" The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you're made of, not the circumstances."

- Unknown

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When Catherine arrived back towards HQ, she found Nixon inside, going through cabinets of files that had been brought down from Division, as he mumbled and cursed.

" Hey, Cath, how was the briefing?" he asked her.

" Fine," she answered, as she removed her helmet and moved inside, " no one seemed thrilled."

" If I was being sent across the freezing cold water, in winter, after Bastogne, I feel I'd be pretty upset as well." Nixon said with a sarcastic smirk, grabbing a file.

" Yeah, well, I agree with them. And Webster saying what he said wasn't too pleasing either." she said and put her things down before collapsing in a chair and staring at the ceiling.

" What'd he say?" Nixon asked and Catherine looked at him.

" Bunch of bullshit." Catherine muttered, " Made me think of Toye and Guarnere, and Buck, Penkala and Skip. It's just fresh in my mind and stuff still. The littlest things related to them upset me."

" Ah, Catherine, it's only right you get upset over it, they were your friends. If I were you I'd let Webster know it too." Nixon told her. Catherine smirked at him.

" I'm not you, Nix." she said with a smile as she stood and picked up at map.

" Oh really?" Nixon said, as he picked up a map next to her.

" Yeah," she said.

" We're both officers, standing next to each other, maps in our hands, smoking like our life depends on it, drinking black coffee, with brunette hair, a grudge and a rather sarcastic way of attacking a situation. I'd say we're pretty similar." Nixon said. Catherine laughed and shook her head.

" Sure, we'll say that." she said, as she laughed again. She felt a bit better.

When Hazel got into the basement of OP 2, she couldn't help but feel the warmth that was brought over her entire being, how homely it felt. Hazel stepped down inside and removed her helmet from her already cold, as a blast of heat hit her.

Lieutenant Jones was sitting closer to the door than the rest of the men and Catherine and Hazel gave him a small nod as she entered. When Hazel looked up again, she saw most of the men sitting around an eating quietly, chatting softly together.

" Hey, Tiny," a tired voice said and Hazel looked up to see it was Malarkey with a tin of food and a spoon in it.

" Hey, Malark." she said softly, her smile knowingly not reaching her eyes.

" You look like you need some food." he said as he turned and grabbed another tin and began filling it with some of the food he'd made.

" That'd be great," she said and took the warm tin in her cold hands," thanks."

" Of course." he said and then turned and headed back over to place it back down on the stove. Hazel turned and slowly settled herself down into a chair at the end of the table and began removing her weapon, helmet from her hands, and extra coat. Once she did, she let her hair fall around her face, and let out a sigh as the warm steam of the food wafted onto her face. It was warm, she hadn't been warm in so long. She slowly reached for the spoon nearby and scooped up the food into her mouth.

She savored it, it tasted amazing.

Like actual food.

Hazel was slow as she ate it, letting her body digest each and every bite. She needed energy though, and even though she wasn't sick like Lizzie, she felt exhausted all the time from her lack of energy that was nonexistent in her body.

" Hey," a voice said and Hazel looked up to see it was Joe sitting down next to her, pulling a chair.

" Hey, Joe," she said quietly, biting her lip.

" How're you doing?" he asked her.

" Just tired, Joe." she said softly, as she looked at his eyes, " Really tired." Joe smiled softly at her and placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently.

" I got something for you," he said. Hazel quirked a raised brow upwards as she watched him pull a tiny chocolate bar from his pocket. A small smile fell on Hazel's face as Joe placed it in her hand.

" I figured you'd want one," he said softly to her. She smiled at the chocolate.

" Thank you, Lieb." she said. She was never more excited to see a chocolate bar, even if she didn't show it. Joe knew how much she loved chocolate.

After Hazel finished the meal Malarkey had prepared, she ate the chocolate bar and it filled her up with a bit of energy that she had been missing. Every so often as they sat in the basement, rounds of explosions went off outside, shaking the building, and letting a bit of dust fall every so often. Soon, everyone in the basement had finished eating and were beginning to prepare their weapons and gear to make sure nothing would be rattling as they ran through the German side of the Rhine.

