Author's note:

Hello. This is my first Hogan's Heroes fanfiction, I hope you like it. Thanks to Abracadebra for supporting me with this story. Grammar mistakes are my own. I don't own Hogan's Heroes I just love the TV show.

Chapter 1

Pain.

It was all he could feel. Every step he took was sheer exhaustion.

He hadn't been able to sleep the night before with the cold wind whistling outside the barracks and thunder and rain only adding the drama to the horrendous winter night in Barracks 2. He'd done his best to ignore the loud storm (most of the men were sleeping peacefully-how?) and desperately tried to keep himself warm with his threadbare blanket. It hadn't worked out and he had been shivering violently. The cold seemed to have seeped into his very bones, even though his head felt hot, not to mention the pounding headache that had kept him company ever since he got up that morning.

He was just glad that they hadn't gotten any new missions from London, because he surely wouldn't be able to concentrate on not messing things up again. He just wanted to sleep, to get some rest. A good nap would be all he needed to get well again. If only Klink would let them have some privacy, but instead he ordered all the prisoners to paint the barracks.

All the men had groaned and pointed out their disapproval, but couldn't do much other than obey the Kommandant's orders.

As he painted the barracks with his friends, he tried to pull himself together. Fortunately, he managed to get a bench so he could sit while working. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to stand the whole day. If only he weren't so tired. He sighed heavily, which ended in a coughing fit. He groaned deeply, then he made sure nobody was watching him before he placed his forehead on a cold, still-unpainted spot on the barracks' wall, hoping to ease his headache a little bit.

By the time the men had finished painting the barracks, he had reached his limit. His vision was getting blurry and he felt pretty dizzy. He supported his head in his hand, feeling like it would crack any minute now. Sweat was dripping down his face, and he felt hot and cold at the same time. His whole body hurt as he got up slowly.

His breath came out in short gasps, he just hoped he would make it back to his bed. He knew his friends would make a fuss if they found out how miserable he felt, but he did not want them to worry about him. They had enough things on their mind and he was sure sleep was all he needed.

Finally, he managed to stand up on his feet, but to his dismay he noticed that his legs were shaking as if he had just run a marathon.

"I think I'm going to lie down for a while," he said to no one in particular. He was just about to head back inside the barracks, but before he could take even one step, pain shot through his body and he gasped slightly. He supported himself on the barracks' wall and tried to control his heavy breathing. Suddenly another wave of dizziness hit him, his legs giving out under him. The last thing he heard was someone shouting his name in the distance before his body gave in to exhaustion and everything went black.

"Andrew!"

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