Thank you MASHlover23 for the review! Marie is bound and determined; we'll see what she does next!
Thank you BobtheFrog for the review! I know, so much sadness :(
Thank you drovingallday96 for the review! I think she's too blinded by her mental state and anger to see the repercussions of her actions; hopefully she'll do what's right!
Thank you tigerroar9 for the review! Thank you for your kind words! Yes, Marie really has gone the deep end; she's far too strained.
Thank you Ministrawberry for the review! She's very close to her breaking point, hopefully she can understand what she's doing and snap out of it!
Thank you Charlmalone for the story follow!
Only two or three more chapters left! I can't believe this story is so close to the end! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and review, you all mean the world to me! :)
Marie toggled with the gun's safety, brushing her hair irritably out of her face. Every creak and moan from the building made Marie flinch and halt in place. The adrenaline was flowing relentlessly through her veins tonight, but she had no intention of backing out of her plan. She'd find that sorry son of a bitch and shoot him square in the face. She kept reassuring herself that she'd killed before, and this would be no different. This man was a menace to society, and was already damned for what he'd done.
She took a deep, staggering breath, holstering the gun in her medical pack. She slung the straps from the pack around her and headed for the door to her room. She opened the door slowly; peeking out to make sure no one was lurking in the hallway. She knew Easy Company had been stirred up with what happened to Grant and Abernathy, so she knew most would be wandering around and not sleeping. Marie slowly closed the door behind her, making sure the sound didn't echo down the hall or OP2. She tiptoed down the hallway, taking shallow breaths with every nervous step. Her mind raced with excuses as to why she was out if she was caught.
I had to use the bathroom. I wanted to go check on Abernathy. I can't sleep; I just needed to take a walk.
Marie hoped whatever she said wouldn't arouse suspicion and stop her from getting to wherever MP had taken the replacement. She knew where CP resided, but there was a chance that the replacement had been shipped somewhere else for interrogation and prosecution. She'd take this as far as she could without going AWOL; she just prayed he would still be on base. Marie crept outside, seeing some activity in the distance, but she was far enough away. She kept her head down and followed her memory as to where the MP were.
It took her about ten minutes of sneaking around the darkness, but she eventually came upon the building. Most of the MP were running around and investigating whom the replacement killed and tracking more information on about him. By now is CO would be getting notified she was sure. Marie snuck around the back, glancing over her shoulder every second to make sure she wasn't being watched or followed. With every step she took her heart would race faster and faster in her chest. She made it to the back, and everything within the building seemed quiet. She found a window, and reached for it so she could sneak in. She slowly opened the window, peeking inside the building, only noticing a shut door with a light source coming from behind it. She climbed in, being careful not to fall to the floor.
Marie swiftly made it to the door, grasping the knob and forcing herself to take some deep breaths. There was no guarantee the replacement would even be behind the door, but she came too far to back out now. She held her breath and twisted the knob, barging her way in.
"What a goddamned disaster." Liebgott grunted, storming into OP2.
"Battalion has a lot of cleaning up to do." Christenson sighed, rubbing his temples as he followed the rest of the guys in.
"If ya askin' me, the rat got off easy." Bull commented, his tone still fuming from their encounter with the replacement.
"Easy? You guys beat him to a pulp!" Tab replied.
"You think the bastard didn't deserve it?" Perconte asked.
"Of course I did, it's just-"
"That's enough, guys. It's over and done. Speirs took care of it." Luz concluded.
Malarkey listened to their conversation, still heated from seeing the smug face of the replacement. He got a few good hits in, and enjoyed watching the man draw blood, but after his murders, attempted murders, and rape, had they really done enough? He didn't want a man like that to get away and harm more people.
"It's late, let's call it a night gentlemen." Martin yawned.
Malarkey went to take his OD top off, when he noticed something was missing. He felt around his top and pants, growing more frantic with each passing moment.
"What's goin' on, Malark?" Bull questioned.
"My pistol, it's missing." Malarkey answered, still looking on his body. "Where the hell could it have gone?"
"Maybe you left it in the interrogation room?" Tab suggested.
A chilling possibility crossed Malarkey's mind. He remembered how violently furious Marie had been, and how adamant she'd been on killing the replacement. She looked like she was in deep thought when he sent her off to bed, almost like she had an idea or was hiding something. Something deep in his bones knew he was right, even though he really didn't want to be.
