[MillietheWarrior]

"Did you get a good look?" Bill and Joe both went rigid almost instantly, hands going to their brows in an automatic salute.

"No ma'am," Bill said haltingly, before M.J.'s look of fury shifted into one of devious amusement.

"Aw geeze. Next time, why don't you knock, Bill? Then I won't have to smack ya a good one."

Bill looked confused as both he and Joe relaxed. "Whatdya mean?" he asked curiously. "You didn't sm-"

WHACK!

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"Sooo…Berchtesgaden, huh?"

"Oh shut up, you barely know what that is."

M.J. shot a grinning Bill a half amused glance from her place beside Joe in the truck. The rickety roads and the altitude were making her dizzy, and she'd practically wedged herself between the two sergeants to keep from being jostled all over the place.

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(Continuation of Chapter 7)

[MillietheWarrior]

"I take offense ta that," Bill replied with a wounded air that was purely for show.

"Bill, you take offense to most things," she quipped, leaning back against the side of the truck. Joe glanced at her quickly, but soon averted his gaze elsewhere. It wasn't like the two of them were some big secret, but he didn't want anyone getting any ideas about him and M.J. and he certainly didn't need anyone sticking their noses into their business. It was just kind of hard to maintain a semblance of privacy in a place where you were constantly surrounded by people.

[MillietheWarrior]

"So, what do you think we'll find up there?" Joe began quietly, hoping to distract himself from thoughts of M.J., which proved to be somewhat difficult when she was pressed flush against his side the way she was. He hadn't really had that much of a problem with it before, but with a shift in the dynamics of their relationship, every little touch or gesture was suddenly worth so much more to him.

"I have no idea," M.J. admitted, sounding faintly put out. "And I'm not used to not knowing things. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it's like up there. It's like…Nazi central, ya know? You can only be a true Nazi to live there. And-"

She was cut off by the truck rumbling to such an abrupt stop, she nearly tumbled into Bill's lap.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Whoa there!" he laughed, before he hauled himself to his feet to look over the cab of the truck. A few of the other men in the company were doing the same, everyone straining to see what the hold up was. "What's goin' on up there?" Bill queried, but received no reply.

A few of the men piled out off the truck, noting that men behind and in front of them were doing the same. M.J. followed suit, grabbing Joe's hand briefly before she leapt off the back of the truck, and began jogging towards the front, the two sergeants in tow.

"S'goin' on, gentlemen?" M.J. called as she reached the jeep Nixon and Winters were leaning against. They were staring at a rather….large road block ahead of them. Maybe large was an understatement. Gigantic, huge and impenetrable were a few other terms that came to mind. "Whoa. That must be the hold up," she said with a laugh, folding her arms to gaze at it thoughtfully.

[MillietheWarrior]

Already, a few of the men had jogged ahead to place some TNT and grenades along the base of the gigantic rubble infrastructure. M.J., Joe, Bill, Nixon and Winters watched passively as the rocks exploded, but stayed firmly put. "You call the engineers?" Bill asked, pulling a cigarette from his front pocket and lighting it up.

"Yeah," Nixon sighed, looking faintly annoyed. "Doesn't mean they'll be getting here anytime soon."

And he was right. Nearly two hours later, the engineers still hadn't arrived. Easy Company and the other men lounged around the trucks and along the road, some reading, some writing, and some staring off into space and relaxing in the sunlight, glad of a reprieve from having to do much of anything.

M.J., Joe and Bill were leaned up against one of the trucks, chatting about trivial things, when Colonel Sink drove by in his jeep. M.J.'s head snapped up, and she cast Joe a worried look. "Ain't gonna be lougin' around much longer," she decided cryptically, hauling her rifle up over her shoulder.

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[MillietheWarrior]

She was right.

The drive into Berchtesgaden was about as uneventful as it could get.

"Where is everyone?" Eugene Roe murmured from beside M.J. The medic was clutching his bag to his side, as if afraid it could be ripped from his hands at any moment. M.J. glanced from the bag, to Gene's face, and chuckled softly. Even that small sound was enough to send the Cajun medic jumping a bit.

"Probably dead. Or, if they were smart, they got out of here real quick. You gotta be a true Nazi to live here, so there'd be no denying it for them. And I can't imagine they'd think we'd go easy on them once we got here, ya know? If I was them, I'da hoofed it a long time ago." She patted his shoulder, and the medic nodded, looking faintly relieved to hear that.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Sure left a lot of stuff behind though," she quipped thoughtfully, and Gene shot her an amused look when he saw her eyeing a particularly ornate piece of furniture through one of the large, lavish windows.

"Don't reckon you could mail a couch home, Mary," he said with a small laugh. "-but I'm sure you of all people could give it a try. Why don't we have a look around? I could use someone with a gun taggin' along with me. Don't wanna get into any trouble, no matter how deserted this place looks. Ain't no tellin' who or what is really left 'round here."

[MillietheWarrior]

M.J. found she really couldn't agree more. Bill and Joe had already traveled to the front of the pack to check things out, so she imagined they wouldn't miss her if she went exploring. "Hey Luz, Perconte, Bull. Why don't ya'll tag along with us?" M.J. called to the three men nearest to them. "We're gonna do some recon."

