A/N:

Thank you so much MASHlover23 for another review! Malarkey is such a cutie-patootie, probably too much for his own good lol. I'm glad you're looking forward to the next update! :)

Thank you Guest for the review! Thank you so much for your kind words! There's more Marie and Malarkey to come! I'm so happy that you're excited for the next chapter :)

Thank you missavc34 for the review! It's great to hear from you again! Your review really made my day :D I'm glad you appreciate Emilia as a character, too, and her little thing with Tab. There'll be more to come :)

Updating early again, sorry about that, but I'm trying to crank out as many chapters as I can before summer ends. Scenes and dialogue from the book and TV series, the usual stuff. I finished the playlist for this story, the link is on my profile is anyone wants to listen. There's songs included in it that were mentioned in the story, Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and review! ❤

Driel, Holland

October 31st, 1944

After the victory with Operation Pegasus less than ten days before, Marie thought things for Easy Company were finally starting to turn around. But Marie was gravelly mistaken. The sun was up one day, so that naturally meant time to sleep for Easy Company. Her ear had been bothering her, especially when she laid her head down. It had a throbbing pain that annoyed her to the point where she couldn't fall asleep. After hours of restlessness, she finally was able to fall asleep despite the constant pressure and irritation forming within her ear. She suspected she had an ear infection, but she didn't have the remedies she needed to heal it. This didn't surprise her in the least - she was one of those children that were constantly taking trips to the doctor because of ear infections. The fluid buildup formed in her middle ear in the canals, pushing against her eardrum. It was uncomfortable but Marie tried her best to ignore it.

After only an hour or two, Malarkey had shaken Marie awake frantically. He was gripping her shoulders and shaking her back and forth until her head bobbed, causing her instant discomfort from her infection. She was about to chew him out, but she saw the look on his face she knew something was wrong. Turned out their squad leader Guarnere tried to take a German motorcycle out for a spin, despite the warnings from his fellow soldiers. They knew he didn't know how to ride a motorcycle that well, but he blew them off with his usual Philly bluff and rode anyway. He ended up busting up his leg to the point where he had to be shipped back to England to recover. Marie patched up his leg, scolding his ear off about safety and close calls. She was mostly cranky to have to wake up to this, the pain her damn ear was giving her, and upset that she lost her platoon leader to something so trivial. Moose had appointed Malarkey squad leader in his place. Malarkey was nervous, especially when it came to leadership abilities, but Marie knew Moose wouldn't of chose him if he knew he couldn't do it.

It was Halloween, late at night but Marie didn't get to celebrate it like she wanted to. Halloween was one of her favorite holidays next to Christmas. She was hoping the Army could get their hands on the film Dracula as a treat, but no one really gave a shit about the strange holiday, especially in a foreign country. Holland celebrated their version of Halloween (or something that closely resembled it called St. Martin's Day) on November 11th. She was a little disappointed, she wanted something to take her mind off of the hiccup her company had crossed a couple days before. Easy and Fox Company ended up getting hit by some German artillery, leaving eighteen wounded for Marie and the other medics to deal with. Now, on Halloween, Winters and Moose were out on a patrol near Driel. She knew it was west of Arnhem, but she wasn't exactly sure. Hell's Corner was such a horrible and boring place that she had started to become so lethargic when it came to performing tasks. Most of the stay at The Island was waiting, rain, and watery foxholes. She had become immune to the constant smell of mud, and had grown so used to the routine that it was starting to grate. She only saw Muck and Emilia three times a week now, if even. Wet, soggy clothes and boot camp level patrols was all the company had going for them.

Marie finished checking on the wounded in the aide station, and switched shifts with Spina. There were eighteen wounded from the little burst of artillery from the Germans. She went back to her tent then collapsed into sleep, unable to stay awake any longer, even with her ear protesting. It felt like she had only fallen asleep for seconds before she heard someone shouting 'medic' outside her tent. Her eyes flew open as she let out a reluctant sigh. She lifted up her head, listening in to make sure she wasn't hearing things, straining with her good ear. Sure enough, someone called for a medic again, but she recognized the voices. It was Winters and Welsh. She sprang up and raced outside to find them. She kept running into the darkness, her boots sliding on mud until she found Winters and Welsh crouched over a body. An ambulance had driven up as the two officers were trying their best to prep the body before he was taken away. A gurney was already set on the ground, ready for the wounded soldier to be placed on it and taken away.

