Author's Note: Many thanks to my wonderful Beta Reader, Amy! She's just the greatest! Thanks, Amy :)


Thank you so much for reading! Special thanks to those who review, I really value your feedback! Thank you! (and you'll notice this part is longer…)

Be aware that I have mixed some small amount of truth in with my fiction. For instance, there really was a battleship called the Tirpitz...


And I'm really not sure how many men are in a Gestapo Squad (silly me) but judging from other information that I managed to find on the net, there's generally about 10 or 12 in a normal Squad, sometimes less. However, if I'm wrong about this, please don't hesitate to tell me!

Part 4

When Wilson burst in on the Colonel the lecture he had set up in his mind stopped before the first word even passed his lips. Hogan was sitting half hidden in the shadows of the bottom bunk, a Bible open in his lap. One hand quickly moved up to hide his eyes as Wilson barged in. He took a deep shuddering breath.

"Hi Wilson, thought it wouldn't take long for you to appear." Hogan tried to make his voice seem casual, but failed.

Wilson took a step towards the bunk. "Sir…what-"

"Stop! Don't…just…don't ask me what happened out there tonight…I'm not proud of what I had to do."

Wilson eased closer. "Look, whatever else happened out there tonight, you saved the lives of five young men…"

Hogan sighed as Wilson stopped in front of him, looking down in concern at his commanding officer.

"Are their lives really worth more than the lives of ten other men? God, forgive me…I killed them Wilson, all of them. Men who probably had wives and children who now have to mourn because of me… It's so different when you're high in the sky; the targets don't have faces."

Wilson rubbed a hand wearily over his face. Oh God, what could he say to that?

He crouched down beside the bunk, "Sir…Rob….from what those boys told me, the guys chasing them weren't plannin' on catching them alive. Even the Bible says there's 'a time to kill and a time to heal'. That time will come; the war won't last forever and then it'll be time to heal. You did what you had to do, and quite frankly I'm glad you're not the kind of man that can kill without a second thought. I don't think the men would respect you the way they do if you were."

With a deep breath Hogan pulled himself back into command mode; it was more of a struggle than usual. He moved his hand from his face and looked at his friend and medic, determination almost masking the deep sadness in his eyes. "I really am okay, you know."

Wilson grinned. "I'll be the judge o' that. Your idea of 'okay' and mine don't usually match."

Hogan behaved for once, he only growled a few times as Wilson examined his injuries.

"Hrm…seems your luck is still as good as ever, nothing too serious here; it was a close thing though, especially that one across the back of your thigh. Lady Luck sure seems to like you, but then, most of the ladies seem to."

Hogan just smiled slightly and looked over at his Bible, "Sometimes I feel sure it can't be just Lady Luck on my side."

"I'm sure the Big Guy's looking out for all of us. But you're still gonna need stitches in the arm and the leg. All that cut on your face needs is a good cleaning out."

"Just one thing, Wilson…"

"Uh oh…"

"No pain meds if they're going to make my head fuzzy. I need to be able to think clearly, or a lot of our boys at sea are not going to make it home." He sighed, "We've been given a new mission, Wilson, and I have a feeling it's not going to be an easy one."

---

Le Beau stopped to gather his nerve before knocking on Hogan's door. Wilson was still in there doing who-knew-what but even though Le Beau could not stand the sight of blood, he had to go in. Hogan had to be told about Hochstetter and Louis had drawn the short straw and now he was the one who had to tell the Colonel the bad news. He was sure Newkirk had rigged it.

"Come in!" came Hogan's voice.

Le Beau opened the door and stepped inside, closing it gently behind him.

Wilson had obviously just finished and was now glaring at his unruly patient who was now sitting up, regarding the medic with a mixture of amusement and apology.

"Sir," Wilson said, using that overly polite tone that plainly said that he was ticked off, "it is my professional opinion that you need rest and painkillers!"

Hogan waved Wilson's concerns away and fixed his gaze on Le Beau, "No time for that now, you said yourself that it was nothing serious. Now, what's up Louis?"

"Mon Colonel, I have bad news. Major Hochstetter is on his way here, and he is not happy."

Hogan ran his left hand through his hair, "Damn, I thought something like this might happen. Are the new RAF boys back in the tunnel?"

Le Beau nodded.

"Right, Wilson, if you've finished with the others you'd better go back to your barracks. Le Beau, send someone to make sure all the barracks have nothing Hochstetter can find. We'll have to make sure we're all at least pretending to be asleep by the time Hochstetter gets to the building. Have someone watching who can tell me as soon as Hochstetter comes through those gates. And get Kinch, Carter and Newkirk and come back in here, we've been given a new mission. Oh! Get Baker to tell London we'll be on radio silence for a little while, just in case."

It didn't take long before the whole gang was assembled in Hogan's office. Hogan brushed off their concerns about his health and got right down to business, trying to ignore the strange mix of looks being shot at him. Worry, awe, respect, and…was Carter afraid of him?

