"Will you quit bouncing up and down like that, you're giving me a headache."

Evelyn turned to give her brother a droll look. After a journey that had taken almost a full day and night, with various train swaps, they were almost home. Eight whole days in Philadelphia. Eight whole days to spend with their family.

As the taxi veered through the familiar surroundings of their neighbourhood, Evelyn had never felt so excited. She was like a kid at Christmas. Despite only having been gone for a few months, she was seeing little things that she had never noticed before. Like the way Meyers convenience store looked like it leaned slightly to one side, or the way the bricks at the beginning of their street were darker than the ones further down. Spotting a familiar face across the street, she wound down the window and stuck her head out.

"Marcie! Marcie! It's me Evelyn," she waved wildly to the redhead who gave the smallest of waves back.

"Sit down, you hooligan," Bill laughed, pulling her back in. "You don't even like Marcie Zimmerman."

"So?" Evelyn shrugged. "Did you see her face?"

Bill shook his head as Evelyn chuckled to herself, the joy plain to see on her face. When the taxi driver pulled up outside their modest two up-two down house nestled in the heart of the street, Bill paid the driver and got their bags out of the trunk.

"Yeah, I don't want any help," he commented, watching Evelyn run up the front steps to the black front door, which still had a small scratch at the bottom where their brother Henry had caught it with his case when he left to join the army. Evelyn waited for Bill to catch up before she slowly opened the front door. Almost instantly, the scent of oregano and cigarette smoke invaded her nostrils, and she smiled fondly. Down the dark yet immaculately clean hallway, the kitchen door was ajar, and they could hear their mother humming along to the wireless.

"I don't know how many times I've told her about leaving the door unlocked," Bill put their bags down by the front door. "I mean we just waltzed right in and she never even noticed. A murderer could walk in here and she'd be dead before she knew what was coming."

"You're so morbid," Evelyn frowned as they walked quietly down the hallway, but when they got to the door she stopped, suddenly and inexplicably nervous. She didn't know why. Her mother had all but given her blessing to Evelyn becoming a medic in the airborne, but she was worried that once her mother actually saw her in her uniform she might change her mind. And the last thing she wanted over this next week was any upset. Who knew when she would see her family again after this? She just wanted to enjoy spending some time with them. "You go first, Bill," she whispered, stepping to the side.

"No, you go first," he nudged her forward gently, but she crossed her arms and shook her head. "Are you telling me you're actually scared to go in there first and see your own goddamn mother?"

"I'm not scared, I'm just-"

"-If you aint scared then getcha ass in there."

"No."

"Oh for god's sake," Bill sighed and pushed open the door. "Momma?"

Augusta Guarnere threw down the tea towel she was drying dishes with and ran towards her youngest son, enveloping him into a warm embrace, tears pouring down her rosy cheeks. When her gaze fell on Evelyn creeping in behind Bill she cried all the more and pulled her into the fold.

"My babies," she whimpered, peppering kisses all over their faces. "Look at you both, so smart in your uniforms. Oh my little darlings. What are you doing here? Why didn't you write and let us know you were coming home? Are you hungry? Of course you must be hungry, what am I thinking'? Or are you tired? Come, come, sit down right now."

"Momma we're fine," Evelyn reassured her, as in typical fashion, her mother began to flap about. "We've been sitting on trains for hours, so we had plenty of time to rest."

"But we are pretty hungry," Bill added, sitting down and giving his mom a grin. She patted his cheek affectionately.

"What do you want? I've got some soup left from last night. You both want some?" she turned and started heating the food up on the hob before they had even answered. "How long are you home for? Oh, this is just the best surprise."

"About eight days," Bill answered. "It took us a full day to get here so we need to leave the same amount of time to get home."

"A whole week with my babies," their mother smiled as she buttered some homemade bread rolls to go with the soup. "Just wait until your father sees you both. He'll be so happy."

"This is delicious, Momma," Evelyn closed her eyes as she slurped down the rich vegetable soup once it was heated and served. Has soup always been this delicious, or was it just because Army food was so terrible?

"There's plenty more where that came from," Augusta smiled, patting her hand. "I'm gonna fatten you two up while you're here. Look at how thin you've both got."

"Evelyn needed to lose a few pounds," Bill snorted. "Ow! Did you just kick me?"

"Sorry, it was an accident," she smirked as Bill rubbed his shin with a scowl on his face.

