We carefully move through the town, following Dunne's directions seeing as how only he was told how to get where we're going. Ten minutes later we're here at the back of the building. The rain isn't very heavy yet and we can hear the faint click of weapons being loaded, along with the floorboards upstairs.
"Alright, we got Krauts upstairs and downstairs. We need to know how many," Dunne says, looking around the building.
"Sir, if I could make a suggestion?" I ask.
"Sure Jackson," he says, focusing on me.
"From this position we have complete defilade from any possible windows snipers could be in, and we would still be covered if we were to have someone climb the building and try to get a look into the window," I say.
Dunne thinks it over before looking at the others. "Anyone got any other ideas?"
No one says anything. "Right then, who's going?"
"I will, I'm the lightest so it'll be easiest for me to climb," I volunteer.
Dunne looks at me, obviously reluctant before sighing and saying alright.
I put my gun around my neck and Long gives me a boost. I use the bricks to climb until I can just peer into the second story window. There are a bunch of men sitting around inside, weapons scattered on the table. Two of them walk around the table toward the door, the floor squeaking loudly under them.
I climb back down and tell them what I saw. "Six men, at least, two left and went down the stairs."
"Alright, so at least two downstairs, and four upstairs," Dunne says. "That's not too many, here's what we're going to do; Henderson and Andrews, you're going to enter through the back and go up the stairs. Try to see where the Krauts are up there. Shaw, Myers, and I'll go through the front door, while Long, Wilson, Jackson, and Owens go through the back. Henderson, Andrews, wait until you hear our gunfire before you take out the Krauts. Tread lightly and keep sharp, watch each other."
"Sir, I'd suggest sending me upstairs, with Myers. The floorboards are squeaky, they'd hear us coming us coming from a mile off, and we're the lightest," I say.
"I agree sir," Shaw says, surprising me slightly. "Sounds like the best plan."
"Fine, Jackson and Myers will go through the back and up the stairs. Henderson, Andrews, and I will go through the front. And Long, Wilson, and Owens will go through the back. Are we good now?" Dunne asks.
Everyone nods and Myers and I get ready. Captain Dunne gives us the signal and we quietly go inside, trying to be quick but silent. He goes up the steps first, his gun at the ready. He stops near the top and looks through the bars of the banister to the right before moving up the rest of the steps. I copy what he does, looking through the banister to see two Germans in a room through one of the doorways with their backs turned to us. We both stand in the hallway and I motion for him to take the room we've already had a glimpse of. I lightly tread to the next one and stop outside the doorway, my back pressed against the wall out of sight from the Germans. Myers does the same thing and we wait for the gunfire to start downstairs.
Myers and Jackson enter through the back and Long, Wilson, and Owens wait by the door. Dunne waves the others to follow him down the alley to the front of the building. Long stops at the corner of the building and peers around the edge. There's a flash of movement from around the other side of the building and his gets his captain's attention.
Dunne looks before calling out, "Thunder!"
"Flash!"
Dunne gives a sigh of relief and waves the soldiers over. They take up positions, scanning the area for any threats as they sprint over to the cover of the alley.
"Who are you guys? I didn't see any of you with Captain Hamill and his men," Dunne says.
"Staff Sergeant Hill, we're from the other side of the town. We're taking some men to see Captain Hamill," one of the men says.
"Captain Miller, Second Rangers Battalion. Can you take us to Captain Hamill?" another man asks.
"Sorry, we're kind of in the middle of something- wait, Second Rangers, you wouldn't happen to know a Private Jackson by any chance, would you?" Dunne asks.
"That's me sir, Private Jackson," a man toward the back of the group with a Springfield rifle says.
"Private Daniel Jackson, from West Forks, Tennessee, a sniper?" Dunne asks.
"Yes sir that's me. How did you know that exactly?" Jackson asks.
"I've been told a lot about you son, by someone that- by someone that is waiting for our signal," Dunne says, switching gears and focusing on the mission.
"Signal for what?" Captain Miller asks.
"There's a bunch of Krauts in that house," Dunne says, jerking his head to the right. "I already sent two of my men in to handle the Krauts on the second floor when we start shooting up the ones on the first floor."
"Want some help with that?" Miller asks.
"Why not? The more the merrier," Dunne says.
However, before they can move even an inch toward the house, gunfire erupts from inside it.
"Shit," Dunne curses.
Myers and I wait for our squad to give the signal when Myers shifts his weight and a floorboard under him squeaks, loudly. We both freeze as the Krauts in Myer's room say something in German and then shout something, grabbing their guns.
I rush into my room, using a knife to kill the closest Kraut, stabbing his neck. Guns go off in the next room, which attracts the attention of the other Kraut that was previously looking out the window. I raise my gun and fire, and he falls to the floor with multiple bullets in his body. I walk closer to see if he's really dead when footsteps from behind me make me spin around. A Kraut is in the doorway with his rifle raised. I throw myself to the left behind the table and fire back, clipping him in the arm. He curses and I get to my feet when the table suddenly moves and rams into me, making me stumble back into the wall. The Kraut runs toward me as I try to regain my balance and grabs my arm, dragging me to my feet. I knee him in the balls and he pushes me back into the window. But instead of just hitting it, I go right through it, falling backward and onto the roof of the porch. I tumble down it and roll off the end of the roof, my gun getting knocked from my hand. I land on a pile of rubble, and then the street as my momentum makes me roll right off the wreckage. Pain flares bright through my body, especially my right side and forehead, and I struggle to get to my knees. I crawl over behind the pile of rubble I landed on earlier, for cover just in case that Kraut tries to shoot me through the window I just broke.
