A/N - Alright guys, this chapter's longer than the last one, but not as action packed. There's a little more drama with Maddie trying to get the company to accept her, and there's some more Eugene/Maddie stuff in this chapter. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading. :)

Disclaimer - Read the first chapter's.

"Ah Jesus Christ, Frank, I don't know... Until they tell us to stop," George Luz said in response to Perconte's very stupid question; it made me snicker a little.

"High ground," Hoobler said, seeming disgruntled as he trudged along, "There's high ground up ahead."

"Okay genius, answer me this then," Perconte went on, "Why is Easy Company the only company, who's either at the front of an advance or, like now, exposed at the far edge of the line?"

I smiled a little and said, "Because that's how much they love you, Perco."

George snickered at my joke, as did Hoobler, who seemed a bit nervous when I spoke up. Perconte stayed silent, almost like he was ignoring I was even here completely. I ignored him too, though, not wanting to get into this right now.

"It's to keep you on your toes," Hoobler replied to Perconte after he stayed silent.

"No, that's not what I'm sayin'," Perconte went on in an annoyed way, "I'm saying we're never in the middle, and we're the fifth of nine companies of this regiment, Able through Item. Think of it."

Hoobler seemed a bit annoyed now as Perconte went on, so he pointed up ahead and turned to look at the shorter man, "See there? See-"

He was abruptly cut off by sudden gunfire up ahead, all of us falling to the ground for cover, our eyes alert, "Contact right! Get in the hedgerow!" I heard Welsh yell from up ahead of us. Hoobler yelled back at Perconte as we all started crawling our way towards the hedges. As we got close to them we stood and ran, I could feel the bullets whizzing past me. I ran as fast as I could towards the shrubs, in the background of the whizzing bullets and other men yelling, I could hear somebody yelling for a radioman. A bullet hit right at the heel of my foot, causing me to jump in fear and stumble. I stumbled over and ran smack into someone, knocking the both of us to the ground.

"Ah shit!" I heard the other man yell and I looked up and saw George Luz lying next to me, looking like he was in a good amount of pain.

The bullets were raining down around us, so I quickly stood and grasped the fabric of Luz's jacket in my hand, pulling him to his feet with all the strength I could muster and then I pulled him along. I pushed him down behind the hedges in the trench and then jumped over myself, landing next to Luz and aiming my weapon over the trench, beginning to fire.

Luz was talking to himself beside me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I fired at the German's for a moment until I had to reload, so as I was pushing more rounds into my gun I turned and looked at Luz, "Are you alright?!"

"I cut my fucking hand!" Luz yelled in pain, cradling his injured hand, "It hurts like a bitch!"

I looked at him for only a moment longer before I turned and fired a few more rounds at the enemy. Luz laid next to me as I did that, cursing to himself as blood ran down his arm. What the hell had he cut it on? After I ran out of ammo for the second time I pushed back and slid down the trench a little to sit beside Luz. I set my weapon next to me and looked over at him before I spoke again, "Let me see it!"

"What?!" He yelled, having not heard me over the gunfire.

"Let me see your hand!" I yelled, grabbing his wrist now, getting blood on my own hands now. I looked down at the wound, but I was having a hard time seeing how deep it was with the blood covering it. I grabbed my aid kit hooked on my belt and opened it up, grabbing the small piece of cloth that I had stuffed in there. I used it to wipe as much blood as I could away from the cut on Luz's hand and when I could finally see the cut I noticed it wasn't deep enough for stitches or anything and the bleeding was starting to slow. I balled the cloth into a ball and pressed it against the cut, looking Luz in the eyes, "Hold this to it for a minute, try to get the bleeding to stop or at least slow down a little."

Luz nodded and I heard a quiet 'okay' come out of his mouth as I peered over the trench, the gunfire still going loud and spraying everywhere. I ducked when a couple bullets hit the grassy hill out in front of us and I held my helmet to my head and looked over at Luz. I reached down and pulled a bandage out of my aid kit and unfolded it, scooting back over to Luz and grabbing his hand. He looked over at me as I peeled the cloth away from the cut; it was still bleeding, but it was manageable now. I wrapped the bandage around his hand snugly and tied it off before I released him and looked up into his eyes.

He looked at me for a minute, a look I'd never seen before on his face present, then he just said, "Thanks," Then he broke eye contact and cleared his throat almost awkwardly as he squirmed away a little bit. We both laid on our backs next to each other for a while, letting the gunfire die down. I was tired, it had been a long day.
0-0-0-0-0
I had just drifted off into sleep when Luz plopped down into our foxhole next to me. He was so loud. I sighed irritably and opened my bleary eyes, looking over at the funny man as he messed with the bandage around his hand, "How is it?"

