" Sometimes we need someone to simply be there...not to fix anything or do anything in particular, but just to let us feel we are supported and cared about."

- Unknown

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By candlelight that night, Hazel wrote, even into the early hours of the morning, each and every piece of her mind, her experience in war, each and every bit of it. And not once did she use the regiment she were in, her name, the names of any of the men, or her gender. She described it as any normal soldier of man in the military would. And she would send it into the New York Times, across the ocean, praying it would be published, and then truly see how people would react to a story like that.

An anonymous story with no gender, the only indication of it could be a man and watch as people fawn over the tough experiences faced.

Only to realize it were in fact a woman.

It would be the sweetest treat.

By the time Hazel had walked into APO the following morning in early July, she had delivered the letter to Vest, handing it into his grasp before giving him a smile and leaving. A proud smile. A proud smile hadn't met her face in quite some time.

As she headed out of the APO, she watched as on a jeep, driven by Skinny, drove by with Catherine, Joe and Webster inside. Hazel watched the jeep roll by down the Austrian streets, gently stepping out into the road to watch as dust moved up behind the car as it zipped through, before leaving the small town on the road out to where the farmers on the outskirts usually lived.

Hazel watched curiously, before biting back her lip and wiping her sweaty hands against the skirt she wore, turning and walking down the lonely road, her tiny braids on both sides of her head, limp underneath the bright sunlight.

Liebgott had said it was orders from Speirs, Catherine knew better than to believe Speirs would give such an order, but Catherine, for the one moment the word level-headed left her mind, decided to join in with Joe on the rampage - she had been angry for weeks, this would be something to get her mind off it, and she knew, she just knew if George found out he wouldn't be too happy either, but the man had been apart of the people who had made the world so cruel, he had been just one small part, but still apart of it, which hurt.

The jeep drove through the countryside outside of Zell Am See, along some of the hills, some of the mountain passes, going farther and farther from the town.

No one would hear the gunshot.

Web was beside her, and anxious as he was, Catherine still respected him after the verbal brawl the two had which she took as her fault. Catherine glanced over towards Web who looked like he was staring bullets at the back of Joe's head who sat in front of him, his jaw clenched.

Okay, so maybe Catherine wasn't the biggest fan of taking Liebgott on 'expeditions' that dealt with men who were Nazis but he was more willing to go and translate than Webster was.

Webster had reluctantly all but joined in.

Skinny, well, Skinny was there for the hell of it, it seemed, and plus giving an angry Joe Liebgott the wheel was not the grandest of ideas, until he cooled down at least, even as a cab driver.

It's a wonder Hazel was the only one that could calm his hot-head down.

As they slowly approached the home, Skinny pulled to a stop. And instead of looking at the house, Catherine looked around at where they were - this beautiful paradise.

The sky was so bright and so blue, the air smelled sweet, very much filled with fresh mountain air rolling down from the Alps, everything was so bright, with the vibrant green grass and you could practically look out and see the slightly foggy Zell Am See below.

Even ravaged by war, Europe had to be such a beautiful place.

But a cruel person lived in the nearby home.

Catherine could feel the sun's rays beating down on her, working its way into every fiber of her being, nestling in, making her ODs too warm it felt. But maybe it was also the anger. Catherine remembered the camps too distinctively to even try and sympathize. It seemed if they didn't move towards the house soon, Joe would blow his top.

" Lieb, I fucking hate this." Catherine heard Web utter from beside her, exhaustion in his voice, a silent plea that maybe they could turn the jeep around now and forget this even happened.

" Oh, Jesus Christ," Joe muttered, more in an anguished sigh of annoyance with the man. The two had always seemed to but heads, especially after Webster showed after Bastogne, with the biggest smile on his face, which clearly wasn't the smartest move.

" They fingered him. He was in the fucking room, Web." Joe said firmly back, " One of those polacks that was at the slave camps said this is where the guy lives," Joe pointed for emphasis, " right here." Catherine sighed.

" Which camp?" Webster asked, utterly exasperated that he was sitting here.

" Whatever camp." Joe answered, pissed. Web stared hard at Joe.

" I'm under direct orders and I'm happy to follow it. " Joe said firmly, before pushing himself up and out of the passenger seat, cocking his pistol, with white knuckles and making his ascent towards the unassuming Nazi. Catherine slowly looked over towards Web with a bored expression.

" You grow numb to it, Web." she whispered sadly, before jumping out with Skinny and following after Joe. It was true, even if it felt it weren't.

Numbness was the only way to block out some of the pain.

As Catherine slowly followed after Joe, with Skinny a few feet in front of her, Web came hurrying past her to Joe's side and almost immediately the bickering between the two started and Catherine just about blew her top herself.

Reminding herself though, she was in fact a Lieutenant in the US Military, a paratrooper, she held rank. She had to hold up some sort of will power against the men, a sense of exemplary leadership. A leader in her mind had to uphold that.

