Author's Note:

Thank you Lilli for the encouraging review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it! :)

And thank you Jessie for the review! I'm so happy that you think my character Marie is adorable! :D

I decided to update earlier than I usually do, too. Enjoy!

Kentucky, Tennessee

Fort Bragg, North Carolina

June – August 1943

June and July mainly consisted of jumping around between Kentucky and Tennessee for additional training before they'd stop at Fort Bragg. Easy along with some of the other fellow companies that they've been stationed with had stayed together as they went from place to place. Kentucky and Tennessee was like a vacation compared to Toccoa, Benning and Mackall. They trained on basic maneuvers the entirety of their short stay. The only thing that made staying at these places difficult was the copperhead snakes and the pesky little chiggers. Marie spent more time in the infirmary than she liked just pulling the parasites out of people's skin. When it came to things like that, Marie sometimes wished that she wasn't a nurse.

Everyone was ready to get the heck out of Tennessee. The summers here were no better than the summers in Georgia, the temperature ranged from 85-100 Fahrenheit, and Sobel didn't rest with his harsh drilling no matter the weather. It was dusk at the time Marie was leaving the med station. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with her uniform sleeve. Even pulling her hair up in a high ponytail didn't seem to help her keep cool. She hated being sweaty and dirty, it made her feel gross but she knew that once they entered war she wouldn't have much of a choice on her cleanliness. Not to mention that the men from the other companies were really irritating her today. Some of them happened to get chiggers in a few places that Marie would rather not go, and their snide remarks and comments while she was trying to remove the parasites didn't help. She felt disgusted by all of them, although she was warned before she enlisted that this kind of thing would happen. Part of her wanted to report their inappropriate verbal comments, but she knew that there was a slim chance anyone would care.

The beads of sweat returned to her forehead as she stormed toward her barracks, fuming at the events of today. She burst through her barrack's door, nearly giving all the girls inside a heart attack when she entered.

"Marie! God! You scared the crap out of me!" Emilia exclaimed, placing a hand over her heart in fright.

"I never want to see another naked man again!" Marie shouted as she went over and collapsed on her bed. All the girls exchanged glances for a moment then busted out laughing to the point where there were tears in their eyes. Marie sat up, enraged by how funny they found this. "It's not funny!" She retorted.

Diana had practically rolled off her bed laughing so hard, while Barbara and Florence were covering their faces, trying to redeem themselves. Emilia wiped tears from her eyes, trying to look at Marie apologetically but it wasn't working. Marie glared at them in annoyance then buried her face back in her bed.

"Marie… what happened?" Emilia asked as she tried to catch her breath. "Darling, you can't say something so out of the blue like that and expect us not to laugh."

"The men were such pigs today." Marie told her. "The things they were saying while I was removing the chiggers were disgusting."

"Men being pigs? What else is new?" Diana said sarcastically.

"Some of the guys got chiggers in certain places…" Marie muttered.

"Oh, please. Welcome to the real world, sweetheart." Florence told her, rolling her eyes like it was the most trivial thing she'd ever heard. "Grow up, kiddo. You're twenty-one years old, turning twenty-two in August, right? Stop being such a baby."

Marie sat up from her bed, glaring at Florence in anger. "Just because you're used to seeing that doesn't mean everyone is. We're not all loose like you." Marie spat. The girls stopped laughing immediately and looked over at Marie, stunned at what she said. Marie got up and left the barracks before Florence could say anything. She knew Florence was going to be pissed at her and she didn't want to hear it.

It was starting to get dark out, but Marie didn't care. She just wanted to walk and calm her temper down before she said anything else out of line. Her mouth had gotten her in trouble many times before, and every time she felt bad afterwards for what she had said. At times she could be too stubborn to apologize and admit that she was wrong. Marie tried to clear her regretful thoughts and focus on where she was going. She could hear familiar voices talking up ahead. She followed the voices and saw that a bunch of men from Easy Company were sitting around and talking in full uniform. She guessed that Sobel had them on some late night patrol practice; she felt her annoyed feelings return at the thought of Sobel leaving her and Emilia out of the practice.

"Hey, Hun! That you?" Marie heard Talbert call as she approached.

"Yup. What are you guys doing?" Marie asked the group.

