A/N: I can't remember when any smut starts (lol) so just be aware for it in the future because I'm a lazy fucking bitch whose brain is too squiffy right now to search for it and mark it accordingly. But you have been warned, lol.
20th October, 1944
"You're an idiot. An actual real life idiot. Why didn't you tell me you'd done this? Or Gene? Or Spina? Look at the state of your arm now, you stupid Mick," Evelyn was berating Babe. The daft fool had managed to keep it hidden from everyone that he had cut his arm open in the shelling at Son a couple of days previously. Now the wound had gotten dirt in it, causing his arm to start to swell and look red and sore.
"I take great offence at that Evelyn Guarnere," Malarkey piped up indignantly. "I thought I was the stupid Mick of this company? And now I hear you trying to pass my glory on to someone else? Disgraceful."
"Yeah, you are our stupid Mick, Malark" she answered, trying her best to clean at the angry, weeping wound. She raised an eyebrow at Babe when he hissed, resisting the urge to tell him to stop being such a baby. "But Babe here might just be catching up to you. I honestly can't believe you didn't think to tell any of us about this when you first did it."
"Well it was just a tiny cut," Babe exclaimed, feeling the way he used to when his mom would tell him off for something as a kid. Who the hell was he kidding? Up until the day he left for training his mom was still telling him off for stuff. In truth, being told off as a grown up was actually worse than being told off as a kid. "I didn't think it would cause that much of a problem."
"Yeah, well remember what I told you the other day in the plane about thinking?" she reminded him, and he smiled reluctantly. "I think this needs lancing," she decided with a sigh.
"What the hell does that mean?" her brother frowned, peering at the cut and thinking it didn't look too bad. Personally, he thought she was making a mountain out of a molehill. But then again, that was something his sister did about most things.
"Means he needs to go to an aid station," she muttered.
"Well there ain't one of them nearby."
"I know that," she rolled her eyes. Talk about stating the obvious, moron. "There's one back near Son though. I'll go and sort out a ride. You wait there and think long and hard about whether you've got any more hidden injuries that need sorting." She saw George grin and open his mouth to make some sort of comment that she just knew was going to be rude, but she quickly shut him down with a warning glare. "Open your mouth to say so much as one word George Luz and it'll be the last word you ever say."
"Christ, your sister is scary," Babe frowned at Bill, cradling his arm as Evelyn stomped off in search of a truck.
"You haven't seen anything," Skip snorted. "That was pretty mild compared to some of the telling offs I've seen her give to Bill or the other guys. You got off lightly, Heffron."
"Yeah if you say so," Babe muttered. He wasn't so sure himself. For a girl who looked so small and sweet, she didn't half have a fiery nature.
… … …
Babe returned later that day, his arm having been lanced and now bandaged; his minor wound caught just before it could start to become majorly infected. It had certainly opened Babe's eyes to the fact that, out in the field, even a minor injury could turn into something potentially life threatening without proper care and attention. No wonder Evelyn had been so annoyed with him. When he found everyone else, they were all packing up, looking like they were ready to move out at any minute. And apparently they were. The Dutch resistance had heard rumours that the Germans were planning on bombing Eindhoven that night to catch the Americans unawares. Colonel Sink, upon hearing this news, had given the order that they were to carry on immediately towards a place called Nuenen as there just wasn't the air or fire support available to help them if the rumours were proved to be true.
The rest of the guys revelled in the fact that they wouldn't have to walk as they all clambered on board the tanks that were accompanying them. Evelyn, however, didn't share their enjoyment. As she sat down beside Popeye, whose rear end was now well enough to take his weight for longer distances, she couldn't help but feel bad that if the rumours did turn out to be true, then they were leaving the people of Eindhoven to a terrible fate. They were essentially abandoning them to fend for themselves against the enemy.
