Chapter 14:
"Everything set, LeBeau?" Hogan asked.
"Oui, Colonel," the corporal said, with a firm nod. Both men stood in the center of their hotel room and were having a final rundown of the plan for tonight. As LeBeau went out to meet with the German navy officer, Kalina, Bailey, and Skipper would be back at Captain's Headquarters telling the seaman originally assigned the mission that the meeting time had changed to later on in the night.
"Good. As soon as you're done getting that information from Commander Doppler, head straight over to Captain's Headquarters. If all's going well, I should be getting ready to leave with Bailey, Skipper, and Kalina when you get there." Hogan added.
"And then we spend one night in Paris before going back to Germany," LeBeau answered, with a wide grin. He was greeted with a raised eyebrow and slight glare from his commander, bursting the little Frenchman's bubble. "One day?"
"LeBeau," Hogan said warningly.
"Alright, non Paris. But you will break ma petite ami's heart. She has never been there before and wishes to see the Eiffel Tower."
"I'll buy her a snowglobe of it until she can see the real one then. We can't take any longer than we've already have, though. I'm sure by now Klink's having hallucinations or some sort of mental breakdown wondering where his daughter is. Not to mention Hochstetter's probably on his tail with us gone," The colonel looked around the room, sensing something was off. He furrowed his eyebrows together once realizing what it was, then returned his eyes to LeBeau. "Speaking of Krauts, where did Schultz get off to?"
"I sent him out for dinner. He wanted to know absolutely nothing about what we were up to."
Hogan smirked, putting a fist on his hip.
"Alright, get going. I'm gonna start over for Captain's place and watch everything go down in flames," he said.
"Aye, Colonel."
"And don't start with the sailor talk...I'm still trying to figure out why Navy men are so weird."
Kalina paced back and forth across the main lounge, her stomach twisting in knots. She felt as if she could throw up. She had to make sure Nixon or one of his men did not find out Hogan was coming. Not even Captain could know that the colonel was coming for her. She would run away and go to the hotel, but Captain warned her and everyone else of what would happen if they tried to run or turn against him. Never gave any specifics, but maybe it was better if she did not know the specifics. Maybe she would turn out lucky, though. Tonight was the night Captain and his crew were leaving for London. She knew many had already left for the docks disguised as Kriegsmarine personnel, maybe Nixon and his gang had been some of them. She hoped, at least.
As she continued pacing, wondering what was taking Bailey and Skipper so long, when Hogan crawled through the basement window and landed on his feet. He brushed his leather jacket off of a bit of dirt, then spotted Kalina and smiled as he made his way towards her.
"How's it going here, hon?" He asked.
The small Klink turned in the direction of the familiar voice, her eyes dilating in horror, then bolted for Hogan's side.
"What are you doing here?" She asked frantically.
"What am I doing here, I'm here to take you home. How's everything going with Bailey and Skipper? They tell that sailor about the last minute time change for the assignment?" Hogan remarked, with a chuckle.
"You, you need to leave. You can't be here, you gotta go," she said, with urgency. Her hands were trembling, and a sharp chill was going up and down her spine.
"Kalina, if this about Captain, I'm not scared of him."
"No, you gotta leave. Please, Colonel Hogan, please leave! You can't be here, you have to go!"
The colonel's grin quickly turned into a long frown, his eyes holding deep concern. He put his arm around Kalina and held her protectively to his side.
"Kalina, what is it, hon? You seemed terrified of something," he said.
"I am terrified of something, and it'll happen if you don't leave, please, Colonel Hogan! Please go!"
"What will happen? What's gonna happen that's scaring you so bad?"
As Kalina was about to respond, she heard the sound of the door slamming shut and footsteps coming down the stairs. She latched onto Hogan as tight as she could when she saw the familiar figures of Nixon and his men appear in sight. At first, the quad stood there agape, a brief moment of shock taking hold of them. It wore away within seconds and was replaced with fire brimmed eyes and boiling blood.
"Well if ain't our neighborly Air Force pilot," the ensign hissed. "What the hell are you doing here again?"
Hogan brought Kalina in close and hugged her tight, his fiery glare never leaving sight of Nixon.
"I don't know what you're threatening Kalina with, but it better end right now. Or else," he answered back balefully.
"Or else what, old man? You wanna start something, I'll be the one finishing it," Nixon retorted.
