#toccoa georgia

[incognito-princess]

Look what popped up in my social studies lesson today!!!

Copyrights: McGrawHill

[wandering-jana]

Toccoa Falls

Toccoa, Georgia

Sept. 25, 2024

[dontirrigateme]

The view from the top of Currahee

[myhomeofcaina]

McCaysville, Georgia

[todieforimages]

Lone Oak Motel in Toccoa, Georgia was the Final Home of R&B singer Dee Clark

The Lone Oak Motel is an abandoned motel outside of Toccoa, Georgia. Built in 1941, it seems to have been in use until 1921. Tax records indicate it was sold in 2024, so its future is unknown. It could be restored, demolished, or continue to languish. When I researched the motel’s history, I found out it was the final home of the singer Delecta “Dee” Clark (1938-1990), who sang the 1961 hit…

[duranduratulsa]

On November 6, 1977, the Toccoa Falls Dam in Georgia gives way and 39 people die in the resulting flood. #history #disaster #flood #damfailure #georgia #toccoafalls #toccoafallsdam

[wcters]

𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗘 (𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨)

pairing: joe liebgott x fem!reader

word count: 2.7k+

summary: four times you question what you two are and the one time you finally figure it out

warnings/notes: established relationships, angst (were dealing with war), kissing, pda, some drug use (cigarettes), alcohol, swearing, weapons, violence | no disrespect to the actual veterans or any of the situations described and written here, this is based on the series and the character of joe liebgott. somewhat ib @softguarnere (if you would like me to change it/take it down i will. it’s not really similar but still). if anyone has any tips for writing for band of brothers, please let me know! longest imagine written so far, and a dedication to my boys skip and penkala

You never knew home could be a person . . . until you joined the army and were surrounded by it, by many different people, and the one person you trusted most ━━ Joseph Liebgott. It was unexpected. To outsiders, they wouldn’t even think you two would speak ━━ let alone be friends. Yes, both of you are different in many ways, but you’re also the same in many ways. Skip Muck, one of your other close friends in Easy Company, joked that part of your souls were intertwined and you two would eventually fall in love. In the beginning, you would laugh it off. But you soon realized how true that was.

1. 1942, TOCCOA, GEORGIA

The army was ruthless. You knew that it would be when you joined Easy Company a couple months earlier, but you didn’t expect it to be this bad . . . only because of a certain officer named Sobel. You swear he had it out for all of you, and lots of the men hadn’t done anything bad ━━ that you knew of. Most of the time your weekend passes were revoked for little things such as some dirt on your gun and a stray string (that wasn’t actually there, you checked multiple times), but this weeked you and Joe were lucky to still have yours. You don’t even know how you both managed that, let alone him.

You two were walking hand in hand down the dimly lit street. You were quietly humming a song as you looked at the various stores as you made your way to one of the bars your group frequented. A few other army guys could be seen walking with each other or a local girl hanging on their arm. On any other night you would’ve looked like any other soldier in the soft lights, but you had switched out your uniform for a dress you had hidden in your barracks. You had thought ‘why not? It’ll probably be the last time I get a chance to wear it’ and threw it on with some heels you borrowed from a girl you knew in town with a promise to return them.

The quietness of the street got smaller and smaller as you made you got closer to the bar. “Crowded tonight, huh?” The man beside spoke out loud, swinging your clasped hands. “I think to us it does, but to them it doesn’t.” You joked while letting out a chuckle. Joe did too before grabbing the door of the bar and opening it for you. You mumbled a “thank you” while music filled your ears. “I’ll find us a seat, you get us drinks.” You told Joe as he nodded and you went to search for a booth.

It wasn’t as hard as you thought it would be, and soon enough you and Joe were chatting and laughing while couples danced around you. Joe looked around as you sipped your beer before he got up out of the booth and lent out a hand to you. “Would you like to dance?” He smiled. You laughed before looking around. “Why not?” You agreed and got up, making your way to the dance floor as a slow song began to play.

While leaned your head on his chest as you danced with couples around you, you couldn’t help but wonder what you two were.

2. 1943, BROOKLYN NAVAL SHIPYARD, NEW YORK

The heat of the boat taking you to England was suffocating with all of the soldiers packed in it, but Joe managed to have an arm around you waist while you two were playing cards with Muck and Bill. You were just an observer, butting out after the third game and got lost every one.

“Jesus Bill! You must be cheating!” Joe yelled as the brunette man placed another card down, Muck agreeing sourly. You laughed at that while stealing the cigarette out of Joe’s mouth and taking a hit. “You’re just sorry losers.” Bill laughed at their faces. “You don’t get to laugh y/n, you quit because you kept losing.” Skip pointed at you as he saw your face. “At least I accepted defeat, asshole.” You could feel the small laugh that came out of Joe’s chest and imagined the smirk that was on his face. “She got you there, Skip.”

They continued playing for a little while, you and Joe taking turns smoking until Bill won again and Skip slammed his cards down onto the cot. “Calm down.” You told him, soft smile on your face. “I am calm, it’s just Bill keeps winning and it’s fucking hot in here,” the man gestured to the people around you,” I don’t know how you two are that close. I swear I’m going to die of overheating and you two are practically cuddling.” You made a face to your friend while Joe laughed and made a comment that you couldn’t hear.

You and Joe were really close, you basically almost on his lap at this point, but you had a reason. The boat was packed, not being much room to move around. You didn’t want to climb up all the way onto your cot, and you wanted to keep talking with your friends. Plus, you and him had to be close ━━ you were sharing a cigarette. “We’re sharing a cigarette.” You shrugged, grabbing the object out of his mouth as he yelled a “hey” as you took it. Skip gave you a look as if to say “that’s bullshit” and got up, going to find Penkala. You looked over to Bill and he looked down at his cards, smirk on his face.

You had a reason to be that close . . . right? Or was it something different?

3. 1944, NORMANDY, FRANCE

The gravel crunched underneath your boots. You had just landed somewhere in Normandy ━━ you weren’t sure, you had missed your DZ ━━ and were now on the lookout to hopefully find Easy Company and not some German looking to end your life. That’s why you had you gun aimed into the distance. Every little breeze that shook the branches had yoy freezing up and darting you eyes, only to figure out it was the wind or some rabbit that looked as scared as you. It made you feel a little less alone.

When another bush shook, this time a little longer than usual, you crouched instead of just freezing up, gun still trained to where the sound was coming from. You waited before slowly moving forward, trying to minimize the sound of the road beneath you. You saw the bottom of a pair of boots and it seemed you were both waiting for the other to speak first. That decision was chosen for you.

“Flash.” “Thunder.” You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding when you heard that and then saw the multiple pairs of boots. “Y/n?” Someone called out within the group. You squinted trying to see who it was. “Bill!” You exclaimed in surprise before recognizing the few other people with him: Marlarkey, Wynn, Toye, Lipton, some people from the 82nd Airborne, and Hall, a man not from your company but you recognized him from Able Company. You quietly said your greetings before continuing on your way to try and find your rallying point.

After finding and following a set a train tracks, a situation happened where Bill shot before Winter’s Command, you reprimanding him again and jokingly pushing his head as he called you a “stupid mick” which you laughed at. Now the group was on the road to the rallying point. The whole time you had been thinking about Joe. God, you wished he was still alive. You didn’t know what you were going to do if he wasn’t. When you eventually got to the farm, you heard a familiar voice. You stopped as you saw each other before you began to run and give him a hug.

You could hear the mumblings of the other soldiers, but at that moment, you didn’t care. When you pulled away you grabbed his face. “Joeseph Liebgott, I would’ve killed you if you died.” You laughed with tears in your eyes as you checked him for and scratches and scars. “I wouldn’t dream of it doll.” He laughed too before pulling you back in.

You decided at that moment in time that it didn’t care what you two were, as long as you had him, you didn’t care. As long as you knew he was okay.

4. 1944, ARDENNES FOREST, BELGIUM

All you could see was white: the sky, the ground, even the trees that surrounded you, that partly acted as a wall. You were sick of it. You think you would feel this way for the rest of your life ━━ the look and feel of the freezing chill of the snow and forest. Maybe you would move to somewhere warmer, somewhere where it doesn’t snow and the lowest it would get would be 59 degrees Fahrenheit.

Imagining what you would do in the future always helped you get somewhat through the hard times, though a person was the one thing that was a blanket to you. He had told you he left to talk to Lipton, but he hadn’t been back for awhile.

As if the world hated you having a small moment of what little peace you could have, a light broke through the white sky. A yell of “incoming!” from someone near you, either Skip or Penkala, caused you to sink further into your foxhole, well what you could, and cover your ears as the bombing started. When you heard yelling with words like “c’mon!” and “hurry!” you looked up to see Skip and Penkala yelling out to Luz who was out in the open. “Luz!” You yelled to him, “get over here! It’s closer!” He followed your voice and jumped in, but as soon as you both turned around you saw Skip and Penkala get hit with a shell. You knew they didn’t make it.

It was over as soon as it happened, but you were so distracted with what had happened that you didn’t feel the burning on your side until George had asked you if you were okay. You groaned when you first felt the searing pain and lifted up your coat to see the blood soaking it. “Oh, shit. Medic!” You had been with a piece of flying shrapnel from the shell that hit the two. You didn’t have time to register how one of your best friends were killed before Doc Roe was at your side with Luz holding you so you wouldn’t move too much. “Christ, y/n.” Gene mumbled as he got a look at it before grabbing a bandage and wrapping it the best he could.

You were frozen now ━━ not from the cold, or the wound on your side that would cause you to get taken off, you were frozen with the realization of what just happened. You wanted to cry, scream, do anything, but you just . . . couldn’t. Everything around you was fuzzy and you didn’t register that the shelling stopped and you were being taken out until you saw Joe. Then, tears managed to fall and you started to sob. He was mumbling about how you were going to be okay and everything was fine as he followed you to the Jeep.

When you felt the rumble of the Jeep engine, you grabbed Joe’s hand as tight as you could. “I love you, you shithead.” You laughed as you told him. You didn’t know whether you would see him again, and you wanted him to know how you truly felt about him, and how much he ment to you. He froze for a second before leaning down and pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I love you too. I’ll kill you if you die.”

You laughed one more time as the image of him started to get smaller and smaller as he let go of your hand, slapped the Jeep, and it started to move. You tried to memorize what you could see: his shadow, the way he stands . . . him. You closed your eyes and felt a tear make its way down your face, settling in with the other dry ones.

+1. 1945, BAVARIA, AUSTRIA

The almost-healed wound on your side was a reminder of what you’ve been through, and what you’d missed. You’d been stuck in the hospital since mid December. You attempted to go AWOL multiple times, but you had failed every time.

Your shrapnel scar had ended being worse than Doc Roe thought and you had to be transported to surgery. When you woke up and heard what happened, you immediately wanted to go back and find your company . . . and Joe. You knew you left on a weird note, and wanted to figure it out. That was looming on your mind, along with the grief you finally had time to face. Not really face, more like confront. It was one of the only things you thought about while in there. You hadn’t fully come to terms with it, but you had made some progress.

You had thought about how George was doing, and especially Malarkey. He was Skip and Penkala’s best friend ━━ you were a close second. Bastogne was a horrible place in itself, but having to deal with that while there, to you, was a death wish. You were worried for everyone, the people you left behind.

You had just gotten to Bavaria when you saw Colonel Sink, and he saw you. As one of the very few women in the army, you could say he had a soft spot for you (though you would never say it to his face). You had been told a very uninformative idea of where the airborne was located, but you had been wandering since you got dropped off.

“Sergeant y/n, is that you?” Sink had called out to you as the car stopped. You saluted before you replied with a “yes sir.” “You lookin’ for Easy soldier?” You answered with a yes and conversed for a little bit ━━ mostly about your time in the hospital and what you missed ━━ before he invited you into the Jeep to get a ride up the mountain that looked over you.

That’s where you were know as you made your way up the hill, the familiar rumble of the Jeep underneath you. You couldn’t deny the feeling of excitement and happiness in your stomach as you got closer. You soon heard voices over the engine and on the horizon silhouettes appeared. When the car stopped, you gave a quick thank you, saluted, and made your way to where some of Easy was sitting.

“Having fun without me?” You asked out loud as people turned to you. There were calls of excitement as they saw you and people made their way to greet you, but one of the faces you were looking for was Joe. You eventually saw him getting up from sitting in front of a wheel and you both made eye contact before people split and let there be a clear path to him. You didn’t have to say anything to let him know you were running towards him before jumping on him and giving him a hug. He held you right, as if you were going to leave again, and spinned you around as you both laughed.

He was still holding you, arms around your waist, but had let your feet touch the floor. “Hi.” You smiled. “Hey doll.” Those were the only things said before you lips crashed together and there were cheers from your friends around you. When you parted, your foreheads fell against each other. “I was so worried, I was afraid you weren’t going to come back.” He admitted. “You can’t get rid of me that easy Joe.” You joked before kissing him quickly again and then went on a mission to find Malarkey.

He was leaning against the side of a car, cigarette in his hand. You gave him a tight hug, saying everything you needed to but couldn’t, before parting. You sat and talked while Joe kept a close eye on you.

