" How beautiful it is to find someone who asks for nothing more than your company."

- Brigitte Nicole

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Easy stayed in barns usually as they moved closer to Arnhem and the density of towns became thicker and more farms were prominent. Casualties, sickness and disease were what riddled Easy from winning now.

Bill Guarnere was evacuated, he'd taken a hit from a sniper on a motorcycle he had stolen for a joyride. It was funny at the moment, but now Easy was losing one of the best NCOs.

Lizzie was still off the line, many of the replacements were taking hits easily.

Hazel had heard from Babe Heffron that one of his buddies he had trained with, had taken an easy shot on one of the patrols and was dead instantly. Babe was quiet for the rest of the day.

Morale that remained low was never good for a rather elite and strong-headed company. The company continued to move through the country of Holland with low moral. They continued to run into stalemates with the Germans, and everyone was beginning to grow tired of these blocks in the road. Hazel's sickness was slow in improving because of the battles they had to continue to fight daily, as well as the cold and the lack of sleep and food.

Hazel had tried to get Winters to send her on the mini night patrols that the others went on, but Winters, even thought one who got a thrill from the fight, was like Catherine said, a human and when someone was sick or hurt, and refused to be pulled from the line, he made sure they weren't worked as hard as they usually were.

When October came, they had moved on past Nijmegen, which sat on the Waal River and close to the German border and up towards the outskirts of the city of Arnhem. They stayed in the countryside mostly, resting nightly in nearby barns that had been abandoned by the citizens that lived there and towns buildings were provided for the officers.

Hazel slept fitfully at night and so whenever she began to feel tired, she pretty much laid down where ever there was a surface and passed out.

This time it happened to be right beside George Luz and his radio on a bit of hay bail, as she curled into a ball, shivering ever so slightly, cold sweat sprinkled across her forehead.

Joe Liebgott was right next to her though, passed out as well, tiny snores leaving his lips as chatter and K-ration making ensued in the tiny barn. Joe and Hazel, the two peas in a pod they were, were practically inseparable after the events of Nuenen and especially her ongoing sickness which fought her throat like a dragon in a cage.

So there they were, passed out and exhausted as they snored silently side by side curled in balls like those cats you saw in the window shops on Main Street.

But Joe, being the person he was, cared for his friends in any way he could. He agreed, he was an asshole, but he was asshole for specific reasons most of the time. But with his friends, that was different. Especially a friend, a best friend at that who was sick and was kept up at night by coughs or a fever or the chills.

Over the past few weeks, he had been staying closer to Hazel than before, making sure she ate and drank, making sure she slept and was warm and if there was medicine that Gene could provide that she could get some.

And so sleeping next to her, was another way to make sure that if she started coughing, he was there, to make sure he patted her back, and got her water. But he'd always been that way whenever one of his family members were sick. He was cocky, and admittedly rude sometimes, and he had a crude sense of humor, but family and friends were important and when he cared, he cared; he didn't try to hide that. And many of the men knew that about Joe. When Joe cared about someone, he did everything in his power to make sure they were alright.

And in this case, it was Hazel.

Catherine looked up from her cup of water towards Joe and Hazel who were curled up, sound asleep and smiled softly. Catherine truly admired their companionship.

They were complete opposites, yet they were best friends who understood each other like the backs of their own hands. If Hazel was doing it, Joe probably was as well and where ever the one went, the other followed. And they acted like actual children, but knew when to get serious. And if you messed with either one of them, hell came for them.

Catherine remembered about a week ago, when Joe had defended Hazel up until the point where he had almost forced Cobb to lose an eye. Hazel had been with Gene, as he was checking her symptoms and everyone else was scattered through multiple barns, similar to the one they were in right now. And Cobb opened his mouth - of course. Joe had simply stood up.

" Where you going? Aiding your queen, knight in shining armor?" Cobb called out to Joe with a smirk upon his lips. Joe froze and looked over his shoulder towards Cobb, brown eyes turned black, like an endless pit.

" Shut the fuck up, Cobb." Joe said, before turning and grabbing a few napkins.

" Why? We all know the way you look at her, Joey." Cobb said and Joe's gaze darkened.

