"Who's this guy again?" Raine raised an eyebrow as Wicki stood against the windowsill of the small tavern the Basterds were cooped up in for the time being. Wicki cleared his throat and looked at Raine. "Film critic Lieutenant Archie Hicox. They want me and Hugo to go in there and "rendezvous" with their agent Bridget von Hammersmark as undercover Nazi's."

Raine leaned back in his chair and nodded at him. "When are they supposed to get here?"

Wicki glanced out the window and then shrugged. "Not too long now."

In one of the back rooms Hugo sat sharpening a large knife as Audrea sat leaning against the wall and polishing her rifle. She glanced up at the knife Hugo held and grinned. "How many people you kill with that thing?"

"Enough." Hugo smiled at her and she laughed, cocking the rifle before setting a single bullet in the chamber. The door to the tavern opened and in stepped Hicox. Raine stood up from his chair and it scraped back against the floor from the force. He walked over to Hicox and extended a hand. "You said this "rendezvous" would be in a tavern, not in a basement."

Hicox nodded at him and took his hand back. "It is a tavern…I just didn't plan that all of them would be in the basement," Hicox shrugged at Raine and looked around the room. "They're taking the back entrance so you all should be safe in this room."

"So what's the plan if you all get yourselves into a pickle down there?" Donny raised a critical eyebrow as he lied on the small bed in the corner, his hands resting behind his head. Hicox looked at him and then shrugged, unlatching a small hidden pistol from his belt. "We'll use these if we have to. We can't be taking big guns down there to attract attention to the fact we're frauds. I plan that there will be no confrontations and we'll get our plans done before the night is over."

Hugo and Audrea walked into the room and Hicox looked at them, his eyes widening in Audrea's direction. "Can it be? The 'Sparrowhawk' the Germans are so afraid of?"

"You know her, huh?" Raine grinned at him, excited that people were recognizing his recruits. Hicox nodded at him and strolled forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes bore into his in distrust as he failed to notice and just smiled at her. "They say you are as quiet as the black of night…and fast. Kill Nazi's with a single bullet."

"Something like that." She smirked at him, Donny snorting at the knife that was now pointed at Hicox's side; should he make any sudden movements. Raine noticed this and cleared his throat, glaring at Audrea. "We need this one, darlin'. Don't kill 'im."

Hicox glanced back at Raine and then backed away from Audrea, his wide eyes landing on the knife in her hand. "I didn't even hear you unsheathe that. You really are as good as they claim."

Audrea just nodded at him, placing the knife back in its carrier on her thigh and crossing her arms. She sat back on the edge of the bed Donny was lying on as Hicox chuckled, looking over to Wicki and Hugo. He brought out two more small pistols from under his jacket and handed them to the two Basterds. "Should we need to use force to get out of a situation, hide these and use them."

Hugo and Wicki took the pistols from Hicox and placed them in their German uniforms. Hicox turned back to Raine one last time, nodding. "We should go now before they get suspicious."

"Don't kill my men, Lieutenant." Raine crossed his arms and watched Hicox descend down the stairs first. Audrea stood up quickly and grabbed Hugo's arm, forcing him to turn to her with an eyebrow raised. "Don't go and get yourself killed, Stiglitz," She smirked and nodded over at Wicki who was smiling at her. "You, too, Wicki."

"We'll see you soon, sweetheart." Wicki gave her a slight bow before descending down the stairs. Audrea's attention was directed back to Hugo as he grabbed her left hand by the fingers. He raised it to his mouth before giving it a slight kiss, shooting her a wink before turning and walking down the stairs. Raine groaned and sat down heavily in a chair. "Now why'd you have to go an' make that so sentimental?"

Audrea shrugged at him and crossed her arms. "They're two of my favorite people. I don't want them dead."

Audrea heard a groan come from Donny at the statement of favorites and smirked. She walked backwards and fell down hard onto his legs, causing him to grunt and pull his legs upward a bit and force Audrea to shift towards the wall. She positioned herself lengthwise on the bed with her feet facing Donny.

"You're a real pain in my ass, you know that?" Donny closed his eyes and placed both of his arms behind his head on the wall once again. Audrea rolled her eyes and nudged his ribcage with her foot, causing him to shoot his left arm down and push her away.

