[MillietheWarrior]

Joe nodded slowly, and shifted his weight, placing his gun in a comfortable position on his back. "Yes, sir. She said she was an American. I decided it'd be best to bring her back here. I wasn't sure what else to do. She's got something in that bag of hers. But she won't tell me what it is. I thought you'd like to check it, sir."

Winters nodded slowly, and his gaze returned to the woman, who still had the bag around her shoulders. "Classified," she said immediately. "And not for you to see." As he reached for the bag, she took a step back. "I told you 'no.' And I can assure you that this won't hurt anyone here. It's only meant to help."

She clenched her teeth as his hand reached out once more, aiming to grab the bag away from her. She quickly sank back onto the log she had occupied only moments before, and clutched the bag to her chest, curling over it protectively. "Back off," she growled, her voice was hoarse, and unwelcoming.

Winters raised a brow, and took a step back. Clearly, this woman would not give up the bag. "Toye?" He glanced at the man, who was staring down at the girl with a very confused face.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Sir?"

"Get the bag, all right?" he glanced at the girl. "What is your name? Tell me, and we'll be sure nothing happens to you, all right? You're safe now, none of the Germans can get to you if you give up something important. We promise."


Joe reached for the bag, and the moment his hand was within her reach, the woman lashed out and bit it. Joe cried out, and yanked back his hand, glaring down at the woman and mumbling unhappy curses beneath his breath.

The woman spit into the snow, and it was red. Her eyes trailed along the men who surrounded her, each looking apprehensive. They didn't know what to do with her, what to say, how to approach the situation. Winters took another step back, and assessed the odds.

On one hand, he had a rogue woman wandering in the midst of the German lines. He didn't know if she was a nurse, or a spy, or…Whatever the hell she claimed to be. On the other hand, he also had to take in the fact that this woman was unruly, and clearly could not be reasoned with. He had no idea what to do. He could shoot her, and then take the bag, but that would accomplish nothing.

[MillietheWarrior]

"Where is your CO?"


The words hit him like a ton of bricks, and he snapped back to reality as the woman's cold dark eyes glared up at him beneath long, black lashes. "Did you hear me? Where is your CO? I want to speak to him. You're the 101st?" He nodded, and she looked thoughtful for a brief second. "Then he's Colonel Sink, isn't he?"

Winters, and the rest of the Easy men all seemed to blink in unison, surprise etched across their features. "W-what? How on earth did you know that?" Winters' guard went up instantly, and he regarded the girl with wary blue eyes.

She smiled tightly, her lips drawn back over her teeth. "You'd be amazed at the things I know. Now go get him. I want to talk with him." Her eyes narrowed, and flashed dangerously. "Now."

[MillietheWarrior]

"This had better be good, Nixon."

Captain Nixon leapt out of the jeep, and placed a hand on the door to steady himself on the uneven terrain. "It is, sir. Believe me," he assured the colonel, motioning with his hands in Winters' and the other men's general direction. "Follow me, sir."

The two men strode hastily across the snow packed earth, white powder crunching beneath their feet and coating their jackets. Nixon's dark eyes scanned ahead, while the Colonel simply focused on their main objective; Winters.

"Well, Winters?" he questioned slowly, as the two men approached the group. "What is this all…" His sentence trailed off as the woman that was sitting behind the Captain only moments before, stood, and snapped off a salute. Stunned, and quite confused, the colonel could only return her salute, and wait patiently for an explanation.

His eyes narrowed suddenly, and he gazed into the worn face of this mysterious girl. "Hum…" He hummed slowly, his breath materializing and then vanishing in the crisp, winter air. "Don't I know you?"

The woman smiled briefly, and nodded curtly, before she dipped her head in a mild form of respect. "Indeed you do, sir. We met before. A long time ago. Nearly three years, to be precise, sir."

Winter, Toye, Guarnere and Nixon blinked in confusion and surprise. Babe had long since been sent off with Spina for supplies. What the hell were they talking about? Winters took a step forward. "Sir…If you don't mind….Do you think you could explain this to us, sir? What's going on?"

[MillietheWarrior]

Sink seemed transfixed by the woman, his eyes lost in thought as he observed her carefully. "Yes, yes…Now I remember. Your hair was much shorter then, and you weren't so…" he searched for the right word, and then seemed to find it. "Battle-worn."

Her eyes crinkled in amusement. "You mean, skinny? Yeah, I was fatter then," she mused, placing a hand to her cheek. "But I think we're all battle-worn…It's just to what extent."

Her words hung in the air as Sink crossed his arms over his chest. "All too true, lieutenant, all too true." Four sets of eyes snapped towards the colonel as he addressed the woman.

"Lieutenant, sir?" Nixon asked curiously, his breath hanging in the air. Sink nodded slowly, and offered them a drawn smile.

"Why, yes. And I can see why you said she wouldn't give up her bag, Captain Nixon. It's her job to guard it with her life." He reached forward, and plucked the sack from it's owner. The woman made no move to stop him, but seemed relieved to be rid of her burden.

"Yes, sir," she agreed hastily. Her gaze flickered to the four men as Sink glanced inside the bag. "Greetings and salutations, gents. My name is Lieutenant M.J. Heartford, K Company, 16th Special Ops Battalion, 1st Division. Nice to meet ya."

