SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1The T.V. show Hogan's Heroes belongs to Bing Crosby Productions.

No ownership of the Hogan's Heroes characters is implied or inferred, (except for the 7 new characters introduced in this story) and no infringement is intended.

Weaving a Web to Freedom,

The Truth is What We Make It

By MLM 13

Chapter 8

"Captain a word with you if you don't mind," Hochstetter called out.

Steffan stopped just outside the motor pool.

"I like the way you handled yourself in there. There may still be a place for you in the Gestapo. I can use a man like you, especially one who has as much reason as I do to catch Colonel Hogan at his game." The Major looked at him appreciatively. "I will talk to my superiors about your transfer to the Gestapo, if you're still interested."

Steffan's features lightened. He half smiled, half smirked, "Danke, Herr Major. I would very much like to work with you to that end."

"Wonderful, I will talk to General Burkhalter in the morning. Until then get some rest, we have a lot of planning to do." Hochstetter clapped Steffan on the back and walked inside the motor pool.

Under the full moon, Hochstetter took his kerchief out of his pocket. Carefully, he wiped the blood from his fingers onto the kerchief and placed his memento back in his pocket.

"Yes, Captain Steffan, you and I will make a good team!"

Giving his pocket a coveted tap he turned to go to his staff car.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvv

Kinch stuck his head through the vacant space where a large block in the wall was located just seconds earlier and looked around. Instead of the usual greeting normally received from a prisoner confined to solitary, the cell was silent and still. He caught sight of Colonel Hogan lying on the bare wooden bunk.

"Colonel?" Kinch, whispered.

Hogan didn't answer. Newkirk entered the cell behind Kinch. "He's out."

Reaching down to check the pulse on Hogan's neck, Kinch suddenly found his wrist caught in Hogan's grip.

"Whoa, Colonel, its ok. It's just us."

"Kinch?"

"Yes, sir."

Hogan rolled to his side to sit up with a slight assist from Kinch as Carter and LeBeau entered the cell.

"You men are a sight for sore eyes."

Newkirk slipped onto the makeshift bed next to Hogan. "You look terrible, gov'nor. But blimey, I liked the way you sent off Captain Steffan."

Hogan frowned. "He's trouble."

LeBeau agreed. "Oui, Colonel. He could have beaten you to death!"

Hogan couldn't argue that point. Instead, forcing himself to stay focused, he stared at the floor trying to put things in order. "I haven't figured out everything but I know some evidence exonerating me showed up somewhere." Looking up, he asked, "Did you guys do that?"

"Yeah, Colonel…well it was actually Kinch's plan," Carter volunteered.

"You did great. How'd you guys pull that off?"

"We called in a few favors from the Underground. We'll go into the details later, Colonel." Kinch looked Hogan over. Newkirk was right he looked terrible. "Is there something we can do to help you, Colonel?"

Hogan missed Kinch's meaning completely and jumped right into planning their next move.

"Yeah Kinch, I need for you to get through to London and have them ask the twelve from Stalag 4 what they know about Steffan."

Hogan paused and shifted uncomfortably. "During my encounter with the Captain he let slip that he was working with the prisoners from Stalag 4."

Hogan paused again and supporting his injured side took in a breath. "I suspect he's a spy, a mole, or worse yet a traitor. He said he had first hand information of our involvement in the underground."

Carter let out a whistle. "So that's why he is so sure of himself."

Hogan put his hands over his eyes and grimaced. His entire body screamed at him to lie down as he continued, "Yeah, we may have a problem if he wasn't bluffing and does know about us."

Kinch placed his hand on Hogan's shoulder to steady him.

"Sorry, fellas. I've got to lie down for a few minutes. You guys go on back and see what information you can get."

Hogan's eyes closed and Newkirk caught him as he passed out. Kinch gently helped lay him on the bunk and decided to see how bad the Colonel was injured. Carefully, he unbuttoned the Colonel's shirt revealing a mass of bruises. If he looked like that on the outside, what did he look like on the inside? The bleeding had stopped but his face was covered in dried blood.

As Kinch buttoned the shirt again, LeBeau grimaced. "He doesn't need to be in the cooler in his condition. He'll go into shock."

Newkirk looked at Hogan's limp body. "Too late, mate, he's already there."

"Well I'm going to go get him a blanket from one of the other cells." Carter started out of the cell.

