" Not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies."

- Thomas Pane

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Catherine eventually left the barn, on a mission to see the one and only Lieutenant Lewis Nixon. Catherine had only talked to Lewis Nixon on a handful of unfortunate situations, that put her in a position of 'oh I know geography' and 'wow Sobel's being stupid again', and she'd stepped in numerous times to try and clear the air between Nixon and Sobel. Supposedly, Sink had caught on, as well as Strayer and Sobel.

So there Catherine was, on her way up to Strayer's office, where Nixon was supposed to end up meeting her, with new information for her. Catherine slowly stepped inside the huge home that had been converted into officer's offices. It smelled musty.

Catherine slowly headed up the stairs towards where she had been told Strayer's office was when she nearly walked straight into Lieutenant Speirs, a mysterious, dark-haired man who ran a platoon in Dog Company and had been fiercely competent when it came to respecting the women of Easy Company, drilling the men of Dog Company about the importance of respecting all soldiers in the field. Whatever he had said to them seemed to stick because Catherine had yet to hear high nor hair from a Dog Company member.

" Sorry, sir." Catherine said as she stepped down a step to let the Lieutenant pass by. He offered a small smile, which might've been forced, but the exhausted look in his eyes said otherwise.

" Lieutenant Nixon up there?" Catherine asked him.

" Yeah he's up there alright, getting an earful from Strayer." Speirs told her, as she nodded, putting her tongue in her cheek.

" Right, sir, I would've suspected. Thank you." she said, and then turned and hurried up the few sets of stairs towards the office. As she approached, she could hear Strayer's voice clearly loud, overwhelmed and angry. As she stepped inside, she saw Lieutenant Nixon, leaned up against a sand table, fingers pressed tenderly to the bridge of his nose, looking rather stressed out as well. Nixon finally looked up when he saw the woman enter the room.

" Thank Christ," Nixon muttered through a smoke as she gave a salute and walked over to the two.

" Glad you're here, McCown." Strayer said looking back down at the map. Catherine nodded. She didn't have a clue why she was here, but she considered just going with it at this point.

" Let me grab something real quick." Strayer said, as he turned and moved towards the wobbly desk that was fixated in the corner of the room. Nixon pushed up from his bent position against the desk and approached her with a smirk. She raised a brow.

" What, sir?" she asked, a sarcastic tone flooding her voice.

" Get ready for this when you see it." Nixon said to her, as he placed the cigarette back on his lip.

" Sergeant McCown, I think that now is a wonderful time for an upgrade." she heard Strayer say and Catherine glanced up towards him, to see Strayer coming over with a pin between his two fingers.

" Lieutenant McCown." Strayer seemed to correct as he stopped in front of her. Catherine's eyes widened as she looked towards Strayer.

" Sergeant no more, McCown, seems we need you more up here than there. And you'd make a competent and intelligent Lieutenant." Strayer informed her. I'd hope, she thought to herself with a grateful smile to him. But a Lieutenant?

" Sir?" she asked, still completely and utterly confused as to why she was becoming a Lieutenant.

" No need for those big, worried eyes, McCown, you're suited for this position." Strayer said as he pinned the bar to her collar. Catherine continued staring at him wide eyed. She was still confused.

" No need for the stripes either, I suggest when you get back to your billet that you remove 'em." Strayer said before clipping the pin into place.

" Yes, sir." Catherine said with a nod. What was she doing as a Lieutenant? Well, now that mutiny had just been enacted would this change? She couldn't even begin to think about that.

" No, don't get me wrong, McCown," Strayer called as he wobbled walking back this desk and sifting through a shit-load of papers, " you probably think there's been a mistake. But there isn't." Catherine glanced at Nixon who sat with a smirk on his face, shaking his head like he couldn't even believe this conversation existed.

" What am I going to be doing?" Catherine asked, " Sir, um. God." Catherine groaned to herself, completely confused.

" You, Lieutenant McCown, are going to assist Lieutenant Nixon, in many ways with intelligence. You attended Cornell is that correct?" Strayer asked her.

" Yes, sir. I studied geography as a minor, mostly of the Great War, and majored in psychology. I was the only woman in my class." Catherine clarified.

" He says it's why you're perfect for the position." Nixon muttered from beside her with a smirk on his face. Catherine made a face that seemed to make Nixon laugh.

" Sink was the one to recommend you actually." Strayer said as he sifted once again through the stack of papers that remained on his desk, " Damn map." Boy would Sink be so happy to see she just committed mutiny. Lord.

" You, will be assisting Lieutenant Nixon with your mapping skills, as well as remain a platoon leader, but you will rotate throughout the 3 platoons as well, keep your face shown through the company, things like that." Strayer explained. Catherine was surprised.