Catherine sat in the corner, half awake as she attempted to clean her weapon and get parts to where they wouldn't move when shaken up a bit. Catherine closed her eyes for a minute, anticipating that just a few minutes of rest would help her that night. But she knew she needed to be there to help Johnny and Chuck with the patrol.

Catherine let her head lightly fall against the smooth concrete of the inside of the basement, and curled up against it, just to let her eyes shut for a few minutes of rest with the chaos of what was going on outside.

Malarkey noticed the girl curled in the corner, and figured that just those few minutes of rest would mean the world to her on patrol. So he grabbed a blanket and gently laid it overtop of her, which she curled into more as she yawned and then rightfully passed out. Hazel had done what the other men had done to their rifles, even if she wasn't crossing the river, and found time for some rest. She felt she hadn't had proper rest in ages, they'd been on a truck for a month, a convent for a night, and foxholes for months.

Placing her head on a table was luxury.

And no dreams filled her vision as she rested there, it was blissful piece and quiet as the girls slept. The men noticed the sleeping women, and resumed their quiet demeanor and chatter that they had. The girls had suffered greatly and lacked rest.

Letting them get this before the patrol was vital. When Hazel woke up, she was surprisingly somewhat warm wrapped in the soft blanket. She slowly sat up from the hard, wooden table and looked around. The guys were all sitting around, at least the ones going on patrol, working on their weapons, and making sure that as they moved across the German side nothing would make noises as they did so.

Hazel realized Lizzie was also in the room, talking quietly to Malarkey, a strained look upon her features as she did so. Hazel innocently raised a brow in their direction and bit her lip, worried.

" Hazel." a voice said and Hazel looked over to see it was Shifty with some grease. She offered a small, sleepy smile.

" Thanks, Shifty." she said and took it from his hands and began working on the weapon in front of her. Hazel felt restless waiting for the patrol to occur, glancing at the watch that was in her pocket, or looking around and getting fidgety.

Hazel left OP 2 to visit Gene, to redo the bandage on her wound. She walked through the night, nearing where she could see the warm glow of a light on in the aid station. Hazel slowly stepped inside and removed the helmet from her head, as she moved further into the aid station, feeling warmer already, she sought out the Cajun man. She found him working over a report that lay in his hands, helmet removed, relaxed.

" Hey, Gene." Hazel called softly. Gene froze at the sound of her voice. He slowly turned, glancing over his shoulder toward her.

" Hazel." he said as his eyes lit up. He placed down the pencil and slowly walked forward. Hazel didn't hesitate to wrap him in a warm hug. He had been the one to be the last of Easy Company to see her before she was evacuated for injury.

" When did you get back?" he asked her, as he pulled back.

" Just today, this afternoon, but I'm glad to be here. I missed everyone." Hazel said with a smile.

" How are you feeling?" Gene asked, nodding to the wound on her side.

" It's fine," Hazel said gently patting the bandage on the left side of her rib cage, " I was just wondering if you could change the bandage, before the patrol?"

" You're going on that?" Gene asked her as his eyes widened with worry.

" No, no, Speirs wouldn't allow it," she said and Gene smiled, " but I'm staying up in the roof to snipe, he thought it would be good for me." Gene smiled.

" Well, I'm glad." Gene said turning and nodding to the table and Hazel smiled.

" Hop on up." Gene said patting the table and turning up the brightness of the light.

" Thanks, Gene." Hazel said to him, as she slowly pulled the OD top off, a bit of a cold breeze hitting her, as she pulled the helmet from her head. She grimaced as she pulled herself up onto the table and Gene was quick to fixate his head looking toward her. Hazel ignored his look.

She was fine.

