Canon : Events take place not long after Episode #144, Klink's Escape (last episode with Sergeant Kinchloe).

My Stories : LeBeau, Newkirk and Kinch first teamed up in 'The Beginning Foundations' - Colonel Hogan started the Heroes in 'Fetherston vs. Newkirk' - Andrew Carter joined the team and the OC Alastair Spencer was introduced in 'The New Guy'

Should Auld Acquaintance

London. Part of him still didn't believe he was here. Part of him didn't want to be here. He shook his head at his own thoughts. Who could have imagined that a man could actually miss a prisoner of war camp?

But he did miss it. Well, not the camp itself, but his friends. Especially the two he'd known the longest and was the closest to – Peter Newkirk and Louis LeBeau. Louis had called them Les Trois Mousquetaires. And that had fit. For awhile, it had been the three of them against all comers. Then Colonel Hogan had arrived followed by Andrew Carter. With the five of them plus some extra helping hands now and again from other prisoners, they made a difference. He was sure that they'd made a difference. But now, that was all in his past. After living on adrenaline for so long, how would he ever adjust to being a civilian again? But he had to. He had to take care of his mother. Much as he hated to leave behind a job half-finished, she needed him. The Allies had more men. His mother had only one son.

He double checked the name of the pub. The Prospect of Whitby. Yes, the right place. He felt a little self-conscious about going in until he saw a face he hadn't seen in over a year, but would never forget. The man's still boyish face lit up as he hurried over, hand already extended in welcome.

"James Kinchloe, I can't tell you how good it is to see you again. How are Peter, Andrew and the rest of the blokes?"

"Alastair Spencer, good to see you as well. You know, we all really appreciated those letters and packages from you. Everyone was great last I saw them."

The look of passing sadness that was in Sergeant Kinchloe's eyes didn't escape notice and Alastair quickly led the man to the stairs.

"We've got a room upstairs waiting. Give us a bit of privacy. We've cleared it. We can all speak freely in there."

Two other men were already waiting in the upstairs room and rose to their feet immediately to greet Kinch when he came in. A smile formed as one of the voices struck him as very familiar.

"You're the voice of Goldilocks that I spoke to over the radio."

"And you were the voice of Papa Bear's operation. I've always wanted to meet the man behind the mike. Conrad Feldsmith here."

"James Kinchloe. This is a real pleasure, Mister Feldsmith."

"Oh, please, just Conrad. We've known each other long enough for first names, eh?"

"I tend to go by Kinch more than by my first name myself, but you're welcome to use either."

The other man offered his hand next.

"Liam Connolly. I was the man that coordinated the pickups for the men that you and your team kept out of German hands."

There was something about the man's accent that caught Kinch's attention.

"You aren't English, are you?"

Smiling, Liam shook Kinch's hand a bit more firmly.

"You've a good ear there. Irish born and bred. My country may be neutral, but by God, I am not. I must congratulate you that the whole Papa Bear program has far exceeded the most optimistic of expectations. You were one of the founding members, weren't you? There from day one."

That got a chuckle from Kinch.

"There from before day one actually."

"Three of the five in the core group were there before Hogan went in. You think what they've done sounds impressive? I got to see them in action and you couldn't ask for a better team of men to have in your corner."

"We all thought highly of you as well, Alastair. Not everyone can keep a calm head and their wits the way that you did."

"So, is it really true that two of your blokes just walked up to Jerry and took Alastair here from under their noses?"

"Sure was, Conrad. That was Peter and Andrew on that mission."

Alastair laughed at the memory.

"They most surely did startle me. There I was in the middle of Germany without a soul around that I knew and suddenly, there's another 'prisoner' – an officer in an RAF uniform I know I've never seen in my life. Before I know it, he's calling out to me like he's known me for ages and calling me Bramwell. Thank heavens for those expressive eyes of his."

Leaning in with obvious interest, Liam joined in.

"What do you mean by that? I must confess, I've only heard this story third hand until now."

"It's not easy to explain, but he couldn't just tell me what was going on. Not with German guards all around me. Yet somehow? When our eyes met, those green eyes of his told me as plain as anything to play along and so I did."

They all paused their conversation as snacks and drink were delivered to the room.

"I hope I managed to get something you'll like."

"Looks great, Alastair. Thanks."

After the door was shut again, they began to eat and the conversation resumed.

"Well, back to the tale, lads. Nothing I could say would really do what Peter and Andrew pulled off that day justice. I would have sworn Andrew was actually German and that Peter had gone through school with the offspring from the House of Lords."

"And?"

