Last Time: Rebecca befriends a P.O.W. after working in the field hospital.

"I observed a thousand acts of courage, compassion, and love [as a P.O.W.] and I will cherish that memory above all others." - John McCain

Now: Rebecca visits Erwin in prison.


Chapter 34 - A Beautiful Soul

It had been a week since Rebecca last worked with the P.O.W.s in the hospital. She thought a lot about Erwin, how he was fairing in confinement, and if Gisela wrote him back or not. As soon as Rebecca arrived back on base, she brought the letter to Vest to be mailed, and she hoped it made it back to her. Letters were mailed and received slowly as it was for Allies, let alone a P.O.W.s, so she wasn't sure. Apart from her wanted to visit Erwin herself and confirm her suspicions, but her obligations to the company made it more difficult to see him. Not to mention she was never sent back to the hospital to work with the P.O.W.s.

Easy Company was kept constantly occupied with PT, drills, and Rebecca felt swamped with her first aid classes. Every man in the company had to receive a passing grade of an eighty or higher on both written and practical tests and those who were failing spent time after class with Rebecca practicing their skills. This meant any free time she had, Rebecca spent sleeping in the barracks. By some stroke of luck, on a rainy and cold day, she didn't have any tutoring. Finally, Rebecca decided to visit Erwin.

Rain splattered atop the jeep's plastic canvas. No doubt, today would've been a perfect day for Rebecca to curl up in bed and sleep, or even go to the bar with the boys, but she couldn't possibly let this opportunity to see Erwin pass. As the jeep made its way down the road, splashing up puddles of dirty water as it trekked along, the stockade slowly became more visible through the sheets of fog and rain. Rebecca had no idea what used to occupy the building before it was turned into a prison, but it looked positively dreadful. Its gray and dreary appearance fit perfectly with the inclement weather. The many windows spaced apart on the brick were barred up and a tall barb wire fence with one gate surrounded the structure. Rebecca had never been to a prison before. She knew somewhat to expect based on the movies she had seen, but since this was a military prison, it filled her with an odd sense of dread. She knew there wouldn't just be prisoners of war occupying the stockade. Any soldier who committed an act deemed worthy enough would be imprisoned too. Rebecca pushed her thoughts aside. She survived in battle; how much worse could prison be?

The jeep pulled up to the prison's front gate where it was met with multiple MPs with rifles strapped to their chests. One glanced at the driver, then at Rebecca. "Gooday, ma'am," the guard greeted, "What's the nature of your visit?"

Peeking her head through the window, Rebecca politely answered the guard. "I'm here on personal matters to visit a prisoner." The MP nodded and waived the jeep through. When it halted and Rebecca walked through the prison doors, she met more MPs this time only armed with pistols. Once again, Rebecca was asked about the nature of her visit and who she was seeing. After answering a few more questions regarding what outfit she was a part of, Rebecca was granted a visitor pass and was led to the officer's cell block on the first floor, accompanied by an MP. It didn't take much time to find Erwin's cell. What stood out to Rebecca the most was the bare-boned nature of the prison. There were a few tables with chairs in the center of the cell block and two floors of cells within it. Inside each cell was a metal slab protruding from the wall with a thin cloth mattress, a bucket in the corner most likely acting as a toilet, another bucket filled with water, a table with toiletries, and a mirror. It certainly was bleak, but Rebecca supposed it was a prison after all. It wasn't supposed to be a five-star hotel.

Finally, she reached Erwin's cell. He sat laid upon his wrack, his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. Something Rebecca noticed was, despite his current lot in life, Erwin still looked somewhat put together. He was clean-shaven, his hair combed and parted and his uniform, undoubtedly dirty, was still in perfect order and tucked in.

Rebecca pulled up a chair on the other side of the metal bars and sat down. "Care for a visitor?"

Erwin quickly sat up from his nap, a smile breaking out on his face. "Captain Clark, what a pleasure!"

His kind voice and smile made Rebecca feel relieved. Despite how dreadful the prison was, it appeared Erwin's mood was still in good condition. "It's good to see you in such good spirits. How have you been?"

Erwin sat at the edge of his bed near the cell's door to face Rebecca. "I have had much alone time, that is for certain. It's given me a lot of time to reflect."

Rebecca arched her brow, not sure what Erwin meant. "What have you been reflecting on exactly," she chuckled.

"I've been thinking about baby names and how Gisela is coming along with the pregnancy."

Rebecca could hear a bit of guilt in Erwin's cadence. She couldn't even imagine how difficult it must be for him to miss out on his wife's pregnancy. "What are you thinking?" Rebecca asked, trying to lighten Erwin's mood.

"If we have a boy, I was thinking naming him after my grandfather, Arthur."

"And if it's a girl?" Rebecca queried.

"I was thinking of Rebecca."

Rebecca's eyes widened and smile a flashed on her face. "Really," she exclaimed.

Sensing her excitement, Erwin grinned. "Yes, it's a beautiful name and it belongs to a beautiful soul. I could only hope my child is as kind and brave as you."

Blushing, Rebecca placed a hand on Erwin's through the cell bars. "With you as their father, I know they will be."

For the next two hours, Rebecca and Erwin talked about the baby, Gisela, and home life. The time flew right by and before she knew it, the MP told Rebecca her visit was over.

Dragging the chair back over to the table in the center of the block, Rebecca said goodbye.

"Don't worry, I'll be back to visit as soon as I can."

"And don't worry about me, I'm not going anywhere," Erwin assured, grinning at Rebecca.

She chuckled, noticing how much his mood seemed to improve after her visit. "I'll be back soon! And if you need me to mail any more letters to Gisela, just write them up for me and I'll be more than happy to send it out for you!"

