Chapter 20: Under the Ax

Brigitte tiptoed her way down the hallway, her bare feet silent on the carpet as she crept toward Adelgiese's bedroom door. It was so early that the sun had barely risen, and while she usually liked to cling to her bed as long as possible, she knew that aunty was probably awake by now, and, well, quite frankly, she wanted company. Her room had felt extra lonely after vatti had tucked her in and simply left, especially since she'd been looking forward to a sleepover. Well, all three of them would have a sleepover tonight, and that would be great fun!

The girl giggled to herself as she arrived at Adelgiese's door, her tongue itching to be vocal, but she'd been told on more than one occasion that being loud this early in the morning was bad. Other people might be sleeping, and waking them up would be plain rude. So she held herself in check as she slowly cracked the door open and stuck her head inside. If aunty wasn't awake yet, she'd go find vatti, but it didn't look like she needed to look for him at all, for there, sitting against the headboard, was a very shirtless vatti. The lump under the blankets beside him had to be her aunt, and Brigitte immediately broke out into a smile so large that she was sure her face wasn't big enough to hold it.

Aunty and vatti had slept in the same bed. That's what mommy and her other daddy had always done. Didn't that mean that they were in love? Adults only shared a bed if they were in love...or if the house was too small, like aunty had once told her. Sometimes people had to share, but vatti had his own room, which meant that he'd chosen to share aunty's bed. Brigitte decided that this was a very good development—so good, in fact, that she just stood in the doorway grinning like she'd uncovered the greatest treasure in the world.

"Guten Morgen," her father lazily greeted, smiling at her expression. Then he held a finger to his lips and pointed at aunty. Oh, so she was still sleeping.

"Hallo," Brigitte whispered, still bouncing in place due to excitement, but she had a feeling that vatti didn't want her to enter the room. She couldn't very well crawl onto the bed without waking her aunt up, and it looked like aunty didn't have to work today. Maybe she should let vatti and Del have some time alone for adult stuff. That was important too. She would just...

"Hey!" she suddenly frowned, accusingly glaring at her father. "You had a sleepover without me! Not fair."

"Shhhh," Landa warned her, but with a smile. "Go back to your room."

"But...!" He gave her a look that told her arguing was pointless.

"Fine," she grumpily admitted, but then her father bent and planted a light kiss on aunty's head, and that perked Brigitte back up. With a silly smile, she shut the door while her father winked, like they had just shared a secret. With another giggle, she was running down the hallway to her room, happy as could be, but she was definitely talking to aunty about this later. She wasn't going to miss the next sleepover.

Adelgiese slowly opened her eyes, and felt Landa shift beside her. So he had stayed the night, which she hadn't particularly expected, and now he was sitting in the bed, looking sideways at her while enjoying a morning smoke of his pipe. It was a ridiculous pipe, but she was less concerned with that than his contented appearance as he worked at the tobacco.

"You're finally awake," he greeted her.

"Hmmm," she hummed in response, looking up at the ceiling as she reveled in the warmth of the surrounding blankets. In another few weeks, the weather would begin to grow warm again, making snuggling like this uncomfortable, but for now she merely relaxed and closed her eyes as she listened to the room's silence.

"You're not your usual, restless self," she commented.

"You thought that I'd be anxious to leave?" Landa asked, and even with closed eyes, Adelgiese felt him staring at her.

"Perhaps," she calmly replied. "You don't seem like the snuggling type. I'm surprised that you're not in uniform yet."

"I'm a smart man," he said, and she heard the laughter in his voice. Several of his fingers were brushing hair away from her neck so that he might gently flick one of her earrings. "I'm in bed with a beautiful woman who's naked but for jewels. Only an idiot would leave that behind without a second thought, and even someone as restless as I am appreciates a slow morning. I don't get them very often..." Adelgiese muttered some soft reply as his weight shifted toward the edge of the bed. What was he doing now? Maybe he would leave since she was awake, but she didn't open her eyes until she heard the faint click of what sounded like a gun being loaded.

"What are you doing?" she asked, sitting up as Landa held a pistol on his lap.

