Hi.
Uh, really sorry for not updating for over a month. Oops.
But it's done now! I have to say there's like a dozen things I would have done differently, but if I spent forever changing little details and plot points this thing would never have happened, so thanks all for liking my first chapter so much that you wanted more. I had an awesome time writing this.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday came and went, and Hogan began to berate himself for suggesting that Barnes walk to Max's. He had to be hurting! How much could a man heal in four days? Certainly, the people of Hammelburg were kind enough - despite the political unrest they kept a homely, small-town feeling about them; at least the Hammelburg natives did. There were plenty of newcomers who didn't share the same kindness. And Gestapo - how stupid was he? Sending an injured man out into Gestapo-infested streets!
Okay, that might have been a bit dramatic. But he was not happy with the situation, and over the weekend he realized his anxiety seemed to increase as everyone else's smoothed over. Save for Davis, who was irritated to no end that he wouldn't be able to come into town to get Barnes. His German just wasn't all that great, and besides he'd been elected part of the road-work detail.
As such, he and most of the barracks were gone when Hogan, Newkirk, and Addison prepared to leave. Newkirk, Hogan wanted because he was slippery, and quick on his feet and an impressive shot. Addison, he admitted, he only had because he hadn't been chosen for the work detail, but he was strong and observant and caring and could probably run pretty fast.
The three were dressed in civilian clothes and easily snuck out of the tunnel, the guards being occupied with the work detail.
The car was waiting where it always was - thankfully, the motorpool sergeant hadn't seemed to think much of it, as he usually didn't. In a different situation, Hogan would have erred on the side of caution and waited until the Gestapo tension cooled down before trying to use the car again, but he didn't want to make Barnes walk all the way back from town. As it was, there was still a walk from town to their hiding spot, and then to the tunnel.
Wilson had been surprisingly positive about his injuries after he'd had more time to heal. Only speculation, he'd emphasized, but wasn't everything at this point?
Even wary as it was, Wilson's nod was enough to instill a bit of confidence in Hogan.
So now his worries were much more of the typical concerns of sneaking into a town in Nazi Germany - patrols, recognition, being missed back at camp, running out of gas.
Thankfully, the first part of the trip brought nothing of the sort, and they parked in the turn-off that used to lead to a small hunting shack. It had been long since abandoned - how were you supposed to hunt without guns? - and it was only a short walk back down the road into town.
He lead the way through the forest, Newkirk meandering just behind him and Addison several feet back. The foliage was thick, but loose enough and not so muddy that they left very conspicuous footprints.
They made it to the outskirts of town without event, and easily snuck into the suburbs, and then downtown.
Here, there were people everywhere. Hammelburg was small, but not so small that everyone knew each other. It was the perfect size for Hogan's operation.
Max's grocery store was a cheery-looking little shop stuck inbetween a empty building and a deli, and its location was, just like Hammelburg, such that it was easily to slip into unnoticed but not full of suffocating crowds.
Sitting on one side of the counter, behind the register and eyeing his patrons suspiciously, was Max. Sitting on a stool on the other side, leaned against the wall with a newspaper spread before him, was Barnes.
He made eye contact with Hogan as they walked in and smiled, and then glanced at the others in the store.
They wandered around, picking out a few onions and tomatoes that LeBeau had wanted, until the other customers had left.
The little bell dinged as the last person left, and Hogan asked immediately, "How are you?"
"Oh, fine," He stood up and grimaced. Addison stepped up next to him, eyeing him carefully, and Barnes nodded. "I'm okay."
"You make it okay?" Hogan asked.
"I made it," He said. "How's it going back at camp?"
"Well, Klink's being Klink." Hogan said. "I'm sure you're anxious to get back."
"Oh, just desperate, sir," Barnes sighed.
"Is everything alright at camp?" Max asked. "This is quite the situation for your man to end up in."
"It's a long story," Hogan said. "And you don't want to hear it. But we're okay now - rocky for a while there, but now we're just plain old miserable again."
Max shrugged. "Good to hear, I suppose. Take care." He saw them to the door, scanning the street for any suspicious characters (besides themselves) and then gave Barnes a pat on the shoulder and went back to his shop.
They spread out to avoid being conspicuous, Hogan taking the lead, Addison and Barnes some distance behind - Barnes kept his hands stubbornly in the pockets of his new Gestapo uniform, refusing to show any wear despite his pale color and slumped shoulders. Newkirk followed even further behind, and once when Hogan dared to glance back he saw him disappear into an alleyway.
