Only a Paper Moon [ Band of Brothers ] 3

[13] No One's Fault

Summary: "She had hoped it would reassure them, the strength of her words and the knowledge that the best medic in the 101st would be taking care of their friend. But their faces fell."

Prompt given by @starcrossed-, Alice and Harry + "I need a hug" + sometime during the war

[ 13 ]

NO ONE'S FAULT

October 31, 1944

Nijmegen, the Netherlands

When Nixon phoned her and told her that Moose had been shot, Alice felt her chest tighten. Shivers ran down her spine as her hand went to the still healing bullet wound on her left arm. According to Nix, he'd been shot multiple times by a sentry. Their own damn sentry. She didn't know who to be angrier at: Moose for not immediately relaying the password, or the sentry for shooting him.

She hurried down the steps of the farmhouse. Her Corcoran leather boots pounded on wood. The chill of late October smacked her in the face as she swung open the door and stepped into the night. She couldn't see stars, just the approaching headlights of a jeep.

Alice shielded her eyes. She strained to see past the glare. As the engine switched off and both the lights and the noise died, she let her eyes adjust. Harry and Dick moved out of their jeep. She hurried to them.

"What happened?" she demanded. "Nix told me a little, but he didn't know much."

They didn't say anything, just moved towards the lights on the side of the farmhouse. Her concern grew with each moment that passed in silence. Just as she went to ask again, Dick stopped though, sighing.

"We don't know anything more right now," he told her. "Just what I told Nixon over the radio."

"Gene's got him though," Alice added. She had hoped it would reassure them, the strength of her words and the knowledge that the best medic in the 101st would be taking care of their friend. But their faces fell. "He's with him, right?"

After a momentary pause, they both nodded. Dick took a quick breath. "Yeah. Yeah he's got him."

In the artificial light of the farmhouse lanterns, Alice watch in confusion as Harry took out his canteen and down a drink, and Dick just averted his gaze from her to him and then the darkness. Something else was wrong. Something had happened, and these two weren't telling her. Alice clenched her fist.

"Right. Uh, you two hang here," Dick finally said. "I've got to call Sink, he'll probably want to meet up and discuss our options." He frowned. Turning to Alice, and then to Harry, he added, "Until we get orders to the contrary, Harry, take charge of Easy. I'll send runners to Shames and Peacock."

Harry nodded. "Right," he muttered. Another drink passed his lips, and he moved into the farmhouse.

Left outside with Dick, Alice just felt her stomach turn. Something definitely wasn't right. She turned to her left, at Dick, as the door shut behind Harry. "Dick?"

He sighed. Running a hand through his hair for a moment, Dick turned from the silent door to her. He frowned, and moved back towards the jeep with her in tow. "Doc chewed him out," he tried to explain. He stopped next to the hood of the jeep. "Harry didn't remember how much morphine he'd given Moose."

Alice felt her heart leap into her throat. Gene had been getting more and more snippy while in Holland. She'd been on the receiving end more than once since dropping into the Netherlands. The stress affected all of them, but Gene usually kept a lid on it.