Last Time: Rebecca and Dick give into their desires.

"It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do." - Moliere

Now: Rebecca and Dick must push their feelings for one another aside as they go back into the fray.


Chapter 22 - Recovery to Relapse

Dick woke up the next morning, rolling over to see his beloved sleeping soundly next to him. He recalled what had occurred last night and began smiling a toothy grin as he saw Rebecca's chest rise and fall as she slept.

Dick looked at her, admiring the curves of her waist and the cascade of stunning brown curls on the pillow next to her as Rebecca continued her silent sleep on her side. Rebecca's face looked so peaceful, so stunningly beautiful, and Dick wondered to himself why it took him so long to realize all of it until now. He lifted up his hand and gently brushed Rebecca's face ever so gently with his thumb, not wanting to disturb her.

He smiled again as her face twitched to the touch, but she continued to sleep.

Dick rolled back onto his back, his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling of the room. The more he thought about last night, the more he smiled. Dick closed his eyes, in an attempt to let sleep find him once more.

Then, cold hard reality set it in.

Dick's eyes snapped open.

As she came down from her high, all of a sudden cold hard reality set in.

A romantic relationship between a commanding officer and someone under his command was improper, out of many other things. If they were to get caught, Dick could be court-martialed and Rebecca could be thrown out of the Airborne all together.

Dick felt numb all of a sudden as he laid in the bad. His stomach dropped and a wave of nausea overtook her.

What have I done?

There was a war going on and both of them had a mission to accomplish. How could they have let this happen? The consequences were too severe. Dick sat up quickly, panic setting in.

He loved her, he always had, but this could never work. Not without keeping it from everyone, and they were bound to get caught eventually. Their jobs, their livelihoods were placed in jeopardy. Dick's reputation was on the line and he was the battalion XO for Christ's sake. The men looked up to him. What would they think if word got out of him being in a scandalous relationship?

As Dick sat up, a sleepy Rebecca arose from her slumber.

"Dick, everything okay?" She asked, rubbing her sleepy brown eyes.

Dick laid back down, slowly and kissed Rebecca on her soft lips.

XXX

Rebecca sat with Dick outside of a quaint cafe, enjoying a light breakfast and some coffee. She put two sugar cubes in her coffee and while she stirred, she looked at Dick. Last night for her meant so much more than just sex. For the first time in a while, she felt loved and Dick made her feel like she was the only woman in the war. The more she looked back at their time together, she couldn't believe it took her so long to realize how much she loved him. Granted, Rebecca had never been in a committed relationship before, but Dick felt like the one. Rebecca felt like she could spend the rest of her life with him, once the war was over at least. She was falling in love right there while she stirred sugar into her coffee.

Although, Dick looked like something was on his mind. "Rebecca, I need to talk to you about something."

Rebecca sensed Dick's demeanor. She straightened up in her chair and put down her cup of coffee.

"Yes?"

She looked at Dick as he shuffled uncomfortably in his chair and failed to make eye contact with her.

"About last night." His voice trailed off.

Rebecca's heart sank. She knew what he was about to say but she had hoped that it just wouldn't come up. Her foolish love-struck heart just hoped that they could make it work. But, the more Rebecca thought about in that microsecond Dick brought it up, the more she realized this was insane.

"Oh." Rebecca only managed to croak out.

"Yes, yes. About last night. We can't act like it didn't happen."

Dick was right. It would be foolish to act as nothing happened. Trying to ignore it and their feelings could ruin their friendship and make any further interaction uncomfortable.

"Of course not," Rebecca paused and sighed. "Listen, Dick, last night, I hadn't felt that way in a long time, not since high school even. I get it, you're Battalion XO and having a relationship with someone under your command is just asking for trouble. You could be court-martialed or worse and I would be sent home. There's nothing really keeping me here. I'm not as important to the company as you are."

Dick grabbed Rebecca's hand and looked at her seriously. "Rebecca, don't you dare say that! You're just as important to the company as anyone. Do you remember how horrible Bull and Johnny Martin felt when you were attacked? They wailed on that prisoner until someone had to pull them off."

