Being a full colonel of the US Air Force and a high-level Guide had its privileges, Klink had found out. He only had his Luftwaffe experience to draw from and as a Luft-Stalag Kommandant there had been quickly reached limits for his command power. A Gestapo Major could overrule him. With connections, even a lieutenant or captain could have him out of his cozy little office and inside a prison cell with one call.
This was different. So very, very different.
He wasn't shut down as he made some careful inquiries concerning one specific person he had gotten to know and who had been the trigger that had changed his life.
For the better, he now thought. He owed that person a lot.
That person was Anna.
It took him only a day to find out where she had been taken to after her arrival in England, what had happened to her in the year that had passed, and another three days to be allowed to see her.
It wasn't so much all the red tape but the fact that she was still fragile, had never recovered her most basic shields, and Wilhelm Klink was a powerful Guide.
Not to mention the man who had killed her Sentinel.
"I was against this meeting," Carla Kinnear said, her voice filled with the misgivings she had, her whole posture stiff and rather unfriendly. "Anna is an unstable mind in a fragile body."
She was still called Anna. Her last name was 'Smith' for lack of a better one. No one knew if she was even German or if Rothenburg had grabbed her from Poland, Austria, Russia or wherever. She still didn't speak, though she responded to emotional waves. Treating Guides injured on such a deeply emotional, mental and psychic level was difficult and rarely anyone recovered. Theories went from keeping them isolated from the world to finding them a Sentinel that would heal those terribly traumatic wounds. The Cambridge Conservatory was one of the few such places in England and rather renowned.
Klink looked at the woman in charge of the place, trying not to reflect his own misgivings in his voice or posture. Next to him, Hogan wasn't so respectful. His frown was clear to see.
"Especially since a Sentinel is a terrifying person for her," Kinnear added, blue eyes hard and unforgiving as she met Hogan's. "I was very much against a military Sentinel coming here."
"With all due respect, Ms. Kinnear," Klink said calmly. "Colonel Hogan is a known factor for her. She was in his care for a while. She trusted him and his men."
"He is still a military Sentinel," she said sharply.
"I was a military Sentinel back then, too," Hogan told her, voice level. "I'm a troubleshooter, Ms. Kinnear. My mind is different from a normal Sentinel's."
Her expression grew even less pleased. "I know what a troubleshooter is, Colonel Hogan. I also know that your kind doesn't bond." Her eyes flicked over to Klink.
Neither man reacted to that statement, nor to the look of doubt and distrusts.
"But I was ordered to let you see her. I'm not responsible for the mental fall-out of her seeing what she is terrified of."
"You are a Guide," Klink stated calmly.
"Yes, I am."
"A universal Guide."
She straightened. "I am."
Hogan was silent, tilting his head a little.
"She responds to Guides, those with a calm disposition," Klink went on. He had read Anna's file. "Universal Guides are the best choice for that. They don't bond to anyone and can assist in medical cases." At Hogan's look he added, "I'm catching up on some matters."
Clara's eyes narrowed a little. "You are neither English nor American."
"German," he told her calmly. "I was born and raised in Germany."
"As a Guide. You survived as a Guide. In Germany."
She sounded doubtful and Hogan briefly looked like he wanted to say something, but he pressed his lips shut.
"Yes. I doubt you didn't know that before allowing us here," he said pointedly. "She was at the Stalag I was in command of."
Kinnear now inclined her head, acknowledging the words. "Very well. Anna's way of communication is fickle and she rarely if ever does so on her own."
"She knows me, Ms. Kinnear. She talked to me before she left."
She frowned.
"I won't overwhelm her. Neither will Colonel Hogan. I can shield his presence as a Guide and I won't let her feel myself either."
"I was told what you are, Colonel Klink." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking neither impressed nor reassured. "I'm still not happy about this, but I have my orders."
**HH**HH**
Anna was in a bright room with a view of the river, the trees running along it, and the expanse of grass that followed a soft incline toward the water. It was airy, light, decorated with calm images of landscapes and flowers. A few personal belongings dotted the shelves, next to the occasional book.
Anna sat on the bed at the window, looking outside, her expression distant, like she was anywhere but here.
Will looked at the delicate looking woman. She was still pale, her straight hair falling past her shoulder blades, unconventionally dressed in pants and a wide blouse. He knew she refused skirts, anything that showed more skin than she had to, and it spoke of her past.
She suddenly turned her head, those distant eyes starting to focus on her visitors. For a moment there was nothing, then her lips twitched. Will felt her mind, unprotected, a raw egg in a sea of sharp blades, its shell too soft to withstand any kind of force.
"Hello, Anna," he said soft.
Her eyes flicked from Klink to Hogan, then she frowned. Will felt her cast out inelegantly, like she was looking for something.
"I'm still me and Colonel Hogan is still himself, yes," he interpreted her psychic moves. "It's just a shield to to keep you from harm."
Her frown was deeper now, almost angry, and her eyes filled with emotions.
"Anna…"
She looked at him.
And Klink opened the shield, showing himself to her as he had done down in the tunnels over a year ago. It wasn't everything, just a fraction of the mass of psychic energy he harbored. Anna's eyes filled with tears, her lips formed a huge smile, then she launched herself off the bed and wrapped her arms around the startled Guide in a fierce hug.
Will felt her, all of her, the unshielded mind flailing everywhere and trying to wrap around him like she was hugging him physically.
