Special thanks to Sapphire363 for beta reading! Thank you very much! All remaining mistakes are my own.
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DAY THIRTEEN
Hogan leaned back in his chair. It wasn't even midday and his mood improved with every soldier scattering away from Burkhalter's office.
It was a balm for his worried mind.
"Bah!"
Hochstetter's exclamation penetrated the thick door. Besides him, Colonel Klink twitched with every loud word.
The voices swelled in intensity as Major Haus opened the door and looked out. "Colonel Hogan, Colonel Klink," he said. "The general is waiting."
With a bright smile, Hogan jumped up and strolled to the open door. He had to give it to Major Haus. If he hadn't known that he was an underground agent, he wouldn't have suspected him.
Inside the office, Burkhalter sat behind his desk. In front of him, Major Hochstetter prowled, pacing from left to right.
"I will surround the whole city with a band of steel and -"
"Major Hochstetter, how's the hunt?" Hogan asked while he put his hands into his pockets.
With small lips, Hochstetter shot him an angry glare. "What is this man doing here!"
"Major Hochstetter, General Burkhalter," Colonel Klink slipped into the room. Major Haus closed the door behind him, leaving them alone.
Burkhalter leaned back. "You have no proof that Colonel Hogan is Papa Bear. Beside the espionage and stolen papers, the radio signals and intercepted message, we also now have an ambush of the underground for a prisoner transport."
"If you will just let me talk to Colonel Hogan for one minute, I will have the names of these disloyal Germans!" Hochstetter promised, seething with anger.
"Ambush?" Hogan couldn't remember having heard anything like this.
"A transfer of prisoner from Stalag XII was ambushed by the underground. Every prisoner escaped."
Hogan smirked. "I guess this doesn't look good in Berlin either."
Major Hochstetter stepped into Hogan's personal space. "I will have your head for -"
"Major, you haven't found a single proof that Colonel Hogan is Papa Bear. Even worse, now I have to deal with thirty-five escaped prisoners and stolen papers."
"I have one day left."
Klink snorted, getting brave in the presence of General Burkhalter. "This doesn't matter." He turned to the general. "Like I told you, Herr General, my camp is kept perfectly. There never has been -"
"Shut up, Klink," Burkhalter ordered without heat. He was more annoyed than angry.
Hochstetter opened his mouth but a knock at the door interrupted him.
At Burkhalter's order a young private entered, saluted and brought the general a message. Hogan raised an eyebrow as the young man hurried away. Looking over to Burkhalter he knew why the man had fled.
"What!" Burkhalter started to breath in heavy gasps, his face turning red.
"What is it, Herr General?" Hochstetter inquired with a false smile.
Klink took a step forward but then stopped.
"The Hindenburg Bridge," Burkhalter whispered.
Hogan balled a fist in joy. For a moment, he allowed a triumphal smile on his face before he changed his expression back to confusion.
"The Hindenburg Bridge?" He asked despite having a good inkling what had befallen to this bridge.
"Destroyed."
"What?" Hochstetter hurried around the desk and grabbed the paper, reading it himself.
Burkhalter started to recover.
"This is the proof; Papa Bear isn't in Stalag XIII." He rose. "And he never had been!"
Hochstetter glanced up from the paper. "Now, Herr General, this proves nothing but -"
"Colonel Klink," Burkhalter started, ignoring the SS-man besides him. "Take your prisoner and return to Stalag XIII. I am done with this idiotic plan that doesn't prove anything but makes me look bad in Berlin."
Klink clicked his heels together, an arrogant smile on his face, "Jawohl, Herr General!"
"You can't do this!" Hochstetter finally had found his voice. "He is-"
"Major Hochstetter, don't you have to find a saboteur? Maybe you should have a look at your witness again."
Hochstetter narrowed his eyes. His breathing quickened. But against General Burkhalter he never stood a chance.
"Bah!" He shouted, turned on his heel and marched off.
