A/N: Well, where have I been? Posting another story again! College has had me sucked up to pieces this semester! Many, many essays and projects, but that's what being an English major is all about! Hope you enjoy this read, especially to all my Newkirk lovers out there. Major Newkirk angst in this one! :)

Chapter 1:

It was a little after 9:00PM. Down in the tunnels beneath barracks two, Colonel Robert Hogan was in the radio room sitting at the table. It was his night for radio duty and was hoping to get a message from either London or the underground for an assignment. There had not been any recently, and the men were starting to get restless sitting around with nothing to do. Hogan's men, Corporals Newkirk and LeBeau and Sergeants Kinchloe 'Kinch' and Carter were getting irritable and quite frankly, Hogan himself was getting a bit tired of having nothing to do with his life. He had read just about every Sherlock Holmes novel in his collection again and could not stand to look at another book anymore. Never did he think he would grow one day sick of reading.

With his legs kicked up on the table and his back leaning against the wall, Hogan sat there silently flipping through a German magazine Kinch kept with a pile of other ones in the tunnels. The colonel sighed heavily as he flipped through another page reading an article on the Rise of Hitler in 1933. Lost in his world, he almost did not hear the radio when it started crackling.

"Vulture to Papa Bear, Vulture to Papa Bear, come in, Papa Bear," the voice said.

Hogan fumbled with the magazine and almost automatically grabbed the headset.

"Papa Bear to Vulture, read you loud and clear," Hogan said.

"I just got word from Blue Wing in Hammelburg. There's apparently an abandoned munitions site over there that's being considered to be put back into operation. We were wondering if you could help an agent of ours, Rotes Hemd, blow it up before the Germans get a chance to operate it."

"Not a problem at all, Vulture. When do you want us to meet?" Hogan asked, grinning

"Tomorrow night. Meet at the usual rendezvous area, and Rotes will take you from there."

"Will do. I'll have one of my men and I come along. We'll bring the explosives."

"Knew I could count on you, Papa Bear."

"Papa Bear out." Hogan ended the call and took off the headset. He rose from his seat and stretched out his aching back. War was making an old man out of him. He made his way to the ladder and climbed up into the barracks. He found Kinch, Newkirk, Carter, and LeBeau, sitting around the table playing poker. At the moment, it was Carter winning the game.

Kinch looked up quickly from his cards towards his commanding officer.

"Hear anything from London, sir?" He asked.

"No, but I did hear from the underground. There's a munitions site that the Germans want to restore. Our job is to demolish it before they get a chance." Hogan answered. He turned to look at his demolitions expert. "Carter, you think you can have about four bombs ready by tomorrow night?"

"Easy, Colonel! I'll have the best looking bombs you've ever seen!" Carter cheered.

Hogan smirked.

"I'm sure they'll be great." He then turned to Newkirk. "Newkirk, you wanna come along and help?"

"Would be honored, sir. I'll get that job done in no time." The Englishman answered confidently.

"Good. You and I will meet an underground agent named Rotes Hemd tomorrow evening at the usual rendezvous spot."

"What do you want me to do, Colonel?" LeBeau asked, eager.

Hogan frowned.

"Sorry, LeBeau. You and Kinch are gonna have to sit this one out. We already have three people on the job."

LeBeau hung his head down and sighed.

"Maybe next one, Louis," Kinch said, smiling.

"You're right, mon ami," LeBeau answered softly.

Carter looked down at his hand and beamed.

"Hey! I win!" He cheered.

Newkirk threw his hand in annoyed.

"I knew I should've put out me 7." He grumbled.

"Newkirk, making the wrong move in poker?" Kinch gasped, amused. His was grinning from ear to ear. Seeing Newkirk make a wrong move in cards was like seeing Major Hochstetter be friendly to others.

"Very funny, mate," the Englishman said sarcastically.

Hogan could only chuckle.

"They'll be other games, Newkirk," the Colonel said warmly.

"There better be. I want me title as 'Poker Champ' back again." Newkirk hissed. He turned his head slightly and shook his head ashamed of himself.

"You should be worried about this assignment for the moment."

The Englishman sighed heavily.

"You're right, sir," he said, under his breath.

"When do you want me to start working on those bombs, Colonel?" Carter asked.

"Right now if possible," Hogan said.

"You got it, boy! Sir," Carter said, quickly correcting himself. He rose from his seat, banged on the fake bunk bed, and quickly made his way down to his chemistry laboratory.

Once he was gone, Hogan sat down where his demolitions expert had once been and let out a deep breath of air.

"Oh, this war's making me old," Hogan grumbled, rubbing his lower back.

"You are anything but old, Colonel," LeBeau said proudly.

The Colonel smirked.

"Don't feel like it, but thank you, LeBeau."

"You got a plan on how we're gonna do it tomorrow night, sir?" Newkirk asked, turning to Hogan.

"I'm still thinking, but I'll debrief with you as soon as I have things all figured out." Hogan replied.

