Disclaimer: I don't own Hogan's Heroes or any of it's characters, and I'm definitely not making a profit on this!
Just a little something that popped into my head one night and I had to write it down. My first fanfic story. All comments are welcome! Please read, review and enjoy!
Colonel Hogan stared at the very large brown paper wrapped package sitting on his kitchen table with apprehension. The return address read Hammelburg, Germany. What on earth was being sent to him from Germany? The war had been over for almost six months, and as he'd said to his men many times before, he'd walked out the front gates right with them by his side. He thought of them now – Carter, Le Beau, Kinch and Newkirk – they'd been with him right up until the very end. They'd gone their separate ways, then. It was a bitter sweet parting. They'd all been desperate for the war to end, but leaving each other after years in a prisoner of war camp had made them all closer than they'd ever realized. They tried to keep in touch, but they'd all needed to start their lives over again. He'd gone back to Bridgeport, and his family, wanting to forget the horrors he had seen, and yet remembering despite all of his efforts. As soon as he'd walked into the door, the phone had rang. Carter was on the line, wanting nothing but to visit with his colonel. Life was good for him in Bull Frog, North Dakota, and he'd made sure to call the whole crew as soon as he'd reached his phone. Hogan had called everyone too, making his phone bill suddenly shoot through the roof. Three months after he returned, he'd made the trip to Bull Frog, staying for a week with Carter and his family. On the way back, he'd made a detour to Detroit and saw Kinch, enjoying the hospitality of the Kinchloe household. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed his men until he'd seen the two. Carter was getting on well, enjoying his home and family. Kinch was much the same, loving life out of the military. Le Beau was happy in Paris, rebuilding his home and finding the scattered members of his family. Newkirk was living in his beloved London, sporting a few girls and looking into buying a pub of his own.
Hogan was in Connecticut trying to decide what to do with his life. He'd written to Le Beau, asking him if he knew anything about Marie, his Tiger, where she was, how she was, what she was doing. The Frenchman had heard nothing. It seemed as if she'd disappeared off the face of the earth. He'd seen her two weeks before Stalag 13 had been liberated by the Allies, but no one seemed to have heard from her since. He'd spent the last six months wondering and worrying about what to do. He loved her, and yet, he knew nothing of what had happened to her. He'd contacted everyone and anyone who might have seen her, but all to no avail. What was he supposed to do? Where would he look? She could be anywhere at all, how could he possibly find her when he didn't even know for sure that she was still in Europe? What would he find if he searched for her? There were just too many questions that he had no way of answering. His mind ran through the possibilities for her disappearance, but they always ended with the forbidden thought – she was dead. No! He thought, she couldn't be. He sighed heavily. Until it could be proven, he refused to believe it.
He turned his attention to the very large brown paper package sitting on his kitchen table. With apprehension he reached out and cut the string holding the carefully wrapped paper to the box. He reached out and opened the flap. A letter appeared first, and when he lifted it, a small, plastic Colonel stared back at him. It looked quite like him, from the leather bomber jacket to the crush cap on top of it's head and the little eagles on the shirt collar. What? He thought, Who would…? Then he remembered, the letter. He opened it quickly, scanning over the contents to the name signed at the bottom – Hans Schultz. "Schultz!" he said out loud, laughing, of course Schultz, the owner of the largest toy company of Germany! His eyes shot up, eager to read the letter written by the best friend an enemy ever had:
"Colonel Hogan,
I hope you are happy at your home. I have been working very hard here at my factory, and I hope you enjoy the little present. I made them especially for my friends of Barracks Two of Stalag 13. I sent a set to all five of you. You all were my inspiration, and I think they are quite good, ya? Please, let me know what you think, I hope you like them!"
