Thank you for coming back! Special thank you to Paratroope56, Camilla and ljvs!

~Chapter Thirteen: Fire on Lake~

Esther leaned uneasily against the cool brick of the remains of a building. Easy was scattered around a French town center square. She smoked an entire pack of Lucky Strikes as she paced around. Many of the men begged her to calm down and sit by them. She shook her head at them; there was no comfort allowed while immersed in pure anxiety.

It was now D-Day plus 2. There was no sign of Meehan or Talbert, and many other significant men. The afternoon was growing heavy and she knew that they would be moving out soon. They were going to take Carentan. This was one of the few towns she could pronounce only because she distinctly remembered sitting and listening to Nixon brief them on the task. Those simple moments seemed both so distant but also so relevant that it was dreamlike.

She finally settled cross-legged on a patch of sun baked pavement. She began loosening her hair and braiding it again for the tenth time this hour. Pulling the caramel strands into a French plait at the nape of her neck was a distraction for her aching hands.

Essie tied the ends of her hair tightly and began to light another cigarette. Her throat and chest protested, but the craving to soothe the worry in her mind won the argument. Feeling defeated with anxiety, she blew out a short breath and closed her eyes.

The warm sun tried to penetrate her eyelids, but she only saw red and felt its waning heat. She squeezed them tighter together until she achieved blackness. Hot tears were forced out and her nose prickled to signify defeat of control of her emotions. Talbert was missing and though a whole company of men sat and joined her suffering in silence, she felt completely alone.

"Look who decided to show up: Floyd!"

She opened her eyes and looked around frantically. She prayed Luz wasn't pulling a prank on her. No, she thought, George would never do that to me.

And there he was in a smiling glory. Luz threw his arm around him as Liebgott proudly pulled out a Swastika. He looked as though he couldn't wipe that smile from his face if it was a direct order. Essie sat for a moment and took one last draw of her cigarette, quietly admiring him and his interactions. He pulled out a German poncho; she recognized the wide camouflage from the man she shot only 48 hours ago.

"That's a beauty, Tab!" Luz cried over Liebgott's begs for attention.

"Yea, my Luger will put you all to shame when I get it," Hoobler claimed.

Talbert wound the poncho around his forearms, "Hey, Luz. Is Essie here yet?"

She stood and walked towards them, a smirk on her lips and tears threatening her eyes.

"She's nowhere to be found, Floyd. Sorry brother," Luz could hardly keep his expression straight, but he was always a laughing man.

She took one more limping step and slid her hand under his upper arm from behind. "Nice poncho, Floyd." Her voice was low and gravelly.

Disbelief washed over his face as he turned to look at her. He turned and threw Luz a final dirty look before narrowing his eyes on her own. "Esther, oh god am I glad to see you… hey, hey now." He placed his warm hand on her cheek, "Why are you crying?"

She smiled up at him and tucked her arms against his chest, "The sun is all." More quiet tears prickled in the corner of her eyes. Essie choked on her words, "Not to mention I was absolutely worried sick about you."

Tab put his chin on her head again a sucked in a heavy breath. "I've been fighting with the 502nd since I landed. Smokey, Shift and I all landed in the wrong DZ." He brought now both his hands to her face again, with his palms on her hot cheeks and his thumbs wiping away the even hotter tears. "I'm so glad I'm here now. I didn't think I'd ever find you."

Essie in an attempt to muffle her emotions slipped the scarf from around his neck and draped it over her own. Talbert drew it over her head and removed his helmet in one swift motion. She could not take her eyes from his face for fear if she looked away he would be gone. Afternoon light shown through, making small camouflage patterns on Floyd's face.

"I'm so glad to be here with you, Essie," he repeated as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She saw his eyes darting from her eyes to her lips. She draped her arms around his shoulders and laced her fingers around his neck. As Talbert captured her lips with his own she pressed her hips against his. The sweet, long kiss was broken with a smile from both of them. They stood pressed closer together than they ever had before, their foreheads tilted together.

The soft green patterns on their faces were pulled away by Luz, "Hey you two lovebirds, Welsh wants us."

