Hey guys! It's my favorite day of the week! Thursday!
I hope you all had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving, or if you're not from the US, I hope you had an absolutely wonderful 3rd Thursday of November. I enjoyed my time with tons of family and stuffed my face with tons of pie. As for Black Friday, who participated? We meant to wake up at 5 and be out the door by 5:30 but alas, I think the clock read 6:35 by the time we got in the car hahahaha. I DID however, buy a nice shiny new laptop so yay me!
Other than that, not much has been going on in my life. It is, of course, now my favorite time of the year so instead of being all down in the dumps, I'm all excited and singing Christmas songs nonstop hahaha. Now I'm bummed my Christmas chapter was published all those weeks ago...
Chapter Twenty
Meg enjoyed having the boys with her again, but this time was somewhat harder for her. When they had all been at Aldbourne before, the men had been training every waking hour of the day and Meg had been the one to sort of laze around, her duties not taking up nearly as much time. Now, the men were on a sort of reprieve from the fighting and therefore their days weren't completely filled dawn to dusk. It was Meg who was the busy one, her days spent decoding and recoding letters. As the war continued on, more and more letters were brought to her daily, making her spend more and more time decoding them all.
Although she knew Marco probably would not approve, some days Meg spent decoding in the mess or the pub. She would choose a table off in a corner and close herself off, focusing on her work. Her reasoning was selfish, but she was glad no one called her out on it. She wanted to see the boys. It had been months since she had seen them, almost half a year, and she hated the idea that their few days together she would be spending locked in her room.
She never let anyone read the letters, and all of them respected the secrecy enough to not pry. If one of the men showed up to talk to her, she would simply cover the letters with her decoding book and place the pile in her lap.
The voice in her head kept reminding her that this was probably the stupidest thing she had ever done in her career, but the less rational part of her brain didn't care. Besides, these boys were on their side; if one of them happened to see something in the letter (which she would be sure never came close to happening) it's not as if they would run off and tell anyone. It was a poor excuse, but it continually repeated itself in her mind, comforting her about her actions.
"You know Marco would be absolutely furious if he knew," Adam told her one night when he caught her coming back to the room. His days were spent over at Battalion HQ, constantly going over maps as updates on the occupation came in. "And when I say absolutely furious, I mean mark on your record, pulled from the field furious."
"But you won't tell him of course," Meg said calmly as she placed the stack of letters on the table. "You said yourself that you're happy I've made friends. Friends I haven't seen in almost six months. You wouldn't deny me the short time I have with them," she accused and he sighed.
"I hate it when you do that," he said and she put on a face of innocence. "God sometimes I seriously hate having you as my sister."
She could tell he wasn't serious so she simply smiled at him and began getting ready for bed.
"Adam, what do you supposed will happen to us now?" she asked as she stepped behind the changing curtain and stripped out of her dress.
"What do you mean?" Adam asked from where he was lounged out on his bed, a book open in his lap.
"I just mean that Marco can't have us both stationed here forever. What do you think he'll have us do next?"
"Well..." Adam started slowly and Meg peeked around the corner of the curtain, recognizing his tone.
"Do you know something?" she asked and he shook his head.
"Not so much know something definite," he said slowly and she raised her left eyebrow, indicating he should continue. "March just mentioned the possibility of something coming up for you."
"Oh right, you mentioned something about that in your letter," she said as she came out from behind the curtain and crawled into bed. "Do you know anything more?"
Adam shook his head before explaining.
"Not much more than before. I have a feeling Marco knows I couldn't keep anything from you," he said and Meg smirked to herself. Leave it to Marco to know them so well.
Suddenly something Adam had said made her frown slightly.
"'Not much more'?" she asked, stressing the words he had just used.
"Well..." he said just like he had before. "I know that it revolves around the General."
At his words her mouth ran dry.
A small, foolish part of her had thought her days with the General were over. The war was in full swing and soon the Allied army would have the advantage. Why would she be needed in that capacity again?
