Have I really come up with the best plan? Veidt wondered as he walked up the steps to his hotel room. He hadn't even made the call and he was already regretting it. Once his room door was closed behind him, he took a deep breath. He tried to relax with a hot bath. Afterward, he found himself staring at the telephone while the water for a cup of tea was being boiled in a kettle. Staring at it will not help. I know Kaschel well. I know he will not sit idly by while Steichen tries to usurp him.

When the kettle began whistling, Veidt added water to his cup and let the tea begin steeping before walking over to the telephone and asking the operator to connect him to Kaschel. He sat on the bed, toying with the phone cord for a bit before hearing a familiar voice say, "Standartenführer Kaschel speaking."

"Sir, it is Haupsturmführer Veidt. I… have news about Steichen." Veidt's heart was beating faster every second.

"Go ahead," Kaschel replied.

"He is holed up in Reiger's parents' tavern. He has shot two civilians and drained them of blood in hopes of luring Reiger there. I tried getting him to leave, but he will not listen. He even struck me, and I learned something rather disturbing about what his plans are for Reiger. He wants to make sure Reiger is fully capable of giving someone the vampiric curse, so he can receive it himself."

Kaschel was quiet for a solid minute.

"Sir?"

"Has he found Reiger, Veidt?"

"No, sir. Reiger is nowhere to be found in Hammelburg."

"Alright. I will be arriving in the morning so I can deal with Steichen personally."

"What do you plan on doing with him, sir?"

"I have not decided yet, but I want you with me."

"Yes, sir. When will you arrive?"

"I should arrive around ten o'clock. Have a good night, Hauptsturmführer."

"Good night as well, Standartenführer." Veidt hung up, and went over to his tea. He stirred it, and threw the bag away before adding a spoonful of sugar. Inhaling the fruity, herbal scent, he realized the plan was in motion, and there was nothing he could do to stop it if it went out of control.

In the morning, he paced the room before going downstairs for breakfast. He wasn't particularly hungry, but didn't want Kaschel to see his nervousness, so he ordered food for himself, slowly working his way through it while waiting for Kaschel.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up when he heard the lobby doors open and close, and Veidt looked over his shoulder to the tall figure of Kaschel entering the restaurant. Kaschel didn't say anything as he walked over, but he did pause and look at Veidt's face.

"I see you were not joking when you said Steichen struck you," Kaschel said.

"He gave me a bloody nose as well, sir," Veidt replied. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Yes, thank you." Kaschel sat across from Veidt. "Steichen is going to be in for a very rough day today, for striking my subordinate, and for being a traitor."

"A traitor, sir?"

"Yes." After receiving his coffee, Kaschel added a dash of cream, a spoonful of sugar, and began angrily stirring it. "He thinks he can become a vampire so he can take over the Sorcery Division. That is the only reason he wants that wretched curse."

"I agree, sir. Have you decided on what you want to do with him?"

"First, I am going to do to him exactly what he did to you, and then I am going to have him arrested."

"Sir, I do not wish to make this complicated, but you only have my word to go off of."

"Where did you hear that was Steichen's plan for Reiger?"

Veidt gulped. "From Steichen himself, sir."

"It came from his own damn mouth, so he is guilty." Kaschel stopped stirring his coffee, becoming much calmer when he brought the cup to his lips. He then gave Veidt a confused look. "Did you think I would not believe you?"

"I was not sure, sir."

"In the last few years that we have known each other, Veidt, I see no reason for you to lie about such a thing. I also do not see you deliberately provoking Steichen into attacking you. Besides, I never really liked Steichen. I tolerated him because of his knowledge on vampires, but that has not exactly yielded anything useful to the war effort."

"He claims that making sure Reiger can give others the curse would benefit the war effort."

"This was a ruse for him to take over the Sorcery Division. I should have seen it before I gave him the authorization to find a test subject."

"As long as Reiger cannot be found, we do not have to worry about Steichen being successful."

