Thanks very much to my lovely reviewers: beth-rodrigues.77 (yeah, you're right, there won't be quite as much Lizzie in the following chapters as there has been in the last ones, but she won't be totally out of the picture. ;-) So happy you liked the reunion. And yeah, if you hated Sobel and Shames in the last chapter, you certainly won't love them in this chapter! :-)) Thanks very much for your encouraging words, I'm always looking forward to your reviews!), ScarlettLeon (Hehe, Kitty, maybe I'll write her into the story later on. Since you hated Shames in the last chapter, just wait for his appearance in this chapter... :-))) Thanks for the review!), Jayden (Thanks for your review, I'm very happy you liked the last chapter. Yes, the men will certainly find out soon about Dick and Lizzie... :-))), ChocAndSnow19 (Thanks for your wonderful review! I promise that Lizzie will be around in the next few chapters, there is much more coming for her and Dick. ;-) And you'll see very soon if your hunch (about Sobel's nasty plan) was right... :-))).
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Dick had planned to see either Horton or Sink the following day to talk with them about settling a date for receiving back command for second platoon, but they were both away in London until the next day. So Dick was again confined indoors at the Barnes' and he was actually looking forward to the check-up at the military hospital in the evening, which would at least allow him to leave the house. And he would see Lizzie again, which made him all the more impatient.
Since he was alone, with the Barnes working downstairs in the shop and Elaine in school, he had settled himself down on the couch in the living room, so he would immediately notice Nix returning from the base to take him to the hospital. Driving himself would still be awkward, because stepping down onto the gas pedal with his right foot meant some painful pulling in his side.
The door opened and Dick instantly looked up from the newspaper on his lap. Seeing Nix coming through the door, Dick got up at once, folding the paper and depositing it on the small table in the living room.
"Are you ready to go?", he asked his friend instead of a greeting.
"My, you're impatient", Nix just replied with a grin. "Can't wait to have the doctors prod at you?"
"Something like that", Dick answered, donning his jacket. "Paperwork is more or less finished, I can't think of anything else to do right now. They should really let me do some light work by now, staying inside all day will soon drive me up the walls."
"Not to mention there's a lovely nurse waiting for you at the hospital", Nix added with a foxy smile, when they left the house and walked to the car.
Dick decided not to give an answer to that.
"Second platoon is now on its 24-hours solo-maneuver with Shames", Nix informed him after driving some time in silence.
"Yeah, I know", Dick just answered darkly. Thoughts of his men had not left him the whole day. "You heard anything of them?"
"No, not yet. They probably keep quiet about it until they're back tomorrow morning", his friend replied, giving him a glance from the side.
"I'll try to have a word with Lipton tomorrow evening", Dick said, pursing his lips.
Nix nodded at that and they soon arrived at the hospital on the base. They entered the building, then steered towards one of the examination rooms. Dick's heart skipped a beat when he saw that Lizzie was already there, sitting in a chair with her head down on another book with some dark romantic cover. She looked healthy, her face not anymore as pale as three days ago, as he was very happy to see. He had to smile when he saw her nibbling her lips from the tension of the story, obviously having forgotten everything around her. He would have been content to stand there and watch her a few seconds longer without her noticing, but Nix spoilt the moment by tsking his tongue.
"And you call this working, Florence?", he drawled lazily, making Lizzie snap up her head, then a smile came to her face that showed her dimples. The twinkle was firmly back in her brown eyes and Dick found himself struggling against grinning like a fool in response.
"Lieutenant Casanova", she replied long-sufferingly, closing her book and putting it away. "My shift ended an hour ago, so I sure as hell are allowed to do whatever I want to do."
Dick could now see her struggling to keep her face straight, getting up from the chair and walking towards them.
"Dick", she greeted him with a brilliant smile, scrutinizing him from head to toe. "You're looking good."
"You, too", he replied before thinking, the words just slipping from his tongue. As soon as he had said it, he realized she had meant his physical condition. He felt a familiar heat rise in his cheeks and inwardly called himself a fool for his blundering. On top of it all, he heard Nix snort beside him, muttering a low "Oh god" to himself.
"Thank you", Lizzie just answered unperturbedly, giving him another smile, not at all flustered. Then she looked to Nix, announcing in her most official tone, "Lieutenant Nixon, could you please wait outside? We have some really strict privacy regulations here, you aren't allowed to stay in the room during examination."
