Hammelburg Area, Farm of Friedrich Wagner
December 29, 1943, 2245 hours

Ilse was waiting in the barn with her brothers for the prearranged meeting with the Underground leader. They had had several conversations since the day that the Gestapo had ransacked their house looking for the weapons taken from the men that were killed. That incident had humbled Hans to a great extent. The thought of what would have happened if those guns had not been taken from them the previous night had bothered him greatly.

Father's yelling hadn't helped either. Father had been very angry when they told him the whole story after the Gestapo left. He couldn't believe that his children could do something like that and put themselves into so much danger. He had yelled and screamed and argued and pled, but in the end realized that his children were grown and would have to make their own decisions. He was not very happy with the direction his country was being taken, but he had always considered himself too old to make a difference. He realized that it was his children's generation that would inherit the future Germany, and they should be the ones to fight the injustices.

After all was said and done, Hans had decided that everyone was right; attacking the Gestapo directly was a very bad idea. He and Karl both agreed that the group should stop that sort of activity. Ilse thought it would end there, but Hans surprised her with his desire that their group should join the Underground. Hans was going to volunteer tonight when they had their meeting.

Ilse had made up her mind that since her brothers had started this because of her, she would stick with them whatever they intended to do. She was scared for herself and for them, but she was more scared of what would happen if men like Major Hochstetter remained in power much longer. If her brothers would be active in the Underground, then so would she.

So they sat in the barn, waiting for the Colonel from the Underground to show up. Ilse realized that they were never introduced the last time, and she did not know the man's name. He had seemed very bad tempered at that meeting, but when she had told him what had happened to her, she could see the pain and compassion for her in his eyes. She wondered if he would be willing to accept her brothers into his group.

---------------

Colonel Hogan stopped the group at the end of the clearing near the barn. They crouched in the shadows, alert for any out of the ordinary movement in the woods around them. This time Hogan had brought his entire team except for Baker, who was minding the store back at camp.

"Carter. LeBeau. Newkirk," Hogan whispered. "Scout around out here while we go in. Newkirk, when you think it's fine, come into the barn." He looked at Carter and LeBeau. "You two stay outside. They already know about us, and I don't want them to know the whole group." The two men nodded and they made their way with Newkirk quietly through the woods to look for anyone that might be observing.

They had brought Erich Jonach with them, partly to show them where the Wagner farm was, but also because e Erich would need to know what the Wagners planned to do. If they did not intend to stop their activity, Hogan would be forced to act. And he would need the help of Erich and his men for that.

"Let's go," Hogan said, and started towards the barn. He was aware of Erich and Kinch following behind him. When they got to the barn, they entered quickly. All three of the Wagners were there waiting for them. Hogan noticed that Hans did not look as defiant as he had during the last meeting, so he was hopeful that this meeting would go well.

"The Gestapo searched our house after our last meeting," Hans said, looking at Hogan. "I suppose I should thank you for taking those guns from us, or we would not be here tonight."

Hogan waved off the thanks. "No thanks necessary," he replied. "I don't want to see anyone taken by the Gestapo. It's not very pretty when it happens."

Hans looked at Karl and Ilse before speaking. "We have ..." he started. "We have decided that you were right. We don't plan to target the Gestapo anymore."

There was something about the statement that Hogan found unnerving, but he was glad to hear that he wouldn't have any problems convincing them. When Hans continued speaking, he knew that he had different problems to consider.

"We also decided that we, I mean our group, would like to join the Underground," Hans said.

"You what?" Hogan asked.

"We want to help," Hans said.

Hogan started pacing, rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't know what you are asking to get into," he commented.

"After what they did to our house, we do know that we want to do what we can to free our country from their control," Karl insisted.

Hogan stopped and looked at the brothers. "Wait, you said your group?" he asked.

Hans nodded. "There are four others besides Karl and myself," he replied.

"And me too," Ilse interjected.

Hans turned quickly towards her. "No, Ilse," he said. "It's too dangerous."

Ilse shook her head vehemently. "Hans, if you do this and are caught, they will come after me anyway," she said. "So it makes no difference whether I am helping or not." She looked at him earnestly. "And I want to help."

Hogan gazed at Ilse, admiring her determination. "She is right," he said to Hans. "The Gestapo will come after the whole family if you are caught."

"Then I guess I will just have to avoid getting caught," Hans said flatly. "But we want to join the group."

Hogan sighed heavily. This was not what he had expected. He had hoped that they would decide to stop their activity and that would be it. He had even expected that they might resist his urgings, forcing him to make them stop. But he hadn't expected that they would want to join the Underground.

At that moment, the barn door opened and Newkirk entered. "All clear, sir," he said. Hogan nodded.

He looked at Erich. "What do you think, Erich?" he asked.

Erich shrugged. "We could always use more people," he replied. "But they need to be people that we can trust to work together."

"My group will listen to me," Hans replied.

"And what about you?" Hogan asked.

"I will work with you," he said. He looked at Erich and added, "And Herr Jonach as well." Seeing the skeptical looks on their faces, he continued, "The only trouble I want to cause is for the authorities."

Hogan still wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but it did have one merit. If Hans and his group were part of the Underground, then he would be better able to make sure that there would be no more attacks on Hochstetter's men.

After a time, he nodded slowly. "All right," he said. "I think that will be fine. We'll work out the details later. We shouldn't be out too long tonight."

Hans Wagner smiled. "Danke," he said and held out his hand to Hogan. Hogan shook his hand. Hans then stepped over to Kinch and held out his hand. "I owe you an apology for my insults last time," he said. "It will not happen again."

Kinch took his hand and replied, "Apology accepted."

As the men went to leave, Ilse spoke up. "Excuse me," she said. Hogan stopped and turned to her. "If we are going to work together, shouldn't we know your name?"

Hogan smiled at her. "They call me Papa Bear," he said.