Hazel grimaced again as she slowly lied down on her back and stared up at the wooden ceiling. Gene came over to her as she slowly lifted up her shirt to reveal the wound underneath. Gene seemed to look at it for a few moments, before deciding what to do. He slowly began to peal back the bandage on the wound, little by little as to not hurt Hazel as he did so. Hazel manage still to grimace quite a few times out of sheer pain. Gene slowly pulled off the bandage from the wound and looked at it. It was clean, it didn't smell and it was healing properly. But it was still evidently a wound on her chest.

And the scar would show that.

Gene slowly walked away to grab a new, dry bandage and place it onto her stomach. He gently put the bandage down with multiple other bandages, and then finally tape around the edges to hold her bandage in place.

" Try and be careful for me," Gene told her as he threw away the old bandage.

" Yes, of course." Hazel said, as she pulled the shirt over the wound and attempted to sit up, but she ended up groaning. Gene looked at her and then moved to her side and helped her sit up. Hazel grasped onto him tightly as she swung her legs over the edge as then finally hopped down.

" I'll be ok." she assured him, but the medic look that he was giving her, similar to Lizzie's wasn't convincing enough.

" Thank you, Gene." Hazel said, rubbing his arm and then grabbing her things and hurrying out. Gene watched her worriedly. Medics always worried.

At 2300 that night when everyone was resting, Speirs came rumbling down into the basement of OP 2 for Hazel.

" Hey, Parker." a voice said as Hazel blinked her eyes away meeting the eyes of Ronald Speirs.

" Sir?" she asked sitting up.

" Follow me, I have to show you your post when the time comes." he said and slowly stood to his feet, offering a hand towards the woman. She took it with blurry eyes.

" Thank you, sir." she said yawning, " If you don't mind we asking, why 2300 and not earlier?" Speirs smirked at the innocent comment.

" I promise you, the night view is much better than the day view." he said. Speirs lead Hazel up the tiny stairwell to the attic and then lead her inside the roof where bombed out parts of the ceiling lay in disarray. Hazel slowly stepped up into the attic and looked around.

" Cozy," she murmured and she heard Speirs chuckle.

" You're quite a tiny thing," Speirs said as she looked up towards him. She smiled.

" The nickname makes sense, doesn't it, sir?" she asked him and Speirs chuckled.

" I found the perfect bombed out sector of the roof, here," Speirs said leading her forward. Hazel's eyes widened. It was absolutely perfect, all of it. The view she had was breathtaking, just below the brightly shining stars which hung above her.

" It's a perfect spot," she said looking out the window as a cold chill blew in.

" I'd say so," he said, looking around, " perfect view down onto the scene. You'll open up when you hear the whistle though, alright?" She nodded.

" Perfect," he said; he looked like a kid in a candy store, crouched beside her, watching with wide eyes.

" Sir," Hazel said and Speirs looked at her, " I, uh, I never believed the rumors, about you." Speirs watched her gently.

" Rumors are just rumors and I've had some spread about myself back in grade school, and I chose not to listen to them and let them get to me. I never believed them." she said, " You had to do what you had to do, and that's it." Speirs smiled at her.

" I think we're more alike than we think, Parker." Speirs said and Hazel grinned, with that challenging glint in her eyes, which glowed like a thousand stars.

Maybe they were.

At 0045, Hazel retreated up to her tiny nook which was nestled in the roof of OP 2. Speirs was right, and especially for the middle of the night, thew view was absolutely amazing. Hazel gently crouched beside the open air spot, and looked out. She could see the patrol below her, organizing with the rubber boats that were provided, the mass of men that were planning on moving across below her.

Hazel gently settled back and carefully laid down on her stomach, but even with the slightest shift, her chest wound gave way and her hand immediately went to it. Hazel let out a grimace and turned to look around the attic. There had to be some sort of pillow, or a blanket even that she could put underneath her chest so there wasn't the cold plank floor.

