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1waveshortofashipwreck · 21 days

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Should've Been Born Later, Nix - Chapter 6: The Plan

Easy Company x Fem!OCs

Chap. Synopsis: What will happen when the group forms a plan to get some answers?

Words: 3,677

Find the fic's navigation page here !!

Have a question/want to be on the taglist? Let me know !!

A playlist to go with the chapter!

Author's Note: WHAT IS UP MY DUDES IT'S TIME FOR CHAPTER SIX!!!! Be on the lookout for Chapter 7 dropping tomorrow night!! :D

“We’ll need a map, and equipment to pick locks and stuff,” Chrys answered Joe, hesitancy evident in her words. “I do have a lock-picking kit, but we might need other stuff to bypass the doors that have alarms on them.” The boys nodded along before Luz spoke up.

“Do you think the rest of the guys will go along with this?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t see any other option,” Malarkey barely finished his sentence before the group heard the apartment door unlocking. When the door opened, Zay stumbled through, pushed to the side by the disheveled frames of Roe and Guarnere. The men looked like they did after days in Bastogne - dirt caked into their skin, grass and leaves in their hair, clothes that were clean when they left now looking as if they're on their sixth week of wear. Speirs and Liebgott walked in after them. The soldiers had never seen the look of irritation on Speirs’ face - sure, they'd seen him aggravated or annoyed, but this expression seemed to be in a league of its own.

“What the fuck happened?” Luz asked the group, concern and bewilderment evident in his eyes.

“You don't want to know,” Liebgott muttered quietly as he sat down in the vacant armchair. Speirs immediately walked from the front door to the sliding glass that led to the apartment balcony, forcefully sliding the door closed behind him. Everyone stared out at the balcony frozen, until Zay spoke up.

“He’s just frustrated because these two almost got themselves hurt,” she explained, shooting a playful glare at the two unkempt paratroopers beside her.

“We got some good information though!” Guarnere replied proudly, placing a firm but friendly hand on Gene’s shoulder. The medic let out a quiet laugh and shook his head before Bull spoke up.

“So what’d y’all find out?” Zay reached into her backpack and pulled out what appeared to be a jacket with a camouflage pattern. It was sturdy - similar to the men’s army-issued jackets.

“We’re not quite sure if it’s useful, but it’s certainly interesting,” Zay explained as she showed the sleeves to the group. The men’s eyes widened when they saw the 101st airborne screaming eagles patch over the two chevrons that displayed the rank of corporal.

“Zay, you’re not gonna believe what we found out,” Chrys mused, eyes wide at the jacket. Chrys and her group regaled the newcomers with the rumors they read about, as well as the missing corporal.

“You don’t think that’s her jacket, do you?” Luz asked in disbelief.

“Well whose else would it be!?” Gonorrhea replied to the radioman… a bit more forcefully than he intended. There was a heavy pause before Dick broke the silence, looking at Zay with a pensive but nervous expression.

“We’re thinking about sneaking into Fort Liberty, see what we can find out,” Zay’s eyes widened behind her glasses.

“You can’t be serious…” the words fell from Zay’s lips with utter disbelief. “There’s no way… even if we wanted to… where would we even start?” The girl’s eyes darted around the group - every expression seemed to have glimpses of shock, fright, overwhelm, but also… focus and determination. If this was really the next step in their journey home, then they were going to do it right.

“We’d have to find some way to scope out the base beforehand, so we can understand how their security works,” Speirs’ voice delivered a jumpscare to the rest of the group, no one hearing him sneak back in from the balcony.

“And figure out how the base is laid out,” Nixon added.

“But the only way we can get on base is if we have a military ID,” Zay mentioned before Chrys spoke up.

“... not unless you’re a delivery driver.”

“Wait, so they’ll just let you on base if you’re a delivery driver?” Liebgott wondered aloud.

“Not exactly, you need to register your car and have a special ID card, but we can probably just look up how to do that on their website,” Zay replied before noticing the still-disheveled states of Roe and Guarnere. “Let me get y’all some fresh clothes and I’ll get my laptop and we can do some brainstorming.” Once Gene and Bill were taken care of, the twelve made a makeshift circle around the coffee table. Chrys kept her seat between Winters and Nixon, while Zay sat across from her sister on the floor, Eugene on her left and Guarnere on her right.

“Alright, so we need to figure out how to get on base, where we need to go, and what will stop us from getting there, right?” Malarkey listed out from his spot on the floor.

“We can get on base by registering as a delivery driver, and then once we’re on base we can figure out where everything is.” Chrys typed away on her laptop, making a checklist of what needed to be done.

“Right… what’s everything exactly?” Luz chimed in from his spot beside Toye.

