Waking up in an army regulation barracks cot instead of a warm, antique bed in the Nixon household almost made Alice want to cry. They'd gotten in late from the train and she'd crashed right to sleep. Alice forced her eyes open. She tried to figure out what had woken her up, because based on the low light levels, it wasn't nearly late enough in the day for her to want to be awake.

Alice sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her nose smelled cigarette smoke. Sure enough, at the other end of the room, Johnny Martin had lit a cigarette. He kept his voice low, chatting quietly with Bull Randleman and what looked like Guarnere and Toye. 

"I should have you shot for waking me up," Alice muttered. 

They all looked over at her. Guarnere had the audacity to grin. The other three at least looked a bit sheepish.

"Come on, sweetheart. Ain't you happy to see us?" He walked over, sitting next to her on her cot.

"I would've been happier if I'd been allowed to sleep for a few dozen more hours, Bill." A yawn proved her point. "What time is it?"

"0630," Johnny told her. "You the first back?"

"Yeah, we got in late last night," she said. Alice stood and slipped her fatigues over her shorts. 

Bull lit a cigar with Johnny's lighter. He walked over to her end of the room with the others. "How was New York?"

Her smile told them all they needed. Even Johnny Martin dropped his apathetic expression as she just shrugged. "I'll admit, America isn't so bad."

"Ain't so bad?" Guarnere shook his head. "Hear that boys, we ain't so bad."

"So were the Lieutenants better company than us?" Joe asked. When she looked over at him, he just winked.

"Do I have to answer that one?" She moved from her spot on the cot next to Bill, grabbing her uniform shirt and a bra. Stepping behind the curtain, Alice changed.

She heard the door to the barracks open from where she stood changing. Instantly she knew who it was. Skip Muck and Don Malarkey's laughter filled the room as they stepped inside. Changed, she ducked back into view and tossed her sleeping clothes into her footlocker.

Alice wasted no time in changing the focus of the room. "Hey Skip, how's Faye? She still hanging around with you?" 

"Perfect as usual, Alice. I know you're jealous, it's ok." 

The boys all but cackled at how quickly Skip turned the focus back on her. She pursed her lips. With a hand on her hip, she shook her head. Malarkey snickered as she stood without a response.

"Ouch," she muttered. Alice just moved past them all to head outside. "I guess I'll go find the Lieutenants. They can have the New Year's gifts instead of you."

Their protests made her smile as she stepped out the door. The chilly air didn't stop her either, and she decided to go take a walk by herself. It didn't surprise her even a bit, though, to hear footsteps. She bet it was Bill.

"Jesus Christ I've spent too much time with those guys," Bill Guarnere complained. He fell into step next to her. "Cigarette?"

Alice took the one he offered. "Need some female company?"

"You're certainly a hell of a lot nicer to look at than them, sweetheart." Then he smirked. "You smell better, too."

"Thanks. That's what I'm here for, to look and smell better than you lot."

He grinned at her laughter. They strolled along the paths of Fort Benning relatively quietly for a few minutes. The cold air hit them in the face, and every so often she shied away from a gust of wind.

"How was home?" Alice turned to Bill. "Eat some good food?"

"Yeah my ma cooked the best meal I've had in months. I think Joe stuffed himself even more than me."

"That's a feat."

"You're tellin' me!" He scoffed. "What'd you do with the Lieutenants?"

"We spent the first day exploring New York City. Lieutenant Nixon's family spends summers about forty minutes outside the city, so we stayed there."

"Is Lieutenant Nixon as much of a rich boy as they say?"

Alice snorted. She looked at him in surprise. "His family is definitely well off."

"Didja get snow? We got snow."

"Yes. We got snowed in one of the days. Ended up playing a lot of poker."

Bill grinned at her. "Get any better?"

She just smirked right back. Without responding, Alice continued on down the path. The basketball courts rose up on their left, untouched. She'd seen some of Able Company using them before their time off.

"You any good?" Bill asked her. He stepped up beside her where they looked at the silent court.

"Probably not," she admitted.

Bill grinned. "Good. Then we can teach yah, sweetheart. No reason you shouldn't learn." After a few more minutes of walking around Fort Benning, he turned to her. "How the fuck are you not cold?"

Alice laughed out loud. She turned to Bill and nudged him. "Ice in my veins, Bill. Ice."

"Yeah you're a regular terror. Good thing you're on our side."

But she and Bill Guarnere both made their way back to E Company. On their way they found Chuck Grant standing outside with Floyd Talbert. The latter smoked a cigarette, grinning at something Grant had said.

"Hey! When'd you get back, Lieutenant?" Talbert sent her his usual snarky salute. 

"I got back this mornin', thanks for askin'," Bill broke in. 

He and Alice joined Grant and Talbert by their barracks. The two chuckled at Bill's comment. But Alice just shook her head.

"We got in in the middle of the night," she said. "How was the week off? Did you two enjoy yourselves?"

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad," Talbert said. "Spent some time with family. Did a bit of dancing." He winked at Guarnere, who merely smirked back. "Kokomo's a hell of a town if you know where to go."