"No. Reiger has to be found. If we destroy Steichen's research, that means Reiger must be found and destroyed as well."

Veidt felt a nervous clenching sensation in his stomach. "Is there not another way?"

"We do not want the Allies finding him, and it is likely that Reiger is suffering. It may be the kindest thing we can do for him. If we find him, I will put him out of his misery quickly. I even brought silver bullets just in case."

Veidt nodded a little, pretending to agree with Kaschel. "I understand, sir."

The two left the hotel after breakfast. It was, miraculously, much sunnier than the previous few days. The brightness made the pair's black uniforms stand out even more. No doubt it kept the civilians out of the way, but it made Veidt sick to see people so afraid of him. They made their way down the street to the tavern, where Kaschel took on a look of disgust when he saw the bloody mess inside. The bodies had been removed at some point, but there was still a horrendous stench of death emanating from the small building.

Kaschel approached the guard standing outside. "Step aside," he said.

Nervously, the guard stepped back, letting Kaschel and Veidt inside. Steichen was pacing and looking deep in thought. He glanced over when he spotted the two men. "Standartenführer, I have not been expecting you," he said, smiling nervously. His smile quickly faded when Kaschel kept marching toward him. "Sir—"

Without much effort, Kaschel lifted Steichen by the front of his uniform and slammed himself against the stone wall of the tavern. The smaller man's eyes were wide with fright, and his boots were several centimeters off the ground. "Sir, sir, please, we can discuss this like gentlemen—"

"What I am witnessing here is not the manner of a gentleman," Kaschel growled. "How dare—" here, he slammed Steichen against the wall again, pinning him there, "you strike my subordinate?!"

"He was interrupting my work, Standartenführer!"

"He was here on my orders! You stepped out of line in hitting him, and in killing those civilians."

"Reiger is my responsibility, sir!"

"Reiger was going to be your means of gaining power."

Steichen gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about, sir?"

"Do not play stupid with me. You were going to use Reiger to become a vampire yourself and assume control of the Sorcery Division."

"Where did you learn this? That is a lie!"

"I suspected you were after the power that comes with being a vampire. Your obsession has become dangerous."

"Where did you learn this?!"

"You are relieved of this project, Sturmbannführer." Kaschel let go of Steichen. "Your knowledge could still prove useful, but from now on, you will be where I can observe you at all times."

"You are a fool, Kaschel! You are afraid of me and my work, because you yourself do not want to relinquish your own hold on the Sorcery Division! Because of you and your cowardice, we will never obtain our goals! Is that what you want? I know this is not what Standartenführer Wahler wanted. He would be disappointed in you."

"I have no intention of indulging in your nonsense! Wahler explicitly stated the Sorcery Division would be left in my hands, because he trusted my judgement."

"His trust was misplaced."

Kaschel turned to the guard by the front door. "I have heard enough. Cuff him."

While Kaschel's back was turned, Steichen had grabbed a chair and was raising it above his head.

Veidt was opening his holster. "Kaschel, behind you!"

Kaschel turned in time to see Steichen. He moved, trying to draw his own gun and protect his head at the same time. Steichen had bluffed him, and with a grunt, swung the chair into Kaschel's right side. Veidt fired his gun, narrowly missing Steichen as he tried to avoid hitting Kaschel in the process. Kaschel had been knocked against the bar counter, a twisted look of pain covering his usually stoic face.

Panicked, Steichen tossed the chair on top of Kaschel before turning and barging out of the back door. Veidt tried to follow, hollering, "Stop!" and shooting twice in Steichen's direction. Steichen kept running toward the woods along the eastern edge of Hammelburg. Veidt turned to the guards. "Go after him!"

The two men dashed out the door, leaving Veidt alone with Kaschel until an older man, whom Veidt assumed was Reiger's father, came out of the kitchen. He looked in shock over the scene, and Veidt heard a woman asking if the commotion was over.