"There might come a time when you need to defend yourself," he shrugged. "Seeing as how I can't be around all of the time, it might be prudent for you to have a weapon." Well this was a strange turn of events after a romantic night. Adelgiese eyed the gun, and wondered what had triggered Landa's decision. He'd never entrusted her with a weapon before, and he certainly knew that she'd shot and killed a man before.

"Should I expect violence in the near future?" she carefully asked.

"I might have heard some rumors," Landa admitted. "I'm assuming that you know how to load and fire a pistol..."

"Of course," she answered, and he extended the weapon to her. Her fingers wrapped around the holster and prepared the take the gun from his hands, but as she gave it a light tug, Landa resisted releasing the weapon. His eyes drilled into hers with a steel that she'd almost forgotten while he'd held her last night.

"If you ever point this at me," he warned with a voice full of menace. "You will regret it for the rest of your life, and you'll be betraying Brigitte."

"I'm well aware of that...Hans." It still felt strange to call him that.

"I've taken some extra security precautions," he added, now fully releasing the weapon to her. "But I don't want anyone to know about them, so there are some limitations that you might find disagreeable. For one, Brigitte will not be assigned a bodyguard, even if she should have one. Schneider suggested it, but I think that you're fully capable of watching out for the girl." So he trusted her enough for this, and enough to sleep unguarded by her side. Adelgiese hadn't expected that after telling him about her assault on SD members, but that was long ago, or at least, it felt like a lifetime ago. Looking at him sitting on her bed, naked as the day he was born, it felt like everything was a lifetime ago, even her first meeting with him.

"Spare ammo?" she questioned.

"In your panty drawer," he smiled. "Oh, and I took the liberty of examining your collection while I was at it. I look forward to seeing the red ones." Adelgiese had nothing to say to that as she tucked the gun beneath her pillow. She didn't like handling guns if she didn't need to, but she also grudgingly admitted that having one made her feel safer. Now, if anything threatened her or the child while the men were away...

"Thank you," she honestly told him. "It's nice to know that I don't just have a kitchen knife."

"It's up here?" Landa asked, sounding amused.

"In the vanity," Adelgiese said, nodding toward the piece of furniture. "I'm a cautious woman."

"That's why I'm entrusting you with this," he told her. "I don't think that Brigitte could be in better hands, and if the gun fails, I suppose that you could always start a fire." He was teasing her, and Adelgiese allowed herself a small smile. "Ah, but I haven't given you a proper greeting this morning, have I?" She blinked, and then he was kissing her, slowly and sensuously, and she could find no complaints. This was a different Landa than what she'd expected, but not so different from his normal, charming, detail-orientated self that she was overly surprised. He was a thorough man if nothing else, and as his lips left hers, she wondered what any of this newfound intimacy between them meant. Probably nothing.

"Would you object if I returned tonight?" he asked her. "You're unusually quiet this morning, but there's no taking this back."

"I didn't think that there was," she simply replied. "But that doesn't mean that I'm yours to call on whenever you'd like. I'm not Lorraine." She flashed him dangerous eyes, daring him to contradict her, but he merely titled his head with an equally stern expression.

"I could not possibly confuse the two of you," he stated. "But I haven't given you any promises either. Women always seem to want a promise after the deed is done, but I don't make promises very often, and they're rarely pleasant promises. I should think that's apparent."

"It is," she replied, leaning forward and capturing his lips. "And I'm not a silly girl hoping that you'll whisk me away and marry me." She sadly smiled at the naïve idea, and let Landa see her wry expression. "I'm not asking for a meaningless promise, Oberst," she explained. "I was simply making a point that you shouldn't take this for granted, and to be perfectly honest, I'm still a little amazed that you're lounging naked in my bed." He smiled at that, leaning into the pillows as if to prove her point.

"I'm still a little amazed that you're not trying to get me out of it," he shot back. "I should warn you though, Del, that I'm not a man who likes to share anything that I've lain claim to. Lorraine was something entirely different, but you..." His eyes scorched heat over her body, reminding Adelgiese about the violent hunger that lurked somewhere beneath his calm surface. She had no doubt that he meant what he was saying.

"Do you have any idea how long it's been since I last had sex?" she asked him, and when he didn't answer: "Years. I'm not looking for a man, Hans. Handling you has been work enough since I came here, and that was before I ever thought that I'd let you touch me."

