YAY for new a chapter!
However, before we get to it, I want to take a moment for something important to me.
Next Wednesday (February 27) is the one year anniversary of a shooting that happened at my town's high school. Three students were killed and three more were injured...but more than that, every single kid in that school (my sister and my "fake" sister included) was affected. the town I live in only has 5,000 people, so everyone knew one of the kids who was killed, injured, or even the shooter.
This past year has been incredibly difficult, but at the same time it has probably been one of the most powerful years of my life. If you want to get a better picture of why I say that, you can watch this video that aired on CBS during the Final Four college basketball tournament last year. It's narrated by Jesse Eisenberg and, unfortunately, I was only able to find this crappy quality one. (Ok so this site won't let me post ANY form of the link, so if you go to your browser and type in the URL for Youtube, add this after com: /watch?v=FpFGvWQgkns OR just search 'A Tribute To Chardon High School on The Final Four' on Youtube and it'll be the first video. Sorry for all the hassle!)
Anyway, I have a favor to ask all of you. In fact, I'm asking for this instead of reviews this week (although I'll always appreciate both!). On Wednesday, if you could take a moment and just pray/think/whatever about all the students/family/friends who have been affected by this tragedy. The anniversary is going to stir up a lot of memories that everyone has tried to forget, and it would be so nice to know that people outside the community are thinking about all of us as we deal with these memories.
Okay, enough personal stuff. On with the chapter!
The first thing Meg sensed was sound. Noises filled her ears: the sound of leaves rustling, birds chirping, and the hushed whisper of masculine voices. She tried to speak, but her throat felt dry and she couldn't seem to open her eyes.
When they finally opened, it took her a moment to realize it. The room she was in was dark. Glancing to her left, she saw that it was dark outside the window as well. Settling back into her pillow, she closed her eyes.
For now at least, she was safe.
"I don't care if she's not awake, I want to see her," a familiar voice shouted hours later. Opening her eyes a bit, she blinked against the light of day. "Meggy," a voice said and she panicked, thinking it was Christian back for her.
He's dead, she reminded herself, allowing her eyes to come into focus.
Adam stood there, a large grin plastered across his face. Seeing her awake, he hurried forward, reaching for her hand.
"Meggy," he said again, seemingly oblivious to how much that name hurt her. "They said you weren't awake."
"I guess I have some shit doctors then," she said weakly, her voice rough with lack of use. Adam reach over, picking a small glass of water off the table. Lifting it carefully to her lips, he helped her take a drink, smiling when she sighed in relief. "How long have I been out?"
"Two days," Adam said gently, reaching up to brush the hair from her forehead. "We thought you were dead," he added softly and Meg could hear the fear in his voice.
"I thought I was," she replied, knowing just how much her brother must have worried about her. "Adam, what do I have?"
The question may have seemed strange, but Adam knew exactly what she was asking.
" A dislocated shoulder, a gunshot wound to the same shoulder, a broken wrist, a sprained ankle, and more bruises and cuts than I'd care to count. Meg," he said softly in an almost pleading tone, "what happened to you?"
"Not yet," she said softly, feeling the tears well up inside of her again. "Soon, but not yet." She didn't think she'd even be able to talk about it. She needed more time before it was no longer fresh in her memory.
Adam nodded, reaching out to pat her hand lightly.
"There's someone who's been wanting to see you," he said and from the look on his face she knew exactly who it was. "Should I send him in or should I tell him you need more time?"
"You can send him in," Meg said, already feeling excitement bubbling up inside her at the thought of seeing Lew again. "But first, does my hair look alright?"
In answer to her question, Adam merely laughed, rising from his seat and walking out the door.
While she waited for the return of anyone, she looked around, taking in her surroundings.
The room she was in was very obviously not a regulation hospital room. In fact, it looked almost like a hotel room. A glance at the dresser, desk and bed confirmed her suspicions.
Where was she?
The sound of hurried boots caused her to look up just as Lew appeared in the doorway. She couldn't help the large smile that covered her face as he rushed over, coming to a sudden stop when he realized he'd hurt her just by touching her.
"Lew," she said softly, feeling more tears come to her eyes, this time from joy. She wanted him to touch her; to take her in his arms and tell her that she would always be safe. That he had missed her, and he'd never let her out of his sight. She wanted to hear him say that nothing bad would ever happen to her again.
Lew sat down at the seat Adam had vacated, reaching over to take her hand in his.
"Meg," he said, his face showing a mixture of pain and love, if that was even possible. "I was so worried. First when Adam hadn't heard from you in months, then seeing Malarkey carry you dow-" be broke off, pausing before continuing. "I thought you were dead. You looked awful,"
"Thanks Lew," she said, rolling her eyes. Despite his previous tone, he managed a small smile. "What happened after they found me?"