"Nice try, Florence", Nix replied grinningly, unimpressed. "I was present in dozens of examinations when Dick was here, no way I'm leaving now that things are getting interesting."
"Out!", she just commanded, pointing with the finger to the door.
"Alright, alright", Nix relented, lifting his hands in surrender. "You can have him all to yourself. I'm waiting in the car, Dick."
With that he turned around and strolled out of the room, leaving Lizzie and Dick alone.
"I'm sorry", Dick apologized for his friend, looking everywhere but in her eyes. "He can be such an ass sometimes."
"It's fine", she replied with a warm smile. "How are you?"
"Really good. Impatient to get back to my men", he answered, feeling his face cooling down and being again able to look into her face. "How have you been?"
"I'm doing alright", she answered, the smile leaving her face. "I wrote to my father two days ago and since then I'm quite well. Work has kept me busy, for which I'm glad. I also had some field training yesterday, they finally found someone to teach us some basic military skills."
This made Dick pause, looking at her intently.
"They'll send you to the field?", he asked her, only now realizing they had never talked about her plans after the invasion had started. Thinking about her coming even close to the front line brought some whole new worries to his mind.
"Not all of us", she answered quietly. "Some of us are required to stay here and teach the new arrivals coming from the States that will follow after we'll have won ground on continental Europe." After a short silence she added regretfully, "My father made me promise to stay in England, so I'll probably train the new nurses."
"That's good to hear", Dick replied, finding himself releasing a relieved breath.
"Yeah, great, while you risk your lives over there, I'll sit on my lazy ass here", she grumbled, showing Dick that her father had not received her promise easily.
"You'll be able to do more good here than on the continent", he tried to bolster her resolve. "You were a teacher, there's probably no one more suited for the training of new nurses than you."
"Thanks for your vote of confidence", she told him, a small smile on her lips again. "My hair will have turned completely grey with worry until you're back here safely."
"You'll still look good, even turned grey", he promised her, finding the courage to give her a shy smile.
"Thanks", she said again with a big grin, then changed the subject. "So, have you seen your men?"
"Yeah, I have", he answered, his thoughts turning to his platoon, wondering how they did in the solo-maneuver.
"And?", she dug deeper, not satisfied with the answer. "They threw a welcome-home party for you?"
"No", he replied smilingly. "But I think they'll be glad to have me back."
The thoughtful look he received at that made him pause a moment. Why was she all of a sudden studying him so closely?
"They don't like your replacement?", she asked hesitantly, making Dick wonder how she had so suddenly found out the most immediate reason for his worries. He had always made sure not to talk about Shames or other internal matters when she was around.
"Well, it's complicated", he just decided to answer, hoping she would leave it at that.
"So complicated I can't be trusted with it?", she pried, still smiling, but he could see the disappointment in her eyes.
"Lizzie, it's not that I don't trust you", he tried to explain, really not in the mood to let his problems with his company affect even these precious moments with her. "It's just that I'm not supposed to talk about internal military business with anyone not belonging to the regiment."
"Your fellow officers didn't have any qualms talking about your replacement in front of me", she shot back a bit huffily. True, the day Lizzie had met Harry, the others had talked about Shames, this was probably also where she had picked up on the tension between Dick and his replacement.
"I'm not them", he replied shortly. "I can't forbid them to talk about things I wouldn't feel safe telling uninvolved people."
"Yeah, of course", she said snidely, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms in front of her chest. The ensuing silence was rather tense, but Dick had no intention to give in. He was saved from thinking of a way to get her back on friendlier terms without having to tell her about Shames by the opening of the door and Dr. Greta Coombs entering the room.
"Am I interrupting something?", the doctor asked, obviously noticing the tension and giving both of them a long look. Her eyebrows were raised and the glance she gave Lizzie seemed to communicate something like a weary 'not again'.
"No, not at all", Lizzie answered, forcing a smile on her lips. "Lieutenant Winters was here a bit early and was about to get ready for examination."
Dick nodded at that, sitting down on the examination table. He tried to catch Lizzie's gaze, but she was not looking in his direction.
"How are you doing, Lieutenant Winters?", Dr. Coombs asked him, carefully sitting down on a chair with one hand resting on her swollen belly. "Any discomfort?"
