Catch Her If You Can | Band of Brothers

X. February 17th, 1943. Camp Mackall, North Carolina.

February 17th, 1943. Camp Mackall, North Carolina.

The sounds of clinking glasses and Glenn Miller's music were overflowing, and Georgia could just barely hear the saxophones and trumpets over the roaring laughter from 3rd Battalion's staff officers. It was late in the day, so she was careful to keep her back to the windows to prevent the lowering sun from stinging her eyes. With a smile, she turned back to Lew and their conversation.

"So, how does being on 2nd Battalion staff suit you so far?" Georgia asked.

Lew chuckled and took another sip of whiskey. He and Georgia were seated in the back corner of the officers' club, discussing the various happenings of the regiment over the past couple of weeks. The Mackall officers' club was nice enough, with green walls and white trim. Inside was always warm and smelling of alcohol and cigarettes.

"Beats being around Herr Black Swan all the damn time," he said.

Georgia nodded and ran a hand over her hair, ensuring that all of the red strands were still sitting in their proper place. As she did so, she considered Sobel. If she were to be completely honest, the man always put her on edge. There was something about him - not something tangible, she'd never actually managed to put her finger on it - but nevertheless, something about him that Georgia simply didn't trust. Pushing the thought from her mind, she continued their discussion.

"I'm fairly certain Dick misses your company - unless there's another reason he's been wandering around like a lost puppy for so long."

"Don't let him hear you say that, it'll bruise his ego."

"I won't," said Georgia, "but it still annoys me. He cares too much."

"He probably does," Lew replied, his words beginning to slur ever so slightly.

Georgia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Not getting invested is a valuable skill, Lew. A necessary one. You know that just as well as I do."

"Don't have to tell me twice," he said. Lew continued to drink from his flask as Georgia pulled out a cigarette. They sat beside one another in amicable silence for a while, until the sun had stopped peeking through the windows and was starting to dip below the horizon. At that point, they stood and farewelled each other, and went off to prepare for the next day.

The next day turned out to be quite - interesting, to say the least.

All of 2nd Battalion was participating in a field exercise which Georgia had helped plan. She'd given Lew all the necessary intelligence, which forced him to speak to Dick since Easy Company's new intelligence officer still hadn't shown up from the 82nd.

It wasn't a challenging exercise in the physical sense, but there was a considerable amount of thought and mental legwork involved on the part of the various companies partaking in the event.

Now, Georgia was leaning one hip against the jeep while the Colonel was seated inside, both of them awaiting the return of Dog, Easy, and Fox Companies. Ahead of them stood the forest of pine trees, and above that, the crystal clear blue North Carolina sky. Georgia felt like pulling out a cigarette - she was anxious, and she couldn't manage to figure out why. However, the reason presented itself shortly.

Led by Captain Sobel, Easy Company emerged from the woods looking especially dejected and angry. Georgia quickly picked Dick apart from the crowd and walked towards him. They paused a few yards away from everyone else.

"What happened?" asked Georgia.

"He's a fool who's going to get us all killed, that's what happened," said Dick angrily. He took off his helmet and ran a hand roughly through his hair before making sure that they were out of sight and earshot of the rest of the soldiers.