Baker was again down in the radio room, monitoring their radio for any incoming messages. He was reading a book for hours now, when suddenly a message came in over the secure frequency. He grabbed his headphones along with a pen and paper and started scribbling down a note. He acknowledged the received message and signed off. Then he hurried up with the slip of paper in hand, knowing it was of the utmost importance that this message would get to the Colonel as fast as possible.

Coming up through the bunk entrance, Baker walked at a fast pace over to the colonel's quarters. When his mates asked him, what was up, he answered that he got an important message for the colonel and that it couldn't wait.

As he reached the door, Baker hesitated a moment; but then he reminded himself of the urgency of the message and softly knocked on the wood. A soft "Come in" was heard through the door and Baker opened it and stepped into the office. To his great surprise; his CO was sitting at his desk with lots of paperwork in front of him and a pen in his hand, poised to write something down. Hogan looked up to his radioman and asked, "What can I do for you, Baker?"

Overcoming his slight shock, Baker replied while he handed over a slip of paper to his commander. "This message just came in, Colonel. It came over the secure frequency and the sender told it was urgent."

Reading through the message, Hogan suddenly lost all color in his face; he became as white as a sheet and sweat started to poor down his temples. He wiped it off with the sleeve of his shirt and read the message again. It was from Abwehr Major Hans Teppel, also known as Richard Morrison of Milwaukee; an Allied deep undercover agent. He warned Hogan that a few skeptic men from the Gestapo in Berlin didn't believe that the great Papa Bear was now dead and were on their way to Luft-Stalag 13, to see for themselves if it was true or not. He further told him to make himself scarce, to get out of the country before those men from Berlin arrive. Morrison was certain they would kill Hogan off if they should see him. His only chance of survival was in fleeing Germany and getting back to the Allies.

Shaking his head, Hogan crumbled up the paper into a ball and threw it to the other side of the room, where it landed in a corner. He was beyond livid, seething with anger he hadn't felt for a long time and it was aimed at his own side! If they had done their job in London, none of this would have happened; they could have waited until the day of their liberation. But now, seeing no other choice; Hogan ordered Baker to get the rest of his core team for a debriefing. Moments later, everyone was sitting down somewhere in Hogan's office; Carter and Newkirk sat down on his bottom bunk and LeBeau just hopped onto the window sill. Baker took his place at the door, blocking it and gave his full attention to his colonel.

Before Hogan was able to start explaining his plans, loud explosions could be heard going off outside. All eyes turned to the colonel, who in turn, looked out of his office window. Seeing small flashes that lit up the sky shortly, before more explosive sounds went off; the colonel turned around to his men. "That's artillery fire; the front lines are moving closer to our position. So we have to put in some changes here. For one; we will take over the camp from the Krauts, put up a US flag on the Kommandantur and keep the former guards in their barracks under watch. The former Kommandant and his former Sergeant of the Guard will be kept in the Kommandant's quarters, also under armed watch. Second; I will make a surprise appearance and talk to Colonel Klink, talking him through the process of handing over the camp to us. Newkirk, get me some official papers from the army. I need them to write the surrender form for our Kommandant, to write down my official report of this procedure so everything will be done per protocol. Got it?"

The men nodded, but waited for further orders from their CO, who was still dressed in his all blacks. He sent Baker back down to the radio and told him to take Olsen with him to monitor the switchboard. Baker gave a nod and was gone. Next, he sent Newkirk below to ready the papers for him; then he ordered LeBeau with a slight smile to get him something to eat and a cup of coffee. Eager to help his colonel, Louis headed out to the potbelly stove and started warming up the leftovers from their breakfast. Now alone with his demolitions man, Hogan ordered Carter to check their armory in the tunnels to ready some guns; just in case. A bit disappointed about not being allowed to blow something up, Carter nodded and was on his way to do as he was ordered.

Now completely alone, Hogan wiped a hand over his face, sighed in relief and set down on his bottom bunk, leaned back against the barracks wall and pulled his legs up. He leaned his arms over them and put his head on his crossed arms, closing his eyes in defeat; the headache was coming back with a vengeance and his gunshot wounds were troubling him too. He wouldn't mind Wilson coming in now, so he could give him something strong for the pain. But he needed a clear head for what was laying ahead of them, so he opted for some aspirin, which he downed with a glass of water. Afterwards he took in the same position on his lower bunk as before. He closed his eyes and tried to slow down his breathing and to relax, hoping the pain medication would work soon.

Just as he was about to doze off, a light knock on his door shook him out of his light sleep. Moments later the door opened and LeBeau stepped in; he balanced a tray on his right hand and closed the door with his left. He set the tray on the footlocker beside the bottom bunk and handed the mug with fresh coffee to his colonel. Hogan took the proffered beverage with a slight smile in thanks and sighed in relief, after taking the first sip of the dark brew. A good strong coffee was just what he needed now to reawaken his near dull senses, his full alertness returning in mere moments.

