Hope everybody's staying safe! 3

Chapter 22

"Hey, Nora, it's okay," Lipton said softly, placing a hand on one of her shuddering shoulders, "just take a minute to breathe."

Babe Heffron, young as he was, and forever surrounded by like-minded men, didn't find himself uncomfortable very often. Today, however, wasn't a normal day, and he knew it the moment he'd seen Nora on her knees, the blazer of her Class A's tossed into the dirt and tear tracks running down her face. He'd attempted to comfort his devastated friend for all of three minutes before deciding that he would need reinforcements in the form of Luz and Lipton. He'd gotten her to relocate to the house that she was quartering in, brushing off concerned questions from a few men along the way. She now sat on her bed with Babe and Lipton on either side of her and Luz kneeling down in front of her to look her in the eye, a hand on her knee.

"What is it, Nora?" Luz asked after another minute, "whatever it is, we'll fix it. It'll be okay."

Lipton gave him a look that said don't make promises you can't keep, and Luz raised an eyebrow, wondering how much his friend already knew. Nora managed to catch her breath enough to start speaking.

"They're pull-pulling me from Easy Company," She said, pausing when her lungs shuddered and gasped for more air.

"Why?" Babe asked, exchanging a wary look with Luz, "are you in trouble?"

"They want to s-send me on a USO tour," she answered, her face crumpling again at the thought. She rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. Luz did his best to hug her from the awkward position and spoke in her ear.

"It's gonna be alright, Nora," he said.

"No," she wailed, "I can't leave Easy. I can't."

Half of her tears were grief and half were panic - how could she look out for her friends if she was separated from them? Easy Company was family to her now. She not only loved them - she felt responsible for them. She had to be with them in the Pacific. Some of these men wouldn't come back from the Pacific. The thought of sitting on the sidelines and waiting to hear the news - not being with them at the end - was unbearable.

"Nora, it's okay," Lipton stepped up to the plate again, "the war will be over soon, and I'm sure you'll see Easy. You'll be there, just not in combat."

"Yeah, he's got a point, you know," Babe tried to help, "Same deal, better bed."

Even though she didn't agree, their assurances were helping her to calm down. Luz had gone quiet, less apt for optimism as he processed the news. Finally, he asked "when do you leave?"

"Not for a while yet," she answered. This was her only comfort at the moment, "the tour doesn't start for another month or so."

"Oh, you've got all kinds of time!" Babe said with confidence.

"It's possible things could change before then," Luz added hopefully, though he didn't sound convinced. Nora nodded, allowing her face to emerge from her hands and pushing her hair back from her face. Luz was still kneeling right in front of her and gave her a lopsided smile when her eyes met his. Returning the smile was easy - so easy that it renewed her grief with the reminder that her time with her friends was now limited. Having exhausted the initial burst of emotion to the end, she settled into a calmer sort of misery.

"I know you don't want to hear this," Lipton added after a moment, "but I've gotta say, after seeing that footage from Okinawa...I'm relieved you'll be off the line."

"I know," She said with a tight-lipped smile, knowing that Lipton couldn't help but be honest and direct with her.

"I'm sure that's what he was thinking, too," Lip added, "when he recommended your transfer."

Nora's eyebrows furrowed, "I wouldn't say Sink is recommending anything. It's an order."

She turned her head to look at Lipton, who winced. There was a silent moment between them as they both realized that the other wasn't talking about the same thing. Nora sat up straighter.

"Lip, who recommended my transfer to Sink?"

"Nora -"

"Was it Winters?"

"No, Nora. Does it matter? He meant well -"

"Nixon?"

Nora was a bloodhound bent on catching the scent. There was no use resisting now.

"No, not Nixon."

Nora stared at him for a moment, chewing on her lip as she worked herself up to the next guess. She dreaded the answer that she knew was coming, "Speirs?"

Lipton averted his eyes, confirming her suspicion. Nora didn't explode like he anticipated, but the damage was clear. The sheen of her eyes reflected hurt and betrayal as she looked away and avoided eye contact with any of the men. They sat there uncomfortably, finding this much worse than the sobbing. After a few moments, her jaw clenched, and she stood.

"Nora, hold on a second," Lipton said, standing with her, but Luz placed a hand on his chest when he tried to follow her out the door.

"Let her go, Lip," he said.

