I closed the trunk of the car, stretching my back and looking back at the house once more from my spot. It was late morning, and after eating a large breakfast and cleaning up the rest of the house, Joe and I decided to start our roundtrip around the country to find the rest of Easy Company. Archer was already in the backseat of the car, coming along since the Easy Company men loved him as much as they loved me. He was now going into his adult stage when it came to size: though he was still his playful self and was beyond excited to be sitting in a car with us. I left a note for my parents to tell them where we were going and I would call as soon as they get back, which was within a few days to be precise. I needed this, I needed to get away from the house and not be cooped up for a bit and go find the rest of Easy Company to see how they were doing.

I wore another summer dress, floral print and my low heels with my hair pulled back in pins. There was some part of me wanting to just change back into my army clothes when I was going to see Easy Company, since that's all I wore around them. What would they think when I would pull up in a dress and with my hair in curls and not hidden underneath my helmet? Would they see me differently? Would they judge me? I got worried now, how this whole reunion thing was going to happen as I heard the front door open and close, looking up and over at Joe who was walking down the porch steps.

He wore his button shirt shirt and his slacks and sneakers, the same outfit he wore the first day he was here, and his brown locks were almost touching his face now as he walked down with his own army bag in hand. I smiled at him, seeing him rather handsome in his clothes that were not army clothes, since those clothes nearly swallowed him from being so big. When he approached me, he grinned from ear to ear as he tossed the bag in the backseat of the car and then walking over to me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his embrace to give me a soft kiss against the lips. I hummed in agreement, kissing him back and then pulled back to see him up close.

Something about being this close to him, holding him in my arms and kissing him into oblivion, made me wish that we were alone in a bed together. What a lustful thing to think, but after tiptoeing around others and being our affections very low key for the last 4 years, was there going to be a lustful ending for the both of us? Did Joe want to…with me? I would think so since he was a young man and how he would hold me would give me a silent sign that he wanted to go farther with me. Where we even ready for something like that? I felt selfish, holding back so many times from going beyond our boundaries with him, was he deprived?

"You okay to go?" He asked me with a loving smile, having me nod my head and look back at the car one more time.

"Yeah." I replied to him, having me feel him kiss the side of my head and then walk away from me to the driver's side of the car, getting in and starting the engine as I looked at the house up and down. This was a safe haven, there was no doubt. But I also knew safe havens also had dark secrets held there, and this house was no exception. I knew that I was safe here, but I was still suffering under the protected blanket of my family's love and care for me. This was a start of me needing to get away and go out on my own for once, to find my own sense of protection and safety out of the four walls that were once my home. So I turned and went into the passenger seat of the car, feeling Joe take my hand in his hand have me smile at him as he eyed me, his other hand on the wheel.

"Doc first?" He asked, having me grin from ear to ear from the mere thought of seeing my best friend from the company and being able to talk to him again.

"Doc first."


Joe's POV

I was dreaming again, but this time it was more of a memory than a nightmare. I was still in my shirt and pants that I was in when we left Marley's house, but I was walking through the winter hell that was Bastogne. But, I wasn't cold, nor was I afraid. I was just walking, like I was on some kind of stroll through a part. There were soldiers running around me, guns in hand and coming to and from the line of fire as the guns were being shot off in the air. I must of been some kind of ghost in the scene, since no one was looking at me and seeing me, but running by me and trying to stay alive through the gunfire and the trees exploding around them. It felt odd, not being in my uniform and running for my life with them, since I saw all of the Easy Company faces: Malarky and Bull, Luz and Dike even, Spiers and Buck with Winters and Nixon. They were all running from the gunfire coming to way, and I could see blood.

Lots of blood.

But then I heard it, the one cry that would have me look around in confusion. It was Babe to who cried "Medic!" his voice was piercing and was in pain, maybe he was hurt. I had no clue, but I was frozen in my spot as I saw someone running over to the cry of help. They were sprinting, almost as if it was in slow motion and I saw the red cross on the arm and the satchel across the cheat. At first I thought it was just another Medic, but I saw the red hair against the pale freckled neck that made me loose my breath and look with wide eyes:

Marley.

"Hang on Babe." She said to him and she slid on her knees, pulling him close as we saw he had a busted leg that was pouring out blood and he looked like he wasn't going to make it. I had no choice but to watch from my spot as she wen tot work on his leg, though hew as writing in pain there was no look of defeat on her face.

