" But without the dark, we'd never see the stars."

- Unknown

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News spread quickly of how Bull and Lizzie were, in fact, missing, and how they were the only two missing. The company had retreated and been brought to a resting area not far at all from Nuenen to bed down in for the night.

They were to dig foxholes, eat their K-rations, clean their weapons and prepare for tomorrow, and pray to God that somehow Bull and Lizzie showed up tonight or in the morning. Hazel, with Gene's help, had shakily jumped down from the truck to move over to where an aid station had been set up for the time being. She slowly sat down in a chair, as the sniper rifle clattered to the ground. She was in pain, as the fresh wound remained open to the cool night air. She'd be fine, a simple bandage could stop the bleeding, but it just burned a bit.

" Is it bad?" she managed to say through a grimace. Gene gently touched around where the wound was with his delicate fingers and gently pressed. She gritted her teeth in pain.

" It'll heal up nice and good." Gene said, as he pulled a chair up in front of her to situate himself. He grabbed a wet cloth and gently wiped at the wound, until the dried blood around it came clean. Hazel visibly grimaced at the sight of it. Gene quirked a smile up at her before pulled out a tube of cream to help the wound repair itself. He gently dabbed it on, before pulling out a bandage and slowly beginning to wrap up her arm. He then gently secured it, before helping the girl pull her sleeve down to cover it up.

" There ya go." he said, as he stood and pushed the stool back in place.

" Thank you," Hazel said as she stood, and reached down to pick up her sniper rifle.

" Any word on Lizzie or Bull?" Hazel asked him. Gene looked at her and sighed softly.

" They're missing, both of 'em." Gene said and Hazel's heart sank. She couldn't imagine what Catherine was going through right now, she worried about everyone.

" I'll see ya Gene, we'll find them." Hazel said, squeezing his shoulder and Gene nodded softly. Hazel approached over the dike before moving down into the field. Her eyes looked around for a familiar face. She found Malarkey, Penkala and Skip all around their foxhole chattering and sharing bits of food when she arrived.

" Hey," Hazel said, " you guys seen Catherine?"

" Mack? Just saw her, she was doing rounds with Bill." Skip told her.

" Thanks." Hazel said.

" Lizzie and Bull still missing?" Malarkey called out to her. Hazel bit her lip and nodded. 
" Yeah."

" Damn." Malarkey muttered, as Skip sighed and Penkala only leaned back to shut his eyes.

" What about you?" Malarkey asked, " Heard you got a chunk."

" Ah, it's nothing. Gene got it out." Hazel said with a grateful smile.

" Right, get some rest!" Skip called to her with a wave. Hazel continued through the foxholes and sent smiles to the men who called out to her before finding Catherine and Bill walking through doing rounds talking quietly to each other.

" Catherine," Hazel called as she approached. The two turned at the sound of Hazel's voice.

" Hazel," Catherine said a smile on her face, " what's up?"

" Want me to start digging the foxhole?" Hazel asked.

" Definitely. I'll be there in a second, we got a few more foxholes to check on." Catherine said. Hazel nodded and then turned and hurried over to an area for a foxhole. Hazel discarded of her weapon, helmet and pack and started digging with her shovel, as the ground became dewy and wet from the atmosphere. She started sweating a bit, even in the darkness of the night, and finally lugged the heavy shovel from the pit of dirt and placed it to the side before hopping up and sitting in the dirt that was freshly lifted up from the ground. She let out a sigh and then smiled suddenly. She leaned back against the dirt, lying against the cool ground and stared up at the stars. She smiled, letting a small chuckle past her lips.

The stars were out.

Catherine slowly removed her helmet, as she moved up the dike towards where she noticed Captain Winters had gone. Her knees ached as she moved up the hilly grass but once she came up on the top she saw why Winters had come up here. Eindhoven was engulfed in flames, captured in smoke and bright orange flames, caught in a tangle of heat. Catherine slowly walked forward, noticing Winters leaned up against the bed of one of the trucks. Catherine's footsteps were quiet as she approached Winters. She slowly stopped at his side and let her eyes take in what was happening in front of her.

