Last Time: Rebecca gains a friend.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Now: Easy Company finally learns to accept their newest member.


Chapter 9 - Friends and Enemies

As the weeks dragged on, training picked up with a swift vengeance. Sobel was continuing to push his company to new and unrealistic goals, complaining they were unfit despite that they were ahead of everyone else. This only made way for an onslaught of new insults and jeers towards Rebecca. Sobel picked on everyone, but his mocking towards Rebecca was downright unprofessional. He loved to humiliate her about her weight and how she wasn't fit enough even though she kept up with the men just fine and how she should "go back home and become a good little housewife". This only fueled Rebecca's drive to carry on.

In the face of the latest pick-up of training, Rebecca was noticing a bit of improvement in the behavior of the men. She wasn't sure what exactly caused this new feeling but she had a feeling it had to do with good 'ol George Luz.

"I still can't believe that dame has lasted this long," Guarnere jeered, as he laced up his boots.

George Luz looked over to the group of guys gossiping about the woman as he pulled his PT shirt over his head. He rolled his eyes at the chitchat. To be honest, Luz didn't think the woman was all that bad. Not to mention, she healed his ankle up pretty good.

"Wonder how far she had to spread her legs for Sobel to stay here," Someone sniped back.

Luz felt a little swell of anger swarm in his stomach. He didn't know why but he all of a sudden felt very protective over Lieutenant Clark. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he actually had a real conversation with her instead of just talking about her behind her back.

"Hey, guys, why doncha lay off a little, okay?" Luz snipped at the gossipers.

They all looked at the Rhode Islander in a bit of disbelief.

"What do you mean, Luz?" Guarnere asked, confused.

"I mean, lay off. Cut her some slack!"

The Philadelphian continued to look at him confused. But then, something dawned on him and he grinned from ear to ear.

"You yarking it up with her or something, Luz?"

The barracks got painfully quiet as they all looked at him with devilish grins.

"You guys are real schmucks, you know that? As if she didn't get this enough from Sobel, not without you guys laying into her everyday!" Luz barked at them.

Before they could get another word in, Sergeant Lipton came in, telling everyone to hurry up and get dressed for PT.

XXX

Pretty soon, Sobel has Easy Company running up Currahee in full pack more times that not and the characteristically torcherous Friday night marches became even more so, now that he wouldn't allow any of them take a single sip from their canteens during it. Marching twelve miles on their Friday nights while the other companies were out enjoying their weekends was bad enough, but not even being allowed to replenish themselves while they did was just adding insult to injury.

The only saving grace of Easy Company's dreary situation was that they had the benefit of doing this at night and not while enduring the blistering Georgia heat. It at least prevented the men from getting sunstroke, but it didn't stop them from still becoming dehydrated. Dehydration was a soldiers worst nightmare and it baffled Rebecca that Sobel would even order such a foolhardy thing.

Nevertheless, they marched, and Rebecca right along with them, every once in a while breaking from formation to check up on her guys.

She continued her check-ups by making her way over to Toye and Guarnere.

"Hey, fellas, holding up alright?"

"Thirsty as hell, Doc, but we'll survive," Toye rasped out.

"Okay, but if you start feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or hear anyone complaining about, you let me know, alright? Rebecca implored.

Guarnere rolled his eyes and shook his helmet covered head. "Jesus Christ, you're worse than my fucking mother," Guarnere joked.

"Well, if I was your mother, I'd kick ya in the ass for back talking." She retorted, smirking at the Italian.

Rebecca felt as if she was making marked improvement in her relationship with the men. It wasn't like they were bestfriends with her all of a sudden, but it was start. Rebecca didn't notice it at first, but it began with a helping hand in training and some words of encouragements here and there when she struggled, and even sticking up for her when other companies harassed her or talked ill of her. She couldn't help but wonder if someone had told them to knock it off or if they just had a change of heart, but Rebecca wasn't going to question it.

