MY HEARTTTTTT
âOne of the women?â âyeah, our colonelâ THIS MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME OMG YES GALE SET IT RIGHT
Bro Johnnyâs reaction to Idaâs assault. I canât, my heart hurts for him. Itâs so hard to hear news like that second hand and I relate so much it brought tears to my eyes.
The reunion scene đ
BUCKY NO (side note: carrying that tree of a man through the camp canât have been easy )
âNo woman to be left unattendedâ I cry omg his protectiveness makes my heart soar and I love it so much
âWhat did his mother feed him?â I canât đđÂ
âHope his eye doesnât fall back in his skullâ IM SORRY WHAT I HAD NO IDEA THAT WAS A THING?!?!?? Poor baby đ
Him calling out for Buck I fucking cannotÂ
Gale stuttering when John asked about Maureen omfg thatâs too fucking adorableÂ
LOVE SHACK NUMBER NINE THE CACKLE I CACKED JOHN I LOVE YOU
âJust - get your ass insideâ this is fucking gold
I adore Bucky and Candyâs relationship, and the sheer honesty between them. The way she confessed her trauma to him in a way that she couldnât to Gale initially is heart wrenching. Like I think she would have eventually, but I think Galeâs gentleness with her might have made her wait until after being home to say it. John on the other hand? He asks the big questions and doesnât stop, and she answers because of the friendship they haveâmaybe itâs because theyâre so alike that she feels okay to say it and with Gale she wants to protect him from knowing because she knows itâd hurt him and she doesnât want to hurt him, ya know? I guess it kinda shows the impact he has on these peopleâBucky really is the glue of the group and I think this is reflected in the line about them accepting their time with Bucky in Love Shack Number Nine.
Johnny is just being compared to all the animals huh? Creepy owl and little fox. I love it
Buckyâs half dead and said âI will be the bestest guard dog ever. No one will ever touch Ida again. I will guard her in my sleep, dammitâ and I love him for that
I just adore Johnnyâs softness. Heâs so gentle with Ida and the girls and, openly cried for John, and heâs willing to go to get the supplies needed for the airmen. Itâs just incredibly endearing to see. I love these men who hadnât been corrupted by toxic masculinity and allowed themselves to be gentle and soft for those they loved.
Also Iâm still very intrigued by Johhnyâs aversion to the camp doctor. Idk if I missed it or if Iâve been out of the game so long that I forgot, but itâs a cool piece of character development that weâll hopefully get to see more of.
|| What Took him so Long?
Summary: For a long time Iâve wanted a comfort fic dealing with Buckyâs arrival in camp and the assumption that once he got there, found his men and was relatively safe, he had a big adrenaline crash and needed a ton of loving care. So I wrote it into this world.
Note: I wrote so many of the boys for the first time this time and, well, it was fun but have mercy Iâm new here
Continuity: This segment follows the events of First Night
Thanks: I owe dear @hogans-heroes a lot for helping me sort my screams about multiple different aspects of this fic and for how much depth theyâve added to my own love of these guys. Also to @ab4eva @blurredcolour and @crazymadpassionatelove
Warnings: usual universe warnings apply, 18+,additional graphic recounting of past violence and rape, descriptions of injuries from the same, angsty conversations and misplaced blame, the boys trying to give all six foot two inches of dead weight Egan a bath
âItâs Ida,â Bradyâs nimble hand was deceptively strong when clutching Galeâs bicep and shaking him to wakefulness early in the morning, âshe wonât fuckinâ respond but sheâs bowinâ up âtill I think her neck might snap.â
Well that got Gale tumbling out of his bunk, out from Maureenâs hold on his face, swollen thumb on his tongue. The hell had he been thinking last night? The raucous noise of his landing to his feet woke the others, Crank instantly startled at their hovering over Ida.
âWhatâs wrong?â
âDunno,â Gale replied, staring down at Ida Brady who was suddenly quite still again, âwhenâd the jerks start?â
âAbout an hour ago. She didnât move before that.â John reported and Gale was sure it was an accurate report as Bradyâs eye bags suggested heâd not even slept a wink. âSheâs cold but she kept seizing so I stopped holding her.â
Gale bit his lip and tried to recall how pale was deathly pale, or just, pale. He bent over her and placed his fingers against her pulse, relieved to find a strong heartbeat in her neck. Maybe too strong, but he wasnât about to start picking apart mercies. He was trying to measure it to his watchâs third hand when she started again, neck truly so bowed beneath his fingers he understood the impression of it close to breaking. He took his hand away discomfited and by this time Crank had joined them to stare down at her but those eyelids didnât even flutter.
âWe shoulda called a doctor last night.â Crank fretted, âShe wasnât just tired, not after what sheâs been through.â
What she had been through was not something that had been discussed really, and so, it had been happily tabled as a past occurrence when she came in last night and toppled into the bunk straight after showers. Now their silence on the topic seemed like the sort of lethal discretion that kills amongst âpoliteâ societies.