But here Adam was, telling her Marco's big plans for her involved the General. What exactly were his plans? Would she still have to follow through on them if the Allied forces took over Germany?
Knowing there was no point in worrying about it now, Meg settled into bed and closed her eyes, forcing herself to think about anything but the feel of the General's hands on her skin.
"So you are still at Aldbourne," Lew stated a few mornings later when Meg dropped into the seat next to him at the mess hall. Harry chuckled at Lew's joke and Meg merely snubbed her nose at him. "I only ask because it seems like we're seeing you just about as much as we would when you were stationed in London," he continued.
"That's what happens when one plays an important role in the war," she shot back, just as Dick sat down across from her.
"Are they fighting again?" he asked Harry and the Irishman shrugged.
"It's just a lover's quarrel," he said quietly, so only the four of them could hear. Still, it didn't keep both Meg and Lew from glaring at him. "What?" he asked, throwing his hands up in defense. "Isn't it?"
It looked like Lew was about to shoot a cutting remark at his fellow Lieutenant but before he got the chance, a soldier Meg recognized from the mailroom approached.
"Miss Myeroff?" he asked and she nodded, taking the envelope he held out to her.
As the three officers broke into steady conversation, Meg ripped the envelope open, quickly skimming its contents.
At her gasp, the three stopped talking and looking at her.
"Something wrong?" Lew asked, reaching over to place his hand on her thigh. At the contact, she jumped, leaping from her seat.
"I have to find Adam," she announced before practically flying from the mess hall. At her exit, the three turned to look at each other, eyebrows raised.
It didn't take Meg long to find her brother. He was at Battalion, already devoted to his day's work.
"Miss!" a private shouted as she hurried past him toward the closed door. "Miss Myeroff you can't go in there," he called as he followed her. She ignored him as she ripped the door open and rushed in.
The four men inside looked up at her dramatic entrance. Seeing the look on her face, Adam jumped up from his seat.
"Stauffenberg's been killed," she said and Adam's jaw dropped before he took two steps forward.
"Hitler? Is he still alive?" he asked frantically and she nodded.
"What in God's name is going on?" Sink cried, clearly as confused as everyone else in the room. Hearing footsteps behind her, Meg turned slightly so she could see Lew in her peripheral vision. At first she was about to scold him for following her, then she remembered he was an intelligence officer; of course he'd be coming to attend that morning's intelligence meeting.
"Two days ago there was a plot to assassinate Hitler," Adam began to explain calmly.
"Adam," Meg warned but he shook her off.
"They have to know," he told her and she only hesitated a moment before shrugging and letting him continue.
"And why didn't I know about this?" Sink asked and Meg held back the urge to roll her eyes. Military men always seemed to think they had to know everything. Sometimes it was extremely annoying.
"It was on a need to know basis sir," she said and luckily he seemed to understand the situation.
"Anyway, Operation Valkyrie was a German plot to assassinate Hitler and then take control of all German cities, take over the SS, and arrest all Nazi leadership. It was led by a group of men, including Colonel Stauffenberg."
"And let me guess," Lew said as he walked further into the room, taking seat in a chair. "It failed."
"Well judging by this letter it would seem so," Meg said, holding the piece of paper up. Adam strode over and took it from her, skimming it quickly. When he was finished, he turned to Meg and took hold of her shoulder, looking directly in her eyes.
"You need to go call Marco. Call him and begin preparations to get Agent Swinson out of Germany now," he said, his tone forceful. Knowing the seriousness of the situation, Meg nodded, hurrying from the room and shouting for a telephone.
"He wants you on it," she said when she came back into the room ten minutes later. Again, all the men sitting around the table looked up at her in confusion; all except Adam.
"Alright," he said as he stood from his seat and strode from the room, only stopping to place a sound kiss on Meg's forehead. As he walked away, she crossed her arms for comfort and locked eyes with Lew. She could tell from his expression that he felt sorry for her, but not wanting to get into it, she turned and hurried after his brother.
