A/N: I don't own Hogan's Heroes and I don't get paid for this; it is truly a labor of love.
"D-Day at Stalag 13" through Lilli von Scheider's eyes, with missing scenes added. Included are lines of dialogue from the episode.
It was done. She paid the greengrocer with a smile, picked up her market-bag, and went out into the busy Berlin street. As she left the little market, she thought of the carefully coded message she had tucked into the handful of crumpled marks.
Would her information have any effect? She had no way to find out. For years she had risked everything to pass on her little messages to England, and she had no way of knowing if they had even been received.
No response in over three years. Not one. Not since she had married Karl.
Three years ago she had met Karl; he was a kindly widower, and she was lonely, and he offered a measure of security in a world gone mad. He was also one of der Führer's most trusted generals, and obviously a potential source of information. So when he gallantly asked her for her hand in marriage, she accepted, not realizing what it would mean to betray the person who trusted you above all others. And, perhaps naïvely, not realizing that her action would create distrust with her handlers at Allied headquarters.
But she continued to send information to England. Every casual remark her husband and his colleagues made was noted and sent along, with a grim sense of trying to do her best for the Allied cause, even if the Allied cause seemed unaware of her existence.
She did not know why she had talked Karl into allowing her to accompany him to the meeting of the General Staff at Stalag 13. If her message had reached London and was being acted upon, it was a possibility that Stalag 13 might soon become a very dangerous place to be. What if the Allies bombed it, counting the loss of their own men worth the blow to the Third Reich?
But she was determined to go anyway.
...
At Stalag 13, the effusive Colonel Klink ushered her and her husband into a tidy apartment in one of the camp buildings.
"Well, here we are! I do hope you find my quarters satisfactory, Herr General...Frau von Scheider."
She glanced casually into a bedroom, and looked back over her shoulder at Klink's implied question. "Yes, it will do."
Klink smiled, and gestured around the room. "Now, as you can see, I myself live in Spartan bachelor simplicity..."
Karl turned to him and said with a touch of impatience, "They will do, Klink, they will do." He walked over to his wife and looked at her anxiously as he took her coat from her shoulders. His voice was apologetic as he said, "The staff is waiting for me, Lilli."
"I shall manage, Karl," she assured him, and then busied herself with the wine decanter as Klink claimed Karl's attention once more.
"Herr General, shall we go to my office?"
"I shall go," Karl said politely, but with finality.
"Of course, of course!" said Klink. "I wouldn't think of intruding."
"Good," said Karl. He came close to his wife and said gently, "I'll be back soon, Lilli."
She did not turn to face him; she could barely bring herself to speak. "Goodbye, Karl."
He said nothing further, but she could sense his bewilderment and hurt over her cold tone and withdrawn behavior. As she gazed unseeingly into her glass of wine, she heard Klink's voice say in parting, "Frau von Scheider," and the door closed behind the two men.
Almost as soon as they had left, there was a scraping noise on the other side of the room. She watched with a sort of astonished detachment as the parlor stove slowly slid to one side, revealing a hole in the floor. And then a man emerged from the opening, a handsome man, with black hair, wearing an American bomber jacket with eagles on the shoulders.
She said, with wry amusement, "If you are trying to escape, Colonel, you will need a much better sense of direction."
"It's adequate, thanks." The Colonel climbed out of the opening and got to his feet. "But there is something else you can help me with."
She raised her brows mockingly. "Oh? And why should I help you?"
He fixed her with an intense gaze. "Because I know who you are...and what you are."
She stepped back involuntarily, her amusement gone. So her message had gotten through to London, and this was her answer. Anger welled up in her, unbidden. So long, so long it had been since she had any word from London. She went to the window, trying to hide her reaction from the Colonel, and then turned back to him. "Who told you?"
He said nothing, but stared intently at her.
"Never mind," she said. "What's important now is, how up to date is your information."
The Colonel looked as though he were trying to keep a rein on his temper. "I wouldn't know."
Her own anger spilled over. "You are my first contact in over three years."
"It was for your own protection," he said.
"I didn't need protection," she burst out. "I needed contact. Have you any idea what happens to a woman in three years?" She lowered her eyes. "He loves me, you know."
The Colonel was standing close behind her now, and his voice was puzzled. "Yet you kept sending information."
Her anger came to the surface again. "With no reply. None!"
