Here it is! Chapter 2! I'm glad people are liking this story so far! Woot woot! I was worried for a second I wouldn't get this update out in time... all of my spare minutes have been spent glued to the TV screen to watch every second of the Olympics coverage. I'm nervous my boss is going to catch me streaming the live feed on my work comp and yell at me...

Anyway, here's chapter 2!

Chapter 2

Meg patted the bottom of her hair, wishing the curl would stay in it better. She had spent the last half hour or so curling each bit in an attempt to make it more uniform. It was her first night out with these men since they had found out who she was. She wanted to impress them. With a sigh, she set her curling tong down and ran a brush through her hair, fixing some of the worst parts.

Satisfied with how she looked, she leaned forward and applied her dark cherry lipstick, smacking her lips together as she stood up to grab her dress from its hanger.

It was a simple navy blue dress. The hem fell to just above her knees and after tying the large bow on the side, she adjusted the deep V-neck and smoothed out any wrinkles.

That was the one plus of not being an official member of the American military: she could wear whatever she wanted. She didn't have to stick to Class As and make sure everything was Army regulation. If she wanted to wear a red dress, she could wear a red dress. If she wanted to wear a navy dress, she could wear a navy dress. Hell, if she wanted to run around nude, she could run around nude. Not that she would.

Doing a full turn so she could see herself from every angle, Meg decided she was set. Since it was October, there was a slight crisp feel to the air. Pausing in debate, she finally settled on a lighter jacket, knowing she would set it aside as soon as she got in the pub. Still, the walks would be brisk and she didn't particularly care to freeze.

"There she is!" a loud voice shouted almost as soon as she walked into the pub. Looking toward the source of the noise, she smirked when she spotted George and a couple men standing over by the dartboards. Weaving through the crowd, she was soon joining them, setting her coat on a nearby chair and hoping she remembered it later.

"Don't you boys clean up nicely," she said with a wide smile. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the one younger man blush.

"Oh come now, don't be so modest," George protested with a smirk, "you clean up way better than all of us."

"I never denied that," she said with a wink before glancing at the bar. "I suppose I should go get myself a drink." Immediately five hands reached into pockets but she brushed them off as she left. "Nonsense, I can get my own drink," she said before leaving the group and finding an open spot at the bar. Quickly getting the bartender's attention, she ordered a gin on the rocks.

"Interesting drink choice," a deep voice said and Meg turned to find Lieutenant Nixon sliding in beside her. Despite detesting the man, she couldn't deny that he was quite easy on the eyes.

"You mean for a woman?" she prompted and he shook his head.

"I never said that," he replied, but his smirk told her he was messing with her. "So, enjoy your first day in Aldbourne?" he asked, turning to lean his back against the bar. He wasn't looking at her, and Meg didn't know whether to be pleased or annoyed with this.

"It was alright. I met a few more of the men, got my things settled in, was able to avoid an annoying lieutenant or two."

At her statement he did turn to look in her direction, locking eyes with her.

"Anyone I know?" he asked but she could tell he knew exactly who she was talking about. "Listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot," he said, turning serious as he shifted his whole body to face her.

"You do," she said, more of a statement than a question. What was he playing at?

"Yeah, so let's start over?" He stuck his hand out. "Lieutenant Lewis Nixon, 101st Airborne."

Meg hesitated a moment. Deciding there was no harm in it, she stuck her hand out in response.

"Megan Myeroff."

As soon as their hands touched, Meg noticed two things.

One, Lewis Nixon's hand was large, much larger than hers. It was also very warm, engulfing her hand like an oven.

Two, it felt obnoxiously nice.

"Ma'am," the bartender said, returning and setting her drink in front of her.

"Put it on my tab Johnny," Lewis said as Meg was reaching for her purse.

"Excuse me," she said with a frown, more than a little annoyed, "I can pay for my own drink."

"You know usually women just say 'thank you,'" Lewis informed her before turning and walking away, leaving her dumbfounded. She had never met such an infuriating, confusing person in her life. As she walked back to the group she had left, she pondered this, feeling her face scrunch up in dazed confusion.

"Wanna play a game of darts?" George asked as she approached him, shaking her from her thoughts.

"I dunno," she told them as she took a large gulp of her drink, practically sighing as the hard liquor poured down her throat. "I don't know if you lot can handle my dart skills."

Her bragging caused a few of the guys to chuckle, looking at each other. Obviously they didn't believe her, and that changed her tune quickly.

"Alright gentlemen," she said, trying to keep her annoyance at bay, "Let's do this."

"You can be on my team," George said and Meg locked eyes with him, a moment of understanding passing between them.