Their bickering was filled with accusations back and forth, between one and the other. But she couldn't choose a side and they both made equally valid points for Joe and for Webster.

Joe was right, he was a Nazi Commandant, and for what those camps looked like, he deserved to be executed for what he did for other humans. Keeping in mind that Hazel held one of the top spots on his 'Think of Daily' list most likely, who was Polish - Catherine knew that Joe was thinking of the fact Hazel could've been in those camps - he himself could've been in those camps. Catherine knew it had upset Joe and Hazel a lot, more than anyone and Catherine had sobbed.

But Webster made equally valid points back to Joe. They didn't know which camp he was from, they were here because he was a Nazi and the way Webster thought of the war aligned with Catherine at certain points and it broke away on others. But in the end, they were both angry.

And anger was a motivator.

Joe had stormed away from Webster in his normal hot headed fashion and Catherine had slowly approached him with another set of bored eyes.

" War is hell." she managed to say before slowly stepping past him towards where Joe had gone, the pistol hanging in his grip.

By the time the door had been busted open by Joe, the pistol held up and firmly in his grasp, his eyes like they were on fire, Catherine had opted to lean up against the house and smoke a cigarette. Joe could easily take care of this, finish this off - and then they could forget this ever happened in the first place. She droned out their voices, the German, the English, all of it.

She opted to stare out towards the Alps, the peaceful mountains that towered over Zell Am See and had seen war all the way back since when they were first created by glaciers.

It hurt to hear what Joe said to the man, but she knew Joe was hurting, everyone virtually knew that Joe and Hazel still hurt from the concentration camps, for people being prosecuted for the fact they were who they were.

It was vile.

She never would understand Joe and Hazel's pain, but she could understand where it was human beings this was being down to. It was so cruel and so wrong to put humans in camps like that. It was twisted, disgusting and utterly vile, like poison. People who do that should be executed.

Catherine looked up when she saw Webster suddenly appear in front of her, clearly shaken up and scarred. She watched as Webster slowly lit up the cigarette in his shaky grasp. Catherine sighed. Skinny was the next to appear shortly after, scratching the back of his head, as the yelling inside continued.

" He's guilty," Skinny said softly, " Liebgott says so."

" He probably is," Webster answered, his voice trembling slightly, as he didn't dare blink. But instead, a loud gunshot echoed from inside. Catherine let her eyes shut as she waited for the door to burst open.

Quick, level footsteps approached from the opposite side of the door as it was thrown open and instead the Nazi Commandant appeared on the other side, racing forward, running, far, far away, as fast as he could it seemed, trying to escape, trying his complete and utter best to get away. There was a patch of blood near his neck, an evident wound - Joe must've been angry. Then Joe appeared, racing out, and Catherine pushed up from the side of the home as he aimed his gun but it jammed instead. He tried again, but ultimately he failed.

" Goddamn son of a bitch. Shoot him." Joe muttered, whipping around to look at Webster and then to Catherine. As the Nazi Commandant continued up the hill, Webster stood staring.

" Shoot him!" Joe yelled, his voice like that of a child's, yelling for his toy.

It reminded Catherine - they were all just children in a war not made for them.

" No," Webster answered, his voice firm - he wouldn't. Then there was one single shot and all eyes moved towards the source.

Skinny.

It echoed like a scream through the mountains, bouncing of the Alps and the large open and vast sky, down into the valley of Zell Am See below. Catherine watched the man drop to his knees, then to his stomach, until his head hit the ground.

Dead.

Just like that.

Skinny slowly lowered his weapon, he seemed fed up as well. Catherine could only pull the cigarette from her lips and let out a low drag before eventually turning and walking away slowly back to the truck.

That was just it, another person dead.

Except they'd remember this one among many others.

The drive back was one filled with utter silence as Catherine smoked away and Skinny sat by her side completely unfazed by the actions he took. The only tension radiated from the two hot heads seated in front of her. Catherine passed her cigarette to Skinny who took a drag as Catherine looked between the two. Joe's driving was manageable and for the most part, under control, she didn't discount the fact that his knuckles were white, from the amount of control he had to hold himself back from. Joe's voice was rigid when he spoke.

" Officers don't run." Joe said, his body stiff.

" The war's over. Anybody would run." Webster clarified firmly back, irritation sweltering his voice. Joe managed to glance over at the man for a brief second before looking back at the road. They didn't utter another word as they drove back into the town, through the streets of children outside, people everywhere walking the streets, joy. There wasn't joy previously on that mountain top.

When the jeep pulled into its stop, Webster quickly made a move to jump out. He was gone in seconds and evidently pissed. By the time the other 3 had removed themselves Joe plopped the keys right back into her hand and she looked at him. There was a look in his eye.

