"Golden Gate Park"

Author: carmen_085

Disclaimer: I don't own any Band of Brothers characters. All original characters in this belong to me

Summary: He stared down at the dark, swirling water under the bridge. A step up and over…and a push off the railing is all it would take. Closing his eyes he swallowed the lump of emotion in his throat. No matter what, they were always there. The men who lived, the men who died, and her…always her. ( Liebgott X OC with an ensemble storyline)

Author's Note: I do no own any Band of Brothers characters and this story is based on the mini-series and not any real life individuals. I started this story last year but looking back I wanted to re-write it with more detail, same initial storyline but hopefully more developed. Thank you for your time and please leave a review!

Chapter Three

Camp Toccoa

August 1942

The late morning sun poured through the windows of her cabin as Lucy sat cross legged on her bunk. A bead of sweat rolled down her back as she shifted on the thin mattress. In her hands, a simple white envelope; rubbing her thumb back and forth over the address she stared at the letters.

Tom and Scottie Bennett

3819 Judah St

San Francisco, CA 94122

Home. Right now she would give anything for just twenty minutes in her own bed, with the window open and the salty breeze blowing the curtains. The butcher shop had been her grandfather's and he lived above it in a small but tidy apartment. Her entire family lived there when she was very young. But her parents had always wanted something more…something better. So after saving every penny they had, her father found them a two story row house in the Sunset District. The neighborhood was just being built at the time and houses were coming in at cut rate prices. It wasn't much but it was theirs. Sitting high on the rise of Judah Street you could see the Pacific Ocean in one direction and Golden Gate Park in the other. She closed her eyes and sighed; home never felt further away than it did right now.

The letter to her dad and Scottie assured them that she was doing just fine here and that they had nothing worry about. Lucy had never been much of a bullshitter so she kept the parts of the letter about herself short and instead filled it with questions about home. She was sure her dad would see through her efforts but maybe by the time the next letter came things would be better. In addition to writing her family she also wrote a letter to Carney thanking him for everything he did to get her into the Paratroopers. Again not having the stomach for frivolous lies she kept his letter short as well filling it with assurances that she was working as hard as she could and that would make him proud of her. Lucy worried her bottom lip at that; she was working as hard as she could but that sure as fuck didn't mean she was going to make him or anyone else proud.

She had been here for two weeks….two weeks of non stop physical torture. Every inch of her ached beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Every time she got closer to the finish line; Sobel moved it further away. She was improving, she knew that and she could feel it. The obstacle course had become easier and in just two weeks time she had managed to shave two minutes off her time; which was, of course, still one minute slower than the men did it. When she could do thirty push ups without her arms shaking, he forced her to do forty and then fifty until she collapsed on the grass and he forced her to do ten more. Currahee was a daily affair and her knees ached because of it, but still she forced herself to move at something resembling a jog. Sobel had grown tired of trailing her up and down the mountain and instead had taken up position at the bottom with a stop watch and plenty of criticism for how slow she was. Whereas he proudly clucked her pathetic time before he now remained silent keeping the final result to himself. From this she deduced that she must have been getting faster.

One area she was not improving upon was her standing with the men. Lucy was assigned to E Company but had not been permitted to actually join the men in anything but classroom instruction. Sobel had set her up as an outsider and a pariah. When he wasn't embarrassing her in front of them he was making her drag their asses across the parade ground dirtying their uniforms and pissing them off. Guarnere was the first but he certainly wasn't the last with Perconte, Martin, Wynn, and Toye all being roped into the exercise much to their chagrin. Most of them were silent and scowling as she hauled their bodies inch by inch 'out of the line of fire' as Sobel called it. Toye was by the far the most difficult digging his heels into the ground the entire fucking way. When they got behind the E Company Cabin he stood up, stared at her angrily, and called her a useless bitch. For the most part she avoided the men, keeping to herself almost entirely. She showered late at night after everyone went to bed, she ate alone outside the mess hall under a shade tree, and her free time was spent much like this; writing letters, napping, or sewing together more tourniquets from the materials she had brought with her from home. When the weather was nice and the humidity wasn't completely oppressive she would run the perimeter the camp for additional exercise.

