" The bond that links your true family is not one of blood but of respect and joy in each other's life."

- Richard Bach

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Within that Monday however, the intense training schedule that generally everyone was anticipating finally approached them all. With their weekend of fun in Swindon having passed by then, serious facades fell upon everyone.

Hazel set times to get to bed early to ensure she could wake up with enough time in the morning and Grace graciously would wake up early to provide her food other than the horrid Army breakfast which they were both grateful for.

That first week was more-or-less hell.

They were going almost 10 hours a day in the field going through multiple types of training. Hikes were something that Sobel enjoyed around the English countryside in full gear that ranged from 15 to 25 miles, with Sobel leading, in one of the most prideful manners as well. Each night was a new night operation, that made everyone get virtually about 4 hours of sleep when all was said and done. Close-combat exercises were another of Sobel's favorites.

Hazel always found herself partnered with Shifty on those however, with their similar heights and builds and Hazel had never been more grateful, but she was always sore. To say that Hazel's back hurt a bit after that would be an understatement with the amount of time's she and Shifty had to flip each other over each other's shoulders. Hazel could tell Shifty was just the slightest bit nervous flipping the girl over his shoulder, only because she was tiny, but she told him to just do it. When Shifty would look at her after doing so, she'd simply smile up at him and get up ready to do it again.

She was a mighty little thing for sure.

But then Hazel gave Shifty a run for his money when he would do it to him, and Shifty found that her moves were quick and sharp and defined, like they'd be worked on almost expertly.

Shifty was intimidated by that, but he didn't entirely mind.

There were also afternoons spent in street fighting, which Hazel thought was rather chaotic, that nervous laughs would accidentally leave her system as she ran beside a member of 2nd platoon along a rode and would scare a nearby civilian.

One maneuver was led by Second Platoon's own Bill Guarnere as Hazel remained in his squad with Catherine leading 3rd Squad through a field.

" Hazel on me." Bill said, giving her a thumbs up. Hazel gave a quick thumbs up and then patted Chuck on the shoulder who was in front of her and followed after Bill. Bill moved across the street quickly, before moving up along the side of a building across the way. Hazel did a quick peek around the corner and then hurried across, slamming in next to Bill with a nod.

" I want you set up here," Bill said pointing to the ground," facing here," he said and motioned to her left. She nodded to him and he patted her back before moving back across the street to the rest of the squad. Hazel got on her stomach on the cold concrete, and set up her scope, which she set to safety as she could see civilians clearly through it.

Hazel glanced over towards Bill who spoke clearly to 2nd platoon's 2nd squad before jumping to the wall to give a quick peek again. Like there were Krauts or something. Bill then jumped up and motioned to the group to move quickly down the side of the building and Hazel watched earnestly from her position set on her bipod.

She watched as Joe Toye led the group forward, and then stopped, causing the rest of 2nd squad to slam into his back as a civilian came around the corner with mounds of wheat atop his cart, wide eyed. Hazel snickered quietly to herself, even if she knew in battle she wouldn't snicker when the enemy popped up right around the corner.

But it was fine, to have some fun and games for a while, and she enjoyed Joe Toye's telling of the story that night at mess when Catherine and Lizzie had finally taken their seats and many others had gathered around to hear Joe's tale. It left people cackling afterwards.

But that was just one of many stories like it.

Lizzie and Gene were a great duo of medics who led Easy in simple medical related sessions. They bounced off each other, as in, they just seemed to mesh as colleagues. If Lizzie had an idea, she'd give it to Gene and Gene would like it and vice versa. And Gene was someone who defended the women if things were spoken about them by other medics of the 101st or 506th when they'd all get together for larger based meetings.

" You know a Sergeant Christopher Jenkins?" Gene had asked her one day, as the two medics stood in front of a room of Easy men and women practicing wrapping a wound. Lizzie glanced towards Gene, with her arms crossed, a worried look crossing her face.

