Joe's POV

Late August, 1945

Seattle, Washington

"You call this a house?" Malarky, Peggy and I were standing, shoulder to shoulder at the house right in front of me now and we were all in stunned silence. It looked like it would put the mansions in San Francisco to shame really with how it was sitting almost along a cliff that was peering over the sea. The colors were a faint green, yellow, brick red and with big windows. Willow trees were everywhere around it, the victorian style kind of house that seemed like the poor shouldn't be anywhere near it. I was floored that Kit lived here, and she didn't say one word about it.

Peggy and I made our way up to coast to get to Oregon, making me realize that if we were going to grab Kit, I would have to call Shifty and let him know what we were about to do. While Peggy was explaining to Malarky the situation at his house, I phoned Shifty and he was just glad that we were getting her out of there.

"Call me after you grab her, will you please, Joe? " Shifty asked me, having me promise him that. I didn't think I would be making these types of calls to the guys since I was the one who wanted to keep them farther away in my life, it was more of a pride thing really. But thanks to Kit, she was turning that around as of late.

After we grabbed Malarky at his house in Astoria, we made out way into Seattle and found out that she lived on the Northwest area of Seattle. We had no idea where to look at first, and after stopping to get coffee and a bagel in us from the drive from Astoria to there, we asked one of the waiters at the bar where we could find her house. When we showed the address, it was like the guy was hit by a large truck, the shock on his face almost made us feel like idiots more than anything,

"Jetson Mansion? You're not from around here, are ya?"

Which lead us to this mansion of a place, and still made no sense to me at all. Then again, after hearing her last name and knowing that her last name was smacked on most of the weapons that were sent into World War 2. No wonder she was loaded, and no wonder she was miserable at the same time.

"Is this the right place?" I asked Peggy, looking over at her now at the piece of paper in her hand. Kit's handwriting was on the top of it, looking more elegant than anything really as the three of us looked back at the house again.

"1630 36th Ave. This is it." Peggy replied to me as we were watching the house again. I swear it looked more like a mansion already than before when we pulled up in Peggy's car, all three of us smelling like coffee and stale bagels, along with the hesitant smell of these salt from the ocean and the Washington forest.

"This is one of those houses that someone like us can't touch, isn't it?" Malarky asked me, not in amusement, but in genuine curiosity now sine he too was floored from what he was seeing there.

"Well, if this is the right place, then we must as well go in there." Peggy said to the both of us, standing in the middle now as we looked more like bums there at the mansion. She started walking over there now, Malarky and I still frozen in front of the fortress before would find our sense and walked quickly to join her along the bricked path that was going to lead to the wrap around porch and the front door.

"What's the plan when we get in there? I mean, what are we gonna do?" Malarky asked the both of us, having me think about it too. I mean, driving through two states was already crazy enough for me, let alone doing it with a girl I barely knew and just met, and we were about to meet the God Fearing parents that I only heard stories about. I had no idea what we were going to do since we were flying by the seat of our pants now.

"Talk to them for one thing, and make sure Kit is still herself." Peggy reassured him as we reached the front porch steps, I could see there were two gargoyles there on each side, almost like they were guarding the house against any demons that would disrupt their atmosphere, fat chance with us.

"Look, we can just say we're all war friends with her and we're visiting to see how she is," I said to them both as we reached the front door, and before I would even knock on the door I looked at them both, "Let's not really tell them that we kind of hate them for what they did to her."

"That would be a buzz kill, wouldn't it?" Peggy asked me, having me glare at her now since it felt like she was rubbing me the wrong way on purpose. She was edgy, like me, and in a way I liked that. So I knocked on the door with my knuckles, trying to sound polite about it in my tap on their expensive looking front door.

"You know, this could go south real quick if we don't watch what we're doing." Malarky said to the both of us now in a harsh whisper since I could someone on the other side of the door walking over in our direction.