He flinched and looked over at me, "Jeez... I thought you were asleep."

"Well?" I asked as he relaxed his shoulders and looked back down at his hand.

He shrugged a little and replied with, "Doc said it'll be fine. It wasn't a deep cut, nothing to be concerned over."

I nodded as I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to drown out the sound of the German's singing across the field. They were starting to get on my nerves, they've been singing for over an hour. I sighed through my nose and Luz seemed to sense my annoyance.

"They're pissin' you off too, huh?" He asked with an almost amused smile on his face.

I glared over my shoulder towards the German's side of the field, "I wish they'd shut up. I'd like to sleep at least a few hours tonight."

"Maybe that's their goal?" Luz suggested, "Maybe they're tryin' to keep us up all night so we won't be ready to fight in the morning."

"But if they're singing all night, then won't they be tired too?" I asked with a small smile myself.

Luz smiled a bit wider at me and nodded, "Touché."

I smirked at that and closed my eyes again, trying to relax against the dirt wall of the foxhole. I was restless tonight, I've had a lot on my mind since the boys found out about me. Perconte definitely didn't like this, not one bit, and Hoobler seemed a bit uncomfortable. Chuck, Bill, and Ralph were my only friends here, even Eugene acted all nervous around me. But the man sitting next to me, I couldn't tell if he knew or not. He joked around with me and talked to me like I was just one of the guys, but then sometimes, like earlier when I bandaged his hand, he gives me weird looks, like he knows what's going on.

"George?" I suddenly spoke and I could feel his dark eyes on me, curious.

"Yeah?" He asked.

I released a tense breath and then asked, "You know, don't you?"

"Know? About what?" George asked, a furrow in his brow, but his voice went a little higher, which signaled to me that he knew what I was talking about.

"About... Me," I said nervously, clenching my fists at my sides, gripping the fabric of my jacket tight in my hands.

It took him a moment to respond. I knew he wanted to say something smart, crack a joke and be a smartass, but then he just sighed and nodded a little before he said, "Yeah... I know."

"Does everybody?" I asked.

"No, not everybody," George said, "Winters doesn't know, Speirs and Welsh don't know."

"But most everyone in Easy knows," It was more of a statement than a question.

George nodded, "Yeah, pretty much."

I looked down at my lap, feeling a little awkward now. It was weird having serious conversations with somebody I barely ever spoke to.

"They don't like me," I said simply.

George adjusted next to me and shook his head, "Well hey, that's not true. Chuck seems to like you well enough, and I'm assumin' Bill always knew about you."

"Chuck's known for a while," I said, "So has Ralph."

"Hoob likes you," George told me, shrugging his shoulders a little bit, "He's just a little nervous around you. He's never seen a girl so badass like you."

I smiled a little at that, but I kept my gaze cast downwards, refusing to look at him now. I still didn't know how he felt about all of this, "Most of the guys don't like it. I can tell."

"Oh come on, a lot of 'em like you, you just don't know it yet," George said.

"Like who?" I asked, actually curious.

"Well, Don likes you, he told me that himself, and Bull seems to as well," George said, counting them off on his fingers, "Web seems to like you. But to be honest, I think he might be in love with you, although he's always been a romantic."

I snickered a little at that, but then I said, "Okay, but then you got the painfully long list of men that don't like me. Liebgott, Perco, Toye, Cobb... The list goes on."

"Okay, first off, Cobb doesn't like anybody," George said, holding up a finger in a matter of fact way, "Liebgott's an ass, Perco and Toye will come around. You overthink it too much."

I shook my head, "I don't know..."

Joe's always hated me, even before he knew I was girl. Most of the guys here didn't dislike me to say, they just seemed uncomfortable with a woman in combat.

"Everything will be okay, I promise," George said, patting me on the shoulder like I was a brother, it's how he's always treated me.

"And what about you?" I asked finally, finally turning to look at him, his hand still on my shoulder.

"What about me?" He asked, that contagious smile of his still plastered on his face, "Do I like you? Matt, I like everybody."

"But are you comfortable with all this?" I asked him, nervous of his answer.

"Comfortable with you being a woman?" George asked and I nodded. George adjusted his shoulders and answered me honestly, "Honestly, not at first. When I found out about you a couple days ago, I was kind of weary. I mean... Women aren't as fit as men when it comes to all of this. War, I mean."

