Hey guys! Thanks so much for staying loyal and encouraging, this means a lot to me. By the way, we surpassed the 100'000 words line last time, I can't believe how long this story is getting... I would have reckoned to be in France or Holland by this time (story-wise), but this just takes more time and space than I'd thought. But we're getting there!
A special thanks goes to my dear reviewers: Ophelia (I'm so happy you liked Sink's lecture, it was quite fun to write, too. Haha, three prohibitions, I hadn't even thought of that when I wrote it, but it's true! :-)))Yeah, and you're absolutely right that the next hurdle will come (soon) for Dick and Lizzie and Easy... :-) Loved that you called this story a saga, because it's really getting monstrously long! :-))), beth-rodrigues.77 (Hehe, I already suspected that you'd love the end of Shames, since you really seemed to hate him a lot. :-) So happy you liked his end! ;-) Yeah, you'll find out about Greta in this chapter, I'm very glad you like her. And thanks so much for the compliments for this story, loved to hear that! :-)), MichelleLeNoire (Welcome to the story and thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Hope you like this chapter as well!), MelBizz (Thanks so much, I really do hope you like where this is going and that the story continues to be interesting! :-)), ChocAndSnow19 (I thought it interesting that you suspected a car accident. :-) I got the idea for it from the show, never would have suspected so many car crashes in the army until I watched "Points", and so I thought it would be plausible. :-) Hehe, yeah, and Shames is finally gone! Loved that you liked the last chapter so much, I did try to give some introspection into Dick's mind, glad it seemed to work out! :-))) Thanks so much for your reviews, always love them a lot! A lovely day to you as well! :-), autumnescspade (Welcome to the story and thanks so much! *blush* I'm thrilled you got hooked on this story and on this relationship between Dick and Lizzie. :-))), ScarletLeon (Hehe, I knew you'd love to see Shames incriminated, because you really seemed to hate him a lot. Oh, it's so nice to see that you care for Greta and the baby! :-) Loved that you thought Sink's lecture funny, it was very fun to write! :-) Thanks so much for your continuous support, love it!).
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When Dick stepped out of headquarters, he found Nix waiting for him outside.
"So what did Sink say?", his friend immediately started prodding and fell into line with Dick. Despite the darkness of the night Dick could read the open curiosity clearly on Nix' face.
"He lectured me", Dick replied reluctantly, frowning.
"About what?", Nix pried while they walked back to where their car was parked on the other side of the base.
"Lizzie", Dick answered, still feeling the vestiges of embarrassment clinging to him. If someone had told him just a few weeks ago that he would one day receive a lecture concerning women from Sink, he would have laughed out loud.
"Ah", his friend replied, looking at Dick questioningly, as if he expected him to declare everything a big joke. "Could you maybe be a bit more specific?"
Dick sighed and shot his friend an aggravated look. Blast it, he did not even know himself what to make of that lecture, how should he explain everything to Nix?
"Sink doesn't approve of me seeing her", Dick finally relented, shaking his head to himself. When he thought back to the discussion he had just had, he could not help but feel irritated at the colonel's meddling in his affairs. It was not as if he had neglected his duty or something! It had all been Shames' fault!
"Surprise, surprise", Nix replied sarcastically. "Didn't you tell me just two or three weeks ago that Regiment wouldn't approve of a relationship between the two of you?"
"I know. No need to rub it in", Dick answered bitingly, then added more softly, "I didn't plan this, it just happened."
"That's why we call it love, buddy", his friend offered jovially. "Seems like First Lieutenant Winters' stickler schedule and this fickle thing called love might need to arrange themselves."
Despite himself, Dick snorted in response.
"So", Nix continued after a short silence when Dick made no move to tell him the whole story, "did Sink tell you to end it?"
"No...", Dick replied hesitantly, "well... I don't know. He hinted at it."
"What are you going to do?", his friend asked on.
"I need to make sure she's alright, after everything that happened", Dick answered, sending Nix an intent look. "And I need to know how Dr. Coombs is doing."
"Alright, I've actually not meant right now, but in the future", his friend remarked lazily and grinned. "But this pretty much answers my questions. Seems like new Dick doesn't care about what his colonel tells him. Welcome to the mavericks' club!"