" Sir, I don't think-"

" Lieutenant McCown, if Sink thinks ya can, I think you can, as well as Nixon, then you can, hear me?" Strayer said.

" Yes, sir." Catherine answered with a quick nod to him.

" Alright, well, let's get started then." Strayer said as he rolled out a rather large map that was covered in a various amount of marked locations, with pinpointed coordinates and scribbled, and clearly rushed notes around them. Or an accurate depiction of when someone tried to describe what their brain was thinking.

" General's had a lot of time to think about the invasion, when, where, what time, stuff like that. The man's thinking Normandy will be the spot." Nixon explained.

" Normandy, France." Strayer clarified. Catherine thought on that. There were multiple little towns around that area, but the beach was huge, like a monster. She had done specific studies on the geography on different countries, and France had been one of them, especially the coasts. The main reason the coasts were also studied intensely was because of influx of supplies, shipping docks, the average amount of people in and out of the country in a day and so on, general economic based things. It was what contributed to understanding the geography of the land as well as the heavily mobbed ports where people usually left from.

" Gotta get across the channel, then move inland, who knows what the Krauts might have set up." she said letting out a sigh.

" Don't let that bother ya." Nixon said, " The General's got something up his sleeve, something he's not letting on about. Strayer tried getting word down from Regiment on it, but they won't budge up there." Catherine shrugged, as Strayer looked up from his notes.

" Tried, Nixon, remember that. Still have no comment until further notice." Strayer said and Catherine sighed.

" There's been some talk however, about dropping in behind the lines, then having multiple bombers head in afterwards, then the land forces to hopefully clear the mess up, but I have my doubts." Nixon stated, " 3 waves."

" With those beaches?" she asked, " Normandy has some beaches, but they're not exactly California." Catherine sighed and glanced at the map again.

" You want me to keep studying the land?" Catherine asked Nixon.

" Yeah, that too. But also," Nixon said, scratching his head, " we're nearing the time of this invasion and we're thinking you could run a general briefing on understanding the geography of roaming the land, things like that. It'll help the men and women." Catherine leaned back to grab a sheet of paper and a pen, writing a few things down.

" A time for that?" she asked. Between the amount of reports she had written based on the geography of the land, and presentations, this was a piece of cake.

" Maybe 2 weeks 1100, it'll give you time to prep." Nixon clarified. She nodded, writing the time down.

" I don't mean to ask sir, but has Winters' gotten any word?" Catherine said quietly, eyes focused on the tiny pad of paper in front of her.

" The guy's been stuck up in mess for the past few days, doubt he's got anything." Nixon stated. Catherine sighed to herself, before scratching her head.

" Then let's get to work," Catherine said with nothing better to do.

Hazel still sat with a few of the NCOs around the table as she quietly sipped her coffee. Tab's arm remained around her shoulders as she sat there, drying off the best she could with the towel. Chuck sat across from her, feet kicked up, smoking a cigarette and looking towards the ceiling while Johnny took to staring out at the pouring rain deep in thought. Bull and Bill were sorting through smokes. It was relatively quiet.

" I'm gonna head back to the Burnett's." Hazel said as she looked to Tab.

" You sure?" Tab asked quickly as she nodded.

" I need to shower, I'm cold." she said, and wiped her eyes from rain water.

" Want me to walk you there?" he asked her softly.

" No stay here, in case Catherine comes back with news." Hazel said softly with a smile. Tab nodded and squeezed her shoulder.

" Bye guys." she called lightly to the group of NCOs.

" See ya, kid." Bill called.

" Warm up, Hazel." Chuck called to her.

" Will do." Hazel said.

" Stay warm for us, kid." Bull called.

" Bye Tiny." Johnny called with a small wave. Hazel stepped back into the downpour before heading towards the Burnetts. When she got in she headed right upstairs and started a warm shower, her mind running a mile a minute.

The news of the NCOs turning in papers calling off their leadership in the company because of Sobel settled over Hazel. Hazel knew what it meant, all the NCOs could be lined up and shot, moved from Division or busted to another Regiment. Hazel was happy for what the NCOs had decided to do. They were taking a stand against Sobel who was showing clearly he was not capable of leading the company, and be a figure who could lead in general. Hazel went to bed that night and wrote her mother back. Hazel sat on the bed with the covers over her legs and carefully composed a letter to send back to her mother.