I raised an eyebrow at him, asking him a silent question.

"But," He went on, holding up that finger again, trying to protect himself from his previous comment, "You've kinda proved that wrong... I've seen you out there, you fight just as hard as the rest of us guys, if not harder. And earlier, you were fightin' off them German's and in between reloads you were fixing up my hand. Thanks for that, by the way."

I smiled at him now, "No problem... So, you're really okay with all of this?"

"I am now, yeah," George said, nudging me with his shoulder, "You're alright, Matt."

I smirked and looked down at my hands in my lap, "Thanks George."

"It's not a problem, Corporal Tauscher," He replied back to me, I could just feel him smiling.

Well, at least I knew I had another friend. Hopefully the rest would warm up to me, or else I'd be in for a lot of trouble.
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I woke up at about eight thirty the next morning, it was seemingly very quiet besides the chatter of a few of the men. I hadn't fallen asleep until about three o'clock, so until then George talked me to death. He just doesn't shut up, he was telling me about pretty much everything. What he did back home, what he wanted to do when he got back, what his hobbies were, I'm pretty sure he even discussed in depth his favorite color. Sometime around midnight though, Tab got stabbed by Smith with a bayonet. Smith says he thought Tab was a German, he was pretty torn up about it.

I woke up to a gentle snoring beside me and turned my head to look, my neck a little stiff. George was sleeping soundly beside me, his head on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and nudged him with my shoulder, waking him up immediately.

"Wha..." He jumped, looking around sleepily.

I winced and moved my arm a bit, trying to stop the pins and needles in it, "I was wondering why I couldn't feel my arm."

George looked over at me and rubbed at his eyes, then he smiled almost sheepishly when he realized what position he had been sleeping in, "Sorry."

"That's alright," I said, grabbing my weapon and standing, "I'm gunna go and stretch my legs, I've been cooped up in here all night, you laying on top of me doesn't help any."

George seemed a bit embarrassed over that, but I was just teasing him. I smiled at him smugly before I crawled out of our foxhole and up onto flat land. I stretched my arms over my head and stretched my neck before I slung my rifle over my shoulder and began to walk, George having already lit up a cigarette as I began walking away.

The men's bitterness towards me was starting to get on my last nerve. They were all either bitter or nervous, I didn't want to make them all feel that way. The ones who were nervous I could forgive a little easier, they just didn't know how to feel, I think they could get used to me, but the ones who were angry I was here, they could get over themselves. I wasn't going anywhere, they'd just have to deal with that.

I adjusted the strap over my shoulder and stretched my opposite arm, the feeling still not completely back yet. George was heavier than he looks. I sighed and walked a little faster, needing a little space for a minute. I'm becoming a bit overwhelmed, but I had no right to complain, everybody was a bit overwhelmed right now, we were in the middle of a fucking war.

"Corporal Tauscher?" I heard a familiar voice say my name, and I turned and saw Eugene standing behind me, a cigarette in between his fingers.

"Oh, hi Gene," I said, offering him a small smile.

He looked me up and down, a look of concern on his face, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, smiling a little wider to let him know I was, in fact, alright, "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. Just... A little anxious, is all."

Gene nodded, taking a puff of his cigarette, "I know what you mean."

I looked at the cigarette in between his fingers and asked, "Is that why you're chain smoking?"

He looked down at his feet where two other cigarettes lay and then he looked back up at me, a sheepish look on his face, but he stayed silent and took another drag, averting his eyes.

I smiled and took a couple steps closer to him, "You know, talking helps... Instead of standing out here smoking your anxiety away, you could talk to somebody, keep your mind busy."

He nodded a little and looked at me, but not in the eyes, "Then why are you out here all alone?"

I frowned then, averting my eyes now, slumping my shoulders and releasing a somewhat tense breath, "I don't know..."

I could feel his eyes on me, but they weren't judgmental, they were concerned. I shrugged again, "I've just had a lot on my mind lately, and... I guess I thought a walk would help, but being alone with your thoughts isn't exactly... You don't want to hear this. I'm fine, really."

I began to turn and walk away, but I felt his hand grab my shoulder, stopping me, "Wait," He said, keeping his hand on my shoulder, "You can talk to me. I'm a medic, I'm supposed to help the men when something's wrong, and obviously something's wrong."

I smiled a little and turned to face him; he dropped his hand from my shoulder and looked me in the eye in concern, "A medics job is to help a man when he's been physically wounded, not when he's having emotional problems."

Gene sort of shrugged, "Who says?"

