Stand By Me

-Haguenau, January 1945-

It wasn't home but it was better than the foxholes in Bastogne with the trees exploding around her. Better yet, the beds in the crumbling houses along with the showers was blissful. The sound of the air raids was background noise, it had become normal to her as she lounges around with the guys watching the game of cards.

She listened to the mumblings of Liebgott, Perconte, Martin, and Babe with their poker game while George stood in the corner behind the counter sorting out supplies with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Gabbybriefly eyed the packs of cigarettes and the chocolate bars in the boxes, tempted to beg for one or the other. She pulled out her lucky strikes, hesitating at only seeing one cigarettes left before lighting it up.

It was Malarkey that worried her, he sat in the corner with the back of his head against the wall looking at the ceiling. After the loss of Muck, the Sergeant hadn't been himself and he'd somewhat withdrawn from the rest of the company. Gabbyknew he needed healing time, like she'd done with Bill though she had the chance to say her goodbyes and promises of seeing the man back in America, Malarkey never received that. She tried talking to him or she had simply stayed by his side to let him know he wasn't alone, that's the best she could do really. It wasn't only Malarkey feeling heavy, every one of them was worn out by the war.

Not far from Malarkey sat a quieter man, he'd always been the type to sit back and add his opinion every once in a while but it was different this time, nothing was the same as it used to be. Webster had come back to the company, she had seen the guys give him the cold shoulder. He'd missed the whole scenario in Bastogne, the fresh uniform pointed out that fact but he was one of the currahee men, unlike some that had grown within Easy.

Her eyes shifted to Babe, her thoughts going to the first wave of replacements back in England. It had been Bill that took the replacement under his wing and brought him into the close knitted group of Easy. It was also the night that she first met Babe, another Philly welcomed into the group. Bill became the base of their relationship, whenever situations went pear-shaped he could somehow mold it back, whether it was joking or giving advice. She tried not to ponder on the fact that she hadn't heard any news about Bill or Toye since Bastogne.

At the sobering thoughts of her friend, she moved from the couch against the wall and dragged a chair between Babe and Liebgott, putting her head against Babe's shoulder. She glanced at his cards and figured that he had a fifty-fifty percent chance of winning. "I'm bored." She said in a disinterested tone. It was good to be off the line, though it was quiet compared to her usual months as a paratrooper.

"I wouldn't have figured that." Liebgott answered with a sarcastic tone.

She finally blurted out what was really on her mind. "Heard there might be a patrol." Martin briefly looked at her but didn't comment, she knew the guys didn't like the sound of a small group trailing over enemy lines to get something that may or may not be there. "Any idea who's going to be in the group?"

"Just stop with the talking." Liebgott reacted.

She flashed Liebgott a smile, not worried about his attitude. Some took his hostile personality offensive, she had come to realise it was simply Joe Liebgott. "Sure thing Joe."

"I'm almost finished." Babe directed at her, seeing that she was getting restless and affectionately patted her on the knee.

"Not likely." Martin joked, easing the tension.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Liebgott teased, smirking at his cards.

"Boys." She muttered under her breath and got up from the table, heading to George and his boxes. "Hey Luz, think you could spare me one?" She gave him a grin to which he simply threw a chocolate bar in her direction.

"Hey! Why does she get one and I don't?" Perconte shouted from the game.

"Cause she's prettier than you." George jested.

Perconte put his hand on his chest dramatically. "Oh, that hurts."

She reached forward to the boxes of smokes but her hand was slapped before she could take one. "Did you just slap me?" She asked, taken aback by the action.

"Don't touch the lucky strikes." George said seriously but the small grin on his lips gave away his humor.

"But Georgie I've run out." She leaned against the counter, her hand creeping back to the boxes of smokes.

"No." He slapped it once again. "I thought chocolate was the way to a woman's heart, not cigarettes." George shook his head in disappointment.

