Love You Till The End (Robert Zussman x Reader)

33 - Y/N L/N

July 25, 1944
Near Marigny, France

It was close to midnight now. At least I thought so. Stiles wasn't around with his handy watch, so all I could do was guess by how tired I was getting. Zuss and I were about to start our second bottle of wine which was bound to really put me to sleep.

Just as Zuss opened up the bottle, we heard some shifting around and heavy breathing coming from behind us. When I turned around, I saw Daniels sitting up on the chair he had fallen asleep on with his hand over his heart. I knew immediately what had happened.

"Same dream, huh?" Zuss asked him.

"Pretty much. Can't seem to shake it."

"Well, here. Have a drink," I told him, handing him the bottle. He took a swig and I could tell he really needed that.

This wasn't the first time Daniels had woken up in a panic. When it first started happening, I didn't pay much attention to it since I figured it was because he was a new recruit. It continued on happening though and it was becoming worrisome, but I didn't really want to ask him about it in case it was too personal.

"I'm good now. Thanks for lettin' me get some sleep. Y'all should get some rest," Daniels suggested.

I wasn't gonna turn down that offer. I was feeling pretty tired and the wine was putting me to sleep like a warm glass of milk. Zussman seemed hesitant to get some rest though. When I looked over at him, he was sitting on a wooden chair, smoking a cigarette with a hand on top of his wound. He sat there with a serious face and I was left wondering why his mood had changed.

"No, I'll keep watch," Zussman said, "I can't risk going to sleep. I have to show Pierson that I'm ready."

"I don't care what he says. You ain't got nothin' to prove."

"Daniels is right, Zuss. Nothing we do seems to be good enough for Pierson. You don't need to stress yourself out because of him," I told him, but I could already tell he was going to be stubborn.

"Yeah, well I'm tired of taking his shit," he said aggressively as Daniels handed him back the wine bottle, "Back home, you wanna settle somethin', you do it head-on. It's the only way to earn respect."

"Sure, earning someone's respect feels pretty damn good. When it comes to someone like Pierson though, is it really worth it? Is it really worth constantly getting treated like shit by someone in order to earn their respect?" I asked him. Talking about Pierson was beginning to make my blood boil.

"I get it, Zuss. A man has to fight his own battles, but respect don't mean a lot if you get yourself killed," Daniels said and I couldn't agree more.

"I'm just glad you two have my back. Besides, good old Saint Michael's watchin' over us, so we got nothin' to worry about," Zussman said sarcastically as he pulled out the pendant necklace he had won from the bet him and Aiello made before D-day.

"Didn't realize you guys believed in that stuff," Daniels said curiously.

"I'll take all the help I can get," Zussman sighed. He was standing on the edge of the second floor of the home we were in, looking at Marigny in the distance since the wall had been blown off. "So are you gonna tell us about that dream or what?"