The Truce

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 1

Troy had Hitch pull the jeep into a wadi to cool the engine. Leaping from the rear of the vehicle he pointed his weapon at the man sitting in the passenger seat.

"All right Colonel, out."

Colonel Von Reiter eyed the weapon with distain. "Do you really think that you will make it all the way back to your lines with me?"

"Maybe not Colonel," Troy answered with a grin, "but we're sure going to try."

The Colonel huffed at the reply. "Believe me Sergeant, you'll never make it. By now my people know that I am missing."

"Most likely." The sergeant agreed pleasantly.

"And what of my daughter?"

Troy glanced at the second jeep and the defiant young lady sitting next to Tully. She glared back at him, her back ramrod straight.

"I guess that depends on you." Troy responded.

"You are fighting women now?" The Colonel responded.

"No Colonel, that has not changed. We have no wish to involve women, children, or civilians. When we attacked your escort we had no idea that your daughter was with you. If we had known, we would have done things differently."

"Yet here she is." The Colonel pointed out.

Troy sighed, frustrated with the situation. "The choice is yours Colonel. We can keep your daughter with us if you wish. The thing is, as you pointed out, that could be extremely dangerous."

"And if I say no?"

"We'll take your daughter to a German base and leave her there in the care of the base commander."

"What base?"

"There is a German base about thirty-five kilometers from here. The commanding officer is a captain named Hans Dietrich. I'm sure that he would take good care of her and make sure that she is returned safely to Germany."

"And what do I have to do in return to get you to do this?" The Colonel asked with suspicion.

"Just say the word Colonel; I told you, we aren't fighting women."

Colonel Von Reiter eyed Troy, gauging how much of what the sergeant said he could believe. The American met his gaze without flinching. Finally the Colonel nodded with a glance at his daughter.

"Very well Sergeant, I wish to send my daughter somewhere safe. How will you go about it?"

Troy shrugged. "We'll keep it simple. We'll take her to the base and fly a white flag. When the Captain comes out to see what it is that we want, we'll hand your daughter over to his care."

"She won't want to go." The Colonel warned.

"I don't see where she will have a choice." Troy replied grimly.

"You don't know my daughter." The German warned in a serious tone.

Troy looked over at the girl and took note of her defiant stance. Even in the short time he had known her, she had proven to be troublesome. From the moment that they had pulled her out of the staff car, she had been difficult.

"Hitch, take the Colonel's daughter over to the shade. Make sure that she's comfortable."

Hitch nodded and climbed out of his seat. Stepping to the other jeep, he offered the Colonel's daughter his hand. She promptly slapped it away, glaring at him angrily. The blond smiled at her attempt to push him away and offered his hand again.

"Colonel, advise your daughter to cooperate." Troy growled as he watched the exchange.

"She has a mind of her own as you can see." The Colonel stated smugly. Speaking rapidly in German, he encouraged his daughter to behave and not anger their captors.

"I don't wish them to touch me." Greta Von Reiter declared as she continued to glare at Hitchcock.

"Then do as they ask." Her father advised wisely. "Don't force them to touch you. Until now they have behaved as gentlemen but do not forget who it is that you are dealing with."

Greta turned startled eyes to her father. With a quick little cry, she slid hurriedly from the seat and stepped away from the American soldier before her.

With a little bow and a flourish Hitch pointed her toward the shade. He smiled and followed a few steps behind her as she went where he indicated.

Greta pulled her skirts around her and lowered herself toward the rock in the shade. Her knees had started to buckle in preparation for sitting. She gave a little scream as Hitch reached out and gripped her arm, pulling her back to her feet. With a little tug he pulled her toward him. Greta pulled her arms in front of her chest and pounded on the American's chest with her fists. Then, lowering her head, she bit the back of one of the hands that gripped her arm.

Hitch let out a yelp and released his grip. Greta almost fell as he released her. Off balance, she stumbled as he pushed her toward her father.

Her father stepped toward her, reaching out a hand. Sobbing, she ran into his arms.

Troy had spun at the scream, taking in the scene in a glance. Raising his weapon, he growled at the Colonel to stand still. "Hitch?"

"Scorpion Sarge." The blond answered, shaking his hand. Using his boot toe, he moved the smaller rocks aside to reveal a large scorpion. With a quick stomp of his boot he squashed the poisonous specimen. "She almost sat on it."

"Check and make sure that there aren't any more."

Hitch nodded and began a systematic search of the rocks.

Greta clung to her father and watched as the enemy soldier exposed the deadly scorpion. Realizing why he had grabbed her made no difference, he had dared to lay a hand on her. Her cheeks flamed with anger and indignation. Her father patted her arm to comfort her but she continued to fume.

Hitch finished his search, finding no more scorpions. Nodding to Greta, he indicated that it was now safe to take a seat.

She crowded closer to her father and shook her head defiantly.

"Sarge?"

"Let her stand, it's her choice." Troy growled again. "Help Tully with the jeeps and then take over on guard."

"Right Sarge." Hitch nodded and quickly went to help Tully refill the radiators. Tully checked the oil while Hitch filled the gas tanks. With the jeeps ready to go, Hitch went to stand guard.

"We'll take your daughter to Captain Dietrich." Troy turned back to Colonel Von Reiter. "Maybe it would be better if you explain to her what we are trying to do. Everything will be fine as long as she behaves."

Colonel Von Reiter held his daughter close and tried to find a way to convince her to cooperate. Finally he began to speak, trying to convince her that it was for her own safety. He made it clear that he would worry constantly if he thought that she was in danger. Greta finally relented but now without protest. She didn't want to leave him. She thought that they stood a better chance of escaping if they stayed together. She wanted to remain with him and plot their escape. Her father thought otherwise. He finally convinced her that he stood a better chance if he didn't have to worry about her safety.

