DISCLAIMER: I still only own Nikki and David. No disrespect is meant toward the real men of Easy Company.
If anyone is looking to sell Matthew Settle, I think I've saved enough. :)
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, you kept me motivated.
Chapter 5 Foy to Haguenau
It was the next day when Nikki finally regained consciousness. Her head was pounding and for a moment, she had no idea where she was. Reaching up to touch where her head was hurting someone grabbed her hand.
"Easy love, it's okay. You just hit your head and needed stitches, but everything is okay now."
Groaning she finally managed to open her eyes. David was sitting next to her, holding her hand.
"How long have I been out?"
David smiled, yep, she was much better. "You've been out for about a day. If you didn't wake up we were going to load you into a truck and move you with the rest of this junk."
He watched her face as she tried to put together the pieces of the last day she was probably missing.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Nikki frowned, "I remember putting my boots on and us arguing about me leaving, and that's it. What's going on, why is everyone packing up?"
"We're moving into the woods around Foy. General Patton decided to show up while you were out; made a big fuss over saving us, but now Colonel Sink wants to take Foy before the Germans have a chance to regroup."
Nikki pushed up into a sitting position and reached for her helmet. "Well why are we still sitting here, I need to get back out." She stopped moving in an effort to let the wave of dizziness pass.
David helped her to her feet, he could tell she was still dizzy, but seemed to be getting better. "Don't rush, we're riding out to the site, you'll get there in time."
Finally curious she put her hand back up to her head where it was itching. A bandage currently covered whatever was itching. "Okay, so how bad is this one."
David cringed. "Well six stitches, but it's even with your hairline so no one will notice, well at least after the bandage comes off that is."
"Well I'm sure someone will notice. Where's my helmet? Oh and when that someone notices I'm blaming it on you."
With that parting shot, Nikki managed to walk out of the CP under her own power.
David was right they did arrive prior to the invasion of Foy and when Nikki had arrived at the battalion CP, she decided to keep her helmet on so that Dick and Nixon could stay focused on the task. Dike had seen her arrive and she could tell he wanted to say something but with a single eyebrow lift, he refocused his attention from her and back to Dick.
When Dike left the CP to return to the company Nikki looked at both men. "You are going to put that idiot in charge of the attack? Come on, we all know he will botch the job and probably get a lot of men injured or killed."
Dick sighed, "I've got no choice. When we lost Buck that put us down an officer and right now, he's the only choice. It'll be okay."
Nikki didn't comment, somehow she knew it wasn't going to be okay.
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Nikki was standing with Sink, Nixon and Winters watching Easy attack Foy with Dike in the lead.
"Forward, you've got to keeping moving forward." Dick was screaming commands as loud as he could in an effort to get Dike motivated. His pacing back and forth was driving them crazy. Both Nikki and Nixon knew he felt he should be out front leading those men into battle.
Just as Dick started down the hill to relieve Dike, Sink yelled at him.
"Winters, don't go out there, I know you-."
"Speirs get over here."
Ron was by Dick's side in an instant. "Get down there and take over from Dike."
Nikki suddenly felt her whole chest tighten up as she watched Ron run down the hill toward Foy. The fact that he just missed being hit by a shell nearly stopped her heart. The anxiety must have shown on her face because Nixon was suddenly beside her and grabbed her arm.
"He's going to be okay, just stay here."
Somehow, Ron made it down the hill to link up with the scattered Easy Company and get them moving again into Foy. She was glad when she lost sight of him, she probably really didn't want to know the risk he was taking.
When the town was secure and the Battalion CP finally made it into town, Nikki and David kept busy speaking with the small group of residents and the nuns that had stayed with the church. She did her best to calm their fears and asked only that they provided shelter for a night or two.
When the first shot came, everyone seemed to freeze in place. Nikki had time to see a Soldier fall in the group that had been singing, and then Lip's shout of sniper seemed to get everyone moving again. She hadn't even taken two steps when someone tackled her and rolled them under a nearby wagon.
Nikki was about to say some choice words to the person who had just tackled her, but when she realized it was Ron on top of her the words died in her throat.