Marley was swift, going back and forth in her satchel and to the leg, placing the powder on the wound and then giving him the morphine in order to numb the leg. As I watched her, seeing her stitch up the wounded limb and the grenades going off around her, I noticed that she was not moved by them. There was no flinching in her face or on her skin, she was too engrossed with saving Babe's leg that nothing else mattered in that moment. I saw her then in a brand new light. I knew she was a good medic, but I never once really saw her in the line of fire tending to a soldier, only running to and from and hearing the praises from the other men whom she saved. This was both scary and fascinating to watch right in front of me, though I knew she could not see me.

Her face was stern, seeing the wound and having me see that she was now in nursing mode. Her perfect moth hands that were scattered with freckles and pale were now stained red, but whew as not moved by it. She went to work on his leg, stitching it up and having me hear Babe grunt every once in awhile in pain.

"You're going to be fine, Babe. Don't worry." She explained in a stern tone, but it sounded soothing coming from a female. I thought Doc was good with his hands when it came to soothing, but he had nothing on her when it came to comfort. I could see that Babe was clamming down from both feeling her fingers against his skin and hearing her soothing but demanding tone to calm down. Why didn't I give her enough credit before? She finished with his leg, helping him sit up and have me watch Babe look at her in adoration with his injured but much better leg.

"Thank you, Red." He thanked her in his Philly accent, though it sounded sincere. She smiled getting up to squat on her toes and rest her red hands on the knees of her uniform.

"It's my job Babe." She replied, then getting up to spring off to the next person who was screaming for help. I watched her, not being able to reach out and kiss her, to tell her that I loved her and I was more proud of her than anything. She just ran off, as if it was another day for her in the army. She never took one compliment from the men, and yet she thought she was no good enough for us. How dare she think that, since she was one of the very few we had that would literally run into danger to protect us and make us safe.

But I knew deep down every member of our company loved her beyond that fact. We loved her sassiness, her quick wit when it came to jokes and conversation, how she kept us grounded in our morals and kept us in check with our tempers, and even gave us a sense of love that only a female friend would give. We all were protective of her when it came to other men who were trying to hurt her, mostly that one soldier whom was drunk and insulted her, and Cobb who wanted her to die in Bastogne with his drunken mind and wicked lies. We all fought to keep her with us, and we showed her that her doubts were lies. Luz showed her, as did Bull, Webster and Malarky. I wanted to show her the most, that she was more than a pretty face to me. She was my everything. I had to show her, I was going to show her.

I woke up from my dream, seeing that my arm was my pillow against the window as we were driving down the dirt road and the sun was over us again. Blinking a few times, I could see the scenery fly by us and the wind in my hair. Archer was in my lap, his head too was on the door with his head out of the window and looking at the field rolling by us. That dream was both pleasant and scary: pleasant since it was no nightmare and I saw Marley, but frightening since I was lost in it like a ghost and I had no way of controlling it. I sighed in relief, glad that it was in a dream and something that I would not have to look back on, having me look over to see Marley at the wheel.

She was looking ahead at the road, one hand on the wheel and the other out the window, her fingers in the air moving around to see the wind against her fingers. I watched her red hair in the wind, blowing it past her face and the curly hair now looking like long locks that were now wavy and her cool dark green eyes were somehow shining brighter since the sun was on her face. I smiled, thinking of how I got so damn lucky with her. She took all of my pains and burdens, all of my cockiness and how I was a hothead when it came to the Germans, and she moved it around in my life in order to have me be a better person. It was I who didn't feel like I was good enough for her, since my demons come over me every once in awhile when I would snap at the others in our company and turn into something filled with hatred.

Finally she looked over at me, a smirk was on her face to show that she was content on where we were when it came to driving into a car going to Eugene Roe's house to see both him and Babe. Something came over me then, having me break out into my smile and seeing her smile back at me. We never needed mooch, Marley and I. We didn't need sex, though before I went into the war that's all I thought about. With Marley it was different, so much different that we just needed to find each other's eyes in order to find home again.

"You okay?" She asked me, looking back at the road for one second before going back to looking at me. I just smiled, nodding my head and thinking that I was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world with Marley in my life. She was stronger than me, smarter than me, and a damn great woman in general. But she saw me as more than a Jewish kid from California, she saw me as her other half.