"No, everything fine", he replied, giving up the attempt to get Lizzie to look at him. "I'm doing really good, doctor, and to be honest, I feel up to working again. Just some light work, for a few hours a day."
"Look, we already talked about this", the doctor answered with a frown. "No strenuous activity for the next three weeks."
"Maybe you have the wrong notion about what kind of work I'm thinking of", Dick continued, not yet ready to accept defeat. "Regiment is always happy to have someone help out staff with administration and such things. I would be sitting behind a desk the whole day."
"You're still on antibiotics. You need rest and good food", the doctor replied, but there was a tiny moment of hesitation and Dick picked up on it immediately.
"Dr. Coombs", he said with a smile and with as much sincerity as he could muster, "you'll always have my thanks for saving my life and giving me the best care possible. I know the limits of my body very well, but I can't be too selfish right now. We live in difficult times and I didn't come to England to lie around in bed the whole time. Staff would be really grateful for some help."
The doctor sighed, looking at him for a long time, then finally giving him a single nod.
"Alright", she conceded, making Dick cheer to himself inwardly. "There's no point in holding you back when you're this adamant about it. I'll sign your clearance for light duty as soon as the stitches are out. Not one day earlier."
He decided he could live with that. It was only four more days, at least his waiting would come to an end soon.
"Thank you", he told her with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah", she replied, motioning for him to be quiet with her hands. "Now show me your abdomen."
The examination did not take long and Dick was soon ready to leave the room, a new bottle of antibiotics in his pocket. Dr. Coombs had been needed elsewhere, so he found himself again alone with Lizzie, slowly walking down the floor towards the exit.
"I miss our time together in the evenings", she said softly, obviously making an effort to forget their earlier short clash of opinions. "It's rather boring here without you."
"Yeah, I miss talking to you, too", Dick replied, giving her a small smile. "And talking of boring, this sick leave is about to drive me crazy. I'm really looking forward to be back and working."
"That was a cunning little display of sweet-talking you just did back there with Greta, getting her to let you back on light duty by the end of the week", she said slyly, but with a smile that showed appreciation. "Never seen anyone wrap her around the finger that quickly. You really don't look it, but you can be a charming, sweet-talking devil when you set your mind to it."
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean", Dick replied, trying his best to look innocent.
"This is exactly what I mean, you're doing it again", she stated with a low chuckle, nudging him with her shoulder. "Everyone is so fooled by the respectable and detached front you put on, they would never put it past you there's another side to you that is less perfect and more... let's say... human."
"Well, I'm certainly not one of your Lovecraftian aliens", he answered grinningly, making light of her rather hazy comment.
"Yeah, that was exactly what I meant", she replied long-sufferingly, but giving him a smile nonetheless.
They had reached the front doors of the hospital and they both drew to a halt. It burned on Dick's tongue to invite her for a drink or ask her to take a stroll with him, but he held himself back. She had told him that work kept her busy at the moment, he could not ask of her to spend her precious free time with him.
"Alright, I'll see you soon", he instead opted to tell her, seeing her give him another smile, but there was a tiny flicker of disappointment in her eyes before she masked it again.
"Sure", she just answered. "Bye Dick."
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"Sir, good to see you", Lipton greeted him with a small smile on his tired face that Dick returned despite the tense situation.
"Lip", Dick answered simply with a nod of his head. He noticed the sergeant hiding a yawn and he suspected that the messenger he had sent to get Lipton had had the task of waking the sergeant. After all, second platoon had been on their feet for more than 24 hours, they deserved some hours of sleep after getting back from the maneuver. "I'm sorry for cutting short your rest."
"It's no trouble, sir", Lipton answered softly. "I had almost five hours of sleep, that's pretty much luxurious in our current tight schedule."
Dick gave him a curt nod in response. It was eight o'clock in the evening and the sun had set hours ago, leaving him and Lipton to walk in darkness towards the exit of the base.
"So you failed the maneuver?", Dick got to the point right away, feeling unable to beat around the bush since this was the reason why he had rushed to the base as soon as he had heard the news from Nix.
"Yeah, we did", Lipton answered with a wince and evaded Dick's glance to look to the ground. "It was a disaster. Shames changed his mind every five minutes and shooed us from one position to the other. In the end, no one really knew what his current assignment was. The maneuver was more a chicken run than anything else."
