" Having a soft heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness."

- Unknown

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Replacements.

Never were there a more fascinating group of young men who joined up in Easy Company. Fascinating as in, cocky, and interesting as in rude.

And the best thing to happen yet since Easy Company had made it to September?

Sergeant Jenkins?

Got himself in a fight with a few of his own replacements and got transferred from the 82nd to the 101st, placed into Dog Company. Catherine just hoped that Lieutenant Speirs had a field day with that asshole and she'd never have to see his face again. Catherine's shoulder was improving, more than it had been back in August and now her mobility was better, but she still needed weekly physical therapy sessions. It sucked, but Catherine went.

In early September after a few miscalls on jumps, Easy finally made way to Membury, and Hazel felt that leaving the Burnett's behind was the worst pain in her heart that she had felt in a long time. But Hazel was determined to go back to that beautiful home, with those beautiful people and see them again and relive the memories that helped her through the beginning of this war. But it was like telling each other, see ya later alligator, like they knew they'd see each other. It was a nice feeling simply saying see you soon instead of good bye. Because Hazel was determined to see them again.

Out of all the replacements, Babe Heffron made the biggest impression, mostly because Bill took him under his wing almost immediately and then Joe Toye tagged on, and then there was George, and Bill and Bull and Catherine - the list sort of went on after that. Babe, even though confident, was a blushing mess in front of the 3 Viragos when the time did come for say mess and they were all sat at a table and one of them would ask him a question and he'd be just saying things, red as a tomato. But he recovered quickly, he was just surprised the Viragos even were talking to him.

There had been rumors in their training about how they were the the toughest, meanest soldiers, worse than some of the men as they fought bravely in battle.

Babe had taken it in grains of salt, knowing what images he saw of some of the women and figured that at least not all of them were that way. His momma brought him respecting women, hell a woman had brought him into this world; he felt she was the only one that could take him right out again.

Babe, rather naive, was fairly observant.

He noticed Joe and Hazel, the best friends who went from fighting like an old couple, to laughing at each other within seconds, were always together. Catherine on the other hand was always with the officers, her Lieutenant ranking forcing her there, even though, like Buck, she adored spending time with the enlisted. Catherine mostly though would hang around Bill and Joe Toye, and George and sometimes float over to Skip or Malarkey. She had a big circle it seemed and was highly respected. Lizzie, the medic, he had figured out, was usually with Gene Roe, or sometimes with Tab, Smokey and Shifty, and the 4 would give each other a bit of crap, but Babe had heard them once; it was rather hilarious, or sometimes Lizzie would be with George and Perco, a comedic duo Babe thought, or sometimes over with Malarkey.

But he always knew how close the 3 women were, because they didn't even need to be standing near each other in a bar for him to know that they had a strong connection to one another.

A Presidential Unit Citation had been issued to the entire unit and each man and woman who served in Normandy wore that pin with pride. Normandy had been rough and many people came back with nightmares and visions and it was only now that they were starting to slowly weed off a bit, a not be as consistent. People were just glad to be back in the safety of Aldbourne.

And Catherine's duties had picked up, moving between Battalion and then moving to the company. She was never really just the company's and she was never really just Battalion's, she felt she just moved where she was needed, whether helping a platoon leader lead or bringing along a map somewhere. She bridged the gap that was between Battalion and Easy and she was glad she could fill that role. And plus she had fun with Nixon and Winters and a bunch of the other higher ups. Catherine headed into the office where she knew they would be. She hurried up the stairs and then headed in the room where Winters sat behind a desk and Nixon was across from him, leaned up against a desk, arms crossed.

" And Her Highness arrives." Nixon said as Catherine shot him a smile.

" I prefer Your Worship, but that works too." Catherine said as she dug into her pocket for a pencil. It was there somewhere. Nixon chuckled as Winters barely looked up from his paper.

" They already have you doing reports?" Catherine questioned to Winters as he sighed and sat back, they had months for that.

" No," Winters said, " I'm still working on those letters home to families. Their son died a hero." Catherine sighed to herself.

