Sorry for not updating in awhile! I live in one of the worst hit areas where Hurricane Irma struck, so I've been without any access to the computer, wifi, or anything electronic really for a week. Thank you SO much to everyone who continues to read, follow, favorite, and review this story! Enjoy xoxo

Edit: Thank you Byron W.4 for correcting me on some date conflicts and ranks!

Chapter 6: Around the Corner

Aldbourne, England

September 1943 – May 1944

Shortly after 2nd Battalion arrived in England, Easy Company was set to do a demonstration jump for Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Maxell Taylor, and a list of other impressive names. Marie felt a little star-struck by these men and the fact that these distinguished individuals would be observing them. The jump itself was simple enough, it was just like every other jump they've done, but the pressure of trying to impress these men is what made the task feel as daunting as the first time they had leapt from planes.

After the jump, everyone assembled at Greenham Common Airbase to await the inspection from the higher-ups. Marie was afraid that they wouldn't be too happy to see Emilia and herself there because they were women. Old military men like Eisenhower and Churchill were often stuck in their old ways. After all, women joining the front had been deemed very unpopular, and a poor choice taxes used.

As she waited, Marie anxiously started to fidget, unable to help herself. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, hoping that she wouldn't be caught not standing 'at ease.' Marie saw that Malarkey was up in the front rank for reasons she didn't understand, considering he was only a private. He looked confused as well, it seemed like he'd be more toward the rear with the rest of the mortar squad. Eisenhower and Churchill went over to talk to him. They saluted him and Marie couldn't help but smile at that. To have dignitaries like them acknowledge and ask questions must've felt like an honor. Marie marveled at how coolly Malarkey presented himself before them.

Marie nervously picked at the Red Cross on her left sleeve of her Class A uniform as time ticked on. John Martin, a short man with a tough attitude, and facial features that reminded her of a frog, was standing to her right, watching her with his peripherals. She was so caught up in her anxiety that she didn't even notice his sharp scrutiny. His grey eyes watched her for a moment, irritated by her restlessness.

"Stop," Martin ordered in a hushed, brisk voice, nudging her with his elbow.

She immediately placed her hands behind her back. The last thing she needed was to get lectured by General Taylor and Sobel about proper protocol. To Marie's relief, they never came to talk to her. She thought it was because she was too far back from the front of the line, and that made her calm down at last.

Back outside, some Easy Company members gathered around to talk about what happened. Marie walked over to join them. Malarkey saw her approaching, and extended his arm so he could welcome her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders casually as the men laughed at their conversation.

"I can't believe an ROTC dropout like you got a salute from Ike, Malark," Guarnere said mildly, shaking his head like it had been the most ridiculous thing he'd ever seen.

"Lucky you were placed at the front of the line," Luz said, clapping Malarkey on the shoulder.

"Damned luck of the Irish," Muck added.

"I'm glad they didn't talk to me," Marie piped up.

"Why?" Lipton asked her.

"I find them intimidating," Marie replied, honestly.

"That's why you were squirming so badly?" Martin questioned with authority, raising an eyebrow at her.

It reminded her of when she did something bad when she was a child and her father would give her "the look." Seeing something so parental out here made her stomach knot with familiar and distant feelings of childhood guilt.

"Yes… sorry about that," Marie replied to the sergeant, meekly.

"Don't apologize to me, pumpkin. Just don't let Sobel catch you doing that," Martin warned.

He was right, Sobel already helicoptered around her so much as it is, she didn't need him to find an actual mistake that he could punish her for, instead of inviting an infraction as he usually did.

After the conversation, Malarkey and Marie made their way around the base, talking about their past week in England, and how they were adjusting to life in another country.

"Churchill asked if I liked England," Malarkey told her.

She listened curiously as they walked through the dew-covered grass. "Well, do you?"

"Honestly, not too fond of the weather," He replied flatly, looking up toward the sky.

