Though I've written fanfictions for years, this is the first time I've ever published anything, so be gental. Watched the series, read the book, loved the book more, but since I thought of this idea when I watched the movie, this story will take place according to how the that went. I don't own anything but my charaters and such....so enjoy!

Captain Dick Winters let the burn of coffee slowly slip down his throat as he listened to the Airmen and Marines go on behind him. If he'd been a different type of man, maybe like Nixon or definitely like Harry, he would have turned around and said something. He could just picture the insuring brawl if Harry or Lewis had been with him, crashing its way through the tables of the small, outdoor café and into the busy Parisian street. However, he wasn't that type of man, so he just let them carry on and enjoy themselves. They very well could be lying dead somewhere in a month. Still, he couldn't help but turn his shoulder so that the screaming eagle patch and his bars were clearly visible to the guys behind him.

Dick wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. When Nix put that paper down in front of him and said what it was, he didn't believe him. Even when he opened and looked over the pass he wanted to congratulate the intelligence officer and Lt Welsh for their zealous effort in the prank. Though he didn't want to go, Dick still promised Lewis he'd take it easy and enjoy himself. However, being among civilization only confused him. He felt as though he was in a dream. He was clean, warm, dry and not hungry. The sun was shining warmly on his fair-skinned face and the sounds of the busy city replaced the sound of the base and the battlefield. It made him wonder if everything else he'd experienced before now had really happened. Had he really jumped out of a plane with thousands of tracer rounds brushing past him? Had he really survived all the horrors of D-Day and the month after? Though it'd only been a few short months ago, it seemed eons ago. Then again, some days it felt like only yesterday he was getting on the train for basic training.

He hadn't seen any real action since early October, unless one included the night Moose was shot. Instead, he'd been stuck writing reports and signing every scrap of paper that kid shoved at him for the past three months. He missed the men. He missed being around them and most of all he missed leading them.

Though he'd never admit it, he loved the thrill of carrying out a well planned, successful attack; like at Brecourt Manor. It made all the training and hell he'd been through worth it. That's why he hated failing and retreating. It must have been the competitiveness in him.

Of course, he was scared senseless when he ran into an attack with bullets flying all around him, but instead of that fear working against him, it drove him to fight harder, smarter, and longer. Dick didn't fear dying, he was afraid of his men dying, and now he had to sit back and sign the dotted line while his men ran off to battle. Yes, he still commanded them in a sense, but now Lieutenant Dike, who Dick had very little confidence in, held their lives in his hands. Easy Company, his company, risked life and limb while Dick risked getting carpal tunnel; it wasn't what he signed up for. Dick found it hard to enjoy himself in Paris when he knew he'd be returning to that nightmare in two days.

Nevertheless, Dick was going to try his damnedest to relax, but the Pennsylvania farm boy was a bit lost for ideas in the City of Lights. Sure, there was plenty to do, but hardly any he would do. He seemed to have made a reputation of being a do-gooder Puritan. He didn't smoke, but he might as well have because he breathed in a pack a day from the rest of the men and he'd been cured of drinking when he was 16 by his father, a threshing machine, and a 100 degree July day. It was hard to believe, but the calm, reserved Captain had once been the black sheep of the well-respected Winters family. Dick had tested and found his limits many times in many ways when he was young. After getting all that out of his system, Dick tried to go about life with a clear head and clean set of lungs.

A group of sailors got up from the table across from him, revealing a lone woman sitting at the table in the corner. Dick wasn't quite sure why she had caught his attention. There were hundreds of people in his line of vision and yet she was all he could see. He had a feeling her uniform was the reason.

He normally wasn't one to stare, but he couldn't help but watch as she finished off the last of her coffee. Her brown hair was pulled back in a neat bun at the base of her neck. On top of that hair was a service cap and on her lapel was a serpent wrapped around a cross and a large 'N'. She was a nurse. Her eyes flickered down to the drink on her right. She looked at it like it was something she needed to conquer, but didn't want to.

His inability to take his eyes off of her probably had something to do with the fact she was very beautiful. The afternoon sun cast a glow over her, making it look like she was glowing. Dick watched nurse for five or so more minutes. In the back of his head he was somewhat waiting to see if she was waiting for someone. Probably a young, good-looking GI whose finger she bandaged once, he mused.

Dick help couldn't but be a bit pessimistic when it came to women. It always seemed as though he was a day late and a dollar short when it came to them. Unlike many of his fellow soldiers, the opposite sex hadn't been on his mind much. After all there was this little situation called a war going on. Still, he continued to watch her as she absent-mindedly drew circles with her finger tips on the white table cloth.

Then, she abruptly turned her head to scan her surroundings. Dick ducked his eyes back down to the brochure he'd been holding, hoping she hadn't caught him staring. She craned her neck around to look behind her and he caught the silver bar glimmer in the sunlight on her shoulder.

