A/N: And I am on a roll! Two chapters in a week! It feels good to be writing again! Okay well here is your new chapter. I hope ya'll like it!

Present

"So what happened after that?" Eleanor asks me.

"After that we kept bumping in to one another," I tell Eleanor and then quickly add, "Not literally of course." Eleanor laughs slightly and I smile as well. "Anyway we soon became friends. We weren't in the same company but we still managed to hang out when we weren't running drills. He didn't get into trouble like Daniel did; in fact he was one of the guys who obeyed the rules. Irwin was a little bit reserved but overall he was a good guy."

"So did anything happen while you were around him?"

I nodded and smiled slightly. "Yes there were a few things. Nothing as dramatic as it was with Daniel, but it was still interesting. The second time we ended up meeting one another was quite interesting."

"What happened then?" she asks.

"Well let me tell you."

Sixteen Years

My stomach did flip-flops as I looked at the man in front of me. He was at least over six feet tall and he was built big. My eyes finally looked at his face, I found myself having to look up because the man towered over me. I could not remember a moment in my life where I had ever felt this short before. Yes, I wasn't tall, not by a long shot, but this was ridiculous. I felt like a little kid standing next to this man, if you can call him that. I would have chosen a different word, maybe something like, tank.

Now if it had just been the fact that there was this huge man standing in front of me, I wouldn't have been that worried. However, the real problem was that I had to do hand to hand combat with this monster. I already knew that I was more than dead, and other people watching shared this opinion. None of them were really laughing but they were watching. I was the smallest person they had seen so far in their ranks. They wanted to see what would happen to me. However, even though we all knew what would happen, I still had to go against him. It was just plain cruel.

I looked upwards, almost as if I was trying to figure out who the person with the horrible sense of humor was. Then I looked back at the man in front of me. I sent a silent prayer to God, hoping he would make sure I didn't die, well at least not at the hands of a person who was supposed to be my ally.

"Okay there are no rules here," I heard the man in charge of this "training" say. "If you are up against a German they aren't going to fight with rules, so don't fight with them here. Okay go!"

I didn't move, I couldn't move. I was quite sure I had the "deer in the headlights" look. The other man was coming towards me. Once he got close enough my brain finally kicked into gear, and so did my legs. I had just managed to move out of the way, before he had the chance to make my glasses a permanent fixture on my face. I also noticed that him meeting nothing but air put him off balance a little.

That gave me an idea; you could almost see the light bulb turning on above my head. I thought that maybe, just maybe if I was quick enough I could use his weight against him. If he kept missing he was bound to get tired eventually. Also with him being off balance I could get a few hits in myself. I didn't expect that my kicks or punches would do much to him, but it would at least make it look like I was trying to fight him and not just running around like a scared chicken. The fact that I was a scared chicken didn't matter.

So when he faced me and then came after me I was ready. Once again I ducked under his arm and swung around to the left to try to kick him in the back of his knees. I hoped that the force might drop him. However, I wasn't prepared for it to drop me. When my leg connected with the back of his, it felt like I had just tried to kick a wall and not just any kind of wall, a sturdy, rock hard cement wall. Pain from my leg screamed up at me and when I tried to stand on it I almost fell over.

"What the hell are you made of, brick?" I blurted out. This was my mistake because even though my little stunt had hurt me a lot, it had little if no effect on him and I had used up all the time it had bought me. I had pissed him off and I knew it when he swung his fist at me again. It connected with my nose and then a loud sickening crunch rang out. Now, both my leg and nose was screaming at me in pain. I also felt blood dripping down my face. I instinctively reached for it but stopped when he hit me hard in my stomach. I doubled over and the wind was knocked out of me. It only got worse when I felt his fist once again collide with my face. My glasses were knocked to the ground, and I almost joined them. That was when my survival instinct kicked in. I stood up as straight as I could and when he came near me I did what any girl would do, I lifted my knee. I knew I had hit my mark as soon as he backed away from me. Even without my glasses I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I stood there for a second, not sure what to do. Luckily, I didn't have to do anything. The man in charge stepped in between us and ended it.

"Alright, that's enough," he said. "You two both did a good job. McNeal, go get yourself fixed up."

