A/N: Well I'm finally back with a new chapter! As some of you know I've had a burst of creativity the last few days and I've decided to use part of that to work on this story. I'm hoping to get a chapter up for all of my stories today and tomorrow. I hope you all like this new chapter; I know you've all waited a long time to get it.

Present

"Did James start causing problems for you then?" my daughter asks.

I shake my head. "Just briefly. It turns out when we were transferred over there we weren't going directly over to Europe. We were making a stop in England for our 'real training.'"

"Real training?"

"Well while basic was tough, command didn't believe we were prepared enough," I tell her with a smile. "When we got over there we soon found out that basic couldn't compare to this, the seriousness of it really it home."

"What about James though, with Daniel not there why wouldn't he bother you?" she asked, confusion playing on her face.

"Well one, we were so busy that he wouldn't have a chance even if he could have and two, because James had decided he liked the idea that the extra pay that jumping out of an airplane gave you. When they came around asking for volunteers he was one of the first to go for it. I didn't have him bother me anymore for a long while."

"So what happened?" she asked.

"As I said we stopped in England. Our training ground was a beach known as Slapton Sands."

Sixteen Years Earlier

The smell of salt that a beach gives off was heavy in the air. I could hear the sound of waves slapping against the beach, but this couldn't compare to the site of the actual sea. I had never seen the sea before that moment and I will admit that it was impressive. However, I didn't have long to enjoy the view.

"Get into formation!" my new commander bellowed to everyone. Hurriedly, I rushed to do what he commanded of us, and when we were finally all assembled his keen eye surveyed all of us. It made my stomach do flip-flops. My previous commander had been rather imposing but he didn't even come close to comparing to this new man. This wasn't a person I wanted to cross and I had a feeling that if Daniel had been there him and I would be crossing this man a lot, and facing the consequences.

"I am Captain Steel," he finally said, in a strong but calm voice that shook my very being. "I will be your new commander from now until our operation is over with. For some of you I will continue to be your commander even after the upcoming mission is done. I'm not a man to be trifled with. I expect the best from you men and I expect you to work hard between now and the day that we actually attack. This is not only because I want you to succeed in this mission but also because these exercises may be the only thing that will save your lives out there. I want these to be taken with up most seriousness. If you men thought basic were as hard as it could get, you have another thing coming. They will be unlike anything you have ever done before. Be prepared men to face the harshest conditions you will undergo next to the real thing. Now men go and get yourselves settled and be back here at 0900."

After being dismissed and hurried to my new home, a tent. I hurriedly put everything into order. After I was finished I realized I still had a little time left before I had to be back at the beach. This was the perfect time to sit down and write a letter to my family. They couldn't interfere now that I was over here and they needed to know what happened. So pen in hand I began to write.

April 12, 1944

Dear Grandma, Dad, and Brother,

I know by now you are all very worried about me. I'm sorry for leaving but it was something that I had to do. It was a calling I had. I know you probably won't be able to understand why I did this but like I said I just had to do it. Everyone else was helping with the war and I needed to as well. I just had to do it differently that most women do. We both know that if I was a nurse I would be helping the other side instead of our own, so I had to do it this way. I promise that I'll keep safe and I'll see you sometime soon. I'll write often and I hope you do to.

Love,

Alice

I knew it was a bit risky to put my real name in the letter but even if someone did see it they wouldn't really know what to make of it. I didn't believe that anything would really happen to me. So I then set out to write a letter to Jessie.

April 12, 1944

Dear Jessie,

Well I've finally been shipped overseas. I'm rather nervous about it. We are about to start training again and the CO said it would be far worse than basics. I hope he's bluffing but deep down I know he's not. Well anyway it's time to do what I need to do. Can you please send the other letter to my family and could you also write to them and finish telling them what's going on? I can't here because…well because of obvious reasons. Anyway, thank you and I hope to see you soon.

Your friend,

Antony McNeal

This time I signed with my assumed name to keep up with the charades. That way if anyone did read my letter they should have been very confused, and wouldn't catch on until it was far too late. With this thought in mind I put both letters in their envelope and sealed it. I looked down at my watch and saw that I still had time for one last letter. So once again I took up my pen and began to write.

April 12, 1944

Dear Daniel Jackson,

Well I have just arrived in England. It turns out that we need further training here before we go anywhere else. They have decided to keep me for the "big invasion" that we all know is coming. The date of the invasion is still a secret but that isn't a surprise to anyone. Oh you should meet my new CO. His name is Captain Steel. Let's put it this way, I've only seen him once but his name fits his personality. This man is made of steel and demands respect. I don't plan on crossing him…course if you were here I have this strange feeling that I would be. You would probably be getting us into a boatload of trouble. Part of me kinda wouldn't mind that. I miss you.

Oh another thing. I don't have to worry about James. Turns out he may have really have brain damage. The idiot decided to transfer to a paratrooper division. Can you imagine doing something as stupid as that? Oh well I'm not complaining. At least I don't have to worry about him.

Anyway back to Steel. He said that our training here would be a lot worse than basic. I believe him to. This isn't a guy who I would be foolish enough not to believe. I just wonder what we are going to end up going through. I will soon be finding out though. At 0900 I got to go to my first training here. In fact, I got to go now. I'm sorry to cut this letter short. I hope I'll see you soon.