"No shit, we play it cool and we act like we're old friends," I said to him now in my own whisper, "And we are old friends."

"Who happened to have heard about her psycho mother and how much we wanna kill her." Peggy muttered under her breath, and before I could whirl around and tell her to shut up, the door opened and all three of us looked. I was floored from who I saw there since it was not who I thought I was going to see. In fact, it was her father. Hell, it had to be since he looked like he was in his fifties and healthy in his own life. I could see where Kit got her eyes from, from him.

"May I help you with something?" He asked me, much more polite than I thought he was going to be. I had to remind myself, that this was her father that I was meeting. Her mother was the reason the three of us were mad, not him. She talked about him being a good father, never a bad one.

"Uh yes sir," I started, trying to find my paper way of talking to people without acting like a dick, "We are…umm..we're friends of Kit from the war—"

"Kit?" He asked as if he hasn't heard of that name before, having me grimace in front of him and wanna punch myself for using her code name.

"Yeah, sorry, that was her name when we were over there.." I trailed off, trying to get myself back in the right place with him, but the light look in his eyes told me otherwise.

"You know Evangeline?" All three of us were quiet when he used that name with us. Evangeline…that was her name? I tried to get her face in my head when he said that name, and it was fitting her face and how she looked. It sounded like a proper name, for sure, but it also made her sound more thrilling and bolder.

"Yes, we do, sir," Malarky spoke up since I was still tongued with just the name alone, "You see…sir…we served with her in the war."

"She talked about Easy Company." her father explained to us, sounding more hesitant about it and shocked more than anything, "You were in Easy Company with her?"

"We were sir," I replied, finally founding my voice again. Her father looked over at Peggy now, and a small smile was back on his lips now, "You're from Wolf Company?

"I was, sir." She answered him politely, having me see her give him a small smile and he then gestured inside now.

"Please, come on in. Lord knows she needs a friend or two." He said to all of us now, moving out of the way and we all walking in, one by one now. The front room, where we could see the stairs ascending to the second and maybe the third floor, was longer and more grand than my shabby set of stairs back at home. Everything looked grand, grand and ancient with wooden accents and carvings along with an expensive looking rug and rich looking paintings and sculptures. God, this was, in fact, a museum.

We followed him to the sitting room, a bigger room with a fireplace going already since Seattle was getting another round of rain coming our way soon and leather furnishings that seems like they were with more than my house all together. God, I felt more poor in this house than anywhere else, and yet it made me wonder how Kit never flaunted it. Not once.

"Have a seat, I can get you drinks if you want." Her father said to us in his spot in the chair.

"No, thank you." we said separately as we were sitting in one of the longer couches now, already feeling the sense of uneasiness coming over the group as we were just…drinking in the fact that we made it to her house in one piece. I thought that was going to be the worst part, but this was going to be.

"I never got to say my name." he said to us as he got up from his own chair and walked over to the three of us now his hand out for us to shake, "I'm Jack Jetson."

"Joe Liebgott. Nice to meet you." I said to him as I shook my hand in his. As Malarky and Peggy were introducing themselves, my eyes were had gazed over at the pictures on the walls of the rich family that lived here, the nice portraits hung there that showed me her brothers and herself when she was growing up.

"So, you three served with her over in the army?" Jack asked us in curiosity now as he was sitting back in his chair, still close to us to have a conversation really since he looked nice enough to talk to.

"We did. She was first with Wolf Company, and then she was with us throughout most of the war, sir." Malarky explained to him as I was still looking at the pictures that were all over the wall. I saw the one thing that made me almost freeze in the chair I was in with Peggy next to me, who was talking to him now about how she served with Kit in Wolf Company…wait…Evangeline. I had to get used to her using that name for now on. The war was over, and I would think I had to get used to calling her Evangeline like how I had to get used to calling Peggy by her real name.

