A/N: Hello again! I just want to thank you all - this story had officially passed a thousand views! Holy crap! Thanks to those who have reviewed, but there haven't been many recently...it would be awesome to hear from you guys. Anyways, it's getting intense. All characters are Tarantino's save for Ella. Enjoy!

The British Lieutenant arrived at dusk. At first he looked at Ella like she was an alien, but then she pulled out her pistol from its thigh holster and the shining V-42 stiletto knife from her clutch. His eyebrows went up and he glanced down at Ace. He was skinny, more so than any army man Ella had seen in a long time. His light brown hair was carefully groomed and his face carefully shaven, and most people would call him dapper.

"Don't worry. He won't sic unless I say so."

"Comforting. Lieutenant Archie Hicox, ma'am." It came out sounding more like 'marm,' which Ella had missed since they left the base in England.

"Corporal Ella Demski." She saluted him back. "The men should be along in a few minutes. I have some information that might be important."

"I heard you were fluent in German as well."

"Ja, I am. I go in with the other Corporal in our unit to do reconnaissance in towns, so French as well."

"I see." It was easy to see that he was still skeptical about her, but she could honestly care less. All she wanted was for him and her men to come out of the tavern alive so the theater mission would be successful.

The last sunlight disappeared and within minutes there was a rap on the storm door. Ace ran down the stairs after Ella to meet them as the veterinarian unlocked the door. Wicki, Hugo, Aldo, Utivich, Omar, and Donny tumbled into the basement of the vet's place, the dogs that were staying overnight barking around them.

"Hello, boys. Good trip?"

Aldo shrugged. "Where's the Brit?"

"Upstairs. He's very…British."

"Let's head to the top floor. I wanna get a look at this place."

His men followed Aldo up to the second floor of the house, which had a window looking directly over the tavern where the meeting would be happening. Just from the way Aldo was speaking, Ella could tell he was more tense than for a normal mission.

"Aldo, I got some information," Ella said before he saw the location. She knew from the minute she saw it that morning that he would not be happy. Not in the slightest. She wanted to tell him what she needed to before he got preoccupied.

"What's 'at?"

"The Gestapo Major is in town. He said he's regularly stationed in Paris." She shuddered.

"Whoa, whoa," Donny said. "Was there a Nazi movin' in on my girl?"

"Um…yes, and maybe he was Major Dieter Hellstrom."

Aldo pursed his lips. "Fuck a duck!" Donny exclaimed, possibly loud enough to wake the entire block. "You know where he went? I'm gonna -"

"Hush, Donny! I just wanted to let you guys know. We have more important matters at hand. Wilhelm, do you have the uniforms?"

The other Corporal took a pack from his back and handed it to Ella, and she took out three uniforms that she had carefully folded the day before. Two Lieutenants and a Captain.

"All right. Wilhelm, here's yours - Lieutenant Saltzberg. Hugo, yours - Lieutenant Berlin. Do not think I miss the irony in that. If you want to switch, go ahead. The important thing is that Lieutenant Hicox plays the Captain." She handed the British Lieutenant his uniform, and the three of them went to the spare bedroom to change.

"Seriously, El, did he really say something to you?" Donny asked, quieter this time.

"He came over to me in the cafe and asked how I came to own Ace. I told him the story, you know, and then he said if I was ever back in Paris that he's stationed there and if I wanted to seek him out, 'a man like him would be proud to have a girl like me on his arm,' he said. Word for word. I said thank you, and he left me to my croissant."

Donny's face grew dark. "That son-of-a-bitch."

"Now, Donny, he didn't even know who I really am. If he did, he'd probably be repulsed. Remember, he liked Elizabeth Silvestre. Not Ella Demski."

Donny's face did not change. "Still."

"Go lie down," Ella said, pointing to the old twin-sized bed that was in the corner of the main room. "You're just winding yourself up."

"What in the sam hell!" Aldo shouted. Oh boy, Ella thought. He saw La Louisiane.

"What the hell will my men be doing in a goddamn basement?" he growled at the door that shielded the British Lieutenant.

"Give me a moment," a voice came back. Ella was not excited for this confrontation.

"Aldo, don't. Calm down."

"I know, goddamnit," he huffed, shoving her hand from his shoulder. Just like when she handed him the canteen almost six years earlier. He was way too tense for this.

The three men emerged from the room, dressed in their German officer's uniforms. Hugo seemed right at home.

"You said you saw the Gestapo Major?" he asked in heavily accented English.

"Yes. Major Hellstrom. Do you know him?"

Hugo's face hardened. Ella took that as a yes.

"Don't think about him. Think about the information that Von Hammersmarck has." Ella quickly saw that she was holding this unit together at the moment. "Lieutenant, what's the deal with the tavern?" Aldo had gone to sit at the window, watching over the tavern. Wicki stood above him.

"Nothing's wrong with the tavern."

"You didn't say the goddamn rendezvous was in a fuckin' basement," Aldo growled.

"I didn't know," Hicox replied. Ella was ready to jump in if they got too angry. Who knew with men in tense situations.

"You said it was a tavern."

"Aldo, it is a tavern," Ella added softly.

"Yeah. In a basement. You know, fightin' in a basement offers a number of difficulties. Number one being, you're fightin' in a basement," Aldo retorted.

"What if she doesn't show?" Wicki murmured, keeping his eyes out on the street.

"She'll show. She's a British spy. She'll make the rendezvous." The men were getting defensive. Ella threw her hands up and went over to the bed where Donny had actually gone to put his feet up.

"Got a little room, Sarge?"

"For you, maybe." He scooted over so he was almost teetering off the edge, but it made room for Ella to sit down, still in her dress. She pulled a cigarette out of her purse, fumbling for a match. Donny held two fingers up and snapped, a small flame bursting from the match between them.

