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"When did this happen?" Hogan asked.

"We just got word, Colonel. It's all happened in the last few hours."

"Great. That's just great," Hogan said deliberately, sarcasm filling his voice and doing nothing to hide the worry in his face. "So French radio announces the liberation of the city, and anything but that is happening!" Hogan shook his head and started pacing his office. He hadn't been asleep when Kinch asked to see him; despite a lingering tiredness, his mind was still in too much of a spin to wind down long enough to allow him to rest, and so he had sat up reading and thinking, and waiting, away from his men, from whom he did not want to be pounded with questions that he could not answer.

"The Second French Armored Division is on the way, but that's just aggravated the Germans and they've…" Kinch slowed down, hoping to ease his commander into this bit of bad news. "… burned the Grand Palais."

Hogan stopped moving and staggered as though he'd been physically struck. Kinch took in the look of anguish on the Colonel's face and waited as Hogan tried to absorb the news so he could think clearly again. Soon, Hogan flexed his shoulders and drew in a calming breath. Then he crossed his arms and looked fixedly at Kinch. "And?" he asked, cursing his shaking voice.

"Von Choltitz is threatening to attack the rest of the public buildings with heavy arms."

Hogan's shoulders were suddenly too heavy to support, and he felt them sag as his eyes dropped to the floor. "Damn," he cursed softly. He stood frozen for a moment, then chuckled bitterly as he turned away and headed toward his window, a useless gesture as he had left the shutters closed to keep prying eyes away. "You know, I'd finally convinced myself that it just might work." Hogan shook his head and sat down on his lower bunk. Had he really expected to be able to hold off the destruction of Paris with one simple, heartfelt appeal? "That was a joke," he said wryly. "And it looks like von Choltitz had the last laugh."

Kinch watched Hogan silently for a moment, then reminded him softly, "It was a huge gamble. All we could do was hope for the best." Hogan didn't answer. "You saved Tiger, Colonel. Your trip wasn't in vain."

At that Hogan's head nodded twice, then stilled. Kinch understood Hogan's need for solitude, and turned to the door. "I'll stay at the radio, Colonel. I'll let you know if anything changes."

Hogan said nothing, too weary to speak. But as Kinch left, he answered in his mind: Oh, there'll be change all right… and none of it's going to be good.

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Le Beau looked at Kinch worriedly as the radio man emerged from the tunnel. "What is happening, Kinch?" he asked, a lack of sleep and abundance of worry reflected in his voice. "What is going on now?"

Kinch regarded his friend with a real sympathy that he knew the Frenchman would never accept in words. "Nothing, Louis. The Germans aren't doing much of anything at the moment. They're just accepting the advance."

Le Beau's features lightened just briefly. "You mean they are backing off? They are running away?"

"I didn't say that," Kinch replied. "Come on, I have to report to Colonel Hogan."

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Hogan stopped throwing the baseball against the wall of the barracks as soon as he saw Kinch approach, with Le Beau practically running to keep up with the taller man's long strides. "What's going on?" Hogan asked as Kinch closed in.

"Colonel Billotte has sent an ultimatum to von Choltitz, demanding the surrender of the Nazis."

Hogan grimaced. "This is it. What are the Krauts doing?"

"Nothing, Colonel. I mean, there are pockets of fighting, but von Choltitz hasn't ordered anything to be burned or blown up, and the Berlin doesn't seem to be sending in any back-up for the German forces already in the city."

"We will be free by tonight, Colonel," Le Beau predicted.

"I don't know," Hogan countered, hating to rain on Le Beau's parade but not willing to surrender to hope just yet. "Von Choltitz still holds all the cards."

"You have convinced him, Colonel," Le Beau insisted. "That Kraut would be torching all of Paris right now if you had not. The Allies are moving in, and he is not fighting back. We are winning, Colonel!"

Hogan wanted to believe. But he couldn't just yet. "I hope so, Louis. We'll see."

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Kinch tried hard not to shrug away as Hogan moved even closer to the headsets. If he gets any closer, he's gonna be on the other side of me, the Sergeant thought. But he understood Hogan's anxiety and did his best to ignore the crowding. Directly in front of him, Le Beau stood hunched over and poised as though to jump at the slightest news, and, blessedly further away but also in the tunnel, were Carter and Newkirk, listening as news filtered through from Paris.

Kinch turned his head slightly to the left, causing Hogan to jerk back before the equipment hit him in the nose. "Sorry. Sorry," Hogan apologized. But he simply moved right back in when Kinch turned back to the desk. He exchanged looks with Le Beau, whose anxiety mirrored his own.