Rebecca recalled the aftermath of her attack and how stunned everyone was in Easy when they saw what had happened to her. Someone came to visit Rebecca almost every single day to check up on her and make sure she was comfortable. The boys were practically at her every beck and call, Bull and Martin especially. Rebecca knew they cared about her, but she was certain the people were in charge didn't and were probably waiting for her to slip up.

"I know, I know, but there's so much more to lose for me than you."

Dick frowned when he realized what Rebecca said had some truth to it. Making a huge mistake like, for example, being in a relationship with someone in the company, would wind up with far more serious consequences than if she was a man.

"So, how do we do this?" Dick asked.

"We'll just go back to the way things were before. We have a job to do here. We can't let personal feelings get in the way."

"Absolutely. So, friends?"

"Nothing more," Rebecca confirmed, sadly smiling.

Rebecca knew what was inside her heart. It pained her to have things go back to normal. But there was no place for love in war. She bit her lip in a desperate attempt to keep the tears inside.

"Well, okay then."

Dick picked up his coffee and took a sip but right as he did, someone bumped into his chair, throwing him forward a bit.

"I'm going to go back to my hotel room. I just want to be alone for a bit." Rebecca said, standing up and pushing in her chair.

"I'll go with you," Dick offered, about to stand.

"No, I really just need to be alone, please." Rebecca looked at Dick, the tears welling in her eyes.

He saw that she was visibly upset and killed Dick that he couldn't comfort Rebecca the way he wanted to.

"O-okay. I'm sorry. I'll see you when we board the train then."

XXX

Once Rebecca got back to her room and the door closed behind her, she didn't hesitate to let the tears flow.

She had to be strong for them both and push her feelings down into the deepest confines of her heart where they wouldn't hurt her anymore. Rebecca had to.

XXX

Dick and Rebecca came back in Mourmelon just in time to catch the movie being shown in the projection room. Rebecca however, wasn't too thrilled to find out it was Seven Sinners again; which she had seen about ten times already. The army had a very limited supply of movies so it wasn't uncommon for them to replay the same ones over and over.

As they entered the movie house, Rebecca thought for sure she saw the huge silhouette of Buck sitting in the back of the movie house. Dick and Rebecca sat down behind the towering figure, and sound out, sure enough, it was Buck.

"Hey, Buck. How are you feeling? Your wounds heal, all four of them?" Dick asked.

"Hiya, blue eyes. How's your tush?"

Buck just stared blankly at the screen, not responding or even seeming to register to Dick and Rebecca's attempts to communicate with him.

"You seen this before?" Dick asked again trying to pry something out of the man.

Buck still didn't respond. The more Rebecca looked at him, the more she understood and it made her heart sink. Buck had to have some gruesome stuff while in the hospital. Getting injured in the field was like going from one horror to another. Field hospitals were filthy and downright scary. Men could often be heard screaming in pain because of the lack of proper medication and anesthetics. Nurses and doctors did what they could to improve conditions, but it was still a grisly and disturbing atmosphere. Buck was one of Rebecca's closest friends; he was always so outgoing and funny. Now, it was Buck's his soul was torn and haphazardly stitched back together.

Dick nudged Buck trying to get him to respond, "Buck."

"Hey." He rasped out, finally noticing the two.

"Is it any good?" Dick wondered, still asking about the movie.

"Uh, yeah. It's a real corker." He said.

Dick and Rebecca exchanged worried looks to each other. Buck was there physically, but not mentally. Dick sat back in his chair eyeing Buck curiously. Rebecca still wanted to get a little more out of him.

"Buck, you didn't go AWOL just so you could come back to Easy, did you?" She joked.

Rebecca waited for his response: nothing. Buck had zoned out again. She sighed, leaning back in the chair.

Dammit. She scolded under her breath.

Rebecca looked at the screen and waited for Marlene Dietrich's famous line "Got a penny." and laughed to herself as she heard Luz absolutely butcher the line and repeat it several times before Marlene herself even said it. Rebecca understood Luz's sentiment; he had seen the movie a dozen times like herself and rather than let others enjoy it, he would entertain himself by annoying others with his commentary.

Before the movie could even continue, the theatre house suddenly flooded with light and the projection paused right on poor Marlene. The men in room groused and complained as the two Army technicians barged into the house, marching up the aisle.

"Quiet!" One shouted.

