Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

The Right Thing

By Suzie2b

Hitch and Tully moved slowly along the outer wall of the German base. Their footsteps were silent in the soft sand. The moonless night hid them completely from the guards watching from above in the towers. The privates' self-proclaimed mission was to go against Troy and Moffitt's orders to stay with the jeeps until they returned.

#################

Twenty-four hours earlier…

Hitch complained, "We should all go together, sarge."

Troy shook his head. "Not this time. Moffitt and I will go in, grab the photos and plans, and come back here."

Tully said, "You could use extra backup."

Moffitt said, "I agree with you, but in this instance Troy is right. There's going to be plenty of guards and the two of us will be able to move quicker than four."

Hitch asked, "How long do we wait?"

Troy replied, "If we're not back here by daylight tomorrow, hightail it back to headquarters and tell Captain Boggs."

Tully frowned and twirled his ever-present matchstick. "We'll do that after we go in after you two."

Troy said pointedly, "No. If Moffitt and I don't come back by daylight, you both go to Captain Boggs. The two of us can take care of ourselves. Got it?"

Hitch and Tully glanced at each other, but nodded their reluctant agreement.

"Right. You ready to go, Moffitt?" The other sergeant nodded and Troy said, "Then let's get started."

#################

Troy and Moffitt made their way across the open expanse of desert in the dark with only a vague sliver of a moon in the sky. They moved quickly and quietly along the outer wall of the German base until the gates were in sight. It was nearly time for the guards to change. That would be their opportunity to go in.

The two allies got as close to the guard shack as they dared and waited. Soon they heard the slight squeak in the otherwise quiet night as the gate opened enough to allow two guards out. There was some muffled chatter as the guards on duty reported no issues to their replacements. Then the gate squeaked again as it was closed and silence again enveloped them.

Troy and Moffitt crept around the guard shack to a window. Light from a lantern shown through it as the sergeants carefully peeked inside. The two guards had made themselves comfortable at the table with magazines and coffee.

Moffitt circled around to the door as Troy slipped silently in through the window behind the two German guards.

Moffitt pushed the door open to reveal himself and say with a smile, "Guten Abend, meine Herren."

Startled, both guards looked up, confused, and that's when Troy bashed the first guard in the back of the head with the butt of his pistol. The second quickly stood up and turned as his friend fell out of the chair. Troy swung the gun around, hitting the guard in the temple and watched him go down.

Together Troy and Moffitt entered the base through the gate. They had several hours before the guards changed again and the two dead Germans were discovered, but hopefully they'd be long gone before then.

#################

Tully sat on the hood of one of the jeeps as he watched Hitch pace back and forth in front of him.

Hitch grumbled, "I hate it when they do this."

Tully agreed with a nod. "Yeah, but what can we do about it?"

"Nothing I guess. I just don't like it when we're separated like this. We should be there watching their backs."

"You're singin' to the choir, Hitch. But they always make it back."

Hitch sighed. "I don't know, Tully. I've got a feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Tully smiled slightly, trying to break the tense atmosphere. "Could be it's the mystery meat stew we had for dinner."

Hitch managed a bit of a smile and rubbed his stomach. "Maybe you're right."

#################

Troy and Moffitt stayed in the cover alongside buildings and in alleys as they quickly moved towards German headquarters. Guards roamed the streets in pairs.

The side door they found was locked and Moffitt swiftly picked it open. Inside the darkened building, the sergeants made their way upstairs. They reached the landing at the top and looked down the hallway. There was a light coming from a door that was ajar – specifically, the room that was used for planning and strategies. Either someone was working late, or the plans and photos they were after were under guard.

Troy and Moffitt moved quietly down the hallway to the door in question. Troy managed to open it just enough for a quick look around. There appeared to be just one man working inside. The sergeant pulled back and stomped his foot.

From inside a voice asked if someone was there, "Ist jemand da?"