“Skip was right, y’know.” Malarkey said as he let out some smoke. “What do you mean?” You asked, looking at everyone and the view. “About you and Joe. How your souls are intertwined. I always laughed at it but seeing you two now, he was right.” You blushed and looked down before your eyes met Joe’s and he winked at you.

“I guess so. But hey, never doubt Skip. He always said that. Guess this is a nice payback.” “Guess so.”

You never thought a person could be home, but as you walk in front of the fireplace, your baby girl in your arms, you realize that it could be ━━ that it is. And you are ever so thankful you figured out what you two were.

[pfctipper]

Kind of fascinated by this little section in one of Dick’s books:

Our OCS class graduated on July 2, 1942 […] Following lunch at the officers club, we were free to go our own way, though few of us had actual assignments. Nixon was assigned duty at Fort Ord, California, and attached to the military police unit on post. With no immediate openings in the paratroopers, I returned to Camp Croft to train another contingent that had recently arrived. As an officer I didn’t last long at Croft: about five weeks to be exact, before receiving orders to report to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, at Camp Toombs, Georgia […] Following a brief leave, I arrived in Toccoa in mid-August. Disembarking from the Southern Railway train adjacent to the Toccoa Coffin Factory, Lewis Nixon and I were directed to board an army truck for “Camp Toombs” - Richard Winters and Cole C. Kingseed, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters (2006)

Camp Croft is in South Carolina and Fort Ord is in California. I don’t know much about the USA rail system, or how involved the army would have been in coordinating their travel, but regardless of whether Dick was travelling from South Carolina or wherever he was on leave - how likely is it that they’d end up on the exact same train into Toccoa? Maybe something they’d either planned themselves, or they’d departed from the same place (maybe Nix had leave too?)- or a coincidental train/station reunion after five weeks apart? Who knows, but very sweet that he makes a point of highlighting that the two of them (and only the two of them?) arrived together anyway.

[balladofthe101st]

Skip Muck and Alex Penkala | 3x10, 5x10, 6x10, 7x10

While training under Captain Herbert Sobel, Skip befriended Don Malarkey, as they were in the same mortar squad. After physical training at Camp Toccoa, Skip went to Fort Benning, Georgia, for jump training. Skip Muck became close friends with Don and eventually met Alex Penkala who joined Easy Company at Fort Bragg. The trio were best of friends.

After being pulled off the line, Easy Company returned to France, where they were transported to Bastogne, Belgium to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. On January 10, 1945 Skip Muck and his friend Alex Penkala were killed from a direct hit in their foxhole from German artillery just outside the Belgian town of Foy. Skip Muck was just 22 years old and Alex Penkala died at the age of 20.

[hanniewinnix]

LT Richard Winters (far left) performing training at Fort Benning, Georgia before assignment to 506th PIR, Camp Toccoa, GA, October 4, 1942. (Picture from Lancaster (PA) Sunday News, October 1942.

[wordsaresimple-imnot]

Truth or dare - Joe Toye x F!Reader

Summary: Could taking Toye's cigarette from his mouth on a dare be the push Reader and him need to cut the recent tension in their friendship?

Warnings: Cursing, heavy make-up, suggestive ending. 1st person POV (female, no use of y/n).

A/N: I have the biggest respect for the real life heroes of WWII (and all other wars, past & current), this work & all other works is based on the actor(s) and character(s) portrayed in the Band of Brothers series.

A/N pt 2: This is the second fic I've posted today and I'm really hoping it's good. The ending leaves room for a possible smut part 2 if anyone is interesting. Comments, likes, reblogs mean everything to me. Thank you & enjoy!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What's so funny?" I ask as I sit down at the nurses table in the mess hall. I got there just in time to grab the last bits of lunch options before my shift starts.

"We are playing 'truth or dare' and Emily just had to answer who she'd rather kiss: Tab or Luz." Betty told me between giggles.

"Well? Who'd you pick?" I shoot Emily a smirk, already knowing her answer as we've been the only ones in our group that came from Toccoa and therefore the closest.

"Tab." Her face gets redder, as if that was possible, then she gets a mischievous look in her eye. "Your turn. Truth or dare?"

"Dare." I know she knows too much dirt on me to let her ask a question. But judging by the smile spreading on her face, I'm not sure I chose correctly.

"Go get that cigarette Toye is smoking." Her smile widens as the girls within earshot say 'oh' and some whistle.

Joe Toye is not someone that most of the nurses like dealing with. Not that he's rude or inappropriate, he just intimidates them. Not as bad as Spiers, but they put him right up there. From an outsiders point of view I can understand, he's not overly friendly like most of the guys in Easy you have to work a little to weasel past the hard exterior.

For myself, all I had to do was shoot Tab down for the billionth time back in Georgia as I was wrapping up his ankle that he twisted on yet another Currahee run. Don't get me wrong, I like Tab but not in that way and the quicker I could make him understand that the sooner we could just enjoy being friends.

Right when I was finishing up with his wrap, he started to say another pick-up line and being at my wits end I snapped a little. Grabbing his ankle I put enough pressure on it that made him stop talking and sit up straighter.

"Tab, if you come onto me one more time I will break your ankle. Do you understand me?" I kept my voice low and hard, maintaining direct eye contact so he knew I wasn't playing. With a small gulp, he nodded his head and I put on my most charming smile. "Wonderful, now take it easy with that ankle. If Sobel gives you a hard time about it, let me know and I'll put in a word with my supervisor to find a reason to annoy him."

With a final nod, I got him off the bed and started to help him to the door when a hand pushed me to the side and took my spot next to Tab. My protest died on my lips as I came face to face with Toye.

"I can take him from here, ma'am, thanks." He threw Tab's arm over his shoulder and started moving to the door. Two steps later he looked over his shoulder back at me with a small smirk on his face and said, "Remind me to not piss you off when you're fixing me up." Without waiting for a reply, he turned back around and kept himself and Tab moving.

From that day forward a friendship of sorts grew and since landing in Europe and dealing with the horrors of the war in our faces everyday, we'd grown even closer. The past few weeks things are taken a turn to being more flirty with beginning stages of intimacy. Jokes whispered in each others ears just so we can be closer than normal, fingers touching when handing each other items, lingering hugs, forehead and cheek kisses. It was all adding up and creating a tension neither of us seemed ready yet to break but didn't want to dispel either.

Emily's foot nudging mine under the table breaks me from my memories and makes me send her a glare. She's fully aware of the gray area Toye and I are in at the moment and seems to be all too happy to add fuel to that fire. I give a loud sigh and look around till I find him sitting a few rows to our left, sitting with Guarnere and Buck. Inwardly I groan, those two are never going to let me live this down.

With a final glare in her direction, I stand up and make my way over towards the guys. I can feel all of the girls eyes on my back which does nothing in helping me stay calm.

All three of them see me at the same time and smile in greeting.

"Hey doll, how's it going?" Buck asks as I sit across from him, next to Toye.

"About to go on shift, thought I'd say a quick hi and get a smoke." I shrug, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Here ya go." Bill tosses his pack my way from next to Buck.

"Thanks, but uh, I think I'll take this one." Before I can over think it, I pluck the cigarette resting between Toye's lips and take a long drag. I blow the smoke right in his face, hoping it'll hide how red my face is and stand up quickly. "Always a pleasure."

I practically jog to the nurses table, ignoring the laughs and 'good jobs' as I grab Emily by the arm and force her to leave the mess hall with me. I don't let go of her until we are nearly at the medic station. With a final puff I toss my stolen cigarette into the road and turn to face my friend that hasn't stopped beaming at me since I grabbed her.

"What?!" I sound almost frantic.

"Oh calm down, it's not the end of the world. It was just a cigarette."

"How do I even begin to explain what that was?" I put my hands on my hips.

Emily shrugs and flicks some invisible dust off her shoulder, "Just tell him that it was dare. But honestly, I don't think he really cares why you did it. The way he was looking at you as we left was more than mild interest. You're welcome." She pats my cheek and goes into the medic station, leaving me with no choice but to groan and follow her.

It doesn't take long for me to push the earlier experience from my mind and become overwhelmed with current and new patients in need of varying medical attention. Most are stable and just need an easy wrapping or cleaning up. There's a few that have been with us for a little while that still need monitoring but they're in relatively good spirits so it helps make the shift not too depression.

It's fully dark outside when I finally am able to step away and take a breather. With a signal to Emily letting her know I'll be around back, I slip out quietly and lean against the backwall of the building. I can't be alone more than a few minutes when I hear footsteps heading my way. I just want to be alone. But my annoyance goes away when I see who it is.

Neither of us speaks as he stops right in front of me and tucks a lose piece of hair behind my ear.

"You okay?" His words are soft and light, barely above a whisper as if he's afraid anything louder would break the small bit of peace we've managed to get in this hidden area. All I do is nod, not wanting to elaborate on the different faces and wounds I've been dealing with the past hours. His response is to pull me in his arms and spin us around so that his back is against the wall and I'm leaning against him.

We stay like that for a bit, listening to the noises on the street and each other breathing. It's nearly enough to make me fall asleep when I feel his chest rumble and the question I've been dreading is asked.

"So what was that at lunch?" I groan into his chest before pushing back far enough to look at his face. Fuck Joe Toye for being beautiful and sexy at the same time when he allows himself to give a full smile, not just a smirk.

"The girls were playing truth or dare and that was my dare. Sorry." I shoot him a small smile and pray he just drops it. He gives a small hum as he takes in my words.

"Well then, truth or dare?" He leans more against the wall, waiting for my answer. I gape at him.

"You can't be serious." The intimidating Joe Toye is trying to play 'truth or dare' with me? What the fuck.

"I'm always seriously," Joe winks, "so, truth or dare?" The glint in his eyes tells me there is no safe choice.

"Dare." I'd rather do something stupid than be asked something I'd rather not answer right now.

The silence stretches between us almost to an unbearable point, making me start to fidget in his arms.

"Close your eyes." His words make me freeze and my face scrunches up in confusion.

"That's my dare?" I'm trying to figure out what the catch is, but I can't find one.

"Close. Your. Eyes." His voice leaves no room for argument and since it's not anything crazy all I can do is comply.

With my eyes closed I try to use my others senses to figure out what his next step is. At first all he does is stand up straighter, move one hand up my back and gently cups my cheek. Joe pulls me a little closer to him and then I can feel his breathe on my lips.

"I'm going to do something now and I only want you to respond if it's something you really want. If you don't, just push me away." I barely finish processing his words when his lips brush against mine softly, teasingly.

When I don't make a move to push him away, he gently pecks my lips still in a teasing manner. The next time his lips touch mine I grab onto his jacket to hold him there and kiss him back. At the feel of his tongue tracing my lips I open my mouth and let him have complete control.

We lose track of time staying wrapped up in each others arms, making out like teenagers. We break apart at the same time when we finally need air. I'm not sure what comes over me but I kiss along his cheek, making my way to his neck and begin nipping at his exposed flesh. The hand that had been on my check moves to my the back of my head, fisting my hair but not moving me away. His breathing is becoming more ragged and when a groan escapes his lips from a particular bite I leave I feel like I've died and gone to heaven. As my tongue works to sooth the sting, the hand that was on my back drops down and grabs my ass, pushing my hips against his, letting me feel his erection.

"Joe." His name comes out as a whimper mixed with a moan and that makes him grind against me again.

Just as we are about to kiss again, someone clears their throat and we freeze.

"Very sorry to interrupt, and believe me I am sorry, but I need help checking wounds and restocking the stations." Emily's voice is both amused and apologetic.

"Yeah, I'll be right there, Em." My voice comes out much too ragged but it's not like she doesn't know the reason at this point. I wait till her footsteps grow faint, before beginning to pull away from Joe. He's slow to let me go and only manages to move his hands back to my waist.

"I should be off in a few more hours...can I come find you after?"

"No need, I'll be waiting outside for you. I believe we have some things to finish." He pulls me flush against him, making his point perfectly clear. Before I can think of a cheeky response, he gives me a final, firm kiss and spins me around towards to way back inside the building.

I walk a few steps, then turn around and shoot him an innocent smile, "No touching before you find me, Toye. I have a few ideas on how to spice up 'truth or dare'." I laugh lightly to myself when all I can hear as I round the corner to the building entrance is Joe cursing.

[greenpolicelight]

"Currahee"

: ̗̀´*: ･ﾟ⋆˒OC's ̗̀´*: ･ﾟ⋆˒

Prt 1 - Prt 2

WORD COUNT: 6K

June 1942 – Camp Toccoa, Georgia

The humid Georgia air is thick as Easy Company stands in formation with all of their gear. Rene is standing in the back attempting to discreetly move his left leg to scratch his right calf without making it obvious. He brings his foot down, standing straight, at attention, as Captain Sobel walks up, moving in front of the company, "you people are at the position of attention!" Sobel walks between the men, stopping in front of Perconte who moves his gun, getting it ready for inspection. Sobel looks down at Perconte, "Private Perconte, have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a paratrooper?"

"No, sir."

"Then explain the creases at the bottom."