"Stop, Carter! We can't have the Krauts come back and see blankets appearing out of thin air. We'll have to wait and see what Klink ends up doing. Remember, Schultz was going to ask to bring Wilson back in to see him."

Carter stopped and looked back at Hogan. "But Kinch…"

Kinch stopped Carter with a shake of his head. "LeBeau, you stay here in the tunnel and let us know if they bring Wilson."

"Newkirk and Carter you come with me."

Kinch headed for the tunnel entrance.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Klink was just saying good-bye to General Burkhalter when Schultz caught up with him.

"Kommandant, Colonel Hogan is not good. Can I take Wilson to look at him?

Burkhalter's interest turned to Schulz.

Klink didn't want Burkhalter to think he coddled his prisoners. "It serves him right for being so arrogant. Maybe suffering for a little while is what he needs. He's lucky General Burkhalter didn't have him shot. Mouthing off like that…"

"Klink!"

"Yes, General."

"Have him looked after. It would not be good if he died before…" Burkhalter censored his words before continuing. "…before…he has the privilege of serving out the sentence you gave him."

"Yes, Herr General!" Klink saluted the retreating General.

"Kommandant. May I take Sergeant Wilson to see Colonel Hogan?"

"Yes, I'll go with you, to the cooler."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Papa Bear calling Mama Bear. Papa Bear calling Mama Bear. Come in Mama Bear." Kinch was manning the radio.

"This is Mama Bear. Go ahead Papa Bear."

"We've had an incident related to the escape at Stalag 4. Request you talk to the men from Stalag 4 about their escape committee. One of the members gave information about the escape to the Gestapo. His real name is Captain Steffan. He is about 5'11", 160 lbs, light brown hair and blue eyes. We suspect he is a spy, a mole, or a traitor.

"Will do, Papa Bear. Do you need to evacuate the camp?"

"Not at this time, Mama Bear. He has been discredited for now with the help of the underground. We need to find out what else he knows, if anything."

"Understood, we will try to have the information for you at the next scheduled broadcast. Mama Bear, over and out"

"Understood, Papa Bear, over and out"

Newkirk, took a long "drag" off of his cigarette and rubbed the back of his head. Fatigue was setting in and he yawned. "Kinch, if it's alright with you, I'm going to go get some sleep. Wake me if anything happens. Ok?"

Kinch looked at his watch, one o'clock in the morning. "That sounds like a good idea. Carter, why don't you get some sleep too. I'll go back to the cooler with Louis and check on what's happening with the Colonel. "

"I don't think I can sleep, Kinch."

"Andrew, the Colonel may need you for something later; you can't be at your best if you don't rest."

Carter relented. "Okay, but you and Louis will need to rest too. If you need us come and get me and Newkirk and we'll spell you."

"Yeah, Kinch. You know where we'll be." Newkirk wrapped his arm over Carter's shoulder and headed for the ladder.

"Thanks, Carter, Newkirk."

Kinch was pleased with the men he served with. They were good men. He would trust his life to any one of them and had on numerous occasions. When it came right down to it, if he had to evacuate the camp, would he leave if it meant leaving one of them behind? No! Kinch thought. I'd rather die trying then live wondering. I'm going to have to talk to the Colonel about his 'Final Standing Orders'.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Colonel Klink went straight to the cooler, while Schultz went to wake Wilson. He found Corporal Kohler standing guard.

"Corporal, is everything under control here?"

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant!" Kohler snapped to attention.

Klink looked at the cell door. "Open the door Corporal; I'll have a word with the prisoner."

The Corporal removed the keys from his belt and unlocked the door.

Klink started to go in and was confronted by a wall of blackness. "Turn on the light."

The Corporal reached up above the door and turned the switch, flooding the room with light from a single bulb attached to the ceiling and protected by a wire cage.

Klink looked up at the light as he entered the cell. The cage around the light was designed to prevent the prisoners from breaking the light and using the darkness as a cover, as well as prevent the use of broken glass as a weapon or means of committing suicide.

Klink shook his head and disgustedly thought ~ Some of us don't need glass to commit suicide, some of us can use our tongues! ~ His eyes settled on Hogan still lying on the wooden bunk where Kinch and Newkirk had left him.

"Colonel Hogan?"

Not a sound or a movement from the battered man to indicate awareness. Klink looked around the cell and eyed a small wooden stool that he placed next to Hogan's bunk and sat down. Looking at Hogan's battered face he evaluated the extent of the beating he had endured. ~ Good heavens, Hogan! Your lucky Schultz learned what was going on and we stopped Steffan before he killed you. ~

"Colonel?"

