Ayy two chapters in two days, look at me go. Also forgot to mention but I hope you guys caught the Grey's Anatomy reference last chapter. Okay, all the usual disclaimers apply, and all feedback is appreciated! Onto the story!
xoxo
News spread quickly about Winter's choice for trial by court-martial. Colonel Strayer had put the Lieutenant on battalion mess until they knew what procedure to follow for the trial. This caused an uprising by the men, furious and scared by the prospect of making the invasion into Europe until Sobel's watch. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
"I will not follow that man into combat." Guarnere shook his head, eyes lifting from his paper to look at the other sergeants seated at the table. Everyone was there, except for Charlotte who they had neglected to tell about their plan. They weren't about to let her join in on their mutiny, seeing as Sobel and probably Sink would see that as an excuse to toss her out on her ass.
"We've gotta do something." Tab muttered as he chewed on his thumbnail, nervously considering the consequences. He wasn't worried about being shot, no. He was worried about Lottie's wrath when she found out. And they had just become friends again.
"Okay. But we'd all better be aware of the consequences." Lipton eyed each of the men. He wanted to make sure each and every one of them knew how this could end.
"I don't care about the consequences." Martin interrupted, glaring up at Lip.
"John...we could all be lined up against the wall and shot. Now, I'm ready to face that," Lip met his glare with equal fervor before addressing the rest of the men once again. "And every one of us had better be too."
"I will not follow that man into combat." Guarnere repeated, and Bull quickly acquiesced his decision. With that, each man drew a single sheet of paper and a pencil from their pockets, issuing their own resignation as a N.C.O. for Easy Company.
Lipton gathered each of the papers, meeting each of their eyes again. "Alright boys, good luck. And we're all clear that not a peep of this gets out to Charlotte, right?"
Tab began chewing on his fingernails again, huffing out a breath he wasn't sure he had been holding.
"Tab?" Lip prompted, his eyebrow raising.
"Yes, of course, I'm not telling her. I don't need her marching up to Sink her damn self." This earned a chuckle from the rest of the men, knowing Charlotte all too well.
"Good." And with that, Lipton was off to deliver the news.
It didn't take long for news to get back to Charlotte about the N.C.O.s mutiny. She wasn't sure if gossip spread faster among women or soldiers. As soon as she heard the news, Lottie went looking for the group of men to chew them out and hoping she would still get that chance.
She came across the men as they came out of battalion mess, grouped together and thankfully still alive.
"You are all so dead. If you aren't already being shot I will kill you myself, I swear to God." Charlotte practically growled, storming up to them. She hit them each individually, smacking their arms or the back of their heads, whatever she could reach. "What the fuck were you thinking? You could have died! And left your men alone for the invasion! What then? Did you even think?"
The men looked around guiltily, not wanting to meet her eyes like children that had been caught by their parents doing something naughty. "Dollface, calm down. What did you expect us to do? We can't follow Sobel into combat and we needed something drastic to get his attention." Guarnere finally spoke up, stepping closer to her.
"Fuck off. Let me give you a hint, Bill, don't ever tell a woman to calm down." Lottie huffed, eyes narrowing at the men. A few of the men chuckled at that but were quickly silenced by a stern look from Charlotte. "I know you had to do something drastic. But you could have died. And you didn't even tell me. If he had decided to shoot you, I would have never been able to say goodbye." She tried her best to stay angry but her worry had clouded over now, and she quickly went down the line, hugging each one of them, Bill, Bull, Grant, Ranney, Martin, Lip, Tab.
"You know why we didn't tell you, princess. We couldn't let you do what we did." Lipton spoke up, ringing his cap nervously in his hand before replacing it back on his head.
"I wouldn't have joined, I'm not as stupid as you men are," Charlotte smirked as the men loudly protested, and they knew they were forgiven when she laughed loudly. "Just please, if you're going to do something as stupid as that again, tell me ahead of time so I can tell you just how stupid you're being."
"Alright, fine doll. We'll be sure to involve you in our next mutiny." Guarnere rolled his eyes, taking her arm and leading her away from the building with the rest of the men. Each of them saluted Winters as they walked by, and Charlotte hoped he hadn't heard her tirade, but the look on his face told her that he had. Maybe that meant he would get his shit together soon too.
