Only a Paper Moon [ Band of Brothers ] 3

[2] The Mutual Assurance Proposition

Request: Please show Harry bribing George and Bill over the Klixon bet

Summary: Bastogne sucks. But Bill is going to use his misery as an excuse to make poor decisions and increase his bet with George over when Alice and Nixon will finally become a thing. Unfortunately, Harry's near by.

December 23, 1944

"Jesus Christ! I am sick and fuckin' tired of sittin' in a goddamn pile of snow just waiting to get shot!"

Sitting in his foxhole, huddled next to Babe with his gun to the right, Bill had just about had it with Bastogne. They'd been there a week. To Bill it felt like a month.

"Not only we gotta sit here in this fuckin' frozen shit, but we gotta follow that idiotic mouthpiece," he added. "I tell ya, Babe, Foxhole Norman's gonna get himself shot, either by the Krauts, himself, or me!"

Babe suppressed an eye roll. Bill had been going on and on for the past half hour. For as much as Bill insisted on the snow making him too frozen to do anything, he sure did manage to rattle on about it.

"I'm gonna go see Les and Tony," Babe told him. "Make sure they're doin' good."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Yeah, fine. Keep your ass outta trouble."

He watched as Babe crawled out of the foxhole. As the man disappeared into the trees and the sun began to set, he turned his glare back towards the side of the hole in front of him. Six fucking days. It'd been six days and he'd started to think his fatigues would never dry.

"What's the word, Gonorrhea?" George wasted no time in slipping into the foxhole across from him. Taking up Babe's spot, he whipped out a cigarette and lit it. "Want one?"

Bill instantly grinned. Taking one, he lit it up and took a drag. "George, just the one I was lookin' for."

"That so?" George eyed him carefully. He had a feeling he knew what Bill was on about. With a smirk, he blew out some smoke into the space between them. "Ready to give up?"

With a single, sharp laugh, Bill just shook his head. "You're outta your fucking mind. Nah, I was thinking, why don't we up it again?"

George snorted. They already had each other at thirty bucks a piece. But he would never back down from a bet; his reputation would be ruined. "Fine. Fifty says Nixon and Alice wait till after. I'm sticking with my prediction."

"You're fucking crazy," Bill said, snickering. He shook his head. "Those two don't have the patience."

"Trust me, they've waited this long," George argued. "She isn't gonna do something dumb to mess up her work here."

With a shake of his head, Bill disagreed. "Yeah, who'd turn 'em in? Winters? He's by the book but he ain't heartless. Fifty that Alice gets with him before the war ends."

At the sound of a throat being cleared nearby, they turned to the right. Darkness had fallen around them. But even in the shadowy trees, they could tell they'd been caught. Lieutenant Welsh, stood, hands on his hips, about five feet from them.

"Sir!"

"Sergeants." He shook his head and moved over to them. Crouching beside their foxhole, he kept his face neutral. "You know, when I decided to walk the line tonight, I'd hoped it would be uneventful."

"We've not exchanged fire in awhile, sir," said George. He tried desperately to salvage the moment. "How's Battalion?"

Harry scoffed. He couldn't help the smile growing on his face at George's carefree, desperate attempt to steer away conversation. Looking out into the forest, he shrugged. "Eh, Battalion's a lot quieter than Easy. No grab fanny." He turned to them. "That being said, I don't miss catching the two of you fucking around."

"Us, sir?" George asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "If I catch you two talking about Captain Nixon and Lieutenant Klein in the way you were five minutes ago, I'll make your lives hell. Understood?"

Guarnere scowled but nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Don't worry about us," added George.

"Good." Turning away from them, Harry looked through the trees. He knew the Germans lay across the nearby field. Easy had lost Smokey to the aid station that afternoon. With a sigh, he looked back at them. "You've got fifty riding on them?"

George broke into a smirk. "On who, sir?"

"It would be you two." He snorted. "The smartass and Wild Bill. I should turn you two in for gambling."

"Ah, come on, sir," George protested. With a grin, he passed Harry a cigarette. "Just a bit of fun."

Bill agreed with him. He pointed out into the trees. "What else we supposed to do in this fucking forest, sir?"

Harry didn't respond right away. He looked between them. The tiny smirk on George's face around his cigarette never left, and Bill, though clearly put out, tried not to look too angry. With his own tiny smirk, he nodded. "Fifty bucks, huh?" He grinned. "Fine. You keep your bet. I get ten from the winner."

"What!"

But George interrupted Bill before he could protest any further. "Done."

Plopping the cigarette back into his mouth, Harry nodded. He couldn't stop grinning. He looked at Guarnere, who glared down at the foxhole. Then he looked at George. He forced his smile down and turned as serious as he could. "If I hear any rumor of this bet, or catch you two discussing this, the game's over. Clear?"

"Loud and clear!" George agreed.

Bill frowned. "Fine. Sir."

"Great," Harry drawled. He stood up from where he'd been crouching. His legs ached, but he tried not to show it. With a nod to them, he moved off into the trees.

George heckled his retreating form, "Pleas doin' business with you, sir!" He watched as Harry paused, but the man didn't turn. George decided that was a victory.

"This day keeps getting fuckin' worse," Bill spat. "Now I ain't gonna bring in the full bit I'm putin' up!"

"Well," George said, heaving himself from the foxhole too, "at least one good thing happened."

Silencing his ever-increasing teeth chatter, Bill rolled his eyes. "Yeah? And what's that?"

"You got to see me."

"Jesus Christ, get the fuck outta here," Bill muttered. "You're making me more miserable."

Laughing, George wasted no time in doing just that. He left Bill behind. Instead he went to go back to his foxhole with Skip and Alex. They'd promised to cover for him if Foxhole Norman stumbled past, but he didn't want to chance fate. The last thing he needed was that asshole getting on his back. He had to deal with him enough already.