Pitschen ma en gamba - Small, but powerful [A Band of Brothers Story]

3rd January, 1945

A/N: Hi guys. Just wanted to thank you all for your votes, comments and faves. You're amazing! This chapter was really tough to write. Certain scenes in this part of the series always make me cry, so yeah, I got a bit teary-eyed even while writing this... I hope it's still good.

Lieutenant Peacock was going home. Word had it that division wanted an officer from each company involved in the heroic defence of Bastogne. They were to be sent home on a 30-day furlough to help with the war bond drive and Captain Winters had chosen Peacock.

Ella was happy for the man. He was a good guy, just not a good leader. When they were saying good-bye to him, she shook his hand and gave him a sincere smile. "Congratulations, lieutenant", she said. "I hope you'll enjoy your extended R&R."

He beamed at her and shook her hand enthusiastically. "Thank you, Ella."

After 1st Platoon had congratulated their platoon leader and bid him farewell, they stayed to watch as the jeep carrying Peacock rumbled off, the fog quickly swallowing the sound of the engine.

The brunette turned to throw Luz a wry look. "Really glad you're going home?", she repeated, one eyebrow lifting in amusement.

He simply grinned at her and gave her a nonchalant shrug. "What? It's true, isn't it?" The girl chuckled. It was true alright, just for a very different reason than Peacock had thought.

There was a film crew and reporters coming to the front lines. They had to smile and pretend that all was fine and dandy, that they weren't fighting to survive day after day. Most of them weren't too bothered, they simply joked around and goofed off.

The photographers filled film after film, taking pictures of everybody and everything. They were particularly eager to get Easy's ranking medic in front of the camera.

The brunette didn't pay them much notice, too busy checking on her boys and making sure nobody was taking a turn for the worse. She didn't actively hide from the reporters, but she didn't seek them out either.

Also, the men were happily running interference for her, keeping the photographers distracted and out of her way. They could all remember the nasty newspaper articles about their girl and wanted to protect her from further muckraking.

***

Standing next to Johnny in line for chow, Ella shivered and stifled a cough.

"Hey, Shorty", a raspy voice spoke behind her.

Instantly recognising it, the small medic whirled around and with an excited noise jumped into Joe Toye's arms, nearly tackling him with her tight hug. He adjusted his stance a little to catch her. Even with his injury not completely healed up, it was an easy feat. She was too light. Around them, the men smiled.

Letting go and stepping back, she beamed, her eyes twinkling with pure, undiluted joy. "Good to have you back, Toye."

He smiled and jostled her helmet affectionately. "Good to be back, Shorty."

One of the replacements wanted to know: "Where'd you get hit?"

Joe turned to size up the kid. "What's that?", he asked.

"Ah, that's Webb", Skip replied, "Replacement."

He eyed the replacement. "Really?", he wondered, sarcasm seeping into his voice. "thought it was some guy I've known for two years and I forgot his face."

Ella snickered. She had missed Toye's snark. Nevertheless, she lightly smacked his side and chided playfully: "Oh be nice, Joe."

He sent her a half-glare that didn't have any effect whatsoever on his little friend. Not that he'd expected anything else. Instead, he reached out and swiftly pulled her into his side, lopping an arm around her neck.