Many thanks to beth-rodrigues.77 and link55-06 for your kind reviews, you really made my day and helped me write this story more quickly.
This chapter is a bit shorter than the last one. However, there will most certainly be four chapters instead of the planned three.
Hope you enjoy!
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The sun just set when the five officers reached the Berchtesgadener Hof. Already from outside the noble hotel they could hear music, singing and laughter.
Nix took the lead while going inside, followed by Speirs, who was again able to walk under his own power, then Harry and Lipton, who each carried a crate filled with the best Göring had to offer. Last came Dick, and Nix was a bit worried about him bolting at the first occasion, but at the moment he was still with them.
Inside, they were greeted by a partying Easy company, well in their cups and halfway there to ruin the luxurious hall of the once famous Nazi hotel. Nix was surprised to see women dancing with the men and wondered about who had smuggled them in here.
"Hey, our favourite officers!", Luz came weaving through the crowd, having trouble to keep the cigarette in place in one corner of his mouth while smiling so broadly. "We already missed you!"
The Sergeant whooped loudly when he saw the new stash of alcohol Harry and Lipton had brought with them and clapped them on their backs. This raised the attention of several of the men, and they were joined by Malarkey, Perconte and some of the other Toccoa men.
"Look what they brought!", Luz shouted over the noise and showed them the assemblage of whiskey, rum, champagne and schnapps.
"Göring would like to show his appreciation for the wonderful job you've done", Nix replied lazily, while their booze was distributed among the men. "Would be nice of you guys to send him a thank-you card."
Their laughter roared through the hall, while they clinked bottles and wished each other a happy V-E Day. Suddenly, the noise died down and the men stood up a little straighter. Nix looked to his side and saw that Dick had joined them.
"Sir", Luz, Perconte and Malarkey mumbled all at the same time, looking for all the world like school boys caught in a prank.
"No need for formalities today", Dick responded rather uneasily, looking very serious and actually quite sober, when Nix thought back to the unusual amount of alcohol he had already had. Leave it to Dick to look sober even when intoxicated. "This is your day, enjoy it."
"Thank you, sir", Perconte replied, receiving an elbow from Luz into his rips. This could not disguise the fact that the mood had dropped a few degrees. An awkward silence followed, while the men shuffled their feet.
"This was a mistake", Dick told Nix in a low voice, while the men most probably looked for the quickest possible exit from this situation. "I'm spoiling their party, I should be leaving."
Just as his friend was about to turn around, Nix caught him on the shoulder.
"Oh no, you don't go just yet. They're just uncomfortable because you're all somber and grim again. Here", he handed Dick a bottle of rum, "try and wish them a happy V-E Day again."
"Rum?", Dick asked frowningly, after reading the bottle label. "Do I look like a pirate?"
"Just drink it, it doesn't make such a big difference to you, since you won't like it anyway", Nix replied, rolling his eyes. Rum was a bit gentler on the tongue, so he hoped Dick would not make such a fuss as with the whiskey. And he definitely needed something stronger than just champagne.
He heard his friend sigh deeply, twice, then Dick stepped into the circle of the Toccoa men.
"Alright, boys, let's try again", his friend said with raised voice and raised bottle. "Happy V-E Day and enjoy the party!"
The silence that followed was even denser, because everyone was looking at their Major as if dumbstruck, then suddenly they cheered loudly and clinked bottles with Dick. Nix smiled a very content smile and shouted his approval when Dick actually took a deep swig from the bottle, almost spitting it out again, receiving some friendly pats on the back from all sides. His plan was so far working fabulously.
"What I would give to have Old Bill Guarnere here and see this", Malarkey said to Perconte, half grinning and half looking wistful. "He's never gonna believe me!"
Even more men were streaming into their circle, probably being drawn to them by the racket of the cheering crowd. Nix saw Liebgott, Webster and Roe joining them, staring at the bottle in Dick's hand, then forcing his friend to drink to their health as well. Next came Shifty and Babe, then Bull and Martin. With each drink, Dick's bottle wavered a bit more in his hands. Finally, Nix saw his friend trying to escape the never-ending stream of gregarious Easy men and tracking down Luz, who was catcalling after Perconte because the small soldier had used the commotion to persuade one of the women to dance with him.
"Sergeant!", Dick called out to him, waving an unsteady hand . "I'm sure you've got something to do with all the women here."
Nix, not wanting to miss out on that conversation, had followed him and winced at the somewhat sloppy word choice of his normally quite eloquent friend. Of course Dick was right on track when he suspected Luz being responsible for the female company, but the double meaning was not lost on the Sergeant.
"Well, boss, glad you think so highly of me and my skills", Luz answered cheekily, the grin almost splitting his face.