“We could probably start with Colonel Gomez’s office, then from there we can see where he’s doing the experiments,” Speirs explained from his spot on the other side of Eugene. The group carried on like this until dark, forming their own version of the D-Day invasion, just with less planes and more… road trip playlists.

“Alright, let me see if I have everything here,” Chrys said. She made a few finishing keystrokes on her laptop before scrolling back up to the top of her list. Beside her, Lewis was in awe of the girl. Everything she did seemed to have an effortless air around it. It felt as though, at the snap of her fingers, Chrys could command the beer bottle beside her to bring itself to her lips of its own accord. Lewis would never admit to it, but her presence caused a level of butterflies to swell up in his stomach that he hadn't felt since he was in prep school. His eyes became fixated on her snakebite lip piercings - two black studs placed right below her lower lip. Lewis had never seen a piercing like this before, his mind started to wonder what it would be like to kiss her with those-

“Lew!” The man was shaken from his thoughts when Dick called his name. Nixon was broken from his trance and noticed the rest of the group staring at him expectedly, most notably Chrys. The dark-haired man took a beat before clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry, what’d you say?”

“Do you think you’d be able to help us decipher anything we find in Gomez’s office?” Zay asked from her spot on the floor.

“Well I’m not the intelligence officer because of my good looks!” Snickers could be heard around the room at Nixon’s comment before the conversation moved forward.

“So Zay and I will use the van from my garage and register it as a delivery car, then Nix, Speirs, and I will ‘deliver’ something to Colonel Gomez to find where his office is and scope out the place. Then from there, we can plan out how we want to do the second run,” Chrys explained to the group.

“Sounds good to me,” Winters piped up from his seat on the couch. His eyes kept finding their way to Zay, who could be seen whispering and laughing with Doc Roe beside her. Even when he felt a sting of envy seeing Eugene next to her, there was still a comforting warmth in his chest when he saw Zay scrunch her nose in laughter. Chrys noticed how Dick was looking at Zay and couldn’t help but smile. Chrys’ gaze abruptly moved to Guarnere when everyone heard his stomach growl, or rather, play the symphony of its people.

“Zay, why don’t you and I head to the kitchen and see if we have anything for dinner?” the dark-haired girl announced with a laugh before setting her laptop on the coffee table, stretching her arms over her head. Zay was quick to pop up and follow her twin into the kitchen, leaving Easy Company to their own devices, at least for a moment.

“I’m pretty sure we don’t have something that’ll feed everyone, do you wanna just order pizza tonight?” Zay asked nonchalantly as she looked in their fridge. Chrys simply leaned her back against the counter and let a snicker past her lips.

“You have no idea, do you?”

“... I mean I’m looking at our fridge right now and all we have is your veggie smoothies and my orange soda, ooh! And Peronis! When did we get these?” The nurse was in her own little world for a moment, pulling the cheap beer out of the fridge to share with everyone.

“I mean about Dick, don’t you see how he looks at you?” Zay turned around and met Chrys with furrowed brows, clearly confused.

“What do you mean?”

“He gives you the same heart eyes he does to Nixon in the first episode, when Nix is lighting his cigarette outside that tent.” Zay quickly shook her head before promptly setting the drinks on the counter and closing the fridge. She immediately pulled out her phone, desperate to focus on something else.

“You think they’d prefer Domino’s or Little Caesar’s?”

“Zay, I’m serious, I really think he likes you.” Chrys’ tone was quiet and serious, but gentle. Chrys was unsurprised at her twin’s avoidance of the subject - she knew Zay had a rough time in terms of relationships.

“Chrys he could have anyone he wants,” the girl said in a strikingly monotone voice - a stark contrast to her bubbly personality. She took a deep breath before continuing, “Besides, do you see how Nix looks at you?” Zay looked up from her phone, a smirk on her face. Before Chrys could finish her eye-roll, the two were shocked out of their skins as music came blaring unexpectedly from the living room. As Tainted Love filled every atom of air in the apartment, the twins scrambled into the living room to find Luz crouching in front of the entertainment stand, fumbling with the Bluetooth speaker as if it were a hot potato. Zay quickly knelt next to George and took his hands, turning the speaker so that she could reach the power button and turn the speaker off. The two sat like that for a second before Zay quickly pulled away, face bright red. She futilely prayed that Luz didn’t notice the rosy hue on her cheeks.

“I told you not to mess with that, dumbass!” Liebgott scolded Luz from his place on the floor.

“Great job, radioman,” Bull chimed in, chuckling as Luz bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. The poor man just wanted to see if he could figure out how to turn on the device to see what it was. While his mission was technically successful, George certainly did not intend to assault the eardrums of everyone in the tiny space.