" Bill and I finished rounds, sir." she said softly, her voice barely over that of a whisper. She glanced at Winters and watched him nod gently.

" Still no sign of Bull and Lizzie?" Winters asked her before glancing down at the Lieutenant at his side. Catherine met his eyes and then bit her lip, unnaturally of her and glanced back towards the engulfed town, which currently sat, smoldering.

" No, sir." she said softly. Catherine glanced back up at Winters and then bit at her lip again.

" It looks like you want to ask me a question." Winters said and Catherine met his gaze again.

" Do you think they got captured?" Catherine asked him, fearing the complete absolute worst of the probable situation at hand. She saw something swim into Winter's eyes for a split second before it washed away.

" No," Winters said, " those two, they're strong. They wouldn't let that happen." Catherine nodded softly watching him.

" Why?" Winters asked her, seeming genuinely concerned as to why that would pop up in her mind.

" Just a conversation Hazel, Lizzie and I had back in Athene. I don't know, sir, it's stupid." Catherine said, " Good night."

" Wait, Catherine." Winters stopped her placing a hand on her shoulder and watching as she looked up at him in the darkness, the light making his hair a soft golden color in the night.

" What conversation?" Winters asked her. Catherine watched him.

" We knew what it would mean if we joined the military, as women." Catherine told him, " And what it would mean if we were captured. And what could possibly happen to us. It's just always in the back of our minds." Winters watched her gently.

Winters had known that in receiving Viragos, that would be placed into the backs of their minds. Operation Virago was successful so far, even if a few rumors circulated in the United Sates and newspapers covered story lines on quotes and images of it, but for the most part it was kept pretty hush-hush at the moment. But this was the first time women had served really on the front lines and Winters tried not to imagine if anyone of the women of the company were captured, what could possibly happen to them. But he pushed it from his mind regularly, even if it were a reoccurring thought.

" I try not to think about it, but I can't help it sometimes. And now with Lizzie, missing and Bull, too, I just can't. I can't keep it from my mind." Catherine said and sighed to herself, running a hand over her face.

" Hey, Cath," Winters said placing a hand on her shoulder, as she softly looked towards him with sad eyes, " I know how much you care about Hazel and Lizzie and this company, it's okay to worry, but I know them. They wouldn't let that happen." Catherine watched Winters say that and with hopeful eyes.

" I have hope in them." Winters said gently. Catherine sucked in a soft breath and nodded.

" Yes, sir." she said softly. She knew she had to trust his judgement. She had trusted him from day one, as he was 100x better than the CO they called Captain Sobel. And Winters just seemed to get these feelings sometimes about things and go along with it, and Catherine trusted that about him. He knew how to lead, and he knew how to reassure the members of the company he was currently leading. Catherine had never been more thankful for a man like Captain Winters. Winters watched Catherine, staring out at the flames.

" How about you bed down for the night." Winters said watching as Catherine's eyes glazed over with evident worry, " They'll be here in no time." Catherine glanced at Winters and then slowly nodded.

" Yeah," she said nodding, " thank you, sir." Then Catherine slowly stepped away and retreated back towards the foxhole where Hazel worked diligently. Winters watched the worried Lieutenant go, as the flames lit her frame up in the night, before she slowly disappeared down over the dike again, and into a succumbed darkness. Catherine arrived at the foxhole and ate dinner with Hazel quietly. It was the only way to rid their worry for Bull and Lizzie's absence. That night the 2 girls bedded down in the foxhole, finally able to get some much needed rest even though they had layers of stress on top of them.

The first thing Lizzie felt as she shifted awake, was the pain that seeped into the lower half of her body, her leg. Her hand immediately reached for the wound instinctively as her eyes shot open, and she was prepared to let out a scream. But a hand shot over her mouth, and her eyes snapped to whose hand it was. It was Bull, staring at her through the darkness as she forced herself to bite back the scream. Bull put his other hand to his lips, a finger of silence and Lizzie slowly nodded. Bull pulled his hand away as she bit her lip and her tongue, to prevent herself from screaming.

