Disclaimer: Brilliant characters are not mine. I adore them, so I wanted to use them in a story. Simple as that.

A/N: Oh, boy. That must be the longest chapter I've ever written in one go. So, I'm afraid it's boring... Please, tell me if it is! And Utivich might be a trifle OOC, but hopefully it doesn't stand out too much. Some Nazi slaughtering in the chapter...

Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them. They, no matter how simple, always brighten the day. They help. So, thanks, really.


Hertz yawned and immediately shook his head to clear it. No sleeping during the night watch. He knew the responsibility he had, as the only one awake. Everyone had their turns, but regardless of the countless times he had had the job, he felt the pride and stress every single time. Night was the best time for the enemy to strike and the fire had to be kept alive. The night watcher had to keep his senses working their fullest. So Hertz straightened his back, brushed the loose strands off his forehead and took the hardest possible expression on his face. He concentrated fully on his surroundings, not letting a single falling leaf go unnoticed.

He heard something shift behind him. He swallowed hard and tensed. It had to be just a bird or something. Yeah, just a bird… But maybe he should check. Before he had the time to turn, he heard that something move just a meter away from him. He jumped up from where he had been sitting and whirled around while doing so. Unfortunately, he was no ballerina. Half way up, he lost his balance and started falling. He barely managed to stifle a yelp when someone grabbed the front of his shirt. He stared at that someone with widened eyes. It was Utivich.

"PC…PF…PCF Utzivi…" Hertz stuttered breathlessly as the other man grimaced. "Stop", he hissed. "Be quiet, there's no need to wake the others." And no need to rape my name like that either, a note he left unsaid.

Hertz nodded. Utivich frowned at him. What was that guy anyway, a man or a shrimp of some sort? It was hard to believe that the man, who was currently hanging in his grip, was someone Ellie had chosen to be a part of the team. Utivich seriously started to doubt her sanity. And his, for that matter.

Hertz finally regained some control over his legs and stood up. Utivich let go of his shirt, lifted his gun from the ground and sat down by the fire.

"You're free to go to sleep… It's my turn", he said. Hertz nodded again shakily, and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, sir."

Utivich stared after him as he crawled under his blanket, to sleep. Unbelievable guy… What in the world made him so nervous? He was, without a doubt, one of the strangest guys Utivich had ever met.

After a while of uneventful fire-poking shift, Utivich could hear a sound of an engine getting closer. He froze for a second and just listened to make sure he wasn't mistaken. No, the noise kept coming closer. He shot up and hurried to wake Ellie.

"You sure?" she asked, fully awake after Utivich's brief explanation. The man nodded. "Listen."

She slowly nodded her head. She could hear it, too. She took her green military cap and somehow tamed her long hair under it. Then she kicked Donny sharply. "Every one up, now. We have work to do."

Donny stirred with a groan and forced himself up. He managed to get on his feet. "What's up?"

"Someone's coming. We ought to give that someone a little welcomin' party."

Donny's face lightened up and it didn't take long for the team to be ready to go.

The Basterds hid in the bushes either side of the road. They had camped within a couple of hundred feet from it, just to hear if someone happened to pass by. It seemed like they had made the right decision. There was a car and a truck nearing them rather slowly. They could hear yelling and laughing in German. Donny, who was crouched next to Ellie, patted her shoulder lightly.

"What's the plan?" he asked. Ellie signed him to lean closer and briefed him on her plan. He grinned and chuckled silently. "I thought you said you weren't much of a planner."

Ellie shrugged and smiled a bit. "I ain't. This is woman's logic."

The green car, decorated with a swastika on it's side, was almost there and it was time for Ellie to execute her master plan.

Adelbert Bachman was tired but pleased. The Nazi patrol's drive had been peaceful so far - the edge of the forest was close, and the sun would rise soon. He had been a little nervous to go to the woods, where the American Nazi-killers had once roamed free. Not like he had really believed all the stories about them, oh no. He was too clever to buy such stupid scary tales. Besides, the leader of the so called Basterds, Aldo the Apache, had been captured. So, no need to worry, right? Still, it was rumored, that the ghosts of the Bear Jew and the other Basterd who had died in the explosion of the cinema, were haunting Nazis in France. That of course was too thick for him to believe, too, but it never hurt to be cautious. The other men had settled with taking few encouraging sips of whiskey. He wouldn't have minded either, but the rule was no drinks for the driver.

Suddenly Adelbert Bachman heard a pained cry and felt something collide with the car. He quickly hit the breaks.

"What the… What are you doing? Why did you stop?" someone from the backseat wanted to know. Bachman sat still, squeezing the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. He had hit someone. Wait… Who could be wandering around the woods so early in the morning?

He reluctantly let go of the steering wheel and stepped out of the car. The others did the same. "Bachman, what … Oh my…"

There was a woman laying in front of the car, seemingly unconscious. Her clothes were ripped and dirty, and dark brown, almost black hair covered parts of her face.

