a/n: a missing scene or two from "Praise the Fuhrer and Pass the Ammunition".
Counting Tiles
He was summoned to the office, with the Colonel, after roll call;
To assume there'd be no comeback on his act was just naive;
As the birthday glow diminished with each ambulance and siren,
And the toll of dead and wounded left the enemy to grieve.
~0~
He'd declared as diabolical, the scheme to plant live weapons
And to sabotage a war game, leaving carnage in its wake.
In peacetime, such a mission would be deemed as quite inhuman,
But was justified in wartime; there were countless lives at stake.
~0~
Yes, he'd watered down his talents, dulled his sharpened wits, as ordered;
It wouldn't do to flaunt his comprehensive expertise,
And sheer folly to perform in such a way that raised suspicion
Of the myriad of ways he could have fooled the foe with ease.
~0~
A swiftly stifled smirk, as he remembered Klink's annoyance
When he'd "failed" to make a mess of eggs and egg shells disappear.
He had judged his guest's reaction; bored contempt became amusement,
And those vital precious minutes let the Colonel's team get clear.
~0~
Ram rod straight; at full attention, he stood silent in the office;
His features now composed; expression downcast and contrite,
As he listened to his Colonel and the Kommandant debating
On a punishment proportionate to ego bruised that night.
~0~
A lecture on behaviour, droning on and on forever,
Concluded with the chance to count the cooler tiles again.
Four weeks became a fortnight with the Colonel's plea for mercy,
But this was where it stopped; all further protests made in vain.
~0~
A shrug of resignation, then an escort to the cooler,
And a gleam of understanding as he caught the Colonel's eye.
An instinctive icy shiver, as the cell door closed behind him;
Those grey tiles...he knew the number; wall to wall and ceiling high.
~0~
A blanket on the bench, he wrapped the threadbare wool around him;
A stash, produced like magic; matches, cards and cigarettes.
His "home from home", a poor reward for expert interference...
A line of thought dismissed; he mustn't grumble; no regrets.
~0~
Besides...he grinned and yelled towards a nearby cell, containing
A recent "escapee", retrieved by Schultz, outside the gate.
He'd missed his cheerful bunk mate, since his latest " misadventure":
With Carter in the neighbourhood, recounting tiles could wait.
~0~
a/n: Carter was missing for this episode...not many places he might be...