" Sorry," she said, " I thought it would be about the next jump."

" You just want to actually engage in battle without a gimpy shoulder don't you?" Nixon said.

" Correct, Lewis." Catherine said with a smirk, as Nixon picked up a map and showed it to her.

" Holland supposedly." Nixon said. Catherine sighed to herself.

" You can't tell me this was Eisenhower's idea." Catherine said.

" Correct, Catherine, British Command thought it up." Nixon said.

" Great," Catherine said.

" Ah, I know, first thing I thought was oh great, let's go parachute into occupied Holland." Nixon said.

" I mean we parachuted into occupied France and called it, oh we found a spot." Catherine said as Nixon chuckled. Catherine smirked before glancing back at Winters.

" Hey, how about you take a break from that." Catherine said walking towards him and standing in front of his desk. Winters glanced up at her.

" He's a CO, Catherine, not a platoon leader if you remember correctly." Nixon said and Catherine rolled her eyes.

" He's a human," Catherine countered.

" I'm right here," Winters muttered out in a monotone voice.

" C'mon, let's let him be." Nixon said, placing a hand on Catherine's shoulder to lead her out.

" Right," Catherine said and followed Nixon out, but sparing a glance back at the stressed out Winters. She knew he loved the position to be able to lead Easy Company, he adored Easy, but she knew those letters were taking a bit, because he truly cared for each of those men. She wished he'd just take a small break, get away from it. He was their beloved CO after all. Her shoulder wasn't aching as much when she moved it so she was glad to give Babe a run for his money at the shooting ranges before moving to mess with Bill and Babe and talking the night away.

But her worry for Winters never ceased.

The look in his eyes were similar to the ones of her own college years. So, when she didn't see him after mess that night with Nixon and Harry, she retreated to the officers building with two cups of coffee that were scalding hot in her hands, but she knew Winters would appreciate it. Catherine slowly stepped in the doorway and found Winters sitting by candlelight, working through the letters.

" Hey," Catherine said as she stepped inside. Winters looked up from his letter, a faint smile on his face, before looking down again and typing a few more letters.

" Hi, just finishing up." Winters said, but Catherine sat the still evident stack of papers beside the typewriter.

" Figured I'd keep you company until you finish, I have coffee." Catherine offered and Winters glanced up towards her again.

" Have a seat." he said nodding to the chair in front of him. Catherine walked forward and gently sat down before leaning forward to place the coffee beside his typewriter.

" Thanks Catherine." Winters said as he took the cup and gently placed it against his lips and took a sip. Catherine offered a small smile and a nod.

" You doing ok up here?" she asked him.

" Have you always been this worried about your past CO's?" Winters asked her. Catherine felt a smirk crawl on her face.

" No," Catherine said," but I know those letters you're writing are a tough topic and figured it'd be nice to take a break every once in a while, stuff like that." Winters glanced up at her.

" Thanks." he said and then went back to typing. Catherine slowly leaned back in the chair and looked up towards the ceiling.

" What do you tell the parents?" Catherine asked him as she heard the writer stop typing. She glanced down towards him seeing him lean back from the typewriter.

" That their son died a hero." Winters said. Catherine smiled slightly and nodded.

" It seems that's the best thing to say." Catherine said, before quietly sipping her coffee. Winters looked towards her, as the woman sipped the coffee again, her alert eyes darting around a bit.

" Nix said you went to college?" Winters asked her. Catherine glanced up.

" Yeah, kinda. Uh, Cornell. I didn't get to finish though, I signed up for SPARs instead." Catherine said with a nod. Winters smiled.

" What'd you study?"

" Psychology, I always thought the human mind was fascinating considering there's plenty of people in the world who are a little crazy if you catch my drift." Catherine said and Winters smirked. A real smirk.

" I minored in geographical studies with maps and such, I get why Strayer wanted me up here then." Catherine said, and gently tapped her fingers against the coffee cup.

" Yeah, well," Winters said leaning forward to pick up his coffee for another sip, " we're glad you're up. You're shoulder healing up?"