As the arguing continued, Klink's daughter squeezed the colonel even tighter. To the point where she thought she might be crushing some of his organs. She had to protect Hogan. She had to get him out of there safely. But how? How, she thought to herself, how?
"I'm warning you; back off." Hogan gnarled.
"I'm warning you, co-pilot," Nixon said, pulling out his pistol and cocking it. He pointed it directly at Hogan's chest and rested his finger on the trigger. "Let go of the Kraut."
The colonel made no response. His eyes remained fixed on the Navy officer before him, grinding his jaw to prevent him from acting out.
"Let go of her, or I blow her brain out!" He barked.
Hogan slowly released Kalina and quickly gave her a cold stare. A 'back away and stay put' stare.
As much as she wanted to disobey his orders and stand in front him, she did as told and went to stand beside the wall. She turned around and watched the two military officers, prepared to step in and protect her friend, her second papa, if deemed necessary.
"Like you have any nerve to kill a higher ranking officer. One that is fighting for the same country as you." Hogan continued.
"You wanna place bets on that, old man? I'll fire this gun without batting so much as a single eyelash after your liquidation. And your little Kraut here will be sold off as a slave quickly afterwards."
"Don't you lay a hand on her!"
Before Nixon could respond, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs could be heard by everyone in the room. Soon emerged the figures of Bailey, Skipper, and Captain, who was fuming with rage regarding the phony time change. After giving a good hollering session with Bailey and Skipper, he made his way down into the basement to do the same with Kalina, when he noticed Nixon, Hogan, and the gun in his ensign's hand pointed at the colonel. His eyes widened to the size of saucers, then turned as red as a fire truck.
"ENSIGN!" He bellowed. "What the sound hell are you doing with that gun?!"
"Getting rid of this diseased officer to our military. A disgrace to the United States," Nixon answered back, grinding his teeth. His eyes never left the sight of Hogan.
"Leave Colonel Hogan alone!" Kalina exclaimed, with an icy glare.
The ensign snapped his head at the little teenager and was about to let her have it, when LeBeau came rushing down the stairs and spotted what was happening before his eyes.
"Colonel!" He cried.
"LeBeau, stay away from me! Go to Kalina and make sure this creep doesn't try coming near her," the colonel ordered, his tone cold and stony.
Though his mind screamed 'attack', the harshness in the colonel's command was enough to make LeBeau follow orders. He, Bailey, and Skipper all made their way to Kalina's side and surrounded her, Bailey armoring her in his arms.
"Nixon, now I know Colonel Hogan has been rather irritating, but this is far too low to accept. That's a fellow American officer you're holding at gunpoint, and I command you to drop your weapon this instant...I'll strip you of your only stripe if otherwise," Captain commanded, taking a few steps closer to his man.
Zoned in on nothing else but his target, Nixon ignored his commanding officer's warning and pulled the trigger. The gun gave a loud fire, and the bullet went straight into Hogan's heart. The colonel gasped, put a hand to his chest, and collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Colonel Hogan!" Kalina screeched.
On pure instinct, Bailey lunged at Nixon, tackling him to the ground, while Captain rushed to Hogan's side for medical aid. The gun flew out of the ensign's hand a few feet in front of him, and he desperately tried reaching for the weapon, but the seaman on top of him made the task more than arduous. Nixon shoved Bailey off of him and began to get to his feet, when his fellow sailor shoved him back down and sprinted for the gun. Nixon quickly rose and chased after him, both of them grabbing a hold of the gun at the same time. Bailey holding the grip and trigger, and the officer holding the barrel. Both began tugging back and forth on it, trying to yank it out of the other person's grasp.
"Let go of it!" Nixon barked.
"And let you murder Colonel Hogan; in your sick, demented dreams," the seaman remarked, hasty.
"Give me my gun!"
"NEVER!"
The two gentlemen continued at it, pulling and tugging as hard as they could on the firearm, when the sound of it firing rang out through the entire room. Bailey went flying onto his backside, the gun landing by his feet with a loud 'clang'. He shook his head, got into a sitting position, and his eyes widened in horror at the sight before him. Nixon was lying face down with a small pool of blood coming from somewhere underneath him. He was not moving, and he did not make a single sound.