"No, one of the SS men who came in is injured, and the one looking for Florian has left," the old man said.

"We need an ambulance," Veidt said. "Once we get Kaschel out of here, you will be left alone."

There was a mistrustful look on the old man's face, but he still picked up a telephone to call the hospital.

Veidt looked down at Kaschel. "Sir? Can you hear me?"

Kaschel nodded. "I want Steichen found," he grunted through clenched teeth. "Kill him if you have to."

"I sent the guards out after him, sir."

"Good." Kaschel drew in a breath, wincing. "He is completely mad."

"Rest for now, sir. We will worry about Steichen later."

Carter began worrying when he heard nothing from Veidt all day. Even when he tried occupying himself with other things, it never worked. Worry still swirled around in his mind like a whirlpool, taking all other thoughts with it. The others were becoming worried as well, and soon the camp was covered in a fog of anxiety.

It wasn't until sunset when a raven arrived at Hogan's window, with a message from Veidt saying that he would arrive a little after 2200. When the time came, both Carter and Hogan went out through the tree stump to get Veidt and bring him to the tunnels.

"I am very sorry that I was not able to send a message earlier," Veidt said as he was climbing down the ladder. "Things have taken a… bad turn."

"How bad?" Hogan asked.

"Kaschel came to put a stop to this, but Steichen is not going down without a fight. He hit Kaschel with a chair after Kaschel tried to tell him that he was ending the vampire project. I had to go with Kaschel to the hospital. Thankfully, the doctors said that Kaschel is going to be alright. It could have been a lot worse, though. They think his holster with his gun still in it prevented his right kidney from being damaged, but they are keeping him overnight to make sure no blood shows up in his urine, and they are forbidding him from strenuous movement for a while."

"What happened to Steichen?"

"He ran away. I tried shooting him, but missed. He fled out the back door of the tavern, and I sent his own guards after him. They went to the hospital an hour later to tell me that Steichen had disappeared."

"That's not good," Carter said, feeling blood drain from his face.

"No. He needs to be found soon."

"How?"

"You might not like this, but we could get the Gestapo—"

"No," Hogan said. "Steichen will expect that."

"What now, then?" Veidt asked.

"We do still need to get Reiger out of here and in Stalag VII C, but that presents its own set of problems. We need to alter Reiger's records. All of them. Make it look like he was always at Stalag VII C."

"Colonel—" Veidt held up his hands, "do you have any idea what you are suggesting?"

"I do."

"No, I do not think you do. You are suggesting we alter all of Reiger's records. Do you have any idea how complicated that is going to get? Not only that, the places we would have to go are ridiculously well-guarded."

"You say that like it's supposed to be a deterrent."

"I am saying it like it is supposed to—never mind. Colonel, do you understand that we would have to break into the Maybach One complex to access Reiger's records? That is all the way out near Zossen."

"Is it doable?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then we're going to do it. We just need to forge new records for Reiger and plant them in his files."

"Colonel, I strongly suggest we find another way."

"I don't think there is another way. If we're going to hide Reiger, we need to be thorough about it."

Veidt sighed. "Alright. What do you need me to do?"

"How long would it take us to get to Maybach?"

"A little under five hours. It is not a small complex. I do not think this could be a get-in-get-out type of mission."

"Can you procure a map for us?"

"I will see what I can do. I still think this is mad."

"It's only mad because we haven't tried it yet."

Carter felt a pang of sympathy upon seeing Veidt's confused and uncertain expression.

Hogan kept smiling at Veidt. "Welcome to the Underground. Let us know when you have the map."

"I will." Veidt stayed where he was when Hogan walked away, looking at Carter. "Do you think I am crazy, or is he crazy?"

"Neither. Hogan's good at plans like these, but you know your side's defenses better than any of us. We just need to put them together," Carter said.

"Perhaps you are right about that." Veidt sighed. "I will do this for Reiger. Is he still here?"