LeBeau, who was still in the room, watched the fast progress with growing admiration for his commander. He never was witness to any other man turning from all sleepy to full alert in mere seconds; but Colonel Hogan did it with such ease, it seemed to be natural for him.

Remembering that he wasn't alone in his quarters, Hogan looked up to his chef and loyal friend. With the usual mirth in his eyes and a twinkle in them, he asks, "Now, what do you have for my late breakfast, LeBeau? Something edible, I hope."

"Oui, mon colonel. I have made your favorites. Scrambled eggs, two slices of toast and some bacon on top; perfectly seasoned for just the right taste. You will love it, colonel. Those creations of mine will dance on your tongue. They are magnifiqué." LeBeau could go on endlessly when it was about food and it was easily heard in his voice, how much he loved to cook and to create new things.

Hogan's smile got even brighter and with a powerful push of his arms, he made it to his feet; determined to eat his breakfast while he sat at his desk and not lying down. LeBeau sensed his CO's wish and grabbed the tray and set it on the desk. With a flourish, he bowed gallantly and said, "Bon appetit, colonel." As an afterthought, he added, "If you want more...just holler, Sir and I'll bring you some right away."

Hogan thanked LeBeau and started to dig in with gusto, only now realizing how hungry he was. He gently rubbed his rumbling belly and softly said in its direction, "Hold it! You're getting nourishment now, so stop it, will you?" Another rumble was heard and Hogan, who realized what he just did, started laughing out loud. A genuine laugh that came from deep within him reverberated throughout his quarters and the adjoining common room of the barracks. Suddenly the door to his quarters opened and his four core team members rushed inside. They stopped at the sight that greeted them; their CO was sitting at his desk, both hands pressed lightly on his stomach and was nearly doubled over with laughter. Newkirk dared to ask, "Are you alright, Gov'ner?"

As he heard the concern in his man's voice, Hogan managed to control his laughter and answered slightly breathless, "Yes, I'm alright. There is no need to worry, guys. I'm okay...really. I just did something very childish and it made me laugh."

Now Newkirk and the others grinned brightly at their commander. "Care to share, Gov'ner? We all could use a good laugh to raise our morals up."

Turning around to his command team, Hogan gave them his full attention. While he tried to keep a straight face as he told them what just took place, he couldn't stop himself from giggling like a school girl. His infectious laugh got to them all and moments after the short story was told, everyone was laughing genuinely. It did them all good to forget about the war and everything that came with it, even if it was only for a few treasured moments of privacy with their CO. It proved to the men that even after all that he went through at the hands of the Germans, Colonel Hogan managed to keep his sunny personality, which came out often. It made prison camp life more bearable for all the men under his command.

After a few more moments of lightheartedness, Hogan turned serious again. While he continued with his breakfast, he told his men between bites, "As soon as I have finished my breakfast, I'll head over to Klink's quarters through the tunnel to have my talk with him. While I am in there, you guys will make your move on the guards; overpower them and take their weapons. I hope I don't have to remind you that I don't want any use of unneeded violence or bloodshed, understood?"

Newkirk spoke up for all of his mates, "We understand you perfectly, Gov'ner. No worries there. We'll be having 'em all under our control before they know what hit 'em. Only problem might be the tower guards, Sir. They are way more unpredictable then the rest of 'em lot."

Nodding in understanding, Hogan thought about this problem for a bit, before he said, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. As soon, as all other guards are disarmed and our prisoners for a change, the rest will soon follow. If not, we can still order them to stand down or be shot where they are. It will be their choice to make. I don't want to force them to go against their beliefs, but I will if I have to in order to succeed. That will be all. You have your orders; dismissed."

The men exited the colonel's quarters and readied themselves for their tasks, eager like school kids, who were about to pull a prank on their teachers; under the guidance of the biggest troublemaker of them all – their CO. They even giggled and joked with one another, in the hopes of forgetting about the seriousness of their situation; but still, they were all concentrated on the mission that laid ahead of them now: taking over the camp from the Germans. And they wanted to succeed in this endeavor, because they owed it to their commanding officer; a man who had risked so much for them on a daily basis over the last three years of his captivity.

And for all that he had given to them, had risked for them; he never asked for anything in return from his men, except their loyalty. Colonel Hogan never once thought about his own wellbeing; his men were his top priority and therefore, also his greatest weakness. But thankfully, their dumb German captors had never explored that possibility to control their so called prized possession and more or less left him and his men alone. A fact that allowed them, to operate their secret sabotage and espionage unit from beneath the very camp they were incarcerated in, without any problems; until now.