Joe Toye X Reader - Tumblr Posts

Are you still there?

/ Part 3 /

Later in the chapter, the medic names are made up from the fact that what names were common!

The following morning was interesting indeed. Lewis had been very productive and gotten me PT gear and my WAC dress greens, which included a hobby jacket, “garrison” cap and a pretty skirt. I was extremely grateful, until he gave me my OD’s, which of course were made for men. The issue of being unhappy didn’t come to place until he saw me in them. And he laughed so loud it startled the men who wear near our barrack. 

“Oh my, my, you look like you’re gonna spread your wings and take off like a flying squirrel”, he snorts coming over to me and playfully flaps the sides of my jacket. I look at him very unimpressed, and then quickly slap his hands away. But then sigh. “I should’ve kept the skirt”, I giggle. But all in all it isn’t so bad, I have my medics patch and good pants. They are a little tight on the hips, but nothing unbearable. 

And off we went, him escorting me to my first field exercise with Herbert Sobel. Oh boy. 

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“Nurse Winters, what is the meaning of this, you look more unpresentable then any of these men!” 

The screaming of Sobel starts straight away as I stand with the men from the second platoon. “No excuse, sir”I say knowing he was commenting on my jacket. He looks ready to snarl, once again. “I’ll let you off, since you are only a woman after all, find a belt for tomorrow, or I will have to find an adequate punishment.” I just look ahead my eyes cold, so that’s how it is. “yes, sir.”

I feel like he assigned me with the second platoon just to torture my husband. And me. He was in for a surprise, if there was one thing me and Dick would not waver from, that was our duty. 

-------------------

I quickly started learning that I already had some knowledge to the matters we were going through. Enough for me at least. My main job for now was keep up with the men and when needed, have a plan on how to transport the “wounded” and if that was not possible, how to make a good long term plan for their health and the stamina and safety of the other men. 

I was thinking and whispering with Eugene Roe as two of our men: Joe Toye and “Popeye” Wynn were “wounded”. Joe had a shoulder wound and Popeye had an upper thigh wound. Both we’re now patched up with Popeye having a syrette tied to his jacket. 

“We have to take one man off the line, to help Popeye near the Jeep, and once we drag Joe far enough he can start walking. One of us has to stay here, in case there comes an urgent need for a medic”, I whisper. 

Roe looks at me little uncertain, but nods. “We’re gonna need to call the jeep towards the edge of the woods, but still near enough, we can’t wait too much, since Popeye’s wound is a heavy bleeder”, he backs up with his Louisiana drawl. 

We report our plan, and luckily, we get the knowledge that we just saved more than two men, we the good decision of one of staying near the line. 

“But Winters, Roe, next time call for back up, we need all the good men in the line, when someone needs to be carried, try and get help along with the jeep. Even if it feels obvious, remember clear orders”, Dick says nodding as he looks over our work. 

I feel pride swell up in my chest, not because we did surprisingly well, but because I got good objective critique. Learn, Sonja, learn everything you can. 

--------------------

When the maneuver is over,  everyone looks more or less annoyed. Sobel turned out to be the epitome of good in theory, terrible in practice. My thighs were also on fire, even if I had good physical training, the crouched running in high speed for surprisingly long distances is rough. 

“So, how does it feel now?”, Skip asks as we sit together to eat. I was once again chatting with Skip. It felt good to have people who actually reacted well to my arrival. 

Joe was apprehensive still, but yesterday when we talked, he realized that I was just a proper farm girl from Minnesota. Nothing fancy even I used pretty words, I was just a curious soul. 

I shrug: “I was scared it was going to be worse, with all you told me yesterday. Apart from the reprimands I got for my height and lack of muscle tone, I feel like I got very just treatment”, I smile and take a mouthful of the food on my plate. 

Skip snorts and looks at me like I had gone crazy. “The man screamed at you, because you aren’t able to carry a man thrice your size, but instead you dragged him, come on “, he shakes his head. I shrug once again. 

“I’m here to do a duty, I’m assigned with you because I was deemed fit, and if I want to be fit enough I have to work for it. He cannot let me off”, I explain my side. Sobel had yes screamed at me for dragging Denver Randleman when he was wounded, but Christ I was happy I was even able to move him. I knew I should do better, but for now I just need to work harder. 

Bill shakes his head : “You’re a fucking skirt, ain’t no man carrying Bull from this company either” And continues to shovel down his food. 