Rene's eyebrows crease slightly, wondering how Sobel could have been able to see creases, "no excuse, sir."

Sobel looks up, looking around at the other men, "volunteering for the parachute infantry is one thing, Perconte," Sobel looks back at Perconte, "but you've got a long way to prove that you belong here. Your weekend pass is revoked." Sobel turns, walking off, looking for someone else to stop in front of. He stops in front of Luz, "name?"

"Luz, George."

Luz moves, getting his gun ready for inspection before Sobel grabs it, barely looking at it before tossing it back to Luz, "dirt in the rear side aperture. Pass revoked." Sobel moves on, looking over the other men again, before turning around, only to stop next to Lipton. Sobel moves closer, grabbing onto a piece of string from Lipton's sleeve, holding it up to him, "when did you sew on these chevrons, Sergeant Lipton?"

"Yesterday, sir."

"Long enough to notice this." Sobel brings his hand up next to Lipton's face, "revoked."

"Sir."

Sobel moves on, standing in front of Malarkey, "name?"

Malarkey moves, getting his gun ready for inspection, "Malarkey, Donald G."

Sobel grabs the gun, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Malarkey? Malarkey's slang for bullshit, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Rust on the butt plate hinge spring, Private Bullshit." Sobel toss's the gun back at Malarkey, "revoked." He moves on, "name?"

"Liebgott, Joseph D., sir."

Sobel looks down, reaching to grab Liebgott's bayonet. He holds it up, looking at it for a moment before speaking, "rusty bayonet, Liebgott. You wanna kill Germans?"

"Yes, sir."

Sobel smacks the bayonet against Liebgott's helmet, causing him to flinch lightly, "not with this." Sobel walks away, moving to stand in front of the company, yelling now to speak to the whole company, "I wouldn't take this rusty piece of shit to war, and I will not take you to war in your condition." Sobel throws Liebgott's bayonet down to the ground, pointing towards the company, "now, thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the Company who had a weekend pass, has lost it." Sobel pauses for a moment, "change into your PT gear, we're running Currahee."

Sobel turns, walking away and leaving the men to their platoon leaders. Winters turns towards Second Platoon, "Second Platoon fall out. You have two minutes."

"Fall out!" Rene grabs his gun up, turning to jog to his barracks with the rest of the company moving towards their own barracks.

Rene takes his O.D's off, already having his PT gear on underneath it, having learned from previous experience it's the most efficient way to live in Toccoa with Sobel. Rene folds his O.D's, setting them on his cot as he sits down, leaning down to tie his boots back up. He pauses as he hears Perconte speak, "I ain't going up that hill."

Rene rolls his eyes as the door slams open, Martin walking in, a small glare on his face, "hey, Perconte, what are you thinking of, blousin' your pants?"

Rene looks up at Martin as he walks by, Perconte responding, "shut up, Martin, alright? He gigged everybody."

Rene looks back down at his shoes, as Martin scoffs, "yeah, well, you should know better. Don't give him no excuses."

"Excuses? Why don't you come here, look at these trousers, get down and tell me there's a crease in 'em." Rene looks up again as Perconte stands up before he notices White still in his O.D's.

Rene stands up, looking between Martin and Perconte, "guys, c'mon, this is bullshit, and you know it. But, that ain't any reason to argue with each other about it."

The two look at Rene, and Perconte is about to say something back to Rene when Lipton's voice comes through the barracks, "alright, let's go, on the road in PT formation. Let's move, move, move." Rene and Perconte hold eye contact, having a small staring contest, neither giving in as the men around them quickly make their way out the door. Lipton sighs as he looks between the two, "Perconte, let's go, Perconte." Rene stays where he is as he watches Perconte aggressively undo his jacket and takes it off. "Flores, c'mon, that means you too." Rene glances at White before looking back at Lipton and walking out the door, jogging to catch up to the others.

Sobel's voice is loud and grating, as he yells at the men, causing Rene to wince lightly, "where do we run?"

The men yell back as they run, "Currahee!"

"What does Currahee mean?"

"We stand alone!"

"How far up, how far down?"

"Three miles up, three miles down!"

"And what company is this?"

"Easy Company!"

"And what do we do?"

Rene rolls his eyes, "stand alone!"

Rene hears someone yell out, before hearing Sobel yell, "do not help that man! Do not help that man. We do not stop. You've got thirteen minutes to get to the top of this mountain if you wanna serve in the paratroopers. Hi-ho, Silver!"

Luz, who's running next to Rene glances over at him before glancing at the others around him he can see. Luz looks back at Rene, wondering how Rene doesn't seem affected by Currahee the same way everyone else is. The men around them are struggling to breathe, struggling to even run anymore, and Rene, it looks like he makes Currahee seem like the easiest thing in the world.

Rene runs behind Bull, following Perconte, and Luz as they run up to the stone at the top of the mountain. Rene rolls his eyes as he hears Sobel's voice yell out, "we are coming on twenty-three minutes. That may be good enough for the rest of the Five-O-Six, but that is not good enough for Easy Company."

Rene pushes his food around with his fork, not actually eating anything as he looks around, observing the men around him as they eat their food. Rene watches as the men become quickly acquainted, acting as if they hadn't just recently met each other. He internally grimaces, beginning to hate his lack of social skills even more than he had growing up.

Rene looks up, being brought out of his thoughts as someone sits in front of him. Joe Toye. Rene never talked to the man, only saw him around camp and heard others talk about him. The two sit in silence, both discreetly glancing at the other until Joe speaks up, "I'm Joe Toye."

Rene looks over at him, slightly surprised he broke the silence. Rene stares at him for a moment, blinking, before responding, "Rene Flores."

"Where are you from?"

Rene gives him a confused look, "uh, San Diego. You?"

"Houghestown. It's in Pennsylvania."

"Pennsylvania?"

"Yeah, you've been there?"

Rene chuckles, shaking his head, with a soft smile on his face, "no. Never met anyone from there either."

"Yeah? Well, now you can't say that."

Rene shrugs, "I guess." The two sit in silence again, only this time it isn't awkward. It's relatively comfortable for the two, until Rene breaks the silence, "what did you do before this? I mean like for work."

"I was a coal miner. Then I enlisted before deciding to join the paratroopers."

"So you were already in the army?"

"Yeah, went through training and everything, but I wanted some more money so," Joe shrugs, "I figured why not."

Rene smiles at him, "yeah, a double volunteer?" Joe nods slowly, as Rene tilts his head, shrugging a shoulder, "why not, right?"

Joe gives him a smirk, before he nods towards Rene, "what did you do?"

"I worked for anyone who would give me the time of day. Newspaper boy, construction, delivery."

"You go to school?"

Rene shakes his head, "no, I went when I was younger, but I stopped after my mom died."

"My dad made me drop out in Junior high, so I could work in the coal mines."

Rene purses his lips, "damn."

Joe looks Rene over, "you got any hobbies?"

Rene squints his eyes at Joe, "I like drawing."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe you can show me someday, Re?"

Rene makes a confused face, breathing out, "Re?" He looks up, grinning at Joe, "yeah. Maybe, Joey." Joe smirks at Rene as silence comes over the two again, neither minding it. The two know a bond formed between the two, one that didn't need words spoken to be true. The two quickly understood each other, both knowing this was the start of something neither of them had felt before, the start of a friendship that would make them closer to each other, than the brothers they were surrounded by.

Rene is laying on his cot, messing around with his lighter, listening to the men as they play poker. Luz continues glancing over at Rene, before leaning into the men and speaking quietly, "we should ask him to join."

Rene glances over, noticing they had become quiet. Perconte looks over at Luz, giving him a look, "why would we do that?"

Luz shrugs, "I don't know, we can't hate the kid forever."

"We don't hate the kid. We just don't like 'im."

Hoobler shakes his head, as he looks over at Perconte, "why? It's not like he's all that bad. He really helps when we run Currahee."

Luz nods, "he's pretty good at giving us motivation."

Randleman looks over at Rene, catching his eye. Rene smiles softly at him, which Randleman returns before gesturing with his head to the open seat next to him. Rene scrunches his face before shaking his head and returning to messing around with his lighter. He takes a deep breath before looking back over at the group, I can't just expect them to accept me. I've got to put my own energy into it too. He nods to himself as a way of reassuring himself, before standing up, moving towards the group. Randleman grins at Rene as he walks up, "can I join?"

The men look up at Rene, not expecting him to come over. Randleman chuckles, gesturing to the spot between him and Martin, "there's an open seat for you right here."

Rene sits down fidgeting with his hands as he looks over the cards. Luz looks over at him, "you know how to play?"

Rene shakes his head, "my dad tried to teach me. I got so confused, so I became the only one in the family that doesn't know how to play."

Randleman chuckles, "we'll teach you." Rene thanks him, as he begins to tell Rene the rules, explaining what was happening as the men around them played.

"Flores?" Rene's head snaps up, looking at Luz, "where you from?"

"San Diego."

"You got any siblings?"

Rene tightens his lips before pursuing them and shaking his head, "I have a brother and a sister, both of 'em enlisted in the Marines."

"You got any hobbies?"

Rene furrows his eyebrows, "what's all the questions for? This some kind of interrogation?"

Martin shakes his head, turning to Rene, "we just want to get to know you, Flores."

Rene shakes his head with a confused face, tilting his head slightly, "why? I ain't anythin' special." Rene doesn't know it, but his words are what tells the men around him exactly what they need to know.

The game is over, and the men decided to call it quits on cards for the night. Rene is still sitting with Luz, Martin, Randleman, and Perconte all of them sitting in silence for a bit, none knowing what to say. Rene clears his throat, as he shuffles the deck of cards for something to do, "my whole life, my family called me Bean."

The four men exchange looks, not expecting Rene to say that. Luz shakes his head, "why?"

Rene shrugs before Martin shakes his head, "why are you tellin us that?"

"I don't know. You were the ones who wanted to know more about me. I figured it was somethin' interesting. We can forget I said it though if it ain't helpful."

Perconte smirks, "nah, Bean, it was plenty helpful." Rene looks up, surprised as he stares at Perconte for a moment before grinning at him. Perconte returns the grin, something the others around them never expected as they knew whatever Perconte had against Rene, is gone.

The company is on their usual Friday night march in their full gear. Rene's marching next to Bull who speaks up, "I'm gonna say somethin'."

Luz looks over, "to who?"

Rene shakes his head and looks back forward after glancing at Bull, "besides, what do you think is gonna happen?"

Bull ignores the two, calling out, "Lieutenant Winters."

"What is it?"

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Permission granted."

"Sir, we got nine companies, sir."

"That we do."

"Well, how come we're the only company marching every Friday night, twelve miles, full pack, in the pitch dark?"

"Why do you think, Private Randleman?"

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir." Rene snickers, his eyes widening slightly, not expecting someone to say that, especially Bull.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Private Randleman." There's a pause, "he just hates you."

There's scattered laughter from the company, as Bull nods, "thank you, sir." Rene snickers, smiling slightly, grateful to have Winters in their company who knows exactly what to say to the men.

After finishing the march, the men are standing in formation in front of Sobel. Rene stands next to Bull, beginning to get a chill from the cool air and rain hitting his sweaty skin. Sobel's voice is shrill as he speaks from where he stands next to Winters, "Lieutenant Winters, I want canteens out of belts with the caps unscrewed."

"Easy Company, canteens out and open." Rene reaches to his hip, grabbing his canteen, opening it.

"On my command, they will pour the contents onto the ground."

"On the CO's order, you will upend your canteen."

"Now, Lieutenant."

"Pour 'em." Rene flips his canteen over, the water flowing out. Rene moves his eyes, watching the water come out of the canteen, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as his thirst hits him with full force. Rene takes a deep breath before bringing his eyes back to the front.

Rene cringes lightly as Sobel quickly moves between the men, yelling, "who is this?" There is a slight pause before Sobel begins yelling again, " Christensen! Why is there no water in your canteen? You drank from your canteen, didn't you?"

"Sir, I—"

Sobel cuts Christensen off, "Lieutenant Winters."

Winters speaks from where he's standing in front of the company, "yes, sir."

"Was this man ordered to not drink from his canteen during the Friday night march?"

"He was, sir."

"Private Christensen, you have disobeyed a direct order. You will fill your canteen and repeat all twelve miles of the march immediately."

"Yes, sir."

"Fall out!" Rene winces as Sobel screams before watching Sobel move back to the front and bring Winters aside, talking quietly with him, before walking away.

Rene stands in front of Sobel in his full gear, as Sobel glares down at him, "why are you here, Private Flores."

Rene's voice is louder than normal, not wanting Sobel to think he's intimidated by him, "I'm gonna be in the airborne, sir."

Sobel nods, "then prove it. You have forty-five minutes to the top and back. I will be watching you."

Rene nods once, "yes, sir." He steps around Sobel and begins running towards Currahee.

After running up and back down Currahhe, Rene stops, standing face to face with Sobel, his breathing slightly uneven from the run. Rene's surprised to see Sobel standing there, actually timing him, but soon his surprise turns to annoyance as Sobel stares at the stopwatch in his hand. He looks at Rene, his eyebrows scrunched together, "forty-six minutes and fifty-one seconds, Private Flores. Again."