"No, not that", Dick tried to explain, frowning and fumbling for words. "I mean, where did you find them? Or more importantly, do we have to fear restit... restricit... restrictive measures from above because of their... poi... political convictions?"
Luz just stared at Dick open-mouthed and Nix was not so sure if it was because of his friend's sudden stammer or because he really did not understand what Dick meant. Oh man, that last mouthful of rum had really messed with Dick's speaking abilities.
"He's asking if you're partying with Nazi chicks", Nix provided helpfully, deciding to take pity on Dick and the awkward conversation.
"Oh, that's what you mean!", Luz replied, while lighting another cigarette. "No, don't worry. We found them pilfering one of the houses down the street. They're just country women and actually look more than happy that the Nazis are gone. I can introduce you to one of the ladies, if you want to, sir."
Luz was looking expectantly at Dick, eyebrows raised.
"No, I... I'm good... thank you", Dick stuttered and Nix had to hide another grin behind his bottle of whiskey. This evening promised to become even more very interesting.
"Just say the word, boss, and I'll have you dancing with one of the Fräuleins in the blink of an eye", Luz offered graciously. "They sure wouldn't mind dancing with such a dashing American officer like yourself."
"That's very kind of you, George", Dick answered uncertainly. "Maybe later."
While Luz went his own way, probably waiting for his own turn with the Fräuleins, Dick turned to Nix.
"Don't you dare commenting on this", his friend warned darkly before Nix even had the chance to open his mouth.
"I wasn't going to", Nix answered innocently. "Just marvelling at this great bunch of people we had the luck of serving with. It's really heart warming how they look out for each other..."
"Just shut up, Lew", Dick replied, wiping the sweat from his brow with a corner of his sleeve. "God, it's warm in here."
Nix almost – but only almost – felt sorry for his friend. Dick swayed gently on his feet, his eyes slightly unfocused and the color of his face slowly but surly matching the color of his hair.
"Look, Harry has managed to take over a table for us", Nix said, steering Dick through the heavy crowd to the other end of the hall. "Capturing that artillery battery in Normandy sure looks like a walk in the park compared to this feat."
It was true, the hall was bursting with people, not only from Easy, but from other companies as well. The few tables had been pushed to the edges of the hall, making room for the crowd in the middle. A band, half German, half American, was playing jazz songs with all of the room swinging to the rhythm. The swastika flags had long been taken down, now being used as a kind of red carpet that led up to a big box, that was used from time to time as a pedestal to bring out toasts. The air was stuffy and cloudy from the smoke of so many Lucky Strike butts.
"Have you tasted the local beer yet?", the two friends were greeted by Harry when they sat down at the table. "It's great!"
Between Harry and Speirs was a small barrel of beer, from which they refilled their cristal glasses, former property of the hotel.
"No, thanks, I've got everything I need", Nix answered, holding up his bottle of whiskey. He liked a beer every now and then, but there was nothing compared to the good old scotch. Vat 69 came to his mind and made him wistful for a moment. Maybe he should have searched Göring's stash more carefully...
"Dick?", Harry asked.
"Huh?", came the slow, unarticulated question.
"Would. You. Like. Some. Beer?", Harry pointedly asked again.
Dick looked slowly to his half finished bottle of rum and then back to the barrel.
"I don't think I'm allow'd to, I haven't finish'd the rum yet", Dick murmured, sounding a bit lost.
"Mom and Dad won't be mad at you if there's a beer in between", Harry explained tolerantly. He filled a new cristal glass with the dark beer and placed it in front of Dick, who instantly drank from it.
"You've got no idea", Dick slurred, licking the foam from his lips. "My parents would be so mad at me. I shouldn't drink, they say. 'It's not good for you, son, it's the beginning of all evil'."
"Good thing you're an adult, then", Harry replied. "We've just won this war and your parents are half a world away. Don't worry about them. Your parents probably also told you that it's bad to kill people. Still, the world needed someone to kill the bad guys and rescue Europe. We did."
"Yeah, it's not all that bad to kill people. If they're bad", Speirs suddenly spoke up, peering through his dark hair at them with a feral look in his eyes that was only slightly ruined by the droop of his eyelids and the heavy slur.
Nix was not sure that was the right tactic to convince Dick. His friend became all quiet, eyes far away. Probably thinking of all the people he had killed during the war. Nix knew that the killing had not been easy for Dick, although his friend had never actually spoke to him about it. But he remembered the lost look on Dick's face in Holland, after shooting dozens of Germans.
All the more surprising for Nix, when Dick suddenly pulled himself out of his dreary mood and declared with a sloppy smile, "Well, at least we're still alive." Then he downed his beer under the cheers of Harry and Speirs.
That's when Nix knew that his plan had been a full success.
-TBC-