They couldn't stop her if she did the work.

Lucy had always been fine on her own. As a kid she was the girl with the dead mother…the girl other kids avoided and whispered about. When she got older she was at home helping her dad take care of Scottie. When she became a nurse she found no friends at the hospital; the other women finding her work as a medic rough and unseemly. But just because she was fine on her own didn't mean she always wanted to be on her own. She saw the men together; the strength they unknowingly drew from each other, the companionship they had and she wanted it too. If she wasn't so exhausted all the time she would be unbelievably lonely. Pushing herself off the bed she swallowed her feelings down; she was here to do a job not make friends. Lucy believed in herself, she believed in the work she was pioneering, and she believed her tourniquet would save lives. She had to hold on to that….at any cost…she couldn't lose that belief because if she did she would have nothing left at all.

Leaving her cabin with letters in hand, Lucy walked across the the camp toward the Post Office. She kept her eyes on the dirt road and nothing else as she was mildly aware that she was being watched. Her cabin was at the far edge of the camp and to get to the main gathering points she needed to pass most of the other companies. Catcalls, whistles, and hooting laughter had been commonplace since she arrived.

"Hey baby why you look so sad ? Bet I can put a smile on that face.." Her eyes flicked to the side as the Fox Company Cabin erupted into laughter. Lucy kept her head down pretending that she didn't hear it.

"Come on inside, honey…" Before she could react she heard fast footsteps and then a hand on her arm. Jumping back as if she had been stung Lucy's heart jumped into her throat. The asshole from Fox advanced toward her grabbing her by both shoulders as he pulled her toward him. She was paralyzed for a moment not knowing what to do next. Smashing her against his body he began to drag her toward the cabin.

Oh God.

Before a conscious thought could form in her head she brought her knee up into his groin making him double over. He automatically let go and without wasting a second she broke out into a run. The letters telling her family she was doing just fine still clutched in her hand. Lucy didn't turn back to see if they were following her as she ran until she couldn't do it anymore eventually slowing to a jog. Casting a glance over her shoulder she saw no one behind her as she blinked the tears back. When she opened her eyes again she saw another figure walking, letters in hand. He looked familiar from the back but she didn't bother to slow down, wanting to deposit her correspondences in the slot and find a place where she could be alone.

Skip heard someone coming up behind him running but he didn't bother to turn around, figuring it was some blow hard trying to get more exercise in on his down time. His head snapped up, however, when a small figure with a long dark pony tail passed by. It was her…the girl. He didn't know her first name, no one did. She was either called the girl or the broad amongst the men; her shirt said Bennett but no one other than Sobel used her name. Picking up his pace he met her jog as she cast a surprised glance toward him.

"Must really need a stamp, huh ?" Lucy stared at him for a moment before she slowed her steps, feeling relatively safe now that she wasn't alone. She wanted to laugh…it was funny…but then she remembered why she was running in the first place.

"No..I..ah…" She almost told him what had just happened. Why the fuck would she do that ? She didn't even know this guy but somehow he was familiar. Putting her hands on her hips she looked down at the ground, chest heaving with both exertion and fear. Hesitantly she looked back up at his face. He was the one who tried to help her up that first day on the parade grounds; not the dark haired one, who made her stomach clench, but the other one with the firm but gentle hand on her arm.

"Are you ok ?" She didn't respond right away as she bit her lip. Her body still burned and tingled from where that creep had smashed her against him. Just as Lucy was about to plaster on a happy face and reassure him that she was fine, a group of Fox Company men came around the bend. The bastard whose balls she had just crushed jammed his finger in the air toward her.

"Sleep with one eye open tonight, bitch…" She feared it would have been more than a threat if she was alone right now. Looking down Lucy squeezed her eyes shut hoping that she could just disappear right now.

Skip cast a glance at the angry pack of soldiers before turning his attention back to the girl. She refused to meet his eyes and in that second he put together what had just happened. It wasn't hard once he saw the asshole waddling across the field, clutching himself protectively as the other men threw angry glares in her direction. She covered her face with her right hand as her trembling left hand all but smashed the letters into a crumpled ball.