"I could say the same thing, Donowitz." She glared at him and he glared right back, both of them staying in that position for a few moments before Raine let out an annoyed sigh. "Shut up, both of you."

Audrea made a face at Donny as Ulmer and Utivich dragged their chairs over towards the bed she and Donny were sitting on. Raine pulled his hat down over his face and crossed his arms, attempting to get some rest before Wicki and Hugo came back.

"So, that rifle of yours," Ulmer motioned towards Audrea's rifle leaning against the wall behind him. "Mind if I check it out?"

"Please do. Just be careful not to blow Utivich's head off because it is loaded." Audrea smiled at him as he leaned back and carefully picked it up, inspecting it as Utivich leaned in to get a closer look. Audrea looked back at Donny to see he had closed his eyes once again and his bat was lying next to him. She reached forward to grab it only to have her hand slapped away by Donny who shot her a look. "Don't touch the bat without my permission."

"Why not?" She scrunched her eyebrows at him and he held it up lengthwise in his left hand. He examined it and sighed. "See all these names?"

Audrea leaned forward, scooting closer to Donny and the outstretched bat. "Yeah…what about them?"

"Those are the signatures of all the Jews from my neighborhood in Boston," His eyes narrowed as he turned the bat, Audrea staring intently at them. "When I bash a Nazi's head in, it symbolizes the wrath of a thousand Jews. I just don't want you to smudge them."

Audrea looked at him as his eyes met hers. "I won't smudge them. Besides…you're going to have to let me have a go at bashing some skulls in at some point."

Donny's eyebrow rose. "Isn't that a bit violent for a girl?"

Audrea snorted, motioning towards her rifle. "I shoot sniper bullets through Nazi heads just for fun. I like seeing them come out of their eye sockets when their head explodes forward."

Donny's eyes went wide and he chuckled, looking down at the bat. "Uh…good point then."

Audrea noticed Ulmer and Utivich were staring at her and she glanced over at them, chuckling when Ulmer slowly set the rifle back against the wall. The chuckling soon ceased when loud rounds of gunfire could be heard from downstairs in the basement. Ulmer and Utivich flew out of their seats and smashed themselves against the opposite wall as Donny flew forward, catching Audrea in his grasp and slamming them both against the wall. Donny's body landed on top of hers with a loud thud, Audrea groaning in pain when her head hit the back of the wall. She reached a hand back and rubbed the spot, bringing it forward to check for blood. "Fuckin' shit, Donowitz. Could have given me a fuckin' concussion."

"Sorry." Donny lifted his body from hers but stayed in front of her like a shield, looking back to see Raine holding his weapon out towards the stairs and grumbling to himself. "Goddammit! I told them not to get hasty an' what happens? They get into a goddam shootout!"

Ulmer and Utivich stood up first, walking over to stand next to Raine with their weapons raised. Audrea pushed Donny farther away from her as she stood up, grabbing his arm as a support. She hauled him up and then punched him in the shoulder. He glared down at her and brought a hand to the spot. "What was that for?"

"For almost sending me through the wall with that tackle, that's what." She glared back at him before standing next to Raine, staring down the stairs.

"Should we go check?" Utivich craned his neck to look farther down the stairs as Raine retreated his weapon, listening for anymore sounds of movement or gunfire. "Doesn't sound like anything's happenin' now."

"I'll go look." Audrea took a step forward towards the stairs and Raine grabbed her arm, pulling her back and cocking an eyebrow at her. "You sure you want to go down there?"

She sighed and shrugged out of his grip. "It's the least I can do on this mission."

Raine looked at her warily as she walked down the steps of the spiral staircase slowly, her neck craning around the bend. She surveyed the area and noticed all of the bodies lying around the floor seemed to be dead. She looked back up the stairs at the waiting faces of the men and sighed. "Looks like everyone's dead-"

A bullet smashed into the wall next to her head and she whipped her attention to the bar, seeing a guy standing behind it cocking a gun. She glared at him and snarled. "You fucking shit! Did you just shoot at me?!"

"Someone shot at her. I'll kill him." Donny growled and went to walk down the stairs only to be held back by the arm of Raine who shot him a look. "I got this."

