Ad Astra Per Aspera [2] - Band of Brothers

26 | the little birdie

" I'm not gifted but I'm not hopeless."

- Norman Spinard

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By that night, after Catherine had cleared up from the emotional breakdown of stress and grief, she had to head back into town after escorting the remaining Easy Company soldiers away for sleep that night. And she had to report to Dick in HQ. Catherine slowly stepped into where the offices were and removed her helmet from her head. She moved down the hallway and then stopped in a doorway seeing Dick working at his desk.

" Hey," she said as she entered the room, her footsteps soft, her voice broken. Dick slowly turned at the sound of her voice.

" Hey, Cath," he called, making a few more notes on his paper before turning to her.

" The men have been moved back, I know some of the medics are still out working at the moment, but the men have been led back." Catherine said.

" Good, thanks, Cath." Dick said before placing down his pencil, " Supposedly they found more of these camps. The Russians especially, one that was 9x the size of this one." Catherine watched him.

" The Krauts are responsible for this." she said, shaking her head before leaning up against he doorframe. Dick nodded.

" Jesus," she whispered, " well, I'm going to head back, make sure the rest of the men are getting their rest and check in with Lip."

" Good night, Cath," Dick called as she turned and headed down the hall towards where 2nd platoon was. She hurried up the staircase running into Lip along the way and the two talked quietly before she moved onto where 2nd platoon currently was being housed. Her feet were soft against the ground and then she finally came to the door and gently pushed it open. She was met by Chuck, a hand pressed to his lips in a quiet form.

Catherine watched his eyes, and slowly creaked the door open following Chuck's lead. Chuck pointed towards where the bathroom was and immediately Catherine saddened, her heart sagging inside her chest. Joe was lying curled against Hazel, who were both asleep, by the open toilet, the door open enough to see the soft light against the silhouette's of their bodies. Catherine bit back her lip and watched the two.

" When you came in they were like this?" Catherine asked softly. Chuck nodded.

" I think we should let them be," Catherine said softly. The group nodded, before Catherine gently walked forward and shut out the light in the bathroom.

" They both need to rest," Catherine whispered looking at the group. Everyone slowly nodded before falling into their nightly routines, changing and getting ready for a restless night of sleep.

Catherine retreated outside that night, for a 0100 cigarette, nothing which was out of the ordinary, but something to keep her wild feeling emotions at bay. She gently lit the cigarette in the night and placed it on her lip before blowing it out into the night air.