The late afternoon sun shone through the apple trees as he took the white wooden stairs two at a time. It was early September and the all the windows were open in the big, old farmhouse letting the warm breeze ruffle the curtains. Getting to the top of the stairs didn't hesitate as he threw his sister's bedroom door open. She sat in front of the big pedestal mirror his other sisters fussing over her with peroxide and cotton balls. Teresa was just wearing a bra on top, her shirt having been torn down the middle. Seeing her brother's reflection in the mirror she pulled a blanket around her body as the other women yelled at him for barging in like that.

'Tell me now…who the fuck did this to you.." Her eyes remained downcast unable to meet his gaze out of both fear and shame.

Without hesitating Skip reached out and put his arm around her shoulders pulling her into his side. Throwing a hard glance over his shoulder he made sure that the Fox bastards knew to stay the hell away. Lucy stiffened with the sudden contact but she didn't pull away. For the first time since she left home she felt herself relax if only just the slightest bit.

"I'm Skip…Skip Muck." Lucy opened her lips so that the breath she was holding could slowly dissipate from her lungs. Offering him her right hand she nodded while keeping her gaze at the ground.

"Lucy Bennett." Skip stood there for a moment letting her decide if she wanted to stay where she was or not. Lucy didn't move; and yet she didn't know why because everything inside her was screaming at her to get away from him. The implications of just someone seeing them like this almost made her want to shake him and ask him if he knew what he was doing. Stealing a quick glance at his face she saw nothing but genuine concern. Sighing she felt everything that was tightly knotted inside of her begin to loosen.

When Lucy didn't pull away Skip took that as confirmation enough that she was ok with what he was doing. Without a word being exchanged between them they began walking toward the post office just as they were. Lucy didn't understand it but she felt completely at ease with this guy. There was something in his face; something that made her trust him right away. Skip reached down to the letters in her left hand prying them loose from her still clenched fingers. Smoothing them out he studied the address for a moment before regarding her thoughtfully.

"San Francisco..huh? Long way from home, right?" She all but groaned next to him.

"Seems further everyday." Her answer was short but from it he as able to glean a lot about her time in Toccoa so far. Nodding silently he handed the smoothed out envelopes back to her as he drew his gaze to the road up ahead.

"I'm from Tonawanda, New York." He said it with such pride like he was the mayor or something.

"I never heard of it." Skip let out a chuckle as he unconsciously tightened his grip on her shoulder. Comfort…pure comfort flooded her body as she relaxed into him. The sound of his voice was even soothing.

"It's beautiful, right on the Niagara River. Grape arbors for miles and miles and apple trees everywhere, even got a few in my own backyard. And in the winter everything is covered in the most perfect blanket of white." A smile came to Lucy's face as she looked right at him this time. His eyes sparkled as she listened to him go on. "My mom and my sisters are still there…and Faye…Faye's there too."

"She your wife?" The tone of his voice when he said her name made Lucy think she had to be.

Skip shook his head as the post office came into view. "No…not yet anyway. When this is all over, though, she will be." Laughing he added, "Unless she runs off with some 4F in the meantime." Fuck…it was like this guy had landed from another planet. Kind and mature, dedicated to his family and the woman he loved. There was something in his touch too…it was gentle and reassuring, steady and protective; she had gone from fearing for her life to almost wanting to fall asleep in his arms.

"I doubt that…" Whoever this Faye was, if she had a brain cell, she would never let this man go.

"What the hell is this?" Lucy's head snapped up as she jumped forward out from under of Skip's arm. It was reflexive as she felt all the tension return to her body. Looking up she saw the red headed loud mouth standing on the steps of the make shift post office. She didn't know his name but she had taken note that he never shut up. The letters in her hand crunched back into a ball as she stared back down at the dirt. She wasn't going to explain what they had just been doing, let Muck handle that one.

For his part, Skip looked up at his friend non-chalantly putting his hands on his hips. "I said I would meet you here."