"I see you two haven't grown up at all while you've been gone?" their mother tutted. "Always fighting the pair of you."

"She started it," Bill muttered.

Evelyn opened her mouth indignantly to reply but the warning look that her mother gave stopped her in her tracks, and instead she just smiled innocently. With a smirk, Augusta rolled her eyes and shook her head in mock exasperation. It was good to have her two youngest children home.

At six o'clock, their father and older sister, Clara would be home from work, and their mother had used the telephone box on the corner to invite their oldest sister, Gina, around for dinner. She lived with her husband, James only a few blocks away. James had epilepsy and as such hadn't been able to join up along with everyone else. When Gina had complained, their mother had simply said that if she wanted to miss out on the surprise then it was up to her. Gina was coming. They all knew that. She had to know everything about anything. Evelyn often teased her and said she was going to become the Mrs Gomez of her street.

The only people missing were her other four brothers. Henry was away fighting somewhere near Africa, and her other brothers, Earnest, Joseph Jr and Jack were with the Navy out in the pacific.

Just before six o'clock, Augusta forced Evelyn and Bill into the small pantry where they were squashed up against each other tightly.

"Last time we did this, I was about seven and you nine," Evelyn whispered. "Do you remember? Mom made cannolis for Dad's birthday and we took a load of them and snuck in here to eat them."

"Oh yeah," Bill chuckled. "How could I forget that? She caught us and went mad. She smacked me so hard I couldn't sit down for a week."

"Be quiet in there, you two. They're here," their mother hissed.

"Mmm something smells nice," Clara spoke first, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Pot roast?"

"Forget your stomach for a minute, Clara," that was Gina. "I wanna know what this big surprise is."

"Surprise?" Clara asked.

"Yeah, that's the only reason I'm here," Gina answered, leaning against the kitchen side and lighting up a cigarette.

"Gina, I wish you wouldn't do that here." They didn't need to be able to see their mother to know she was frowning.

"Dad does it."

"That's different, it's his house."

Gina sighed but nonetheless put her cigarette out. No one argued with Augusta Guarnere. She was a formidable opponent. Above them, Bill and Evelyn could hear their father stomping down the stairs. They guessed that he had probably been to wash up a little before dinner, something he did ritually after getting in from work.

"What is that delicious smell?" Joseph Guarnere asked in his thick Italian accent, as he walked over to the stove to kiss his wife. Married since they were eighteen, the fact that they were still very much in love was something that they had always displayed openly in front of their children.

"Pot roast," Clara answered.

"What is with you people?" Gina asked exasperatedly. "Mom calls me over here to tell me there's some big surprise, and all you two care about is food."

"Gina, don't speak to your father like that," their mother admonished, and Evelyn could just imagine her sister's sulking face. "Once you are all sat down, I will reveal the surprise."

As Gina pulled out her chair, it scraped across the floor and Evelyn had to smother a snort when her father begged her to be gentle on the new tiles. She didn't dare look at Bill because she knew she wouldn't be able to hold in her giggles.

"Uh, Momma, why are there two more place settings for dinner?" Clara wondered once they were all seated.

"That's because we have two more guests for dinner tonight," their mother grinned from ear to ear.

As confused frowns passed around the table, Evelyn and Bill took that as their cue.

"Surprise!"

Gina and Clara screeched excitedly, jumping up from their seats to hug their younger siblings.

"Gina, don't squeeze me so tight," Evelyn gasped. "I can't breathe."

"I don't care," Gina squeezed her even tighter before letting go. She grinned as she looked at Evelyn from head to toe. "When Mom told me what you'd done, I honestly thought she was winding me up. But just look at you," her gaze drifted over to Bill, who Clara still wouldn't let go of, and shook her head in awe. "Look at both of you. Goddamn paratroopers."

"Gina, language!" their mother shook her head.

Gina rolled her eyes as she took her seat back at the table. Evelyn looked at her father, who had stood up from his seat yet made no move to come any closer.

"Daddy?"

Joseph Guarnere looked at his two youngest children and felt his throat constrict with emotion, such was the pride he felt. Stepping forward to embrace them both, he could feel tears welling in his eyes so he quickly let go of them both before his emotions got the better of him.

"Come, let's eat before it goes cold," was all he said. Bill and Evelyn smiled knowingly at each other as they took their seats. They didn't need words to know how proud he felt about them both. They could see it in his face, and that was enough.