A moment later Troy stomped again. They heard the sound of a chair scooting on the floor and then footsteps. As the German opened the door and put his head out to have a look around, Troy grabbed him. With a hard quick twist the German's neck was broken. The allies dragged the body inside the room and closed the door.

Immediately, Moffitt began to rifle through any and all paperwork looking for what they were sent to retrieve. Minutes later the sergeant whispered, "I don't think it's here, Troy."

The sergeant whispered urgently, "It has to be! Where else would it be?"

Just then the door slammed open and German guards stormed inside. Troy and Moffitt were quickly disarmed.

Ten minutes later Captain Dietrich appeared in the doorway. "Good evening, gentlemen. Always a pleasure to see you … in these circumstances."

Troy growled, "They pleasure is all yours, captain."

Dietrich ordered his men to take the two allies to the cells, and then search for the others.

Understanding what the captain had said in German, Moffitt said, "We're here alone. Pettigrew and Hitchcock are elsewhere."

Dietrich smiled. "We will see, sergeant. We will see."

#################

Back at the jeeps the hours ticked by slowly and the two American privates were restless. They kept a small fire going and took turns doing circuits around the camp.

Tully poured himself another mug of coffee and said, "They should be back by now."

Hitch sighed. "Yeah. Think they've been caught?"

Tully stood. "Hope not. Maybe they just haven't located the paperwork yet. How's your stomach?"

Hitch put a hand on his abdomen and said, "The same. I don't think it has to do with dinner."

Tully nodded in silent agreement.

#################

Troy and Moffitt spent the remainder of the night in a cell beneath headquarters. Troy paced and Moffitt tried unsuccessfully to rest on one of the cots.

Moffitt said quietly, "At least we know that Dietrich's men won't find Tully and Hitch on base."

Troy said, "I hope not."

"Do you think they'd go against orders to come after us?"

"I know them all too well. Once the sun comes up and we're not there, they probably won't go to Captain Boggs."

Moffitt sat up and asked, "Why wouldn't they?"

Troy stopped and replied, "Because the captain won't let them mount a rescue."

"I see. It would be too risky."

"The plans and photos are lost to us. If Hitch and Tully go back and Boggs says no to anything they request, they'll be going against the captain's orders."

Moffitt gave a nod. "And that would get them court-martialed straight away. But not going back to headquarters is going against your orders."

Troy said, "They know I won't have them court-martialed for doing what they think is right."

#################

Troy and Moffitt had finally fallen into uneasy sleep when keys jangled in the cell door. They both sat up as one of three German guards walked in and motioned with his rifle for the sergeants to come with them.

As they passed by several windows, the allies realized it was morning and the sun had been up for a couple of hours.

Troy and Moffitt were escorted to an office where Captain Dietrich stood with his back to them as they entered. He turned from the window to face them upon hearing the door close. One guard stood at the door and the captain knew two more were out in the hallway. Dietrich smiled and said, "It is a lovely morning. I do hope you had a pleasant night."

Troy returned the smile and said sarcastically, "The accommodations are just what we expected, captain."

The smile faded as Dietrich walked to his desk and picked up a large manila envelope. "You did not find what you were looking for last night because they were not there, sergeant." He opened the top drawer of the desk and slid the envelope inside as he said, "I have been storing the plans and photos here in my office knowing that you would probably come for them."

"Why tell us?"

"I want you to know that you have failed in your mission. You will be transferred to a POW camp in a day or two. Hopefully, along with your other two men."

Troy said, "I gave them orders to return to headquarters if we didn't make it back before sunup."

Dietrich said, "I know you and your men better than you realize, Sergeant Troy. Even if you did give that order, they would not obey it. They will come after you and Sergeant Moffitt at the first opportunity."

The captain then ordered that the prisoners be returned to their cell and be given food and water.

#################

Tully stood in the back of one jeep watching the trail Troy and Moffitt would be taking back.