He sighed, and then he spoke again, in a tone that brooked no argument. "Look, whatever the past three years have been, what matters to me is now. I'm working on a plan to immobilize the General Staff. I'm making them think that Hitler is replacing von Scheider with the most incompetent colonel in the Wehrmacht, just to bring the Army to heel."
She cast an unbelieving glance at him. "How bizarre." She drew out a cigarette and sat down in one of the parlor armchairs.
He gave her a half-smile. "I'm noted for that." He moved across the room and sat down on the sofa, facing her. "The colonel that's taking his place is Klink...which makes it even more bizarre."
She said, "But you are a prisoner of war! How can you make such things happen?"
"That's why I need the help." He leaned forward, his eyes fixed on her face. "They told me not to get in touch with you unless I had to. And I had to. Now, are you in...or out?"
She stared at him, a million different things jostling in her heart and mind. "After all this time, I am to help with this crazy scheme which has no possibility of realization?"
His gaze never left her face. "It's up to you."
Then she smiled. "For laughs...yes."
He smiled back, relieved. "Thanks. You'll have a million."
The Colonel explained how he wanted her to carefully prime von Scheider with a rumor of Klink replacing him as Chief of Staff. "I want to create uncertainty among the General Staff, enough uncertainty so they will not take immediate action when they receive the news."
She raised her brows. "The news?" Then she lifted a hand in apology. "Never mind, I can guess. The General Staff is here to discuss the impending invasion, after all."
...
At lunchtime she watched Karl as he stared at his Sauerbraten. So often she would have to remind him to eat before his food got cold, he would be so absorbed in the problems of the day. And today his problems were about to become much bigger.
"A strange thing, Karl," she said casually as she poured him another glass of wine. "Rumors, you know..."
He looked up at her. "Rumors?"
She gave a light laugh. "I am sure you will be amused. It is quite ridiculous, really. But I overheard two of the guards talking...and then I spoke with Frau Bruner and she mentioned it as well..."
He reached out and took her hand. "Lilli...please, what were these rumors?"
She took a deep breath. Karl had always respected her opinion, and she must make this absurd story sound believable. She said bluntly, "It is a new idea of der Führer. You know that he has never paid proper attention to the advice of his military staff. It is said that he intends to replace you with a man whom he can trust to obey his orders without question. A man whose incompetence will make him a perfect yes-man."
Karl's dark eyes blazed. "And just who is this perfect yes-man?"
She held his gaze without faltering. "Colonel Klink."
He threw his napkin down on the table and got to his feet, his lunch forgotten.
"Klink! Of course: the perfect sycophant! The ideal choice of a man who..." He caught himself just in time, but she was not deceived; he had never been able to conceal his contempt for Hitler from her.
She kept her tone light, but she watched him closely as he prowled the small room. "Only a silly rumor, I am certain, my dear. But, Karl, you will remember this, when you meet with the rest of the General Staff? Sometimes rumors can have consequences..."
"Ja, ja."
She added, "I will call a friend of mine in Berlin to see if the rumors have reached there, and I will contact you in Colonel Klink's office with what I find out; perhaps that will help clarify things."
He looked at her, his temper still simmering, and then nodded. "Please do so, my dear. As you say, a silly rumor, but we should look into this." Then he smiled, and she knew he was pleased at her apparent concern for him. He crossed the room and took her hand in his, and then kissed it. "Thank you, Lilli."
After he left she waited precisely ten minutes, then she rang through to Klink's office and asked for General von Scheider. When Karl came to the phone, she said without preamble: "The rumor has reached Berlin. Colonel Klink is Herr Hitler's choice to replace you."
The chagrin in his voice came clearly across the line. "Klink! Impossible...goodbye, Lilli."
She replaced the receiver and sat staring at it for a long time.
...
The General Staff congregated in the parlor about an hour later, and she served them drinks and then withdrew to one side, listening.
Karl was at his most commanding, and his most persuasive. It was evident that after the visit by Major Lindenfelder of the Gestapo, the others were convinced that der Führer had made his ridiculous choice, and Karl was no longer Chief of Staff. Yet Karl somehow managed to remind them of all they had achieved together, and how necessary it was that they stand firm in the face of this disastrous development.
Particularly with an invasion surely pending...
She had been convinced that Hogan's plan was too bizarre to succeed, and yet this turn of events threw her into a panic. As soon as the men returned to Klink's office, assuring each other of their intent to ignore Hitler's command, she went to the parlor stove and pushed it aside. The opening in the floor wasn't large, but as she peered down it seemed very deep indeed. She took a deep breath, and awkwardly descended into the unknown.