Hogan released a breath. He needed to grab his chance now. "General Burkhalter, just restoring Colonel Klink's command won't make you look better in Berlin."
"Colonel Hogan, silence," Klink ordered, having found his strength again. "I will not have this-"
Burkhalter leaned back, playing with his pen. "Klink, let Hogan talk." Saving his face in Berlin was Burkhalter's new priority.
"Of course, General Burkhalter. Please continue Hogan." Klink changed his words while he kept smiling.
"Everybody in Berlin can still see how much you changed Stalag XIII. They just need to compare a list of the prisoners from before and after. But if you order all prisoners and guards back, nobody will find any difference. It will be as if this never has happened."
Burkhalter tipped with his fingers on the desk. He appeared to be thinking. Then he nodded. "I'll leave the orders to Colonel Klink."
Hogan beamed. He had been gambling and now he had hit the jackpot.
They drove the same route like thirteen days ago, but this time Hogan's heart was light. Nothing remained from his worry.
Besides securing orders to return for all of his men, he also had gotten Hochstetter of their back for the time being.
"Hogan, I can't believe that we both return to Stalag XIII."
Smirking, Hogan actually enjoyed the useless banter with Klink again. "Home away from home. We wouldn't know what to do without you." Klink smiled as he heard the words that only sounded like a compliment but weren't.
"Home away-"
Out of the corner of his eyes, Hogan saw something along to the road.
"Stop the car!" He ordered and the driver actually stopped without hesitation.
"Hogan, what-"
But Hogan jumped out of the staff car. A few feet away, LeBeau and Sergeant Schulz trotted along the way.
"LeBeau!"
The tired men stopped and looked up.
"Colonel Hogan," Schultz's face lit up in joy as he recognized him. "We have found you."
His face fell as he saw the officer behind him. "Colonel Klink." He saluted.
Before Klink could interfere, Hogan asked the most important question. "Are you okay? Did you already receive your orders to return to Stalag XIII?"
While Schultz had to sort through the information in the question, Hogan regarded LeBeau. He looked as if he hadn't slept or rested the last few days.
The corporal gave him a one-sided shrug. "I don't think so. I cooked for General Lauterbach." LeBeau vocalized the name with an extra level of intensity.
Hogan caught it. Thinking fast, he recognized it. The plans had been stolen from a General Lauterbach. "Do you have them?" He asked, ignoring the nervous man behind him.
LeBeau patted his chest. "This bread has a special ingredient. You'll like it."
Hogan's face broadened into a grin.
"Well?" Klink asked, annoyance coloring his voice as he couldn't follow the strange conversation between Hogan and LeBeau. So he addressed his man. "What is it Schultz?"
"We are on our way back," LeBeau reported as Schultz remained silent.
"See," Hogan turned to Klink, "even Sergeant Schultz returns to our home away from home after he had recaptured one of my men."
"Home?" Schultz finally found a word and repeated it.
"Right. Sergeant Schultz caught me after I had tried to escape. But there is no way away from Schultz. Then we got caught up in a bomb raid," LeBeau continued. "Afterwards we didn't know where else to go. So we decided to return to Stalag XIII, where we belong."
Schultz touched his forehead, his hand traveling up until he could feel his steel helmet. "We were on the way back to Stalag XIII?" he asked. Under his breath, he added. "I thought we would go to Paris."
"Sergeant Schultz, you need to return to your post. You can't just go back to Stalag XIII after you were transferred and before you received new orders," Klink ordered.
Hogan hurried over to the big man. "Colonel Klink, you can't do this. We need to take Schultz and LeBeau with us. You have already the order to reinstall Sergeant Schultz as the sergeant of the guards. Can't you see that they need to rest?"
Klink took a step back. "They don't look-"
"Didn't you hear them? They were in a bomb raid. Sergeant Schultz probably has a concussion."
"I will be back as the sergeant of the guards? I have a concussion?" Schultz repeated, his confusion growing with every new plan Hogan worked out.