He shoved his gun into Donny's arms before descending down the steps to stand next to Audrea. He nodded at her before craning his neck to look around towards the bar. Another bullet came whizzing past their heads and Raine let out a groan, pushing Audrea gently back up a few steps. He leaned against the railing and called to the man behind the bar. "What's your name sergeant?"

There was a slight pause before the shaky, urgent voice of the German soldier yelled out towards them. "I am a father! My baby was born five hours ago, and we were down here drinking, celebrating, then those other men came in shooting and killing! It's not my fault!"

Raine and Audrea shot each other glances as Raine called to him once again. "Okay, it's not your fault. What's your name?"

"Wilhelm." Raine nodded as the soldier stated his name, preparing to walk back down the stairs to talk. "Now, is there anybody alive on our side?"

"No!" Was the urgent, somewhat scared, response from Wilhelm. Not soon after, a woman's voice rang out and everyone on the Basterds' side froze. "I'm alive!"

Wilhelm screamed at her in German as everyone looked to each other, Raine cocking an eyebrow. "Who's that?"

There was silence until Wilhelm called to Raine. "A girl on your side?"

"I got one girl up here. There's one down there? Which girl?" Raine scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. "Is she okay?"

"She's been shot, but she's alive." There was shuffling from downstairs as Wilhelm shifted his gun on the bar counter. Raine sighed and then looked back down the stairs. "Okay, Wilhelm. What do you say we make us a deal?"

"What's your name?" Raine nodded at Audrea as Wilhelm called to them, signaling they were getting somewhere. "Aldo. Okay, Wilhelm, here's my deal: I'm gonna come down there an' take the girl away. No guns on either side. I'm gonna take the girl an' leave, the civil way. You go your way, I go mine. What do you say, Wilhelm?"

There was a long pause as the Basterds waited, Wilhelm speaking up once again. "Aldo?"

"I'm here." Raine answered him.

"I want to trust you, but how can I?" Wilhelm's voice was shaking now and Raine was getting impatient. "What choice do you have, Wilhelm?"

There was a pause before Wilhelm spoke again. "Okay…Aldo…I'm going to trust you. Come down."

Raine looked at Audrea and his men before slowly walking down the stairs, peeking around the corner to see Wilhelm still holding the gun towards him. He smashed himself back against the railing and sighed. "I thought we had a deal Wilhelm? This ain't a Mexican standoff. I don't want no Mexican standoff."

Raine peeked his head back around and looked at Wilhelm. "We only got us a deal if we trust each other. You shoot us, we're dead. They got grenades up here. They throw one down you're dead. That's a Mexican standoff an' that's not trust. No trust, no deal!"

Raine waved his finger at Wilhelm before retreating behind the spiral staircase again. There was some mumbling between the woman and Wilhelm as Raine peeked around the corner again just as Wilhelm nodded at her, dropping his gun on the bar counter and walking over to her. "Alright…just take the girl and get her out of my sight."

There was a silence before gunshots rang out again, this time coming from the gun the woman was holding. Everyone froze and looked at each other, Raine sighing at the sight. "Jesus, Bridget. Did you have to shoot 'im?"

Raine walked the rest of the way down the stairs towards Bridget, the other Basterds following suit. Donny handed Audrea her rifle which she graciously took, walking around the perimeter of the bar where bodies were strewn. Bridget shrugged at Raine, writhing in pain. "I don't have time for this."

Raine walked over to her and crouched down, examining her leg where blood was pooling. He scrunched his eyebrows together when he noticed the gunshot wound in her thigh. He pointed at it and raised an eyebrow. "That's goin' to need a doctor."

"You think I don't know that?" Her accent was strong as she hissed at him, writhing in pain once again. Raine motioned for Ulmer and Utivich to help her up and then stood, looking around the bar. Audrea came across the bodies of Wicki and Hugo, cringing at their dead, wide-open eyes. She bent down and placed her hands over Hugo's eyes, pulling his eyelids shut and then doing the same to Wicki. She noticed the pistol on Hugo's exposed belt and picked it up, examining it. "Jesus, guys…I told you not to die."

She stared at them both for a moment before standing up, following behind the rest of the group as they carried Bridget out of the bar and to a doctor. She noticed Donny looking at her and gave him a sad look, shrugging her shoulders as she ran her thumb over the pistol in her hand.

