eyes wide and her brow furrowed

"You said you loved me."

She was stunned at herself. She had admitted it to herself months ago, but she had never said it to him, or even had the courage to write it, yet the second he was in front of her she was slipping it into a rejection of a cheap sex joke he made.

"Well, I suppose I did. Are you happy now Sergeant? I love you." She was matter of fact now and his smile just grew wider before he leaned over to kiss her. He hooked an arm around her back and pulled her to stretch her body across his chest.

"I love you too, Nili Cohen. And, my name is Esa."

Her mouth dropped a little as he finally told her his given name. "Esa... Rough. It fits you."

He laughed again sending vibrations up through his chest to shake her a little as he rubbed the small of her back, his other hand still behind his head. "You don't know the half of it." He opened his mouth into a cocky grin and wiggled his eyebrows hinting at the other connotations of rough.

"You're a pig sometimes." She tried to sound exasperated with him but she could barely mask her joy at having him here with her. She laid her head on his chest and busied her fingers making little shapes on his shirt. He kissed the top of her head again and laid back in her soft bed.

"It's been weeks since I've been in a bed you know." His voice broke their contented silence as he laid little kisses into her hair. She lifted her cheek form his chest to look him in the face.

"Where do you sleep?" Her question was obvious, but she was curious. She wanted to know where he had been all this time. If she was going to worry about him, she wanted to do it properly.

"The ground, in ditches, tunnels, abandoned houses. Kinda just where ever we can find cover."

She took it in and he could tell she was debating whether she could ask him about what he did. His softened his face and gave her a look that told her to ask him. She took a deep breath and finally asked the question that had been plaguing her for months.

"Where have you been Esa?" Hearing her use his real name sent chills down his spine. It made him feel like he was hers and only hers. She would be the only one to call him by that name.

"I've been on a covert operation." His voice was weary and he did not know if he should tell her about his mission. Not because he was worried about compromising the security of it, but because he was unsure of whether or not she would still love him after she knew what he had done.

He took a deep breath and decided to tell her. "After Sicily Aldo was approached by the brass, you see he and I, we had a bit of reputation." She fixated on him as he spoke, her eyes following his words.

"What kind of reputation?"

He sighed deep and kissed her once more, rubbing her cheek, he hoped she would understand.

"A reputation for brutality. Aldo and I were very, very good at the art of war. When we would capture battalions of krauts we would use certain tactics to gain information. The brass heard about us and they had been toyin' with the idea of a guerilla mercenary unit and they decided we were the men to do the job."

Her eyes narrowed a little, "But I though you were in the 101st Airborne?"

"I am, according to the paperwork. As far as the official documents are concerned my unit doesn't exist."

"What do you do Sergeant?" Her eyes were searching his face

"Our primary objective is to kill Nazis, any and every Nazi we meet. We're what you would call an Apache Resistance. We're supposed to be a scare tactic for the Nazis. A kind of nightmare that comes to life."

"So you are a killer?" She seemed a little frightened

"Every soldier is a killer, sweetheart." He touched her cheek gently to see if she would flinch away, yet she did not. Instead she looked as if she were thinking very hard for a moment and indeed she was.

"I think you are very brave, Esa Donowitz. Those monsters do unspeakable things to men, women, and even children. I have treated them all here and I would say that if I were given the chance at a German with a pistol I would gladly take it." She stroked his face and kissed him lovingly.

"That's the difference between you and me baby, I use a bat."

She picked her head off him again and eyed him "You use a bat?"

"Yes, I beat men to death with the same bat you signed and held 6 months ago."

This news should have scared her, should have made her think him a monster. But it did not, he was a protector. He had a task that he had to fufill and he was carrying out only vengence.

"And... this scares the Germans?"

He chuckled darkly and nodded smiling "Oh it sure a shit does, they think I'm a golem. The call me 'The Bear Jew'"

She nodded her head, hearing him speak like this was inciting a part of her that she had been trying to bury, the part that thirsted for revenge. Needed to feel validated after the death of her brother and for the carnage she saw everyday. Knowing he was carrying the revenge of their people out caught her in a delicious limbo of lust for his strong body and excitement paired with the intense attachment they had already formed.

She smiled a cat's smile at him and her eyes seemed to become even more alluringly upturned as she shifted herself to lay ontop of the length of his body, entangling their legs. She crawled up his chest a little writhing her body against him and making him swallow hard.

"The Bear Jew?" Her voice was almost a purr

"That's your man, baby." His voice was thick and he moved his hand from under the pillow to rest in the dip of her back just before her bottom.

"Oh, so you're my Bear Jew?" She ran her fingers in circles on his chest while not breaking eye contact. The sparks were electric between them and it felt like both their bodies were live wires.

"Only yours." He began to rub her back and he inched his hand down towards her ass, longing to grab her and hike up her night dress.

She closed the distance between their lips and he kissed her so hard she thought her lips would bruise, but it exhilerated her. She wanted to feel him, after so long without him it was still hard to believe that he was actually here. He grunted and pulled her up a little further and his hands were like wildfire moving over every inch of her he could touch. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and he fought her for dominance inside of their teeth. His hands moved down to grab her ass and he squeezed as he heard her squeal. He flipped their bodies and perched himself on top of her and manuvered himself between the silky skin of her thighs. He pressed his groin hard into hers and he could feel her heartbeat quicken underneath the thin silk of her nightdress. He trailed his hands down her ribs and felt the lean muscle of her contracting as she breathed hard. He quickly moved his hands down further and grabbed the hem of her nightdress and tried to pull it up before her hands stopped him.