Moffitt returned to the jeeps and reached for a canteen. Hitch had taken his place on watch, allowing him to join Troy. He listened to the argument as he swallowed the warm liquid. He nodded as Troy indicated that he wanted to talk in private. Replacing the canteen in the jeep, he followed the other sergeant away from the jeeps while Tully watched their prisoners.

"What's going on?" Troy indicated the Colonel and his daughter.

"Fraulein Von Reiter doesn't want to leave her father. She thinks if they stay together they can find a way to escape." The British sergeant translated in a low voice. "He's insisting that she cooperate and allow us to deliver her to Captain Dietrich."

"That's one stubborn woman." Troy observed with a frown.

"That she is." Moffitt agreed with half a smile. "She could be trouble." He felt the need to warn the other sergeant.

"Yeah," Troy smiled, "She's even immune to Hitch's charm. She bit his hand after he saved her from a scorpion. Getting stung wouldn't have been pleasant for her but she still didn't show any gratitude."

"They still don't know that I speak German and I think that we should keep it that way." Moffitt advised as he watched the two Germans.

"I'm okay with that." Troy agreed. "Keep an eye on them; I need to talk to Tully and Hitch. Hitch and I will take the girl to Dietrich while you and Tully take her father back to our base. We'll let her think that you are going to wait for us here. Maybe that will make her more cooperative. With luck, once we leave her they will concentrate their search close to here and give you a better chance of getting to our lines undetected. If you are spotted I want you to run for it, don't fight. Hitch and I will catch up later."

"Right Troy, but maybe Tully and I should be the ones to deliver the girl. I can communicate with her, you can't."

"And that is why we are going to do it. Maybe you can get something out of the Colonel. If her father tells her what we are doing we won't have to talk to her. Dietrich can talk to her once we get there."

"All right old man, Tully and I can handle it."

"I know you can," Troy replied with a smile, "never had any doubt."

The two groups split up. Troy and Hitch got the girl into their jeep and prepared to head for the German base. Tully and Moffitt watched in silence as Troy and Hitch got ready to go.

"Hitch, make sure that we have something white to use as a flag. We'll let Dietrich come to us; I don't want to get too close to the base."

"Right Sarge."

"Tully, take over watch, we'll be leaving soon."

Tully nodded and rolled his matchstick with his tongue.

Troy returned to Moffitt. "Did he convince her yet?" Troy grinned at the prisoners as he kept his voice low.

"She's agreed but she's not happy about it." Moffitt replied with a smile. "Be careful around her Troy."

"As long as she behaves I don't care if she's happy or not." Troy responded. He approached the prisoners, drawing their attention. "Well Colonel, has she decided to cooperate? Do we drop her off or is she going with us?"

The Colonel eyed Moffitt suspiciously before nodding his head. "Yes, she will behave. She has expressed a desire to be left alone, no touching."

Troy nodded. "Hitch was only trying to keep her from getting stung by the scorpion. If she wants to tangle with poisonous creatures, she's welcome to it, after she is out of our hands. Make no mistake Colonel, as long as we are responsible for her, we won't let any harm come to her if it can be avoided. Now with that said, no one will touch her as long as she does what we tell her when we tell her. We won't put ourselves in danger just because she wants to be difficult. If she behaves this will be over soon and she can be as rebellious as she wants. My men will not touch her unless it is necessary, they don't manhandle women."

"Fair enough Sergeant." The Colonel nodded. "I will explain all of that to her. Hopefully all will go well."

"You do that Colonel. I won't put my men at risk to humor her." Troy warned with a growl.

"I understand Sergeant."

Greta Von Reiter continued to fume as her father explained what the sergeant had said. Her eyes flared with anger that she should be submitted to their (what she considered to be vulgar) care. She failed to see how her father could view their actions as either decent or polite. With a sullen nod, she agreed to what her father asked of her.

"She understands Sergeant. She will do as you say. I am trusting you to keep your word."

"You have our word Colonel. I'll allow you a few minutes to say your farewells."

The Colonel nodded and turned to give his daughter a fatherly hug.

Troy stood back and allowed them to have a moment of privacy.

"Troy," Moffitt approached Troy with a map in his hand. "I've plotted our course so you will know where to look for us."

"All right, show me."

The two sergeants leaned over the map as Moffitt ran his finger over the route he had chosen. "Are you sure that you want to do this Troy?" Moffitt's dark eyes glittered with concern.

Troy shrugged and glanced over at the two Germans. "We don't fight women or civilians. I don't see where we have much choice. If we take her along she could get hurt long the way. Headquarters wants her father; they didn't say anything about her. They didn't mention her in any of the briefings so I'm guessing that they didn't know that she was with him."

"This could go very wrong."

"I know that Jack," Troy sighed, "but I'm not about to start fighting women just because it's easier."

"You're right, of course," Moffitt answered, "we really don't have much of a choice. Just be careful Troy, don't take any unnecessary chances."

"Dietrich will honor the white flag. Once we turn the girl over to him we'll push hard to get clear of the base and any search parties that they send out. You and Tully will have to be alert too; we won't be there to bail you out if you find trouble."

"Understood."

"Take care Sam."

"You too!"

With a call to his driver, Troy climbed into his jeep. Hitch took the wheel and waited for the Colonel to step away. Hitting the gas, they pulled out of the wadi while the three men left behind, stood watching. Greta looked back as long as she could see her father.