England always seemed to feel damp and overcast by clouds every single day. It was also very cold here, colder than what Marie was used to. She didn't mind all the rain, though. Rain meant lighter training with Sobel and more classroom lecture.

"Did you tell him that?" Marie asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Of course not. I'm also not very fond of the food, either."

Marie had to agree with him on that one. Two-thirds of the company had gotten food poisoning from eating here. Her face grimaced at the memory of the taste of the undercooked food, along with the memory of all the vomit she'd had to clean up at the infirmary the past few days.

"I don't think I can stomach anymore mutton," Marie declared, sticking out her tongue, "but I am fond of the scenery here, and the history."

"Me too. The people here are friendly," Malarkey added.

He was right about that. Some English soldiers had seen her on base along with her Screamin' Eagle patch, and went over to talk to her. One of them even started to flirt with her, his charming accent had taken her off guard. She wasn't used to that kind of attention, she had glanced around to see if he'd been addressing someone else, receiving a laugh because of her "coyness" from the British soldiers. He'd asked her to join him in the nearby pub and she said she'd think about it. Recalling the encounter made her smile.

"What are you smiling about?" Malarkey's voice broke through her thoughts.

"I was asked on a date," Marie told him in a jovial whisper.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He had stopped walking, causing Marie to stop and look back at him, tilting her head to the side in question.

"A date? Who asked you?" Malarkey asked her, taken aback.

"I know it's unbelievable that someone would actually ask me out, huh?" Marie laughed.

"No! That's not what I meant," He said shaking his head, "I mean… who asked you? One of the guys?"

"It was one of the British soldiers on base," Marie replied.

Malarkey paused for a moment, glancing to the ground and working his jaw in thought. "Did you say yes?"

"I told him I'd think about it," Marie answered with a shrug.

"Good," Malarkey stated quickly.

Malarkey's eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said, "I mean… it's good that you didn't say no," He added hastily, but his voice trailed off slightly.

"We should be getting back," Marie brought up, trying to relieve the sudden awkward tension, ignoring the sudden heat radiating from her cheeks, "Welsh is going to be giving classroom lectures soon."

"Yeah. Let's head back," Malarkey agreed, scratching the back of his head.

0000

Through the months, the Army required all soldiers to learn self-defense, with both his or her bayonets and bare hands. Marie enjoyed the simulations, it reminded her of her father's boxing days. She held the rifle steadily, and yelled every time she went to thrust the bayonet forward, aiming for the chest of her opponent. Muck had been her partner, and he only laughed at her sudden aggression.

"Jesus, Marie. I don't think we have to worry about you on the field," Muck informed her, a little out of breath from her intensity.

She felt embarrassed that she'd gotten so into it like a little kid playing soldier.

"It's fine, you're doing great," He added, noticing her reddened face, "better than me, anyway."

She didn't want to admit that the simple action of blocking, evading, and jabbing with the piece of steel thrilled her deep down. Watching her father box, attending boxing matches, practices, and even bookkeepers for betting had been a large part of her odd childhood.

"All you do is aim for the solar plexus," Marie stated simply, mostly to herself.

"I don't know what that is," Muck said.

Marie pointed her finger at the area slightly under the chest where the two rib cages meet on his body, showing Muck what she meant.

"There's an area here called the solar plexus, or celiac plexus, where a lot of nerve fibers and arteries meet. Including some of the big ones, like the renal and abdominal arteries. You can feel that there isn't much protection there like the breastbone," She explained, "you can guess that a blow there would be fatal."

"Look at you, you little smarty-pants," Muck chuckled with a mild admiration.

Marie looked down at her shoes, feeling embarrassed again, "I'm so sorry. Sometimes I go off on these tangents and I know it's annoying, but-"

"It's fine, Marie. Impressive, actually. I wish Sobel could see past the fact that you're a woman and focus on your intelligence," He told her, holding up his hand so she'd stop apologizing.

