A/N: So, this one-shot plot bunny scampered into my head today. I guess y'all can make your own inferences and guesses. Enjoy!

Carter, Kinch and LeBeau all stood around the object.

LeBeau pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. Carter shifted his feet. Kinch continued to silently observe it.

Finally, bursting with curiosity, Carter opened his mouth. "So what is it?"

"If we knew that, do you think we would be standing around like this?" LeBeau answered. He huffed and looked around the camp, but the guards continued to ignore a group of three prisoners just standing around.

"It looks vaguely mechanical, like it's a part of something bigger," Kinch observed.

Carter looked back down at it. "Maybe it fell off an airplane."

"Directly into camp?" LeBeau shook his head. "I think it came off the bosch's car."

"But where on a car have you ever seen something like this?" Kinch pointed out.

"Hey!" Carter grew excited. "Maybe it's part of some new kind of weapon! Maybe that's why we can't figure out what it is."

They all stared at the object.

"I don't think so," Kinch said doubtfully.

"What are you lot lookin' at?" Newkirk approached them and joined their circle. He looked down. "Oh."

"We're trying to figure out what it is," Carter explained.

Newkirk tilted his head. "I think it came out of one of Klink's dir'y magazines," he said at last.

The trio looked back at the object in a vaguely sick and repulsed manner.

"You would, wouldn't you?" LeBeau said bitterly.

Newkirk shrugged.

Kinch shifted. "If it's not actually part of something else, then this is all there is. Maybe it's a new type of grenade?"

"Is it live?" Newkirk asked, alarmed.

Kinch thought for a moment. "That would depend if it actually is a grenade."

"I think we're overcomplicating this," LeBeau said. "What if Fritz or one of the other dogs found a piece of shrapnel in the woods and ate it? Something weird like this could result."

"In that case, where's all the sh-" Kinch stepped on Newkirk's foot.

LeBeau shrugged. "Or it could just be a piece of shrapnel."

They lapsed into silence, each studying the object and thinking hard. The object continued to sit there on the ground.

"Maybe it's a bomb," Carter said.

The others protested, but took a step back.

"Did I miss a meeting?" Hogan came up behind them and casually settled into the circle. He noticed their concentrated expressions. "What's going on?"

Carter pointed at the object. "What is this, Colonel?"

"It looks like part of a machine, or a spare part" Kinch explained.

"LeBeau thinks it's something one of the dogs coughed up," Newkirk drawled. The Frenchman elbowed him. "At least mine's better than what you thought up."

"It's none of those," Hogan said suddenly. He quickly stooped down and picked it up. "It's mine," he said, pocketing it. He offered no explanation to his men as he strolled off to the barracks.

The four of them looked at each other. "So, what was it again?" Carter asked.

Hilda knew who it was as soon as the door opened. The ginger care treated to its hinges hinted that it wasn't one of the guards bullying his way through to the Kommandant. She smiled and turned around to see Hogan standing there.

"Come to see the Kommandant?" she asked sweetly.

Hogan shrugged and grinned. "Maybe later. But actually, I've come to return something." He pulled an object out of his jacket and stealthily handed it to her.

"This may have fallen out of your purse this morning?" he murmured.

Hilda blushed and quickly replaced it back in her bag. "Danke, Col. Hogan; I had no idea it was missing."

"It's alright," he dismissed. "My men found it and had no idea what it was. I got it from them before it could go too far."

Hilda blushed again. "Thank you."

Hogan turned to leave, but paused. "Hilda, if you don't mind me asking- you can refuse if it's too personal..."

"Ja?" she prodded.

"What exactly does it do?"