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Lizzie's head hurt.
She tried to massage the ache away, but the pain still throbbed with a vengeance behind her forehead. Staring at Greta's unmoving body in the bed in front of her and wishing with all her might for her to wake up certainly did not help with the headache. The only thing distracting her from the pain in her head was the throbbing of her wrist. And fantasizing about the many different ways of Shames rotting in hell. If only she had not been so tired, she might have come up in her mind with even more colorful imaginations of him dying a slow and painful death.
"She's breathing a bit easier, isn't she?", Paul asked her hopefully, sitting beside her on a chair.
"Yeah, I think you're right", she replied, although she was not all that sure about it. Nevertheless, she was far from pointing out her doubts to Paul. They needed to keep up their hope. At least they knew that the baby's heart was still beating, the gynecologist had told them so before leaving about ten minutes ago. However, as long as they did not know if Greta would wake up again, the child was still in danger. Not to speak of all the stress that might still trigger a miscarriage.
"How is she doing?", a new voice butted in and when she turned around, she saw Dick standing in the doorway.
"You're back", she just stated hollowly, feeling too worn out to express real surprise. She had not expected to see him again this evening, but there he was. He seemed unsure where to put his arms and finally decided to cross them in front of his chest. There was something definitely uneasy about him and he did not smile at her. After a few moments, he took a hesitant step in her direction.
"Yes, I wanted to know how Dr. Coombs is doing", he explained quietly, then sent her an uncertain look. "And how you're doing, after everything that Lieutenant Shames said."
"Well, I wasn't the one being corrected by my superior and then being cited away", she replied cautiously. If she had not been so worried over Greta and so angry at Shames, she would have allowed herself the question of what had been discussed between Dick and his colonel. No way the colonel had not noticed something going on between her and Dick. As it was, she was just too tired for any more second-guesses about what had transpired in the meantime.
"True, but Shames insulted your honor. People might talk", Dick pointed out with a frown.
"My honor?", Lizzie asked, incredulous. "What century are you living in? I couldn't care less about my honor right now, Dick, because I've got other worries on my mind. Shames is a fucking asshole, who deserves to rot in hell. That's all I have to say about him right now. If that's all you're interested in, you might as well leave now."
Her voice had gotten sharper than she had intended. The look of hurt in his eyes told her everything about it. She immediately felt bad about it, he did not deserve her anger, because it really was not directed at him. But then she was just too tired to care.
A sudden sigh and a movement from the bed diverted her attention back to her injured friend. Frustration and anger blown away, she watched as Paul darted to his wife's side. Greta shifted again, then mumbled something that was too low for Lizzie to understand.
"Sorry, darling, what did you say?", Paul cajoled quietly, despite the excitement suddenly written all over his face.
"...stop... them...", Greta repeated sluggishly and struggled to open her eyes.
"Who, darling?", her husband asked again.
"Lizzie... and... red-head", she replied slowly and managed a glare from dazed blue eyes, that nevertheless managed to convey the message to Lizzie. "Stop... argue... all the... time... Head... hurts."
Lizzie felt as though the brilliant smile on her lips might yet split her face and moved her chair closer to Greta's bed.
"Oh honey, I'm just so glad you can tell me off for it", Lizzie replied with eyes that were getting wetter by the seconds. "If you make an effort to get well again soon, I promise we won't argue anymore."
Her eyes sought out Dick, who was still keeping himself in the background, and gave him a watery smile that he hesitantly returned.
"Promise... noted", Greta murmured, then closed her eyes again to slip back into a restful sleep.
Although her friend could not see it anymore, Lizzie got up and walked over to pull Dick down in a deep kiss. He got quickly over his surprise and hungrily kissed her back, before he just hugged her close and rocked her in his arms.
"I'm sorry", she whispered to him.
"It's okay", he replied in a low voice, then held her close again as if someone had threatened to take her away from him. "Everything's going to be fine."
