Band of Brothers Drabbles

9. Reporting back to duty (Ronald Speirs).

(A/N): Could be read as a stand alone or as the sequel to 2. A trip to the aid station.

Disclaimer!: The characters in this story are based on the characters from the television show, not the real men and this is in no way meant offensively or disrespectfully to those heroes.

The night was dark and it was quiet at the aid station, peaceful even. You slowly sat up as you took a look around you. It seemed to be one of the few calm moments at the aid station when not even a single soldier was brought in. So you decided this was your chance, if you wanted to sneak out unnoticed, this was it. You were sad to be going without saying goodbye to some of the nurses who had taken such good care of you for the past couple of days. You realized that you had to move fast and quietly, so quietly. You breathed out softly, trying to get the tension out of your muscles so you wouldn't accidentally knock something over in your stress. You slowly stood up, putting on your boots and swinging your jackets over your shoulders. You grabbed the few belongings you had left and started walking past all the sleeping soldiers. You would have to report that you had gone AWOL, you hated delivering more paperwork to Winters, but you could always just do the paper work yourself to take the workload off him. Maybe you could even report yourself to Lt. Dike, the first lieutenant of Easy Company, you didn't like him but you were pretty sure you could convince him to let you do the paperwork and not get you in any sort of other trouble. You walked out of the aid station and smiled when you could finally breathe in fresh air again. You took a moment to look up at the sky and enjoy the view of the night sky being lit up with what seemed like thousands of stars.

You looked around, the only problem was getting yourself a ride in the right direction. You decided to start the walk in the right direction, you would eventually be able to catch a ride (hopefully). So you wrapped your jacket around your arms a little tighter and started walking in a fast pace. After what felt like walking for hours you could hear a car driving behind you. You quickly went off the road and crouched down in the grass, trying to figure out whether the jeep was foe or friend. You squeezed your eyes a little tighter, but eventually you could discern voices and words that sounded American. You got up from your hiding position and walked onto the road, waving frantically with your arms above your head. The jeep stopped right in front of you, you had to put your hands over your eyes to be able to see anything. "You guys going in the direction of Hagenau perhaps?" you asked. One of the men got out of the jeep and walked around it to be in front of you, you could see his hand was still on his gun. "I'm Lieutenant (L/N) from the 101st," you identified yourself. He looked you up and down and nodded, "I'm Sergeant Williams, we're heading to Hagenau with some supplies, so we'll give you a ride." You nodded gratefully, "Thank you sergeant," you said as you walked to the back of the car to hop on. "Say, Lieutenant, we are not helping you to go AWOL, are we?" he asked you. You grinned, "No of course not, sergeant."

It started to become light as you were finally nearing Foy. "Say, do you boys happen to know who I would have to report to? Is lieutenant Dike still the first lieutenant in Easy Company?" you asked. The man scoffed, "No thank God, I heard he almost crapped his pants and that scary dude from Dog company had to take over." You swallowed, "Lieutenant Speirs?" you asked, praying that the sergeant was just mistaken. He nodded pointing at you to signify that you were right "Yes, him." You hadn't thought about Lieutenant Speirs much after he had come to visit you at the aid station. You hadn't wanted to think about it, because it had confused you so damn much. Why had he come to visit you? Why had he taken that trouble? Sure, you sometimes interacted him when Nix asked you inform him of something, but usually those were just short interactions. You weren't as close with him as you were with Nix for instance, who hadn't even visited you at the aid station.

You ran your hand through your hair, trying to figure out how you were going to do this. Ronald Speirs wouldn't be happy, God, this was going to take a lot of sweet talk, you just knew it. As the jeep stopped in front of the a building where they were supposed to drop off the supplies, you thanked the men for the ride and hopped off. You walked in, hoping you could find someone who knew where Lieutenant Speirs would be. You bumped straight into a man who you didn't know, "Oh excuse me -" you searched his uniform frantically for his name, "Lieutenant Jones, is it?" you asked. He nodded, "Yes ma'am, I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going." "Ma'am, would you by any chance know where I could find Captain Winters?" he asked you. You shook your head, "I'm afraid not, Lieutenant, but I'm looking for Lieutenant Speirs myself and I'm pretty sure if we'll find one, we'll find the other." You smiled at him kindly, he seemed new, it was something in the way he carried himself.

Eventually, Lieutenant Jones, yourself, David Webster and George Luz, who had hugged you so tightly you were sure he had at least bruised your ribs. You ran your hands over the sides of your thighs, something you would often do when you were nervous. But why were you nervous? You tried where the hell your anxiety came from. Was it because you had done something you weren't supposed to? Was it because you were seeing Ronald Speirs again? Because even though you didn't want to admit it to yourself, he frequently came back in your dreams. Staring at you with a worried look. You halted a little in front of the door opening, allowing Lieutenant Jones and David Webster to go in in front of you. "I'll go in after you, I still need to get some forms in order, you lied. You just needed a little more time to clear your head, to calm down. You hated being out of line, you despised it and this time you were definitely out of line.

The lieutenant and the private came out a little later, letting you know Lipton and Speirs were inside. They saluted you before going their own way. You walked in, eyes scanning the room. Ronald Speirs seemed to be looking through some forms, sitting on a couch. Lipton was nowhere to be found. You coughed to make him aware of your presence. You were almost able to distinguish a surprised look on his features as he recognized you. "(Y/N)," he spoke, taking a step towards you, his eyes scanning your body for the injuries. You were glad your jacket hid the gunshot on your shoulder that was still fresh. However, it could not hid the scar on your neck, the skin still red covered in little scabs. He raised an eyebrow at you, "I did not know you would be reporting back for duty so soon," he stated. You swallowed, suddenly, you couldn't seem to talk any more with Speirs looking at you like that, his eyes trying to burn into your soul.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid it will cause you some trouble, but I wouldn't mind doing the paperwork if you'd like," you said. His eyebrows seemed to raise even higher. "So you admit to causing me trouble?" You nodded, "I just felt like I was a waste of space and effort in the aid station, Ron," you tried to call him by his first name as the last time you saw him, he told you you could. "There were men who needed the help more and the nurses could use the empty bed," you explained. He nodded in understanding, "I'm not happy with the extra paperwork, so I'll take you up on your offer, you can do it yourself." You nodded, "Of course." "You should also inform Captain Winters that you are back, I think you will find him and Captain Nixon in the next building over." You nodded in understanding again. "Oh and (Y/N)?" he added. You could see a flicker of doubt in his eyes, you smiled at him kindly to encourage him to go on. "I'm glad you're back," he admitted, you could see a hint of a smile on his face. "I'm glad to be back, Ron, " you said, a full smile appearing on your face. You bit your lip, doubting whether you could take this minimum display of emotion a little further. You decided you would try. "Oh an Ron?" you asked again, he looked up at you, the look in his eyes sending a shiver up your spine. You had never met a man who could say so much without saying anything, who could make you feel things with just one look. Why had you never noticed his God damn eyes before? "I'm glad you're with Easy Company now," you said. "Thank you," he nodded, a small smile playing around his lips.