"Oh, you know, Sobel." Luz replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why didn't he ask Emilia and I to join?" Marie asked, crossing her arms.

"I don't know, you know how he is." Bull said. "Honestly, I think he just likes to keep us waiting in the dark without giving orders."

Malarkey and Muck came up to join the rest of the group, they noticed Marie as they walked closer.

"Hello there, angel." Muck gushed in a teasing manner as he pulled her into a tight hug. "We missed you so much, doll." Marie would usually laugh and go along with Muck's antics, but she felt too irritated and uncomfortable today. She pushed him off. Muck was taken aback by her sudden harshness.

"Hey, are you all right?" Muck asked her, concerned.

"Not really…" She mumbled.

"What happened?" Malarkey asked. A few of the men gathered around closer to hear what was wrong.

She sighed, not really wanting to tell them in fear that they'd laugh at her too. "Uhh… nothing." She dismissed.

"Seriously, Hun, what's wrong?" Malarkey questioned, this time in a more serious tone. Their eyes locked but she couldn't hold his stare. She averted her eyes and looked down at her shoes, feeling herself close up. "Hun? Hey." Malarkey asked, bending over and waving his hand in her face.

"You all should be at attention!" Sobel's bothersome voice filled the air. Everyone rushed back to their positions as their CO marched over to inspect the group. Malarkey was the only one who didn't go to attention, he was still trying to coax whatever was bothering Marie out of her.

"Tell me what's going on." Malarkey told her.

"It's stupid, it doesn't matter. Sobel's coming, you're going to get in trouble." Marie whispered. She tried to walk away but Malarkey grabbed her arm. "Don, please. It's nothing."

"Malarkey!" Sobel boomed. "Why are you not in position?" Sobel eyed both Marie and Malarkey. "What is going on here?" He demanded. Winters, Nixon, and Welsh were following Sobel from behind, all looking curiously at what was happening.

"Docherty, what are you doing out of your barracks? I didn't order you to participate." Sobel said. He looked at how Malarkey was holding onto her arm, and sneered. "Ah, out late for a little fraternizing, are we?"

Marie snapped her head over to him. She was at her wits end with men and their derogatory remarks. Winters, Nixon, and Welsh looked stunned by his remark – everyone knew he was out of line.

"No! That's not what I was doing!" Marie shouted at Sobel. She saw the look he gave her, and knew that she'd made a big mistake with her words, again. "…sir…" She added. "I was taking a walk and I ran into them, sir."

Sobel arched his eyebrow, not buying her story. Sobel looked back over at Malarkey, whom was internally fuming at Sobel. "Malarkey, fall in line." Sobel ordered.

"Yes, sir." Malarkey responded. He reluctantly went over to stand at attention with the rest of the men. He gave Marie a worried glance as he walked away from her.

"You're lucky I don't court-martial you for disobeying orders, Docherty. I'm giving you another chance because Sink seems to have so much faith in you for reasons I don't understand." Sobel told her, looking irritated as he said so.

What orders? Marie thought. He hadn't instructed Emilia and Marie to do much of anything. Showing up to a practice that they were supposed to be part of didn't seem like much of a case for court-martial. Nonetheless Marie knew that she had to appease Sobel or she'd be in serious trouble. What else was new.

"Yes, sir. No excuse…" Marie said through gritted teeth.

Sobel smiled at her in smug triumph. "Dismissed. Get back to your barracks and don't let me catch you outside them again. Your kind can't be trusted running around freely."

Marie's face burned red in humiliation and anger. She hoped that it was dark enough to where he couldn't see. She clenched her fists at her side and tried to control them from shaking in rage. So much for calming herself down.

"Yes, sir." She said. She turned on her heel and stormed off without a second word. Tears stung her eyes as she walked back to her barracks. This had been an awful day, and now she had to go back and face Florence.

Marie lay in her bed, angry tears rolling down her face as she laid sleeplessly in bed. She returned to her barracks and the girls had seen how upset she looked. For once Florence kept her mouth shut and decided to give Marie a piece of her mind later. None of the girls said anything to her, not even Emilia. They didn't know what happened, but they could guess that it had something to do with Sobel and everything that happened earlier that day. She desperately wanted to talk to someone about her feelings but she knew she couldn't. If she wrote home about what was happening, her family would worry, not to mention Marie would have to face all their "I told you so's" that would follow.