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When Lizzie stepped out of Colonel Sink's office the next morning, she heaved a deep sigh. Although he had practically peppered her with questions concerning the accident (which had not at all helped her still aching head), he came across as a fair man. Unrelenting in some ways, but still fair. She had even received an apology for Shames' behavior in the name of the Airborne regiment and the promise that he would be replaced. Hearing about that had made her heart beating slightly faster because she instantly thought of Dick. She had carefully pointed out that it would probably be difficult to find a suitable replacement with enough experience on such a short notice, but instead of slipping up in his answer, the colonel had just frowned at her. Frowned quite knowingly, now that she thought about it and she winced inwardly at her clumsy try of wheedling secrets from him. As a last resort, she had innocently batted his eyelashes at him, but it had not worked.
"That would be all", Sink had just told her with a deep scowl, then had added meaningfully, "Do try and stay away from any further collisions with my Airborne officers, Lieutenant Weiss."
There was not a sliver of doubt whom Sink had been talking about. Certainly not Shames, that much was clear.
Frowning to herself, she left the Airborne headquarters and walked slowly to the car she had leant from the hospital. Greta had already been well enough this morning to lecture Lizzie on the idiocy of driving a car with a fresh head wound. At least her friend was recovering, that much was sure. Lizzie was about to get into the car when a voice stopped her.
"Lieutenant Weiss?", she heard and when she turned around she saw Lipton jogging up to her. He was dressed in PT gear and when she looked in the direction he had come from, she could see some of the Easy men she knew by sight locked in a lively soccer game beside one of the stone buildings, some of them waving in her direction.
"Hey Carwood", she greeted him and gave him a smile. "How are you doing?"
"Fine", he answered and wiped the sweat from his brow with one of his sleeves. "We got the day off, which was quite a surprise. But how are you? I heard about some kind of accident and was worried about you."
"Yeah", she replied and winced a bit when she touched the bulge on her forehead. "Car accident. I could get out of the way, but my friend was hurt quite badly. But she'll recover, thank God."
"Do you know who drove that car?", Lipton asked, his honest eyes shining seriously. Lizzie was taken aback by his tone of voice. Had she gotten herself a protector in him? Maybe she had been adopted because he seemed quite protective of Dick.
"Yeah, I've got a good guess who was behind the steering wheel", she answered vaguely. It was a bad idea to tell him about Shames, since spilling the news was not her job, but keeping it to herself was even harder.
"Okay", Lipton replied drawn-out and gave her a speculative look. "So what are you doing here, coming out of Airborne headquarters? You applied for Easy company?"
The last comment made her smile.
"Yeah, because jumping out of flying airplanes is such a sensible thing to do", she answered sarcastically and watched him chuckle.
"No, seriously, what are you doing here?", he asked her again and watched her intently.
Lizzie hesitated. She would have loved to tell him the good news, even more so after she had messed up in her last attempt to help them. But she could get in trouble by spilling everything. Dick certainly would not approve. Then again, she trusted Lip to cover his source for this piece of information.
"Maybe I was talking to your colonel because I'll be your new platoon leader", she replied jokingly, unable to bite back this hint.
First Lipton frowned confusedly. Then it suddenly seemed to dawn on him and he just gawked at her.
"You're saying what I think you're saying?", he asked her, becoming more and more excited. "We'll get a new platoon leader? You serious?"
"I didn't say anything like that, I was just making a joke that I thought you'd find funny", she replied grinningly and winked at him.
"Maybe this explains why we suddenly got the day off, instead of spending it crawling in the dirt as planned", he stated with glowing eyes that made Lizzie forget all her second thoughts about telling him.
"You didn't hear this from me, alright?", she asked since she needed to be sure. She had been in too much trouble lately as it was.
"Of course not!", Lipton replied firmly, but now gave her a wink in return. "You were just making a joke that you'd thought I'd find funny. Everything else I found out by myself."
Lizzie snorted and said good-naturedly, "Exactly. Just wait a few hours until you tell the boys or it will be clear for everyone that you heard from me. And wipe that grin off your face, for Christ's sake!"
"Yes, ma'am", he replied with a grin that was even wider than the one before. "In a minute. Do you know if we get Winters back?"
"I don't know anything, alright?", she replied and raised her eyebrows.