Hazel's eyes glossed over the room, until she found a tattered blue pillow. Hazel slowly, with a bit of a grimace, pushed up from her spot and crouched, hurrying over to grab the pillow up from the ground. Hazel then turned and placed it back where her stomach would rest, before lying down again, and it was comfortable. Hazel let out a shaky sigh and smiled softly to herself at the comfort of the pillow.

But damn it felt good to be behind a weapon again, ready for the fight. Hazel hadn't fired her weapon in a month and sure it had traveled to the hospital with her, the weapon hadn't been physically fired. Hazel slowly reached forward and clicked that scope into precision, a smile on her face.

In battle, an odd feeling overcame her, like the light witch at the hospital, of the want to fight and fire this weapon. Hazel gently rested her cheek against the pad of the weapon and continued adjusting her scope until she could clearly see the opposite side of the bank and farther in than she thought she could.

Hazel was suddenly transported back to a time when she first held this weapon; now Sink had guaranteed updates on the weapon each time a new version came out, but it was still the same weapon she fired with Lieutenant Wilson that day in Camp Athene. She remembered it so clearly, all of it.

Hazel's gaze rested through the gaze of a sniper scoop at 0100, she'd be ready to fire whenever she heard that whistle blow - and they'd never know she was here. She wanted to do this, every bit of it. Whens he was in war, it was war, no emotion, no mental battle, no fury, just war and that's all it was. You fight numbly until it's over and then you can flip that switch when it's over.

But war, was cold and brutal - numbing yourself was the only escape.

Catherine clambered into the boat behind Chuck, the explosives in her tight grasp as she slowly felt the ice cold water underneath them, some droplets already in the boat and soaking her new ODs. Searchlights swarmed the sky of the opposite embankment, reaching into the fair depths of the sky, striving for a plane just to fly by so they could shoot it down.

But the Allies weren't that dumb.

Catherine glanced over her shoulder towards where Hazel would be, the little hole in the attic. Catherine, like many of the men, were worried when they heard about Hazel on patrol, but in reality she was the safest out of them all and that settled Catherine. Each group of men got into the boats, before holding onto the line of rope attached to the each side of the river and beginning to pull themselves across to the other side.

" Keep it steady, keep it steady." Johnny called to the group. Catherine gently settled the demos to the side and pulled with all her might forward, each pull getting them closer as her and Chuck led their boat further and further forward.

" Oh, shit." a quiet voice snapped out behind them and Catherine looked over her shoulder to see that their assault team was in the water. Catherine heard the chaos behind them but she noticed Jones turn and looked forward again directing the group to keep moving.

" Okay, keep going, come on, stay focused." Johnny called softly to the group. Catherine couldn't help but look back over her shoulder again to make sure the Tony, Skinny and Cobb got up and out of the freezing water.

" Use the rope, come on." Johnny whispered. Catherine shouldered her Thomspon, and adjusted the demos at her hip before grabbing the rope and making a slight jump to the embankment and crashing down into the snow onto her knees, letting a quiet groan follow her as she did so.

Catherine slowly pushed up from the ground and maneuvered herself forward again watching as Johnny and McClung moved forward with wire cutters to get through a tiny bit of land. Once they did, they shuffled over to the side to allow for the group to start army crawling forward. Catherine crawled beside Shifty as they moved forward, the snow melting into her ODs and kicking up in her face from the person in front of her.

Johnny tapped her foot once her and Shifty passed saying, clear. Her and Shifty stood up side by side before moving forward slightly crouched weapons up and aimed. Her and Shifty moved near the edge of the bombed out concrete wall side by side, guns aimed towards where the Germans would ultimately be.

" Powers, go!" Johnny called to Shifty. Catherine gave him the nod and Shifty took off. Catherine then turned her head and looked up towards the 3 story building. There were a bunch of lights on inside. She saw Johnny watching her. She gave a quick set of hand signals to alert him and he gave her a nod back before sending the group forward. Webster arrived by her side but she just averted her gaze from him and focused back on the main entrance into the building, where the demos would have to be set.