Hitch stood in the other jeep and glanced at the rising sun. "They aren't coming are they?"

Tully slowly shook his head. "Doesn't look like it."

"We can't just leave them."

"I know."

Hitch said, "If we don't go back to headquarters, we'll be going against Troy's orders."

Tully looked at his friend. "And if we report to Captain Boggs, he won't let us come back here to get 'em out. But there's nothing sayin' we can't wait a little longer."

"Yeah. They could be coming our way as we speak."

"Wouldn't want to take off just as they break through the brush." Tully hesitated, then asked, "How long do you wanna wait?"

Hitch shrugged. "Let's just keep an eye on things for the day. The Germans might try to take them out of there and give us an opportunity to get them back."

"Fair enough."

Hitch and Tully left the jeeps and moved a short distance to where they could see the German base. They spent the day watching patrols come and go, but saw nothing that told them their sergeants were being moved.

As the day passed and sun began to go down, Hitch said, "There isn't going to be a moon tonight. May not be a good idea to start for headquarters."

Tully nodded. "I hate night driving. We should probably stay put 'til morning."

"Kind of a waste of time just sitting around in the dark when we know Troy and Moffitt aren't coming back."

"True. I guess we should find something to fill the time."

#################

Troy and Moffitt spent the day quietly. After their breakfast of gruel with a piece of fatty meat and bread was brought, they didn't see the guards again.

At one point Moffitt asked, "Do you think they'll come?"

Troy was laying on a cot with his hands behind his head. "The guards?"

Moffitt smiled. "Tully and Hitch."

"Oh, I'm sure they will, but not before it gets dark."

"They're too smart to do anything else. However, Dietrich's men will be on the lookout for them."

Troy simply said, "They'll figure a way."

#################

Hitch and Tully ran across the desert sand to the German base and moved slowly along the outer wall. Their footsteps silent in the soft sand. The moonless night hid them completely from the guards watching from above in the towers.

When the guard shack came into view, they stopped. Hitch and Tully had discussed before they left the jeeps the fact that the Germans would most likely be expecting them. It wasn't going to be easy to get in through the gate without being seen and there were four guards instead of the usual two.

Hitch signaled Tully to follow as they backtracked to one of large holes built into the wall where cannons could be fired from. Hitch boosted his friend up and Tully scrambled in before helping Hitch up. They quickly crawled to the other end where they were stopped by an iron grate.

Tully's master keys did the trick once again and the grate swung open. The privates slid out and dropped silently to the ground before closing the grate.

However, as they made their way to headquarters, they were spotted by guards that were patrolling the base. There was nowhere to run, so Hitch and Tully put their hands in the air as German guards surrounded them. They were searched and found to be completely unarmed, but the guards didn't seem to think much about it and led the two privates away.

#################

Troy and Moffitt heard a commotion and sat up on their cots to see their privates being led into the area just outside where the cells were located.

Tully said angrily, "This is your fault!"

Hitch countered, "My fault! I wanted to go back to headquarters like Troy said to do!"

Tully got up in Hitch's face. "Yeah, you were willing to just leave our friends here! You know Boggs wouldn't let us come back!"

"You idiot! You just can't…"

One of the two guards pushed the Americans apart and Tully pushed back to grab at the front of Hitch's shirt. The ensuing scuffle soon had Hitch and Tully falling into one guard as they went to the floor. The Germans were yelling at them to break it up as the one on the floor tried to untangle himself from the scuffling Americans.

Eventually, the Germans got control of the situation and hauled Hitch and Tully to their feet. They were shoved forward to one of the cells and locked inside.

Tully said, "I still say this is your fault!"

Hitch said, "Is not!

"Is too!"

The guards shook their heads as they walked out.

Troy went to the bars and asked, "What the heck was that all about?"

Hitch and Tully both turned to face the sergeant. They smiled and Hitch pulled a ring of keys out of his shirt.

