Imagines. | Band of Brothers [𝗥𝗘𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡]

our secret. | babe heffron

for hey-river, who is just as amazing of a writer as she is a person

***

Nearly tripping over your own feet, you balanced yourself by gripping on a hook tied to a cord above you. The plane shuddered, the strong wind blowing through the open door making it hard for you to hear your own thoughts.

Being part of the Nurse Corps meant that you could train at jump school along with men who would eventually fly into Europe. Despite all the rigorous training you've undertaken, actually jumping still terrified you. How much more if there were bullets whizzing by you?

You stared at the back of the man in front of you, your teeth clattering. A gentle hand rested on your arm, and you turned and saw a young man flash you a bright smile. He nodded, and patted your arm to encourage you.

Seven okay, six okay. "Five okay," you shouted out, and in what felt like mere seconds, you were at the door. Looking down, you took a deep breath and jumped.

In the air, you were weightless, your fear taking over making it impossible for you to focus. As you approached the grass, you quickly threw yourself sideways, distributing the shock of landing along your body. Not bad, you thought to yourself, At least my knees still work.

Now to the tricky part. You wrestled with your parachute, trying your best to get up so you could either pull it towards you to cut off or keep in your pack. You lay there, the weight of all your gear making it nearly impossible for you to stand, but your nervousness being the real culprit.

Suddenly, you felt someone grab onto the back on your pack, hoisting you up to stand. It was the young man who had smiled at you from inside the plane.

"What are you doing?" you hissed, checking to see if anyone had seen him help you, "Someone might see us."

"I know," he replied, bringing a finger to his lips then quickly pulling your parachute and stuffing it in your pack for you, "But if it means keeping our finest nurse here, it's worth it. Stop moving and watch."

You don't know why, but you listened, accepting his offer to help you.

It was the first time you made it to inspections on time. You and the young man had run, and you were still panting when your officers looked you up and down. Hands shaking, you steadied yourself and forced yourself to look ahead and not break a sweat. The officer simply nodded at you and you exhaled sharply. You looked back to see the young man grinning at you, and he threw you a wink.

"Hey," you approached him as you walked away from the training ground, "Thanks for helping me out."

"No problem, nurse," he smiled, patting your head gently, "It'll be our little secret."

***

The next jump, you were less fortunate. The young man was nowhere to be seen, and upon landing, you tried your best to mimic what he had done for you the jump prior, but couldn't control your nervousness and didn't reach inspection on time.

"Y/L/N, you're over 10 minutes late," your officer said to you with a shake of his head, "I'm assigning you to kitchen duty for the next three days."

Now, as you scooped up sauce that was definitely too grey for your liking, you rethought your decision to enrol in jump school, despite being only one of the few qualified to even be accepted.

"Goddamn," you heard a man say, and looked up to see the young man who had helped you, "Whattya doin' here, nurse? Don't tell me you quit to cook." You rolled your eyes in response and scooped up food for him.

"Failed my last jump," you grumbled, scrunching your nose, "I didn't make it to inspections on time."

He paused in his step, and looked at you sadly, "How about this? Meet me once your shift is over."

"What?" you asked, tilting your head and urging him to keep moving, as the men behind him started to push him forward.

"I'll be waiting out back!" he yelled over the noise of the mess hall.

***

Throwing your apron in a basket, you headed out the back door, greeted by the young man from earlier. He was leaning on the wall, a cigarette in his mouth. "Hi," you said, shocked that he really did wait, "Sorry I took so long, I had to clean up."

"Aw," he frowned, "You could've called me to help."

You smiled at him, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and taking a puff, "Yeah, then we could have yet another secret between us, right?" The man shrugged in response and invited you to go walk with him with a tilt of his head.

"So," he began, taking back his cigarette from you with a smile, "What's the matter with you? Why do you suck at standing up?"

"I-," you stuttered, slapping his arm gently, "Is that why you called me out here? To make fun of me?"

He let out a laugh, and you looked up at him. He had a straight nose, red hair, and the brightest eyes you've ever seen on anyone. "Naw, just wanted to talk to a pretty nurse," he replied, and you blushed, "Even though she can't hoist herself up without help."

You rolled your eyes, "I just get nervous okay? Then my knees and hands don't stop shaking, and by the time I'm calm, it's way too late."

"Well," he sighed, "I can't help you with that. This whole time, I thought your skull was just thick." He looked down at you with a twinkle in his eye. You furrowed your eyebrows and punched his arm playfully. As you walked back to your billet, he stopped and you stopped as well to face him, "This is the first time we've actually ever spoken huh?"

"Yeah, and it consisted of you calling me dumb," you said, and he let out yet another laugh, flicking away his cigarette.

"You may be dumb," he replied with a wink, "But you're brave as hell." It was your turn to laugh, but his face was serious. "For real," he continued, gripping your shoulder, "You're scared, but you do it anyway. If that's not bravery, what is?"

Shrugging, you flicked his hands off your shoulders with a smile. Maybe I am kind of brave, you thought to yourself. "And when it's the real thing," the young man said, "We'll be there to protect you, especially me."

"Thank you," you whispered, curling a strand of hair behind your ear, "That means a lot."

"If you'd like, nurse," he said once you reached the front of your billet, "I can teach you the next time we jump. You just gotta make sure you're right in front of me. It can be another one of our little secrets."

"I'd like that," you grinned, and he messed up the hair on your head, "I'm Y/N, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Edward Heffron. But please, for pete's sake, call me Babe."

***

a/n: aaah this was supposed to be a protective babe, but i can't imagine him angry or anything so here's him protecting you from your officers! (i hope this counts)

this was so fun to write, genuinely. babe is one of my absolute favourites and writing about him makes me happy. i hope this made you happy to read as well.

also + definitely check out hey-river's writing. she's so talented and her stuff are amazing! 💗

with love,
𝓖.