… … …
Nuenen
Holland was beautiful. As the tanks rolled along the vast expanse of countryside, they were afforded a view of the stunning scenery. Green fields peppered with purple flowers and overlooked by a bright blue sky. The only thing that marred the surroundings were the ruins of destroyed windmills that would come into view every so often. Holland was of course renowned for its windmills, but unfortunately the Germans saw them as the perfect place in which to hide, so the British air force had blown them all apart as a precaution. It was a shame, but it had been necessary.
As they meandered along the road, there was mostly silence apart from the odd snippets of conversation every now and then, or the squeaking of the tank's wheels as they rolled. When they found themselves driving past a young woman cradling a baby, one by one everyone glanced in her direction. Her hair was shorn with visible cuts on her head and she looked like she hadn't eaten in days. She had an aura of sadness and desperation about her. Someone handed her a k-ration and she took it gratefully, her empty eyes never leaving them all as they passed her by. Evelyn thought she saw shame in the woman's almost blank expression, as though she knew what some of them must be thinking of her. But shame wasn't going to feed her baby, was it? Instead she knew that she had to stand there and accept the judging looks cast in her direction in the hopes that she could provide her child with even the tiniest morsel of food.
"Look at the way she's just stood there, cradling her little mini Hitler, expecting sympathy from us all," Perconte commented bitterly.
"I know," George snorted. "She's only sorry that she got caught. I bet she was having a right old time of it."
"What the actual fuck?" Evelyn turned around and hissed at them. "Are you guys for fucking real? I can't believe the pair of you would be so narrow minded and horrible."
"Horrible?" Perconte frowned, confused as to Evelyn's upset. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about," she spat. "What you just said about that woman was uncalled for. You don't know jack shit about her circumstances, so what gives you the right to judge?"
Perconte opened his mouth but was swiftly cut off by the continuation of Evelyn's angry tirade.
"There's plenty of guys I would have expected this from, but I certainly didn't expect it from either of you. The pair of you should be ashamed of yourselves."
"Ev, I-" George tried to speak.
"-Save it," she cut him off, holding her hand up. "I don't wanna hear it."
George and Frank looked at each other feeling terrible. They hadn't realised their words would have upset Evelyn, and upsetting her was the last thing that either of them ever wanted to do. They glanced at Bill, wondering what they should do. Bill just shrugged. He had no doubt that his sister would talk to the pair of them again soon. Especially Luz. The two of them were as thick as thieves. Personally, Bill didn't see anything wrong with what Perconte and Luz had been saying, but Evelyn obviously did and therefore it was best to just leave her to deal with whatever was upsetting her. Women really were complex creatures. After twenty four years on this earth, he still didn't understand them.
… … …
An hour later Evelyn hadn't spoken a single word. Not to anyone. Not even when Malarkey had tried to strike up a conversation nor when Popeye had tried to tell her a joke. She sat with her arms folded across her chest and her brow furrowed, thoroughly annoyed.
Finally as they approached the outskirts of Nuenen, the tanks came to a halt and they waited patiently as Lieutenant Brewer jumped down from the first tank.
"What the hell is he doing?" Bill frowned as they watched him heading off down the road on his own to scope out the lone church up ahead.
"Fucking idiot," George muttered, and even though Evelyn was still annoyed with him she did agree. Was the man stupid? He was essentially a walking target. He couldn't have been any more obvious if he'd have had a light on top of his head.
"Lieutenant!" Bull shouted and the second that Lieutenant Brewer turned around, a bullet sliced through his neck and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"Sniper!" someone shouted, and suddenly there was great commotion as everyone jumped down from the tanks to get into the relative cover of the ditch to the side of them.
"Medic up front! Medic up front!" Bull yelled trying to stem the flow of crimson red blood spewing from Brewer's wound like a faucet. Evelyn tried to scramble out of the ditch to answer the call but Bill grabbed her by the back of her jacket, restraining her as bullets continued to fly past their heads. He pointed and she could see that a medic from Dog Company, who had tagged along with them after bringing Babe back from the aid station, was trying to tend to Lieutenant Brewer. Without warning, a bullet hit him in the leg and he went down with a groan, but before Evelyn could wrangle herself from Bill's grip, Spina ran past like a man on a mission.