Dick listened intently, grinding his teeth in displeasure.
"Guarnere of course couldn't keep quiet", Lipton continued quietly. "He almost got into a fight with Shames, I could hold him back at the last second. Shames even threatened to have him busted back to private, which wasn't helpful for our situation at all."
Pursing his lips, Dick shook his head at what he heard. Seemed like second platoon could be content if they got away without court-martial.
"This is really serious", Dick replied, frowning. "It makes the whole company appear in a bad light." He stopped, then looked at Lipton closely. "Lip, can you swear that you NCOs and the men really did everything they could to succeed in the maneuver? Because I can't do anything for you if it turns out you were purposely rebellious and unmotivated."
"Sir", Lipton replied fervently, "we tried, we really did. You have to believe me. He wouldn't even hear us out, he just told us to shut up whenever Grant, Guarnere or I wanted to make corrections on our position. There was nothing we could do, except going against direct orders. But this would've qualified as mutiny."
Dick looked at Lipton, seeing nothing but honesty in his eyes, and finally nodded. Hell, what a mess! Rubbing his eyes, he tried to think of a way out of this situation. He had to see Horton or if possible even Sink. There was no point going to Sobel, his CO would only try to keep everything beneath covers. But it was still a risky move, directly addressing Regiment over the head of his CO, and there might be disciplinary consequences in store for Dick. This was why he needed to be sure second platoon had not deliberately made the maneuver more difficult out of dislike for Shames. Otherwise Regiment would never tolerate criticism coming from simple enlisted men and a lowly lieutenant. But something had to be done and Dick needed to trust Lip's word on the course of events.
In the mean time, they had left the base and walked rather aimlessly through the quiet streets of the village of Aldbourne. Dick felt more comfortable discussing this sensitive matter away from curious ears. Maybe it was time to call all NCOs together, even those of the other platoons, and try to figure out together what to do.
"What was the reason they gave for pronouncing your maneuver a failure?", Dick asked Lipton after some time of silence.
"We were two hours late", Lipton replied with a sigh, "we were detected by an enemy patrol in the woods and we lost more than half of the platoon during the assault. There wasn't much of a debate whether we passed or not."
"How did Sobel and Regiment react?", Dick continued to ask, not at all liking what he heard.
"Sobel was fuming, so was Regiment", Lipton answered quietly and ran a tired hand over his face. "Shames was pissed off, too, and so were we. Horton told Shames in no unclear terms that he was unsuited as a platoon leader, if the results continued to be this bad, but Shames just tried to portray us as responsible for his blundering. Not really sure if Regiment believed him, because we were then dismissed and they continued their talk in private."
Before Dick had the chance to answer, the door of a pub they were passing by opened and out stepped Perconte and Malarkey. Dick could see that they certainly were not sober by the way they walked, although he could not really fault them for it, after the day they had behind them. They were deeply immersed in their conversation, their voices rather agitated, and they only noticed Dick and Lipton standing in front of them in the street after almost bumping into them.
"Sir", Perconte and Malarkey murmured to Dick, then shot each other a long look from rather hooded eyes. This look immediately raised Dick's suspicion.
"Don, Frank", he returned their greeting. "Are you doing alright?"
"Not sure, sir", Malarkey replied somberly, while Perconte looked back over his shoulder to the pub. Dick followed his gaze. The lights were on, the pub was still open and people inside were talking rather loudly, he could hear the voices even through the shut front door. Did they sound angry?
"What's going on in there?", Dick asked with some alarm, realizing that something was definitely off. Feelings running high and alcohol were never a good combination and tended to provoke people to do something downright stupid.
"I think they'll calm down on their own eventually", Perconte replied, but the answer only served to worry Dick even more. With long strides he walked to the pub, leaving Malarkey and Perconte on the street, but with Lipton close behind him.
When Dick pushed open the door, he could hardly believe the scene unfolding before his eyes. Some of the Easy men were facing a group of American infantry soldiers, their stances tense and some of them – Guarnere, Martin, Cobb and Liebgott – trading insults with the other group. The barkeeper, who had obviously tried to settle the dispute, was shoved out of the way by the infantry troopers and retreated behind the counter for cover. The chairs were pushed back, and Dick could easily tell that the two groups were just moments away from going at each other's throat.
