Warnings: explicit language
"Where are you, you little bastard!" yelled a drunk voice from downstairs.
Jout ran towards his closet and tried to hide under a pile of clothes. His heart was beating so fast, he heard it pounding in his ears. Tears were starting to steam down his cheeks.
"I know you're here, useless git!"
The voice moved upstairs and was now close to Jout's room. As he heard the door open, he held his breath. Jout closed his eyes and send silent prayers to the sky, hoping something would happen that would free him from this misery.
"I don't understand why you try to hide every time," started the voice again. "You know I'll find ya"
The closet door was opened.
"But obviously, you don't want to learn," laughed the voice.
The next moment, Jout was kicked right into the stomach and an intensely pain washed through his body.
It was the last thing Jout felt before he drifted away into the darkness.
He shot up in his bunk, trying to catch his breath. His eyes needed a few seconds to get used to the darkness. His whole body was trembling and sweating, and Joshua tried to find bruises on his body.
When he couldn't find any, he realized he wasn't in the clothing pile anymore.
He was in Germany.
Only a nightmare, Josh thought.
Everything is alright. He cannot harm me anymore; I'm safe.
Jout settled back into his bunk. But every time he closed his eyes, he saw the image of him in front of his eyes. He knew he would not sleep a wink the rest of the night.
Unaware to Josh, this incident had not remained unnoticed.
The next morning during roll call, Joshua stood in line behind LeBeau, trying hard to stay awake. His eyelids were heavy, and everything he wanted to do was creeping back into his bunk and sleep until the war would be over. He had eventually fell asleep, but shortly after he had succeeded to dream about something happier, a grumpy Schultz woke them up.
"Is everythin' alright, Jout?" the Englishman asked. "Ya look like 'ell"
"Thanks for the charming words, Newkirk," the young Lieutenant answered. "I'm fine"
Newkirk seemed not completely convinced; therefore Jout added quickly, "It's just that I'm not used to sleep in a POW camp"
A tired smile appeared on his face.
"You will get used to it, trust me," said Carter.
They heard Klink yelling, "Dismissed!" and then made their way back to the barracks.
Before entering, Kinch stopped Hogan and informed him of London's latest message. "London is getting impatient. They want to speak to Golden Eagle"
Hogan sighed. He had hoped to have more time before telling Jout about the operation. He had wanted to find out more about his little brother's past years in the military. But he also knew he couldn't let London wait any longer.
"Tell them he is on his way, but wait until he is in my office"
Kinch nodded and walked inside. He sat down at the common table and thankfully accepted the cup of coffee LeBeau had offered him. It was one of those long nights again, where he had only slept about 2 hours or so, staying awake to work the radio station.
Jout had chatted with Andrew about the best way to spend the day as a POW, when Hogan ordered, "Newkirk, LeBeau, Carter, Joshua, in my office"
"You are kidding me, right? I mean, this can't be true!" exclaimed Jout.
"It is true, Josh," Hogan started. "We are a special operations group with orders to help Allied soldiers escape back to England, and sabotage the German war effort whenever possible"
Hogan had settled himself onto the stool beside his desk. He knew it wouldn't be easy to explain their operation to his brother. Especially because it meant to tell him he had to stay in the camp until the war would be over.
"But, … how?" asked a startled Joshua.
"Well, we have an excellent tunnel system. From the hidden tunnel entrance under your and Kinch's bunk, we can reach almost every barracks in this camp. Including the Kommandant's office. Carter is pretty decent in handling explosives," Hogan explained.
Jout looked over to the young Sergeant who was standing beside the bunk bed, smiling shyly.
"LeBeau and Newkirk are in charge of making uniforms. And Corporal Newkirk is also an expert at forging documents and pick-pocketing," he added.
Jout glared at the other two persons in the room. He looked back at his brother and said, "So, you expect me…to believe that the Allied High Command sent you to this place to build a sabotage unit. In the middle of Germany"
He made direct eye contact with his brother. "We both know what happened the last time I had trusted you"
Hogan tried to say something, but Jout interjected, "Alright, suppose I buy it. Why did you tell me? I have only been here for one day. If this were really such a secret operation, you wouldn't spill the beans to anyone who just arrived the other day. Not even if the person would be your brother"
The room fell silent. Everyone waited for Hogan to answer.
"London wants to talk to you"
Hogan saw the disbelief in his brother's face, so he continued. "Actually, a General Gallagher informed us that his orders are from the very top. Do you have any idea what this could be about?"
Jout gulped. The name of the general totally caught him off guard. The last time he saw him, Joshua was with the RAF, as a Senior Airman.
It had to be about two years ago. Before it had happened.
"Josh? Are you alright?"
Rob's voice took him back to reality.
"Ahem, I don't know why he would want to talk to me. The last time I saw him was two years ago, at a dinner with President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill," explained Joshua.
He looked to the ground.
"Wait, what?" Peter jumped up from his place at the lower bunk. "Ya met ol' Winnie?"
"And the President?" Carter added, stunned.
Jout scratched his neck.
Before he could say anything further, Hogan raised his voice again, "We don't have time for that now. You can tell us this story later. Now you need to talk to London, and that's an order!"
"Goldilocks calling Mama Bear," said Hogan through the microphone.
"Ah, Goldilocks," answered General Gallagher. "When can I speak with Golden Eagle?"
"He is right beside me. Just one moment"
Hogan handed the microphone over to Jout and waited for him to speak.
Unsure of how to start, Jout simply said, "Golden Eagle speaking"
"Great to hear your voice! How are you, my boy?" the voice asked.
"I'm fine, General. But why did you ask to speak to me?"
The whole room waited for the General to answer. No one could think of any reason, why London would risk blowing up the whole operation and risking the life of every prisoner just to talk to one downed flyer.
"We have a problem," the General started.
"The Allied High Command has reason to believe that there is a spy in this control center"