They left Rob's bedroom and young Jout said, "You can choose which important moment in your life we visit next: either the first time you were beaten up or the day Rob left."

"Why can I choose now?" old Jout asked. "When I wanted to skip the last moment, you said that wouldn't be possible."

Together they slowly sauntered down the hallway while young Jout explained, "This journey intends to show you what you have endured so far and how strong you are because of that. But the main objective is to show you who you would leave behind if you decide to stop fighting for your life. That's why you can choose between a moment that only affects you, or a moment that affects the relationship with your brother."

Old Jout nodded and went silent as he thought about which moment he wanted to visit. In all honesty, he had no interest in repeating both moments, but he had to make a decision. "I choose the day Rob left."

"Alright," answered his younger self. He opened the door to Jout's old bedroom and motioned, "Step in."

Old Jout entered the room and saw his seven-year-old self sleeping peacefully in his bed. Though it was dark, he could clearly see that the sleeping boy had a split lip, making him instantly feel angry at his father again.

"You never said goodbye to Rob, didn't you?" The voice of young Jout took him out of his thoughts.

"No," old Jout shook his head. "He vanished during the night, and the next morning he was simply not there anymore." He sat down on the foot of the bed and said, "I never felt more betrayed and hurt in my whole life. Rob was my big brother! I looked up to him, thought of him as a hero." Old Jout lowered his gaze. "Now that Rob was eighteen, I had hoped he would leave this place and take me with him." A sarcastic chuckle left his lips before he said, "Leaving he did. Just not with me."

Young Jout watched how his older self talked about this hurtful day. It saddened him to see how defeated the older man looked. "Have you forgiven Rob for what he has done?"

Old Jout raised his glance, staring at the young form in front of him for a long time while thinking about the question. "I guess I did," he eventually announced. "But it's not like I have forgive-forgiven him. That he has left me with our abusive father is something I will never forgive him. But I'm not hating him anymore, or let it stand between us. I love him as much as I did before he left me."

"And that's why you rather let the family be killed than betraying him?" young Jout asked.

Old Jout jumped from the bed, taking offence in the statement. "Do you think I made that decision flippantly? I feel terrible for being responsible for that innocent family's death, but I had no choice! I had to protect Rob, Peter, and everyone who is involved in the operation!" He drove with his hand through his umber brown hair and said, "In war, you sometimes have to make impossible decisions that are irreconcilable with your conscience to help a greater cause."

From the tone of his voice and his facial expression, young Jout had the feeling that this explanation was not really intended to convince him from the ethical aspect of his decision, but more to convince himself. Young Jout raised his hands in defence and stated, "Alright, alright. No offence intended." He walked over to his older self and said, "But enough of that. Let us observe this next moment."

The door to seven-year-old Jout's bedroom slowly opened, and in stepped Rob. His face showed an intense sadness as he watched his little brother sleep. While he quietly moved over to his sleeping brother, he retrieved a note from his pocket which he laid on Jout's nightstand. Rob knew it was a terrible thing to do, but he just had to leave. And he wished he could take his brother with him, but how should he take care of a child while starting a career in the military? Being totally aware of the consequences of his actions, Rob was not able to face his brother upon leaving him with their abusive father; that's why he left during the night. The note he had written for Jout did not contain much detail, since he did not know how to write down his feelings, how to explain to his little brother that he was not the hero Jout thought he was.

Rob bend down to give Jout a slight kiss on his head, careful to not wake him up. Walking back to the door, he grabbed his bag and looked one last time at his brother. "I'm sorry, Josh," Rob whispered. "Hopefully you can forgive me and we meet again one day."

He closed the door behind him, with that sealing his little brother's fate.

Another day had passed, and Jout was still lying unconscious in Hogan's quarters. Wilson had checked on him again around midday, assuring the others that his heart beat and breathing were strong and that they just had to be patient. Nothing much happened during the day, only once did Klink called for Hogan to talk with him about disappearance of a certain Gestapo major. Newkirk spent the whole day by Jout's side again while the others mostly stayed away from him.

Now it was one hour after lights-out and Hogan waited in the tunnels for Tiger, who had announced her arrival in the morning. Right after her message had come through, Hogan left the camp for a quick visit into town, not telling his men what he intended to do there. And while he paced about the radio room, he doubted his earlier decision and tried to figure out what to do.

