Dan and Phil + Two

b o r n  t o  m a k e  h i s t o r y

history maker by dean fujioka

Summary: It’s WWII, Phil is a soldier, and Dan is the enemy. But Phil has a kind heart and empathy for scared, curly haired boys running away from the war.

Word Count: 1642

Warnings: War, use of guns, use of the word ‘Nazi’, swearing, mentions of illness, vomiting.

Chapter 4:

Of course Dan would be the type to get a cold in August. He had barely even left the room most days, and he had avoided a stomach illness someone had caught and spread briefly, but by the first few days of August he was starting to feel ill.

He panicked when he woke up and his throat felt tight and his eyes burned. He could barely breathe, and when his eyes snapped open he flailed his arms in fear. He hit Phil in the shoulder on accident and the older man awoke.

“Dan? Dan what’s wrong?” Phil asked as he propped himself up. He was concerned.

Dan stopped and just took as deep a breath he could. “N-nothing. I had a nightmare and woke up, sorry…” He lied. He refused to admit to Phil that he caught a cold, if he was once again seen as genuinely pathetic, well he feared the soldiers there wouldn’t tolerate him any more. After Dan got into a fight last month after being there only five days, everyone started to deem him a nuisance because he couldn’t care for himself.

Phil nodded his head, drowsy and grateful that he had another two hours to sleep, so he realized. “Okay. Go back to sleep.” He lay back down and quickly fell unconscious again.

Dan tried his best to sleep again, but his throat hurt and his head pounded. He stayed awake until the morning bugle blared and everyone got up. He then thought he could drift off again, but Phil clambered over him to get dressed and kneed him in the chest on accident.

“Sorry, Dan! And get up, you lazy cow!” He teased with a smile. Dan groaned in reply, he had no intentions of moving until he heard someone else mutter, “Goddamn teenager, using our beds and eating our food… Won’t even get up and work when we do. Wish I had his life, the spoiled shit…”

That prompted Dan to get up, find his shirt, and put on his boots. His head spun as he did, but he still wouldn’t reveal he was feeling poorly.

He kept up with the facade of good health for a day and a half, but then the act came crumbling down.

He had just finished picking at his dinner, which was some type of stew that Phil watched him eat about half a bowl of. That is when the feeling settled in him. His stomach churned, and his skin felt so warm yet looked so pale.

“So Dan, how far have you gotten into that book I-” Phil could not finish what he was saying as the teenager stood upright, his face a sickly yellowed green tint.

Dan bolted over to a window and only looked down long enough to make sure no one was directly beneath it before his dinner came back up. He vomited onto the road below, emptying his stomach of everything, including a large sum of bile.

Phil immediately ran over and put his hands on Dan’s shoulders. The boy wiped his mouth on his sleeve disgustingly, only to lurch over the window sill once more to throw up again.

“Dan?” Phil quietly beckoned. Dan just took a deep breath, feeling a bit better now, and turned around.

“I’m sick…” He stated. Phil turned Dan around and forced the boy to look up at him, but Dan took this as the offer to lean back, and have Phil catch all his weight.

“I see that you are sick… Let me guess, you haven’t been feeling well for a while and refused to tell me?” Phil guessed. Dan nodded in reply.

Phil sighed and took Dan back to the other building, where he got him into bed. “You really should have told me you were ill.” He groaned as he tucked a blanket over the curly haired boy.

“I know…” Dan mumbled.

Dan rinsed his mouth out with water to rid of the taste from vomiting. He tried to take off his boots himself, but Phil pushed him back down and did it for him.

It was just the two of them in the room for now, they had a while until everyone else returned. Phil sat there on the bed, staring at his legs as he listened to Dan’s broken breathing.

“Phil…” Dan whispered.

Phil looked over and smiled lightly. Dan looked so sweet, curls messy, eyes looking oddly bright tonight. “Yes?” He replied.

“Phil, a lot of the men here have someone waiting for them back home… Besides your family, do du have anyone waiting for du?” There was a childish tone to his voice now. The way he chewed his lip nervously as he waited to hear what Phil said. He didn’t understand what he felt, but it felt nice.

Phil opened his mouth, a little unsteady now because of the question. “No, I don’t have someone special waiting for me when I get home. It’s a nice thought, but no… Do you?”

Dan shook his head, his curls bouncing lightly from the movement. He was still biting his lip, but now a foolish smile had formed on his face. “No, I have no one at home. I’m not even sure if I have my family anymore, but I hope that I do.” That sheepish smile still played at Dan’s lips.

Phil gave Dan a curious look, he knew something was gone on with the kid besides a cold. “Dan, what’s on your mind…?” He inquired.