"Let's go, come on," Bill pulled her away. "You stay with us."
With one final look toward the road, seeing that Spina seemed to have everything in hand, she allowed Bill to all but drag her across the open field towards the more built up area of Nuenen. Bullets whizzing past and the smell of gunpowder already thick in the air, their squad took shelter around the corner from a huge red bricked hotel. Silence. The Germans had all but stopped firing and she presumed that everyone else was getting into position scattered around the village. The waiting seemed to go on forever. It was horrible. It was a gnawing anxious feeling in the pit of one's stomach. When the arrival of something terrible is imminent but unknown. The only sound that could be heard was that of their hard breathing.
"You alright?" George whispered, beside her as she let out a shaky breath. As a medic, her job was solely to run towards the danger and anyone that needed help, but with no weapon and no way to protect herself it left her feeling vulnerable. Especially in a situation like this when she knew they were surrounded by Germans. Well of course you're surrounded you idiot, you're a fucking paratrooper. Bizarrely though, being in war, with the sounds of shelling and gun fire all around was terrifying yet strangely thrilling at the same time. The way the adrenaline rushed through every inch of the body was unexplainable.
"Yeah, Georgie," she smiled, completely forgetting that she was meant to be upset with him. But then again it was George. Who could stay mad at George Luz? It was almost impossible.
All of a sudden there was a huge explosion from the other side of the village that shook the entire ground all around them and sent Evelyn's heart racing. Another explosion. This was it. Gun shots. Shells exploding. It was the sound of chaos. As the gunshots sounded closer and closer, flying right past the building they were using for cover, Bill peeked his head around the corner.
"MG-42 in the building straight ahead," he declared. "Top window."
With a nod, Chuck hoisted the rocket launcher on his shoulder and Popeye loaded it.
"When we go, you wait here until we need you," Bill ordered her.
Upon Bill's signal, Chuck turned the corner again, facing the hotel, and he fired the rocket launcher. The building exploded with a bang that shook the earth and sent debris flying everywhere.
Suddenly a tank came out of nowhere and Bill screamed at them all to fall back. Running back across fields, being followed closely on their heels by Germans, George stopped at the side of a building and was shouting loudly into his radio.
"-Cut the road! We have infantry everywhere! Repeat; armour has cut the road! We are covered in infantry! We are pulling back!"
"Luz, fall back!" her brother shouted.
"It's a hold-down!" Luz continued.
"Luz! Fall back!" Bill repeated just as two guys went down behind them. Evelyn was straight there within seconds of seeing them fall, trying to avoid the bullets that were flying everywhere. One shot whizzed so quickly past her ear that she could have sworn she felt the heat from it.
"Ev!" Bill yelled, but she ignored him. This was her job. There were two men injured. Two of their men. She couldn't leave them just because they were under fire. What kind of medic would she be if she did that? She continued ignoring Bill's frantic shouting until she suddenly found herself hoisted onto his shoulder, the injured soldiers becoming further and further away.
"What the fuck are you doing?" she screamed, punching his shoulders in an effort to get him to drop her.
"Saving your fucking life you idiot," he answered, as he continued to run. Bullets whizzing past them at the speed of light. They were never ending. Glancing up, Evelyn saw that the Germans were closing in and if Bill hadn't grabbed her when he did she would probably be dead. Not that the thought of that made her feel any better about leaving her fallen comrades.
When they were a safe enough, well perhaps safe was an exaggeration, distance from the Germans, Bill set Evelyn on her feet and they continued to run as fast as their legs could carry them, dodging bullets and shells.
"What the hell are you doing?" Bill scowled urgently as they came across Skip and Malarkey breaking down a chicken shed door. The Germans were advancing. There wasn't time for collecting eggs or whatever the hell shit they were up to.
"Help us," Malarkey answered, offering no explanation at first. "Buck's shot and we need something to help move him."
