thewordofweb | (no subject)

The crucible of a group of men putting you through the fire to earn their belonging is one of the hardest battles that Webster has had to fight, this war. It seems strange, given the lack of bloodshed and fired bullets, but it's also been the hardest to come back in and fight to earn back respect once thought settled away after Toccoa. Still, when Joe Liebgott offers a hand out to Webster, he knows that the battle is won and this private war has been put away.

He throws his bag onto the truck, reaching out for Joe's hand when it all fades away suddenly, leaving Webster to struggle and reach for something that isn't there. The truck is gone, the men are gone, and most of Webster's things are gone, save for what he's carrying on him.

Alarm grips him tight as he tries to remember basic training, but the commanders never spent their time shouting to prepare them for this. Tropical forest behind him, and the open ocean before him, including several boats docked at harbor. Looking out, it's like he's on the coast again, but looking back makes him think he's landed somewhere in the Pacific, into a whole new theatre of warfare.

Webster turns cautiously, as if anticipating an ambush at any moment now.

His voice is stuck in his throat, not sure he wants to call attention to himself. His hand drifts to his gun to make sure it's still loaded, just in case, because he's been thrust away from one war and pushed into a seeming other, but this time, he's without Easy Company.

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From:

soldier_singled

It's been the guts of a week and he's already sorta given up hope; it's amazing how quickly it happens. He's mooching about on the beach, taking a break from sorting through their stuff at the homestead, setting up his chair, getting ready to go back to a life that seems like yesterday but is a helluva lot more distant than that. He's thinking that maybe he'll go for a swim, but then he sees him. Sees him and feels this weird, sudden, utterly familiar flutter in the pit of his stomach. Shit, he thinks.

He'd almost forgotten what it felt like.

From:

thewordofweb

It takes a few minutes for Webster to register that he isn't alone. Sometimes, the world around him seems distant, seems so far away, seems like it can't be real, but that might be a symptom of a war that had always been strange and distant and unfamiliar. Then, he turns and sees a figure on the horizon, pulling relief from his core while tinged with suspicion.

"Joe? Joe Liebgott, is that you? Did someone drug me?" he wonders. "How in the hell did I manage to leap from Haguenau to here?"

From:

soldier_singled

"Hey, Web," says Joe and he almost runs, almost, but he forces his bare heels to stay in the sand because, shit, didn't they all think he'd forgotten when he washed up here? Hasn't Luz forgotten the first time he was here? So he's gotta be a bit more cautious than maybe he wants to be.

"Nobody's drugged ya, Web," he says, forcing an easy grin onto his face. "And you're about a million miles away from Hagenau."

From:

thewordofweb

He still feels uneasy, even when the dot on the near horizon does turn out to be Joe Liebgott, looking different from how he'd seen him only moments before. He should trust the words, but his mind isn't so quick to catch up, still clasping onto that doubt. "Do you have a better explanation for how I wound up in the Pacific when I was supposed to be getting on a truck?" he asks dubiously.

"Am I dead?" he questions. "Did I get hit with something? Are you even real?" he asks warily, wondering at a heaven that's delivered him Liebgott, of all people. He's not sure what to think of that, but his cheeks flush slightly as old, repressed thoughts try and break their barrier to tell him why Liebgott being here wouldn't be so bad.

From:

soldier_singled

"Not better, nawh," says Joe, shaking his head. "I ain't sure this is the Pacific, either. No-one see to knows where the fuck we've wound up. But Lip and Luz are here and it ain't a bad place. You should see the broads they've both landed." He blows our a low, admiring whistle.

He claps Web on the shoulder, ignoring the answering contraction in his gut.

"I feel real to you, Web?"

From:

thewordofweb

He does.

The touch is frightening and comforting at once. It means he's probably not dead or dreaming, means that Liebgott's telling the truth. It just doesn't make any sense and it makes him angry to have to lost this kind of control in his life. "What, them and not you?" Webster echoes, giving Joe a raised brow. "What happened to the infamous Liebgott charm I always heard you boasting about?"

From:

soldier_singled

"I've only been here about five minutes," says Joe and hopes nothing else shows in his face. "Jesus. Gimme a chance."

From:

thewordofweb

"You seemed to be plenty sure of yourself when it comes to your talents, before," Webster says, feeling unsure and unsteady. Their friendship is still newly scabbed over, that wound having been picked deep by his absence in Bastogne. He shouldn't push too far, not too fast. "Five minutes?" he echoes. "Did you just show up today, too?"