" Hey, Cobb, ease off." Hoobler said leaning forward.

" No, two can play at this game." Cobb said and Joe bit back his lip with a scowl faced away from the table of soldiers.

" What's your problem?" Joe muttered as his back tensed, pulling napkins from the makeshift table that was set up. Joe turned, leaning up against the table in front of all the soldiers who were trying their best to stay out of it. Joe crossed his arms and looked expectantly at Cobb at the other side of the table, eyes perked up, wide, and ready to attack like a hawk.

" Please, Roy, do enlighten me." Joe said, putting a toothpick in his teeth and waiting expectantly.

" Well, Liebgott, you don't just become friends with the shy, quiet girl do ya?" Cobb spat, like it were poison in his mouth. Joe narrowed his eyes.

" She's not like that." Joe said and Catherine slowly sat back, passing a few coins into Bill's grasp. It had been two days before his unlikely joyride.

" Really?" Cobb said as he stood and slowly began walking along the edge of the table, " Then what is she?" Joe stared him down.

" What is she, Joe?" Cobb said, leaning against the back of Joe Toye's chair. Joe moved his chair in.

" A woman." Joe sneered, watching as Cobb took daunting steps closer.

" Oh, right, I forgot." Cobb said and Catherine swore she saw steam exploding from Joe's ears.

" Ya done?" snapped Joe.

" Why so tense, buddy? Aren't we just talking about your favorite woman?" Cobb said.

" She's not a fucking object, Cobb." snapped Joe, his voice like ice.

" You're not denying it." Cobb said and Joe's vision sank deep into Cobb's soul.

He would never deny that Hazel was one of his favorite people.

" Why? You expecting me to?" Joe said, titling his chin up, a small smirk crawling on his face. A prideful one.

" You're just trying to stir unwanted trouble. Sorry I'm not as big of an asshole as you." Joe said and plucked the toothpick from his mouth. Joe stood, but Cobb stopped him, flipping Joe to look at him. Catherine's eyes widened.

" I ain't an asshole, Lieb." Cobb said and Joe narrowed his eyes.

" Don't ever go after Hazel again, you hear me?" snapped Joe, his eyes icy and filled with a flame of anger.

" Why? You gonna defend her, little knight." Cobb said, " She can't even stand up for herself." That's when Joe's fist collided with his face, knocking Cobb backwards into the side of the barn and people jumped up faster than anything, as chairs clattered to the ground. Bill was yanking Joe back as Chuck was pinning Cobb to the ground, and pointing an angry finger in his face. Catherine looked towards Bill with a winning smirk.

She'd won.

Cobb didn't dare say a word to Joe, dare he even mention it to Hazel or someone in her proximity. He'd learned then and there that Joe loyally defended his friends; hell he fought for them. Hazel didn't find out about it though and Joe preferred to keep it that way. He didn't want her to know all that, while she was sick and feeling horrible.

So, there they slept peacefully.

Catherine had taken over fully for 2nd platoon in Bill's absence, which he had fully entrusted in her to do when he was being carted away with the bloody bandage around his leg.

" She feeling any better?" Lip asked as he slowly sat down beside Catherine at the table. Catherine glanced back at Hazel, as the girl shifted a bit. Catherine looked back at Lip and tapped her fingers gently against the cup.

" She's still got a nasty fever and a cough too. She's not great, but she's still willing to fight." Catherine said. Lip sighed and nodded.

" How are you doing?" Lip asked her as he turned and leaned against the table.

" Pretty good," she said with a nod.

" Second platoon treating you well?" Catherine smirked and let out a laugh.

" Better than I thought they'd leave me, especially with Bill as leader." Catherine said and the two chuckled softly.

" I've always liked running a small platoon though," Catherine said, " and I know the guys, it's just like my girls back in SPARs. It's a good feeling. And I'm glad to help."

" We're glad to have you down from Battalion. We all know what a great combat leader you are." Lip said and Catherine smiled softly.

" I try, Lip, I really do, especially with having Bill gone." she said and then softly sighed.

" You holding up?" she asked him. Lip gave her a warm smile.

