Still One of Us

Because I think Webster is treated a little harshly in this episode, I thought someone should stick up for him. Reviews are tea and cakes!

"Beau."

I groaned. I was too tired to get up. I had gone to sleep almost 10 minutes after I had come back, painkillers really put me out. There was more nudging, followed by more calls of my name.

"Whuuut?" I asked grumpily, cracking one eye open.

"C'mon, why don't you just go to bed?" asked Hoobs, with a small smile.

"I'm not tired."

"Oh, and I suppose you didn't fall asleep on Webster, huh?"

I looked around at Web, who looked at me to say 'yep, you fell asleep on me'.

"Did I drool?"

"I dunno, did you?" he asked, looking at his shoulder, where I presumably I had fallen asleep.

"How should I know, I was asleep!"

"Aha! So you admit it!" Hoobs grinned. I stuck my tongue out at him, slowly rising.

"Oh shut up. I'm going to sleep. If you know what's best for you; Don't. Wake. Me. Up."

The guys smiled at me as I walked up the stairs. Just as I disappeared from view, I called down to Web, "Shakespeare still sucks!"

I was tired, exhausted, knackered, every word you could think of for drained, I was just that. My arms and legs felt like they were made out of concrete and my eyes were starting to shut even before I got to the foot of the stairs. Suddenly, I was wrapped up in Hoobs' arms and he carried me bridal style to one of the rooms. Like the room I stayed in in Mourmelon, this room was sparse of furniture. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, even though he tried to set me down on the bed.

"Beau, you gotta let go." he chuckled.

"Mmm! But then you'll leave." I complained tiredly.

"How about I stay then?"

"Yeah!"

He laid beside me, letting me put my head on his chest as I fell to sleep.

"If you drool on me, I'm getting up and leaving."

"No."

Over the next few days, I tried to spend as much time as I could with Malarkey. We'd been through a lot, the two of us and I felt like I had lost two brothers. Malark felt much the same and since Charlie wasn't here, I would try to cheer him up.

He was cooking at the little stove we had, and I was stood, trying to look over his shoulder. He looked around at me once, twice, three times, wondering what I was doing.

"Sunny... what are you doing?"

"Trying to see what you're cooking."

"Why didn't you just ask?" he asked, looking back at his cooking. I leaned to the side, to try and get a better look.

"I wanted to see for myself. You might have been lying."

I watched him scowl at the pot, with the ghost of a smirk playing on his mouth.

"And what might I have said it was? Bacon?"

"Rule 4: don't ever joke about Bacon."

"Oh, I forgot about that rule."

"We've been over this you mick. It's blasphemous to joke about Bacon."

"I'm sorry Sunny."

"What are you talking about?" Lieutenant Jones asked, completely, utterly bamboozled.

"Bacon, according to Sunny, is proof that there is a God, sir." Web told him, from the corner. The boys were all getting ready for a patrol. I was to stay behind with Malark, Jones would go as an observer and Web would go to translate. Jones looked from me to Web, before he went back to his gun.

"Here," Malark said, nudging me to turn around. I raised my eyebrows as I came face to face with a spoon full of Irish Stew. "Try this."

"Why do I have to try it?" I questioned, frowning at the offending object.

"Because you're the closest."

"To what? The sink so I can spit it out?"

"Funny." he replied, giving me a disapproving look. "Just try it."

I looked once more at the spoon, before I ate the proffered food on it. It burnt my tongue, the roof of my mouth and my throat.

"Ahhhh!" I cried, letting my tongue loll out of my mouth so I could waft cool air on it. Some of the guys looked up to see what I was doing, before they shook their head. Apparently it was just typical me.

"That was too hot!"

"Well, I am sorry, Goldielocks, maybe you should blow on it next time."

"Fuck you Malark. I'm telling Charlie. She's my best friend and she can with hold sexy time from you."

He raised his eye brows, widening his eyes a little.

"You wouldn't.."

"I would."

"No.."

"You know she would Malark, don't pretend she wouldn't." Johnny called from the table.

I know it shouldn't have, but it really did surprise me how much someone would do, just because they were deprived of sex.

The night of the patrol loomed over my head like a dark cloud. I was scared for the boys. I had the right to be scared, as it turned out.

I was upstairs, writing a letter to Charlie and the gang, when the doors down stairs were almost knocked off their hinges and someone screaming was pulled in.

"Beau!" came Hoobs' voice. I didn't hesitate. I ran straight down the stairs, throwing myself into the midst of paratroopers.

"I'm here!"

I didn't need to be directed. On the table before me, lay the shredded form of Eugene Jackson, writhing away in pain, screaming in agony. Vest, who was good friends with Eugene, was panicking, and he wasn't making it any better for poor Eugene.

"Alright, Bull, I want everyone but Web out of this room. Now. You got it?"

Bull nodded, "EVERYONE OUT NOW!" he yelled. The room went silent, all that could be heard was Eugene's whimpering.

Web went to leave, but Bull put a large hand on his shoulder, "Not you College Boy."

Web looked at Bull, then at me and Eugene.

"I need you to help me keep him calm. He seems to respond better to you."

While Web calmed him down, I looked over his wounds. The room was calmer, and there was no pressure on me to perform and save his life in front of all our friends. I didn't have to face them all if it didn't work.

My hands skirted the worst wounds, picking out the chunks of grenade, healing the holes where they used to be. He stopped convulsing, his breathing returned to some kind of normality and the worst was over.

"See how brave you are Eugene? Look, all gone now, okay? You were very brave, right Web?" I soothed him, stroking his hair, before I looked at his other wounds. Web nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, really brave. You just hang tough kid, we'll get you properly fixed up at the aid station."

I smiled at Web; no one knew how good he was to people. They wouldn't ever know if they carried on the way they did.

The next day, while Web had gone out for a smoke, they were talking about him. I didn't think they realised I was listening to the conversation, until I piped up.

"You know what? I'm glad Web wasn't with us back there. He wouldn't have turned into bitter bastards like us."

"Sunny!" Joege almost cried. Jones looked up from his seat, as did Malark.

"No, don't Sunny me! You know how hard it is, to come back after all this time, seeing your friends turn you away, treat you like new meat? He was in Normandy, he was in Holland. So he wasn't in Bastogne. He's still part of Easy. He's still one of us."