Hogan looked back into the box, and was amazed to see the rest of his command looking up at him. He reached in his hand to pull them out. Le Beau came first, a chef's hat on his head and a miniature frying pan in one hand, filled with what looked to be strudel. Next came Kinch, holding tightly to a walkie-talkie. Carter followed with his bow and arrow. Newkirk was the last of his men, a deck of cards in one hand and a ace coming out of one sleeve. Hogan stood them up on his table, looking fondly at what was the closest knit group of men he'd ever know. How could five people, all so very different, ever have stuck together as they did? He knew the answer – they'd become a family. He looked into the box once again and surprisingly there were two figures left. The Iron Colonel of Stalag 13 came out, a monocle in his eye and a riding crop under his arm. Finally, a very round sergeant followed the rest. A chocolate bar filled one hand, and a piece of Le Beau's strudel in the other. He went to set the guard on the table with the rest when he noticed a pull string on the back. He yanked it, wondering what on earth the Schultz doll had to say.
"I know nothing!! Nothing!!" said the miniature guard, in a voice Hogan had heard every day for the past three years. He began to chuckle as he set the last figure on the table, and as he looked at the mismatched group of men in front of him, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. And once he started laughing, he couldn't stop!
"Rob? What's so funny?"
He looked up at his mother, Nancy, who seemed shocked to see her lately very quiet son laughing uproariously for the first time since he'd walked in the door. At her shocked expression, he could only laugh harder. He tipped his chair back, still laughing, and managed to fall out of it.
"Rob? Are you quite alright?" she asked, standing over her giggling son.
Pointing to the table, he could only answer, "Look ma, I'm famous!!" while still laughing like a child with a cookie.
She looked at the little men on the table, noticing them for the first time. She picked up the little colonel, noticing how closely it resembled her son when he'd come home, dressed in his uniform. She looked at the rest of the crew, and couldn't help but join her son in his laughter. Still holding her miniature son, she had to sit down in one of the chairs to stop herself from joining Robert on the floor. They laughed together until they were both weak and sore, and she realized that she hadn't heard him laugh like that since before the war, when she would hear it at least once a day when one of his little plans would get him or someone else into trouble. She hoped this was a sign that whatever had been bothering him was getting better.
When she could talk again, she could only ask, "Where on earth did these come from? They're brilliant!"
"You know that guard at the prison camp I told you about, Schultz? Well he happens to own the largest toy company in all of Germany. He thought the boys and I would enjoy them – I guess he was right!"
"But, you said he was a German! What ... ?"
"He wasn't exactly what you would call a poster child for the Third Reich, he was more a neutral than a German," he answered, still chuckling on the floor. "Read me the rest of his letter, will you, please? I don't think I can get up right now." he said with a grin, "I only made it to the end of the first paragraph."
He settled his hands under his head, stretching out and listening as his mother read the letter to him. It went on to tell about all he'd been up to since the war ended. His wife and children were well, as was his toy factory ("obviously" Hogan said.). The weather was good, and so on and so forth. It rambled on some more, and he could just picture Schultz talking to him in the barracks, trying to avoid Kommandant Klink. Then, his mother read the next part of the letter,
"Oh, by the way and before I forget – although I don't know how she would let me – there is a very beautiful young lady staying here with us. Her name is Marie."
Hogan sat up, listening closely to every word. His mother noticed his sudden attention and read on quickly,
"She wanted me to tell you that 'your tiger is still here waiting for you.' and that she will be here until your answer arrives. She is very well, and hopes that you will write soon."
She finished the last paragraph of the letter, but Hogan didn't hear any of it. Tiger was alive and well, and staying with Schultz. How on earth did that happen? It didn't matter, though, she was alive, and she was waiting for him. That was good enough for him! He grabbed the letter from his mother, rereading the last part again, making sure he hadn't dreamed it. Nancy could only now begin to guess at what had been bothering her son. Apparently he had fallen in love.
"Rob?" she asked quietly. What was he thinking? What was going through his head? Then, she saw him smile. She knew that smile, he'd worn it every time he was thinking up a new plan that would get himself into trouble. "What are you planning now, Rob?"
He looked up at her, still smiling. It was clear now what he needed to do, "Mom, I'm going back to Germany."