Hogan was taken out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching the room, turning around just in time to see Tiger appear. She gave him a sad smile and moved closer to him, placing her arms around his broad shoulders while burying her nose in his neck, smelling his aftershave. "How are you feeling, mon chéri? Has your brother woken up yet?"

Hogan pressed Tiger tightly against his body, stroking with his hand across her back. "Not yet; he's still in a coma." He disengaged himself from her and gazed into her eyes. "And I'm feeling awful."

She brushed with her fingers a few strands of his thick black hair from his forehead and asked, "Why that, Robert?" If Tiger was calling him by his name, she never shortened it. She liked the sound of it way too much to erase even one letter.

Hogan dropped his gaze and walked over to the stool by the radio. He sat down and explained, "I feel like I'm the one to blame for his condition. Fuhrmann was after me, using him as a bait. And all I did was sit around while he was being tortured. And now Josh is fighting for his life because I did nothing to prevent it."

Tiger sat down across from him and took his hands in her own, gently squeezing them. "You know that this is not the truth, Robert. You tried everything in your power to bring him back. And you did." She stared at him and said, "You convinced Burkhalter to order Josh's release. You prevented Fuhrmann from doing anything else to him."

"But the only reason I could convince him was because someone else informed him about Josh's questioning," Hogan interjected. "Without this person, Josh would probably be dead by now."

"You don't know that, mon chéri," Tiger said, trying to stop Hogan from blaming yourself. "Robert, you can't change the past, so stop worrying about what you should have done differently. Focus on the present and the future; that's what's important."

Hogan eventually nodded, raising his gaze to meet hers. "Fine, I follow your advice and quit worrying about the past." He gave her a puzzled look and asked, "Say, did Fuhrmann really try to escape or have you wanted to do me a favour by killing him yourself?"

Tiger's face turned into a blank expression. "Like I said, you should concentrate one the present and the future, not the past."

She gave him a stern look, with that showing Hogan that the matter was closed. He got the hint and rose to his feet as he began to pace again, still trying to figure out whether to do what he had planned or not. All the while, Tiger quietly observed him, knowing that the pacing was his way of thinking. So she did not say anything and waited for him to start.

After a while, Hogan stopped pacing and turned to face Tiger. His expression was unreadable, something Tiger did not like at all; she preferred to have an idea what people intended to do. Hogan stepped over to her and grabbed her hands, tugging at them to make her stand up. She complied, albeit confused.

Suddenly, Hogan knelt down on one knee, his hands gripping hers. "Marie," he began, confusing Tiger even more by the use of her real name. "I have thought about doing this for quite some time now. Though we rarely saw each other over the last two years, it was the longest I've ever had something with a woman. And the reason why I call what we have "something" and not "relationship" is that I don't know what you are thinking about our romance." Hogan gave her an unsure smile to hide his nervousness, seeing a mixture of confusion and disbelief spreading across her face. "To be completely honest, in the beginning I thought of you as a girl to pass some time in here whenever we would meet. But over the years my feelings for you grew, and the affection I've felt for you from the moment I first saw you turned into love. And with the war seemingly coming to an end, I began to think about my future. And every time I did, I ended up thinking about us two living together in the States with a couple of children." He let go of her hands and grabbed into his pants pocket, retrieving a small diamond ring. "I know you always said you didn't want to enter into a commitment during the war because of the unpredictability of the espionage business, but I don't want to wait any longer, not knowing what the future will hold." Hogan took a deep breath before asking, "Marie, will you marry me after the war?"

Tiger stared at Hogan, not believing that he actually proposed; something she had dreamt to happen, but never dared to hope. Her red lips circled into a smile and she said, "Yes, Robert, I would be delighted to marry you!"

A broad and relieved smile found its way on Hogan's face as he rose to his feet. While gazing into Tiger's eyes, he slipped the diamond ring on her left ring finger. Then he stroked with his thumb across her cheek before leaning in, placing his lips tenderly on hers. Hogan circled his arms around Tiger's waist and pulled her close to him. She put one hand on his back while she buried the other in his black hair, enjoying the feeling of being in her now fiancé's arms. Never in a million years had Tiger thought she would ever be able to say this. But now she could, and she felt like her life was beginning to go back to normal, without constantly worrying about defeating the Nazis.

When they finally broke apart, Hogan kept his hands on her hips and said, "Now Josh only has to wake up and I'm the happiest man in the world."

"He will, Robert," Tiger assured him. "He will."