" Best as I'll ever be." Lip said, looking a little tired himself. A small grin formed on Catherine's face.

" When does Bill think he'll be back?" Lip asked her.

" I won't be surprised if I see him through the door within the next month, he's probably going AWOL from that hospital." Catherine said and Lip grinned.

" Yeah, you're right," Lip said and sighed softly. Catherine softly looked at her cup and padded her fingers against the edges.

" We won't be able to take Berlin by Christmas will we." she said quietly, her voice barely a tremor above it's actual sound. She'd been in the realization of it all for quite some time now. Lip glanced her way as the quiet chatter roamed the room.

" No, probably not." Lip whispered softly. Catherine let out a soft draw of breath and gently nodded, the realization hitting her like a bag of bricks. Remaining positive and being a leader with seemingly no fears had taken a toll, because of the hope that she held up so highly with herself. Now, they faced the realization they they were fighting this war for much longer than they wanted to. Operation Market Garden was just a complete failure by this point, a failure which would cost more lives lost. Just then the door opened and the patrol which consisted of a few replacements walked in, lead by the machine gunners Smokey and Alton.

" Hey, Mack, we're clear." Smokey called throwing her a thumbs up. Catherine received the thumbs up generously before glancing back towards Winters who sat at the tiny table where George was currently sorting his crackers.

" I'll set the next patrol, try and get some rest." Catherine said glancing back at Lip.

" I will, you do the same when you get back." Lip said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. Catherine gave a small smile, gently placing her hand on Lip's and nodding.

" I will." she said and Lip nodded with a smile before turning and heading back to where he had previously sat. Catherine turned and looked towards Winters again, who unbeknownst to everyone was surprisingly in his own little world it seemed, focused in on his weapon.

" Hey," Catherine said as she approached him watching as Winters, seemed to snap out of the gaze he was in and look up towards the woman, who's face was smudged with dirt a bit, and sweat collected in certain areas, " the patrol's back. Who do you want to send out?"

" Think you can lead this one, Cath?" Winters asked her, briefly glancing down at his weapon and giving the tape he was using a tug.

" 'Ey, nice Lieutenant." George said from his spot on the ground, a smile on his joyful face. Catherine smirked.

" Yes, sir." Catherine said, " Anyone you want?"

" Send Alley, Liebgott and Lesniewski. 4 person squad." Winters confirmed with her and she nodded.

" Thank you, sir." Catherine said and with one final smile at George she was moving towards the 3 men to lead on patrol. Catherine hated it but she slowly crouched by Liebgott who slept like a baby at the moment, and gently shook his shoulder.

" Lieb," Catherine said quietly, " hey, Lieb, you gotta wake up." Catherine watched his body shift and then his eyes flutter open, his half open eyes focus on the Lieutenant in front of him.

" Hm?" he asked, shutting his eyes to yawn and stretch a bit.

" You're up for patrol," she said to him.

" You leading?" Liebgott asked her and she nodded with a smirk. Liebgott nodded and then glanced at Hazel who was asleep next to him. Catherine watched his eyes go soft.

" She'll be fine." Catherine promised, " We gotta get moving though."

" Right," Liebgott said and slowly got himself up, pulling his gear on quietly beside the sound asleep Hazel. Catherine wander over to Alley and Tab who were talking together with Trigger at their side. Trigger was the German-shepherd Tab had found earlier in the day, wandering around the little town. Tab had taken a liking to it almost immediately.

" Aw, c'mon, Mack, don't tell me I have to go on this." Alley said as he shoved his cards together.

" Looks like Moe," Catherine said as Trigger came trotting up to her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. She slowly crouched down and began scratching the dog's ears.

" Hey, buddy." Catherine said giving the dog a smile as he began licking her face. He knocked her to the ground as she heard Tab chuckle.

" Hey, Trig, c'mon, don't tackle the Lieutenant now." Tab said grabbing hold on the dog gently pulling him back as Catherine laughed, accepting the hand up from Alley.

" He's adorable, Tab, really." Catherine said, giving the dog a gentle rub on his head again.

" He tries his best to look rather adorable each day." Tab said with a smirk and Catherine just grinned and shook her head.