Skip grins at me. “you see Nurse Winters, we fight your corner, even if you are green and weak”. I glare at him playfully. I know that’s what most of the men thought, but Skip was not one of them. He really had been there for me today on the field. Him and Penkala. If I did something wrong, they quickly did something to make me correct it. 

But when it comes to others, it had been a tough day. Joe Liebgott was constantly on my neck, I heard the way he spoke about me, I heard the way him and some of his friends said I did not deserve my place here. In all honesty, I couldn’t blame him. I was a woman, it was easy for them to think that I was just some hussy who crawled up the right thigh. I needed to deserve my place here, i needed them to see that I was more then just big doe eyes and pinned up hair. 

“What will you do when we are jump training?”, he asks suddenly. I was not jumping into Normandy, so I was not taken in for the parachute training. I swallow quickly and answer: “I’ll be doing PT or then preparing at the hospital. I cannot believe how big that hospital is, it truly is wonder”

Skip smiles at my happiness. It was easy for me to talk to him like this. One-on-one. I was still too nervous to open my mouth when I was in the middle of all the men. “You really like helping people, huh”,he chuckles. 

I nod and continue eating quietly.

------------------

Couple weeks later, I was a new woman. I knew my routine and I was dedicated to make it perfect. I still had very few friends, but they all seemed to have accepted my presence at least. Skip was still my safety blanket among the men. Me and Richard had made the decision of being very chaste and professional, even in private. Lewis decided it was a good reason to tease us for being the epitome of purity, but we saw it as a fair and responsible thing to do. 

The men did not know about him being my husband either, for the record the army had so many people with the same name, that it was not surprising that they didn’t even suspect it. Although it was harder and harder for me every day to hear one nameless sergeant keep pestering people about my husbands calm and correct ways. 

Today was my day, well it was a field exercise designed for medics. Many simulated casualties so that we could practice our bandaging, improvising and so forth. 

“Come on, I’m wounded plant me just a little one”, George tried pursing his lips as I bandaged his leg, making a improvised splint. I shake my head and bring two of my fingers first onto my lips then plant them on his. 

“There you go”, I say as I finish the bandage. He looks at me in mock horror, “You just put your dirty fingers into my mouth!”, he gasps. I roll my eyes smiling. 

“I put them on your mouth, you’re wounded, you have bigger worries”, I reason and look at him like a mother would look at a misbehaved child. He just mouths words mockingly and pats my head like I was his best dog to torture. 

Then what I see next makes me freeze, some of the medics truly sedating Sobel. Oh Christ no. I stand up and job over to them. “What do you think you are doing?”, I ask sharply at the two medics, Webb and Jackson, who are now trying to pull down Herbert’s pants. 

“Fuck of broad”, they snort and try to keep going. I purse my lips and kneel next to them. “I may be a nurse, but I am a part of this company. You are risking this mans health, which goes against every vow you’ve made. You may think I am just an ignorant woman, who wants to play a soldier, but I’m here to do my job. You might not care about him, but this is not the way to go”, I quietly advice them. 

They look at me raising their eyebrows as if they had to care what I’m saying. Webb then shakes his head and snorts grasping the front of my collar to bring me closer. 

“Oi, hands off the lady Webb!”, comes a raspy voice. Behind us comes Joe Toye with a makeshift sling. Webb doesn’t move at first not thinking Joe could be series. 

But once Joe stands behind us and growls “What did I just say?”, the hand comes off right away. “Nurse Winters had the balls to tell you off. I don’t care the fuck you are doing to that on the floor, but you ain’t disrespecting her”, he says seriously while looking at Webb and Jackson both. 

“Sorry Winters”, they both mumble. I sigh and stand shaking my head. “Just don’t hurt him”, I whisper and go to help with the evacuating. 

Joe stops me before I can go. I smile at him tenderly “Thanks for that Joe, it means a lot.” He shakes his head and one corner of his mouth raises up: “Just fighting for your corner, Bambi” 

I walk to the litters with a smile on my face. The nickname is ridiculous, but hey, I was finally fitting in. 

--------------------

“So no one reported?”, Nixon asks as we sit on our bunks. I shake my head: “Nope, I tried to tell them off Lew I really did”, I sigh and look at my hands. 

He chuckles: “Don’t say that anywhere else, they’ll ask you to identify”. The door opens and Dick steps in. Straight from the latrines. I smile at him in my PT gear. It felt nice, the shorts. I was not really a fan of anything restricting me from the waist down. Oh no Sonja, do not phrase things like that ever again. 

He smiles at me too and then does something surprising, he walks over to me and lays a kiss on my forehead. “You really impressed the men yesterday, I heard what you did”, he whispers. I shrug, it was nothing he wouldn’t have done. 