"You fainted. Spiers, Malarkey, Grant, More, and Popeye were the only ones up there when you came out. Malarkey carried you down the road until he met up with the trucks. The men got off of one and loaded you onto it and Doc and I rode back down with you. You've been out for two days."
"I know, Adam told me."
"Meg," Lew started but Meg shook her head, cutting him off.
"I'm not ready yet," she said and he nodded, stroking her hand with his thumb.
"I love you," He said instead and she smiled, feeling her face blush.
A noise caused them both to look up as Doc Roe walked in.
"Miss Myeroff, I see you're awake," he said as he walked over and began looking her over. "Any pain? Need any morphine?"
"What would I need morphine for Doc? All my limbs are still attached," she joked and Lew shook his head, rolling his eyes.
"You were shot," Doc said, seeming confused by her carefree attitude.
"Not the first time," she said before turning serious. "So when do you think I'll be getting out of here Doc?" she asked, hoping his answer wasn't too long.
"Well, as soon as things here get a little more situated we plan to scrounge up a truck to transport you back-"
"No," Meg said, cutting him off. Both Doc and Lew looked at her with frowns on their faces. "I'm not leaving. I've been away from my brother and from Easy Company for far too long. I'm not going to leave them again." I'm not going to leave Lew again.
"But Meg," Lew started but she shook her head.
"Don't fight me on this. Neither of you have authority over me."
"But I do," a new voice said and Lew jumped to his feet as a tall, older man walked in.
"Marco?" Meg asked, blinking in shock at the sight of him. Behind him, Adam peaked around, shrugging as if to apologize. "When did you get here?"
"Adam sent for me as soon as you were found," the older man replied, coming to stand at the foot of her bed. "We've been worried sick over you."
"I'm sorry sir," she said, dropping her head.
"Don't be sorry, and don't be foolish. Meg you can't stay here. We have a full facility back at Base where we can treat you. You'll be back to normal in no time."
"But I don't want to go back to Base. I want to stay here with the men," she said, her voice taking a pleading tone. I want to stay with Lew. "I want to see all this through to the end, and that means staying with Easy Company."
"Megan," Marco warned but she ignored it. She had another trick up her sleeve.
"Daddy please," she said softly, her eyes filling with tears.
At the revelation that Marco and her father were one in the same, Lew frowned, looking from all three Myeroffs in shock. As they all stood there, Doc backed up slowly, dismissing himself without a word, leaving the four others to stare at each other.
"Alright," Marco finally said, releasing a loud breath of frustration. "But on one condition."
"Anything," Meg said, her tears suspiciously vanishing in a hurry.
"Don't be stupid. Take things easy here and listen to everything the medics have to say. Don't go running around playing the hero again."
"Yes Daddy," Meg said, using the word again because she knew it affected him so much.
That conversation done, Marco turned to Lew, sizing him up.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked and Meg sighed at his all-business tone.
"Captain Lewis Nixon sir," Lew said, saluting the man before sticking out his hand for a handshake. Meg tried not to giggle at how nervous Lew seemed. Marco eyed him with a raised eyebrow before sticking out his own hand, shaking the hand of the nervous Captain.
"Nice to meet you son," Marco said before dropping his hand and turning to Adam. "A word?" he asked but it came out more as an order. Adam nodded and both men disappeared again.
"You didn't tell me Marco was your father," Lew accused as soon as they were alone.
"You never asked," Meg said with a shrug, wincing as pain shot up her shoulder. "Besides, I haven't called him Daddy in years. Probably not since I joined the IIAA back in '26. I knew using it now would sway him."
"You wicked girl," Lew said with a smirk leaning over.
"Lew," Meg started, her tone hinting at a question. "I don't think my lips are as damaged as the rest of my body. Do you think perhaps...?"
She trailed off but he knew exactly what she was asking. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers, reveling in the feel of them after so long.
The next day, shouting caused Meg to wake from her restless sleep. Pulling herself up to sit, she called out, frowning when no one appeared.
Cynically commenting to herself that she couldn't count on anybody, she climbed from her bed, slowly steadying herself on her feet. Ignoring the fact that she was wearing only a nightgown (although not the same one she had been wearing for the past couple months she noticed) she carefully walked out into the hallway, taking small baby steps down the corridor.
Her right arm was in a sling, her left wrist in a cast. Because of this, she was nervous that her unsteadiness would cause her to fall with no support. To fix this, she leaned her body against the wall, dragging herself against it as she used it for support.
Hearing laughter to her left, she carefully walked over and out onto a gorgeous stone balcony.