Utivich and Ulmer dragged Bridget into the basement of a doctor's office and helped her up onto a steel table. The doctor came rushing over in a panic, his eyes wide at the men. "What happened?!"

"Bullet to the leg. Mind gettin' it out for her, doc?" Ulmer unlatched Bridget's arm from his shoulders and cocked an eyebrow at the doctor. He nodded nervously and then shuffled over to one of the desks in the corner, retrieving some syringes and other tools as Bridget lied back and writhed in pain. Ulmer moved to the corner of the room by the desk and sat in the chair as Utivich took a standing position at the opposite corner, watching as the doctor began to stick syringes into Bridget's thigh. She bit her knuckles, holding back a yelp of pain as he stuck her.

"Not so goddam fast, doc. We gotta talk to 'er first." Raine came bounding into the room and shooed the doctor away from the steel table Bridget was lying on. The doctor hurried over to where Utivich was standing and sat down on a stool as Audrea and Donny came walking in. Donny walked over to stand next to the table on Bridget's right side as Audrea stood on her left, both of them narrowing their eyes at her.

Raine roughly pushed the rolling table that held the medical supplies towards the wall, knocking it to the ground with a clang and spilling the supplies all over the floor. He then kicked the chair the doctor was previously sitting on and hit the wall with it. "Now…before we yank that slug outta you, you need to answer a few questions."

He leaned a hand on the end of the steel table, cocking an eyebrow at Bridget as she eyed Donny and Audrea who were looking at her in close proximity. "About what?"

"About the fact that I got two men dead back there, so if you don't mind tellin' us…what the fuck happened?" Raine placed a hand on his hip and eyed Bridget expectantly. Donny placed a pistol to her right thigh as Audrea poked her in the shoulder with her own pistol.

"I can see since you didn't see what happened inside…the Nazi's being there must look odd." She answered him dully, shifting her thigh and shoulder away from the guns.

"Yeah, we got a word for that kinda odd in English. It's called suspicious." Raine shot her a look and then stood straight, reaching a hand out and sticking his pointer finger into the gunshot wound. Bridget gasped and then yelped, her body shifting towards Audrea as she clung to the side of the table.

"They…were there celebrating. You remember Wilhelm, right?" Raine nodded at her and she continued through labored breaths. "He had just become a father. It was… a trap."

Bridget glared up at Raine as her hands gripped at the side of the table. Raine stared down at her for a few moments before retracting his finger, a relieved gasp escaping Bridget as she gingerly sat up. Raine shook the blood off of his finger as Audrea's and Donny's guns went back to Bridget's shoulder and thigh. "How'd the shootin' start?"

Bridget paused a moment and looked up at him, raising three fingers: her pointer, middle, and thumb. "He ordered three glasses…the German three. The wrong German three. They noticed it."

Raine listened as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, cleaning the remaining blood from his finger. "Let's pretend there were no Germans. What was the next step of the plan?"

Bridget sat straighter and looked him dead in the eye. "To get them to the premiere. We would have gone as members of the German film industry. They would wear tuxedos and fit in with everybody else. I had them arranged to be fitted tonight."

Raine looked down at the floor and then turned around to look at Bridget. "How'd you expect to get 'em in that theater?"

Bridget groaned as she sat up completely straight, motioning for Audrea to grab the bag sitting on the table behind her. Donny stood straight as he watched Audrea grab the bag and set it on Bridget's lap. Bridget opened the bag and held it out towards Raine who took it from her and peered inside, seeing three tickets. "They were going as my escorts. A German cameraman and his assistants."

"Can you still get us in that pre-miere?" Raine pulled out the tickets and then threw the bag to the side, examining them as Bridget watched him. "Do you speak anything other than German? Have I been shot? Yes! I don't see myself in a rendezvous on the red carpet anytime soon."

Bridget scoffed, sitting back on her elbows. "However…there is something you need to know first. There have been two recent developments regarding Operation Kino. One: the venue has been changed from the Ritz to a much smaller venue."

Raine looked back at her. "Enormous changes at the last minute? That's not very "Germatic." Why the hell is Goebbels doing stuff so damn peculiar?"

Bridget shrugged. "It probably has something to do with the second development."

Raine raised both of his eyebrows and motioned his hand for her to continue. "Which is?"