Floyd took her by the hand, and he led her over to the group of men. Harry offered her a toothy grin while all of the men bumped into Talbert with congratulations. Floyd nonchalantly tugged at his lower lip in an attempt to pull away the grin.

"Easy's moving out! On your feet!" Welsh bellowed, "Listen up, it'll be dark soon. I want light and noise discipline from here on. No talking, so smoking… and no playing grab fanny with Esther in front of you Luz!" This earned a roar of laughter from the men.

"No promises," Luz good-naturedly said, bumping Essie with his elbow.

"Where we headed to, Lieutenant?"

"We're taking Carentan…"

"That sounds fun," a sarcastic voice said.

"It's the only place where armored from Utah to Omaha beach can link and move in. 'Til we take Carentan, they're stuck on the sand. General Taylor sent in the whole division…"

Luz blew a raspberry in protest and mockery, "Remember boys," Luz called, his expression dripping in satire. "Give me three days and three nights of hard fightin', and you will be relieved."

Esther laughed with the men, shrugging o her equipment before falling in line beside George and Floyd. She so badly wanted to talk to him, but Welsh had given his orders.

"Lieutenant, Lieutenant I'll take point." He proudly stated, and Essie supportively slapped his back.

"Corporal Hoobler will be lead scout. Blithe; its good to have you back with us." Blithe, whom Essie never really spoke to, gave a timid thank you to the platoon leader.

"1st will follow Fox Company, and 2nd and 3rd platoons will follow us." Talbert quickly pulled his index finger across Esther's fist. She silently looked up and caught the smile that was still plastered on his face.

"Another thing to remember boys, flies spread disease, so keep yours closed." George made another joke, and Essie was thankful they men had somebody to keep their morale up. "Be sure to remember that one, Tab. We wouldn't want our girl catching any diseases."

Bastard.

B.o.B.

"Essie, why are you limping?" Floyd said quietly, keeping an eye on Hoobler.

Her brow was sweating. Heat was wafting at her face as fire burned on the surface of the lake they walked along. "I ran into a Kraut when I landed. We both took each other by surprise, but I guess I'm a better shot."

Floyd swung his rifle further up his shoulder, "You should be off the line."

"It's not that bad, Doc patched me up real good. I just need to rest."

He looked down at her, "There is no resting. We're about to take Carentan. And who knows what we could run into before we get there?"

"Sergeant Talbert! I said noise discipline!" Harry called over his shoulder, tension in his voice.

She held her voice barely above a whisper, "I wish he'd relax. I'm dying for a smoke."

Hoobler suddenly put up his hand, and the line of men instinctively crouched down. They had lost Fox Company… again.

"Perconte, go get Winters. Hoobler, take Blithe and try to locate Fox." They both chorused a 'yes, sir' and walked off. By the skeleton of a tank, Essie leaned against Tab's back, waiting for word.

Suddenly Winters stormed up to Harry before beginning his questioning. Nixon followed closely behind him. He quickly looked her up and down before continuing on. Furrowing her brow at the pain aching in her thigh, she cradles her rifle and looks around. The sun is completely gone, now only infernos light the path they take.

In a matter of hours she would take the town of Carentan with Easy Company. Anxiety builds in her chest as she thinks about what could happen to the men surrounding her. Hours ago she was relieved to be rejoined with Talbert, now she had to worry about him all over again. Essie would be the first to admit; she was scared.

D-Day Plus 6

Esther slapped a mosquito against her still bloody neck. She drew Guarnere's scarf up closer to her jaw and thought about how long it had been since she'd spoken with him. A dog could be faintly heard barking in the distance, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Its staccato barks reminded her of a clock, and how she could never sleep if one was nearby her. The thought of it made her antsy. She glanced up from her M1 and saw Winters slowly lift his head above the summit of the hill. He shuffled back to Welsh, gave his command and ran down the slope of the road.

"Let's go, let's go," he calmly commanded, giving each man a gentle shove.