He wasn't looking at her but had his head turned to the side watching Lip run across the compound trying to attract the sniper so that Shifty could get a clear shot.
She felt his words; more than she heard them as he called Lip a "damn fool." When the danger had passed, he turned his attention to her. The sexy smile that had been gracing his lips when he realized he was on top of her faded quickly when he looked at her face.
She couldn't figure out what had caused him to stop smiling until she realized that her helmet had fallen off. Damn, he just saw my head.
"Ron before you get upset-."
Ron had pushed up off her before she could even finish the sentence. The look he was giving her was the same one he had given her the first night they met. There was nothing but cold anger in the eyes that just a moment ago had been so warm.
Who would ever have guess that his eyes were so expressive. Oh, this is not going to be fun.
Reaching out to touch the bandage, he managed to hold his temper in check just long enough to ask, "What's this Nikki? I leave you safe in Bastogne and then you show up here with your head bandaged."
She could only stare at him. He was unbelievable. He throws himself on top of her to save her life and now he was yelling at her for something beyond her control. Oh no, there is no way I'm going to just sit here and take this. He is about to get a piece of my mind.
Grabbing her helmet and crawling from under the wagon, she made it to her feet and spun to face him. "Of all the conceded, arrogant men I've ever met you take the cake. How dare you accuse me of doing something that would get me hurt?" With each statement, Nikki jabbed him in the chest a little harder. With each stab, she backed him up a little further until he was up against the wagon and could go no further.
"Need I remind you I'm not the idiot who ran across an open field while shells were dropping? Oh yeah, if you'd bothered to ask I'd have told you that Colonel Sink's headquarters was hit during the shelling of Bastogne and that was when my head was hit, but no you just have to assume it was something stupid I did."
At the end of the tirade she was out of breathe and angry. She couldn't think of anything else to say. Jamming the helmet on her head, she turned to walk off but spun around changing her mind. "Oh yeah, one more thing, don't you ever speak to me again you pompous ass!"
By this point, she was yelling and the entire company had stopped to watch the action. David who had heard the yelling came out of the building with Nixon to see what was going on.
David hung his head and then turned to Nixon, "okay you want to flip a coin to see which one of us gets to fix this."
Nixon took one look at both Nikki and Ron's faces and laughed. "I'm not getting between them. Just let them cool off and it will probably work out."
David watched as Nikki stomped off into the church leaving Ron standing alone in the middle of the street. "Nix, you might want to let Dick know that Easy might need a new translator. I'm pretty sure Nikki is going to want a transfer when she hears Speirs is the new commander of Easy."
Nixon frowned, "yeah you might be right, but then again if they are forced to work together they might get over this sooner."
"You obviously don't know Nikki. When she says don't speak to me that's exactly what she means, but hey it might be fun to watch."
David walked off in the direction of the church as Speirs yelled at his men to get moving. Oh, this was going to be fun. Wonder how long they can hold out.
Later in the evening Nikki was sitting alone in the back of the church listening to the nuns sing and enjoying being warm and dry. She had cried on David's shoulder for most of the afternoon. She had made a mistake and allowed him to get close to her and now she was paying for it. That's what I get for allowing myself to care. I should have known better than to let him get that close. Men like him are dangerous.
She could see Lip and Ron talking on the front pew. He had not seen her when he entered, but from the look on his face, he was still upset. Well guess what, she didn't care.
Sighing she laid her head against the wall and closed her eyes. The warmth and signing combined with her exhaustion easily lulled her to sleep.
Ron had returned to the church late after completing his report with Battalion. He wanted to ensure all the men had left and found some place to sleep. The church was empty when he arrived with only a few candles left burning. He almost turned to leave when he saw a shadow in the back that didn't look right.
Walking to the back of the church, he saw Nikki still sitting there asleep with her head against the wall. Sitting down next to her on the pew, he had the chance just to look at her. Why couldn't he make her understand that all he wanted was to keep her safe, and it drove him crazy seeing her hurt? Instead, he had incited another argument with her and she now sat alone and exhausted.