During dinner, everyone wanted to hear all about training, and Evelyn was more than happy to let Bill do all the talking as she gobbled up an extra helping of food.

"That Sobel guy sounds like a barrel of laughs," Gina commented dryly. "I'm surprised you ain't punched him in the face yet."

"I've wanted to so many times," Bill laughed shortly. "To be honest though, he's a lot worse to Evie than he is to me. In fact, he completely has it in for her. Doesn't like having a female in his company. There was one time during a march that one of the guys drank from his canteen when we were ordered not to, and Sobel decided that it was Evie's duty as a medic to have known something was up with the guy and made her repeat the whole twelve miles on her own."

"He what?" their mother gasped, and Evelyn rolled her eyes before shooting Bill a frustrated glance. "Do you hear this Joe? Do you hear what he did to our Evie? She's a medic not a mind reader. Well, I won't stand for it. I'm gonna write to that man of yours, what's his name, Sink somebody? I'm gonna write and tell him that this Captain Sobel is a bully and has singled out our Evie."

"For god's sake," Gina muttered, as her mother got up.

"Where are you going?" their father asked.

"To get some paper and a pen, where do you think?"

"No, you're going to sit down and finish your dinner, Augusta."

"How can I sit down knowing how our baby girl is being treated by that horrid man?" she asked incredulously. "I just knew something like this would happen."

"Mom, I'm not in school. You can't just write a letter to the army asking them to be nicer to me," Evelyn said. "Just calm down, you're overreacting."

"Momma, sit down," Bill tried, standing up and putting his arm around her shoulders while she sniffled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. Listen, don't worry about Evie. You know, she's actually a lot tougher than she looks." Augusta allowed her son to lead her back to her seat and gave a watery smile.

"I just can't stand the thought of anyone being horrible to my children," she sobbed quietly.

Around the table, the three girls rolled their eyes at one another, more than a little used to their mother's dramatic outbursts.

"They may be our children, Augusta," her husband squeezed her hand affectionately. "But they're also adults. You can't go sticking your paddle in-"

"-The word is oar, Dad," Gina interrupted.

"Paddle, oar, the same thing," her father shrugged. "My point is that you can't stop every bad thing that happens to them, Augusta. If Evie feels she's being unfairly treated then she will do something about it. They are going to war. Trust me when I say that a man shouting at them is going to be the least of their problems."

"Don't you think I know that?" Augusta cried, jumping up from her seat once more. This time when she left the room, nobody tried to stop her.

Raising her glass, Gina smirked. "Welcome home."

"So, now that Bill's gone, I wanna know all the gossip."

Evelyn, Gina and Clara were washing up the dishes. Well, Evelyn and Clara were. Gina was sitting at the table 'supervising'. Bill and their father were in the living room having a beer, while their mother was upstairs in the bedroom crying. She had been there for two hours and still hadn't come out. Everyone knew that when she got in these moods, it was just best to leave her to it. She would calm down eventually.

"What gossip? Bill told you pretty much everything at dinner," Evelyn answered.

"Evelyn, do you really think I care about military manoeuvres and running up mountains?" Gina frowned. "I wanna know about all the important stuff. You know, like the guys."

"Oh yeah, me too," Clara piped up excitedly.

"You're one lucky son of a gun, you know," Gina lit up a cigarette. "Surrounded by gorgeous men every waking moment. What I wouldn't give for that, but without all the training bit of course. Then again, gorgeous men in uniforms, all sweaty and dirty. Oh yeah."

"Gina, you're married!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"And you're naïve," Gina replied. "I'm married, I'm not blind. I can still look, you know. You, on the other hand, are not married."

"Gee really?" Evelyn commented smartly, smirking when her sister gave her the middle finger.

"You're not married, or even courting," Gina continued with her point. "And you're surrounded by hundreds of handsome young men every single waking moment."

"You're point being?"

"My point being, how many of them have you kissed?" Gina grinned.

"Urgh," Evelyn grimaced. "None of them, thank you very much. Why would you even ask something like that?"

"Oh come on, Ev," Clara said.

"Don't you join in too, Clara," Evelyn flung soap suds playfully at her. "The pair of you are deranged. You do know I have an actual job and training to do, don't you? I don't spend my days staring lovingly into all of their eyes, looking for one who might make a good husband. In fact, I spend most of my time getting annoyed by them all. It's like having a million brothers instead of five."