May 31, 1944
Upottery, England
Sobel was gone. Transferred to a jump training center. Charlotte didn't care the name, or where it was. Hell, as long as she never had to feel Sobel's wrath again, she didn't care where he ended up. Easy company drank for nearly 24 hours in celebration, and Lottie was forced to concede that maybe, just maybe, a mutiny was the right thing to do.
With Sobel leaving, they gained two new Lieutenants. The first being a handsome, all-American-looking man by the name of Lynn "Buck" Compton. He was shocked when introduced to Charlotte, second-guessing the army's decision to allow a woman into combat. Of course, that was until he saw her shoot, and then he was fully behind her, typical gender roles be damned.
The second being their new leader, Lieutenant Thomas Meehan. He never once questioned Charlotte's abilities, and she respected him all the more for it.
When the trucks pulled into the airfield, Charlotte followed her bunk assignment for second platoon, throwing her pack onto the first bed she saw and dropping her helmet next to it.
"Hey, I wanted that bed." George pouted as he came in behind her, earning a laugh from the woman.
"Well, you snooze you lose, Georgie. You can be on top."
George broke into a childish Cheshire grin, and he couldn't stop his eyebrows from wiggling. The men that had entered after all broke into laughter, and Charlotte's face turned almost as red as her hair. "I didn't mean it like that! Jesus, you boys need to get laid."
"Well, if you're offering." Floyd winked, setting his pack on the bed nearest her.
"You wish." She rolled her eyes, lifting her middle finger with a grin in his direction. The rest of the men were shocked at the sudden change in their friendship, but they were just happy they weren't fighting anymore. George was the only person she had told about them making up.
George glared over at Tab as he lifted his pack and set it on the top bunk but quickly looked away when Charlotte had looked up. "I'm starved, let's go find something to eat." He grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the tent before she could protest.
Tab watched after them, sighing slowly. George wasn't about to allow Tab anywhere near her, and Tab knew exactly what that meant.
"I hear they're showing that new John Wayne movie tonight. I haven't got all the lines memorized yet." George grinned over at her. Charlotte had stopped watching any sort of movie with Luz as he would only recite each of the lines from memory, completely ruining the movie experience.
"Oh really? And you expect me to believe that?" She laughed, bumping her shoulder into his.
"Hey, would I lie to you?" Luz pouted, and Lottie nodded at him quickly.
"Of course you would. You lied about the bet you and the men made against me when I first transferred." She countered, eyebrows raising. She had just recently discovered the bet that had been made about how long she would last, George, being the winner of course with his bet that she would make it all the way, but she hadn't forgiven them for making it in the first place.
"Hey, hey, I didn't lie about it. I just didn't tell you. That's not lying." Luz grinned, offering a cigarette as a peace offering which she gladly accepted.
"That's called omitting the truth, and that's definitely still lying. And you owe me a portion of your winnings too." Luz whined dramatically at that, leaning against her and causing her to stop walking to hold them up. She laughed loudly, shoving him off to get him to stand back up. "You'll be my cigarette supplier until this war ends, I guarantee it. Now come on, I'm starving."
The next few days were spent studying sand tables and maps for the invasion. All of their energy was focused on studying, and Charlotte felt her eyes glaze over more than once as she attempted to focus on the map that was in front of her. She wanted to be fully prepared, able to draw the map of the causeway and the two beaches by memory. She had a feeling the German's wouldn't exactly allow them to waltz right in, so preparation for any outcome was crucial.
"Gene," Charlotte whined, rubbing her eyes as she sat up from the map she had started.
"Lottie," Gene whined back, mocking her with a soft grin. "Cher, you know this, I promise you do. Just don't think so hard, you'll only stress yourself out."
"Yeah, easy for you to say," Lottie grumbled, resting her chin on her hand. "Mister smarty-pants." She knew she was being childish, only because she was starting to become scared. Scared of where this would end. Who they would lose.
"Here, I'll help," Roe murmured, moving to sit directly across from her. He flipped over the piece of paper she had started working on, grabbing her hand and putting the pencil back into her grip. "Now, I know you know this. Where are we supposed to be landing?"
"St. Marie Du Mont." Lottie replied, quickly scribbling out the basic land structure and labeling it.