Her eyes were fixed upon George Luz as he sprinted down the dusty road with Welsh and two other men. Shots began to ring out, and her stomach dropped. Most of the men fell and rolled into the barrow ditches along the road. But Essie was ordered to go and she had to know if Luz was the one who had been hit. She sprung up from the tall grass while Winters' shouted against the chaos.

Following Shifty Powers, they ran through a gathering of trees. Their sharp branches cut her thin skinned face, but she continued to follow behind Shifty. She quickly gained ground and found herself ahead of the rifleman. A frail looking wooden fence lay in front of her. With her eyes confirming the sight of Luz very much alive as he yelled into the mouthpiece, she crashed through the gate.

Adrenaline was overtaking her body by the time her and Shift had reached a chicken coop. From one side of the wire enclosed area, she checked off one German after another, while Shifty sniped them from the broken windows. Moments passed as Essie took in the amount of men that were laying lifeless around her.

She ran across the cobblestone street, a bullet nipping at her heels. It sent bits of brick around her as the trail of bullets continued to miss her. As she slammed her back against the wall of a building with propaganda slathered on, she looked up to see who was shooting at her. With a quick aim through her steel sights, the attacker's helmet fell in defeat. Suddenly a downpour of shots flew into the coop, directly where Shifty had been sniping from.

"You OK, Shifty?" She called from across the street as she tripped over a dead German, and offered thumbs up in question to the man. While her hand was out in the open, and a burning bullet tore through the center of her palm. Essie dropped her gun in the process of bringing her left hand to cradle the other. She cried out in agony as she was certain it broke every bone in her hand.

"We gotta take that Warehouse…SHIFTY!" Lipton called out, motioning him to meet up with him, to snipe out other windowed Germans. Shifty glanced over at Essie as she screamed in pain, "My hand! My goddamn hand!"

"You're coming with me!" Shifty took her arm and guided her through the bullets raining down on them.

"Shift! My rifle!" she tore away from him, bending down and grabbing the scuffed up M1. Once they had met up with Carwood, he noticed her wound. Deep red blood gushed from the large and bone splintered crater. He dug through a bag as he positioned himself on the ground and tossed her a bandage.

"Stop getting shot, sergeant!" Lipton shouted at Essie as she struggled to doctor herself. The dried blood from her palm's grip protested as she tried to pull her rifle away.

Shifty hammered a group of windows above him, ensuring nobody was in there before they continued on. Perconte looked over to her and held out his hands as an offering of assistance. He grabbed her good hand, pulling it from the bloody wrapping. Quickly but delicately he unrolled the gauze through her fingers and tied in gently around the underside of her knuckles.

"Thank you…" Essie murmured, genuinely thankful for his help.

"No problem." He mustered a smile, and ran off. A part of Essie expected him to say something like 'sweetie' or 'honey', or 'babe' afterwards. But nothing like that was said and in that moment she forgot their differences.

Liebgott and Tipper dashed by, and she scrambled to get up so she could follow them.

"Joe! Windows!" She called, and Liebgott understood immediately.

As they ran down the sidewalk littered with bits of blown up building, Joe would break the single pane windows with his rifle butt. Every building they passed, she would lob a grenade through the shattered opening and every time she pulled the pin, she wondered what kind of people were in those buildings.

Artillery flew overhead, sending an unsettling echo through her ears. Lipton yelled a loud warning from the balcony, but Essie could barely hear him over the pounding in her ears. Only then did the shells begin to fall. Winding through the debris blanketed road, her adrenaline assured she would easily keep up with Joe and Tip. They jogged through an archway, and Essie read 'Pharmacie' above the doorway.

She looked down the short street and saw Talbert kneeling beside Lipton. Panic fluttered her heart and she leaned to turn and run for them, but saw Liebgott looking back for her with expectance.

Liebgott peered through the windows for a brief check before he gestured an 'ok' to Essie. She kicked open the painted double doors and exposed a beautiful home that a family once lived in. As Tipper opened the back door, she noticed even their laundry was still hung up to dry. She resumed her position of watching at the door way and waited for Tipper to clear the house.