"So you're trying to tell me that out of all those guys, not even one has caught your eye?"

Evelyn shook her head but ever eagle eyed Gina caught the blush creeping up her neck.

"There is someone, isn't there," she grinned triumphantly. "Spill it."

"No," Evelyn denied and scrubbed harder at the imaginary fleck of dirt on the plate she was washing.

"Evelyn Guarnere, if you do not tell this very instant, I'll get Clara to shove your head in that sink until you tell me."

Evelyn groaned, knowing she was backed into a corner. Gina's threats were never empty, she knew this from past experience. And Clara was always more than willing to be her accomplice.

"Fine," Evelyn sighed, leaning against the sink to face her sisters. "There is one guy."

"Oh, oh, is he cute? What colour hair has he got? Where's he from? Is he tall? Does he-?"

"-Clara, do you wanna hear this or not?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow impatiently. "His name is Joe Liebgott. Bill hates him-"

"-Who doesn't Bill hate?" Gina said.

"He's, uh, tall, a lot taller than me-"

"-That ain't difficult," Gina snorted.

"Will you shut it with running commentary already?" Evelyn huffed. "He's uh, kind of moody and he's got these eyes that I swear almost change colour depending on what kind of mood he's in."

"For someone who said they didn't spend their days staring lovingly into the men's eyes, you sure seem to know a lot about his eyes," Gina couldn't stop herself from interjecting. "So is that all we get? He's tall and moody with colour changing eyes?"

"Well if you would just stop your mouth from moving every two seconds, I would tell you a little more, wouldn't I?" Evelyn replied. "I don't really know what to say about him. I mean, I don't even talk to him that much, but when I do it's like… oh I don't know… I get this weird feeling like butterflies and like I always wanna check how I look. It doesn't even make any sense," she laughed nervously.

"Evelyn's in love," Clara teased, and Evelyn launched the wet tea towel at her face.

"Evelyn's in love with who?"

They all froze when Bill walked in, and Evelyn silently begged them with her eyes not to say anything.

"Oh, with Cary Grant," Gina said casually, taking a long drag on her cigarette.

"Nothing new there then," Bill shrugged. "I just came to say night. I'm goosed."

"Night," they all answered in chorus.

"I suppose I should go, too," Gina sighed, getting up. "James will be back from the bar soon, and he'll want feeding. Wanna come for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Sure," Evelyn smiled. "That's if Mom'll let me."

"If she doesn't, just cry off being ill and climb out the window," Gina shrugged, gathering her bag and coat. "It's easy, I've done it loads of times. Oh, and I expect to hear more about this boyfriend of yours tomorrow."

"He ain't my boyfriend."

"Not yet," Gina winked, stepping out of the back door. "See you tomorrow."

Evelyn yawned as Clara put away the now dry dishes.

"You know what, Clara? I'm gonna get to bed too," she said. "Night."

"Night Ev."

Evelyn sighed blissfully when she lay down on her soft bed with a real mattress. After months of sleeping on a rickety cot, it was like sleeping on a fluffy cloud. With a smile, she fell into a deep sleep.

One week later

Their mother quickly recovered from her emotional outburst on their first night home and spent the rest of the time feeding them and fussing over them. Evelyn spent most of days with either her sisters or trying to catch up with friends, and the evenings with her parents. Bill had spent nearly every waking moment with Frannie. Extremely pretty and vivacious with dark brown hair and eyes, Frannie had grown up a few streets away, and she and Bill had been going steady for a couple of years. Gina was convinced they were going to get married once the war was finished.

As the rickety train brought them closer and closer to Columbus, the closest town to Fort Benning, Evelyn felt a small pang in her chest as she remembered her mother waving them off at the train station, sobbing into a handkerchief. Being away from her family was tough, but in truth she was looking forward to the next part of training.

"Is there anything left in there?"

Evelyn lifted the cover from the basket of food that their mother had given them for the journey back to camp, and smirked.

"There's enough left in here to feed the rest of the train," she handed him the basket. "Here, take your pick."

Bill was still eating when the train finally arrived in Columbus. The train station was jam packed with men returning from their furlough, and Bill grasped hold of Evelyn's hand tight as they navigated their way through the crowd. Once outside, they headed towards the bus station, which was just as busy, and waited in line. Three buses passed before they were able to fit on, and all Evelyn could think was that she was glad it was winter, and at least they didn't have to contend with the sweltering heat on top of the crowds.