She beamed at his words, "thanks, Skip!"

The rest of the days consisted of mortar practice, and targeting for Muck and Malarkey with Guarnere leading. Marie and Emilia attended lectures relating to their own individual specialties. Marie had spent a lot of her time with Eugene Roe, while Emilia was stationed mostly with the lieutenants, continuing her training as an intelligence solider.

Shortly after, they received the news that Winters was splitting up the four of them up. Marie and Malarkey were to be in 2nd platoon, while Muck and Emilia were to be in 1st. Marie would later find out the reason was because they'd gotten too close, with Muck and Malarkey being like brothers and Emilia and Marie being like sisters, Winters thought it would be bad if something happened and the other one would be too devastated. Marie thought this decision was sad, and eerily prophetic. It wasn't the worst news the friends had ever gotten, they still were thick as thieves. The village of Aldbourne was quaint, and had a friendly atmosphere enough to where it felt comfortable to wander around the streets. Weekend passes were out most of the time, just like it had been at Toccoa the first few weeks, but that didn't stop everyone from enjoying themselves, but there was a testing matter that often got in the way of their fun: Sobel.

Sobel had grown nervous when he entered England. He bore down on everyone harder than before, but the logic behind his orders had gone. He was screwing up simple maneuvers, things a CO should know by heart. If he couldn't handle the pressure here, then he definitely couldn't handle the pressure out where the Germans were actually fighting. 1944 was fast approaching, only a couple months away, and no one felt ready for it because of him.

Sobel was late with first platoon one afternoon for a simple navigation maneuver, as Marie waited with Winters and Guarnere in 2nd platoon. Winters had grown tired of waiting, so he decided to signal Guarnere's platoon to head to the left while Winters takes the right. They got in position behind a bush and ended up almost running into an elderly man with a bike. Soon enough Sobel's familiar "hi-ho silver!" echoed and they were seen approaching from behind.

So much for this being a stealth operation.

Marie later found out from Muck and Emilia that the platoon had played a prank on Sobel. Luz impersonated Major Oliver Horton's voice when he was out of sight, and ordered Sobel to cut a barbed wire fence so they could get through. Sobel was given hell from Major Strayer, and the farmers, because the livestock being held behind the fence had escaped and was trampling all over HQ. Unfortunately for Winters, Sobel had taken out his anger on him. Winters had chosen to take a court-martial over his other option, taking Sobel off-guard. Sobel was jealous of Winters' leadership abilities, and often punished the poor man because of his envy. But this time he'd pushed Winters too far. This was just one more example of Sobel's childishness and pettiness.

Things were looking grim.

0000

It was November 1943, at this point when the word spread of the court-martial, everything had unraveled within the company. Out of defiance from Winters court-martial and from Sobel's inability to lead the men, Easy Company's NCOs had written a letter of their resignation, turning in their stripes. Emilia had first told her the news, and Marie's blood ran cold. They could be shot for such mutiny, a war crime that was considered one of the worst. The tension was thick and it only made Sobel feel cornered enough to where he'd spring in for the attack at any moment. And his target this time had been Marie.

One day Marie was playing another round of basketball with Malarkey, Perconte, and Bull. They all needed an excuse to take their minds off of Winters court-martial, and the fear of what Sink would do when he received the letters from the noncoms.

Since Marie was so short, Bull had picked her and like a small child and placed her on his shoulders so she could reach the basket easier. She dunked the basketball through the hoop, while Malarkey and Perconte struggled to block the shot.

"Are we playing basketball or chicken?" Perconte protested, but couldn't help cracking a smile himself.

Marie was laughing too hard to realize that Florence was watching them, looking strangely skittish. Something was on her mind, and she had picked Marie of all people to confide in (Lord knew why).

"Marie? May I speak to you?" Florence called to her.