From:

soldier_singled

"Metaphorical five minutes...I've been here for about a week." Back. He almost says back. "C'mon. Lemme give you the tour. It'll sink in, Web. I promise."

From:

thewordofweb

He's dying of heat in his uniform and he claws at the collar when Liebgott offers the tour, sweating and feeling like he can't breathe. "How big is this place? And how do we get back? You've been here a week and you're still here, does that mean it isn't exactly a normal vacation spot?"

From:

soldier_singled

Joe's in jeans and combats, and he does feel for Web.

"Couple of miles from the middle of the island to the sea in any direction," he says. "I been here a week but Lip's been here years. Three kiddies. Weird, right?"

Not as weird as what he remembers. Not as strange as the memories in his head because he fucking lived them and here's Web, fresh as a new sheet of paper and, apparently, not remembering anything at all.

From:

thewordofweb

"Three kids?" Webster echoes, taking off his jacket and draping it over his forearm, letting the sea air hit his skin. He breathes it in, feeling nostalgic for home, but it's not the kind of missing that he'd felt when he'd first left. The sea is still one of his great loves, but it's here and it isn't pulling him away.

He'd rather look to Liebgott for answers, for explanations, and for solace. "Luz is here, too? Does he have kids?"

From:

soldier_singled

"Nope . Think he only just took up with his girl - Rosie. Way they're goin' at it, it won't be long though." Joe rubs his jaw. "You're gonna like it here, Dave. I promise."

It's only after he's said it that he realises the mistake he's made.

From:

thewordofweb

He stares at Joe, having faltered to a stop.

The first name is foreign and strange, an odd epitaph at a strange time that makes him wonder, again, whether this is some kind of dream. Unconsciously, he ends up drifting a little further from Joe, slightly wary of where that name had come from. "You sound as if you know," he says, a bit shaky.

From:

soldier_singled

"Yeah," says Joe and he could kick himself. No point in lying about this - he can't lie about everything can he? "I'm on my second your. So's Luz. Lip's been here for the duration."

From:

thewordofweb

He's not sure what to make of that, stepping faster so he can reach Joe's side, staring at him and reaching out to grab at his shoulder, trying to get a physical hold of him because he think it might be simpler. "You've been here before? How? You've been there the whole time, you haven't gone anywhere, back home."

From:

soldier_singled

It reminds him of the first time, back to the wall, Web's weight against him. He stiffens before he can help it.

"Time's screwy here. Like in a comic book or something. Your life sorta...carries on without ya while you step in and out."

From:

thewordofweb

"So, somewhere back there, I get on that truck beside you," Webster says, strangely okay with that idea. He's here with Joe and he's there with him and there's a calm in that thought, knowing that he's with someone who he understands, most of all.

He breathes in steadily. "Where am I gonna stay?"

From:

soldier_singled

"I dunno, man," says Joe, trying to swallow the thumping heartbeat in his throat. "I'm back where I used to live. There's room."

From:

thewordofweb

He nods, figuring that if he's ever going to stay in one place, then he'd rather do it where Liebgott's nearby. He tries not to think about Haguenau and watching him when he couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. He's sure the relief shows on his face, though. "That would be good," he says, tone infused with relief and a hint of fondness at having a place to stay.

"So, where are you taking me, then?"

From:

soldier_singled

"I'll take you to the homestead. It's home, sort of. Was. Getting used to it again." He's put all of the left over papers and things back where he found them but he still feels like he's got to come clean. "Listen, Web...This..." He frowns, rubbing the back of his neck. "It ain't your first time, either."

From:

thewordofweb

It feels a bit like being shot again. Suddenly, a rush of adrenaline and blood, a confusion that sits in his mind. "What do you mean?" he asks, warily. "I don't remember anything about this place, how could I have been here before if I can't remember?" He's breathing heavier, wondering about the implications. "Joe, do you remember? Both times?"

From:

soldier_singled

"Yeah," he says, nodding. "I remember. Luz doesn't. Most people don't." He shrugs. "It ain't much to write home about. Don't worry."

From:

thewordofweb

That knot slowly growing in his stomach begins to unwind, grateful that he hadn't done anything too regrettable during his last time here, but he despises not remembering. There's a cold grip of panic when it comes to the lack of memory, but then something occurs to him. "My journal," he says, eyes widening as the epiphany hits. "I would have written in a journal, at least once or twice per week. Did I do anything like that?"

From:

soldier_singled

Shit. Joe bites the inside of his lip and shoves one hand back through his hair. There's no way he's going to keep this up. Dimly, he wonders why he'd want to.

"Yeah," he says, voice a little raw. "You did."