June 4th, 1944

RAF Airfield, Upottery, England

The past five days had been endless meetings and briefings. The days of physical training gone, instead the focus remained on memorizing the plan for the invasion. Nixon had been the one to outline the plan, called Operation Overlord, for the officers of the 506th. Alice had then helped Meehan explain it to Easy. Simply put, the American paratroopers would jump into Normandy.

Normandy. Ever since learning that Normandy had been confirmed officially as the invasion point, she'd been in a state of general displeasure. It got to the point where very few people willingly approached her. Speirs didn't care at all, and spent two nights joining her for a smoking break at the end of the day of work. Nixon, too, sought her out when he could. Of the enlisted, George and Gene were least intimidated by her sour mood.

But as the morning dawned on June 4th, her snappy edge only increased. They'd be getting in the airplanes to jump that night, at 2300 hours. No more waiting, no more hesitation. No more chances to apologize, to change her actions. That last realization hit her hardest.

Though she and Bill Guarnere had returned to being friends, to laughing and joking, Alice had never quite been able to shake her hesitation, her borderline fear, of letting Guarnere get close again. Friends, but not family, she reasoned with herself. And as she looked over the massive tarmac airfield of the Royal Air Force, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon, she knew that needed to change. And, as much as it terrified her, the only way she saw it changing was if she told Guarnere exactly what she'd been feeling.

The men had the day off until noon, when they'd begin jump preparations. Even as Alice walked through the rows of C-47 aircraft, their massive frames casting shadows that stretched almost endlessly, she tried to calm her jittering nerves. How she felt more scared to talk to Bill Guarnere about how hurt she'd been than she felt jumping into enemy occupied Normandy almost made her laugh. But she didn't.

Easy Company had been grouped by squads and platoons. They each had a tent, some sleeping bags, and that was about it. Her feet hit the mushy grass as she left the air strip. Rows upon rows of endless tents loomed in front of her. She steered in the direction of Second Platoon.

A mixture of relief and fear crashed over her as she found Guarnere standing outside his tent, smoking with Johnny Martin and George Luz. Johnny just shook his head as the other two snickered over something.

"Good morning," Alice said, voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Hey, morning Lieutenant," teased George. "Thought we'd go another day with you holed up with the other officers."

Alice huffed. Shaking her head, she shuffled in place a few feet from them. "How are you feeling?"

"Ready to shoot some krauts," Guarnere joked.

Johnny rolled his eyes. Nevertheless, the tiniest of smiles betrayed his amusement. "The men are ready, Alice. Are you happy to be going home?"

"Only took you two years," said George.

She hummed for a moment. "I'm not sure, to be honest. We won't find France the way I'd like to find it, I'm sure." Then she hesitated. "I don't mean to interrupt your early morning chat. But, Bill, I need you to come with me."

They all looked at her in confusion. But he didn't object, just shrugged. Alice led the way back towards the air strip. As soon as her feet hit the tarmac, she paused. The sun had risen a bit more, and soldiers had started meandering about.

"What's up?" he asked.

Alice sighed. She turned to him, arms across her chest. "I want to say something, and I want you to keep your mouth shut until I'm done. Okay?"

"Yeah, right, fine."

Plopping a cigarette in her mouth, Alice frowned again. She looked away. "I wanted to apologize. What happened on the Samaria with Liebgott and I, it was bad. It pissed me off. God, I hated you for it." Her thoughts drifted back to the past September, and the betrayal she'd felt hearing the anti-semitic slurs come from one of her best friends. "But, I let my anger go on too long. I just, I wanted to explain why I avoided you for so long. Because if I don't explain this, I'll never get over it."

Bill watched her closely. His brown eyes followed her every move as she shuffled and fidgeted. Alice didn't know how to say what needed to be said without making him angry, or hurt, and she knew it.

"Right. I guess... for a long time after I was uh, attacked, all I could think about was that if I hadn't been angry at you, I wouldn't have wandered off alone. And if I hadn't wandered off alone in areas of the Samaria with people who didn't really know me, I wouldn't have been..." Her voice caught in her throat. Though at first she hadn't been able to recall the assault, she'd since had those memories surface. "Anyways. So for months when I saw you I saw the reason I'd been attacked, and so what should've been easily fixed just..."

Alice turned to him again. He made absolutely no response. Instead, "Wild Bill" Guarnere just stood with a cigarette hanging out his mouth, hands in his paratrooper pants' pockets.

"It's not your fault, though. It never was, it was mine. I didn't fight back. I should've fought back. If I'd fought back-"

"Stop."

"What?"

Bill watched her carefully. He turned his body to face her straight on. As the sun draped the airfield in golden hues, he just watched her. Finally, he spoke again. "It ain't your fault. So you need to stop thinking that right now."

"I fought back, I got Marc killed. But then I didn't fight back..." Alice trailed off. Tears filled her eyes. These she couldn't stop, and before long they spilled over, staining her cheeks. "God, I'm sorry." She hid her face in her hands.

"Alice, stop. It was those fuckin' bastards from I company. It ain't your fault." Bill shook his head. "I'm sorry, okay? About what I said back there. I know I never said it straight. But I am. I can't believe... Jesus Christ, Alice. I didn't..."

Getting ahold of herself again, she shook her head. "It's not your fault, the way I reacted and twisted what happened. That was me, not you. I know, despite you being a jackass sometimes. I know you don't watch your language. You don't think-"

"I get the point."

"But I know despite that, despite all that, I know you didn't actually mean to hurt me. Or that's what I choose to believe. But I think I'm right."

"Fucking hell, of course you're right." Bill shook his head. "Damnit, Alice."