Marie looked over at Florence and saw the fear and desperation in her eyes. Marie's smile faltered instantly. She signaled for Bull to let her down, and ran over to Florence, who gripped her arm tightly, and forcefully pulled her further away from the guys.

"What's going on," Marie asked her, concerned.

Florence glanced around, making sure no one was listening in, "I need a favor. A big favor, Marie. I don't know who else I can turn to."

"What?"

"I need you to do something for me."

"What do you need," Marie pressed.

"I need you to give me a pregnancy test in the infirmary," Florence told her in a low voice.

Marie's face drained of color, "oh, Florence…"

"You know how to do one, don't you?" Florence asked her desperately.

"Yes, I know how it works. Getting the hCG from your urine will be simple enough, but after I've got a urine sample I'll need to-"

"Let's just get it over with," Florence interrupted.

Marie only nodded, hating this but she was Florence's only chance.

A few days later, Lipton was given instruction to teach the soldiers about properly digging a foxhole. He covered everything from how to dig them quickly, to the correct depth. They all stood with shovels in their hands, penetrating the damp ground with the ends, then scooping up dirt and throwing it overhead. Marie's hands had already started to blister; her hands practically screamed in protest as she gripped the shovel continuing to dig into the ground. They'd been digging foxholes for well over an hour, and the men were starting to get fractious. Marie felt bad for Lip being given this assignment; it wasn't his fault that digging holes was so boring, and yet physically grueling. The constant friction on Marie's hands started to get worse. She had to take a break. She placed the shovel on the ground then looked down at her hands. The blisters were bad and some sections of her skin had started to bleed.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Marie groaned to herself.

Lipton saw her distress and went over to check up on the female medic. "Everything okay?" He asked her.

"I've got vesicles," Marie sighed, showing Lip her hands, "it's going to take a long time before the fluid seeps back in with these ones…" She muttered to herself, observing the blisters again.

Lipton gave her a sympathetic smile then patted on her shoulder, "go to the infirmary," he ordered her in a gentle voice.

Inside the infirmary, she got bandages wrapped around her hands- there wasn't much that could be done for blisters. Marie also had a paper waiting for her given to her from one of the volunteer nurses. She stared at the folded paper, puzzled on what it could be. She opened it to find it was Florence's long-awaited pregnancy test. Marie's eyes widened and her heart rate sped up as she quickly folded the paper back up. She anxiously left the infirmary so she could run the results over to Florence, but little did she know Sobel had assembled Easy to go for a run without informing her. He had finally found his opportunity to pounce.

"Docherty," His voice shouted.

Marie halted dead in her tracks. She turned to see everyone lined up in formation with Sobel in front, eyeing her dangerously. She reluctantly went over to him, eyes downcast as she reluctantly approached her CO with mounting dread.

"Get on your gear and-" He stopped when he saw the folded paper she was holding, "what is that, Docherty?"

Marie's flesh went cold. She looked down at her bandaged hands, realizing that she was still holding Florence's pregnancy results out in the open.

Sobel extended his hand. "Hand it over," he ordered.

Marie looked up at him, her mouth agape from the order. Easy Company watched silently from behind Sobel, drinking in every moment of the confrontation.

"Hand. It. Over." Sobel demanded again through gritted teeth.

With a trembling hand, she gave the paper to her CO. He snatched it away from her, then opened it to read it. A sneer appeared at the end of his lips as he read it silently, then he let out a booming laugh that made Marie shudder. Marie stood there, visibly shaking at this point. She wanted to cry at her stupidity for not being more discreet with Florence's results. She held her hands together, trying to force herself to stop trembling.

"Well, well, Miss Docherty. You've been quite busy lately," Sobel told her with a sickening grin.

She averted her eyes and stared down at her shoes, her face growing hot with humiliation. He would think that they were her results, she didn't request Florence's name to be printed on them for anonymity.

"I think Colonel Sink would be very interested to read this."

"What are you talking about, sir?" Marie's voice came out low and mechanical. She knew denying it was futile.