Troy and Moffitt both grinned and Moffitt said, "I guess we can add pickpocket to your repertoire now."

The cell was quickly unlocked and the privates hurried to release the sergeants.

As Troy exited the cell, he asked, "Any weapons?"

Tully replied, "We decided not to bother bringing 'em, since they would get confiscated anyway."

"Good thinking. We can get some along the way."

Moffitt smiled. "You planned to be taken prisoner?"

Hitch said, "We figured it would be the easiest way to find you guys."

Tully said, "We better get outta here."

Troy quickly said, "Not yet. We have to get our hands on those plans."

"Are you sure?"

Moffitt replied, "We know where they are. It shouldn't take long."

#################

It was late and they met no one as Troy led the way through the dimly lit hallways to the stairs he and Moffitt had been escorted down after meeting with Dietrich.

When they reached Dietrich's office, Moffitt rapped on the door and listened.

A voice inside said, "Eingeben."

Troy and Moffitt were a little surprised that Dietrich was still there as they glanced at each other, but then Troy reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open. Dietrich was working on some paperwork and didn't readily look up until Troy said, "Working late I see."

Dietrich's head snapped up as the door was closed behind the four allies. Calmly the captain said, "Capturing you creates extra paperwork."

"Tie him up tight and gag him."

Dietrich stood. "You cannot come in here and…"

Hitch and Tully moved around the desk as Moffitt said, "But I'm afraid we have, captain."

Hitch put a hand on Dietrich's shoulder. "Have a seat, sir."

Tully pulled the cords from a lamp and the window shade, then the two privates tied the captain to the chair. Hitch used his kerchief to gag him. Then they pulled the chair with Dietrich away from the desk so Moffitt could get to the drawers.

The sergeant pulled open the top drawer and retrieved the manila envelope, checking the contents before he said, "This is it."

Troy took Dietrich's luger from its holster hanging on a coat rack. "All right, let's shake it."

Tully said, "There's guards all over the place out there. How're we gonna get off base?"

"There's got to be a car parked nearby. We'll take the first one we come to."

As they quickly filed out of the office, Moffitt turned and flipped off the overhead light before closing the door, leaving Captain Dietrich in the dark.

#################

The four allies moved quickly through the building and out into the early morning darkness. They ran down an alley that came out onto a back street. There were, in fact, two open patrol cars parked there. They took the one that had the keys in it.

Tully jumped in behind the wheel and started the engine as the others piled in. However, just as they pulled away, several guards rounded the corner ahead of them. As soon as they realized who was in the car, the guards opened fire.

Troy, sitting in the passenger seat next to Tully, began to return fire with the luger as bullets whizzed by and ricocheted off the car. Tully aimed the vehicle straight at the guards and floored it. Only one of them jumped out of the way in time. The others were hit and flew quite a ways before hitting the ground.

The gunfire brought more guards in their general direction and a halftrack began to give chase. All the Rat Patrol could do was stay low in the seats and hope Tully could get them out of there.

Troy yelled, "How're we doing?"

Tully replied, "We're almost there, sarge!"

Troy peeked over the dash and saw the gate up ahead. "Everyone stay down!"

Tully hit the gate at full throttle, sending broken wood and splinters flying. The guards outside couldn't get out of the way fast enough. At least one was hit by a large piece of wooden beam.

The German halftrack tried to follow, but the faster car disappeared into the dark desert.

As soon as Tully pulled into the scrub where the jeeps were hidden, they all got out and took a breath.

The first thing Moffitt noticed was Tully holding his left arm. "Are you all right?"

Tully nodded. "Just got hit by a few splinters when we went through the gate."

Troy said, "Can you hold on until we're away from here?" Tully nodded and the sergeant looked at Moffitt. "You drive."

Hitch asked, "Do you think they'll try to come after us?"

"I'd just as soon not wait around to find out."