" Morphine?" Bull whispered so softly she could barely hear. She shook her head.

" I have to save it for the men." Lizzie told him. Bull gave her a look. Lizzie was notorious in Normandy for not giving care to herself even she when she needed it more than the men.

" It's only one thing of morphine, Doc." Bull told her, recognizing how much pain she was truly in. She needed that morphine. Lizzie let out the sound of what she could only describe as possibly a pissed off bird, and twisted to grab morphine from her bag, as she grunted in pain. Lizzie pulled the morphine out. She needed this to make sure she didn't die tonight, from mere pain. Lizzie plunged it into her opposite thigh and then let out a sigh as she leaned back against the wooden stall, pain slowly leaving her as numbness became her best friend. Lizzie glanced at Bull.

" Thanks for saving me, Bull." Lizzie said. Bull nodded to her softly. She was the medic, one of the beloved ones. Any member of the company would lay their life down for her.

" I removed your medic brassard and your American Flag symbol, we're stuck here until the Germans move out." Bull whispered to her and she nodded. Lizzie looked down at her wound, it had been rewrapped as well. Then suddenly, a cough was heard and Lizzie's hand flew to Bull's arm. Bull looked at her and put a finger to his lips.

" You can't move yourself, so stay here." he told her. She nodded, watching as Bull jumped up and slid behind a covering. Then she watched as he jumped forward and put his hands around a man's throat. Lizzie watched with wide eyes as then their two heads turned and looked elsewhere. The man said something, as Bull looked between him and whoever else he was looking at. Lizzie sat with wide eyes. She watched as Bull slowly stepped back from the man, with the knife he held in his hands, breathing slightly heavier than he had been before.

Then there was a noise and Lizzie's head flipped quickly over to the source. Her eyes were wide as Bull shoved the man as well as what looked to be his daughter toward where Lizzie sat in the hay. Bull grabbed his rifle from beside Lizzie and then pushed to crouched next to the post beside him, looking out towards where the noise was coming from. It was the sound of a tank, rolling by, a loud one. Lizzie could see it's shadow as it slowly rolled by the barn that they were in. As the tank rolled away, Lizzie watched as Bull struggled to sit back down next to Lizzie. She narrowed her eyes.

" Bull, you're hurt." she whispered.

" I'm fine." Bull said. Lizzie met eyes with the presumably Dutch man and his daughter before looking back at Bull, attempting to move towards him. But that's when the slightest twitch of her leg caused her to swallow a gasp that was meant to escape, as tears filled her eyes, and a spark of pain shot through her entire being. Lizzie watched as the Dutch man seemed to take charge and shuffle forward away from his daughter. The Dutch man said something, pointing to Bull's wound. Bull nodded. The Dutch man wanted to fix Bull's wound. Lizzie reached into her bag, sorting out a few bandages as well, and she tried to move again, but instead a groan slipped past her lips as she did so. The 3 heads looked at her.

" Lizzie, it's fine, stay put." Bull told her as she remained sitting still. But she was a medic, she was supposed to be moving about to help Bull, her comrade. She heard the Dutch man pull open the shoulder part of Bull's ODs and Lizzie watched his daughter kneel beside her father, watching curiously. Lizzie watched with a trained eye as the man pulled out a flask, of alcohol presumably and poured it onto Bull's wound. Bull grimaced. The man offered Bull as sip, and declined. She watched the Dutch man sip from it though. Lizzie struggled to move again, hearing Bull in pain, but her leg remained numb, and fear spiraled her system. She couldn't move.

" Just pull- fuck." she heard Bull say as she watched the Dutch man's fingers move near the wound, " Just pull it out." The man started speaking in Dutch. Bull pulled a knife from his side and handed it to the man.

" Once you feel you've touched the bullet, twist the knife, it'll slide out easier." Lizzie said from her position and the Dutch man and his daughter looked at her. She couldn't even begin to understand if they understood her but she just nodded. She felt she needed to help in some way. Lizzie bit her lip as she watched the knife penetrate Bull's skin and the wound, as Bull grimaced. Then she watched in relief as a shiny piece of bloodied shrapnel came from the wound. Lizzie sighed.

