#joe liebgottt

[next-autopsy]

A/N: Well, hi there! This one’s got a couple surprises about Birdie’s family. You’ll be learning more and more about them as the story goes on, so stay tuned folks!

Based on the actors portrayal/hbo show and written with no disrespect to the real life veterans. Also all images found on Pinterest.

TW: Swearing, mentions of assault (kinda) ..... I'm pretty sure that's it

Made of Glass

Chapter eleven: James, Tommy and Jr

“Yeah, I was there.” 

“What the hell! Why didn't you say anything?” 

“Cause Coldwell would probably try cut my tongue out or some shit.” Liebgott justified, “She's got this insane fixation on 'proving herself' in case you haven't noticed.” His matter-of-fact tone was starting to piss Johnny off. 

Martin had come back to his barracks and questioned Toye and Guarnere quietly to see if Birdie had shared any information with them. Some of the other guys had overheard and suddenly it was a group discussion. Pretty quickly Johnny caught on that Liebgott could only have the surprising number of details he did, if he was a witness to Birdies verbal assault, so his inquiry turned to Lieb's direction. 

“That's.... a good point, yeah. But you still should've told someone.” Guarnere spoke up, reluctantly admitting that: yes the girl most likely would have had a problem with someone stepping in and defending her honour, especially if it was Joseph Liebgott. That didn't mean he liked the outcome of the situation. 

“Why? It ain't my fuckin' business.” Liebgott glowered, his jaw clenched and his eyebrows knitted together. Joe wasn't the only guy there so why was he being called out so hard?  

Besides, he and Birdie didn't even like each other. He recalled trying to extend an olive branch and check on her wellbeing that day, but she snapped at him and basically spat in his face. The exact words running through his mind were 'Fuck off, Liebgott.' 

“She's Easy.” The words drew an instant hush over the room, Johnny continued, “One of us, and we look out for our own.” 

That seemed to shut Joe up, the gnawing feeling of regret landed in his stomach. Instead of showing the emotion he just huffed and rolled his eyes, brushing off the unsettled feeling and returned to his cot, muttering 'Yeah, whatever.' 

Joe had heard Colonel Sink would have an open-door policy the next day for anyone with information and found himself considering dropping in to share the scene he had found Bernadette in those weeks ago. 

Maybe it would help catch the guys, but Joe didn't really care about that.  

This was a way for him to rectify his ill conscience, his inner monologue that had screamed at him to throw punches at the woman's would be attackers. It had burned with anger when he was notified about the hospitalisation and had been constantly reminding him that he could've said something and avoided this whole thing. 

And that's all he was concerned about. Clearing his mind. Easing his own conscience. That's it. Nothing else . 

Joe had spent the majority of the night pondering his options. He went over what happened in his mind multiple times and was certain he could name the four men and describe their looks in heavy detail. The event had playing in his mind quite a few times since it happened, he was sure he remembered their faces.

When the sun rose and the trumpet blew, Joseph was up, changed and out of the barracks in record time. 

His visit to Sink's office wasn't as daunting as he imagined it would be and the whole thing was over within five minutes. He had thought he might miss breakfast but to his surprise he arrived on time to join the mess hall queue. 

Easy company had some light exercises that morning and rejoiced when the cloudy weather earned them an afternoon inside the lecture hall. 

On her way to lunch, alongside Martin and Bull, Birdie was vibrating with excitement, Javi had let it slip to her that Easy would be treated to red sauce pasta as their midday meal, something Birdie hadn't had since before Toccoa. 

“Well, I prefer white sauce... like a creamy carbonara.” Martin told the girl who was bouncing on her heels as they walked. 

Before Bernadette could speak her witty retort, she was tackled by an unknown third party, letting out an 'oof' as her body hit the grass beneath her. 

Both Johnny and Bull leapt into action, going into a defensive stance and pulled the assailant off of the southern lady, simultaneously calling out 'Hey! Get off her!' and 'The fuck?' 

The brunette stranger being dragged off of the Easy company woman protested, as did Birdie, which fundamentally baffled her two protectors. 

A few men passing by stopped to watch the scene unfold, Toye and Guarnere jogged over to offer assistance and check on the lady. 

“Who the fuck-” Martin started, glaring at the stranger who had just knocked Birdie flat on her ass. 

“It's okay. Johnny, really.” She told him, smiling. Martin frowned at her in return. It wasn't okay, why was she smiling? 

“He's just attacked you!” 

“Attacked?!” The man yelled incredulously, attempting to pull away from the tight grip they had on his arms. 

