Disclaimer: I adore Quentin Tarantino. And Til Schweiger. And Eli Roth, and B.J. Novak and all the other people who are responsible for these characters and the original idea, but I can assure you... I ain't one of them. I'm just borrowing. And I sure as hell ain't making any money with this.
A/N: Another uneventful chapter... The next one shall be more interesting, this probably ain't. This one will reveal something you might want to know, so try to bare with me.
Thanks for the rewievs eveningthought and TheInvincibleKay. MORE. Thanks :D
Ellie couldn't sleep. She tried, but no matter how tired she was, the warm comfort of sleep refused to come and save her from her racing mind. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had done. She felt like she had abandoned, even banished the last bits of humanity in her. And it didn't bother her. That did bother her.
She was in a war, she knew it better than well. She had been taught to be cruel to her enemies, and she was good at it. But many of the higher ranking officers, and some of the lower, questioned her capability in a real situation. They thought that because she was a woman, and so young, she couldn't handle brutal killing. For them it was obvious. That's what made her think…why did it not effect her more than that?
It was frustrating. She didn't want to think about it, but it didn't leave her alone. Eventually she just sat up and buried her face in her hands. After a moment she lifted her gaze and looked around. All the men were asleep, except for Stiglitz, who had the night shift. The man gave her a brief glance when she froze to stare at him for a moment. She got up and went to sit to the opposite side of the fire in silence. Ellie was somewhat surprised to hear him break it.
"Can't sleep?" he asked in voice that wasn't much louder than a whisper. Ellie shook her head. Stiglitz threw a stick into the fire. "It's not an easy job you are having."
"No", the woman chuckled quietly. "But it ain't only that."
Stiglitz was now looking at her, expressionlessly, but it was like…a permission to tell him what was in her mind. She snorted. "I told you a while ago, that I ain't allowed to lead any military operations. I understand it. If I was to decide for someone my age and gender, I wouldn't let them either. There's a good reason for it. Women my age are supposed to be… more compassionate and less tolerant towards the bloody messes war causes, slaughters and especially the ridiculous gore you perform. I just don't mind it. I don't. I wonder what's wrong with me." Her voice was barely audible, but Stiglitz heard it well and understood even better. He only nodded. Ellie hadn't expected to get an answer.
"Your father might have something to do with it", he eventually said. "How did you know I was born in the Netherlands?"
"I made a full background check on y'all. I couldn't see it at first, you were so little when you moved to Germany", Ellie answered. "I guess you would say you're as much German as you are Dutch, huh."
Stiglitz's upper lip twitched. "I used to, with pride. Not anymore."
"Understandable", Ellie hummed. Stiglitz grunted quietly and silence enveloped them again. It lasted long, until someone groaned near by. Ellie turned quickly to look at the direction of the voice, and saw Donny tossing and turning on his bedroll. She frowned and looked as he turned to his right side, curled into a fetal position and remained still. Well, if you didn't count shaking and occasional twitching. Ellie glanced at Stiglitz and noticed he was looking at the sleeping Jew as well. Then he turned his attention back to the fire and Ellie could've sworn she saw him sigh.
"Nightmares", she mumbled to herself. It was said every soldier had them every now and then. Because of all the terrible things they have to do. For some reason, she was convinced Donny's nightmares had nothing to do with killing Nazis. "Is he gonna be okay?"
Stiglitz nodded. "He's had them every now and then as long as I've known him." Ellie looked at the so called Bear Jew again. The man had been just as interesting as she had thought. Somewhat noisy, but fair. Excited when there was a chance of action, direct and even a bit cocky. And he seemed so reliable. The nightmares, well, reminded her he was a human, not a bear, or a Golem, as the Germans rumored. The Germans, for God's sake, where had they left their brains?
Suddenly Ellie realized just how tired she was. She sighed, ran her fingers through her hair - having to fight them through the unbelievable amount of knots - and stood up. "I'm goin' to sleep. It might be easier now… Whose turn is it next?"
Stiglitz answered by nodding his head towards Donny. "I'll let him sleep."
Ellie smiled a bit. "Right… G'nite." A nod.
Again, Utivich had the morning shift. The sun was slowly rising and the young soldier watched it in silence. He had let the fire burn out just a moment ago, knowing they would move out as soon as the morning came. It was there now. He yawned once and stood up to wake the others.
"It never gets easier", Ellie murmured as she threw her blanket aside. She was bad at waking up. No matter how long she had practiced. Not that she had a choice, and thinking about how close they were to freeing Aldo gave her strength.
"Gah. Okay, boys. Let's get movin'. To Nadine."
Hans Landa was not having the best day of his life.