Mom,

I'm glad you find my writing still eloquent after all these years. And that you also seem to like descriptions. Currently, I'm in bed, with the lights still on and it is raining harshly outside, but that's just the British weather I guess. Right now, we're currently all on the edge of our seats. Mutiny. Our NCOs have performed mutiny against our CO, who we are not willing to follow into combat and who the NCOs think they shouldn't follow into combat. And I highly respect their decision to do so. The decision the NCOs made could be life-threatening, but I applaud them for doing it especially before our mission that has been talked about so much. Joe Liebgott's also been there. He's one of the best guy friends I have here. He's a lot like you. The girls are all doing fine. Lizzie's been amazing herself; always happy and smiling. Her and Gene are a great duo and always get along so well. They're like peanut butter and jelly when they work side by side. It's like you can't have one without the other, essentially. Lizzie does one thing, Gene does the other, they just work well together and we both know how efficient that is on the field. Catherine's been like a mother out here to me out here and her and Lizzie have both become like sisters to me. I've never been more thankful for both of them to be in my life especially during this time. I got your message at the end about my father. I will accept a letter from him, but I don't promise a response back depending on the time he does send me one, or even what the contents inside enclose. I don't wish to go into further detail about the entire thing, but I will accept it. I hope you have a wonderful evening, day or night, whatever time you read this and that it brings you joy. I hope to send you another before our mission embarks. I wish you well and all the best.

Love, your daughter, Hazel

Hazel carefully folded the letter, satisfied that she'd submit it tomorrow to the postal office. She then placed it on the nightstand on her side and slowly turned down the light until it went out. Hazel flopped on her side and cuddled into the pillow and gently shut her eyes to the sound of the rain hitting the roof that was securely attached above her head.

The next morning, though, every single NCO from Easy Company that wrote those letters was called to Colonel Sinks office, and by that moment pride was the only thing pounding from Catherine's' chest.

" I ought to have you all shot!" Sink said, his hard stare glaring down at the group, not in anger, but more in disappointment, as if he expected better. Catherine's gaze remained unwavering as she stared forward, she was on the end, as the intelligence NCO, but she still remained prideful in the small protest she could make.

" This is nothing less than an act of mutiny while we prepare for the goddamn invasion of Europe." Sink said firmly looking towards the eyes of Catherine. Catherine stared forward. She could feel the tension radiating like the waves that rocked against the shore, as her heart hammered in her chest. The rest of the men were dead silent, staring forward with equal pride that wanted to seep out, but held it in in front of the Colonel.

" Sergeant Harris." Sink said.

" Sir." Harris answered, with a somewhat regretful voice.

" Turn in your stripes, collect your gear. You are hereby transferred out of my regiment." Sink said, and Catherine bit at her lip, until she felt it bleed. Catherine was somewhat wide eyed, but swallowed her words into herself.

" Sir." Harris said, saluting the Colonel.

" Get out." Sink said. Harris stepped forward and then turned and promptly walked out.

" Sergeant Ranney." Sink started again, making Catherine's eyes quickly dart over to Ranney.

" Sir." Ranney answered.

" You consider yourself lucky. I'm only busting you to private." Sink said.

" All of you NCOs have disgraced the 101st Airborne." Sink said, sitting back with his hands interlaced with each other in his chair, " You can consider yourself lucky that we are on the eve of the largest action in the history of warfare. Which leaves me no choice by to spare your lives." Sink just looked at them, before leaning forward, his guard somewhat dropping.

" Now get out of my office and get out of my sight." Sink said, and the group of remaining NCOs saluted the man quickly and with pride.

" Get." Sink said, looking up at them, but just barely. Their salutes dropped and the two rows of NCOs turned to their lefts before the back row left and the front row followed. As Catherine left, she watched as Sink watched the rows of NCOs leave the room. She caught his eye and he just nodded to her as she walked forward. When the group of NCOs left the main quarters for the officers, they walked in a solemn silence, realizing what they'd just done as they put their caps securely on their heads.

Catherine walked beside Chuck and Tab, more near the middle of the pack but behind Guarnere she could easily see the face of Winters, helping unload food from a truck outside. Winters stopped, letting the clipboard hang in his hand as the NCOs moved toward him in a group.

The minute Bill saluted, the rest of the NCOs quickly followed suit with their own salutes to the man. They all respected Winters, each and every one of them. His leadership worked for Easy Company, and he knew each and every man. He treated them as soldiers, and he worked well with them.

Catherine met Winters' eyes and gave him a hopeful smile, which he surely wouldn't understand, but hoped he would somewhat appreciate. The NCOs passed, their salutes dropping, but Catherine felt a weight lift suddenly from her shoulders after doing so.

She didn't know what it was, or what that feeling meant, but she just knew there was a change from now on.

A huge shift, a huge change.

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hey! here's another! i'll have one more after this!

i truly have enjoyed writing this book and we're getting closer and closer with each step towards the invasion of normandy, and i'm truly excited for you all to see the way this story picks up!

thank you!