Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

Camp Mackall

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for not updating yesterday, but our department's internet at uni crashed. It was down for half of the day, apparently.

Anyways, thank you all very much for your comments and votes on the last chapter. I hope you like this one, too :)

Ten days. They all received a ten-day furlough after earning their jump wings. Excitement was in the air as everybody prepared to go home and see their families for a few days.

Ana María sat on her bunk, dreaming about what it would be like to spend time with her parents and siblings. She would go to church with them, papá would fuss over her short hair and mamá would once again fondly shake her head over her decision to enlist instead of going to college. Her younger siblings would beg for stories of basic training and would no doubt brag to all their friends about their big sister, the hero.

But she couldn't go home because her little sister had contracted measles. Now everyone in the same household was at risk of infection and she really couldn't afford to get sick. Instead, she would try to enjoy the free days as much as possible. No drills, no marches, no Sobel. It was nearly as good as a holiday.

Jessica grinned to herself as she packed her bag. She couldn't wait to see her family again. David and Fabian, her two younger brothers, would tease her as much as they could, but they would be suitably impressed by how strong she'd gotten. Her mother would grumble about how there were other ways to earn money to put the boys through school and her father would praise her and tell her to make the Nazis pay.

And she was looking forward to introducing them to Elizabeth. The red-headed Las Vegan was coming with her since her relationship with her own family was rocky at best. And because she refused to just leave her best friend to spend ten days alone on base, Jessica had immediately made the executive decision to invite her to her home, something which Elizabeth greatly appreciated.

***

Helen wasn't too excited at the prospect of travelling across half the country to get home. Sure, she missed her family and her friends, but she was going to spend nearly half of her furlough in uncomfortable train and bus seats. But it would be good to see her mother and grandparents, especially Grandpa Will. He had been in the last war and she really wanted to talk to him.

Luckily, she wasn't the only one from her battalion to board the train towards Arizona. People got off at every station, but there were some that travelled even further than her, so she always had some company. They talked about their plans for when they got home, about their families and friends, played poker and swapped stories of their hometowns and their inhabitants.

Irene seized the chance to go home to Rock Springs, Wyoming and spend a few days with her family. And get married. Her boyfriend Theo had proposed to her via letter just before Thanksgiving and now, they would have the wedding in the middle of her furlough. While she would remain Sergeant McKinsey in the army, she would become Irene Pletcher in civilian life.

On the train, she read through that special letter once more, a smile adorning her features. Oh, what a surprise this had been. She'd gasped so loudly that the entire mess hall had stared at her. But the deafening roar of cheers and claps that had gone up when she had revealed her engagement...she'd never heard anything like it.

Thinking back to that moment, showered with congratulations and good wishes, never failed to put a smile on her face.

***