Immediately Bill was there, helping them tear down the door and carry it to where Buck lay on the ground, Eugene sprinkling sulfa and stemming the blood flow. If they weren't in such a hurry to avoid the ever nearing Germans, Evelyn would have loved to have ribbed Buck about the fact that the bullet had gone through both butt cheeks. Four holes all from just one bullet. But there wasn't time for that. And judging by Buck's gritted teeth, he wouldn't have found it very funny anyway.
"Get back to the tanks!" someone was shouting in the distance. "Keep moving! Keep low!"
"You go, we've got this," Bill told Ev and Eugene, who gave him one final look before crouching down low and heading towards the trucks and tanks, trying to help any wounded as they went. With how fast the Germans were advancing, the best they could do was to drag any wounded men into the trucks where they could tend to them once they were all moving. It wasn't ideal but they were trying to make the best of an awful situation.
With the last of the wounded on the truck, she and Gene climbed up just as it was about to leave. Nuenen had been a disaster.
… … …
The sun had disappeared and dark evening sky took its place as they stopped for the night somewhere between Eindhoven and Nuenen. In the distance, overlooking Eindhoven the skies were lit up orange and red. It seemed that the rumours had turned out to be true. The Germans were bombing Eindhoven. All Evelyn could think about was the happiness and joy of the people when they had been there. And now, their homes and lives were being blown apart in a cruel twist of fate. Again.
And there was worse news for Easy. Even worse than the fact that four men had lost their lives and eleven had been injured. Bull Randleman was missing. It may sound strange to say that one man being missing was worse than the loss of four innocent lives, but the truth was that not knowing someone's fate seemed far worse in a way. It was like being in a state of limbo. Was Bull ok? Was he hurt? Was he dead somewhere? Had he been taken prisoner? Was he being tortured? Did he know where he was? Was he trying to get back to them? Did he know how to get back to them? The list of questions running through all of their heads were endless. And none of them could be answered until they got word on Bull.
Bull Randleman was one of the best men in the entire company. An Arkansas giant, never without a cigar in his mouth or tobacco to chew, he looked like a beast of a man but was as soft and gentle as a kitten. While most of the guys had no time for replacements, Bull went out of his way to make sure that they were well prepared and treated them with respect and kindness. He would show up. He had to.
Everyone was upset about the news of Bull; the sombreness in the air was tangible. But by far the person who looked to be the most upset was Johnny Martin. Usually a rather hard faced man, he wasn't one for showing emotion but he looked close to tears. He told Bill and Evelyn that he had last seen Bull in a ditch crawling away from a tank that was on fire. When the tank eventually capsized into the ditch, Johnny and his squad had started taking fire and he hadn't been able to see whether or not Bull had gotten out alive. He hadn't even been able to go back for him because they'd had to fall back so rapidly. It was obvious that he felt a lot of guilt, but Bill tried to reassure him that they all would have been forced to act in the same way given the circumstances. Johnny nodded but it was plain to see that he didn't care what anyone else would have done. He had been the one to leave Bull, not anyone else. It was his fault.
"I, uh, just wanna be on my own for a while," Johnny mumbled, picking absentmindedly at the muddy grass beneath him.
"You got it," Bill nodded, nudging Evelyn who gave Johnny a small smile and squeezed his shoulder. "You need anything, you just shout ok?"
"I've never seen Johnny so upset," Evelyn commented as they walked.
"Hoob!" Bill called out, as they spotted him heading towards a small group made up of Garcia, Hashey, Cobb and Webster. "Any news on Bull yet?" Hoobler shook his head remorsefully. Bill took in the solemn looks on the new guys' faces. "If there ain't no body, then there ain't nobody fucking dead! Understand me?"
"I'm gonna go look for him," Hoobler decided.
"Not by yourself you're not," Bill answered. "I'll go with you. Let me get some ammo."
"That's ok, I'll go," Les Hashey, one of the replacements, stood up.
"Me too," nodded Garcia.
