This Book Is Not About Heroes by Ishmael Tonight (R)

[kaydeefalls.livejournal.com]

Fandom: BAND OF BROTHERS
Pairing: Winters/Nixon
Length: one-shot
Author on LJ: ishmael_tonight
Author Website: unknown
Why this must be read: Nixon finally takes Winters to Chicago, but that's really not the point at all. Told in fragments of internal monologues, this short fic packs a real punch. It gives us an unsentimental glimpse of Nixon after the war, how he's just barely keeping himself together, which rings very true; the moments of grace with Winters are all the more poignant in contrast. Train-of-thought is a hard style to pull off, but Ishmael nails it.

Home: is where the heart is, is where the name on town hall matches your own. Dick sits across the table from you, reading the paper and drinking coffee. He does this, sometimes, after the wives and girlfriends pack their things and leave, after the bad nights (and how he always knows, well, is something you're not looking into too deeply). You always offer him (more) eggs, or pancakes, or, hell, a hamburger or filet mignon or escar-fucking-gots; he always smiles that smile and says, “just coffee's fine, I ate at home.”

Home, according to Richard Winters: a place to call one's own. An honest day's work for an honest day's pay; a homecooked meal, and friends with whom to share it. You read the sports page; Dick is engrossed in current events.

This Book Is Not About Heroes