" Powers, Wynn, secure the left flank." Johnny whispered softly to them.

" Lieutenant Jones, take Grant and Heffron, secure the right perimeter and the crossroads. Clear?" The two nodded.

" Security out, go." Johnny called. The group nodded, before moving out towards the left flank, taking their own 3 separate routes to attack it with. Catherine then met Johnny's eyes and he moved the group out moving towards the building with force and speed.

Hazel was watching their every move. She could see each individual person that moved out from the group, moving forward to their locations or with the main assault team. Her kill tally lay open beside her.

It was nearing 95.

That was at least 15 or so people from Bastogne.

Her heart ached at the mere thought but she averted her gaze. No emotion. She sunk into a cold, hardened position and watched through her scope as the patrol continued moving in. She saw the group moved out in front of a cobblestone staircase it seemed, all smooshed together awaiting instructions. Hazel could just make out Johnny preparing the grenade launcher in his grasp and she clicked her scope again. Then she leaned in further, surprised as someone jumped out in front of the group and launched a grenade forward, flying into the building. It was boiling chaos from there, the group yelling out to each other as they moved up the staircase and inside. Hazel's fear skyrocketed. What was going on? Hazel waited for a moment or two, just watching the door, her finger playing on the trigger.

" What is going on?" she whispered softly to herself. Her eyes narrowed and zeroed in like a bullet as she watched someone being dragged out of the door. And with that the first gunshots of the patrol signaled off. Hazel pulled the bolt with ease, falling back into it like routine and slowly adjusted herself.

Whistle.

Whistle.

Whistle.

Blow the whistle.

Hazel watched the group slowly falling back, and she watched through the scope as the men ran in bundled huddles together, pushing people back with fervor towards the boats. She watched Catherine pushing people away from their spots towards the boats; Hazel could tell she was yelling, she was very animated.

Whistle.

Blow the whistle.

And that's when she heard it, the silver whistle's tune heard about everything else.

And Hazel immediately zeroed in.

From her spot, it gave such a range that admittedly, Hazel felt she was in a game and had the power to kill anyone she wanted. A horror nightmarish thought when the last thing she had wanted to see was death. But sitting behind the rifle, death was the only thing that could come from this horrid war machine. Hazel sucked in a breath and found a machine gunner firing on the patrol, his MG-42 looking as if it were smoking from the high fire power that emitted from the weapon. She could end that.

" Guard me and guide me through war God, lead me, and light the way," she whispered as her finger played on the trigger and she watched the man behind the MG rip of another round of shots. Hazel held her breath, her body going still and pulled the trigger, watching the bullet find its home in the man's hot.

The knock back sent him flying backwards from the MG. Hazel watched the other soldier who was on ammo duty, quickly move to the spot, but Hazel was quicker, cranking the bolt action and holding her breath.

" Not so fast, buddy," she whispered, " guide and guard God, like you always do." The bullet was successful in its position and resting place as the soldier fell back. There was a slight relief on the patrol, as MGs from Easy's own side began opening up, firing back at the Germans.

Hazel's mind went to the kill tally for a moment, the sheet of paper with each tally for a life she took. 97.

It was painted in her head like one of those giant X-marks-the-spot in treasure hunts and pirate things. In war, it sat like a gate on her heart.

But she instead flipped the tally closed and with one hand tossed it over her shoulder, before clicking back the bolt action and taking aim.

This patrol needed to get back safely - they deserved to.

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hi!! i can't tell you how much i just love the ending of this chapter!! just hazel focusing on this war, no wonder she's a mini speirs LOL. i'm updating early tomorrow morning for me, before i head out and have to drive for 5+ hours :) but there will continue to be updates everyday so be on the lookout, they could be a midnight or 6 am who knows. thank you so much for all your love and support on the book, it truly means a lot to me, and writing it has helped me immensely through quarantine!! <3