Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Honeymoon

By Suzie2b

The morning after their wedding Tully was called into Captain Boggs' office. He went reluctantly, figuring he, Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch were about to be sent out on an assignment.

When he got to the captain's office, he did find his three comrades there. However, it wasn't for the reason he thought.

Captain Boggs said, "I've been talking to Troy, Moffitt, and Hitchcock. We've been discussing you and the fact that there's been very little enemy movement lately." He handed Tully a folded piece of paper and smiled. "Therefore, they have talked me into granting you some time off to take your wife on a honeymoon."

Tully unfolded the document and quickly read through it. "An eight day furlough?" He looked at the captain. "Thank you, sir. This means a lot."

Troy grinned. "We arranged for a jeep to be waiting for you and Charley in the motor pool."

Tully folded the document and smiled at his three friends. "Sure you can get along without me?"

Moffitt smiled. "We'll make every effort. You and Charley just have a good time."

Hitch grinned. "See you when you get back."

Captain Boggs said, "It starts immediately … so you'd better get going."

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With Tully driving it took just over a day to get to Benghazi. It was midmorning when he and Charley checked into an inn. They spent the rest of the morning together in their room.

The next five days passed quickly for them. Charley and Tully shopped at the open market for clothes that didn't scream "army," skinny-dipped in the Mediterranean, and made love on a blanket on a secluded beach. They explored and picnicked at different spots every afternoon. They had fun eating in a different café every evening.

Day five. Charley and Tully had taken one last dip in the sea and were now cuddled up together with a blanket around their shoulders watching the sun go down.

Charley sighed as she slipped her arms around Tully and put her head against his shoulder. "I love the beach. I'm going to miss this when we go back to base."

Tully kissed the top of her head. "I've never been here except when it's been on a mission with the guys. This week has been great."

When the sun was nothing more than a faint glow on the horizon, they climbed back into the jeep and headed back to Benghazi.

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Tully woke his wife the next morning with a soft kiss on the lips. When she sighed and opened her eyes, he smiled and whispered, "Good morning, beautiful."

Charley smiled groggily and put her arms around his neck. "Is it morning already?"

Tully kissed her again. "Afraid so. How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad considering we drank four bottles of wine last night." Charley gently pulled him closer. "Are we in a hurry?"

Tully smiled. "Depends on what you have in mind."

Charley gave him a passionate kiss. "I was thinking maybe a little bit more of what we did last night."

"I have a feeling that breakfast is going to be a little late."

They left Benghazi at eleven that morning. Tully drove along the sea road so they could have one final look at the blue water and lazy waves.

It was when they turned inland that they ran into trouble. The last thing they expected was a German scout column. They had no weapons, so when guns were pointed at them, there was no choice but to put their hands in the air.

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Charley and Tully were taken to a German camp at an oasis on the edge of the desert. Together they were put before a colonel who smiled at each of them before fixing his gaze on Charley with mild surprise. "Well, so we meet again. I have missed you, my little Welpen."

Charley glared at him. "How's your head, Colonel Franke?"

Without warning he reached out and slapped her hard across the face.

Charley went down and Tully was beside her in an instant. He looked up at the colonel and suddenly realized who he was. Colonel Franke had held Charley prisoner once and didn't feel bad about beating her. Tully helped Charley to her feet and looked at her split lip. "You all right?" When she nodded, he turned and glowered at Franke.

The colonel looked at the guards and said, "Handschellen, und verriegeln Sie sie, aber nicht zusammen. Sie werden befragt."

The guards handcuffed their hands behind them and then took them to a ramshackle building where several rooms had been turned into cells. Tully was pushed into one and the door locked. Charley was taken to another, where she was locked in as well.

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Back at Ras Tanura Captain Boggs received news and immediately called the Rat Patrol into his office. "I've just received a report. The Germans have stepped up movement along our lines near Benghazi. Scouting columns have been spotted, but as yet we don't know where they're coming from." He noticed the change in expression on the three men's faces. "Private Pettigrew and his wife should have left Benghazi today. Hopefully they got out with no trouble. I need you to go out there and see what you can find."

Troy nodded. "We'll take a look and get back to you, sir."

When Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch left headquarters to go to their jeeps, Hitch said, "What if Tully and Charley ran into the Germans when they were leaving?"

Troy sighed. "If they did, we'll have to find them and bring 'em home."

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Tully tried to pull his hands free, but the cuffs were just too tight. He worried for Charley and what must be going through her mind.

As the afternoon wore on, Charley worked to free herself. The guard who had cuffed her was enough of a gentleman to leave a bit of space between her wrists and the metal cuffs. Charley twisted and pulled. After a while she was grimacing as the skin on her knuckles started to tear. However, it was to her advantage, because the blood was making the metal slippery. Finally, with one last pull, Charley gasped as her right hand slipped out of the cuff.

