The next few days Claire was a lot more closed off then she'd ever been. Her usual patient demeanor was gone and she was irritable. She lost her temper fairly easy now. Especially today, of all days. It was December 7. Today, she was teaching First Platoon, going over some of the basics for the replacements.

"…tie the bandage around…" She drifted off. Claire looked at these young men who were eyeing her, bored out of their minds. She turned to write something on the board and one young private, yawned loudly causing some of the men to laugh.

She sighed and then turned around. "Am I borin' you?"

"No ma'am," they answered.

"Then you are all gonna shut up and listen," she barked.

"Christ, takin' orders from a broad, what's next?" One private muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

Claire's fury raged. "What's your name, Private?" She asked in a dangerously calm voice.

"Milton, Albert J.," he said.

"Wanna know why I didn't know your name, Milton? Why none of us know your name?" She snapped. "Because every single replacement is the same. You're all bright eyed and bushy tailed wantin' to prove yourself. Next thing, you're lying on the ground with your blood and guts hanging out… You think that you know something but you don't know shit! Veterans, raise your hand if you've been wounded."

Nearly all of them did. Claire raised hers too.

"See… doesn't matter how loved, or how handsome, or who you are, the Krauts do not give a shit. They will do their damndest to kill your overly eager ass. You won't be laughing about listening to some broad when you're lying on the goddamn ground, covered in blood and shit, cryin' out for your mothers or for God to end it. Or maybe… it won't be you. Maybe it'll be your best friend that gets hit and you're the only one around. What would you do if it was your best friend, your brother, Milton? What would you do if your best friend's legs are blown to Hell? Or if he catches a bullet to the neck?"

He said nothing.

"I asked you a question, Private!" She snapped.

"I don't know, ma'am," he replied.

"You don't know? Then you'd better start listenin'. Because guess what, this broad knows what just might save your life one day."

No one dared say a word after that.

Once the lecture was over, Claire walked out. Muck was waiting for her outside.

"What was that about?" He asked.

"What? The lecture? Someone had to be honest with them," she shrugged. "You've seen it out there. I can't coddle them."

"I get it, but that didn't sound like you… You okay?"

"I'm fine, Muck," she lied.

"You just seem a bit… out of it. Tense."

"I'm good."

That night, she let Bill talk her into going to the movie theatre they had on base. He knew what day it was today. Well, they all knew what day it was, but not the significance of it to Claire. All the men were going. Claire sat between Bill and Luz. The film didn't register, but it was a welcomed distraction. She felt the hairs stand up on the back. She looked around and saw Henry walk in. He looked over and smiled at her. Claire turned back around. Today was not the day for her to see him.

"I have to go," she said.

"What?" Luz asked. "C'mon, you're gonna miss the best part."

"I… lady troubles Luz," she lied. Claire knew the only way to leave without being questioned was to say 'lady troubles'. She knew she'd gotten away with it when Luz gave her a disgusted look and Claire walked out.

Only, she wasn't alone in leaving.

"Claire," she heard Henry call out. "Claire, wait!"

"What do you want, Henry?" Claire snapped and turned to face him. They were outside the theatre. Claire kept walking.

"Please, I just want to talk to you," he stopped her. He pulled her into an alley. "Did you get any of my letters?"

"Yes, I did," she said. "I think me tellin' you that I never wanted to see or hear from you again shoulda been clue enough."

"Please, I'm sorry about what happened," he told her.

"Henry, today is not the day for this," she said.

"I know what today is, Claire. I was there, remember?" He questioned.

"Just leave me alone, Henry."

"This isn't what he would want," Henry replied. "He'd want…"

She reared her fist back and punched him in the jaw.

"What the fuck?!" He snapped as he cradled his jaw.

Her nostrils flared. "You don't get to talk about him. Ever!"

"There a problem here?" Claire looked over to see Bill and Eugene standing there.

"No," Henry answered. "There's no problem here."

"Russ?" Guarnere asked.

"It's fine. He was just leavin'," Claire told them.

"Please, Claire," he begged.

"Go."

He left.

"Claire?" She looked back and saw Eugene standing there. This was the first time he'd called her by her first name in front of someone else.

"Russ, you know that guy?" Bill asked.

"Knew. I knew him."

"Who is he?" Eugene asked.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. The tears that she'd been holding back started spilling from her eyes. She was shaking. Her heart pounding.

"Claire?"

"He's the guy who got my brother killed," she said shakily. It felt as though her chest had been ripped right open. She sank down to the ground and started crying.

Gene looked down at Claire and wasn't sure what to do. He'd known she had a brother, she'd let it slip.

"Her brother got it at Pearl Harbor," Guarnere told him. Gene's eyes widened and he looked down at his friend.

"She never said anythin'," he muttered. All these years, he should've realized. She always got quiet on this day. He always just thought it was for the same reason everyone else did.

"Only reason I know is 'cause she told me after my brother died," Guarnere explained.

Eugene went over to her and dropped down to his knees. He took his friend in his arms and she cried into his chest.

He wasn't used to this. He'd never seen Claire break down like this. It wasn't her.

