Berlin- 1945

John made a note and then tucked it into his jacket pocket. Talbot turned another page and snorted, "Is this you?"

John looked over and nodded, "Church records."

"Well at least we know you weren't lying about that marriage." Branson noted the page and then flipped through a few more pages. "I think I found something a bit more disturbing."

"What?" Talbot and John leaned over and Branson turned the book.

"It seems the State recognized a marriage between she and someone else less than three months after you were kicked back to England." Branson squinted, "I can't make out the name."

"Alexander Grün." John sat back, "He was Gestapo."

"If he still is…" Talbot clacked his teeth, "He'll be in hiding and she'll be a target."

"At least we know she was alive until the end of the war." Branson shrugged and then jumped when he noticed them looking at him. "The wife of a Gestapo wasn't going to be in any harm. It would've been death to touch her."

"Does it record an address for her?"

"I've got…" Branson shook his head, "It's all German and I don't read German."

"Here." John shifted over and noted the recorded address. "What are the chances they've not moved from that flat?"

"Depends on if the flat even exists still." Talbot shrugged, "The Americans knew how to do their job when it came to dropping enough bombs they hoped to hit the target."

"Then we'll have to pound a bit of pavement." John collected his things and helped put the books back on the cart. "You'll get to see what it's like to do my job now."

"Not like we haven't spent two days combing records with you." Branson huffed, getting his things to follow John and Talbot from the room. "But you lied to us."

"Did I?" John looked back over his shoulder at Branson as Talbot went ahead and opened the doors to their car. "How so?"

"You said you were involved in the Great Arab Revolt but you served at the Somme."

"A man can do both." John climbed into the rear of the car while Branson and Talbot took the front. "Is it so bad I only mentioned one of them?"

"Were you afraid we'd think you were too old?" Talbot snickered, pulling the car into the minimal traffic formed from mostly military vehicles and horse-drawn carts.

"I didn't want to make a thing of it." John leaned over the seat. "Left there."

"Not sure it would've changed anything for us." Branson shifted to allow John to continue guiding Talbot's movements through the city. "You're the one who got us assigned as your attaches so we're not mucking about hunting Nazis."

"We might still do that if we find his wife's new husband." Talbot peeked over at John, "But you're allowed first blows."

"How generous of you."

"I thought so." Talbot pulled to a stop, allowing a cart to pass them. "This is the most depressing thing I've ever seen."

"You'll be even more depressed when I tell you this is what every place looks like after war comes to it." John pointed, "Right at the second corner."

They remained silent as they wove through the shattered and crumbling city. Buildings about them featured holes, collapsed roofs, and even a few tilted on their sides as the foundations struggled to hold up what remained of them. When they finally turned down the final road to the provided address, John blinked at the sight as if this still-standing building were the first of its kind. From the reactions of the other two he noted they recognized the anomaly in a city of fading grandeur.

"This it?"

"Seems to be." John got out of the car and then put his hand on the door Branson tried to open. "I'm going in alone."

"That's not advisable." Talbot leaned over the seat to point up at the building. "What'll you do if Grün's up there?"

"I'll break his jaw and then drop his ass out the window to you." John winked at them and walked into the building. "Remember, I get first blows."

Neither man responded, both grumbling to themselves, but they left him to enter the building alone. John checked the numbers on the first floor against those on the piece of paper in his hand before taking the stairs to the next level. It was two more flights before he found the right floor.

Checking over the doors he knocked on one that looked suspiciously like all the others. Footsteps on the other side of the door had him wringing his hands and trying to swallow past a throat that was now suspiciously dry. And try as he might his face did not appear as relaxed as he wished when the door opened. His face fell at the sight of an old woman with white hair.

"Frau Grün?"

The woman raised an eyebrow and shook her head, pointing down the hall. "She moved there when the war ended."

John craned his head down the hall, frowning before addressing the woman again. "Why?"

"To protect her son." The woman shook her head. "Her husband is a horrible man and they've received threats."

"I'm sure they have." John flexed his jaw, the woman's earlier words running through his mind like a never-ending film reel. "Is he there?"

