Disclaimer: I don't own Band of Brothers…I do own Evie and her story.
Chapter Seven
Sturzelberg, Germany
March 1945
Going along with her normal routine for the day Evie grabbed a cup of coffee from the fresh pot that had been made by someone in the office and went to her desk just outside of Colonel Sink's office. Once she sat down behind her desk she picked up the pile of new files and reports that had been deposited on her desk and began reading through them to figure out what needed to be done. She was halfway through the pile when she paused on a particular piece of paper that had a familiar name on it. Sink had arrived just moments after she had started working on the pile and so with the piece of paper in hand she got up and knocked on his office door.
"Enter," she heard his deep voice from the other side.
Cautiously she opened the door and stepped into the office shutting the door behind her.
"What can I do for you, Evie?" Colonel Sink asked as he sat back in his chair with his own cup of coffee.
"I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about this form I just found on my desk, sir," Evie started.
"I don't know how I could actually help you seeing as how I think you know all of the protocol better than I do by now but if I can help then of course I will," he answered her with a grin.
She bit her lip. "Well, sir, it is actually about the form approving the demotion of my cousin, Cpt. Lewis Nixon, from Regimental S2 to Battalion S3."
Sink nodded. "I was wondering when you would come across that form. I wish I could do something different but I can't let my personal feelings for a soldier get in the way of making a decision that's best for the whole regiment."
"I understand that, sir, but could you at least inform me of what the reasoning behind the demotion is?"
"Since your Cpt. Nixon's cousin I see no reason not to." He sat up and leaned forward on his desk. "It appeared to all of us back at Regiment HQ that he wasn't dealing well with all of the politics involved with his position and that he handled battalion workings much better. Also, on a more personal note, it looks as though Nixon has developed a bit of a drinking problem, Evie."
Evie let out a disappointed sigh. "I knew that was going to catch up with him."
"Don't give him too hard of a time, Evie. A war like this changes even the best of men. It is all a matter of how people choose to handle the things that are going on around them. Drinking seems to be the way that Cpt. Nixon has chosen to handle it."
She nodded her head. "Thank you for letting me know, sir."
"Certainly, Evie. I hope everything turns around."
"Thank you, sir. I'll leave you alone now."
With the paper still in hand and thoughts racing through her head she returned to her desk and after taking a deep breath she turned her concentration to her work. When she had a few moments to herself before going to sleep then she would figure out what exactly she was going to do with her cousin.
When they arrived at the camp that Easy Company had found Evie had been prepared for the worst but what she saw she had thought was unthinkable. Sink had warned her to be ready for a horrific sight but she felt that no one could prepare themselves for this. She got out of the jeep and started to walk towards the gate shocked by everything that she was witnessing. She found Bull just inside the entrance and she walked up to him and he seemed to be just as stunned by the sight as she was.
"What is this?" she asked quietly as she continued to watch skeletal men come forward.
"It's some sort of camp for Jews," he responded turning to her. "I guess they've been finding these all over the place."
Evie watched as a man stepped towards some of the soldiers crying hysterically. He was carrying the skeletal remains of a man who was quite clearly dead.
"Oh god," Evie gasped.
She turned to Bull and buried her face against his chest. He wrapped an arm about her shoulders and held her tightly to him. His lips rested against her hair as he murmured soothing, comforting words to try and calm her down. Evie tried to hold her tears back but after everything that she had been a witness to lately she just couldn't anymore. The tears traveled silently down her cheeks and her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. They stood like this for several minutes before Evie stood back and dried her tears.
Bull looked down at her in concern. "Are you okay?"
Evie wiped a final tear away before giving him a shaky smile. "I will be but I should be getting back to work before Colonel Sink comes looking for me."
"I'll see you later, yeah?"
"Of course. At least I'm not going anywhere with this war going on."
She left Bull with a slight smile on his face. Returning to where Colonel Sink was standing beside his jeep she found him speaking with a doctor. She stood just behind him and listened to the doctor's advice.
"We need to get them back into the camp. They're extremely malnourished and so their food intake needs to be monitored or they could literally eat themselves to death," the doctor informed Sink.
"You want to lock these people back up?" Evie railed at the man. "They are human beings not animals, doctor."
"I know that, lieutenant, but they need to be monitored and until we can find some place better for them we cannot have them wandering around the country. They wouldn't survive."
Evie looked up at Sink in hopes that he wouldn't follow through with what the man was suggesting. He looked down at her and shook his head.
"It is a crime that we are forced to do this but it is the best solution to keep those people alive," Sink informed her.
She watched slack jawed as Sink and the doctor went to speak with Dick and Nix. Once Dick had his orders she watched as he called Leibgott over and informed him of what he had to tell the prisoners. The pain she saw on Leibgott's face wrenched at her heart. She found Sink walking back towards her so she held her tears in check.
"Evie?" Sink spoke to her.
She focused her attention on him. "Yes, sir?"
"Why don't you ride back into town with the boys and spend some time with them? Maybe you can lift their spirits some," he suggested kindly. "In fact, spend the night in town with them. I will have a jeep sent for you in the morning."