“If y’all wanted a dance party, you could’ve just asked!” Zay said with a giggle. Most of the men shared in her laughter, while others felt their ears perk up at the idea of a dance party. “Why don’t we order some pizza and then I can show y’all how the speaker works?” Within the hour, the twins had educated the men from the 1940s on what toppings were available on their pizzas, as well as mediating the discussions for what was going on said pizzas. Now, all they could do was relax and wait for the delivery driver. Zay had started passing out the Peronis from the fridge (and a soda for Dick) when she heard her name.

“Zay, you said something about a dance party?” Nixon piped up from his seat, a mischievous smirk on his face. Her expression grew to match his as she pulled out her phone.

“Let me find a good playlist to show y’all the best music-”

“Zay I swear if it’s your Queen playlist…” Chrys interrupted, irritation in her eyes but a smile on her lips.

“Like, songs for the Queen of England?” Guarnere questioned the two - just when he thought 2023 could not get any more bizarre, now he knows the word “playlist” and is about to listen to music made for the queen of England. Zay simply laughed before returning to her phone.

“ONE song, then I’ll put on a playlist!” The blue-haired girl compromised with her sister before picking up the Bluetooth speaker. The boys were amazed when she seemed to only push a couple of buttons, and suddenly music was playing again from the speaker, and at a much more reasonable volume compared to earlier.

Toniiiiight, I’m gonna have mysellllf a real good time

I feel aliiiiiiiivvvvveeeee!

Zay was singing along to one of her favorite songs, she could not help but stand up and move along to the slow intro, waving her arms in big, dramatic motions to the lyrics. Everyone was laughing along with Zay’s hyperbolic display as she and her twin sang along with Freddie Mercury.

And the wooooorld, I’ll tuuuurn it inside ooouuut, yeah!

I’m floating arooooound in ecstacyyyy so

Don't- Stop me nooowww…

“Don’t! Stop me! Cuz I’m having a good time! Having a good time!” As the music crescendoed, so did Zay and her dancing. Even Chrys, moved by one of her favorite singers, got up and began dancing with Zay. The two moved like excited baby goats, hopping around the living room in time to Roger Taylor’s drumming. Some soldiers were getting into the vibes of the music with the twins, either dancing in their seats or trying to sing along, others were watching the girls with less than chivalrous eyes (Liebgott and Toye were the worst offenders), while Dick and Lewis simply watched in awe. Dick’s eyes were fixed on Zay, the way her hips were moving trapping the redhead in a trance that he would have been happy to stay in forever.

Lewis, on the other hand, could not decide where to focus his gaze on Chrys. From the smirk on her face, to her waist swirling side to side, to her legs moving in time with the music, to her arms wrapping themselves around Guarnere - wait… Nixon was brought back to reality when he saw the sergeant dancing with the black-haired girl, also noticing that the song had changed to something more… seductive.

Pour some sugar on me! In the name of love

Pour some sugar on me! C’mon fire me uuupp

Pour your sugar on me! I can’t get enouugh

I’m hot, sticky, sweeet, from my head to my feet

The intelligence officer felt a confounding mixture of emotions - absolutely enamored by Chrys and her movements to the music, uncomfortable with watching Guarnere’s movements to the music, jealous that Chrys was dancing with Guarnere… Nix just could not let this stand. “I’m going to Chrys, and I suggest you go to your little nurse before it’s too late,” Lewis muttered to Dick before he got up, gesturing to the girl in question as he made his way to the makeshift dance floor. Winters looked away and crossed his arms - yes, he wanted to spend time with Zay, but there were a few barriers at the moment Dick was wrestling with.

First, Dick does not dance. He will if he absolutely must, he can waltz… a bit, but for someone in peak physical condition, the officer has two left feet on the dance floor. Second, the tantalizing rhythms set forth by the music and Zay’s hypnotic movements caused Dick to feel a certain overwhelm that he has never felt before, and he was quite unsure how to handle it. He was sure, though, that if he tried to talk to Zay now, absolute gibberish would come out of his mouth. Third, Zay already had a dancing partner, and the Cajun man definitely knew how to dance. If the officer had not looked away, he would see that Eugene and Zay were dancing in perfect sync, as if they were the only two in the room.

Meanwhile, the rest of the boys were in their own little worlds, either dancing in the goofiest way possible, like Luz trying to mess with Toye, or simply sitting back and taking in the music, like Ron and Bull, sporting amused expressions from their seats. The twelve were abruptly all pulled back to the same reality when the doorbell rang - the pizza had arrived!

Zay took the pizzas from the delivery man while Chrys brought out plates and napkins. The night continued with more shenanigans brought about by both the music as well as the Peronis, both Zay and Chrys absolutely delighted in sharing the music of their time with the soldiers.