Good.
The houses thinned out and, walking through a farmer's field to the treeline, Newkirk jogged up next to him. They reached the treeline and waited for Barnes and Addison to join him, and, after looking Barnes up and down, Hogan nodded to move on.
They reached the car and Hogan finally spoke, "You doing okay?"
Barnes nodded. "Fine." Despite that, his face was worked into a soft frown and his hunch had gotten worse since they'd started.
Hogan exchanged a knowing glance with the other two, and said, "Alright, hop in, fellas."
They climbed in, and, glancing at Barnes' face in the rearview mirror, Hogan knew the walk had been harder on him than they let on. Clearly the others could tell, too, but they stayed silent about it.
Partway through the silent drive home, Hogan said, "Barnes, when we get back, we're gonna have Wilson take a look at you."
"Yep," He whispered. He carefully leaned forward, resting his head on his folded hands, trying rather miserably to stay nonchalant.
Addison gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and he opened one eye to smile at the other man.
When they reached the spot where they hid the car, the sun was lowering in the sky and Hogan knew they needed to hurry if they wanted to make it before roll call.
"You think you can make it?" He glanced back at Barnes.
He picked up his head. "Oh. Yeah. I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
Hogan frowned.
They got out of the car and Barnes stumbled, only just catching himself on Addison - or rather, Addison just caught him.
He stood still for a moment, face twisted in a tight grimace, before he drew a breath and straightened. "I'll be okay."
Still, he kept his arm on Addison's shoulder the entire way back, and when they'd finally managed to get down the tree stump, he sank down onto the bench just inside the tunnel, sighing heavily.
"How bad is it?" Newkirk asked.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Not so bad, really, least not as bad as it was… just sore, walking that far."
"Hey, then you just wait there for a bit," Hogan said.
"No," He shook his head. "I haven't seen anybody in ages, Colonel, I can at least make it up top." He pushed himself up again, waving away the hand Newkirk held out. "I gotta get changed."
The three exchanged glances behind his back as he left to the other room.
"Inn't he gonna hurt himself?" Newkirk asked.
"How was he, on the way back?" Hogan murmured, glancing at Addison.
He shrugged. "He oughtta okay. I've had - seen worse."
Hogan nodded slowly. "Well, all of us should be in bed in - half an hour here, anyways." At least this mission hadn't resulted in any lost sleep.
Barnes reappeared, his uniform a little looser than it had been before, but nevertheless he wore it proudly as he followed the others up the ladder.
Hogan knocked on the bottom and in a second and a half the pulleys squeaked as the bunk rose and there was a volley of exclamations from above.
Barnes was quickly sat down at the table and LeBeau pushed a hot bowl of soup and cup of coffee under his nose. Davis sat next to him and Garlotti across.
"Hi," Barnes grinned awkwardly at him. "I guess you made it back okay, then?"
"Yeah," Garlotti said. "Uh, sorry for thinking you were dead."
Barnes shrugged. "Sorry for almost being dead," He lifted the coffee mug to take a sip.
"Yeah," Davis nudged him with his elbow. "You should be."
Barnes snorted, coffee flying into his face.
"Hot!" He exclaimed, but he was still laughing, wiping the coffee away from his face. "Crud, it hurts to laugh."
"It really wasn't that funny." Davis rolled his eyes.
"No, I know," He said. "I just haven't in forever. This is stupid, why am I so glad to be back? This place stinks." He rubbed his eyes.
"You a little tired, Barnes?" Hogan asked proddingly.
He sighed. "A little." His laughter subsided and he turned back to the soup. "This stuff's good."
Newkirk raised an eyebrow. "Now what kind of drugs have you been on?"
"I wouldn't know," Barnes shrugged. "I was unconscious."
Carter chuckled.
"Oh, not you too!" Newkirk flung his hands up.
"I dunno, it's just funny, is all," Carter's grin grew wider - and then abruptly disappeared when the barracks door swung open.
Barnes choked on his soup and sat coughing and wincing while Schultz stared at him, frozen, and the others stared at Schultz, also frozen.
Finally Kinch reached forward and gave Barnes a hearty thump on the back. He recovered his breath and took a sip of coffee, cleared his throat, and said cooly, "Hi, Schultz."