I looked at him for a moment, both of us quiet, the only sound to be heard was the leaves rustling, the birds chirping, and the men in the distant talking. I sighed and averted his gaze for a moment, trying to get my thoughts on track, then I looked back up at him and asked, nervously, "Do you like me?"

Gene was quiet for a minute, as if he had to think about what I just said, but he responded with a simple, "What?"

"Everybody around here is so nervous to be around me, they seem scared that I'm here, like I'm too fragile to be out there fighting off the German's, well I'm not. I am not fragile, I am not weak, I can hold my own!" I cried, anger seeping into my voice, "I'm not like other women, I'm not somebody that needs to be taken care of! I can fight just like all you men! Why is that so hard to understand?!"

"Matilda, calm down," Gene said, taking a step closer to me, holding out his hands.

"Answer the question, Gene!" I cried, but I was trying to be a little quieter, not wanting to alarm the other men, "I know you don't know me that well, but every time I'm around you, you're all nervous and-and, it's like you're trying to avoid me!"

Gene shook his head, "No, no I'm not trying to avoid you. Calm down. Breathe."

I was going to snap again, but I felt his hand on my arm near my wrist, and it calmed me down somehow. I breathed like he instructed me to as I looked up into his eyes. He seemed nervous, but I was pretty sure that was just because of my outburst.

"Everybody here avoids me," I said, "I can count on one hand the men here who actually talk to me and don't treat me like I'm some sort of freak that doesn't belong."

"Well, you don't belong," He said, and I was angry for a moment, but then he continued, "But none of us do. We were all dragged out of our lives back home to come fight this war, none of us want to be here. But we signed up because we wanted to help, you're just doing what everybody else did. You wanted to help, and... I admire you for that."

I smiled a little at his words, "Really?"

A tint of pink showed up on his cheeks, but he nodded, "Yes, really."

I smiled a little wider now, falling back into my sarcastic and teasing nature, not really used to being all emotional and gushy like that. I punched him on the arm lightly and smiled teasingly, "Who knew Eugene Roe had a way with the ladies."

That made the pink on his cheeks turn a deeper shade of red, and that just made laugh. He scratched at his arm nervously, avoiding my eyes. He was shyer than I thought.

I smiled warmly now as I said, "Thanks, Gene."

He finally looked up at me, his face still red, "Yeah... No problem, anything I can do to help."

I nodded and looked down at my boots for a moment before I said, "Well... I guess I'll go find Chuck, get out of my head for a while... You should do the same."

Gene looked me in the eye, then he nodded but stayed silent. I smiled at him one last time before I started past him, going to find Chuck's foxhole. I only made it a few steps before he called after me, "Matilda."

I turned to face him, "Yeah?"

He was quiet for a moment, almost nervous as he clasped his hands at his waist, "I do like you..."

He acted like he wanted to say something else, but he never did. I smiled and said, "I like you, too, Gene," He smiled a little at that, and then I said, "But if we're gunna be friends, you need to learn to do one thing."

He frowned and raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

"Stop calling me Matilda."
0-0-0-0-0
A few of the men had been wounded that afternoon in that trench, a few had been killed, but we were mostly okay. The battle was seen as a victory. Later Blithe was shot in the neck, but he was going to be okay, but his war was over. He stayed in France for a while to heal until he was well enough to be shipped back to England. We'd all been taken off the front line, we went to a camp north of Utah Beach. We'd all had hot meals and showers, they sure felt nice. We were shipped back to England a few days later, and that felt much nicer. I was glad to be off the line, even if it was just for a little bit.

The boys had all found ways to keep themselves busy until we got orders, some hung out with the locals, some went to the movies, and of course, a lot of the guys went to bars and tried to hook up with some of the local women. I hadn't been doing too much, I'd just been relaxing. I hung out with Ralph, Chuck, and Bill, my boys, and George had become a pretty close buddy the last couple of days, and I think Don was coming around a little bit. Gene still acted a bit nervous around me, but I noticed he acted that way around a lot of people. He wasn't quite as social as the rest of the guys.

I'd been taking a walk one day before dinner, enjoying the nice weather of England. I had my hands in my pants pockets as I walked along, a smile actually on my face. I was so glad to be back in England, so were the rest of the boys. Eventually I stumbled across a few of them in the street playing basketball and I smiled. Me and my little brother loved basketball when we were younger, we used to play it all the time, that is until he broke the hoop.