"Dammit." He muttered under his breath.
"What's wrong?" Liebgott asked.
"It's Marie."
Marie walked in slowly, her body practically blazing from the sight of him. He was still tied up in a chair, although he had bandages all over him now. She pointed the gun at him, gritting her teeth at the abomination before her. He noticed her, but seemed too dazed to say anything at first. Her pointer finger gingerly wrapped over the trigger, waiting for the right moment to squeeze.
"You pile of shit." She hissed, still closing in on the replacement. "No matter what everyone else says, you and I both know you deserve to die for your actions."
This seemed to amuse the man; he bared his bloodied teeth, although Marie could still see him shudder from fear of seeing the gun. "You gon' kill me?" He chuckled weakly.
"Yes, I am." She switched the safety off the P38, her eyes unwavering. "You murdered some innocent people, critically injured a friend of mine, raped a young girl and one of my best friends!" She was close to him now. "You have to pay for all that!"
"Vengeful bitch." The man spat blood at her, landing by her boot. "You don' have the balls, lady."
Marie pressed the steel to his forehead, watching him flinch from the unexpected touch. "I've killed before."
The realization that she was serious filled his eyes. He really started to tremble now, and for a moment Marie thought he was going to start begging for his pathetic life or go calling for help. She took one hand off the gun, balled it into a fist, and punched him across the cheek. He started coughing and wheezing in pain, and she knew she shut him up for the time being. She steadied the gun again, keeping it pressed against his skin. Her mind started to chant for her to pull the trigger, but her conscious made her hesitate as her finger squeezed tighter against the trigger. It should be easy to end this miserable man's life, yet here she was contemplating the whole thing.
The doors of the room were thrust open, making Marie jump and whirl her head around. Malarkey was in the doorway, his hands outstretched to her. He looked panicked as he saw her holding his pistol.
"Marie, put the gun down." He soothed, inching closer to her.
Marie turned her attention back to the replacement, who had tears streaming down his cheeks now. Marie looked back at Malarkey, furrowing her brow and shaking her head. Her determination had come back.
"Please, Marie, this isn't you."
"He can't live!" Marie snapped, refusing to look over her shoulder.
"Your hands aren't meant to kill, your hands are meant to heal. Please, Marie, put the gun down and we can leave. You don't want this man's blood on your hands." Malarkey continued to step toward her, being careful not to startle Marie.
"But Grant and Abernathy…" Marie mumbled.
"They're still alive. Let battalion and the justice system take care of this bastard. If you pull that trigger, then you'll end up going to prison and get discharged. He's not worth it." Malarkey attempted to reason. He could see Marie slowly lowering her gun. "Babe, it's okay to be angry, but killing is not okay. Revenge is bad, Marie."
His words and tone were so soothing, and made so much sense, but her body was so fixed on the man from I Company, she refused to even lower the gun. She was never one to take the high road, especially in this situation. And eye for an eye had always been her philosophy, but the consequences did frighten her. Malarkey continued to talk, but her thoughts had muffled his pleas for her to lower the gun.
"Please don't…" The pathetic man begged, his voice thick with fear. He rambled and begged, but his words jumbled together in inaudible sentences. His desperate pleas didn't faze Marie, if anything it only fueled her fury more.
"Marie, can you hear me?" Malarkey asked. She was so focused on the man; she didn't realize how close he was to her. He was prepared to disarm her if it came to that, even if she became hysterical. "Listen to my voice, honey."
Marie suddenly let out a furious scream, throwing the gun with all her might at the replacement. It hit him in the forehead, almost knocking the dribbling man backward in his chair. She was so disappointed in herself, she couldn't do it, she couldn't end this horrid man's life. The gun clattered to the ground next to the chair, as the man howled in pain from the direct hit. Malarkey wrapped his arms around Marie, and she started to fight against him like a ravaged animal.
Malarkey began to shush her in a soothing motion, and eventually she stopped fighting and relaxed. She felt like such a fool, ashamed of herself for her outrageous behavior and her cowardice. Malarkey picked her up and carried her out of the dim room, giving the pained man no thought.
Marie lay next to Malarkey in her bed, comforting her until she felt comfortable enough to be alone. The two of them were silent for a while, until finally Marie couldn't handle the quiet any longer.