She looked at her bloody knuckles as she thought about Tully and figured he wouldn't be as lucky as she'd been with his handcuffs. Charley decided to think of a way out. She inspected the small room. There was a cot with no pillow or blanket and a low table with a metal pitcher on it. She checked the pitcher. It was empty. She picked it up and noticed it had a little weight to it. A plan started to formulate in her mind.

Charley began kicking and pounding on the door as she screamed, "Hilfe! Helfen Sie mir! Ich kann nicht hier bleiben! Lass mich raus!"

Tully could hear her and his heart began to pound as he wondered what was going on. Her screams and cries sounded close to hysteria. One thought went through his mind and he said to himself, "If they've hurt her in any way I will find a way to kill them all."

Charley continued until she finally heard a key in the door. She grabbed the pitcher and stood behind the door as it opened. With all the strength she had Charley threw herself against the door. It slammed against the guard and she heard him yelp. She carefully pulled the door towards her and peeked around it to see him standing there holding his nose, which was beginning to bleed heavily.

The guard looked at her and said angrily, "Was zur Hölle tust du? Sie haben meine Nase gebrochen!"

Charley swung the pitcher around and bounced it off the side of his head with a loud clang. He was unconscious before he hit the floor. She dropped the pitcher and went through the guard's pockets until she found a key that unlocked the handcuff on her left wrist before picking up the machine gun lying next to him. Then she grabbed the key out of the door lock and went to the room where Tully was.

Tully heard the key in the lock and stood up as the door opened.

Charley stuck her head in and looked at him. "You okay?"

Tully breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her. She moved quickly to free him as he asked, "Are you all right? I heard you yelling and thought…"

Charley gave him a quick kiss. "I was just trying to get the guard's attention once I got out of the handcuffs." He frowned at her bloody hand and she said, "It's just a scratch."

Tully took the gun from her and went to the door. He looked around, saw the unconscious guard on the floor with a water pitcher next to his head. Tully smiled and led the way out.

Charley and Tully managed to escape Colonel Franke's camp, but not without a lot of yelling and shooting on both sides.

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Troy made the decision to drive through the night so they could begin their recon first thing in the morning. As they were passing by a waterhole, he spotted a flickering light among the trees there and decided to check it out.

Troy was in the back manning the 50 caliber as they rolled up and spotted an American jeep in the firelight. Then they heard a voice call, "Sarge, is that you?"

Troy grinned. "Yeah, Tully, it's me."

He stood up behind the jeep. "What are you guys doing out here in the middle of the night?"

Moffitt replied, "We're headed for Benghazi. There's been a report of enemy activity in that area."

Tully nodded as Charley stood up next to him. "Yeah, they're there all right. Got caught by a German scout column on our way out."

Troy asked, "Can you tell us where they are?"

"Got a map?"

Troy spread a map on the hood of the jeep as Tully joined him and was able to also give the sergeant an idea of what they would be up against.

Moffitt went around to Charley and saw her swollen lip. "Are you all right?"

Charley smiled tiredly and showed him her bandaged hand. "Scraped up a bit, but I'm okay." She looked up at him and her smile faded. "It was Colonel Franke."

Hitch frowned. "The one that held you prisoner a while back?"

Tully put his arm around Charley's shoulders. "The very same."

Moffitt looked at the private. "How did you get out?"

"Charley was the one that broke us out. She slipped out of her handcuffs. That's how she hurt her hand. When she got the guard to open the door, she clobbered him with a metal water pitcher." Tully gave her a hug and smiled. "I'm very proud of my wife."

Charley put her arms around Tully as Moffitt grinned and said, "You have every right to be."

Troy nodded. "Okay, we know where Colonel Franke and his men are. Let's get going. We'll go into Benghazi and get some help, then hit that camp at first light." He looked at Tully. "When you two get back to base tomorrow, tell Captain Boggs what's going on."

"Right, sarge. You guys be careful out there."

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When they got back to Ras Tanura the next day, Tully took Charley to medical to have her hand attended to. As soon as Vicky and Dr. Baker were taking care of her, he gave Charley a kiss on the forehead and said, "I'm going to give that report to Captain Boggs. Wait here for me." He waited for her to nod then turned and walked away.

As Dr. Baker began to clean Charley's knuckles, Vicky looked at her split lip and said, "That must've been some honeymoon."

Charley sighed. "The honeymoon was wonderful. We ran into trouble on the way back." She hissed as alcohol was used on the raw wounds. "We got caught by a German patrol. We were in their camp for a few hours and then we left."

"Well, I'm sure there's more to the story than that." Vicky smiled. "But I'd rather hear about your honeymoon."

As Dr. Baker bandaged her hand and gave her a shot of penicillin, Charley told Vicky all about their five days of bliss.