Schultz stared at him, confused. "Barnes?"
"That's me, yeah, what's up?"
Schultz eyed him for several more seconds, and then slowly turned his attention to Colonel Hogan. "Kommandant Klink has ordered me to take a headcount, we are not having roll call."
"Oh, how come?" Boy, that would've been nice to know.
He shrugged dramatically. "He seems to be in a bad mood."
"Barmaid disappoint again?" Baker asked with a sly grin.
"Hoo!" Schultz shook his head. "Ein, zwie, drie… da, da, and thirteen - fifteen?" He looked up. "Colonel Hogan, I thought there were fourteen men in this barracks."
"Well, I don't know what you're talking about, Schultz." Hogan said innocently. "We've had fifteen since March."
"Was - but - who is extra?" Schultz roamed about the room, studying each occupant carefully.
He paused when he saw Barnes but then said. "But - you are always here."
"That's right, Schultz." Barnes said, bored.
"You don't look so good." Schultz said. "Are you sick?"
He got defensive. "Well, you'd feel pretty crummy too, if you were a prisoner of war!"
"Sheesh." Schultz backed off. "I am sorry. Alright, fifteen men." He glanced at Colonel Hogan. "It is not going to change - is it?"
Hogan grinned. "I sure hope not, Schultz."
"Hmm," Schultz frowned, his mustache twitching. "Colonel Hogan, this doesn't make sense. I could have sworn there were fourteen."
Everyone groaned and Hogan sid, "Well, you can count again, Schultz, but it's getting late and we've got tunnels to dig."
"Hmmf! Jolly joker." Schultz paced around the room again, stopping in front of Cohen. "You - you belong here."
"Not really, I don't," Cohen said. "I'd much rather be in America. You can send me that way if you like, get your fourteen count that you want."
Schultz huffed again and moved on.
"Maybe it was 'cuz' Cohen was in the hospital that you got used to fourteen," Foster offered.
Schultz considered this a moment, and then grinned. "Ah, yes, that must be it."
"Alright, then. Good night already, we're tired," LeBeau waved him off.
"I don't get any of that soup?"
"Non! I'm saving the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Go away!"
Schultz curled his lip up and muttered a few mockeries, but left, and Hogan said, "Well, that went well."
"Yeah, Colonel, how'd you account for me being gone anyways?" Barnes asked.
"Oh, you just ceased to exist. We'll sneak your paperwork back in with the rest tomorrow. For now," He waved his hand around and then buried a yawn in his elbow. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hitting the hay - and you are, too," He pointed to Barnes.
"I feel fine," He protested.
"Well, you can go to sleep, or we can have Wilson come look you over."
Barnes stood up. "Oh, well, wouldn't want to wake the medic, then -" He paused, blinking.
"Lightheaded?" LeBeau asked.
"Just a little."
"Take my bunk," Davis offered. "And you won't have to haul yourself up."
Barnes nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."
"Hey, and if you get sick or anything, better to lose a little sleep than for us to find you dead tomorrow, okay?" Hogan gave him a pointed look.
"Yeah, good idea," He plunked down on Davis' bunk and reached for his shoelaces.
With that, everyone moved to get ready for bed, and Hogan strode towards his office, patting Addison on the shoulder and ruffling Cohen's hair as he passed.
He shut the door behind him and peeled off his clothes, and yawned again. The light under the door went out and he heard several murmured "Good-night"s amidst creaking bunks.
He pulled himself up into his own bed, and didn't let himself wish for a thicker blanket or fuller mattress.
He tucked his hands behind his head and let his eyes drift shut.
There were fourteen men in the other room, all safe, all healthy and fed and with a full night's sleep ahead of them.
They were also prisoners, thousands of miles away from home. They also had months, probably years of hard work, late nights, and constant danger ahead of them. There were future injuries and deaths that were simply coming with nothing to do about it, and the very real possibility of all of them being discovered and wiped out in a matter of hours was never far off.
But for now, they were asleep. Safe. Breathing. For now, everyone was okay.
For now, it was good enough.
The last scene is dedicated to my dear cousin, Dancing Narwhals or whatever her username is (I can't find it), because that's usually what we sound like when we hang out. Dancing Narwhals, if you ever get around to reading this, which would truly shock and amaze me, please leave a review so I can follow you even if you never post anything. And also so I can up that review count. Thanks.