Hello There, Soldier

France: June 6th, 1944 (Evening) Continued

"So why did Josephine Linser join the army in the first place?" Joe asked with a smile as he played with a piece of Josie's hair. They were currently lying on the rug by the fireplace having fallen off the sofa at some point but neither of them seemed to care. Joe had grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair and covered them not wanting to move from the blissful bubble they had created for themselves.

"Why did Joseph Callahan?" Josie responded to his question with her own.

"It was my duty to serve my country." He told her matter of fact.

"And I felt the same." She smiled at him. In that moment it was easy to forget everything else that was going on around them. They could just be happy in each other's arms until reality came knocking and they knew it wouldn't be long until that happened.

"Plenty of ways to help the war effort back home." He told her sitting up on his elbow and looking down on her. She was beautiful and it never ceased to amaze him. Her chocolate brown hair was splayed around her head while the light from the flames seemed to dance across her skin.

"Not the same as putting on the uniform and being a part of something bigger." She began to explain snapping him out of his thoughts. "My older brother Daniel enlisted earlier and as soon as I heard about the Women's Army Auxiliary Corp I was signing my name on the dotted line. Daniel and I always did everything together growing up so it felt right to enlist with him too. Even if we were nowhere near each other at least we shared the uniform." She got a faraway look as she spoke about her brother. Joe could tell how much she loved him by the look in her eyes.

"Your brother is in the army too?" He asked wanting to know more about her. He wanted to know everything about the woman beside him even if he knew their time was limited.

"Army Air Force, he was a pilot." She told him with a mixture of pride and sadness.

"Was?" He knew enough to know what that look meant.

"He was shot down in the Pacific just before I was approached by the OSS." Josie looked away as she spoke trying to keep the tears at bay from the memory of her brother.

"I'm sorry." Joe whispered as he leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her neck.

"Everyone has lost someone to the war at this point." There she went again trying to rationalize everything. She didn't feel like she had the right to be saddened for her loss since so many were feeling the same pain. "What about you, Soldier? What's your story?" She quickly recovered as she tried to change the topic.

"Not much to tell. I come from a big Irish family. I'm the second oldest of nine." He told her leaning back again.

"Wow." She said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I never knew a moment of peace growing up but I think it prepared me well for the army." He joked as they both shared a much needed laugh. "I have an older sister who is married with a baby girl and last I heard my younger brother Peter had joined the Marines right before I shipped out. Everyone else is underage and still at home." He said with a shrug.

"You're brother is a Marine?" Josie smiled as she looked at him.

"Yep, stubborn little twerp always refuses to do anything the same as me." Joe shook his head in frustration as he thought about his little brother.

"And I thought my three siblings were a handful." Josie told him as she snuggled in closer to his side.

"You have no idea." Joe said as he wrapped his arm tightly around her and kissed the top of her head.

They stayed like that for a moment until they heard the heavy knock at the door. Josie felt her heart rate increase instantly as they both sat up not knowing who was at the door. It was the middle of the night and even Christoph never visited this late but after leaving his office earlier perhaps he made an exception. That thought alone had Josie tense and struggling to think what to do next. But as the whispered voice came through the door Josie breathed a sigh of relief as she realized they were safe for now.

"It's Pierre." She told Joe and watched as he relaxed as well. Josie got up and wandered into the kitchen grabbing her robe off the floor and putting it on. She tied the belt tight as she looked over to see Joe buttoning up his pants before opening the door. Pierre was ushered in quickly and the older man took note of their appearances but said nothing. It wasn't his place and he respected Josephine enough to not interfere with her choices.

"What's wrong?" Josie asked Pierre with concern knowing that his late night visit would only bring bad news.

The older man spoke hurriedly to Josie as Joe watched on from beside them. He could tell by the look on Josie's face that it wasn't good. Joe grabbed his shirt from the kitchen table and began to put it on as he waited for the pair to finish talking so he could be filled in.

"Dang." Josie mumbled as she walked into the kitchen and removed another panel from the back of one of her cabinets. She pulled out a pile of papers. Some were maps others appeared to be communications.

"What?" Joe asked as he finished the last of his buttons. Josie laid everything out on the table before she began to explain.

"We made sure to make a real mess of the roads leading into the region but it sounds like the Germans have been working overtime to clear them. Probably because they desperately need reinforcements to be brought through and this is their safest bet with the railroads being bombed like they are." She told him as she laid out the maps.

"What can we do about it?" Joe asked as he looked over all the papers. He watched as Josie looked over some sort of list. "What's that?"

"Communication came through a few weeks back telling us to cause as much trouble as possible for the Germans leading up to the invasion. These were some of the targets they wanted us to take out." She told him going over the list again.

"Nemesis?" He asked when he saw the same word repeated on several of the papers.

"That would be me. Can't exactly have them plastering my name all over the transmissions for the Germans to find." She told him with a sly smile.

"Makes sense. So you took out all of this." It was a long list and although the French names meant little to him it was impressive.

"No, these were decoys for the Germans listening in. It was coded with the real targets but I think we have to change our approach and go back for one of these." She told him as she examined the map seemingly trying to recall something.

"Which one?" He questioned.

Josie was silent for a moment before a smile appeared on her face. She turned to look at Joe with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Mind if I borrow some of your men?"

"What do you have in mind?" Joe asked narrowing his gaze.

"How would you like to blow up a bridge?" She asked with a grin as she watched for his reaction. Joe smiled too and gave a quick nod in agreement. It looked like Joe was finally going to get back to the action.