“No,” She couldn't hold back her laugh, “No, he didn't. I know him. It's okay.” 

Johnny took in the younger man's appearance and noticed the olive-green uniform with the 82nd's red AA patch on his shoulder. This only confused him further, but he and Bull backed away from the guy regardless. 

Bernadette stepped towards him instantly and wrapped him in a bone crushing hug, which he returned with just as much passion. The four Easy men stood by and watched, trying to piece together what was happening, not one of them could come up with some sort of explanation. 

“I thought it was you, Birdie.” The 82nd trooper spoke into the crook of her neck; it muffled his voice but everyone present had heard his comment clearly and the emotion his words held. 

“What?” Even though she knew what had been said, she was disbelieving, like she needed him to say it again to really understand what he meant. 

“We heard about the hospitalisation.... I thought.... I thought it was you.” The pure hurt was evident in his voice and Martin was sure if he could see the man's face it would be covered in a heartbreaking look. 

“It wasn't.” She soothed him, their embrace growing longer by the second. Her hands had come up to hold his neck so she could pull her body away and look him in the eyes. “I'm okay.” Her words were solemn, the eye contact seem tender and the four men witnessing this touching occasion began to feel uncomfortable, as if they were intruding on an intimate moment. 

Guarnere cleared his throat, reminding the two cuddling soldiers they were in others company. It worked as the two loosened their grips on each other and backed up, but only by one step and neither let their arms drop from the other. 

An awkward pause ensued, each person sharing looks with a member of the group that was stopped in the middle of a grassy field. 

“Oh! Right.” Birdie broke the tension, “Guys... This is James. James.... The guys.” She pointed to each one of the men and individually introduced them to this James fellow, they each gave a nod as their name was spoken. 

“And that's Chlamydia.” Bill groaned, the shit eating grin on her face was mimicked by James and that's when it clicked for Johnny. They had the exact same hair colour, eerily similar eyes and the dimples that popped on their cheeks were identical. They had to be related. 

“James is my brother.” His suspicions were confirmed when Birdie spoke up once more. The boy/girl versions of each other shared a conniving look. 

“Chlamydia? Do I wanna know?” He asked, grinning at her. 

“If you ask real nice, he'll show you.” She winked at Bill, the grin switched from her brother's face to hers and his was replaced with a grimace. 

Bill sighed, exasperated, but knew there was nothing he could do to quell the woman's jokes. 

“Why didn't you tell us you got a brother in the 82nd?” Toye questioned, genuinely shocked he wasn't made aware of James' existence earlier. 

“You didn't tell them about me? I thought I was your favourite brother.” James feigned offence, playfully bumping the girl on her shoulder with a closed fist. 

“Favourite? How many brothers do you have?” Bull caught the implication and his curiosity about the mysterious girl got to him. 

“Three.” Bernadette spoke plainly, like it was trivial, shrugging her shoulders at the looks she received from her closest friends. Bill and Joe both dropped their jaws, this was new information for them and frankly they were a little shocked that she had never brought up her family before now. Especially considering one of her siblings was at Camp Toccoa. 

“Three? What the hell Birdie?” Bill reeled. 

“Are they all hiding somewhere round Toccoa?” Toye added. 

“Nah, just this one. Can't seem to get rid of him.” The siblings shared a look that held many unspoken words and emotions. There was more going on than they would admit, and Johnny was beyond intrigued as he observed the two. 

“Like you could.” It was thrown out like a bandage, aiming to soothe his sister. Johnny definitely picked up on some hidden meaning only the two siblings could decipher. 

“You twins or something?” Bull prodded; he couldn't shake the notion that these two standing in front of him were almost the same person. 

“Just about.” James began the sentence, 

“There's ten months ‘tween us.” And Birdie finished it. 

“And I'm older.” James had announced proudly, all the while Birdie mouthed the words she knew he was going to say with her eyes rolled like this was a repeated exchange. 

All four Easy company men felt chills, weirded out by the nearly twins ability to complete each other's thoughts. 

“Lunch will start without us.” Johnny prompted, looking at his watch. James turned to his sister with a concerned smile on his face, 

“I'll find you later, okay?” She answered him with a nod and hugged him once more before they parted and Birdie continued on to the mess hall, four men trailing behind her. 

“So where are the other two?” The group of five had sat at their vacant table and begun wolfing down the spaghetti when Johnny posed the question. 

“Other two?” She was playing dumb and both her and Johnny knew it. What was she hiding about her family? 