When I was, a young boy, my father, took me into the city, to see a marching band…

As the intro to Welcome to the Black Parade played, Zay dramatically serenaded the group, her off-tune voice endearing her to the tipsy men. Zay, being rather inebriated herself, noticed Dick casually sitting by himself, enjoying the party going on around him. While the leader considered himself to be more of an introvert, seeing his men, who had been working and struggling so hard throughout the war, finally getting to relax and have fun warmed his heart more than he thought possible. Suddenly filled with confidence, Zay slowly strutted over to the redhead, making eye contact with him as she made her way to the couch. While Winters offered her a smile, everyone could see the hue on his cheeks that matched his hair.

He said will you, defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have maaaddee…

The lyrics being sung were not exactly sultry, but the look in Zay’s eyes had Dick feeling things that he had not felt since before the war. In that moment, it was as if Dick and Zay were the only two in the room. The nurse stopped right in front of the captain, bending over to look into his emerald eyes. Past her glasses, Winters could see the mischievous sparkle in Zay’s eyes, his brain going a million miles a minute. Was this really happening? If it was a dream, Dick silently prayed he would never wake up.

Because one day, I’ll leave you, a phantom, to lead you in the summer, to join the Black Parade…

Zay softly sang to Winters, trailing a finger lightly down his cheek, taking in his handsome features. She began to wonder the same question as him - is this real? As she looked into his eyes and their faces grew closer, inch by inch, the girl could not help but steal a glance at his lips before a resounding crash broke the two from their mutual trance.

“Hey, watch where the fuck you’re going!” Guarnere shouted at Liebgott before the two started throwing punches at each other. It was later revealed that Joe stumbled back and accidentally put his elbow into Bill’s pizza, which he was thoroughly enjoying. The two tumbled to the ground before the rest of the group dove in to break them apart, Zay and Chrys included. After a horrendous struggle, the group had the angry boys separated, Guarnere holding his hand to his eye and Liebgott tasting blood from his split lip. After figuring out what happened, a couple of extremely heartfelt apologies, and some first aid provided by Zay and Roe, everyone agreed that it was time for bed. Well… almost everyone.

A while after everyone had gone to bed, Chrys heard the sliding door open from her place on the wicker chair that lived on the apartment’s balcony. She turned her head to see none other than Captain Nixon poking his head outside.

“Do you mind some company?”

“Be my guest,” she replied nonchalantly, gesturing for Lewis to sit in the chair on the other side of the small glass table, still needing to be dusted from the pollen drop of the day. Nixon gave Chrys a nod of thanks before sitting and pulling out his Lucky Strikes and lighter. He stretched his arm out to offer Chrys a cigarette before lighting his own. The girl politely shook her head, silently cursing how the dark-haired man made smoking look so attractive.

“Isn't it past your bedtime, doll?” Nixon said around his cigarette, the scratch of the flint in his zippo echoing off the brick wall.

“If I didn't know you were a night owl I could say the same to you,” Chrys retorted, not noticing Nixon’s flirtatious tone. The twins may be opposites in many ways, but one thing that ties them together is their obliviousness to a boy’s romantic advances.

The intelligence officer let out a snicker and shook his head. “You think you know everything about me because you’ve seen me on a TV show?”

“Well I know the number of times Dick had to pour your own piss on you to wake you up is one too many,” the words left Chrys’ mouth with a smirk that left Lewis weak in the knees. He threw his head back in laughter before taking another drag from his cigarette.

“First you clean the dance floor with my ass, then you bring that shit up,” he mused to himself, remembering earlier in the night. When Nixon went up to cut in on Chrys and Guarnere dancing together, the movement Chrys’ body created almost felt supernatural. Lewis tried to keep up with her, but he kept staring at the girl and tripping over two left feet.

“What’s the matter, Yale boy? You can dish it but you can’t take it?”

The two night owls continued their banter well into the night, only retiring when the first birds of the morning began to chirp. Chrys and Zay passed in the hallway - Zay was dressed in her scrubs and on the way to work. The blue-haired girl sent a smile over to her twin, “You awake yet?”