Rene takes a deep breath before he gives Sobel a nod, "yes, sir."  He turns around, rolling his eyes as soon as he knows Sobel can't see him and begins to run up Currahee again.

When Rene makes it back down in front of Sobel, his breathing is heavier than it ever had been after running Currahee. Sobel's voice shows his annoyance as he speaks again, "forty-six minutes and three seconds. Private Flores, this is not good. I thought you could run fast, however, this is a disgrace. Again. How can you think you can become a paratrooper if you can't even run in the right amount of time."

Rene nods again, sniffling lightly as his nose runs from the drizzle falling, "sorry, sir. It won't happen again, sir."

"It better not, I can't stay out here all night, Private Flores. Again."

"Yes, sir." Rene turns around again, his eyes widening in annoyance as he forces his body to move. The exhaustion begins to flow through his body as he tries to run again, but he pushes himself, not wanting to prove Sobel right.

The third time Rene finishes running Currahee, he believes he may never catch his breath. As he comes to a stop in front of Sobel, he struggles to calm himself down as he pants loudly while Sobel gives him a nod, "forty-three minutes and seventeen seconds. Private Flores, why didn't you do that the first time, instead of wasting my time like this?"

Rene takes a deep breath before he coughs and gulps, "no excuse, sir."

Sobel nods, looking Rene over, "you will run Currahee once more for wasting my time, then you are dismissed, Private Flores."

"Thank you, sir." Rene watches as Sobel walks away before turning and staring up at Currahee, breathing out as his body seems to deflate from disappointment. He takes a deep breath, before slowly starting up the hill, at least this one isn't timed.

Rene takes a deep breath before he coughs and gulps, "no excuse, sir."

Sobel nods, looking Rene over, "you will run Currahee once more for wasting my time, then you are dismissed, Private Flores."

"Thank you, sir." Rene watches as Sobel walks away before turning and staring up at Currahee, breathing out as his body seems to deflate from disappointment. He takes a deep breath, before slowly starting up the hill, at least this one isn't timed.

Luz looks at Rene's cot, not seeing anything on it like he usually would. He turns to look at the other men, pointing at the cot, "where's Bean?" After the night of poker, the men started calling Rene, Bean, which seemed to have caught on with the men from other platoons as well. Even for the men who haven't really interacted with him, Bean became the way people referred to him.

Martin looks at the cot before looking at Luz, shrugging, "I didn't see him in the mess hall."

Perconte turns, "someone said they saw him talking with Sobel."

"Shit, really?"

Suddenly, the door opens and Rene walks in, his gear muddy from tripping on his run and the rain with his helmet in his hand. The men take him in, seeing how he looks dead on his feet, with his face pale, his eyes squinting, and drenched in a mixture of sweat and rain. "Jesus Christ," Luz breathes out. Rene takes a deep breath, keeping his gaze on the floor as he makes his way to his cot, tossing his gun and helmet onto his cot before falling face first onto it.

Luz gulps, his worry for his friends skyrocketing as Perconte speaks, "the fuck happened to you?"

Rene turns his head, to face Martin who's in the cot next to him, "I hope jumping out of an airplane is fun."

Martin gives him a look mixed between amusement and concern, "what happened?"

Rene sighs before he turns his head to face his cot again, letting out a loud groan before he turns and begins to slowly stand up. His movements are slow as he begins taking his gear off, showing the men around him just how exhausted he is.

"Bean, what did you just do?"

Rene takes his jacket off, turning to Luz, "George, I just ran Currahee four fucking times."

"Why?"

Rene puts his helmet on the shelf, hanging his jacket up, before moving his gun. As he begins to get undressed, he turns to the men, "I don't know, apparently I had to prove that I could run and that I wanted to be in the airborne. Pretty much the same thing he did to Gordon. Apparently, we don't work hard enough to show that we want to be here." Rene moves, sliding into his cot and immediately falling asleep. The others look at each other, extremely concerned for Rene. He's proven he deserved to be there on many occasions, he hasn't been the best at PT, but he does extra work to ensure he can show Sobel up by not giving him a reason to call Rene out. There were many instances where some of the men would wake up in the middle of the night and spot Rene doing push ups on the ground in front of his cot, just to be able to keep up with everyone during PT.

Rene sits between Joe and Malarkey in the mess hall, playing with his food as he struggles to stay awake. Luz, Perconte, and Guarnere sit across from the three when Luz looks up from his tray, giving Rene a confused look, "hey, Re, how—"

Joe cuts Luz off, his voice low with annoyance, "what did you just call him?" Joe stares at Luz, as the men sitting around them, turn to watch them.

Rene's eyes widen as he looks down awkwardly at his tray, clearly not expecting Joe to respond like that. Luz looks between the two, his face crinkling in confusion, "I, uh, I called him 'Re'."

Joe shakes his head, "you don't get to call him Re, only I do."

Rene's head comes up, looking at Joe with a small smile, as his voice is teasing, "aw, Joey, you make me feel so special."

Joe's hand comes up, pushing Rene's head away, "no I don't, you're loosin' your mind, Re."

Rene's head hits Malarkey's shoulder, causing Rene to look up at him, shaking his head, "sorry." Malarkey shrugs, looking over at Guarnere who's looking between Joe and Rene. No one really knew when they got close enough to have their own nicknames, but, apparently, no one was gonna use them but each other. Rene looks up to Luz, "what were you gonna ask me?"

Luz shrugs, "I was gonna ask how you managed to get so good at running?"

Rene nods, taking a bite of food, "my brother was on the track team in school. I didn't have too many friends and since I stopped going to school, I would get super bored, so I would always run with him. My dad and my sister would make bets about whether I could keep up with him." Rene smiles lightly as he takes a bite of the peaches, before scrunching his face as he swallows hard, "fuck, those are gross." Joe chuckles, reaching over to grab the rest of the peaches from Rene's tray.

Rene is sitting on his cot, still in his muddy O. D's, not having a chance to shower yet. He grabs a cigarette, lighting it before grabbing his notebook and a pencil. Rene opens his notebook, beginning to draw parts of the barracks, as Martin walks in, sitting on his cot next to Rene's. He sits there for a moment, watching Rene, before finally speaking up, "what are you doin'?"

Rene looks up at Martin, talking slowly, "I'm drawing?"

Martin raises an eyebrow, "are you asking me?"

Rene's eyebrows crinkle, still talking slowly, "no?"

Martin purses his lips, his voice going monotoned, "really?"

Rene gulps, looking back down at his notebook, "sorry."

"What are you sorry for, Flores? You ain't done nothing wrong. What are you drawing?" Martin pauses as he looks around the barracks, "there ain't really anything to draw in here."

Rene shrugs, "just things. A mix of things." Rene flips the page of his notebook, turning it to face Martin who looks surprised Rene is showing a drawing to him.

Martin looks at the drawing, seeing different parts of the barracks put together, almost like a collage. Martin looks the drawing over, seeing how Rene manages to get the barracks to look so different yet so real. Martin's eyes widened, "shit. Bean, this is amazing."

Rene smiles sheepishly, looking down again, "thanks, Mar."

"Mar?" Rene looks up, shrugging, as the two share a smile. Martin clears his throat, glancing around the barracks, "when, uh, when did you and Toye get so close?"

Rene makes a face, "what d'you mean?"

"I mean, I heard about what happened the other day in the mess hall. When Toye pretty much told the whole company that he was the only one to call you Re."

Rene shrugs, "honestly, that surprised me. I don't really know when we got close. I mean, I guess if I had called one of you my best friend, it would be Joe." Rene looks over at George, who's listening in on their conversation while laying on his cot, "no offense."

Luz shrugs, "eh, I understand, we all see it. It was like you guys just instantly understood each other."

Rene stands in line to get his food, only for his face to scrunch up as he looks down the line, seeing what's getting put onto the plates of the other men. Rene moves up, watching as the noodles are put on his plate, the sauce following after. He looks up meeting the eyes of Winters in the kitchen, causing Rene to raise an eyebrow, to which Winters shrugs back. Rene grimaces before turning and walking away towards the table. He sits down next to Dittrich, grabbing his fork, taking a bite, before making a face and putting the fork down, speaking in Spanish, "fuck, I don't like spaghetti, then you add ketchup to the mix."

George turns to look at Rene from his spot next to Perconte, "Bean, we have no idea what you just said."

Rene looks at George before he shrugs, clearly not caring. Dittrich speaks up, his voice annoyed, "this stuff is orange. Spaghetti ain't supposed to be orange."

Rene scrunches his face, "this ain't spaghetti."

Perconte nods, "yeah, this is Army noodles with ketchup."

Guarnere walks over, sliding into the seat across from Rene, "you ain't gotta eat it."

Rene nods, taking a bite of his bread, "I know, I ain't gonna."

Perconte and Guarnere look at Rene before Perconte looks at Guarnere, "oh, c'mon, Gonorrhea, as a fellow Italian, you should know that calling this crap spaghetti is a mortal sin."

Hoobler turns around from the table behind them, reaching for Perconte's plate, "you don't want it, I'll have it."

He makes a move to grab Perconte's plate, but Perconte grabs it up and takes it out of Hoobler's reach, "no, no, no, I'm eating here."

Guarnere nudges Hoobler, "hey, get outta here." Hoobler turns and sits back down causing Rene to snicker as he takes another bite of his bread.

The sound of a whistle blowing causes all movement and sound in the mess hall to cease. Rene looks up to see Sobel walking in, "orders changed, get up!" Rene and the rest of the company stand up at attention, Rene continuing to chew the bread in his mouth, "lectures are canceled." Sobel begins to walk between the tables, "Easy Company is running up Currahee." Rene and Guarnere give each other a look of annoyance before Guarnere brings his head down to his chest, "move, move!" The company begins to rush out, "three miles up, three miles down. Hi-ho, Silver! Let's go, let's go."

After running for a little bit, the men of Easy are feeling the effects of running after eating spaghetti. Hoobler pukes next to Rene, who scrunches his face up from the sight of the orange puke. Rene glances over at Hoobler, "you're okay, Hoob. You got this. We gotta prove to him nothing can stop us."

Rene makes a face as Sobel runs up behind them, not at all hiding his feeling as Sobel yells, "you're a washout, Private Hoobler! You should pack up both your ears and go home." Rene takes a deep breath, catching Sobel's attention causing him to move and yell in Rene's ear, "Private Flores, can you run Currahee now? You want to quit, don't you? You can quit anytime you want, Flores." Rene closes his eyes tightly for a moment before opening them back up. Sobel moves towards the back, "looks like Gordon's done. Aren't you, Gordon? You finished? You do not deserve to get your wings." Sobel moves forward again, this time running in front, yelling at Bull, "Private Randleman, you look tired. There's an ambulance waiting for you at the bottom of the hill. It can all be over right now. No more pain, no more Currahee. No more Captain Sobel."

Rene takes a deep breath before opening his mouth, beginning to call out, hearing George do the same, "we pull upon the risers," the rest of the company joins in, "we fall upon the grass, we never land upon our feet, we always hit out ass." Sobel runs in front of George for a moment, surprised he would get the men to start chanting, before moving to run along the side of the company, slowing down as he watches them all running through their pain. "Hidee hidee, Christ almighty, who the hell are we? Zim-Zam, godddamn we're Airborne Infantry." Rene glances over, seeing how Sobel stopped, watching them run by before continuing, "we pull upon the risers, we fall upon the grass, we never land upon our feet, we always hit our ass. Hidee tidee, Christ almighty, who the hell are we?" Rene yells out louder, hoping to motivate some of the men, "zim-Zam, god damn, we're Airborne Infantry. Hey!"

"So, do we feel like we're ready to be army paratroopers?" Rene sits in between Bill and Popeye, the parachute on his back pulling him down, closer to the ground as he squints up at the instructor standing in front of the group.

The men speak in sync, "yes, Sergeant."

"I hope so. This'll be the first of five exits from a C-47 aircraft scheduled for today. Upon the successful completion of your fifth and final jump, you'll be certified Army Paratroopers. There'll be a lot of men dropping from the sky today. Hopefully, under deployed canopies." Rene snickers slightly, yeah, hopefully. The Sergent gestures to the chalkboard behind him, "jumping from one-thousand feet AGL, in sticks of twelve jumpers per aircraft. All you have to do is remember what you were taught," he pauses for a moment, "and I will guarantee you gravity will take care of the rest. And, gentlemen, rest assured, any refusals in the aircraft or at the door and I guarantee you, you will be out of the Airborne."

Rene takes a deep breath, picking at his fingers as he sits on the plane. He looks over towards the door, seeing the light turn red and his heart stops for a moment as the jump sergeant stands up, calling out, "get ready!" Rene grabs his clip in his shaky hand, sitting forward in his seat as he gulps. "Stand up." Rene stands up with everyone else, turning to face the front of the plane. "Hook up." Rene brings the hook up to the wire running through the middle of the plane, hooking onto it, struggling lightly as he tries to get his hand to stop shaking. "Check equipment!" Rene moves, checking the equipment for Martin, who's in front of him, his mind racing at the possibility of Martin's equipment not being good and being the reason something goes wrong. "Sound-off for equipment check!"