One night, couldn't there be one night where something doesn't happen? Marie thought, feeling a little bad for having such lazy and selfish thoughts, but her mood had been tainted with bitterness for several days now.

"I'm here!" She shouted, running up to them. She recognized the anguished face of the wounded soldier. It was Easy's CO, Moose. "What happened?" She gasped, immediately crouching to his side, clutching his limp hand.

"Friendly fire, it was an accident." Winters responded, his voice stressing.

"I got him!" She heard Roe's frantic voice call from behind her. She came skidding to a stop beside her, kicking up some of the mud that layered the ground. "You give him morphine?" The Cajun medic asked the two worried officers.

"Yeah." Winters grunted.

"How much?"

"I can't remember." Winters replied. Welsh went to grab Moose's feet to help him onto the gurney.

"Try!" Marie demanded.

"Two, three syrettes maybe?" Welsh answered briskly.

Marie gasped. Two or three? That could easily kill a man!

"Three syrettes maybe!" Roe snapped.

"Yeah…" Welsh mumbled, feeling the anger radiating off of Marie and Roe. The two officers could tell by the outraged expressions on the medic's faces that they made a mistake.

"Jesus Christ! Were you trying to kill him?" Roe erupted, as the four of them laid Moose on the gurney and made sure he was secure.

"The human lethal dose is 120 to 250 milligrams! Do you realize how quickly morphine sulfate can cause coma or death? It's a depressant! It slows down the heart!" Marie shrilly lectured. She wouldn't usually scream at her superiors, but she feared for Moose's life, and was stunned by the audacity of two intelligent men like Winters and Welsh.

"It may be two..." Welsh rebutted, his voice failing him.

"You didn't think it might be important to let me know how much medication the man has had?" Roe scolded, his voice going a million miles per hour. They all lifted the gurney with a great heave, being careful not to jerk and shake Moose's body too much. "Because I do not see one syrette on the man's jacket!" Roe continued on.

"Or 'M' marked on his forehead!" Marie chimed in. "What if he was given more in the ambulance or at the hospital?" Marie added on, her cheeks flushing with tenseness.

"Sorry, Docs." Winters muttered meekly, feeling increasingly guilty from the two medics angry lashing.

"It's a good thing that he's a big man, he might stand a chance." Roe ranted on.

"He was in a lot of pain, Doc, we didn't know what to do." Welsh replied sharply. The put the gurney back into the ambulance truck, carefully sliding in the back.

Roe whipped his head around before getting into the back of the truck. "Yeah well you oughta! You are officers, you are grownups, you oughta know!" Roe exclaimed in an angrier tone. He turned to face Marie. "I'll go with him, you stay behind and keep an eye on things." He cast one last leer in the officers' direction.

Marie nodded curtly, watching Roe's dark eyes burning with ferocity. She was sure hers looked the same.

"All right, c'mon let's go, move it!" Roe said from the inside of the truck. The wheels screeched off, not before Winters left a bloody handprint on the back of the truck. She could see how awful Welsh and Winters looked, but Marie still felt too furious and scared to forgive them now. She stalked off, heading back to her tent with a heavy heart.

In the blink of an eye they lost another CO. Buck was still recovering, Guarnere was in the hospital, and now Moose could be dying from being shot my one of his own men and being overdosed with morphine by two terrified officers. She threw her pack to the ground inside her tent, but decided she'd go and tell her friends about Moose. She spread the word, forcing her voice to remain even. Moose was a great man and leader, and the first CO that looked past her sex and let her fight in the fray without a second thought. She eventually got around to telling Malarkey, whom was sitting around with some guys from 2nd platoon.

"Hey, Hun." Toye greeted, noticing her coming into view.

She didn't smile or sit down to join in the conversation. She was far too upset. All she wanted to do was deliver the news then leave to either sleep in her tent work in the aide station, or find some basil or apple cider vinegar to relieve her damn ear infection.

