First off I want to apologize for the fact that I actually had the location wrong for the last chapter. It didn't take place in Aldbourne but rather Upottery. That was a great way for me to start off on fanfic…not! Anyways, here is my second chapter…read and review. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Band of Brothers but I do own Evie and her story.
Chapter Two
As Easy Company was fighting on the front lines in France Evie was back at Battalion HQ with Colonel Sink going through all of the reports that were coming in. Anytime that Sink went to the front lines Evie would always ask him to take her with him so that she could see the men she loved so much but he never once allowed her to accompany him. He always told her that things were too dangerous out there for her since the Germans were putting up a tough fight to try and keep France under their control.
It was getting exhausting for her to have to look at the names of the men she knew come across her desk. Every time a report was delivered to her desk with the name of one of Easy's men on it her heart broke just a little bit more. She would crawl into bed every night and before she fell into an emotionally exhausted slumber she would send up a prayer that the three men she held most dear were safe along with the rest of Easy Company.
Not even a week after the D-Day invasion Evie was sitting at her desk when another aide asked to be allowed to speak with Colonel Sink. She let the man into Sink's office before returning to her duties but only a few moments after the man had entered both he and Sink came out of the office.
"Lieutenant, can I have a word with you in my office?" Sink asked as he held a file in his hands.
"Certainly, sir," Evie replied as she got to her feet and followed him in.
"Close the door behind you."
Once the door was closed Evie turned her attention to Sink as he set the file on his desk and with a sigh he turned his attention back to her.
"Evie, I've got some bad news that I have to share with you. The private who just came in here brought it to my attention first knowing that you should actually hear it from someone rather than reading it from a report."
"What is it, sir?" she asked as her heart began to race and she came closer to him.
"The Airborne has come to the conclusion that one of the planes shot down on D-Day was Lt. Meehan's."
"But how can they assume that, sir? There are plenty of other men that are unaccounted for so how can they already make the assumption that his plane went down? So many men are still trying to get back to their companies that they just can't make these sorts of assumptions yet," she tried to rationalize as her brain seemed to go into shock.
"I'm sorry, Evie, but no one that was on his plane has shown up anywhere. It is safe to conclude that since no one has shown up that they were one of the planes that were shot down."
"But that would mean that he's…"
Sink nodded his head sadly. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Evie, but Lt. Meehan is gone."
"Oh god," she croaked out as she broke down.
He crossed the office and wrapped her up in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, Evie," he whispered into her hair as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.
They stood there in the middle of his office with his arms wrapped tightly around her for several minutes before he urged her to sit down in one of the two chairs he had in his office. He handed her his handkerchief before going to his desk and pouring her a of brandy that he kept around. Pressing the cup into her hands he urged her to drink all of it before he pulled up his other chair in front of her.
"I want you to take the rest of the day off and tomorrow as well," he told her.
"But, sir…"
"Now don't argue with me. I want you to take some time to yourself and that is an order. If I truly need you I can always send someone to bring you back in but I think right now you need some time to sort things out and give yourself a chance to mourn. I don't want to see you in this office the rest of today or tomorrow. Do you hear me?"
She nodded her head meekly.
"Good. Now, I'm going to have Sgt. Farnsworth take you back to your room so you can get some rest."
"I don't need an escort back to my own room, Colonel."
"Well, it would make me feel better to know that someone saw you safely to your room so do it for me."
With a reluctant sigh she nodded her head and followed his orders.
Near the end of June Easy Company was sent back to England to rest up after all of the hard work that they had done during the Normandy invasion. Evie had the day off and was just relaxing at the boarding house where she was staying and was taking the time to read a book in the parlor to keep her mind busy. She was seated on the window seat with her legs curled up under her when a soldier was shown into the parlor by her landlady.
"Good lord…aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Lewis Nixon said as a greeting to her.
Evie's head snapped up at the sound of his voice and when she saw him standing in the doorway to the parlor wearing his dress greens and all cleaned up she smiled brightly. She quickly set her book aside and running across the room she threw herself into his comforting arms.
"I'm so happy to see you safe and sound," she cried into his shoulder. "I don't know what I would have done had I lost you, too."
"Ah, pet, you know I wouldn't let anything happen to me. I knew that you needed me too much," he lightly joked as he tightened his arms about her.
She laughed softly as she pulled away and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. She looked up at him and gave him a watery smile. "It is so good to see you."
He brushed her hair back from her face. "It's good to see you, too. How are you holding up?"
She took him by the hand and pulled him over to a nearby couch where they both sat down. "The pain is still pretty raw but I'm throwing myself into my work and it's helping me to sort things out and move on."
He gently grabbed her by the chin and held her face up for his inspection. It was easy for anyone to see the deep blue circles that were underneath her eyes and even her bright blue eyes were duller than he always remembered them to be.
"Just remember that you need to take care of yourself," he told her in a stern but concerned tone. "If you don't take care of yourself than you're no good to any of us."
She nodded her head as she wiped another tear from her cheek. As another sob escaped her lips she scooted up close to him and wrapping her arms about his waist she buried her head against his chest. His arms instantly went about her and he held her shaking form as she let out all of the tears that she had been holding in check since Sink had told her about Meehan's death. It wasn't very long before they both fell asleep wrapped up in one another's arms and they didn't wake up until over two hours later.