"Screaming Eagle?", one of the infantry troopers made himself be heard above the noise, voice taunting. "Looks more like a puking pigeon to me."
"You shut your mouth, fuckhead!", Guarnere yelled, barely being held back by Bull, who had firmly put himself between the two groups together with Grant and Talbert in an attempt to keep them separated. "You get your fucked up ass out of my eyes or I'm relieving the Krauts of the task to squish you to pulp!"
"I'll break your goddamned chicken wings!", an infantry sergeant shouted in response, advancing on Guarnere. "You motherfuckers won't walk away from..."
"You stop this right NOW!", Dick bellowed over the noise, striding over and placing himself together with Lipton next to Bull, Grant and Talbert. "Are you out of your minds? You calm down now!"
Dick's appearance in the middle of the two groups took everyone by surprise, the noise dying down immediately. However, the situation remained close to boiling over. Dick did not miss the looks of fury the Easy men were shooting the infantry soldiers and the other way around. There were at least ten infantry soldiers against the seven Easy men, of whom three were acting as troubleshooters.
"Everyone takes three steps backwards", Dick commanded sharply. He needed more space between the two groups, before someone was doing something rash and things would escalate. However, none of the soldiers made a move to obey, so Dick snapped again, "You take three steps back now, this is an order!"
Before he knew it, he received a push in the back from one of the infantry soldiers, making him stumble against Lipton. The move enraged the Easy men, with Liebgott and Guarnere straining against the grasp of Bull and Talbert. One of the infantry soldiers threw a punch at Cobb and Martin immediately retaliated, throwing himself at the other soldier.
Dick found himself being righted by Lipton, and he quickly turned back towards the infantry soldiers. The one who had shoved him advanced on Bull, all of a sudden a glass bottle in his hand. Dick saw him raise the bottle over Bull's head and without thinking he latched himself onto the arm of the infantry trooper, forcing the bottle out of his hand. The soldier tried to fight Dick off, struggling in his grip and trying to throw a punch at him, which made Dick use his advantage in height and strength to push the other over his stretched out leg onto the ground. As soon as the soldier hit the floor, Dick reached for the sidearm he always kept on him and aimed it at the middle of the scuffle.
"You step away from each other!", he shouted, his voice carrying over the noise of the fight. The sight of the gun (although still locked, which they did not need to know) and the order dealt out in a razor-sharp voice finally had the desired effect. The fight was over, the infantry men slowly stepping away from the Easy men, who were drawn into the opposite corner of the bar by Lipton and Bull.
"Grant, go and get MP", Dick commanded, lowering his weapon, but not putting it away.
"Yes, sir", Grant answered and immediately left the room.
The infantry soldiers stared at him out of wide eyes, probably only slowly realizing that Dick was an officer.
"This is a totally inacceptable behavior for the US Army", Dick upbraided them and his own men harshly, feeling anger bubble to the surface at their actions now that the danger was over. "You bring shame on your country, shame on your company and shame on your fellow soldiers. There will be repercussions for this."
"Lieutenant Winters", Liebgott addressed him in a heated voice, shooting a look of contempt to the infantry soldiers. "They started it! They provoked us, we had no other choice..."
"Shut your face, yid!", the infantry sergeant spat.
"Enough!", Dick snapped. "You all shut up until MP is here."
They obeyed, although unwillingly. At least everybody had calmed down to the point where they were again open for the voice of reason. Dick could see that Cobb was bleeding from his nose and Martin had a rather long scratch across his forehead, but apart from some minor injuries, no one had got seriously hurt.
With the rush from the fight abating, Dick could feel his own half-healed wound start to throb with pain. Wrestling with the other soldier definitely was not what would help him speed up recovery.
After a minute or two of silence, Bull came over to Dick, giving him a long look.
"Sir, am I allowed to speak?", he asked softly. Since he had not been involved in the brawl, Dick nodded for him to go on. "There's no excuse for what our boys did, sir, they should've walked away from this. But still, it's true what Joe said: they started the fight, not us."
"Look, that's for someone else to decide", Dick replied with a frown. "I can't be partial just because you're my men."
"You saw them throw the first punch and believe me, sir, they also started with the insults. The boys were just reacting", Bull told him slowly.
