They make their way halfway down the street when Mavis starts to speak, "Dorothy, I may not have known you long before you switched places with your brother, but I wasn't really fooled."
Carter's heart is in his throat and Newkirk almost stumbles.
"... Mave, please-"
"Peter, you an I used to do this all the time, you think I'm stupid? I'm just sayin' that I know that they switched."
Newkirk just stands there, adjusting to stand in front of Carter, " 'oo else knows?"
"Rita. She's engaged to the real Andrew Carter."
Carter sets his hand on Newkirk's shoulder as the other man winces visibly, he then starts to ramble to defend himself, "Well, Mavis, you see, Andrew got drafted. He isn't a fighter, he isn't a pilot. When he came back from Germany, he was near traumatized, telling me they made a wrong turn when they ran into a German patrol. His eyes were so empty, and they had just been demoted for disobeying orders to return to Stalag 13 and become part of the operations there, not caring about what he had seen."
"Andrew-"
"I cut my hair and switched places with him. I'm his big sister, I would do anything for him, I even let myself get shot down.-"
"Andrew," Newkirk tries to turn around to get him to shut up.
"If either of us get caught-"
"Dorothy, I'm not goin; ta tell on you," she says quietly, looking at Carter with a small smile.
Carter is quiet for a moment, then he looks at her again, all shy as he rubs his arms to try to bring some feeling back to them, "I actually, kinda, you know... Prefer being Andrew now. My parents used to say that my brother and I were winkte... We wanted to be, uh, well, I always was a boy, even though the actual term 'winkte' fits him more, you know, a boy who was always a girl. It's a thing with the Lakota-"
"Oh boy, you're goin' ta love Rita," Newkirk says, interrupting Carter just long enough before he tugs the man close, hesitating just inches from being able to kiss him. He then murmurs that it's not private enough, pulling away so they don't get caught.
"You truly are a natural-born coward," Carter murmurs with the smallest smile on his lips, his hands now fisted in the front of Newkirk's shirt as he leans down just enough to kiss him like he's been dying for it for far too long.
Mavis look away to make sure that no one was looking and to give them just a smidge of privacy before the two pull from each other. They stand there for a moment, like they want to do it again, but slowly break apart to continue on their merry little way.
The silence is deafening, the only noise being the crunch and rustle of rubble underfoot and the clicks of Newkirk's crutches. The walk around the block seems to take years, but, suddenly, they are at the Red Lion and Newkirk turns to Carter, telling him to follow him.
No one seems to take notice to them, except one older gentleman near the end of the bar, who just flashes Newkirk the 'V' for victory before lifting his glass in a silent toast to him, then looks back at his drink. They get to the dressing rooms and Newkirk knocks on the door gently, unsure of what will happen after not seeing Rita in forever.
He feels Carter's hand rest on the center of his back and he realizes he hadn't been breathing for the pause they had before it happens.
The door swings open and a large, muscular woman with her hair done up perfectly in curls, the longest eyelashes, and makeup put on with enough care and precision that it looked like magic throws her arms around Newkirk and kisses his cheek.
"Peter, I thought you were never comin' home!"
Mavis grins and turns to Carter, "This is Rita."
"Blimey, Rita, put me down, I'm 'ere ta get you an your lady friend."
Newkirk is set down and another woman, who looks almost identical to Carter if it weren't for the brown eyes, pointy nose, and the bob cut, comes out, just to have her jaw drop, "You're alive! Oh, golly, thanks so much, Newkirk, I never thought the war would-"
Carter throws his arms around his sibling, practically crushing her.
Mavis stands there patiently, letting the reunions happen, then tells them all that they should sit down so everyone could talk, which the girls agree to readily, pulling them all into the cozy dressing room and shutting the door behind them.
Rita pulls up spots for everyone to sit at, pulling Carter's sibling onto her lap as she does so. Carter sits next to Newkirk on one side, Mavis on the other. Before Rita could say what she obviously wanted to, Newkirk cuts her off, his one hand sliding into Carter's, "Rita, I 'eard you were 'appy with Dorothy 'ere. 'eard that you two were gettin' married."
Her smile droops a bit, "I'm very 'appy, Peter, but I wish we didn't end like we did."
He shakes his head, "Rita, it's done, we grew up, we faced a war, we became different people… I'm glad you're still doin' what you love though."
"... I can't be Rita Nottin'ham outside this buildin' anymore, Peter. But it is nice to be her for an hour 'ere an there," she fixes her hair for a moment, then carefully pulls off the wig, leaning over Dorothy to put it on the dummy so it stayed perfect, "It's so strange bein' Robert Walter, but I can't say that it is entirely undesirable. It's wonderful switchin' between one an the other, I just wish I 'ad more a a choice when doin' it. In the times I could at least."
"You're a girl and a boy?" Carter asks, his eyes wide as he looks at Rita/Robert.
Newkirk puts an arm around Carter, "She's always been that way, she just liked it better when I called her Rita."
" 'e used to do the magic rose bouquet to me every single day until I told 'im I was a man."
"Joke's on 'er, I've been a queer for a long time."
Rita laughs heartily at that, "You could have fooled me, Peter. Now, this is nice an all, but if I'm going ta show off Dorothy here as my future wife, I gotta get dressed. Shoo."
Newkirk nods and nudges Carter a bit so the two of them and Mavis could give the others some privacy, but Dorothy follows them, her eyes sparkling as she starts babbling at Carter, hands and mouth moving at the speed of light. Carter takes her arm, letting Mavis help Newkirk into a chair at the bar, and talks to his sister in an adoring manner, telling her how beautiful she is and how happy he is that she is happy.
Mavis orders a drink for herself and one for her brother as they watch the two. It's not long before Robert joins them, dressed in a smart RAF uniform with the corporal ranking on it. His face is clean of makeup and looks just as masculine as can be.
He takes off his hat and tips his head to Dorothy, who just grins and tries not to be so bashful, "Rob, there's no point in showing off yet…"
"An' who said I can't show off my girl just yet? No man nor god can stop me from adorin' you."
Newkirk rolls his eyes and orders a scotch, telling the bartender to make it a double, "I gotta walk back ta Stepney with these two, plus me sister an my best mate, who is the bride's brother. I need ta know if you can offer me a triple."