"Well, my wife was under the assumption that she would be healing a lot better here at home though it wasn't going as well as we thought." I was brought back to when Jack started talking about her and now sad he looked. In a way, I was angry that we haven't seen her yet to see if she was okay, but then again, how he was looking at us made me believe that his own heart was breaking from what was going on with his daughter.

"We were there when she was injured, sir." I said to him, seeing him look over at me now and his eyes going a bit wide now, "It was from a drunk soldier who shot both her and another friend of ours."

"He was drunk?" Jack asked now with a bit of shock.

"Intoxicated is the word I would use, sir." Malarky said there from his spot on the other side of Peggy.

"Well, we know that both a German doctor and her combat medic friend tried to help her a much as humanly possible. That did make the healing process a lot better for her when she was brought home from Washington D.C." Jack explained to us again, the fatherly warmth was heard in his voice again as he was folding his hands on his knees now and looking at the three of us now, holding his gaze at each for us for a few seconds before I spoke up again.

"How is she doing, sir?" I asked him in a curious way now, since we were just talking to him and not seeing her now which was starting to scare me a bit.

"She's still healing, the doctor is giving her plenty of medicine that is going to help with the pain. Apparently, since her collarbone shattered in a unique way, it's more pain for her to get through from day to day," Jack explained to us now, having me give him a small smile since I was appreciating that he was telling us this. Yet he was still then, not moving as he drew out another shaky breath.

"The pain, however, is the least of her worries." He said to us now, the three of us on the couch shifting a bit of uneasiness there. What did he mean by that? Was there more to this than what we thought? I was about to ask when we heard someone at the staircase at the very front of the room we were in. All of us looking, and it made me feel like a statue since I saw who it was.

Her mother.

"Jack, I didn't know we were having visitors at this hour." She said to Jack now/ I could see Evangeline in her too, the red in her hair that was a shade lighter, yet with her mother I could see the gray that was coming through. She was beautiful, yet it was a disturbing kind of beautiful since I could see the coldness there in her eyes as she was looking at all three of us now in her beautiful dress and her hair done just so.

"They're friends of Evangeline…Sarah…from the war." Jack explained to her now with almost a bitter calmness there on his face while she was slowly coming over to walk to be with us in the same room. The way she walked, it was like she was the freaking queen or something and how she tried to carry herself into the room. Such a different way than her husband, who looked like he was just glad to have someone to talk to that was not his wife. I was beyond nervous in how in how she was drilling her eyes into the three of us, and I felt more like an insect than anything.

"Jack, she's not up to seeing anyone right now." She said to her husband, then looking at the three of us now with a forced smile on her lips, "I think you need to come back another day when she can talk to you and not be drowsy with the medication—"

"She can talk to them now, Sarah." Jack said in another bold kind of tone to him now. I could see now that this was about to be awkward, since Sarah was giving him a death trap kind of look to her eyes now and Jack was holding his ground with her while he was sitting in the chair.

"Jack, you know how the doctor wants her to be restful, not to think about what she did…how she was…"Sarah said in such a bite now as Jack shot up from his chair.

"Don't you dare start, Sarah. Not in front of her friends." Jack warned her now, "Let's talk in the kitchen." Sarah eyes him, and they both reluctantly walked away from us and into another room. As soon as they were out of sight, I let out a shaky breath and Peggy looked over at me in worry.

"This is the place where she was for the past 3 months?" She asked in a harsh whisper as we could hear the two of them arguing and trying to keep their voices down.

"She needs to get out of here is more like it." Malarky commented to the both of us now.

"You got that right," I added as the argument was getting louder now, and they were going to be on the brink of shouting. The three of us, still on that goddamn couch like we were at some kind of awkward family reunion, sat in silence now as they were no yelling at each other.

"She doesn't need them, she needs us!" Her mother was shouting, "Her family!"

"You know for a fact that she had no place to be back here with us! She is suffering here, and you are letting her suffer!" Her father retaliated back with her.