“Wanna plant one on me just as congrats?”, I ask in a tender whisper. He chuckles and gives me a sound kiss. I grin widely and take a look at my book Seitsemän veljestä. The Seven brothers, a Finnish novel. My brother send it to me one Christmas. Now the spine looked torn, Sobel had had his fun looking at it while throwing our things all over the place. When I saw the state of my books I almost cried. Luckily one of the soldiers from F-company, David was his name, was able to tell me where to get some cheap books. 

“You sicken me you know, ever since she came in you’ve become a freaking dog”, Lewis throws from his bed. Dick once again rolls his eyes and starts to neatly fold his clothing. “She is my wife, Nix. And we have been perfectly professional, you of all people know that”, he grunts taking his boots off. 

Nix chuckles, the sound a strange thing on it’s own. “I hit a nerve”, he sings and happily plops down once again.

And once again thank you @iilovemusic12us ❤️

Are you still there?

/ Part 4 /

If I ever felt like my feet were going to fall off, it was today. I has just successfully passed my physical fitness test. I was feeling great, but I honestly couldn’t feel my legs. The whole night before I had been practicing to get over those walls over at the training obstacle. Which meant that that none of us in our barrack got that much sleep last night, with Lewis and Richard having been at the map exercise at dusk. 

But here I was once again, at night wondering around to find Skip. I wasn’t completely sure which barrack he was in, but I was determined to check up on his ankle, which had once again been bothering him today. I knew this was inappropriate, but I wasn’t going to drop this. He needed it supported for tomorrow for him to keep it from overexerting. 

“Nurse!”, came a call from behind me. The voice was so sharp it made me jump. When I turned around I was met with a piercing hazel gaze. It was the Dog company lieutenant, Ronald Speirs. 

“Forgive me sir, I’m looking for E-company, Second Platoon. A private needs first aid”, I quickly explain. He just looks at me with even more determination. He then offers me his hand, which I shake firmly. “Ronald Speirs”

I smile at little: “Sonja Winters”. At that the corner of his mouth turns up and he smirks. “I think everyone in this regimen knows who you are, Nurse Winters.” Then he once again turns serious. “You do realize that this could get you into some trouble. With the higher ups and with the men”, he scolds. It’s clear to see the irritation in his eyes. 

“As I said sir, I just need to check up on a comrade”, I reason. I knew he was correct, but I still wanted to make sure Skip was fully alright.

“Well then, Follow me”, he says and turns around. And we walk very very quietly. 

--------------

Once we are in front of the barrack, I thank him. But before I can even fully get my thanks out, he walks away. What an odd man. 

I knock on the barrack door timidly. When the door opens I am greeted by Bill. “The hell are you doing here, come in you mick”, he says and quickly pulls me inside. “You outta your mind Bambi, there are slimy men all over the place”, he then scolds. 

I look around the room and see most of the men in looking at me. I turn to Guarnere to ease my nerves. “I just came to see Skip, Bill. No one except Lt.Speirs saw me”, I softly try to calm him. 

His eyes almost bulge out of his head. “Okay let’s talk about crazy maggots then and not slimy men”, he grunts. Skip luckily comes to my rescue and bows with his hand out “Milady, how can I be of service?”

I grin and take a cotton bandage from my pocket. “Not this again, I don’t need any bandages”, he groans. I push his shoulders and sit him down on a bed. “Private Muck, your ankle is acting up again, it needs to be supported so the twinge doesn’t come back and have worse causes! Do you want Sobel to have you out of training?”, I ask with my hands on my hips.

“Listen to Bambi, Skip. Better have it wrapped up now, than in a cast tomorrow”, Joe comments from his bed. I smile and nod at him. Sweet Joe Toye always having my back. 

Everyone goes back to their own things as I lower myself to bandage Warren’s ankle tightly. Once I’m done I give him a bandage roll. “Have this near, because with all the sweating we do, this probably will be ruined soon. Once you don’t feel hesitation to step on the ankle, take it off and save it for later. I know you don’t want to take a day off, but please be merciful with these skinny things”, I gently guide him. 

He just pats my head and smirks. “Okay Bambi, wouldn’t want to disappoint you.” I shake my head at his antics. “Think of Faye when you take care of yourself, God knows she wouldn’t want her sweetheart hurt”, I reason with a gentle grin. The way Skip talked about his sweet Faye Tanner was adorable. I actually gave him a couple romantic poems from my books so he could use them in his letters. It was a little secret of ours, the guys would ruin the sweetness of the gesture. 