"Alright, we'll probably know in a few days", Lipton said, looking decidedly boyish in his cheerfulness. "Getting him back would make everything perfect. But at least it can't get any worse than Shames."
"Look, I'll leave you to your speculations", Lizzie told him, "I have to get back to the hospital."
"Thanks, Lizzie", he said warmly.
"I have no idea what you mean", she replied playfully and got into the car.
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It was Monday morning and Dick waited outside Sink's office.
The last two days had passed quickly. He had spent them brooding over everything that had happened. And he had seen Lizzie. Twice. In all secrecy, of course. Although he had made an effort to really think about Sink's advice, he had found himself unable to follow his colonel's suggestion. He could not just let her go like that, just because his superior was against it. He had done nothing wrong, neither had she. As long as it did not affect his duty, he was unwilling to let the one person go for whom he cared the most right now. It was as simple as that.
At least that was what he had tried to tell himself. Doubts had still followed him like an unwanted shadow. What if he had already started neglecting his duty without him noticing? There was no denying that he might put more effort in his work at intelligence, but it was boring him to death. What if he had lost his focus? Thinking back to the red-hazed anger he had felt the moment Shames had crushed Lizzie's wrist brought on some uncomfortable thoughts. Would he have reacted the same way if it had been someone else than her? Probably not.
The opening of the door pulled him out of his reverie.
"Colonel Sink will see you now, Lieutenant Winters", the orderly told him with an air of importance and Dick walked into the office. To his surprise, not only Sink was there, but Sobel, too.
"Dick", his former CO greeted him coldly with a smile that looked so forced it must be painful.
Dick saluted them both and stood at attention.
"At ease", Sink told him neutrally, but let him stand while he and Sobel remained sitting.
"You must be aware, lieutenant", the colonel continued, "that we have a bit of a problem since Lieutenant Shames left Easy company rather abruptly."
Dick noticed the hateful glance Sobel sent him and realized that the captain thought that all of this was his fault. At the same time Dick decided he did not care and instead focused solely on Sink.
"For me it is of greatest importance to get peace and order back into my companies", Sink went on and watched Dick intently. "After all the unrest in the last few weeks, the boys don't need another new face, but someone they know and trust, wouldn't you agree, lieutenant?"
"Yes, sir", Dick instantly answered, trying to keep the excitement from showing on his face. Come on, come on, just say it, he mentally urged the colonel on.
"Although Captain Sobel was against putting you back into your old position because of the allegations of fraternization", Sink continued, "I'm willing to give you the opportunity to prove yourself. You did an excellent job with the men, Dick, I haven't forgotten that."
Yes, finally! Dick cheered to himself inwardly and could not quite keep the smile from his lips as he tried to answer as demurely as possible, "Thank you, sir. I'd be glad to be back with the men, sir."
"Yes, I know, you made that clear enough when I made you staff officer", Sink replied almost wryly and at the same time heaved a small sigh. "I talked already with intelligence. Although Captain Norton was rather unwilling to let you go, he left the decision to me. Just one more question, Dick: Are you ready to take back command for second platoon of Easy company? You know it'll be more physically demanding than sitting behind a desk in intelligence. However, we can't wait for another few weeks, I need a platoon leader now."
"Yes, sir, I'm ready", Dick replied without hesitation.
"Are you cleared for regular duty yet?", the colonel asked on, watching him intently.
For one moment Dick was tempted to lie, because he had never seen Sink more eager to fill a position before. The colonel would probably not check with military hospital, but just take him by his word.
"Almost, sir", he finally decided to answer, unable to lie outright to his superior. Lizzie had talked about another two or three weeks until his final clearance. But he would be damned if he let this formality come in between him and going back to Easy.
"That won't do", Sobel put in, "I have no use of a platoon leader who needs to be cuddled, we can't have..."
"Herbert, that's enough", Sink interrupted mildly. "You heard the lieutenant, he's said he's ready. As soon as we go to battle we'll need to adjust these strict clearance regulations anyway. Look, what about this: you'll need to have some more weapon instructions anyway, in the next few weeks. And there's some tactics on the plan as well. What about doing these less strenuous things in the next few days and postponing PT, or at least the demanding parts of it, for a week or two? You'd not fall behind, Herbert, and Lieutenant Shames has done so many exercises that the boys will hardly get out of shape."