She was a first Lieutenant. The Captain suddenly felt himself get a dose of reality.

Fraternization with Army personnel of a lower rank could be punished by court marshal for conduct unbecoming. Though women weren't in any sort of combat, they still played a major part in the Army. He could still recall Sobel's rather 'enjoyable' and informative speech about getting involved with any female personnel.

Dick shook his head at the thought of his former commander. He sighed and went back to his brochure.

That brawl became clearer and clearer in his head after a little while when a guy behind him knocked him in the back, almost causing him to spill his coffee in his lap. If only Nix had been there with him, but he wasn't. He was back in Aldbourne breaking the very same rule Dick was trying not to break himself. His eyes couldn't help but glance back over to the nurse, who was sliding that untouched drink away from her. He sighed and collected his things as he stood up. He dug for some money and quietly groaned as one of the coins slipped through his fingers and clattered against the pavement. He ducked down to pick it up and as he came back up, he noticed the nurse was leaving. He watched as she navigated her way through the tables and onto the crowed sidewalk.

Dick left what he hoped was the right amount and started walking in the same direction. He wasn't purposely following her, but she was going the same way he had planned on…at least that's what he told himself. They walked about a block before she stopped at an intersection and looked up at her surroundings. She a lost look on her face, but not the 'I'm can't find my way' lost. It was the 'where do I go now lost'. He knew that look. He'd had that same look since he'd stepped off the train earlier that afternoon.

Suddenly, a group of young Frenchmen came running down the sidewalk as though they were running for their lives. They blew past Dick and the nurse like a freight train. He received an elbow in the arm, but his eyes snapped over to the nurse who was dangerously teetering backwards. Suddenly, his combat reflexes kicked in. Dick didn't think. He just sprung into action.

First Lieutenant Rosemary Beyer breathed in the smoggy, Parisian air. Normally, the Midwestern farm girl found any sort of urban air stifling, but to her it was refreshing. There wasn't a hint of blood, burnt flesh, or sweaty soldiers in the crisp December air. Rose was a nurse in the Army and had been stationed in several aid stations and tented hospitals. The men did all the fighting and cleared the way, but the nurses cleaned up the mess.

It was only the beginning of the US's involvement in the second Great War in northern Europe, and already she'd seen enough horrors to last a lifetime. She landed on Normandy beach on D-Day plus four and walked five miles through Rommel's flooded fields to the first medical station. While there, she and the other nurses slept, or tried to at least, to the sounds of artillery rounds and the moans of wounded men under flimsy tents on the damp ground. Before that, she'd been stationed at a hospital in North Africa, but only for a few months before being shipped to England. Back there, she was saw many horrors, but none compared to the ones on the beaches and country side of Normandy.

Rose had won a 48 hour pass to Paris. Ever since she'd joined the Army Nurse Corps, Rose had only used up two days of leave and those had been spent sleeping. What she didn't know was that Captain Kent, one of the doctors, and her best friend rigged the lottery so the young nurse could get a break. They had watched her rub her tired feet and aching eyes. They noticed the gauntness in her cheeks and the paleness of her skin. She was by far the hardest working and best nurse in the whole regiment, but she didn't act like she was. She was a one of the few 1st Lieutenants and so she did have authority over most of the other nurses, but she didn't abuse it. She just did her job.

After checking into the hotel, she studied a map and tried to find something to do. Rose had always been the quiet one in the crowd. Her close friends and family found her dry sense of humor and uncanny timing to be hilarious, yet Rose didn't try to be the life of the party, ever. Nor had Rose been to very many big cities, especially alone. She wasn't afraid to go out by herself, just unsure of what she was supposed to do by herself. Her friend and fellow nurse, Annie Scofield, told her about a few good places to go and she promised her she wouldn't waste this leave. Rose wandered around like a typical tourist for a few hours before finding that café.

Rose enjoyed her first cup of real coffee in a very long time. The aroma filled her senses and sent her back thousands of miles and many years. Some days, Rose couldn't believe she'd been to all the places she'd been and seen the things she'd seen. Five years ago, her life was going down a totally different road. She was just barely out of college and was teaching in a small school house a mile from home when her best friend volunteered to be a nurse in the Navy. Rose used to get letters upon letters describing how beautiful Hawaii was and how she didn't think anything would ever happen. But, something did and the day after Molly's funeral, Rose joined the Army.

When Rose sat down, it had been pretty quiet, but then a few groups of soldiers from all different branches filled up the small outdoor space. Rose only prayed to god that they'd leave her be. She dealt with enough wanna-be Romeos every day. Actually, she had a great deal of fun dealing with the overly flirty GI's. Her sly and sarcastic humor came in quite handy and so far, the boys seemed to enjoy bantering with her. She had fight fire with fire because it kept her from falling for the female-deprived soldiers' charms. But, even the best entertainers needed a vacation every now and then.