"C'mon," Luz whined, "You can't do that to the Duke!"

"I said, quiet!"

The two men made it up to the podium, ready to deliver some important message. It had better be, the men in the theatre were pretty upset about them cutting off the good 'ol Duke.

"Elements of the 1st and the 6th SS Panzer Division have broken through the Ardennes Forest," One technician began, "Now, they've overrun the 28th Infantry and elements of the 4th. All officers report to respective HQs. All passed are canceled."

The room broke out into even louder roars of petulance.

"Enlisted men report to barracks and your platoon leaders." The technician yelled over the commotion.

The theatre filed out until Buck, Dick, and Rebecca were the only ones that remained. They both waited for Buck to get up and follow them out. He did, ever so slowly.

Rebecca was panicked. Easy had no idea how long they had to gather weapons, ammo, and supplies. Right now, Rebecca's, Roe's, and Spina's main focus were to gather what they could for medical supplies. Much to their dismay, there was hardly anything. All supplies like bandages, morphine, or plasma were what was left over from Holland; that was not much.

XXX

Rebecca was thrown into disarray. The company only had 24-hours to gather what they needed. The only ammunition the men had was what was left in Holland and some didn't even have helmets. Easy wasn't at 100% yet and to make matters worse, their winter issue of clothes hasn't arrived, even K-rations were short.

Rebecca was running around camp like a chicken with her head cut off trying to gather what she needed, but also to make sure Easy had what they needed.

"Gather any warm items you can. I don't care if you strip the goddamn beds, just find something!"

She had made her way into all of the barracks ordering the men to gather as much as they could. Rebecca eventually made it into the sergeant's barracks to talk to Lip. All the sergeants in the barracks were hastily moving around gathering what they could find.

"Lipton, I need to gather more medical supplies. Could you make your way around the barracks and see what the men have for winters clothes?"

"Ma'am, what about you?" Lipton reminded.

Rebecca realized she hadn't even given a second glance at herself; she was far more focused on getting the men ready than herself.

"I'll worry about myself later. Just, please, make your way around the barracks and check on the men." Rebecca insisted, a new worry taking over her.

"Yes, ma'am."

Rebecca quickly made her way to her own quarters to pack. She burst into her room, grabbing her bag and began her hasty packing. When her room was sufficiently stripped, Rebecca grabbed the wool blanket on her bed, took out her scissors from her med bag and cut the blanket in a strip. It would make a perfect scarf. She wrapped up the rest of the itchy material and packed it into her bag.

On her way out the door, Rebecca remembered; she had a stash of francs from her trip to Paris. Rebecca glanced at her watch. They had a few more hours before they needed to load the trucks. She bounded out of the rooms and down the stairs and ran to the nearest jeep.

Rebecca only had to walk just outside her quarters until she found a lone jeep parked in the front. Thankfully, the keys were in it already. The jeep started up with a sputter, probably affected by the cold too. The owner of the jeep was SOL for a while, this was an emergency. Rebecca put it in gear and headed towards the sergeant's barracks again.

"Lipton!" She bellowed, bursting into the door.

Lipton glanced up from what he was doing. "Yes, Captain?"

"You check the other barracks?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, get me Malarkey and Guarnere."

Lipton looked at her curiously at first, but when he saw the conviction in her eye, he yelled for them both.

"Malark, where's Guarnere?" Lip asked.

"With his squad. Why?"

"Malark, I'm taking up a collection of money. The four of us are going to go the surplus to get whatever winter clothes we can find."

Malarkey reached into his pocket and pulled out some loose change. "This is all I have left."

Lipton took the money, "What about all that dough you made at craps?"

"I already deposited the money with the fiscal officer." He sighed.

"It doesn't matter," Rebecca began, "We'll get more."

The three of them exited the barracks and split up. Before finding Guarnere, they each made their way to the remaining huts, ordering for the men to give up their francs. Some did it with a little reluctance, but when they explained it was for winter clothes, they forked over whatever they had.

Lipton gave Rebecca and Malark a pen and paper to jot down each man's name and what they wanted to buy with their money. Rebecca had about twenty names. The three met up to fetch Guarnere. When they found him, he was ordering his squad around, trying to get them to gather what they could.

"Guarnere!," Rebecca yelled, "Guarnere, come here!"