Two Krauts then run out of the house, heading straight for where I'm hidden.
"Really?" I mutter exasperated.
I see a piece of wood that could make a decent makeshift weapon and as the first Kraut rounds the corner of the rubble, he sees me and tries to skid to a halt, but he's running too fast. I hit him in the shins with the piece of wood and he goes down. I then throw it at the second Kraut and he ducks to protect himself, giving me time to run up and tackle him. We land on the ground and I pull his knife out from his side holster and stab him in the side.
I stand quickly, knowing the other Kraut will be up by now, and freeze when I see the kraut pointing a gun at me, my gun that I lost earlier when I fell. A shot rings out and instead of me falling to the ground, the Kraut does. I sigh in relief before someone yells my name.
"Jackson!" Wilson shouts and rushes out of the house, grabbing my arm and pulling me back into the house. There are bodies of Krauts inside and I recognize only a few of the soldiers- the ones on my squad- but know that they're American by their uniforms. They've cleared the house and taken up positions by the windows and doors.
"Medic!" Wilson shouts, helping me to a chair as he presses his hand against my forehead which I realize is bleeding quite heavily, blood running from my forehead all the way down my jaw. A man rushes over, his helmet and arm band indicating him as a medic.
"You're a girl," one of the other men I don't recognize says shocked.
I look at him as the medic tries to stop the bleeding at my head. "Nice observation."
Dunne then comes down the stairs with Owens and Shaw. "Jackson, I got someone who wants to see you."
Another man comes running down the stairs behind them, practically pushing Shaw out of the way. I swear he's familiar, and when his helmet uncovers his face I feel like I can't breathe.
"Daniel," I gasp out in disbelief and his eyes find me immediately.
"Lilly," he says. All thoughts of why he's here, and how, and the chances of us actually meeting in this god awful war fly out of my head. I pull out of the medic's grasp and run toward him as fast as I can. He meets me halfway and I throw my arms around him. He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me I a bruising grip. I bury my face in his jacket and he moves a hand up my back, tangling his fingers in my hair. I realize now that the braid has come completely undone and my hair is hanging freely. He tugs on it and I pull my head back and he captures my lips in a kiss, one full of longing and need.
"So this is the Daniel she was telling us about huh?" Long says, which makes me remember that there are others present. I pull away from Daniel but he stubbornly keeps his arm around my waist- not that I'm complaining.
"Um, Jackson, mind explaining who the hell this is?" one of the men, from what I'm assuming is Daniel's squad, asks.
But Daniel doesn't answer him; instead he grabs my jaw and gently turns my face toward him. "Wade."
Daniel grabs my arm and pulls me toward the medic, who must be Wade. He forces me back into the chair and Wade tilts my head back. He instructs Daniel to put a hand over my eyes before he pours sulfa powder over the gash on my forehead- I'm grateful, that stuff burns when it gets in your eyes. Wade then presses a hand to the wound and tells Daniel that he can remove his hand. Daniel does, opting to grasp my hand instead. His grip is tight, almost crushing and I can only imagine what the hell must be running through his head. He just found his wife, in the middle of a war zone that technically she's not supposed to be in, and who just got beat up pretty badly, almost getting killed in the process. He would always go into protective mode whenever I got hurt, and it appears that hasn't changed in the year we've been apart.
"Before I start stitching this up, you want any morphine?" Wade asks.
"No," I answer.
"You sure?"
"Yes, I've had worse," I say and then flinch remembering just exactly why I've had worse injuries. Daniel's grip on my hand gets a little painful and I shake my hand a little and he lightens up on it.
"Lilly, what-how are you here?" he asks.
"I joined the army," I quip before saying, "Captain Dunne's field medic was killed and they needed a replacement, he asked and I said yes."
"You had to tell him that didn't you?" Dunne mutters and I smirk. I've told Dunne extensively about Daniel, and so he knows how overprotective he can get. I even told him about the baby; I was going to have a breakdown if I didn't tell anyone.
"So Jackson, you feel like telling us who this is now?" the man who asked earlier says, and I recognize he has a New York accent- I've met a few guys with the same one.
"This is Lilly Jackson, my wife," Daniel says.
"Wife?"
"Holy shit."
"You mean you were actually telling the truth?" I get confused at this statement but figure I can ask later.
"Two Jacksons, that'll get confusing."
As we've been talking, Wade was quickly stitching up my wound and a man then asks, "Wade, we need to move, we shouldn't stay here long."
"Just about finished sir," Wade says and ties off the stitches. "Ready."
"Okay, let's move out, Captain Dunne, if you could show us the way," the same man asks, and I see the bars on his helmet, indicating him as a captain.
Dunne nods as I stand up and Wade packs up his supplies. Long has my gear and Daniel takes it from him, helping me strap it back on before Andrews tosses me my gun.
"Didn't your ma even tell you not to throw weapons?" Shaw asks Andrews.
"Nope, in fact, she tossed them around all the time. How do you think my dad knew how to shoot?" Andrews says.
Jackson adjusts my jacket, his eyes scanning me for any more injuries.
"I'm fine," I say softly.
His eyes come up to meet mine, his face pained. "Just stay close to me, alright?"
I nod and grab the back of his jacket. "Won't even let go."
This gets him to smile slightly and he takes my other hand briefly and squeezes it before letting go as the door opens and our squads enter the street.