Shadows of the World » Band of Brothers

36: A Mysterious Attraction

How desperately she wished they were going back to Aldbourne instead, and instead of tearing away such longing thoughts she allowed herself to revel in the simultaneous sting and comfort they brought. Nostalgia could be painful, but it could also be warm and familiar and precious. She hoped the Americans were having a good New Year, as she wouldn't put it past them to be partying all night, especially with it being a Friday night (or, technically, a Saturday morning). She smiled at the mental image of them wreaking havoc in their normal pub, imagining the drinking games and the heckling and the laughter. She longed to be among them, safe in England with not a care in the world.

She longed for a lot of things, really, but that didn't mean she was likely to get them.

The train journey to Paris was long, but she was glad to have Thomas at her side throughout. Whilst they had all had to split up, it wasn't safe for Juliette to travel alone, so Alex had ordered for Tom to sit with her. They ended up sat opposite an elderly French couple who were returning to Paris after visiting friends in La Rochelle over the Christmas period. Jules thought they were most agreeable, if slightly sheltered.

The woman, who was likely around seventy and was very polished and groomed, gushed at length about how pretty she thought Juliette was and how lovely her and Tom were as a couple. At that particular comment, Jules had had to prevent herself from gagging. She loved Tom ardently as a brother. But as a lover? Revolting.

Tom, however, had grinned rakishly and slung an arm over her shoulders, simply to annoy her. It worked.

To the woman's credit, however, she had also been very kind. She had even gifted Juliette a red beret that she had brought with her, claiming it would go perfectly with her dark hair. Jules was touched by the gift and told the woman it was very beautiful, wanting to tell her that it was also her birthday but not being able to because her papers didn't agree. Still, she thought of it as a birthday gift, and she hadn't received one of those in years. It didn't really match with what she was wearing but she wore it proudly nonetheless. Sometimes people surprised her.

When they got to Paris it was bustling with activity, as Juliette had always known Paris to be, and she was unsurprised to see that it was still flooded with Nazis. At the station she bid farewell to the old woman and her husband, and smiled at their retreating forms as they walked away; they were clearly very much in love, and had been for over fifty years, they'd said. It made Juliette's heart smile.

Jules and Tom headed straight to the safe house they would be using according to the information they had gotten over the radio, and were met with little resistance or interaction on the way. They were the first to arrive and were let in briskly after exchanging the code words with the man who had opened the door, and the wait for the others was spent with fingers fiddling at clothes and shoes tapping on the floor.

It was Martin who arrived next, commenting offhandedly on how many more Nazis there seemed to be patrolling Paris these days, and he was shortly followed by Will, who grinned when he saw them all waiting in the living room of the small apartment.

It was another ten minutes before Alex entered. He ran a shaky hand through his hair upon entering. "Anyone else have any trouble on the way here?" When they all replied in the negative he nodded, his shoulders dropping with relief. "Good."

"Why? What happened?" Jules asked, eyebrows furrowing together as she watched him begin to pace.

"I think..." he began, and trailed off. He rolled his lips into his mouth for a moment before shaking his head and sighing. "I think the officer recognised me. He's accepted my papers for now but he told me to go and pick them up from the police station later on, so he's obviously sceptical of something."

"You don't think it's because of..." Tom wondered, his words faltering as his eyes darted between the four all looking at him.

"Because of what happened last time we were here," Alex finished for him, a nod punctuating the end of his sentence to let them know that he did, in fact, think that.

"Wait, I thought you said they didn't see you," Will spoke up, looking to Alex in confusion. "You said you took them from behind."

"Yeah, well, I thought they didn't, but maybe someone was watching. Someone I didn't see. Regardless, I think that officer recognised me, not entirely but enough to take my papers in. Which isn't good."

The man who owned the safe house, whose name, incidentally, was Claude, came back into the apartment at that moment, after having left as soon as he had let Alex in. He was clutching a piece of paper tightly in his hands when he entered the living room, and he looked to Alex warily before handing it to him.

"God damn it," Alex hissed to himself, nodding his thanks at the man before turning the sheet of paper around and holding it up so the others could see.

It was a wanted poster, with an illustration of a man on it who resembled Alex - not entirely, but enough for him to be vaguely recognisable. That was why the officer had stopped him. That was why he had looked suspicious.

"Fuck," Tom whispered.

Juliette merely sighed exhaustedly, leaning her elbow on the arm of the sofa and her head in her hand. Were they never to catch a break?