Now we get into the meat of the story. Thanks for your patience.

Earth X

It only took a few days for Winn to adjust to the work on Earth X. Ray kept his word and stayed by his side while he did the General's job. Winn tried to be a little surly while dealing with the people there, though that was the hardest part of the job. It was his nature to be friendly to everyone.

The tech on this world, he could understand and he used his expertise to help get them in line for the job they needed to do. He was standing at the console, looking at the controls when he heard a voice that was unexpected, but familiar.

"Hello, General."

He looked up to see… Sam? At least it looked like Sam. But she was wearing skin tight clothes and a little too much makeup.

"Sam?" he asked incredulously.

Ray saw her and rushed over. "General, can I talk to you for a minute?'

Winn was confused, but he knew when Ray did that he needed to tell him something about this world.

He nodded and Ray took him away from everyone.

"That is not your wife."

"What…yes, I mean, no, I guess it isn't, but…who is she?"

"She's …a woman who services some of the men here. Especially the general."

Winn looked confused, then realized what he was saying. "She's a prostitute?"

"It's hard to survive here if you're not a Nazi and especially among the resistance. She provides a needed service. No one looks down on people for that as they do on our earths."

"Okay, I get that. It's just weird."

"I know. When I saw her on Earth 38, I was shocked."

"How should I behave with her?"

"Part of that's up to you. I mean, the general does have sex with her, so…"

"She's not my wife. I won't be having sex with her."

"Wasn't sure how you felt about that, but that's cool. She also gives good massages—with no sex involved. I've had some from her myself and so has my boyfriend. Oh, she's called Samantha here."

Winn nodded, then went back to where Sam, no, Samantha was waiting. She smiled at him.

Trying to use his stern General Schott demeanor, he said, "Let's go to my quarters."

He decided it was best to talk to her in private. The troops would think he was sleeping with her as usual.

When the door closed behind him, she smiled again and put her arms around his neck.

He pulled them off and stepped away. "I'm not feeling well, so let's put that aside today."

She frowned and he could see the real concern on her face. "You weren't feeling well last time. Have you seen a doctor?" Her tone reminded him of his Sam when she was taking care of him.

"Yeah, I'm being treated. I'll be fine. I'm just not…how about you give me a massage instead?"

"Sure! Whole body of just shoulders?"

"Shoulders." he said, realizing whole body was too dangerous. Plus, the general might have scars that he didn't have and this woman might know where they were.

As she worked on his shoulder, he realized that Ray was right, she gave great massages.

He wanted to talk to her, but he guessed that General Schott was not a man for idle chit chat. Besides, she was talking and not expecting any response. She was telling him amusing stories of people she'd met and seen. They made him smile and he wondered if it made the General happy.

She left after the massage and the next day Winn was working with Ray when he asked, "How did it go with Samantha?"

"Okay. I took your advice and had a massage."

"Good. And probably for the best."

Winn worked at the console for a bit before saying, "She's in love with him."

Ray looked at him. "She's not your wife. You can't know that."

"I know she's not my wife, but she has her face and expressions. I know my wife's feelings based on her expression. This Samantha is in love with General Schott."

'He's not a man who deals well with feelings."

"I got that at our brief meeting. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have feeling for her."

"Doubt it."

"Does he have any other women?"

Ray thought for a moment. "No. Well, not that I know of."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Expedience."

"I don't think so." Winn said.

"Don't try to do anything for them. Getting involved is dangerous."

"I'm not getting involved. I'm just going to explore this a bit."

"Why do you care?"

"Because she's in love with him and she has my wife's face and she's a nice person like my wife and I want her to be happy."

"Just don't let her or anyone else know who you really are."

"I won't." Winn assured him.

Two days later, Samantha returned. Once again, he put off sex with her by claiming illness and fatigue. She gave him another massage, regaling him again with entertaining stories. He thought she would leave when the massage was finished, but instead she said, "Do you mind if I stay here tonight?"

"I told you, I'm not—"

"I know. But you know it's not always safe to go back to where I stay. This is one of those nights. I promise I won't attack you." She said with a little laugh.

He assumed this was a regular occurrence for them, so he told her, "Okay, sure." Then stopped in his tracks when she took her clothes off and got into his bed.

It made sense. They regularly had sex and she'd probably spent the night many times, so why not?

But for him, it was unnerving to see what was ostensibly his wife's naked body and to know that she'd be sleeping beside him and he couldn't touch her.

He took off his clothes (but left his underwear) and climbed into bed as well. He decided to try to talk to her a bit.

"Have you thought about working for the resistance?"

"I do work for the resistance." She said with a laugh. "In case you forgot."

"No, I mean working with the Freedom Fighters to stop the Nazis."

"What could I do?"

"You're smart. I'm sure you have skills that would be useful."

She was silent and he thought she'd fallen asleep when after a bit, she said, "I'll think about it."

Thanks to everyone who's commented or favorited or is following this story. I really appreciate it.