"I- I just wanted to say, I-" She stammered, unknowing what to say.
"You don't need to apologize, we were all ready to kill the bastard."
"Then why didn't any of you? Speirs was going to do it, and frankly I think he should've." Marie sighed, burying her face in her hands in exhaustion. "I couldn't do it, what the hell kind of soldier am I?"
Malarkey shifted, sitting up and gently taking one of her hands away from her face. "You're a medic, like I said earlier, your hands aren't meant to kill."
"I feel like I failed Chuck and Abernathy."
He cupped her face. "You didn't fail anyone. That man's life isn't going to be very fulfilling after his choices. Let God take care of the rest." Malarkey saw that she was having trouble pulling herself out of her funk. "I wrote Bernice on D-Day."
Marie wrinkled her nose slightly, not understanding why he'd bring her up.
"I told her she'd outgrown me. I'm too ordinary for her, I guess. I ended it, Marie." Malarkey added.
Marie looked at him curiously, wondering what he was getting at. "I was wondering how long you would string her along." She smirked, trying to make light out of it.
Malarkey chuckled lightly. "I love you, Marie. And I think we should start thinking about the future."
"We're being sent to the Pacific, so I don't think there's much of a future to plan. My home is with Easy Company, as I'm sure yours is." Malarkey furrowed his brows, a look that made her uneasy. "What's wrong?"
Malarkey sighed heavily, averting his eyes from her. "Colonel Sink wants to have a meeting with you tomorrow morning, discussing your future with Easy Company." He gave her a sad smile.
"Is he going to discharge me?" Marie asked hesitantly, the very thought made her nauseous.
"Don't worry about it now, just get some sleep."
"Sergeant Docherty, have a seat." Sink welcomed, extending his arm at the chair before his desk. Marie stood reluctantly in the doorway, in her dress greens with her hair pinned up. She walked in and had a seat, her lips drawing in a thin line. "I suppose I should just cut to the chase – I'm meeting with you to talk about how the female paratrooper trial went."
Marie crossed her right leg over her left leg, resting her hands uncomfortably in her lap. Her stomach felt like it was tied in a knot, and her mouth felt absolutely dry. Sink appeared content, but she knew the news wouldn't be positive.
"As you know, back in '42, the 101st Airborne agreed to accept six female paratroopers into the program. Jane Elliot, Diana Schumacher, Florence Neil, Barbara Goode, Emilia Valdez, and you." He stood up and started to circle his desk as he spoke. "Private Elliot was discharged for fraternization during the first week, Private Neil was also discharged for fraternization that ended up as a pregnancy, Private Schumacher was killed in action on D-Day, Sergeant Valdez was killed in action in Foy, and Corporal Goode has committed suicide."
Marie remained silent, unsettled and anxious for Sink to get to the point.
"And the new female replacement, Private Harper, was sexually assaulted and is currently recovering in a kraut hospital." Sink added. "And then there's you, Sergeant Docherty."
"Me, sir?"
"If I ordered a psychiatric evaluation on you, I know the results would come back with symptoms of extreme shell shock. The past few months you seem to be suffering from battle fatigue." Sink took a deep breath. "Given the statistical low success rates and overuse of funding, the US Army will be pulling the plug on the female paratrooper trial. You and Private Harper are the only remaining women that made it, and even now battalion can see that your both of your mental health is at risk."
Marie's mouth hung agape. "Please, sir, I can assure you I'm fine. Please, there must be another way-"
Sink sadly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sergeant. You and Harper will be shipped home at the end of this week. You women have fought bravely and done so much for the paratroopers and for America. You are one of the most extraordinary women I have ever met, Sergeant Docherty, and a damned good medic."
Marie couldn't stop her eyes from welling up with tears. She stood up, unwilling to accept the fact that she'd be sent home and away from Easy Company. "Please, I've lived with these men for the past three years, I can't leave them now."
"I know of your loyalties to your company, ma'am. But the Uncle Sam can't afford the expenses any longer. I'm sorry." Sink apologized, he handed her a stack of papers with an official seal stamped at the top.
Marie took the papers with trembling hands. She looked down, realizing that they were her discharge papers. She looked up at Sink, teary-eyed and desperate. He saluted her, and with a weary motion, she saluted back.
How was she going to tell Malarkey?