âWell, letâs get one now.â Gale snapped, âCrank -find the one who sewed my cut. Vega, I think, Vargas, something like that. Heâs here, in the south compound.â
âYou got it major.â
As Ida quieted again, Gale tried his hand at her pulse once more. A few moments later she was writhing in her sleep again.
âSince she seizes everytime you touch her, how about ya stop touching her?â Demarcoâs word of wisdom filtered in from his bunk.
Chastised, and with shared looks of alarm at their foolishness, Gale and Johnny retracted their hands to clasp behind their backs and waited in that mock parade rest until the doctor came in, dark expression on his face and a very deflated medical bag at his side.
âItâs one of the women?â he asked, shouldering between the two men.
âYeah, our colonel.â Gale supplied before relaying in brief terms the timeline of her stay here, her symptoms, her rather obvious injuries.
âWe might be dealing with a concussion,â the Doc warned upon inspecting her face, âhowâd she get these?â he asked about the swollen cheek and torn temple.
Gale turned to Maureen who still sat in her bunk, quiet, oddly quiet. âI saw her get punched once, I think it was on that side. But it wasnât so bad, the rest happened when they took her away from us.â
Doc Vega was inspecting the rest of her as he pulled the covers down, her shirt flaps up, bruises and more bruises visible and -âSheâs bleeding through her pants. Is this a cycle or-?â He turned to Kendeigh expectantly and she only shook her head, making Brady turn away with a wounded noise and walk a convictâs lap around the table, breath shuttering out in rough huffs, fists shoved into his pockets. Maureen wasnât sure how anyone expected to get on top of such emotions, much less a bother. She was sure as soon as she had energy for it, sheâd start making some Germans pay, it didnât matter which, someone needed to pay.
âWith assault this severe-â Doc Vegaâs face was more than eloquent regarding his horrified assessment. â-she should be in hospital. You know that right? Thatâs what this is, sexual battery, and like the word suggests, it's damaging, very damaging. Not to mention infection, fever- she belongs in hospital.â
The silence was heavy except for Brady and his off kilter laps.
âIf they take her, I donât trust them to guarantee her Combatant status.â Galeâs jaw worked overtime as he stared down at the body of his friend, âGerman hospital might be the best thing to ever happen to her or the worst when they discharge her. Sheâd not want me to let them take her out of here. Not after she fought so hard to get in.â
âThen by god,â the doctor exclaimed, âtake her to the camp doctor, there must be some supplies. Antibiotics at the least, aspirin perhaps. Something for the swelling, inside and out. Camp doctor has supplies, how many times do I gotta tell you guys -I donât! Take her to him.â
âNo!â John Brady spoke up urgently only to immediately appear chagrined at his slip as Gale Cleven turned a very suspicious eye on him, âI mean, sir, if we take her, the German doctor will just transfer her to hospital. He canât see how bad she is.â
That was a valid point, Cleven had to give it to him, although he noticed Hamboneâs own suspicious, cud chewing, background shuffling observation of his pilot. Every time that doctor was brought up, Brady mildly suggested that they not go to him, without fail. His mentions regarding the guy being German and illusions to his methods being foreign were wearing thin. There was a miasma of myth about the doctor that no one could actually credit for a single source and Cleven hadnât expected Brady, sensible, steady, laconic and measured Brady, to be the one to start spinning folklore in a place like this. He had next to no patience for it.
âBrady,â he decided to have at it, âyou gonna tell me why everytime I bring up medical care in this camp you act like Iâm suggesting suicide?â
âSir,â Johnnyâs gentle eyes grew wide and ever more guileless, âI told you, that man isn't much good.â
âEven a trash physician who has supplies is better than a good one without.â Doc Vega pointed out as he prepared to take his leave, âIâve done everything with what I have. There simply isnât anything at my disposal. Packages got held up and didnât have everything accounted for.â
âHe probably takes the stuff.â Brady muttured.
âSo heâs the one to go to.â Gale snapped.
âHeâs not touching her.â Idaâs brother replied.
Gale pinched his nose as he watched Vega leave them, the guyâs useless little bag of nothing swinging by his side, âBy not being good - do you mean a poor physician? Be clear, Damnit.â
As if sensing a penultimate conflict, the room soon cleared of everyone save Maureen who was too invested by curiosity and a healthy dose of her own suspicion.
âSir Iâve told you, he -he operates outside his purview.â
âSon? I canât even pretend to understand what that means.â Galeâs patience grew more lethal as it rubbed thin, âThat could mean he uses leeches or he abuses his patients.â
Bradyâs eyes darted back and forth from Clevenâs face to the plain beamed ceiling as if he could find his answer there. Manic and with an odd glitter easily mistaken for tears. The kid probably needed to sleep, or maybe he needed to fess up about the doctor. Either way, Gale found the whole thing more and more unsettling but also, aggravating.
