Chapter Ten: Common Ground

*Gulping, Serena quickly took in a deep breath and managed to look up from her shoes to meet the commander's eyes. "I am. I miss home, and mama." She said, this time with much more fervor.

"Mama! You miss mama!" The man roared with laughter. "Yes, far too innocent to have been dragged into this. Thank you my dear, for telling me about Italy. Unfortunately, we have known about those troops for a short while now. Still, your willingness and attempt to help your country and Fuehrer. Heil Hitler."

"Heil Hitler." Serena whispered, quite frightened that the rantings of an insane political leader, mass murderer, and suicidal idiot were coming from her very lips.

"Take her back to her room and let her rest, I'm sure this ordeal has been quite taxing. I'll check in on her later."

"Yes sir." Both Greta and Matilda gave him the highest regards, and then led Serena away. She recognized the route—they were heading back to the room with the bathroom, the room where Hiiro was so close. Good, at least she could tell him what had happened.

"Why don't you lay down, as the commander suggested? Both of us have other duties to perform, and you could use rest." Greta told Serena when they arrived at her door. Serena nodded, and quietly stepped into her room. Shutting the door behind her, she heard the lock on the outside click, and knew they had locked her in so she couldn't wander off. Not that she would, even if she could.

"Preventer Zero?" She peeked in the bathroom, trying to spot him behind the curtains again. But the rooms were empty, Hiiro was gone. Grand, simply grand. He had left her again! Then she heard the lock on the other door being rattled, and holding her breath, she stood still and at attention, not sure of who was going to be coming in.

A man was deep, chocolate hair and a gray Nazi uniform strolled into the room a moment later, closing the door and locking it behind him. Serena gulped in fear. What did this man want?

"What did he ask you?" Serena gasped.

"Preventer Zero! The uniform…"

"Not safe to wander around without one." He told her briefly. His back was turned away from her she noticed. Usually he watched her like a hawk when talking to her—unless of course she was in the bath or changing. "What did they ask you?"

"What I had heard Kerry and Jim say."

"And your response?"

"That they were hungry, and that troops were in Italy."

"Nothing they didn't already know." Hiiro nodded in approval. "Good. And what are they going to do with you now?"

"Keep me here. I'm to rest until they decide to abandon this house as a base. Then they'll ship me 'back' to Germany with Greta and Matilda."

"The other women?" Serena nodded, then realized Hiiro couldn't see her.

"Yes." She responded verbally.

"Don't get attached historian. Or you'll end up as in shock as you were when the GI's were shot." Serena's eyes began to tear up, and she dipped her head down to her chest.

"They didn't even make the first move…" She sobbed. "I barely knew them, and I still can't understand why I am so emotional over it."

"You are unused to death in any certain terms." Hiiro shifted uncomfortably. Now he was facing her, and he could see her eyes were glazed over, and that she was swallowing hard—sure signs that she was on the verge of tears. How often had Relena looked at him like that? Too often…

"Not true. I had come to terms with death. There are worse things than death in every moment of life. But the way they died… like animals."

"Humans are animals." Serena's head shot up, and Hiiro once again squirmed. Though she had taken her glasses off, her eyes were still large, and very expressive. They made him feel as if she were burrowing into his soul.

"Of course." When her small voice agreed with him, Hiiro really did a double take and looked at her. Within that small time in the bathroom, he had seen her undergo an absolutely astounding change in appearance. She was no longer the dumpy old maid she had once been; now she was a vibrant, obviously concerned young woman. And she agreed with him?

"What do you mean, 'of course'?"

"Humans… they are loud, noisy creatures." Serena muttered. Why was she doing this? Why was she sharing her thoughts on people with this man? But hadn't he said something along the same lines as what she believed in?

"I—" Hiiro's next sentence was cut off by voices echoing through the halls. Soldiers were on their way! Quickly he slipped into the bathroom, and let Serena deal with the men. He heard muffled voices, but Serena's was too soft to catch everything. Finally he heard the door shut loudly and the lock click, and then he left the safety of the bathroom.