At her arrival, Harry, Lipton and Spiers all quieted, looking at her in shock. Suddenly feeling self conscious, she wondered what exactly she looked like. The nightgown probably didn't help.
"What is it? What's everyone so happy about?" she asked, quickly noticing that both Harry and Ron had a bottle of alcohol at their feet, drunken smirks returning to their faces.
"Germany surrendered," Lipton told her, obviously the most sober of the group.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Harry asked, his words slightly slurring together as he made his way over to her.
"I'm alright," she said, brushing him off. "Besides, I can't stay in bed forever can I?"
Looking around, her eyes fell on Ron, taking in his slightly distressed face that even his drunken smirk couldn't hide. She was confused at first until it hit her. He had been the first one to see her in her broken state. That image of her, bleeding profusely as she crumpled to the ground, would probably stay with him for a long time.
His face softened when he saw her staring and he stood up, walking over.
"Come on, let's get you back to your room," he said as he bent over, picking her up in a basket hold gently.
"Captain Spiers, you're drunk," she said but he ignored her, carrying her down the hallway. "Where's Captain Nixon?" she asked, remembering at the last second to use his official title.
"You just missed him. Dick wanted to show him something so they both left about five minutes before you showed up."
Meg groaned.
"Of course they did," she said, mostly to herself.
"What's going on?" Adam asked, appearing to their right. Spiers turned, giving Meg a better view of her brother.
"Caught this one out of bed," Ron said and Adam eyed him, obviously able to tell he was drunk.
"Alright, I've got it from here," he said, walking over and lifting Meg from Ron's arms.
As the brother and sister headed back to Meg's room, she rested her cheek against his shoulder, looking up at him.
"I'm able to walk you know," she said and he frowned, not looking down at her.
"Not yet you aren't. Doc Roe said you need to spend a few more days in bed."
"Well I don't agree, and I think I know my body much better than Doc Roe does...or at least I hope so," she added and this time Adam looked down at her with a frown.
Arriving back in her room, Adam settled her onto the bed, pulling the sheets up over her. Instead of leaving as she thought he would, he sat down in the empty chair, scooting it closer to her.
"Germany surrendered," she told him and he nodded, reaching over to take her left hand, careful of her wrist bandage.
"I know. I was with Dick when he got the note," he said and she nodded, leaning back against her pillows and looking up at the ceiling. "Will you tell me now?" he asked and she sighed, not looking away from the ceiling.
"Not yet," she said softly before changing the subject. "You know what I would like? To see some of the men of Easy. I'd like for some of them to visit."
"Just tell me who and I'll make sure they're all here," he said and now she did turn to look at him.
"Lew," she started and he rolled his eyes, telling her that was an obvious one. "Dick," she continued, smirking at him. "George Luz, Bill Guarnere..."
Adam's face cut her off and she understood why there was sadness in his eyes.
"Adam, who did Easy Company lose since I've been gone?" she asked, hoping the news wouldn't unsettle her too much.
"We didn't want to say anything until you were-"
"Adam," she said harshly, cutting him off. Her tone softened, "please."
"Muck and Penkala are dead," he said, causing her to frown. She hadn't known Penkala well but Muck was always nice to her. "Guarnere, Joe Toye, and Buck Compton got sent home. Joe lost his leg and Bill almost did too."
"But they're both alive?" Meg asked, feeling a smile come to her face. Their wounds would be serious but at least they were still alive.
"Yeah they're alive. They were the lucky ones; they didn't have to deal with all of Bastogne like everyone else did."
"Was it that bad?" Meg asked in a hushed whisper and Adam nodded.
"You have no idea," he told her before they both grew quiet. Adam didn't offer any more and Meg didn't want to ask. She didn't think she wanted to know.
"Lew hasn't come to see me yet today," she said casually after a few minutes had gone by. Adam looked up at her with disbelief on his face.
"Are you shitting me?" he asked with a chuckle. "That man has barely left your bedside since we brought you here. Doc and I had to practically kick him outta here so he did his paperwork and didn't get in trouble with Colonel Sink. I'm pretty sure he slept in this chair last night as a matter of fact."
Meg frowned, her nose scrunching up.
"If I had any doubts before, I sure as hell don't know," Adam said as he stood up. "That man's crazy about you."
Meg blushed, looking down at her lap.
"We're moving out for Austria in the morning," Adam said, changing the subject. "We figure we'll toss a couple mattresses in the back of a jeep and have you ride there, since you're so keen to stay with us," he added in teasing, reaching down to ruffle her hair before turning and heading out the door.