Bridget sat up straight and locked eyes with him. "The Führer is attending the premiere."

"Fuck. A. Duck!" Donny slammed his fist down on the steel table in triumph, Audrea shooting her eyes over to Raine in anticipation of the circumstances getting better.

"This means you're gettin' us in that pre-miere." Raine dug a can of tobacco out of his pants pocket and pointed at Bridget who shot him a look of disbelief. She scoffed and sat back on her left elbow. "I am probably going to end up losing this leg. Bye-bye acting career…how do you expect me to walk the red carpet?!"

Raine sniffed before turning back to her, motioning towards the doctor sitting in front of Utivich. "The doc here's gonna dig that slug outta your can…then he's gonna wrap you up in a cast. Then you got yourself a good…mountain climbin' story. That's German, ain't it? Ya'll like climbin' mountains, don't you?"

Bridget rolled her eyes. "I don't. I like smoking, drinking, and ordering in restaurants…but I see your point."

Raine sniffed again and grinned at her. "We'll hop you up on morphine 'til it's comin' out your ears, and you just drag your ass along that rouge car-pet."

Raine snapped his can of tobacco shut and grinned as Bridget leaned back and looked at everyone. "I know this is a silly question before I ask it, but…can you Americans speak any other language besides English?"

Raine motioned over towards Audrea with his pointer finger. "She ain't American, but she can speak a different language other than German."

Audrea eyed him and then looked back at Bridget. "Just Polish and French."

Bridget nodded at her and then looked at the wall in front of her. "That won't work."

"What about Italian?" Raine cocked an eyebrow at Bridget who shot him a look of disgust. "That atrocious language. Although…the Germans don't really have an ear for it, so it may work," She sat up again and eyed Raine. "So, you want us to braise through this in Italian, is that it? That's the plan?"

Raine nodded. "That's pretty much it."

"It sounds like shit," Bridget looked down at the steel table and then up at Raine. "But it will work as long as you don't blow it. Who's doing what?"

Raine stood straight and sighed, thinking it over. "Well…I speak the most Italian so I'll be your escort. Donowitz speaks the second most so he'll be your Italian cameraman. Omar speaks third most so he'll be Donny's assistant."

"I don't speak Italian." Ulmer cocked an eyebrow at Raine who just shook his head. "Like I said…third best. Just keep your fuckin' mouth shut. In fact…why don't you start practicin' right now."

Ulmer shot him a look and then remained silent as Raine looked over at Audrea last. "You'll just be Donny's mute lady escort since you don't speak no Italian either."

Audrea cocked an eyebrow at him. "Mute?"

Raine nodded. "Yeah…because your accent is the weirdest of all of us an' if you talk you could give us away. Just keep your mouth shut like Ulmer an' we'll get through this without a hitch."

Audrea felt a little offended by that, but nodded, looking at Donny who was smirking at her. "Okay."

Raine clapped his hands together and walked forward to look at everyone. "Great! Everythin' is set for tomorrow night."

"Yes…but you cannot stay the night here. I had heard some of the soldiers mention Hans Landa was around and if he catches you…it could be over for you all." Bridget eyed Raine who looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

Bridget nodded solemnly as Raine shrugged and nodded at the rest of his group.

"Fine. I guess one more night campin' in the woods won't kill us."

Audrea sat in the bed of an abandoned truck while the men stood in one of the tuxedo shops having their tuxes altered for the premiere the next night; the night they planned to finally kill Hitler and end the war. Audrea leaned her head back on the wall of the truck, shrugging her jacket from her shoulders and setting it down next to her guns. She glanced down at each one of them, running her hand over the newest: Hugo's pistol. Her face scrunched into one of disgust as she thought back to seeing them both lying dead on the floor of the tavern basement. The stench of dying and decaying bodies was abundant even a few moments after everyone was shot. I've lost so many people in this God forsaken war… I'm tired of having to suffer because one person didn't like another… Pointless…Selfish…

She heard noises coming from outside and her hand immediately went to the knife on her thigh; another habit she realized she had picked up through all of the fighting and defending. Her eyes scanned the opening of the truck as Donny's face came into view, his eyes going wide when he saw her sitting in the middle of the truck bed. "There you are. Thought you abandoned us."

