In the End

It was all over.

Edward Heffron shook his head at the thought, that this was the end and he didn't have to shoot anymore Germans, sleep in foxholes, or eat sorry excuses for nutritious meals for that matter. Normality was going to be coming back into his once quiet life and, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Heffron felt safe, relieved, and happy.

The happiness was being fuelled by the second with thanks to the discovery of the hidden wine cellar earlier in the day. They had reached the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's hilltop paradise, and with the announcement of victory the entire company were enjoying a, for some, long-forgotten hobby – boozing.

Another bottle was being passed around, while the men of Easy Company resumed their sing along. Heffron took a sip from the wine bottle, his vision already slightly blurred from his intake so far. He hadn't had that much to drink, but that said he hadn't really been drinking anything but water for the last few months. His alcohol tolerance was at an all-time low, and he was fast approaching intoxication. As another blast of "Gory, Gory, what a helluva way to die!" rose up out of the now rowdy company, Heffron took a long look around at the men he had once thought of as strangers but were now, each and every last one of them, closer than family.

Looking from one tired soldier to the next, Heffron noticed that somebody was missing. Doc Roe. Heffron pointed this out to Liebgott, who shook his head and said, "That guy can't take a break for one second, he's probably counting bandages for the ride home!" Heffron cocked his head at the other man, finding it hard to make sense of whatever it was he was saying and – damn! This wine was starting to get to him.

Deciding to take a walk, both to clear his head a little to sober up and to find Gene, Heffron pulled himself to his feet and stumbled out of the Company's circle and headed down the steps of the Austrian building and out onto the street. He grabbed a bottle of wine en route, just in case they were all somehow gone by the time he returned. Night was beginning to creep in, and celebrations seemed to be happening all across the village while the sun was setting. Heffron headed straight for the Medic station that had been set up upon arrival, knowing that the young medic he was in search of would be there.

Surely enough, there was the lad from Louisiana lying asleep in a hammock with his legs hanging over the side. Heffron frowned, not fully understanding the situation. He took a gulp from the wine bottle before approaching the sleeping medic and prodding him twice in the arm, waking him. Roe's eyes fluttered open, and he blinked a number of times to focus on who had interrupted his sleep. Heffron's frowning face looked down on him. "You," Heffron said, "should be drunk by now."

Roe's lips twitched into a smirk. "I thought I'd catch up on my sleep." He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "It's been a long campaign." Roe noted how Heffron seemed to be swaying slightly in his place, and correctly assumed that had something to do with the bottle of red wine clutched in his hand. "Enjoying the celebrations?"

"I was, but then you were missing so..." Heffron trailed off. He held out the bottle of wine to Gene, but he declined. "Oh come on, you deserve it more than most of us!"

Roe chuckled and sat up in the hammock. "How drunk are you exactly, Babe?" The question, although a joke, seemed to cause Heffron some offence, as he clenched his jaw before grabbing Roe and picking him up, taking the medic right out of the hammock and shaking him by the shoulders before letting his feet touch the floor. "What the hell, Heffron –"

"You don't get it!" Babe said, looking Roe in the eyes and staring, just staring. "You never get it."

A puzzled Roe watched as a drunken Heffron turned on his heels and strode out of the Medic station, tossing the bottle of wine to the side with a smash as he left. Roe stood, bewildered, and wondered just what it was that he never 'got'.

*

It was nearly two hours later before Roe found Heffron. He had asked around, though no one had seen him since he had left earlier to find him. Gene at last found him lying on the jetty where Major Winters spent much of his time lately, staring up at the stars above him with his hands behind his head. Roe stood back and watched the other man for a few moments before approaching him, the night silence making his footsteps sound heavy on the wooden planks.

Roe sat down beside Heffron, not saying a thing. He gazed out to the lake ahead of him, taking in the beauty of the Austrian countryside that contrasted so severely with everything they had seen the past few years. Heffron's eyes remained focused on the stars, glittering above them and seeming to look down on foolish mankind that had created so much death and destruction for itself. Roe glanced at the man beside him, noting that he had no jacket on, only a t-shirt to cover his upper body.

"You cold?" Roe asked quietly, and Heffron shook his head. Roe sighed and decided to cut to the chase. "It's okay, you know."

Heffron turned finally, looking at Roe for the first time since he had arrived beside him on the jetty. He didn't say anything though, just looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"It's okay," Roe said again. "I get it."

Heffron frowned. "No you don't."

"I do. And don't you go thinking that this is the end for us, 'cause it ain't." Roe said, running his healer's hands through Babe's amber hair.

Babe smiled, relieved. "Good." He leaned in closer to the medic, resting his head on the other man's shoulder. "Cause I wasn't planning on not seeing you just 'cause the Krauts called it quits."

Roe bowed his head and kissed Babe's forehead. They rested for a while in silence, enjoying the break away from it all, until at last Roe cleared his throat. "Come on then, Heffron. I think I want to join Easy Company in sampling Göring's finest wines."

Pulling each other to their feet, the war heroes made their way slowly back to the celebrations, content in knowing that the end of the war did not mean the end of them.