The next morning Meg was woken to the sounds of people packing up. Opening her eyes, she smiled when she saw Lew hovering over her.
"Good morning," she said with a smile. He returned it with a grimace, causing her to frown. "What's wrong?"
"Someone had a little too much to drink last night," Adam informed her, walking into her line of sight and pushing Lew out of the way. "Now come on, everyone's waiting on you."
"Not quite yet," Marco's voice said from the door, halting them. Before he said anything else, Meg knew why he was there. She couldn't avoid it forever, but she still wasn't ready.
"Please Marco," she tried to beg but he shook his head, at least being kind enough to put on a sympathetic face.
"I need to hear it Meg. I have to go back and write it all up and I need to know what happened."
Sighing, Meg looked from Marco to Adam to Lew.
"Fine, but they both stay," she said, hoping her voice sounded final. Marco mulled it over for a minute before giving in and nodding.
"Alright," he conceded and all three men pulled up chairs. Not caring what Marco thought, Meg quickly reached out and grabbed Lew's hand, pulling it to her. He looked up and smiled, tossing her a wink, and she blushed. At least his presence would make it somewhat better.
Taking in a deep breath, she squeezed Lew's hand once before starting.
"When Easy Company was heading to Bastogne, I was sent to Berlin. General Deidrich had summoned me to stay with him in Hitler's compound there." She knew Marco and Adam knew this, but she wanted Lew to know what her orders had been. He probably didn't know who General Deidrich was, but it would set the stage for the rest of her story. "I spent two months with the German higher ups, sharing their wine, laughing at their jokes, and reading the books in their libraries. On Feb 17th I realized things weren't moving fast enough for me and I decided to take matters into my own hands."
She turned to Adam then, directing her next statement to him.
"I wrote a letter to you but it was intercepted. The letter told you what I was planning to do and apologized to you if I-" she broke off, not being able to speak the word. "I was going to kill Hitler."
By the sight of Lew's raised eyebrows, she knew this wasn't expected. At least by him. Glancing at Adam and Marco, she could tell they thought something like this could happen. She was Megan Myeroff after all, and they both knew better than anyone else what she was capable of. Hell, Marco had probably half expected it when he okayed this mission in the first place.
"I went to his room that night with every intention of shooting him in his sleep. But my letter to you had been decoded and a soldier was waiting for me."
"So they finally discovered our code then?" Adam asked, a sad smirk on his features. Meg shook her head.
"They knew it all along. Their decoder was Christian."
There was a beat of silence as she stared at her brother, wishing he could feel how sorry she was. Lew's hand tightened around hers and she felt the tears fill her eyes. She had hoped she wouldn't cry, but seeing the three men she loved more than anything look at her with such shock hit her hard.
"But that can't be true," Adam said, standing up slowly. "Christian died two years ago. We both were there."
"Christian joined with the German's in '41, he told me himself. He's the one who revealed our plans and compromised that mission. He killed our team."
At this revelation, Adam sunk back into his chair, rubbing his hand over his face. Before anything else could be said, he stood back up from the chair and strode out of the room. Meg watched him go, hurt.
"Don't worry about him," Marco said, taking Adam's place closer to her. "He was close with Christian too." He let her compose herself before motioning for her to continue.
"Christian and Deidrich kidnapped me, taking me to Birtschesgarden and locking me in a room. I was there for two months, seeing nothing and no one except for them. I was beaten, I was raped, and I was half starved.
"When word reached us that Hitler was dead, they panicked. When you lot arrived, I had no idea what was going on. Christian came to my room to shoot me. We fought and before I killed him he shot me twice and broke my arm. In my escape, I killed two other Germans before Deidrich found me. We fought as well, which is how I broke my wrist. In the struggle he dropped his gun and I-I shot him. Then I rushed outside and was met by you."
"Meg," Lew said, standing from his chair to pull her into a soft hug. "I'm so, so sorry."
As the relief of having the story out there flooded over her, she burst into tears, lifting her one good arm up to cover her face.
"Captain," Marco said in a low tone. As Lew stood to leave, Meg shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"No, I want him here," she said, nodding for Lew to come back beside her. "I love you both so much and I'm sorry for any distress I caused you."
"Distress? Not that you need to apologize for it," Lew said, "but your brother and I were both pulling our hair out."
Watching the two with a smile, Marco stood and ducked out, intent on finding his son. Meg had someone to comfort her; Adam didn't.
Alone, Meg pulled Lew closer and pushed herself up so she could kiss him. Ignoring the pain coursing through her body, she pulled and pulled until he was as close as possible, practically hovering over her on the bed. She didn't care that her body hurt; she needed to feel this again.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear and she smiled.
"I love you too."