" Yeah," Lizzie answered, " yeah, I do, why?" Gene scratched his head and looked towards her.

" He was hanging around where Airborne medics all were, talking to this one guy, about you." Gene said and glanced at Lizzie. Lizzie bit her lip.

" He's been bugging us since January." Lizzie said softly and then shrugged, " We've told him off a few times, he likes breaking our stones about women and the military." Gene looked over at her.

" Seems that's the only thing he can do." Gene muttered.

" He's part of the 82nd," Lizzie said, " but he always was hanging around us. I suspected that there was intimidation there, but..."

" I would've been intimidated seeing someone like you come in." Gene said softly with a gentle smile. Lizzie smiled gently at him.

" There's really nothing much to be intimidated about." Lizzie said, almost shyly, placing a strand o hair behind her ear. Gene smiled.

" Possibly that intelligence up there, your kindness, quick thinking." Gene offered as he looked towards her and Lizzie's grin widened.

" That means a lot Gene." Lizzie said. Gene smiled at her.

" Don't listen to that guy, he just has never actually had a real conversation with you." Gene said,

" He's to ignorant to do that though." Lizzie smiled.

" And sometimes people are like that." Lizzie agreed with him, nodding and Gene nodded. Then he smiled softly at her.

The classes were long, though, reminding Hazel of classes back at Athene with maps, first aid, chemical warfare, and most importantly German weapons.

Hazel had started offering Liebgott her notes, and soon enough they were sharing notes, huddled side by side, writing things down together, and sometimes Joe would bump her as she wrote just to mess her up or peeve her off the deep end. But it was all good fun in the end.

" You know, Joe, hitting my shoulder and messing up my notes, is messing up your notes as well." Hazel had told him one afternoon as Lieutenant Winters stood at the front of the group going over spits of information based on the ideology of the ground and its importance when doing practice runs or drills that were supposed to be of semblance to real combat.

" I don't entirely care, Parker, I'm just here to annoy ya." Joe mumbled back as Winters voice grew louder.

" Funny," muttered Hazel, as she kicked his foot under the table. She saw Joe smirk at her. He kicked her foot back and she glanced over towards him.

" What?" he asked, like he didn't just hit her foot.

" I'm a sniper, Joe," Hazel said softly, as she wrote another few words down in her book.

" And?"

" Well," Hazel said as Winters glanced towards the two, " my bullets came move 1,000 feet per second, Joe."

" Right," Joe said.

" And, I know the spots in the body where the most pain could be inflicted upon bullet entry." Hazel said with a nod looking up at the board again.

" Oh right I forgot." Joe said as Hazel let a giggle pass her lips. All the guys were like that though, treating the women like one of the guys, like they had actually trained with them, even though they had only met a month or two ago, but that's what the military did to you. Bonded you with people together so greatly that it didn't matter what your background was.

On 25 mile hike days, with Sobel they could be 24 hour hikes or 12 hour hikes, it depended on mostly Sobel's mood within the company. Hazel always marched alongside Joe Liebgott and Chuck Grant and the trio became a group of comedians when Sobel would yell out his dumb " Hi-Ho Silver" phrase and the 3 would start mocking him, quietly, in their own impressions, even though George Luz had the best impersonations that Lizzie got to hear as a member of 1st platoon. Sobel's favorite though had to be the consistent courses of booby traps, removal of mines, and communications. he talked rather enthusiastically as he discussed such courses and never heard the mockery George made of it during lunches.

Catherine was the only one, along really with her fellow NCOs who had trouble making fun of it, because, like Lip, she tried imagining Sobel in the field of combat and nearly shit her pants. The thought scared her, as some sort of leader to be looked up to.

" Someone like him, leading us in combat, Bill?" Catherine said as the two NCOs walked through the streets of Aldbourne that weekend, a slight chill in the air.

" I don't think I can do that." Catherine said, as Bill glanced at her.