As the passengers of the little car only stood still and stared, the driver of the truck jumped out of his vehicle. "Bachman! You can't stop that suddenly, I almost hit your… Oh." He didn't stop to stare, but frowned and crouched next to her.

"I hit her", Adelbert mumbled. "Is she dead?" The other driver shook his head in annoyance. Useless bunch of sissies.

"No, she's not dead. You moron. How did you not notice she was on your way?" he demanded. Bachman lifted his arms in surrender. "It was dark. No need for that tone, Becker."

"I'll talk to you with whatever tone I want", the truck driver, Becker, said angrily.

"You think so?" Bachman growled back.

Ellie had to fight not to smile. She couldn't understand a word they were saying around her, but the pressure was clear. They were bickering… Perfect. Time to confound the situation a little more.

"Yes, I think so! Shut up", Becker yelled and pushed the other man further. Bachman didn't like being pushed around. He lifted his fist and was more than ready to smash it into Becker's jaw, but stopped when someone said: "I think she's waking up…"

The drivers both turned to see and indeed, she was stirring with soft groans. One of the men helped her to sit up. "Tack så mycket… Härregud, var är jag?"

The Nazi soldiers shared glances and Bachman spoke: "Eh… Miss, do you speak German?" Ellie settled with giving him her best just-a-dumb-helpless-woman look. It worked, too. The confusion melted into something else, something softer.

"Now what do we do?" Becker asked, irritation still evident in his voice.

"I'll tell you what you will do", Becker's brow furrowed and he was about to turn around to look at whoever had spoken, but decided to stay still when cold metal touched the back of his head. Bachman whirled around, ready to defend himself or whoever needed to be defended, but Ellie was quick to pull out her knife and gun.

"Stop right there", she ordered in English. It was not too hard to understand and the German froze. Stiglitz, the man behind Becker, told all the Nazis to drop their weapons and line up in front of him. Utivich, Wicki and Liebermann were taking care of the enemies in the truck.

When the Nazis were standing in front of her in a neat line, Ellie sighed happily. Their first face-off with them was a success and she felt confident. She hoped her men were happy with it, too.

"Donny! How's it goin' back there?" she called.

"Perfect! We have four fuckers here", came the reply.

"It makes nine of them. That's good. Remember, I want them all-" she was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Her heart skipped a beat and she readied the gun she had taken from one of the Germans. Ulmer also aimed to the direction of the truck now. If Donny, or Utivich, of Wicki, or even Liebermann was hurt…

"Donny?! Wicki!" Ellie yelled sharply.

"Shit..! What the fuck is your problem?" the first mentioned Jew's yell could be heard. Ellie lowered her gun, but didn't relax. "What the hell happened there", she mumbled and went to check it out. She groaned at the sight that greeted her. Two Nazis lay in one bloody heap on the ground. Donny and Utivich stood by the two remaining enemies, where as Liebermann's gun was still aimed at the corpses.

"Dammit Liebermann", Ellie exclaimed. "I told you not to kill them yet. Which part of it was so hard to understand?"

Liebermann's gaze jerked up from the bodies. "We came here to kill the Nazis. Kill them! Not to spare their pathetic lives! No mercy to the Nazis!"

The old man looked outrageous. It was the same kind of rage Ellie had seen in US, before the assembly. This time it seemed to be directed to anything that happened to be on his way, and she did not like it. She just might have made a serious mistake, bringing him along. It wasn't the right moment to think about it, though. Now she just had to get the man under control.

"We ain't here to show mercy. It seems to be the word 'yet' you didn't understand, huh…" she said. "But you ain't gonna do that again. Ever. As long as you're a part of my team, you listen to me and obey my rules. If I say we need information and you will not kill them yet, you don't."

"You arrogant little…" Liebermann's rage for the Germans seemed to have eased a bit. Now he concentrated on staring at the young Lieutenant as angrily as possible. She stared back firmly. Donny and Utivich shared a quick glance. Both, as well as Wicki, could sense the tension of the situation, and remained silent. The Germans weren't as sensible. One laughed openly as the other whimpered in apparent fear. He looked about ready to wet his pants. Donny poked the laughing man in the head with the back of his gun and both Liebermann and Ellie turned to look at the man. He sure as hell didn't feel like laughing anymore. It wasn't a funny at all.

"Miss Ellie? Is everything alright?" called Hertz's shaky voice.

"Yeah, we'll be right there", Ellie answered. "Oh-kay… Let's get away from the road. The sun is rising."

The walk to the camp didn't take long even with the stumbling, reluctant Nazis they had to drag along. After all, their resistance ceased noticeably when a mad, big Jew prodded them with a baseball bat. The next thing to do, was to get some information out of Nazi. Let the fun begin.