This was huge; much more serious than any mission they may have gone on before. Sure, plenty of their missions were serious, life or death situations, but none of them had ever been initiated with less than a 50/50 percent chance of survival. The Germans had killed Stauffenberg, it was only a matter of time before they caught Swinson and killed him as well. And if Adam was with him when he was found...
Shaking her head, Meg caught up to her brother and clutched his arm tightly, resting her cheek against his shoulder.
"I'll be fine," he said but she refused to believe him, especially because she could hear the waver of uncertainty in his voice.
When they got to their quarters, Adam moved on autopilot, throwing things in his bag in an almost robotic way.
"Adam stop," Meg said, making both of them jump at how loud and short her statement had been. When her brother looked over at her, she couldn't help it and rushed to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Meg," he whispered into her hair, holding her close. "Meg," he repeated and she sighed, taking in the smell of him. She wanted to remember it incase...
"I'm just so worried," she said, pulling back to look at him. "Neither of us have ever done a mission like this before. We don't know what could happen once you get over there."
"You've never worried about me on a mission before," he reminded her. "This is actually sort of patronizing."
"Don't say that," Meg scolded before explaining her reason for acting this way.
"There's still a 50/50 chance of survival," he told her but she shook her head. "Well there isn't if you have that glass half empty attitude. Come on Meg, have more faith in me."
"I do, it's the Germans I don't have faith in," she told him with a sigh.
"I'll be alright. Just a quick in and out and it's over."
"But how do you even know where you'll find Swinson?" she asked and he gave her a pointed look.
"Come on Meg, you of all people know every mission has an emergency rendezvous."
She almost slapped her forehead at her stupidity. Of course there was an emergency rendezvous point. Marco wouldn't be that stupid as to send an agent out without a backup plan.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Meg sighed and pulled her brother in for a tight hug before helping him finish packing.
After one final hug and a hard kiss on the cheek, Meg watched him leave, putting her hand over her heart as she watched him disappear behind the buildings.
The rest of her day went by in a fog. Obviously this wasn't the first mission she had watched Adam go off on, but she couldn't escape the feeling that something bad was going to happen. The odds most definitely weren't in their favor and they worsened when one included the fact that Adam was going to be dropping into Germany.
A knock on her door that night caused her to look up from where she had been staring at the wood surface of the table. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was almost seven at night. She had skipped both lunch and dinner sitting there.
Before she was able to answer, the door opened and Lew walked in slowly, his eyes settling on her.
"I came to see if you were alright," he said and in response, she stood and enveloped herself in his arms, bursting into sobs.
They stood there for a few minutes before he led them over to her bed, settling down on it without removing her from his embrace. After they had sat there for a good fifteen minutes, her cries quieted and she pulled away, wiping her nose and eyes ungracefully.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what's come over me," she said embarrassedly but Lew shook his head, wiping at her cheeks with his thumb.
"I do," he replied. "Your brother is going off on what I'm assuming is a life or death mission. I'd be more worried if you weren't a blubbering mess," he finished with a smirk, showing he was teasing. She didn't take the bait, however, and a scowl appeared on her face.
"But I should be used to this. Adam and I have both gone on enough missions that I should be used to these life or death situations."
"Meg, I don't think anyone should ever be used to a life or death situation," Lew informed her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her toward him. "He's your brother, it's only fair that you worry about him when he's on a dangerous mission."
Instead of responding verbally, Meg tilted her head up and pressed her lips to his, enjoying the feel of them.
"What was that for?" he asked when they pulled apart a few minutes later.
"For being so wonderful," she said with a smile. "For knowing exactly what to say to make me feel better."
"Well, what can I say? I'm always wonderful," he said in a suave tone and Meg chuckled, pulling him back for a kiss.
As the kiss deepened, Meg found herself pushing Lew back down onto the bed. As his hands reached for the tie around her dress, she began the tedious task of undoing all his buttons. As her fingers moved nimbly, she silently wondered if that was the reason military men had so many layers with buttons; so it was a long, annoying job for a woman to undo them all.
