A/N: Let's give Alice a bit of a break, shall we?


Chapter Thirty-Seven


Nixon looked around the four bed cabin he shared with Dick, Harry, and Lieutenant Heyliger. The walls had been painted white over the wood, and two small windows would've let in a decent amount of light had it been day time. The rain had stopped, but clouds still covered the night sky. Sitting on his bed, white sheets still tucked in, he sucked at his cigarette. Across from him, Harry lay with his arms over his head.

The door opened, disrupting the silence in the room. Harry sat up as Dick walked in. Nixon watched him take a deep breath as he shut the door.

"What'd Colonel Sink say?" Harry asked.

Dick nodded, as if reassuring himself. "She's not out of the airborne. He wants a guard with her at all times on the ship. I asked to be the one to handle this ahead of Sobel since she started out with my platoon, and he agreed."

"That's good." Harry fumbled in his pocket. Pulling out a cigarette, he lit it and nodded again. "How is she?"

With a shrug, he ran a hand through his hair. Dick walked further into the room and tossed his jacket onto his bed next to Nixon's. "Roe took her back down to the bunks." He paused, collecting himself. "I don't know. I don't know."

"She didn't even try to fight back?" Harry still couldn't believe it.

Dick shook his head. "Toye, Guarnere, and Luz all told me the same thing."

Nixon took a deep breath. He knew, out of all the men in Easy, that he was quite possibly the only one who knew why she had frozen. Or, some idea. He certainly had more context than anyone else. He'd done his research.

"Nix, you're quiet."

He looked up. Dick hadn't sat down yet. With a shrug, Nixon stood up too. "Just thinking."

"Right. One step at a time. First thing we need to do is find a way to let the enlisted know what happened without starting a brawl," Dick continued. "Which of the NCOs is she closest with?"

Nix paused. "Uh, Talbert, Lipton, Guarnere definitely."

"Martin and Randleman from first," Harry added. "They talk quite a bit."

"Right. We need to track them down and stop any rumors before this gets too big. Harry can you go find anyone from first and third? They're quartered a bit apart from Second. Nixon, go find anyone with them, and get Luz, Toye, and Roe as well." Dick sighed. "I have to go report this to Sobel."

They split their separate ways. Picking through the rows of enlisted men proved more difficult than Nixon had expected. When he and Harry split from each other, he pushed through on his own. Finally, after about ten minutes, he found Easy's Second Platoon.

"Hey Lieutenant," Malarkey said. He cocked his head. "Why are you down here?"

"Housekeeping. Guarnere, Toye, Luz, and Roe, I need you four to come with me." He waved them away. "Liebgott?"

"Sir?"

"I need you to stick with Lieutenant Klein until you hear otherwise."

The entire area went absolutely silent as they heard Nixon talk. He knew his tone would make them concerned; there was absolutely no joking around about this at all. When Liebgott acknowledged the order, he looked back at where the four men in the platoon he'd called now stood in a line in front of him. "Come on."

Nixon turned back and headed onto the deck at the nearest exit. Trusting the enlisted men were behind him, he snaked his way through the crowds and into the darkness outside. From there, finding their way to where the officers had been quartered didn't take too long. When he opened the cabin, Dick was already back. He sent Nixon a shake of his head.

As Nixon went to close the door, Harry opened it back up. He had Lipton, Talbert, Martin, and Randleman head inside. They looked much more confused than the men Nixon had grabbed. Nix hoped that meant the rumor mill hadn't started up yet.

"Right." Dick nodded. Then he stopped and took another deep breath. "What we discuss here does not leave this room. Understood?"

A chorus of 'yes sirs' echoed around them.

Nodding, Dick decided to get straight to the point. "About half an hour ago, Lieutenant Klein was attacked and assaulted by some men of the 506th. From what I was able to gather from her, she had been returning to Easy's bunks by way of G, H, and I company. A group of men blocked her path down the stairs, grabbed her, and if Guarnere, Toye, and Luz hadn't stepped in, probably would've raped her."

Nixon watched them. The word made his own stomach turn, and he'd already known the news. Johnny Martin looked absolutely livid. Beside him, Bull, Lipton, and Talbert just glanced between the officers and the four other enlisted men, completely silent.

"Where is she now?" Lipton finally asked.

Nixon answered. "Liebgott's with her. Sink's ordered us to keep one paratrooper with her at all times on the Samaria."

"Which is one of two reasons you are here," Dick added. "The other, is to tell you that this stays private. If Alice wants to talk about it that's up to her. I don't want you accidentally starting a rumor that leads to Easy attacking a dozen members of H company." He turned specifically to Guarnere and Toye, both of whom looked about ready to do exactly that. "Clear?"

Another chorus of 'yes sirs' replied.

