Epilogue:

(Stalag 13 - Three weeks later)

After another week in the hospital and an additional week of bedrest back at Stalag 13, Hogan was finally getting back into his daily routine little by little each day. His bronchitis had cleared up completely, and his abdominal injuries were healing nicely, but it would still be a little bit of a way before he recovered fully. He could not run, partake in any recreational sports, lift anything heavier than seven pounds, and he wore out fairly easily. As for his role leading the operation, he currently held a managerial role, while Kinch and Newkirk handled work outside the wire.

Hogan's khaki shirt had been severely damaged by heavy blood stains and tar residue from the warehouse fire, so he temporarily wore a baggy white button-up shirt until his new one arrived from the United States. It also went along well with Bossler's medical instructions, ordering the colonel to not wear any tight clothing that could add pressure on his surgical wounds for another three weeks.

It was a snowy day, snow gently falling from the sky and covering the ground in a fluffy blanket of white. While the boys played a game of football in the compound, Hogan leaned against the wall of barracks two, his left hand placed over his still somewhat swollen belly while watching his men goof off and smack talk each other. He could not help but smile whenever he heard them cheer or laugh. The tackling of one another that caused snow to get on their face even gave him a soft chuckle every now and then.

As he continued to watch the game in silence, Kalina walked over from talking to Langenscheidt and stopped alongside Hogan's side, quietly waiting for him to take notice of her. Sensing someone new nearby, he turned his eyes to the left, found the little Klink standing there with a small grin on her face, then he smiled and gently rubbed the back of her head.

"How are you doing, hon?" He asked.

"Sehr gut, Colonel Hogan," she answered with a nod, then frowned. "What about you? Do you hurt any?"

Hogan gave her a light smirk. "No, I'm alright at the moment." He looked down at his belly and tenderly rubbed it. "Though if I get one more gunshot wound to the gut, I think I'm gonna need a belly transplant."

Kalina giggled softly for a moment, then frowned again and wrapped her arms around Hogan, resting her head against him. The colonel caressed the back of her head again as she let out a shaky sigh. "Colonel Hogan," she whimpered, then sniffled. "When I thought you...I didn't know how…" She clenched her eyes shut as hot tears began to stream down her face. She sniffled again and croaked, "I thought I'd never see you again."

Hogan hushed her as she looked up at him, the colonel wiping her wet face with his thumb. He gave her a warm smile for comfort. "I'm not going anywhere, hon," he said. "Not for a very long, long time. And even when I'm not physically here, I'm still with you in spirit. I'll always be with you. No matter what. Just like I will be for the boys."

Kalina let out a soft whimper and another sniffle. "You promise?" She asked him.

Hogan's smile widened. "Cross my heart," he told her sincerely.

The little girl gazed up at him with her big blue eyes and gave him a bright grin before resting her head on his belly again. Hogan leaned forward and gave Kalina a gentle kiss on the head, then wrapped his arms around her and held her close while rubbing her back. Unfortunately, their little moment came to an abrupt end when Klink came storming down the steps of his office and over to where Schultz was lying in the snow, moving his arms and legs around in a circular motion.

"Schultz!" Klink bellowed, his riding crop tucked tightly underneath his left arm. "What are you doing down there?"

"I am making snow angels, Herr Kommandant!" Schultz replied, grinning like a child would on Christmas morning.

"Snow angels! Schultz, this is a POW camp; not some winter wonderland getaway." He continued to berate the fluffy sergeant, while LeBeau, standing behind Klink, formed a snowball in his gloved hands and made an aim for the kommandant's back, striking him right in the middle. Klink jumped with a short yelp in response, then turned around to find the little Frenchman snickering. Klink narrowed his eyes. "Cockroach, you…" He grumbled something as he made a snowball himself and chucked it at LeBeau, only to have the short man duck down and have the snowball hit Burkhalter, who had just pulled into camp, in the face instead.

While Kalina covered her mouth, and Hogan did all he could to keep himself from laughing, Klink's face went completely pale as his jaw dropped from its hinges. "General Burkhalter," he gasped. "General Burkhalter, I...I didn't mean to...I was trying to...General Burkhalter, I'm…"

"KLINK!" Burkhalter hollered, brushing the snow off of his face. "This how you run a POW camp?!"

"Certainly not, Sir. I was just trying to show Corporal LeBeau that…" Klink made an 'oompf' as another snowball hit him in the lower back. He snapped eagle eyes back to find Newkirk as the new culprit. "Would you quit chucking snowballs at me?!" He bellowed, shaking his fist in fury.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" LeBeau shouted.

Soon all the prisoners and Schultz were cheering, laughing, and having a snowball war with one another, Klink and Burkhalter in the mix of the monstrous game. Not knowing what else to do, the two German officers began throwing snowballs back at everyone in attempts to stop, but ended up throwing them at each other in frustration.

Kalina giggled softly at the scene before her and Hogan, lifting her hand up once and awhile to keep snow powder from getting into her eyes. She then bent forward, made a snowball in her mitten covered hands, then handed it over to Hogan, who briefly stared at it, then let an amused smile come to his face.

"Aw, what the hell," he said. He took the snowball from the girl's hand, briefly placed his left hand on his belly, then gently tossed the ball in the air, striking Klink in the back of the head.

Klink let out another yelp, then turned around, spotted his Senior POW Officer, then shook his fist in the air as he bellowed, "HOGAN!"

Hogan and Kalina, not able to hold back anymore, started laughing hysterically. Things at Stalag 13 were finally back to the way they were supposed to be. And no one wanted it any other way.