Your Friend and Partner in Crime,

Antony McNeal

As I finished I noticed one major thing. Strangely enough my letter to Daniel had been far longer than the one to my family or to Jessie. A shiver went down my spine. What on earth could that mean? I shook my head, clearing them of those kinds of thoughts. I didn't have time to think about them now and I didn't really want to think about them later. Finally I put the letter in its envelope and sealed it as well. I grabbed the other one and then left my tent. I quickly got the letters mailed and then made my way back over to the beach.

There were still a few more minutes to go and the other men were just milling around. Then Captain Steel came and got everyone in formation once again.

"Okay men today you will start your first bout of training," he began to say. "You will all be doing mock landings. This is to give you an idea of what to expect while storming the beaches. You'll be working with other men who have previously done this, so follow their leads. I want everyone to take this with the utmost seriousness; if you don't you will answer to me. Understand? "

"Sir, yes sir!" echoed all around from the other men and came from my own mouth as well. Then we got down to business.

We loaded our gear onto our backs and had our rifles in our hands as we were boarded onto the landing crafts. It was a tight fit. I was stuck in between several men and couldn't move. It was so backed full that you couldn't sit down even if you tried. The added weight of my gear made it even more difficult.

Fortunately, being stuck in there didn't last long and we rushed off the landing craft. The instant I was off of it my face it the warm sand and I made for cover. While it was a mock invasion it was still serous. We made our way up the beach slowly and soon took over the makeshift bunkers.

We all knew that it wouldn't be this easy but the real thing would be ten times worse. Right now this only gave us an idea of what to expect, our imaginations did the rest. My imagination was in overdrive as I went through these exercises. I could almost swear I could hear bombs blowing up around me, people screaming, and bodies being blown apart. However, I still knew that even my imagination couldn't amount to the real thing.

Needless to say, when we were finally done for the day my sleeping bag on the cold hard ground was more than welcoming. The second my head laid down I fell asleep, but it seemed that I had no sooner laid down my head before I was woken again and forced to get up. We had to get a quick breakfast before we were once again in those landing crafts, then charging up Slapton Sands.

If things kept up like this much more I didn't think I could keep up. I mean strong men who were around me were having trouble keeping up with the brutal pace that the commander pushed us, so how the heck was I supposed to keep up? To add to my frustration I hadn't been able to bathe. Being in this close of quarters with men meant there was too great of a chance for me to be caught. Luckily after about a week of all of this I was able to get a quick shower to wash away the sweat, sand, and sea water that was all over my battered and dog tired body.

If we weren't doing mock storming of the beaches we were pretending to take over towns. Nearby villages had been cleared out so we could use these as practices. In a way this was better than storming the beach of Slapton Sands but in a way it wasn't. At least with the beach we had some water. However, with these we didn't. Course we didn't have the sand either, so that was a plus. It was on one of these mock runs that I met my second friend in this war.

I was crouched in a house looking out of its door and to the left. As I was doing this someone was trying to get into the door from the right. He hadn't seen me because only my Springfield was poking out of the door a little. This caused him to run into the door and run smack into me. We both toppled to the floor with a crash. I couldn't breathe because he had landed right on top of me and while he wasn't a big man, he was still a lot bigger than I was.

"Get…off!" I managed to breathe out when the shock wore off.

He scrambled to get off of me and stood quickly. My lungs took a healthy breath of air in relief, and after I had gotten some oxygen back into my brain, I took his offered hand and stood up.

"I am so so sorry," he kept saying over and over.

I shook my head and laughed a little. "Don't be. It is just as much my fault as it was yours," I told him. "We both weren't paying attention."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

I smiled and reached down to pick up his helmet that had fallen off during out little trip and then handed it to him. I couldn't help but notice the red cross painted on it that signified he was a medic. My eyebrow quirked up in amusement.

"You're a medic?" I asked him curiously.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"That's not a job I'd be able to handle," I told him.

He just shrugged and smiled slightly. "I'm a doctor back home. When I was drafted it just seemed like a natural choice."

"That makes since," I said, while nodding.

"Well I'm a healer. I couldn't take someone's life."

These words hung over us like a deathly cloud for a few moments. The seriousness of what was going to happen was felt by both of us. We both knew we would soon have a job to do. Mine would be to kill any opposing force that got in the way, or threatened my life, or the life of the people around me. His would be to heal the people who were caught in the crossfire between our side and the Axis. He also knew he would be taking care of not only our side but theirs as well. It was very possible that he would end up helping a person who had been shooting at him or even a person who had killed a friend of his. I was quite sure that thought sickened both of us.

Finally I had enough and had to break that imposing silence. I stuck my hand out and said, "I'm Antony McNeal."

He smiled slightly and then shook my hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Irwin Wade."

A/N: Alrighty, this chapter is done! I will have to admit I really enjoyed finally having the idea to write it. Now everything is kind of in a straight path for now, so there shouldn't be any setbacks…well except for maybe my college homework. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for all sticking by me even though I've been slow. I can't wait to read your responses.