Dick released a low sigh, eyeing the big soldier closely. He believed him, he really did, but there was no changing of the facts that they had been involved in fighting, which was normally punished severely. Usually, such transgressions were resulting in court-martial. Hell, there was even the danger of dishonorable discharge from the army, which none of them deserved. The thought left him feeling weak in the knees.
He gave Bull a nod, then slowly walked over to the corner where his men were quietly standing beside each other. His side was by now complaining with each step he took and he all of a sudden felt something warm trail down his stomach. Sneaking a hand beneath his uniform and drawing it away again, he saw blood on his fingers. Damn it, he must have torn his stitches! As if there were not already enough worries on his mind. He tried to wipe his fingers on his trousers as inconspicuously as possible before he joined the circle of his men.
Guarnere gave him an agonized look from dark eyes and murmured softly, "I'm very sorry, sir, this shouldn't have happened."
Dick looked to the others involved in the fighting, Cobb, Liebgott and Martin. They all looked remorseful, maybe only now realizing how bad this could end.
"You should've known better than to let yourselves be goaded", Dick admonished them, but his voice had turned gentler now. "I don't want to see you get kicked out of the army because of some stupid bar brawl."
"They attacked you, sir", Guarnere told him through gritted teeth. "They can't get away with that."
"And they won't", Dick replied earnestly, realizing that at least part of the escalation of the situation had been provoked by the protectiveness of his men towards himself. Despite the dire situation he could not help feeling a faint tweak of affection tug at his heart.
The door opened and Grant came back with ten MPs on his heel. And Shames, as Dick noticed with dismay.
"What's the meaning of this?", Shames demanded imperiously. "You dogs have been fighting?"
"Lieutenant Shames", Dick replied frostily, "everything is under control now, I'll settle things with MP."
This was as much as telling Shames to get lost. But it looked like the other lieutenant had no intention of following Dick's wishes.
"Lieutenant Winters", he drawled, coming closer, "since you're still on sick leave and you're presently not in command of any of the men in here, I do think that my presence is required, wouldn't you agree?"
No, Dick did not agree, but that answer was out of question, so he just gave Shames a tight nod and then turned towards the lieutenant of the MP squad.
"Thank you for coming here this quickly", Dick told the other lieutenant. "I'm First Lieutenant Richard Winters."
"First Lieutenant Gregory West", the other introduced himself shortly. "So what are we dealing with here?"
"Fighting", Dick replied, suppressing a sigh. "Risk of injury, failure to obey order, disrespect and assault of a superior officer. But not all of them took part in all transgressions. As far as I can tell, the infantry men over there acted as aggressors towards the paratroopers."
"But since Lieutenant Winters acted as a platoon leader of most of the paratroopers present in this room", Shames barged in with an overbearing tone towards the MP officer, "he might be too biased to assess the situation objectively."
Now Dick himself suddenly had to ring for calm, itching to bury his own fist in Shames' sneering face. Not that this would have helped their situation or set a good example, which was why he managed to keep his coolness despite the anger cursing through his veins.
"Is that true, Lieutenant Winters?", the MP officer asked him with a frown.
"Yes, it's true", Dick reluctantly acknowledged. "But I know what I saw and I'll testify under oath that everything I saw and state is the truth."
"No one accuses you of lying", Lieutenant West tried to appease Dick, obviously noticing him getting agitated. "But there are regulations concerning such cases as here with officers serving as witnesses for their own troops."
"Then ask the barkeeper!", Dick blurted out, trying to get a grip on his temper. He normally had the patience of a saint, but Shames had a way to get under his skin and make him want to blow up in his face. Dick noticed Lipton joining him, the presence of the sergeant oozing calm and support, for which he was really grateful.
"We'll do that in a minute, just tell me your version of the events first", the MP officer prompted Dick in a neutral voice.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Dick began, "Sergeant Lipton and I were walking on the streets when we heard noise coming from this pub. I wanted to see what was going on and found the infantry men taunting the paratroopers from my company and the other way round. Sergeant Grant, Sergeant Talbert and Private Randleman were trying to settle the dispute. I ordered the two groups to step away from each other, an order that was ignored. The infantry private over there shoved me, which provoked the fight."
"Alright", Lieutenant West acknowledged with a nod and then asked, "Who was throwing the first punch?"