I smiled and walked towards the men playing, spotting Chuck and George, seeming to be on opposite teams, as George was blocking Chuck who had the ball. On George's team was Perconte and on Chuck's team was Don, and I saw Bill leaning against the wall a few yards from the 'court,' seeming a bit annoyed.

"Hey boys, who's winning?" I asked as I strolled up to them. I seemed to distract George as he looked over at me and as he did that Chuck ran around him and threw the ball into the hoop. He smiled and patted George on the back as he passed.

"You gotta stay focused, George," Chuck smiled as he looked over to me and said, "Me and Don are winning."

I nodded and smiled, "Good," Then I looked over at Bill as I crossed my arms over my chest, "What's wrong with you?"

"He's mad because he can't play," Don informed me, bouncing the basketball and wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Why not?" I asked, looking over at Bill.

"Cause the teams aren't even," Bill said, "We were going to all play, but Perco here started whining about 'it's not fair! It's not fair!'"

I snickered a little at that as Perco spoke up, "I don't sound like that!"

"See what I mean with the whinin'?" Bill asked and I snickered.

"Well, the teams are even now," Don said, looking towards me, "Want to play, Tauscher?"

I looked over at him, a little surprised that he invited me. He must really be warming up to me, or at least he was trying to. I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, sure. But I'm warning you, I'll probably kick your ass."

"Not if you're on my team," Don smiled, passing me the ball.

I smiled and nodded, "I was gunna pick you guys anyway."

"Okay, ouch," George said, throwing his hands out and giving me a look that made me giggle.

"Only because I know you can hold your own, George," I said to him.

"And she can lift a man's spirits, you know how to pick 'em, Chuck," George said, smiling sarcastically at him.

"For the last time George, we are not together," Chuck said, amusement and irritation in his voice.

"Really?" Don asked, that same sarcastic tone in his voice, "You two sure do spend a lot of time together."

"Can't a man and a woman just be friends?" I asked, bouncing the ball.

"In my experience, no," Don said to me, a smile on his face as I passed the ball to George.

"Let's see what you got, Luz," I said, getting into a position to block him.

George bounced the ball as he looked up at the hoop, trying to get a strategy going here. I blocked him well, so he passed it over Bill who was being guarded by Don, but Bill shot the ball and it went right into the hoop, bouncing down in front of Perco.

"Hey, we finally got a point!" Perco cried in joy as he looked over at Bill, "Thank God, George here can't shoot a ball to save his life."

"Why is everybody being mean to me today?" George asked, mocking a hurt expression.

Perco passed the ball to me, a little roughly I might add, but I took it and started dribbling it. We played basketball for about the next ten minutes, and Bill seemed to the be the best player on his team, George was better at blocking than he was shooting, and Perco was a decent player. We had height advantage on our team, Chuck was nearly six foot, which on average was just above average, but when you've got nobody over 5'8 on the other team, it helps. Chuck was pretty good at basketball, as was Don. And, to everyone's surprise, I was pretty good too.

"Did you play or somethin' when you were a kid?" George asked curiously as I dribbled the ball, my eyes focused on the hoop.

"Just with my brother," I said, juking him out and running around him, jumping and shooting the ball, watching it fall through the net.

"Damn," George huffed out through a tired breath.

"Here George, let's give you a turn," I said, tossing him the ball.

"Oh great," Perco said, seeming disgruntled by this.

George shot him a look, but he didn't say anything to my surprise. George started dribbling the ball as he looked up at the net, I was blocking him decently. George pulled exactly what I just did and juked me out, running around me and shooting the ball, and it fell through just like it did when I shot it.

"Oh, look at that!" George cried with a wide smile, holding his arms out as he gloated, "George Luz can shoot the ball in! Did you see that, Frank?"

"Yeah, yeah, I saw it," He said as he reached down and picked up the ball, tossing it over to Don.

George went to block Don as Perco came over to block me. I stayed at the ready as Don looked from the hoop to Chuck and me, seeing who was open. Bill was quite aggressive when he blocked, as was Perco, but apparently Don thought I had a better chance, as he threw the ball over the me. I caught it and dribbled it, trying to juke out Perconte, but he wasn't falling for it like George had. I tried to juke him out again and run around him, but he blocked me, a little too aggressively and I went crashing to the ground, landing on my elbows.

I felt the burning pain on my arms from landing on the concrete, and there was a little bit of that pain in my lower back as well, but I ignored it and jumped to my feet, glaring at Perconte, "What the hell's your problem?!"

He's been rough with me this whole game.

"I don't got a problem," Perconte snapped, glaring hard at me.