Dan’s heart beat soared, he felt flushed in the face and nervous. “I, um…” He couldn’t finish what he wanted to say. He stuttered and then hid his face behind his hands, still blushing, and smiling. “Ph-Phillip, I think you are very handsome…” He squeaked out before yanking the blanket up over his face in shame.

Phil was shocked for a second, ‘So that’s what Dan feels?’ He thought.

Dan poked his head out again from underneath the bedding. “I might even be a little bit in love with du… I’m sorry.” He mumbled and then went back to hiding.

Phil’s heart skipped a beat, and acting solely on impulses, he pulled the blanket down to unveil Dan’s face. Dan was flustered and looked a little scared.

Phil gently put a hand on Dan’s shoulder, and then slowly leaned down. He pressed his lips to the teenager’s, only for a brief moment and then he pulled away.

Dan felt completely giddy. He giggled and hid his face behind his hands again. “Phil…” He muttered through his laughter.

“Did you like that?” Phil asked. Dan looked up at him with completely wide eyes.

“Y-yes!” He said and sat up a little, as if asking for another kiss. Phil grinned and leaned down once more, holding Dan up by the shoulders and giving the greedy teenager another kiss to the lips.

This one last a few more seconds, and made Dan practically melt.

It was only after that, that Dan panicked. “Phil! Stop…” He said as Phil gave him tiny kisses all over his face. The older man pulled away, he had been enjoying placing kisses on Dan’s rosy cheeks and over his nose.

“Phil, what if you catch my cold? What if we get caught?!” He exclaimed. His mind raced as he realized what he just did, and how bad this was.

Phil shushed him. “I won’t worry if I catch your cold, and I won’t let us get caught. We’re fine, Dan. I just want to make sure you are comfortable… I didn’t know you felt this way about me… Are you, happy with this between us?”

Dan hesitated, but then nodded. He loved Phil, he loved the comfort and protection he felt when he was with him, and he loved the way Phil kissed him. “Okay. I trust du to keep this a secret…” He replied.

He was looking down at his hands, but he brought his gaze upwards to meet Phil’s eyes and give him a smile, and that nervous happiness returned.

“K-kiss me again, please?” Dan asked. Phil laughed quietly, but obliged. He gave Dan another kiss, and went back to peppering his face with kisses. The two finally understood the queer emotions they had been experiencing for each other.

Phil pressed his lips to Dan’s forehead and left a slightly damp spot on his skin before he went back to kissing Dan’s lips. It was sweet. Dan’s lips were a little dry, and he was shy, and young, inexperienced and excited.

Phil rolled on top of Dan gently, making for better access to the teenage brunet. “I guess I was bound to catch your cold anyway…” Phil joked as he smiled down at Dan.

Dan sat up, and managed to pull Phil down to him, enough to timidly kiss his lips for a second.

Phil ran a hand through Dan’s hair. He stared compassionately down at him. It was then that he felt hands on his hips, moving inward.

He looked down to see Dan shyly running his hands over Phil’s hips, inwards towards his crotch. “Dan.” Phil exclaimed as he reached down and removed the set of hands from his pelvis.

“No, Dan… Nothing like that now, and not here. You are too young, too poorly right now, and we don’t have the time.” Phil scolded him.

Dan just looked up at him sheepishly. “I-I’m sorry Phil.” He apologized. Phil kissed the top of his head.

“You are forgiven. Now, I think you should sleep.” He said and rolled off of Dan. Dan pouted a bit.

“Only if du stay next to me.” Dan whined. Phil laughed but lay down next to him anyway. He would take care of Dan, because he loved him.

And Dan certainly loved the older boy just as much, he would do anything for him.

Author’s Note: Whoops. It got gay, my apologies...

Chapter 4/?

Summary: It’s WWII, Phil is a soldier, and Dan is the enemy. But Phil has a kind heart and empathy for scared, curly haired boys running away from the war.

Word Count: 1500

Warnings: War, use of guns, use of the word ‘Nazi’, swearing, physical fighting

Chapter 3: 

The first three days for Dan were smooth but not entirely easy. He was constantly listening to distant gunfire and the sounds of the soldiers shouting insults at him. Phil would leave him just after eating a breakfast together so he could go do whatever he did. (Dan was not allowed to know where Phil went during the day.)

To avoid any issues Dan stayed inside the one bedroom usually, tidying up things, or reading the book Phil had said he could borrow. It was the fifth day of being there that trouble arose.

Dan walked around the base, keeping his hands behind his back, right hand clasped around his left wrist as he calmly watched the soldiers mill about. They all had such different attitudes than the German's he lived with. The base itself was different from the one he was trained in.