He chuckled goodheartedly as she stood from the bed, feeling more aware now that she'd talked with this man about what had happened. At least there were some basic perimeters set up so that they both understood what this meant in their daily lives. She hated having to guess all of the time, which had been a great annoyance to her in past relationships. The ones who annoyed her too much had never lasted long. Landa wouldn't hesitate to speak his mind though.

"You can't honestly be planning to get dressed already," he commented when she began selecting an outfit.

"I just remembered that I threw a box of truffles into the back of the pantry," she stated while pulling a blouse over her head. "And I think that chocolate in bed is the only way to end our self-indulgence." He again chuckled, laying down in the bed as she removed her jewelry and went toward the door.

"I'll wait for room service then," he called after her.

"You ought to get dressed before Brigitte decides to pop in," Adelgiese added, knowing the girl's habits. She couldn't imagine the child walking in on a naked Landa, and then she would have to explain why Landa was naked and in her bed. Naked sleepovers weren't exactly an easy thing to explain to a child who probably thought that boys had cooties. And so she was relieved when there was no sign of the girl roaming the halls, but it was quite early in the morning. Only the staff would be awake and beginning to prepare breakfast, a task that Adelgiese had never been assigned.

"Good morning," she greeted as she entered the kitchen. Pierre nodded as he continued to grate fresh cheese, and Elle said nothing. Only Marlene spoke, offering a respectful hello as she continued to scrub potatoes in the sink. Soon the entire downstairs would smell of fried potatoes, bacon, and whatever Pierre was going to do with the cheese. Adelgiese didn't particularly care as she headed for the pantry, thinking only of chocolate and the disgusted looks that these people would give her if they knew about what she'd done. She couldn't blame them, especially when she herself had only just accepted offering her body to a man with whom she was often at odds. Or maybe that was a skewed perception. After all, somewhere along the line, they'd both agreed to play the game, and they'd been operating by the same rules for some time. Maybe this escalation had been unavoidable then, given their natural bent for competition. Her secrets had been blood to Landa's senses, and his tenacity had brought out the limits of her own scheming personality. They'd been chasing each other in circles without actually trying to find a way out of the circle—just taking jabs at each other while trying to keep a step ahead. And hadn't it made her feel more alive and active than she had in a long time? Kisses in the morning light, but he wasn't her friend. A lover, yes, but whatever else there was to them after last night, she found that she couldn't label it.

Adelgiese wondered how long she'd been standing still with one hand frozen on the pantry door's handle. Elle was staring at her like maybe she'd finally lost her senses, and Pierre kept glancing at her. Marlene was stoic as ever, as if scrubbing potatoes was the most important thing in the world at the moment. Surprise. Surprise.

"Landa gave me the day off," she shared, feeling awkward to be silently standing amongst these people while rooting through shelves of canned goods and bagged foods. Where were those truffles? She'd decided to buy them on a whim, and...

"Any special reason?" Elle insinuating asked, her tone polite but hardly friendly.

Grape juice. Beets. Pickles.

"He did not say."

What the hell was in that bag? She tossed it aside as well.

It was strange to think of these people as enemies now. If something happened, they would all be killed, even Old Guy for simply being connected to the rest of the staff. It wasn't a pleasant idea, not when Adelgiese considered how stalwart and brave someone like Marlene was. God, but she hoped nothing came of their bitterness. It would be better for everyone involved if they kept themselves uninvolved and protected. They were lucky that Landa hadn't already lynched them, especially considering the incident with the boy. Enough blood had been shed in this damned household without adding more through some dramatic attempt at revenge.

"What are you looking for?" Marlene suddenly asked.

"Chocolate. I bought chocolate." Pausing in her search, she wondered if they knew that they were safe for now. Maybe, if they thought that they were endangered, they would act rashly, but she hadn't said anything to Landa about their connection to the Jewish boy, and he apparently wouldn't act on his conjectures alone. Of course, the intuitive bastard had to already know, but that was another matter entirely.