He grabbed onto the edge of the truck and hauled himself inside, sitting down across from Audrea as she shook her head at him. "I could never do that now. I'm in too far with you guys now so I have to finish this mission until we either succeed or I drop dead."

Donny shot her a look when she said that and shifted in his seated position, bending his left leg and placing an arm over it. "Do you think you're ready to die? I mean…have you ever thought about that when you began fighting against the Nazi's?"

"In the chance that I actually get shot and die in the circumstance something goes wrong?" Donny nodded at her question and she bit her lip, thinking it over. "In a sense…I think so. I wouldn't have gotten into the fighting aspect if I wasn't at least a little prepared to die…even if I haven't confirmed it."

She chuckled softly, still unsure herself. "I am one of the only females actually going out and killing people in this war. In that sense I have to be prepared to die. Do I want to? No. I want to get out of this thing in one piece and maybe settle down somewhere and keep to myself. I'm not quite sure yet..."

Donny listened to her and nodded. "Where do you think you'll go back to? Poland? Back to the States?"

Audrea shrugged, crossing her arms over her stomach. "Like I said…I'm not sure. Maybe the States…just to live somewhere different. For more than a few months, for sure, since I was only there briefly when I fled Germany."

"I could always show you Boston if you decide to go back there- if you want to, I mean." Donny caught himself before he implied something Audrea didn't want, but to his surprise she smiled at him. "I think that would be amazing."

He felt the corners of his lips turn up into a sincere smile as they looked at each other, her gaze moving downward to her arms after a few moments. He brought his gaze downward and studied the wrapping on her arms. "I've been meaning to ask," Audrea looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow. "What's with the wrappings?"

Audrea looked down at her arms and then laughed, holding them up and studying them. "Oh…these? I found out through my stint as a sniper that if I wrap my left arm- the arm that steadies the rifle –and my right wrist- the wrist that pulls the trigger –I can steady my aim a lot better and get a better shot. It looks weird, but it's highly effective."

Donny reached a hand towards her and grabbed her left wrist, feeling the wrapping going up her forearm. "Medical tape?"

"A mix of medical tape and regular wrapping." She showed him a section of her right wrist where the material was different and he nodded, releasing her left arm. "I see."

A silence hung in the air before Donny spoke again, his tone serious. "Can you tell me about how you went undercover in your Hitler assassination attempt?"

Audrea's eyes met his as she thought a moment, closing her eyes slowly and leaning her head back against the truck wall. "Well…when I was living in France I had a lot of time to think about what had happened back in Poland; when the Nazi's killed my parents and my sister. I was full of so much hate that I didn't care or think about anyone else but myself and the thought of just getting back to Germany somehow to kill Hitler. I began drawing out my plans to somehow get near Hitler...and what better way was there than to be a part of his personal regime?"

She paused a moment as she opened her eyes and gazed down at her jacket on the floor. "I studied German and learned it quite quickly, and I practiced covering up my Polish accent and acting and sounding as German as I possibly could…it was sort of like how Hugo and Wicki went undercover as German soldiers, except this task was a lot trickier. I made up a story about how I was a poor nurse looking for a job and they took me in after I made up this long and elaborate story that honestly made no sense at the time…even I wasn't convinced, but they bought it. Every day I would treat any of the Nazi's that came in, and every day I would observe and plan out the best ways to get to Hitler. I knew the headquarters he was cooped up in like the back of my hand, but too bad for me when one of the nurse's picked up on the awkwardness of my accent…the one day I had slipped up. She threatened to give me away so I…stabbed her and ran. I travelled to America and waited it out in New York before making my way back to Germany to try again when I was sure they had forgotten about me," She paused. "They hadn't…so I just took my time again, living in trees and sniping Nazi's on the ground, earning my nickname."

Audrea shrugged and then looked back at Donny. "And so here we are."

Donny nodded slowly at her as he stared at the ground, taking everything in. He suddenly looked up at her and grinned. "Can you say something in Polish? I've never really heard it before."

Audrea nodded, gazing her eyes upward and biting her lip as she thought of a sentence. "Opatrzone Żyd jest przystojny (the Bear Jew is handsome)."

Donny stared at her as she hoped he had no idea what any of the words meant. He didn't seem to pick it up as he grinned. "Another?"