Then someone yelled at him. "HEY! YOU! YOU FUCKING HITLER'S KID!" Dan turned his head, startled by the over energized soldier yelling at him. He saw a tall man with auburn hair and thick muscles marching over to him.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!? WALKING AROUND AN AMERICAN BASE!? IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU DUMBASSES, WE WOULDN'T BE FIGHTING THIS FUCKING WAR!!" The man screamed at him. Dan flinched, wary of the hand gun the soldier had holstered to his hip.

Dan tried not to cry, but tears formed anyway. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't want to fight either! I know everyone wants to go home from the war! I w-was forced to join the-" He was stopped from speaking as a hand collided with his face. He yelped and fell backwards. He hit the ground and rolled onto his side, curling up tight to protect himself.

"FIGHT ME BACK YOU STUPID! FUCKING! GERMAN!" The American was giving him repeated kicks to the ribs. Other men rushed over to break up the attack. The blows to his body stopped and he felt himself being dragged across the ground by his shirt.

He was rolled onto his back. He opened his eyes. Phil. Phil was looking down at him, concerned and visibly angry at the soldier who attacked him.

"Dan? Bist du gut?" Phil asked in German, figuring that if Dan was hurt he would be able to answer in Deutsch easier than English.

"I-I'm f-fine..." Dan replied, shaking and hurt none the less. Phil nodded slowly. "...Let's take you back to the bunk room..."

He got Dan back and onto their bed. (Dan still had nowhere to sleep but in bed with Phil.) Dan had realized how truly terrifying all the yelling had been, and how hurt he was now, and he cried. His body shook and he kept wiping away his tears but still they rolled down his face.

Phil had been standing there with his arms crossed, and now he squatted down in front of the crying teenager.

"Dan, it's okay... He was just full of himself, you're alright now. Why don't you let me look at your ribs so we can see if they are hurt?" Phil placed his hand on Dan's knee and gently squeezed it. Dan wiped his nose on his sleeve and nodded his head up and down.

Phil stood up and started quickly popping open the buttons of the blue button up Dan wore. He pulled the shirt open and quickly felt Dan's ribs, nothing felt out of place so he assumed nothing was broken.

"He also hit me in the face..." Dan muttered and Phil looked up to see blood dribbling out of the younger boy's mouth. He gasped, he had seen much worse I injuries, but seeing blood coming out of Dan's mouth shook him a little.

"Oh my God! Did he break your jaw!?" Phil exclaimed as he quickly rose up and put his fingers to Dan's jawline to feel it.

"No, I just bit the side of my tongue when he hit me..." Dan explained and a little more blood ran down his chin.

Phil grabbed a rag and wiped away the blood on his face. He caught himself staring at Dan's lips as he cleaned his jaw. They were thick and pink and a little more red now that they were blood stained. A little voice inside of his head suddenly said, 'Kiss him.' Phil blinked and dismissed the thought.

Phil still stared at Dan's face. At the red tinted lips that were always a little dry and always a nice shade of pink. At his eyelashes that were thick and framed his pretty brown eyes, though now they were wet from his crying and made him look even more sad. Phil even stared at Dan's skin which was flushed and splotchy.

He wiped away the last bit of blood at the corner of Dan's mouth and then leaned down, giving Dan a hug. "It's going to be okay Dan. I won't let anyone hurt you." Phil said.

Dan just gave a broken laugh. "It's the middle of a war, Phil. Du can't make promises like that, du won't be able to keep them."

Phil scoffed and sat down on the bed beside Dan. "I can keep that promise, to you. If I can keep one person safe, it is you."

Dan looked at him with his rich brown eyes. "Why? Why keep me safe?" He asked in a quiet voice.

Phil blinked and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Something in my heart and mind just tells me I need to keep you safe, because you are important to me."

Dan stayed silent. He didn't know what to say. He tucked his curls behind his ear as he stared at his hands. What reply should he try and give to that?

"You cry in your sleep..." Phil muttered, "I have to quiet you down in the middle of the night because you start talking and then you cry."

Dan looked back up at him. "...What do I say when I talk in my sleep?" He asked quietly.

Phil took a deep breath. "You just, cry... I hear you beg for your mother. You ask, 'Who's this mama?' A lot in your sleep."

Dan averted his eyes suddenly. "Oh. Well it doesn't matter."

Phil raised his eyebrows. “That makes it seem like it really does matter.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Philip.” Dan said and crossed his arms over his chest. Phil couldn’t help but bite his lip to stifle his oncoming laughter. Dan was acting like a small child and the way he said ‘Philip’ was entertaining to hear.