"What did they want?" He drilled her. But instead of answering, she held up a plate of food. The visual was sufficient, and Hiiro's stomach warned him that he was hungry. But he wasn't about to steal food from this woman! She needed it more than he did.

"Preventer Zero?" Serena saw his face become stoic once more, and wondered what was going through his mind.

"Eat." He grunted, heading for the door.

"You must be hungry too, you haven't had anything to eat for the same time I haven't."

"I'm trained to handle conditions such as these."

"Yes, but you don't have to handle them, we have food. Just take a little bite. It's only gruel and a banana. They must really be running low on supplies."

"No."

"Please?"

"You're not afraid of me any longer." He pointed out, trying to change the subject. Serena looked down, but began peeling the banana.

"You came back, even if it was late. Most humans think only of themselves and their survival. Survival of the fittest, I suppose, is the most practical logic that people have been following since they were born. But you, you came back for me. And you don't talk loudly or noisily, or make things up." She shuddered. "And you don't try to touch me." Then she held the banana out towards him as a peace offering. Hiiro accepted it without even thinking about it.

"I need you to survive. I don't know history or this war."

"You are a Preventer! You had the…" her voice lowered to a very slight whisper. "Gundams… in your hanger. You're trained for wars like this, I'm sure you could easily adapt. Not to mention you were going to go to the fifties without a historian originally. Why do you suddenly need me now?" Serena watched Hiiro shift and a light frown plague his lips.

"You were supposed to forget you had seen those." He growled.

"I did. Until now. You were a Gundam pilot, weren't you?"

"Classified information. And I need you now, historian, because I don't know about this war. I could have done the fifties all right, but a World War? No."

"Well, you as much as just told me you were a pilot, and I have to say, you knew how to get clear of Nazi occupation; follow the forest north until you hit Cherbourg, cross the channel, and you would have been fine. But you still came back for me." Hiiro finally gave up. He knew she was right. He had come back for her out of the guilt that he could not leave her to her own devices helpless and in the middle of a war. And now look at him! Sitting with her, and she had turned out not to look half bad, and eating a banana.

"This was supposed to be your banana." He told her crossly.

"Your stomach grumbled. I wouldn't want any passing soldiers to hear it and suspect something was wrong." Serena explained simply.

"As soon as you finish, we need to discuss an escape plan." Hiiro finally submitted. He saw her nod, then dig in somewhat happily to the gruel that was piled up in the bowl they had given her. Shaking his head inwardly at her childish reaction to the food, he turned away and looked out the window.

His old escape plan would still work, but there was the problem of her being misses by the two women that had been hanging around. Or by the commander whom she had spoken to. Maybe he should simply wait and let an opportunity present itself. But what if one didn't? Or it took too long? They certainly could not pretend to be German Nazis forever. Just as he mulled over the problem of time, heavy footsteps echoed into his hearing range. When the door began to jiggle, he knew he was in a bind.

"Preventer Zero!" Serena hissed. Hiiro calmly looked at her, and then at the empty bowl that lay beside her. Taking the plate and placing the bowl on the plate, and the banana peel into the bowl, he nodded to her. And he rather enjoyed the way her jaw dropped open in disbelief at the stunt he was about to attempt. Then the door burst open.

"Commander." Serena greeted him quietly but forcefully, letting Hiiro know exactly who this man was.

"Einheints. And who is this?" The commander narrowed his eyes in Hiiro's direction.

"I was ordered to pick up the lady's plates." Hiiro lied with the greatest of ease.

"Well then, see to it that they get back to the kitchen and cleaned properly soldier!" The commander barked.

"Yes sir." Hiiro nodded in acknowledgement as he stepped out, and the commander closed the door behind him. Hiiro now more than anything wanted to know what was about to happen in the room where he had just left a German Nazi official and his historian. But there were two more soldiers posted outside the door now that the commander was inside, and Hiiro dared not slow for more than half a second, lest they stop him and find out what he really was. He would just have to satisfy his curiosity later when he returned.