Grant just chuckled. He took a drink of his canteen. "Not too bad, not too bad. Didn't do much dancing. Just spent time with family."

"Well that good." Alice glanced at her watch. 0730 hours. "Right. I'm going to breakfast. I'll see you boys later."

She left Guarnere standing with them. He'd pulled out a cigarette. Making her way back towards Mess Hall used for Dog, Easy, and Fox, Alice enjoyed the quietness of solitude. Only a few dozen men made their way across the camp. None spared her a second glance. Most of the 506th, especially Dog and Fox, had become accustomed to her presence at last.

When she walked into the Mess Hall, her feet echoed on the wood floor. Only ten men sat inside. She recognized a few. Grabbing a tray, she walked into line. The man on KP duty slapped down oatmeal, bacon, and two slices of white toast onto her plate. With a thank you, she grabbed a mug of coffee and turned back to the tables.

Skinny Sisk, Shifty Powers, and Carwood Lipton sat together. Alice decided to join them. When she approached their table, they all glanced up. Lipton smiled and scooted down to let her sit on the corner.

Shifty straightened up. "Lieutenant!" 

"Good morning," she said. "How has the break been for you guys? Skinny, you didn't leave, right?"

He shrugged and shook his head. "No, I stayed around here. What did you do, Lieutenant?"

"The Lieutenants and I went to New York City. Lieutenant Nixon has a family home outside the city." She smiled. "It was nice. What about you two?" Alice turned her attention to Lipton and Shifty.

"Well, ma'am, I went home to see my dad." Shifty straightened up again. "We did some hunting."

Alice didn't even bother to correct his use of ma'am. She'd accepted it long ago. There was no way Shifty would drop the formalities. "That sounds nice. Lip?"

"My brother and I did some camping," he said. "It was good. Nice to get out. What did you do in New York, Alice? Joe said it snowed in Philly. Did it snow up where you were?"

She nodded. "Yeah, yeah it did actually. Quite a bit. Honestly it felt great. We went to a museum on the first day and then saw the new movie Casablanca."

"Oh I heard about that one. It's about the war, right?"

"Yes. It was good. I enjoyed it." Alice decided not to mention anything about the nightmares it had caused. She trusted Lipton fully, but didn't see the need to trouble Skinny or Shifty with it. "Are you boys planning on doing anything specific for New Year's Eve? I'm sure George and Bill with both insist on a party. I'll probably have to get them both back to the barracks after they inevitably drink too much."

Skinny cracked a smile. He picked at his food, highly amused at the mental image. "Add Lieb to that list."

"Oh absolutely!" Alice laughed. "And Malarkey. I'm sure Malarkey will drink too much." After all of them laughed again, she shook her head. "You three will need to help me out, so you better come to whatever party they throw."

"As long as you don't drink too much," Lipton added with a smirk. As he scooped more of his oatmeal into his mouth, he suppressed a grin. "Joe and Bill already proved they can out drink you."

Both Skinny and Shifty look between Lipton and Alice. She groaned. "I should have you shot for spreading rumors."

He just laughed. "Rumors? I didn't think it was a rumor."

With her own small laugh, she shook her head. Skinny smiled along with them. Alice dug back into her food, feeling more hungry by the minute. She listened to Lipton talk to Shifty. The two had taken the train home together and split in Virginia to go their separate ways.

When she finished up eating, she waited for the other three. Together they dumped their trays. Alice hugged her arms over her chest for warmth. Walking across Fort Benning, she stayed relatively quiet. She listened to the sounds around her instead.

"Jesus, It's only been a week and I come back to find the love of my life cheating on me with Lip? I knew you were easy but not that easy, Lip."

Alice broke into a huge grin at the sound of George Luz's voice. They all turned to find him striding over with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Frank Perconte walked next to him, cracking up at their expressions.

"You know, if he had any dignity, he'd be asking for your forgiveness," Perco added. "Get down on his knees or somethin'."

"You two have no shame." Alice couldn't help but laugh at the looks on Shifty and Lipton's faces, though. 

George winked and tossed her a bar of chocolate as he got closer. "Here. Maria's compliments. I mentioned I knew a girl who liked Hershey's. She wouldn't let me leave without bringing you one."

"She's a smart one, that kid," Alice said.

"Don't I know it." George turned to the others. He shuffled between his feet in the cold. "You guys good? Everything go well?"

They exchanged pleasantries for a bit. Alice asked Frank how his trip had been. He had one of the furthest trips to make. But he said it'd gone over with flying colors. They all stood near Easy Company's barracks for a few minutes, talking about Christmas and the few days they'd had home. But eventually the cold got the better of the group, and Alice, George, and Frank ended up heading back into their barracks.

To pass the time, they ended up playing some poker. With every game she played, Alice got better. Now she could keep up with most of the men in her company. It pleased her to no end. 

Throughout the day, men continued to trickle in. They still had several days before everyone had to be back on base, but it seemed most had come to the same conclusion: playing it safe made more sense than risking a no show on Monday of training. With each man to show up in the barracks, Alice felt herself feeling more and more happy. The days off had been a welcome respite, but now she wanted to get back amongst the men.