Evelyn and Bill were some of the first from their barracks to return.

"Evie," Malarkey picked her up and swung her around. George was next, engulfing her in a huge hug.

"Oh yeah, hi Bill," Bill commented sarcastically, dumping his bag onto his cot.

"Sorry Bill, how rude of me," George grinned, opening his arms wide for a hug.

"Fuck off," Bill scowled.

Spotting Skinny and Talbert in the corner, she walked over and plonked herself down on Skinny's -cot.

"Hey guys," she smiled. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course we did," Skinny answered, before muttering quietly. "Not."

"I heard that," Evelyn gasped in mock outrage, punching his arm.

"I'm just joking," Skinny laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him in a hug."

"Back on base for two minutes and Skinny's already managed to find himself a hot girl. Oh, my mistake, it's just Ev."

Evelyn narrowed her eyes at the smirk playing on Liebgott's face. He winked and Evelyn shook her head exasperatedly, failing to keep the smile from her face at seeing him. Thinking that he had actually gotten even more handsome in the last ten days, she could feel her cheeks starting to turn red. Damn you, Gina, she thought angrily. Since the first day she had met him, she knew that she had found him attractive, but it was only over the last few weeks that she realised just how attractive she found him. And if she was honest, it made her slightly uncomfortable. He was completely out of her league, and she knew that. But now, thanks to her older sister, she had these ridiculous notions running around her head about what it would be like to be going steady with him. Get a grip, Evelyn.

"Ev? You listening?"

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Skinny and Tab were talking to Popeye, who had just walked through the door, and Joe was sitting opposite Evelyn on his own cot looking at her. "Huh?"

"I asked how it was at home?" he repeated.

"Oh right, sorry," she smiled. "Yeah it was good. What about you? How was the party?"

"Party?"

"Yeah, for your sister's engagement," she said.

"You remembered about that, huh?" he grinned. "Yeah, it was fun. Well, until my brother in law to be and his best friend had a punch up and went flying into the buffet table. I don't think my sister's quite forgiven him yet, or my mom for that matter. It's a good job that most of the people at the party couldn't speak German or they would have had a heart attack at the things coming out of my Mom's mouth."

"Your Mom's German?" she wondered. Liebgott didn't speak too much to anyone about home. They all knew he was born in Detroit and moved to San Francisco when he was fifteen, and that he worked part time in his Dad's barbershop, as well as driving cabs. But that was pretty much all the information anyone got from him.

"Austrian," he clarified. "Both my parents are. I grew up speaking German, well an Austrian dialect of it. Always thought it was a waste of time, but I guess it might come in handy if we end up in Europe."

"I think it's amazing you can speak a whole other language. My Dad's Italian, so are my grandparents on my Mom's side, but we never learned it. Well, apart from the swear words. The only time our parents ever spoke Italian at home was when they wanted to talk about something without any of us hearing," Evelyn laughed. "You'll have to teach me some German one day."

"Sure thing," Liebgott nodded, smiling warmly. "Only if you teach me some Italian swear words."

"It's a deal," she grinned. "Hey, and maybe Eugene can teach us some French ones?"

"Doc speaks French?"

"Course he does," Evelyn answered. "He said that's all they speak back home."

"Ev, get your butt over here," George called from the other end of the room. "I wanna talk to you."

"Can't it wait? I'm already talkin' over here, you know."

"Meh, Liebgott won't mind, will you?" George asked him.

"Nah, it's fine," Joe waved him off casually, lying down on his cot. "I'm gonna try and get me some shut eye, anyway."

"Good luck doing that with all this noise," Evelyn snorted, getting up from the cot with a sigh. This had better be good George Luz.

… … …

Spring 1943

Easy Company and the rest of the 506th had moved onto Camp Mackall to further their field training. Colonel Sink had decided one way to do this was to create mock battles involving the entire regiment. Easy, along with every other Company was split into two teams; blue and red. Then each Company had three umpires. For Easy this was Winters, Lipton and Bill. Their job was to decide who the winners and losers were, as well as to create some casualties for the medics. The whole point of the exercise was for them to gain experience in a combat setting, and afterwards to analyse what had gone wrong and how to fix it ready for when they were doing it for real. For the medics, it was also a test of everything they had learned. Sure, they had all passed the written exams they had been given and they had adequately treated patients in an aid station setting during training, but the pressure of being in battle was something very different.

