Shadows of the World » Band of Brothers

31: Loyal to the Nightmare

"It was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice." - Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

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"If they've already tried to make them talk we're screwed, you know that, right?" Juliette asked Thomas. She was seated in the living room of the safe house in Bordeaux.

Tom sighed. "If they've already tried to make them talk we're more than screwed. We're fu-"

"They won't have tried to make them talk already. The ranking officers here don't have high enough security clearance," Alex swiftly interjected. "Their orders were to detain them and keep them alive and safe until they get to Paris. You'll be fine, Juliette," he promised, looking each of them in the eye sternly. "Just, don't think about it. Our Resistance contact will be here soon."

As if on cue, the coded knock at the door sounded, and Alex was on his feet in an instant. When he opened the door he asked the relevant question, and when he received the relevant answer he let the woman in; code words were standard procedure, even with a secret knock.

"You are the new Brits, no?" the woman asked with a thick French accent, removing her jacket before following Alexis into the living room. "Such a shame about the other ones."

Alex nodded, but was ever a man of few words.

"My name is Brigitte. I am the local Resistance contact, as I am sure you are already aware."

Juliette's eyes shot up to the woman at the sound of her name. She knew that name and she vaguely recognised that voice.

"Brigitte?" she whispered subconsciously under her breath, her eyebrows furrowing as recognition set in. It was definitely her.

When the woman looked in her direction she gasped; Juliette hadn't been sure she would recognise her after all these years but apparently she had. "Juliette? Little Juliette Chevalier? It cannot be!"

Juliette hopped to her feet more out of shock than anything else, her eyes wide and her hands fidgeting as she tried to work out how to navigate this unfamiliar territory. But surely it was a good thing the safe house owner knew her - at least they knew they had her loyalty.

"I can hardly believe you recognise me," Jules resolved to say. She smiled when Brigitte placed two gentle hands on her shoulders as she took her in. Juliette was a lot older now than she had been when Brigitte had last seen her, and certainly much changed, but Brigitte was looking at her like she hadn't aged a day. It was a sort of warm feeling that settled into Jules' stomach at being looked at like she was the old, sweet Juliette who believed unfalteringly in the good in the world. The old Juliette who role-played princesses and weddings everyday. It seemed to be a lifetime since then, but standing opposite Brigitte, it had only been five minutes.

The French woman pulled Juliette into a tight hug, all the while voicing her disbelief at their reunion, before pulling back and scanning her once more. Then her face changed, as she seemed to realise that the fact that Juliette was here meant that she was a spy. Suddenly, that warm feeling was gone; with the look of poorly veiled dread that passed across Brigitte's face she was no longer that innocent little girl and was once more the agent who took lives on almost every mission, and who lied and manipulated relentlessly.

"You are a spy now, I see," Brigitte began, almost warily, as though afraid to say the wrong thing. She paused and then uttered a small sigh. "You are very brave. I can imagine your parents are very worried - but, oh, how proud they must be!"

Juliette looked away. "My parents don't know. You understand, of course, that -"

"Oh! Yes, of course. That was silly of me." Then she placed a hand on Jules' arm. "But you are still very brave."