"I'm fine." I replied back to her in my light tone, seeing her grin at me and reached over with her spare hand, grabbing my own hand in hers and kissing the back of it in a loving manner. We were both content with one another, driving on a dirt road through Louisiana and just being normal people for once.

Being ourselves.


Marley's POV

We parked the car in front of Doc's house, which was a one story house that was rather big but looked a bit run down on a small patch of green grass around the house. We were now in his hometown of Plaquemine, which was much smaller and more of a lumber town than New Orleans. But I could see some of the Louisiana flare around the area, The Mississippi River cut through the town and the bayou was around the grass and low hills. By the time we got there, the sun was hanging lower and lower near the hill that was right behind Doc's house as Joe and I got out of the car, letting Archer out and seeing him run around the car to stretch his legs. After I slammed the door shut, I could hear one whistle coming from the house and both Joe and I looked, smiled breaking out on our faces as we saw the Philly redhead coming out of the house with a big grin on his face.

Babe.

"Look who it is." He said in a smile, hands shoved in his pockets as he walked out of the house and over to us. I missed his innocent face, how it was so simple and so encouraging with his smile. He too looked odd without his uniform on, though he was dressed casually and I grinned from ear to ear and we met up in the middle, feeling him give me a big hug and lift me off the floor. I squealed from his action, hearing him chuckle as he placed me back on the floor and looked at me up and down. I did the same, seeing how thin he looked and a bit damaged from his own battle with PTSD.

"You're looking like hell, La Noux." he said to me in a chuckle, having me playfully punch him in the shoulder and then hug him once more.

"And you look handsome, you jerk." I said to him, seeing him roll his eyes and then move over to shake hands with Joe. As they were shaking hands and saying hello, I saw someone else coming out of the house and a bigger grin was on my face, my heart was tugging at the heart strings and my breath leaving me from seeing my best friend there. He walked over, a look of relief on his face as within seconds, he pulled me into his arms and hugged me without saying a word or two. I hugged him back, breathing out in relief as we were having our own moment together.

Eugene Roe and I were united again.

"I've missed you, Gingembre." Doc whispered into my ear as we hugged, not moving from our spots as we were just drinking each other in. I have missed him too damn much, since we were practically attached by the hip since day one at Camp Toccoa. Even though I and Joe to help me with some of the pains, I always had Doc to also bring me back to reality. I smiled finally, talking back to him after a solid minute of just hugging each other.

"You have no idea who much I've missed you."


Doc and I were sitting in the kitchen, the back door wide open and Babe and Joe were out in the back with beers in hand, talking to each other and laughing with each other. It was good to see the both of them talking and chatting like they were long lost friends. I was just glad to be back with Doc, whom brought me into his house like the gentleman that he was and got me some tea. We stayed inside, but talking with each other with gentler tones compared to Babe and Joe.

"So it's just you here?" I asked him aloud, seeing him shake his head with his smile on his face.

"It was my mom and dad, but now it's just my sister and me," He explained to me, having me nod my head as I took a long drink from his tea, "They're thinking of moving out of this town since they're both retired."

"And you're going to go back into construction?" I asked him in wonder.

"Probably. They need some construction workers out here." Doc went on with his life, having me see him watch me now carefully as he took his own sip from his tea. I hated seeing that look, since he would give the look of seriousnesses and how he was analyzing me from his spot.

"How are you, gingembre?" He asked me, his voice was curious with his thick Louisiana accent, "You didn't write back."

"I apologize for that," I said to him in a low tone, looking out the window at the hills behind his house and feeling the warmth of the sun touching my face, "I've been dealing with my own demons since I came home. It's been hard to sleep, and I can't eat at all." I could see Doc watching me, seeing the hurt in his eyes when I was talking about how I was suffering and getting the past nightmare coming over my skin. He said nothing at first, though he then looked down at his folded hands on the table.

"Babe hasn't been able to sleep through the whole night since he came down to visit," Doc explained to me, having my eyes move over to Babe whom was laughing at a snide comment Joe told him, the both of them were busting out laughing and the sound was ringing in the backyard, "And sometimes I can't either. Someone is yelling out for help in my dreams, and I can't help but yell out back."

