Author's Note: A very special thanks goes to SassyScot for coming up with the concept of Nervember. This was a fun project to undertake, as it gave me a chance to explore the timeline I've created for the Rats and Dietrich, working with ideas that didn't have quite enough for full-length stories.

Day 1

Ever since Troy had fled home to go to Cheyenne, Wyoming's capitol, in order to enlist in the US Army and go off to fight in North Africa, he never expected to be treated to sunrises whose beauty was magnified by the colors of the desert. He was up earlier than the rest of the Rats, and watched the sunrise with a cigarette while waiting for the others to wake up. That day wasn't supposed to be overly exciting, as long as they didn't unexpectedly run into Dietrich. It had happened before and it could very well happen again, so Troy was prepared. He had already checked around—twice—for places that Dietrich could ambush them before hunkering down for the night, and spent that morning alternating between watching the sunrise and observing his surroundings. So far, no sign of Dietrich, or any other German for that matter.

It was supposed to be a cut-and-dry scouting operation. So far, the only action they had seen was Troy playfully nudging Hitch and telling him to chew his gum with his mouth closed so he didn't start breathing sand or bugs by accident. He looked over his shoulder once to check on Moffitt and Tully, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. At least, everything looked like it wasn't out of the ordinary.

When they stopped to check a position over a dune, Troy noticed Moffitt looked a bit unsteady. The lanky Englishman's face was paler than it should be after being out in the sun for a few hours, and his hands were shaking while he held up his binoculars. "You okay?" Troy asked.

"I'll manage," Moffitt said. "We have a job to do."

"You'll manage what? We can't continue if someone's not well."

"Oh, it's nothing. I've been feeling a bit dizzy. That's all. Probably the sun."

Troy kept a comment to himself about how their resident desert expert shouldn't be the one experiencing any ill effects from being out in the sun, because he would have assumed Moffitt would know just how to avoid getting overheated. He said nothing, hoping this would pass, but he pondered canning the mission and getting back to camp so Moffitt could get looked over by a medic.

There was nothing past the dune, only a pair of Egyptian vultures picking clean the bones of a goat. Troy decided to move on, and motioned for Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully to stand and return to the jeeps. Hitch and Tully stood with no problem, but Moffitt's unsteadiness had gotten slightly worse. Almost as soon as he was up, his shaky step ended in collapse, prompting the other three Rats to crowd around him.

"Alright, we're not going to ignore this like he wanted," Troy said. "Tully? Did you notice anything odd with Moffitt last night or this morning?"

"Not really, Sarge," Tully said. "The only thing I noticed last night was that he didn't have anything other than his tea and a couple of bites of dinner. I'm not sure he liked what was in our rations."

"What about breakfast?"

Tully shook his head. "I don't think Moffitt had breakfast, Sarge, other than his tea."

"Mom always said don't leave the house without breakfast," Hitch said.

"Yeah, well, Moffitt seems to think boiled leaf water is an appropriate breakfast," Troy muttered.

"What are you all staring at?" Moffitt asked as he came around.

"You. We're staring at you. Did you not eat this morning?"

"No. I had my tea so we could get going."

"Did you not notice that we all ate breakfast? You not eating wouldn't have changed a thing. No wonder you feel like crap."

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Sarge," Tully said. "That's not good for you."

They all helped Moffitt up and let him sit against the shadowed side of one of the jeeps. It hadn't exactly gone unnoticed to them that Moffitt had a tendency to forget to eat and choose to only have tea. Even the normally calm Tully would get somewhat irritated having to remind Moffitt to eat.

"I don't know how anybody could just sit there and keep reading a book while their stomach is growling like some angry varmint trapped in the back of the garage," Tully would say in a particularly irritable tone. "I like fixing the jeeps in peace. It's a great way to just think about stuff." On one hand, it was obvious he didn't like having to constantly remind Moffitt to eat, but it had also given Tully a new hobby, as he had started reading the books Moffitt left behind whenever he was kicked out of the jeep.

Now it wasn't just Tully, but Hitch and Troy having to corner Moffitt and make him eat.

"This is a waste of time," Moffitt said. "I'm not even hungry. I'm actually very nauseated."

"Because you're hungry," Troy said.

"A little bit of sugar would be a good start," Hitch suggested. His tone was less annoyed than Troy's. "That's probably one reason why you're shaky."

Moffitt still looked greatly annoyed. "Oh, alright, but only a little. We have things to do."

"And we can't complete those things if you're passing out. What if we run into Dietrich while we're out here?" Troy asked.

"Troy, you know how Dietrich operates, and I know how you operate around him. The moment you tell him you have a sick man, he'll leave us be on a temporary truce."

Troy glared at him. "Quit reading my mind." He kept glaring when Moffitt smirked at him, then stood to look at Tully. "Do we have anything sweet?"

"I'm looking, Sarge," Tully replied. "I think all we got in terms of sugar is the stuff Moffitt uses for his tea."

"And I am not eating a spoonful of sugar," Moffitt said. "That is unhealthy and it's my tea sugar."

"Fine. We'll do something else," Troy replied.

"Tea would be—"

"No. That's how we got in this mess in the first place."

"But tea is—"

"That's an order."

Moffitt pouted. "Hmph."

Tully pulled out one of their ration tins. "May as well do some cooking for everyone while we're here. It is a little past noon." He tossed Troy a canteen. "Water would be another good start for Moffitt."

