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** BILL POV **
"I will not follow that man into combat," I told Lipton emphatically, and the table full of men agreed with me.
The line in the sand had finally been drawn between Winters and Sobel. The captain had been insecure from the first day, and the ever-widening gap between his ineptitude and Lieutenant Winters' obvious tactical skill and leadership ability had done little to relieve that insecurity. It was why he was constantly badgering Winters, trying to undermine him in front of the company. It was why he constantly put him in difficult and completely unnecessary disciplinary situations with the men. It was why he had changed an order for latrine inspection without informing Winters, purposely setting him up for a reprimand.
Sobel had thought he'd sign his reprimand without complaint and accept his punishment, as it was already his custom to remain on base during the weekends. Instead, the lieutenant gave an endorsement requesting trial by court-martial, and was reassigned to battalion mess while Colonel Strayer tried to figure out what to do next. After almost two years of trying to be the good soldier and deal with the unreasonable abuse, Winters had decided that enough was enough. One of them had to go. We'd be damned if it was going to be Winters.
The NCOs met in private to discuss our options. At last, we came to a consensus. We would resign our positions as non-commissioned officers. All of us. Carwood Lipton, being the intelligent, rational man that he was, paused for a moment to ask us if we were all sure that we knew what we were doing. Despite the quick response, he reminded us that the consequences could be dire. Mutiny of this kind could result in our being lined up against a wall and shot. He glanced around the table and made eye contact with each man.
When he reached me, I reaffirmed, "I will not follow that man into combat."
Bull, seated next to me, added, "Me neither."
Sobel's poor leadership in combat was a death sentence for the whole Easy Company. If there was a chance that we could prevent that, I was willing to risk the wrath of Colonel Sink. With the decision made, we all wrote our letters.
"I hereby no longer wish to serve as a non-commissioned officer in Easy Company."
Lipton carried the letters away to be delivered and I drew a deep drag from my cigarette, knowing that I had done the right thing, but wondering if I would live to see my friends again. It didn't take long for Sink's wrath to be felt. We were summoned to his office, and as we stood at attention before his desk awaiting our fate, it felt like we were carrying the weight of the world.
** CHRISTINA POV **
"They did what?" I shrieked. My blood roared in my ears and the room spun as Luz told me why all of the NCOs had been summoned to Sink's office. "No! All of them? They're gonna get shot! Bill and Tab… and Bull… they're gonna…"
Bull had been unusually quiet and distant this morning before the NCO meeting, and I'd spent the whole day trying to figure out why. We hadn't had a fight. There was no reason I knew of why he should be mad at me. Still, I'd had the nagging feeling that something was very wrong, and I hadn't seen him since he'd rushed out of the barracks with Bill. My insides had been twisted all day at the thought that he was keeping something from me. At last I understood what it was. He'd gone off willingly to sign his death warrant.
I was a blubbering, hyperventilating mess of tears and panic. I'm not sure that George knew quite what to do with me now that he had opened the floodgates. Fortunately, Liebgott came to his rescue, rolling his eyes at George as he walked over and pulled me into a hug, allowing me to sob into his chest.
"Shh, it's okay, BG. Breathe for me, okay? Deep breaths. I don't want you passing out. It's all gonna be okay. You'll see."
I don't know how long he held me, but after a while, I felt him turning my teary-eyed, runny-nosed, hiccupping body into someone else's chest. Wrapping a set of strong arms around me, the new form finally spoke.
"Why is she crying?" Bill. My eyes snapped up to see his face and I touched his cheek to make sure that it was him. He watched me, his eyes full of concern. At last, I threw my arms around his neck. "Joe, what the hell is going on here?"
"George told her about what you guys did."
"Shit, George!" And then to me, "Hey, hey, hey. Chris, look at me. We're okay."
"You could have been shot! All of you! Wait, you're not gonna be shot, are you?"
"Sink was pissed but we're all okay. Salty got transferred. Ranney got busted to private. That's it. No charges. No firing squad. Everyone is okay."
"Where is he?"
A voice came from the doorway as I finished the question.
"Where is who?"
I said nothing, instead launching myself into Bull's arms and burying my face in his neck. He caught me and held me close as I began to cry all over again. Joe briefly explained what had happened, and I didn't have to see it to know that Bull tossed a stern look in George's direction.
"I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know she'd lose it like that?"
Bull didn't answer him, instead walking me over to our mattresses and sitting down, cradling me against his chest until I had once again exhausted my tears. Sensing that I was coming down, he brushed my hair back from my face and looked down at me.
"You okay now, Baby Blue?"
"Don't you ever scare me like that again."
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but we had to do something. And we're all okay. I'm okay. I'm right here."
"You could have at least told me!"
"No, I couldn't."
I sat up a bit and stared at him. We'd had so many discussions about keeping secrets, and now he was saying that he had to keep one from me that could have cost him everything. He looked away, trying to avoid eye contact, but I caught his chin and made him meet my eyes.
"Why not?"
"I wasn't going to risk you getting in trouble for knowing the plan… and I knew that if I told you beforehand, and you'd looked like you did when I walked in here, I wouldn't have been able to go through with it. The idea of you being here without me to protect you already scared me. I'd never have been able to look in your eyes and then walk away from you."
His thumb brushed my cheek and his eyes burned into mine, willing me to understand what he couldn't quite bring himself to say. The knot in my stomach began to loosen.
"No more secrets, Bull. Best friends don't have secrets."
He smiled at me and nodded, "I promise. You wanna go get some chow? I'm starving."
I wasn't quite over it. I had gotten my first taste of the fear of having my friends… and of having Bull… ripped away from me, and we weren't even at war yet. I couldn't make myself release my hold on him.
"Will you have to let go of me?"
My favorite deep, rumbling chuckle came bubbling up from his chest and he maneuvered to stand back up, still holding me in his arms. Once he had succeeded, he kissed my nose and smiled down at me.
"Nope. I can hold you as long as you want me to, Baby Blue."
We got a few strange looks when he carried me into the mess tent. We got a lot when he shifted me to piggyback so that he could carry our food to the table. George started laughing outright when he put the plates down and sat down with me in his lap.
"Looks like you oughta be thanking me for telling her instead of being mad at me, Bull. I mean, damn! She hasn't let go of you since you walked back in."
"No, thanks to you he's probably tired of me hanging on him."
"You're probably right. He's probably only putting up with it because he feels bad that he made you cry," George retorted, reaching to pull me out of Bull's lap. Bull's arm tightened around my waist. He looked at George as though he were a starving dog whose food was being taken away, and George pulled his hands back with a relaxed chuckle. "Okay, okay, killer. Hands off."
Now that the show was over, the men around us slowly fell back into their own conversations as we all finished eating. I looked back at Bull, who was still glancing warily in George's direction.
I leaned against him and spoke quietly, "Hey, I'll move if you want me to. I know you don't want to carry me around all night."
"Do you really want me to let you go?"
His voice was low, sounding almost worried that I might want to move. His eyes pierced my heart, stealing my breath with their earnestness. I breathed out the truth.
"No, I really don't."
His lips brushed my earlobe, causing a shiver as he whispered, "Don't listen to George, Baby Blue. I do feel bad that I made you cry, but even if I hadn't, I'd be totally content to hold you forever."
Cue the butterflies.