Malarkey's gaze swept between the girl and Skip before narrowing his eyes at his friend. "Yeah well I been waiting almost twenty minutes." Jutting his lip out he chucked a thumb over his shoulder. "They're starting to melt." Without further ado Malarkey disappeared back inside as Skip took the stairs two at a time following behind.

Nothing was said about her; at least nothing she could hear. Slowly ascending the stairs she opened the wooden screen door letting it slap close behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Muck and Malarkey sitting on the wooden floor groaning over a box of chocolates. Behind the counter a short little man named Vest stood shuffling envelopes into slots. She'd been here before and he seemed nice enough. Maybe he felt bad for her as he seemed to be on the outside himself. Jamming her envelopes into the slot she turned and spared him a strained smile before making a beeline for the door. Whatever had just transpired between her and Muck was surely over now that he was back in the company of his buddy.

Just as she was about to push it open she felt something catch her wrist. "Hey….where you going so fast now?"

She turned, looking down at him. He was such a nice kid…a nice man….she didn't want for any of the others to give him trouble for being friendly to her. "I can't…"

"Stay." The red head spoke up this time. "We'll be sick if we eat them all ourselves." She made eye contact with him trying to determine if he actually meant what he just said. His face wasn't as open or as genuine as Muck's but, still, she saw kindness behind his eyes.

Skip scooted over as he pat the floor next to him. "Besides you've heard all about Tonawanda now I want to know about San Francisco." A small smile came to her face as he looked up at her with a smile of his own in return. And just like that she made her first friend. A friend who would put his arm around her to comfort her, protect her, and keep her warm countless times over the next two years. A friend who would make her laugh and without a doubt make her cry. A friend who all the tourniquets in the world wouldn't be able to save.

San Francisco

November 1945

His bed was warm. His clothes were dry. He had a roof over his head that wasn't going to explode at a moment's notice. There was no logical reason why he couldn't sleep. No reason why when sleep came it was like this; fitful, anxious, terrifying. In his dreams he remembered things about the war he didn't even remember when he was awake. He saw things he swore had never happened. And he felt things… things that he blunted at the time but now came back to him in vivid detail.

He had just finished scrubbing the latrines….Again. Last week it was for Luz's juvenile antics and the week before that it was for staring at the girl. This time it was for contraband in the bunk house; not his contraband mind you, but still where Sobel was concerned it didn't matter much. He had one hour before classroom instruction and he intended to spend it showering the stench of shit off his arms. Stuffing a cigarette into his mouth, Joe's attention was drawn to a group of Fox Company guys bitching and moaning as they came around the bend. All hopped up on anger and hormones they shouldered him roughly as they stalked back toward their cabins near the edge of camp.

Just as Joe was about to open his mouth and say something shitty, the little guy in front who was holding his balls piped up.

'That bitch…we'll get her eventually…just have to wait till nobody's around.'

Casting a glance as they walked away an unsettled feeling passed over him. Taking a few steps in the direction they had just come he looked down the dirt path toward the post office. The girl… she was standing there and Skip was standing there with her; right out in the open not caring who saw it. She covered her face with her hand as the red flush of shame was visible even from afar. Skip looked at her with genuine concern as his normally boyish smile faded away. He had put it together just as quickly as Joe had; knowing almost instantly that she had been attacked. Without hesitation Skip reached up and put his arm around her shoulders pulling her into him. Joe wasn't surprised; Skip was just like that.

He didn't know a thing about her; didn't even know her first name. But he did know that every time he looked at her he felt lightheaded…weak. Women had come and gone from his life over the years; none really staying for long. He enjoyed their company, thought about them once or twice, but there was never anything more. He didn't want anything more…didn't feel anything at all really. Joe thought, for a long time, that he couldn't feel what other people did…that it just wasn't possible. After his mother's absence, his father's drinking, and his sister's bad choices; he didn't think there was anything good left to feel in this shit world.