Rebecca eventually made her way to Luz who, besides Roe, seemed to be the nicest out of everyone. It probably had something to do with their chat in the aid station, but she appreciated at least having at least one person from the enlisted guys that resembled a friend. As she reached him, she saw Luz talking with Bull who looked immensely frustrated. The large man from Arkansas had what looked like a hint of agitation in his normally calm blue eyes, and rightfully so. While Sobel was back at base, cooling his heels, his company out busting their tails.

"I'ma say somethin," Bull began.

"To who?" Luz asked sarcastically.

Bull spoke up, getting Dick's attention. "Lieutenant Winters!"

"What is it?" Winters asked, marching alongside his men.

"Permission to speak, sir." Bull asked.

"Permission granted." Winters replied.

"Sir, we got nine companies, sir."

"That we do." Winters confirmed.

"Well, how come we're the only company marching every Friday night, twelve miles, full pack in the pitch dark?" Bull asked.

"Why do you think Pvt. Randleman?" Dick tested.

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir." Bull said.

Winters dropped back to where Bull was in the company. Rebecca inwardly cringined knowing how he felt about bad mouthing a superior. Dick was a stickler for rules.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Pvt. Randleman," Dick stated, seriously, "He just hates you."

Rebecca was surprised by the later statement. Hearing Dick joke around was rare. Everyone within earshot of him, laughed.

"Thank you sir!" Bull replied, somewhat amused by that statement.

"He hates him back." One man said.

The men chuckled again.

"He hates you too Muck." Another said, smacking Skip on the helmet.

"I think he hates Clark the most." Luz said elbowing Rebecca in the side.

She giggled along with the men, happy for at least one lighthearted moment.

XXX

After the hellish march was over, Sobel ordered Easy into formation and ordered by Lieutenant Winters to up end their canteens.

Sobel watched with hawk-like vision, ready to hone in on any poor soul whose canteen finished emptying before everyone else's. Unfortunately, there was one unlucky man whose water finished hitting the dry Georgian dirt a little to quick. Sobel picked up on it immediately and flocked towards the man.

"Christensen! Why is there no water in your canteen? You drank from your canteen, didn't you," Sobel spat.

"Sir I-," Pat was too soon cut off by Sobel yelling for Lieutenant Winters.

"Private Christenson, you have disobeyed a direct order. You will refill your canteen and repeat all twelve miles of the march, immediately." He yelled spitting in his face.

"Yes, sir." He said with reluctance in his voice.

"FALL OUT," Sobel boomed.

Sobel and Winters returned to the other officers and started to read Dick the riot act for making him "look bad" in front of the company. Rebecca thought he did enough of that on his own.

In her heart, she knew it just wasn't fair for Christenson to have to repeat all twelve miles again. The poor man was already exhausted from the first march. Sobel was being too cruel.

"Sir, permission to speak, sir," Rebecca spoke up.

Sobel glanced over to Rebecca, giving her an icy look. He didn't like to be interrupted while talking especially by her.

"What is it, Lieutenant Clark?" He asked coldly.

"Sir, it was my fault for allowing Pvt. Christenson to drink from his canteen, sir. He was showing signs of dehydration, sir. The order came from me."

Rebecca addressed the man as respectfully as possible, despite having not one ounce for him at all. But, if she wanted to save Christenson's hide from marching again, she had to kiss up.

She saw Dick glance over at her, disapprovingly. Lying to Sobel to get out of trouble was one thing, but she was putting her own neck down on the chopping block.

"Is that so, Lieutenant?" Sobel began walking over to her.

"Yes, sir, I told him to drink from his canteen, sir. He was under my orders," Rebecca continued.

Sobel sneered at her and his lips curled up into a devious smile. "Than I guess you won't mind taking his place?"

Sobel yelled for Christensen to come back in formation. He got back, with a confused look on his face probably wondering what he had done to anger Sobel further.

"Lucky for you private, lieutenant Clark will be taking your place since she admitted to giving you the order to drink from your canteen."

Pat looked to Rebecca with a mixed look of shock and gratitude. However, she instantly regretted lying to Sobel. She thought all he would do was spare Christenson from marching twelve miles again, not dole the punishment on her. Rebecca's mother always told her, no good ever came from lying.