"Gabby." Babe caught her attention and she glanced over to the poker table to catch a flying pack of cigarettes thrown at her.

She flipped it open and couldn't help the smile at seeing the half-full packet of smokes, Babe always could pace himself better than her. "I love you, Babe." She said dramatically.

"More than you'll admit." George muttered beside her which she chose to ignore.

She pulled a cigarette out and lit it up, letting the nicotine spread through her as she took the spare stool beside George. It gave her a brief moment to forget about the whats, whos, and wheres. She turned her eyes away from George and focused on the poker game, eyes set on Babe as he concentrated on the cards in his hands.

If it wasn't for the Easy boys, she wasn't sure if she'd have made it this far into the war. On the other hand, it was the red-haired man playing cards that kept her mentally sane with the chaos of blood and bullets. Especially after Bill was shipped to England hospital, it wasn't the first time he'd been sent off the line because of an injury but he always came back. Bill's disappearance had shaken both of them, he was a large part of their lives as he had guided both of them into Easy Company. It wasn't until Bill's absent that she realised how much she relied on him and she became anxious that Babe would follow in Bill's footsteps and leave her in the war.

"Hell yeah!" Perconte yelled from across the room, he was collecting his winnings.

Liebgott got up to stretch his legs and spoke to Perconte. "Next time." Martin patted Perconte on the back before leaving the room.

Taking a large drag on her cigarette, she watched Babe get up from the table and head upstairs. Twirling his packet of cigarettes in her hands, she hesitated about going up before George tapped the leg chair of her stool and nodded his head towards the stairs. She merely took another drag of the cigarette before casually making her way upstairs.

She found Babe lying on his back on one of the bunk beds. She stopped at the doorway to take in the smoothed lines of his face as he laid with his eyes closed. It was rare to see him in such a state and she soaked it up. "Are you just going to stare?" Babe questioned, peeking to see the woman in her greens at the doorway.

"Can I?" She teased, taking a step into the room and laying down next to him on her stomach. She handed back the packet of smokes with a smile. "Thanks, I really needed a smoke."

"I could tell." Babe said, thinking Liebgott would have blown up if the woman had kept talking throughout their game.

She tried to keep the smug smile off her lips as she laid her head down on the pillow next to Babe. She could see the freckles sprinkled across his nose and the thickness of his eyelashes from her position. She had the sudden urge to reach forward to trace the fine lines on his face but stopped herself by pulling out the chocolate bar that George had given her. She broke a few pieces off the chocolate, passing a portion to Babe without speaking and simply enjoying the moment.

With the recently busy Company, they had hardly gotten any time to simply talk or appreciate one another's company. She didn't know if Babe knew just how much she valued his presence. "Glad I'm here with you." She said quietly, feeling slightly exposed.

"Likewise." He whispered, moving onto his side to see the woman resting beside him. He slowly reached forward and moved the strand of hair from her face to behind her ear, earning a small smile from her. Babe licked his lips, preparing himself for the next conversation. "Once we get back to America, would you stay with me?"

His words set her heart on fire with happiness with a hint of panic. They had never spoken about what would happen later. Gabbyknew they had crossed the thin line of friends but they had kept themselves professional, they were both aware of the consequences. "What about the Pacific?" There was talk about them having to go fight the Japanese and she'd heard they were brutal over there.

"We'll handle whatever gets thrown at us." Babe said calmly, the thought had crossed his mind.

She focused her eyes on the buttons of his jacket, trying to think of a response. She could handle Germans but men, romantically was a new area. It wasn't that she didn't love him, it was the fact that they were in a war and it scared her to let herself be so vulnerable in such harsh times. "I really like the sound of that." She said honestly, trying to imagine a house to call home with her Babe.

Authors Note: I don't mean any disrespect to the soldiers who fought the war, simply writing a fan fiction because I enjoyed the TV show so much. And I'm working on a list of the characters and writing one-shots for them if anyone is interested in reading more.

Revised: 22/04/18