February, 1945

Mavis Newkirk sat at her desk, going through stacks of paperwork. She swore, the only reason she had been promoted was not because of her driving skills, but because it meant she could do more bloody paperwork.

As the keys of her typewriter clacked away under her fingers, Mavis let her mind wander. While not eventful, the last few months had certainly been busy. There were always planes coming in that needed to be loaded and unloaded and shipments to be driven to and from the airfield. Mavis didn't find it particularly rewarding, but it kept her out of trouble.

Letters from Peter had all but stopped. Mavis wasn't sure if that was because the letters were being held up in London, or if it was simply because he was too busy. The war seemed to be winding down. Mavis would not have been surprised if it was over by summer. Perhaps, as the Germans became more desperate, there was more for Papa Bear's organization to do.

Mavis found herself reading every single article in the papers, trying to glean any information she could about what Peter could possibly be doing. She desperately hoped he wasn't involved in that terrible business in the Ardennes- the so-called Battle of the Bulge. She remembered feeling sick to her stomach every time she read about it.

Worry had replaced curiosity as her constant companion. Between the two, she infinitely preferred the curiosity.

For her part, Mavis doubled the amount of letters and packages she sent. She had no way of knowing if any of them got through, but even if a fraction did, she would be satisfied.

The ringing telephone on her desk grabbed her attention. "Sergeant Newkirk," Mavis answered.

"Sergeant." It was Lieutenant Gilliam, her direct superior. "I need you to pick someone up at the train station, platform two. He should be arriving in about half an hour."

"Blimey, you don't give a girl much notice," Mavis said, checking her watch.

"Sorry. I just got word myself. Bring him back to the base and he'll have further instructions."

"Who is it?"

"You'll know him when you see him."

How ominous. "Right then, I'll head out now, sir."

Mavis hung up the phone, got up, and grabbed her overcoat. When she stepped outside, there was a light snow falling. Mavis flipped up her collar and hurried across the compound to the motor pool to requisition a car.

The trip to the train station was quick and soon Mavis found herself waiting for the train to arrive. She glanced at her watch. It was due any moment.

A train whistle broke through the winter air, and Mavis looked down the track to see the train pulling up to the station. She kept her eyes peeled as the passengers disembarked.

When she saw him, a small smile tugged at her lips. Lieutenant Gilliam had been right. She did know him.

Mavis raised her hand and waved it in the air. "Captain!"

Captain Sinclair looked around until he spotted her and quickly made his way over. She offered him a salute which he returned smartly. "Sergeant. That new stripe suits you."

"Thank you, sir," she replied. She felt her old friend, curiosity, scratch at her brain, but she resisted the urge to ask him why he was there. She already knew the answer. Need to know, and she didn't. "The car's this way, sir. Follow me."

Sinclair nodded and together they quickly made their way through the station and to the car. They sat in silence as they drove, Mavis trying hard to keep her curiosity in check. If the Captain wanted to divulge his reason to be there, he would. But she highly doubted he did.

"I'll need you to grab a medium truck when we arrive, Sergeant. Then we'll drive to the airstrip. I'm expecting something rather important to arrive on a plane in about-" he checked his watch- "twenty minutes."

Mavis also checked her watch. "Then we'd better hurry."

Sinclair's lips quirked. "I say, I am proud of you."

Mavis raised an eyebrow. "Proud of me? Whatever for?"

"It seems you've finally learned to control that terrible curiosity of yours."

Mavis laughed. "I think I finally realized it was more trouble than it was worth. Especially when I never need to know the need to knows."

After a fancy bit of driving, they arrived at the airfield in record time. It didn't take long to get a lorry and soon, they were waiting at the airstrip. Leaning against the back of the truck, Captain Sinclair checked his watch for the third time before scanning the skies. "Bloody snow," he grumbled.

"Don't worry, sir. Our boys here are the best there are."

Sinclair's jaw just tightened in response. Something was worrying him. Was it the cargo he was waiting for?