"By giving her proper treatment?!" Her mother asked.

"No, by drugging her up to the point where she can't make a choice by herself. You know that's what you were doing! She's been torn apart from what she's done over there in the war, I read her letters and what she went through was hell. You're making it worse by doing this to her here." At this point, after hearing her father say something like that, I felt Peggy gently grasp my hand in her hand, and I had no intention of letting her go since we were both holding onto each other in a death grip. We came at the wrong place at the wrong time, having me look over at Peggy and Malarky to see how they were doing. Malarky looked like he was about to be sick, and Peggy was going to burst into tears. I still held her hand, since it was now that she was seeing what was truly happening to her friend since they saw each other last.

"I haven't heard them yell like that at each other in over an hour. That's a record." We all heard a soft tone, too soft for what was being heard in the other room now as we all looked to see who it was at the very bottom of the stairs. Kit, looking a bit uneasy where she was there at the stairs. We all were shocked to see her there, one hand on the stair railing, and the other was in a sling that was close to her chest. Her hair was started to grow out again from being so short, a bit unkempt as she was wearing a nice green cotton dress and barefooted there on the floor. She looked the same, and yet she wasn't the same since he looked more haunting than anything. I could tell she went through more than what she could handle since she came home.

"Kit?" I asked out loud, thinking this was some kind of sick dream. She smiled, and I could see that it too was damaged.

"Hey, guys." She replied back in almost a croak. None of us moved for a solid moment or two, the three of us on the couch were still in shock from seeing her there. The three of is finally got up from our spots on the couch now and walking over to her, seeing her grin there once again and her collarbone that was still trying to mend itself. There was the clear evidence of hardly any sleep in her eyes and the constant pain there in her heart.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." Malarky said to her in a kind manner, and she nodded her head.

"You too, all you guys are." She replied to us, having us then hear another ring of arguments from the kitchen one again as she looked over there. But I kept my eyes on her now, seeing the pain that was there all over her face and she as trying to hide it.

"I am not going to let her die in here when I know she is better out of this house!" Her father was trying to defend Kit from her mother.

"I am the best thing for her!" Her mother was screaming now as I saw Kit clenching the railing now within her fingers like a death grip. She needed to not hear this, I could see it all over her face.

"So where are they holding you up these days?" I asked her, seeing him tear her eyes from the kitchen and then over at me. Her grin was back there, no longer sad but genuinely glad we were there.

"Come on, I'll show you."

"How bad is it, Kit?" I asked her as we were sitting side by side on her porch now, facing the ocean as Malarky and Peggy were standing there on the porch. Kit showed us her room, a bit big but grand of course. She had her queen bed with plenty of comforts there. Of course, as I learned from Peggy, her mother had all of the hospital equipment still set up there alongside her bed, and it stayed there collecting dust. The rest of the things in her room, to me to seemed, was mostly there to fill in space there. None of the things in her room made me think would bring her any kind of joy, so it must have been her mother's doing.

"She refused to let me go to a regular hospital, typical of her I guess," Kit explained as we both were sitting in one of the porch love seats. Malarky was leaning against the railing of the porch and Peggy was near the door that was leading to her room, as if she kept her ear open in case we were going to be bombarded by her parents.

"I wanted to talk about what happened to me over there, but she didn't want to have anything to do with it." Kit went on with her story about what happened to her, "And I tried to call you…and Shifty since he gave me his number before he left…but she wouldn't have it."

"Christ." Peggy muttered from her spot near the door.

"Why would she do that?" Malarky asking in disbelief since he too looked miserable about this whole situation.

"My mother always wanted to control me, no matter how hard my father and brothers would fight her on the subject of me needing to get out of the house."

"Sounds more like a prison if you ask me." I said to her, seeing Peggy glare at me now.

"You're not helping." she said to me as I shrugged my shoulders when Kit spoke up.