"Well, ain't this nice!" Ellie said. She sat on a rock by the now very much fireless fireplace. The Germans were on their knees on the other side of it, with Utivich and Hertz's guns on their heads. Seven enemies. That was seven too much. But the information one of these seven could give, was crucial to their mission. Still…

"I think there might be too many of them. Utivich…two", Ellie said simply. The Jew understood and shoot two of them with pleasure. Remaining five Nazis cringed and most looked away. Ellie nodded in approval. "Good. Let's get down to business.

"You know we ain't takin' no prisoners. You either die or talk. Some of you might not have a chance, too bad." As Ellie spoke, Wicki translated her words into German. At this point, some of the Nazis were in tears. Ellie looked at each in turn and spotted the one who hadn't likely shitted his pants yet. She knew the guy. He was the one who had been about to fight before she had 'woken up'. She picked a little rock from the ground and threw it at him. "You, come here."

With a little encouraging push from Hertz, the man trudged to her. "English?"

The German shook his head. Wicki was already there. "Ask his name." Wicki did as he was told. He didn't need to translate the answer, because the German said nothing else but his name: Walther Becker.

"Becker, huh… I noticed you had some hassle with your friend back there. Anyway, what I want to know is simple. Where is Aldo Raine?"

Becker closed his eyes and snorted. He mumbled something so blurred, Wicki had trouble catching it.

"Apparently he's telling you to go fuck yourself", he eventually said. Ellie lifted a brow in amusement. "Is he, now."

The look in Becker's tear filled eyes was one of a devil's when he looked at her. He spat on the ground and mumbled something more. "…Or your Jew rats", Wicki said. Ellie chuckled and Basterds laughed as well.

"Yeah, as soon as you tell me where Lt. Raine is", she said. Becker shook his head. Nein. She understood that. She sighed. She was about to call Donny, but the look in Stiglitz's eyes caught her. It was as if he was begging to get to kill the disrespecting kraut. "Stiglitz? He's all yours."

As the Dutch-born Basterd, unarmed, walked towards Becker, he stumbled few steps backwards and fell. Stiglitz grabbed his shirt collar, pulled him up, turned him around and wrapped an arm around his neck. Tight. Becker struggled and clawed the bigger Jew's arm, but it was no use. In few seconds he was choked to dead.

The Basterds whistled and cheered. The Nazis looked plain terrified. Then, probably out of habit, Stiglitz crouched by the corpse and scalped it. Old habits die hard, Ellie thought. Not that she minded. She narrowed her eyes and nodded at another Nazi from the line. Familiar. The other brawler. "That one, Utivich."

This one was almost paralyzed with fear, but managed to get few steps forward. Then he saluted. Ellie's brow rose.

"At ease", she chuckled. "English?" He said something, and it took Ellie a while to understand what it was. Just a bit, but not well.

"Well, we don't want no misunderstandings. Sit down, will ya." The man did as he was told. "What's your name? And do you want to get outta here alive?"

"Adelbert Bachman. Yes ma'am…" was the shaky answer.

"Good. Then tell me one thing. Where are your fellows keeping Aldo Raine?" Bachman swallowed hard, barely listening to Wicki's translation. He understood. He just couldn't tell. He mumbled something in German.

"He doesn't think he can do it to his own, to his country", Wicki said. Ellie had seen that coming.

"What use will you be to your country dead?" She questioned. "I mean, you would be the only living man who knows we're here… Sure, it'd cost a few Nazi-lives and a prisoner, but it could be worth it."

Bachman stayed silent, but Ellie could see she had him. She sighed and leaned back. "No? Okay. Donny… Do it."

The Bear Jew swung his bat experimentally and started slowly walking towards Bachman. He wasn't stupid, he knew what the young lieutenant had in mind. He gave the kraut some time…

"Wait."

Donny stopped and Ellie's brow twitched.

"Give me a map", Wicki translated a German statement with a smile on his face.

Bachman cried bitter tears as he pointed the spot. He told everything he knew about the place, about the guards and the armament. He felt like a bloody traitor.

"Good! Now we don't need you three anymore", Ellie said and as she spoke, Utivich let his gun sing. Bachman grimaced at the sound and prayed to whatever was holy for their forgiveness. Ellie stood up and stretched her back.

"Ulmer… I hear you're the best with maps, so you are the navigator. We'll leave as soon as we get everything gathered around here." Omar Ulmer saluted briefly and took the map Wicki offered him. Ellie looked around the camp and Bachman, still on the ground, caught her eye. She frowned.

"I thought you said you didn't want to die", she mused. The German shook his head in fear. "Then what the fuck are you still doing here?"

In a split second, he was running away as fast as his legs could carry. Ellie grinned. Her grin widened when she noticed her men scalping the dead Nazis.

"Just something to bring back to your old man, miss Ellie. If you don't mind", Donny said. It almost sounded as if he wanted her permission.

"Of course..! He'll be pleased to see you haven't been veggin' out while his unfortunate absence", she stated. The Basterds laughed. It had been a good morning altogether. Very good. Now to save Aldo.