Well check this out! I'm still on vacation but was able to actually get this chapter out. AND in my goal of before 11 pm on Thursday. Yay me!

Side note: I was going to write review responses for this chapter but it's 10 pm and I haven't unpacked from trip 1 and thus haven't repacked for trip 2. Sooooo...review responses will have to wait until next week's chapter. (Hint, if you want a response, now's your chance to review! hahaha jk jk)

Chapter 3

The next morning Meg was roughly awoken by a loud knocking on her door.

"Miss Myeroff, the Colonel wants to see you in his office in fifteen."

Meg sighed, stumbling out of bed and quickly washing up, proud of her decision to end last night early. She did not want to have a morning meeting with the Colonel while hung over.

"Yes sir?" she was saying roughly fifteen minutes later as she walked into the Colonel's office. She was quick to notice that, to her annoyance, Lewis Nixon and Dick Winters were also there, along with two other men she didn't recognize. A quick glance told her they were both lieutenants too.

"Miss Myeroff," the Colonel started. From his tone, Meg could tell he was not pleased. "I want to know who told you it was alright to beat the shit out of my soldiers."

Meg paused for a moment, trying to think of a good way out of this. Maybe it hadn't been as good an idea as she originally thought. She tried to ignore Nixon, who was sporting a very obvious grin, as she finally decided what to say.

"Well sir, I don't appreciate the men doubting my abilities. Private Cobb insisted on seeing me demonstrate my skills and wouldn't listen when I told him no."

"And you couldn't just walk away?"

"Sir walking away is not in Meg's vocabulary," a voice said and Meg spun around, smirking.

A tall man was leaning against the doorframe, his auburn hair cropped short. There was a bag at his feet and another slung over his shoulder.

"And you are?" Colonel Sink asked, frowning. Meg turned back around to look at the Colonel, a Cheshire cat grin on her face.

"This is my partner sir," she said as the man strode forward, hand extended.

"Adam Myeroff," he said and the Colonel shook his hand, eyebrows raised.

"Two of you huh?" he asked and Meg nodded.

"My older brother sir," she said. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned slightly to get a better look. Her eyes locked with Lewis Nixon's and he winked at her, causing her to huff in annoyance.

"I thought you weren't supposed to arrive until tomorrow," the Colonel accused, eyeing Adam in an attempt to get a read on him. Unfortunately for him, Adam could be a hard read when he wanted to be.

"My previous appointments finished early sir," he said, and Meg frowned lightly. What did that mean?

"Well then, I guess I'll let you two get settled," the Colonel said and they both nodded, turning to head toward the door. "And Miss Myeroff," Colonel Sink called just when she was about to walk out. "No more roughing up my men. I need them fit to fight the real enemy."

Meg was annoyed at his statement, until she saw the slight twitch of his lips. He found it slightly humorous too.

"So, only on the playground two days and you're already beating up the boys?" Adam asked as the two walked to their quarters.

"It was just a friendly tussle. I had him pinned in under 20 seconds and I'm positive the only thing hurt was his pride," Meg explained, her eyes trained on the soldiers going through calisthenics as they passed by.

"Still Meg, you know better than to ruffle feathers. We're stationed here indefinitely so it would be nice to not keep making enemies," Adam said, pulling her attention back to him. Meg had to resist the temptation to roll her eyes.

"It was one man Adam, and if the mood of the rest of the night was any indication, I think the other men were rather impressed with me."

"Show off," Adam said as he walked into their quarters, not holding the door for her. It caught her off guard as it slammed into her side lightly, causing her to stumble slightly.

"I may have been the show off but at least I have manners," she shot back before they both stopped and turned to look at each other. "I missed you," she said softly, her tone changing.

"C'mere," he said and she rushed over, feeling peace as she was enveloped in a brotherly hug. "I miss you too. How have you been?" He asked, pulling her away so he could look at her. "You know, with everything?"

"I've been fine," she replied a little too quickly, her eyes not quite meeting his. "How was the trip?"

Adam's eyes narrowed, showing that he knew she had changed the subject. Nevertheless, he kept her happy.

"Fine; a little boring. I flew into Southampton, and then had to take a taxi here. Pain in the ass."