" Here," Lizzie said leaning forward with the cloth bandages in her hands. The Dutch man watched and she nodded. The Dutch man took it and began applying it to the Bull's wound as Lizzie watched earnestly, as he stuffed the cloth to Bull's bullet wound.

Then all the sudden a German voice was heard ringing around the barn, and Bull pushed up and away from the trio. The Dutch men pulled his daughter close as Lizzie watched with a heavy heart as Bull raced forward to peak through what looked like a window. There was fire burning and German voices and the sound of a tank. Her heart raced. Bull came racing back and pulled the two Dutch members up and to their feet and away.

She didn't know where they went, but she trusted Bull with her whole heart. Lizzie turned and began pulling hay on her, to mask her body if a German were to enter the barn. Then all the sudden, the barn doors opened and Lizzie shut her eyes, and laid against the ground, completely still as if she were dead, her bloody hands out in the open, hair askew. She hopefully wouldn't be seen, but she heard the Germans laughing, their voices loud and echoing off the walls.

She remembered what Catherine said about what the Germans could do if they found someone like her, and still alive.

Bull hadn't come back yet. The Germans though, from Lizzie's point of view, gave a poor look around the barn, but hoped that the cover the hay provided helped her out a bit. A majority of the Germans left, the ones that investigated the building as one remained, who seemed plucky and younger. She grimaced as Lizzie watched him peeing. She turned her head away. The man then grabbed his rifle and turned to head out, but then stopped and looked down towards the floor. Her heart dropped as he picked up a bloody piece of cloth and she mentally cursed. She watched the German begin to look around, as planes flew overhead. The German seemed to then stand and throw the cloth back to the ground, as if forgetting about it, or not caring.

The German slowly retreated, but then a loud, bang, like a silver platter on the ground was sounded. Lizzie shut her eyes, and played dead, theoretically again. The German she heard, called out an urgent hello, the clicks of his weapon could be heard through her ears. The planes were getting louder. The man called out in German again as Lizzie sucked in a quiet breath. He kept speaking and calling out. Bull still had to be here. He kept calling out, urgently, his voice filled with fear. Something else clicked in the opposite corner of the barn as it sounded like birds fluttered and flapped flying away.

The German called out again, his voice frantic. The planes seemed to shake the ground it felt as Lizzie squeezed her eyes shut; the Germans voice was too close for comfort. If he turned around, he'd spot her. Then all the sudden the German yelped and Lizzie's eyes flew open to see Bull, with his attached bayonet on the front of his weapon, lunging at the German. Lizzie couldn't really see from her position as Bull fought the German into what looked to be a corner, but she heard the grunts of each of them and the sound of their weapons and bayonets sliding past each other. Then she heard a scream, the Germans scream, and she watched his body fall into view and onto the ground. The German grunted and another spear noise was heard. Bull. Lizzie's heart raced. She wanted to do something, to move to try and help Bull, but her legs were entirely too numb to get her body moving.

As Lizzie heard Bull and the German fighting she remembered Hazel telling her about weapon's combat training, with bayonets. It reminded her of the moment back before they had been dropped into war. Lizzie, struggled to grasp onto something and pull herself to her feet to try and help Bull. It's all she wanted. But then she began to hear stabbing and screams from the German.

Bull had stabbed and killed him.

Lizzie let herself collapse in a heap on the ground again, a groan leaving her lips in pain. She watched Bull cover the body as the Dutch man aided him, but soon Bull pushed the Dutch man away and the two disappeared again. Lizzie focused back on her wound. She felt a dull throb in it again, she wasn't sure if she could take the pain much longer. Suddenly, Bull appeared and collapsed next to Lizzie in an exhausted heap. She looked over at him with sad eyes.

" Try and get some rest, Lizzie." Bull told her. Lizzie sucked in a breath and nodded, shrugging down against the wood in the hay and letting her eyes shut for a moment.

She told herself that she needed rest.

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hey again! thanks for reading and i hoped you enjoyed the chapter :)