"Nine okay!"

"Eight okay!"

"Seven okay!"

Rene feels the tap from Hoobler on his shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly before patting Martin on the shoulder, "Six okay!"

"Five okay!"

"Four okay!"

"Three okay!"

"Two okay!"

"One okay!"

"Stand in the door!" Rene moves up with the line, as the first person, Lipton, stands at the door. The light turns green, and the jumpmaster calls out, "go, go, go!" Rene moves up with the line as more of the men jump out of the plane for their first time, "go, go, go, go, go!" Rene breathes out, standing at the door, bringing his hands to hold onto the outside of the door, just as he was taught, his heart beating loudly in his ears, his stomach rolling as he looks out below him, the jumpmaster's voice echoing in his head as he waits to hear his signal. "Go," Rene jumps, not thinking twice about it, knowing if he did, he wouldn't get out the door and he would prove Sobel right. Rene looks around as much as he can as he descends from the plane, how the hell was I so scared of this? Once he lands, he immediately reaches up and grabs the parachute, wrapping it up as quickly as possible, not wanting to get hit by other falling men.

Rene jogs to catch up to Ramirez as they make their way to the bar to celebrate, "oye, Ramirez."

Rene puts his hand onto Ramirez's shoulder, causing Ramirez to stop walking and turn to look at Rene, "what's up Bean?"

Rene smiles at the use of his nickname, slightly surprised it spread so quickly, before speaking in Spanish, "I heard what happened."

Ramirez gives him a confused look, "what happened?"

Rene nods, "in the airplane."

Ramirez nods, making a face, showing he understands what Rene is talking about now, "ah, sí. Going to tell me that I failed?"

Rene smiles at him as he glances at the group behind Ramirez, watching the two, before looking back at Ramirez. He shakes his head, "I just wanted to tell you, I think you have a lot more courage than the rest of us and you should be proud of yourself."

Ramirez's eyes widen, "seriously?"

Rene nods, "jumping the first time is one thing, but jumping after refusing is completely different."

Ramirez squints his eyes at Rene, trying to decide if he can trust him, before he grins at Rene, "gracias, Bean. I was nervous you guys would think I shouldn't be here or something."

Rene crinkles his eyebrows as he begins moving towards the group waiting for them, speaking with a scoff, "please, what kind of brothers would we be if we felt that way. If anyone gives you trouble, send them to me."

Ramirez laughs following Rene to the group, as he shakes his head, "not too good I guess. And I will." Rene laughs as they make it to the group, all of them making their way to the bar.

Rene is standing next to Joe at the bar, leaning with his back against it, watching the men around them celebrate with a small smile on his face. Rene turns his head, looking at Joe who has his head down as he faces the bar, causing Rene to chuckle, "too much to drink, Joey?"

Joe looks up at him, "fuck off, Re."

Rene smiles before he turns, facing the bar at the sound of their names, "Corporal Toye, Corporal Flores." The two look up at George who's impersonating Sobel as Joe stands straighter, "there will be no leaning in my company." George leans against the bar on the other side, getting a closer look at Joe's jump wings, "are those dusty jump wings?" Rene snickers as Joe brings his hand up, rubbing them, "how do you expect to slay the Huns with dust on your jump wings?"

Joe leans forward, grabbing onto the front of Luz's uniform, bringing him closer, before he shakes his head, "Luz, just get me a drink."

George grins at him, "hell of an idea, Joe." He looks over at Rene who shakes his head, picking up the beer he's still drinking. George nods as he reaches down, grabbing Joe a beer, setting it down on the bar, "here you go." Rene smiles as George grabs his own beer, holding it up, causing Rene and Joe to grab theirs, bringing it to meet Luz's, "three miles up, three miles down."

The three take a drink after the cheers, Rene almost choking as Sobel yells out, "ten-hut." Rene sets his glass down, quickly swallowing, turning to stand at attention.

Colonel Sink walks up to the small stage, looking over the men, "well, at ease, paratroopers." Rene moves, spreading his legs out, bringing his hands behind his back. "Good evening, Easy Company."

The men call out in sync, "evening, sir."

"Now, Parachute Infantry is a brand new concept in American military history. But by God, the Five-O-Six is gonna forge that brand new concept into victory."

"Yes, sir."

"I want you to know that I'm damned proud of each and every one of you." Rene grabs a beer, moving to hand it to Grant, "now, you deserve this party." Grant hands Sink the beer, "thank you, Sergeant Grant."

Grant gives him a nod, "sir."

"So, I want you to have fun, and remember our motto. Currahee!"

The men hold their drinks up, calling out, "Currahee!" Rene laughs before finishing his beer off, setting the now empty glass on the bar.

Joe turns, wrapping an arm around Rene's shoulder, "we did it, Re. We're fucking paratroopers."

"What is it, Re?"

Rene glances at George who leans back against the bar, listening in as Rene lowers his voice lightly, "I, uh, when I joined, I was scared of heights."

Joe looks surprised, glancing at George, who's also surprised before looking back at Rene, raising an eyebrow, "really?" Rene nods, causing Joe to shake his head, "why the hell did you join?"

Rene shrugs, "I ain't too sure, I just know that when I looked out the door, I had no idea what I was so scared of."

The three laugh as Joe shakes his head, "only you would join the airborne even though you're scared of heights."

[blurredcolour]

Take These Broken Wings

Dick Winters x Enlisted!Unnamed Female OC/Reader

Trapped behind his desk, Dick finds out the unthinkable has happened to the woman he cares about. Now he has to deal with the consequences; first as her commanding officer and then as the man who loves her.

Warnings: MAJOR Canon Divergence, Angst, Implied Sexual Assault, Descriptions of OC/Reader Injuries, Discussion of Retaliatory Violence, Gentleman's Agreement Not To Prosecute, Period Specific Ideas about Honor and Protection of Women, PTSD, Weapons, Language, Inevitable Historical and Military Inaccuracies, Mature/Explicit Themes - 18+ ONLY.

Author's Note: Self-indulgent canon divergence with little explanation ahead, read at your own risk. Because of the sensitive nature of this fic, I chose to write it in the third person but only a nickname is used so it can be read as a reader fic. This is a work of fiction based off the portrayal by the actors in the HBO series. I hold nothing but respect for the real life individuals referenced within, particularly the Red Devils in this case!

Special Note: Dearest tag list, I have chosen not to tag any of you because this is so wildly different than my usual fics, I just wasn't sure who would want to read it.

Word Count: 4148

-------------------------

October 17, 1944 – Schoonderlogt, Holland

It had never been his intention to fall in love with her. With any of the female paratroopers in the 506th, for that matter. But like the slow erosion of a river carving a new path through bare rock, she had ever so gradually hollowed out a place for herself in his heart until all at once he realized he could not live without her. Of course, if one were to ask her, she fell in love with Dick Winters the first day they met in Toccoa, Georgia, sun scorching their skin, blazing his hair copper – or so she liked to remind him often.

His realization had not come until he’d found her halfway up a tree in Normandy, tangled in the lines of her parachute, desperately trying to slice herself free before she was discovered by enemy troops. The sheer panic he had felt as his mind flooded with all the possible ways he could have lost her that night had only served to drive home how deeply he cared for Peaches. Dick didn’t often use the nickname that Nix had bestowed on her; a nickname born of some sordid adventure involving cans of peaches that he’d decided he’d rather not know about. But he did love the way it made her nose crinkle when he slipped it into their stolen moments together. Moments that were becoming harder and harder to find now that he had been placed in charge of 2nd Battalion.

Several pages being laid on his desk by Zielinski tore Dick out of his inner musings and he lifted his pen to add his signature to the line where his Orderly pointed expectantly. Sink had assured him the paperwork would be ‘nothing to sweat’ but Dick was certainly sweating it now. The call of Nixon’s voice as he came up the stairs was a welcome reprieve from the rapidly multiplying stacks of paper on his desk, something that his friend seemed only too happy to point out.

Dick could only feel envy, mixed with trepidation and a certain amount of helplessness, as Heyliger informed him Operation Pegasus was preparing to launch in a matter of hours and he remained trapped in his combination office and bedroom in the attic. As the pair of them made their way down the stairs and out of the requisitioned farmhouse, Dick looked up from his typewriter once more as he heard Nixon’s bright greeting.

“Hey there Peaches, you’ve got something on your face.”

“Very funny Captain. Lieutenant.” He heard her voice reply and did his best not to grin.

“Zielenski, could you go grab a new box of pencils from the storeroom? It’s going to be a long night.” Dick swallowed, doing his best to come up with an excuse for two minutes alone with her, five if he was lucky.

“Yes, sir.” There was a note of confusion in the man’s voice but thankfully he complied, hustling down the stairs.

There was a moment of silence before he heard the door shut followed by the sound of her jump boots scuffing up the worn wooden steps, grinning as she was startled to find him waiting for her at the top of the stairs.

“And here I was thinking I’d surprise you…Who was that?” She glanced back towards the door, and he sighed, shaking his head.

“Don’t worry about it, how’re you feeling about this thing?” He asked softly, taking her hands in his.

“Should be fine, Moose picked mostly people who can swim, the Canadians are nice. That Colonel Dobie sure is handsome.” She teased lightly, lacing her fingers with his.

Despite her teasing tone, Dick still felt a little annoyed at the comment, particularly given the fact that the man was free to swim the river in reconnaissance and join the operation that night while he was a glorified paper pusher.

“Too bad for him I like ‘em tall as a stalk of corn and copper as a penny.” She leaned in to press her lips to his and Dick felt his eyes fall shut, tension that he’d been carrying for hours slowly ebbing from his body.

She pulled back with a soft smile before frowning apologetically. “Sorry my love I got grease paint on you.” She licked her thumb and swiped at his cheek like he was a grubby toddler, and he could not help the broad grin that stretched his features even as he felt his cheeks heat up at the term of endearment she’d only recently begun to use.

“I’ll get it in a moment, Peaches.” He muttered, glancing around to ensure they were still alone before sliding an arm around her waist to pull her close, kissing her soundly. “Be safe out there…don’t do anything I wouldn’t do…”

“Oh, like run across a field toward two companies of SS by myself?” She narrowed her eyes at him, and he pressed his lips together, still able to hear every word of her displeasure at being left behind for the agonizing seconds it took for the red smoke signal to appear.

“Especially that.” He muttered, clearing his throat and taking a step back as he heard the door open at the bottom of the stairs.

She quickly grabbed her handkerchief and soaked it with water from her canteen, passing it to him so he could scrub at his face, hopefully removing all evidence of their interlude.

“Pencils sir.” Zielenski held out the box proudly and she raised an eyebrow, introducing herself warmly to the Orderly.

“That’ll be all, Sergeant, good luck out there.”

“Thank you sir, appreciate your time.” She replied smoothly, looking completely unaffected while Dick was very aware of the residual heat in his face.

Dick took his time opening the box, watching her back as she slowly descended out of sight until the door closed shut behind her. Sinking into his chair he submitted himself to another few hours of pointing and signing with his Orderly before sending the boy to bed, peering out his window hopefully when a great ruckus arose from one of the barns out back.

Glancing at his watch to confirm it was nearly 0200, he smiled a little to himself as everything seemed to have gone off alright. Rain drops began to sporadically strike the windowpane before the clouds opened into a steady, driving rain. Dick dropped the curtain with a sigh, the room filled with the rhythmic sound of water striking the roof and rolling off the eaves. It was dangerously tempting to lay his head down on his desk and give in to the heaviness in his eyelids, to allow himself to be lulled to sleep. Shaking himself physically, he turned back to yet another report and began striking the keys of his typewriter with a vengeance, hoping to keep himself awake with the racket.

Dick was just spooling a fresh page into place when Nixon was suddenly hurrying up the stairs, followed by Colonel Dobie himself. Both men were wet as drowned rats, but it was the seriousness of their faces that pulled Dick to his feet immediately, securing the pencil from between his teeth into his fist.

“Dick, you remember Colonel Dobie.”

“Yeah…yeah I do…” He replied slowly, trying to ignore the feeling of a sword dangling over their heads as he waited for them to tell him what was going on.

“Terribly sorry to barge in at such a late hour but I wanted to inform you of this incident personally. Well, incidents more precisely. It appears that one of our men, a Holman from Yorkshire, has been severely beaten by a couple of your men from Easy in retaliation for his attack on one of your female soldiers.”

Dick nodded once as he processed the news, heartrate picking up immediately. There were a total of twenty-seven women in 2nd Battalion, but given that it had been only Easy involved in Pegasus, that narrowed it down to a possible nine, of which just a handful had been chosen for the operation. Dick merely had to glance at Nixon to confirm his worst fear. Peaches.

He didn’t realize how tight his grip on the pencil in his hand had grown until the wooden object snapped in two.

“I am willing to consider the matter settled and in need of no further action. The man in question will be returned to England and assigned to some menial duty once he recovers from his injuries.” Dobie continued.

“That will take some time?” Dick asked calmly, despite the searing rage he felt rushing through him.

“Your men were thorough, Captain.” The Colonel replied, grimly.

