All Things Nice » Band of Brothers

53: Scarecrows

In the days that followed it was false alarm after false alarm. They'd be told at the last minute that they were jumping back into occupied Europe and get all the way to Membury - on one occasion they were even all sat in the planes - before being told that everything had been called off. Posey recalled that first time they'd been told they were jumping back into combat with a distant amusement. Their frantic and incredibly illegal trip to see John had been all for nothing, really, because at this rate it seemed they'd be staying in Aldbourne forever.

This, of course, was no issue for Posey. She'd stay in Aldbourne happily for as long as the army asked her to. She thought she'd miss it sorely once she eventually had to leave, and especially miss nights like these in the pub.

Posey squeezed her way past various patrons of the over-packed pub, dodging stray elbows and pushed-out chairs. She'd stayed behind when the others had all left, making the most of the lingering warm water in the shower, and was paying the price for it now; she couldn't seem to find her friends no matter which direction she turned. She turned this way and that, getting up onto her tiptoes in the hopes of spotting a familiar head of hair, and came up blank. Where the hell were they?

She stopped in the midst of the chaos, frustrated rather than resigned, when a voice behind her had her clutching at her thumping heart and whirling around instantly.

"Wells."

"Where have you been?!" she demanded, rounding on Bill. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"For me?"

She rolled her eyes. "For everyone."

"We been watchin' you fuckin' wanderin' in circles," he said. "Got bored after a while, thought I'd put you out of ya misery."

"How thoughtful of you," Posey replied sarcastically.

Bill grinned. "Yeah, yeah, I'm a thoughtful guy." With that, he turned and began to navigate his way back through the crowd, Posey following tightly on his heels.

The pub was louder than usual tonight, bubbling over with chatter and laughter and the clanking of glasses being set down a tad too harshly. Warm lighting spilled over the room, covering everything in an almost dreamlike haze. The air was bright and so was the company, enthusiasm and jollity and revelry dancing from table to table and filling each patron up to the brim. Posey felt a smile working its way onto her face entirely unbidden, prompted solely by the comfort that came from being suddenly surrounded by her friends.

"Duckie!" Luz cheered, holding onto a beer which was clearly not his first. "Where the fuck have you been?"

"Looking for you lot!" Posey shot back, laughing already as she slipped into the seat they'd saved for her.

"Ain't sharpshooters supposed to have good vision?" Johnny piped up from where he was standing leaning against one of the pub's support beams with Bull. Posey found him smirking when she turned to look at him.

"Aren't NCOs supposed to be nice?" she fired back.

"Nice? Who told you that?" Perco commented from the other side of the table. "Nice and Johnny ain't got nothin' to do with each other."

"Fair point," replied Posey, giggling. "Nice doesn't have anything to do with Bill, either."

"I'm fuckin' nice," Bill objected, his eyes narrowing as they stared back at her.

Posey grinned. "About as nice as a punch in the face."

"You'd know."

"Certainly would. Where's Popeye when you need him?"