I nodded and reached down to pick up my glasses. The frame was ruined but the lenses were still alright. If I could find a pair of glasses similar to them I could just fit the lenses right in. I then limped my way over to one of the medical tent. When I entered a person immediately rushed over to me.

"Gosh, what the hell happened to you?" I realized it was Irwin who was talking to me.

"Hand to hand combat training," I said. My words sounded a little funny because of my broken nose, so I didn't say much more.

"Oh right, come with me." I limped after him. He noticed that I was having a little trouble walking and stopped to help me. He had me sit down on a chair and then walked away for a few moments. I couldn't see where he went to, because of my glasses, but I had a feeling it was to get supplies. He was back in just a few moments.

"It looks like your nose is broken. I'll have to try to get it set the best I can, but I have to stop the bleeding first," he told me. I just nodded my consent. He put a piece of cloth to my nose and I whimpered slightly. Even just that little bit of pressure hurt, but I didn't jerk away. "Okay hold that for me while I check the rest of you out," he said. I did as he asked and he began to check out my leg. Irwin rolled the pants leg up and I could hear him whistle slightly.

"What?" I asked him.

"That's some bruise you have here. It's almost black," he told me. This caused me to wince slightly. "I'm just going to check to see if it isn't broken or anything." His fingers touched it gently. This time I did jerk slightly but he didn't pay any attention to me. It only took him a moment to check it out but they were very painful moments. "Okay it isn't broken, just bruised really bad. I'd like to know how you got that one."

"All in good time doc," I told him. "First get the inspection over with."

He chuckled slightly and then said, "Alright, turn your head to the right. Let me have a look at your face."

I complied quickly and he touched that bruise as well. "What's with you and touching?" I asked him as I tried not to jerk away. "It's a little obvious that it's a bruise."

"I'm just trying to make sure nothing is broken there. It doesn't happen a lot but it can happen," he told me and then stopped his inspection. "It's just a bruise but it will need a bit of ice, so will your leg. You are going to have them for a while. Now let's see if the bleeding stopped."

I moved my hands away from my face, the bleeding had stopped. "Okay I'm going to try to get this into place as much as possible," he told me in a serious tone. "You have to hold still. Okay?"

"Alright," I said with a sigh.

He nodded and then touched my nose gently. Then he began to straighten out my shattered nose. My eyes began to water, course I was probably crying. I also gritted my teeth and tried to not jerk away. Luckily it didn't take him long and then he put the bandage over it to keep it from moving.

When he was finished he walked away and came back with two bags of ice. Took them from him and placed one on my head and the other on my leg. "Has your nose been broken before?" he asked me when I was situated.

I looked up at him a little surprised. He had a thoughtful look on his face and was clearly observing me. "Yes," I said cautiously. "Why?"

"I was just wondering. Your nose was very easy to move," he told me.

"Yours would be to if you had just been punched by that man that I just gone up against," I told him. "He was over 6 feet tall and built like a brick. I've never been punched that hard before in my life, and I have been a few times."

Irwin folded his arms in front of him and one of his eyebrows went up. Clearly he wanted me to elaborate but he wasn't going to ask.

I sighed and said, "Back at basic a few people weren't fond of me. I was their punching bag for a while." I was hoping he wouldn't ask me anymore about it and luckily he didn't.

"So what happened today?" he asked me.

I sighed in relief slightly and then said, "Well like I told you, we had hand to hand training today. I've had it before but this was insane. Someone thought it would be funny to pair me up with the biggest guy in the Army."

Both of Irwin's eyebrows went up and he asked, "What do you mean the biggest guy in the Army?"

At the same time he had asked this that same man hobbled into the medical tent. You could hear him asking for ice and he was holding his crotch. "Um him," I said and pointed in his direction.

His eyes looked in the direction that I pointed and then they went wide. Irwin looked back and forth between me and the other man and then he looked at me again. "You are kidding me!" he exclaimed.

I shook my head and then Irwin said, "My God! How did you get out of that?"

"Well, I uh kinda kneed him in the groin," I told him embarrassed.

"I would hide for a few days if I were you," he told me.

"Oh don't worry," I said. "I have no intention of seeing him ever again."

"Good plan," he said and then shook his head. "I can't believe they put you against him. I mean look at you." He looked at me and then quickly added, "No offence."