" C'mon Moe, we got Lesnowski to get up," Catherine said as the two trailed away from the darkened corner and found Joe Lesniewski already awaiting at the door.

" I woke him," Liebgott said as he adjusted his helmet on his head, stifling another yawn.

" Thanks, Joe." she said as she grabbed her helmet from its perch and placed it gently on her head.

" Let's head out." Catherine said and led the trio forward into the darkening night, towards the war.

When Hazel blinked her eyes open, she was immediately brought back into the immediate ache of her body, not just from sleeping in the same position for too long, but from the soreness the flu gave her joints and her muscles. Then her head had that dull ache behind it, like a bunch of cotton balls were all packed inside it, and there was the soreness of her throat and the runny nose and the dry eyes. It wasn't per say an enjoyable feeling at all. She cracked her tired eyes open a bit more and finally looked over to where Liebgott was and noticed her wasn't there. Hazel slowly sat up, her head swimming, and looked around.

" Hey," a voice said and Hazel looked over to see George turning to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, " they're out on patrol."

" Oh," Hazel said softly, nodding, and then briefly letting out a soft cough.

" Here," George said, handing her the canteen for her to take a sip from and make the dry throat disappear.

" Thanks George," Hazel said in a gravely voice as she sipped it down.

" How are you feeling?" George asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently rubbing it. It was soothing. For a moment she didn't feel the ache of her joints.

" Horrible," she said; there, she had admitted it. She felt horrible, but that wouldn't stop her in any sense. She offered George a small smile.

" There's that smile," George said as he watched her smile brighten and her dimple's appear.

" Yeah, I'm trying, just sucks to feel this way." she admitted to him with a nod.

" Well, 'course it does. But you wanna know what mom did back home?" George said and Hazel nodded, softly sipping the water in the canteen as she grasped it in her fingers.

" She usually would tell stories, you know, once upon a time and all that bullshit, and then she'd try to make my laugh, it's why I'm so funny," George said and Hazel giggled, " and of course, she'd give me all this spicy Portuguese food, cleans out those nasal passages." Hazel sniffled.

" You got any of that spicy food by chance?" Hazel asked with a small smile and George laughed.

" I wish, Tiny, I really do, but I have a few stories." George said and Hazel leaned forward intently. George smirked.

" You wanna hear how my siblings managed to get me tangled up in a chair?" George asked her and Hazel laughed with a nod. But then the laugh turned into a coughing attack and she was coughing, her lungs seizing as George gently patted her back. Once she calmed down she leaned back and looked at George.

" Didn't know I was that funny, kid, you almost died." George said and cracked a smile as Hazel giggled again shaking her head.

" Yeah, George, please don't kill her, we kinda need her." Tab's voice said as he walked over and the two looked up to see the Sergeant and Trigger by his side.

" Aw c'mon I was just about to tell my story." George said as Tab slowly sat down as Hazel reached forward to start petting the dog behind the ears.

" That's fairly vague, George." Tab said as George chuckled, shoving his shoulder.

" How're you feeling, Tiny?" Tab asked her and Hazel looked over from Trigger with a youthful smile on her face.

" Trigger makes me feel better." she said softly, nuzzling her head into the dog's fur as the dog licked her face. Tab and George glanced at each other as their hearts softened for a moment. There was still some innocence even though the war stripped away more barriers than it ever should've.

Catherine crouched slowly, her footsteps quiet in the night as the group moved through the short cut grass as they approached the crossroads. Catherine slowly moved her hand up to a held position, and she heard the footfalls behind her stop momentarily.

" What do you see, Lieutenant?" she heard Liebgott ask behind her.

" It's the crossroads," she whispered quietly, as little flecks of rain began pelting down on the group of 4, " I'm assuming there's Germans on the opposite dike. But I can't see." She wished she'd kept the binoculars that both her and Nixon were around her neck. Catherine glanced back at the trio and sighed.

" When we move up, we have to stay quiet alright? Germans could pop out of there at any moment and outflank and then we'll be surrounded." Catherine said, her instructions clear and firm.

" Yes, ma'am." the quiet confirmation came back from the trio.