George knew she wasn't joking and he knew it would be better to have her with him than against him. Feeling a sense of happiness that at least one person here had faith in her, Meg set her drink down and turned to the three men with her hands on her hips.

"Two versus two?" she asked and they nodded. "Excellent, you can go first."

"Oh no, ladies first," the one man said and Meg smirked.

"Exactly," she replied. It took a second for the three men to realize what she meant, and when they did she was glad to see everyone was good sports about it.

"I like this dame!" George announced so practically the whole pub could hear. As he threw his arm around Meg's shoulders somewhat roughly, she blushed, feeling put on the spot.

"Let's just start the game shall we?" she asked, turning everyone's attention back to the dartboard.

The boys quickly learned that Meg was not joking about her darts skills. In fact, she was a little disappointed at the lack of faith they seemed to have at her aiming ability. What kind of agent did they think she was?

She and George quickly won, earning a round of drinks from the losers. As Meg laughed at something George said, she looked over and caught eyes with Lewis Nixon.

He was watching her from over the top of his whiskey glass. As he and Meg stared at each other, a man next to him suddenly leaned forward, saying something that drew his attention from her.

Feeling a shiver go down her back, she turned back to the boys, accepting a beer from one of the men on the losing team. Meg had quickly remembered his name was Muck. She was continually impressed that for the most part she had remembered all their names. Between all the men she had met the night before and all the men she had read up on in the Colonel's office, she didn't think she'd ever be able to spot who was who.

"I don't know many ladies who drink gin," Muck said.

"I have a feeling you don't know many ladies who are like me," she replied and he shrugged, admitting this was probably true.

"You got that right," George said before downing his drink in one long chug, causing Meg to roll her eyes. These Americans and their drinking! "Say, have any cool stories?" George suddenly asked, setting his empty glass down. "None of us have seen action yet so I'm sure anything you've got would be twice as exciting."

"Oh I don't know..." Meg trailed out slowly, her mind flying to images these boys had never experienced. Part of her didn't want to tell them any stories; she didn't want to be the one to take away what little innocence they had left.

"Just one?"Liebgott asked and she sighed, sitting down. What story could she possibly tell them?

"Alright, I have one," she said finally and the three men were quick to join her.

"Hey fellas, Miss Myeroff's gonna tell a story," George quickly informed a group of men at the table next to them and soon a crowd of about ten men were around her, listening in. Normally Meg would never agree to anything like this. Bragging about her exploits was not a habit of hers. However at this point she decided to give in and let the alcohol in her system do the talking. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have the men around her respect her a little more.

"Alright, this was a few years ago, when my team was in South Africa," she started, feeling somewhat like a mother telling a bedtime story.

Murmurs of "South Africa!" went around but Meg ignored them.

"It was the first time I had been in charge of my own team. The IIA had evaluated me at leader status but I had only just passed so I was a little nervous. Anyway, our orders were to bring this African drug lord in, unharmed, for questioning in regards to a string of murders that had been occurring in the area."

"Shit," someone said softly and Meg tried not to smirk. These lads had no idea what kinds of shenanigans she had been involved in over the years.

"Well we were stationed there for over a month with no success in finding the man when one of my team members and I got into this huge argument. He usually would lead our team so he was used to being in charge. We fought so much that I stormed out of the hotel. Well here I am, an 18-year-old girl wandering the streets of South Africa and next thing I know a car pulls up, someone reaches out, and I'm being pulled in."

Eyebrows rose and Meg smiled, knowing she had the men entrapped.

"What happened?" a voice asked and she recognized the owner as Guarnere.

"Well I'm blindfolded and driven about 10 miles to this run down shack. After tying me to a chair, I was left alone for an hour before the door opens and in walks the drug lord."

"Shit, what did you do?" George asked and Meg rolled her eyes at their continued interruptions. Couldn't they just let her tell the story? However she'd be lying if she said it really annoyed her; she found it adorable.

"Well he starts talking in Swahili and I only know a few words so I have no idea what he's saying. All I knew was that it was just him and I in this room and this would probably be our only chance to get him."

She paused, taking a sip of another gin that had appeared in front of her. At least this time someone had figured out her preferred drink.

"So what happened?" a voice finally asked.

"So I used the chair I was tied to to knock him out cold. I broke the chair and undid the bindings and used them to tie him up. Then I knocked out the guard outside the door, found an empty radio room and was able to phone my team."

There was a beat of silence as the men all stared at her, dumbfounded. She almost laughed at the hilarity of it. She knew they were wondering how she had done all that, but after a few weeks of seeing her in action themselves, there would be no question as to what she was capable of. For now though...

