Band of Brothers || To Hell And Back

Chapter Three: Arrogant Brat

Elle had known it would be a bad idea to read that stupid article about her.

They were on a lesson held by Sobel and like every other lesson the arrogant Lieutenant had given them, it was boring as hell. Elle had done a good job during the previous lessons, pretending to be interested in Sobel's lecture but now, after reading the article, she couldn't concentrate. She was trapped inside her own head, remembering all over again all the things said about her and all the speculations about her location and what had happened to her. She wondered if her family thought she was dead.

"Am I boring you, Lieutenant Aldrin?" Sobel asked suddenly.

"Very much, sir", Elle answered before being able to stop herself. Every lieutenant in the room looked at her. Even Sobel stared at her, probably thinking if he had misheard Elle.

"Weekend passes revoked for next four months now", he said and made an attempt to continue the lesson.

"As long as you're out of the base, I'll be perfectly happy, sir", Elle answered and horrible silence conquered the room. Sobel's face was turning red. Elle wanted to kick herself so badly, she was clearly losing it, her carefully created surface was cracking so badly.

"After this lesson is over, you're running up to Currahee for two times as a punishment. One more comment, Lieutenant Aldrin, and I'll personally make sure you're out of the Airborne", Sobel said surprisingly calmly. When Elle was about to open her mouth again, she felt a warm hand on her arm.

"Don't", Winters said to her quietly. It was just enough for Elle to collect herself. She cursed herself for losing it.

After the lesson Elle changed quickly and began to accomplish her punishment. She didn't complain; she felt like she had deserved it. Not necessarily because she had disrespected her commanding officer, Elle had never really believed in strict hierarchy, but because she had lost it for a while. And she knew that once she had lost it, it would get easier and easier to lose it all over again. A part of her wondered if she should just give up now, to save herself from the humiliation of discharging.

Was this all worth fighting? There must had been other ways to make a living and hide her identity. However, military had been the first place in which Elle had felt herself liked and respected. It would be awful to just give it up. She just needed to do better from now on.

Thanks to the hard training in the OCS and before it, running up to the mountain two times in a row wasn't an impossible punishment. Sobel had clearly hoped her to collapse during the run and was disappointed when she didn't.

After Sobel had dismissed her, Elle walked slowly back to the barracks. She wasn't in a mood to talk with anyone. However, she couldn't put off entering to the barracks forever.

"You, Ed, are a brave man. Stupid, but brave", Nixon declared as soon as he saw Elle. She grinned to Nixon a bit reluctantly since she wasn't really proud of her behavior.

"It was childish", Winters said frowning. Elle didn't really like to be called childish which made her tone colder than she had intended. Though, Winters might had been right. He was the annoying kind of person who always seemed to be right.

"Well, I'm practically a child, aren't I?" she asked coldly.

"That you are", Nixon said lightly and Elle sneered. She didn't want to admit it to herself but she was really starting to have second thoughts. She was a seventeen-year-old girl. How on earth was she supposed to do all this?

****

The next day wasn't any easier. She had barely gotten any sleep at all and now she was just tired, angry and in pain. Running up to the mountain twice in a row had felt bearable but she certainly felt it now. Her feet were killing her. She was also worried; she feared meeting the enlisted even though they wouldn't be arriving until next week. She got along with the other officers just fine, with some of them, like Nixon, so well that she could call them friends. However, she dreaded meeting the enlisted. After all, she was supposed to lead and command them and didn't everyone always hate the boss?