"I'll be here when yah need me, Gov."

"You get any information on what this guy looks like, Colonel?" Kinch asked.

Hogan shook his head.

"No, just his code name was all Vulture gave me."

"What was it again? Rod something?" Newkirk asked.

"Rotes Hemd. It's German for 'Red Shirt'."

"Weirdest code name I've ever heard."

"Wonder why they gave him that name," LeBeau wondered.

"Ran out of fairy-tales and animals to dub them as?" Kinch suggested.

"Ha ha, very funny."

Newkirk rolled his eyes then looked back at Hogan.

"There a specific time we need to meet Rotes Hemd tomorrow night?" The Englishman asked.

"We're supposed to meet him tomorrow night at the regular rendezvous place at 2130 hours," Hogan said.

"Got it, sir."

Hogan smiled, nodded, then he got up from his spot and went into his room.

Newkirk sighed and went back to his cards.

Kinch and LeBeau saw a subtle hint of nervousness in his eyes.

"You alright, Pierre?" LeBeau asked, concerned.

"You seem a bit worried," Kinch said, crossing his arms.

"I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?" Newkirk asked, surprised. The last thing he needed was his two best friends worrying over him.

"I know something's up, Newkirk. You got that look in your eye that says it." Kinch prodded, his hands shuffling cards unconsciously.

Newkirk sighed heavily, while tapping his fingers on the tabletop. He knew the sergeant would not give up until he cracked.

"Just going out on a sabotage mission with just the Gov'nor and I. Andrew's always the one to come along with one of us. Having it just be the two of us...I don't know." The Englishman answered.

"You're worried something wrong will happen?" Kinch asked, knowing the answer.

Newkirk sighed.

"Yeah, mate," he said softly.

"Trust me, mon ami. You and mon Colonel will do just fine! He wouldn't have picked you if he didn't think you were fit for the job." LeBeau replied, with encouragement.

"I hope you're right, Louis," Newkirk said, to himself. "I hope you're right."

The next day came and went quickly. It was soon nighttime, and Hogan and Newkirk snuck out of camp with ease as usual. They got to their usual meeting spot and waited for Rotes Hemd to show up.

The night was cool, but not cold. They stood in an open area surrounded by several trees in the forest. There were a few boulders and a couple tree stumps scattered here and there. The sky was cloudy and the moon was almost impossible to make out. As calm as he appeared, Hogan was slightly anxious regarding the fact it would be difficult to see tonight.

Newkirk was carrying a small black bag that held the bombs and timers Carter had made and gave them to use on the munitions site. For some reason, he was a bit anxious tonight. Perhaps it was the fact that for once it had been just him and Hogan on a sabotage mission. Usually Carter came along for these assignments, but with all the patrols around the area recently, Hogan wanted as little of his men involved as possible. Newkirk had been chosen known for his quick fingers and stealth.

The Englishman quickly turned to look at Hogan then back in front of him.

"What do you think this guy looks like?" Newkirk asked.

"He'll be wearing a red shirt. That's all I know," Hogan said softly. He was scanning the area carefully trying to watch for anyone coming their way. He had to be cautious knowing that there were Gestapo patrols roaming the area currently. Extra patrols had been sent out ever since a recent murder of one of the Gestapo men that worked for Major Hochstetter. They suspected that the culprit worked for the underground or was a traitor of the Third Reich. Even Hogan himself did not know what had happened other than what Klink had told him. It had been easy to sneak it out of him with his several methods of conning the man. In fact, he was sure that not even Klink himself knew much regarding the matter.

The two of them heard a sudden rustle coming from the bushes. They quickly snapped to the right and had their pistols ready at hand.

"Don't make any noises," Hogan warned softly.

Newkirk nodded.

"Right, Gov," he replied, just as quietly.

A few seconds later, a man in a red long sleeved shirt and black pants appeared from the bushes. He had black hair and brown eyes. He had a gun pointed at both Newkirk and Hogan and looked beyond them to see if there was not any German guards around. Satisfied, he lowered his gun slightly and turned to look at both prisoners.

"You Papa Bear?" He asked softly.

Hogan nodded.

"I am. This is my assistant, Night Hawk," Hogan said, in a hushed tone.

The man put his gun away and made his way closer to the American.

"I'm Rotes Hemd. Vulture told me he sent you two." Rotes answered.

"Nice to meet you," Hogan said friendly.

The two of them exchanged handshakes, then Rotes did the same thing with Newkirk.

"Pleasure to meet you, mate," Newkirk said, grinning.

"As to you as well," Rotes said.

Hogan looked down at his watch.

"Alright. The munitions site is four miles from here. If we start now, we should get there by midnight."

"Which way shall we go, sir?" Newkirk asked.

Hogan lifted his head from his arm and scanned the area quickly before pointing towards west.

"That way," he said.

Following the colonel, Newkirk and Rotes tagged along behind him, and the three of them began their trek towards their destination.