Bailey shot to his feet and made his way over to the man. Too scared to turn him over, the seaman knelt down beside Nixon and gently pressed his fingers against the ensign's neck. Nothing. He turned his eyes up to Nixon's men, who were all standing silently filled with both anxiety and trepidation. Bailey closed his eyes, hung his head, and shook it.
"He's dead," he told them.
The ensign's men turned to one another and exchanged the same long frown. As they hung their heads and mourned in silence, Kalina pushed her way out of Skipper's grasp and to Hogan's side at about the same moment as Captain. She batted his hands away, shielding the colonel from his enemy.
"You don't touch him!"
Her eyes flashed, and her voice dripped venom. He was her friend and mentor, and she was not going to let some two pfennig charlatan finish him off. She would resolve to scratching his eyes out if he even lay one finger on him.
"Kalina," Captain attempted to reason with her, though goodness knows why she was acting this way. "I know basic first aid, I can help him."
"No, you won't," she screeched. "You'll kill him!"
Captain's eyes bugged out. The child was sobbing hysterically. He did not know what she was saying. He would never...not in a million years. He looked to LeBeau, who was quite green around the gills. He had spotted Nixon's pool of blood and was feeling very dizzy.
"Reason with her," Captain demanded. "I have to help him."
Not wanting to have another second of picturing all the blood he was seeing in his head, the Frenchman hurried to Kalina and took her in his arms.
"Ma petite ami, you must let Captain help Colonel Hogan. He will die otherwise," he began.
"No! No, I won't let Captain touch him! He's my other papa, I love him, I don't want him to die!" Kalina cried.
"Then you must trust me on this. It is the only way Colonel Hogan will have a chance to survive. Do not trust Captain, trust me."
Kalina clenched her eyes shut as more tears burned down her face. She sniffled and knew what she had to do. If she wanted the colonel to make it, she had to let Captain in and take over. She turned to the naval officer with another sniffle and nodded.
Captain knelt down beside Hogan and began medical aid. He gently went over the colonel's abdomen to find the wound's location. He spotted a hole centimeters away from the zipper of Hogan's leather jacket, but found no blood. None whatsoever. He raised his eyebrow in suspicion and carefully unzipped the jacket for further inspection. He pulled each side away from the center and saw a dark blue bullet proof vest strapped around him with a black buckle. Sure enough, there was the bullet lodged a little bit to the left of his chest.
He took his fingers and pressed them against Hogan's neck for a pulse. Nice, strong, and steady as could be. Captain removed his fingers, looked down at the unconscious colonel and began to laugh. The reaction he got from Kalina was both unexpected and unwelcoming. She attempted to jump on the man and strangle him with her bare hands before being held back by LeBeau, Skipper, and Bailey, who had now joined the group. She fought strong, but she was no match to three grown men holding her back from literally mauling the navy officer to death.
"Sie bösen Sohn des Teufels! Du verdammte, schweinsköpfige Schande eines amerikanischen Offiziers! Du hast ihn getötet! Sie töteten meinen Colonel Hogan, und ich werde sicherstellen, dass die Gestapo macht Sie leiden und für die Verbrechen sterben!" She screamed, hot tears burning down her face.
"Easy, Kalina, easy there," Bailey said softly.
"He killed Colonel Hogan, I want him to die!" She hollered, clawing her hands at the three soldiers holding her back.
"He's not dead! He's not dead, I promise you he's not dead," Captain remarked, holding his hands up fearfully. When LeBeau and the sailors had Kalina under control, the officer continued. "He's just in shock from the bullet hitting him. He's unconscious, I need smelling salts or something to wake him up again."
"I have smelling salts in my purse," Kalina answered, wiping her wet, red eyes with her dress sleeves. She went back to Hogan's side and waved the bottle under his nose. Nothing. She tried again, only longer this time. No response.
"Why won't he wake up?" She said, breaking down. She began to cry again. "Colonel Hogan, wake up...come back to me...come back to meeeeee."
As she began to sob uncontrollably, Hogan slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head a little when he saw Kalina crying over his body. He gave a comforting smile and gently rubbed her arm in attempts to calm her. She sniffled a few times before looking over to see who was touching her arm, and her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw the colonel awake and looking at her with a soft grin.
"Colonel...Hogan?" She asked, meek.
His smile grew a little wider, then slowly got himself up into a sitting position, put one hand in his lap, and used the other one to continue rubbing Kalina's arm.