"And what are the nearby towns?" Gene's voice was so calm and reassuring, she felt herself instantly relaxing, the answers coming to her quickly.
"10 kilometers away is Carentan, and 5 km away is La Madeleine." She added those two points to the map, a smile forming as the map started to take shape.
"St. Mere-Eglise is here...and this is St-Come-Du-Mont." Charlotte murmured to herself, filling in the rest of the map, unaware of Gene smiling down at her.
"See, I told you, Cher, it's all up there. You just have to believe in yourself." Lottie grinned as she looked up to meet his eyes, launching herself over the table to hug him tightly.
"Gene, you're the best. Anything you want, you name it." Charlotte kissed his cheek loudly before gathering up the map, shouting to George to brag that she had it all memorized before him. Gene blushed, shaking his head at the woman in front of him.
The following day, the sun hung high and bright in the sky as each man, and woman, packed up the essentials to be taken with them on their jump.
"Three days supply of K-rations, chocolate bars, charms candy, powdered coffee, sugar, matches, compass, bayonet, entrenching tool, ammunition, gas mask, musette bag with ammo, my webbing, my .45, canteen, two cartons of smokes, Hawkins mine, two grenades, smoke grenade, gamma grenade, TNT, this bullshit, and a pair of nasty skivvies." Toye listed angrily, slamming the skivvies down onto the tarmac.
"What's your point?" Frank called from beside him, arranging his own assortment of items.
"This stuff weighs as much as I do, probably double what princess over there weighs. And I've still got my chute, my reserve chute, my mae west, and my M-1." Toye grumbled, kneeling in front of the items.
"I'm flattered you think I'm that tiny, Joe, but I do believe you're wrong." Charlotte rolled her eyes, smirking as she organized her own items.
"Where are you keeping your brass knuckles?" Frank grinned at the two of them, standing.
"I could use some brass knuckles," Toye replied thoughtfully, and Charlotte knew he was planning on finding himself a set of brass knuckles before the jump.
"Clark! Clark!" Charlotte looked up as her name was called, standing as well and raising her hand.
"Here, Vest!" She called for the mail carrier, grinning as he handed her a package before walking off in search of Talbert.
"Dear Lottie, give 'em hell for us." She read quietly to herself, grinning as she saw who it was signed by. Talbert quickly ran up to her, hands holding a similar-looking package, Liebgott not far behind.
"You got one too?" He called, kneeling in front of her pack.
"Hell yes, I did. It's from my dad, of course." Charlotte smiled brightly, opening the package and pulling out a well-cared for, shiny revolver.
"Woah, you gotta love cops." Tab grinned, pulling a matching revolver from his own box.
"Phew, that's a beauty." Liebgott replied, eyeing the weapon Lottie held in her hands appreciatively.
"Well, be nice to me Lieb, and I may let you have a turn." She winked, laughing loudly as he gave her a smirk.
"I may just take you up on that offer." Joe winked back before standing and walking back over to his own pile.
"Hey, I got one too! What am I, chopped liver?" Tab grumbled, stalking after him.
Charlotte rolled her eyes, grabbing the leg beg and sitting back on her butt as she tried to figure out how exactly to work it.
"Does anybody have any idea how the hell this thing works?" George asked, holding up a strap she could only assume belonged to the leg bag.
"Who the hell knows? Why are they springing these on us now?" Malarkey called out from his spot a couple of feet down, holding up his own canvas bag.
"It's just an extra 80 fucking pounds strapped to your leg." Lottie sighed, shaking her head as George turned to her, replying she also had no idea how it worked. They didn't exactly have demonstrations.
Charlotte knew quickly that the leg bag would not be a good idea so she determined to only pack the non-essentials in there. The rest, like her smokes and her gun and ammo and grenades, went into her regular back. She chain-smoked a few cigarettes, to lighten the load of course, and forced the zipper to close, grinning triumphantly. The rest she stuffed into her leg back, standing up and moving to attach it to her hip.
"Is that how this goes?" Lottie grumbled to herself, bending at the waist to eye the strap and the clasp.
"Need some help?" Tab walked up, his own bag securely attached.