"She's going to make a scene," said Lip.

"Maybe she should," Luz replied with a shrug.

When Nora found Ron, he was discussing a lodging concern with an Austrian citizen, using Webster as a translator. She tried to compose herself as she reached the group and waited with arms crossed. Ron glanced at her, and, noticing her distress, he excused himself to the civilian woman and gave Webster's brief instructions on how to help her. Nora walked down the street and off into a wooded area where they'd be out of earshot from anyone. Ron followed, stopping short when she turned to confront him. She opened her mouth to reprimand him and found that nothing came out.

"What's wrong?" He prompted, perceiving her struggle.

"I'm leaving Easy," She said carefully, watching closely for his reaction. As one could expect from Ronald Speirs, he didn't bother to feign surprise, instead averting his eyes and remaining silent. She continued, "I'm being transferred to finish out my service on a USO tour. But you already knew that."

"Nora," he said, his tone heavy, "I'm not happy about-"

"How could you do this?" She asked, her tone pleading, "help me understand why you would do this."

"I did it because I care about you," Ron replied with a matter-of-fact earnestness.

"If you cared, you would've known what this would do to me."

"I do know," he said, "but I would rather you be upset for a little while than dead. That's why I asked Sink to find you something away from the action. But the USO wasn't my idea."

"So just because you could do it, you did? Did it ever occur to you that I don't have the luxury of pulling men off the line on a whim? Because I'm worried about them? That I have no control over any of your lives besides the good that I can do fighting alongside you? I thought you, of all people, would be willing to relinquish control and do the same for me."

"I have," Ron argued, "Countless times. But this is different. The Pacific is different."

"No, it's not the Pacific that's different - it's us. I never should've gotten emotionally involved - I mean- I can't believe I did this. The second I did, I stopped being a soldier to you."

"That's not true," Ron said.

"It is, though," Nora replied, "and you know it."

Ron shook his head, looking away, "If I had asked you not to go, what would you have said?"

"I would have said no," Nora answered honestly, "I would have chosen Easy Company. But you don't take away someone's choice just because they wouldn't choose the same as you. That's not how choices work, Ron."

She could see a sliver of doubt, or perhaps regret, in his eyes as he considered this, hands planted on his hips, "I didn't - I understand. I just didn't want to lose you before I even - before we were..." he struggled to find words.

"Then you made the wrong choice," she said, understanding perfectly what he was going to say.

"Nora, if we could just sit down and talk-" He said diplomatically, reaching out to place a hand on her elbow. She stepped out of his reach.

"I don't want to talk anymore, Ron," She said firmly, "I want you to leave me alone."

He looked conflicted, but he at least had the presence of mind to step back and give her the choice to walk away. She did.

As much as Nora wanted to feel thankful that she still had a month with Easy Company, it quickly began to cause more anxiety than comfort. Part of her desired to rip it off like a bandaid - if she had to go, she should go now and get it over with. The rest of her felt guilty for feeling that way when she still had time to be intentional with her friends, and the combination of those warring feelings made her a less-than-lively social companion whenever she did try. Whenever she was having a good time with the men, she wanted to cry, and she didn't want to keep crying for fear of convincing people that she should be taken out of combat.

So, she wasted the first few days sitting in her room and only emerged to work out her angst in PT, help Winters with administrative things, and get food. Luz, Nixon, Lipton, and Babe had all taken turns visiting with her and checking on her in the evenings while she worked fastidiously at the pet project she'd adopted of creating a copy of the hotel ledger from Berchtesgaden.

"You know, you don't have to do that," Nixon had told her when he saw her hunkered over her writing table, copying down the names in careful script, "you could just hand it over."

"I will," Nora said absent-mindedly, not looking up from her work, "I just think there should really be more than one copy in existence. What if there was a fire or something, you know? This is important evidence. Surely there's going to be a trial."

Nixon still thought the task was tedious and largely unnecessary but refrained from saying so, since it was giving her something to focus on besides the dread of leaving for her USO tour.

"So, I hear you're still at odds with Speirs?" Nixon said, "Any idea how long that'll last? He's not the most jovial person to begin with, you know. And now..."

"His mood isn't my responsibility," Nora said simply, her pen digging into the page hard enough to tear a hole and garner a sigh.

"Right, I know," Nixon back-tracked, "I was just curious if this is a deal-breaker for you, or if it's something you'll get over eventually."