“Awake? It’s time to go to bed!”

~~~~~

Chapter 5 | Chapter 7

Taglist: @b00ks1ut , @blueberry-ovaries , @bucky32557038ww2 , @claudycod , @dontirrigateme , @easycompany123 , @emilee1421 , @executethyself35 , @hanniewinnix , @ithinkabouttzu , @jump-wings , @love--persevering , @panzershrike-pretz , @stolen94 , @xxluckystrike

Thank you again for reading!! Be on the lookout for Chapter 7 dropping Tomorrow!! 🥰✨

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1waveshortofashipwreck · 2 months

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Should've Been Born Later, Nix - Chapter 5: The Rude Awakening

Easy Company x Fem!OCs

Chap. Synopsis: What will happen when Easy Company starts looking for answers?

Words: 3,647

Find the fic's navigation page here !!

Have a question/want to be on the taglist? Let me know !!

Author's Note: CHAPTER 5 LET'S GOOOOOO!!!! Be on the lookout for a POLL concerning Chapter 6!! Love each of you to the moon and back 💖💕

In Zay’s room, Roe and Luz were tucking themselves into the pull-out couch at the foot of Zay’s bed. Dick was still standing next to the bed, unable to believe that is where he’s about to sleep. Zay’s room was a little bit cluttered, but the men saw it as cozy. Photos of her loved ones, as well as posters of her favorite musicians and TV shows, adorned the walls around them - a string of lights lined the top of the walls, creating soft, warm light. “Captain Winters, Zay will be suspicious if you’re not in bed when she gets back,” George said to his CO, Roe nodding in agreement. Dick let out a quiet laugh and shook his head.

“I can’t believe this is happening, Luz,” Dick replied. Eugene and George smiled at their captain - it was not often that he was at a loss for what to do. Winters always had everything together - he is, has been, and always will be, the best leader Easy Company has ever seen. Seeing Winters in a state of nerves and disbelief only added to the unreality of the boys’ situation.

Hearing the doorknob turn jolted the boys out of their collective thoughts. Zay slipped through the door before shutting it behind her, smiling at the boys. “Can I get anyone anything?” she asked sweetly, looking at the soldiers in her care.

“We’re perfect, ma’am, thank you,” Eugene responded with a smile. His cajun accent was thick in his words, awakening the butterflies in Zay’s stomach. In an attempt to cover up her fluster, she turned to look at captain Winters, who still was not in bed. Her eyebrows rose as she looked at the captain.

“Dick! Get in bed! You must be exhausted!” Zay instructed the officer, worried about him. Winters blushed, no one’s ever worried about him like this before. It was… nice? “If it makes you feel better, you take the bed and I can sleep on the flo-” Zay did not get to finish her statement.

“Out of the question,” Dick interrupted, using a stern tone but a sweet smile.

“Then get your butt in the bed,” Zay replied in a similar fashion - her tone said she was serious but her smile gave her away. Dick’s eyes widened, not expecting Zay to refer to his backside. Eugene and George could not help but laugh at the situation before them. Winters exchanged a glance with the two before hesitantly sitting on Zay’s bed. “Under the covers, captain,” Zay instructed - her apartment gets cold at night, and she knew he would be absolutely frozen otherwise.

Dick kept an indignant eye contact with Zay as he shifted his legs beneath the comforter - it was sky blue and decorated with a watercolor seascape. “Thank you,” Zay responded to his action, getting under the covers herself. She plugged her phone in on her bedside table, ensuring her alarm was set before looking back at the boys. “I set my alarm for 7 tomorrow morning, so you might hear my phone play some music,” She informed them, leaning back over to flip the switch off her string lights, bathing the room in a comforting darkness. The only light was the dim rays of the moon gently streaking in through the curtains on Zay’s windows. “Don’t be afraid to wake me up if y’all need anything ok?” she called out into the darkness.

“Alright, none of us are gonna do that though, Zay,” Luz replied, earning a laugh from Dick and Eugene. While Zay said nothing, everyone could feel her playfully roll her eyes at George’s response.

“Sleep well, y’all,” Zay spoke to the room, a chorus of “good night” and “you too” coming from the three boys. Luz and Roe seemed to pass out before they knew it, while Winters laid on his back, counting the glow-in-the-dark stars on Zay’s ceiling. “You doing okay?” Zay whispered when she saw Dick was still awake.

He turned his head to face her with a soft smile, “Yeah, I’m okay.” His words were reassuring, but Zay saw something else behind his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Dick did not want to put his worries on their hostess, but her question felt so honest, so genuine. She really wanted to help.

Dick took a beat before responding, “I’m worried about my men… I don’t know how to get them back to Bastogne, if we can get to Bastogne… and then there’s the men that are still there, three of their leaders are here - me, Nixon, and Speirs; it’s just… it’s so much at once.” Zay nodded in understanding, giving Dick the space to share how he felt. “I just don’t know where to even start.” Dick returned his gaze to the ceiling. He felt the same worry and overwhelm he did earlier, but it was somewhat… lighter.