"What do you say we get you out of here?" he asked and she nodded, reaching her arms up toward him.
Lifting her up in his arms, he carried her out the door and down the hall to the doors outside. A jeep was waiting for them and Meg noticed that the back seats had indeed been covered with a mattress for her to lay on.
"I'm perfectly capable of riding in a jeep like a normal person," Meg protested as Lew carried her over to a jeep.
"And I say differently," Adam said, coming up beside them. "If you're going to stay with us, you have to follow my instructions, otherwise it's back to England with you." His tone was curt but pain was evident on his face. Meg could read his expression like a book.
"Alright," Meg said, annoyed that her brother was pulling authority, but trying not to show it. She didn't want to be the annoying little sister right now. "Where did you go off to?"
"The Eagle's Nest," he said as Lew set her down on the makeshift bed and began to make her comfortable. Nothing else was said, but it wasn't needed. She knew Adam had gone over there to see Christian's body for himself. She knew he was hurting, but there was nothing she could say to make him feel better.
Meg sighed, leaning back to lay down. Adam hoped up into the seat in front of her, turning around to make sure she was alright.
"I'm fine, stop babying me," she said, turning her face in the other direction and closing her eyes. Today had been too much. She needed a break from it all.
Taking that as a dismissal, Lew turned and headed to the jeep where Dick was currently getting situated. Climbing in, he looked back to make sure Meg was alright.
He knew he'd keep checking every ten minutes.
IceColdInAlex - Thanks for your review! I was so nervous writing this because I really wanted people to be able to know exactly what was going on...but I also didn't want to go overboard with description. I hope it wasn't too much though...so fingers crossed that your second read through let you take it all in! Hahaha
ilovemedia18 - Sorry I didn't update right away lol. Hopefully this is soon enough! At least I didn't go on a hiatus and make you wait months lol. And yay for agreeing with me that she should be the one to kill the General. I tossed around a few ideas, but ultimately I was like "No, Meg has to do it." Thanks for your review!
Rose2621 - Thanks for your review! I hope this chapter was AS amazing haha
LovingBOBThePacific - Yeah, that would have been badass. Too bad Joe wasn't still with the guys lol. And I'm sorry he's now out of the story... :( Whenever I mention the other guys, you can pretend he's with them haha. And believe me sister, I know what you mean about Aaron's voice. I just listened to Dead to You on CD (because he narrates it) and I actually had to stop listening to it in the car because sigh...his voice hahaha. When I'm bummed or trying to sleep, I turn on my Aaron playlist and that usually does the trick lol. It's perfect. And you should just send him the letter. idk how much postage would cost for you to send something to NYC but if it means that much to you, it might be worth it, you know? And yeah, I hope I get a response too hahaha. Anyway, back to the chapter lol. I'm glad you liked it! I hope you liked this one too! Thanks for the lovely review (as always!)
ActiveIngredient - I wondered where you had gone hahaha. I'm glad you're back and were able to catch up on the chapters! I'm so flattered it was the only one you read! (I'm blushing btw haha) In regards to the action scene, I'm so glad people like it! I thought it sucked hahaha. I've never really written action before, and the stuff I have written is like, so lame and simple so this time I wanted it to be as good as I could make it. In regards to the rumor, I was thinking back to when they ran into Captain Norris waaaaay back when their relationship had just started. I probably should have made that more clear...damn haha. As for the cheese, yeah I know. I guess my thoughts were that the amount of time it took her to do all that was probably how long it took the guys to get there after driving into town. I kinda wanted to show her badass side though, and I feel like this showed the guys exactly who she was. They hadn't seen her in action ever, and finding her on the floor would kinda be like "Oh shit what happened?" But seeing her still standing (even though she collapsed almost immediately) and hearing the tone of her voice, and THEN walking in and seeing everything, I felt like that was more of a BAM Meg's a badass beast. Is it cheesy? Definitely. Does it have a big affect? I thought so. But I'm glad you told me what you thought! Thanks for your review and thanks for inflating my ego with all your flattery! hahahaha
SparkELee - Yay you're back! Thanks for ALL your reviews! You totally didn't have to review every chapter to catch up (But I'm SO glad you did hahahaha). I love the terms "vivid" and "real." If I was ever able to bypass all the copyright and legality laws, those are the words I'd want on the back cover of the paperback edition...hahahahaha. Yeah, we've seen Meg the...uh shoot, what's the word? Damnit. Well anyway, we've seen Meg as the kind of agent who does the decoding and the planning etc, but this is the first time we've seen her as the badass agent who doesn't take anybody's shit. Of course then she promptly fainted like any good female character...but at least she killed some people first haha. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about everything else!