Mavis' ears picked up the sound of an engine. She studied the sky, but couldn't see anything through the cloud cover. "There," Sinclair finally said, pointing in the distance. Sure enough, a plane ducked down below the clouds, heading straight for the air strip. The crew on the ground that had been clearing off the runway quickly moved out of the way.

The roar of the plane engines drowned out all other sounds. They were close enough that they were hit with snow that rushed up from the ground as the plane landed. Mavis turned away to shield herself from the blast. The plane finally came to a stop and the ground crew hurried over to get it squared away. The propellers were still winding down when the back opened and a group of men filed out.

Mavis' heart stopped.

There were a dozen or more men. But one near the very front…

Peter.

Mavis didn't wait for permission, nor did she care for it. She simply rushed forward, running as fast as she could towards her brother as he stepped onto the tarmac. She must've called his name because he stopped and looked right at her. He seemed confused and didn't have enough time to make sense of anything before Mavis threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh Peter! Peter, I can't believe it. It's you!"

Peter grabbed her arms and wrenched himself loose, pushing her away a little. He studied her for a second, stunned. "Mavis? Blimey! Mavis, is that you?" Mavis nodded and then hugged him again. Peter hugged back, holding her tightly. He rested his cheek on the top of her head and shifted slightly from side to side. "Mavis. Mavis, my girl."

"You're home. I can't believe it. You're home! You're safe! You're here!" Mavis became aware of the tears streaming down her cheeks and she buried her face into her big brother's shoulder.

After a moment, Peter pulled away and grabbed her chin. "Blimey, look at you. What happened to that school girl I left behind?" He cast a glance at her sleeve. "Cor! You even outrank me!"

Mavis laughed and squeezed his arm. Then she took a moment to study him and her smile faltered. He looked haggard and worn. And, if she wasn't mistaken, he was favoring one leg slightly. Mavis gasped. "Are you hurt?" Idiot. She should have checked before manhandling him.

Peter shook his head and gave her a tender smile. "Nothing a few days rest won't fix. Don't worry about me, love." He gave her a quick peck on her forehead. Mavis didn't quite believe him, but also didn't want to hurt his pride, so she left it at that. "Blimey, Mavis, what are you doing here?"

"I work here. I'm your driver."

Peter shuddered. "They let you drive?" he exclaimed, no doubt having horrible flashbacks to when he had tried to teach her many years ago.

"Hey!"

Peter smiled and winked at her. "Well, never did credit the army for having any common sense. Mavis, my girl, let me introduce you to my mates." He slung his arm over her shoulder and held her close, turning her towards the other men around him.

"Oh no, you don't have to. Not now. You all look so tired," Mavis protested.

"It's all right, ma'am," one of them, an American, said politely. "We don't mind. Gosh, Newkirk's told us all about you, so it'd be nice to finally introduce ourselves. Course he never told us you were so pretty. And I never would have guessed because, well, Newkirk here isn't exactly Carey Grant, but-"

"Carter, quit your nattering. Mavis, this is Andrew."

"Ah yes, I should have guessed," Mavis said with a little smile. Newkirk's description of him was spot on. Even though Carter looked dead on his feet, he was still a chatterbox.

"And this is LeBeau."

A short man in a ragged red sweater and a beret smiled up at her. He grabbed her hand and kissed it before Peter gently shoved him away. "Oi, none of that, mate."

"And this-" Peter said proudly, "is the guvnor, Colonel Hogan."

Though he looked exhausted, Colonel Hogan gave her a cheeky smile. "I see you learned how to run in heels, Sergeant Newkirk."

Mavis met his smile with one of her own. "I told you, sir, like walking on air. Anytime you want to try it, I'd gladly lend you a pair." At that, Hogan snorted in amusement.

Peter hadn't missed the exchange and pegged Hogan with a suspicion look. "Have you two met before?"

Hogan hemmed and hawed and Mavis just shrugged. "Possibly," she answered. Peter narrowed his eyes.

"Right. Well then, that just leave Kinch. Mavis, this is Sergeant Kinchloe."