I stay at the barrack for a little while. Chatting with Muck, Don and Penk. I mostly just sat and listened...and giggled. These boys lightened my heart with their jokes. 

“Let’s get you back before someone comes looking”, Joe says jumping up. I shake my head “I can find my way out”, I say and go to the door. Until Bill stoops in front of me. “You ain’t going outta this door without an escort”, he says tapping my nose. 

I roll my eyes smiling and wait for Joe to come. I gently wave at everyone and let Joe lead me out. Once we are out we start softly talking. With Joe it was easy, he was comfortable with silence, and he never saw the need to judge or lie. 

“You miss home yet?”, he asks while lighting a cigarette. I start thinking. Do I miss home? What is home? Me and Richard lived in a barn house in Lancaster. Desperately trying to gather money for our own lot. Do I miss it? Yes I do. In the end there was nothing better than sinking next to Richard after a long day, cuddling up to him in the chilly bedroom. It was not a fancy dream, but it was the nest me and Richard have started with, and that was enough. 

“I do, sometimes it’s just better to not think of it”, I answer. He nods in agreement. “You miss your husband? You seem so invested in Faye and Skip, it’s odd that you never talk about your own sweetheart”, he says blowing out the smoke. 

I gulp and wring my hands together. He seems to notice my nervous reaction and furrows his brows. “You ain’t gotta talk about it if you don’t want to”, he then adds. “But if he hurt you, he’s never walking again”

My cheeks hurt as I smile at him. After the Sobel incident weeks ago, he really had become a dear friend to me. He just needed to see that I was worth the effort. And I sure am happy that I was to him. 

“It’s not like that Joe, it really isn’t. He just..he is in the army too”, I tell him soothingly. His brows lift and he nods. Then he says something that makes me freeze:

“Yeah the LT seems like a proper fella”

My eyes bulge out of my head as I halt my step. “What?!”, I ask sharply. He just shakes his head and smirks. “You look at Winters like a lost puppy and he looks at you like a protective bear with it’s cubs. At first I thought it was nothing, but then I saw him help you with your gear and those looks ain’t just your regular ‘well thank you sir’”

I shake my head and my hands tremble. “Joe you can’t tell anyone, does anyone else know? Oh no they are going to see me as a hussy”, I almost start pulling my hair. It feels like a carpet has been just pulled from under my feet. All my achievements would mean nothing to the men from now on. 

“Hey, hey, Sonja! SONJA!”, Joe raises his voice making me halt. “No one has said a word about you two. I just happened to notice. What you told me made me guess. You two are so professional it’s hard to even tell if he likes you or not”, he soothes rubbing my upper arms. I bite my lip and look at the ground. 

“You are such a proper girl, not one of us would call you a hussy. You ain’t like that, Winters isn’t like that”, he continues. I look at him in the eye and only see kindness. Kindness and honesty in those button eyes. I nod and take one hand that’s on my shoulder. “thank you”, I whisper. 

For the rest of the walk we just walk while he sings softly. Once we come to my barrack he takes my hand again. “You can trust me Sonja, Joe’s cotcha”, he smiles and then takes off. I smile softly too. He and Skip just might be the only friends I’ve ever truly had. 

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The maneuvers with Sobel have been getting worse and worse. He is jumpy, he is unprofessional and most sadly: he does not know how to work theory in practice. 

Nix also got moved to the battalion staff. He was now packing the rest of his stuff. It felt odd, I had come used to spending time with the man. He was very odd company, but the more you get used to him, the more pleasant you see him. 

“What are you gonna do?”, Lewis asks as we discuss Sobel’s field work. I know it is very unprofessional of me, but my eyes almost become stars when I look at my husband in his Ike jacket. I shake my head and grin at the thought. 

“Nothing, just keep training the men”, Richard answers, just as a short fellow hops in. I quickly stand up too. 

“Am I interrupting?”, the man asks. As me and Nix look at each other. Richard answers for us as he rises up: “No, no. Lt. Lewis Nixon, Nurse Sonja Winters, Lt. Harry Welsh just in from the 82nd”, he introduces. I smile at Harry kindly and shake his hand. “Ahh the beautiful lady wife”, He grins with his tooth gap. 

I smile too, all the officers know the setting.It was easier that way and when things got serious, it was very practical. “Beautiful wife for a beautiful man”, I say knowing it would make my husband flush. 

