Hi All,

Sorry for the late update. Life catched up and it had been a mess.

But thank you for the new followers and readers who favorited this story, because you guys are the reason I keep writing.

As usual, this chapter is un-beta-ed and since English is not my first language, if you have any ideas or see any mistakes, please poke. I'll really appreciate it.

Once upon a time, there's a man with a hideous mustache (Hitler must be dropped in the head when he was a baby if he thought that his mustache was cool) that decided to be an asshole and started a war that drag the whole world into hell. Some people said it's because he's overcompensating his allegedly-small certain anatomy, and some people said that he got some daddy issue. Whatever his reason was, I can't help to think that if it's not because of this war, I wouldn't meet George Luz, Company Clown Extraordinaire. And I was head over heels, wonderfully, stupidly, terribly, irrevocably, unconditionally in love with him (with George Luz, not with Hitler the Asshole).

George said that he love me too. It took a lot of control not to jump and dance my silly winning dance (it's largely unladylike because it's a mix of chicken dance and repeated fist pumping to the air) at that time. I managed to realize that we're in the convent, in front of Jesus, and the men were resting. No need to give the men more psychological trauma.

He also looked a lot more mature, like every other men who experienced Bastogne, but somehow still maintain that adorable puppy quality on his face. His hair's longer now and I had to suppress my urge to swipe my hand on it every time I saw him. And his stubble… Oh. My. God. I mean…I never a fan of facial hair on man before, but facial hair on George Luz was successfully convert me into a devout worshiper.

"I demoted Radio to Private." Captain Speirs said, slapping two folders of report in front of me, successfully interrupt my daydreaming.

Holly shit! This man should be equipped with cow bells on his neck. He got a tendency to sneak on people. Nixon was his only contender.

"I beg your pardon, Sir?" I stuttered.

"I demoted…you crazy boyfriend… to Private" he repeated slowly. "Again." he added

Dammit, George! It's the third time, for God's sake! I cringed "What did he do this time?"

"He and Liebgott debated about the merits of childbearing hips versus…um…handful of…um…women's… front side" Oh Jesus… not that thing again "The argument got heated, Liebgott smacked Luz on the head, Luz thrown a cigarette butt at him, that still got fire in it, and said cig fall near crates of ammunitions and, in consequences, the whole platoon rushed to save the crates. Their swift action was solid proof that this situation was frequently happened, apparently. No surprise there."

God... It's another organized chaos of typical Easy Company situation.

"No one got hurt" he assured me. "I should have made them court-martialed. But I couldn't spare them, especially Luz. I need a runner. He's the only one who didn't run or pee or combination of both when I gave orders or offered cigarettes. I don't understand though. I was trying to be nice, you know, sharing cigarettes. The men's reaction was like I would shot them or something."

"Umm…Yes, Sir. That's because the…story…said that you offered cigarettes to the POWs before you shot them in D-Day."

"Oh…well…I guess that explained their behavior." He shrugged nonchalantly.

I wait for him to confirm the truth about the story.

He just stared me back. One eyebrow rose as if it's challenging me to ask. Speirs was one of those people who can make a full conversation with just his eyebrows.

I sighed "You won't tell me the true story, don't you Sir?"

"No." he said flatly "I have a reputation to maintain"

"Um…okay…so…this is the report about the demotion?" I picked up the folders.

"Yes…and on the other folder is my recommendation about Lipton's Battlefield Commission. Can you give that to the Colonel? Captain Winters already signed that."

"Sure, Sir. And how's Sergeant Lipton's condition? I heard he got pneumonia."

"The most stubborn mother hen I've ever met." he huffed. "I left him with Luz to take care of him."

"George got nine siblings back home, Sir. I'm sure he take care Sergeant Lipton just well."

"Yeah, I know. That's the thing about George Luz. Sometimes you wanted to give him commendation, but sometimes you wanted to shoot him between his eyes." He deadpanned.

"Err…Yes, Sir...that's…very astute."

"Oh and another thing, the house George set up for Easy CP got a fully functioning bathroom. You can use it anytime you want."

Hallelujah! "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that."

Suddenly the door of the office opened, surprised both of us, and one George Luz barged in with a box of…was that chocolate? "BECCA-POO….guess who I met outside…OH SHIT…I mean…Sorry, Sir. I didn't know..."