" I don't think a single NCO agrees with following him in." Bill said, " Talked to Lip the other day, nicest guy you ever talk to and even he was hesitant to say Sobel would be a combat leader in battle, a good one at that."

" I mean, I didn't have training at Toccoa, but seriously? Forgetting Hazel in the field? Mixing up his maps? We'll get killed before we even come into contact with the enemy." Catherine hissed softly as Bill glanced at her.

" After Toccoa, we'd do practice drills, guy would get frantic, lead us to an ambush, he was always messing up maneuvers and still is." Bill said. Catherine bit her lip with a sigh and rubbed a hand worriedly over her face. The NCOs were the clear glue of Easy Company, that held the tight knit group together with the struggles of Herbert Sobel.

" We'll be alright though," Catherine affirmed to him, nodding her head, " if anything we have Winters and Lip and us NCOs. We're already doing all we can to make sure that if something goes wrong in the field, we can take over. I have to keep telling myself that."

" He'll be lucky if we don't mutiny before this fucking jump." Bill muttered beside her as she sighed to herself. Sobel would be very lucky if that didn't happen, but with each week, that was looking closer to the only option.

November was when the 2 to 3 day exercises started, and the nights grew colder and darker in the already rainy and cold England. Hazel became accustomed to Sobel forgetting about her much to the dislike of the NCOs who supported Hazel relentlessly.

Bill had counted on her many times for her observant skills that she seemed to witlessly provide. Bill was almost thrown out of the weekend pass for talking to Sobel the way he did to give Hazel fair representation as a sniper in the company. This is why Hazel was grateful for her practice days with Sergeant Coleman.

So, on 3 day exercises, Hazel liked how after the group would move through the English countryside, Winters would come around and give them tips about the land and the mechanics of wanting to understand the land they would land on as paratroopers. Hazel adored Winters methods as a leader and tactician, they were substantially better than Sobel's by a landslide and Hazel felt comfortable knowing that at least if they had Winters, they'd be ok. She also liked the way Winters addressed foxholes. He always said the foxholes would save your life even in the most desperate and dehumanizing times.

Hazel always stayed in various foxholes with Shifty, who Sobel had begrudgingly assigned to Hazel as partners for their similar sniping abilities as Shifty was the best sharpshooter of the company. Shifty had protested against that too many times as her and Shifty lay side by side in their foxhole, staring at the cloudy sky that covered the stars, talking quietly at night, but Hazel promised that if they were partners, he had to be one of the best.

But it was little things like that, which brought the women and men closer.

Field work.

One of the most unlikely things.

Even if Sobel was totally against the women in the company, he couldn't deny the sharpened skills they had compared to a slew of the men of the company. It brought everyone closer.

Catherine would be in foxholes with Bill and they got to know each other well, through experiences and holding each other close, with no meal in their stomachs, as rain and thunder poured down on them. But it was like instinct, to just protect each other and be there for each other, everyone noticed it as the weeks passed. The men and women of the company could trust each other though because at nights it felt like they were really out in the middle of Germany, as Shermans would roll by or they would hear practice shots from other far off British companies. They knew they could trust each other and have each other's back and that was a beautiful thing.

Lizzie and Gene were like two peas in a pod as the company medics who trusted each other dutifully and who the men trusted with their lives by that point.

It helped that the women came in with sharpened skills, they were viewed as people who could automatically be trusted because of how fine-tuned their skills were in the field and how commanding their vocal or silent presence was.

It was a dynamic that was respected and worked. It got to the point where when someone would walk around at night, people could recognize their footsteps.

Hazel knew when Catherine and Bill did rounds and she knew when it was Lip or Chuck or Johnny or Bull. It was mutual thing within each one of them. If it was true to say that the reason trust was able to build between the men and women was because of those nights in the field where desperation seemed too overwhelming, then it had to be true.

Hazel recognized that to build bonds, sometimes you never had to say a word to each other, it could be one look and you're gone, you completely see one another inside and out. Hazel preferred it that way.

