CHAPTER 10 ... FINALLY! Uh, guys... The past three months have been CRAZY! I feel like I've blinked and its suddenly January. I honestly don't know where all this time has gone or how I haven't found time to write since October but here's Chapter 10, finally finished! As always, let me know what you think with some comments and votes. You guys are the best, and once again, I'm sorry for taking SO long to update! Hopefully with the new year, I'll have some new time to write, lol.

"So Hitler's marching his men to Stalingrad?" Harvey asked, leaning back in the armchair he had stationed himself in at the beginning of their meeting.

Mila had come straight to the Lingard's after work, as she did every Friday now, for their weekly meeting, and had begun to pass along the plans for Stalingrad she had been hearing about since early that week.

"That seems to be the case." She nodded. "The Reich is gathering supplies up and flying it out of Berlin too... To aid the men still trapped there."

"I knew the Germans would be too proud to give up a stronghold like Stalingrad..." Harvey grunted, taking a swig from his Scotch glass. "Loosing that territory would be a huge blow to the Russians, and those bastards know it."

"Which is why they can't hold it," Catherine chimed in, her brow furrowed in concentration as it always was during their meetings. "Mila, you need to find out more about these transports taking place in Berlin. What supplies they're gathering... dates and times they're planning on flying the shipments out."

"She's right," Harvey agreed. "If the allies can stop the shipments before they get to the city, then the Germans stranded in Stalingrad won't stand a bloody chance once winter really sets in."

"How are they planning on gathering that large a volume of supplies?" Catherine pressed. "They've already converted the majority of their civilian factories into military use. Their people are practically starving already."

"I think they plan to use the labor camps..." Mila trailed off, her stomach turning at the thought of it.

"Of course they are..." Catherine scoffed. "Use the dispensable prisoners to supply your war effort."

"Is this Captain Fisher still taking you out tonight?" Harvey asked.

"Yes," Mila nodded.

"Good," He continued, taking another pull from his glass. "Keep it casual – nothing too serious – but see what you can get out of him. If anyone knows when and where these shipments are taking place, it's the head of security."

~

"Where are we going?" Mila asked, covering her eyes with the palms of her hands. She had left the Lingard's with just enough time to walk home and freshen up before Josef had arrived to pick her up for their date.

"You'll see," Josef chimed, the grin on his face evident in his voice.

"I'm not too keen on surprises," She said, though the corners of her lips had turned up into a small smile at the excitement in his voice.

"We're almost..." Josef trailed off, the car coming to a slow stop, until finally he shifted the break and turned the ignition off. "And here we are. You can open your eyes."

Bringing her hands down, she looked around, her eyes falling on the shining lights of a marquee. "We're going to the theatre?" She asked, turning her attention to Josef.

"I thought it'd be fun," He grinned, stepping out of the car, walking around to the passenger side to open her door for her.

"Watching a propaganda film for two hours?" She asked, cocking a skeptical eyebrow.

"For your information, we'll be watching a classic tonight," Josef smirked, grabbing her hand, leading her inside.

~

"I think we need to work on your definition of a classic," Mila commented, a smirk turning up the corners of her mouth as they walked down the sidewalk, her arm looped through Josef's.

"What are you talking about?" He asked with mock incredulousness. "King Kong is a movie masterpiece."

"It was certainly something," She chuckled. "Besides... How were we even able to see it? I thought it was banned in Germany back before the war."

"Well..." Josef smirked. "We're not in Germany, now are we?"

"Fair enough," Mila grinned. "Where to now?"

"There's a little cafe down the street-," He began.

"Oh thank goodness ... I'm starved!" She cut in, her grin widening at the talk of food. Other than the popcorn during the movie, she hadn't eaten anything since her usual sandwich and coffee at lunch.

Walking side by side, they made their way to the cafe on the corner, the waiter seating them almost immediately after one glance at Josef's uniform.

"So, tell me about yourself," Josef said after they had gotten their drinks. "I feel like I hardly know anything about you," He added, peering over the menu he had been perusing casually.

"I think I've already told you all there is to know," She replied, glancing up from her own menu.

"Well, considering I had a hole in my abdomen and a high fever when you told me your life story, you'll have to forgive me for not remembering every word," He smirked.

"I suppose that's fair," She chuckled. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," He replied simply, leaning over the table, waiting intently.

"Alright," She paused for a moment, carefully thinking over which details were safe for her to include, and which should be omitted. "I grew up in a house just outside of town with my parents and brother and sister. We lived there until my mother passed..." She paused, realizing that was the first time she had mentioned her mother to Josef. "Typhoid fever," She added as his brow furrowed in concern. "That's when my father moved us into the city. He said it was to be closer to his practice ... Truthfully though, I don't think he could bare living there anymore ... Too many memories." She paused again, glancing up at Josef, who still wore the same concerned expression he had before. She cleared her throat uncomfortably, realizing their conversation had taken a grim turn. "All three of us went to primary and secondary school here in Den Haag. My brother went on to university after finishing ... He was in the process of applying to medical school before..." She trailed off, desperate not to bring up any more dismal topics than she already had.