Evie sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. When she opened them she found Nix looking at her with deep concern and a worried frown. She gave him a small smile.
"Don't worry about the fact that I just completely bawled my eyes out," she told him. "I just haven't allowed myself to cry since the day I first found out about Tom. I guess I was waiting for you to be there to comfort me. Just having you hold me as I cried like that has actually taken a load off my heart. I needed someone who loved me unconditionally to be there for me while I really accepted his death and you did that for me. Thank you."
He caressed her cheek. "There's no need for you to thank me. I'm just watching out for a girl that I love and a girl who is like a sister to me."
Her smile grew a little bit before she glanced up at the grandfather clock that stood near the door and she gasped. "It's well after two o'clock don't you have anywhere to be?"
He cursed and quickly jumped to his feet. "I'm supposed to be up at HQ in fifteen minutes meeting with Major Strayer and Colonel Sink."
"You'd better hurry then."
"I'll be sure to stop by again before I have to leave," he assured her as he kissed the top of her head. "See you later."
"Bye."
Evie was standing in the parlor speaking with Nix and Dick when her landlady showed yet another Easy Company man into the room. Her back was to the door but when she turned around she smiled brightly at the man.
"Hi Don. Did you also come to say good bye to me before you head back off to Europe?" she greeted Sgt. Donald Malarkey as she stepped toward him.
"Hello Evie," he greeted reluctantly. "I actually came by because I thought you might like this," he told her as he held out the package he had in his arms.
"What is it?" she asked as she came to him to take it.
"I stopped by to pick up my own laundry and Ms. Lamb asked me about the laundry she'd been holding for a few other men. This is Lt. Meehan's laundry. I wasn't sure what else to do with it when she asked me to take but I thought that since you and he were going to be getting married that you might want it."
Evie bit her lip as she took the package from him and held it against her chest. "Thank you, Don. I didn't even know that he had left any laundry with her or else I would have gone and picked it up myself. How much do I owe you for it?"
He shook his head as he began to twist his garrison cap in his hands. "You don't owe me anything."
She smiled softly at him. "Thank you, Don." Stepping in closer to him she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Take care of yourself over there. I don't want to be getting any sort of reports about you…and stay away from Army owned motorbikes unless given permission to use them."
He grinned at her and after saluting Nix and Dick he took his leave after saying his own good bye to Evie.
She turned back to the other two men running a hand longingly along the brown paper package she held in her arms.
Nix came to stand beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
She nodded her head as she brushed a single tear from her cheek. "Just fine." She set the package down on the couch and looked up at them. "I want both of you to be watching out for one another over there. If I get a report that either one of you has been hurt or…killed I will come and find you and there'll be hell to pay."
With a laugh Nix pulled her into a tight embrace. "You don't have to worry about a thing, Evie. Besides, we've got you back at HQ watching over our hides so nothing bad can happen to us."
"I may be watching out for you at HQ but I am not out there on the frontlines watching your back with a weapon of my own so be careful."
"Well, we certainly would win the war if they let you out there on the frontlines with us," Dick joked as he stepped forward to exchange his own brief embrace with her.
"Okay, now…enough crying and whining. It is time for the two of you to get back to your own rooms to pack up your stuff so that you're ready to leave with the rest of the company," Evie told them as she began to guide them toward the door. "Plus, I have to get back to HQ because Sink has a lot of paperwork for me to be taking care of since we're all moving out to France."
"So you'll be heading to France with us this time?" Nix asked as they headed toward the door.
She nodded. "I won't be a part of the main assault like the two of you and Easy but I will be coming in behind you once they've found an appropriate spot for us to set up Battalion HQ. Sink is going to be keeping me by his side at all times unless he goes to the frontlines and doesn't want me that close to danger."
"Good. Good bye, Evie," Nix said as he kissed the top of her head.
"Bye, Evie," Dick said as he hugged her again.
"Good bye, boys. Hopefully it isn't too long before we see each other again," she said as she smiled and waved them off.
War was an exhausting experience. Not only was she emotionally exhausted every night when she climbed into her bed but every time that she had to say good bye to someone she loved it took a toll on her. She cared about too many men that belonged to Easy Company and although she knew that they would do anything for each other she wanted her chance to be by their sides watching out for them. Instead she was back sitting behind a desk pushing papers and reading the reports that came in about their movements and who was wounded or who was killed. She prayed to God that their next mission was successful so that the war could be over more quickly than it seemed to be going.
This is actually my second version of this chapter. In the first one I had Evie actually in France on D-Day just before the assault on Brecourt Manor talking with the men of Easy but I didn't think it was believable that she would be that close to the front lines especially during an invasion like D-Day. Plus, after re-watching the third episode, Carentan, and seeing that they actually went back to England toward the end of June I thought it would be good to have her interact with them then. And I liked the idea of having Malarkey bring Meehan's laundry to her since he got it at the end of the episode. Well, I hope you liked it and please review to let me know how I'm doing.
~a modern girl with an old soul