"Yes, please!" Charlotte held the straps out to him, and he grinned as he kneeled in front of her, reaching his hand between her legs and securely attached it. She blushed at the contact, eyes looking anywhere but the man at her feet. Her gaze fell upon George and immediately she shivered at the look of anger in his eyes. He was glaring at Tab, and as she felt the last strap get tightened she stepped back quickly.
"Thanks." She muttered, moving back to grab her pack from the ground, eyes looking back and forth between George and Tab, who now glowered at each other.
"You gonna do mine too, Talbert?" George asked, holding up his own strap.
Tab didn't reply, instead turning and heading back over to where the rest of his items laid. Lottie let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Georgie, are you okay?" She asked after a moment, as he had yet to look away from where Tab had walked.
Luz took a moment to reply, looking back toward her with a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't like seeing him grabbing all up on you like that. That's my job." He grinned, and she couldn't help but laugh.
"You know it's not like that. Floyd is just a friend." Charlotte shook her head, smiling as she walked over to him. "Here, I think I know how to hook it up now."
"Easy Company! Listen up, gentleman!" Lieutenant Meehan called out, standing on the hood of a jeep near the edge of the tarmac.
Charlotte cleared her throat loudly, looking over at him. "And lady!" She beamed at him, nodding in thanks as the rest of the group chuckled.
"The channel coast is socked in with rain and fog. No jump tonight. The invasion has been postponed, we're on a 24-hour stand-down." Meehan called out over the grumbles and groans of the men, and Charlotte whined especially loud.
"I just got all this dumb grease on, this is gonna be a bitch and a half to get off." Lottie grumbled, reaching for the strap to her leg back to take it off.
"Just leave it on then, that's what everyone else will probably do." Luz appeared next to her, shrugging as she looked up at him with disbelief.
"No, absolutely not. My skin will suffer enough during this war, I don't need to help it." Charlotte shook her head, already rubbing at the grease on her cheeks as they walked toward their bunk to drop their belongings.
"Well, excuse me." Luz held up his hands in defense, smirking as she bumped her shoulder into him. "So, now you have no excuse not to watch the movie with me tonight, as I know you don't already have plans."
"Alright fine, I'll go. Only if you help me find water to wash my face with."
"Deal."
The movie started out quiet, George keeping his mouth shut for at least the first half. Lottie sat on one side of him, Malarkey on the other, and Lieb next to her. Charlotte shifted every couple of moments, the metal chairs not meant for sitting for long periods of time so she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Each time she moved the chair squeaked, albeit quietly but enough for the men around her to glare her way. Finally, George put his hand on her leg as she shifted again, turning his attention from the movie.
"Princess, I love you, but please...shut up." Luz pleaded quietly.
"Oh, you want me to shut up? Do you not see the irony in this situation?" Charlotte glared at him, whispering sharply.
"Doll, he's not the one making all the noise." Liebgott replied, smirking over at her.
"Fine, fine. I'll just go find something else to do." Charlotte grumbled, standing up and moving to exit the aisle, muttering angrily to herself. "Oh, and Dorothy and Joe get together in the end. So there." She spoiled the ending of the movie, earning loud protests from the men around them.
"How could you, princess?" Malarkey whined, leaning back in his seat with a huff.
Charlotte stuck her tongue out at them before making her way over to the exit, exhaling loudly as she stepped outside. She took a deep breath, grabbing for a cigarette and then searching for a lighter. She looked up as Bill stepped out of the movie tent, frantically flicking his own lighter.
"Hey...Bill, are you okay?" Lottie approached him cautiously, reaching out to take the lighter from his trembling hands to light his cigarette and then her own.
"Where the fuck is Monte Casino?" He asked after a beat of silence.
Charlotte shook her head slowly, shrugging after a moment, "Italy, I think." She didn't pose any further questions, instead sitting down on the nearest bench, grabbing his hand to pull him down next to her.
They sat in silence for several minutes, holding hands and watching as jeeps drove around on the tarmac before he finally reached into his own jacket and pulled out the letter, handing it to her.
Charlotte looked it over using the moonlight, mouthing the words as she read, letting out a sigh. "Oh, Bill, I'm so sorry. War is hell." She handed it back after a moment and rested her head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand. He didn't say anything else, and she didn't press him for another response. She was sure this was only the beginning of their losses.