Women of War - A Band of Brothers Story

Stories for Newbies

A/N: Shout-out to kingmanaena for urging me to update! I had absolutely no idea that it has already been another three weeks... work has been stupidly hectic and I even ended up working most of the Easter weekend (despite my superior reassuring me the same day "Oh these past few years, we've never had any jobs come in for over Easter". Mhm, right... that's why I worked three out of those four days).

This chapter is a bit short, but I couldn't find a better place to stop before it got too long. I have written ahead a little more and am currently trying to build up the courage to tackle the events of January 9 and then progress to Foy and beyond. Some scenes are already sketched/written, but currently, the transition scenes are being a real pain in my neck.

As always, ideas and suggestions are welcome, as is feedback and constructive criticism. I'm super excited that you enjoy my story and writing, so feel free to let me know what I should improve on.

January 3 began with surprising news for First platoon. Lt Peacock was being sent home. Division had issued a 30-day furlough to one officer from each company that had taken part in the 'heroic defence' of Bastogne. They would be shipped home to drum up enthusiasm for the war bond drive.

Rumour had it that initially, Captain Nixon had been the one chosen by the divisional leaders, but had turned it down on the grounds of "I've already seen the States, I grew up there". So Captain Winters had selected Lieutenant Peacock to go in his stead.

First Platoon was delighted. As nice and dedicated as Peacock was, he wasn't exactly leadership material. Fidgety and unsure, he either struggled to make a crucial decision or had trouble with as simple tasks as holding a map the right way round.

Theresa had to bite down hard on the inside of her lip to stop herself from laughing. The guys were taking the words "double entendre" to a whole new level when they congratulated Peacock on his luck and bid him farewell.

"Really glad you're going home", Luz said with a smile. For all intents and purposes, he was in fact telling the truth.

Peacock beamed, genuinely touched by how happy they were for him.

"Best news I've heard in weeks", Christenson added, grinning widely as he shook the man's hand. "Hell of a guy."

Stepping forward to say goodbye to her platoon leader as well, Theresa shook hands with Peacock. "Congratulations, lieutenant. It'll be quite different around here without you."

She hid a smirk when Perconte made a choked noise behind her.

Peacock remained blissfully unaware of the joke. He smiled brightly at her and professed: "Aw thank you, this means a lot, you know?"

After the lieutenant had left, the rumbling of the jeep fading into the distance, the assembled soldiers looked at each other and broke down into helpless laughter.

"We're horrible", Theresa managed between swells of laughs pushing up from her chest. "Bless him, he didn't have a clue."

She turned to Christenson and tried to summon a disapproving glare despite knowing that she'd fail spectacularly. "Best news I've heard all week?", she quoted, dissolving into another burst of giggles.

Bull guffawed and clapped her on the shoulder. "Well, you ain't been much better, Reese, telling him it was gonna be different without him."

She shrugged, wiping tears of hilarity from her eyes. "It wasn't a lie", she defended, which sent them into another round of hoots and cackles.