" Alright, " she said, " on me." Catherine slowly moved forward the Thompson tightly grasped in her sweaty palms as her feet pushed through the dewy grass forward. The group moved along the side of the dike that sloped on each side as the 4 rods all intersected with one another creating a cross up ahead.

Catherine had studied the maps back 2 weeks ago when the Lieutenants were first reviewing the maps provided by Colonel Sink. These roads were everywhere, leading from all different places in all different directions and were easy enough to use to outflank another.

Catherine bit back her lip as they slowly approached the dike. She slowly paused and turned back to the 3 guys, holding them there. Her signals were clear, to wait until she motioned them forward again. Catherine gently approached the dike, her footsteps moving quickly through the grass as she came upon the roads intersection. Her gate slowed and she eventually moved to her stomach in the wet grass, before crawling forward and leaning against the mid pit, bringing her weapon up and aiming it forward.

Her Thompson only provided about as much sight as that of looking through the bottom of a cup. She could see lights and fires burning on the opposite corner of the dike. Germans. They had set up shop. Catherine bit back her lip; she couldn't even begin to imagine how many were down there.

A platoon?

A company?

A regiment?

A division?

Who knew; there were groups of the Germany Army spread out basically everywhere across continental Europe. Catherine sucked in a breath and then blew it out through her lips.

" Ok," she whispered, before glancing back over her shoulder at the awaiting trio. Catherine met Moe's eyes and slowly leaned back and gave quick hand signals, that were the sloppiest she'd seen in a while to them. Moe thankfully understood and turned to the other two and led them forward with ease. Catherine awaited their arrival.

" It looks like there might be a whole company down there," Catherine said meeting each set of eyes that watched her, " we'll have to back to Winters and let him know, see what he wants us to do. HQ's down the road, about 3 miles, I don't know maybe if the Germans have scoped that out and are thinking of moving in that general direction or if they're planning on making a general attack to where we currently are bedding down." Catherine explained, " We've been chasing these guys for 2 weeks, I say it's finally time to put a stab into their plan." She watched the trio nod.

" We'll wait here for a bit, we'll watch for movement, and then we'll head back and tell Winters." Catherine explained.

" Yes, ma'am." the group answered her.

" Alright, Lieb, move up a bit towards the crossroads, Moe, go closest and Joe head to my other side, down aways, we'll spread out along here, and then we'll report movement." she explained and the group nodded, before splitting ways and getting to their general positions. Catherine laid down again in the wet grass and the group stayed quiet, the gentle clicks of their weapons the only sound as they would adjust or move around a bit to get a better position.

" Ow - fuck." a voice said rather loudly and quickly, and all heads snapped over to Joe Liebgott, slapping at his neck, a bug. Someone snapped a 'sh' at him as German voices suddenly entered the picture. Catherine watched in horror, as one of the Germans cried out and a potato masher went sailing through the air. The Germans had been right on the opposite side. Catherine watched it fly through the air.

" MOE!" Catherine yelled watching as he looked up just in time to see it landed right near him. It exploded, sending Alley, back and to the ground, as he fell from the impact and rolled a bite down the dike. That's when Catherine moved and saw Joe, holding his neck, pained groans escaping from his lips as he held onto his neck, blood pooling from where his hand grasped tightly to hold it together. It was descending into chaos.

" Lesniewski, help me!" she called to the other man along the dike and she watched as he pushed up from the side and came hurrying over as Catherine slid down towards Alley.

" Alley, hey, hey, look at me." she said and brushed some hair from his face, " It's okay." Alley watched her with glossy frozen over eyes filled with complete utter fear. He was going into shock.

" Alley, hey, it's me, it's Catherine, you have to stay awake for me ok?" Catherine said, softly brushing his cheek, " Please stay awake for me." He watched her frozen.

" We need to move, " Catherine said turning to Lesniewski and Liebgott, who was holding the wound that was strung up on his neck, " now."

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hey! last chapter today, but we've finally started episode 5! this one will be fairly long, if i can remember, there's a lot of important parts throughout this episode mainly for hazel and of course for catherine and lizzie, and i'm just super excited to get it out there!! i hope you've enjoyed!

thanks for reading!! i appreciate it so so much!! :)