Their Fizz- Band of brothers

Decisions Decisions

Getting drunk seemed to be the only thing to do on VE day. After drinking all the alcohol available at the Eagle's Nest, she and the officers moved down the mountain to where the men were all celebrating. She got passed around on the dance floor more times than she ever did at Toccoa, the whole day and night....and most of the next day was a blur to her.

The men had never seen her in such a state at the end of it, not in Bastogne, not in Normandy, and not even when she had been shot in the head. They ended up having to throw a bucket of water over her head to wake her for drills.

'Bloody hell Joe!' she stuttered out as she woke up dripping 'Why did you do that?' she asked as Joe and Chuck stood at her bedside smirking.

'Drills Fizz, drills. If we have to do them, you are sure as hell coming along, we all know you've done worse' They laughed as they left her to get changed while muttering under her breath 'Twats'. She changed into some long trousers and a white top and tied her boots while she let her hair dry from the water and then ran outside where all the men were gathered.

They were doing star jumps, led by Speirs as she joined the back of the group and joined in. The drills weren't nearly as hard as when they were with Sobel but Flo struggled - probably due to the large amount of drink she had consumed, she stumbled off round the side of a building and threw up her guts. After a minute she felt a hand on her back and a hand scrapes her loose hair back, 'Sor sorry about this' she said in between catching her breath, 'It's alright, take your time' she heard Winters respond.

Once finished, Winters handed her a tissue and canteen, she sorted herself and then started to head back to drills but Winters stopped her 'I think we should take a walk don't you?', she nodded and he felt a flashback to when they first met and how intimidated she looked, he hastily reassured her 'Florence don't worry, I just want to make sure you're okay. You never lose control like you have the last few days, heck I even saw you try and jump off the balcony last night', she smiled and gave a short laugh 'Thank goodness Webster has quick reactions', Winters smiled but remained serious 'What's going on Fizz?'.

Flo sighed 'Sir, I don't know', she twiddled her necklace and thought through her answer as Winters waited patiently 'I'm restless....that's the only way I can explain it. I have waited so long for this war to be over sir, 6 years. 6 long years and now it's over I don't know what to do. I wish I had stayed at home, at least then I would know what was happening tomorrow, but now am I going to the Pacific? It's not my war there, but I love all of you and I want to protect you from your enemies. Am I going back to America? Does Sp..someone care for me like I care for them? I want to go home and be with my family and mourn James properly......he was so close. So close to seeing the end of the war, he fought for so long for the end and now some replacement is going to celebrate the end and he won't. I just need to know what's next' she said sitting on the grass.

She didn't see most of the men watch her as they saw her outburst. They couldn't hear what she was saying but they knew it was a lot for the young medic. Winters said something to Flo and then made his way back over to the men, ignoring the stares he got, he made his way to Speirs and murmured that Flo was going to miss the rest of training for that day.

***
The men had been walking on eggshells around her as they travelled into Austria. Florence watched the German soldiers march past the van she was sat on and once again reminded herself how lucky she was to be on the winning side. It was honestly a miracle.

The pretty blondes came running out to greet the army as the men all smiled and waved. Rolling her eyes, Flo jumped off the truck and started walking along the road as the trucks rumbled past, she had wanted some time alone but Gene appeared beside her not 5 minutes after she had started walking.

'What's wrong?' He asked in his way as they continued, 'I just feel all out of sorts Gene, I feel I can't breathe'. He nodded understandingly and wrapped an arm around her, not needing to say any more. She knew he was there.

***
Since the men had known about her rifle skills, Flo had found herself quite the hunter for the group - along with shifty.

She had been pulled out of the med hut in the middle of a wound clean to hunt some food for the bbq the men were planning later.

'I don't see why you need me, shifty's here' she whispered to Bull as they wandered through the forest, he chuckled and ruffled her hair '2 sets of hunters eyes are better than one'.

'It would help if the mouthy twins over there kept it down' she muttered but apparently Bull heard as he said to the group 'How about you all just shut up and let Shifty and Fizz kill us some dinner', she gave a small smile in his direction but it didn't help as Perconte and Joe kept rattling on.

Shifty then held up a hand, Flo tried to spot what he had and soon enough saw a magnificent deer. He was so beautiful, she didn't want Shifty to fire to shot and Flo certainly didn't aim to kill the creature.

The deer got spooked and ran away, Flo knew Shifty had let it run - he had obviously had enough as well.

'Goddamn it Shifty you let it get away, we'll be glad to get rid of you' Joe complained as Shifty lowered his gun.

'Seems they want me to stay around a little while' Shifty said sadly, Flo gave him a look of sympathy.

'How many points you need?' Joe asked, '15' Shifty responded, as Malark tutted and replied 'I thought I had it bad'.

'No purple hearts - never got injured' Shifty replied.

***
The next day there was a lottery held - the winner got to go home as it was the anniversary of D-Day. The company stood to attention as everyone prayed they would get sent home. Flo chuckled as Gene kept poking her in the side, trying to stay silent as befits a soldier but failing miserably.

She could see the officers side eyeing her but they all had too much respect to really discipline her.

'The winner is serial number 13066266 - Sgt Darrel C Powers.' Immediate cheers and shouts were heard, Shifty deserved it.

Later on in the day, Shifty came to the med hut to say goodbye - it was the first 'good' goodbye that had happened for a while and Flo was ecstatic that he was being sent to safety.

After a long hug they pulled away 'I'll miss you Fizz, you've been one of the only constants the whole ride and I love you', after tearing up slightly Flo hugged him again 'Love you too Shifty, always remember you're my brother - get home safely and don't forget to write', he nodded and on his way out asked 'Will I see you in the states Fizz?', she shrugged 'Your guess is as good as mine Shift, but you'll see me again - no doubt', he smiled and walked away as Flo felt a tear slide down her face.