"You did not fucking knock those two men out," a voice shouted. A few hushed whispers followed and then the same man added, "Sorry ma'am, I mean you did not knock those two men out."

"You don't believe me?" she asked and a few men shook their heads, agreeing with him. "I'm more than willing to give a demonstration."

This was a side of Meg most people didn't see. The usual Meg would never brag about her skills by giving a demonstration. This was the Meg hyped up with compliments, awe, and a few drinks of alcohol.

George smirked, laughing at her offer, but the same man from before stepped forward.

"Sure give a demonstration," he said. From the expressions of some of the other men, Meg assumed this man acted like this even when he wasn't drunk.

"What's your name soldier?" she asked, leaning back in her chair to get a better look at him. He was of average height, with dusty blonde hair and a somewhat annoying face. Or maybe that was just Meg's personal opinion.

"Cobb ma'am," he said, "Private Roy Cobb."

Well at least he had the dignity to be polite about it all.

"Well Private Cobb, if you want to step outside, I'd be more than willing to show you how I took out a grown man."

The rest of the men chuckled and laughed but Cobb wasn't going to stand for being made fun of by a woman.

"Alright," he said firmly as he started for the door. Meg was momentarily stunned, eyes wide.

"Damn," she said under her breath as she stood up to follow him.

She hoped she didn't hurt him too much.

Once outside, the men formed a circle, leaving room for Meg and Cobb in the middle. Word must have quickly traveled around because there were almost four times as many men with them now.

"Are you sure you want to embarrass yourself in front of all your friends?" Meg asked so only Cobb could hear. She knew it sounded like she was taunting him but she was asking him a serious question. To get beat was embarrassing in itself; to get beat by a girl would be worse.

"Are you sure you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of all these potential husbands?" he shot back and she rolled her eyes, noticing some of the men closest to them had heard his comment.

"On the count of three then?" Meg asked before turning to her new friend. "Count George," she ordered, hoping he didn't take her animosity personally. Looking over, she saw him grin at her and knew he completely understood.

"One, two, three," the shorter paratrooper said. Meg internally smirked as she saw Cobb stand still. He wasn't about to attack a girl. This was going to be easier than she thought.

Stepping up to him, she acted as if she was going to reach for him. As he reached forward out of reflex, she spun around and grabbed his arm from behind, pulling it over her shoulder. The force she put on his arm sent the rest of him flying over her shoulder as well. He landed on his back with a loud "oof!" as the wind was knocked out of him.

Rushing quickly, she dropped to her knees, ignoring the tears to her nylons as she shoved him over onto his stomach, pulling first his right, then his left arms up behind him, holding them with both of her hands tightly against his back as she straddled him.

"What was my time?" she asked, breathing slightly heavy. She felt Cobb struggle beneath her, his cheek digging into the dirty gravel. She knew her nylons were destroyed and she did not want to see what her dress looked like.

"Sixteen seconds," George said, looking down at her with a wide, proud grin.

"Get off me goddamnit!" Cobb shouted, finally having enough humiliation. Meg quickly stood up, brushing off her skirt in a failed attempt to fix some of the damage.

Suddenly realizing exactly what had just happened, she sighed, lifting her hands up to fix her hair as embarrassment swept over her. Despite the fact that this had all come about because of alcohol in her system, that was all she could think of to make her feel better about this situation.

"Who wants to buy me a drink?" she asked, suddenly sounding exhausted, and it wasn't from the fight. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

"I want a rematch. I wasn't ready," Cobb's voice said from behind her. Meg turned to him, a frown appearing on her face.

"I'm sorry, a rematch?" she asked, making sure she had heard him correctly.

"Come on Cobb, you lost fair and square. Are you going to buy the lady a drink or what?" a man asked, his words muffled slightly by the large cigar hanging out of his mouth. In response Cobb turned and stormed off, heading back to base.

"Don't mind him," George whispered in Meg's ear, putting an arm around her waist to lead her back into the bar. "I'll buy you that drink."

While most of the men had seemed hesitant about Meg before, her popularity skyrocketed after her incident with Cobb. The longer she sat with them, the more she realized that the incident was, in fact, something that could be used to her advantage. By the time she chose to call it a night, she had met more of them than she could remember, and had been offered more drinks than she could stand in one night.

She left with promises of joining them next weekend, brushing off George's offer to escort her back and slipping into the shadows.

She preferred being alone.

Well? What did you all think? Please review! I would appreciate it sooo much! I'm going on vacation this coming week but I still plan on having my chapter out next Thursday! However, if it happens to be a little late, you all will know why haha.

Also, I'm curious to see who all you guys think is going to be her romantic interest. Who do you think? Review and tell me!