"Sergeant," She whispered as she pulled away "We can't, not yet."

He groaned loudly, he was already aroused. But he couldn't be mad at her, she was a good girl.

"I know Nili, you're just..." He breathed out hard trying to steady himself as he rolled off of her "You're so fuckin' gorgeous and you turn me on even when you don't mean it and when you do things like that. Say things that sexy. I can't help myself."

She gently shifted and moved herself back on his chest "I'm sorry darling." She kissed his cheek chastely. She knew he was frustrated with her, but he was trying not to show it. He put his one hand back under his head and the other he tangled in her hair again as he watched her lay on his chest.

"I mean it's not like I'm not gonna marry you. As soon as this war's over I'm taking you home with me. We're gonna get us a brownstone on the Back Bay you can work Mass General, but only if you want to. We'll get a nice car, a dog, and just start makin' gorgeous little babies."

She laughed a little at hearing him turn from talking about bashing in men's skulls to talking about getting a car and a dog and making babies.

"Well, I have to go home to New York first, I have a family that has been missing me too."

"We can go back to New York for a visit as soon as I've got a ring on your finger. I'd marry you right goddamn now if we could wrangle up a Rabbi."

She snorted again and he smiled seeing her make such an unattractive noise, she even looked nice doing that.

"No, Esa Donowitz, you'll have to wait just a little longer after the war. You'll go home to Boston, and I'll go home to New York and after a week my parents and my sister and I will drive up to Boston and we'll get married then. It's important for me to have my family there."

He sighed and nodded, kissing the top of her head. "You're right baby doll. I just need to end this war quickly then, huh?"

She nodded and laid little kisses on his chest "Will you stay here with me tonight?"

He almost hesitated for a moment, he knew he should get back to the brothel. Aldo and the men would be waiting for him... But he couldn't leave her, not now that he was laying in bed with her kissing his chest like this.

"Of course baby."

She smiled and sat up a little, her nightdress' strap slid down her shoulder as she did and Donny watched it longingly. He knew he couldn't fuck her that night, but he sure as shit wanted to, now that he knew what it felt like to be perched above her pressing himself between her legs. He fought hard to steady his breath and not let himself get hard again.

"Then let me take off your boots, your feet must be aching." She got up quickly as he watched her move down to his feet quickly untying his boots. He thought of his own mother doing this for his father every night when he got home from the barber shop. She slid his warn boots off and made a face at the holes that were slowly wearing in them. He was silently thanking himself for putting on clean socks as she moved to sit on the end of the bed taking one of his feet in her lap. She rubbed his feet slowly, feeling how tense they were.

He let his eyes close and a grunt of relief escape him as he felt her hands on his aching feet. The Basterds were anything but easy on themselves and most of the time he ignored the constant aches in his body, but now she was slowly causing every one to leak away from him.

"Mhmm, woman; That feels fantastic."

She snorted at him again and laughed a little. "My mother always used to do this for my father when he got home from work."

"Mine too. I guess it must just be a good Jewish housewife trait."

She slapped at the top of his foot and he cracked an eye to grin at her. "I'm no Jewish housewife yet."

"Don't remind me" He groaned "If you were then I'd be across this bed in a heartbeat makin' love to you."

She shook her head as she moved to his other foot. He let his eyes close again as he enjoyed her touches. After a moment she finished and moved up next to him on the bed. "Turn over."

He opened his eyes and looked at her sitting above him. "Hmm?"

"Turn over, I'll rub your back sweetheart."

He grinned and did as he was told turning on to his stomach and crossing his arms under his head. He felt her straddle his hips and he groaned a little into the pillow feeling the skin of her thighs rub against the skin of his waist exposed by his shirt riding up. Perhaps sleeping here was going to prove harder that he thought, literally.

She kneaded the tired and tight muscles of his back with a surgeon's expertise. The tightness that had been constricting him for months was melting away at her hands.

"Oh sweetheart," he grumbled into the pillow as she worked hard at his broad shoulder

She chuckled a little, his accent was so thick when he spoke to her like that. Some might have considered it gruff and vulgar, but it was just another facet of her man to her. She ran her hands over the tight sinews of muscle that made up the bulk of his frame. Each of his shoulders was the size the big pigskin footballs her brother used to have. He was a huge hard man and she could feel the raw power of him as she perched herself on his back. No wonder the Germans called him "The Bear Jew", he was a bear of a man. He exuded the epitome of masculinity from every pore. Running her hands over him she began to feel the buildings of her own lust growing within her belly. She shifted on his back and she could feel his shirt ride up and the exposed skin of his side rub against her inner thighs. The feeling of bare skin on bare skin excited her and she let out a little mew of surprise as he shifted underneath her. She pulled her hands from his back and sat up a little on her heels as he suddenly rolled over underneath her. Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized the compromising position they were now in. He ran his hands over her thighs and grinned like the bastard he was at her surpise.

"You look extra gorgeous from down here sweetheart."

She swatted his hands away and climbed off of him, though not before he caught a peak at the black silk panties she wore under her nightdress.

"You're incourigable, Sergeant." She moved beside him and cuddled herself up to his side.

"I just want what I want, baby doll. And that's only you." He cupped her cheek and kissed her lazily.

They stayed that way for the rest of the night. Holding eachother and kissing slowly, as if they had all the time in the world.