âNow are you gonna tell me which is it? Or are you alright with me withholding help from dying men because Captain Bradyâs too intent on staying vague?â
âHeâs just odd, sir.â Brady gave a defeated huff, eyes still watery, âItâs nothing bad, I-I never said not to send them, sir. He just canât see Ida. He canât.â
Gale was intently watching Brady swallow hard and wrack his brain for another respectful appeal when Crack came barreling back in, the eagerness in his step reserved for only one thing these dismal days: âTheyâre here! Thereâs a new batch, bringing them in the front now, quick, thereâs not a long line!â
Brady was up and darting out the room before Gale could blink, uncharacteristically excusing himself before his superior had dismissed him and leaving Ida behind, still motionless in her bunk.
âBucky could be with them!â Brady explained as he dashed out, same old hope repeated for over a month now and Gale wondered when the guy was going to crack from one too many hits to the morale.
âBrady!â Gale called after him a beat too late, wondering who was going to stay with Ida, but after catching Maureenâs quizzical eye, Gale too bolted and left the woman in his loverâs charge, tearing out of the combine to have a word with his young Captain, fleece and cover on for a little added dignity the camp pallor had no doubt stripped him of.
The scars, too.
Brady was at the fence by the time Gale caught up, his wiry frame slipping between the surging mass of POWs come to greet and heckle the newcomers. Gale had long ago found it a dismal scene and wasnât fond of watching after it, but Crank and Brady were too intent, and some heartsick need drove Gale to find such excuses for why he, too, always managed to be at the scene when a new batch trudged in.
And what the cat brought in today made Gale forget about everything, everything else but that tall, shuffling, bloodied mess of a man he knew was his friend. And, characterically, despite appearing half dead, Egan was asking after Cleven, like the crackers after the cheese, damn the association risks.
âJohn Egan! Your two oâclock!â
Like a sunbeam splintering a thundercloud, Buckyâs battered face split open in a beaming smile the second heâd registered Clevenâs own. Gale couldnât help the effusion of bittersweet gratification at the immediate resumption of the old ways, the old sweetness between them, the nearness of a good man to help brave this hell.
âWhat took you so long?â he jabbed, but his friendâs face told a story Buck wasnât sure anyone left in Stalag Luft III had the stamina to hear.
And just like that, Egan was shuffled past and into processing and it would be ages before he saw him again. When Gale turned his back and worked his way through the crowd, Brady was lingering in one of the clearings, hands clasped and a rote twirl of thumbs matching the catatonically grateful prayers on his imperceptibly moving lips. Or Gale sure hoped they were prayers, it was that or Johnny having finally cracked.
âYou were right.â He gave the kid a pat on the shoulder, smiling gently at him as he seemed to come out of his relieved fog, eyes too big in that lean face and dark circles making reflective ponds below, âYou were right, you said heâd make it.â
âI hoped he would.â Johnny didnât sound like he was expecting to cash in those prayers so soon.
âIâm going to that doctor.â Gale informed him, leveling him a strong look, âI think we should get a little list for the other girls. Play it off, could be for anyone. Penicillin, sulfa, that sorta thing. Does that sorta thing cureâŠtheir sorta thing?â Cleven admittedly obfuscated towards the end, not really expecting John Brady to know what cured venereal diseases but more hoping for an opinion of solidarity, like one does when ordering a risky plate off the menu.
Major Cleven never learned whether Captain Brady thought penicillin would work or not, there was a commotion outside the main center compoundâs administrative building, and then the sudden appearance of guards dragging between them a slumped figure.
A dragged body was bad in most situations, at the prison camp it was cause for more than a little ire and panic. When Gale recognized the stature of their burden, the familiar span of the shoulders, the dark mop of curls hung low, his own brisk walk turned into a full on sprint across the muddy yard, Brady at his heels full of the same enlightenment.
âThe hell did you do to him?â Cleven bellowed at the reasonably perturbed guards who were already mounting a defense of their blamelessness for Eganâs unconscious state.
âNothing!â the more fluent of the two protested, âHe vas being processed, yes? And he falls over, like zat. Nothing. Did nothing. Check him, he isââ the guard made a motion to his face signifying the battlement Gale had already noticed as Egan trudged in. Back when Egan was awake and on his own two feet. âWe? Nothing!â
Gale took Egan from them like a mother being handed their child, full frontal weight of his large friend propped against him and he succeeded at little more than keeping them both from hitting the mud. He was already weaker than when he first got there and the proof was here in the staggering weight of a man he used to hold his own against. Crank and Johnny and Demarco were beside him before he can even look for assistance, expressions of compassion and anger at Eganâs plight all melding into a series of disbelieving grunts as they heaved him up between them, carrying his dead weight like a feedsack. Gale and Brady take under his arms, Crank and Benny his legs. Gale studied the completely bashed face of his friend, a seething deduction brewing as to how he came to be in such a state.