"He is," Carter replied. "He's asleep. Reminds me a bit of when Lechner was here."

"Frankly, there is a part of me that is worried Steichen will attempt to find Reiger on his own, just to give himself the curse. It will make him much harder to capture."

"At least he doesn't know that Reiger is here."

"Yes, and we should keep it that way." Veidt held out his hand. "I should head back to my hotel. Good night, Carter."

"Good night, Veidt." Carter squeezed Veidt's hand before shaking it. "When will we next hear from you?"

"Within the next two days. I will have to send a message to Westheimer and see if he knows anyone who can get us into the Maybach One complex."

"Okay. We'll keep an eye out for Steichen." Carter stayed where he was when Veidt left up the tree stump ladder. Once Veidt had left, he went to find Hogan in the barracks above, getting ready for bed. "Sir? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Carter. What's on your mind?" Hogan asked.

"Are you sure we can pull this off? We're talking about breaking into the base of all Wehrmacht operations and communications. I don't think we'll be equipped for that, even with Veidt's help. If we get caught, that means the end of the Underground and potentially the League as well."

"I know. This will be a volunteer-only mission for that reason. We've done more ridiculous things than this, and there have been numerous times where we should've been caught, and weren't. Even when it looks like we've been found out, the circumstances tend to be so insane that no one believes it."

Carter nodded. "That's true, sir."

"We won't go in blind. I want everything covered before we do this."

"Veidt said he's going to see if the League has anyone in Maybach we can rely on."

"That would be useful. I'm also thinking we'll need uniforms. Sorcery Division uniforms."

"Those'll be hard to come by. Veidt told me the Sorcery Division is the only part of the SS still using the black uniforms."

"Ask him if he knows where we can get our hands on some, and don't forget London will be dropping blood for Reiger tomorrow night, so I need you here."

"Yes, sir."

Reiger was allowed in the barracks after roll call was finished. He climbed up the bunk bed ladder to find breakfast waiting for him on the table in the middle of the barracks. The prisoners were going about their daily business. He noted that they were doing almost exactly the same things they were had done the day before. The only difference was Carter. The day before, he had been talking with Hogan in his office. That morning, he was up in his bunk, reading.

LeBeau was preparing something else in a pot on the stove, while cutting vegetables at the table. Onions and carrots. Reiger used to hate being in the presence of someone cutting onions, and he noticed Newkirk rubbing his eyes and swearing under his breath. "No matter how many times you do that, I won't get used to it, Louis," Newkirk muttered.

"You just don't appreciate the value a good onion brings to a dish," LeBeau said.

"Oh, I appreciate what an onion brings to a dish, but that's only when the bloody thing has been cooked, not when it's being used as a chemical weapon."

LeBeau rolled his eyes and began grumbling and cursing in French. He began chopping quicker and more angrily.

Reiger's senses perked when a sudden sharp metallic smell penetrated the overwhelming scent of the onions. LeBeau took one look at his finger, which hadn't been cut too badly, and promptly collapsed. The others jumped into action, lifting LeBeau up and rummaging around for bandages.

"Come on, mate, it wasn't that much," Newkirk said, fanning LeBeau with a hand of cards.

There were a few drops of blood on the cutting board, across from Reiger. He felt more in control than he did just a few days ago, but there was still a part of him pleading and begging for blood. The full moon is soon. You must drink. You can overpower everyone in this room and take what you need. You cannot survive without it.

Reiger stayed still, despite a growing discomfort deep inside. He remembered how much Steichen would torture him when it got closer and closer to the full moon, how Steichen would tease and taunt him so he could get the most aggressive response possible out of him. Steichen would purposefully cut his finger and put his hand through the bars of Reiger's cell, only to pull it back when Reiger charged at him.

They are not teasing me, Reiger thought. LeBeau cut himself by accident. I am getting blood tonight. I do not need to do anything. I am in control. Everything will be alright. He put another spoonful of bland oatmeal in his mouth, and kept watching the prisoners get LeBeau back on his feet.