"They think von Choltitz is about to admit defeat, Colonel," Kinch announced a short time later. "The Germans haven't sent any troops to help him defend Paris and he hasn't ordered Paris to be burned, even though it's becoming more evident that the Krauts don't have a chance of defending the city."

Hogan straightened and moved away.

Le Beau slapped the desk triumphantly. "See? I told you—the Allies move in, and the Krauts run away!"

"They haven't run away yet, Louis," Kinch said. "They're just talking."

"And they still have those ruddy bombs all over the city," Newkirk added. "They might be waiting until everything sounds just right, and then wham—they hit when all their ducks are in line." He glanced over toward Hogan, who seemed to stiffen at the suggestion. "Of course," the Englishman amended, "they might also be trying to make a better case for themselves when they're brought to trial for crimes after the war—you know, 'I didn't actually destroy the city, so don't be too hard on me.'"

Hogan let out a long breath. "They might," he said. "In the meantime…"

"Wait!" Kinch suddenly exclaimed. The talk in the tunnel stopped immediately. Kinch listened harder. "Are you sure about that?" he said. "Please repeat your message."

Hogan stared hard at the radio, as though doing so would allow him to hear what was being said. But it didn't work, and so the Colonel waited intolerably as Kinch simply acknowledged what he was hearing, and listened again. "Right. Roger, D'Artagnan," he said to the agent who was supplying them with their information. "Will await further developments. Papa Bear over and out."

Kinch turned off the radio and took off his headsets. Hogan asked immediately, "What's the message, Kinch?"

Kinch shook his head, still amazed at the message himself. "Von Choltitz has surrendered."

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Le Beau stood by the radio that night, staring into space, listening proudly and intently as he translated for the others. "Paris! Paris insulted! Paris broken! Paris martyred! But Paris freed! Paris freed by itself, freed by its own people with the assistance of the armies of France, with the support and assistance of the entire French nation, of the France that fights, of the only France, of the true France, of France eternal."

As Charles De Gaulle continued his triumphant speech that night, Le Beau looked over at his Colonel with fondness and pride. General De Gaulle was right—yes, French forces had come into the city that day, and yes, von Choltitz had surrendered to the French Forces of the Interior as well as to General Philippe Leclerc's army. But there had been other factors that had helped bring the Allies to victory, and Le Beau was looking at one of them right now. In the Frenchman's mind, there was no doubt that if Hogan had not intervened and ordered von Choltitz's family to be taken, that the German officer would have, at some stage, done much more than authorize the burning of the Grand Palais. Le Beau wished fervently that De Gaulle could recognize that contribution to the Allied victory as well, though he knew that could never happen, even if the General had known.

"Vive la France!" Le Beau concluded, leaving the phrase in his native language, as there was no doubt as to its meaning. He smiled and looked at his friends. "It is done, my friends. Paris is free."

Newkirk smiled and put his arm around the Corporal's shoulders. "I'm glad for you, Louis."

"Yeah, me, too," Carter said. "Gee, that General De Gaulle sure knows how to make a speech."

"Oui, Andrew, he is very charismatic." Le Beau sighed happily. "Tomorrow, I will make a beautiful feast for us all to celebrate—French foods, fine wine..."

"Fine wine?" Kinch repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Where are you planning to get that from?"

Le Beau shrugged. "Newkirk made it this afternoon. By tomorrow it should be perfect."

"Von Choltitz is in for it now, boy," Carter said.

"That he is, Carter. And he'll deserve everything he gets," Newkirk declared. Hogan frowned. "What is it, gov'nor?"

Hogan tried to reconcile the contradictory feelings he was having. "I'm not so sure you're right there, Newkirk."

"But Colonel, how can you say that? That von Choltitz put bombs all over the city!"

Hogan nodded, still conflicted. "Yes, he did. But he was under orders to blow up Paris, and he didn't do it. Maybe his compromise was to place the bombs, to keep Hitler and his goons off his back—maybe he never had any intention of detonating them."

"Colonel, are you saying that von Choltitz might have been a double agent?" Kinch asked.

Hogan shook his head. "No. I'm just saying maybe we finally found a Kraut General who had a sense of honor, and he was doing everything he could to stop the unthinkable from happening." He looked at the radio, recalling the news of von Choltitz's surrender. "And when the Allies came, and he wasn't given any back-up, he could finally let it go without being completely to blame."

"What do you think will happen to him now, Colonel?" asked Le Beau.

"I don't know, Louis. It's not up to us."

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Le Beau padded over to Hogan's quarters late that night and softly knocked on the door before entering. As he suspected, Hogan was fully dressed, and sitting on the lower bunk, feet up, reading.