Dick stood there a moment, eyeing an ink stain that had seeped into the wooden desk top while he was refilling his pen, considering. A beating and unpleasant assignment as punishment for heaven knows what the man had inflicted on her. But to demand more formal proceedings would immediately require testimonies and punishments for the men who had taken it upon themselves to defend her honor. He closed his eyes a moment, vision immediately flooded with her smiling face on one of the blissful outings they had enjoyed during their furlough in England. Forcefully setting the image aside, despite the way it wrenched at his heart to do so, he nodded again. If only to save her further pain.

“Agreed.” Dick offered his hand, Colonel Dobie sealing their agreement with a firm handshake.

Dobie turned to shake Nixon’s hand as well before seeing himself out, Dick waiting until he heard the door close before he spoke again. Two questions on the tip of his tongue, two men inside him, warring for dominance. To his dismay, he had to allow the Battalion’s commanding officer to speak first.

“Who are our vigilantes?”

“Martin and Randleman.” Nixon replied, sitting on one of the folding chairs at the small table in the corner with a heavy sigh. “Moose has them downstairs if you want to talk to them.”

“Yeah. Show them up.”

Nixon leveraged himself out of the chair and was halfway across the attic before he suddenly turned back. “She put that can of peaches in Parkes’ footlocker.”

Dick eyed his friend in confusion, the information seeming utterly irrelevant to their current situation until he suddenly remembered one of Sobel’s impromptu barracks inspections back in Toccoa.

“That dumb bastard wouldn’t leave the women in her squad alone, so she planted it there to get him in trouble – never expected him to get thrown out entirely.” Nixon sighed heavily.

“Where is she?” Dick asked quickly, the words almost melding together in his haste to get them out of his mouth.

“Johnny thinks she’s holed up in the supply barn, I’ll find out.” Nixon replied with a frown and Dick nodded silently, muscles of his jaw clenching almost painfully as he clung to the last vestiges of his focus.

He tossed the broken halves of the pencil onto the desk, frowning at the mess of lead on his palm and pulled the handkerchief from his pocket, frown deepening at the smudges of grease paint there from her face. He clenched the fabric between his fingers as Moose entered the office followed by a hard-faced Martin and a typically laidback Randleman.

“What happened?” He asked plainly, eyeing them expectantly.

Moose stood off to the side, watching Martin and Randleman exchange a look.

“Don’t all talk at once…” Dick prodded calmly, and Martin turned back to him.

“Bull and I were on our way out of the celebration, wanted to beat the rain and get back to our quarters – didn’t work out. Ran into Peaches as we got around the corner of the building. She looked like hell, roughed up, wouldn’t tell me what happened.”

“She just ran, not like her at all, sir.” Randleman chimed in.

“And then that bastard from the Devils, or whatever they call themselves, came around the corner looking all pleased with himself. Adjusting his pants.”

“Knuckles busted up.” Came Randleman’s addition once more.

“Anyway,” Martin continued after a sharp nod of agreement, “it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.”

Dick exhaled a slow, measured breath. “I can appreciate why you both did what you did. Next time, and we can only hope we never have to have this conversation again, bring him to Moose, to me. We have systems in place, alright?”

“Sir.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All that said…well done.” Dick said with quiet emphasis, letting his pride and gratitude burn brightly in his gaze. “And you’re both on latrine duty for the next two weeks.” He tacked on because he really had no choice but to punish them.

A pair of smirking salutes was the only response before Moose ushered them out. Dick waited until the count of twenty before sliding the suspenders of his OD pants onto his shoulders, shrugging into his jacket and clapping on his helmet. Grabbing his M1 and flashlight, he quickly made his way down the stairs and out into the persistent deluge toward the supply barn, nearly slamming into Nixon on the way.

“Follow me.” His friend nodded and continued to lead the way, nodding to Liebgott who was standing guard at the door, soaked to the skin.

“Joe.” Dick greeted him, noting the way he had his collar turned up obscuring half his face. The way his hands were shoved deep into his pockets.

It easily could have been in an attempt to protect himself against the elements, but Dick also knew Liebgott was the sort of man to never let anything go unanswered and if he was standing out here in the rain, he was surely more involved than anyone was letting on.

“Peaches is in there, sir. Doc Roe tried to help her, she wouldn’t let him touch her. Thought I’d make sure no one bothered her until she was ready.”

“Good thinking.” Dick swallowed.

He ought to press further, ferret out the truth of Liebgott’s involvement, but standing just outside where she was hiding, the other half of him was very much in charge now – wanting nothing more than to throw the door open and charge in. But by the sounds of it, that approach would be quite unwelcome.

“Why don’t you go warm up for a bit, we’ll take a turn.” Nixon said to Liebgott who looked between the pair of them before nodding in return.

“Thanks, sir.” He agreed, glancing back toward the barn once before jogging off into the night.

Dick waited until they were well and truly alone before slowly opening the door, stepping into the dim space, sliding his helmet from his head. The sound of footsteps retreating into the far corner behind crates of supplies drew his attention and he took a slow breath, calling her name softly.

“It’s me. Dick. I’m here to check on you.”

There was a soft, smothered sound and he clenched his fists, keeping his progress gradual and measured, trying not to make any sudden movements or noises to startle her. As he reached the rear of the barn, he rounded a stack of crates and his heart clenched painfully as his eyes fell on her wedged between a few bundles of blankets and sacks of something it was too dark to read the labels of. Her knees were hugged tightly to her chest, M1 tucked into the crook of her elbow as she eyed him warily in the dark.

Her normally tidy hair was in disarray, and the side of her face that he could see sported a gash across her eyebrow. He took another step closer, the air shuddering from his lungs as she flinched away, pressing tightly into the wall behind her, revealing her split lower lip, the swelling along her left cheekbone, the barely-dried tear tracks on her face.

Dick had never seen her shy away from anything since the day they’d met – not the obstacle course, the rifle range, Currahee, or jumping out of a C-47. For his proximity to garner such a reaction from her felt very much as though she had torn his heart from his breast and stomped it beneath her heel.

Sinking slowly into a crouch, he swallowed before speaking just above a whisper. “Peaches…”

The look of disgust, whether it was at the nickname or at herself – perhaps both, mixed with horror that crossed her face had Dick seriously considering if he had enough time to find Holman before his trip back to England and land a few blows himself. He gently corrected it with her name, teeth grinding together audibly in his skull as she turned her head to the side revealing small knicks at her throat. He’d held her at knife point.

“They’ve already found him. Some of the boys took justice into their own hands, but his superiors know now too.” He tried to reassure her, let her know he was no longer out there, no longer a threat to her.

Dick’s eyes dropped to follow the movement of her fingers as she picked at the torn ends of her nails, several cuts visible on her hands as well. Knowing her she’d probably put up a hell of a fight.

“P–” He stopped himself before he accidentally used the offensive nickname again. “…please you’re hurt. Can I clean you up?” He asked, voice trembling with the emotions he was desperately trying to keep at bay for her sake as he shifted forward onto his knees.

She shook her head violently in response, hugging her limbs tighter to her body, which hadn’t even seemed a possibility until it was done. Dick swallowed painfully, carefully laying his rifle and helmet down on the wooden floor beside him, sitting back on his heels.

“I love you.” He blinked rapidly at the gathering dampness in his eyelashes. “No matter what’s happened, I will always love you. I’m not going anywhere.”

She eyed him skeptically, no words passing between them for a long while. The sound of the persistent rain outside pounding against the roof filled the barn, drowning out the sound of their breathing, until she opened her mouth to speak at last.

“I froze.” She whispered, tone thick with self-loathing as she released her grip on her M1, laying it down beside his before sealing her palm over her mouth.

She began to shake with sobs so ferocious that no sound passed her throat, rendering the smothering effect of her hand unnecessary. Dick felt his heart shatter as he automatically reached for her, wanting nothing more than to pull her close and soothe some of her pain. Her repeated aversion to his touch, however, came flooding back and he froze, arms outstretched and aching to hold her, but wanting to respect her wishes.

The feeling of her body colliding with his chest as she launched herself into his arms punched the air from his lungs for several reasons, nearly sending him toppling over backwards with the force of it. Dick’s arms quickly gathered her onto his lap, one hand rubbing along her spine as her strangled sobs soaked his jacket, her hands clutching at him in return.

“You survived, my love.” He whispered against her hair, deciding he really ought to call her that in kind. It was only fitting for it was exactly how he felt. “You did what you had to do to survive in that moment. Please forgive yourself.”

He felt her shift against his sternum, the shudders wracking her body gradually slowing as she took deeper and deeper breaths, sniffling and wiping at her face carefully.

“Who did you have to yell at?” She murmured wetly, peering up at him cautiously.

“Martin and Randleman. Fairly certain Liebgott is somehow involved as well.” Dick replied softly, fighting back the urge to stroke her face. One step at a time – being allowed to hold her would more than suffice for now.

She sniffed. “Johnny must have figured it out first. I couldn’t even come up with a plausible lie I just…ran away from him outside the party…” Her eyes lowered in shame before she sat up slowly, Dick biting back a frown at the barely concealed wince that crossed her features.

“Nix is outside keeping watch. Can I take you back to CP? Get you cleaned up?” He swallowed, really wanting her to allow Roe to look her over but doubting that would be an option.

She looked to him, eyes suddenly wide with the terror of realization. “Oh god Dick, what if I catch something or…wind up pregnant…oh fuck…” Her face began to crumple, and Dick swallowed, quickly cupping her uninjured cheek hoping to startle her out of that train of thought.

As she jumped and looked to him sharply, he apologized gently. “My love, we don’t know if any of those things will happen. Hopefully they won’t, but no matter what comes next, we’re going to face it together.”

“But Dick I’m–”

“Don’t go and say something melodramatic, now. You’re the woman I love and something horrible has been done to you. It doesn’t change who you are to me.” He replied firmly, swallowing as she stared at him startled for a moment, before nodding slowly. “Now I’m taking you to CP and we’re getting you cleaned up, ok?”

“Should I salute you, Captain?” She raised an eyebrow before wincing and restoring her face to a neutral expression.

He felt his cheeks redden, a sure sign that things would some day return back to normal. That the woman he loved was still with him, she just needed a lot of care right now and he was more than happy to provide it. “That won’t be necessary, Sergeant.” He replied and tried not to smirk as she scoffed slightly in surprise before shifting to her feet slowly.

Dick passed her rifle to her before grabbing his own, rising to his feet and sliding his helmet on his head. He offered his hand to her, swallowing back his sigh of relief as she laced her battered fingers through his and followed him out through the maze of supplies to where Nixon was still waiting in the rain.

“Christ, Peaches…” He breathed when she came into view and Dick shot him a sharp look, trying, too late, to stop him using the nickname.

“Son-of-a-bitch ruined the nickname, Nix. I trust you to come up with a new one.” She sighed, sounding positively exhausted, and Nixon nodded quickly in reply.

“Noted. You sure you’re alright?” He asked softly and she shook her head.

“No. But someday, maybe.” She replied honestly and Nixon nodded empathetically as Dick squeezed her hand gently.

“Let’s get out of this rain.” He led the three of them back into the farmhouse, taking her straight to the washroom where he filled the basin with water. “Help or no?”

She paused a moment, staring at her reflection in the cracked mirror left behind by the home’s original owners and Dick waited patiently until she turned back to him. “I can do it.” She replied softly and he nodded, closing the door to wait in the hall.

Nixon shuffled by carrying his pillow and Dick raised an eyebrow. “Give her my bed, I’ll take your crappy little cot.” He muttered, making his way to the attic before he even had the chance to reply.

The ghost of a smile crossed his lips as he leaned his head back against the wall, thoroughly spent by the events of the day, knowing he’d have to be up in just a few hours to face the rest of the paperwork on his desk.

“Dick?” Her soft voice startled him, making him realize he’d actually fallen asleep standing up, for just a moment.

Her lips twitched slightly with a hint of amusement, and he smiled slightly in return, nodding as she looked more herself despite the still-fresh injuries.

“This way.” He offered his hand and led her towards Nixon’s room, gesturing at the bed. “Gift from Lew.”

Her face softened, eyes glistening suddenly, reminding Dick just how fragile she still was. “Where is he sleeping?”

“Attic.”

“Then you need a bed too…” She replied as she crawled onto the mattress, sighing at the softness of the bedding.

“Oh, the floor is fine I…”

“Please hold me.” Her voice was small, her request simple and one that he did not need to hear twice to honor.

He unlaced his boots and removed his outer layers before crawling in with her, letting her curl up against him before sliding his arm around her carefully. “Comfortable?” He asked in a hushed voice.

“Very.” She replied sleepily and he allowed himself to drift, listening to the rise and fall of her breath, letting sleep nibble at the edges of his consciousness.

“Dick?” She whispered and he snuffled awake quickly.

“Yeah?”

“Does it smell like pee in here?”

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Band of Brothers Masterlist

[bloodstainedsaint]

of sweet teeth and indulgence (dick winters x reader)

summary: just home from the war, you and dick go on an ice cream date :)

word count: 1200+

warnings: domestic & post-war dick, who's also still shy despite an established relationship); fluff, fluff, and more fluff (+ mentions of war i guess but that's like in every fic); and mentions of nix bc he should be a warning in all winters fics lol

notes: inspired by this and this, happy christmas to anyone who celebrates 🎄 this is my present to you !!