"None taken doc," I told him and then laughed slightly. "I know my physical abilities, or lack of, all too well. I'm just glad that I won't have to worry about physical contact too much while I'm over there. I'll probably be up in some tree or tower or something, if I have to do anything, or well I will be if I can get my glasses fixed."

"Yeah I was wondering what happened to them," he said.

"They are right here, or what is left of them anyway." I lifted my glasses up and showed them to him. They were in bad shape.

"The lenses are still there," he stated as he took them in his hands. "Maybe if you talk to the supplies sergeant you might be able to get a new pair soon."

"I hope so," I told him. "I'm not much good without them. I can't see very far at all and well it's kind of necessary to be able to see when you are a sniper."

"That is a problem," Irwin said. "Hey how 'bout I take you over there and see if we can get you a new pair?"

I thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, might as well get it over with." I then stood up and followed him out of the tent. It was slow going because my leg still hurt but it was alright. As we walked I tried to think of a way to start a conversation with him.

"So um doc, why did you become a doctor? I mean you told me why you became a medic, but why were you a doctor in the first place?" I asked him.

I looked at him; he looked like he was thinking about it. He finally said, "Well my mom was a nurse and my dad was a doctor, so it just kind of happened I guess. I've always been around it and I like helping people. It just seemed like the obvious thing to do."

I nodded as I listened to him. "Makes since."

"What about you Antony…that's right isn't it?" Irwin asked me and I nodded. "Right, Antony. What do you do? I'm sure you aren't a sniper for a living."

I smiled and shook my head. "No I'm not. I'm actually nothing yet. I just got out of college before I joined the army. I was planning on becoming a teacher, but I love to write. I was hoping to become a writer while I was teaching."

"So are you like going to be an English teacher or something?" he asked me.

"No, I uh actually can't," I told him. I was starting to get flustered slightly. This was getting too close to home.

"Why not?" he asked me curiously.

"Look here we are," I told him when I saw the supplies depot, successfully avoiding his question. I went inside without saying anything further and luckily he didn't press the issue. We walked over to the sergeant. He was busy but when he looked up he smiled slightly.

"How can I help you two?" he asked.

I put my glasses on his desk and asked, "Can you get me a new pair? Mine are a little past wearable."

He looked at my mangled glasses and then at my face. "Um, sure," he said. "I believe I can get you a pair that will fit these lenses. It will take a few days, maybe a week. You're lucky that we have the lenses though. If you didn't it would take a lot longer. Who is this for?"

"Private McNeal, Antony," I told him. He wrote what I believed was my name on a paper and took the glasses.

"Okay you will be informed when they come in."

I nodded and then left, Irwin followed me out and said, "It's good that they can get you a pair in a few days. You got lucky that the lenses didn't break."

I looked at him and said, "Yeah lucky is an understatement. If those lenses ended up broke I'd be without glasses for better than a month."

He looked at me confused. "Why? It doesn't take them that long to be made."

"They are specially made," I told him. "My eyesight is so bad that they had to be specially made. It took almost a whole month to get them and cost my family a small fortune."

"Oh wow," he said softly.

"Yeah wow is right," I told him.

"How bad are they?"

"Well let's see, walk away from me and I'll tell you when your face gets blurry."

He started to walk away from me and when he got about three yards away from me I could barely see his face. "Right there doc?" I called out to him.

He walked back up to me and said, "I can see why they cost so much. You're practically blind."

"Nah, I can still read and write and do stuff like that," I told him and then paused, "But I can't shoot. I'd probably miss the target all together if I did. I just hope I don't have to practice for a while but I know I'm not going to be that lucky."

"What are you going to do if you have to?" he asked.

I looked at him and thought about it for a moment. Then I smiled as my thoughts drifted to my partner in crime back in the States. The words that left my mouth were something that I knew he would be telling me if he was here. "Pray."

A/N: Okay, I need help people! I have no idea if I'm being true to Wade's character or not. If I'm not I need you guys to help me because I'm not sure how to get his character down. Also tell me if you liked or didn't like this chapter. I hope you all did but alas I cannot be perfect all the time lol I hoped you liked it though. It was a filler to develop the relationship between my character and Wade…and to kill time between now and the actual invasion…but gosh it was a long filler wasn't it? Expect another chapter soon!