"We're coming over the drop site now," the copilot called from the cockpit, "get ready to open the door."
I looked through the frost-covered window at the Pyrenees mountains below us and Benjamin took my hand.
"You alright?"
I nodded, more to convince myself than him. "I'm good. I fly planes, this shouldn't be a problem. And there's snow at the bottom...much softer than anything I've ever landed on."
Ben raised his eyebrows and kissed me softly on the cheek, whispering, "It's okay to be afraid, Lou."
We both knew it wasn't the jumping out of the plane that worried me; it was my previous experience falling from the sky over France. That parachute had failed due to neglect from those in charge; who was to say this one was any different?
I shook off the sickened feeling I️ had in my stomach and strapped on my pack with what little clothes and equipment we were allowed to bring with us into Marseilles. Benjamin did the same.
"Jump whenever you're ready," the pilot said, "and good luck down there. Thank you for what you're doing."
He saluted Ben and I as we opened the heavy door, and I took my husband's hand.
"For liberty?" I tugged on his leather jacket and put on my goggles.
"For liberty." The reason we were doing any of this.
We jumped almost in unison, the wind whipping all around us. My heart was racing, the cold air slicing through my flight suit.
The mountains that divided Spain and France seemed to tumble towards us in my vision, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the plane crash.
Screams of the women over the radio falling to their fiery death, the warmth of Maureen's blood dripping from my hands in the wreckage, and Benjamin's blurry countenance filled my senses, and I️ squeezed his hand tighter.
After what felt like an eternity, we pulled our parachutes and our rapid descent turned peaceful, and strangely silent.
I hit the snow on my hands and knees, trembling in shock. Benjamin landed a few feet away and rolled onto his back, looking up at the pink sky as dawn broke through the mountains.
"We made it."
"Not yet," he panted, helping me up and detaching my parachute, "we still have to get out of the mountains alive."
"Oh, please," I said, "that's simple."

    
     I awoke to Benjamin's freezing cold lips on my nose, and he whispered softly, "Bonjour, ma chérie. And welcome to your first day as a French woman."
     "Gah!" I groaned, writhing away from his touch, "Why are you so cold? Get off me, you icicle!"
     I rolled over and pulled the blanket up to my neck and Benjamin laughed. It was one o'clock AM back in Washington.
     We had arrived at the Port Vendrés at the bottom of the mountains yesterday, and a Resistance member with a boat gave us a ride across the Mediterranean into Marseilles.
From there, we were given directions to the apartment over Benjamin's new medical practice in the Old Marseilles area and quietly moved in without making a scene or arousing suspicion. Everyone simply thought another doctor and his wife had come to town to find better luck.
     Benjamin pulled me out of bed and handed me one of the few dresses I'd brought to Europe.
     "I just came back from the market," he explained, "to get some food for breakfast today and buy some bug poison."
     My eyes narrowed. "What bugs?"
     "I took care of it, I promise. You don't want me to tell you where they were this morning."   
     I squealed in disgust and slid my light pink dress over my head. "What's the plan now?"
     "I don't know. Meet the neighbors? Buy a stethoscope? Inconspicuously explore the port's weak spots and fortifications?"
     Laughing, I pressed Benjamin's false identification cards into his palm and winked. "Then let's get to it, Alexandre."
     "Will you do me the honor, Anne-Laure, of allowing me to escort you downstairs?"
     I smiled, taking his arm as he led me into the empty downstairs that would soon be his doctor's office. 

Just as we were about to leave, the doorbell rang.
     "I didn't even know we had a bell," Benjamin mused in French, about to open the door. 