Eugene, Spina and Evelyn split themselves up. Spina and Evelyn with the blue team and Eugene with the red, then they waited. When the first call for a medic came, Evelyn went running, crouching down low just as she had been taught. It didn't take long until she came across Chuck Grant who explained he had been hit in the shoulder. After checking for a pretend exit wound, she poured some imaginary sulfa on the wound and then applied pressure onto the wound by wrapping a bandage tightly around it. Last thing she did was to stick the syrette of morphine she had pretended to give him to his jacket, before sending him off to the imaginary aid station.

The next call for a medic she recognised immediately as George, and she rolled her eyes knowing he was going to enjoy this. He had apparently caught a piece of exploding shell to the leg and it had hit the femoral artery. Evelyn knew the first thing to do was to try and find the artery so she could stop it from bleeding.

"So is this the part where you need to take off my pants?" George grinned.

"George, you're disgusting," Evelyn grimaced and swatted him on the head.

"Your bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired, Miss Guarnere," he scowled. "If I get hit for real, remind me not to shout for you. I'd probably be lying there, bleeding to death while you're berating me for one thing or another."

As George laughed to himself, Evelyn suddenly felt a shiver go up her spine. Her eyes started to fill up with tears and her chest tightened inexplicably.

"Ev? You alright?" George stopped laughing when he noticed she had gone deathly pale. "Ev? Evelyn?"

Without a second thought, Evelyn took off running. She didn't even know where she was running to, just that her legs were moving of their own accord and wouldn't stop. She could hear George shouting after her in the distance. Her heart was pounding and there was a swishing in her ears that made her feel almost like she wasn't real. She ran through the woods, ignoring the simulated sounds of artillery fire around her, until she ran into something hard. Firm hands grasped her by both arms, stopping her from falling, and through her blurred vision she could make out the concerned face of Lieutenant Winters staring down at her.

"Corporal Guarnere, are you alright?" The sound of his voice was muffled, and she frowned as she tried to digest what he was saying to her. "Corporal?"

There was a piercing whistle in her ears and her legs felt like jelly. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she tried to slow her breathing down as best she could, knowing she was hyperventilating and would most likely faint if she didn't calm herself down.

"Corporal, are you alright?" Winters repeated, and Evelyn just shook her head numbly as more tears poured down her face. "I need you to tell me what's wrong, Corporal." Winters' voice was firmer now.

How could she explain it to him? He would think her an idiot. She was a paratrooper for crying out loud. The first mock battle they had done, and she was already caving under the pressure. George. It was all George's fault, talking about bleeding to death.

Before Easy Company, when she had signed up as a nurse, she knew that she would be treating wounded men and that not all of them would make it. She knew that as difficult as it would be, it was part of the job all the same. But until now, she had never really thought about the fact that some of these men, who had become her dearest friends in the space of only months, were going to get wounded. They were going to get wounded and there was no guarantee that she was going to be able to save them all. Not only was there a chance of this happening to her friends, but there was her brother too. What if something happened to Bill, and neither she nor Eugene or Spina could do anything to save him? The thought made her feel sick.

"I…I…I'm sorry, S-s-sir," she sputtered as yet more tears fell.

"What for?" Winters frowned, deeply concerned at the quivering mess in front of him. This was a side of Evelyn Guarnere he had never seen before and he found it to be rather alarming. "Corporal, you need to calm down and explain to me what is going on here."

Nodding shakily, Evelyn bit her bottom lip to stop it wobbling as the relentless river of tears seemed to finally run dry. She wiped her nose and sighed.

"I just…" she began, staring at the muddy ground beneath their feet. "… Sir, when I signed up for this, I knew what I was getting into and I knew that men were going to die. It's war, after all. But what I didn't think about was the men of this company, the ones that helped me get through Toccoa and jump training. I didn't think about what it's going to be like to lose them, to not be able to save them all."

"Look at me, Corporal," Winters said after what felt like hours of silence. Reluctantly she lifted her eyes to meet his ice blue ones, expecting to see something close to annoyance or disappointment. But the only thing she saw was sympathy and understanding. "None of us know what it's going to be like once we get out there. None of us know what it's going to be like when we inevitably lose men, good men, men who have helped build the very foundations of this company. But what I do know is that when something does happen, you can only do your best to save that person," he continued. "You're upset because you care deeply about the men. While I know medics are usually encouraged to remain somewhat detached from the men in their companies, you have wedged yourself firmly in the middle of ours. The men trust you and think highly of you, just as they do Corporals Roe and Spina. You have to trust yourself and know that whatever happens once we get out there, wherever there may be, will be beyond your control. Put your fears and worries to the back of your mind and make the most of every good moment."