"It's okay," he comforted.

She calmed down. Her sobs dwindled. She broke apart from Eugene and wiped the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Don't be," he told her. "Don't be sorry."

"He should've gotten off that boat," Claire spoke. "He would've made it, but he heard a cry for help, so my brother, being the hero, runs back. Henry was my brother's best friend. They joined the Navy together. They both got stationed in Hawaii… That day, Henry was on KP. When the first bomb hit, Henry got stuck. James got him free, but he didn't make it out. He got pinned down by some support beams. Henry left him there. My brother drowned."

Guarnere and Gene watched as she put her head between her knees and didn't make a sound. He didn't know what to do. That is until she started laughing.

"Of all the fucking days he had to be here, it had to be today," she laughed. Claire picked herself up off the ground. "I'm tired. I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"Claire…" Gene started.

"I'm okay, Eugene, really," she assured.

They didn't say anything else as she walked away. Her head hanging high as it always did. Almost as if she was completely shedding away the girl who'd cried in the alley and back to that tough-as-nails combat nurse. He'd always been fascinated over how easily she put on her hard exterior.

"I ain't worried about her, Doc," Guarnere assured. "She'll bounce back. She always does."

He knew that. Claire would be fine. She was always fine.

The six weeks he spent without her had been difficult, he'd never realized how much she alleviated the pressure on him until she was gone. She always kept his morale up, and she made him feel like everything would be okay. If he wasn't sure about what to do, she would talk him through it. She was a good nurse, and she made him a better medic.

A few days after the incident in the alley, Eugene kept an even closer eye on Claire. She kept a strong façade, but he could see tiny cracks in her expression. It was dinner time, for the first time in a while, Claire sat with Captain Nixon and Captain Winters. She did it every so often when Nixon and Winters actually ate with the rest of the men.

He was getting up from his table when he saw Henry heading towards Claire's table. Quickly, Eugene got up and stood in his way. He wasn't going to let Henry upset her again. She'd been through enough the last few days.

"I don't think you should go there, sir," he advised.

"Get out of my way," Henry replied in a low threatening voice.

"Didn't she make it clear that she doesn't want to see you?" Eugene replied stiffly. "Stay away from her."

"I'm an officer," he looked down at Eugene's stripes, "Corporal. I can have you court-martialed for speaking to me that way," he countered.

Eugene gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Go ahead, but I got witnesses sayin' you've been harassing Lieutenant Rousseau. I'm just defending my CO, sir," he condescendingly told him.

"You don't know shit about what happened," Henry stated.

"I know enough, sir… and she don't wanna see you."

There was a sudden dawning across his face.

"Come with me."

Henry turned to leave. Eugene remained in place.

"That's an order," he told him.

Against his will, Eugene followed Henry out of the mess hall. He cast one look back at Claire's table. She hadn't even realized the confrontation had happened.

He followed Henry until they got to another alley. For a second, Eugene waited for the officer to slug him. Instead, Henry simply turned around and talked.

"What you think you know, you don't," Henry told him.

Eugene gave him a strange look.

"I lied," he admitted. "What happened that day… I lied."

He still said nothing as Henry began to speak.

"I tried to help him… I tried so damn hard but I couldn't… he… it was too late by the time I got there," Henry recounted. Eugene could hear the tightness in his voice, he was trying to keep his emotions in check.

"By the time you got there?" He asked. That wasn't what Claire told him.

"James was the one on KP," he said. "When the bomb hit us… I knew we were going down. I couldn't leave without him. I-I ran, but I wasn't fast enough. I got there… I saw he was pinned and I tried to get him out, I did… but he was already dead."

He saw Henry discreetly wipe a few tears that had fallen. Eugene masked his surprise. This wasn't what he was expecting.

"Why'd you lie, sir?" Eugene asked after a moment of silence.

"I needed to give Claire a reason for her brother's death," he admitted. "It woulda killed her to know that he died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That it… it was meaningless."

"She coulda handled it," Eugene argued.

"When we were kids, Claire trailed after us like a puppy. She always tried to be like James. She worshiped the ground he walked on… believe me when I say that she can handle pretty much everything, but not this," Henry countered.

"So you made him the hero even in the end?"

Henry nodded. "I was hoping that by now she would've forgiven me…"

"Tell her the truth," Eugene offered.

Henry shook his head. "I can't. Especially not now. And if you care about her, like I see that you do, you'll keep this to yourself."

Eugene hesitated. How could he keep this to himself? By the way Claire talked about her brother, she idolized him. From what he saw the few days before, she was still heartbroken, even though it happened three years ago.

He wished Henry had never said anything. Still, he nodded in agreement. He didn't want to.

"I will, sir. I won't say a thing… only if you promise you'll stay away from her as long as you're here," Eugene gave him the ultimatum.

"I already lost my brother… now I gotta lose the girl I love like a sister?" He asked.

Eugene said nothing.

Henry huffed. "I'll do it… I won't talk to her. Look after her, alright? I don't know if I can handle another Rousseau funeral."

Eugene nodded. He always looked after her.

That didn't mean it felt right.

I hope you liked it. Let me know!