[MillietheWarrior]

"Where ya been?"

M.J. jogged up to Joe and Bill, who stood outside the new company HQ that had been 'commandeered' specifically for Sink. She had her rifle slung over her shoulder, and patted the bag at her side. "Just explorin'. I went treasure hunting."

"Find anything good?" Bill asked with a grin, and M.J. smiled back.

"Lots of good things, yeah, but I could only carry so much. Unfortunately, as I found out, I can't exactly fit a couch in this bag, so I had to leave some stuff behind."

[MillietheWarrior]

Joe chuckled, shaking his head. "And we'll probably never hear the end of it, will we?" he asked, ignoring the way his heart sped up when M.J. smiled at him with those big bright eyes of hers. He wondered if he'd ever get over the thrill of excitement he felt when she turned her gaze onto him.

Bill cast his friend an amused glance, sharp eyes catching the barest hint of a change in Joe's face, before he slung his rifle up over his shoulder. "Well youz two. I hear they're going to be headin' up to the Eagle's Nest. I'm gonna tag along with them. Why don't you get comfy and situated here, and I'll be back down to check on you later. No funny business, ya hear?" He laughed raucously at the blush that spread almost immediately across both of his friends' faces, and turned around to catch up with the jeep that was already piled high with Easy company men who wanted to be the first to the Eagle's Nest.

[MillietheWarrior]

"'No funny business,'" M.J. huffed once he was gone. "Who does he think he's talking to? I swear, that man…" But when she glanced over at Joe, his face had gotten quite serious, and she swallowed the rest of her sentence with a strangled sound. "Joe?" she asked quietly, peering at him from beneath long lashes.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Joe began, blinking his eyes as if snapping himself out of a deep thought process. M.J. looked surprised, but nodded with a smile as the two turned almost simultaneously and began an easy stroll through the partly deserted streets. A few men still milled about, excluding the ones who were busy setting up HQ, and they paid them little mind.

[MillietheWarrior]

M.J. still wore her hat whenever possible, and her curly mop of hair peeked out from beneath the rim over her dirt smudged cheeks. She looked more like a short soldier than a pretty girl, and she was quite happy to let people keep on believing that was exactly what she was. She didn't need any more attention than she already got. Besides, she didn't think Joe would take to that too kindly.

"What's on yer mind, Joe?" M.J. asked brightly, bouncing along beside him with the air of someone who hadn't a care in the world. Joe glanced at her, wondering exactly how it was that she could read him so well. She and Bill always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, even when he didn't say a word. As unnerving as it could sometimes be, he had to say he was grateful for it, especially at times like this, when even he wasn't sure what he was going to say or how to say it.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Well, I've been thinking…"

M.J. scrunched up her nose. "Did it hurt?" she asked, repeating a line he'd used with her the night they'd first kissed. She was feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

"A little," Joe chuckled, but his face instantly went back into it's serious mask. "Anyway, I've been thinking a lot. About you, about me, about this whole thing. But most importantly, I've been thinking about what's gonna happen when we get back home."

[MillietheWarrior]

M.J.'s smile froze on her face, and her gaze instantly darted to her feet, suddenly finding the cobblestone street much more interesting than the man beside her. "What do you mean, Joe?" she asked almost haltingly, as if afraid to hear his answer. "Nothing's gonna change, you know. Not really."

Joe frowned darkly, and kicked a stone across the street, arms folded over his broad chest. "That's just it, M.J. Things will be different. We won't be soldiers anymore; you'll be a woman, and I'll be a man. We'll both have to go back to being what we're supposed to be. And I don't know about you, but that's gonna be mighty hard for me to do if…if you're not gonna be there with me."M.J. sucked in a large gulp of air, feeling her heart skip a beat in her chest. " Who says I won't be there with you?" she began slowly, chancing a glance up at him from the corner of her eye. She saw shock, and elation and partial sadness written across the normally unexpressive face. "What makes you think I'm gonna up and leave you?"

[MillietheWarrior]

"I just thought…I have my family, you have yours. I never really thought of you as a woman out here, not until after that night we first kissed. Then I started seeing you in a whole different light, and I couldn't imagine not being by your side. You're so different, M.J. You're not like any woman I've ever met, and all the others…well, they're dull compared to you. You're intelligent, funny, sweet, and you have one hell of a right hook. And even if I think of you as a woman, I still think of you as one of my pals, like Bill. I can laugh and joke with you, and be myself. I've never been able to do that with anyone else."

[MillietheWarrior]

He took a deep breath as their feet took them around the side of a building, to a deserted alleyway. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…I don't want to think of a life without you. I don't want a life without you. So…"

M.J. felt her breath catch in her throat when Joe suddenly dipped out of her line of sight and she pivoted on her heel to see him kneeling in front of her, dark eyes staring up at her with an unreadable expression. "Will you marry me?"

"You big idiot," M.J. grumbled, feeling unwanted tears prick at the corner of her eyes. She hastily wiped them away, lest he see and use it as fodder for a later joke. "Of course I will."