"Where were you?" Meg asked as she plopped herself down on her bed. Adam began unpacking, pausing to wag a finger at her.

"Come now Megan, you know I can't reveal that."

"Stop it," Meg replied, angered by his patronizing tone, "I'm your team remember? You know about all of my solo missions."

"Germany," Adam said suddenly and Meg's eyes widened.

"Honestly?" she asked and he nodded. "What's it like?"

"Awful. Nowhere near as nice as it was when we were there last."

"I don't know if I would have described it as nice," Meg said with a snort of distaste.

"You know what I meant," Adam shot back.

"I wish I could have gone with you," Meg said, lying back on her bed.

"I do too. My only contact was a Sergeant Thomas Wellington out of London. You and I work so much better together. But you couldn't and you know that."

"I'm still mad at Marco," she said suddenly and Adam rolled his eyes.

"You know he was just watching out for you right? Everyone at Base cares about you; you're the favorite. They're not about to compromise your safety."

"I was fine," Meg said harshly, "just drop it."

Adam shut his mouth at her strong tone, turning to put full attention to his unpacking.

After a moment of silence, Meg began to feel bad about yelling at him. Sighing, she decided to play nice.

"So why exactly are you early?" she asked, hoping he'd realize this was as close to an apology as he was going to get.

"The mission finished a few days earlier than expected so Marco had me talk to a few classes at the Academy. I decided I'd rather see you so I cut them short."

"I guess you missed me too then?" Meg asked, feeling a wide smile spread across her face.

It had been a whole year since they had seen each other. In fact, she hadn't seen him since a few weeks after the Germany incident.

Trying not to let her thoughts drift to that, she rolled over onto her side to see him better.

"Well of course I missed you! The last I saw you, you were curled up in a bed in Level Three crying your eyes out and-"

"I said drop it!" Meg shouted suddenly, sitting straight up.

And before Adam could respond, she was up and out the door, leaving him alone, mouth agape.

Meg knew she was being childish. She knew she was stomping, but her brother had been pushing the wrong buttons.

"He knows!" she said under her breath as she walked. "He knows how I feel about all that. He knows what I went through. Why does he have to keep bringing it up?"

She was so engrossed in her rant that she didn't notice someone coming around the corner toward her. Two strong hands came out to grab her arms at the last second, preventing her from falling backwards at the impact.

"Careful," a familiar voice said and she looked up into the eyes of Lewis Nixon.

"Of course," Meg grumbled, pulling herself away from him. Balling up her fists, she looked straight up at the sky. "Haven't I gotten enough today?" she shouted at the heavens, frowning when she heard Lewis chuckling at her.

"I'm not that bad am I?" he asked and she looked at him, shrugging. "C'mon, I think I deserve more than that."

"Alright maybe you do," she said with a grumble before remembering where she was and who she was talking to. This wasn't Adam, that she could complain about and insult to his face, this was a lieutenant with the United States of America. "I'm sorry; I'm just having a bad day."

"Mood swings?" he asked and she frowned at him. He quickly backtracked. "Hey now, I just meant…well, you seemed so happy when you saw your brother earlier."

"Well he's the problem. Just some sibling argument," she explained and Lewis nodded.

"I know those, believe me. I have a sister five years younger and we used to get in arguments all the time."

"That's not hard to believe," Meg said dryly. "You seem like someone who would pick on their little sister."

Lewis looked at her with wide eyes.

"She used to pick on me!" he said innocently and she couldn't help but laugh. "Where were you headed?" he asked, his joking tone dying down.

"I'm not sure really," she said as she looked around. "I just stormed out of our quarters; I didn't really have a plan."

"Well I was just walking over to check the mail. I'm expecting a package. Care to join?"

Meg was about to say no. This was the infuriating Lewis Nixon after all. However, a large part of her wanted to be around him, to admire his witty humor and charismatic character a little more.

"Alright," she said with a shrug as he offered her his arm. The two turned and continued on the path he had been walking.

"So how much older is your brother?" Lewis asked as they walked.

"Two years; he's almost 25."

"So then you're 23?" Lewis asked and Meg smirked and looked down. So that's what he really wanted to know.

"I don't think it's proper to ask a woman her age," Meg finally answered and Lewis laughed.

"Of course not, my mistake."