Marie had finally fallen asleep late in the night, but it was a restless sleep that only lasted three hours. Marie woke up with puffy eyes from crying in the night, which made her even more upset with herself. Now Sobel would see that she'd been crying and would just embarrass her even more in front of the company. Marie took her time getting dressed that morning, wishing that she could stay in bed and avoid Sobel.

"Marie, are you okay? What happened last night?" She heard Emilia ask her. Emilia was putting on her uniform, eyeing Marie with concern. Marie decided to tell her everything. After explaining the situation, Emilia looked furious. "He can't talk to you like that! That shouldn't be allowed! You need to file a report!"

Marie shrugged helplessly. "He can do whatever he wants. He does it all the time."

"No he can't." Emilia grumbled. She finished getting changed and waited for Marie to finish putting on her uniform. "No one should ever talk down to someone like that. You know he did it on purpose just to humiliate you."

"I'm well aware of that." Marie replied flatly.

Emilia studied her friend then sighed. "Here. Let me see if I can do something about your eyes."

In the mess hall Marie rolled her food around her plate, not really hungry. Emilia was sitting next to her, still looking over at her in worriment. Malarkey and Muck slid into the chairs across from them, looking equally glum.

"You okay, Hun? What happened last night was…" Muck's voice trailed off.

"I'm fine." Marie told them, but her voice sounded too meek to be convincing.

"What's been bothering you?" Malarkey asked her cautiously.

Marie looked up at him. Muck and Malarkey stared back at her in concern. She decided that it would be best to tell them everything that was going on, even if that meant them laughing at her.

"Yesterday a lot of men were harassing me in the infirmary. It bothered me all day, and all the girls in my barracks laughed at me…" Marie looked over at Emilia guiltily, but Emilia nodded to reassure her that it was okay to go on. "Florence thought I was just being a baby so I lashed out at her. I left to go for a walk to clear my head, then you know the rest."

"Why didn't you just tell us that?" Malarkey sighed.

Marie looked down at her food. "I don't know… I was afraid you all would laugh at me, too."

"Who was harassing you?" Malarkey questioned.

"Some men from other companies, I don't remember their names."

"Hun, it's okay. Just so you know, none of the men were on Sobel's side last night. They all thought what he said to you was awful." Muck told her.

"We all support you." Emilia added, soothing her.

She smiled at all of them then glanced down at her food again feeling shyness overcome her. She was grateful to all of them in more ways than she could explain. She remembered when she was struggling to run on Currahee and almost passed out, Lipton and Guarnere had come and practically carried her to the infirmary and covered for her.

It was almost August now, and Easy had been sent over to Fort Bragg. Unfortunately for Malarkey a lot of chiggers had burrowed their way into his back and was more than the medical staff in Tennessee could handle. He was flown over to Fort Bragg early to be taken care of in the hospital, but he was fine. Everyone in the 506th was going to end up there anyway. Marie was worried sick about him and felt relieved when they had been reunited.

Compared to everywhere else Marie had stayed at since enlisting, Fort Bragg felt like a luxury. Easy Company, along with several others was going to be shipped out to Europe next month, so most of the time spent here was just prepping for the long stay in Europe. Marie had helped give out vaccinations to all the soldiers; giving shots was all she felt like she was doing during her stay at Bragg. The days consisted of mainly repeated inspections along with some equipment handouts. She was actually starting to feel bored and anxious along with the rest of the company.

Marie had started treating a lot more men that seemed to be getting injured for fighting. Everyone was starting to feel on edge because the war was closer for them than ever before. Malarkey told her that the fighting was a mixture of testosterone and cold beer from the nearby tavern. "A dangerous combination, especially given the number of paratroopers known for their cockiness at Bragg." He told her.

She listened intently to every word he said, like she usually did. Marie always went to him for advice, especially when it came to matters like this. Marie walked on eggshells when it came to talking to some of the men that looked like they could be easily pushed over the edge. Florence had mouthed off to one of the men in her company and ended up getting decked in the face. Marie decided to learn from her mistake and keep her stubbornness quiet and her mouth shut most of the time. She didn't want to head over to Europe with a black eye.

