No ownership of Hogan's Heroes characters is inferred or implied here. Copyright is owned by others and no infringement is intended.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

The trip to the hospital was a release for Hogan's men. At last they could do something; waiting was an intolerable torture. Upon arrival, Carter parked across the street. Then the trio disembarked and took up strategic positions: Carter near the entrance to the hospital, Le Beau behind a shrub where he could act as lookout, and Kinch across near the truck. No one could see the Underground contact; Le Beau cursed to himself that they had abandoned the operation, just when they were needed the most.

They didn't wait long for action. Le Beau signaled the others as the truck carrying Newkirk and Hogan rounded the corner. Carter pulled back into the shadows, pistol at the ready. The truck came within a few feet of him, then slowed and stopped. Kinch crossed the street to draw the attention of the driver, who was heading toward the back to open the doors. Newkirk stepped out, snarling commands at the solider who hopped out behind him, reaching in for the stretcher that bore Hogan. Carter stepped out from the shadows.

"Carefully, you dumbkopf, this is a man, not a sack of potatoes," Newkirk was berating the man in German. From inside the hospital two orderlies appeared. ~~More people to worry about,~~ Carter thought, making his way toward Newkirk.

Kinch started shouting at the driver about blocking his truck's access to the hospital. Le Beau came out and waved at the orderlies for help with a suddenly lame leg. But they would not be distracted, and Le Beau was practically falling over when Carter and Newkirk made their moves.

The solider who had ridden inside with Hogan and Newkirk was surprised when he found a pistol cocked up against his temple. The cold click froze him in his step. "I'll take it from here, mate," said Newkirk, happy to be using his own voice again. The solider, with some steel prompting, dropped his weapon. Carter was doing a something similar to the driver. And, to the surprise of Le Beau, the orderlies came to each Newkirk and Carter, brandishing their own weapons, and waving them away.

"Go," said one in broken English. "Take your Papa Bear. We will take care of these men."

"Blimey," said Newkirk. "What--?"

"Thanks to your Papa Bear many of our Underground - and their families - are alive today." The young man smiled at the look of disbelief. "You did not think we would leave you when you needed us? You have done enough for us, certainly more than enough to deserve our help in return." And he turned his attention to the man he was guarding, relieving him of is weapon and tossing it to Newkirk.

"This one-the driver-he knows the Colonel by name and on sight," said Newkirk. "And he's told 'is charming friend here all about us, too."

"No need to worry about that," said the other ally. "Their story-telling is over." Two other orderlies appeared from the hospital entrance. By this time it didn't astonish anyone when they came to join the other two.

"You'd better hurry," said one. "We will handle these two."

Kinch and Le Beau quickly went to the back of the truck, where the stretcher holding Colonel Hogan was still laying. "Mon Colonel," Le Beau said in greeting, jumping into the truck.

He was rewarded with a weak half-smile from his commanding officer. Hogan tried to say something in response but found that not possible. Even smiling had aggravated the bloody gash on his cheek. Le Beau nearly fainted at the sight of Hogan's condition. Kinch chimed in quickly, "We've got it all under control, Colonel. We'll be out of here soon."

He and Le Beau lifted the stretcher and carefully loaded it into their truck. The orderlies were rounding up their two prisoners. "What will become of them?" asked Newkirk.

"They won't be telling their tales to anyone else," said the man who had come to Carter's side. "We will make sure they are sent to the proper place."

Newkirk was sure he didn't want to know what that meant. Part of him wanted death for the two, but the human side of him could not swallow the idea so he hoped instead that they would be imprisoned away from anyone that could jeopardize their operation. And that they perhaps spend a few minutes alone in a dark alley with Newkirk, with their hands tied behind their backs.

"We don't know how to thank you," started Carter.

"It is not necessary," said the man. "Now go, before we ALL get caught. Take care of Papa Bear. We will need you again soon enough."

Newkirk and Carter ran to the truck without answering. Kinch had the truck idling and took off quickly as Carter closed the door. "Gee, that was CLOSE," he said. Newkirk shook his head at how Carter could simplify even the most harrowing experience.

The men brought their attention to Hogan, still lying quietly on the stretcher. "He went through bloody Hell in there," muttered Newkirk, shaking his head. "I thought we'd had it when my friend in the back said the driver recognized him from his visit to the camp yesterday."

Le Beau wanted to comfort his commander, but could not stomach looking at his bloodied face. "Stinking Gestapo," he managed, blinking back tears. "Filthy demons. Inhuman beasts."

"That's pretty strong, Louis," came Hogan's voice.

"Colonel!" Le Beau nearly burst into tears.

"Don't waste your anger," Hogan said. "There's still work to do."

Carter, Newkirk and Le Beau came close to hear Hogan's weakened voice. They tried to stop him from struggling to a sitting position, which, given his injuries, he could well do without. But Hogan would have none of commanding on his back, and insisted on being propped up. Carter offered himself as a cushion.

"There's still a munitions shipment to deal with," he said, beginning to regret the position he was in. He raised a raw arm to ribs that he was sure were broken. Le Beau grimaced and briefly looked away. "Little Red Riding Hood gave me enough details to figure out what's going on. It's too much of a big one to let get away."

"But Colonel-" started Carter.

"I know we got a late start on it, and we don't have a lot to go on, but it'd be a nice piece of revenge for the inconvenience, don't you think?" Hogan said. "Now Red told me that the shipment will be coming by train and by truck. At about one o'clock in the morning it should be passing through on the Hammelburg railway line. What I don't know is exactly how much stuff we're dealing with, or how many in the convoy."

Le Beau and Carter looked at each other. "Um, Colonel...it's after two now," Carter said reluctantly. "They'll have been and gone by now."

Hogan cursed under his breath. A failed mission, and nothing but trouble to show for it. Suddenly he felt tired, physically and emotionally. The recovery of his body would be long; the recovery of his mind and spirit would be longer, and harder. "I need to lay down," he said simply. The men gently eased Hogan back onto the stretcher, and arranged the blanket over him carefully, unhappy with the mood they knew he had slipped into. "By the way," he said. "Thanks for disobeying orders tonight and coming out. If you hadn't, I'd be eating sauerkraut through a straw for breakfast." He smiled weakly, trying to resist the melancholy overcoming him. "Any more ignoring of the rules, however, and you'll find yourself on the painful end of my steel-toed boots."

"Rest, mon Colonel," said Le Beau.

If Hogan was awake or paying attention to what his men were saying around him after that, he hid it well. Newkirk quietly told what he had seen and heard inside Gestapo Headquarters, with Le Beau uttering oaths in French and English alternately. Carter shook his head, watching Hogan as an anxious pup watches its master, and Kinch tried to keep the group focused, so they wouldn't panic belatedly about the near-disaster they had survived. Hogan's well being was their top priority, but they were also trying to think of what they could say that could possibly explain Hogan's condition once he was back in Stalag 13. Close to home twenty-five minutes later, after proposing and rejecting their twelfth scenario, Carter glanced through the front window and pointed excitedly.

"Look-Jerries! And there are heaps of 'em!"