"Something wrong?" Malarkey asked her, sensing her distress.

"Lieutenant Heyliger was shot." She said impassively.

"What?" Hansen exclaimed. The boys gaped at her in shock.

"He was patrolling with Winters and they reached a dike where one of our guys shot him." Marie added. "He mistook Heyliger as a German."

The men were silent, squirming uncomfortably with the bringing of more bad news. Marie waited, waiting to see if any of them would have more questions for her to answer. She kept her hands in her pants pockets, standing stiffly before them. She wished someone would break the pregnant silence so she could answer questions and finally leave.

"Is he gonna be okay?" More questioned.

Marie wished she could lie and say yes. "I'm not sure. Winters and Welsh overdosed him with morphine." There was another long pause. "TARFU." She added, before turning to leave. The men grunted their agreement. As she left, she heard quick footsteps behind her. She knew it was Malarkey before she even turned around. She clutched her pained ear, feeling the pressure remain deep inside.

"Hey, that's rough, I'm sorry." He told her when he caught up to her. "And you're right, everything is TARFU lately."

She nodded solemnly, not knowing what to say at first. "Maybe even FUMTU." She cupped her ear again, grinding her teeth together as a sharp pain surged through her ear, all the way down to her jaw.

"You okay?"

Marie nodded, but her brow was still furrowed from discomfort. "Yeah, I just have an ear infection that's bothering me."

"I'm sure Doc Roe will give you some drops for that." He gave her a small smile, trying to reassure her. He paused a moment, then decided to switch topics. "I'm sure things will look up again." He added brightly. This man had a switch that could turn on his pep at anytime, she swore it.

"How do you do it?" She asked.

"Do what?"

"Stay so positive. No matter what happens, you always seem to see the silver lining." She stated. She felt him tug on her sleeve, pulling her back from continuing to walk. He looked a little sad by her words, as if optimism was the only option in the world. She was far too worried and drained to see the bright side today.

"You can't dwell on everything bad that has happened. No matter what, you can always move on. People have a way of enduring the worst God can dish out to them and still manage to stand back up." He told her earnestly. "You need to find your own happiness, if not the war will get to you."

Marie studied his serious face for a moment. He truly believed everything he'd said. Marie felt a scoff forming in her throat, but she swallowed it down. She didn't want her negativity to bring down Malarkey's spirits. She hugged herself, feeling the cold chill in the air before it rains. She thought of the night at the barn and her face instantly blushed. She tried to hide it the best she could but she already felt so exposed standing beside him. It started to drizzle then. Both soldiers looking up, squinting as the water droplets hit their faces lightly. Marie was thankful for the excuse to get inside and call it a day. Another day, another failed attempt at telling Malarkey the truth…

"It's been a really long day. I think I'm going to turn in." Marie told him.

He nodded. "All right. Just keep your chin up, things will get better, I promise you, Hun." He said, giving her shoulder a squeeze before he turned around and left. Marie didn't move, she legs were immobile as she watched his hunched over figure try to seek shelter from the rain. His combat boots licked up mud and water with each stride.

The pitter-patter of rain hitting her helmet snapped her out of her daze. Malarkey was out of view now. She let out a bitter chuckle; all she accomplished was standing alone in the rain and getting her uniform soaked. She sighed then trudged to her tent, careful not to track too much mud inside. She opened the flap then untied her muddy boots. She started to strip down to her underclothes to let her OD's dry. As she neatly folded her uniform, she noticed a sealed envelope sitting on Emilia's pillow. Curious, Marie went over and picked it up. It was sealed shut and only had 'Emilia' written on it in scrawled letters. Marie stood there biting her lip, absentmindedly fanning the envelope. In the back of her mind she wanted to be nosy by tearing it open and reading its contents. But that would be a major invasion of Em's privacy, besides it could just bring more bad news. She set the envelope back down then sat on her own bunk.

Remembering Moose's still, wounded figure made her upset again. She prayed that he wouldn't succumb to the morphine and die; she prayed that he would make a speedy recovery and return to Easy Company as soon as he could. She tossed and turned in her bunk, feeling restless and anxious. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind and see something positive like Malarkey had suggested.