"One of the infantry troopers", Dick replied, hearing the infantry men grumble a denial. "It's true, I saw the sergeant over there starting the fight. One of them even tried to use a glass bottle as a weapon."
"That's not true!", one of the infantry soldiers barged in. "The parachute boys started the fight."
"Silence, trooper!", the MP officer snapped. "You'll answer when you're asked a question, otherwise you keep your mouth shut. I know your face and I know this isn't your first transgression."
Dick was quite relieved to hear that. Maybe his boys had the chance of getting off lightly, he hoped, before the other lieutenant addressed him again.
"Do you have disciplinary problems for your men to disobey the direct order coming from you to step away from each other?", West then asked, a question that took Dick by surprise.
"No, I don't", he answered, all of a sudden defensive. What kind of question was that? "They're usually very quick to obey orders."
"That's tweaking truth a bit, Lieutenant Winters", Shames interfered, his small eyes glinting. "These paratroopers have some serious problems with discipline. Sergeant Guarnere over there was only seconds away from assaulting me not even 24 hours ago and I could at least point out two more men who ignored a direct order."
"That's because you...", Guarnere began to retort, his face a mask of anger.
"Guarnere!", Dick cut him off sharply, hardly believing the sergeant's foolishness. Damn it, couldn't that one just think before he opened his mouth?!
"Shut it, sergeant", the MP officer again commanded, now in a voice that showed that he was at the end of his patience. "I've heard enough, every soldier that has been in the pub before Lieutenant Winters came in will spend the night in a detention cell. Your case will be tried tomorrow, if deemed necessary before court-martial."
Dick could practically see the faces of his men fall. Not good.
"Lieutenant West", Dick tried again to be heard by the MP officer, now definitely alarmed. "As I said before, three of my men were acting as mediators, they did nothing wrong. You can't put them into a detention cell, this will be put in their files."
"Look, I can't see whom I'm supposed to believe, you seem to have some serious issues in your company", the MP officer stated with a frown. "We'll see who's right by tomorrow."
"But these men are innocent!", Dick insisted, seeing Shames give a smirk at that. Hell, was this only about revenge for Shames, to punish the men for the failing of the maneuver? Dick swore to himself then and there, if there ever came the possibility, he would have the other lieutenant kicked from the army.
"They're coming with me, Lieutenant Winters, I won't change my mind. And if you don't back off right now, you'll be in trouble, too", West retorted, a stormy expression on his face.
Dick bit his lips to hold himself back from aggravating the other lieutenant even more and just gave a tight nod, standing to the side to let the MPs lead away his Easy men. At least they held their heads high, not ready to give in yet. Dick watched them closely until all of them had marched out of the room, West smashing the pub door behind him, leaving Dick alone with Lipton, Shames and the barkeeper.
"You're bleeding, Winters", Shames pointed out with a sneer. "You try to help your men and they make you bleed. That's how it's always going to be with these guys, but you don't get that. They're not your friends, they're your tools."
"Get out of my face, Shames", Dick growled, not at all in the mood for putting up with the other's twisted theories. "You've said enough."
"Just be careful", Shames replied in a low voice, walking towards the door, "fraternization is tried by court-martial, too."
With that, Shames left the pub. Dick felt the sudden urge to kick the chair in front of him, but held himself back, for Lipton's and his stomach's sake. Running a hand through his hair, he took some deep breaths and then lowered himself onto the chair, instead of kicking it. He looked down on himself and saw that the wound had bled through his uniform, showing a patch of red at his side.
"This doesn't look good, sir", Lipton remarked with a frown of worry.
"Yeah, but there are other things not looking good, either", Dick replied darkly. He had never been a cynic, but if things continued to be this messed up he would soon turn into one. There was a war going on and they had not even seen battle yet, but he felt like he was fighting all the time.
"True, sir", Lipton replied, a faint smile on his face. "But at least this one is in our hands to make better."
"Yeah, you're right", Dick answered with a sigh. He rolled up his uniform to inspect the damage he had done to his healing side. The wound was still oozing blood, although sluggishly, but at least he had only torn about a third of his stitches and not all of them.
"I'm going to get the car to drive you to the hospital", Lipton said and Dick gave him a quick nod.
Great, this shitty evening was not over yet, he could already picture the reprimands he was going to hear for tearing his stitches. Fortune really hated him.
-tbc-