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Author's Chapter Notes:
I know that two chapters in one night hardly makes up for a several-month hiatus, but I am tryin! :)
Two hours later, Elizabeth stumbled from the medical tent into the moonlit night, her clothes drenched in sweat and blood. Her hair, long escaped from its low bun now hung in limp curls down her back. As she stared up into the evening sky, she hear a familiar voice call out. Rose strode towards her, a small cloth satchel in hand.

"Are you just now leavin' that tent? What am I to do with you, working yourself near to death like that?!" Rose fussed. Elizabeth only shook her head.

"This is the first I have been able to get away. Lord, will you look at what a mess I am?" Elizabeth groaned weakly. She tilted her dirty face towards the sky, but there was no breeze to cool her. This night, like every other summer night in Virginia, was hot and muggy. "What I wouldn't do for rain." She whispered through parched lips. Rose quickly snatched Elizabeth's arm, tugging her off towards the woods. Taken off guard, Elizabeth stumbled slightly. "Rose, what is going on?"

"Shhh" came the woman's reply. As soon as they were out of view of the camp, Rose thrust the satchel into Elizabeth's hands. "The river is right through those trees. If you move around that bend right there, no one will know you are there," she whispered.

Elizabeth slowly opened the satchel to find a clean cloth and a small bar of soap. Smiling for the first time in what felt like years, she embraced the older woman. "Rose, I swear, I do believe you are an angel of God" she said, already imagining the feel of the cool water running over her body. Rose only smiled and pushed the girl towards the water. "I'll sit over here and wait. Don't take too long, you dont want someone coming to look for you." Elizabeth nodded, and quickly walked around the bend as Rose took a seat on a rock.


Elizabeth could feel her fingers and toes getting wrinkled, but she still dreaded the end to her bath. Hidden beneath the sheltering branches of a willow tree, only small amounts of moonlight filtered down through the leaves. When she heard a male voice call out from nearby, she was glad that she had had the sense to find such a secluded spot. As two figures came into view, she sank back against the trunk of the tree.

" Major, I said wait a moment." came a deep voice from a stocky older man. As the individual whom he was pursuing spun around, Elizabeth nearly groaned out loud. Thankfully shushing herself, she leaned forward for a better listen. "Edmund tells me you reprimanded him." The man said again. William looked furious.

"Yes I most certainly did. They were under strict orders not to harm anyone except for the target. He disobeyed a direct order from his superior, he's glad that was the only reprimand he received." William practially spat, his eyes blazing. Burbank straightened, and stiffly met William's angry expression.

"He killed a confederate" the Lt. Colonel scoffed. "I hardly think that warrants even a verbal reprimand." He said, his tone haughty and cruel.

"He killed a boy!" William's voice rose. When Burbank rolled his eyes, William nearly lost it. He advanced upon the older man. "I was under orders to eliminate a known arms dealer. I got proof, and I acted. You gave me no option, so I ended it there. It should have ende, but Edmund escalated the situation. I recommended him for a transfer of duties." William said bitterly, but Burbank did not back down.

"I know you did. However, Edmund was assigned to your unit at my request. He reported directly to me. Had it not been for your behavioral 'blemish,' you might have received a positive report. To say the least, Edmund is being reassigned. Unlike your request however, he is receiving a promotion." Burbank sneered a grin, while William stood stiffly in outrage. "Know this, Major Chapman. From this point on, any deviation from my orders will result in a finding of disobedience on your part. Such behavioral problems effect the cohesiveness of this army, and thus are considered the most dangerous of offenses. Should I, at any time, feel that your actions, or lack thereof, threaten the strength of my command, I can swiftly enact my justice. Am I understood?" A snakelike grin spread across his face as William's jaw clenched. "I dont hear you."

"Yes sir" William growled, his back still rigid. As Lt. Colonel Burbank stalked off, William stood completeyl still for a moment, taking deep breaths. As Elizabeth watched, he spun on his heel and strode towards the riverbank roughly twenty feet from where she stood hidden. She caught her breath as he quickly yanked off his uniform and slid into the dark still waters, but not before she had caught a glimpse of his chiseled back. His muscles, taut with his anger, rippled as he moved. In the moonlight, his body took on a feline grace, and he appeared every inch a dangerous predator. Even the puckered scar from his injury had a sort of mangled beauty to it in the evening light. His movements, even when seemingly relaxed, were controlled and deliberate. Elizabeth, suddenly fearful for some reason, quickly snuck to the shoreline and got behind the tree to towel off and slide her shift back on. She had just pulled her wet hair through the neckline when a hand slipped around her wrist.

