Genesis: the Beginning and the End | Band of Brothers

【Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １０５ － Ｄｙｉｎｇ】

Chapter 105 - Dying

This didn't make sense.

It was peace time.

Janovec...she hadn't known him all that well. But he was close with Webster. And it killed Webster. Which killed her. Yeah he was annoying but he was still her friend.

A car accident.

Seriously, how fucked was that? You'd think that people would be driving more carefully now that the war was over.

But no.

Peggy sat with Webster, but she didn't say anything. There were already too many I'm sorry Web's and the like. He didn't need her adding to that pile. So she sat with him quietly.

"I've got his home address, if... if you want to send his stuff back."

He nodded slowly, and gently took the offered address book.

She stayed with him as he sorted through Janovec's personal effects. He didn't need to be alone, though he did need the quiet. Her presence helped him, grounded him, showed him that though Janovec was gone, there were still people who cared about him in their own ways. A reminder of that was always good when they lost a man. She helped him pack up Janovec's belongings and take the parcel to the post. But after that he asked if she could leave him alone, politely of course, and so she did.

Some time after leaving Webster was when George Luz found her by that beautiful lake.

Peggy went there to lose herself, to stop thinking, to slow down. There it was quiet, so quiet she sometimes believed she'd entered another world. She wanted to dance there more often. If she could have a house there she'd truly be at peace. There, down by the shore, she felt finally free.

Luz took her back, arm in arm, and they smiled and joked and stayed very close together. And when evening came she stayed with her friends. It was friday night, so everyone was drinking a little bit and a dart board had been commandeered, so Peggy played darts with anyone who so much as thought about stepping up.

And finally, after a year together, someone finally tried to teach her how to play poker. Well, actually, everyone tried to teach her. All at once.

So she decided it was best for everyone if she left them to their game, and then she went and sat with Gene.

"Well that was... a lot."

He chuckled, and smiled down at her as she settled into his side. Now that she was wholly comfortable with them, she was very touchy. She loved hugs and being able to be near people and holding people's hands. Speculation was that it was due to not getting a lot of physical reassurance and affection as a child. But Gene didn't dwell on it.

"Someone broke their leg t'day."

Peggy nearly choked on her drink and gave herself whiplash with the speed at which she turned her head.

"What?!"

"Some fella got sauced an' managed to fall outta a window."

It wasn't that funny but she found herself laughing anyway.

"How does someone even manage that?!"

Gene shook his head and laughed with her. He didn't know. He really didn't. It was ridiculous, at least now all the injuries were minor, not life threatening, and were a result of alcohol induced lapses of judgement.

"Lemme see that hand."

Not really a question.

Peggy knew what he wanted to see so waved her hand at him.