Guarnere met Rebecca's eyes and paced over to her, Lip, and Malarkey.

"What's up, Captain?"

"Tell your men to give over whatever money they have. We're collecting it to get winter clothes. Whatever they want with the money, tell them to find us so we can write it down."

He quickly nodded and jogged off.

Guarnere entered the barracks again, and within no time, a group of men came out with their money and requests for clothes. Everything Rebecca, Lip, Guarnere, and Malark could think of was on the list. The four loaded up the jeep lickety-split and drove to the surplus store on base.

They entered the store like a whirlwind, dumping whole shelves full of socks, scarves, hats, and mitts into wooden crates. The clerk behind the register was yelling at them in French probably thinking they were robbing the place. Rebecca, Lip, Guarnere, and Malark dumped all the money they collected on the clerk's counter. He looked up at them in amazement. It was probably far too much money for what they were buying.

"God bless America!" He sang out. The clerk continued to babble appreciation in French.

"We ready to go?" Lip asked.

"One more thing." Rebecca ran to the back of the store, snagged a thick winter trench coat from the rack, and put it on. "Let's go."

Rebecca drove like a mad woman back to base, going well over the speed limit. No one with her cared. Time was ticking and they would be left behind if they didn't hurry. She parked near her quarters where she hijacked the jeep from. With the help of all three men, they began unloading their loot. Guarnere, Lip, and Malarkey went into all the barracks yelling for everyone to come out and collect what they ordered.

By the time everyone had taken what they bought, there was some left over for the four of them to take. Lip took what he wanted, followed by Guarnere and Malarkey. Even after they got what they wanted, their was still a few items left for Rebecca. She snagged a beanie and some mitts. Whatever was left, she took with her. She wrapped her handmade scarf around her tightly and buttoned her jacket all the way up. Boy, she was happy she had the hat to go under her helmet. The metal from it became so cold it was almost painful to touch.

Rebecca made her way over to the where the men were loading up, crate in hand. She made her way over to the jeeps where the officers were loading up.

"Becca, there you are," Nix worried, "Where the hell have you been?"

Nixon eyed the crate she was carrying curiously.

"A couple of men I did a little shopping." She showed the crate to Nix, displaying whatever was left to take.

"Holy shit, where did you get that from?" Nix ogled, taking a pair of gloves and a scarf.

"It doesn't matter, just take what you need. I still have to give some to Buck, Harry, and Dick."

"Jesus, Becca, you're a lifesaver. They're over here."

Nixon guided her over to where Dick and Buck were.

"Dick!" She called trying to get his attention, "Buck!" Rebecca made it over to him. Much to her expectation, Dick was calm.

"Becca, what'ca got there?"

She presented the crate to them both. "Couldn't have you guys freezing to death out there."

Buck took what he wanted. Dick took the scarf and gloves with much appreciation. "What would I-I mean we, do without you?" Dick stuttered correcting himself.

Rebecca blushed, "There's some in there for Harry."

"I'll give them to him."

Dick, Buck, and Rebecca began walking to look for Harry when Lt. Peacock came out of nowhere.

"Sir?"

"Lieutenant Peacock?" Dick answered.

"Sir, have you seen Colonel Strayer?"

"Where's the company commander?" Dick asked.

"Oh, Lieutenant Dike? I've been looking for him all day."

Rebecca rolled her eyes. It was typical Dike fashion to disappear when his men needed him the most. She hoped that he already had some winter clothes because she really didn't want to give any to him. It seemed childish but Dike was simply not a good leader. Plus, he always had a problem taking orders from her. Rebecca was sure it had everything to do with her being a woman and a higher rank than him. She wasn't even too crazy about Peacock or Shames. The officers commanding Easy were seriously lackluster, and Easy took a serious disliking to them. None of them shared Harry's or Dick's philosophy: leading in the front. None of them could read a map, and all of them had their own problems that made them poor leaders.

"I mean, how is it that the 4th Army's problem gets dumped on the Airborne?" Peacock continued.

Peacock lead them over to an oil drum that was being used as a fire pit. Dick wrapped the scarf around him and put his gloves on, listening to Peacock.

"Well, that's because," Buck began, but was interrupted by Foxhole Norman himself, who decided now was a good time to grace them with his presence.