Definitely not. In fact, it hadn't been easy to follow in the footsteps of Hitler. As the new "Führer", he had first had to deal with the mess Hitler's death had left behind. Landa's first mission had been to win the German soldiers over. How? Well, it helped that he had brought a captive like Aldo the Apache. And that he had already gathered a small, loyal Nazi army during Hitler's times. His polite cruelty had of course been rumored about among the Nazi soldiers for years, so most even feared him. So he had managed to make himself the new Führer, leader of the Fourth Reich, as he called it.
What made the particular day so bad, was the information he got from a frightened soldier. At the moment, he was on his way to meet the unfortunate man.
"Private Adelbert Bachman, am I right?" Landa asked in a sweet tone, that sent chills down Bachman's spine. "Yes, sir."
They were in the Nazis' military headquarters in Paris, France. Landa preferred the country over Germany for some reason. Maybe it was the good memories.
"Do you know why you are here?"
"Yes, sir", Bachman said. He was fingering his hat on his lap nervously. He felt like a mouse caught in a cat's grasp. Trapped. Landa looked at the soldier calmly.
"Tell me about yesterday", he prodded. Bachman didn't know what to say. It would have been practically suicide to tell what he had told, but he had to warn Landa. He could save German lives by doing it.
"The Basterds ambushed us. Our patrol", he eventually said. Landa's brow lifted.
"Oh? Well, I must say, that sounds very interesting. Please, tell me more", he encouraged. He sounded… excited. Bachman cringed. He didn't like the tone, but explained the happenings anyway, to the point when they were taken to the camp. He didn't know how to continue.
"Very interesting indeed", Landa mumbled. "Please, continue. They wanted to ask you some questions, no doubt."
"Yes, they… they killed two and took Becker forward. He wouldn't answer, so they killed him, too", Bachman told shakily. "Eventually they killed everyone but me."
"Obviously", Landa nodded. "And they wanted you to spread the word about them?"
"Yes. And they are planning on freeing Aldo Raine", Bachman hurried to say.
"Hmm. Is that so… I have a few questions if you don't mind", Landa said, with a thoughtful frown on his face. He leaned forward. "Now, you're saying the Basterds ambushed you. One: the Basterds are dead, with the exception of two men, one of whom is our prisoner.
"Another thing is, even if they were alive, they couldn't possibly free Lt. Raine. They wouldn't know where he is."
Bachman swallowed a lump of tight fear. "Sir, I know the Basterds are supposed to be dead, but I really saw them. I don't know how, but… They are alive. Some of them anyway, I recognized Hugo Stiglitz and the Little Man, and the Bear… Eh, Donny Donowitz. And the woman was their leader", he told truthfully everything he knew.
Landa's eyes narrowed a bit. What was the soldier uttering? It couldn't be true. But he couldn't afford to take the risk. Whoever the soldier had seen, Basterds or not, they had to be taken care of.
"Very well, Adelbert. I trust your eyes. But there's still the other matter. I get the feeling you're not telling me everything", Landa scolded, sounding like a father talking to a misbehaving son, rather than a soldier's commanding officer.
Bachman's hat ripped when he tugged at it too hard. He was too frightened to notice. He wanted to cry, but refused to. Not now. "Sir, I don't…" he mumbled. "I can't… I don't know."
"Adelbert. There's one thing I learned about the Basterds when they were running around last time. If they left someone alive, they always wanted something in return. Now, you see it's no use lying anymore", Landa said and smiled. For Bachman, it was the grin of death. He let out a sharp breath and closed his eyes.
"They know… Because I told them. I thought I should be alive to tell you about them", he said. If he was going to die there, he could at least take it like a proud German soldier he was. Regardless of the situation, he felt like a heavy load had been lifted from his shoulders. Then… Landa chuckled.
"You did the right thing."
Bachman opened his eyes in shock. The right thing? He had thought so, but never believed Landa would, too. His confusion was apparently visible: Landa's smile widened. "You told them. It's bad. It's a crime I should get you shot for. But if they are anything like the Basterds I knew, they would've gotten the information anyway, in one way or another."
Bachman stared. Would he really make it out of the room alive?
"Now I can be ready for them. I'll make sure their plan fails. Well done, Adelbert. You may return to your duties."
Bachman stood up so fast the chair almost fell over. He had made it alive from his encounter with the Basterds, and even with der Führer..! "Thank you, sir", he said, saluted and hurried out of the room.
Landa looked after him and the smile on his lips died. The Basterds. The Rat army. Rats were… varmint. He took the receiver of the phone he had on his desk.
"Warn the prison near…what was it…Oh, yes, Nadine. They'll be expecting some unwanted visitors."