" I had to do it, Cath." Joe said firmly watching her, " If I didn't-"

" Joe," Catherine said, stopping him, " I know why you had to, and for me, you had every right, that sight of those camps makes me disgusted. You don't have to apologize to me about one thing." Joe watched her and then nodded.

" War is hell," she muttered again before stepping past Joe and Skinny following. Joe was left in the stark sunlight in the middle of Austria, a pistol that had just taken a life. And his heart was filled with rage.

Man, he missed his girlfriend.

Running a hand through his hair, Joe gently patted the jeep and went in search of Hazel - maybe he could cuddle into her like he always did and let his guard down for a moment or two and let her run her fingers through his hair as she held him. He usually felt better just being there next to her.

Joe found Hazel curled on her bunk, reading, a tiny smile on her face, unbothered by anything. Joe immediately let his barriers fall at the sight of her and when he approached the bed she looked up with a grin. It fell when she realized his eyes were sad and tortured.

" Hey," she said. Joe gently sighed before crawling in by her side, wrapping his arms around her waist and snuggling right into her side. Hazel gently looked down at him and watched him snuggle closer, shutting his eyes.

" Aw, Joe, you okay?" Hazel said reaching up to run her fingers through his hair gently.

" I just wanted to see you," he mumbled against her. Hazel smiled softly, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him closer to her as he nuzzled further into her side for even more comfort.

" What are you reading?" he mumbled out.

" The Little Prince," Hazel said and Joe watched the book with soft eyes.

" Can you....?"

" Read out loud?" Hazel asked softly, Joe nodded against her.

" Alright," Hazel said," get comfy." Joe laughed lightly, snuggling closer, his firm grip around her waist tightening.

" It took me a long time to find out where he came from." Hazel read.

" Who?" Joe asked. Hazel giggled quietly.

" The Little Prince." Hazel answered with a smile.

" Oh. Okay, you can start again, sorry." Joe said and Hazel gently ruffled his hair, with a soft kiss to his fluffy little head.

" The little prince who asked me so many questions never seemed to hear mine. It is thanks to the odd word, here and there, that everything was revealed to me. For instance, when he saw my aeroplane for the first time ( I shall not draw my aeroplane; that would be far too complicated for me) he asked me: ' What is that object?' " Hazel read softly.

" It's the aeroplane, dude." Joe said and Hazel giggled as Joe snorted. He already felt much better, just here by her side. And for that moment, it was peaceful enough for the two of them.

" Did you want to talk about it?" Hazel asked him softly, as he only cuddled closer, like an innocent child.

" Yes." he said, but his voice was soft, quiet, and guarded.

" Did it have something to do with Web, Skinny and Cath?" Hazel asked him. Joe nodded against her.

" You know I'll listen, right?" she whispered softly and Joe nodded against her.

" One of the men at the camps lived in a home a little aways from the town, orders were to execute him, so it's what I did." Joe said against her, inhaling her warm vanilla scent, trying to calm himself down, trying to tell himself, he was here with Hazel and there was nothing to get worked up about.

" Skinny was the one that got him, but Web refused to shoot him. He was one of them, Hazel, he deserved to die." Joe whispered and only squeezed her tighter as Hazel frowned softly.

" All I was thinking about was the fact it could've been either one of us in there, you know?" Joe said, his voice soft," I couldn't live with that, live with the fact that he got to live after what he put those people through. I had to, Hazel, I had to." Hazel softly squeezed him tighter to her, holding him close, letting him know through her touch that she was there for him.

" I would've done the same, you know?" she whispered and Joe looked up towards Hazel's face illuminated by the golden sun through the window, a natural beauty, " I'm proud of being Polish, and seeing what was done to people of my homeland, it's not right. I would've done the same." Joe watched her with shining eyes. She smiled in the soft light.

" You ever have nightmares about the camps?" Joe asked her. Hazel nodded softly.

" The camps, that night, you getting sick, you crying," Hazel whispered, shaking her head, " I don't like seeing you cry, Joe." Joe watched her. Hazel met his eyes with a sad gaze.

" I try to forget about it, know that it doesn't control my life, but sometimes it's hard to just simply do that." Hazel said, keeping herself strong with the topic.

" I feel the same way." Joe whispered and Hazel smiled softly.

" I don't know what I did to deserve you, Joe, truly, I don't know what I could've done." she said and Joe felt a tiny smile on his face as he looked up at her.

" You were you." Joe said and Hazel couldn't keep the smile from her face. Joe always made her feel loved. And with that, Joe cuddled right into her side again, and softly shut his eyes, encased in the warm embrace of the woman he loved.

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hello! i am back with a few more chapters and yall we are so close to the end and i am so ungodly emotional editing it all for upcoming updates. i just have to remind myself that postwar will continue afterwards LOL <3 thank you all for reading, commenting and voting, it always makes my day, truly, thank you all so much!! :)