Chapter Eight – Newkirk and Carter: Friends

"And that's what really happened on the Frankfurt mission last week, sir," Newkirk said, his words echoing slightly on the tunnel walls. "I thought you should know the truth."

Hogan regarded the Englishman for a moment. He was not very happy to hear that Newkirk almost blew the critical mission - but he could tell that Newkirk felt bad about it. He also knew that his men had a way of handling their own troubles without him having to get involved.

He spotted Carter coming down the ladder from the barracks above and knew just the thing to help the process along. "What you're telling me is that everything that happened that night in Frankfurt was Carter's doing?" he asked, making sure that Carter heard the question.

"Yes, sir," Newkirk replied. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Boy," Carter exclaimed as he approached the two men. "Some friend you are, pinning it all on me!"

"Andrew, I didn't hear you come down," Newkirk said sheepishly.

"I can tell," Carter replied angrily. "So you told the Colonel everything, huh?"

"Yes he did, Carter," Hogan replied. "Everything – like how he bungled the original plan and got captured, and how you devised a plan of your own and was able to rescue both him and the girl."

Carter's face showed surprise. "He did? I thought he would try to tell you that it was all his idea," he replied. "I guess I was wrong."

"There's only one part that he didn't elaborate on," Hogan said.

"What's that, sir?" Carter replied.

"The girls," Hogan said. "Were you really able to get a dozen young girls to help you out?"

"I've been trying to get him to talk about that all week," Newkirk stated. "He just won't talk. Maybe you can order him to tell us, Colonel."

Carter opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment, Kinch yelled over from the radio set. "Colonel, an important message coming in for you."

"Coming, Kinch," Hogan replied and headed towards the radio.

After the Colonel left, Carter looked at his friend. "You really told him the truth?" he asked.

"I had to let him know what really went on," Newkirk replied. "Especially after what we went through the day before we left. I was going to tell him the night we got back, but you interrupted and told him everything went as planned. Why, Andrew? You could have really rubbed it in – after all that talk I did about you messing things up all the time."

Carter thought for a second before answering. "You're right, I could have," he replied. "But it didn't matter what happened before, the mission was successful. It makes no difference to me who gets the credit, as long as everything works out."

"Andrew, I am sorry about what I said before the mission," Newkirk said. "And I owe you a lot for getting me out of the jam."

"Aw, shucks," said Carter. "That's what friends are for."

Newkirk smiled. Over Carter's shoulder, he saw Hogan put down the radio headset, a small frown furrowing his forehead. "Something important, Colonel?" he asked, walking over to the radio set.

"Yeah," Hogan replied. "The Underground needs another man to help out on an important mission."

"You need a volunteer?" Newkirk asked.

"Well thanks, Newkirk!" Hogan replied.

"No, not me," Newkirk replied. "I was thinking about Kinch. He hasn't been out of camp in a while."

"Thanks a lot, buddy," Kinch replied. "You're all heart."

"Actually, they have requested a specific person," Hogan replied.

"What?" Newkirk asked. "Who?"

"The message is from Otto in Frankfurt," Hogan replied. He had been trying to hold back a smile but was failing fast. "Since they worked so well on the mission last week, he requests the aid of Colonel Casanova." He looked at Carter and said, "Carter, you're going to Frankfurt again!"

Carter's eyes went wide. "Me?" he asked.

"Hey Carter," Kinch said laughing. "Say hello to Marlene for us!"

Carter could feel his face redden as Newkirk slapped him on the back. "Right, and you remember what she said, don't forget your handcuffs, mate!"

Authors Notes

As mentioned before, this story was written in response to the Smartgroups' Yankee Swap challenge. The original plot bunny for this story was:

"On a mission, Newkirk changes the Plan on the fly because he's convinced Carter will screw his part up - but when Carter does his part perfectly now Newkirk is in danger of messing everything up!"

I have taken a slightly different view of the bunny, and chose to focus on the results of Newkirk's change of plans, and how Carter manages to bail him out. I also wanted to focus on the friendship between the two men, rather than just the "Laurel and Hardy" interplay that goes on. I hope the original submitter of the bunny approves of this story!

----- -----

The scene where Newkirk and Greta escape was blatantly ripped off from the movie "The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz." If you are not familiar with the movie, you are not alone … but I just had to use this scene to show how adept Newkirk is when it comes to picking pockets and locks. And also, it shows that Carter can really attract the girls when he needs to! Colonel Casanova indeed!

----- -----

The Underground agent Otto Baum is the same agent that appears in the episode "The Gestapo Takeover." I have taken the liberty of placing him in the Frankfurt Underground helping Hogan's men on this mission. As stated in the episode, Otto Baum is but one of his names, and it is the one he has chosen to use for this mission.

----- -----

And just what is this mission in Frankfurt that calls Carter back? You'll just have to use your imagination until that story is told.