"You're alive," she said, still trying to comprehend everything. "But how?"
Hogan grabbed the sides of his jacket open a bit and pulled them apart slightly to reveal the dark blue vest strapped around him.
"Bullet proof vest...how'd you know?" Kalina asked, tears still streaming down her face.
The colonel gave a light smirk.
"Didn't I tell you I'd never be too far away from you?" He remarked.
The little teenager felt a wide smile grow to her face. He had been there last night. He had heard the whole conversation and prepared for any stunt Nixon would pull tonight. She had no idea where he had been, but he had been there. Ready to step in and protect her if called for. She hugged Hogan as tight as her little arms could and brightened like the sun when she felt him wrap his around her in response. He gently rubbed her back and gave her a soft kiss on the head, then the two continued to sit there hugging one another.
LeBeau and Bailey looked on wearing smiles of their own, while Skipper was wiping his eyes and sniffling. It earned him a glare from the leading seaman. He lifted his eyes from his handkerchief and stared at him like a deer in headlights.
"What? I get emotional with these things." Skipper whimpered, dabbing his wet eyes.
"Oh, shut up," Bailey said, handing his friend another handkerchief. Skipper took it gratefully and blew his nose into it, making Bailey grimace. "I don't need that back anymore." He added.
Captain sighed with relief, his muscles at last losing tension. He looked at Hogan and gave a soft grin.
"Colonel Hogan, you nearly gave me a blasted heart attack. Scared the living hell out of me," he said.
Hogan gave another smirk.
"Been known to do that to people once and a great while," he answered.
"You and I the same," Captain said, with a faint chuckle. He then frowned and let out a heaving breath of air. "I, uh...wasn't exactly very pleasant to you when we first met...I was so focused on keeping Kalina safe and out of harm's way that I failed to see you were doing the same thing...I'm sorry, Colonel...I hope you can forgive me someday...for all of this."
The colonel gave a friendly smile.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "Let's focus on fighting the Nazis and not each other."
"Colonel, that's the first thing you've said since we met that I've agreed with you on."
The naval officer helped Hogan to his feet, and the duo continued conversing.
"Well," Captain said, with a sigh. "I best be getting off to the docks. I've got a boat to catch."
"Won't you come with us, Captain?" Kalina asked, her arms still wrapped around Hogan's belly.
"No, my dear, I must join the rest of my men in London. My work is there, not in Germany...make sure those two don't give your father any grief back at uh...uh...what's it called again?"
"Stalag 13?"
"Yes, that's it...I am God awful when it comes to German. I know a little Spanish, but no German whatsoever."
"Stay safe, Captain. Maybe we can celebrate with a drink when the war's over." Hogan replied.
Captain smiled and nodded.
"I would like that, Colonel," he said.
The colonel gave a strong salute, and Kalina waved 'goodbye' to their new friend with a soft smile on her face.
The naval officer gave a salute to each of them and made his way to the staircase, where Nixon's men were already going up with their deceased leader's body. Captain turned around once more at the remaining five.
"As they say in Méjico, hasta la vista, mis amigos!" He cried, before turning on his boots and disappearing from sight.
When they were gone, Kalina turned to Hogan with a wide grin and received one in return. He picked her up in his arms, making her silently giggle. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lay her head against Hogan's shoulder. The colonel smiled, then turned to LeBeau, Bailey, and Skipper.
"Come on, guys," he said. "Let's go home."
The group of five started their way out of the building as Skipper began to bombard Hogan with questions about Stalag 13 and their new life working under his command.
"Hey, Colonel, you know how I can get me one of them eagles you're wearing?"
"Go to Air Force school," Bailey answered.
"No, but I meant without the four years of school work."
"Don't make me demote you."
"You already put me at private, though!"
"Trust me; I'll find a lower one for you."
(1) Sie bösen Sohn des Teufels! Du verdammte, schweinsköpfige Schande eines amerikanischen Offiziers! Du hast ihn getötet! Sie töteten meinen Colonel Hogan, und ich werde sicherstellen, dass die Gestapo macht Sie leiden und für die Verbrechen sterben - You evil son of the devil! You damn, pig-headed shame of an American officer! You killed him! They killed my Colonel Hogan, and I'll make sure the Gestapo makes you suffer and die for the crime.