Dan had jerked his head away but he turned and looked back up at Phil when he heard him make a small gasping noise. Phil was clasping a hand over his mouth to mute himself.

“Are, are du laughing at me?” Dan asked with the most confused and slightly hurt expression.

Phil nodded but just continued grinning. “You have to learn to laugh at anything you can when you are stuck in a place like this. So laughing at you acting like a tyke? It’s a great way to keep the tension down.”

The teenager wiped a little more blood off his lips as more spilled out. He felt annoyed at Phil, but he also understood. He grabbed Phil’s hand to get his attention.

“Yes?” Phil responded.

“I’m tired now…” Dan mumbled. He didn’t want to admit he was exhausted after getting into a fight earlier, not when Phil, and everyone else in that place were going through so much more, and never seemed tired.

“That’s okay, you got hurt, and shook up from being attacked. You are also still growing, I’m not upset that you got tired.” Phil soothed him.

Dan lazily flopped over, draping himself over Phil’s lap. “I’m an adult. Du can stop trying to protect me.” He said as he closed his eyes.

Phil just clicked his tongue and re buttoned Dan’s shirt halfway. “You are barely an adult, and you can stop trying to act like you are alright.” Phil chided.

There was a long silence, Dan didn’t respond at all, and then finally he rolled onto his side and hid his face against Phil’s torso. His voice broke a little, but he managed to whisper out, “Please don’t stop trying to protect me.” Before he wrapped his arms around Phil’s waist.

The black haired soldier light rubbed Dan’s shoulder. “I won’t.” He whispered back.

Dan fell asleep with his mouth and sides aching, body wrapped around Phil as he lay on his lap. Phil moved him onto the bed and left him to sleep while he went back to work. Dan awoke later, alone and wishing Phil hadn’t left him there. He stared at the wooden slats above him. Why did Phil make him feel so safe? No one had ever made him feel that way, besides his mother when he was young, but this was different.

Chapter 3/?

Previous chapter

‘

Summary: It’s WWII, Phil is a soldier, and Dan is the enemy. But Phil has a kind heart and empathy for scared, curly haired boys running away from the war.

Word Count: 1400

Warnings: War, use of guns, use of the word ‘Nazi’,

Chapter 2:

Dan enjoyed feeling the warm water run over him, washing away dirt and grime. He hadn’t bathed recently. After his shower, Phil gave him some clothes he had found. Civilian pants and shirt, and boots off a dead American soldier, but Phil wouldn’t tell Dan where the shoes were from.

After drying his curls, and getting ahold of a comb long enough for him to work the knots out of his hair, Dan joined Phil and they went to another building so they could eat.

There were tables and chairs, and stools everywhere, men in different variations of battered and exhausted eating whatever was being served, occupied these chairs and tables.

Phil got into line, grabbing a tray. Dan tried to follow, but someone stopped him. Phil looked back and gave Dan an apologizing glance. “Sorry, you can’t get food from the line. Just wait over there, I’ll bring you something.” Phil explained and gestured at the other side of the food lines.

Dan nodded and quietly shuffled over to where he was told to stand. His stomach growled again as he heard a cook yell “HOT CHOW!” As he brought forward a new pan of whatever they were serving. He just wanted to eat, but he couldn’t, because he was a prisoner to them.

Phil smiled at Dan as he carried his plate in one hand, a tin mug of coffee in the other. Dan followed Phil once again, out of the chow hall, to another building entirely where they found an empty room with a sofa left from whomever lived here before. Phil sat down on it and placed his tray on his lap, he patted the seat next to him. Dan smiled, relaxing again. He was tense, from realizing he was a prisoner with only one person willing to care for him.

Phil stared at Dan, looking at the way the boy’s eyes didn’t match his dimpled smile. He looked scared still. Phil wanted to fix that. He turned his body toward Dan as he sat down, he handed him a large piece of bread. Dan took it with wide eyes and instantly bit into it. “Danke!” He said happily as he scarfed his food.

Phil chuckled a little. “You’re welcome, and slow down. I brought you more food, that piece of beef is yours.” He stated and pointed his fork at a slab of meat on his plate. Dan’s eyes widened even more. “Du brought me all this food?” Dan asked quietly

Phil gave him a stare, his blue eyes scanning over Dan’s brown, searching for humor in the question, but it was genuine. “Yes, of course… You are hungry. Now eat up.” Phil replied and smiled at him some more. Dan seemed to be constantly scared and surprised.

Dan reached for the piece of meat, but then stopped himself. He didn’t want to lose his sense of manners, even now. He didn’t have a knife and fork though and he would be gnawing on that steak for a while, he didn’t want to be that disgusting.