“It sounds terrible… you’re a good leader though, Dick, and you’ve earned the trust of your soldiers. No matter what, I know you and your men will be okay,” Zay replied quietly. Dick’s heart swelled at her words, the encouragement meaning more than she knew. Dick turned his body to face the girl.

“Thank you for saying that,” he whispered, just barely able to make out her blue eyes. Before she could respond, Winters continued, “it seems like you know a lot about me, but I don’t know that much about you.”

“Oh, there’s not much to know, really,” Zay rambled a bit, caught off-guard by Winters.

“I know that’s not true,” he retorted - he wanted to know everything about her. Zay suppressed a nervous giggle, thanking the darkness for hiding her flustered state. No one’s been interested in Zay like this for a long time.

“Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Well, how did you come to work at the hospital?”

“Well, I always wanted to do something that helps people, and I wanted to do something with kids, too. So when I saw I could be a pediatric nurse, I just fell in love. I went to school down the road for nursing, and now I’m working in the children’s wing of the hospital. I’ve been in Raleigh since 2017, so about six years now, and I’ve been working at the hospital for about three years. The shifts are long, and it’s hard sometimes, but so incredibly rewarding.” Winters hung on her every word. To Dick, Zay could be reading a manual for how to program some intricate technology that is too complicated for him to understand, but he would listen to her read it cover to cover. The two continued talking, sharing life stories, and discussing the silliest topics well into the night.

By the time 7am rolled around, the pair had only gotten maybe three or four hours of sleep, certainly much less than they had intended. Zay’s phone began to play its music, rousing the four to consciousness. Luz was the first to wake up - he sat up and stretched his arms above his head as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. Roe stirred when he felt the movement next to him, immediately shooting awake when he noticed Zay and Dick. The two were still sleeping - Winters had his arm around Zay, who was fast asleep on the captain’s chest.

“You think they meant to do that, doc?” George asked the medic beside him, snickering at the sight of Zay and Winters.

“Can’t say I do, Luz,” the cajun whispered back, processing the sight before him. While both soldiers had smiles on their faces, each of them felt a pinch of jealousy, wishing that he was the one Zay was laying on. The more Zay’s phone played the music, the more the two sleeping stirred. Finally, the captain and the nurse opened their eyes, blinking the sleep away as they realized how they were laying. The two immediately jumped back from each other in surprise before Zay scrambled up to turn off her alarm.

“Morning everyone,” Zay greeted the boys quietly, cheeks beet red and eyes glued on her phone. A chorus of “morning”s replied to the nurse as she went to her dresser to pick out clothes for the day. “I’m… um… I’m gonna go shower, then I’ll grab clothes for y’all,” Zay sputtered out as she quickly shuffled past the soldiers and out her bedroom door. The door shut behind Zay, leaving the men in an atmosphere of awkwardness and discomfort. George, filled with either bravery or stupidity, was the first to speak.

“How’d you sleep captain?”

Winters, standing next to the bed, kept his eyes fixated on the sheets in front of him, arms crossed in front of his chest. He gave a small nod before responding quietly, “I slept fine, Luz, thank you.” Luz nodded his head silently as he sat on the pullout couch next to Roe. The three simply existed in that space until Zay returned, clothes for the men in tow. She was wearing a black t-shirt with another unfamiliar logo for something called “AC/DC.” The nurse paired the shirt with a pair of black denim shorts, the hem of which was barely visible under the shirt.

“I picked out some clothes for y’all, they should fit but if they don’t I have others,” Zay mused as she put three sets of t-shirts and jeans on her bed. “The shower is immediately on your left coming out of my room, I’m gonna make coffee for everyone.” She quickly turned on her feet and made her way to the kitchen without making eye contact with any of the soliders. The rest of the morning continued like this until almost all of the men were showered, dressed, and ready to go. All of the soldiers were wearing a form of jeans and t-shirts, opting to use their army-issued boots for footwear.

“That is the best shower I’ve ever had,” Guarnere mentioned as he walked into the living room, still drying his hair with his towel. He was greeted by Zay with a fresh cup of coffee, muttering a thank you before taking a large swig. Winters walked in front of the group and faced his men, doing a silent headcount before letting out a small chuckle.

“We’re still missing Lew, and your sister I think,” Dick reported to Zay, smiling down at her. Zay simply returned his smile and rolled her eyes.