Nora stopped writing and turned suspicious eyes on him.

"Lewis Nixon, are you fishing? For Speirs?"

"No, of course not," he protested, "by all means, give the man a hard time. He's been presumptuous with you."

"Very." Nora agreed curtly, studying her friend. Her suspicions hadn't been allayed.

"Look," Nixon leveled with her, "I'm just telling you that he's out of sorts. He's going about his business because he's trying to give you space, but he's unsettled. He obviously cares."

"And when did you become his confidant?"

"He wanted the perspective of someone close to you," Nixon admitted, "Lipton wants to stay out of it, and I suspect that Luz wasn't very cooperative."

"Yes, Luz knows a thing or two about loyalty," Nora replied, her tone a bit lighter. Nixon received the jab with a smile.

"Alright, okay. I won't help him. In fact, I won't even talk to him. If I see him coming, I'll cross the street. Every time I hear his name, I'll pinch myself until I'm conditioned to hate him forever."

Nora tossed her pen at Nixon, who deflected it, "That won't be necessary."

Thinking that she should probably get some fresh air, Nora had walked down to the edge of the lake to watch the water and get some peace and quiet. No peace and quiet awaited her, however, and she almost turned around when she saw Luz, Lipton, Roe, and Babe swimming and carrying on loudly in the water.

"Nora!" Babe called before she could slink away, "Nora, come over here!"

The other men turned to beckon her as well and she sighed, stepping onto the dock to help close the distance, "Having fun?"

"Why don't you come join us and find out?" Luz replied, treading water as he looked up at her, "you still owe me a swim. You promised."

"I most certainly did not," Nora said.

"Aw, come on, Nora," Babe whined.

"I'm sure there's a women's suit somewhere in the house we're quartered at," Lipton added, "You could go grab it. We'll still be here."

"Not today," said Nora.

"All you have to do is jump in once!" Luz heckled her, "look, we put up a rope and everything." He gestured over to a rope that was hanging from a tree that leaned off the bank.

"One swing, and you'll feel better," Luz continued.

Nora doubted it, but didn't enjoy saying no to their begging when she knew her time with them was limited. She glanced doubtfully at the rope.

"Come on, even Roe is here," Babe said. That was an interesting caveat, Nora thought. He was right - if Gene Roe could let loose and be a good sport for an afternoon, so could she.

She sighed, reaching down to unlace her boots, and the men cheered. She kicked them off and untucked her shirt, pulling it over her head. The men's cheering stopped abruptly, and she could hear Luz mutter in disbelief, "Oh God, what's she doing now?"

She pulled at her belt, looking up to see Lipton had already averted his eyes and was shaking his head disapprovingly, "Nora," he said, "just go get a suit."

"No, you wanted to see me jump," She insisted, pulling her pants off to leave her standing in her bra and underwear, "here I go."

She made her way back to the mouth of the dock and stepped carefully onto the bank, wincing as the rocky terrain dug into the soles of her feet.

"Babe," she said, addressing the blonde who had gone uncharacteristically silent, "come on, bring it to me."

Babe swam forward, grabbing the rope that was hanging out over the water and walking it up to the bank for her. When he climbed up the bank and handed it to her, stepping aside, she looked out at the water and bit the inside of her cheek, hesitating. She didn't want to hit the bottom of the lake if the rope hadn't been anchored out far enough.

"Nora, are you serious?" Luz called, his tone flat and impatient, "You're a paratrooper. Jump already."

Rather than let her pride take a beating, Nora obeyed, jumping onto the rope and swinging out over the lake. The men called out to her when it was time to let go, and she did, allowing a shriek of delight to escape during that distinct moment where her body stopped going up and started going down, but was first suspended in the air for a glorious, carefree moment. She took a breath before hitting the water and pushed off the sandy ground when she felt her toes touch, floating back to the surface. She came up laughing, pushing her wet hair back from her face.

"See? What'd I tell you?" Luz said as the men all cheered, glad to see her enjoying herself.

"Wanna go again?" Lip asked, having overcome his embarrassment.

"Yes," Nora said, swimming back toward the bank.