"I'd think a Yale man would know proper etiquette," Meg added and Lewis looked at her with a raised eyebrow. In response she just shrugged.

"So which Easy man were you talking about me with the night you did your little espionage experiment?" he asked with a sly grin. She shook her head at his question.

"None of them," she answered seriously. "I read your file."

"My file?" he asked, confusion evident across his face.

"Your file in the Colonel's office."

Lewis stopped walking, pulling Meg to a stop by their connected arms.

"You went through my file in the Colonel's office?" he asked and she nodded.

"Don't feel so special, I went through everybody's file."

She couldn't tell from his facial expression if he was angry or impressed.

"When did you accomplish that?"

"I spotted the filing cabinets when I was in the Colonel's office Friday afternoon. Yesterday evening I slipped back in when everyone was at dinner. "

Lewis started walking again, the two of them falling silent.

"So you know everything then?" he asked and she nodded. "Even about-"

"Your wife Katharine?" she asked, realizing she hit the nail on the head. "Yep, anything that was in that file, I know. That's my job."

"I thought your job was to spy on the enemy," he said, looking at her with his signature smirk. In that moment she realized any anger he may have had about the incident was gone.

"Well yes, but I need to stay informed about our lads too. Just so I know who I'm working with."

Arriving at the mailroom, Lewis held the door open before following Meg inside. While she stood back, he walked up to the counter and was quickly handed a nice-sized box from the clerk.

"Is that what you were expecting?" she asked as he approached her. He tested the weight of the box in his hand before nodding.

"It should be," he replied before tucking it under his arm. Offering her his other arm, they turned and headed back outside.

"Do I get to know what it is?" she asked and he laughed, tossing his head back slightly. She liked the sound of his laugh. It was rich and honest.

"Boy you really do take this nosy spy business seriously," he said, winking at her again. "It's a bottle of Vat 69."

"The whiskey?" she asked and he nodded. "You're allowed to have that here?"

"Well," he began with a shrug, "everyone kinda looks the other way. Besides," he added, leaning in like he had a big secret, "I store it in Dick's foot locker so if anyone were to get in trouble, it would be him."

"That's awful!" Meg said when she saw his smile. "Does he at least know he'll be taking the blame for your infraction?"

Lewis' silence was her answer. Just as Meg was about to scold him, running footsteps caused them both to look up.

Adam was jogging toward them, a look of distress on his face. When he spotted Meg, he came to a skidding halt in front of her. Meg pulled herself loose from Lewis' arm, folding her arms in anticipation of what he was going to say.

"I'm sorry," he said, not looking her in the eye. "I'm sorry about what I said back there, it wasn't my place. I was just worried about you. When I was at Base last, Bridget was mentioning that you were having nightmares again and..." Meg cleared her throat and shot a warning look in Lewis' direction. Adam got the hint. "Sorry, I just... well I have to play the big brother, it's what I am. And...well damnit I haven't seen you in almost a year and I keep hearing things over at Base but no one would just tell me flat out so I was worried and-"

Meg cut him off, stepping forward to pull him into a tight hug.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear before pulling back. "And I thank you for caring, but I'm fine. Really, I am."

The two smiled at each other for a moment before the sound of Lewis clearing his throat brought them back to reality.

"Oh!" Meg said, stepping back from her brother and pulling Lewis forward. "Adam this is Lieutenant Lewis Nixon. He's an intelligence officer with the 101st Airborne. Lewis, this is my older brother Adam."

The two men shook hands, very obviously sizing each other up. Meg knew Lewis was older, but her brother was almost half a head taller.

"Boys," she said under her breath, hoping she wouldn't have to step between the two, "play nice."

The two of them stared at each other for a second longer before they both turned to Meg, neither seeming embarrassed at being caught in their peacock display.

"I should probably go check in with my battalion," Lewis said, nodding to Adam before tossing Meg a wink. She felt her cheeks redden as he turned and walked off. As she watched him walk away, she could feel her brother's eyes on her.

"What?" she finally asked, turning to look at him. He held up his hands in surrender.

"Nothing," he said as they turned and began to head back to their quarters. "I see you're making friends already."

His statement seemed to get the opposite effect of what he wanted.