A tall black American stepped forward and gave her a knowing smile. "Hello there."

Even with just those two short words, Mavis couldn't stop a wide grin from almost swallowing her face. She knew that voice. Grabbing his hand with both of hers, Mavis shook it slightly. "Oh Kinch, it's so good to finally meet you face to face."

Kinch rested his other hand on hers. "Likewise. And I'm glad you're all right. We heard… well, I'm glad you're okay."

"Now hold on a minute!" Peter demanded. "Kinch, how do you know my sister so well? Have you two been writing each other?"

"Not exactly," Kinch said.

"Not exactly? What the bloody hell does that mean?!"

Colonel Hogan stepped in. "Since we're introducing everyone, Corporal Newkirk, meet Goldilocks."

Peter sputtered. "Goldilocks? You mean our contact in London?!" Hogan, Mavis, and Kinch nodded. Peter was gobsmacked. "Why didn't anyone tell me that?!"

Mavis knew exactly what Hogan was going to say and joined in with him. "It was need to know. And you didn't." She shouldn't have taken so much satisfaction in saying it, especially to her own brother, but it felt good not to be on the receiving end of it for once.

Peter gaped, trying to say something but finally gave up. "Well if that doesn't take the bloody cake. You stinker!" He tweaked Mavis' nose and she giggled.

It was then that Captain Sinclair joined the group. He must've been directing the other men to the lorry because they were already all in the back. He offered Hogan a salute which the Colonel returned.

"Glad to see you've arrived safely, sir."

"Yeah, thanks for getting us out so quickly." Hogan gave the captain a once over. "You're looking better."

Sinclair nodded. "Yes, thank you, sir. I wish I could say the same for you chaps."

"Hold on," Newkirk said, pinning Sinclair under his gaze. "Did you know about me sister too? And you didn't say anything?"

"Sorry about that, old man," Sinclair apologized, though he sounded more amused than contrite. However the exchange piqued Mavis' curiosity. She made a note to ask about it later. "Right. Let's get moving. You gentlemen have a reservation at the local hospital."

"What about the rest of my men?" Hogan asked as they made their way to the truck.

"They're safe. Being flown in to other bases. We didn't want to crowd the hospital," Sinclair explained. Hogan nodded wearily and Mavis wondered if any of them would make it to the lorry before they collapsed.

Once they were settled into the back, Mavis started towards the cab. She was stopped just out of view of the men in the back by Sinclair, who grabbed her hand. "It's all right. You can sit back there with him if you'd like. I'll drive."

Mavis turned to face him. "Did you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Send him here. To this airfield? Did you do that-" she hesitated for a moment before adding—"for me?"

Sinclair gave her a small smile. "Does it earn me any forgiveness?"

"Oh yes," Mavis replied in a gentle voice. "I think it just might."

"I'm terribly glad to hear it."

It was such rotten luck that he was an officer. Fraternization and all that.

Sinclair led her to the back of the lorry and helped her in. She settled herself beside her brother and slung her arm through his. As the truck pulled away from the field, she let out a small sigh.

"Well, Mavis me girl," Peter said after a moment of silence. "Looks like we have a lot to catch up on."

"It can wait, Peter, until you've had some rest." Most of the other men were already asleep, propping themselves up against each other.

"Yeah, I guess we've all the time in the world now."

Mavis nodded and rested her head on her brothers shoulder. But then something jumped to her mind and she sat straight. Yes, there would be plenty of time later, but there was one thing that could not wait a second longer.

"Actually, there is one thing," she said.

"Hmmm?" Peter said sleepily. "What's that, love?"

Mavis took a deep breath. Finally she would get an answer.

"What on earth did you do with all those peanuts?!"

The End.

Haha, Mavis may get an answer, but I doubt we ever will!

Thanks for reading. That's the last of my stories finished. I hope you enjoyed this one as well as the others. I really hope you found Mavis to be an interesting character and that I didn't "Sue" her.

Let me know what you think about the story, this chapter, and/or Mavis in your reviews!

Cheers,

Tuttle