Sobel cocked his head, and sneered again. "What am I talking about? I'm talking about this paper. It looks like the results of a pregnancy test, and look at this, it says the results have come out positive," He said it loud enough for the entire company to hear.

Everyone in Easy Company's mouths dropped open. Emilia gave her a look of utter disbelief. Muck and Malarkey stared back at her, slack-jawed. She bit her lip as she felt their stares bear down on her like a physical weight. Marie opened her mouth to tell Sobel that it wasn't hers, but she knew she couldn't bring herself rat out Florence. She closed her mouth and lowered her head in defeat.

"Go wait for me back in HQ, Docherty. We have much to discuss," Sobel ordered her, slipping the results in his breast pocket.

"Yes, sir," she said meekly.

"I knew you were a little slut the first moment I'd met you. This is why women can't be on the front," Sobel spat.

Marie's face had turned scarlet while angry tears welled up in her eyes. She remained standing before Sobel, her legs felt like anchors.

"Did you hear me? You're dismissed. Get out of here and wait for me," Sobel barked.

She saluted him briskly, then turned to walk to HQ. Her mind was racing, she didn't know what to do in this situation. If she covered for Florence then her entire military career would be over, she'd have to leave Easy Company. It was only a matter of time before Florence would start showing as well, but Marie knew that she couldn't live with herself if she revealed that the results were hers. Marie headed over to HQ as if she was walking the last mile. But Marie never met with Sobel that day. Sobel had met with first Sink and that was it. Marie ended up waiting for hours outside of Sink's office, growing grimmer the longer she waited. Finally, Sink's office door opened, but Sobel wasn't the one who came out, it was Florence.

Marie gaped. "Florence? What are you-"

"I couldn't let you take the fall for me, Marie," Florence said in a soft voice, "I told the commanding officer everything."

Florence walked over to Marie, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're a good friend, Marie. I'm sorry I didn't realize this sooner."

Marie watched her leave, too stunned to move or speak. It turned out that Marie would never have to face Sobel, in fact she wouldn't have to deal with Sobel for the rest of her life. Marie was so happy to rid herself of that bully once and for all. Sobel was gone. He was sent off by Sink to teach parachute jumping in the village of Chilton Foliat. 1st Lieutenant Thomas Meehan, would replace Sobel almost immediately.

Winters was free of the court-martial, while all the noncoms that had written the letter turning in their stripes, was given a second chance. Although one of the NCOs was dismissed, and some lost their ranks, they were still with Easy and were still alive. Things were starting to turn around, but everyone's spirits were still low. Florence had been discharged for fraternizing, so now Diana was the only woman left in Fox Company. It was sad to watch her go, but Marie hoped for her sake that the pregnancy was a false positive. She was so thankful to Florence that she'd went and told the truth to Sink, Marie didn't know what she'd do if she'd been discharged.

0000

1944 was greeted with the men getting serious colds from the weather, and were still getting sick from the food. Spring quickly approached, and before Marie knew it, it was already April. One more month and they'd be sent to Uppottery, England. That would be Easy Company's last stop until the real fighting began.

1944 wasn't starting out as a very promising year.

Malarkey had gotten really sick, and was sent out to the hospital and ended up being held there for two weeks. Everyone was worried sick about his condition, he'd left Easy with a fever of 105 and was having serious aches and pains in his ears.

"I heard the doctor doesn't want him to jump out of planes anymore," Marie told Emilia one night while they were lying wide-awake in their barracks, "he's got some kind of serious infection, they've been shooting unbelievable amounts of penicillin into him."

"Lord have mercy…" Emilia gasped.

"The infection almost went to his head, Em. He could've easily died if it wasn't caught in time."

"It's been a stressful few months," Emilia said with a deep sigh, "and it's only going to get even harder."

Marie didn't answer.

"I know you're scared for him, Marie. He will come back, he'll be fine," Emilia soothed.