"I'm not making friends," she said, walking a little ahead of him. "I can't afford to make friends. Everyone close to me gets hurt."

"Meg..." Adam started, but she ignored him, increasing the space between them.

That night, she had another nightmare.

It was the same as all the others in every way: location, lighting, feeling... As she stood in the dark empty hall, she could hear the commotion all around her.

"Meg!" a voice called frantically into the radio piece in her ear. "Meg you have to get out of here!"

Before she had time to respond, shots sounded through the ear piece as well, followed by groans of pain.

"They took out Carter!"

Meg stood there, mute, as the whole scene played before her eyes.

Carter, Maxwell, Sarah, Yvonne... one by one their voices on the radio were silenced and she stood there, frozen and unable to do anything. She stayed melded to the spot as every member of her team was killed until only one remained.

"Meg, listen to me, you have to get out. It's too late for me; it's too late for all of us, but you can get out. If you run you can make it. Go!"

With a gasp she sat up in her bed, sweat dripping down her body.

That voice. It had seemed so real, it always did. It was almost as if Christian were right beside her, shouting those things in her ear as she slept. Panting to catch her breath, she turned to see Adam was still sound asleep on his bed. Not wanting to disturb him, she stood up and slowly tiptoed out of the building, grabbing her bathrobe as she went.

From the light outside, she could tell it was about two a.m. Feeling a chill, she pulled her bathrobe a little more tightly around herself, wishing she had grabbed her thicker bathrobe instead.

"Miss Myeroff," a voice said and she jumped, shrieking quietly as she spun around.

Dick Winters was walking toward her, looking fresh in his uniform. Despite the dark, she could just make out the concerned look on his face.

"Lieutenant," she said with a nod, suddenly feeling self conscious when she remembered what she was wearing.

"I'm sorry I frightened you," he said, coming to a stop beside her. "I figured you would hear me coming. Don't they train you for stuff like that?"

Meg frowned at him, mostly annoyed at herself. Of course they did, but in her weak state of mind she had tuned everything out. Stupid girl.

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked, turning the conversation back to him.

"Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd take a late night stroll to clear my head," he told her, both of them standing there awkwardly. "You?" he asked.

"The same," she answered rather quickly. Dick raised an eyebrow but didn't question her further on the subject. In fact, he changed the topic completely.

"I have to say I hope Nix isn't annoying you too much," he said and now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Nix?" she asked, her nose wrinkling in confusion. "Oh! Lieutenant Nixon," she said, realizing who he meant. "No he's not being too annoying," she told him and Dick laughed.

"But he can be annoying. Don't take it personally; he takes pleasure in driving other people insane. I have to put up with it daily."

"You know he keeps a stash of whiskey in your foot locker?" she asked suddenly and he looked at her with a frown.

"Really? Did he tell you that?"

She nodded, a smirk highlighting her face when she realized Dick really had no clue.

"Well damn," Dick said, running a hand through his hair. "I guess I better go look into that..." he trailed off as he turned to glance back the way he had come. "But let me walk you back to your quarters first."

"No I'm fine, I'm going to walk around a little more," she said before grinning. "And don't you think you should at least wait until morning before you confront Lewis about his alcohol stash? It probably won't be as enjoyable to yell at him if he's half asleep."

"True," Dick said, smirking at her. "Well, goodnight Miss Myeroff."

"Goodnight Lieutenant," Meg said, watching him turn and head back in the direction he came.

Alone again, she walked to the edge of the base, strolling at a leisurely pace. If she were to admit it, she was awfully tired, but the thought of her nightmare coming back had her too terrified to go back to bed. She knew her mind was weak; the dream would come right back as soon as she drifted off. She couldn't bear to hear Christian's voice telling her to save herself anymore. She had heard it enough in the past year to last a lifetime.

When she finally returned to their bunk, it was nearing four in the morning. Meg knew they had to be awake by six, but it made it easier for her to stumble into bed, knowing she wouldn't be at the mercy of her dreams for very long.

TA DA! I hope you all liked this chapter. Did anyone think her partner was also going to be her brother? And what do you think exactly IS the Germany incident? Review and tell me what you think! Wouldn't it be awesome if I came back from this crappy family wedding I'm not looking forward to and I had a bunch of reviews to make me happy!?