Harry chuckles and moves to shake hands with Lew.  “Congratulations on the promotion”

“Ah, thanks. If you wanna call it that. You’ll learn them pretty quickly. She’s holy Mary, biblical little lady with a husband to match: No flaws, no vices, no sense of humor”, Lewis manages to hint. I glare at him and he just looks at me with a million dollar smile. 

“Just like your chums up at Battalion Staff?”, Richard quips. I grin at him and go to gently brush his jacket straight. Which it already was, but better be as neat as possible. While I do that Dick turns his head to Harry: “What’s up?”

“I’m hearing a lot of rumblings”, you can hear the concern in Harry’s voice. Lew catches on quickly: “Sobel? We were just talking about that”

“So he gets a little jumpy in the field?”, Harry confirms as I turn back to him and Lewis. “He gets jumpy and you get killed”, Lewis nods. I look at him with raised brows and a dry expression. “What?”, he asks. 

“Aren’t you just tactful”, I say pointedly. He chuckles: “haha, sorry Dick, I’ve rubbed up on her.” I roll my eyes, in his eyes you could see the pride of being bad influence. And I am in deep shame that I’m not immune to it.

Richard just continues with the topic of Sobel. “Listen, if we discuss it, it should be among ourselves”, he says looking at all of us very pointedly. We all quickly agree, and then the devil himself jumps in. 

We are moving out.

@iilovemusic12us​

Are you still there? Richard Winters x OC - Masterlist

“I leaned in and I was ready to let her hurt me. But she never did. She leaned in too, so I could lean back and let her protect me”

“He knows how he could hurt me, because he knows where my armor ends. But he chooses to protect me, because he knows where my skin begins” 

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

And a big big thank you to my writing comrade @iilovemusic12us!! ❤️

Lily’s War (Chapter 3)

Summary: SOE Agent Lily Darlington is unexpectedly demoted from her position and offered a life changing opportunity to become the first female Paratrooper in US history?

Pairing: TBD - The suspense is part of the fun, no?

Warnings: Mentions of violence, language, Mentions of SA

A/N: Here is chapter 3! I’m so sorry for the wait. I hit huge slump of writers block, coupled with 14 hour days at work (tv industry problems), but its finally here, and I really hope the next part will be worth the wait. 

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2

Chapter 3.

Camp Toccoa, 1942. 

Private Lily Darlington was a smart enough young lady to know that going in as the sole female, and joining an entire, and somewhat established company of men, was never going to be a doozy. What she hadn’t anticipated however, was just how much of an utter shit show the first weeks would turn out to be. Having worked the best part of three years within a male dominated organisation, where you wouldn’t have a place at the table if you didn’t deserve to be there, being thrust back to the beginning was a stark reminder that misogyny was alive and well in the US Army. 

From her very first day, the men had built up an idea of her. Lily found it important to make note that not a single man had yet spoken to her during this time frame, or any time after, however, they believed themselves to know everything about her without actually getting to know her. The gossip among the men on how they perceived a woman to be in the face of war was not one of glowing promises. Hours wasted pinning her hair, tears shed at the possibility of ruining one’s meticulously on trend manicure. There had been a bet as to how long the girl could get up Currahee before collapsing, with no man wasting a bet on if she’d make it to full pack. Issuing her with a rifle would be simply unthinkable, women are soft and gentle, not trained to kill, she would be a danger to herself, and others if she got her hands on one. How would it be possible for a young woman to share a barrack with eleven other men. Young men, who smoked, cussed, gambled, and talked about things women ought not to hear. She wouldn’t stick it out, that was for certain, they gave her one week with Sobel to throw in the rag, War was no place for her, and Easy wouldn’t be her Company.

Much to their disappointment, the young girl made it past their premature deadline. By no means had it been easy, but she wasn’t failing like the men had initially assumed, and yet, her progress only seemed to make their dislike of her increase growing more and more evident by the day. Introductions were slim to none, most the men had made it quite clear that they weren’t interested in becoming friends, and she had resorted to getting to know her fellow company by the names painted on their footlockers and by listening into conversations she wasn’t privy to. Incidentally, on the first night, she discovered her belongings had been unceremoniously moved to the far end of the bunk house. Next to the seemingly loudmouthed Private Guarnere, and opposite Private Liebgott, a chap who’s dislike for her rivalled that of all the others combined, neither of the two were overly gracious about sharing their space, it seems that they had lost a bet in which she was the punishment. Suffice to say that they didn’t spent their evenings trading secrets and braiding each others hair, though she did overhear Liebgott mention his interest in shaving hers off when he thought she was asleep that first night. She’d resigned to sleeping facing him, with her hair firmly tucked under the covers in an attempt to deter him ever since.

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