Winters, Nixon, and Speirs walked along the wooded path toward the lake, discussing plans for physical training to make sure that the men would be ready to deploy to the Pacific whenever the order came. Speirs had already started the men on a training regimen and was updating them on the progress and looking for any feedback Winters had about improvement. It had been Winters' idea to take a walk rather than sit for a meeting, as the lake had become his favorite place in Zell Am See.

When sounds of laughter and delighted shouting reached their ears, the men exchanged amused looks and walked down to the shore to see who was carrying on below. The rowdy group in the water consisted of Lipton, Luz, Babe, Roe, and Nora. Babe and Luz were cupping their hands to make footholds for Nora, who stepped into their grasp and screamed as they launched her into the air. She fell back into the water and came up laughing. The three officers made their way onto the dock to address the party.

"Nora Price," Winters called, his voice chastising, "What are you doing?"

"And why wasn't I invited?" Nixon added, crossing his arms with a playful smirk. Speirs said nothing; his expression was as unreadable as ever.

"Just going for a swim, sir," Nora replied, squinting in the sunlight.

"In your -?" Winters stopped, looking away and putting his hands on his hips.

"These men have already seen me in my underwear, Major," Nora said, feeling reckless.

"Nora, cut it out." Lipton murmured curtly next to her.

"In fact," Nora continued louder, "I think this is Lipton's third time."

Winters gave her a look to show her that he wasn't amused, while Nixon's expression showed that he was immensely amused. Ron, whose hands were also on his hips, was staring down at his shoes. The four men in the water had been with her in Foy when Roe was digging the bullet out of her shoulder, and Luz, Lipton, and Roe had helped her strip when her clothes got too wet in the Ardennes.

"It's true," Babe chimed in, "and actually, Captain Speirs was there once, too."

"And if Sink finds out?" Winters asked her.

"He'd probably send me away," Nora said, feigning a thoughtful look, "Oh, wait."

Nixon snickered, and even the corners of Winters' lips quirked at that. She'd made her point.

"As you were," Winters finally caved, turning and beckoning for Nixon and Speirs to follow.

"Sir, yes, sir," Luz called, dutifully splashing water in Nora's face.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, splashing him back, but getting Roe instead when Luz ducked underwater.

"Easy Company's running The Loop in thirty," Ron called from the dock, staying behind as the other two officers headed back to the walking path. 'The Loop,' though not as steep, was the Zell Am See version of Currahee - it was a 5-mile loop through the woods that they had started running for physical training, "so you'll want to wrap this up."

"Yes, sir," Lipton replied. Ron nodded and turned to follow Winters and Nixon without another word. Nora was vexed by the command - there had been no plan to make Easy run The Loop that night. In fact, they'd already run it once that morning. She felt a bit guilty that the exercise was no doubt a result of her putting Ron in a bad mood.

"Fun's over, I guess," Roe announced, though he didn't seem particularly disappointed for their party to break up. Nora nodded, before turning in the water to address Babe.

"Hey, what was that you said about Captain Speirs?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" He replied.

"You said Captain Speirs was there when I was…" She trailed off, gesturing to her current state of undress to clarify.

"Oh, yeah," said Babe, "When you got shot. He showed up after I gave you the morphine. He was the one who convinced Major Winters to let you stay with Easy instead of going to a hospital."

Nora glanced at Ron's retreating back, which she could still just barely see through the gaps in the trees. She chewed at the inside of her cheek while she considered the information, remembering their argument from a few days prior. He'd told her that he had stepped back to let her take control of her own situation countless times - she'd had no doubts about that claim. She knew it was true. But she hadn't considered whether he'd also been stepping in, behind the curtain of command, to push others for her independence and advancement. Perhaps she had only ever noticed him when he was standing in her way.

"Wait," she said, breaking from her reflections with a shake of her head. She spun back around to face Babe, "you gave me morphine?"

Babe's eyes widened when he realized he'd told on himself, and Nora shoved his head under the water before he could say anything else, using her body weight to push him down and laughing triumphantly.

When the five of them emerged from the water, Roe lent her his towel, and the men did an admirable job of averting their eyes while she got dressed. After handing the towel back to Roe with a thank you, she leaned over and gathered her hair, wringing it out between her hands. The men gathered their things and started making their way back up the path while Nora debated whether to put her socks and boots back on or go barefoot for the moment. Luz stayed back with her, walking alongside her as she opted to scoop up her boots and carry them.