"Trying to impress the lady, I see," she said, leaning up to the flame and taking a drag.

"Is it working?"

"Might just be," she replied coyly. Hicox returned from the room where Hugo was sharpening his terrifyingly large knife. Aldo flicked open his snuffbox and the two of them mumbled back and forth. At least Aldo had stopped yelling. Ella felt her eyelids begin to droop. She shook her head violently in an attempt to wake up a little.

"You can rest, y'know. You've been workin' longer than the rest of us." Donny reached up and rubbed her back lightly. That certainly wasn't helping her stay awake.

"Not before the men leave. Once they go, sure."

"That's fine, because we're going," Hicox said, straightening his jacket. Hugo joined them and they went to the main level, where the veterinarian was reading in his armchair.

"We're off, Henry," Hicox said, giving a little salute. Henry just nodded and went back to reading. Ella looked at Hugo and Wicki, dressed in Nazi uniforms, their faces blank.

"You're smart men. Be careful down there. I want you back up here." She kissed both of them on both cheeks like a European, and saluted. They saluted back, turning to Aldo and Donny with the same.

Once they were out the door, the soldiers left inside stood in the hall awkwardly.

"You don't feel good about this one, do you, Ella?" Utivich said, furrowing his brow.

"Not one bit."

Having nothing else to do, the went back upstairs and resumed what they were doing before, only Ella laid down next to Donny instead. "Wake me if anything happens. I mean anything."

"Don't worry, doll. I will." He slipped an arm around her and she turned over to face him, placing a hand on his chest.


Gunfire woke her.

"No, no, no," she moaned as the whole room jumped into action. She flipped off of the bed and as Aldo darted past, she snatched up her rifle that was leaning against the windowsill. Donny launched himself over the wrought iron footboard and drew his pistol, leaping down the stairs. Aldo was at the door already, holding the knob.

"El, the grenades," he said before she came down the stairs. "Omar, Smithson, stay put and get the downstairs ready," he ordered, referring to the veterinarian's surgery in the basement. "You two, come with me. Be quiet about it. No running in guns blazing. Let's go."

Ella's heart thudded in her throat. They darted across the street and crowded into the stairs above the tavern.

"El, don't prime one of those yet, but be ready to toss one quick." She nodded, trying to take deep breaths.

Aldo creaked the door open and was met with fifty rounds of machine gun fire. He jumped back.

"You! Outside! Who are you? British, American, what?" came a haggard, German-accented voice from the tavern. Ella groaned. That did not bode well.

"We're American," Aldo called back, but not too loudly. "What're you?"

"I'm a German, you idiot."

"You speak English pretty good for a German."

"I agree. So let's talk."

"Sounds young," Ella murmured. Aldo and Donny nodded.

"I'm a father. My baby was born today in Frankfurt. Five hours ago. We were in here drinking, celebrating, they're the ones that came in shooting and killing! It's not my fault!" the young German cried.

"Okay, okay, it wasn't your fault. What's your name, soldier?"

"Wilhelm."

Ella pursed her lips.

"Okay, Wilhelm. Anyone alive on our side?"

"I'm alive!"

Of course it was Bridget von Hammersmarck. The German started shouting at her.

"Willy, who is that?" Aldo called.

"The girl on your side?"

"Regrettably," Ella grumbled. She was getting anxious to get to her men.

"Yeah, she's ours," Aldo sighed.

Wilhelm spat more German at Bridget, saying something about running with the Americans now. "She's been shot!" he told Aldo.

"Okay, Willy, here's my deal. You let me and my men come down there and take the girl away. No guns me, no guns you. You go your way, we go ours, and Max gets to grow up playing catch with his Daddy. Simple as that." Ella knew it was bullshit, that Wilhelm was never going to leave that tavern, but sweet-talking him was vital.

After a little more convincing, Wilhelm agreed. Aldo started to head down but stopped.

"Hey, Willy, what's with the machine gun? I thought we had a deal," Aldo said. Ella had a grenade in her hand, ready to edge around Aldo and bomb the place.

"We do have a deal. Take the girl and go."

Bridget said something to him, and suddenly there was another shot.

"Help," she called weakly. That was their all-clear. Ella stuffed the grenade back in the bag and rushed after Aldo down the stairs. She paused at the carnage, her breath catching. The first man she saw was the one with Stiglitz's knife through the base of his neck, whom she definitely recognized. It was Major Hellstrom. What the hell he was doing here, she had no idea. But he was stone dead, and at least Hugo got to do it.

Wicki lay under the stairs, and Ella crouched over him. She put a hand to his bloody neck, knowing that she wouldn't find a pulse. With a deep sigh, Ella reached under his jacket and slipped his dog tags from his neck. "Goddamnit, Aldo -"

"Don't you say shit, El, we gotta take care of them and get outta here. Donny, get the Brit's tags, and El, get Hugo's and go spot up top. We gotta get back to the vet's house."

Ella knelt next to Hugo and took his tags as well. "Donny?"

"Yeah?"

"Hugo took care of the Major for you," she said, gesturing to the man that was stuck to the table.

"Well, shit."

Ella stood with the tags, grasping the handle of Hugo's dagger and yanking it free from the wood and the Major's spine. She gingerly took the sheath from Hugo's belt, wiping the dagger off and slipping it back into the leather. There was a cry as Aldo lifted Bridget. A bullet hole gaped in her calf, an entry wound but no exit. Good. There was leverage for interrogation. There was blood on Ella's dress now, but she didn't care. She had others.

"Auf Wiedersehen, meine Brüder." And she headed up the stairs to see if the street was clear.

A/N: If you didn't feel like looking that up...it means, "Goodbye, my brothers."