When they were both completely free of clothing, Meg released her lips from his, leaning back to look down at him.
"I missed this," she whispered as she ducked her head, beginning to trail kisses across his chest and down his stomach. As she did, he wrapped his fingers in her hair, nodding his head.
"I did too," he told her as she brought her lips back up to meet with his own.
An hour later, they both lay there, looking up at the ceiling.
"Your bed stinks," Lew informed her and she couldn't help but laugh, rolling over to bury her face in his chest. What a change her mood had gone through in the last hour!
"And why does it stink?" she asked, leaning back to lock eyes with him.
"It's so small. We were spoiled by your bed in London," he informed her and she nodded, placing a quick kiss on his jaw.
"Perhaps it's better this way. We can hardly afford to spend the entire day in bed here like we could in London. My un-enjoyable military bed forces us to get up and go about our day," she said and now it was his turn to laugh.
"I guess you're right," he said as he got up from the bed and reached for his clothes. Despite all their moments together, Meg still found herself blushing at the sight of him walking around in the nude. Hoping he wouldn't catch her and make fun, she got out of bed herself, quickly grabbing her clothes and throwing them on haphazardly.
"I suppose you have to get back to your bunk," she said and he nodded sadly.
"Will you be alright here alone?" he asked and she put up a false smile.
"Of course I will. Besides, I don't really have a choice do I? If you're caught her, the results could be disastrous to your military career. I won't put you at risk for my emotions."
"Meg..." Lew started but Meg shook him off.
"I'll be fine," she said firmly.
Giving one last nod, Lew leaned forward to give her a final kiss before heading to the door.
"Hold on," she said softly, rushing forward and reaching the door first, opening it slowly and glancing out, looking both ways. When she was sure the coast was clear, she nodded and he snuck by her, giving her arm a light squeeze.
"I'll come by to see you in the morning," he told her and she nodded, watching him disappear just like her brother had earlier that morning.
When she was sure he was gone, she shut the door, going to lie back down on her bed. Clutching the blankets up around her tightly, she smiled as memories of the past hour filled her head.
That was definitely one way to make her stop thinking about her brother!
The rest of the week played out similarly. Meg spent her days worrying about Adam and her nights being comforted by Lew. She knew what they were doing was wrong; they would both be in serious trouble if they were caught. Still, for the hundredth time she reminded herself that she wasn't going to stress over this situation any longer. Lew wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with him. End of discussion.
By Friday, Meg was beyond stressed. It had been six days since she had heard from either Adam or Marco. Knowing both of them as well as she did, this could either be good news or bad news. Annoying by her lack of knowledge, she skipped breakfast and made her way straight to Battalion.
"Permission to use your phone," she said as she approached the man sitting at the desk. He looked up at her and nodded, motioning to the empty receiver. Sighing with relief, she hurried over and quickly asked to be connected to the IIA line.
While she stood there waiting, a group of men, including Harry, Lew, and Dick, walked in. Other than her three friends, none of them spared her a second glance as they walked into the large meeting room. Just as the three were walking toward her, someone answered on the other line.
"Uh yes, I'd like to speak with Marco please," she told the woman, pulling the mouth part of the receiver away as she smiled at them. "Hello," she whispered and they all tipped their hats.
"Just one moment miss. I think he's in a meeting," the secretary said.
"Can you tell him it's Meg?" she clarified and, instead of answering, the line began to ring.
"Are you allowed to use Army phone lines?" Harry teased and Meg rolled her eyes.
"Sod off," she told him, just as the phone finished ringing.
"Meg?" Marco's familiar voice asked and Meg quickly pulled the receiver back to her mouth.
"What's going on with Adam?" she asked quickly. Noting her tone of voice, Harry and Dick tipped their hats again before continuing on their way. Lew stuck around, taking a step closer to her. She smiled at the comforting gesture.
"Meg you know I can't tell you anything over an open line," Marco practically scolded.