âThe showers.â he directed his men as they stalled midway in the yard after having got the weight of him hoisted.
They created a stir as they went, the dire oddity of the scene drawing attention as they shuffled through camp.
âHoly shit, is that Egan?â Talullah Smith came to a sudden halt in their path.
âMove!â Gale told her. âOr get the door.â
âHe even alive?â Murphy was with her, no doubt obeying Clevenâs order for no woman to be unattended around camp, and he scrambled alongside to help as they mounted the steps and passed through the door Smith held until they were in the dank and echoing, poorly tiled room. There were a few other men in here, washing clothes and dabbing at their underarms. The showers themselves were not on today, hadnât been for days, and Gale knew the large trough sinks down the middle of the room were their best bet for a triage and an initial wash.
âSomebody get his boots off, come on.â
It was horrible, grunting, grappling work trying to keep Eganâs dead weight up as they tugged off encrusted articles of clothing one after another, cringing at the bruises each grip and pull necessarily aggravated.
âSorry Bucky.â Demarco apologized repeatedly to the insensible man as he adjusted his grip on his ribs for Brady to pull the slate gray button up off him.
âSmith, you can go.â Cleven noticed her lingering by the door, consternation written all over her face at Eganâs state, Murphy shadowing her. It wasnât suitable for a woman to remain for the rest of it, whatever skill she had at setting fingers was a little below the pay grade of John Eganâs injuries. âYou and Murph, can go get Doc Vega. Again.â
He sent Brady a look but the boy was too busy to notice, helping pull a very discolored arm out of a Buckyâs standard issue, fleece-less jacket. âWhatâd the looney do with his sheepskin?â he asked.
âGave it to, Kidd.â Brady grunted, âRight before Munster. Said you didnât like it.â
Iâll be damned: no lucky deuce and no lucky jacket and no fighter escorts, how were they supposed to manage to stay in the sky with recklessness like that? âYou sentimental sunnuvabitch,â he hissed mournfully at his friendâs flopping head as they got him stripped and the full extent of his bruises came in view, â-supposed to be the last ones up.â
If anyone else understood what he meant in his mournful rage, they didnât heed it, and if they didnât understand they also did not press him for his meaning.
âLetâs get him up.â
Collectively they grabbed a limb apiece again and hoisted Bucky, groaning themselves under the bare weight of him.
âWhat did his mother feed him?â Benny protested as they staggered, and dumped him onto the longest of the troughs, getting a weak moan of protest from their specimen at the cold and hard surface.
âMajor?â Crank begged hopefully of his closed eyes as Gale worked at the pump on the faucet, the gurgle of chilled water preceding the blast.
âIâm gonna use this, lad.â Brady was informing one of the armpit washing boys down the way, swiping their washcloth with kind presumption and returning to squeeze it out under Clevenâs growing steam.
Gently as he had his sisterâs scalp, Brady began to use the wet cloth to scrub and wipe at the blood dried in an ominous swirl around Buckyâs eye as Gale continued to pump.
âHeâs gonna catch chill.â Demarco warned.
âHaul some buckets?â Gale asked if they were willing, the kitchen combine was not so far away with fires and tin pails.
âWeâll be back.â Benny agreed.
âBrady, go with him.â Cleven unceremoniously pried the washcloth from the boyâs hand; silent weeping was an art Gale had perfected as a child but heâd not seen it in a grown man until today, âGo.â
While they were gone Gale did his best to keep the chilled water somewhat diverted, with Crankâs help he even managed to roll Bucky on his side and probe at his blackened ribs. As is, Bucky began to shiver and when Doc Vega got there; he was none too gentle in his hurried and angry assessment.
âFractured ribs.â he rubbed the washcloth across his face like he was sanding the deck back home, âPossible fractured orbit. Eye socket, Cleven, looks busted. Just keep him propped, hope his eye doesnât fall back into his skull.â Gale stared back at him unblinking, there was only ever one question these days and after a beat Doc Vega answered it, âAnd no, donât have anything for it.â
Brady and DeMarco had returned with their now tepid water in time to hear this. âShould we wash him?â Benny gestured hopelessly.
âYeah, heâll probably sleep it off. If weâre lucky. Get him clean, get him warm.â
Gale began to pump anew and Brady gently tipped his warm bucket over Eganâs clotted curls, running his fingers through to disentangle the crusted snarls. Unfortunately their irrepressible patient took the kindness for a waterboarding and began to thrash, sending a shower of cold droplets over his caregivers.
âBuck?â a wrecked voice, punctuated by chattering teeth, stalled them all. âI saw Buck, whereâs Buck, I found Buck, wh-â
âYeah, yeah Bucky, itâs me.â Gale dropped his task and crouched over him, shivering himself as the sink ledge dampened the front of his own clothes.
