The War Angel

Crossroads pt 1

A/N: thank you all for the kind words and votes. 3 miles up!... *this is the part where I imagine you all say '3 miles down' and we have a cute little moment*

"were you really that drunk that you couldn't take three steps to the bathroom?" Evangeline inquired. Nixon had just told her of his not so polite wake-up call a few days ago and now he was regretting it.

"Yes, Mom. I was. Yell at him! He's the one that hides it for me." Nixon responded gesturing at Winters with a grumpy voice and face. Winters looked up briefly from his type writer and exchanged a glance with Evangeline. They both laughed out loud. Nixon waved his hands at them dismissively, offered Winters words advice for his report, and left. Evangeline shook her head and turned to leave too.

"Wait, Evangeline." Winters called out to her, springing from his seat and hoping his voice left no trace of desperation. Evangeline turned around. She had recently started to wear her hair differently. Normally it was in a ponytail or a long braid. But for the past few days Winters had noticed she wore it a way in which half of it was up so her face was fully visible, but the other half was down and it cascaded down her back in soft waves. So when he called her name and she turned around her dark brown hair flipped and twirled around her shoulders and flounced out like a skirt in an autumn breeze.

"Could you help me with something?" He asked sitting down at his desk immediately. He scratched his neck and broke eye contact with her. Evangeline of course obliged and joined him behind the desk. Next to his type-writer was a empty space on the desk where Evangeline propped her self up and looked down at Winters.

"How can I help ya, Dickie?" She asked. She was in a rather playful mood and truly she wanted to go find Luz or Malarkey to play with, but she could never say no to Winters. And although he was very stiff and hard to read, she did like talking with him. or rather she liked talking to him and liked that he listened. Winters laughed lightly at his new nickname and pinkened in his cheeks slightly.

"The night that Alley was hit. Help me fill in the gaps?" He half stated and asked as he adjusted the paper in his type writer. Evangeline thought it odd he needed help remembering. Winters was notorious for remembering everything in great detail. It didn't take long for Evangeline to realize, he didn't need her to help him remember. He need her there so he wouldn't have to remember it alone. Evangeline cocked her head to one side and watched him. Suddenly, she wished she was the type of girl that deserved a man like him. Noble yet humble. Strong but gentle. It was true, Evangeline thought, Richard Winters deserved a girl who was kind and tender all the time, not just in quiet moments. A girl who wasn't terrified of having children because she didn't want to pass her problems along to them. Someone who wasn't loud. Someone who didn't drink or sleep with wolves. Someone who didn't tease or play with boys that weren't her boyfriend. And someone who wasn't a murderer. She stared at his eyes. They were emerald glass with a haze of exhaustion. She wondered what he would be doing if the war didn't exist.

When he received no response from her, he glanced up to see what she was doing, though he could already feel her whiskey eyes trying to ignite a fire in his. She smiled at him. Not her famous smirk or her ear to ear grin that she was known to give. But a simple smile. No pearly teeth were shown. Just a soft and small smile that would appear as nothing if her eyes didn't light up when it happened. And in its simplicity Winters found extreme complexity. It was absolutely beautiful but incredibly tragic. And somehow seeing it made his heart swell and break at the same time.

"you lead, I'll follow." She said in almost a whisper and gestured toward the type-writer. Winters broke his gaze and thoughts and returned to the task at hand. Together they began to remember.

It was one of the more quieter nights. Most of the company was held up in a big barn. They were lazily strewn about. This one trying to sleep here, this one smoking here, this one cleaning his shoes, this one playing cards. It was moments like these where Evangeline felt the most secure and happy. Surrounded by the men she would give her life for. It had been over a year since she met Easy, and had lost all hope of trying not to get too close to them. It was too late, she was in love with nearly everyone one of them.

She was sitting with Luz trying to read his palm.

"You really believe all this garbage?" He asked with a sly grin, happy that Evangeline was ever so gently caressing his hands. Evangeline held a finger up to his lips to shh him.

When Evangeline was in Poland, she had her palms read by an old woman who wore many rings and necklaces. She told Evangeline that she would save many lives and in return her life would be saved by a fox, and a stag, a lion, a Bull, a bear and a wolf. Evangeline never knew what she was talking about.

"Hmm." Evangeline finally made a sound and pretended to be concerned.

"what? what is it?" Luz suddenly found interest.

"says here, that you're going to be rich." She said dramatically. Luz sat up and looked down at his palm too.

"Really? What else does it say?" He asked with bright eyes.

"You'll be the richest man in the world, everyone will want to be your friend....but." Evangeline continued to mess with him. Luz's face dropped.

"But? No, no but. I'm rich. that's it. end of story. curtains. goodbye. thanks for coming." he whined with a frown.

"but...you're gonna lose it all to Evangeline in a game of poker because you're terrible at it." she said quickly with a playful smile on her face. Luz jerked his hand away and laughed sarcastically.

"very funny." He said annoyed as Evangeline chuckled at his expense.

Winters had been listening in the whole time and was also amused. He smiled lightly at Evangeline's jokes. The light quiet time was interrupted. Some of the men came back carrying Alley in their arms and Trigger began to bark.

The company sprang into action. The boys placed Alley on the table. Evangeline was one of the first to greet him. The boys began to argue amongst themselves before Winters gave out orders. Evangeline wanted to stay with Alley but Doc told her to go with the others.

"they need you more than I do, trust me." He said in his matter-of-fact voice. She kissed Alley on the forehead and patted Eugene on the back as she left.