Kinch just smiled as he thought back to his friends and their gifts of mimicry.

"Andrew's from the American mid-west and Peter's from the East End."

"True enough. He's pure cockney through and through and proud of it. Now there's a man that has a silvered tongue. Wind him up and he wouldn't sell you the Tower Bridge. He'd sell you the reflection of it in the water and make you think you got a bargain to boot."

"But the American lad? That's remarkable. Does all of your core group speak German?"

"They do now. That was one of the Colonel's first priorities. We didn't have to speak like natives, but we had to understand and be understood when we needed to be."

"Kinch here speaks French as well. That's why I recommended him."

Kinch's head turned toward Alastair and he gave him a puzzled look.

"Recommended me? But -"

Alastair held a hand up to stop Kinch.

"Please, before you say anything more, hear me out. I know Hogan and the crew faked your death so that you could leave the Stalag without wrecking the perfect record there. And I know you requested a hardship discharge due to your Mum's condition. But let me be quite frank. Men with your talents and of your caliber? Mighty rare, Kinch. Especially in these trying times. We want you working with us. In exchange, we'll set you up a flat in a small city a bit north of here for your Mum. It will be near one of the top specialists on her disease in the world. It's a peaceful area well away from the London bombings. She'll have top-notch care plus you'll be within easy visiting distance. Best of all from our point of view, you'll still be a part of the Stalag 13 network, only working at it from this end."

There was absolute silence as Kinch digested everything Alastair had said. It would take care of so many of his worries about his mother. He knew the kind of care she was likely to need just wasn't going to be available to her in Detroit, even if he could afford it. Swallowing, he gave a brief nod.

"I'll have to discuss this with my mother, of course."

He stopped speaking again when he realized the three were smiling at him again. Liam cleared his throat.

"She's waiting to have supper with you. We offered to bring her over and she accepted so she didn't have to wait as long to see you. We've already spoken to her about the basics. Oh, not the sort of work you'd be doing, of course. Just that we were looking for a man with your qualities. If you two decide this deal isn't for you, then we'll fly you both back to the States with no hard feelings. Go on. Alastair will take you there and we'll be waiting here for your decision. We have other business to attend to while we're here, so don't feel you have to rush.

It was an hour before there was a light knock at the door and Kinch re-entered the room.

"I just have a few questions. If you can answer them, I can give you an answer to your question."

"Fire away."

"Will I still be discharged from the service? I want to be free of that obligation in case Mom takes a turn for the worse and wants to go back home."

"Yes. In fact, we'd prefer that. Our group is answerable to very few. Papa Bear isn't the only multi-national team we provide support for, though he is the most established as well as the most successful. Next?"

"London's still under siege, If anything happens to me, I don't want it to affect the care my Mom is getting."

"I've spoken with my own Mum. She's agreed to sign the papers to become your mother's guardian in regards to financial matters and the agreement covers that your mother will receive any and all medical treatment she needs. She's also going to have a live-in nurse at the flat since you won't be able to be there all of the time. Next?"

"I want to be kept abreast on my team. How they're doing."

"You will be. And as I said before, you'll still be working in tandem with them. Just from here. Anything else?"

"One more thing. The place where Mom is going to be living sounds like it will be a bit too far for a daily commute. Where would I be staying?"

Liam raised his hand.

"If you accept, I was thinking you could bunk with me. My flat is plenty big enough for a pair of bachelors. And there's enough space between the bedrooms that if either of us get lucky with a bird, we won't disturb the other."

The silence was total for a minute before Alastair ventured again.

"Well?"

KInch looked over the three and spoke softly.

"I accept."

There followed much back-slapping, hand shaking and other welcoming. Kinch had a week to himself to get his mother settled, meet with her doctor and her live-in nurse and just spend long overdue time with her. Then he got settled in with Liam and found the Irishman to be a very congenial roommate. Liam was a bit of an outsider in London himself and Kinch found himself counting yet another unlikely man as a brother to the point that Liam would often accompany him on his weekend visits to his mother.

Kinch's talent for both languages and mimicry had him busy from the start. And if after that, Hogan found it a little easier to get the supplies and medications that he needed to keep the operation running smooth? Just a side benefit in Kinch's book.

Humming to himself as he made arrangements for better radio gear to be delivered to the Colonel, Kinch thought ahead to when the war would finally be over and the Heroes brought to London to be debriefed. Just thinking about the looks on all of their faces when they saw him again brought a smile to his face. He and Alastair already had it planned. They'd all go to the pub together - the Goldilocks team and the Papa Bear team - and make a toast.

To peace and to one another.