The crude ladder seemed to go on forever, but eventually she reached the bottom, and found herself in a tunnel, dimly lit by oil lamps. Not knowing which way to turn, she set off down one of the side tunnels.
"Madame!"
It was the little Frenchman who had served lunch to her and Karl earlier. She smiled uncertainly, and said, "I must see Colonel Hogan."
He looked doubtful, but he said, "I will take you to him, madame."
She followed him down the narrow corridor until they reached an area where the murmur of voices could be heard.
"Wait here, madame."
He disappeared around the corner, and shortly Colonel Hogan appeared, looking at her with a question in his eyes.
"I am sorry to come here," she said, "but I had to see you."
His preoccupation was obvious, but he said, "All right, what is it?"
She tried to keep her voice calm, but the anxiety she felt came through all too clearly. "The plan will not work. My husband..." she caught her breath, and continued, "Von Scheider has managed to rally them. They will not step down, even if they are convinced the order comes from Hitler himself."
"You let us worry about that," he chided. "Now, you were to stay with him, keep him off balance, keep him from checking it out."
Frustrated, she tried to make him understand. "But it will not work! I have been his wife for three years, I know him!"
Hogan frowned. "That's another thing. We have orders to get you back to England. Your assignment in Germany is finished...they want to start using what you've learned."
She stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. For years she had not thought beyond the present...she could not allow herself to do so. And now...
"Just like that? I am to pick up and to leave?"
"Maybe you'd rather stay?"
Stunned, she said slowly, "No...but I am a human being. Surely you can understand that."
Hogan said grimly, "Right now, I've got time to understand just one thing...we've got a thousand ships crossing the Channel ready to hit the French beaches. And I've got work to do." He turned his head. "LeBeau? Get her to Klink's office." Turning back to her, he said, "We're gonna make a phone call to there in five minutes. You may be right about von Scheider, but we're betting the other way."
Blinking, she allowed LeBeau to take her by the arm, and soon she was climbing back up the ladder to Klink's quarters. She emerged from the opening in the floor and pushed the stove back into place. Then she went to the mirror and quickly ran a comb through her hair, and carefully reapplied her lipstick.
It was time. She went resolutely to the door that communicated with Klink's office and opened it.
Karl didn't notice her at first. He was concluding a conversation on the phone, and handed the receiver to Klink. "The Führer wishes to speak to you."
"Me?" said Klink, awe evident in his voice. He clicked his heels as he spoke into the phone. "Yes, mein Führer!...oh, I love to follow orders, mein Führer! Almost any orders! Especially your orders!"
There was a pause, and then Klink said, "Perfectly! Thank you, sir. I shall do my best to justify the great confidence you've shown in me...shut up and put on von Scheider." He handed the phone off to von Katz, who gave it to Karl.
She watched from the doorway as Karl spoke on the phone. He said, incredulously, "Kommandant of Stalag 13?", and then his expression changed as he met her eyes across the room. His voice changed as well as he said with real gratitude, "Thank you. Thank you, mein Führer."
She stared back at him for a moment, and the realization of what might have been - and what could never be - swept over her. Then she got herself in hand, and went out the door without looking back.
...
She packed her small suitcase swiftly, and dropped it into the parlor floor opening, following sedately down the ladder, and taking care to pull the lever below that returned the stove to its normal position.
Then she hurried down the tunnel to the radio room, where the atmosphere was one of restrained excitement.
The Negro radioman said to Colonel Hogan, with a smile of deep satisfaction, "That's it, Colonel. I just told London that Jerry won't be moving any reinforcements for a while."
The little Frenchman said, "Colonel, I'd like to volunteer for service with the invading forces."
"Request denied," replied Hogan with a smile. "Although I know how you feel." He looked up and smiled at Lilli. "Right now I want you to take Frau von Scheider to her rendezvous with the submarine. She's headed for England."
She said goodbye and good luck to Hogan's men, and turned to go. At the base of the ladder she paused and looked at Hogan.
"It was a brilliant operation, Colonel. Bizarre, but brilliant."
He smiled. "Have a safe trip."
She smiled back. "Thank you. Goodbye."
He cleared his throat. "Ah, any farewell messages?"
She looked at him, thinking inconsequentially how kind his eyes were, and hoping that her lips weren't trembling.
"No. Because I leave no one behind." She smiled again briefly, and then turned to climb the ladder to freedom, and a whole new life. But her vision was blurred and her throat was tight.
Oh, Karl. Oh, my love...goodbye.