Winters' eyes snapped in her direction, and he gaped slightly. The newly appointed 'M.J.' could feel the gaze of each man in turn, as it landed upon her in disbelief and confusion. "I think if Colonel Sink would like to help me explain, we can do so back at your CP. Why don't we all have a nice little chat, eh?"
[20]

[MillietheWarrior]

The six individuals hunched over a small, barely noticeable fire back at the CP. M.J. was certainly happy to have her hands warm for a change, and reveled in the feel of the warmth against her fingertips.

"Well, you guys sure are lucky. We can't have a single fire back on the German lines. Too much of a dead giveaway. We'd be shot dead."

The woman hadn't spoken a word on the ride back to the CP, but now, as they sat huddled in the small space, around the tiny fire, she seemed more eager to speak. "So, how have you lot been faring up here? Doesn't look too good to me. Sorry about all the shelling. There was nothing I could do about it." Her gaze landed on Sink, and he nodded in agreement.

[MillietheWarrior]

"We know. You'd have compromised your mission. We couldn't risk it. Don't worry about it too much. We're faring as best we can. But it's to be expected. We're short on supplies." The woman dipped her head slowly, and her eyes flickered to the rest of the men.

"I suspected as much," she replied shortly, looking thoughtful. "Well, here's a bit of a rundown for you, gents. You know my name, you know my rank. But I bet ya'll don't know about the company I belong to." She smiled briefly, as though recalling fond memories of a time long past, and then sobered.

"So, the Special Ops Battalion is one of the few experimental battalions that Ike put into play. We're an elite force, sent over here to infiltrate the German opposition, see? We gather critical information, and pass it along the wires to the commanders. What they do with it is their decision. So basically, in layman's terms," She rubbed her hands together, and watched as her breath vanished into the air. "We're spies."

"It was my job, along with the few men and women in my battalion, to integrate ourselves into the German population. We lived among them for a while, studied their habits, their customs. We already knew their language, you see. And after a while, the villagers in the towns we were staying in, began to trust us, you know?"

[MillietheWarrior]

She wrapped her coat tighter about herself, and shivered. "Geeze, it's cold…Anyway, Once we'd gained their trust, we slowly began to trickle into the German army, one by one. My fellow women and I enlisted as nurses, while the men enlisted as soldiers. However, we knew it'd be hard for us nurses to gain any type of useful intelligence, being stationed only in the hospital tents and never in the field."

Her dark eyes flickered to the canvas roof of the tent they sat under, and five sets of eyes followed them, before resettling on her. "So, I put some of my connections into play. My friends and I pulled some strings, and clawed and fought our way to the field, where we convinced them we'd be more of an asset at the front lines than behind them. If we were to be put with a battalion, a regiment, a division or a company, then we'd have a better chance of saving more lives. It took a while, but we finally convinced them to do it."

[MillietheWarrior]

The bag she had clung to so desperately sat at her feet, and she picked it up, pulling out a few papers. "See this? This is what it's all about. I have the position of every German gun in Europe marked on this, courtesy of Private First Class Bobby J. Fields, known in Germany as Alfred Günter, who worked his way up to lieutenant colonel in the 106th Division." She folded the paper, and placed it back inside, before pulling out another. "Every regiment, company or battalion of the German opposition," she told them. "On this one."

She paused, and a grim smile flickered across her lips for a brief, unrecognizable moment. "The Germans are losing this war, gents. They have no significant reinforcements. Tanks, trucks, scout cars, wagons, artillery pieces. Nearly gone, decimated. The dreaded Panthers and Tigers? Nearly out of fuel. Once it's gone, that's it."

She fell silent, and her face seemed to grow thoughtful as her eyes clouded over with memories. "I've seen a lot of shit in this God-forsaken place. I was there when Market-Garden fell on it's ass, and I watched the Americans pull out. The Siegfried line, Metz, Hurtgen forest. We're in Bastogne, fellas. This is the big one. The one that will make or break this whole God damn operation. This'll be the last major offensive that Hitler can afford to launch. And unless he's completely crazy, he won't try it again. All it'll take is one great big push, and the Germans will fall back. The MLR," here she paused, and glanced at the men. "Their main line of resistance, is weak, thin. It'll fall back as soon as you make your move. Although…"

[MillietheWarrior]

Her eyes narrowed, and she glanced over her shoulder. "There aren't enough men, nor is there enough ammunition, to push them back. It's gonna take a lot more than you have, colonel." Sink nodded in agreement, he knew that part without having to be told.

She continued on, her voice softer, but fairly optimistic. "When we began this campaign, the Germans still used horse drawn carts to haul their artillery, and even men, around. Now things look different. Their situation has changed. They aren't the great, undefeatable world power that they thought they were. They're short on everything. Food, ammunition, men, gasoline."

Her eyes swept over the smiles that lit up the faces of the young men. These citizen soldiers. There was nothing better than to know it would all be over soon. Their eyes were brightening, and they looked enthusiastic.

"From here on out, colonel, if we can push them back, they'll be on the defensive. It'll still be many days, if not months, before you can capture Berlin, or hell, Germany itself. But you will capture it. And it may not be you, or your division, or anyone who is fighting here today. But I can assure you, that the first solider in Berlin will be American."
[25]

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