Klink tried again to make himself heard. There was still no response. Klink reached over to feel for a pulse on Hogan's neck.

"Well, you're still alive" he mumbled under his breath. "What were you thinking these past 24 hours? Are you as innocent as you claim and refuse to believe anything was going to happen to you?"

Klink studied his Senior POW officers face noting the bruises and welts. Klink ran his gloved hand over the cuts marring Hogan's face. You don't appear to have any broken bones in your face. You're lucky there Colonel.

Colonel Klink's thoughts drifted back to the war before this one. Where, as a young Corporal, he had the lives of younger men under his command. He remembered the mangled bodies of those who fell under his orders, especially the first "boy". He had looked into his face much as he was now looking into Colonel Hogan's, agonizing over the careless loss of life. ~ War can turn us into animals, killing without thought of the people whose lives we take, seeing them only as 'troops' or 'Squadron leaders' and obstacles to be removed. Someday we'll have peace. That is the ultimate end, isn't it? Peace? ~

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he took a deep breath.

~ But in the mean time what am I going to do with you? How do I teach you to succumb to captivity and not come across so defiant to every German officer who comes through the front gate? ~

Klink looked over his shoulder as Wilson and Schultz came through the cell door. Standing, he looked at Wilson and stated, "He is unresponsive, Sergeant."

"And you want me to bring him around so you can ask him some more questions, right?" Wilson's asked, angrily

"Sergeant, you are here to look after Colonel Hogan. I will not stand for any insubordination. I have had enough of that for one night! Do you understand?"

Wilson was quiet. ~ Is that why you beat him like this, because he was insubordinate? ~

"I asked you a question, Sergeant."

"Sir, yes sir!" Wilson barked.

"I need some warm water and some soap. I can't see what I'm dealing with until I get underneath all this blood; it looks like he lost a fair amount."

"I'll get it." Schultz was already half out the door.

Wilson raised the Colonel's eyelids and looked at his eyes. "He's out. There will be no more questions tonight, Kommandant."

He proceeded to unbutton the Colonel's shirt and grimaced. Looking over his shoulder, he gave Klink a disgusted look.

Shultz came back with a basin of warm water, soap and a towel. "How does he look?"

"Not good!"

"He was awake when I left him a little while ago"

"Yeah, well he's not now." Wilson accused.

Wilson cleaned the blood off of Hogan's face and confirmed there were no broken bones in his face. But the battered face indicated there could be trauma to the brain. And there was no way of knowing what the beating had done to internal organs.

"Kommandant, I can't leave him here. He's in shock and needs to be watched."

"Very well, you may move him to the camp hospital. Tell him when he wakes up; his sentence has been postponed until he is well enough to serve it."

"You'll have to give him that good news yourself."

Klink's face started to blush with anger again.

"Kommandant, it is my job to try and take care of these men. We don't have a lot of medical supplies. Most of their healing has to come from within them. Part of that has to do with their mental well-being, by the time he remembers he was in the cooler, he will be ready to learn he has 30 days still to do." Wilson stopped as he realized, "And don't worry, he'll probably ask me about it long before you get around to telling him."

The Medics frustration sunk in. Klink stared at Wilson, the anger leaving his face.

"Sergeant Schultz, move the Colonel to the camp hospital. I'm going back to my quarters to get some sleep. I don't want to be disturbed for the rest of the night."

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant." Schultz saluted.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Move him carefully, I'll finish checking him once we get him where it's warm and dry. I think he has at least one broken rib and maybe two."

Schultz and Kohler, under the watchful eye of Sergeant Wilson, carefully moved Hogan to the stretcher and transported him to the camp hospital.

"I need to immobilize his ribs and I'm going to need some help."

"We will help." Schultz motioned to Kohler to assist him to hold Hogan up while Wilson bound his chest to give some stability and lessen the pain from the broken and/or fractured ribs.

The Colonel was "dead" weight and it took all of them working together to accomplish the task. Except for some moaning while wrapping his ribs, the Colonel remained unresponsive. His vital signs were stable, so there didn't appear to be any major internal bleeding, vital organs seemed to be functioning. The major concern was what the beating to the head and face added to the slight concussion he already had. Wilson cleaned the superficial wounds on Hogan's face and torso and wrapping him in a blanket, let him rest.