The Company looked at her with equal amounts of shock for sticking her neck out for one of the guys.

"Get the hell out of my sight, Lieutenant." Sobel scowled.

Rebecca hesitantly began walking to the starting point, realizing she had just dug herself into a huge hole.

XXX

A quarter of the way through Rebecca's second march of the night, she began to feel an overwhelming amount of exhaustion slam into her, not to mention dehydration. The canteen on her belt began to weigh her down with the overwhelming desire to take a sip of the cool water.

With every step she took, Rebecca felt her boots dig into her feet, causing hellacious blisters to form on her skin. Every fiber in her body was begging her to stop, but she kept going. Her arms grew heavier and it felt almost impossible to hold up her rifle. It felt like she had fifty pound weights strapped to her legs.

Undeniable hate for Sobel began filling her up. The more she thought of him the more angry she got and the more frustrated she felt about having to repeat the march again.

Fuck Sobel, Fuck him! Fuck his stupid nose. Fuck Christenson! Why did I do something so stupid as trying to get him out of punishment? What's it gonna do for me?

Rebecca felt hot tears prick the sides of her eyes. She quickly wiped them away not allowing Sobel to make her this angry. He wasn't going to get to her like this.

XXX

Four hours laters, Rebecca finally made it back to base fueled only by spite and hate for Sobel. As she made it back to where Easy Company fell in, she was furious find Sobel nowhere in sight. Of course he wouldn't stay up to see her finish. Why would he sacrifice his beauty rest?

Surprisingly enough, she saw Dick emerge from the officer's barracks. He saw Rebecca and was relieved to see she was okay and jogged over to her.

"Easy there, Becca," Dick cooed, coming to her side allowing her to collapse into him, "That was a really stupid thing you did."

"I felt bad, and I didn't expect Sobel to make me repeat the march in his place," Rebecca smiled into his side.

"Alright come on, let's get you to bed."

Winters practically dragged Rebecca to the barracks. She was far too exhausted to walk any further. He helped her into bed, and covered her up.

"Thank you, Dick." Rebecca mumbled.

Winters sighed, "You're welcome, Becca."

It didn't take long for Rebecca to drift off into a deep sleep. Marching twenty-four miles in one day had the same effect as hitting a baseball bat over someone's head: unconsciousness.

XXX

The next morning Rebecca forced herself out of bed so she didn't miss breakfast. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she smelled the scent of food wafting through the air and made her way to the mess hall with a ravenous hunger.

Rebecca got in line and impatiently waited for the cooks to slop what looked like biscuits onto her tray. She didn't care, it could've been dog food and she still would have eaten it. Not wanting to spend another minute on an empty stomach, Rebecca hurriedly got her coffee and sat down where ever.

She started shoveling the soggy gravy covered biscuit into her mouth, not caring about its flavor or unappetizing appearance, and swigged her coffee. Her mother would have been ashamed at such appalling table manners.

Rebecca was so preoccupied with eating, that she didn't even notice Dick and Lewis sit down with her. She did manage to catch the end of their conversation, alerting her to the fact that others were sitting with her and forcing her to tone down her pig-like manners.

"Why them?" Nixon continued.

"It was their turn," Winters smiled sitting down.

"Jesus, Rebecca, you look like the walking dead." Nixon burst out.

Rebecca looked up from her meal, unamused.

"That tends to happen when you march twenty-four miles in one day," Winters pointed out.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it." Rebecca grumbled, taking another swig of coffee.

"I gotta give you credit, that took a lot of balls to go up to Sobel like that. It's the only thing the men have talked about all morning," Nixon added.

"Yeah, well, I definitely don't suggest they follow in my footsteps." Rebecca retorted.

Both Nixon and Winters chuckled.

"I'm just glad It's the weekend so I can recover a little. That was brutal," Rebecca admitted.

Winters put his fork down looked at Rebecca, seriously.

"Becca, you may not have realize this, but standing up to Sobel really helped win the men over."