"Recon?" Luz repeated, looking amused as a wide grin stretched across his face. "That a fancy word for 'looting,' lieutenant?" Perco laughed outwardly, and Bull just chuckled his deep, warm laugh.

"Why, Luz, I'm surprised at you. Thinkin' I could do such a thing…But yeah, fancy word for 'lets go see if there's anything in there that might be valuable and small enough to fit in our bags.'"

"I like the way the lady thinks," Luz told Frank, elbowing him in the ribs.

[MillietheWarrior]

M.J. and her small contingent of men broke of from the main group, following suit with a few others who were doing 'recon' of their own. M.J. was kinda thankful for that; she didn't feel like so much of a heel if others were doing the same thing.

"How about that one?" M.J. pointed with her rifle, indicating the house she'd seen the nice couch in right before they decided to break off from the group. A round of nods from the others had them carefully maneuvering their way into the house.

It was eerily silent inside. There was no movement, no sound, and no one home. Well, no one but the officer who'd shot himself on the living room floor, but other than that, it was empty. M.J. lowered her rifle and stared down at the deceased officer, frowning thoughtfully. She didn't know him and she was thankful for that; she wasn't sure she ever wanted to be associated with the people who lived in this particular town, nor did she want to feel pity or sympathy towards them. It didn't sit well with her.

[MillietheWarrior]

Gene quietly sidled up beside her, and joined her in gazing down at the officer. She could hear the others moving about the house, random exclamations of 'all clear' or 'look what I found!' filling the silence.

"Reckon he didn't want to be found," Eugene said quietly, his dark eyes lifting to search her own.

"Reckon he didn't," M.J. agreed, slinging her M-1 over her shoulder. "I wouldn't have if I were him. I can't imagine any of these people had much hope left, not after what's happened. It's a terrible thing, Gene, to die without hope. That's not something I'd wish on anyone, even the enemy. You gotta believe in something, and if they couldn't believe in their leader, I don't imagine they had much else left."

[MillietheWarrior]

"Too bad he was crazy," the quiet medic agreed, his eyes dropping once more to the body on the floor. "'Spose it was better than us findin' him alive though. Least this way, he had a choice."

"Yeah, right."

Silently, Gene moved to grab an afghan off the back of a lavish sofa. The blanket was finely stitched, and looked hand made and lovingly crafted. M.J. might have admired the handiwork at some other time, but now it was nothing more than a sheet to cover the dead. Gene leaned down and closed the sightless eyes, draping the blanket over the body, and standing up to wipe his hands on his pants.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Sometimes, even the enemy needs a little compassion," he said quietly, as if feeling he had to explain his actions. M.J. stared at him silently, the barest traces of a fond smile quirking the corners of her lips. "After all, we're all human in the end, ain't we?"

She sighed, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "Sometimes, I wonder about that, Gene. The things I've seen, and the things I've seen done…they don't seem like nothin' no human would do. But I guess it's a part of war. It changes us all, for better or for worse. Ain't nothin' we can do about that, in the long run. But enough talkin' all philosophical like. Let's you and me take a look around. The others will have this place gutted and cleaned dry before we can so much as look at something shiny."

[MillietheWarrior]

Gene chuckled, and the two moved away from the body in the living room to peruse the house, every once in a while commenting on some strange item, or stopping to point something out that someone back home might like, or like to have.

They ended up in one of the upstairs rooms, and from the smell of the perfume that lingered and the looks of it, the room had once belonged to a woman. Gene silently regarded the paintings on the wall with a keen interest, enthralled by the beauty of the portraits and the landscapes. M.J., however, had gotten distracted by a small box on the dresser.

She inched closer, as though afraid the little box might lash out at her, and gently lifted it into her hands. When she opened the lid, a soft, melodious tune drifted out, and Gene turned and moved over to stand beside her when he heard it. The two were enthralled by the sound; such a simple, beautiful tune, but the likes of which neither had heard in a very long, long time.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Wouldja look at that," Gene breathed, pointing to what lay inside the box. There were small, elegant rings of all kinds. Some with emeralds, some with diamonds, some gold encrusted, and all beautifully made.

"Wow," M.J. breathed. Never having been one for fancy things, she had to admit that even she was quite taken by the jewelry in the box. "Tell you what, Gene," she began, smiling wickedly. "Why don't you pick a couple out and take them home to your gal."

Gene blushed fiercely, and ducked his head. "No, Mary, I couldn't do that. You found 'em first. They're yours."

[MillietheWarrior]

M.J. clucked her teeth, and shook her head. "Like I would ever be caught wearin' a bunch o' these. Now Eugene, you can't tell me you don't got a girl at home waitin' on ya. And you certainly can't tell me you don't wanna give her the best. Look at these rings, Gene. You won't come across somethin' like this in a hundred years. Take a few. Whichever ones you want. And I'll keep the rest and the box for myself. I like the pretty music, not the pretty rings."

Silently, Eugene agreed, a wide grin on his face as he sorted through them and picked out the few he knew his gal back home would appreciate.