"You and your sister never thought about going as well?" Josef asked, taking her cue and moving past the subject.

"I had thought about it," She nodded. "Then the war started and things ... Changed."

"I understand that all too well," Josef nodded.

"Gwen on the other hand," She smirked, thinking about the prospect of her sister attending college. "I don't think university was ever part of her plan."

"I'm sure if she's as sharp as you-," Josef began.

"Oh she's exceptionally bright," She cut him off. "The idea of sitting in a classroom never excited her much though ... Even when we were growing up. She'd much rather fall in love and settle down in a big, beautiful house filled with children," She chuckled.

"And you wouldn't?" He smirked.

"I think the whole idea is ... Romantic," She smiled. "It sounds like something out of a novel. But I've always wanted more."

"More than being a wife and a mother?"

"Is it so impossible to believe a woman can be those things and, at the same time, something else entirely?"

"Not at all," Josef chuckled.

"What's so funny?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Nothing," He grinned, shaking his head. "You just remind me of my sister." His smile widened at the thought of her. "Her name's Marie. She's sixteen, and every bit as determined as you. I remember when my brother and I enlisted she threw an absolute fit when she found out she wouldn't be coming too ... She was thirteen at the time," He chuckled. "After I had been gone about a year," He continued, his toothy grin widening even more. "I received a letter from her. She said the only saving grace this war had brought was the fact our mother wouldn't be making her attend finishing school."

"It doesn't sound like learning which fork to use with dessert would excite her much," Mila laughed.

"Certainly not," Josef replied with a chuckle.

"So if she's not attending finishing school, what is she doing?"

"Helping my parents run the store," Josef shrugged.

"I thought your father was an accountant?" She asked, furrowing her brow.

"He is," He nodded. "But he owns a small shop in town too ... Has since before I was born actually - inherited it from my grandfather. Mom runs the front while Dad takes care of the books. I used to work there every afternoon after school; we all did."

"Were you going to go back after you finished school?"

"That was the plan," Josef nodded. "The store would've eventually been mine."

"Would've?" She asked.

"I'm not so sure now," He replied, leaning forward, his brow creasing slightly as he stared down at his hands, which were clasped firmly together on the table. "I'd like to think I could go back after everything's said and done but war, it..." He trailed off, as if he couldn't find the right words.

"Changes things," She spoke, finding the words for him.

He looked up from his hands, his gaze meeting hers. His light blue irises had seemed to darken a shade, a piercing deep blue peering into her green momentarily before they lightened at the sight of her. Her stomach flipped as she returned his gaze, doing cartwheels within her abdomen as each second passed.

"So," She cleared her throat uncomfortably, pushing down the butterflies than had begun to creep into her chest. "What did you do for fun growing up?"

"Well," Josef, began, clearing his throat as well. "I played a lot of football - mostly when I was younger, but some while I was at university. What about you?"

"There wasn't much to do around here when I was growing up..." She trailed off, thinking back to her childhood. "I helped my father mostly - in the clinic. We all did, but I think out of the three of us, I enjoyed it the most," She laughed. "It never really felt like work to me like it did to Gwen and Amos."

"Still," Josef continued. "There must've been something you did for fun?"

"Well, there was one thing," She paused, a small smile flickering across her lips.

"What?" He pressed, cocking an eyebrow.

"Every year, after the first real snow, my father would take us to this lake outside of town and we would ice-skate," Her smile widened as memories of the lake flashed through her mind. The shiny, almost translucent, glow of the ice in the winter sun ... The sound of her skates gliding effortlessly across its cold surface. She remembered it as if it had all happened yesterday. A picture of simpler - happier - times forever engrained in her memory.

"How long has it been since you've been?" Josef asked, studying her intently, as if he could tell the memory held a bittersweetness to it.

"Oh, its been years," She shrugged off the pang within her chest the question brought on. It had been the winter after Germany invaded Poland. Despite the unease that being on the cusp of war brought, her father had insisted they continue with the yearly tradition. They had gotten up early that December morning and had made it to the lake just after sunrise. Lacing up their skates, they had spent all day on the ice, shrugging off all the uncertainties and fear the next year would inevitably bring as they glided through the crisp, winter air. It had been the most wonderful day - one of the last she had had since. The next three years had only brought her fear and pain, the memory of such a joyous occasion only adding to the nightmare when thoughts of it crept into her mind. "War..." She trailed off another pang shooting through her chest.

"Changes things," Josef spoke, this time finding the words for her. Reaching across the table, he clasped her hands in his own, giving them a squeeze.

She gave him a small smile, returning his squeeze with one of her own. "Exactly."

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