She heard two shots ring from the house, so she stepped away from the doorway. As she had her back to the building, a mortar shell exploded exactly where she had been standing only four steps away. The force of the explosion knocked her backwards and the thick dust disoriented her.

"Tipper! Liebgott!" she screamed, holding her arm up to shield her eyes from the dust. Joe was yelling, looking around the building when Essie caught up to him.

Tipper emerged through the remains of the building, panting, half of his expression showing panic. Silence fell upon his ears as he raised his rifle in defense to his comrades.

"Joe? Esther? Is that you?" he cried, his face a large open wound.

"You're looking good, Tip. You're looking real good… c'mon buddy, ya gotta sit down. C'mon." Liebgott put his arms around what was left of his friend, and they sat down on the walkway. Essie held her bandaged hand to her open mouth, her throat ached in sorrow. Tip's left eye was gone; the remaining part of his face in shreds. Blood poured from his mouth as he attempted to speak.

Essie kneeled down and too put her arms around Tipper. Liebgott spoke soothing words. As Essie looked Tipper over, bile rose in her mouth in response. His legs were a mangled mess, his boot smoking in the absence of his foot. Her hand no longer seemed to hurt.

"We're gonna get you fixed up, okay? C'mon guys, will you give me a hand?" Essie stood up slowly and took a few steps back. Joe and another young trooper carried him off to the Aid Station, and all Essie did was watch them stumble away with tears stinging in her eyes. But the war did not pause for Tipper; only the battle stuttered as the remaining Germans fled through the flooded farmland behind the town of Carentan.

B.o.B

"Hey, hey… what's this?" Tab took hold of Essie's bandaged hand and placed it in his lap.

She had replaced her cigarettes for one of Bull's cigars. Chewing on it she replied, "Nothing. I just got pinged, okay?" Essie snapped at him, annoyed he ripped her from her train of thought.

"Jesus, I'm just worried about you!" He pushed on, tugging at the gauze. Talbert twisted in front of her, forcing her took look at him. The sun behind him had replaced the clouds that covered during the fight.

She shrugged his hand off her shoulder, "Tab, go worry about somebody else… like Tipper."

"I already went to go see him, but I was too late. Doc said he wasn't even conscious before they shipped him off." He lit a cigarette with anger, "Make me feel like shit…" He mumbled to himself standing to leave.

"Floyd, come back. I'm sorry."

He whipped around and glared at her, smoke shooting from his nostrils like an angry bull.

"I didn't mean to make you feel like shit."

He took a step closer, "I'm just asking about your fucking hand and you act like I'm not upset about Tipper?"

"I said I was sorry!"

Talbert's shoulders slumped a bit as he properly exhaled from his mouth. He returned next to her on the wooden bench and took her good hand. "I'm just a little wound up."

She accepted his hand and squeezed it tightly, "Me too… I just can't stop thinking about his face, Tab. It didn't even look like him… he'll never look the same."

"Welsh told me he's on his way to a hospital in England… and then it's back to the states."

Essie shook her head, trying to rid herself of the tears coming, "That mortar hit right where I was supposed to be. I heard shots and I ran, Floyd. I ran, like a fucking coward." Talbert drew her into his chest, his musky smelling jacket absorbing the inevitable tears.

"You are not a coward, Essie Fusillade. I don't see any other women out here fighting for their country. Do you, Bull?"

"Most of 'em are in factories building bombs." The massive solider responded plainly through his cigar.

Tears seeped into her cracked lips as her face broke into a smile. "Don't forget about the field nurses, too."

Floyd shook her gently, "Quit being humble, Es."

She wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks with the back of her hands and lit a cigarette. "I saw you with Lipton. Is he alright?"

"Caught some shrapnel in his face and groin," Floyd said, looking off at the men lounging around, admiring their spoils.

She leaned against him once again with contentment, "I'm so glad you found your way back to Easy. What happened on D-Day?"

Floyd shrugged, "Well, I told you we fought with the five-oh-two. Smokey, Grant, Shifty and I… and Tipper was there with us. We took a farm and held it for awhile, until some more Americans came. That's why I was gone so goddamn long."