But this girl….a girl he didn't even know; she nearly made him double over in some kind of stomach clenching, heart racing, beautiful agony. He didn't understand it, but he knew he didn't want it. He hated that he felt even the slightest bit of camaraderie with the other men. They weren't all going to come home; that was a given. If everyone else was pretending it wouldn't happen, well they were fools. It WAS going to happen; to most of them, some of them, maybe even all of them. He didn't want to get close to any of them and he definitely didn't want anything to do with her. So he needed to put this away; forget about it and forget about her.

Looking back up he saw her and Skip walking together. Skip had his arm around her but they weren't in Georgia anymore. Instead of sunshine and a red clay dirt he saw a gray sky and snow. Pine trees splintered from their tops down. Dirty, worn uniforms with dull, ripped flags on the shoulder. Skip and the girl walked toward him. Her hair was greasy and falling out of its bun, his hair too long and tucked under a wool cap. Their faces were dirty, their gait was slow and stilted from nearly a month spent living in the cold. Gentle snow flakes fell from the sky; everything was quiet for once. Skip said something and she laughed. He squeezed her into him without thinking about it, he must have done that a hundred times since that first time in Toccoa.

They stopped when they saw him. She smiled, Skip had that mischevious twinkle in his eye. Some Army Priest had shown up to hand out communion. Joe volunteered to go up to the line so the others could go to mass.

"Well it's settled, Lieb, if we die now we're going to die in a state of grace."

She rolled her eyes and before her light laughter could cut through the silence an awful whistling pierced the air. There was an explosion…screaming….and when Joe opened his eyes there was nothing left but red snow. They were both gone. Disappeared. Vanished into a smear of red….

Jerking he sat bolt upright in bed. Blinking his eyes against the darkness of the room, Joe's heart thundered furiously in his chest. He stared at the bare wall in front of him trying to discern reality from dream. A crash in the other room and his old man drunkenly cursing the end table brought him back to the present. He was at home in his bed, safe and warm. Throwing the covers back, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. His hand was shaking as he ran it through his hair.

This was how the dreams came; a mix of reality and his worst fears. She didn't die with Skip that night; maybe it would have been better if she had. Dying by a bomb seemed painless compared to what he would eventually put her through. It was cold out but he didn't care as he pushed the bedroom window up leaning out staring at the street below. Lighting a cigarette Joe took a long, steady inhale.

He didn't want anything to do with her. Didn't want to feel anything for her. And he tried, he really fucking tried. But it was never going to be that way; she was always going to get inside of him, twist him apart, and leave him wishing that he never came home in the first place.

Camp Toccoa

August 1942

The men were lined up neatly, all freshly showered and ready for the day's instructions. The sun reflected off their helmets as they stared straight ahead. Lucy stood behind Sobel like always as he paced and ranted. She was still in her PT gear from running Currahee, sweat dripped off her face, her nose was swollen and bleeding. She had slipped at the top of the mountain; her body becoming loose from the surge of relief she always got when she saw that pinnacle rock. She hadn't had time to brace herself as her face went straight into said rock. The blood was immediate and gushing from her nose. She stumbled, falling onto her ass before quickly scrambling back to her feet. There was no one to see, but she still couldn't afford to show any weakness. Lucy managed to get the bleeding stopped on the run back down although Sobel took one look at her and uttered his favorite word.

"Pathetic."

So here she stood in front of them once again looking a complete mess; this time with a bloody shirt and swollen face. A few Dog Company guys stood outside their cabin, lounging in their free time taking in the sight.

"Looks like she got her period !" Hooting laughter as Sobel stood in silence. For their part the E Company men also remained silent staring straight ahead. Lucy looked past them at nothing but the sky and the ground. She was sure her face was burning with embarrassment the same way many of men's faces in her unit were also. They were stuck with the girl,