“Brothers.” 

“Oh. Well... Tommy's only ten, so he's back home in Mississippi.” She was avoiding and part of Johnny thought maybe he should leave it alone. 

“And the other one? He got a name?” Toye forced his way into their conversation, the whole table had been listening in, except Bill who was guarding his plate of food like a wild dog. 

“Victor... but we called him Junior. He was named after my Pa.” Birdie's voice was soft and quiet; Johnny had an inkling about her older brother's fate, so he stopped pushing her to talk about it. Toye was yet to pick up on the trajectory of the discussion and asked her more, 

“He older than you?” She hummed her affirmative reply, not really interested in continuing the idle chatter. Bernadette wished for a way to end the unavoidable questions about her familial relations and the answer to her predicament slammed open the mess hall door and stomped inside. 

Sobel yelled and the entire room jumped to their feet, leaving their unfinished plates of pasta on the table. 

“Orders changed. Get up! Lectures are cancelled. Easy company is running up Currahee. Move!” 

A/N: Ah so, Birdies mysterious family is slowly revealing itself, what do you think is up with her oldest brother: Victor Junior?

The next chapter might be a couple of days just fyi.

Love y’all xx

~ next-autopsy ~

Chapter twelve

[softspeirs]

uuuu okay okay, could i ask forr “Can you just hold my hand?” with the one and only Liebgottt? or literally any prompt of ur choice as long as liebgott is in near proximityy

A/N: Why is this so angsty?! Literally have no idea.

She has no idea how long she's been standing there, staring at the space where her friends are, staring at the place that's nothing more than upturned dirt and solemn white marble.

She doesn't know what she's doing here, not really, only that she had to come back. Like it was calling to her, the devastating familiarity of the beacheads and crashing waves.

Footsteps crunching on the gravel behind her startle her out of her thoughts, but she doesn't turn. Whoever it is, whoever else has come here to mourn, she hopes they just go by her without trying to make small talk. She feels so tired.

"You here alone?"

A familiar drawl makes her shoulders tense, and she immediately flashes back to a thousand lifetimes ago.

She never thought she'd ever see Joe Liebgott again.

"What are you doing here?" She blurts, her voice cracking.

He shrugs. "Same as you, I expect." He takes a few steps forward, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down at the cross with Skip's name on it.

"It's been two years, Joe."

He meets her eyes. "I'd tell you I'm sorry but I know that won't fix anything."

"You told me you'd write. You told me you'd call, that you'd visit... you told me a hundred different things." She turns to face him.

"We shouldn't talk about this here." Joe murmurs. "There's a pub down the road. Meet me there? Ten minutes."

"Wait--" She stops before she walks away. "For a second, just-- can you just hold my hand? For a second?"

Without hesitation, he takes her hand, threading their fingers together. They both look down at the grave, the last time they were together with Skip running through their minds, his laughter ringing in their ears.

"Ten minutes." She whispers, turning and leaving the cemetery before he can say anything else.

.

Ten minutes later, he slides into the booth across from her.

They're both silent, but she feels his eyes scanning her face.

"You look good." He tells her quietly.

She resists the urge to blush. "Thank you. My scar matches my eyes." She says bitterly, the scar on her cheekbone from a prisoner snatch accident faded a little by now, but still there.

"I like your scar. Makes you look badass." He tells her bluntly, smirking at her.

"Where have you been, Joe?"

He exhales hard. "Moving around. I didn't go back to California right away." He twists the pint glass around in his palms. "Couldn't face it. I couldn't sit still."

"Did you ever get any of my letters then? If you didn't go home?"

He looks pained. "Got two of them when I finally went back. My Ma held onto them for me." He meets her eyes again. "I have never been the type of man that deserves you. Especially not after--" He stops himself. "I needed time. But I should have just told you that." He shakes his head, "Figures the universe would have put us both here at the same time."

"I could save you the trouble and leave now..." She grumbles.

"Stop, that's not what I meant."

"I miss you." She says, interrupting whatever he was going to say. "I miss you and I just thought I maybe could get over it, but then here you go, showing up and ruining everything--"

"I seem to do that a lot," he whispers, suddenly right there in the booth next to her, sliding an arm around her shoulder, propriety be damned. "I missed you too. I miss you all the time, and I see you around every corner, and I swear to Christ I hear your laugh in my dreams--" He stops himself.

"Joe--" She chokes on a sob, pressing her face into his neck. "Please don't leave again."

"I'm not going anywhere. Not this time."