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crack_van2010-05-01 07:12 pm
sandystarr88.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2010-05-01 07:12 pm
Entry tags:
Running in Circles by Abyssis (PG)
Hi, everyone! I'm [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] your Band of Brothers reccer and over the next month I'll be introducing you guys to some of my favorite stories featuring the boys of Easy Company.
Fandom: BAND OF BROTHERS
Pairing: Gen; Frank Perconte, George Luz
Length: 5,403
Author on LJ: [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
Author Website: Masterlist of Fanfiction
Why this must be read:
I'm a sucker for a good back-story, and this author does an excellent job contrasting Perconte's past and his family back home with the realities of war along with his friendship with Luz. Perconte is such an underrated character, and it's great to see such an excellent portrayal of him in this piece.
He's running. There is, of all things, a piano in the middle of the street and it twangs angry notes as bullets hit it, demanding an explanation for why it's in the middle of a war. Perconte has no answer for the question that's also running through his head. It's his first real combat experience. Until today all he's really done is liberate a few corpses of their watches, though if asked he'd never admit that was all.
He's crouched between Lipton and Guarnere when he sees his first death. Not his first corpse certainly, but his first glimpse of the split second when a soldier turns into a body. There's no time to think about it because Lipton is leading him past that piano, and later when there's time, he realizes he isn't even sure who it was.
A German falls at his feet and he tumbles, tangled with Lipton and the newly dead Kraut. As his helmet rolls away he feels a rising wave of burning panic. Not the kind of panic he felt as a kid watching a baseball soar through a window, but complete bullets-flying-everywhere-and-it's-only-luck-whether-they-hit-me panic. Following Lipton deeper into town, he can almost hear the click as his brain turns off and training kicks in.
The rest of Carentan is a blur of jumbled images. He remembers shooting and running Germans and a priest dancing around bullets. But mostly he remembers a shattered town and too many dead men and suddenly not caring if they're wearing watches.
As he runs to clear another house Martin appears to tell him it's over - the Germans are gone and everyone's regrouping at the center of town. His body is exhausted under the adrenaline coursing through his veins. When he finds the others, reclining on the ground and yet almost vibrating, he knows they feel the same. He almost stumbles when his brain clicks on again.
There is genuine relief at seeing familiar faces still alive. Toye and Guarnere are boasting to each other; Muck, Penkala, Malarkey and More are talking and laughing. Looking around he finds Hoobler, Martin, Bull, Talbert, and Liebgott is awfully bloody but the blood doesn't seem to be his and…
Luz isn't there.
Perconte scans the group again, feeling bile rise in his throat. Luz still isn't there. Realizing he hasn't seen Luz since watching him follow Welsh into hell alone, he frantically begins asking if anyone's seen him. Hoobler points him down a street.
Luz is standing in a doorway, staring into a small room. There's no rubble, no broken glass, no blood. It's a room that doesn't belong on the frontlines of war.
He jumps a bit when Perconte lays a hand on his shoulder. Shaking, Luz draws a pack of Lucky Strikes out of his pocket and fumbles trying to remove a cigarette, nearly dropping the pack. No matter how drunk, how tired Luz is, Perconte has never seen him light a cigarette any way but smoothly. Unnerved, he takes the pack, places a cigarette between Luz's trembling lips, and lights it for him.
Luz inhales deeply and slides to the floor next to his dropped radio. Perconte cautiously joins him.
"You okay, Luz?" It's a foolish question. He obviously isn't.
Perconte watches the cigarette burn away in silence. When Luz finally talks, it's quiet and haunted and sends shivers down Perconte's spine. "I had to see if they were all right. A family was here, Perco. Woman, old man, two little kids. And I almost killed them. Left them here - wasn't anywhere safe to send 'em. I had to see if there were any bodies."
This isn't a Luz he's seen before and he's not exactly sure what to do. Noticing Luz's hands are trembling, he impulsively reaches out, grabs them, holds them steady. Luz looks into his eyes at the sudden contact. "It's okay Luz. This room is untouched. I'm sure they're fine and safe somewhere. C'mon, let's get out of here." This place gives him the creeps, too clearly blurs the line between civilian and army life. The war games he played as a kid involved daring missions in the woods, not someone's front parlor.