Unlike most of the young woman who had joined the Nurse Corps, Rose wasn't looking for romance. Though relationships weren't totally against the rules, they were so carefully regulated that it was almost not even worth it. Almost every single nurse in the Corps was an Army equivalent 2nd Lieutenant. That way, the women had authority over the majority of soldiers they treated and worked with. It also meant that because they outranked the privates and sergeants, they couldn't get involved with them. Although, that didn't stop the rest of the nurses in her company from having their wartime flings anyway.

She wasn't as strict about it with her nurses as some of the other higher ranking officers were. There was one particular Lieutenant who practically walked around with a ruler and chastised any nurse who got any closer than six inches to patient, and suffice to say, she wasn't very well liked. Rose just reminded her nurses that they had taken an oath, and at the very least to have some discreetness. A few of her nurses had been disciplined with latrine duty after she'd found them not practicing the latter, so they knew that even though she was lenient, she wasn't a pushover and they really respected her.

Part of her success as a leader was leading by example. And though she often caught flack from her friends, she had made up her mind that she wouldn't fall for every good-looking soldier that came in on a stretcher or looked sharp in a uniform. Rose seemed to be really good at setting herself for failure when it came to men anyway. She'd get her hopes up so high and then they'd come crashing down instantly when she'd learn they had a girl back home or had some repulsive habit. Therefore, she just decided that there were more important things to worry about. Like, staying alive, writing reports, keeping the men alive, air raids, inventories, landmines, and all those wonderful things found in a war. However, it was hard focus one's mind of those things when having a smoke with a cute GI was all three-fourths the nurses in her company seemed to worry and always talk about. Still, it didn't mean she couldn't look and dream. She was just a woman after all.

Her eyes subtly scanned the café that was bustling with uniforms. Most of them were hardly in their twenties or were much older officers. Rose was, according to her great aunt, a ripe old maid at the age of 23, though the last few years had made her feel many years older.

Behind a group of sailors, Rose did catch a glimpse of a redheaded Army paratrooper. He was reading something and seemed to be fairly engrossed by the way his brow was creased and lips were slightly parted in concentration. He was very good looking, but not the movie star-cookie cutter good looks that so many of the soldiers she'd met had; his looks were unique. He had an air of authority as well, which she guessed was the reason he wore two bars on his shoulders and cap.

A sailor leaned back and blocked her view and Rose looked away and shook her head. He was probably married with three cute, redheaded kids running around back home.

Suddenly, a waiter appeared next to her table with a drink. Rose looked up at him slightly annoyed. She hadn't ordered a drink and she had a suspicion that it wasn't a mistake either.

"Mademoiselle, courtesy of the gentlemen over zere."

He set it down and mentioned to a table of young Privates, who were winking and snickering.

"Thank you." She told the waiter, but just ignored the boys at the other table. Technically, she could have chewed them out, but didn't feel like it.

She looked down at the drink and could tell it was just cheap brandy. Part of her wanted to drink it just because she hadn't had a drink since before Normandy, but yet she didn't want to drink it because it would give the boys, who weren't even old enough to have a drink, a thrill. So she just let it sit there and get warm while she watched the hundreds of faces filter by.

After a few minutes, she couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her. She calmly turned her head and swore that Captain Redhead had looked away from her. The sailors had left and she now had a clear view of him. His facial expression had changed. His mouth was pursed and his eyes didn't seem to be moving like he was reading anymore. Maybe she was just seeing things, she told herself as she turned back around. After a few more minutes of sitting there doing nothing, Rose pushed that drink away and picked up her purse. She was getting tired and a real, queen bed and a real bathtub were waiting for her back in the hotel.

She threw a few coins onto the table and glanced towards the Captain. She felt a slight twinge in her chest when she saw that he had disappeared, but quickly brushed it off and closed her purse. Just my luck, she mused. She weaved her way towards the sidewalk and just followed the flow of the crowd, not really knowing where she wanted to go.

She stopped at an intersection she remembered. Go strait and she'd head back to the hotel, but it was only four in the afternoon. Rose looked around at the buildings above her. She wished she was back at the hospital, at least there she didn't feel so out of place.

Out of nowhere, Rose suddenly felt something wiz by behind her. She instinctively jumped forward, only to have another figure crash into her front, sending her teetering backwards. She stuck out her arms to receive the cold, hard pavement…

...but the pavement never came. Rose found her torso suspended in mid-air. Then, before she could comprehend her situation, a pair of strong arms easily lifted her back to her feet. As soon as she was firmly back on her feet, she hastily straitened her skirt before turning around to face her savior. She was poised to gush 'thank you', but was rendered speechless when she met her saviors face.