"Yes, I know," she said in an exasperated tone. Marco honestly thought she didn't know that? She wasn't expecting him to tell her the entire situation! Just a tip or hint would be appreciated. "It's just...I just want to know he's alright," she finally chose to say. There was a pause before Marco replied.
"We don't know Meg, we haven't heard from him in five days," he finally said and Meg found herself dropping the receiver. She and Lew could both hear Marco's voice echoing from the ear piece as he called her name but they ignored it, looking at each other.
When he realized she wasn't going to make a move to pick it up, Lew reached forward and picked the phone off the floor, putting it to his ear.
"Hello this is Lieutenant Nixon. I'm not sure who you are but Miss Myeroff seems to be in shock over something you said. I'm going to hang up now and make sure she's taken back to her quarters." There was a pause before Lew nodded. "Yes sir," he said before hanging up. "Hey Dick!" he shouted and the ginger captain came hurrying out, quickly assessing the situation.
"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked when he saw Meg's face.
"I'm going to take her back to her bunk. I'll be back as soon as I can," he said before taking hold of Meg's arm and leading her out of the room. In a daze, she followed.
Inside, her world was slowly crumbling. This was worse than Christian, way worse than she could have imagined. Five days? That was practically forever when it came to a situation like this. All Adam was supposed to do was be a contact between Swinson and the IIA to ensure his safety. That job definitely required contact more frequently than five days. If what Marco said was true, Adam was as good as dead.
As this realization hit her, Meg's legs crumbled, causing her to sag against Lew. Luckily his reflexes kicked in and he held her up, quickly lifting her into his arms and continuing on his way.
"Meg?" a voice called but it seemed muffled to her ears. She barely noticed as George and Malarkey ran over, causing Nixon to pause in his steps.
"What happened?" Malarkey asked, both of them looking from Lew to Meg in alarm.
"Bad news about her brother," Lew said quickly. "Listen, I've got to get back to a meeting. Can you two take her to her quarters? Make sure she's settled in alright and if someone could stay with her that would be great."
As Malarkey reached out and took Meg's body into his arms, Lew stretched forward and grabbed George's arm.
"Yes sir?" George asked and Lew paused, as if what he was about to say was hard to articulate. After all, it was scandalous. Meg had mentioned Level 3 plenty of times, but he could only assume why she had been sent there. He hoped he was wrong about the reasoning, but his next statement was to make sure nothing like that happened again.
"Make sure there isn't anything sharp around her," he said and George nodded, eyes wide, before the two turned and continued on the path Lew had been taking.
"You're gonna be alright Meg," Malarkey said as they walked, but Meg barely heard him. Instead she was playing through moments in her mind, almost like a moving picture. Her and Adam at her sixth birthday party, her and Adam at graduation from the Academy, her and Adam with Christian on their first mission together...
"Meg!" George shouted and she rolled her head over to look at him, not making any other signal that she had heard him. "Meg listen to me, whatever's happened to Adam, it's gonna be okay."
"S'not," she slurred softly, and finally the tears came. Turning to bury her face in Malarkey's neck, she sobbed harder than she had in years. She hadn't cried this hard since Christian died, and even then she had been half out of it. Now she was fully sobbing, not holding anything back.
The two soldiers looked at each other in alarm before picking up their pace. When they finally reached Meg's quarters, they shoved the door open and rushed her to her bed, practically throwing her onto it.
"I'll stay here, you go get somebody else," George ordered and Malarkey nodded, running out the door. "Hey Meg," George spoke softly, crawling onto the bed with her and pulling her head back to rest against his shoulder. "It's George. I'm here kiddo. It's gonna be alright, I'm here."
She didn't correct him, instead continuing to cry against his shoulder. If she said out loud that Adam was most likely killed, then it would be real. She couldn't handle the idea of Adam being gone to her forever. It was like Christian all over again and she couldn't stand that.
She and George sat there, resting against the headboard of her bed as she continued to cry. It wasn't long before the door opened and Malarkey walked in, followed by Toye, Bill, and Muck.