XXX

"Don't you think it's a bit suspicious that you're visiting a P.O.W. and sending his mail?" Nixon questioned.

Rebecca was a bit taken aback by his question. "Why on earth would it be suspicious? An MP is watching us the whole time. It's not like we're trading war secrets or something," she huffed.

Surely Nix was reading too much into it. Rebecca knew Erwin personally now. He wasn't a troublemaker by any stretch of the imagination. "Don't you think you're being a little bit paranoid?"

"I'm an intelligence officer, I get paid to be paranoid."

Rebecca brushed off Nix's delusions, leaving the barracks and hopping into the jeep.

It was a beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, and the perfect day to visit Erwin. Perhaps Rebecca would even be able to visit with him outside. As the jeep approached the prison, it appeared most of the P.O.W.s were outside enjoying the gorgeously warm day. Getting closer to the prison yard, Rebecca noticed there was an awful lot of commotion. Prisoners were standing around in what looked to be a circle with MPs running about. It looked like a scuffle happening between either two prisoners or a prisoner and a guard, but the jeep wasn't close enough to tell yet. Finally, once it stopped at the entrance, an MP at the front gate approached them.

"I'm sorry ma'am, you can't enter until the yard is secure."

"What's going on?" As soon as the question rolled off of Rebecca's tongue, a shot from an MPs rifle exploded out, startling everyone, including the MP at the gate.

"Ma'am you must leave, now, the scene is not safe!"

In the confusion and before the driver had a chance to back up the jeep, Rebecca jumped out and ran right past the flabbergasted MP.

"Captain, stop!" The guard called out to her. It was too late; however, Rebecca was already pushing through the crowd of prisoners and guards. Whatever just happened, surely, they could use a medic. What Rebecca saw at the center of the circle left her mortified. There, in the middle of it, all laid a prisoner lying face down, a hole in the back of the head from the rifle that was just shot.

"What happened here?" Rebecca nearly screamed out at the MP who must have been the one who shot the prisoner. His rifle was still in his hands, smoke pluming from the barrel.

"Nothing to worry, Captain, just a Kraut who got too big for his britches. He tried to attack another guard, so I dropped 'em." The guard's cavalier tone made Rebecca recoil in disgust.

She looked down at the prisoner again and flinched as the MP, without a care in the world, kicked the prisoner over with his boot. All the blood drained from Rebecca's face and her stomach dropped to her feet. The prisoner who the MP gunned down had Erwin's face, his hair, and a bullet wound in his forehead. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be.

Rebecca dropped to her knees and held Erwin's still warm hand. His stunning blue eyes, now half shut, were glossed over and lifeless. "No, no, it can't be you," whispered Rebecca, pleading to him.

"What do you care? He's just a filthy Kraut" Rebecca heard the MP sneer.

She leaped to her feet and just as quickly as she did, with all her strength, Rebecca pushed the MP to the ground. "You fucking animal! You piece of shit!" Rebecca shrieked. Two other guards quickly came up behind her, holding her back before she could pounce on top of the MP who killed Erwin.

"Captain, stop, stop!" One screamed in her ear. Rebecca looked at the man who murdered Erwin. His face scrunched in confusion as he was helped up by another MP.

Handcuffs were tightened around Rebecca's wrists and pushed away from the crowd. Her mind was reeling with confusion, sadness, anger, and her eyes stared blankly ahead. For the first time in her life, Rebecca sat behind prison bars on the cold floor of a cell. Her head was buried in her hands, tears trailing down her face. The picture of Gisela kept appearing in her mind as well as Erwin's lifeless eyes. Now, Gisela would be a widow and her child without a father.

Rebecca just couldn't understand how this happened. Erwin would never just attack a guard without reason. Or maybe, she didn't know him as well as she thought.

"Are you Captain Rebecca Clark?" A German voice asked in the cell next to her.

Rebecca looked up and shuffled over to the side of her cell. "Yes," she sniffed, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

"Then you should know, Erwin didn't just randomly attack that MP. He got between him and another prisoner. Erwin tried to protect the prisoner from being beaten and when he wouldn't get out of the way, the guard shot him in the back of the head!"

Rebecca knew Erwin wouldn't just assault an MP. "Thank you for telling me."

Still sitting on the floor, Rebecca saw a well-kept pair of boots walk up to her cell. Looking up at the visitor, she quickly glanced back down when she saw who it was.

"Becca," Dick stooped down to meet her face, "Why did you attack an MP?"

Still not meeting Dick's gaze, she wiped her runny nose on her blouse. "Does it matter?"

She took his silence as a confirmation. "He killed an innocent prisoner."

"The one you knew?" Dick asked, reaching through the bars to touch her shoulder.

"Yes, and now his wife and his unborn child don't even get to bury him."

Rebecca finally looked at Dick and was surprised to see not anger, but concern. His eyes pierced through and for a moment she felt like he understood why she acted the way she did.

He sighed to himself and stood up. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

- End Chapter -


A/N: Hi, friends! I'm so glad to bring you all another chapter. Life has been coming at me pretty fast, but I still have a obligation to not only myself, but you all as well to finish this story. I really do enjoy writing Rebecca's story and I can't wait to finally finish it. I'm still not acting on any specific time frame to finish up, but I'm hoping to write some more this summer. It's time to put a nail in this coffin! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was kind of a sad one, but I really felt it was important to illustrate a P.O.W.s narrative and try to convey the humanity they have, despite being the enemy. War isn't always black and white. If you enjoyed, please, drop me a comment and let me know what you think! :3