Phil took a bite of potatoes and then looked up when he saw Dan wasn’t eating. “Are you okay? Do you need something?” He inquired.

Dan nodded his head slowly. “I don’t have a fork or knife. I didn’t want to be crude…” He replied.

“Oh!” Phil exclaimed and happily took his utensils, and cut up the beef into small pieces. “There, just use your fingers, it’s okay.” He said and Dan quickly picked up a piece and ate it. It didn’t taste amazing, but he was too starved to care.

After they finished eating, Phil switched to lounging on the sofa, propping his feet up, and sipping the coffee he had brought.

“So, Dan… You said you were forced to enlist?” Phil asked.

Dan looked up, he had been silently staring at his hands, unaware of what to say. “Y-yes.” He muttered.

“Why? Tell me about yourself, I want to know more about you.” Phil said as he took a swig from his mug.

Dan looked up and swallowed nervously. “I lived in a town, w-with my mother and little brother. My father, enlisted before me, to keep us safe. I don’t think I’ll ever see him again…” He hesitated, not sure if he wanted to talk about this, but something inside of him trusted Phil. “But, one day the soldiers came back, searching for more young men. My mother didn’t want me to go, but they were brutal. They wanted everyone to sympathize with them. They shave the women’s heads and rape them with no mercy or care. And when they came to our house, trying to grab my mother, I shoved my brother away in a cupboard and told them I would go with them if they would just leave. They liked that. So that day, I became a volunteer… Every night I think about home, and just hope that they didn’t go back and touch my mother or take my brother.”

Phil had listened wholeheartedly, nodding and watching how Dan’s eyes went cloudy when he talked about home. “I understand that. Everyday I hope that my parents are safe back home in England.”

“Phil, where did du learn to speak Deutsch?” Dan asked. Phil smiled and giggled a little. “School. It was the only subject I really payed attention to.” His mind was relaxed currently, thinking about his school days, and then a random thought occurred. ‘The way Dan uses the German word for ‘You’ is adorable.’ He blinked, unaware why his mind would think that, but he sort of liked it.

“So, what will I be doing from now on?” The brunet asked. Phil looked back over at Dan, and ran his hand through his dark black hair as he thought about it. “Hmm… Well I guess you can just manage my uniform, you can’t clean my gun but you can tidy up the room for everyone, and just stay out of trouble. I have some books you can read if you want.”

Dan nodded. “Okay!” He chirped and then suddenly yawned, his tummy full of warm food, and the comfort of being on a sofa next to a new friend had caused him to become very sleepy. Phil stood up, tucking his used dishes under his left arm, and holding his right hand out behind him for Dan to grab hold of. He hauled the boy onto his feet and lead the drowsy teenager to the kitchen briefly to return the dishes, and then back to the other house to get some sleep.

Phil kicked his boots off, and was about to get into bed when he realized Dan had nowhere to sleep. He sighed and layed down anyway, whispering quietly so not to wake the others. “Just take off your boots and lay down here next to me. We’ll work out your sleeping arrangements later.”

Dan was timid but he sat on the edge of the bed and undid his shoes, before curling onto his side in the bed, right next to Phil. Dan fell asleep quickly in the warm bed, Phil did not. The black haired man was caught up thinking, flat on his back staring at the slats of the bunk above him, as he listened to the soft breathing of the doe eyed boy beside him.

His mind wandered through thoughts about what his parents might be doing, if they were safe, of home, and what orders he would receive tomorrow. Then he heard something, it took him a moment to realize that it was coming from Dan. The child was talking in his sleep.

“Mama…” He muttered in his subconscious, and then he let out a long whimper before speaking again. “Mama, mama where are you? Wh-who’s this? Mama?!?” There was a scared cry after that. Phil bit his lip and flipped over onto his side, he wrapped his arms around Dan’s waist and yanked him over towards him a bit. If he woke up the others, they would both be in trouble.

He started trying to hush Dan, gently shushing him and stroking his head. Dan was hurting and missing his mother. He was just a child, and yet he was sleeping in a bunk, in the middle of a war, as a technical prisoner. Phil hummed, very quietly into Dan’s ear, and soon both of them were silent and sound asleep in peace.

Author’s Note: The next chapter will be more exciting. (I promise! It’s already written!) 

Chapter 2/?

Previous chapter  

Summary: It’s WWII, Phil is a soldier, and Dan is the enemy. But Phil has a kind heart and empathy for scared, curly haired boys running away from the war. 