"I saw your light, Colonel," the Frenchman said.

Hogan looked up, put his book aside. "Couldn't sleep, Louis?"

Le Beau shook his head. "No. I am still too excited about Paris."

Hogan smiled softly. "I can understand that."

Le Beau came further into the room. "I wanted to say thank you, Colonel."

Hogan furrowed his brow. "What for?" he asked.

"For everything you have done. For taking me to Paris. For coming up with a plan to make it easier for von Choltitz to defy Hitler. For going to see him yourself, when it could have meant the firing squad. For helping to save Paris."

Hogan sat up and swung his feet off the bunk. Le Beau sat down beside him. "We may never know what made von Choltitz do what he did, Louis. You don't have anything to thank me for."

"But I do, Colonel," Le Beau insisted. He turned to make sure Hogan was facing him as he continued. "When you first told me that von Choltitz had been ordered to destroy Paris, I was sure there was no hope, and I was ready to go home and fight to the death for my homeland." Hogan nodded. "And now, I see that there are many ways to fight. I do not have to be there in person. I can actually do more from this POW camp, I think, than I can hiding with Resistance forces somewhere in France."

The earnestness in Le Beau's voice touched Hogan. "Paris will be rebuilt, Louis. It'll become beautiful again."

"Oui, that I know is true," Le Beau answered.

"And you don't want to go there and help that happen?"

Le Beau considered thoughtfully, then shook his head. "No, Colonel. I do not want to go there. Not now. She is too sad to see. I will go back after the war, and see how she has recovered. But for now, I want to stay here with you, and watch you come up with more ingenious ways of making the Krauts stumble and fall as the Allies move in to free Europe from Hitler's grasp. France will find her glory again, with or without me there."

Hogan smiled, humbled by the Frenchman's tribute. He looked at the small patriot, so fierce in his loyalties, both to his country, and to his commanding officer. Hogan was grateful, and moved. "Vive la France," Hogan proclaimed softly.

Le Beau smiled. "Oui, Colonel. Et vive le Stalag 13."

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Author's Notes

This story was the result of a "plot bunny" challenge that asked me to explore Le Beau's feelings about the liberation of Paris in August of 1944, when he was still at Stalag 13, with respect to such stories as "Cuisine a la Stalag 13" and "Is General Hammerschlag Burning?" My desire to describe the "real" Paris during the time of liberation led me to have to reconcile the Paris of the show (gay and lovely all the time) to the real one, which was anything but charming in some areas. And Le Beau's rather off-hand remark about the fate of the City of Light in "Hammerschlag" did not ring true based on his reactions in other episodes. So there was some real work trying to get both sides of his moods in place!

General Dietrich von Choltitz was ordered back from the Russian front by Adolf Hitler in early August 1944. He stopped in Baden-Baden to see his wife Uberta and three children on the way into the City of Light. On the way in on the train, he learned of Hitler's "barbaric" order to in essence hold the families of Third Reich officers hostage, to ensure that his orders would be followed swiftly, and to the letter. Von Choltitz was ordered to blow up Paris, but apparently did not want to be responsible for its destruction, and so he lied to his superiors when they asked if the city was burning, and told them Yes, the destruction of Paris was already underway. Within days, Allied troops arrived and von Choltitz was forced to surrender.

The descriptions of Paris in the summer of 1944 are accurate—there was little to eat, often no power, and the public gardens were used to grow vegetables. The only parts of Paris left in their former glory were, as Louis Le Beau stated, the places that the Nazis wanted to use for their own pleasure as a break from the war.

The location of von Choltitz's headquarters and the SS were indeed at the hotels named in this story, and the location of the bombs and mines around the city are also true and correct.

In the days leading up to the liberation of Paris, three Resistance leaders were arrested by the SS and brought to von Choltitz, who inexplicably released them to see what peace they might be able to restore in the war-torn city. I have simply made Tiger the fictional fourth person held.

The speech Louis was translating was excerpted from Charles De Gaulle's historic declaration to the French people the night of the German surrender. It was broadcast over French radio.

Hogan's comment about von Choltitz meeting Hitler in 1943 and being disgusted by his table manners is true.

No one knows for sure why von Choltitz chose to defy Hitler and save Paris. This idea that if his family was safe he could continue to defend the city is, of course, pure fantasy. There is no evidence that his family were anywhere but their home in Baden-Baden. After the liberation, von Choltitz was actually arrested and charged with treason. But he had friends in high places, so his court martial proceedings were held off until after the war, when no harm could come to his family.

Thank you for reading.