âBuck!â Egan begged again, arms reaching out until Gale found himself all but tipped into the sink himself, arms wound around Eganâs pale shoulders with their blooming blue mottle, âMâso goddamn cold, Buck.â
âI know, I know, Iâve got ya. I swear, Iâve got ya.â Gale squeezed him tighter, âAlmost over. Gettinâ you freshened up. Weâve got ladies here now.â he joked.
Johnâs head rolled listlessly on Galeâs forearm and his sharp blue eyes flitted across the washroom ceiling until he caught sight of someone else dear hovering over him with another pail, âBrady, whatâre you cryinâ for?â he croaked.
âYou.â the kid didnât miss a beat. âSo sorry Bucky, Iâm so sorry.
âHey,â Buckyâs voice strengthened with vehemence, âsânot your fault. None of it.â
âYeah,â Gale agreed, gently peeling a flake of blood off his ear, âthat plane was going down anyway without your lucky jacket.â
Bucky somehow had the stamina and the facial expertise to look sheepish at that despite his disfigurement. âWhy'd you guys put me in the sink? Animals! Get me out, too goddamn cold, get me out. Gale! Get me out.â
âOk, ok, shh, ok.â
There was a compassionate scramble to help Bucky sit up and swing his legs over the side, the groaning and swaying of the Major a hardly promising sign for the excursion he seemed intent to make. Suddenly they were helping to prop him on his feet again, and while he was no longer the dead, unconscious weight of before, he was now six feet something of bare, slippery flesh vibrating between them all in a terrible chill. Murphy and Smith had brought blankets along with the Doc, and gratifyingly someone from their combine had proffered a t-shirt and fresh skivvies.
Crank and Brady swayed dangerously with his weight on their shoulders as Gale knelt down and made his shaking legs step into them. Buckyâs own hand arrested him standing up by placing a clumsy hand on his cheek.
âWhereâd you get these?â he was thumbing at those scars Gale hadnât managed to live down.
âFlack.â Gale maintaIned as he rose to his feet, âWhat the hell happened to you?â
Bucky gave him his old lopsided grin, âWar, Buck.â
âToo much of this kind of war lately.â Crank pointed out unamused, wounds were one thing but what was with the abuse? It didnât seem to stay away, even from the strongest or most esteemed of their number.
Buckyâs brow ticked in curiosity at the allusion to others but he was too drained to keep his thoughts ordered, âMarched us through a town, RAF had just paid a call. Townspeople didnât exactly come out with flowers.â
âHoly shit.â Benny sucked his teeth in a grimace, noticing how the other men down the way paused their chores to listen in.
âThey attacked you?â Clevenâs tone left little room for questioning.
Bucky gave them a wincing little smile, tilting his head in a shrug, âYeah, guards just let them at us. Iâm the only one who made it.â
âWhat?â Came up in a chorus, his doleful audience suddenly animated, âYou mean they killed the rest?â
âOne got knifed,â Bucky stared down at Bradyâs work on lacing his boots, skivvies and boots, now he looked like all the other clowns here, âthe others - guess they beat them, too. I heard shots. Woke up in a cart on the way to a nice, quiet little spot in the woods.â
âJesus Christ:â Crank uttered, âJesus Christ.â
âIâll be ok.â Bucky muttered, scuffing his boots to see how heavy they felt, his limbs wouldnât stop shivering and he had a sick feeling it wasnât from cold alone.
âYeah, you will.â Clevenâs pained eyes ordered him sternly and to swipe away that horrid crease between his brows, Egan would do anything.
âYeah.â he agreed.
âLetâs get you a bunk.â Brady prodded, slipping back under one of his armpits, wiry shoulders having more strength in them than Bucky credited, âWeâve got a nice little sick ward going.â
âYeah?â
âYeah; and no medical supplies.â
âGreat.â
âYeah, itâs a real well oiled machine they got here.â Benny snarked as the lot of them kept pace with Eganâs limps across to their combine -it wasnât under discussion where heâd bunk, he would be in with them.
âWhatâd you name the place?â Egan asked dismally at the threshold of their combine.
âWe didnât.â Gale admitted his unimaginative oversight for the second time in twenty four hours on these same steps.
âNo?â Egan slapped at the boring raw lumber and sniffed, âYou let Maureen in billet in here?â he asked suddenly.
âY-yeah.â Gale was wary and his defense at the ready, âAll the women whoâve arrived so far are in this one, so we can help guard them. Yes, Maureenâs in with us.â
It was better just to say it, to head off the teasing and the suggestions and the disorder right away. Cleven smiled back at Bucky confidently, waiting for this friend to get a move on over the threshold.