Evelyn smiled to herself. These were good kids. She nearly laughed thinking about what she had just called them in her head. Kids? Christ, the two of them were the same age as her. But somehow, she viewed them differently. They were new, they hadn't been with the rest of them since the beginning. She would have expected nearly every single one of the original Toccoa men to go look for Bull without even the slightest moment of hesitation, but the fact that these new guys were willing to do that too showed two things. Firstly, that Bull Randleman was one heck of a man and squad leader. Secondly, these kids might be made of more than they had initially given them credit for. In all truthfulness, Babe was one of them too but by a sheer fluke he had been fortunate enough to have had an in; a way to be accepted just because of where he was from and who he ended up being friends with.
"All right," Bill smirked, the replacements earning a small amount of respect in his eyes. "Go get him."
"All right. What the hell," Webster sighed, getting up.
"I'm coming too," Evelyn declared. "In case he's hurt."
"I don't think so," Bill answered.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hoobler and Webster looked at one another and rolled their eyes.
"Excuse me?" Evelyn raised her eyebrow indignantly. "What the hell do you mean 'I don't think so'? Who the fuck are you?"
"Your goddamn br-"
"-Brother. Yeah I know," Evelyn huffed, her hands on her hips, a looked of pure annoyance plastered all over her dirty face. "I don't care who you are. When we're out here in the middle of who the hell knows where, you're just another soldier to me."
"A higher ranking soldier," Bill answered smugly. "Therefore, I can forbid you to go. So, you ain't goin'."
"I don't care what you say, I am going."
"Actually, uh, Ev," Hoobler scratched his head awkwardly. "It's probably best if you don't come."
"What?" she spun around and faced him. She actually looked so angry that Hoobler took a step back from her, and Webster found himself thinking that perhaps Hoob had some kind of a death wish. "Why is it best if I don't come? Enlighten me."
"Well, uh," Hoobler opened and closed his mouth as nervously as words tried to formulate a sentence in his head. "I just think that it's easier if only a few of us go."
"Right," she frowned, not buying his excuse in the slightest. "In case you haven't noticed Hoob, I'm only one person so I don't see how it's going to make that much of a difference if I come. And what about if Bull's hurt?"
"Well, if he's hurt we'll bring him back here as quick as we can for you to fix him up."
"That makes no sense," she argued.
"Look, you're not going and that's the end of the matter," Bill put his foot down.
Realising she was completely outnumbered and feeling somewhat hurt that for some reason they were all conspiring against her, she stormed off angrily. She was so enraged that she didn't notice Skinny's legs sticking out as she walked past him, Lieb and Smokey. She went flying and landed in a pile; almost face first into the mud.
"Shit Ev, you ok?" Liebgott lifted her up. When she saw it was him though, she shrugged herself out of his gentle grasp. His face was the last one she wanted to see right now. Fuckin' men. They're all just a bunch of arrogant, sexist, conceited pigs. "Ev, you hurt?"
"Of course I'm not fuckin' hurt," she snapped frustratedly. "What is it with you guys? I'm not made of china. I won't break."
"I'm sorry, I-"
" -I don't care, Joe. Just do me a favour and fuck off, yeah?"
"What in the actual fuck was that all about?" Skinny questioned as they watched Evelyn march off towards the far end of the field and sit down alone.
"I have no idea," Joe frowned. "Maybe I should go talk to her?"
"I wouldn't if I were you," Skinny shook his head, chuckling. "Something's got her so annoyed that I'm certain she would tear your head from your shoulders with her bare hands if you went near her. And I like you, Lieb but I wouldn't be going anywhere near her to save you. Just come and sit down. Have something to eat with us? Smokey's managed to make something that resembles stew, although I'm not gonna ask him what's in it and you probably shouldn't either."
Liebgott nodded and sat back down where he had been originally, trying to ignore the small lone figure sat cross legged across the field. But no matter how hard he tried, his gaze just kept returning there by itself. His gaze was always wherever she was. It was like a finely tuned sense he had. No matter how large or small the crowd, he could always find her easily.