" Yeah," she said, " it hurts a bit every once and a while, but I've been doing some physical therapy, it's been moving around better. Probably won't be up to speed for another 9 months though." Winters watched her. Winters knew she was upset about her injury, she didn't widely talk about it, but he knew she was upset that she couldn't fight with the men and women in Normandy, she had prepared for so long for that moment only to get injured.

" Where's home for you?" Winters asked her.

" New York State, up in the mountains." she said with a nod, " I miss it sometimes. You?"

" Lancaster, Pennsylvania." Winters said.

" Closer than I thought." Catherine said with a tired smile and Winters nodded.

" You must have a beautiful girl back home, Dick." Catherine said sipping her coffee. Winters gave her a look.

" You must not have a beautiful girl back home, Dick?" she said correcting her statement, in a questioning tone, so it didn't sound weird, raising her brow.

" No girl." Winters said shaking his head, " I figured after the war I'd focus on that."

" Smart man." Catherine said with a nod, leaning back.

" What about you?" Winters asked her.

" Nah," Catherine said, " no wants to date the girl who spends her time studying, who is actually intelligent enough to know right from wrong and not let a guy drag her in, who takes time to go to college, get a job, then join up in the military. No one wants that." Winters found that odd, especially someone like Catherine.

" But you're a natural born leader." Winters said.

" I guess people aren't as big of fans of that as much as the military is." Catherine said. Winters watched her.

" Well, don't listen to them." Winters told her sipping his coffee.

" Yeah," Catherine said with a nod, " I tend not to, even with everyone thinking I'm a good leader. Leadership is lonely sometimes."

" I'll second that." Winters told her and a small smile found its way onto Catherine's face as she nodded.

" Back in high school, I was valedictorian and President of the student body, and there were just some people who didn't like the fact I was smart, I mean, I just worked to get there. I wasn't born that way. I just worked for good grades and I made sure I was a good student and I earned that position. It was always the kids who didn't try much either, said I cheated, said no girl could ever be that smart." Catherine scoffed and sat back in her chair.

" Proved them wrong didn't you." Winters said and Catherine met his eye. She shrugged.

" I tried," she said and Winters smiled, " I mean I just played it nice, even if they were mean."

" As you said, Cath, you earned that spot, and look at you now. You have to be one of the most intelligent in the 101st." Winters said and a smile blossomed on Catherine's face.

" Thanks," she said and Winters smiled. He always knew Catherine was smart, and after talking with Nix about learning she had attended college, Cornell to be exact, she knew she was intelligent. So hearing she was 'made fun of' for being simply smart, saddened him. She was flying higher than the rest of them by now.

" I lead a company of women in SPARs," Catherine said, as she nodded, eyes glazed over as her fingers tapped agains the coffee cup again," I knew each of their names, first, middle and last, I knew where they were from, I knew their birthdays. But it was a job where I didn't expect myself to be thinking as much as I did." Winters looked at her.

" And the thing was, they trusted me, with everything. I mean, I rallied them, it was like a war cry, and even though we knew we wouldn't head to war, we acted like it were coming to us. They all followed behind me with whatever I did." Catherine said, a soft smile poking at the corner of her face, " It was sad to leave them." Winters watched her gently as the Lieutenant stared off her eyes seemingly distant and in a complete different moment, like a memory was flashing by her vision. Catherine blinked a few times and then got herself out of the funk. Winters was still watching her.

" Are you ok?" Winters asked her.

" Yeah," Catherine said, nodding, " it just, it brings back a lot of memories. You know? I mean I go from living at college, to SPARs, to Camp Athene, then to England on a RAF base and then to Aldbourne and then France. It's just, thinking about it all, with the memories." Winters gave her a tiny smile. Catherine sat with Winters late into the night until eventually sleep overcame her. Coffee seemed to knock her out. Winters was up typing until about 0100 before he finally blew out the candle and rightfully passed out in the chair he sat in.

When Catherine blinked herself away she was curled on a chair, her neck cramped up, and an indent on the side of her face from being curled into the side of the chair. And Winters was asleep across from her. Catherine sat up, her head swimming in exhaustion and confusion. When did she fall asleep? Just then the door opened and Catherine looked over to see Nixon come walking in.