"It's true, though, Peggy." She said to her now, Kit following her eyes over to her and having me see the sadness there on Peggy, "It's a prison here, and I can't find a way to get out of here."

"Then come with us, back to San Francisco." I urged her now, seeing her look back at me now and her eyes were making sure that I was telling the truth, "I promised you that you could stay with me, you remember?"

"I remember, Joe." She replied her voice was back to normal again and I grinned at her.

"It seems better to stay with this lanky boy then here in prison." Malarky said in a grin, Kit smiled at him as I was about to give him a smack on the head. But it was true, and I would have to try really hard to get her back to a normal life. Her family was not going to help with that, so it left her other family to help her and aid her. But it was mostly up to her now and what she wanted to do since clearly her current state was not really healthy. It was the next thing that came out of her mouth that made all three of us grin from ear to ear.

"You wanna bust me out of here?"

We all walked down the star to head back down to the first floor, my hand under Kit's arm to help her down as Malarky and Peggy were right behind us. I knew if we were going to get her out of the house, we were going to have to battle her mother and father, mostly her mother really since she was already forced to be reckoned with. Once we reached the first two steps, both of her parents were making a beeline over to us now, no longer looking at each other and then our eyes were set on her mother. She looked stern, already pissed that she was walking around and not being quiet like she as wanting her to be.

"Honey, you need to be resting and not walking around." Her mother said sweetly, but I gazed over now at Kit who was glaring at her mother, my hold on her was still there since I was afraid she was going to be ripped away for good.

"I've done enough resting for quite some time, mother." She replied back coldly now, her mother looking a bit more shocked than anything as Kit kept talking, "In fact, I'm not going to be staying here anymore."

"Excuse me?" I could tell where Kit got her snarkiness from and how she would address me when I would talk back to her.

"You heard me: I'm leaving. Today." Kit responded to her mother now, as her mother gasped out in a scoff before she took another step over to Kit. Without thinking, I moved to stand in front of her, still holding her and making sure her mother was not going to touch her. Kit has done this plenty of times in the past with us in the war, and it felt like she needed this now more than anything.

"I don't think that's a good idea, ma'am." I said to her, almost sounding protective about it now as her mother was almost snarling at me.

"You have no right!" She said to me in a growl, Malarky now stepping close now to make sure I was okay as I saw her reach over to grab me away from Kit.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Kit screamed, her mother freezing and her eyes going wide now as she was shocked at what Kit did to her. Kit looked mad too, staying close to me now and Peggy taking a step to stand on the other side of Kit.

"How dare you, yell at me like this! I am your mother!" She said to Kit, but Kit shook her head now and her hate was growing inside of her more than anything.

"You're nothing of a mother to me," She replied back coolly, "You haven't been a mother to me for years and don't try to start now when all you've been wanting for me is silence."

"That is not true," Her mother as trying to reason with her really and i could tell she was struggling with it since it felt like she was losing the battle, "I only wanted what was best for you—"

"Just shut up, for once in your miserable life, shut the fuck up!" Her voice echoed in the small room now and no one moved or said a single word since he exploded there in front of everyone. She was almost shaking from the hate she was feeling there.

"You have never been a mother when I needed it the most, and I am a grown ass adult that is not going to stay here anymore since you clearly wanted me to stay with an abused ex-fiance." It was like she dropped another bomb and I saw the sadness and same there on her face when Kit explained it there. Her mother was silent once more as I felt Kit squeeze my hands in hers since she was about to break down into tears herself really.

"Get her out to the car." Her father finally spoke up now, all of us looking at her as he was watching her mother now in case she was going to do anything that would stop Kit from leaving her house, "I'll get her medication for her."

"Thanks, sir." Malarky thanked him as we walked down the rest of the stairs and over to the front door. Kit didn't lose her grip on my hand now as we made it back outside though now it was softly raining. Almost like a mist really when we made it down the porch and onto the brick walkway along the front lawn grass. Kit said nothing, not once as we walked slowly over to the car that was still parked outside.