The men of Toccoa had been bonded through that experience, but with the women now, this just strengthened it entirely.

And all the officers saw that.

On weekend passes, the group was so comfortable with each other, able to talk for hours, understand each other, know each other's own mannerisms and even what their favorite color was. Little things like that. But it was an evident bond, built from Sobel's training, even of that in Toccoa that helped bring the group closer with each practice and made it more bearable.

December was never a great month for Hazel, it always was so ungodly cold, especially now in England, so the night practices were always unbearable now, with her toes going numb as she lay shoved in Shifty's side lying in freezing mud, rubbing her hands furiously together to stay warm, as to there were no blankets provided by Sobel or 2nd Battalion. Hazel relished when she would get back to the Burnett's after a 3 day practice. Grace made a wonderful cream that helped her feet a lot and run a bath for her, and then make tea and shortbreads for her, making her sit by the fire until she felt warm. Harry would keep the radio on Christmas music stations as Hazel sat on the couch sipping her drink, in the dim light of the evening. It was always such a wonderful thing to come back to.

They started doing jumps, for the purpose of quick assembly afterwards. On the first ever jump with the boys, since the 3 women didn't earn their jump wings with the men, there was a bit of anticipation in how the women would react from the men, but once they watched the women jump that disappeared. Learning to use the risers was something the women noticed many of the men still were getting used to, but during those 9 months before the men, in England, they were changed with a Special Forces member Lieutenant Burke who would help them nail down the expertises of risers.

Hazel hated her numb toes, but Joe Liebgott, who was beside her for each combat jump would always tell her to continue 'wiggling those toes', and she would before they became numb. She spent many nights, having Grace run salt baths for her toes and feet to keep them from hypothermia, but many of the other men went through similar things as well.

On a particular jump, in the middle of December on a cold, rainy and windy day, as Hazel landed, she watched as other members from 2nd land as well as Winters and Nixon. Hazel looked up into the grey sky and saw the singular plane fly by.

" Where the fuck is 1st and 3rd?" Joe Liebgott said coming up beside Hazel. Hazel looked at the sky again.

" Did we miss the DZ that much?" she asked him as she heard Winters call out to the group to come over to him.

" I hope the fuck not." Joe said to her. He liked the use of 'fuck' when he got angry, but Hazel had noticed that from being his partner and buddy on jumps plenty of times.

" It seems," Winters started as the mass of 2nd platoon gathered around him, " that we've missed the DZ." Hazel glanced at Joe beside her and then back towards where Penkala, who she had grown closer with, was standing with Skip and Don with their mortars. She quirked a brow up and he sighed with a roll of his eyes.

" Let's start a double envelopment south," Winters said as Nixon brought out his map and looked at it, " we'll go in the general direction of where the DZ was." And so they began moving in that general direction, spread out along the line as they moved through the forest.

" How far you think we missed it?" Hazel asked Joe.

" Well, we've been walking for a solid 10 miles by now, so I'd so pretty damn far." Joe told her and Hazel sighed. Imagine if it had been during an actual jump into enemy territory. It possibly could've meant death. Hazel's feet were numb by the time they reached the DZ, where 1st and 3rd platoon stood, it was almost nightfall.

" Lieutenant Winters!" Sobel called out as the group approached. The two began conversing with each other as Hazel glanced towards Lizzie who stood next to Perconte. They met eyes and Hazel shook her head regretfully. Lizzie let out a visible sigh and Hazel smirked with a shrug.

That night, they were told just how much they had missed it by.

25 miles.

Thank God for Sobel and those stupid 25 mile marches, it might've just saved their sanity.

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hey! i'm back with another chapter! these next few are simply showing the sort of training the men and women went through together in england, so if there's no real major events that pop up in these, that's why! but these truly are just showing the simple threads woven together as the company is pulled tighter and tighter together as one!

thank you for all your love on this book! i've never been more excited to update it and let people see the story!