He wanted to go over to her, to ask her what was wrong and try to make it better. More than anything he wanted to go over there and take her in his arms. Since London, they hadn't really spoken. It was mostly his fault. He had tried his best to avoid her. Then in the bar the other night when he had finally plucked up the courage to confront the situation and find out what this meant for the two of them, they had been interrupted. By the time Lipton had finished his announcement it had given him just enough time to lose his nerve and Evelyn hadn't seemed like she had wanted to continue the conversation anyway.
When he had kissed her it had been like nothing he had ever known. And he had kissed a lot of women. More than he could count. But kissing her had been like having a first kiss all over again; like being a teenager all over again. He had felt nervous and unsure of himself. He couldn't decide if it was a curse or a blessing that Bill had appeared, abruptly putting an end to it, but one thing was certain it had paved the way for a lot of uncertainty on his behalf. A feeling he was not used to. God, he felt like a girl. Like one of his sisters when they had a crush on some guy from school. It was pathetic. But all he knew was that since he and Evelyn had kissed it was all that consumed his thoughts. She was all that consumed his thoughts. Even more than before. The gentle hesitance of her soft lips against his; the way her body had almost melted into his; the way she had felt in his arms. But he had no idea if she felt the same as he did. He had an idea every now and then that she did. The way she couldn't always look him in the eye or the way she would blush around him. But it wasn't enough to know for sure. In Eindhoven, he'd had this crazy idea that if she saw him with other women it might make her jealous enough to tell him how she felt, but she hadn't even noticed him. Or perhaps she had noticed and it just hadn't bothered her in the slightest? Who knew. One thing he did know though was that he was going to have to pluck up the courage to ask her and soon.
… … …
Evelyn had nodded off sometime in the early hours of the morning, and when she awoke a few hours later the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing sweetly. Rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand, she sat up groggily.
"Coffee?" a voice asked.
She looked up and smiled wanly as Malarkey handed her a cup, sitting down beside her.
"Feeling any better this morning?" he asked. She frowned questioningly and Malarkey smirked. "We all heard about your little spat with Bill last night, then Hoobler, then Liebgott."
Evelyn groaned, rubbing her face wearily. "I was a bit of a bitch to everyone, wasn't I?"
"Not to mention the little row with Luz and Perco earlier on in the day," Malarkey reminded her. "You were on the war path yesterday weren't you? Luz told everyone it was probably your girl time and that we should all stay away if they know what's good for us."
"Yet you braved the beast?" she snorted, taking a sip of the lukewarm drink; the aroma reminding her of home.
"Well we're getting ready to move out again so someone had to come and wake you up. Oh but don't worry I came prepared," Malarkey chortled, holding out a bar of chocolate making Evelyn laugh.
"You can keep the chocolate Malark," she smiled, gathering up her things. "For your bravery. But you may wanna warn George that if he keeps shooting his mouth off about me and my girl problems, he's gonna have a few problems of his own."
"I'll tell him don't you worry," Malark chuckled, sauntering off back across the field.
Hoisting her satchel over her shoulder and slipping her helmet onto her head, Evelyn decided she had an apology to make. Liebgott was still where she had seen him the previous night with Skinny and Smokey, packing up their gear.
"Come for round two have you?" Skinny snorted when she approached. "Quick Lieb, get your helmet on before Evelyn barrages us with insults."
"Very funny," she grinned, holding up her hands in surrender. "I actually came to apologise to Liebgott for being a complete and utter cow last night."
"What about me?" Skinny asked indignantly. "You really hurt me last night tripping over my legs like that."
"You'll survive I'm sure," Evelyn smirked. "And anyway, you should be apologising to me for tripping me up with those gigantic long legs of yours. They're a hazard, you know."
"Call it even?" Skinny shrugged.