Evelyn nodded and sniffed. He was right. She gave him a wobbly smile as she wiped at her nose again. He was a good leader. They all respected him, a lot more than they did Sobel.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant," she apologised again.

"Don't be," he smiled warmly. "Don't ever be sorry for caring about your men. Now, do you think you need to have some time to go and calm down, or will you be able to carry on?"

"I can carry on, Sir," she answered with hesitation. "In fact, I'd best hurry before Luz bleeds to death."

George was exactly where she had left him, and when he saw she had been crying he was more than a little concerned.

"What the hell happened?" he asked.

"Sorry George. I just had a moment of… you know what? It doesn't matter now, I'm fine," she said, kneeling down next to him. Suddenly she grinned. "Now are you gonna let me get those pants off, or what?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

… … …

There was a huge buzz circulating around camp, reaching every nook and cranny. Sobel had finally gotten some well deserved comeuppance. Apparently during the exercise, someone had taken the opportunity to perform a mock appendectomy on him. They had used real anaesthesia and made a real incision, exactly where they would have had they performed the operation for real, and then stitched him back up. Sobel was livid. He was out for vengeance and he knew exactly who he was going to blame for this.

Evelyn was walking to the mail office when Sobel found her.

"A word please, Corporal," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the office, which, unfortunately, for her wasn't being attended at that moment. Wondering what on earth had come over the man, Evelyn tried to yank her arm away but Sobel tightened his grip, his nails digging into her skin and bringing tears to her eyes. "I suppose you've heard about my little operation yesterday?" he spat, his eyes boring venomously into her own.

"Uh yes sir," her voice cracked in pain.

"I know it was you," he said.

"Excuse me?" Evelyn was dumbfounded. He wasn't being serious, surely.

"Don't play innocent with me," he growled. "I yelled for a medic, and I remember vividly you were the one that came. The next thing I remember is waking up with a hole in the side of my stomach."

"Sir, it wasn't me," she argued. The man was actually deranged. She was utterly convinced of it, more now than ever. "I wasn't even the medic for your team. Corporal Roe was, and I know that he wouldn't have-"

"-Don't try and blame anyone else for this," he cut her off with a shake. "Colonel Sink wants to see you in his office in exactly one hour. I'd have your bag packed ready," he smirked triumphantly.

Without another word, he turned and left, leaving Evelyn more than a little shaken up. Did Sobel really think it was her? Had he perhaps suffered some ill effect of the anaesthesia he had been given and really believed that her face was the last one he had seen before going under. Or was he just using her as a scapegoat? It served two purposes. It showed whoever had done it that he wasn't to be trifled with, and it got rid of her which he had wanted since day one.

With a nauseous pit opening in her stomach, Evelyn decided to head back to barracks. She needed to speak to her brother. He would know what to do. Her feet moved of their own accord, while the conversation with Sobel went round and round her head like a Ferris wheel. The more Evelyn thought about it, the angrier she felt herself getting. There was no way she was allowing that smarmy bastard to pin this on her. Who the fuck did he think she was? After all of the blood, sweat and tears she had put into getting her wings, she refused to give them up. Not now. Not when they were so close to shipping out. She just needed to find a way to prove to Sink that she was in no way involved in this ludicrous act. She hadn't even been on his side of the battle for crying out loud. Surely all Sink had to do was ask anybody that had been there, and they would confirm her story. Running up the porch steps, she was about to open the door when the conversation inside the barracks stopped her in her tracks.

"And you're certain it was that medic from the fox company?" Joe Toye was asking.

"Yeah," her brother answered. "He was definitely from Fox cos I recognised him from back at Toccoa. You know the one. He challenged Randleman to a fight that time at the bar?"

"Who could forget that? Crazy bastard was down after the first punch." Joe laughed. "He's got some balls I'll give him that."

"It gets better," Bill chuckled. "When I asked him the fuck he was doing, he looked at me calmly and said 'well, I gotta practice somehow, right?'."

