Joined Forces, Borrowed Trouble

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 6

"Troy."

Troy looked from the base commander to Moffitt. Moffitt's eyes were open and he was watching the two men talked. His voice was weak but it sounded like music to Troy's ears.

"Moffitt!"

The base commander smiled at the two sergeants, their bond apparent in their greeting. His misgiving about their relationship was settled in his mind as he watched them interact. There was no doubt in his mind that the American sergeant was truly happy to see his British counterpart awake.

"How are you feeling Doctor?" Troy leaned over Moffitt to check his eyes. "You look better."

"Better than what?" Moffitt groaned.

"Better than the way that you looked when we brought you here four days ago. "

"Four days?" Moffitt appeared shocked.

"Yep." Troy nodded.

"Is Tully all right? Where is he?" Moffitt struggled to look around.

Troy smiled, relieved to see Moffitt awake and alert. "Tully's okay. They kept him overnight to keep an eye on him but they released him the next morning. He's with Hitch."

"I saw him flying through the air just before everything went black." Moffitt admitted. "I was worried about him."

"We've all been worried about you. Tully and Hitch just left about an hour ago. They'll be glad to know you finally decided to wake up." Troy smiled at Moffitt.

"After that battle, I think I earned a little nap." Moffitt smiled at the American sergeant. "In fact, I think I'll take another."

"Go ahead, we'll be around if you need anything."

Moffitt nodded sleepily, yawning widely.

"Perhaps we should go find your privates and let them know the sergeant is awake and we can take care of that other problem too." The base commander suggested.

Troy watched as Moffitt's breathing slowed and evened out. "They were headed back to our quarters Sir."

"I'll walk over with you Sergeant." The British Captain offered. "You can give them the good news and perhaps we can come up with some way to solve this other problem. My men do not usually have a problem with American soldiers; other than the usual rivalry."

"I think that this may have more to do with Sergeant Moffitt being part of our unit than any rivalry Sir. Hitch, Private Hitchcock, said that they were very specific about that."

"I must admit,' the Captain replied, "I was a bit confused as to how that came about. Just how did the sergeant end up assigned to your unit?"

"We drew an assignment to blow an abandoned British ammo dump. Sergeant Moffitt was sent along as a desert expert to make sure that we found it before the Germans did." Troy shrugged, "We'd just lost a man and had an opening in our ranks. Sergeant Moffitt fit in with our methods, not an easy thing to do. I put in a request to keep him, he got along with Hitch and Tully, and I liked him. It turned out, he had put in a request to stay; he liked the way we worked. We've been together ever since."

"And have there been any problems where chain of command is concerned?" The Captain asked curiously.

"No." Troy replied honestly. "Jack, Sergeant Moffitt, accepted me as leader and immediately won the respect of the privates. We're a tight group Captain; we take care of each other."

"And the privates accepted him without a problem? They take his orders?"

"They like and respect him Captain. As far as they're concerned, he's one of us. There are no Americans and Brits Sir, we're all the same. They'd follow him anywhere…and he'd do anything for them."

"Sounds like a very good combination Sergeant. I checked your records; you have some very impressive references." The Captain smiled, not ashamed to admit that he had checked on them.

"Thank you Sir, we do our best."

The two arrived at the visitor's quarters where Troy and his men were quartered. Troy led the way to their room. He knocked and pushed the door open without waiting for an answer. The room was dark and he expected to find both privates in their cots. Lighting a lantern, he turned to the cots. He froze at the sight of the empty beds.

"I thought you said they were coming straight here." The Captain remarked as the empty cots were illuminated.

"They were Captain. Tully said they would stay in well-populated areas but they would make their way right back here."

The Captain raised his eyebrows at the statement. The absence of the privates appeared to be cause for concern. "I suggest that we try to retrace their path Sergeant. Perhaps someone saw them or knows where they went."