" What time is it?" she asked in a rough voice.

" 0700." Nixon confirmed, " Figured you would be in here. He still asleep?" Catherine glanced at Winters.

" I guess." she said as she yawned.

" Well," Nixon said," look like they're going through with this plan."

" You're kidding right?" Catherine asked.

" Wish I was, McCown, but we're making that jump into Holland pretty soon." Nixon said, " Thought you'd be more excited." Catherine glanced at him with a yawn.

" I can promise you I'm excited, but I just slept in a tiny chair, cramped in the corner all night, so I'm not exactly pleased per say." Catherine said as she cracked her back, her minding turning to the thought of jumping into Holland. They'd been under for 5 years, occupied by the Germans. It was only right they were liberated and soon.

" You heard about that Lieutenant Speirs?" George asked Hazel one night at one of the pubs as she sat with him and Perconte.

" What about him?" Hazel asked as she sipped her Coke.

" I don't know, just that he shot up all those German prisoners on D-Day." Perconte said leaning forward and Hazel looked up at him quickly with concerned eyes.

" Shot them up?" Hazel asked.

" Yeah, supposedly." Perconte said and Hazel stared forward wide eyed.

" Malarkey saw it, where is he?" George said looking around for the red-head.

" Hey, Don! Come here!" yelled George and Malarkey turned from Skip to come over to the trio.


" What's up?" Malarkey asked.

" Speirs shooting up the prisoners, want to tell Tiny here about that?" George said with a smirk on his lips.

" I didn't actually see it, George, I heard it. Remember?" Malarkey said.

" Yeah, yeah, same thing," George said waving it off.

" I didn't actually see it," Malarkey said, " but remember when I stopped to talk to one of the guys sitting there?" Hazel nodded.

" He was from Eugene, Oregon, we got talking and then I had to head back for Brecourt but, Speirs walked past me, cigarettes, loaded Thompson and I heard firing behind me. I suspected he shot them all." Malarkey said.

" Except for 1." Perconte said leaning forward, showing 1 finger for emphasis.

" And he gave them all cigarettes as well, leaving one guy shaking with one in his trembling grasp." George said in a story telling facade.

" You asked me to tell the story, so how about you two shut up?" Malarkey said and the duo smirked, and gave each other shoulder shoves.

" He left one behind?" Hazel asked.

" Supposedly, now, it's just a rumor, but the guy gives me the creeps." Malarkey said and Hazel frowned slightly. She wasn't exactly fearful of Speirs, sure, intimidating, but she thought he was a fearless combat leader in battle.

" It's just a rumor right? It could've been anyone." Hazel said.

" I guess," Malarkey said, " Supposedly there was another guy there with him."

" Whoa, hold up, there was another guy?" George said leaning forward.

" Yeah, some Private." Malarkey said.

" And supposedly he killed a Sergeant in his last platoon." Perconte said and Hazel raised a brow sipping her Coke.

" The 506th is just full of surprises isn't is?" George said and Perconte laughed.

" I don't know, it's just a rumor but it scared the crap outta me." Malarkey said. It stayed in Hazel's mind the rest of the night, the supposed rumor about Lieutenant Ronald Speirs, when he had basically been the one to get the needed ammo to her. Rumors were rumors, they weren't true they weren't false. They were someone making something up to get everyone to hear it. Hazel didn't believe in rumors even if it were something to keep the guy's heads from the war.

Hazel had trusted Speirs on D-Day and she would trust him now.

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hello friends! yesterday i didn't update because i had a lot of editing to do and then 4 hours of an online class and it was just hectic so i figured i'd wait and it paid off :) i have 3 chapters for all you lovely people today that i hope you enjoy, because i had fun writing them ( like 6 months back LOL) and i'm excited for you to see them. and yes, i write the entire story and then as i upload i go and edit what i need too, thank u ocd :)

thank you all for reading, it truly makes my day to see your reads, votes and comments!!