They sat in silence for a while, smoking their Luckies, completely happy to just be sitting in a moment of peace.

He slid his hand gently on her thigh, "And you? Tell me more about what happened here. If I'm allowed to ask," he teased, recalling earlier.

She French inhaled a drag before continuing, "You know our jumping situation was fucked… I landed in some water. I thought it was an ally coming towards me, I was wrong. It was some German, he shot once and missed. It gave me enough time to get my sidearm. He shot again, this time hitting my leg. " She maneuvered her good hand into the shape of a pistol and aimed in front of her, "Then, I hit him square and he fell."

Her mind wandered as she thought about the children in the photograph.

"The only good Kraut is a dead one," Floyd said proudly, squeezing her shoulders. "Please go see Doc Roe about your hand?"

Harry Welsh marched in front of them, "C'mon, lovebirds, we're moving out!" Essie turned around, and Harry's blue eyes twinkled at her.

She took Talbert's hand and yanked him up from the bench as she stood, "No time now, babe. Upsy daisy."

"Lieutenant Welsh, sir?" Floyd smirked at her before addressing the platoon leader. "Please give this stubborn woman orders to go see a medic?"

He grabbed her wrist and held up the bloody mess for Welsh to see. "Goddamn it, Floyd…"

"Sergeant Fusillade. Doc Roe. Now."

"Goddamn it, Floyd," she repeated, slapping his chest.

He threw his pack over his shoulder with a smug look on his face. "I'll see you when you catch up with us, dear."

Esther threw him a playfully dirty look and attempted to stomp off, but rather had to limp towards the building with a red cross banner pinned above the door.

The air in the makeshift aid station was heavy with emotion but frigid in temperature. Winters was leaning over, rolling his pant leg down over a bandage. He began the ritual of blousing it over his boot.

"Sergeant," he addressed her as he tied off the final knot of his laces. Eugene Roe was wiping his hands on a cloth, his expression pale and listless.

As Winters left, Esther gave him a salute that was returned to her with exhaustion.

"What happened to him?"

Gene finished cleaning the area, "Caught a ricochet. Can I help you, miss?"

"Orders from Welsh for you to look at my hand," Essie shrugged.

The Cajun medic gestured towards the seat Winters had just vacated; it was still warm. Working silently as always, Gene peeled away the stiff bandage and exposed the damaged. He took a clean rag drenched in iodine and held it firmly against the wound.

Through clenched teeth her gasp sizzled with pain, "Jesus, Gene!"

He looked up at her with tired, steely eyes, "Why do you always blame me for your pain? I ain't the one who put a bullet through yo hand!"

She complied and shut up, feeling like a kicked puppy.

He paused and released a heavy sigh that was filled with tension, "Miss, I'm sorry. A lot has happened today. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

Eugene waited for her to reply before wrapping the bandage, "Don't worry about it, Gene." She thought about talking about Tipper with Talbert earlier. "I understand."

He closed off the bandage with two metal clasps and gave her a nod to show she could leave.

"Thanks, Doc."

He once again only nodded his response.

Once she left the building, she felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. The heaviness from the suffering and death in that building was enough to floor anybody. She did truly understand now why Eugene looked the way he did.

"Why is my cowgirl walking out of the aid station with a bandage?"

Esther looked over her shoulder and a broad smile enveloped her face.

"Well, if it isn't the Wild Bill!"

The stout and fearless man swaggered up to her, unable to hide his smile. He draped her in one of his crushing hugs, "You ain't still mad at me, are you cowgirl?"

"Not as mad as I am with the Krauts!" She buried her face into his shoulder.

"I'll take it," Bill said, now holding her at arm's length. "So, what's this bandage business about?"

She held her hand up a bit as the throbbing began to intensify, "Give a thumbs up in war and you're sure to get it shot down!"

Guarnere gave a hearty chuckle and offered his arm to her, "C'mon, Essie, we've gotta play catch up with the rest of the guys now."

I have a oneshot with Guarnere festering in my mind- anybody interested?

Also, I've decided to go to college! I'll be going this fall semester to get a degree in History :)

Thank you for reading and reviewing!