Troy chewed on his lip with worry as he extinguished the lantern and returned it to the table. "Do you want to start here or go back to the hospital and start there?"

"I suggest that we return to the hospital. We may find someone who saw them leave. We know they left there but never arrived here. They could have been stopped anywhere in between."

"Yes Sir. I suggest that we watch for large gatherings of men." Troy tried to decide how best to conduct a search.

"Why is that Sergeant?"

"My men won't go down without a fight Captain. They'll try to avoid trouble, but they won't take a beating without giving back as good as they get."

"Let's hope it didn't come to that Sergeant, but I suppose it might be wise to check with the hospital to see if any new patients were admitted."

The hospital didn't have any new patients to report, much to the relief of Troy and the Captain. They asked around and found several witnesses that could tell them which way the privates had gone.

They kept asking everyone they met, finding others who admitted seeing the American privates. The trail led them toward the visitor's quarters, through the center of the base.

Troy's concern grew as they traveled further and found no sign of his men. Loud laughter drew his attention. Coming around a corner, he and the Captain spotted a group of men ahead, standing around a central focal point.

"Wait Sergeant." The Captain threw out a hand to halt Troy's forward progress. "They seem to be calm enough, let's not rush into something until we understand it a bit better."

Troy looked into the calm face of the Captain and nodded tightly. They approached the group without attracting any attention. They weren't noticed as they paused just outside the light coming from the motor pool.

Tully and Hitch were in the center of the group. Tully was in the process of explaining how to get more speed out of a jeep motor.

"But mate, how do you know if your adjustments are correct?" Someone in the crowd called.

"Easy." Tully drawled. "If the revenuers catch you, the adjustments are off."

There was a round of laughter at the explanation.

Troy grinned. Catching the Captain's eye, he tilted his head back the way they had come. The Captain nodded and retreated to an alley that ran along the motor pool.

"I guess they found some common ground on their own Captain."

"It would appear that way." The Captain agreed with a smile. "I guess I can return to my own duties now. Are you satisfied with the situation as it appears?"

"Yes sir, thank you Captain."

"Are you coming Sergeant?" The Captain paused to wait for Troy.

"No Sir. I think I'll stick around and let Tully and Hitch know that Moffitt is awake."

"As you wish, good night Sergeant."

Troy listened to the rest of Tully's detailed explanation as he waited for someone to notice him. Once someone saw him, the two privates hurried to his side, concerned that something had happened to Moffitt. He hurried to tell them the news, putting their fears to rest. The news, though happily received, broke up the gathering. Tully and Hitch walked with him back to their quarters.

Tully explained that they had had every intention of going straight to their quarters, but, on passing the motor pool, had heard a mechanic venting his frustrations at some mechanical problem. Realizing what was causing the problem, Tully and Hitch had stopped to explain the solution. One thing had led to another until a crowd had formed and they had gotten into several heated debates over mechanical subjects. Once the British mechanics had been convinced that the 'Yanks' knew what they were talking about, they had combined forces to fix the problem.

"They aren't a bad bunch of guys once you get to know them." Tully remarked around his trademark matchstick.

Troy smiled at the antics of his men, not surprised that they had won over the suspicious, edgy Brits.

"I don't mind that you stopped to help at the motor pool." Troy told them. "But I think we need to get some rest. As soon as Moffitt is ready we will need to get back to our own base, Maybe your new friends will loan you some tools so you can get the jeep ready to roll; I want it in good shape since we're all going to be riding home in one jeep."

"Not really Sarge." Hitch responded with a smile. "The Lieutenant sent someone out to retrieve our other jeep. They got it back here this afternoon. Tully and I are going to look at it tomorrow after breakfast and see if we can get it running again."

Troy smiled in the dark. 'Yes, he had a good team'. The combination was better than he had ever hoped for or expected; he thanked his lucky stars and unlocked the door to their quarters. While Moffitt recovered, his two privates could keep busy fixing their ride. They still had a war to fight…and win.