Someone had at least brought a blanket out and covered her. Smiling in the dark, he decided to take a chance. He gently lifted her until she was sitting between his legs with her head on his chest. He quickly readjusted the blanket around them both. She had lost a lot of weight and had been almost nothing to lift. When he finished his adjustments so both of them would be comfortable he closed his eyes.
He felt her snuggle closer into his chest and one arm fell around his waist. Her sigh of contentment told him everything he needed to hear. She would sleep peacefully tonight and so would he.
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When Nikki woke up, she found herself stretched out on a pew in the church. Stretching her aching muscles, she realized she'd slept soundly. I must have been more tired than I thought. Hmm, I could have sworn someone was here. Shaking off her strange feeling, she left the church in search of Nixon his canteen.
"Well good morning sunshine and just where did you spend your night?"
Nikki growled and picked up Nixon's canteen and took a healthy drink. Yep, like she'd thought Vat 69.
Nixon raised an eyebrow but remained silent. When she had taken another drink, he decided to comment on her strange behavior. "So are we having a bad morning?"
Nikki sat the canteen down and looked at Nixon. "I don't know about the we part, but I am. To answer your first question, I spent the night in the church. Guess I was exhausted and fell asleep, because this morning I woke up lying on a pew.
"So I guess no one had a chance to tell you yesterday?"
Nikki merely raised an eyebrow in response.
"Dick made Speirs the new commander of Easy."
Still no response from Nikki, she was just sitting across from him with the same expression.
"Nikki, didn't you hear me?"
"Oh I heard you just fine. You just told me that the one person I have no desire to see or say anything to is now the person who's my boss. What do you expect me to say?"
Nixon picked up the canteen and smelled, yep still had Vat 69 in it. He thought for a moment that someone had put water in it because she was taking this too calmly.
"So are you and Ron going to be able to work together?"
Nikki sighed and reached up to massage her head around the bandage. "What choice do I have? I'll do my job; I just lost my temper yesterday because the inconsiderate swine wouldn't listen. Okay enough about Ron where are we heading to now?"
Nixon's sexy smirk returned, "We're heading into France, should be fun."
"Nixon, only you would think heading back into France is fun. But hey, one step closer to Germany." Nikki grabbed her helmet and headed off to find David, they were in for one hell of a ride.
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Haguenau was exactly as she had remembered it, a little more battle worn, but the same. It had taken months for Easy to get here, but the next step from would be Germany. She and Ron's relationship had turned into very brief words spoken only necessary and with little warmth.
She had made it a point to stay as far from the company as possible when they stopped and spent all her time with either Nixon or David. It was safer for her heart that way. She was not aware of what both of her friends knew; every night when she would come to the battalion CP to sleep, Ron would show up and hold her through the night.
It had been David's idea since there was no way she would let Ron near her during the day, he could see her at night. He had told Ron that Nikki slept like the dead and nothing short of artillery would wake her up. For the last month or so that had be true. Every morning Ron would leave her before dawn and when Nikki did wake up she always looked around as if she had lost something.
Now that they were in Haguenau, David decided it was time to talk to Ron. His two friends needed to make peace and realize that they were both in love with each other, instead of looking at the other when they thought no one was looking.
Entering the company CP, he saw 1SG Lipton stretched out on the couch trying to give orders in between coughs and Ron yelling at him for not being in bed. Okay so maybe now wasn't a good time to talk to him.
Spying Nikki helping Luz unpack the truck he decided to change tactics.
"Well love, I see they have recruited you for work detail."
Smiling Nikki blew a lock of hair out of her face. "Yep, it makes the day go faster and besides, I really don't want time to think while we're here."
David fell into step with her as she carried another box into the CP, stopping to pass a cup of hot coffee to Lip. "So are you going to tell him?"
Nikki dropped the box and grabbed David's arm to pull him out of the room. "No and I would appreciate it if you kept your voice down. It's no one's business, besides, it really doesn't matter."
"Yes, but-."
"Don't but me, I'm going back out and help Luz because this conversation is over."