Word count: 1300

Warnings: War, use of guns, use of the word ‘Nazi’, 

Chapter 1: 

One foot in front of the other, pale but strong hands wrapped around a rifle. That seemed like all Phil Lester saw anymore. He hated war. He was on patrol, checking the border on their camp here. July of 1944, they figured all the fighting would be done, nothing had stopped. They thought it will all be over by Christmas. Phil doubted that.

He's currently teamed with the American 101st Airborne of the U.S Army. A replacement essentially. There aren't a lot of British soldiers, at least not here with him. He's the only one, and he's not even in a British uniform anymore. It got destroyed by a mortar when he set down the bag containing it to help someone up, after they tripped and fell while running.

So here he finds himself, walking through the woods once again, alone for this moment until he reaches the others a few hundred yards away. A slightly ill fitted American uniform causing his skin to feel damp with sweat even under the trees. In three minutes he'll have wound his way back to the others.

It's stupid to go alone, but he does that sometimes and no one stops him. They don't care. He's not very close with any of the men, except the cook whom he occasionally can beg for just a little extra food. If he got shot it would just be one less anonymous man, no real loss, or gain.

He could almost hear the four other men on patrol again when they were being loud, and suddenly he freezes, raising his gun up and hovering his finger closer to the trigger. A man has emerged from the nearby meadow. Not even a man, a young boy, in a German uniform.

The boy looked up at Phil, Phil lined up the sight on his gun, not that he needed it to hit someone.

"Bitte! Nicht Schießen! Bitte, bitte!" The boy said, giving Phil very scared and begging looks from his brown eyes.

Phil shook his head. "Nein." He replied. He knew enough German to communicate with this kid. His translation abilities was one of the few benefits he brought to the troops.

The boy dropped his own gun, which Phil hadn't noticed he was holding before as he never raised it up. "BITTE!!!" The brown eyed German cried, and dropped onto his knees, raising his hands above his head in full surrender. Phil was an empathetic person, he wouldn't shoot someone who looked so scared and so close to giving up completely. But then again, everyone he knew was close to giving up.

"Du spreche Englisch?" Phil asked and lowered his gun. The German nodded his head. "Ja! Ja! Ich spreche Englisch!!" He answered earnestly. Phil marched around to behind him, kicking the boy's gun away as he did. "Well then, get up." Phil commanded. The boy did so, as he stood up his hat fell off.

Phil stared at him, the kid was shorter than him by a bit, his hair had been shaved completely at some point evidently, as the marks on his neck from the razors showed, but it had grown out, in brown ringlets that hadn't been trimmed in a long time. He must have been forced into enlisting.

Phil nudged him with the tip of his gun and they marched forward, back towards the camp.

"What's your name?" Phil asked. The boy looked back over his shoulder at Phil. "Daniel. But du can call me Dan."

Phil saw his face, this time without a hat covering it, he was so young, baby faced and faintly tanned.

"I'm Phil. And I don't suggest speaking any German once we get to the camp. Hearing one word of it might make one of the guys go berserk."

Dan nodded and looked forward again as Phil gave him a warning glare. "Oh, okay..." He replied quietly.

"Dan, how old are you?" Phil asked after a minute. This innocent eyed, baby faced, curly haired boy couldn't be old enough to be a solider, to be a Nazi, right?

"Eighteen." He answered. Phil bit his lip, he was fresh to war then. How could he already be in the field? Didn't the German's go through basic training?

"You are answering a lot of questions, and you're friendly. I guess you are a traitor to your allies. Well, at least you will make for an easy interrogation." Phil joked, but it was true.

"I-I'm not a traitor. I wanted out. I was forced, so last night I ran when we were supposed to be attacking. I walked far away and du found me." Dan paused, and Phil couldn't help but feel bad for this kid. "I-interrogation?" Dan asked finally. Even from behind, Phil knew from the way his jaw moved, that Dan had been gulping nervously and quivering his lip on the verge of tears.

"Yes." Phil said quietly. Dan sniffled, and Phil felt his heart break. This child was supposedly his enemy. This boy didn't want to be his enemy. Was every German he shot at in the distance just a young child who wished he could escape?

Dan's fingers started to tremble and he wiggled them a bit, but his hand was beginning to go numb from keeping his arms up in the air. He lowered his arms slowly, folding them behind his back, still in his captor's view.

Phil saw that Dan had lowered his hands, he took the tip of his gun and nudged his wrists to silently tell him to put his hands back up. The second the gun touched his wrists, Dan grunted in pain and stopped in his tracks.

Phil reached forward and grabbed Dan's arm, pulling the uniform sleeve up to reveal red cuts on his wrist, some on the other one as well. They looked like blisters, from moving his wrists in the same place against something over and over so much they developed painful welts.

