Genesis: the Beginning and the End | Band of Brothers

【Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １０９ － Ｇａｍｅ】

Chapter 109 - Game

She was up early that morning, and she watched the sun rise out on the lake. For a good few hours she just floated there and let her thoughts drift away on the breeze. At some point Dick got in for his morning swim.

It was a while before he noticed her, but when he did he swam up to her to make sure she was okay. For once, she was doing pretty alright. And she told him so.

Before he swam away, he promised to take her to breakfast.

Peggy suspected it was so he could make sure she at least had something. She was right. It made her smile a soft little smile at the thought that Dick cared so much about her.

When she began to swim back, she was glad she'd chosen to. Because what did she see? One Captain Lewis Nixon III dive headlong into the lake fully dressed! Peggy couldn't help but laugh as she swam the rest of the way to shore.

She, like Dick, wore her PT shorts along with the corresponding top. But Peggy, unlike Dick, neglected to bring a towel. It meant, by the time the three of them made it back to the hotel for "their breakfast date" as Lewis had started calling it – because of course he'd invited himself – she was shaking uncontrollably and had to go up to her room to change. Once dry and warm, Peggy sat down with them to a breakfast of pancakes and decent coffee. More than decent coffee. She was slow to eat, but no one commented, just glad that she was managing something for breakfast.

When Dick wasn't looking, Lewis spiked Peggy's and his own coffee with whiskey and winked at her. It made her giggle, which drew Dicks attention back to them right after Lewis had slipped his flask away. He looked at them both suspiciously, and Peggy couldn't help but grin into her coffee cup. She'd have to start taking her coffee like that more often. Not with masses of whiskey, it was only a splash really.

"What?"

She couldn't help but start snickering more, and Lewis tried to kick her under the table to get her to stop. So of course she kicked back. And he glared at her.

"I think it's been a long time since Peggy's had pancakes."

She groaned.

"God yes, I actually can't remember the last time I had pancakes, and decent coffee!"

Lewis smirked at her, so she hit his arm.

It was like nothing was wrong, nothing ever was. Just another nice day.

And for once there wasn't a lingering thought of how much longer she had with them.

When breakfast was done, she was encouraged to go down to the airfield.

"Oh god, what if I bump into Sobel again? That would ruin a perfectly lovely morning."

Dick shook his head and sighed out a laugh.

"No, no it'll be fine. Go get into your PT gear, I know it's probably still damp, but it'll soon dry, it's warm today."

"It's summer, of course it's warm today Lewis!"

Lewis took away her coffee, saying she'd had enough, then proceed to down it in front of her.

"She's got you there, Lew."

Lewis scoffed, but shooed her away anyway.

So upstairs she went, and to her room to pull on the cold and damp and slightly clingy fabric of her PT shirt and shorts. Then she pulled on her heavy jump boots. For a moment she laid on her bed and held her legs up. She stared at the boots. She really did love them. They were beautiful when clean – she'd been taught how to properly spit polish back in Aldbourne by Buck actually.