#################

The sun was coming up over the dunes when Troy had them pull into a wadi.

Moffitt got out of the jeep and reached into the back for the med kit. "Go sit in the shade. I'll join you momentarily."

Tully nodded tiredly and walked over to sit in the shade of a palm tree. After telling Hitch to go on watch, Troy knelt beside him and helped him out of his shirt.

Moffitt joined them and asked as Troy moved aside, "How's it look?"

Troy said, "Not as bad as I thought, but there's quite a few splinters in his arm."

Moffitt got to his knees and examined Tully's left arm. "I see that. We may as well get comfortable. This might take a while."

Troy found the aspirin in the med kit and shook two tablets into his hand. He handed them to Tully and reached for the canteen Moffitt had brought. As Troy uncapped it and handed it to Tully, he said quietly, "I should have you and Hitch thrown in the stockade for going against direct orders."

Tully swallowed the pills with water, then said, "Sorry, sarge. But when you and Moffitt didn't come back, we couldn't just leave."

Moffitt began to pull the splinters out with tweezers. "You could've requested help from Captain Boggs when you got back to headquarters."

"You know the captain wouldn't let Hitch and me come back for you. And I'd sure hate to have to go against his orders."

Troy smiled slightly. "So you'll go against my orders, but not Boggs'."

Tully winced as Moffitt worked. "Well, I figure it'll be easier to take punishment from you then from Captain Boggs." He took another drink of water, then asked, "You're not really gonna have us court-martialed are you?"

"You and Hitch believed you could get us out of there."

"We sure did."

Troy said, "I can't court-martial a man for doing what he thinks is right. And I know you're correct in thinking the captain wouldn't have allowed you two to come back for us." He patted the private on the knee. "Thanks." Then Troy stood and said, "We'll get some food and rest before we go on back to headquarters."

After the sergeant walked away, Tully watched Moffitt continued to pull out the splinters. "What do ya think is going to happen?"

Moffitt said, "We'll keep the wounds clean and they should heal nicely."

"No, I mean what's gonna happen to Hitch and me. Troy's bound to give us some kind of punishment."

"I don't think he's going to do much of anything. You and Hitch risked your lives to save us. It wouldn't do to punish you after that."

Tully relaxed against the tree. "What about Captain Boggs? When he reads the report…"

Moffitt smiled as he cleaned blood off Tully's arm before bandaging it. "Don't worry about that. Troy and I will word the report carefully."

"Hitch and I don't like going against orders, but we didn't feel we had a choice."

"Like Troy said, you did what you thought was the right thing. I personally want to thank you both for what you did."

Tully smiled just a bit. "You and Troy wouldn't have done things any differently if it was the other way 'round."

Moffitt stood. "That's true. However, I don't believe getting captured would have been our first idea."

"It worked though."

"Indeed it did. I must admit that it was quite creative. Now you rest and I'll see to getting us a hot meal."

Tully watched Moffitt walk towards the jeeps, then he stared out at the desert until he couldn't keep his eyes opened any longer. As he drifted off to sleep, Tully thought, "How did doing the right thing get so complicated?"

#################

After Troy left Moffitt to take care of Tully, he had gone out to talk to Hitch. The private asked, "Everything okay, sarge?"

Troy nodded. "Tully will be fine." He hesitated, then started, "About you two coming in for Moffitt and me…"

"We didn't mean to go against your orders, but we couldn't just leave either."

"I know, Hitch. You two did what you thought was right and I just want to thank you."

Hitch was taken aback slightly. "You mean we're not in trouble?"

Troy smiled. "Not too much."

"What about Captain Boggs?"

"Moffitt and I will take care of that." Hitch gave a relieved smiled and Troy said, "We're going to stay here a while – get some food and rest. Then we'll go on to Ras Tanura." He looked at the grin on the private's face. "Are you okay?"

Hitch schooled his expression some and said, "Yeah … yeah, I'm good, sarge."