"If you don't need us for anything else, Sergeant, we'll be going."

"Thanks for your help."

"Ya. I'll stop by later before roll call."

"That's only four hours away. He won't be awake by then. Probably the earliest he'll be awake will be mid to late afternoon."

Schultz frowned and silently shook his head. Turning, he guided Kohler ahead of him and out the door.

"Good night, Schultz." You're a good man. Wilson thought.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Kinch and LeBeau had their ears next to the crack around the block in the wall of Hogan's cell. They heard Klink address the Colonel, mumble something and say he was "still alive." But then there was a long period of silence.

Kinch and LeBeau looked at each other. They were trying to decide whether Klink had left the cooler, when they heard him address Wilson. They both breathed a sigh of relief and listened to the heated exchange between Klink and Wilson. They were relieved when the Kommandant gave permission to move the Colonel out of the cooler.

Kinch drug Louis out into the tunnel. "Come on Louis, we're going to bed. Wilson has it under control."

Louis looked at Kinch in puzzlement. "Don't you want to wait until they move him, so we can talk to Wilson?"

"It'll be another hour and half to two hours before they settle him into bed. You know Wilson will examine him once he gets him over there. That's two hours more sleep we can have under our belts. We can't think clearly without rest. Let's go."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Reality bites, doesn't it Colonel?"

Hogan grimaced and clenched his teeth. "Uh…please…" Barely opening his eyes, he looked for the voice beyond the blackness. "Wilson?"

"Here, Colonel."

Wilson raised the Colonel's head. "Come on, I want you to drink some water."

Hogan managed to gulp down a couple of swallows before refusing any more. Wilson eased him back down to the pillow.

It even hurt to breath. "Where…" He was out again.

"That's it, go back to sleep. Maybe it will be more bearable the next time you wake up."

Wilson reached for the patient's wrist. ~ Pulse is good. Let's have a look at your eyes. You know what they say 'window to the soul' or in this case 'brain function'. ~

Sergeant Wilson was shining the light in Hogan's eyes, when Klink crept up behind him.

"How is he?"

Wilson jumped. "For crying out loud, Kinch, make some noise when you enter a room!"

"Sorry, habit." Kinch apologized.

"Hurting, and trying to ignore it. But it's a little more than he can bear right now. His concussion is bringing him in and out of consciousness."

Kinch stared at Hogan.

"Is there something I can do for you Kinch, or are you just here checking up on our Commanding Officer?"

"I'm just making sure you're getting him back on his feet, so I can stop giving orders and he can start again."

"Don't let him hear you say that, I imagine as far as he's concerned he never stopped giving them.

Kinch's facial expression changed.

"Something wrong?" Wilson asked.

"Wilson, you re just too observant."

"It's a job necessity with some folks." Wilson smiled, glancing down at the still form sleeping under the blanket.

"So what's bothering you Kinch?"

"I've always thought of myself as a good soldier." Kinch began, "but I know I wouldn't have been able to follow the Colonels orders, at least not completely. "

"Going to go AWOL at the last minute Kinch? You planned on staying behind and trying to do something didn't you?" Wilson could see it in Kinch's eyes long before Kinch admitted it to himself.

"You know, Kinch, I can't tell you whether you would have been right or wrong. But I can tell you this.

At "points" in our lives we have to stop and decide who we are, what our lives have meant up to that point, and what our lives will mean beyond that point. And then we make a decision on which way to go.

That decision will be different for every man and will change the direction of his life forever. Some are willing to give up a little bit of themselves in exchange for taking the easier road. Some have a higher ideal and to compromise that would take all the meaning out of anything that would follow.

Neither decision is right or wrong. Life is full of 'give' and 'take' It is just a matter of what we are willing to take and what we are willing to give and the courage to accept the consequences. Because there will be consequences, no matter which way we go."

Kinch listened attentively, the pain eased out of his eyes and he looked at Wilson, "You're right. I'm the one that has to decide what I can live with. Thanks, Wilson. "

Wilson smiled and patted Kinch on the shoulder. I seem to be surrounded by good men today.

Kinch looked at his watch and jumped to his feet. "I've got to run."

"Got a train to catch?" Wilson called.

"Something like that! I'll be back later this afternoon to check on the Colonel."

Sergeant Wilson turned around and looked at Hogan. "I have a feeling it's going to be 'standing room only' in here when you decide to wake up."