Phil gave Dan's shoulder a light shove to tell him to turn around. Dan did as he was commanded and instantly locked his gaze with Phil's. He was crying a bit, his stomach grumbled and his arms ached.

Phil licked his lips, unsure of what to do. The loving person inside him just wanted to help and protect Dan. The rest of him knew that shooting him now would be easier than taking him into camp, putting him through interrogation, trying to spare his life, and then winding up with him being shot anyway.

But the easiest choice wasn't always the best.

Phil pitied this scared boy who had been forced into war.

"Phil?" Dan said. Phil blinked. "How old are du?" Dan meekly inquired.

Phil answered quickly with "Twenty two."

"Oh..." Dan said in what was just loud enough to be a whisper. "M-may, may I hug du?" Dan asked suddenly and looked up into Phil's eyes, new tears in them as he felt like collapsing.

Hearing him ask if he could hug him was more shocking to Phil than hearing a bomb explode above him. He didn't know what to say at first, but finally he just stuttered out a soft "Y-yes." He swallowed the lump in his throat as Dan wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. "I haven't been hugged, or met someone this kind, in over a year..." Dan said quietly.

Phil hugged him back for a few seconds, how did this enemy child win over his heart so rapidly? He didn't care what it took now. He was going to keep Dan around. He would tell his Lieutenant that Dan would be his responsibility and that the young man had already surrendered and would not be handed a weapon ever, and would be made to do chores for Phil personally, as a hostage. And as kindhearted as Lieutenant Winters was, he had no doubt that if he said that the boy was too frightened to do any harm or to try and disobey an order to work, he would be able to save Dan's life.

Author’s Note: Obviously the Dan and Phil story here is fiction, but the 101st Airborne, Lieutenant Winters, and the war, were not. I am trying to keep this as historically accurate as possible.

Chapter 1/? 

Warnings: None, other than fluff I guess.

Summary: Just a glance at Saturday mornings with the Howlter/Howell-Lester family.

Dan rolled over and wrapped his arms around Phil’s waist, it felt so nice just sleeping. He hadn’t this great of a night’s sleep in months. It wasn’t disrupted the entire night, and not at all that morning. He gave a content sigh, and pressed his face to the top of Phil’s back. His foggy morning brain still wasn’t functioning properly yet. He felt like he could drift off to sleep again, and then a sudden thought crossed his mind. His morning had been completely uninterrupted, the flat was quiet, that never happened. 

He sat up violently and his hands scrambled across the night stand as he grabbed at his phone, what time was it, what day was it? His phone turned on and he blinked so his eyes would focus enough for him to read. 10:23 am, Saturday. SATURDAY. He turned to his side and shoved Phil. “Phil! Get up!” He exclaimed. Phil groaned and buried his face into the pillow. “Whyyy?” He whined in a low morning voice.

“Because we have children, that we have left unattended all morning. They never leave us alone for this long!!!” As Dan spoke he had been rushing out of the bed and throwing on pajama bottoms over his boxers, and a stray t-shirt had been pulled over his head. He realized that the pajama bottoms weren’t even his, they were Phil’s, but that didn’t matter.

 Phil had instantly sat up and put on his glasses, hurrying to put on clothes as well. That slight panic of something being wrong had settled in his chest. If something happened to their kids, he didn’t know if he could live with himself.

The pair darted out of their bedroom and slowly started to breathe normally again as they heard the noises of their two kids in the lounge. And then the next round of panic set in as they had no idea what their son and daughter had been doing all morning, unattended. 

Phil opened the lounge door and as soon as their daughter caught sight of them, she ran over to give them a morning hug. “Daddy! Papa!” She squealed and jumped up into Dan’s arms as he held them out. “Good morning, Toto!” He kissed the top of her head, her red-brown hair had not been brushed. As a matter of fact, the girl still wasn’t even dressed besides her pajamas.

The two stepped out of the doorway and sat down on the couch, Dan putting Toto between. Phil smiled at her and then looked over at his spouse, raising an eyebrow. Their teenage son hadn’t acknowledged them that morning yet. 

The teenager was curled up in the chair in front of the TV, laptop balanced on his knees. 

“Dil.” Phil said after waiting a couple more seconds. Dil looked up finally, removing his ear buds, which were blaring Fall Out Boy music rather loudly. “Ah, morning, dad, papa.” He replied. 

“How long have you two been awake?” Dan asked. Dil shrugged and glanced at the clock on his laptop. “Uhh, since about nine.” He replied. Dan smiled as he simultaneously messed with Toto. 

“And you’ve been taking care of Toto the whole morning?” He inquired. Phil was just as curious, as usually their son didn’t take that much responsibility. Dil snorted and laughed a little. “You sort of have to, when you wake up to a seven year old bouncing on the foot of your bed.” He answered.