Speirs face expression changed from confused then exasperated and then disturbed before settled on constipated. He mouthed at me "Becca-poo?"

I throw my face to my palm and exhaled "I've told you, George…enough with the silly names…"

George pouted and he looked like a hurt puppy…a hurt psychotic puppy, to be exact "But every couple had silly nicknames for each other."

"I already called you Frog and you called me Princess." I spat at him. And then I said solemnly to the Captain, "Sorry, Sir. I've tried to teach him manners."

Speirs, resigned that he stuck with crazy bunch of men to lead and desperate to change the topic, asked George "Done sorting things with Vest?"

"Yes, Sir. I bring some with me and asked for the explosive and ammunition to be sent to our CP. I brought extra blanket for Lip too. Because, most likely, he already evacuated his room and set camp in the living room as we speak. Working." And he did his masterpiece eye roll.

"That workaholic mother hen. Okay…so…I gotta go...for house inspection. Don't forget about the report, Becca."

Riiight…'house inspection'. I nodded "Yes, Sir"

George piped in "Oh…I saw a beautiful clock on the house about two doors left from our CP, Sir. I think you might like it."

Speirs's face suddenly lit up and said "Thank you, Luz" before he hurriedly walked out the office. Undoubtedly to 'secure' said clock. But he turned around at the door and said "But you're still demoted, Luz." and then he's gone.

George deflated a little and shrugged "Eh…it's worth to try." He dropped his box beside him and leaned on my desk "Sorry, Princess. I didn't know Speir's here."

"Yeah, Frog…for one elite paratrooper, your manners and situational awareness are shit."

"Language, woman!"

"You want me to kick your ass for calling me that?"

"As long as you can keep both cheeks symmetrical."

I groaned "You're disgusting."

"I know. And you're stuck with me, my darling Princess Becca-poo." He winked exaggeratedly.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed "And what about you got busted to Private again?"

He cringed "Ah…yeah…about that…"

"This is the third time, George! You're lucky we haven't received replacements, Speirs need you as his runner and you're immune enough to his creepiness." I nudged his chest to emphasize each point.

He scratched the back of his head "It won't happen again. Promise. But you're wrong about the replacements. They're here. And guess who I saw with those babies."

"Who?"

"Webster. With all his sparkling blue eyes, puffy hair and chin as smooth as baby's butt. And I swear to God he grew more chest hair during his rehabilitation." he said with sarcasm thick enough to cut with a knife.

I can't blame George. As much as I love David, I could understand the men will possibly treated him as an outsider. Or worse, a traitor…since David didn't return to Easy in Bastogne as soon as possible. But I know him. I know he loved Easy (he's loyal, actually) but he also hated this war and want stay away as long as he can from it.

George sighed "The men will hate him, Becca. Because he missed Bastogne. Talk to him, before he makes a fool of himself by acting too…cheery…in front of the men. They've suffered already."

"Do you hate him, George?" I asked.

"I won't lie to you, Princess. A part of me hated him because he could help us in Bastogne. We needed every single resources back then. But a part of me know that maybe he had his own reason why he didn't go AWOL. Also, he's your best friend. I cannot hate your best friend, Princess. Even though he's an asshole."

I smiled weakly "I do know his reason, George. I'll talk to him. Thank you, George…for being kind to him."

"You've changed me a lot, Princess." His smile was warm when he stroked my cheek and I couldn't help to leaned my face to his palm.

I'd like to say something equally romantic (and maybe kiss him?), but he lowered his hand and took something out from his box and said "But first thing first. Here's clean uniform for you. And soap. Go get shower. You stink."

Aaaaannnddd…the sly George was back.

"Really, George? Really?! After those romantic and heartfelt things, you said that I stink?! Dammit…I'm a woman! You can't talk like that to a woman, you asshole!"

"Language, woman!"

And that's how my stapler found its way to George's forehead.

