Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

Bonding

A/N: Hi guys, thanks for your votes and comments, they always manage to cheer me up. Sorry for the rather short chapter, but I couldn't find a better place to stop...

There was one silver lining to Sobel's harsh, borderline cruel, sometimes downright sadistic training methods. It gave the men and women common ground and the two groups, initially separate, began to merge. They commiserated, offered each other tips and started warming up to the idea of being in combat together.

It was also in some way thanks to Sobel that they realised that this whole "women don't belong here"-nonsense was ridiculous.

He had been in a particularly bad mood that day and had let them feel it. Several members of Easy ended up running Currahee in full pack as punishment for reasons none of them were entirely too sure of.

***

"What a nice day for a run", Jessica mentioned to Maxine, who snorted at her friend's dry humour.

"Don't make me laugh", Elizabeth puffed. "We're not all like Irene. Or Arricante"

Unable to contain his curiosity, Don Hoobler blurted out: "Irene? Arricante?"

Maxine startled, as if she had forgotten there were 4 men running behind them. There was a long beat of silence, the women assessing the men, trying to gauge the intentions behind the curious, inquisitive expression.

Eventually, Elizabeth answered: "Irene McKinsey and Mia Arricante. Out of us girls, they're the best runners."

She had to break off to maintain her breathing rhythm and Maxine took over.

"Irene is an athlete, she played lots of sports in school", she explained between breaths. "She ran Currahee in under 50 minutes on her first day."

"Ah", Bill Guarnere uttered.

He vividly remembered how much it had pissed him off that some dame was faster than all of them and that just after being injured. It hadn't helped that Sobel had continually taunted them with the fact that a girl could outrun them.

"And Mia?", Grant probed. From what he had seen and from the few times he'd had a chance to interact with her, the young woman was quiet and reserved, but always friendly and ready to help.

Jessica responded: "Fastest sprinter. I think she does it all through sheer stubbornness, though." Her tone had turned dry again towards the end.

"She's odd", Elizabeth offered after a few paces. They were almost at the top now.

Forrest Guth turned his head towards her, a puzzled look on his face. "What makes you say that?", he wondered.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Oh please. She's as chatty as a fish and blander than a piece of paper."

The conversation took off, bridging the gap that had inadvertently forced both parties into a state of self-imposed isolation. None of them thought about the subject of their conversation as the women shared gossip and rumours about one of their own, everyone – some more than others – weighing in with their own experiences.

***

With the ice finally fully broken, the women were invited into the men's conversations and started sitting among them. Instead of sneers and glares or blank stares, they were met with smiles and companionable greetings in the mornings.

Soon enough, the men's cameraderie was extended to the women, who started to integrate themselves in the unit, which only grew stronger as the resentment and prejudice began to fade.