"Hey Meggy," Bill said softly, but in response to the pet name Meg simply sobbed harder. Jumping back in alarm, the four newcomers looked at each other before looking at George questioningly.
"Jesus Christ I dunno!" he exclaimed. "Just help me calm her down. I don't even know what happened."
"Adam's dead," Meg sobbed out and they all looked at her.
"How?" Joe finally asked, the other three pulling chairs over and sitting down around her.
"Well," she started as she sat up and wiped her eyes frantically, "I don't know for sure. But I just spoke to Marco and he said they hadn't heard from Adam in five days. That's practically a done deal in our line of duty."
"I'm sure he's alright Meg," Bill said softly, reaching out to pat her leg.
"Please don't say that," she replied and Bill closed his mouth, looking at her in an obviously startled way. "I know you're all just trying to help but I don't want people assuring me Adam's alive when he most likely isn't. If you all don't mind, I'd rather be alone right now."
"But Lieutenant Nixo-"
"I don't care what he said," Meg cut Malarkey off harshly. "I know myself better than him and I would prefer to be alone. I understand your concern but I'll be fine."
The four men gave her a steady look before deciding to agree with her. Standing from their various positions, they all tipped their hats to her before filing out...but not before George grabbed her letter opener off the table. Too dazed, Meg didn't notice, but if she had been in a better mood, she might have reminded him that she had a gun in the drawer next to her bed.
Left on her own, Meg collapsed back on the bed, crying herself to sleep. She had only been awake for a couple hours, but already she was exhausted.
I meant to do this last chapter, but I wanted to point out that I'm now over 100 reviews! So yay! How about we make a pact? I keep posting and you all keep reviewing! Sound good? I think so haha.
LovingBOBThePacific - Thanks for your review. What did you think of Toye in this chapter? Again, not in it a lot, but I think his role where Meg is concerned was a good one. And yeah, I'm happy they're finally all back together too! Although this chapter wasn't all fluff and daisies was it? Lucky for Meg she has her Easy boys with her to keep her company and help her through it all! And thanks for the Happy Thanksgiving wishes. It was overall a good day. I ate too much, drank too much, and spent my evening watching football. What a day hahaha
IceColdInAlex - Your first point of your review was about the relationship Meg has with the men of Easy. After this chapter, what are your thoughts? I'm really glad you like my "clever juxtaposition" hahahaha. I just like saying that phrase. And yeah, my roomie/editor (who, it should be noted, has not seen Band of Brothers) was like "I don't know...I feel like she changes too quickly..." but I feel like, if you know the characters from watching the show, you'd know how infecting their personalities are. And she is head over heels isn't she? I suppose, in a way, this is what "first love" would feel like to someone like Meg. Sometimes it's slightly childish, but other times it's completely adult and romantic. And yay you like Adam! You and I seem to be in the minority here haha. What did you think of this chapter then? Thanks for your review!
SparkELee - So even though I knew it would probs be a frantic weekend for you, I was still all freaking out cause you weren't reviewing hahahaha. But thanks for reviewing :) Anyway, when I saw you didn't like Adam, I messaged my roomie/editor and was like "OMG Holly, that reader I told you about, she doesn't like Adam!" and she goes "...well I don't really like him either..." hahahahahaha so yeah, it's all good. The more I thought about it, the more I totally saw your point. I don't have a brother, so obviously I don't know what it would be like, but from my experiences with my friends' brothers, I'd say I get where you're coming from. As for getting her feelings right, I'm glad you thought so. Did I do well in this chapter too? These are a bit different feelings than before. Also, this chapter totally focuses on her relationship with Adam hahahahaha so sorry for that lol. And I'm glad you agree with how I wrote their moment in the last chapter. I was worried it would be too...idk, risqué? Too scandalous for some people? Or like, just too much in general because it's completely different than their relationship has been. As for keeping them apart, I hate the idea too. However, it will be coming soon...so hold tight haha.