"Myślę, że jestem zakochany w niedźwiedzia Żyda (I think I'm in love with the Bear Jew)." She stared straight into his eyes as she said it, biting the inside of her cheek as she realized she actually said it out loud; though not in a language Donny could understand. Donny continued to grin at her, liking the way the language sounded in her voice. "What did you say?"

Audrea froze and scrambled to find a lie. "Uh…I like working with the Basterds, and I'm the best sniper around." Wow…that's convincing…

Donny nodded at her, accepting the lie to Audrea's relief, and scrunched his eyebrows. "It sounds…" He paused a moment before continuing. "Beautiful."

Audrea stared at him, swallowing hard as her heart fluttered in her chest. In the heat of a war and another suicide-type mission not too long in the distance, staring into his eyes was something peaceful…calming. Audrea had never felt that way with someone before. She always seemed standoffish and pushed people away from her, not wanting to get attached. But Donny was different. She felt herself wanting to get attached to him; to have him…to just hold him and keep him close. The new feelings scared her, but intrigued her nonetheless.

Voices sounded in the alley by the truck and Audrea's eyes tore away from Donny's to look out, seeing Raine, Ulmer, and Utivich standing around and searching the perimeter. "Donowitz! Falco! Let's go!"

Raine's voice rang out and Donny and Audrea glanced at each other before moving to get out of the truck. Audrea grabbed her guns, latching the bigger ones onto their holdings and the pistol in the back of her shorts, as she scooped up her jacket in her hand and then slid it on. She moved forward only to be stopped suddenly by Donny who grabbed her arm. He reached out and grabbed the side of her chin, leaning in and placing his lips on hers. It was brief, but Audrea could feel some sort of emotion in it; it wasn't urgent or aggressive like the one they had shared before. She watched him as he locked eyes with her before jumping out of the truck, helping her out of the truck by the waist. He set her down and they walked over to Raine who widened his eyes in surprise at seeing them. "Where were you?"

"Sitting in the back of that truck waiting for you to finish." Donny answered him and Raine nodded, signaling for the group to move out and find a spot to camp for the night.

The walk to the clearing was short. It was a secluded area just outside of the town where the premiere was being held and the Basterds could get into position quickly when morning came. As everyone began to unpack what they needed for the night, Raine cleared his throat and called everyone to attention. "Utivich and Ulmer…would you take watch tonight?"

Raine looked at them expectantly as Audrea cleared her throat, Raine shifting his gaze to her. "I'll take watch. I'm better for it since I can watch from higher up."

Raine crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at her. "You've taken watch the past three nights. Don't you want a night off?"

Audrea shrugged. "I have no problem doing it. It's peaceful out there."

Raine stared at her for a moment before nodding his head, shifting his gaze to Donny. "You go with her. There are going to be more Naht-zi's around since we're so close to the city an' you're bigger than the rest of us so you can take 'em if somethin' goes wrong."

Donny nodded at him as Audrea grabbed her rifle from its location next to her pack. She shrugged off her jacket again and laid it down next to her pack, walking back over to where Donny was waiting for her. She nodded at him and then walked ahead of him into the woods, searching for a sturdy tree that would give her the best vantage point like she always did on watch. She found one quickly and began her descent upwards. She felt an arm grab her around the waist and pull her back down, her eyes narrowing as Donny shot her a serious look. "Be careful. Like Raine said…there are Nazi's all over the place."

She sighed at him and pushed out of his grip. "I can take care of myself…I am up high afterall," She paused and looked behind Donny into the rows of trees. "You should patrol from the ground over on that side. We can cover more ground that way…and don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for you."

She smirked at him as he nodded, leaning down to push his lips to hers. Just like earlier, Audrea felt the same emotion fill the kiss. He pulled away and then turned his back, walking out of sight into the trees. Audrea sighed and then turned towards the tree, beginning her descent upwards once again. She settled herself against the trunk and placed the rifle in her lap, staring off into the distance where various lights could be seen still illuminating the town. Thinking back to what had just happened made Audrea a little uneasy. She wasn't sure what everything meant yet; what type of relationship this was in either the normal or romantic way. What would happen after the war? Donny would no doubt go back to Boston, but what about her? Back to Poland? Back to America? Possibly to Boston? What if one of them didn't make it out alive…what then?