Phil looked down at his daughter and gave her a little scowl, but it wasn’t serious. “We’ve told you, don’t jump on the bed. Especially someone else’s, you know better, Toto.” He said, but mindlessly tickled her stomach, removing all threat from his scolding. The child giggled at her dads.

Dan laughed, garnering stares from his family. “I’m sorry Phil, but even after all this time, every time you say her name while trying to reprimand her, it just sounds like a joke.” He paused to chuckle some more. “How did you even manage to give her the nickname ‘Toto’?” 

Phil smirked. “Because when we brought her home, the first thing we did to keep her calm was put on My Neighbor Totoro for her to watch, and she absolutely loved it.” He replied matter-of-factly. “And I refused to call her anything but ‘Toto’ since then, and you started doing it too.” 

Dan rolled his eyes, but smiled. Dil put his laptop aside and crossed the room, flopping down across his dads’ laps like he used to do when he was small. Dan moved their daughter so she wouldn’t get squished, and she happily sat on top of her brother’s stomach, resting back on her parent’s shoulders. 

“You know, the fact that her name is Theodora, might also contribute to her nickname being ‘Toto’. Because if not, you would have called her either, ‘Theo’, ‘Dora’, or ‘Teddy.’ And you weren’t interested in any of those.” Dil said as he stared up at Dan. 

Dan gave a small, joking pout. “But I sort of liked the name ‘Teddy’.” He stated. Phil grinned and leaned over enough to kiss Dan’s cheek. “Of course you do, Bear.” He said to him. 

Dil wrinkled his nose at how ridiculously mushy and romantic his dads could be sometimes. 

Phil looked down at him. “What, Dil, you don’t like kisses? You should probably tell your girlfriend that, Tabitha would appreciate that information.” He teased his son. Dil rolled his eyes. “No, it’s just when you kiss-” He stopped himself, that sentence would not end well in any way. 

Phil smirked. “So you don’t like kisses from me? Aww, what did your dear old ‘Pa ever do to make you feel so disgusted?” 

Phil shifted forward and slipped a hand under Dil’s head, pulling him up enough that he could give his son a kiss on the forehead. Now it was just to annoy Dil, but he would have done that at some point anyway. He let the boy drop back down, make him let out an ‘Oof!’ which caused Toto to giggle. 

Dan leaned over and whispered into Toto’s ear. “They are silly, aren’t they?” That made his daughter giggle even more. “Yeah! Very!” She replied.

Dil smiled, he didn’t mind being pulled into hugs and kissed on the forehead, or cuddling up on the couch with his family. It allowed him to continue acting like a little kid, (something his papa encouraged him to do, there wasn’t major pressure to grow up.) he was fifteen and if he were honest, he would always pick spending time with his dads and sister, over hanging out with his friends. 

Dan seemed to read Dil’s mind. “You’re getting so big, Dil. Oh God, I sound like a sappy parent...” 

Dil gave his dad one of those wide stares with his big green eyes. “You are a sappy parent.” He stated.

Dan nodded and smiled. “Yes, we are both proud, sappy parents. But really, Dil, it’s hard to remember that at one point you were a little kid, smaller than Toto is now. You don’t look like that little ball of squish we brought home, the one that couldn’t even walk properly.” 

Phil sighed as he reminisced as well. 

“I’m still small. I’m 5′9, not that big, guys.” Dil chimed in. 

Dan just sent a little glare at him. “Shush, you are ruining my cheesy moment. And you will grow some more, you haven’t hit the peak of your growth spurt, sorry to break it to you.” 

Toto looked at Phil, her brown eyes wide and curious. “Papa, will I be that big?” She asked. Phil smiled and reached over to smooth down Toto’s hair. “Maybe, my little lioness.” 

They all sat there, content with their Saturday, until Phil’s stomach rumbled. “Okay, time for cereal!” He stated and shoved Dil’s legs off his lap. He stood up, grabbing Toto and putting her on his hip to carry her into the kitchen. She was seven, but she was still so tiny that Dan and Phil couldn’t help but feel the need to constantly pick her up and carry her. Of course she exercised and played, but they couldn’t resist holding her. 

Dan wriggled out from underneath Dil’s upper body and stood up, following Phil out of the doorway. He paused and leaned back in, looking at Dil who was rolling over to get off the couch. “Come on, Blue. Let’s get breakfast.” He smiled, and Dil looked at him with just a content a smile on his face. It had always been Dan’s thing to call Dil, ‘Blue.’ It was a reference to when Dil was little and his eyes were a vibrant blue before they turned more green.