"I should have brought my bow and arrow, would have sure from sense into them." Peggy muttered behind us as we were walking there and our feet were heard on the brick walkway again.

"And with me a pistol," Malarky agreed to it as I was just wanted to get Kit in the car and out of there. She was still not saying a single word now as Peggy got the door unlocked and I gently placed her in the seat. She just sat there, looking dead ahead now as Malarky moved to the passenger seat now and I heard someone running up behind us. It was her dad, Jack, and he had something in his hand now that looked like a bag.

"Here's her medication, it's only pain killers and they get her real drowsy to knock out the pain." He explained to me as he placed the bag in my hand.

"Thanks," I said to him a bit gruffly, watching her cast his eyes over at Kit for a brief second before he looked back at me with earnest there on his face.

"I want her out of this house," He started, having me raise an eyebrow to him now since I had no idea where this was going, "Only because she needs to start living her life, and it's not going to be here. And she told me…she told me about Gerald and what he did to her." I still said nothing, seeing the sadness on his face now as he was saying this to me and Peggy was starting the car now.

"She told me as soon as she could speak again, and I'm heartbroken that it happened to her. She told me, in her letters, that being with you boys and ladies there int he war helped her, healed her, and you are all she really needs right now. Just…just makes sure she knows that I am only a phone call away, and I want her to write as much as she can." He saw her breaking in front of his own eyes, and he hoped that us taking care of her would be much better for her in the end.

"Sure thing, thanks, sir." I said to him, seeing him give me a small smile as I opened the car and scooted in to be in the backseat with Kit as the door closed and we later started to drive down the street in the rain.

We were away from that hell hole.

Kit was asleep against my shoulder now as we were making our way into Oregon now and through the dark woods now. Peggy and Malarky were in the front seat, none of us saying a word since we left her house, and we didn't want to. I would hope we only saw a small fragment of what her home life, and that was enough for me to see that it was not good for her. I hated that, and I was beyond glad to get here away from there.

Kit stirred in her spot next to me, having me watch and she was murmuring in pain now as she was squirming a bit and a look of discomfort was on her face.

"She needs a pill. Grab me the bag, Malarky." I said to him as he tossed me the bag. I shuffled through the bag to get her pill bottle out as she was opening her eyes again and looking dead ahead.

"Here you go, Kit. You'll get better once we get to San Francisco." I reminded her as I handed her the pill and she popped it in her mouth, "We can get you your own space, like I promised. Remember?"

"Yeah." She replied, not showing any kind of happiness there when we talked about her going to San Francisco.

"How are you feeling, Evangeline?" Peggy asked from her spot in the driver's seat. Kit's eyes were getting heavy now because of the pill and how the drugs were having her sleepy. She said something, but it was a murmur against my shirt as I nudged her slightly.

"What was that?" I asked her softly now.

"I want a cheeseburger." That was the only thing she said, and for some reason, it made me smile from how simple of a sentence yet she sounded like it was the one thing she ever wanted in the world. I locked eyes with Peggy then, seeing her look at me through the rearview mirror and she grinned too.

"Aww, hell Evangeline. We can get you one of the best cheeseburgers that San Francisco can make," I said to her with a smirk on my face, seeing Malarky smile too out of the corner of my eye.

"I know a place, I think Joe knows it," Peggy said as we turned onto the main road that was going to lead us into California, "Near the Wharf. Hickory's Burgers, the best one in town."

"That's a good place. We'll go there, as soon as we head back there I'll get you the best burger anyone will eve have." I knew it sounded like an empty promise, but she need some kind of promise to get her through this kind of phase that was threatening to hold her back. I needed to bring her back since I knew what it was to be in that darkness of about and haunted images. I thought I had to bad, yet I was trying to be alone. But Kit was worse since others were trying to pull her down.

But we just set her free.