Evelyn smiled. She couldn't believe her luck. She knew exactly which Fox company medic Bill was talking about. Jacobson. An arrogant asshole who, upon meeting her during medic training back in Toccoa, had made it very clear that he believed a woman's place was to look pretty and do everything her husband wanted. There was definitely no way she was taking the blame for something that moron had done. She just wished she could see his face once he realised he had been ratted out. She hoped Sink threw the book at him.

But then suddenly a feeling of dread came over her again. There was no way Bill could just march up to Sink and tell him what he had seen without getting himself into trouble too. Sure, he hadn't actually committed the act, but he had witnessed it and allowed it to continue. That would be just as bad, if not worse, in Sink's eyes. There was no doubt in Evelyn's mind that he would be severely punished, perhaps even discharged for this. The shame would cripple him. And their parents. If she took the blame and got discharged, it wouldn't be half as bad. She wouldn't face the same stigma that her brother would. She couldn't allow that to happen. She would rather cut off her own leg than allow her brother to face the embarrassment of being kicked out of the airborne. Bill had spent the whole of their childhood looking out for her, and he had taken the blame for her on countless occasions. Like the time she broke her Mom's favourite ornament, or the time she broke Mrs Gomez' window playing baseball in the street. Well now it was time to return the favour.

Pausing outside Colonel Sink's office an hour later, she blinked away angry tears that were already threatening to spill down her cheeks. Sobel would get exactly what he wanted today.

"Enter!"

Reluctantly she pushed open the door to see Sobel already inside. As if this wasn't going to be bad enough already.

"At ease, Corporal," Sink nodded as she stood at attention in front of his desk. "You understand why you're here, I assume?"

"Yes Sir," she answered, hoping her unease didn't show in her face.

"I find it very disappointing that any medic in my regiment would abuse their position in such a mindless way," Sink began. "Do you feel that it is an acceptable way for a member of the US military to behave, Corporal Guarnere?"

"No Sir," she shook her head, wishing he would just get on with kicking her out already. In the corner, she didn't need to see Sobel to know that he was smirking, enjoying every second of watching her squirm. She bit her lip to stop it from wobbling. She refused to cry in front of him.

"Neither do I," Sink regarded her carefully before turning to Sobel. "Captain Sobel, whilst I understand that you were certain that Corporal Guarnere was the culprit, I have a witness who can place her elsewhere at the time of the incident."

Evelyn's mouth dropped open. Was she dreaming or was this actually happening?

"What witness, Sir?" Sobel asked through clenched teeth.

"That is for me to know, Captain. But I can assure you that they are someone who's word I would trust implicitly."

"Are you insinuating that I have lied, Sir?"

"Watch your tone, Captain," Sink warned. "I believe that perhaps in your disorientated state, you may have imagined seeing Corporal Guarnere."

"But Sir, I-"

Sink held up a hand to stop him. The tension in the room was palpable and it was obvious that Sobel wanted to argue his case further, but wisely remained silent.

"Captain Sobel, whilst I wish to have the person responsible punished just as much as you do, I have no further leads to investigate. All of the medics from each company have solid alibis," Sink sighed. He most certainly did not believe some of those alibis, but he was aware of how most, if not all, of the men in the regiment felt about Captain Sobel. He had no doubt in his mind that he would never get to the bottom of who had done it. It would be like finding a needle in a very large haystack, because he knew the men would always stick together against Sobel. "I understand this will not be the outcome you were hoping for, but under the circumstances I can do anything else but say that the matter is concluded. You're both dismissed."

After a quick salute, Evelyn all but ran from the room, feeling more relief than she had ever felt in her entire life. Smiling, she hurried along jauntily towards the barracks.

"Meeting with Sink go well then?" a voice piped up from outside the officer's mess. She turned and frowned at Nixon whose eyes twinkled with amusement.

"How did you…?"

"I'm the intelligence officer, it's my job to know everything," he smirked, taking a long drag on his cigarette.

"So it was you who went to Sink?"

"Oh no, not me," he shook his head walking closer. "You've got Lieutenant Winters to thank for that."

"But how did he know?" Evelyn wondered.

"He heard you and Sobel inside the mailroom and went straight to Sink's office," Nixon explained. "You're one very luck lady, Corporal."

"Luck isn't the word for it," she snorted. The very fact that Winters happened to be walking past the mail office at that exact moment was more of a miracle than luck.

"At any rate, it looks like we won't be getting rid of you anytime soon then."

"Afraid not, Sir," she grinned.

She wasn't going anywhere.