"You talk to Sink yet?" He asked, running his hand back and forth through his hair like a dog trying to shake off water.

"Not yet," She replied, "I have to do it today."

"What are you gonna say?"

As much as it pained her to say it out loud, she forced herself to respond, "I guess I'm going to go on the tour."

Luz nodded, considering her decision, "I think that's a good idea. You wouldn't be able to handle sitting at home."

"Yeah, well, I don't know how useful I'll be with the U.S.O., but at least I'll still be close by," she said.

"You should sing 'Swinging on a Star' for them like you did at that bar in Aldbourne. They'd send you back right away. To the front lines, probably," Luz suggested. Nora, relieved at the levity Luz's joking brought, threw her head back and laughed.

"I don't know what they expect me to do, honestly," She said.

"Oh, I know," Luz said, snapping his fingers, "I could write you a nice little comedy routine."

"Make it a two-man routine like Abbott and Costello, and then I can just convince them that I can't go without you," Nora added.

"Nah, I'd rather face-down a flamethrower in the Pacific than have to perform Who's on First? with you every single night."

"This again," Nora groaned, rolling her eyes. They were coming to the end of the path where the woods met the edge of town, "Abbott and Costello are funny; you're just trying to be contrary."

"I am way funnier than Abbott and Costello," Luz insisted.

"No, you're all wisecracks. Tell me a joke. Right now. No context, just a really funny joke. Go."

"You can't just - okay, fine. So this man walks into a records office and says 'I wanna change my name,'"

"No," Nora interrupts him, making a buzzer sound, "I'm bored already."

"So the clerk asks for the guy's name, and he says his name is Adolf Stinkfoot," He continues.

"Stop," Nora pleads, "Stop. You're embarrassing yourself."

"So the clerk is sympathetic, and he says okay, what do you want to change it to? And the guy says Maurice Stinkfoot."

Nora's head tipped back from the force of her laugh, "that is the worst joke I've ever heard."

"You're laughing, aren't you?" Luz argued, "that's a great joke. Only Nazis don't like that joke."

"If you can walk around telling jokes like that, you don't get to say anything about my singing."

"Nora, you know I love you, but your singing is inhumane. It's no joking matter, honestly."

"Would you like to swing on a star?" Nora sang, "Carry moonbeams home in a jar?"

"Excuse me, officer, this woman is committing war crimes," Luz called out to Lipton, who glanced back at them over his shoulder and laughed.

"And be better off than you are?" Nora persisted, "Or would you rather be a mule?"

"I think you sound great, Nora," Babe called back, though his tone was patronizing.

"I'd better head off to see Sink before PT," Nora told Luz, her mood dampening suddenly. Luz nodded, and she broke off from him, heading in the direction of HQ.

"Hey Nora?" Luz called, causing her to turn around and walk backwards.

"Yeah?"

"Don't be a mule."

When Nora entered Sink's office, she had changed into her PT shorts and t-shirt, braided her wet hair, and had a book tucked under her arm.

"Captain Price," the colonel greeted, sitting back in his chair and lacing his hands together.

"Good afternoon, Sir," she greeted with a respectful nod, standing at attention.

"At ease," he said, "I take it you're on your way to PT?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, "I just stopped by to talk to you about the USO tour."

"And?"

"If that's where the army wants to send me, I'll go," she said resolutely.

"Glad to hear it, Captain," Sink said with an approving nod, "I'm not surprised. You're a damn good soldier."

If you thought I was that good, I would be going to the Pacific, was Nora's immediate reaction, but she held her tongue. She was determined to walk away from this interaction fully composed, with her head held high.

"We'll discuss details later," He said, "you get along to PT."

"One more thing," said Nora, pulling the book out from under her arm and handing it to him. He laid it out on his desk and flipped to the first page.

"It's the ledger from the hotel in Berchtesgaden. Names and dates of everyone who paid a visit in the last year. It accounts for the whereabouts and activities of many men that I imagine will be going to trial now that Germany has surrendered," she explained as he looked over the names. He didn't immediately say anything, so she continued, "I held onto it for a few days to ensure that it made it directly into your hands. I know other important items and records have...gone missing."

"You've got good judgement, Price," He finally said, looking up at her with something that was akin to regret, "This'll be invaluable to the brass. Nice work."

"Thank you, sir," She replied, "Permission to go to PT?"

"Granted."