"Sir", Sobel replied through clenched teeth, neither accepting the colonel's suggestions nor speaking against them.
"Sir, I already started light training again", Dick offered, hoping to overcome any lingering doubts in his colonel.
"That's excellent, Dick", Sink replied and gave him a small smile. "Then everything's settled. It's all pretty instant, you'll go back with the captain right away and start training. With Lieutenant Shames gone from the company, everything should be as before."
"Thanks, sir", Dick replied. Then a sudden thought came to his mind. "Sir, am I allowed to speak?"
"Yes, Dick, go on."
"There's one thing that's not like before. I recommended Bill Guarnere more than half a year ago as a sergeant and Captain Sobel approved of it. Guarnere has done very well in this position, although he's still a bit young for it. However, as you might know, sir, Lieutenant Shames made him hand in his stripes because of some minor quarrel between them. Sir, I think the demotion of Sergeant Guarnere was just another one of Lieutenant Shames' mistakes and it would do the platoon some good to reverse some of the blunders of Lieutenant Shames. Only then would the platoon be as it has been before."
"Hmm", Sink replied thoughtfully and gave Sobel a questioning look that was only answered by a shrug of the captain's shoulders. For Dick it was clear that Sobel had definitely dropped Shames and his CO would not side again with his fallen lieutenant in front of the colonel. Which was probably why the captain did not object to Dick's suggestion.
"Yes, let's do that", Sink finally decided. He rummaged in the drawers of his desk before he pulled out a small envelope with the Airborne eagle on it und handed it to Dick. "The quicker we get back to normalcy, the better for the regiment."
"Thank you, sir", Dick replied.
"That's it, then", the colonel declared. "I'll let you get back to your men."
After being dismissed by Sink, Dick quietly followed Sobel out of the office and out of the building. It was only in the car that took them to the barracks of the Easy men when the captain broke his icy silence.
"Don't you dare thinking you can lead Easy the way you want, Dick", Sobel said in a dangerously low voice, almost skewering Dick with dark blazing eyes, "just because you gained the colonel's ear for a short moment. He was in an awkward position and you exploited it ruthlessly. In future you'll ask me before you make any suggestions concerning the noncoms."
"It is neither my intention to lead Easy, nor did I want to exploit Colonel Sink, sir", Dick replied evenly. Although he had wished night and day to be back with Easy, he had somehow blocked the memory of Sobel and his paranoia when it came to leading his company. Did not everything appear much more perfect in retrospective?
"I'm watching you", Sobel hissed, completing the image of the paranoid leader in Dick's mind. "I won't have you destroy all the good work I put into this company."
"Yes, sir", Dick just answered as neutrally as possible and turned his head to watch the landscape flit past him. It had not even taken an hour and Sobel was already getting on his nerves.
They soon reached the barracks where the other two lieutenants of Easy company were already waiting. Peacock looked more or less indifferent at Dick's appearance, but Harry welcomed him with a bright grin and a clap on the shoulder.
"Hey Dick, good to have you back", his friend greeted him, ignoring Sobel's dark look. "Who would have guessed that? You again here with us. And I thought you liked intelligence so much."
"That's enough", Sobel commanded harshly. "At least try to comport yourselves like decent officers. We're not on some holiday trip."
Dick stayed silent, but had to suppress a twitch of lips when he saw Harry rolling his eyes behind Sobel's back. As long as his friend was there, even Sobel's bouts of viciousness could be borne more easily.
It was in that moment that the men of Easy company filed out of the barracks. A warm glow spread in Dick's chest that slowly filled his whole body when he saw the men he had trained with for such a long time giving him surprised stares. After a moment or two, some of them even quirked a smile, but they all retained the best order, much to Dick's satisfaction. His presence did not lead to any disarray or even murmuring among them. However, he clearly felt many pairs of eyes focused on him.
"Easy company!", Sobel addressed them loudly. "I have to announce to you a change in personnel of immediate effect. Lieutenant Shames has left the company, Lieutenant Winters will take over his position as First Lieutenant and leader of second platoon."