“(Y/N), are you ready yet?” Dick called from downstairs. You were taking some time to doll yourself up, putting your hair in a trendy style, wearing makeup and accessories, donning a nice dress and heels — things that you haven't done for three years on account of your service in the war. While you wanted to dress up for Dick, this was also for you. You took a final look in the mirror and found someone you hadn't seen in years looking back.

“Coming, Dick!” you responded, almost losing your footing coming down the stairs due to your excitement (and the unfamiliarity of heels compared to the sturdy boots you'd become accustomed to).

Dick watched with wonder in his eyes and a smile upturning his lips; he thought you looked like an angel coming down from heaven.

Mistaking his expression as teasing at your expense, you lightly smacked his chest with your purse, a grin of your own gracing your face. “You could've helped me with my hair, you know.”

“No, you…” he started, his face turning the color of his hair as he cast his gaze off to the side, “...just look stunning.”

Heat rising to your cheeks, you decided it was your turn to soak in the other's appearance. It was much different than the fatigues and officer uniforms that you’d been admiring him in ever since you met him at Camp Toccoa, but you'd be lying if you said seeing him in a suit and tie didn't similarly drive you crazy.

You tenderly took his face in your hands and guided his eyes back to you, whispering, “You look handsome as well, Dick.” You brought him closer to give him a short, sweet kiss that made his heart stop beating in his chest.

He pulled away and gave you a quick peck on your forehead before offering you his arm. You gladly accepted it, and the two of you walked together to his car. His hand gently rested on your thigh as he drove, the radio playing swing music.

“Where are we going?” you asked as you took your eyes away from the window where you’d been watching trees pass by, their leaves falling to the ground in vibrant displays of red, orange, and yellow.

“Ice cream,” he said simply, a playful smile on his face and a quick glance to you.

You rolled your eyes with an incredulous look. “Yes, I know we’re getting ice cream. I was asking where.”

“Well, Nix recommended this one place. We’re going to see if Raritan’s ice cream is up to snuff.”

It really astounded you how much of a sweet tooth the man next to you had; even in autumn when the weather was chillier he couldn't turn ice cream down. You bet he could go for ice cream during a winter as harsh as Bastogne’s was, where his nose and ears had flushed cherry red and his face had become pale.

You smirked. “Of course. Because why would Nix ever lie to you?”

“Because he knows not to mess with me about ice cream.”

-

Dick helped you out of the car when you arrived and took your hand as the two of you walked inside. The interior popped out at you: checkered floor and a counter with a row of colorful stools across from the ice cream holders and soda fountains. Dick had said that the ice cream parlors (if one could call them that) were much more modest in the camps and forts he’d trained in prior to Georgia; in Europe, ice cream was hard to find at all — which was why his face lit up with joy at the selection of frozen treats.

Watching your lover, a usually private man, positively beam and hold your hand tighter in his as he led the two of you to the counter brought a smile to your face. He ordered one of his favorites: not plain vanilla, as one might think of someone like him, but cookies and cream, while you decided to go for a pumpkin pie flavor to match the autumn mood. Dick, being Dick, paid for both of them and took you outside to walk along a path shaded by grand trees on either side.

As you walked by his side, hand in hand, your conversations went wherever your mind took you. There was much to talk about now that the war was over and not occupying all of your time.

“How’s Lewis?” you said, having gotten to the ice cream cone.

“Doing better,” Dick said with a sigh, “though sometimes he still comes drunk or hungover to work. One time he showed up and asked if we were married yet.”

You raised your eyebrow. “Are you sure he wasn't sober? That seems like something he’d say sober.”

“Drunk as a skunk. But the promise I made then hasn't changed; we’re going to find a small, quiet corner of the world together and get married there.”

Imagining a ring adorning both his and your ring fingers someday, you squeezed his hand. “You’re a man of your word, Dick; I don't doubt you for a second.” You blissfully sighed and gazed at the sky, reminiscing about all of the stolen kisses and fleeting moments the two of you shared during the war. “We did so much sneaking around back then, but the whole of E Company knew anyway. D’ya think it was me helping with you shave during the Bulge that gave it away?”

He chuckled, a sound that only you and a few others had the pleasure of hearing often. “Nix will always remind us that he knew first and that he was the one who got us together. The sneaking around was just for us to look good around Sobel and everyone outside of Easy.”

“Couldn't have him knowing that his XO was running around with a subordinate,” you said, bumping his shoulder. “If only he could see us now, going on an ice cream date and planning to get married. Might shock him more than your request to be court-martialed.”

Finished with his ice cream, he sighed and said, “I've missed this.”

You turned to him with a simper. “What, ice cream?”

He smiled as he shook his head. “No, walking with you like we did whenever we got the chance to get away.”

“We have all the time in the world now for that and anything you want to do.” You slowed your walk to a stop and fully faced him. “This is our reward.”

Your eyes caught something on his lip, so you leaned in to kiss him, which he gladly indulged you in. Barely pulling away, your lips ghosting his, you said, “You had some ice cream on your lip, Major.”

“You know, ice cream’s not the only thing I’ve missed.” He brought his hand to the back of your head and kissed you unabashedly, realizing and taking advantage of the fact that finally no one was watching. Giggling into the kiss, you tasted not only the sugar of the ice cream but also the bittersweetness from years of yearning for one another. You wrapped your arms around his neck and brought him closer, deepening the kiss, and all of the time lost during the war was made up in that one moment.

-

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[bellewintersroe]

Band of brothers x Nurse reader headcannons…

gonna indulge in a scenario I can’t stop thinking about, reader is the most gorgeous lady in the whole company and the most sought after too… who doesn’t love a bit of attention, especially from such attractive men ;)

Okay, just a little bit of background about you, so you’re frickin gorgeous, you know you are, but you don’t flaunt it, and you’re a little shy. You join the army to be a field nurse and you get sent to Toccoa, the training camp in Georgia in 1942.

let’s say you work alongside a bunch of other nurses, and you’re linked up with Easy, specifically 2nd Platoon (but we’ll get to that later). Of course the men all fancy the hell outta all the other women too, but you in particular are something else.

I think once everybody finally gets a weekend pass this gives you time to all gel properly, and this is when I think men would borderline fight for your attention. Maybe you’d stick to yourself and your close friends/ the rest of the nurses at first cos all the attention makes you a little nervous.

I don’t think the boys would be creeps, not the majority of the Easy men anyway. (Maybe Cobb or somebody would say something weird or sexist but you’d stand up for yourself).

anyway moving onto each of the boys.

Joe Liebgott:

So even if you don’t fit Joe’s description of ‘nice Jewish girl with great, big soft titties’ he suddenly changes his mind and tells everybody you are his type. He lies about every fancying any other type of girl, you apparently match his description perfectly.

probably would try be one of the first guys that wants to come sit with you, he knows a lot of his buddies are interested, but he’s soooo smug and proud of himself when he gets to your table first.

he doesn’t notice the funny look you give him when he accidentally steals one of your friends seats. Him and the guys probably accidentally swarm you at one point which may or may not leave others jealous (but it’s all fun and games).

I can’t imagine him being overly flirty and annoying, he smirks and winks a lot, but probably ends up getting a little nervous and makes sarcastic digs at his friends that you can’t tell if it’s a joke or serious.

the two of you probably end up being really good friends, if somebody’s upset you he’d always be like “jheeze, y/n, you’re forgetting how gorgeous you are.”

has nicknames for you, and probably gets more protective as the war continues. Not just protective in a way that’s like ‘you’re too good for him’ but if you’re upset or worn out from working too hard he’d probably force you to go rest.

kisses his teeth at guys that embarrass themselves by throwing themselves at you (not like he didn’t do this when you first met). Floyd Talbert:

Alike Joe, he’s one of the first to come sit with you. He’s not subtle like the other guys, smirks openly in your direction, his eyes literally glimmer whenever you see him.

probably manages to make you blush just from introducing himself.

tries fairly hard to flirt with you, even if people are around. His friends probably ruin it for him, laughing and sighing at his flirtatious antics. He doesn’t like being interrupted so probably stops dead in his tracks- doesn’t want to make you embarrassed.

probably catch each others gaze every now and then but he made it so obvious he was into you that it leaves you both feeling a little bit awkward.

fancies the fuck outta you and that never stops. Would probably be a lot more nice rather than flirtatious after a while, if he sees you physically or mentally exhausted he would be complimenting you on how hard you’ve worked and probably calls you an Angel.

you either get together, or not, but probably end up laughing about your awkward encounter years later.

Bill Guarnere:

Probably more tame, even tho he’s stunned by how beautiful you are, at the end of the day all these other guys are annoying hounding you like that. Bill gets straight up fed up when he hears them begging for your attention.

“stop houndin’ the poor gal, would ya??” Thank god for Bill.

he knows you’re part of second platoon, so he’s your Sergeant, so there’s be no funny business there. He gets pissed off at the guys giggling over you.

treats you with so much respect, sometimes people unintentionally treat you different because of the way you look, but Bill ensures he’s not being bias no matter how stunning he thinks you are.

people try to get it out of him about how he feels about you. Doesn’t hesitate to say you’re fucking gorgeous but it keeps at that. Again, he’s respectful, he’s your platoon sergeant and the two of you end up being super good friends.

One of the first guys there to genuinely make you feel funny and laughs at all your jokes. It’s a genuine friendship, there’s a lot of trust between the two of you, and Bill wouldn’t do anything stupid to risk that.

Shifty Powers:

Such a sweet, kind, respectful boy omg. He wouldn’t flirt with you because he wouldn’t know where to start. He thinks you’re a goddamn Angel.

deffo tells the other men to be respectful of you seeing as he makes such an effort to get to know you, tells the guys how genuine and lovely you are.

“jheeze, somebody’s got the hots.” Turns BRIGHT RED. His face scrunches and he ignores the childish comments.

But deep down, he’s in love. He knows he can treat you right; he wants to prove it and tell it to you but he’s too shy.

look, not because he’s insanely attractive; but because of how lovely he is, I think Shifty probably has the best chance of becoming your boyfriend. He wouldn’t see it coming, and he wouldn’t be smug, but he’d be so content and happy that he could be with such a beautiful woman.

day dreams about you.

He’d let you practice any of your medical stuff on him, he’d go as far as saying you could practice taking blood on him. (You wouldn’t do that).

but nah, he makes such an effort to reach out for you, he’s not overly flirtatious or obsessive, he’s just kind and super mature about it all.

Eugene Roe:

Tries not to stare in absolute awe. When all the other men aren’t gawping at you he’s stealing small glances at you. Maybe you catch him one or two times and it makes you smile- and then he smiles- and you keep making eye contact every now and then for the first week or so.

genes in loveeeeee.

when you eventually get talking, you kinda both ignore what happen out of pure shyness?? I think once things become more professional and serious (cos ur out at freakin war) Gene would push any thoughts about you he had to one side.

Obviously he’s scared of growing close to anybody, so because you’re so nice and caring he finds it difficult and maybe he pushes himself away a little?

I think if you made the effort to reach out for him, it wouldn’t be difficult to get him close again. He’d experience genuine feelings for you and he’d never ever objectify or treat you differently just based on your looks.

maybe when things are getting calmer and the war is over in Europe he starts to smirk more and I think he’d become more playful about all the men fancying you.

Alongside Shifty he’d have one of the best chances of getting with you imo.

Ron Speirs:

I feel like you’d probably meet midway through the war, and although you’re stunning the last thing on Ron’s mind would be dating or crushing on anybody.

(but for the sake of what I’m writing let’s be realistic) people can’t control when they’re attracted to somebody. So all of a sudden when you’re right in front of him, breathless and trying to report something to him, hair dishevelled over your face slightly, Ron’s eyes wander over your face and he feels his mind go blank.

fuck! How’s he supposed to act all big and scary when you’re so beautiful and you’re right there in front of him. Would take him a second or so to snap out of it, you’d physically see him regain focus again and you probably think he doesn’t want to listen.

you’d be intimidated asf let me tell you rn.

he snaps back into reality anyway and would respond to you the exact same way he probably would for anybody else- except he asks for your name and just nods or something mysteriously after you’ve given him it.

I feel like Ron is the man of all men in easy, so he’d probably have a good chance of getting with you.

when things become more calm after the war, he’s less uptight and you’d probably see a much more friendly side to him.

anyway he wouldn’t want to be weird or overstep his boundaries, but you’d catch him joking more often with you than anybody else. I think he’d become protective as well.

even tho he can play this off as ‘I’m her Captain’ it’s definitely not that, he’d have a soft spot that would only show once the war is declared over.

maybe he gets a little sad that you just see him as some scary ass Captain and if you’ve heard all the rumours then why would you even wanna be friends with him?? I think it could be a source of anxiety.

let’s say if you never ended up getting together I think Ron doesn’t engage in any kind of weird jokes or conversations about how ‘hot’ you are. He finds it weird and disrespectful and he’s aware of how unfair it is on you, and also how unprofessional/ bad that could be.

probably reprimands some of the guys more than a few times.