"It's okay," he said softly.
She was pushing everything at him and he easily smoothed the jagged waves and calmly channeled her mind into a more even flow.
Hogan met his eyes, smiling, then cocked an eyebrow at Carla. Ms. Kinnear looked flabbergasted, then she huffed and left the room.
Anna looked at the Sentinel as Hogan moved to leave.
"Rob," his Guide said softly. "You can stay."
He cocked an eyebrow.
"She wants you to stay. You are familiar and she trusts you."
"Uh, okay," he replied, a little surprised.
Will just smiled
**HH**HH**
"She understands we have bonded," Will told his Sentinel when they were alone again, outside the clinic, down by the river and overlooking the peaceful landscape.
"She told you?"
"In her own way. I think she approves of the bond."
"She can feel it?"
"She can feel everything, Robert. She is wide open and has no protection at all. She catches a lot of things, but she can't really handle the input. I'm currently helping her along a little. She was rather taken by how the bond felt in me, in us, as compared to her own experiences."
Hogan grimaced. They had never talked about it, but both men knew what had happened to the girl, now a young woman, at the hands of the Gestapo military Sentinels she had served.
"And she doesn't fear you, Rob."
Hogan smiled, feeling slightly tickled. "I'm a good guy."
"More than that. You are my Sentinel. She trusts me and she knows I'm not your slave. She understands that what happened to her and all the other Guides she met in her time with Rothenburg isn't the norm in other countries now."
Hogan leaned a little closer, their shoulders brushing against each other.
"I doubt she can ever be anywhere but here," Klink went on, sounding regretful. "Her shields are absolutely destroyed. She doesn't even have basics left. A Sentinel might be able to protect her, but she probably won't ever trust anyone like that ever again. Introducing her to someone like your, a Sentinel of any level, would be risky. It might help, it might make everything even worse."
"But she's save here." Hogan put a little question mark at the end of that.
Klink nodded. "Yes. Despite Ms. Kinnear's behavior toward us, she is save her. Ms. Kinnear was just protecting her charge."
"Good for her."
Another nod.
Carla had been rather brisk and business-like when she had seen them out, not the least bit mellowed by the positive experience Anna had had. Or even apologetic. Hogan understood it. She was in charge of injured Guides, mentally and psychically injured, and she took her duties seriously. Just his mere presence, a powerful Sentinel, even though he was shielded by his alpha Guide, was a disturbance and could set back a delicate mind.
"You didn't harm anyone in there," Klink said out of the blue.
"Uh, what?"
"You were thinking about it. If your presence harmed anyone. It didn't. I was careful not to let you scream what you are all over the place. You're usually rather guarded anyway, but even that might have disturbed some of those patients."
"So Anna didn't really feel what I am?"
"Oh, she did. And she recognized you from the tunnels. She knows exactly what you are and she accepts it."
Will's eyes were on the gurgling water, slightly distant, lost in thought. Hogan had felt little of what the young woman had apparently projected at his Guide, but he knew it had been like in the tunnels. Anna trusted Will. She had opened up. It was something she hadn't done in a year and might not do again, even though Will had encouraged her to work with the clinic staff.
"You'd make a good counsellor," he remarked.
His Guide shook his head with a fine smile. "Hardly. Anna responds to me because she knows me, trusts me, knows what and who I am. Otherwise she would be as distant and unresponsive as she is with others. And I don't plan on counseling anyone. I have my hands full with you, Hogan."
The other man grinned. "Yeah. Private appointments and personalized service."
Klink had to laugh.
"You want to visit her regularly?" Robert wanted to know.
"No. I want to know how she is faring, but I think coming here again and again would be counter-productive. Anna has to come out of her shell to communicate with others, not wait for me to be there for her."
"Okay."
"And I think I affronted Ms. Kinnear enough."
It got him a bright smile. "Learned from the best, Will. So proud of you."
"You are rubbing off on me then, Colonel Hogan."
"In all the best ways."
Hogan leaned in, kissing his Guide, feeling them sway together, both men using the intimate contact as a base line and anchor. He framed the narrow face, thumbs brushing over warm skin, dark brown eyes meeting bright blue ones.
"Maybe she gets lucky one day," Hogan said softly. "Maybe she finds it in her to talk to someone else, connect to someone else."
Klink smiled sadly. "The hopes for that are… miniscule at best."
"So was my chance to meet a Guide that can match me. So was your chance to run into a Sentinel who is your equal. We've been each other's blind spots."
Arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him even closer, and Will rested his head against Hogan's shoulder and neck.
"I was so incredibly lucky," he whispered, barely audible.
"So was I," Klink replied. And he knew it, would never forget it.
"You feel incredible," Hogan murmured.
Klink smiled a little. "Shouldn't a Guide feel good?"
"Hm, maybe. No experience there. I can only say for sure that you are amazing, Wilhelm Klink. You feel more than good. You're perfect."
The Guide framed his face, meeting the dark eyes. So much darker than normal, so much power in there, so much passion and fire.
"No one is perfect. And I think it's time to head back. I'm more than ready for a beer."
Hogan grinned and stole a last kiss. "So am I."
tbc...
**HH**HH****HH**HH****HH**HH****HH**HH****HH**HH****HH**HH****HH**HH**
Okay, wrap-up number one! Careful guesstimate: 4-5 chapters left until I'm done. Very careful guesstimate...