Again, some of the men were on the brink of smiling, but Dick was relieved that they kept it mainly to themselves, because Sobel was watching the ranks like a hawk.
"Lieutenants", the captain then said, turning around. "Instruct your sergeants that they gather equipment for weapon instruction. Machine guns, mortars and rifles. We'll meet in full gear by the trucks that will take us out to the training fields in thirty minutes."
"Yes, sir", Dick answered in unison with the other two lieutenants. He was surprised that Sobel actually followed Sink's suggestions and had decided on a more theoretical and less physically demanding exercise. It was very unlike Sobel to go easy on him, which was why Dick could not fully shake off a feeling of wariness.
Walking over to his platoon (oh, he liked the sound of it!), Dick felt for the envelope in his pocket. He saw Lipton and Grant standing in the first line, but it took some more time to locate Guarnere in the very last row.
"Sergeants to me", he commanded calmly and gave Lipton and Grant, who stepped forward, a welcoming nod. Both seemed quite hard-pressed to stay in their formal roles and answered with a neutral "Sir" despite their glowing eyes.
Dick then looked to Guarnere and said easily, "That means you as well, Sergeant Guarnere."
"Sir?", Guarnere asked hesitantly, but made no move to step forward.
"Just come here, sergeant", Dick prompted and produced the envelope from his pocket for everyone to see. A small cheer rose from the ranks and he did not have the heart to suppress it, since he felt that Guarnere had truly earned his regained rank. He had been the one suffering the most under Shames, so he literally deserved some cheering up.
Guarnere slowly trod forward and still looked a bit dazed when Dick shook his hand and gave him the envelope that contained his stripes.
"Congratulations, Bill", he told him, then added good-naturedly, "Again. Just try to hold on to this a bit longer than last time, alright?"
"Thank you, sir. This means a lot to me", Guarnere replied almost timidly, a far cry away from the swaggering soldier he usually was. But Dick was sure that he would be back to his old self in no time at all. This was probably a moment to look back to wistfully in a few days when Guarnere would again display his stubborn and rebellious side.
"It's good to have you back, Bill", Dick said with a small smile.
Guarnere returned the smile and replied with a hint of cheekiness, "No, sir, it's good to have you back."
"I totally agree", Lipton threw in with Grant nodding emphatically.
"Yeah, it's good we're all back", Dick answered smilingly, then decided to get things moving, because he could already feel Sobel's eyes boring in his back. "So, get the men to gather guns, mortars and rifles for weapon instruction. Be ready in twenty minutes by the trucks, in full gear."
"Yes, sir!", the three sergeants answered enthusiastically, then turned around to carry the orders into execution.
Twenty minutes later, Dick sat in the jeep together with Harry, Peacock and Sobel, who drove the car. Twelve trucks followed them, loaded with the Easy men. It was mid-November by now and the weather suited it perfectly. The sky was one big mass of grey and it rained every five minutes, only to stop again after a few moments. A strong wind was blowing into their faces and Dick was glad he wore his lined coat.
After half an hour, they reached the training grounds, an open field with several targets for the different kinds of weapons. Dick looked around the familiar grounds. He had been here before, both with the Easy men and on his own to get more practice. However, it was the first time he saw no instructors on the areal. They were completely alone. Frowning, he turned to Sobel, who was gathering the men trickling out of the trucks.
"Easy company!", the captain addressed them in a voice that sounded almost triumphant. "You leave all weapons here except your rifles. I changed my mind. No weapon instruction today. We'll run twelve miles, in full gear. Get ready!"
Suppressed gasps and moans could be heard from the ranks. Staring numbly at Sobel, Dick could understand the men's disbelief quite well. They had never run twelve miles in full gear before. They had marched longer distances in full gear and they had run twelve miles in PT dress, but they had never had to run such a long distance with additional gear that weighed approximately 35 pounds and flapped around them the whole time.
Sobel gave Dick a short, challenging look, before he started running. Dick broke into a jog as he followed him with second platoon. There was no mistaking his captain's message. Sobel had never even intended to go easy on Dick, quite the contrary. This was literally a test of endurance and his CO was fully determined to win it.
And Dick had never been more ill-prepared for it.
-tbc-