"Lieutenant Peacock, Lieutenant Compton. Captain Winters, Captain Clark," Dike began, giving Rebecca and Dick a quick salute.

"Oh, Lieutenant Dike, I've been looking for you," Dick began.

Dike approached the group totally underdressed. Rebecca knew however that he probably had a stockpile of clothes for himself somewhere. Dike was very good at providing for himself first before his company.

"Sir, we have a problem," Dike informed.

Rebecca couldn't help but roll her eyes. Dike's problems were never as momentous as he made them out to be. Plus, he was always good at making a mountain out of a molehill instead of worrying about the bigger problems.

"Colonel Strayer has not yet returned from some wedding he's attending in London. Can you believe that? We're going to the front here, and out CO isn't even in the same damn country."

"You have a bigger problem Lt. Dike. You have men returning to action without proper cold weather clothing and not enough ammo." Dick quipped.

"Sir?" Dike puzzled.

"I suggest you take a canvas of the entire base. Get what materials you have before you roll out. Or have you done that already?" Dick asked.

"No, sir."

"K-rations, as many as you can scrounge. We don't know if we're going to be resupplied or not."

"Yes, sir."

"I also suggest finding any medical supplies you can find," Rebecca urged.

"Yes, ma'am."

"What about ammo?" Peacock asked.

"There is no more ammo. Distribute it among the men as best you can so, at least everybody has something," Dick ordered.

"Yes, sir," Dike said, "Lt. Compton, Lt. Peacock, inform Lt. Shames of the situation. Get all your platoons as best equipped as you can, and then report back here to me, Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Buck answered.

Dike dismissed himself leaving just Dick and Rebecca.

"Dick," Rebecca began, "Roe, Spina, and I scrounged everywhere for medical supplies, but we're still short."

Dick sighed, "We'll just have to make due for now. How many medkits and morphine?"

"One crate full." She worried.

"Whatever we have, we'll manage."

"The men are walking into slaughter," Rebecca seethed.

"We're doing the best we can," Dick muttered.

"Mount up!" Someone bellowed.

Dick and Rebecca loaded on a jeep with Nix. She finally took the time to put her mitts on and warm up some. The jeep was in between two trucks holding some of the Easy guys. From the looks of it, the trucks had no benches and the men were packed in like sardines. Judging by the way they were thrown about by every curve and bump, the trucks had no springs either. They looked cold and miserable. At last, the trucks made it the Belgian border and trucks carrying the 101st stopped a few kilometers outside Bastogne.

The men jumped out the trucks, what they called a tailgate jump, stretched, relieved themselves, and smoked whatever cigarettes they had. Rebecca saw some guys filling ditches in the ground with gasoline and lighting them up. Good. She thought to herself. The guys needed to stay warm.

Nix, Dick, and Rebecca hopped out of the jeep, ready to meet Col. Sink and be briefed. Nixon ordered the jeep to stay put and the three of them found Sink.

"Welcome to Belgium," Sink sarcastically greeted, "This area's known as Bastogne. Strategic crossroads town. Seven roads leading in, seven roads leading out, which makes it ideal for Kraut armor."

Dick took out a pen and paper to jot down what Sink was saying, Nix studied the map, and Rebecca just listened.

"Now," Sink continued, "Ike wants to make sure that the Krauts can't use those roads, so we're going to set up a perimeter around Bastogne, dig in tight as a tick. 2nd Battalion will be deployed over here to the east, in this wooded area," Sink informed, pointing at the map.

Behind the group Col. Strayer appeared, having just made it. "Thank God, barely made it."

"Better get yourself OD's, Bob," Sink responded.

"Okay." He said walking away.

"First Battalion's to the north on your left flank, 3rd Battalion's in reserve," Sink hastily finished, entering his jeep.

"Andy, let's roll." He ordered to his driver.

"Sir," Nix began, "We're a little short on ammunition."

"How short?"

"There was a limited supply in camp, sir," Dick replied.

"Cap'n, you beg, borrow, or steal ammo, but you defend this area," Sink ordered, getting into his jeep.

"Yes, sir," Nix and Dick said, saluting.

"Captain Clark, see to the men. How are you fixed for medical supplies?"

