Coffee was cleared away and dinner officially ended. The discussion lingered for a few minutes after the table was completely cleared before Hans stood up and the others followed suit. Doris was already edging towards the door, she and Kowalski had decided to leave at (barely) separate times to reduce suspicion.
"Would you join me for a drink, Skipper?" Hans asked, and Doris drew even closer to the door, recognising the signal that it was time for the lady to leave the room. Never had she wanted to be left out more.
"It was an excellent dinner, Francis," She spoke hurriedly, making her exit, "nice to see you again, Skipper; Smith…"
"Where are you going, Darling?" Hans asked. Doris froze.
"I assumed you boys wanted to…?" She began innocently.
"But aren't you forgetting something?" He asked. Doris smiled with relief and walked back across the room. Kowalski tried to remain impassive as Hans drew her into a passionate kiss. In the end he had to turn away. Fortunately, after it was over Doris quickly left the room. "I assume since we all know each other so well that was alright." Hans apologised as Kowalski started moving towards the door too. Hans barely noticed him enough to dismiss him as he muttered an excuse about having something to do.
Blowhole thought he was entitled to remain in his own quarters, but after he'd poured them all drinks Hans appeared to think otherwise.
"Don't you need to see to Smith's solitary accommodation till his transport arrives?" Hans asked when Blowhole still didn't seem to be taking the hint.
"Well, I think Kazoo… my second in command is quite capable of…" Blowhole began to protest, but Hans was firm.
"I think it would be best if you saw to it personally, doctor." After giving Skipper one last glare, since he was the one causing all of this when it came down to it, Blowhole quietly sulked away to finish off some reports. He knew he wasn't going to be able to find Smith, anyway, and he was happy to let him stay unaccounted for for a few hours under the supervision of his sister, just to get one over on that minor general who thought he could order Blowhole out of his own quarters in his own camp. He almost hoped Hans would catch them, but then quickly withdrew the thought when he realized what that might mean for his sister.
"It's a shame you're leaving tonight." Hans spoke after Blowhole had left. He did seem genuinely disappointed, and Skipper couldn't deny the fact he'd enjoyed his evening too. "It seems the two of us have a lot in common."
"Yeah," Skipper replied, well, they would if Hans would stop talking so formally for five minutes, they'd be almost the same, "So where are you and Doris headed after this?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, but it's probably not going to be any more pleasant than here." Hans replied with a sigh, "I told Doris to stay home or at her brother's, I don't know how I'm going to explain her out there, but she's refused to stay behind."
"You think Doris is stubborn, you shoulda met this girl I met a few weeks before I was captured." Skipper smiled fondly at the memory, "If I'm going to marry a girl after the war's over, it's gonna be her." Hans grimaced.
"Are we talking about Lola?"
"The one and only."
"She turned you in. In fact, I heard she encouraged you to abandon your uniform in hopes that you would be treated as a spy." Skipper wasn't exactly happy about the news, but he wasn't as disappointed as he'd expected. He would later say that as a year had passed, he'd always been suspicious of the fact that the enemy always seemed to turn up with perfect timing whenever he was with Lola. He'd previously thought it was just a combination of bad luck and the fact not everybody had a head for strategy. Oddly enough, even as he'd tried to think about Lola over the past few weeks, maybe be a bit more loyal to her than he had been to other girls, he kept thinking about that pretty brunet who'd grabbed him that uniform which had saved him from being shot as a spy, Marlene or something.
"I guess we're not all as lucky as you." Skipper replied quietly before remembering that Hans wasn't lucky either, he just didn't know it yet.
"So, tell me about yourself, Skipper." Hans changed the topic.
"You mean more than you already know?" Skipper replied. It was slightly disturbing how much the younger officer knew about him.
"All I've read are your files which obviously take a negative viewpoint of your exploits. I personally would like to hear your side of the story."
"It's a long story, I don't really have time to tell it properly before I'm out of here." Skipper dodged the question as he always did when someone asked him about his past.
"You know," Hans continued, clearly not discouraged and determined to get the autobiography of his idol before it was declassified, "I always knew we weren't really enemies; it was a funny thought to have a few weeks ago, but even stranger that I was right." He sauntered over to the window, and for a moment Skipper panicked that Kowalski had done something like take Doris out for a walk in the moonlight outside Blowhole's quarters, but Kowalski thankfully had the brains not to do that. And he called himself a genius, "When and why, exactly, did you turn? I suppose it must have been after that incident in Denmark a year ago, I can hardly imagine you wouldn't have revealed your position when…" He seemed to realize this was a sensitive topic to Skipper, "well, considering what happened."
"It was after that." Skipper confirmed simply.
"The things done to you…" Hans said quietly, "I'm appalled by some of the things a side will do to another in war."
"Yeah, well, I was unconscious for most of the worst of it." Skipper almost cut him off, brushing the issue aside. Denmark was something he'd never really forget, but Hans apparently hadn't taken the hint that he at least was going to try, "Took a bad knock to the head, can't remember much, anyway." At least both him and Rockgut had made it back alive. Well, the issue was open now, anyway, he might as well use it. It was true, he hardly remembered a thing, not even his interrogator, so hopefully he'd seem less like he was lying, "I guess it was something somebody said to me on that job. I had the odd feeling I was supposed to be captured after I'd snatched the plans from you guys and my side had gotten what they wanted." Yeah, like Lola.
"My sincerest apologies for bringing the matter up." Hans spoke quietly after a brief moment.
"I'm not running away with you!" Doris refused, "And I find it highly hypocritical of you to suggest it: first you're saying this is bigger than us, that if it costs you your life it was worth it for your principles, that I need to pass on what I know to the resistance, and now you're saying that your set-in-stone principles can just go jump in the lake if things start getting awkward for you…!"
"Well, that summary doesn't take advantage of all the facts and variables…" Kowalski countered.
"Oh, I think it does." Doris snapped, "At least Hans sticks to his principles, even if they force him to continue fighting for something he doesn't believe in!"
"So you do actually care about him?" Kowalski accused.
"No!" Doris immediately protested, "I'm just stating the facts: Hans isn't a hypocrite and the model of an officer, but I don't love him, you're completely self-serving, selfish and not at all honourable, but I love you. No correlation whatsoever between romantic feeling and moral conduct."
"No, Doris, I think you meant it…" Kowalski scowled at the window through which he could see the outlines of the two officers.
"Well have you considered maybe I don't have to hate him to like-like you: I like him, I just don't like-like him? I feel sorry for him, actually." Well as far as Kowalski was concerned she could feel as sorry as she wanted and accuse his principles as much as she wanted if she'd just agree to run away with him. After all, it wouldn't matter then. She'd have a new name and a new identity, and hopefully Hans would get himself killed conveniently soon and they'd get married, "And if I run away and it'll be clear I've been spying, then Hans is going to be in a very dangerous position…" And there was Kowalski's opportunity.
"Fine, run away, and we'll take him with us and turn him over to the intelligence people," Kowalski sighed. In exchange, of course, for his signature (free will not required) on some divorce papers, Kowalski added strictly in his own mind.
"But my work…?!"
"Doris, if Hans was involved in what you say he was, it's only a matter of time before both of you are compromised, and then I'd say there's at least a 99.87657% chance it won't be pleasant." Doris couldn't argue with that one. Cold, hard logic over emotion, any day. Even with Doris.