"I hope you're right," Marie whispered.

Malarkey had returned feeling better, but not in the best of spirits. Malarkey had started writing Bernice again while he was recovering, and now their relationship was rekindled. Marie had mixed feelings about him being back with Bernice. She was happy that Bernice made him happy, but him being with a woman made her feel secretly envious.

In early May Easy Company did their last practice jump. This jump was to be done in full gear, and none of them had ever jumped in full gear before. After that, all the practice jumps were over for good.

Malarkey told her that they'd done about "three dozen total," and that was hard to take in. Now when they'd jump again, it would be the real deal.

Marie thought everyone would be cheery since Sobel was no longer leading the men, but she was wrong. Morale was worse than ever before. The stories of the fighting in North Africa and Italy were spreading around amongst the base. Everyone had spent well over a year preparing for the invasion, but no one truly felt ready. Marie wished that she was back in Toccoa for a brief moment, back when things were simpler, and they were all wet behind the ears. The past few months at Aldbourne had been a whirlwind of chaos, Marie wished that everything would just slow down for a moment so she could catch her breath.

The night before the big move to Uppottery, Marie, Malarkey, Emilia and Muck all sat outside, staring up at the sky. This had become a sort of a nighttime ritual for the four of them. Emilia, Muck, and Malarkey were smoking, but Marie wasn't. She didn't enjoy cigarettes, and was one of the very few in Easy Company who didn't smoke. She knew when the war finally came for them, she wouldn't be seeing much of Emilia or Muck because they would be in a different platoon. She had to take every precious moment she could with all of them together and cherish it while she could.

Emilia removed the cigarette from between her pouty lips, and blew out a steady puff of smoke. She held it in her elegant fingers and glanced over at Marie, who was slouching over, appearing sullen.

"You sure you don't want one? It really takes the edge off. Not as much as alcohol, but it's a good substitute," Emilia told her with a small smile.

Marie only shook her head.

"I wish we could've hit London together before all hell broke loose," Emilia sighed, regretfully.

"I know. That would've been fun," Muck agreed.

"At least we had the pubs to keep us sane for a short while," Malarkey said, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"You okay? You seem extra quiet tonight," Muck commented, looking at Marie.

"Huh? Oh… yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," Marie said in a distant voice.

"You thinkin' 'bout that whole pregnancy thing with Flo? You really had me scared for a minute. I thought that Brit that asked you on a date that one time knocked you up or something," Malarkey told her, shaking his head at the memory. He looked a little disgusted by the thought.

"I haven't even seen that soldier since that day."

"You really thought Marie would get pregnant at a time like this," Emilia asked Malarkey, eyeing him skeptically, "our little saint here would never do that."

Marie rolled her eyes at the Puerto-Rican.

"Not before marriage, right Marie?" Muck, a known Catholic, said with a grin, "that's what my ma always used to say."

"But in all seriousness, I can't believe you'd take the blame for Florence," Malarkey brought up again, contorting his face at the very idea, "that woman wasn't even nice to you."

"I… It was the right thing to do," Marie concluded.

"No, it wasn't," Malarkey retorted.

"Hey, be happy everybody, I want to end tonight on a high note," Muck interjected. He blew his cigarette smoke in Malarkey's face.

Marie and Emilia laughed as Malarkey waved the smoke away.

"I love you all," Marie suddenly heard herself say.

All of them looked over at her, giving her funny looks.

"I mean it… I don't know what I'd do without any of you."

Emilia wrapped one arm around Marie, pulling her into a side hug. Malarkey did the same, and Muck also joined in. They all stayed in a tight, group embrace for a while.

"You'll never have to find out what it's like to be without us," Malarkey soothed.

"Yeah, we'll always stick together," Muck said.

"Everything will be all right," Emilia added, her voice soft.

For once, Marie actually believed them. Everything truly felt like it would be all right.