"I hate it," I stated out loud, without thinking about it as I looked back over at Doc and saw him watch me again, "I can't eat anything at all without getting sick, and the other night Joe saw me sleepwalking. We don't know when we are going to be better again." He nodded his head, reaching over the table to gently place his hand on my arm that was resting on the top of the table and rubbing it gently with his fingers to soothe me. I have missed his soothing rubs against my skin and just hearing his voice, since he voice reminded me of home.

"It's going to be fine in time, Marley," he reminded me as I saw him give me a small smile of reassurance, "And you have Joe to help you through this. I know he would now let you suffer, not when I knew he care about too much." As he said this, I saw myself drifting my eyes over to Joe and see him talk to Babe with a smirk on his face. It was true, he was not going to let me suffer my itself, and there was nothing that going to have him stray away from him. He then looked over at me, taking a drink from the beer bottle in his hand and giving me the infamous wink that he has given me over a million times since we have met. I smiled, drinking in the fact that we were stuck together for the rest of our lives, having both a serious and funny relationship with one another.

"Yeah, I think I'll keep him." I said in an amused tone, having me hear Doc chuckle next to me and I grinned as well. It was just nice to have some of my friends back together again, a sense of lightness was over the fours of us as we ate dinner together that night together around the table, sharing the good memories of the war and how we had light moment with each other. I even laughed at some of the jokes Babe talked aloud, seeing Doc grin from his spot next to me.

This was peace, and it was only the beginning.


Babe and Doc were sleep at one side of the house, Doc in his parents's old bed and Babe taking Doc's old bed. I was sleeping in a spare room that they had, a queen sized bed that was one Doc's grandmother's before she passed, so they used the room for guests that would come. Joe was going to crash on the couch, and he didn't mind at all since the couch was big enough to have two people sleep on it comfortably. I insisted he would take the bed, but he refused and made sure I was on a bed whether I liked it or not. Archer was in a closed off fenced area in the backyard with some toys and a bowl of water and his food.

I wasn't able to sleep that night, sitting on top of my bed Indian style and looking down at my hand while my mind was too occupied with Joe again. I though again, once again, one how we both never had a real moment alone together. We didn't have any excuse to hide anyone, to go into the shadows just to kiss and hold each other. Now it was up to me to make some kind of move with him since I knew Joe wasn't going to make a move on me in order to make me feel better. He may be a hothead and a loose canon with his mouth and how he talked to people, but he was different with me. With me, he was careful and he was kind.

I heard the door opening, having me look up and see Joe poking his head in and a smile was back on my lips. He creeped onto the room, closing the door behind him and then walking over to the bed with the floor underneath in him creaking with his toes making contact.

"Can't sleep." he said aloud, having me see a grin on his face as he sat down across from me on the bed, Indian style just like me.

"Me neither," I replied back, "But I think I lucked out with having a bed here when you have the couch.

"Well, the couch is not that bad." he countered with me, having me then give him a coy smile as I leaned over at me him slightly. I didn't want even think about how this could play out badly, which I don't think it would. I was just thinking about Joe, here with me, and all that we have already gone through together as a couple and as best friends. Joe stayed still as I leaned into him, a glint on my eye.

"Then don't go back to the bed. Stay in here….with me." I suggested in a low tone, having me see the grin on his face go from nice and playful to a smirk with a hint of love behind it. He could see what I was trying to do with him, and he slowly grabbed one of my hands in his.

"Oh really?" He asked me in his playful tone, having me nod my head and keep my eyes on him as he was pulling me over to him. There was something that was coming over me, over the both of us really, and once we locked eyes and silently telling each other that it was okay: we were done for.

We fell.

I didn't know who made the first move, but we were then kissing each other on the bed and our hands were everywhere. Joe's hands were in my hair as I pulled off his shirt, kissing his neck and skin and then feeling him do the same in return. It's been years, and for some reason it hit us both like a hurricane and we were not going to back down from it for any reason at all. We weren't even rushing it at all, there was no heated quick session that was needed. But we needed to just let go of what we both have been wanting to do with each other for what seems like forever. As we fell back on the bed under the sheets, booming one that night with gasps and whispers of love on each other's skin with chapped lips, it was so real for me that I knew this was no dream.

This is what I wanted and feeling it in his kisses and how we had sex that night, Joe wanted this too. But it wasn't a big concept of lust, though it had something to do with it.

It was a concept of us loving each other and now being able to finally show it.