"He doesn't have evidence," she quietly shared, drawing everyone's attention, but she didn't look at them. Her eyes were fixed on a large bag that was marked 'potatoes'. Hadn't she put her chocolate behind some potatoes? "He can't do anything." Both of her hands fastened around the potato bag, because it wasn't an overly large bag, but then why was it abnormally heavy? What the hell? It didn't feel like there were potatoes in it at all, and as she moved to set it on the floor, she heard a cascade of soft, metallic clicks. One bullet slipped through a hole in the fabric, and hit the floor, and then another and another. The sound seemed to fill the entire kitchen as Adelgiese watched one slowly roll across the tiles towards Elle's shoes.

"Oh shit," she breathed. One second she was holding the bag, and the next she had dropped it and was grabbing the pantry door, yanking it shut as Pierre rushed at her. She held the doorknob for dear life, bracing her feet against the doorframe to prevent Pierre from pulling the door open and reaching her, but he was stronger than her, and...Adelgiese began to sweat as she swore that Pierre had just told Elle to get the ax from beside the stove. Oh shit indeed, and if she screamed for help, no one upstairs was likely to hear her through the cement walls surrounding her. Maybe they'd hear something, but not if they were chatting and smoking, and damn it, but someone was making loud noise with the pots and pans as her lungs opened anyway.

Think. Think.

"Elle, call them! Everything is ruined if they don't come now."

"This isn't how we planned it!"

"It doesn't matter. There won't be a second chance." Adelgiese listened as she continued to pull against the door, her arms aching, but the sound of blood rushing through her veins seemed to drown everything else out. The door was beginning to open, inching outward and letting light creep into the pantry as Adelgiese grit in teeth in determination. Her hands were still desperately gripping the doorknob when a strong yank pulled her into the kitchen with the fully opened door, and then she was reaching for Pierre's face with her fingernails. She would break free and run—scream so that everyone else knew that something wasn't right. The scream was already working its way up her throat when the breath was knocked from her. She'd been thrown to the floor, and now a thick rag was being jerked across her mouth, muffling her scream to a harmless level as hands violently seized her.

"I've got her," Marlene's voice rumbled, and laying on her stomach, Adelgiese's hands were tied behind her back, leaving her helpless. Her face was pressed against the cool tile as she turned her head to see what was happening. Scheisse, but they were tying her legs as well. There would be no getting out of this one unless the perfect opportunity fell right into her lap. Her heart rate spiked as she began thinking about her chances, especially since Pierre was standing over her with an ax in one hand.

"We should just kill her," the man neutrally stated. "She's one of them."

"She's a maid," Marlene replied with an overly stern voice. "And one who helped us. Leave her tied in the pantry." Pierre hesitated, eyeing Adelgiese with a blank expression as she stared up at him. She had to get out of this. She had to get to Brigitte.

"Fine. I'm going with Elle. The others will be here any moment." Marlene nodded, and then Pierre was gone, leaving Adelgiese with Marlene, who was dragging her into the pantry by her feet. She didn't know what to expect as Marlene propped her into a sitting position against a shelf and sat down beside her.

"This is a fine mess you've caused, German," the older woman sighed. "I guess I'll go box and carry some of the china into the basement before all hell breaks loose." Adelgiese watched the woman cast her a humorless smile. "Don't thank me for saving you," Marlene then continued. "Jacob isn't going to spare you once he's here. The man has a bloodlust for Landa that is going to kill you too. If you're lucky, and if you stay quiet, maybe everyone will forget that you're here."

"Mmmm. Hmmm. Humph," Adelgiese muttered, trying to speak around the rag, but nothing came out. She had to get out of this place and warn the others, but Marlene was standing and walking away, reaching for the door.

"Goodbye, Adelgiese." Now she was jerking about and frantically making noise, bidding Marlene to stop and listen to her. Maybe the woman would listen to reason, but there wasn't much time for either side. With a curious, stony expression, Marlene turned to look at Adelgiese one last time, and their eyes locked.

Please, Marlene. You've got to listen to me or we all might die.

Landa wondered where Adelgiese was with the truffles. It had been almost fifteen minutes now, and he was still laying in bed without any chocolate, and without a woman to warm the other side of the bed either. Maybe Brigitte had detained her aunt, but he supposed that there wasn't any rush this morning. He could wait a bit longer before getting dressed, but if Adelgiese took much longer, he would begin working on some files. There were a few things that needed to be done, including listening to Schneider's latest report. The man had probably been very busy nosing about last night, and he wanted to know if there'd been any breakthroughs.

