Chapter Text
Carlwood Lipton could feel the coming cough in his chest, it was becoming more and more constant, it was obvious to him and he was sure it was to the others too.
But at first there was nothing about it that could to stop him from doing his job and carrying out the orders given to him, however he had to admit that the last few days had been stressful, not because of the combat itself, after Bastogne and Foy and all the confusion and lack of clear orders coming from Lieutenant Dike, a focused combat, with purpose and being led by the new Easy Company Commander brought a coordination and confidence that he missed. No, the stress came from him being given direct orders to command the second platoon.
Lieutenant Speirs showed such confidence in him, which ironically brought him a certain insecurity.
Lipton knew what he was capable of, he was experienced, the men trusted him, and he had led before, there was no fear or weakness on his part about that, but it was the look in Speirs' eyes, the small smile, and the firm and strong nod of his head when he brought up the idea to Captain Winters that made him worry. He had confidence in the squad, Grant, Liebgott, Heffron, Garcia, they were more than capable, they were an easy team to command because they were extremelly efficient. Malarkey especially, of all Toccoa's men, he had the most combat experience, Lipton believed that the second squad was practically a hydra, you could cut off one head, and another would take over.
His stress and anxiety came from the possibility of disappointing Speirs, and that was a strange feeling, especially because for Lipton, the good of the company was always above any individual, whether it was a frustrated soldier wanting to throw a grenade to blow up his commander, or the Sergeants wanting to overthrow a commander, or even a Lieutenant who didn't have the balls to command and demand respect from his men.
But with Speirs it was different feeling, it was personal, a matter of pride, Lipton wanted to show that Speirs was right to trust him at the same time that he wanted to show himself that his ability to lead was not circumstantial but natural.
George Luz must have noticed his nervousness, because he was very serious when he approached him at night.
"Hey, Lip!" - Luz arrived with a lit cigarette, already stretching out his hand to offer another to Lipton.
"Hey" - Lipton nod to Luz
"I heard the news, Lieutenant Speirs officially appointed you as leader of the second platoon!" - Luz smiled at the corner of his mouth as Lipton accepted the cigarette and lit it.
"Yeah! Now it's official!``
"I also heard whispers about a promotion"
"I wanted to know how you know so much, but yes, like you said, it's still whispers, nothing official."
Luz looked at him for a while, took a slightly larger drag of his cigarettes than normal, and looking at the horizon said in a serious tone.
"Nothing you haven't already done... I mean...commanding the platoon, I would even say the company."
"That's what he told me, but I admit I hadn't thought about it or paid attention to it until he said so."
"Who?" Luz looked at him "Speirs?"
"Yeah, at the church before he left."
"Aaahh..." there was silence that last for a while until Luz continued, "I saw you two talking, it seemed pretty relaxed, as far as it's possible considering who they say Speirs is..."
"He's a good commander." Lipton was surprised to notice that his first action was to respond in a defensive tone.
"I have nothing to criticize in that regard, Lip, and you know that, I'm talking about the rumors..."
"They're just rumors." Lipton's cutting off the subject made Luz raise his hands in surrender.
"I'm just saying... but seriously, relax, have another cigarette, go back inside the Church, get some sleep, I can hear you questioning yourself from there and we all know there's no reason for that." Saying that, Luz patted Lipton on the back and went back inside.
Lipton, in turn, continued to look at the horizon. He knew Luz was right. He was anxious, but everyone felt that way before a fight, but there was no reason to wear himself out over it. He had to think about what was best for the company, and distracting himself with unfounded insecurities was a bad thing for men. He turned around, looked at the church, and stood there contemplating it and then he felt another cough coming, filling his lungs, and he fought against it, he even thought he would win, until it came tearing up and forcing him to cough. A dry cough that scratched his throat, with such force that he felt as if his chest was being compressed with each cough. It came with such force that he didn't even notice the man approaching him, giving him firm, hard slaps on the back.
"Is everything okay, First Sergeant?" Lipton looked at Speirs. When did he arrive?
When he approached he didn't know, but there Lieutenant Speirs was, with his eyes covered by his helmet, hiding any emotion except for the small tone of concern that he didn't know if it was his own imagination or not.
"Sir? I thought you were going to stay at the CP."
"Me too, but with Sink and Nixon drinking, I decided to let Winters deal with the situation, I believe he has more experience than me in this regard and my presence would only get in his way."
Lipton saw the soft smile on the lieutenant's face, there was indeed more to that man than the killing machine that the rumors spoke of.
"If you say so, sir."
"I do." Speirs stood there looking at him, then he took off his helmet, ran one of his hands through his hair, messing it up and Lipton found himself caught up in the scene in front of him, his focus on the man must have been noticed by him, because Lipton noticed the same smile from before, the one in the church, the gaze that fixed on his eyes but briefly shifted to the ground and returned with an even soft look and bigger smile.
"And what are you doing out here in this cold with this cough, First Sargeant?"
"Trying to calm me down..." Lipton's eyes widened as he noticed his admission of nervousness to his commander and quickly continued "...and finish my cigarette."
Speirs approached and Lipton tried to maintain a certain neutrality, but he couldn't help but stare intently, the Lieutenant looking at his eyes, then at his mouth and then stealing the cigarette from his lips and placing it on his own and inhaling, turning to the side as he exhaled.
"There, First Sergeant, your cigarette problem is solved, now go back inside and go to sleep. Tomorrow you will go with me, Lieutenant Shames and Lieutenant Foley to the CP and we will plan Noville capture. It will be a very important day for both of us!" - Speirs said with a smile on his face.
"And you, sir? Aren't you going in?" Lipton asked, seeing the Lieutenant turn to the side, take a deep breath, and look back at him with a face too serene for the legends of "Bloody Speirs" that the men heard so much about.
"I have to finish my cigarette first. Now go, First Sergeant!"
"Yes, sir" Lipton smiled back, turned around and went back to the convent.