Roy Cobb (this isn’t a match EW, just wanted to add a little drama, as always 😏) :

Not only is he annoying asf but he’s rudeeeee.

I think you’d shut him down IMMEDIATELY, let’s say he comes over and he’s super drunk and acting all leery and stumbling over onto you. He thinks he’s impressing you but in reality he’s spitting everywhere and it’s grossing you out.

so at first you politely shut him down and I feel like he’d probably be like; “awwww, c’mon lady don’t be so uptight.”

Then you’re not so polite, and neither are your friends. He finally storms off with a huff and leaving the rest of you in a mixture of disgust and laughter.

throughout the war I doubt you’d be close to him, you’d never end up treating him because he wouldn’t let you. And when this becomes an issue, he starts to insult your work and that he doesn’t want treated by a girl like you.

somehody would deffo step in and be like wtf??? Who tf are you talking to because I know it ain’t her?? Liebgott or somebody would probably threaten him, and you’d have to do the whole ‘Joe no pls don’t fight him!!’

but seriously Cobb would cause a lot of issues when you were there simply because he doesn’t believe you, as a woman, should be out at war, plus he’s bitter you turned him down publicly and several times.

would never act up in front of Winters or Nixon, or any of his superiors. Kinda sly and slimy.

anyway one day he’d fuck with you and you’d end up physically pushing him or cursing him out or something and some of the boys/ other nurses would most definitely stand up for you against him.

Safe to say he doesn’t fuck with you again after that.

[mads-weasley]

Epiphany Pt. 1: Enchanted

Lewis Nixon x Reader

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

A/N: heyyy guys! i've decided to start a lewis nixon series!! and yes, the chapter titles are all taylor swift songs. i'm super excited to post this first chapter! please enjoy and let me know what you think! hbo owns the rights, and this is about the fictional portrayal of easy company on the show. nothing but love and respect for veterans on this blog!

Word Count: 2.3k

Summary: Arriving at Camp Toccoa to join Easy Company, (y/n) (y/l/n), a participant in a new WAC program, has her first encounter with the men of Easy.

It was a hot and unbearable day under the Georgia sun when (y/n) (y/l/n) arrived at Camp Toccoa. She tried to ignore the looks she got from the men as she rumbled by in a jeep, but what she couldn’t ignore was the rambling of her driver.

“Hi,” he introduced, glancing over at her. “The name’s Lorraine. Well, it’s Gerald, but everyone calls me Lorraine.” 

She shot him a kind smile. “Nice to meet you, Gerald. (Y/n) (y/l/n). I’m part of the Athena program.

“I haven’t heard of that.”

“Well,” (y/h/c) began. “it’s a new part of the WAC that’s sending a few women into the Army as a sort of trial run for the future.”

A look of disbelief passed over his face before he reigned it in quickly. “What made you want to join up, then?”

“Well, who wouldn’t after Pearl Harbor?” She asked, wiping sweat from her forehead.

Lorraine simply nodded and kept his eyes on the road, almost as if he was contemplating a woman’s place in war. To (y/n)’s relief, he chose to keep his conclusion to himself. Vest turned down another long dirt road that seemed to lead directly to the base of a mountain she assumed was the famous Curahee. With a deep breath, (y/n) silently prayed she had the strength to prove to him and everyone else that women belonged in the army; that she belonged.

The morning after Sobel’s canteen tirade, Winters and Nixon were in line for breakfast in the mess hall, trying to figure out what to do about their CO.

“So, what did you do?” Lew asked, walking toward an empty table. There were times when he was thankful he was in intelligence instead of with the rest of the men, and most were because of the hell Sobel put them through.

Dick trailed him with a sigh. “Picked six men and gave them latrine duty.” 

“The lucky six?”

“McDonald, Toye, Perconte, Lipton, Muck, and Guarnere,” he stated, sitting across from Lew. 

“Why them?”

“It was their turn.”

Nix chuckled, looking down at his messy food in thought. It was his job to know things, and he happened to hear about a controversial topic flowing down the ranks. “Hey, have you heard about the new WAC program integrating women into the Army?”

“I’m glad you mentioned it. Our own Athena participant should be arriving at 16:00.”

Lew’s head shot up. “In Easy?”

“Yep.”

Lew didn’t have anything against women in the military but also didn’t know how the men would handle it. “What do you think about it?”

“Well,” Dick began, putting down his utensils softly. “I’m trying to have an open mind, but I’m worried about some of the men.”

Nix nodded and took a sip of coffee with a smirk. “We’ll just have to wait and see, then.”

Little did he know that later that day, his life would change forever.

Lorraine and (y/n) arrived at Colonel Sink’s office a few minutes after 16:00, and the woman was almost sick to her stomach with anxiety. While Lorraine was inside informing Sink of their arrival, she tried to calm herself down. All she wanted was to make an excellent first impression on the Colonel and her superiors.

Lorraine returned and ushered her into the small building serving as Sink’s quarters. (Y/n) followed him down a hallway to a single office room. He nodded and closed the door behind her once she entered. The woman turned and raised her hand to salute him.

“Ah, Miss (y/l/n),” Sink called, words dripping with his North Carolina drawl as he held his hand out. “At ease. Welcome to Camp Toccoa.”

She shook it firmly, praying he overlooked their clamminess. “Thank you, sir. I’m happy to be here.”

Sink gestured for her to sit as he took a seat at his desk, which was neatly arranged in piles of folders and other stationery. “When I first heard about the Athena Project, I didn’t know what to think. My wife was the one who showed me that women have the same right to serve their country as us men. She’s a modern Abigail Adams if you understand my meaning.”

“Yes sir,” (y/n) replied.

He interlocked his fingers above the desk. “If I may ask, what made you volunteer for the program?”

“Well, sir,” she spoke softly, willing her voice to stay strong. “My brother was stationed on the Arizona at Pearl Harbor. He was 20. I couldn’t let the opportunity to follow his footsteps pass by.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Thank you for your family’s sacrifice.”

(Y/n) wanted to respond, but her throat seemed to close up on her. Unable to answer, she nodded stiffly, willing the tears from her waterline.

He noticed her distress and cleared his throat suddenly. “Let’s get to it, shall we? You’ll be in Easy Company of the 101st Airborne. You won’t get any special treatment, but we’ll try to accommodate you as much as possible.”

The door scraped open behind (y/n), and she resisted looking back at the newcomer. The footsteps sounded like a single person, and she hoped they wouldn’t catch on to her moment of emotion. Luckily, Sink addressed them, giving her time to gain control of herself.

“ Winters, where’s Lieutenant Sobel?” He asked with furrowed brows. “He’s supposed to be here.”

 Dick spoke up. “I don’t know, sir. I last saw him in the mess hall around noon.”

With a huff, Sink rose and introduced her. “Lieutenant, this is (y/n) (y/l/n), our Athena participant.”

The redhead smiled politely. “Dick Winters. Nice to have you with us, (y/l/n).”

“Hi,” she nodded, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you, Lieutenant. Call me (y/n).”

Sink led them out of the office and into the main room of the building. “Lieutenant Winters here is going to show you around camp before supper.”

From there, the pair walked around the camp, and Dick informed her of their daily training routine, as well as the expectations of Easy company. Toward the end of their tour, he asked about her family back home and was surprised that she dodged the subject before having to answer. Sensing her discomfort, he made a mental note to not bring it up anymore. 

Before they knew it, it was 18:00, and supper was being served at the mess hall. Dick led her to the large building and ushered them inside. When (y/n) walked into the room, the stench of sweat and body odor mixed with food hit her like a bus. Bile rose in her throat, and it was all she could do to keep from throwing up. 

‘Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up,’ her mind repeated, eyes sinking to the floor.

Dick chuckled beside her. “You get used to the smell,” he quipped. “Let me introduce you to some of the men.”

Before he could take her to them, a shorter brunette man with a boyish look walked up to them, a sly grin on his face. “Lieutenant Winters, sir,” he saluted. “George Luz, ma’am. We’re all glad to have you.”

Two faces popped out from behind his shoulder with smiles of their own. Without missing a beat, George rolled his eyes and pointed at them. “These two idiots are Skip Muck and Alex Penkala.”

Skip smacked him on the back of the head with an aggravated look on his face. “You’re the one that had to be the first to meet her, George, so really, we’re not the idiots here.”

She squinted her eyes as giggles burst from her lips when Luz’s face turned beet red at the comment. She knew immediately that she liked the trio.

“Nice to meet you, too, boys. You can call me (y/n).”

Penkala’s eyes widened and glanced at the two in faux horror. “She called us boys.”

“We are boys.”

“We’re boys,” George mocked. “No, Skip, were men.” 

“How old are you three anyways?” She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Alex was 18, Skip was 20, and George was 21. After hearing about their ages, she realized that they were just boys. They still had most of their lives to live, much like millions of other soldiers in their position. Much like her.

Dick left (y/n) with the trio and went to attend to his other duties. Once they took a seat, the boys started rambling on about everything from their terrible CO to the best types of slop they were given at mealtimes. (Y/n)’s eyes wandered around the room for a moment before another pair caught hers. When their eyes met across the crowded mess hall, everything around them seemed to vanish as time slowed to a standstill.

The soft, warm gaze in his eyes felt like a long-lost memory, a memory that had been tucked away in the depths of her heart, waiting for the perfect moment to resurface. (Y/n)’s heart fluttered as she felt an undeniable pull toward him, and she couldn’t help but be captivated by the genuine curiosity and surprise that emanated from his gaze. The man was, without a doubt, the most attractive man she’d ever laid eyes on, and her heart skipped a beat at the realization.

His eyes seemed to whisper, “Have we met?” And (y/n) found herself asking the same question.

She held the stranger’s gaze for a few seconds before he slowly got up and started making his way to her. As he approached her, she noticed him anxiously tousling his well-groomed dark chestnut hair with his hand. (Y/n) was suddenly self-conscious and did the same, taming her hair ruined by the southern humidity. Her heart was racing in her chest, almost anticipating the life-changing moment that was about to happen. 

Making it to her table, Lewis grinned and sat beside her, his smile making her blush slightly. “It seems George likes you almost as much as he likes Rita Hayworth,” he said.

The soldier scoffed, ”No offense, (y/n), but Rita is the love of my life. She may not know who I am, but I plan to change that someday. It’s going to happen. Just wait and see, right Penk?”

Alex raised his eyebrows and nodded reluctantly, “Absolutely, buddy. You’ll show her what she’s been missing.”

(Y/n) pressed her lips tightly together, stifling the sound of her impending laughter. She scrunched her nose slightly as if trying to hold back a giggle. Her efforts, though valiant, were ultimately futile as a few muted snickers managed to slip through her defenses.

She soon gave up, and her laughter filled the air. He couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the sight before him. (Y/n)'s face lit up with joy, and her eyes sparkled with delight. The sound of her laughter was infectious, and he found himself chuckling along, almost entranced by how she expressed her happiness so freely.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, (y/l/n),” George said, getting up from the table. “See you all at breakfast.”

Skip and Alex bid their goodbyes as well, following him out of the mess hall. Realizing it was just her and the handsome soldier beside her, (y/n) turned to him with a smile.

Nix stuck out his hand. “Lewis Nixon. As an intelligence officer, it’s my job to know things, so I can’t believe I don’t know your name.”

(Y/n) couldn’t help but notice a subtle nervousness in his eyes matched with a hint of mischief. “Pleasure to meet you, Lewis. I’m (y/n) (y/l/n), Easy’s Athena.”

“Call me Lew,” he charmed, still shaking her hand softly. “We’re happy to have you, (y/n).”

When the realization dawned upon them that they were still holding hands, shy smiles spread across their faces. Lewis cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Have you met Captain Sobel yet?" He asked, grimacing.

"I don't think so. Is he over Easy Company?"

"Yeah. He's also the biggest jacka-"

"There's no way he's that bad," she interrupted, eyes widening.

Lewis chuckled under his breath. "Trust me. Every Friday night, he makes Easy march twelve miles in full gear, just out of spite."

"Do any other companies march?"

“Nope. Just Easy. And after marching last night, he made Dick make up six infractions and punish the men for it. He ended up giving latrine duty to the men who were on this week’s rotation.”

(Y/n) rubbed a hand down her face, groaning. “Lieutenant Winters didn’t say anything about Sobel when he was showing me around.”

“Well, Dick is pretty straight-laced,” Lewis said shrugging with a smirk. “Not everyone can be a cool, calm, and collected intelligence officer.”

"Someone's ego is a little over-inflated," she laughed, raising her eyebrows at him.

“So, how’re you liki-,” he started to ask but was interrupted by someone calling his name. Following the voice, he looked behind him to see Dick near the doors, motioning him over.

“Well,” Nix sighed, looking back at (y/n) with a sheepish smile. “Duty calls.”

As he got up, she called after him. “See you later, Nix.”

She didn’t miss the lack of a ring on his hand, and for the rest of the night, she replayed the enchanting encounter in her mind. How could a stranger seem so familiar? 

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