Franz let the Frenchman drop to the ground. He wasn't going to take the time to check whether the limp form was breathing or not. He had to move. He unwound his hands from the rope biting into them, looked down the passage, and ran toward the exit. He wasn't two strides when he heard pounding footsteps behind him. He gave up subtlety and poured his energy into his legs. If he could just make it to the exit—

"You bastard!" Newkirk yelled, and took him out at the legs. He was thrown forward, landing on the arm that had already begun bleeding again from the strain he'd put on it choking the Frenchman. He cried out and tried to roll over so he could face Newkirk and maybe have a fighting chance. Newkirk released his legs just to grab his shoulders and pin him to the ground. Franz, now on his back, saw a knife. He was done. He didn't have a weapon. He stopped struggling, saying, "Stop! Stop, I surrender!"

And now that knife was under his chin. "You know your word no longer means anything," Newkirk growled, breathing heavily. Franz recognized his own words of earlier.

"Newkirk—" That was Colonel Hogan.

"Is LeBeau alive?" Newkirk interrupted.

"Yes."

Newkirk's grip relaxed ever so slightly. "Permission to go the injury route for Fritz, 'ere?"

"Newkirk, my name is Franz. You should kn—"

He pressed the knife in further and yelled, "Don't do that!"

"Newkirk. Stop," came the compelling, steady voice of the Colonel. Franz had another moment of looking at the rage in his eyes. Newkirk shook. "Let go, Newkirk," ordered Hogan.

Franz was the only one who could see the indecision.

A softer set of footsteps approached. His face didn't change. "Kinch," Newkirk said. "Get between 'im and the exit."

After a pause, Hogan softly said, "Go ahead, Kinch." Franz saw him walk by them.

Then, Newkirk leaned closer, putting more weight on the hand pinning his arm and on the knife. He whispered so no one else could hear. "I don't think you deserve to live. And I never said I wouldn't kill you."

Then he rolled off, and Franz took a deep breath, staying on the ground. The Colonel was above him now, and turning him onto his stomach. He bound him, and Kinch came to help. As he pulled the first knot tight, he said calmly, "Newkirk, you're confined to barracks."

"Sir—"

Hogan pulled Franz up with him, and Franz saw him give Newkirk a warning look. "That's an order. I'll be up in a little bit to talk with you. Wait in my office."

He blinked. "Yes, sir."

"Kinch, you go take care of LeBeau. I need to talk to the captain."

~HH~

Franz sat against the tunnel wall, bound hand and foot, handcuffed to the base of the ladder, trying to ignore his pain. Hogan stood opposite him, not saying a word. He timed it very well. It was just long enough to make Franz wonder what was going on behind those bright, cunning eyes. Just long enough to make him uncertain. Then, he spoke, slowly and deliberately.

"You're smart. I'm going to let you know something. Something you may have already figured out. Because of the danger you have posed, we've been debating whether to leave you entirely whole for the trip back to London, or disabled in some way so you can't give the Underground route any trouble. Now here's something you may not know. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you because of what it would do to my men. Newkirk, as you can see, has developed a revenge complex I don't want to bow to. It wouldn't be healthy for him. On the other hand, I am a commander, and I will not see anyone I work with hurt if I can help it, so if we need to, we'll have to.

"Now I'm a little slower to…explode…than some of my men, so I'm going to talk with you and let you choose. I'm going to take your word. If you promise not to try a single little thing all the way to London, I will let you go without injury. But if I hear of any escape attempts along the route, any instance of failing to do what you are told, if you aren't shot immediately, I have direct contact and great sway with London and I can tell them to make life very unpleasant for you." He paused and stared into his eyes. Franz noticed how very piercing and knowing those eyes were. "Very unpleasant indeed. Since we don't have much time, I'm going to ask you to make this decision now. Do I have your word of honor you won't try anything?"

Franz swallowed. He understood he was beat. This had been his last chance and he knew it. What this American was offering him was more than he'd expected. He pushed away his last hope of staying in Germany, and resigned himself then and there to capture for the duration of the war. He took a deep breath. "I give you my word."

Those eyes never left him. They were judging him and his sincerity. After a moment, the colonel said, "Good. I suggest you take the next few hours to sleep. You're not going to get much the next couple of days. And Franz?" He noticed the mention of his name. "That really was a nice try. Don't do it again."

~HH~

Hogan took a deep breath before opening the door to his office. This had already been a long night. It was about to get longer. Oh the joys of command.

He opened his door and stepped into the darkness. He wished he'd been able to get an extra hour or two of light from Klink, but alas, he hadn't. He saw Newkirk stand to weary attention from where he'd been sitting on the bottom bunk. It looked like the fight had gone out of him.

Hogan decided to put the negative between two positives. "At ease." Newkirk slouched a bit, and Hogan came to stand in front of him, crossing his arms. "First, thank you for catching our prisoner. You did well." Newkirk didn't make eye contact. Alright. "Second, I want you to tell me what's gotten into you. And I don't just mean tonight. You know my policy about taking lives. Only if necessary. You know the same thing goes for injury. Tell me what's wrong."

Newkirk was still silent. Gosh, the rebellious ones were the worst.

"Newkirk, talk."

Newkirk sighed. "Permission to tell the truth, sir?"

"Granted."

"I still want to hurt 'im."

"Because?"

"You know why, Colonel."

"Say it."

He saw the tension creep back into Newkirk's shoulders.

"Because of what 'e did to Carter an' LeBeau. 'e nearly killed me best mates. 'e would 'ave if I weren't there. Talk about disregard for life. 'e doesn't deserve to live."

Hogan let the anger roll off for a moment before appealing to Newkirk's mind. "And in his situation? What would you have done?"

Newkirk was silent.

"Here's something else to think about: You did it for Carter and LeBeau? Would they want you hurting anybody for their sakes? No matter who it was?" Newkirk did shake his head at that. At least he was getting through to him. "There's always going to be rotten Krauts. That's why we're fighting them. But this one we don't have to deal with anymore." He had one more point to make. "Newkirk, look at me. Everyone here trusts you. Carter and LeBeau know you're loyal to them. You don't have anything to prove."

He waited for Newkirk to make eye contact, to acknowledge what he'd said. Newkirk's steady gaze held his. He'd heard.

"The captain's going out tonight, uninjured. Tell me you won't go after him."

Newkirk's eye roll still had some rebellion in it. "I'm confined to barracks. How could I?"

"Promise," Hogan demanded.

"I promise."

Hogan almost sighed in relief. "We'll revisit this in the morning, alright?"

"Yes, sir."

"Get some sleep. And think on what I said. You're dismissed."

Newkirk tapped fingers to forehead and saw himself out.

Hogan took off his hat and threw it on the table, hoping they'd be able to get this figured out. LeBeau had been taken care of and was sleeping in his bed. All that was left was handing Captain Franz off to the Underground. Hogan headed down to the radio.

~HH~

Newkirk lay in bed and waited. He breathed deeply and kept himself from falling asleep. He did think on what Hogan had said. He remembered the policy, he heard the orders, he made the promise. He promised not to go after him.

He listened to Kinch's breathing deepen in sleep, he listened to the Colonel come back up from the tunnels and get into bed, and he listened to Schultz's boots stop marching as he sat on the bench and fell asleep.

For several more minutes, Newkirk waited. When all was quiet, he slipped off of his bunk and told himself he had only promised that he wouldn't go after Franz.