"Alright pal, listen here-" Bill suddenly spoke up, his brotherly protective urges washing over him as he stepped in front of Perconte, poking him in the chest harshly, but I cut him off.

"No Bill, it's fine," I said, slumping my shoulders in annoyance, "Everything's fine. I understand you don't like me, Frank, and I understand you don't like that I'm a woman in a war, but you're just going to have to get over it, okay? You can keep being a jackass, you can keep knocking me down, but the truth is I'm just gunna get right back up. I'm not going anywhere, so you just need to get used to it, everyone else is."

"Not everybody," Perconte said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Most everybody," I said, which was true. A lot of the men weren't comfortable, but only a handful seemed actually this upset over the whole thing. I reached down and picked up the basketball, glaring over at Perconte, "If you didn't want to me to play you should've just said so."

Then, with that, I threw the ball at him, hard. He caught it at his chest and watched me as I stormed away, wanting to be alone for a few minutes. I could see the blood dripping off my arms, but I ignored that. I'll clean up in a little while. I could feel my eyes stinging, which made me angry. I bit my lip to try and stop it from happening, but when I walked around the corner, disappearing from their sight, the tears fell.
0-0-0-0-0
About an hour or so later I showed up at our little makeshift aid station, the one we used we were training here. I needed some bandages for these places on my arms. I walked into the building and I saw Ralph putting some stuff in a box, his face holding a concentrated look.

"Hey Ralph," I said, not really knowing what else to say.

He looked up and turned his head to look at me, "Hey Mad- What the hell happened to you?"

I looked down at my arms as Ralph put down his box and started over to me, "I... I fell."

Ralph scoffed, "Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England. Did you get into a fight or somethin'?"

I watched as Ralph grabbed my right arm and inspected it, that concentrated look returning to his face, "Sort of."

"Come on, sit down," Ralph said, directing me to a chair.

I walked ahead on him and over towards the chair, then I felt him lift my shirt to look at my back. I turned and glared at him, smacking his hands away, "Jeez Ralph, do you have no boundaries?!"

"No," Ralph said, then he said, "Your shirt was covered in blood, you got a scrape on your back."

I turned to look and saw the red stain on my white t-shirt. Ralph grabbed my arm and directed me to sit down. After I was sat down I saw Ralph grab a cloth and go and wet it in the sink by the window. I shook my head, "I don't need you to clean me up, I just need some bandages."

"You got dried blood all up and down yours arms and back," Ralph said, "I'm gunna clean you up."

"I can do that myself," I said stubbornly.

"Nah, I'm gunna do it," He said, just trying to annoy my now I was sure.

"Ralph, I swear to-"

"Oh, I see," Ralph said, smiling deviously now, "You don't want me to clean you up, because you came here looking for the other guy."

I blushed a light pink and glared at him harder, "I really can't stand you sometimes, you know that?"

"Oh Eugene!" Ralph yelled in an almost girly voice.

I blushed a little harder and smacked Ralph on the arm, "Ralph!"

I could hear footsteps approaching and Ralph sent me a look, but I just glared at him, "You'll thank me later."

"I swear to-"

"What happened?" I heard the familiar Cajun voice, making me and Ralph both look over to see Eugene standing in the doorway, looking curiously at me.

"Maddie here 'fell' and hurt herself," Ralph said, putting the word 'fell' in air quotes, "I've got to get these supplies to HQ, so... It's up to you, Doc."

Gene nodded, "Okay."

He started over to me and Ralph winked at me, flashing me his smug little smile, "See ya later, lovebird."

"I'm going to kill you," I whispered harshly and Ralph just laughed, going over to grab the box of supplies and then he headed out of the front door, "See you two later."

I sent him a look as he went and he just smiled as Gene stopped in front of me, "What happened?"

I looked up at him and into his concerned dark blue eyes, then I shook my head, "Nothing, I just... I got into a little scuffle, that's all."

Gene seemed like he wanted to say something about that, but he decided against it and he gently grabbed my arm, looking at the dried blood that ran down it.

"Really, it's not that bad," I said, "It looks worse than it actually is."

"I'll clean it up for you," Gene said, grabbing the already wet washcloth next to where I was sitting.

He twisted my arm a little to get a better view of what he was doing and he started scrubbing the dried blood from my arm. I sighed and watched him work for a minute, staying completely silent. My arms did sting a little from where I fell, and my back did hurt as well.

"So," Gene said, dabbing at the scrape on my elbow, "Did you hear about us moving out again?"