Some of the boys got opportunity to have hot shower in communal shower tent during our two weeks movement from Rachamps to Haguenau (It's a huge temptation for me to not 'accidentally' pass said tent and 'accidentally' look for a certain paratrooper in his birthday suit under the row of showers). But the houses I billeted during the movement weren't provided with functioning bathroom. Or if it's functioning, the water was freezing and I didn't want to risk myself got pneumonia. So now I took my chances to thoroughly enjoy the private bathroom in Easy CP. And after an hour of scrubbing, scratching, washing, triple soaping and almost drowning in the bathtub (an honest to GOD bathtub… with lukewarm water - courtesy of one thoughtful George Luz. I admit I shed a single tear on the sight of it), I felt like a human again.

The clean uniform felt heavenly in my skin. I dried my hair as much as possible before tied it in a loose bun. Then I went to the living room, where I know George was sorting supplies from Vest.

"Jesus. I thought you're drowning, Becca. One hour for showering?" George said while sorting Hershey bars.

"Shut up! It's your fault you provide me a bathtub with warm water. I just want to be a girl once in a while. This whole testosterone environment starts to rub off my femininity."

He scoffed "Said the tomboy."

I kicked his shin and satisfied with his not-so-manly yelp "Being a tomboy is not equal to deny that I'm a woman. And women have specific needs too. An hour of bathing in warm water is one of them."

"Yeah...okay…I really don't need mental image of you in a bathtub right now, you tease! By the way…Webster was here about 30 minutes ago. He said Malark sent him to check with the CO if he should be in 2nd Platoon. He looked…constipated."

Oh no…I think Davey already met the boys and had make himself in trouble.

George seemed like can read my mind because he continued "Yeah…I guess he messed up, because he talked very polite to me and Lip. Maybe he met the boys and said or asked the wrong thing."

I sighed "Dammit. I should talk to him first before taking a bath."

"Not your fault, Princess. And another thing, we got new replacement officer. Lieutenant Jones. West Pointer. Just graduate last year. On D-Day. Can you believe that?" he scoffed.

I sighed. "Old story, George."

"You don't say. You should see Nixon's face when he found out about that. He chuckling and said 'Don't get hurt'"

"Let's just hope this one got some brain and not action-hungry like that new Lieutenant from D company."

"The one that blew his foot off?"

I nodded.

George shook his head "All we want is to end this fucking war as soon as possible, and these babies parading their wet butt looking for action, risking his own life and his fellow men, so they would have something to brag to their families back home. Un-fucking-believable."

I took his hand and curled my fingers into his "Hey…We're gonna make through this. You want to see my dad's monkey, don't you?"

He smiled weakly and stroked my cheek with his other hand. Then he leaned his head as if he wants to kiss me.

His face was only inches away from mine when Speirs barged in with hands full of shiny things. He kept walking and said flatly "No display of affection during working hours" without even glanced at us. He dropped his stuffs on a table in the living room and then left the house again (most likely for another 'house inspection'), leaving George and I froze in embarrassment.

Shiiiiittt….is there any limit to how much the human body can endure humiliation before it spontaneously combust?

George scratched his nose while I felt like I want to dig my own foxhole and stay there until this war was over.

Yep…Davey was definitely made fools of himself, judging by his body language (he's super quiet and polite) and the boys' (Joe and Johny Martin especially) somewhat hostile treatment to him.

George was being pestered by Martin and Cobb when Davey came in with Joe and one baby-faced Lieutenant. Davey looked like he wanted to hug me, but he only nodded minutely and kept quiet.

"Whoa…Hershey bars!" Joe shout like a 5-years-old.

George sighed "Jesus Christ"

Cobb cut in "Wait your turn, Liebgott."

Joe pretend not to hear and reached for the chocolate "Yeah, who are they for?"

George slapped Joe's hand and snapped "Not you, Lieb."

Joe pouted "Oh, come on, George, one bar."

George yelled "No! There's not enough to go around."

I sighed "Jesus…it's like watching boys fighting for toys."

George looked at me and said indignantly "Excuse me, Princess. But we're not boys. We're men"

I scoffed "Could have fooled me"

I was saved from George's rant because Lieutenant MacYoung cut in "Captain Speirs here?"

George answered politely "Down by the river, Sir."

Davey was silent all the time, but I've known him long enough that I know he desperately want to talk to me.

"Hey, big mouth, give the kid a Hershey bar, huh?" squeaked someone from the living room.

"Frank!" I yelled while George grinned "You gotta be shittin' me."