XXX

After cramming her stomach with breakfast, Rebecca walked back to the officer's barracks with a full heart. From what Dick was explaining to her, the men might have actually come around to trusting her. Rebecca couldn't help but feel giddy.

She walked back feeling elated, but couldn't deny that she was still utterly exhausted and planned to do nothing but sleep for the day.

As the barracks came into view, and the thought of blissful sleep, so did the face of George Luz, leaning up against the side of the wooden building, smoking.

"Hi, Lieutenant," George started, flicking his cigarette butt into the ground.

Rebecca was little annoyed that someone was standing in the way of her and sleep, but she of course wouldn't show that.

"Hiya, George. That ankle giving you problems?"

"No, actually, me and a few guys were going off base to a bar and we were wondering if you wanted come?" He asked, lighting another cigarette and placing it in between his lips.

Rebecca didn't know what to say to this offer. She wanted to become more friendly with the guys, but didn't know if she should trust this seemingly nice gesture. It was like they were doing a total 180 in a matter of days.

"I, don't know, Luz. Bars really aren't my favorite places to hang out." She lied.

"Come on, Lieutenant. Think of it as a thank you for fixing up my ankle. First drinks on me."

Luz seemed like he was being genuine, plus why else would they invite her to a bar?

"Okay, okay. I'll see you there."

Luz flashed Rebecca one of his distinctively toothy smiles. "Great, see you there!"

Rebecca entered the barracks, finally letting her body collapse on her rack, sleep overwhelming her immediately.

XXX

The pub was a hole in the wall kind of place that sold cheap beer and attracted even worse people. But, it was the one thing the men on base had to briefly escape the army for a little bit.

Rebecca walked in feeling every eye on her, the uniform made her stand out like a sore thumb. She tried to look somewhat decent, sculpting her natural curls instead of slicking it back into a bun, and even putting on some makeup, but now Rebecca felt like it was a mistake.

She desperately scanned around the room trying to find where the Easy guys were. Once she spotted a familiar face, she made her way over.

"Shit, Lieutenant, you clean up real good."

"Thanks, Bill," Rebecca blushed.

"Come on, Lieutenant, grab a seat," Guarnere said, showing Rebecca over to the table.

Most of the Easy men sat in a bunch around a few table put together so they all could sit with one another. Everyone seemed happy to have weekend passes for once. It was few and far between that the whole company had them. Sobel usually managed to find a way to revoke their only chance of freedom any moment he could.

Rebecca sat down on the only empty seat at the table.

"Ho-ly shit, Becca you look great!" Luz beamed. "Ah, hope you don't mind calling you Becca."

"No, not at all," Rebecca blushed.

Perconte approached her, a beer in hand. "Hey, Lieutenant, we have someone who wants to see ya." He said.

Perconte hailed someone over and Rebecca turned her head to see none other than Pat Christensen. He made his way from the bar to where Rebecca was sitting, obviously very shy about approaching her.

"Uh, - well, Lieutenant, I-I just wanted to thank you for what you did the other night. That was pretty awesome seeing someone stand up to Sobel."

Rebecca smiled warmly up at him."You're very welcome, Private, although if I knew I was gonna have repeat that march again, I don't think I would have done it." She joked.

The men chuckled and Christensen pulled up a chair to listen to her story about the march. She sat back and watched as the men talked with each other and how close they already all were. It was amazing how the rigors of training made men from totally different walks of life practically brothers, and Rebecca was now apart of it. It was going to be a long and nasty war and they would all need to rely and depend on each other to have their backs.

"Hey fellas, I just wanted to uh- to thank you all for- for making me feel like one of the guys." She spoke up.

The table fell silent only Guarnere speaking

"Well, Becca, you might be lacking in a few departments, but we get what you're sayin'," Guarnere said, bursting out in laughter and making everyone at the table follow suit.

Rebecca had never been more proud in her life, that was until she would receive her jump wings.

"Plus," Guarnere continued, "It might not be wise to piss off the dame who's going to be saving our asses when we get over there."


A/N: I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. If you did please let know! Your support means the world to me. Hopefully, now that school is winding down, I'll be able to update more frequently.