Ad Astra Per Aspera [2] - Band of Brothers

3 | foy

" Every river leads to the ocean. Stars do burn out. So yes, everything ends, But do you want to know a secret? Everything - and I mean everything - begins again."

- Erin Van Vuren

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" Joe."

" Joe."

" Joe." George called out towards Joe Liebgott who sat on the edge of his foxhole laughing beside Alley. Joe slowly turned to George.

" Hey, Luz." Joe called as Alley smiled widely, " What's up?" George's gate slowed as he gently stepped in front of George and knelt down by his side in the snow.

" Can I talk to you for a second?" George said and Joe's gaze turned from playful to serious.

" What's going on?" Joe said, watching pain and conflict flip through George's eyes like a novel.

" George what's going on?"

" Just, please, can we talk?" George said softly. Joe glanced back at Alley, before taking George's extended hand and letting him help him up to his feet. George and Joe walked side by side through the snow, as Joe's mind turned to absolute crumbles. 

What was going on? 

George's hand stopped him from his confused walk forward. Joe slowly turned to George in the darkness of the morning.

" What is going on?" Joe said, his voice strained, his eyes searching George's for answers.

" Joe, she...she.." George stopped and for the first time in months, Joe heard George's voice crack. Joe's heart cracked it felt.

" Who?!" Joe yelled, hands on George's shoulders. George looked up at Joe's eyes.

" Hazel." George whispered softly, " She got wounded." 

Joe's world stopped, his entire world fell to his feet, his arms went slack, his body went into withdrawal.

" Hazel?" Joe whispered softly. George nodded, gently placing a hand on Joe's shoulder. Joe felt anger boiling up inside him. Those Krauts had done it to her, they were the reasons he was injured, in a field hospital, all alone. When George met Joe's eyes again, George saw angry tears in Joe's eyes, ones he tried to conceal.

" Did she go to a field hospital?" Joe managed to say, biting back his tears, blinking as many times as he could to stop them.

" Yeah, Gene and Lizzie took her there." George said softly. Joe nodded, placing his hands on his hips, as he stared angrily in the snow. He sniffled, wiping at his eyes before looking away from George back into the filled in trees of the Ardennes. 

Joe had never felt the pain he felt in that moment, just the want to completely break down, fall to his knees and cry out. 

But she was wounded, she wasn't dead like so many other Easy Company members.