"Okay, so here's the deal. Have you guys heard of the battleship, the Tirpitz?"

Carter piped up, bubbling with enthusiasm. "Oh, boy! The Tirpitz? That's the sister-ship to the Bismark! She's one of the most modern battleships out there! You wouldn't believe the stuff she has! Boy! Would I like to get my hands on a ship like that!" Carter started ticking things off on his fingers, "She's got eight fifteen inch guns-"

"Carter." Hogan tried to get a word in.

"…sixteen four inch AA guns-"

"Carter!"

"Huh? Oh…sorry Colonel."

Hogan just grinned and shook his head before continuing. "As Carter just pointed out, this is a very dangerous ship. Our side can't let it stay in action, and that is an order that comes straight from Churchill, he wants it sunk or crippled. If they can do that, it'll swing the entire naval situation more in the Allies favour."

"But what do they expect us to do about it?" asked Kinch.

"Well before now, it's been keeping too close to port for them to have a go at it but, rumour has it, that it's heading out. But to sink it, they have to know where it is, and that's where we come in, because it just so happens that the man who designed the Tirpitz, General Tirpitz, is currently staying in Hammelburg, and he's bound to keep a close track of what his namesake is doing."

There was silence in the room as the men took in the information.

Kinch was the first to speak, his voice was quiet but filled with confidence, "Okay Sir, what's the plan?"

"I think London's bloomin' mad!" Newkirk burst out. "How're we gonna get a kraut General to tell us where that ship is? Go up and ask him?"

"You'll never know until you try, Newkirk, will you?"

"Uh…why do I get the feeling I just volunteered for something, mates?"

Kinch grinned wickedly, "That's because you just did, 'mate'."

Newkirk rolled his eyes in mock despair at the grinning faces around him.

"As soon as it's safe to go out, you'll do the old lady 'I'm your biggest fan' thing and see if you can get him to boast about it. I've got a copy of his schedule; his secretary is our contact, so we know where he's going to be."

"Yeah, and I bet she's a real charmer, in fact I volunteer to go meet her for you next time. Save you the walk."

The other men all jumped in and volunteered too, loudly.

"Guys! Don't worry, Newkirk, she's worth the walk, and I couldn't possibly ask you to go in my place, it's too dangerous." He grinned mischievously, "Now go! Before Hochstetter comes!"

They were almost out the door when Hogan stopped them.

"Oh…and Carter, I'm sorry, but I borrowed a couple of your rifle fire imitator things without asking. I was going to show them to the underground but I never got around to it. They came in handy on the way back though, we might want to take some with us every time we go out. Thanks, you did good work with those, and they saved my hide."

Carter blushed. "Aw gee, boy…uh…Sir, you know you can always take my stuff. And…and I sure am glad you made it back okay."

Hogan smiled. "Thanks Andrew." Carter grinned shyly, nodded, and ducked out the door.

Minutes later there was a commotion outside and the barracks door slammed open.

"HOGAN!" Hochstetter yelled furiously as he charged through the room where men were grumpily waking up, some more theatrically than others, toward Hogan's door.

He slammed it open, only to find a very sleepy looking Colonel just on the other side.

"What's up, Hock?"

Hochstetter bristled. "It was you! I know it was!"

Hogan looked extremely confused. "Huh? What'd I do?"

Hochstetter got right up in Colonel Hogan's face. "You…you murdered one of my squads!"

Hogan's expression didn't change. "What all on my own? Come on Hockey, none of us here could take out a whole Gestapo Squad! Even if we worked together we couldn't; we're flyers, not commandos. Your guys are just too good for us. Hey…now that's what you need to be looking for! You've probably got a group of commandos running around loose! Now who could they be after? It'd have to be someone important. Got any Generals hidden away?"

Hochstetter backed off and considered this. "Hrm…You could be right Hogan."

He looked around at the men in the outer room, "Bah! Your men are not capable of taking on men trained by the Gestapo. The Allies must have dropped some highly trained men in, probably to take out General Tir-…Hogan…what happened to your cheek?" He regarded the cut on Hogan's cheek suspiciously.

Hogan sighed theatrically, "Oh come on, Major! Are you going to make me say it in front of my men?"

Hochstetter was practically trembling with anticipation at finally catching Hogan out; he gestured for his guards to step forward, guns ready.

"Yes, I would! Now talk, Hogan!"

Hogan studied the floorboards and muttered something in a sullen tone of voice.

Hochstetter grinned, the triumph of this moment was making him light-headed, and said in a singsong voice "We can't HEAR you Hogan."

"I cut myself shaving! Alright?" He sounded incredibly embarrassed, his men in the outer room caught on and started cracking up; Hogan covered his face with his hands, "Oh God, I'll never hear the end of it!"

Hochstetter struggled to find words to express himself…"BAH!" He turned, and stomped out of the building.

"I don't remember the Colonel-"

"CARTER!" came the chorus of exasperated voices.