"I think I'd like that, sir. It has been too long since the last time I talked to my cousin."
"Then go and do that. The jeep will pick you up at 0800 in the morning."
"Thank you, sir."
She hurried over to Leibgott's truck and looked up at the replacement sitting above her. "Private, give me a hand up."
The young man gaped down at her but extended an unsteady hand down to her. "Yes, ma'am."
Once on the truck she ignored the still gawking private and sat down beside Leibgott. "You okay, Joe?" she asked laying a gentle hand upon his arm.
Leibgott looked over at her and she saw the tears in his eyes as he tried to hold them back. "I can't believe I just had to tell them that. Why did I have to be the one to tell them that?"
Her eyes softened but she stayed strong and wouldn't cry in front of him. "By keeping them there the doctors can monitor them easily and get them better. You had to tell them because none of us speak German."
"Webster does."
"Yes but you still had compassion when telling them what had to be done. They needed to see that although we are locking them back up we still care about them and their needs." She squeezed his arm. "Don't take it out on yourself. You were just following orders."
"Right. Thanks." With that he leaned away from her and stared at the passing woods but his eyes had a far off look.
Sighing Evie moved to sit next to Malarkey and leave Leibgott to his own thoughts and emotions. "How are you doing, Don?"
"I've been better but now that I've got such a beautiful woman sitting next to me things are looking up," Malarkey said with a grin as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and shot her a meaningful look.
Evie laughed but leaned into his embrace. "Glad I could make your day a little brighter."
"Honey, you always brighten up our day," Luz informed her as he sat on her other side.
She stared him down. "Don't ever call me honey again, George Luz, or you will really wish you hadn't."
Malarkey laughed as Luz swallowed and looked uncomfortable and a little worried. Evie then smiled at Luz and patted his cheek.
"Hey private," Malarkey called to get the attention of the replacement who was still staring at Evie.
"Sir?" the young man responded sitting up.
"Quit staring at the lieutenant here. She's a good friend to us Toccoa men and she happens to be the cousin of our very own Captain Nixon. If she were to take offense it wouldn't be pretty for you."
Evie laughed and shook her head. "Ignore him, private. Although please stop staring. I don't like the attention."
"Sorry, ma'am."
When they got back into town Evie was given a room in the same house as all of the officers. She left her things on the table in the room and went in search of Nix. Running into Harry Welsh she asked him and he told her that he had last seen Nix looking for a bottle of Vat 69. She rolled her eyes and stepped into the bakery for some food.
Once in the bakery Evie was able to use her scrounging abilities that she had learned from Nix and her own charms to get together a decent lunch for two. She packed everything into a basket she found and set off in search of her cousin. After several minutes of wandering the town she finally found him sitting rather dejectedly upon a stone wall. Standing in front of him she pulled a bottle of wine out of the basket and kicked his boot. He looked glumly up at her.
"It's not Vat 69 but it is alcohol," she commented gesturing to the bottle.
He quickly took it out of her hands. "You got a corkscrew?"
"Like I would forget that?" she scoffed. Reaching back into the basket she retrieved a corkscrew and tossed it to him. She sat down beside him and handed him a sandwich that was wrapped in a linen napkin. "Eat something along with it."
He took a swig of the wine and after swallowing shrugged at the taste. Taking the sandwich he took a bite and smiled. "Ham and swiss. You're an amazing scrounger."
She shrugged as she took a bite of her own sandwich. "You're pretty good yourself."
He shook his head. "The best I could have done is a Spam sandwich. This is amazing."
She took a swig of the wine. "I have my feminine charms working for me as well."
"I could make a fortune if I had some of those."
She laughed and shook her head. Then her mood turned serious. "Now, what has you so down that you are on a rampage to find some Vat 69?"
He took another drink. "For one thing, my personal supply of the Vat 69 has dried up. And for another, she's divorcing me and she's taking my dog."
"That's all?"
Nix looked at her in shock with an eyebrow raised. "That's all?"
She looked over and saw his reaction to her comment and automatically began to explain. "Shoot! I didn't mean to say that it isn't horrible that your marriage is ending but," she shrugged, "you always deserved better than her anyway. Take this as an opportunity to start over and find someone better suited for you."
He took another drink from the bottle before responding to her. "Look at me. Do you honestly believe that I could do better than her like this?"
"Quit drinking and I think you could."
He laughed. "In this hellhole for me to actually quit drinking is easier said than done."
She took the bottle of wine from him and poured all of it out onto the ground.
He looked at her appalled. "What did you do that for?"
She smiled at him. "Just helping you start your way down the rode of sobriety. You are going to break your drinking habit and I am going to help you. If you think I won't know when you take a drink just because I'm not around just remember that I am friends with the majority of the men in this company and they would do almost anything for me. Just don't make me tell them that I am trying to help you quit drinking. I am sure that you would rather keep that between just the two of us."
"With that assumption you would be right." He sighed. "So we're really going to try and get me to stop drinking?"
"We are not going to just try. We are going to actually get you to stop drinking," she replied with certainty.