Serena, on the other hand, wished very much that Hiiro would instantly return and somehow kick the commander out of her room. She did not like this smiling man. And it was more than the fact that she simply didn't like most humans in general, she simply did not trust this man as far as she could throw him. Which, judging by his somewhat portly belly, would not have been far, if at all.

"My dear Einheints. Such a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." The commander paused. "Do not fear me, Einheints. I will not harm you, not the way the American pigs did." But Serena was not convinced, and she did not move from her spot. "Einheints. It has been a long time since I have seen a woman such as yourself."

"Greta and Matilda are very pretty." Serena muttered, trembling. She already knew where this was leading. She did not know how to prevent it.

"They are indeed. But they work for me, I cannot think of them as beautiful when they are so busy."

"I am not that pretty. I wear glasses." She said, thinking quickly. Reaching into her pocket, she threw the thick, tortoiseshell framed glasses on.

"But you do not need them, do you? Or you would have been wearing them when we met downstairs." The man's grin grew, and he advanced on her, pulling the glasses off and tossing them to the floor.

"I am too young." Serena finally sputtered.

"Too young?" Only then did the man stop.

"Seventeen." She finished in a whisper. Then the commander really backed off.

"Seventeen you say? So very young to be serving your country. And your Fuehrer will thank you graciously once the war is over, I am sure of it. Until then, however, I am sure I can put you to good use here, under my needs." Once again he took a step forward, and Serena melted back in fear. She hated humans! Greedy creatures that could have their fill and still want more and more and more, never realizing they were killing everything around themselves.

"Please don't." She whimpered as he unbuttoned her top two blouse buttons and untucked her shirt.

"Shh, shh, everything will be fine." He told her softly, kissing her ear. And then in the next moment Serena felt herself being pushed away to the ground, the commander above her, screaming profanities of all kinds and natures, and large, loud cracking noises and explosions very close by.

The commander stood and ran out of the room, leaving her quite stunned. Just as she was pulling herself together off the ground and looking towards the door, another round of ear shattering cracks and booms filled the air, and smoke now reached her nostrils. Once again she had been knocked off her feet, and had hit her shoulder into the wall behind her hard. Men screaming in German below, shouting orders and trying to save themselves had created a chaotic background noise that tingled her ears. Her vision, though blurry from being so shaken, was, just as the German commander had suggested, fine, even without the glasses she had been so accustomed to wearing. Unfortunately, even with her vision, she was having a hard time standing and keeping straight.

"It's alright, take your time." Two hands clamped around her right arm and helped tug her up and steady her.

"What hit us?" She asked, slipping into English on accident. Hiiro did not notice and joined her in their original language.

"B-17's. We're closer to the coast than we originally thought."

"Thank God for the Allies." Serena muttered.

"Why?" Hiiro stopped and asked confused.

"That commander…" Serena shuddered, and Hiiro knew she didn't want to finish. Well, he wouldn't make her.

"Let's get going. The field probably isn't the safest route anymore, but it's our only route north. We can either go straight through or get into the forest straight away and work out way around." More explosions around them went off, and now the window was decorated with flames that shown through it from down below.

"The planes are old, they don't have lights, and tactics suggest we are supposed to avoid the open areas, like fields. I think we'll be fine going straight through. At least it isn't as expected as simply running into the trees."

"Fine. Move out." The pair ran quickly through the chaos and down the stairs. The last five Hiiro jumped, and the last three Serena jumped and he caught her by her waist as a large explosion racked the house above them.

"Good thing we got out of there when we did." Serena muttered. Hiiro nodded, but said nothing as they ran from the bombing raid. Soldiers on the ground were making one final attempt to take a stand, shooting blindly into the black night sky hoping to hit the B-17's, but really there was nothing they could do. A few more explosions, and the house was no longer recognizable. But Hiiro and Serena just kept running from it all, running from the humanity of it all. *