Audrea sighed, roughly running a hand down her face in frustration. So many questions and Donny himself were distracting her. She hadn't been able to think straight for a week and was beginning to lose her fighting edge. She always thought of herself as an independent; having to live on her own for so long of course, but also as a mentality. She wanted to be thought of as a strong female; someone who didn't necessarily need a man to get through life just fine. Then she thought about it. Maybe that was just being selfish in itself…not allowing people to get near her because she was so stubborn. She needed love…she wanted it…and Donny seemed like he was attempting to give it to her, but she was always turning a blind eye to that fact. Maybe it was time for a change.

Audrea's thoughts were cut short when something made a noise on the ground. The sudden shock made Audrea jump and she cursed herself when her rifle fell out of her lap, landing on the ground with a loud clang. She froze, waiting for whatever was moving around to make a move.

"Ein gewehr! In den bäumen! (A rifle! In the trees!)" Audrea heard someone shout in German and her body shook, realizing she was out of a reliable weapon with only her pistol and knife now useable. Gunshots rang out and Audrea shot up, hearing bullets whiz past her head. They're blindly shooting into the trees!

Audrea moved around the trunk towards the other side to use it as cover, but not before feeling a bullet strike her in the left shoulder. She stopped herself from screaming out in pain and revealing her location by biting her tongue, shooting a hand out to cover the wound. She groaned as her breathing labored, leaning against the other side of tree as cover. She felt around the wound and realized the bullet had just grazed her shoulder, but it was enough to leave a very deep gash and it bled profusely. She huffed as she reached behind her for the pistol in her shorts, pulling it out and holding it to her chest. She waited as gunshots continued to whizz around the trees as Germans could be heard shouting on the ground.

I don't think I'm ready to die…not like this…not by them…

Audrea bit her lip in pain as the wound on her shoulder continued to bleed, her wrappings soaked in crimson red. She closed her eyes and listened, a few more shots hitting the trunk she was leaning against. She just prayed Donny was smart enough to stay where he was and not coming running into the gunfire.

A few moments later the gunfire ceased, leaving the forest in silence until the Germans once again began yelling to each other. Audrea stayed frozen in her position for a while longer; enough time for the Germans to conclude she was dead and move out. When she believed they had had enough time to move out she moved, hissing as her shoulder throbbed. She attempted to climb down the tree and got down to the third branch before a shot of pain hit her again and she flinched, her hands slipping and sending her to the ground. She landed hard on her side, grimacing as her right shoulder received most of the impact.

"Audrea!" Donny screamed out, his voice in a panic as he saw Audrea fall to the ground. He threw his bat to the side and ran towards her, sliding to his knees behind her as she attempted to turn onto her back. She cracked her eyes open to look up at him, his face a bit out of focus. "Donny…"

"Don't talk! Shit…" He looked down at the wound on her shoulder, biting his lip unsure of what to do. Audrea groaned as she placed a hand to her left shoulder again, the blood dripping through her fingers and onto the forest floor.

"We have to get you back to camp." Donny cursed himself as he gingerly placed his arms under Audrea's body, standing up and holding her bridal style. He made his way back to camp as quickly as he could without hurting her more. His mind was in a panic as everything seemed to be going by in slow motion.

"Lieutenant!" Donny came into view as everyone's gazes whipped in his direction, everyone standing immediately and running over to him when they saw Audrea draped in his arms.

"Fuckin' Christ! What the hell happened?!" Raine's eyes went wide in concern as Donny bent down onto his knees on the ground, positioning Audrea's head in his lap as everyone else fell to the ground with him. Donny's eyes searched Audrea's face as her eyes opened and closed. "I think the Germans shot her. I heard a large amount of gunfire in her direction and when I got there she was on the ground."

"Shit…" Raine looked down at her, removing her hand from her shoulder and examining the deep gash. "Ulmer, get the medical kit an' stitch this up!"

Ulmer nodded, running towards the packs sitting in a row by the fire. Raine looked back at Audrea in time to see her open her eyes. She looked up at Donny and reached a hand out to rest on his cheek. Donny stared at her as she winced in pain and then passed out, her hand falling limply back to her side.