Alice shook her head. "I just. Since we're jumping, and... well you never know... I mean... I guess I needed to say this."

Bill Guarnere didn't even hesitate as he threw his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. After a split second hesitation, she accepted. They stood still for a minute, a shadow of the wing of a C-47 covering them amidst the bright morning. For the first time in days, they had clear skies.

But later that day, everything changed. Around three in the afternoon, when the men started packing and checking their supplies, the skies clouded over. Still, they had high hopes for a change in weather. At four, Alice made her way over to where Sergeant Evans had them filling out life insurance.

Alice didn't know if she qualified. No one in her family remained to benefit from ten thousand dollars upon her death. But since Evans didn't know if she qualified either, she decided to fill one out anyways. It only took her a moment to figure out who to leave the money too.

She made it out to the Luz family.

Signing and dating it, she handed the GI Life Insurance Policy back over to the First Sergeant. He'd become markedly less annoying since Sobel's removal mere weeks ago. With a nod to him, Alice made her way back over to where Easy prepared to jump.

When she reached the men, Alice heard the tailend of Joe Toye ranting. Apparently he wanted brass knuckles. Why anyone would want more weight than they'd already been forced to carry, she couldn't imagine. Then again, Toye had always been a bit on the crazy side.

Finding a free space, she laid out her equipment. It only took a few minutes to count it all and confirm its completion. All the while, the men of Easy chatted around her. Though conversation seemed to come easily, Alice could detect the harsh hesitance in every voice. Malarkey's sarcasm seemed to double, George Luz's jokes turned more and more bitter, and Gene Roe quieted into absolute silence.

Alice left her excess equipment with Liebgott, Talbert, and Alley, and began to wander among the men. She saw Lipton doing the same thing. Before long, Private Vest wove in and out of Easy and Fox companies, handing out a single sheet of white paper to nearly every man. Alice wondered what it said, given the fact that recently they'd all been allowed to line up for ice cream.

"Here you go, ma'am," Vest said. "Straight from Colonel Sink."

Alice took the paper with a nod. Printed on it in greying, broken type, a message. Her heart caught in her throat.

Soldiers of the regiment:

Today, and as you read this, you are en route to that great adventure for which you have trained for over two years.

Tonight is the night of nights.

Tomorrow throughout the whole of our homeland and the Allied world the bells will ring out the tidings that you have arrived, and the invasion for liberation has begun.

The hopes and prayers of your dear ones accompany you, the confidence of your high commanders goes with you. The fears of the Germans are about to become a reality.

Let us strike hard. When the going is tough, let us go harder. Imbued with faith in the rightness of our cause, and the power of our might, let us annihilate the enemy where found.

May God be with each of you fine soldiers. By your actions let us justify His faith in us.

Colonel Robert Sink Regimental Commander,

506th P.I.R, 101st Airborne Division

The world slowed. She heard Guarnere muttering nearby about ice cream, and she could hear the whirring of plane engines at the very far edge of the air strip. But her gaze stayed locked on the sheet of paper. It was real. They were jumping. A lot of men would die. Not just men, but friends. Not just friends, but family. Her family.

With reverence. Alice folded the letter into a small square. She stuck it in her breast pocket behind the fraying photo of her and her brothers. Her heart pounded. The planes loomed ahead of her. This was it. They would be going back to France. She would be going home, to a place foreign to her despite knowing it intimately. It was time.

Until Nixon found her, and told her the invasion was postponed for twenty-four hours. Just like that, as they all found out they wouldn't be jumping, fatigue crashed into the companies. Alice sank to the ground on the edge of the airstrip. As most of the men filed into various recreational places to watch movies or play poker, she wanted to see the sun set over England again.

No glorious splash of color, nor bright sun sinking below the horizon, greeted her though. The cloud cover from the channel enveloped Upottery too, and so she only saw grey clouds turn into black clouds. Alice stayed where she was, face still covered in oil and paint. Heavy uniform and a hundred pounds of equipment still hung from her body. She sat on the tarmac at the edge of the grass, watching nothingness.

Alice didn't even realize someone stood behind her until she smelled cigarette smoke hours later. When she turned around, it surprised her to find Bill Guarnere standing, looking out over the silent airplanes as well. Something about his stance concerned her, though. After a moment of taking him in in the darkness, she pushed herself to her feet.

"Something's wrong," she said.

Guarnere looked at her, almost startled. That alone was enough to concern her. Alice stepped a bit closer. If she hadn't known him better, she would've sworn he had tears in his eyes.

"What's-"

Without saying anything he handed her a folded letter. She didn't speak. Alice took it, unfolding it. Instantly she noticed it had been addressed to Johnny Martin, but she kept reading anyways. Very little in the letter was about Johnny or his wife, though. Instead, she saw the name Henry, followed by the words no one wanted to hear: Killed in Action.

Her heart broke. Alice glanced up at him, hesitating. She knew how close Bill felt to Henry. They'd been best friends. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't say it." He shook his head. "Just... just tell me we're gonna make the kraut bastards pay."

Alice bit her lip. But she nodded. "We will."

"Me and you, when we get through the jump, we're gonna toast your brothers and him. We're gonna toast him with kraut drinks."

"It's a plan."

With a nod, Bill Guarnere looked out over the silent, dark air field again. His jaw clenched, and he barely moved. Finally he nodded. Bill didn't even say goodnight before walking away again.

Left alone, Alice focused on her breathing. They'd not jumped and already they were hurting. She couldn't even imagine what would happen when they did make the jump. And it would almost certainly be the next night. With a sigh, she tried to say a quick prayer. They'd need all the help they could get.