“That sounds like Chrys, she's a night owl. Why don’t we go see if we can wake them up?” Zay asked, turning her body to face the hallway while keeping her eyes on Dick. The captain’s smile grew wider as he followed their hostess to the other bedroom. Zay slowly cracked open Chrys’ bedroom door, curiously peeking her head in. Winters copied her action, the two looking as if they were in a Scooby Doo episode, snooping around a haunted house. When the pair looked into the bedroom, there was quite the sight. Chrys and Lewis were in her bed, sheets mangled every which way, both kids spread out like starfish across the bed. Chrys’ head was at the foot of the bed, with her foot pressing into Nixon’s cheek as he snored the morning away. Both Zay and Dick struggled to suppress their laughs at the sight, the girl snapping a quick picture before tiptoeing into the room.

Dick went over to Nixon’s side of the bed, shaking his best friend’s shoulder. “Lew, it's time to get up, we gotta get going.”

“Go away,” Nixon muttered into Chrys’ foot, barely even conscious.

“Nix, c'mon, time to get up,” Dick replied, a bit firmer and louder, giving Nixon a hearty smack on his side. Nixon merely rolled over to his stomach and resumed his snoring. Meanwhile, Zay had been trying to do the same with her twin.

“Chrys, it's time to get up!” She said sweetly, gently shaking her shoulder like Dick did to Nixon. Zay received a similar reply, Chrys simply adjusting her arms before resuming her sleep. The pair stared at their sleeping counterparts for a moment, brainstorming how to get them out of bed. After a moment, Zay looked up at Dick, a mischievous smirk on her face. “I have an idea.”

After some preparation, Zay was standing at the foot of Chrys’ bed, holding the showerhead from the bathroom attached to Chrys' room. Dick and Zay had managed to extend the shower head so that Zay could hold it and aim it at the sleeping pair. “Are you sure about this?” Winters called out hesitantly from the bathroom, prepared to turn on the shower.

“Absolutely! It works every time!” Zay replied cheerfully. She held her arms out in front of her as if she was a sniper aiming at her target before calling out to Winters, “Fire when ready!” Dick took a deep breath before turning on the faucet, hearing the water flow through the extended hose before spraying all over Chrys and Nixon. Zay had turned the shower head to a higher pressure setting, water shooting out like liquid ammunition. The two sleepyheads leapt out of bed quicker than lightening, the cold water shocking their systems awake. Chrys jumped from her bed and onto the floor, shaking her wet hair off of her face. Nixon was standing on the opposite side of the bed, still trying to process what just happened. Zay was sure she heard the man mutter under his breath, “not again…” Dick quickly turned the water off and ran out to see what was going on, holding back a laugh at Nixon’s bamboozled state.

“Azaela,” Chrys started, voice low and groggy with sleep, “you know I hate it when you do that.” Chrys shot her sister a look that could have obliterated a thousand people to dust. Zay simply shot her sister a soft smile.

“Got you out of bed though,” Zay replied. She set down the shower head and walked over to her sister, outstretching her hand. Chrys begrudgingly accepted the help up and got to her feet. Nixon followed Winters and Zay out of Chrys’ room and soon everyone was dressed and ready to go.

“Alright, what’s the plan for the day?” Nixon asked as he stepped into the living room.

“Captain Winters mentioned going back to where we first… dropped in,” Speirs struggled to find his words, “or maybe even watching the program Zay mentioned we are in.” Ron rubbed his forehead with his fingers, still trying to wrap his brain around the situation he and the rest of his men are in.

“If y’all want, while you do that, some of us could be here doing research, maybe we can find something online that would help,” Chrys offered.

“Online?” Guarnere questioned, his jaw accentuating the confusion on his face.

“Internet,” Zay replied with a smile. Still confused, Guarnere simply shrugged off her answer with a grimace and kept listening to the officers.

“Alright, so some of us will stay here to gather information, and the rest of us will try and do the same at where we first showed up,” Nixon explained before turning to Captain Winters.

“Anyone feel strongly about what they want to do?” the redhead asked his men.

“I can take you guys to where you first dropped in,” Zay spoke up, “only a few of you, though, since Chrys will be here researching.”

“I can go with Zay!” Liebgott volunteered all too quickly, earning eyerolls from several soldiers and a blush from the nurse.

“Alright, that leaves three spots in my car,” Zay replied, looking around at the men. After more bickering about who is going where, it was decided that Guarnere and Speirs will go with Zay, and Nixon decided to stay behind.

“As an intelligence officer it might be good for me to learn how to use your internet,” Nix mentioned with a chuckle, earning him a smile from Chrys. When all was said and done it was decided that Roe, Liebgott, Guarnere, and Speirs would go with Zay to the affectionately named “Drop Zone” while Winters, Nixon, Bull, Luz, Toye, and Malarkey would stay with Chrys and try to find information online. Within a few minutes the five had gone out the door and left the rest of the group to their own devices. When the door shut, Chrys walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out three different books before coming back to the boys.