He felt someone watching him, and turned to see Carter staring at him intently. Carter immediately went back to his book, trying to make it look like he hadn't been watching Reiger at all.

The smell of blood was still present, even after it was cleaned up and LeBeau got back to his cooking. The short corporal glanced over at Reiger. "Are you alright?"

"Me? You are the one who cut yourself," Reiger said. "Plus, I have never seen anyone faint after losing so little blood."

"Oh, I hate the sight of blood. That's normal for me to do." LeBeau resumed chopping the onion, occasionally looking over at Reiger. "I was under the impression you would react strongly to the sight and smell of blood, yet you did nothing."

"I feel more in control now," Reiger replied. "Likely because I have been eating more regularly. If this had happened two days ago, while I was starving, I would need to be restrained. Frankly, I am surprised no one raced to restrain me."

"Well, you did not do anything, so—" LeBeau shrugged. "No need to restrain you."

Reiger nodded a little. "Ever since this happened, I… I have seen myself as a… a creature, a monster."

"We don't see you as a monster, mate," Newkirk said. "We certainly aren't dismissing any dangers that come with being a vampire, but there's a way to exercise caution without treating you like an outcast or a monster."

"Balance," Kinchloe added. "Not too cautious, but not too careless, either. You've been put through hell and I don't think it would help if you were just being moved from one cage to another."

"I suppose you are right," Reiger said. "Thank you."

Hogan waited for everyone to say their piece before changing the subject. "Captain, do you know anything about the Maybach One complex?"

"I know it is a large, mostly underground complex near the town of Zossen that houses Wehrmacht communications centers and document storage. Why?"

"So, your records from when you started officer training to your kidnapping in France should be in there."

"Yes."

"We're going there to change your records so it looks like you were assigned to Stalag VII C right from the start of your career."

Reiger frowned. "Colonel, that sounds mad."

"That's exactly what Veidt said," Carter muttered from his bunk.

"And he is right. Breaking into Maybach One is preposterous."

Hogan shook his head. "Not with the right tools and people. If we're going to make sure you have somewhere safe to be, we want it as safe as possible."

"Still, that is a pretty high risk you are putting yourself at for someone as unimportant as me."

"You're not unimportant. We can't let the Nazis get their hands on you again. The last thing we want is them re-creating Steichen's experiment and forcing it on everyone in service right now."

"Yeah." Newkirk took a draw on his cigarette. "Can you imagine Schultz as a vampire?"

"I'm not sure if I should laugh or be terrified," Kinchloe replied, his eyes wide.

"Or Klink," Carter added. "Now that's a scary thought."

"Exactly. We don't want that happening." Hogan looked back at Reiger. "If we're going to forge your records, we're going to need something very important from you."

"And that is?" Reiger raised an eyebrow.

Hogan handed him a pen. "Your signature. Blank records will be dropped in along with the blood tonight."

"We'll also need photographs," Kinchloe said.

"How will you do that?" Reiger asked. "I am no longer in officer-candidate training."

"I'm sure we can fashion some collar insignias for you, but before we go on with that, serious question, have you gained or lost weight since any of your previous pictures were taken?"

"I was already quite trim when my original photographs were taken. I have lost a lot of weight since being turned into a vampire."

"How about color?" Newkirk asked. "Will we need to apply a little blush to you?"

"A little, but not a lot."

"Right. At least Germans don't smile in any of their pictures, so we won't have to worry about those fangs of yours."

Reiger fell silent for a moment. "I was once told I had a very nice smile. A warm, welcoming smile. Now… I look utterly inhuman." He tensed a little when he felt someone's hands on his shoulders, and turned to see Carter standing behind him.

"You don't look inhuman," Carter said. "You look and act more human than a lot of the people we've had to deal with here."

"Thank you, Carter." Reiger looked down at the table. "You have no idea how much I appreciate that."