He stands up, dragging Luz with him. Luz turns to grab his radio, puts it on, and when he turns back the old, grinning mask has snapped back in place. "Gave those Krauts hell, didn't we?"
Running in Circles
Fandom: BAND OF BROTHERS
Pairing: Gen; Frank Perconte, George Luz
Length: 5,403
Author on LJ: [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
Author Website: Masterlist of Fanfiction
Why this must be read:
I'm a sucker for a good back-story, and this author does an excellent job contrasting Perconte's past and his family back home with the realities of war along with his friendship with Luz. Perconte is such an underrated character, and it's great to see such an excellent portrayal of him in this piece.
He's running. There is, of all things, a piano in the middle of the street and it twangs angry notes as bullets hit it, demanding an explanation for why it's in the middle of a war. Perconte has no answer for the question that's also running through his head. It's his first real combat experience. Until today all he's really done is liberate a few corpses of their watches, though if asked he'd never admit that was all.
He's crouched between Lipton and Guarnere when he sees his first death. Not his first corpse certainly, but his first glimpse of the split second when a soldier turns into a body. There's no time to think about it because Lipton is leading him past that piano, and later when there's time, he realizes he isn't even sure who it was.
A German falls at his feet and he tumbles, tangled with Lipton and the newly dead Kraut. As his helmet rolls away he feels a rising wave of burning panic. Not the kind of panic he felt as a kid watching a baseball soar through a window, but complete bullets-flying-everywhere-and-it's-only-luck-whether-they-hit-me panic. Following Lipton deeper into town, he can almost hear the click as his brain turns off and training kicks in.
The rest of Carentan is a blur of jumbled images. He remembers shooting and running Germans and a priest dancing around bullets. But mostly he remembers a shattered town and too many dead men and suddenly not caring if they're wearing watches.
As he runs to clear another house Martin appears to tell him it's over - the Germans are gone and everyone's regrouping at the center of town. His body is exhausted under the adrenaline coursing through his veins. When he finds the others, reclining on the ground and yet almost vibrating, he knows they feel the same. He almost stumbles when his brain clicks on again.
There is genuine relief at seeing familiar faces still alive. Toye and Guarnere are boasting to each other; Muck, Penkala, Malarkey and More are talking and laughing. Looking around he finds Hoobler, Martin, Bull, Talbert, and Liebgott is awfully bloody but the blood doesn't seem to be his and…
Luz isn't there.
Perconte scans the group again, feeling bile rise in his throat. Luz still isn't there. Realizing he hasn't seen Luz since watching him follow Welsh into hell alone, he frantically begins asking if anyone's seen him. Hoobler points him down a street.
Luz is standing in a doorway, staring into a small room. There's no rubble, no broken glass, no blood. It's a room that doesn't belong on the frontlines of war.
He jumps a bit when Perconte lays a hand on his shoulder. Shaking, Luz draws a pack of Lucky Strikes out of his pocket and fumbles trying to remove a cigarette, nearly dropping the pack. No matter how drunk, how tired Luz is, Perconte has never seen him light a cigarette any way but smoothly. Unnerved, he takes the pack, places a cigarette between Luz's trembling lips, and lights it for him.
Luz inhales deeply and slides to the floor next to his dropped radio. Perconte cautiously joins him.
"You okay, Luz?" It's a foolish question. He obviously isn't.
Perconte watches the cigarette burn away in silence. When Luz finally talks, it's quiet and haunted and sends shivers down Perconte's spine. "I had to see if they were all right. A family was here, Perco. Woman, old man, two little kids. And I almost killed them. Left them here - wasn't anywhere safe to send 'em. I had to see if there were any bodies."
This isn't a Luz he's seen before and he's not exactly sure what to do. Noticing Luz's hands are trembling, he impulsively reaches out, grabs them, holds them steady. Luz looks into his eyes at the sudden contact. "It's okay Luz. This room is untouched. I'm sure they're fine and safe somewhere. C'mon, let's get out of here." This place gives him the creeps, too clearly blurs the line between civilian and army life. The war games he played as a kid involved daring missions in the woods, not someone's front parlor.
He stands up, dragging Luz with him. Luz turns to grab his radio, puts it on, and when he turns back the old, grinning mask has snapped back in place. "Gave those Krauts hell, didn't we?"
Running in Circles