I looked up at him, but his eyes were still focused on my arm, "Yeah... Yeah, I heard... I guess I should go write my will, I haven't done that yet."

Gene's grip sort of tightened on my arm and he cast a glance up at me for a brief moment, but he quickly returned his gaze to my injury, but his grip remained the same.

"I guess I'd give everything to my mother if anything ever happened to me," I said, "My record player would of course go to my brother, he'd like that."

Gene stayed quiet, obviously not wanting to talk about people dying. I looked at him for a minute, curiosity in my blue eyes before I asked, "Do you got any brothers or sisters?"

He seemed a bit confused at the sudden question and sent me a weird look, "Sorry?"

I shrugged slightly, "I don't know that much about you. I talk about me all the time, I want to learn some more about all the guys in the company. All I know about you is that you're Cajun and shy."

He looked at me for a moment as he grabbed my other arm, then he looked down at it and started clean it up, "I have two sisters and two brothers. I'm the middle one."

"Do these siblings have names?" I asked curiously.

"Minnie and Winnie are my older sisters," Gene told me, prodding at the scrape on the back of my arm, "And Charles and John are my little brothers."

I would have never expected him to have that many siblings, with him being so secluded and all. I was always a bit shy myself when I was younger, but I always liked making friends and I kind of grew out of my shy state. I opened my mouth to say something else, but he beat me to it.

"Minnie was upset when I told her I joined the Airborne, she got real mad, started yellin' at me," Gene told me, which surprised me a little, "Winnie just cried, then they were both upset when Charles told them he joined the Navy. John's eighteen now, he told me he wanted to be in the Airborne like me, but he can't join because he has seizures, so he's helping with shippin' supplies back home."

"Well... What are they like? Your family?" I asked, actually intrigued by his stories, I kind of just like listening to his voice as well.

Gene smiled a little at that question, "They're kind people, we all look out for one another. Minnie, bein' the oldest, she's protective. I got picked on a lot when I was younger, she was always there to straighten it out, even though she made it worse sometimes."

"How?" I asked curiously.

"Well, instead of bein' picked on for being smaller than everyone else, I was picked on because my sister always came to my rescue," Gene said, an amused smile on his face.

I couldn't imagine anyone being mean to Gene, he was such a nice guy. The nice guys were always the targets though, it seemed. I scoffed, "Yeah, that's how I was with Bill, sometimes."

"Winnie is more sensitive. She spends her time out on the front porch, readin'," Gene went on, putting the washcloth down and getting up, going over to find some bandages, but he went on with his story, "There was this boy down the street, Luis, he was always tryin' to get her attention. Minnie wasn't havin' that, though."

"What'd you think of it?" I asked and he looked over his shoulder at me.

He just shrugged, "I didn't care too much. He was nice, he liked her well enough and she liked him. I try not to get into other people's business too much."

I smiled at that, "What about your brothers, what're they like?"

"Well, Charles is the tough one, he don't let nothin' bother him," Gene said as he came back over to me and sat back down in his chair and tore open one of the bandages, "Unless somebody was talkin' 'bout his family, of course. He used to beat other kids up if he heard 'em talkin' badly about us. He got suspended for a week once because of a fight."

"Jeez," I said, "I used to get into fights too, but they never got that bad."

"My Pop broke his arm during the depression and was laid off work, we didn't have a lot a' money comin' in," Gene said, "Apparently somebody said something to Charles about it at school and he jumped the poor kid."

"Well, I guess that taught him to keep his mouth shut," I said with a smile, Gene smiled as well as he finished bandaging my left arm, moving on to the other one.

"John's tough, too, he tried joining the Army while hidin' his epilepsy," Gene said, shaking his head with an almost proud smile, "Idiot got so stressed out about it he had a seizure durin' his damn physical."

I smiled as Gene went on, "Ma was always real nurturin', but she's tough as nails, too. She's always in the kitchen, she loves to cook. But if she's got that wooden spoon and that look her eye, you know to get out of her way."

I giggled at that as he finished bandaging my other arm. I looked down at them both and saw them all cleaned up now, not in as much pain as I was before. I smiled and looked over at him, "What about your dad?"

He smiled warmly and went on, "He likes to fish and hunt, he'd always take me and my brothers out on the boat in the summer. I was never real good at fishin', and he knew that, but he also knew I liked spendin' time with him, so he took me out on the boat a couple times every year anyway."

"They sound like great people," I said with a soft smile, "I'd love to meet them someday."