Troy unscrewed the cap from the canteen, and handed it to Moffitt, noting the lanky Englishman's reluctance. "Take it," Troy said.

Eventually, Moffitt took the canteen, and Troy heard him mumble, "I'm sorry about this."

Troy sighed, trying not to look too upset. After all, it hadn't gone unnoticed that Moffitt's habit of apologizing for things he didn't do was about as bad as his lack of eating habits. Troy wasn't entirely sure if this was something Moffitt needed to apologize for. Things like this all start from something, and it's usually not something good. "Moffitt—"

"I just wanted to save a bit of time."

"Moffitt," Troy's voice was firm. "Stop it. Please. You're fine."

Moffitt didn't look like he agreed, but nodded in an attempt to appear that he did.

"Well, I'll be damned, Sarge," Tully said. "I almost forgot about these." There was a big smile on his face as he held up a small box. "Mama sent sugar cookies a little while back and I haven't had a chance to taste one."

"Give one to Moffitt if they're still good," Troy said.

"No, no, no, Troy, those are his," Moffitt replied.

"Moffitt, you need something sweet—"

"I'm not taking Tully's biscuits."

Troy drew in a breath, certain that getting angry with Moffitt was going to make things worse. He wasn't sure what he could say that would help, and was becoming increasingly frustrated. His irritated expression hid his sadness at the fact that Moffitt decided this behavior was perfectly reasonable.

"I'm offering to give you some, Moffitt," Tully said. "There're plenty for all of you."

"You don't need to w—I mean, y-you don't need to give any to me."

Troy frowned, unsure of what Moffitt was going to originally say.

"We're wasting time sitting here. Captain Boggs won't be happy with us."

"Then we'll tell him we got held up," Troy said. "Dietrich does tend to show up unexpectedly."

"That's lying. We could get in trouble for lying."

Troy clenched his fists, annoyance beginning to rapidly build inside. He released his breath. Moffitt, who the hell hurt you?

"Sarge," Tully said. "Can we talk a moment?"

Troy said nothing while walking over to Tully. "Okay, what is it?"

"I know we're all worried about him, but I don't think we should force Moffitt to eat, Sarge."

"Why? He nearly passed out, and we all agree it's not healthy."

"He's clearly got some issue with it, and…" Tully lowered his voice. "I think he was about to tell me not to waste my cookies on him. Let's leave him alone for a bit."

"He's not exactly wrong about us needing to get back to camp soon."

Tully grinned a little. "Dietrich does tend to show up unexpectedly, Sarge."

Troy smiled back. "Right."

As three of the four Rats sat down to eat, part of Troy felt guilty for doing so while one of his own men was in need of food. He kept glancing over at the jeep Moffitt was sitting behind, tempted to say something, but decided that Tully was right and that they shouldn't push Moffitt.

About ten minutes passed when a long, thin shadow passed over them, and Troy looked up to see Moffitt getting his tea supplies. He sat apart from the others, looking ashamed as he started brewing a cup. His tall form was slumped in front of the small fire he had made to boil the water, and he gave a sigh while running his fingers through his hair.

Tully was the first to pick up his tin of food and go over to Moffitt. "Hey. You doing okay?"

Moffitt nervously looked at him. "I… suppose."

"Does that help?" Tully gestured to the tea.

"It's… calming."

"I know what you mean. It's not quite the same, but I've always found Granny's freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies to be calming. Can't go wrong with that. And a big glass of milk with it. Did I ever tell you she had a little dairy farm?"

"No. I don't think you have."

"Yep. When she was younger and able to move around better, she had a few cows that she and Grandpa got milk from. They loved those cows, and treated them like royalty. In return, we got some of the best milk in the state of Kentucky. I miss it."

Troy listened to Tully talk about all the wonderful things from when he was growing up. Occasionally, he would glance over and see Moffitt looked a little less tense and embarrassed. Better yet, he even saw Moffitt take some of the sugar cookies and try them in his tea.

Hitch gave Troy a sober look. "I feel bad for Moffitt. I don't get what would make someone that anxious that they think taking care of themselves is a waste of time."

"Well, Moffitt did go to a fancy-shmancy college," Troy said. "He probably couldn't eat because he had to study all the time."

"I mean, I wouldn't call Wake Forest fancy like Cambridge, but I made time to take care of myself and did great on all my tests. Mom and Dad were really proud of me."

Troy tried not to let his thoughts turn to his own parents and how they tried to pressure him and David into going to college. He let out his breath before saying, "Maybe his parents weren't like yours."

Hitch nodded, then picked up what was left of his rations to go sit with Moffitt and Tully. Troy watched them for a moment, noticing Moffitt had perked up a little bit more. On one hand, Troy was starting to wonder if he had more in common with Moffitt than he initially assumed. On the other, he wasn't ready to start discussing his own messy background with Moffitt—or anyone, for that matter.

Troy doused the fire and lit a cigarette when he was finished with his food, giving his men all the time they wanted to talk and eat. He turned, and spotted a tall, thin figure standing on top of a dune overlooking their position. Troy froze, trying to formulate a plan, but stopped when he saw Dietrich lowering his binoculars and turning to leave. The skinny German's movements were slow and careful, like he was trying not to provoke a dangerous animal.

We're extremely vulnerable right now. He could've shot all of us without much issue, Troy thought as he watched Dietrich leave. When Dietrich was out of sight, Troy stepped back toward the jeeps, figuring that if Dietrich was going to let him go, Troy would return the favor. He resumed smoking his cigarette, and watching over his men.