"Liebgott…front and center." Lucy's gaze drifted toward the men as the dark haired guy stepped out from the rank and file. Liebgott…that was his name. He was lanky but fit with piercing blue eyes and high angled cheek bones. Lucy felt her stomach clench painfully at what was surely about to happen next. "For that rusty Bayonet of yours…." Sobel pushed him hard but he didn't fall onto the ground. Stumbling he took a few steps back before resuming the position of attention once more; a defiant stare in his eyes. Sobel bristled at the challenge as he stepped in close to his face. "Get on the fucking ground….NOW!" For a moment it looked like he was going to refuse before slowly he sank down to his knees. For his part, Sobel stood over him sneering before turning his attention back to Lucy. Pulling something from his pocket she nearly gasped. "Private Bennett here thinks that she can be a medic in the paratroopers…" Sobel had to have raided her bunk, confiscating one of her handmade tourniquets solely for the purpose of humiliation. "She thinks that this piece of shit strap…" He jammed it into the air waving it with disgust as if it were a Nazi flag. "Can save a man's life…stop him from bleeding out." Looking at Joe he threw the tourniquet in his face before his eyes scanned the Company. "Well you know what I think…I think she makes us weak…" Turning toward Lucy he sneered at her with obvious disgust, "Liebgott's been shot…hit right in the femoral and he's bleeding out. You're still taking fire.." She stood there frozen for a moment. "Well….what are you waiting for?"

The entire Company watched at Lucy dropped to her knees in front of Joe. She didn't want to look at him for fear that she would be paralyzed by his stare like on the first day. In the front row Guarnere narrowed his gaze at her; she didn't belong here…and yet she just wouldn't quit. "Can you still fight ?" Every head snapped in her direction including Joe's whose heart was pounding from being so close to her right now.

"Wha…" He stuttered, no one expected her to say anything much less that.

"I said can you fight ?" The gray eyes flicked up briefly before turning her attention back to the tourniquet. "We're taking fire right now; return fire if you can. I need to stop this bleeding or you'll die." How the hell did she know what he should be doing when he didn't even know. Joe's head spun as she put her steady hand on his upper thigh tightening the tourniquet until it was almost painful. She was good at this; he could tell. She was confident and her hands knew what to do all on their own. Still…those hands were almost in his crotch as Sobel stared down his pointed nose waiting for a reply.

"I…ah…I can fight." Swallowing hard Joe turned his attention toward the open field miming a gun in his hands and covering fire. At least it gave him something else to think about. The scowl on Guanere's face faded as he stared at her in some kind of wonderment. This whole thing had come so natural to her he wondered if she had done it before. How had she known that? Sobel had set out to embarrass her but really it seemed like she was embarrassing him right now. Guarnere cast a sideways look at him and was met with a sneer of disbelief.

"Good." She checked the tourniquet making sure it was secure before coming to stand behind him; sitting him up she slid her arms under his as she began to drag him backwards. He wasn't as heavy or as resistant as Toye but it was still a game of inches. As they got further away from Sobel, Joe began kicking against the ground doing what little he could to help her.

Why was he helping her ? He had resolved that her….this….whatever this was had to stop before it even started.

When they got behind the E Company cabin she let him go as she took a few steps back doubling over to catch her breath. Standing up Joe took the tourniquet from his leg as he rolled it up into a ball in his hand. The late morning sun shone through the trees casting leafy shadows on them both. She stood up straight meeting his eyes as they stared at each other in silence. Lucy, buoyed by her new found acquaintances in Muck and Malarkey, extended her hand toward Joe.

"Lucy Bennett."

Joe stared at her hand, nearly itching to feel what it would be like in his own. NO. He wasn't going to do this and that was final. Jamming the tourniquet into her outstretched palm he shook his head. His voice came out unsteady with no bite behind his words.

"Go home, Lucy Bennett. Before you get yourself and the rest of us killed." Her face fell flat as her eyes quickly averted to the ground. Forcing himself to turn around and leave her there Joe stalked back to the parade ground feeling worse about this than he did about the idea of letting her in. It had to be this way, though….she would see eventually…and they would all be better off for it.

TBC…..

A/N:

Yeah Joe has to be an asshole at first so that it's even better when the moment does come

I know I said that this is not based on any real people but I did base my writing here on the real Skip Muck and not the BOB version. Most everything in print about the real person portrays him as a mature person devoted to family, Faye Tanner, and God. If anyone's interested look it up. BOB Muck comes off more like joker and smart ass. Just my opinion

Please review !