"Well I wish I could toast to that but you took away our only drink."
She smiled and pulled him into a brief hug. "Now, finish up your sandwich. It was hard for me to get everything to make it so you better not waste it but enjoy it."
Later that night Evie finally got the chance to really settle into her room for the night and she sighed when she sat upon the bed and found it to actually be as comfortable as it looked. Although she had to remind herself that any bed was better than the cots that she had been sleeping in recently. She quickly untied the laces on her boots and then slowly pulled them off along with her stockings. When her feet were free she couldn't help but sigh happily as she wiggled her toes around and enjoyed the freedom of movement.
After a few moments she finally got to her feet and walked over to the mirror and unpinned her hair so that the mahogany waves hung down to just above the middle of her back. As she ran her fingers through her hair she realized that she couldn't even remember the last time she had gotten a proper haircut. She had been trimming her own hair whenever she got the chance just to keep it a bit more manageable but it had been ages since she had put herself in the capable hands of an actual stylist.
She was still staring at her reflection when there a soft knock on her door. She hurried over to the door and unlocking it she opened it halfway and her eyes went wide when she saw her late night visitor.
"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.
He just pushed his way gently into her room and locking the door behind them he crushed her body against his as he pressed his lips heatedly against hers.
As soon as Dick's lips were on hers Evie forgot about all of the hurt and anger that she had been feeling since Foy and because he had been shunning her ever since the battle. Instead she chose to just relish in the feel of being with him again. They spread kisses over each other as he backed her up towards the bed. Falling upon the mattress they both laughed a bit between kisses as they started to remove each others clothes.
That night everything that had been going on between them was forgotten. The anger and awkwardness was forgotten because they both needed to feel something. They both needed to feel something other than the pain, anger, and despair that seemed to consume their every waking and sleeping thought because of the sights they had seen and what they had done. They also needed to forget for at least a short time that they were in the middle of a horrible war that sometimes seemed could go on forever. For each other they were able to bring a small amount of normalcy into their lives for at least a few fleeting hours and for the moment that was all that mattered to either one of them.
When Evie woke up the next morning she stretched and a warm smile spread across her face as images of the night before flashed through her mind. She rolled onto her side and her good mood was instantly dashed when she found herself alone in her bed. Clutching the sheet to herself she sat up and gazed about the room and couldn't find anything to prove that Dick had even been there. She had hoped that they could talk things over before she had to leave to meet back up with Sink but apparently he hadn't wanted that.
Anger boiled within her as she got up and quickly got dressed and put her hair up. Glancing at her watch she found that she had enough time to eat something before her jeep got there. She packed her bag and hurried downstairs to the kitchen.
In the kitchen she was greeted by Nix, Harry Welsh, and Speirs so she quickly disguised her anger and smiled at the men. Nix came up and gave her a peck on the cheek as the other two men mumbled a good morning to her.
"Have you properly met Ron, pet?" Nix asked Evie as he passed her a cup of coffee.
She shook her head before taking a sip of the strong brew.
"Well then, pet, I would like to introduce you to Easy's newest CO, Cpt. Ronald Speirs. Ron, I'd like you to meet my dearest cousin and Easy's best gal, Lieutenant Evelyn Westin."
The two shook hands and addressed each other by their rank and Evie smiled.
"Please call me Evie, Captain. Every long standing man in Easy does and you should to," she told the man warmly.
"Then please call me Ron," he responded with an equally warm smile.
Nix wrapped an arm around Evie's shoulders and pulled her close against his side. "Our little Evie can sneak her way into any man's heart and it's one of the best moments of his life to have her in it."
Evie blushed and ducked away from her cousin's arm. She picked up a piece of toast and began to nibble upon it.
"It is hardly like that," Evie mumbled as she took a seat in the only chair left in the room.
Nix and Harry chuckled.
"That's quite a gift, Evie. I hope you only use it for good," Ron remarked with a grin.
She looked up at Ron and as she spoke she turned her gaze upon Nix as a mischievous gleam brightened her eyes. "As long as a person stays on my good side I strive to protect them, not hurt them."
Both Harry and Ron chuckled as Nix gave her a cautious and critical look.
She glanced at her watch again before finishing her coffee and toast. "I hate to cut this short, gentlemen, but my jeep is about to arrive."
"We'll walk you out," Harry offered. "We have to be up at HQ for a meeting anyways."
Harry picked up her bag as the group made their way out of the house to find a jeep parked in front waiting for Evie.
From a short way down the road Dick watched the group leave the house laughing. He envied those three men for they were able to so easily and freely talk with Evie. When Evie happened to glance his way her eyes instantly turned cold and angry. She quickly looked away from him and her manner became relaxed yet again. He watched as Harry gave her a swift hug good bye and even as Speirs gave her a friendly handshake. Then Nix wrapped her up in a tight embrace and spun her around in a circle before placing her back on her feet. Laughing she hopped into the jeep and she waved and blew kisses to the three men as she was driven away.
Here it is…as always I ask that you review so I can know how I'm doing.
~a modern girl with an old soul