"We are grossly low, sir," Rebecca admitted.

"Find what you can. It will be a while before we're resupplied."

"Yes, sir." She fretted, saluting.

Rebecca parted ways with Nix and Dick to find her company, ready to scrounge for supplies. As she approached the hoard of men, Rebecca caught sight of soldiers moving the other direction. They were banged up and walking down the road in retreat. Walking wounded would be putting it lightly, walking dead was more fitting.

"Jesus Christ," Babe stammered.

They were all leaving where Easy would soon be going, Bastogne. Rebecca weaved through the crowd trying to find familiar faces. She found Babe, Guarnere, and Malark in utter shock, watching the procession of soldier limp away in defeat.

"Hey, you're going the wrong way!" Guarnere yelled.

"Hey, pal, hey, pal," Guarnere said trying to stop a trooper, "Hey, pal, hey, pal, what happened," No one stopped until he pulled a man over. "Where the hell are you going?"

"They came out of nowhere, they slaughtered us," A beat up trooper said, "You gotta get outta here."

Rebecca felt her heart lump in her throat.

"We just got here," Babe blurted, confused.

"Gimme your ammo," Guarnere demanded, "C'mon."

The trooper took off his musette bag, handing it over to Bill. "Take it, you'll need it."

"Spread the word around, I want everyone taking something from these guys, weapons, ammo, rations, and medkits, now!" Rebecca ordered.

"You got it, Cap'n," Guarnere resounded.

More guys began pilfering the retreating men for supplies. Rebecca got a crate from the back of a truck and began collecting medkits, morphine, and ammo from them.

"Hey, you," Rebecca barked, stopping a jeep with medics on it, "Gimme the supplies you got."

They gave her what they had, as little as it was and moved forward. Rebecca ordered more men to grab crates and boxes and have the wounded fork over whatever owned, even coats and hats.

The sight of the wounded was very disconcerting and unnerved Rebecca immensely.

What the hell are we getting ourselves into?

A jeep making its way up the road, honking away prompted Rebecca to follow. She followed it over to the edge of the road. "Make a hole! Hey, make a hole! I got ammo, grab what you can!"

"Lieutenant, you're a godsend!" Nix proclaimed, making his way over with Dick. "What's the situation?"

"Well," Lt. Rice began, "I heard you guys were coming in. There was an ammo dump, so, here."

More guys came over unpacking to help unpack the jeep.

"Is it just you guys and the 101st?"

"Looks like," Dick responded.

"What hit you, fellas?" Someone asked.

"Everything," The Lt. stated, "The Krauts had tiger, panthers, S.P.s, Stukers, and infantry that just kept coming."

"What's your name, Lieutenant?" Winters asked.

"George Rice, 10th Armour."

"Good work, son."

Rebecca hoped maybe he had some medical supplies and K-rations, but that chance was short. She glanced around the jeep's trunk bed and wasn't too surprised to find out she was right.

"You got any mortar rounds, sir? We're real short." Skip asked.

"Well, I'll try to make another ammo run if I can, but don't count on anything," Rice said, entering his jeep, "A panzer division's about to cut the road south. Looks like you guys are gonna be surrounded."

"We're paratroopers, Lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded," Dick reassured.

"Good luck," Rice uttered before leaving.

Easy loaded up whatever Lt. Rice brought them and began moving into the woods near Bastogne. Caught with their pants down, Ike decided to use the paratroopers to plug the holes in the lines and hold Bastogne. The 506th dug in east of Bastogne, the Bois Jacques. The lines were thin and they had a lot of ground to cover. Rebecca could hear of heavy firefight coming from the north.

Trouble was coming and they were seriously unprepared. No one knew what to expect or what to tell the men to prepare for. But, Easy and the 101st were trained for this. A mid-March action was not to be. Easy Company would be engaged in the biggest, desperate, and bloodiest battles in army history. Hitler was giving all he had left for this very battle. It would be hell on earth.

- End Chapter -


A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is so short but I hope you guys like it. The recent feedback I've been getting has been amazing and I appreciate it so much! Things about are to get crazy for Easy and Rebecca and I can't wait to share it with you all. School is starting to wind down for me but I'm still going to try my best to get chapters out to ya'll. Thanks for sticking around all this time! :3