âHuh, ok,â Egan made a funny little face; âthen I christen you,â he went on addressing the combine itself, clearing his throat loudly to collect before spitting on the doorframe above Bennyâs disgusted head, âLove Shack Number Nine.â
âJust -get your ass inside.â Gale shoved at him between his shoulders and Bucky -with Brady still tucked dutifully under a wing- entered his new home.
Gale gave him a preliminary roster of inmates in each barrack, âWeâre down near the end.â and by the time they got to their own room Crank had to help support Buckyâs other side, the brief surge of energy the cold water and friendly faces had given him waning fast.
âJust so goddamn hard to breathe.â He tried to explain, wincing at the pull of his arms as they clumsily shouldered into their room.
It was empty except for Ida in her bunk and Maureen beside her who stood up fast as a lightning bolt at the sight of Egan. âJumping Jehoshaphat, what happened to you?â She rushed him but pulled back before her usual greeting of hugs to survey the damage, suspecting a squeeze might be too cruel even by Eganâs standards.
âIâm ok, Candy.â he assured, smooth as butter as he reached for her and ran busted knuckles over the curl of her hair, âGod youâre a sight for sore eyes after all these ugly bastards.â
âReally though, what happened?â she shied away from his pacifying touches, glaring at the others to start spilling the beans.
âThey tried to lynch him.â Gale saw there was nothing for, sheâd wheedle it out at some point and after what sheâd seemingly endured, what exactly was he shielding her from? âKilled everyone else with him.â
Maureenâs worried eyes dulled sadly at this and she proceeded to hug herself, hands carefully tucked into her armpits, âGosh, Bucky.â she mumbled.
âHey, said Iâm alright, didnât I?â Bucky coaxed, swaying towards Maureen and laying a heavy hand on her small shoulder. It tipped him too far forward and he had to clutch at and brace himself on the bunk slat behind her head. Suddenly he was peering over her shoulder and instead of empty sheets as he expected in the lowest bunk, he found the bruised face of a superior he didnât know had even been shot down. âWhat the hell happened to her?â
At the silence that followed this very simple question, Bucky swung his head round to stare the men down. It made the world rock, window blurring into the room in a nauseating sheet of white and Buck had too many eyes and all of them sad and Crank hadnât even a face but a blob and his vision was shot to shit with spots but as no one said a word, he repeated his question in a yell that surprised even himself, âWhat happened to her?â
âThe Gestapo kept taking them from the Dulag.â Bradyâs voice was soft and thin in his ringing ears, like a child explaining the fate of a broken toy, âThey even took them to a camp. A womenâs prison camp.â
âAm I missing the part where any of that promises a face like that?â Bucky demanded, trying to get the goddamn window to stop whiting out his vision.
Galeâs voice was on his other side, the side without the window, he wanted to look at him but he was afraid to move his head again and for the spots to get large and everything go black one more time. âLong time before theyâd recognize them as combatants, Bucky,â Gale laid a preemptively calming hand on Eganâs arm, âSS knocked them around bad.â
Thatâs all Gale really knew of it. Most of it had been gotten out of Smith who seemed most fit and most angry over it all. The others were skittish or tired.
âKnocked them around.â Bucky repeated bitterly, disbelieving Clevenâs moderate retelling, âWhoâs them? Who else?â
âWeâve got a little over a dozen of the girls here.â Gale replied, âBrought them in a group, some downed weeks before others. Held them while figuring out what to do before they brought them here.â
âWhat to do?â Bucky knew he was back to yelling and the spots were getting excited from it, âTreat them like officers being a little too much to ask?â
âLike they treated you?â Demarco weighed in, if only to take the heat off his co-pilot, âLike they treated Buck?â -or maybe not.
âThe fuck did they do to him?â Bucky really did try to turn his head this time and he was blindly groping for Clevenâs soft cheeks even as the spots took over his vision and his knees began to buckle. Gale grabbed him on the way down with Candyâs help, but Egan heard her exclamation of pain from it.
Steadied, with his hands back on the bunk slat, Bucky willed away the spots and stared down at Kendeighâs supportive hands on his waist -or what shoulda been hands. He wasnât sure heâd ever seen an uglier set of paws.
âWere you with her?â he asked, gravelly and not to be ignored.
âMost of the time.â Maureen whispered back and if Gale could have cleared the room for her he wouldâve.
âThen what the hell happened to her?â Bucky summoned the last bit of himself and stared down the auburn beauty of his erstwhile drinking buddy, âNo really Kendeigh, answer me. Iâm your superior, you donât have recourse, you answer to me. Whatâre you gonna do, huh? Ask your fairy godmother colonel if you can ignore me? Huh? âHey ida got a sec, Ida?â No? Looks like her office is closed. Fucking talk to me, Candy. Start with those hands. What happened?â
âSomeone stood on them.â -if Gale had to hear Maureen repeat it one more time in that monotone way he was going to start chewing through his cheek.
âWhy?â Bucky always had such simple questions, it was one of his wisdoms and Maureen hated it right now, her eyes flashing and her face reddening as she ducked away from the stare of friends.