I grabbed his arm and gave him a look.
"Let's be a little more cautious, shall we?" I reached for the pistol tucked into my stockings and held it by my side out of sight of whoever was on the other side of the door.
After giving Ben a nod, he opened the door.
"Monsieur and Madame Gilbert?" a man probably in his thirties said.
"Oui, that is us. May we help you?"
"My name is Gaston Defferre; I will be your contact and case officer here in Marseille."
We exchanged wary glances and I held the gun tighter. The OSS had never assigned us a case officer, and we'd never heard of this man before. Could our cover have been broken so quickly?
"I'm sorry," I said, "but we don't know what you're talking about. Good day, sir."
I began to shut the door but he pushed it open, inadvertently knocking my head into the door. I noticed Benjamin's eyes suddenly alight with anger. This wouldn't end well.
"Louisa and Benjamin Tallmadge," the man said, causing us to freeze, "the Duchess of the Allies and the United States' Head of Intelligence. I am a Resistance leader here, and I have been in contact with your colleagues in the OSS for quite some time now. I know who you are; don't you think you should listen to what I have to say?"
     Benjamin and I looked at each other. "Come in," I said, showing him the gun and motioning with it for him to follow Ben upstairs.
    When he was seated on one of the dusty couches that came with the apartment, he said, "I'm your contact with the Resistance. I just came here to tell you that I am here to help you with anything you need."
     I cocked the gun and held it to his head, all of us knowing full well that I wouldn't shoot. His story was convincing.
     "If you know who we are, why didn't they tell us about you in training?"
     "You think they tell you two everything?"
     Benjamin took a step forward. "I'm the head of US intelligence-"
     "Who is now working as a field operative under my jurisdiction," he interrupted, to Benjamin's indignation, "I would advise you to remember that we aren't in the District of Columbia any more, Monsieur Tallmadge."
     Benjamin turned to me with outraged eyes. He wasn't as used to being disrespected as I was.
     "This man," he said to me in English, "has no idea what he's talking about. If the OSS wanted us to have a contact, they would have told us. And they certainly wouldn't have picked this man."
    "I speak English."
     We both turned to him in silence and I raised my eyebrows.
     "Fine,"  Benjamin sighed, "Wir können auf Deutsch reden. We can talk in German."
     I gave him a look and rolled my eyes. "Do we have any choice but to trust him? He knows everything about us."
     "Well forgive me for not trusting every pompous Socialist that comes barging into our house," he gestured to Defferre, spit flying from his mouth as he loudly spat the words in German, "demanding that we give him all our intelligence!"
     "Quiet down, would you?" I said softly, putting my hand on his arm gently, "I agree with you but what else are we going to do? We need him, and his story checks out. How are we going to get the Resistance members and," I hesitated, "the Jews to trust us without him? And what of our daily needs? The OSS was foolish not to tell us, Ben, but at least we know we have an ally now."
     He sighed and crossed his arms. "A saukerl of an ally if I ever saw one. But you're right, I guess."
     Turning back to Defferre, Benjamin said in French, "We have decided--reluctantly--to trust you. What now?"
Defferre raised his eyebrows and leaned back. "First, you'll stop contradicting me. I am in charge here. Second, you should expect a Resistance member in their mid-twenties to stop by your doctor's office in two weeks. They will be complaining of a sore ear and broken thumb, and once you've identified them as a member of the Resistance they'll will be staying with you for three days before leaving for Spain. You do have a hidden bedroom in this place, right?"
Benjamin and I exchanged questioning glances. "A hidden bedroom? Why would we-"
Defferre put his hand on his forehead and groaned loudly, as though we were the daftest people he knew.
"You are going to have to work on that before they get here. They told me you two had that covered."
     "Who's they?"
     "The OSS. They said you knew how to do that stuff: fake walls, hidden mattresses, things like that."
Benjamin rolled his eyes. "We can do that. But we got here last night, in case you had forgotten. Not all of us can magically make everything perfect instantly like you, okay? Give us time; we'll be ready when he comes."
Defferre stood up, saying, "Right.  Well, it was...interesting to meet you two; I will see myself out. We will be in touch."
     On his way into the staircase, he poked his head out and cocked his head at me.
     "So, your husband is a doctor...what are you?" he asked me calmly, "Where will you work?"
     The question surprised us both. "I, uh, won't work," I answered uncomfortably, "because it would draw too much attention. What are you saying?"
"We could use you in the Resistance, Madame Tallmadge. It wouldn't be a full-time commitment, of course, but you would be useful to the cause."
"Absolutely not," Benjamin said, "and it's Madame Gilbert now."
"I have to agree, sir. That's not my job here, and I don't fancy myself working for the Socialists responsible for so many of the problems the Allies have worked tirelessly to quell," I paused and narrowed my eyes at Defferre. "What would I be doing?"
Ben looked at me as though I'd just asked him to push me off a bridge. "Sabotaging trains," Defferre said, "flying planes if the need arises, organizing supplies and munitions, and possibly helping in any...scuffles that may occur."
"You mean if your group decides to go rogue again and assassinate any more French officials, she'll be the one with her head in a basket. Got it," Benjamin said curtly, "no thanks. Good day, sir."
He began shut the door in his face, but Defferre stopped it. "It's not like that. Just think about it, okay?"
When he was gone, I collapsed on the couch and rubbed my forehead in exhaustion. Benjamin leaned against me, twirling one of my curls around his finger.
"What just happened?"
"I'm too tired for this," I groaned, pulling a pillow under my head, "let's just forget everything we just heard and sleep until it gets dark. Then we can work on this whole 'hidden bedroom' thing in peace, okay?"
"Okay. But promise me you won't listen to him. Promise you won't join the Resistance, Louisa," Benjamin said in almost a whisper, his lips inches from mine, "I couldn't bear it."
"I promise. The thrill of your company is enough adventure for me."

FRENCH AND GERMAN WORDS YAY:
Wir können auf Deutsch reden- We can speak in German

Saukerl- basically a pig... (if its a girl you'd call them a Saumench and it means the same thing)

SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG I HAD WRITERS BLOCK AND GOT DISTRACTED ALL THE TIME AHAHAHAHAHAHA SORRY SORRY SORRY
also shoutout to DeathbyDeathAKAMe AGAIN because she really is that worthy for her amazing editing and story development skills AND SHES JUST COOL SO YEAH