"Did she at least get in a few good punches?" Johnny Martin muttered.

"No," Guarnere snapped. "She didn't fight back."

"At all?" Lipton's eyes widened. He turned back to the officers.

George shook his head. "She was terrified."

"Sir, do we know why?" Bull turned from the enlisted to the officers as well. He crossed his arms. "That don't seem like Lieutenant Klein."

Dick nodded. "Agreed. All I know is that she claims she can't remember anything from when they grabbed her to when they managed to get her separated."

It was Talbert's turn to be concerned. "Nothing?"

"Nothing," Gene agreed.

"Head injuries?" Lipton asked.

Gene shook his head. "Nothin'. I checked her out. She's gonna have a bad bruise on her neck and her wrists are pretty sore. But nothing's wrong with her head."

"So she just froze?" Johnny's concern was mirrored in the others. "Sirs, I'm not saying she will, but what if that happens in combat?"

Nixon felt himself tensing. He'd hoped the conversation wouldn't turn that way. Biting his cheek, he tried to restrain himself. But as Dick attempted to find words to assure them of something even he didn't have an answer for, he knew there was only one choice. "She won't."

"Respectfully, sir..."

"She won't. Alice froze for a very specific reason." Nixon turned to Gene Roe. "She mentioned remembering something from years ago, right?"

"Uh, yes. Yes sir."

"Nix, what do you know?" Dick asked.

All eyes had turned to him. He knew they would. But he also knew just how furious Alice was going to be for what he was about to say. He hesitated briefly. Then he nodded. "Again, this doesn't leave this room. That's a direct order."

They all nodded. Dick and Harry both watched him in equal parts confusion and expectancy. The others had gone completely silent.

"Alice Klein was born Adelaide, not Alice." Nixon noticed some of the men looked surprised, but not all. He fought the urge to smirk; she must've taken his advice and opened up a bit. "Right at the beginning of January in 1941, she and her two brothers, Marc and Robert, spent a night at a popular bar in Paris. All of them were on Nazi watch lists for minor disturbances. During the evening, a commander in the SS managed to corner her into a backroom."

"Did he...?" George looked absolutely stricken. He took his cigarette from his mouth.

Nixon sighed. "Same thing that happened here. With one distinct exception. She did fight back, and she killed him with a knife. But killing an SS officer with a knife isn't exactly quiet. Her brothers managed to barricade the door, but Marc stayed behind to buy them more time while Robert and Alice escaped through a window. The Germans executed him for the murder on the spot."

"Holy fuck."

He couldn't tell who had muttered the expletive, but he completely agreed. "Alice changed her name, and she and Robert were helped out of Paris by a British spy. By the time the Germans realized they had been part of the murder, they were long gone. That's when they joined the Maquis."

"Where'd you get that information?" Dick asked quietly.

"I read her file. The Maquis were required to provide information on her when she was chosen for this project. They listed the reasons she joined up, which was that."

No one spoke for quite awhile. They could hear the waves outside, the steady creaking of the ship. Nixon had said his piece, and he knew just how well Alice would take it, which was to say, not well at all.

Lipton finally broke the silence. He turned to Dick. "What do you want us to do, sir?"

With a small sigh, he glanced briefly at Doc Roe. But then he turned back. "Honestly, I have no idea. But, we have jobs to do. I want one of you with her at all times. She's probably not going to like it, but frankly I don't care. This is a direct order from the Colonel, and I happen to agree with it. Doc, any suggestions?"

He scoffed and shook his head. "We ain't trained for anything like this. Don't go out of your way to make her mad. Let her talk to you if she wants? I don't think there's any way for anyone here to understand what she's gone through. Even with the context."

"And what do we tell everyone else?" Joe Toye asked. "They know something's wrong."

Dick nodded. He paused to think. "Tell them there was a situation that is being handled. If they push you for more, send them to one of us." He pointed to both Nixon and Harry. "And under absolutely no circumstances are any of you to retaliate against H Company. Is that clear?"

Everyone but Guarnere agreed immediately. So Dick looked at him pointedly. "Guarnere?"

"Fine, sir."

"Good. You're dismissed."

They all saluted and left the room. As they closed the door behind them, Dick sighed again. He backtracked to his bed and sat down.

"She's going to kill you, Nixon," Harry said, taking out another cigarette.

He huffed. "I expect nothing less."

As Harry and Dick both changed into clothes to sleep in, Nixon stood at the window and drank from his flask. He knew she'd be furious. To be fair, she probably had a right to be. But he'd told them for their peace of mind, and hers. They couldn't afford the NCOs questioning her fitness to fight based on misinformation. By the time Moose Heyliger came back and went to bed, Nixon had finally finished the entire flask. He needed sleep as well. Only a day into their voyage across the Atlantic and he already felt exhausted.