âSo Iâd stop fighting him.â The statement was hardly legible, her voice had gone so wispy.
âHe, this âheâ -he knew you were an Officer?â Gale hadnât thought to ask that, and heâd thought of so many things to ask that never made it out his throat, but Bucky did. âAn army Air Force combatant?â
Maureen swallowed hard before throwing her head back, neck taut and nose flaring -Gale didnât think heâd ever seen her more magnificent. âHe knocked my cap off before it.â she answered at last, a cold hard meeting of blue eyes and Bucky stared her down, âAnd he laughed at the engraving on my belt buckle when he undid my pants.â There was dead silence for a beat before she went on, âThey tore the wing patches off Idaâs shirt, you can see the holes there, see? Johnnyâs not fixed them yet.â
Bucky slumped to a seat on Idaâs bunk, a shaky hand extending to push down the blanket and expose her shoulder, and there was a jagged tear in the standard issue, sure enough. âWhatâs Johnny been fixing?â he asked, voice hollow as he thumbed at Idaâs mottled skin, she was white as a ghost beneath the blue discoloration. Bucky wondered if he looked half as rough.
Johnny was then in a squat beside him, rummaging under the bunk before pulling out a pair of trousers. He tossed them into Buckyâs lap, wordlessly. Drab olive, Bradyâs tidy repairs obvious due to the clashing thread, and also blood -so much goddamn blood down the inseams, meticulously scrubbed out but stained all the same and woven together by the white stitches. âYou bastards let him do this?â Bucky asked the men incredulously, rage beginning to boil over and it didnât have a single source and it certainly had no rightful outlet, âNone of you can handle a fuckinâ needle? No? No, go on then, let a brother sew up this shit, let him get to think long and hard about what each fuckinâ rip means for his sister! You goddamn cowards -you havenât even asked them! You havenât talked about it with the girls, have you?â
âBucky, Bucky come on now,â Gale tried reasoning with him, âthey just got in. So did you. Letâs, letâs take it easy, save our mad for the ones who deserve it.â
âOh, oh you donât think thatâs us then, Major Cleven?â Egan scoffed, âBecause we didnât do it, isnât our fault at all?â
âItâs not!â Crank insisted behind Galeâs back, âGonna blame Buck for your ribs, too?â
That defeated him. Buckyâs fury visibly dimmed in his eyes and Gale would have almost preferred the insulting rage over the dead helplessness that followed, it was too reminiscent of his own. âTheyâre safe, youâre safe.â he summarized gruffly, âDoc says sleep for both you and her.â
âSleep.â Bucky mumbled as he looked back to Ida, trying to imagine with masochistic singleness of mind the sort of men whoâd enjoy picking a strong woman like her apart -he could bring them to mind too easily. âSure, justâŠsleep it off.â
âI donât want her going to the doctor.â John Brady insisted once more like this had never been argued before in this very room.
âHe no good?â was all Bucky asked.
âNo sir.â Brady was emphatic and relieved to be taken at vaguest value.
âBradyâs the only one to say that,â Cleven butted in, âand he wonât specify.â Gale may have shot a glare at Idaâs brother, Buckyâs own predicament causing a double issue. âYou need one, she needs one, too.â
âI-I trust my little Fox.â Bucky disagreed, although it was less impressive by both the use of a nickname and the slurring stumble that occurred right after as he attempted to get up from the bunk and pat Bradyâs cheek. This small movement caused such disturbance in his fragile equilibrium that he would have nearly toppled if Cleven and Kendeigh hadnât been at his side to catch him. âGoddamn! Goddamn, Iâm dizzy as hell.â he repeated, âAnd cold. I donât want a doctor, I want a blanket. And a nap.â
âJust what the doctor ordered.â Gale repeated dryly with a ghost of a grin that would have normally riled Bucky into smushing it between his fingers. He was too far away for that and Bucky was too dizzy to reach.
âMâgonna sleep for a week.â He announced.
âTheyâll be in here for roll if you donât show.â Gale begged.
âGood luck to them, moving me.â Bucky grumbled and shook a boot across the room before Brady knelt and helped with the other one. How many times had the sweet kid been shoeing him today? He should start calling him mom.
âTheyâll come for her too, if she misses again.â Gale pushed, âA guard came and checked to make sure she was alive this morning.â
âTheyâll just take her to the doctor.â Brady repeated hopelessly.
âNo they wonât.â Bucky assured him, already fully convinced of two things Gale very much held in suspicion, and heâd been here under half an hour, âThey wonât.â he repeated and, before anyone could fully credit their eyes, he appeared to use his last gasp of strength and dexterity to roll Ida Brady, none too gently, further in her bunk toward the wall before climbing in after her and sagging into the meager bedding.
âJohn!â Cleven had too many objections to itemize at present and all of them were tidily conveyed by use of his Christian name.