Before Elizabeth had time to screen, she was whipped around and out of the shadows of the willow, and made to face a very angry, and very wet, William.

"Were you spying on me?" He asked furiously, water still dripping from his wet locks. Although he had pulled on a pair of pants, his chest was completely bare. "Answer me!" William ordered, shaking her. Stumbling slightly, Elizabeth fell into him. Nimbly though, William stepped out from in front of her, so instead of colliding with him, Elizabeth fell to the ground. Her anger finally spilling over, she remained in her prone position and yelled back at him.

"I was cleaning the blood of your soldiers off of myself, after I spent all day in that damn tent looking after them, on your orders! I was just leaving as you approached, and rather than expose myself, I attempted to dress and leave you in peace. Now could you kindly do the same for me?" She sneered, angry tears blurring her vision. William stared at her for a moment, and then his hands unclenched. He reached out a hand, but halted immediately when he saw Elizabeth flinch.

Although he wanted to yank her to her feet so that she would stop staring at him like a frightened doe, he recognized the fear in her eyes and understood why it was there. "I know you won't believe me, but I won't hurt you. I give you my word" He said softly, with his arm still extended. After staring at him warily for a few moments, Elizabeth reached out her hand and took his. When he lifted her to her feet, he quickly saw that, in her fall, she had scraped the palm of one hand. Trying not to stare, he gathered his things, and turned back towards her only after he had pulled on his shirt.

Elizabeth hated herself at this very moment. Not only had she clumsily fallen, but now she was unable to do anything but stare at this man, this man who had for the last several days seemed nothing more than a monster. Now, in the moonlight, he was only a man. Wet curls hung down over his eyes, glancing off of his angular cheekbones, while water dripped down his jawline. Under the rays of the moon, he took on an ethereal quality that had Elizabeth feeling edgy and uncomfortable. Meeting his piercing blue eyes with her own green ones, she watched him carefully when he approached her again. Before she had realized what he was doing, he had taken her hand in his and wrapped a clean dry cloth around the scratch, tying it off carefully at the end.

With one eyebrow raised, Elizabeth stared at him. "You didnt have to do that, you know." She said softly. William glanced at her with troubled eyes, before turning away.

"We should get you back to camp before someone tries to come searching for you. There are some who would look for an excuse to hurt you, and even I couldnt help you then." He said, his voice tired.

"I heard what he said" came Elizabeth's response. William turned quickly back towards her.

"Heard what who said?" He said, his voice clipped, tension rippling through him.

"That man, your superior. He didnt give you much choice, did he?" She asked slowly, not ready to grant total forgiveness, but recognizing that things were perhaps more complicated than she had initially belived.

Williams proud shoulders fell, and his head tilted towards the ground. "No, he didn't. But that doesn't really matter, does it?" He said, his voice sounding defeated.

"It does, and it doesnt. I dont really know yet." She said, taking a deep breath, turning towards camp. William fell into step beside her, and the two walked in silence until they were back in view of the tents. Elizabeth began to walk in the direction of her tent, but stopped in her tracks when she heard William say her name.

"Elizabeth?" He said. As the young woman turned to him, light from the campfires behind illuminating the night around her, he lost his train of thought. Her huge green eyes, which had lately been so full of venom, now simply held a quiet sadness. The thought that he had put that sadness there was like a knife in his side.

Elizabeth watched as a hundred different emotions played across William's face. His stormy blue eyes held confusion with which she was all to familiar. It was like the first time she had seen him, when he opened those blue eyes while lying there, injured and helpless. There was something powerful about those eyes, but also something overwhelmingly human. Steeling herself, she stood straighter. "Did you say something?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself from an imaginary chill.

"I'm not a monster." was all he said. As he watched, a lone tear slid down Elizabeth's cheek. Silent, she turned her back to him and walked away.

"She knows" Rose placed a gentle hand on the young man's shoulder. "She just isnt ready to admit that yet." The older woman said softly, before following Elizabeth into their tent. William stood watching for a moment, and then turned off in the other direction, fearing that tonight would be yet another night without sleep.





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