When Nikki and David came back into the room, David Webster and some new Lieutenant were standing there and Dick was telling the group that Colonel Sink wanted a patrol to cross the river to bring back prisoners. Nikki had to restrain a snort when the new Lt. had volunteered. Like Ron would let that happen. Okay enough stop thinking about him.
As if she had spoken aloud Ron, turned, and looked at her. For one brief second his eyes held the warmth for her that they originally had. Just as quickly, the look was gone and he turned his back on her. She had to bite her lip to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. Damn, why does he still get to me?
She was just about to leave the room when she heard Dick say they would need a translator.
"I'll do it."
All the men in the room had stopped talking and were now staring at her. Okay, so what did I say?
"Look I'm the best choice, not only do I speak German but I have a good working knowledge of the area."
Nixon and Dick looked surprised, Ron just looked angry and he was the first to find his voice.
"You will not volunteer for this mission. I'm sure someone else would be better qualified than you."
Nikki ignored his outburst and turned to speak to Dick. "I can do this, you know that, you also know my history, the house is extremely familiar to me. I'm your best chance to get in and out undetected.
Dick and Nixon exchanged looks. "Okay Nikki, you can do it. Be in the Battalion CP in an hour."
As Dick and Nixon left the room, the Lt saluted them again and turned his attention on her.
"I don't understand, he won't let me lead the mission but he'll allow a female to go."
Around the room, several throats cleared and all attention turned on Nikki. "Look Lt, like it or not I'm going and maybe you should learn something about the people you'll be working with before you begin to make comments about them."
Nikki grabbed David's arm and left the room before anyone else said something stupid, like Ronald Speirs was probably going to do.
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David and Nikki were sitting together watching the other side of the river a couple of hours later when Ron finally found them.
"David could you leave us, I need to talk to my translator."
David looked between the two and the shrug that Nikki gave convinced him that it would be okay to leave.
"Liebe, ich werden am CP sein, wenn Sie mich brauchen. Er bedeutet gut, gibt bitte ihm eine Chance." (Love, I'll be at the CP if you need me. He means well please give him a chance.)
Nikki watched David walk off and then turned her attention to Ron. "Okay, so what is it you need to discuss or is this just another opportunity to treat me like a child?"
When he sat beside her, she heard him sigh. "So why didn't you tell me you were from here?"
Nikki laughed, "Well it seems our faithful Intelligence Officer is providing information again. Well first, it doesn't really matter and besides, I don't make a point of talking about my past. Besides, you never asked."
Reaching over to take her hand Ron ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "I don't understand why you feel the need to put yourself in dangerous positions. Don't you know it makes me crazy the thought of you being hurt?"
Nikki couldn't speak all she could do was stare at him. This was the closest he had come to telling her how he felt. Before she could speak, he had dropped her hand and was kissing her again. Wow, he was still a fantastic kisser.
When he finally released her mouth, he didn't let her pull away; instead kept her pulled into his side.
Maybe everything would be okay; they could make up for lost time, after all this was really, where I want to be. Sighing she relaxed even further into his side.
"Nikki, I'm not letting you go tonight, I'm going to Battalion and talk to Winters, it's too dangerous. Besides there is no way I'm letting my woman do this."
She felt her heart break. All he had said, all he had done was just to try to convince her not to go. She felt the tears slide down her cheeks, through everything, he hadn't seen her cry, but now she just couldn't hold back.
Jerking free of him she turned to face him. "The only one of us who will be hurt here is me. This is my job and you come here saying sweet lies you know I want to hear just to get me off the mission. Well let me tell you something Captain Ronald Speirs, that was the lowest thing anyone has ever done to me and I'm finished with you."
"Oh, but for your information, yes I'm from here, my mother was French my father was German. We fled from our home when the Germans invaded because it wasn't safe here unless you were a pure Aryan. While attempting to get to England both of my parents died of pneumonia within days of each other, that's why I volunteered, for my parents, and for what I've lost. Good night Captain Speirs, I'll see you at the debriefing. Oh and for the record, I'm no one's woman."
Ron watched her leave afraid that he had lost her forever just because he tried to stop the woman he loved from being injured. Damn if he understood women.