âThey canât take her from us like this, Buck.â Bucky was slurring worse than ever, now obstructed by a pillowcase and Idaâs torn head.
âShe doesnât wanna be touched.â Gale hissed urgently, side eyeing Demarco who seemed beyond caution and was now viewing this as analytically as a laboratory experiment.
âSâok.â Bucky mumbled, âIda always knows me.â
Gale and Johnny exchanged helpless looks, with Gale choosing to flavor his own with no small amount of accusation towards the younger man. But then, both occupants of the bunk became -and stayed- still, and no seizing episodes followed the heavy burden of Buckyâs arm over Idaâs ribs. So, with shrugs and outstretched hands of mere mortal impotency, they resigned themselves to life with Bucky in Love Shack Number Nine.
âI forgot how loud he could get.â Crankâs mutter broke the silence.
âWe should get some salve at least.â Demarco observed with a nod to Bukcyâs face and Kendeigh, who had been oddly quiet and sat with legs swinging on her bunk, echoed in agreement.
âI thought maybe penicillin, too.â Gale asked the room at large.
âWhy not ask for the keys to the front gate while weâre at it?â Crank snarked, âThat krout sawbones never gave me shit for Murphyâs cuts, hasnât even tended Hambone since he got out of hospital.â
âHambone hasnât gone to him because Brady has scared him off.â Cleven retorted, âAny of you have a better idea?â
âI could try.â Maureen spoke up, âHe might -respond?- if a woman asked.â
âNo.â Cleven shut that down with a sharp cut of his hand through the air, âNo way in hell.â
âIâll go sir.â Bradyâs soft assurance broke the tenseness, Gale watched the boy stoically as he rose from his place by Idaâs -and now Eganâs- bunk, and grabbed his pipe off the table, âSalve and penicillin?â he confirmed, face cocked shyly back at Cleven once more from the doorway.
âSalve and penicillin.â Cleven affirmed, âAnd Brady-â he halted the boy, â-you sure about this?â
âHe knows me.â Bradyâs eyebrows drew together, a sudden strong expression on his face, nonplussed in a way that made Cleven feel like he was the one slow in the head, âFixed the shoulder.â he reminded, gesticulating to the joint that had been dislocated by a poor parachute landing, no doubt caused by arguing too long and close to the ground in a spiraling plane with Major Egan. âIâll get you the stuff, sir.â
Brady shoved his pipe in his mouth and dug his hands into his coat pockets as he walked down the drafty hallway. Conversations from the various rooms drifted to his ear, odd still to hear the high tones of female chatter amongst them. He found himself rolling his last bit of tobacco round and round in his pocket as he neared the door, heâd been saving it for a real doozy of a day; for some catastrophe that needed nicotine to wash it down, or else a holiday that deserved the special exception. Ramming his once hurt shoulder into the door to open it, Brady decided today would have to be significant enough.
The day he got salve and penicillin.
âYou just chew on that thing instead of smoke it now?â The laconic humor of his bombardier startled him mid shiver, it wasnât even that cold outside he just felt poorly and everything was getting real cold and awful as he stood rooted to their steps and eyeing the main compound.
âNo, I was gettinâ ready to pack it.â He answered Hamilton, leveling him a scrutinizing look over the pipe in question, âHowâve you been keepinâ occupied?â
âThis and that.â Hambone shrugged, gold teeth still glinting as he assessed Brady. âWhere you headed?â
âWho says Iâm headed anyplace?â
âWord is Eganâs here and half dead.â Hambone scratched at his scar, the rough sutures too late in being taken out and now causing irritation, Brady almost felt guilty for that. âAnd now you're out here eyeing the Pill Hut. Iâd say youâre going to that doctor.â
Hambone never really got enough credit for his smarts, and Brady wished heâd stop using them only when it concerned things Johnny was already having enough trouble psyching himself up for -like radioing the tower to admit they were lost or visiting this freak in a white coat.
âThey need some stuff.â He conceded.
âGonna waste good baccy on it?â Hambone scoffed again, âCome on, I feel like a walk. Havenât seen inside the place anyway, all your ghost stories were too spooky.â Hambone was mocking him, but he was also beginning to walk towards the hut with the plain expectation of accompanying Brady.
âHambone-â
âWith all due respect, just shut it, Captain.â Hambone gave him a look, and it was the first one today that made Brady feel seen without feeling all of two inches tall, âIf I have to rub these stitches on those rough pillows one more night Iâm gonna claw my face back open.â
Brady didnât doubt he would, so in a spooked and complacent mood, pilot followed grinning bombardier down the muddy lanes to the doctorâs shack.
đ Hope you enjoyed! Feedback is a writerâs lifeblood, please feel free to scream in comments or the inbox, I love it and wanna hear it all. Trust me, nothing is âtoo dumbâ. Your thoughts mean the world to me.
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