“Alright. Toye, Luz, Malarkey, your jobs are going to be to look through these books and see if you can find anything useful.” Chrys instructed as she passed the books out to the boys. Two of the books were books about Raleigh, NC that had everything a tourist would need in them - street maps, places to eat, attractions, and more. The book Luz received was An Abridged History of the Paratroopers - Luz almost dropped the book from its weight. Bull chuckled and walked over beside Luz.

“You need some help with that George?”

“Oh you couldn't've asked that before I nearly drop this and break my foot?” Laughter rang out among the group before Chrys turned to the officers in the room.

“You two are going to learn how to use a laptop.” She said confidently, sitting down in the middle of the couch. The next few hours entailed the boys learning more than they could have ever imagined about technology and the internet, as well as conspiracy theories and their formation. While scrolling through what the men learned to be Google search results, Nixon put his hand on Chrys’ to pause her movement before pointing at the screen. It took Chrys a moment to recover internally from the gentleman’s hand being placed on her’s unexpectedly.

“What the fuck?” Chrys muttered under her breath. As she stared at the place where Nixon was pointing, she started to furiously type away on her laptop.

“Everything okay?” Toye asked, looking up from his “Where to Go in Raleigh” book. He could not tell if the girl was confused, upset, or something different altogether. Chrys just continued typing away as if she did not hear the soldier, leaning closer to her screen with intense focus. “Chrys,” Joe tried again to get her attention.

“I think Nixon found something,” She muttered, tracing her finger down her screen. “Here… anonymous source confirms time travel experiment at Fort Liberty gone awry.”

“The fuck is Fort Liberty?” Toye asked, one eyebrow pointing east, one eyebrow pointing straight up.

“Isn’t that the new name for Fort Bragg?” Malarkey asked from his place on the floor.

“How do you know that?” Chrys asked, her focus finally being broken to shoot Malarkey a confused glance.

“I overheard someone talking about it in the hospital,” the redhead replied. Chrys nodded in understanding and turned back to her laptop.

“Chrys, what does the rest of the article say?” Luz asked, sitting on the loveseat next to Toye. Chrys continued to scan the article before responding.

“Sources confirmed that Colonel Donald ‘Donnie’ Gomez of the 101st Airborne-”

“Hey that’s us!” Malarkey interrupted, earning him a smack on the head from Toye before Chrys continued.

“Anonymous sources have confirmed that Colonel Donald Gomez of the 101st Airborne has been leading time travel experiments in secret while he has been stationed at Fort Liberty in Fayetteville, NC. As of now, the experiments have yielded some compelling results. A participant in the experiment was able to travel back up to a year ago.” The boys leaned closer, intrigued at the article.

“During another experiment, Colonel Gomez sent a subject back to January 1945 through a wormhole. However, reports emerged the next day that eviscerated human remains appeared in the Bois Jaques Forest in Bastogne, Belgium without apparent cause. The corporal was never recovered and the cause of the gruesome remains was never determined. Belgian authorities have not confirmed if the DNA samples of the human remains match those on file with the US Army.

“Some theorized that the corporal had been disintegrated by the wormhole and that the remains found in Belgium belonged to her. Others believed the corporal had become the victim of an alien abduction - even others theorized that the Army gave the corporal to aliens willingly.

“Colonel Gomez, Fort Liberty, and the United States Army have all denied allegations of using enlisted soldiers as test subjects in time travel experiments, as well as continuously declining to give comments to journalists.” A stunned silence fell over Chrys and the soldiers around her.

“Is there any way to confirm that’s what happened?” Malarkey asked after a beat.

“Not unless you know Colonel Gomez,” Winters replied dejectedly.

“I mean… we could always go check ourselves,” Nixon looked up at the boys to gauge their reactions before meeting Chrys’ eyes. Nixon’s stomach did a somersault… Chrys’ eyes were a resounding shade of green. It was just as vibrant as an emerald, but somehow… more piercing? They were on the lighter side and Lewis felt as though her eyes were staring into his soul.

“How would we do that sir?” Toye prodded, sounding more irritated than he actually was. Chrys and Nixon sat lost in each other’s eyes for a moment - though they would deny it if anyone said anything - before Luz brought them back to reality.

“Do you think they’d let us in if we show up in our uniforms?”

“Uniform or not you need a military ID to get on base,” Chrys replied, quickly looking away from the captain. She leaned back on the couch and crossed her arms in thought. “I wish we could just sneak in.”

“ … what’s stopping us?” the question fell quietly from Toye’s lips with uncertainty. Sneaking into a military base is complicated, risky, and everything in between, but it is not impossible. The group exchanged glances all saying the same thing… are we really going to try this?

~~~~~

Chapter 4 | Chapter 6

Thank you again for reading!! Be on the lookout for the Chapter 6 Poll coming this week!! 🥰✨

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