Today Easy Company was getting their picture taken by a professional photographer. This was an important day, Easy had become renowned for the march to Atlanta and for Sobel's discipline that resulted in it being one of the best companies among paratroopers, so getting their picture taken meant that this was going to be a day in history.

Emilia was braiding strands of Marie's hair and pulling it back into her usual ponytail. Marie's hair wasn't quite long enough to be placed in a bun and twisted around. They had their uniforms looking sharper than ever for the photograph, and Florence had actually let them borrow some makeup for the event. They had to put it on in a very subtle manner, Marie felt better getting her picture taken knowing that she'd look decent at least.

"All done. Ready to go join everyone?" Emilia asked, as she held out Florence's mirror so Marie could see herself.

"Yup, thanks Em." Marie said as followed Emilia out the door. Emilia looked extra gorgeous today with her hair and makeup being done, not to mention everyone seemed to look crisp with their uniforms looking this nice. "They should put you out front, you look like a model." Marie laughed. Emilia looked back at her and smiled skeptically, but didn't say anything.

They approached the rest of Easy to where they were lined up. The men gawked at Emilia as she walked over to them. Marie rolled her eyes at them and waited to be told where to stand. Darrell "Shifty" Powers leaned over to Marie and tapped her on the shoulder shyly.

"You can stand over here, Sergeant." Powers told her with a small smile.

"Thanks, Shifty. You don't have to call me Sergeant." Marie told him with a kind smile. People rarely addressed her as her rank, Sobel would like to pretend that her rank didn't even exist.

"But that's your rank, ma'am." Powers told her, cocking his head. She only smiled at him as she stood by him to get ready for the picture. Marie was more excited because they were celebrating Malarkey's birthday tonight at the nearby tavern. Malarkey was turning twenty-two; he was only a month older than Marie. Marie was planning on going downtown to buy him a birthday gift, but she had no idea what she'd buy him.

After the photo Marie went over to Emilia, whom was put in the front by the photographer, like she predicted. Emilia turned over to her and smiled.

"I knew you'd be put in front." Marie said.

"You look beautiful too, Marie." Emilia told her. Marie didn't look convinced, she only rolled her eyes at her. Emilia shook her head at her friend. "Come on, let's get ready for your boyfriend's birthday."

"He's not my boyfriend." Marie retorted.

"Mm-hmm." Emilia said sarcastically.

Marie was late getting to the tavern, the party was already winding down, in fact it was practically over. She spent too long picking out his gift because she didn't really know how to shop for him. She ended up picking out a silver pocket-watch. She rushed over to the tavern to see Malarkey, Muck, Toye and Guarnere were the only ones left standing. Marie could tell that they were all very drunk by the way they walked and swayed back in forth at the barstools.

"Don! I'm so sorry I'm late!" Marie called to him as she quickly jogged over to him.

"Hun! I thought you weren't coming!" Malarkey exclaimed, slurring his speech slightly. He pulled her down into a hug from his barstool. "Why are you late? I'm surprised you didn't come with Em."

"I was trying to pick out a gift for you." Marie explained, setting up the shopping bag on the bar. "I hope it's okay."

Malarkey's drunken state seemed to fade away for a second. He looked at her seriously for a long time before he spoke. "Oh, Marie… you didn't have to…"

"Yes, I did." Marie smiled and slid the shopping bag closer to him. He opened it and inspected the pocket-watch.

"Thank you." Malarkey whispered, pulling her into another hug. This one was gentler than the drunken embrace from before. She felt herself relax like she hadn't relaxed in years. Hugging him always made her feel safe and comfortable; it made her feel like she'd have his friendship forever.

"Malark, you got a call." Guarnere yelled to him, holding up the tavern's phone. "It's from your girl, Bernice."

"I'm coming." Malarkey announced, breaking their embrace. He got up and was about ready to leave for the phone when he stopped and turned around on his heel. He bent over and kissed Marie quickly on the forehead in thanks before going over to his phone. He picked it up and talked fondly into the receiver. Mare smiled at him then got up to leave the tavern.

August would be the last month they'd be in the states until they would be sent to New York then would board a shipped to Europe. It felt so unreal, but Marie was so happy that she was going over seas with these people that she now considered her dear friends. It made the war seem less scary in her head.