"Do you see this? Confusion is the first sign of a concussion. We need to take Schultz back with us, right now."
"Hogan!" Klink blustered but he stepped away as Hogan pulled Schultz and LeBeau to the car.
As Hogan opened the door for LeBeau he caught his smile. Sharing it, he silently agreed.
It was almost back to how it used to be.
Carter grinned as he finally saw the familiar guard towers from the camp.
„Really?" Collins grabbed his left sleeve and stopped him. „We are going to a Stalag?"
„Sure," Carter freed his arm. „I told you I need to return to Stalag XIII."
Sergeant Collins snorted. „I thought this was an alias for your base. I never actually thought that -" he broke off, unable to find words for his thoughts.
„But it is our command center. This is the base of our operation."
Collins stared at the scene in front of him. "I can't believe this."
The spotlight of the tower had its light circle on the commandant of the camp. „There's Klink," Carter noticed. Sergeant Schultz reported his count and the commandant dismissed the prisoners. As they turned, Carter recognized his friends: Colonel Hogan with his brown jacket and Newkirk in his blue RAF uniform. Kinch stood out like a protector behind them while LeBeau gestured wildly. His explanation was met with loud laughter from Newkirk and Hogan's proud smile.
„They're all there." He closed his eyes, lowering his head. No food and the long march combined with his relief claimed their price. „They're all there."
„I guess you weren't sure?" Collins asked and squatted down beside him.
„Major Hochstetter and General Burkhalter tried to find proof against Papa Bear. I needed so long to return, I feared I would be too late."
Collins clapped him on the back. „And how do we get in? I'd rather not disturb any of the guards."
„Oh, if we could find Schultz, it would be easy. Sometimes you actually have to threaten him to see you. He likes to see nothing and then-"
Collins cleared his throat.
„Right. How to get in..." For a moment, Carter's mind was blank. The leaves from last autumn lay wet on the ground. "We should first check the emergency tunnel. If the colonel is back he may have a plan and we shouldn't ruin it."
With that hopeful thought, Carter climbed to his feet and followed the finally familiar area to the tree trunk.
"A tree trunk?"
Shrugging, Carter opened the entrance and had to close it right away again as the light from the guard tower swept the area.
"We don't have a nice tunnel entrance like the Burgschloss," he offered as an explanation.
Collins rolled his eyes but followed Carter without any other further comment down the ladder.
The lights were on. "Anybody home?" Carter called out.
"Carter?" Kinch's surprised voice echoed along the walls.
Colonel Hogan was faster and reached the ladder before Kinch. "Carter -" he greeted in joy before he recognized that he wasn't alone.
His hand vanished inside of his jacket.
"Boy, am I glad to be home and that you're all here," Carter said. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Collins raise his hands.
"Oh, that's Sergeant Collins," Carter introduced his friend. "He guided me back to the Hindenburg Bridge."
Hogan relaxed slightly. "So it was you. You and your bombs impressed rather well General Burkhalter."
Carter beamed. "It was a beautiful explosion." He imitated the noise of the explosion.
Grinning, Hogan clapped him on the back. "I'm glad you're back."
"So, we can stay? We are back in business?" Carter asked.
Hurried footsteps announced the arrival of the last two members just in time to hear Carter's question.
"What else do you think, now that even you have found your way back?" Newkirk grouched but the smile on his face belied his words.
He stepped up to Carter and slapped his head.
"What?" Carter asked with indignation, rubbing his head.
"That's because you worried us," Newkirk explained before clapping Carter friendly on the shoulder.
"Shut up." LeBeau pushed Newkirk away. "Mon ami, we're glad you're back."
Carter beamed as he looked around in the smiling faces of his friends.
"So, do you have any food left?" Collins asked from behind him, destroying the moment. "Sergeant Carter has promised me food."
Kinch laughed while Carter blushed.
"We have enough food left," Hogan announced. "We'll need it, there's still so much work to do."
TBC