"Well, since you're takin' me to Philadelphia after the war to see snow, it's only right if I repay the favor and take you to Louisiana to meet the locals," Gene said, his tone lighter than I'd ever heard it. Hell, this is as much as I'd ever heard him speak in one sitting.

I smiled a little wider at that, "I'd like that."

He looked up at me and saw my smile, and I saw a tinge of pink in his cheeks. He quickly averted my gaze and cleared his throat a little, looking down at my arms, "There's no sign of infection, they should heal up in a couple of days."

I broke out of my little trance and looked down at my arms, nodding, "Y-yeah, okay... Thanks."

He made of noise of acknowledgment and sat back in his seat, messing with the washcloth in his fingers. I sat up a little and my t-shirt pulled away from my back, causing a stinging sensation and I winced a little.

"You alright, Matilda?" Gene asked, a look of concern replacing the light one he held just a moment ago.

I nodded and poked at the spot on my back, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I guess I scraped my back a little too during that scuffle."

"Let me take a look," Gene said, leaning forward in his seat now.

I shook my head and held up a hand, "Gene, you've done enough. I'm fine, it's not that bad."

"I'm a medic, it's my-"

"Job, yeah I know," I said, giving him an annoyed, but slightly amused look, "You're not going to let me leave here until you've looked at it, are you?"

Gene shook his head a little, giving me that look. I sighed and grabbed at my t-shirt, "Fine."

I turned in the chair a little and lifted my shirt up to about the middle of my abdomen, right below where my wrapping was. Gene kept his attention focused on my injury, but I felt awkward showing this much skin in front of a guy. He probably felt just as awkward, but he didn't let it show. I could feel a light blush on my cheeks, and it darkened when I felt his fingers brush against my bare skin. Focus, Maddie, focus.

"So... What were you like as a kid?" I asked, trying to distract myself, "I heard all about your family, but I know nothing about you."

Gene shrugged, "I guess I was the same as I am now. Quiet, shy... I had a few friends, but that was all. I hung around my brothers and sisters more than the kids from my school. We played baseball a lot, that was our favorite sport... I quit school after fifth grade."

I was shocked by that, "Really?"

He nodded, "My dad was out of work, we didn't make a lot back then, we still don't. I wanted to help out, so I quit and started a paper route, gave all my earnings to my parents. I helped my neighbor clean up his house on the weekends, he paid me real nice. It wasn't a lot, but we got by. When I turned thirteen I started working oiling machinery, that's when the money was a little better, and then my dad went back to work. After he was better, Ma begged for me to go back to school, but by then I'd been out for a couple years and I'd be too far behind, so I just kept workin'."

He got up again and went over to get another bandage for my lower back, "Wow," I said.

He shrugged, "It is what it is."

"My dad had a good job, I never had to do anything like that," I said, looking down at my boots, "I finished high school, my parents were planning on putting me through college. I was gunna be a teacher or something."

"You like kids?" He asked as he returned with a bandage.

I nodded, "Yeah, I've always been good with 'em. I have a bunch of little cousins that I used to babysit all the time. Maybe when I get back home I'll get my degree and still become a teacher. That'd be nice."

Gene smiled a little as he opened the bandage and began putting it on me.

"What about you?" I asked, "What are you gunna do when you get back home?"

He just shrugged, "I'll probably just go back to doin' what I did before," He said before he leaned back in his chair, "There. I'm done."

I turned to look at him and then I lowered my shirt, smiling as I turned in my seat, "Thanks, Doc. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Gene smiled, "It's no problem. Just doin' my job."

I smiled at him then caught sight of the time from the clock on the wall, "It's nearly seven now, I should probably be heading back to the barracks. The guys are probably wondering where the hell I am, I sort of just stormed off earlier without a word."

Gene nodded, "Yeah, alright. I know how Guarnere is."

I snickered at that and nodded, standing, "He is quite motherly."

Gene chuckled and stood as well, and I said, "Thanks again, Gene."

He smiled at me and tossed the bloody washcloth into the sink, "You're welcome."

I stretched a little, my muscles a little tight from sitting down for so long, "Alright, I'll see you around."

"Okay," Gene said, waving me off.

I walked out the front door and was now outside on the street, the sun having nearly set now. I sighed and looked down at my arms, the blood all gone and the only things remaining were a couple of scabs and the bandages covering them. I turned to look over my shoulder at the tiny building we called an aid station and smiled.

Lord help me, I think I just fell head over heels for Eugene Roe.

A/N - I don't know anything about Eugene's family, I just know his sibling's names, so I just made some stuff up. Hope you enjoyed nonetheless and I'll see you next time. :)