"Hiya, Princess." Frank grinned back. With his all-white teeth. Apparently being shot in the ass, which means he spent his time in the hospital with said ass in the air, didn't stop him to brush his teeth vigorously. He then greet the others "What's up, guys? I like what you did with the place, George."

"Yeah, yeah, I did good, huh? How you feeling?"

"As long as you keep your hands off my ass, I'll be fine."

George laughed and threw him chocolate "Have a Hershey."

Joe glared "He gets a fuckin' Hershey bar?"

"Well, he got shot in the ass." George reasoned which only make Joe got more pissed off.

Martin walked to Frank, hugged him and asked "Did I tell you to stick your big ass out in the wind?"

"No, but I expect a little sympathy from you, right?" Frank said. His grin never left his face.

"I should rub it for you?" Martin acted like he wanted to grab Frank's ass. The little guy wiggled away.

Lieutenant Jones looked amused. Davey, I noticed, watched the entire exchange with envy. His coming back was not welcomed that warm.

As if realized Davey's mind, Martin pated Frank's shoulder and said "Hey, can you believe this guy? I try to get him out of the fuckin' war, and he comes straight back."

Oh God. George and I looked at each other, fully understand Martin's meaning by saying that. Davey lowered his gaze and played with his helmet.

Frank, oblivious as always, said "Yeah, well, that's not what I heard. I heard the Krauts are finished."

Joe huffed "Yeah, well, just to make sure, we gotta row across the fuckin' river tonight, grab a few, and ask 'em in person."

Frank gapped "Are you kidding me?"

Joe mumbled "Wish I was. Welcome back, Frank."

George cut in "Yeah, oh, Jesus, that reminds me, Web. I need you to run these to OP two for me. Grenade launchers for the night patrol, huh?" He then gave Davey a box of explosive. Davey looked so grateful; he hastily put on his helmet. "Any day now, Web. There you go." George added "Hey, you know what? Send these too." And he threw some stuff to the box on Davey's hand.

Joe smirked and pat Davey's hand "You been working out?"

Davey's ear gone pink but he kept silent and received anything George throw on his box.

Vest came in with another box of supplies and said "Did you hear what happened on D Company's patrol last night? Replacement lieutenant blew his foot off. Stepped on a Schu mine. Fresh in from West Point. Had to come back empty-handed."

George put a cig on his mouth and said innocently "No shit. Maybe he's a friend of yours, Lieutenant?"

I nudged his ribs and glared at him. He shrugged. The young lieutenant looked paled. I suppressed the urge to slap George up on his head.

Cobb made the situation worse when he asked "Hey, Vest, what you got in there? More Hershey Bars and Lucky Strikes for you rear-echelon freaks to hoard, huh?"

George snapped at him "Hey, Cobb, with the mouth, please. The kid's just trying to do his job, all right? Jesus Christ. You know what? To hell with it. Count 'em up, Vest. I gotta go blast this house. Come on, Princess. Wanna show you how a man playing with the big gun."

I sighed "A solid proof that boys are never grow up. They just upgrade their toys."

"Men! Not Boys!"

I smiled and said "Of course" magnanimously.

George grumbled and grabbed his equipment "You coming, Perco?". Frank shook his head so George said "Make yourself useful, watch this shit for me."

In which I want to remind George that leaving Frank responsible in sorting supplies was a dangerous move.

But before I able to say anything, George was start leaving the room and said "Web, you're coming with me."

And I want to kiss the hell out of him. Davey looked grateful.

Lieutenant Baby Face asked "Sergeant, is Captain Speirs gonna be where you're headed?"

Sergeant? Oh right. George still used his T-4 badge. The Liutenant didn't know that this menace has been demoted to Private.

George grinned at me as if he knew what I was thinking.

The little shit.

"Same vicinity, yeah." George said.

"All right, then I'll join you."

Davey followed us like a puppy "Where are we going?"

"To the house I gotta blast."

Vest cut in "Captain Winters gonna be with him?"

George sighed "Jesus, look, I don't know, maybe."

"Then I'm coming too."

And the shit finally hit the fan because Martin, Cobb and Joe started to grab the chocolates. Frank's squeaks "I'm supposed to watch these" and "but I got a wounded ass" in desperate attempt to maintain control were deliberately ignored.

as always...please leave your review ^_^