Landa glanced at the nearest clock. 6:15. Well, since he wasn't busy at the moment, he pulled his pants and shirt on, and meandered to his study. He would call down to Zissel and ask the man to contact Schneider by radio for him.

"Guten Morgen. Landa's residence. Zissel speaking."

"Zissel," Landa began glancing up at his study doors as someone knocked. "Have Schneider report within the hour." Someone knocked on the doors yet again.

"Vatti?" Brigitte called from the other side, opening the doors and popping inside with her messy, blond hair, and a rumbled nightgown. "Oh," she said, seeing him on the phone. "Sorry." Landa stared. If Brigitte was here, what was taking Adelgiese so long? Warning sirens began sounding in his head as the girl drew closer.

"Anything else, Herr Oberst?" Zissel was asking.

"No. I think that will be all."

"Yes..." but the 'sir' never came, Zissel's comment hanging unfinished as something loud crashed in the background of the receiver.

"Zissel?" Landa demanded, but there was no answer. "Zissel!"

"Is something wrong, vatti?" Brigitte asked, staring up at him with a concerned face.

"Stay here, Brigitte. Don't let anyone see you."

"If you try to scream, I'll hit you," Marlene warned her, and Adelgiese shook her head, prompting the other woman to shut the pantry door and remove the gag. "What is it you wish to say, German?" Adelgiese's mouth was dry from the rag, but she quickly swallowed and wetted her lips. This was no time for thoughts of discomfort.

"This won't work. You'll die if you stay here, Marlene." Landa's warning from earlier in the day echoed through her head, as did images of a gun.

"I've accepted that the SS will likely hunt me down," Marlene said with a snort. "Even if I don't lift a finger, so I might as well go down doing something with my life."

"You don't understand!" Adelgiese argued. "This isn't a surprise attack. It won't work, and you will die with the others for nothing!" Marlene eyed her with deep, stormy eyes, but the woman was keeping her face almost perfectly emotionless. Adelgiese did not want to see this woman struck down like an animal.

"What do you mean?"

"Landa isn't in bed," Adelgiese explained. "He's waiting for the chocolate." Marlene's eyes lit with dark understanding at those words. "And he already knew."

"Mon deu," Marlene exhaled, shaking her head. "So what would you like me to do, German? Turn my back on everyone that I have left for your sake? Because I sure as hell won't run for my own—not that it would mean anything. You were right. The staff is marked for death." Adelgiese swallowed, beseeching this stern, rock of a woman before her with worried, blue eyes.

"You can leave, and I will tell Landa that you had nothing to do with this."

"Do I look like a coward?" Marlene barked with laughter.

"No," Adelgiese amended. "But you look tired. You don't want this responsibility. Brigitte will die. She needs me. Blood does not cover blood. Elle doesn't know. Pierre doesn't know. You do."

"Just wash my hands clean of everything, huh?" Marlene actually smiled, but it was a weary smile. "These walls have been my prison for such a long time..." One of her calloused palms pressed against the wall, and for what seemed an eternity, Marlene just stood there, head bowed and eyes closed, as if she were praying. Maybe she was. "Do you believe in god, German?" the woman finally asked, lifting her head.

"Yes," Adelgiese answered.

"So do I, but I sure as hell wish that his sense of justice was a little swifter." Then Marlene was untying Adelgiese's hands and feet, allowing her freedom as the woman shook her head. "You watch yourself, maid."

"You too," Adelgiese returned, clasping the other's hands. It was a brief goodbye, and Adelgiese decided that she'd probably never see the Frenchwoman again. Marlene simply went to the basement, packed a few belongings, and then she was calmly walking out the back of the kitchen, Old Guy at her side as the two passed the garden. The gardener stopped for but a moment to survey his handiwork, but Adelgiese didn't notice. She was already running, and she never looked back. Neither did Old Guy or Marlene as the two disappeared into the awakening streets of Paris, not even as several men with guns bypassed them to enter Landa's home.