"Deal," Evelyn laughed. "Now will you just piss off so I can apologise to Liebgott? Please," she added with a polite smile. Last thing she wanted was to be accused of having a go at anyone else. Skinny sauntered off muttering something under his breath and Evelyn turned to face Liebgott who was watching her with a strangely guarded expression. Not she was surprised. After the way she had gone off at him last night when he had been only trying to help her. "I, uh… Sorry about telling you to fuck off last night. I wasn't in a very good mood and-"
"-Yeah I noticed," Lieb snorted.
"Excuse me, I'm trying to apologise here," she raised an eyebrow and nudged him playfully.
"Sorry," Liebgott apologised, the grin disappearing from his face as he tried to act contrite.
"No you can't be sorry, I'm sorry. It's me who's trying to apologise, remember?"
"Yeah, but you're apologising for last night," Liebgott reasoned. "I'm trying to apologise for interrupting your apology."
"Yeah but if you're apologising for something then it makes my apology look less sincere," she argued.
"How?" Liebgott frowned in amusement.
"Because it just does."
"But I don't understand. How does me apologising make you apologising look less sincere?"
"I don't know how, but it just does," Evelyn sighed, throwing her hands up frustratedly.
"Well in that case, I take back my apology until later," Liebgott smirked. She really was so amusing. It was too much for him to take sometimes.
"Thank you," she smiled graciously.
"Well go on then," Lieb prompted her.
"Well go on what?" she frowned, utterly confused now.
"Apologise."
"Oh yeah," she grinned. "I'm sorry."
"Is that it?"
"What do you mean?"
"That was a rubbish apology," Liebgott answered. "Try again. With more feeling this time."
"I'm very sorry," she said as sincerely as she could. Which was very sincerely seeing as she really was sorry.
"Nah, still not good enough," Lieb teased. "Maybe if you got on your knees and begged for my forgiveness or something?"
"Fuck off," she snorted, hitting him on the arm.
"Hey now don't start all that again otherwise you'll have to start this whole apology thing again," he smirked.
She smiled. For the first time since the whole kissing episode in London, they were actually having a conversation that wasn't awkward or forced. It was like it had been before it had ever happened. It was at that moment that Evelyn decided that perhaps just being friends was a better idea anyway. Of course she liked Lieb a lot. Like a lot, a lot. But their kiss had obviously been some random thing on his behalf. Besides, they were in the middle of a war anyway. It might be hard for a while to pretend that the feelings she had for him weren't there, but she had done it before London and she could do it again. Plus, she loved having Lieb in her life no matter what the context. She would rather make do with having him as a friend than not have him at all.
Suddenly a commotion from up near the trucks caught both of their attention. Catching sight of a tall, blonde haired figure being swarmed by people, Evelyn squealed happily and took off at a run. It was Bull.
"I don't know whether to kiss you, slap you or salute you," she heard Bill saying as she pushed her way through the group of men. Bull looked to be largely unscathed. His uniform was stained with blood but it didn't look to be his. Eugene was already assessing a wound on his shoulder, his face pinched in concentration as Bull tried to shrug him off.
"They didn't listen?" Bull said.
"Nah these salted bastards wanted to go on a suicide run to drag your ass back," Bill grinned.
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, I told them don't bother."
"I never did like this company none," Bull smirked at the guys who had gone to find him.
"So they found you?"
"Wait, what did you say?" Martin frowned, thinking that Bill's previous comment was a complete change to what he had been saying the previous night when he was prepared to go and look for Bull himself.
"Johnny, don't irrigate me," Bill waved him off, and Evelyn snorted, receiving an amused glance from Johnny.
"'They found you?' Now I don't know who's more stupid. You or the hick?"
"Definitely Bill," Evelyn whispered loudly, garnering her a clip around the ear from her brother.
As Lipton gave the call for everyone to get into the trucks, Evelyn caught sight of Hoobler out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at him and for a minute he looked afraid that she was going to start a row with him. But she did something that surprised them both. She winked and smiled at him widely. Bull was back. It didn't matter who had gone to look for him or how he had gotten back. All that mattered now was that he was safe and well. Some grudges just weren't worth holding onto.