"I think he's hiding his miserable hide somewhere to avoid the men in other uniforms here to take him away for what he did." The woman spit to the side, "I hope he roasts in Hell."

"I'll keep that in mind." John nodded at her, "Thank you."

"The woman, Frau Grün," John faced the woman, noting the way she tugged her fingers and could not quite meet his gaze. "She's innocent in all of this. We all did things we… Things we regret to survive."

"I know."

He walked down the hallway, pointing to the door as the woman leaned out her own. She nodded and then went back into her flat. The snap of the door helped John find his courage and he brought his knuckles to rap on the wood.

Again, footsteps sounded on the other side of the door and John tensed. His hand at the door froze where it was while the other tightened into a fist. When the door opened his jaw dropped and he and Anna stared at one another.

It took them both a second but she covered her mouth with her hand, choking back a sob. In the next instant he used his still-raised hand to pull her closer and clutched her to his chest. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she clung there for a moment before drawing back. John almost let her go but she used her hands to grab his lapels and kiss him as hard as she could.

John kissed back, cradling her head in his hand and using the other to wrap around her. They only separated when the need for air dotted John's vision with black. Both of them gasped to fill their lungs while their hands refused to move from holding one another. Anna's fingers caressed his face, as if to memorize him or perhaps to map anew the face that only lived in her memory. John's hands slid along her arms to confirm she stood before him.

"John," Her voice caught and all John could do was nod and pull her back into his embrace.

"Mother?" Anna's hands at John's chest pushed so hard she almost toppled him backward but he caught himself in time to see a young boy walking toward them from around the corner of the corridor. From, what John assumed, was another flight of stairs in the building. "Who is this soldier?"

"He's…" Anna struggled to speak, her jaw shifting to find words but they seemed to escape her.

"I'm Captain Bates," John extended his hand to the boy, speaking in German as he waited for the young boy to shake his hand. "I'm here to ask about your father."

"He's not here." The boy shifted forward, offering a bottle of milk to Anna and ignoring John's outstretched hand. "That was all they had."

"Thank you Johann." Anna took the bottle and motioned him inside. "I think you've got work to finish."

He nodded and gave John one last look before walking into the flat. Anna watched him, her hands skidding over the bottle in her grip, and then turned back to John. "Are you really looking for him?"

"I'm sure someone is but I'm not." John covered her fingers with his, remembering the feel of them despite the chill to the bottle in her hands. "I'm here for you."

Anna smiled at him, her eyes filling with tears again. "I knew you'd find me."

"However, whatever, whenever." He whispered back to her, noting the sneaking glances of Johann as he sat at the table and spread work in front of him. "Does he speak English?"

"A little." Anna shrugged, "I've tried to teach him but Alexander…"

"Has he hurt you?" John went to put a hand on Anna's shoulder but caught Johann's eyes and retreated. "Are you alright?"

"Now that you're here I am." Anna took a breath. "And no, he never hurt me."

"Never?"

Anna shook her head, "For all that he did to others, he never hurt me. Especially not after he had a son to give to the Reich."

John nodded, "So he's…"

"No." Anna's fingers grabbed his when John tried to retreat, he head shaking quickly. "It's not what…"

"Mother," They both turned as Johann approached them, holding his workbook. "I need help."

"I'll be right there. Let me finish up with this soldier."

Johann gave John a look and swallowed, attempting English before turning to German in mid-sentence. "Are you here… Did you help to save us?"

"I'd like to think so."

"Then why did you bomb us?"

"To kill all the bad men."

"You killed good people too."

John met Anna's eyes and then knelt down to look Johann in the eye. "That's why war is horrible. Because it kills the good and the bad. We all suffer in war but that's why the good fight back, so they can try and save as many as they can."

"Did you save many?"

"We hope we've saved everyone now that you're Fuhrer is dead."

Johann nodded, moving his book to finally shake John's hand. "Thank you."

He retreated into the flat and Anna shrugged. "I've got to go."

"Can you…" John swallowed as Anna paused, her hand on the door while the other held the bottle close to her. "Can you meet me later?"

"It'll be later, after I finish with work."

"That's fine." John struggled, "We could meet at my flat."

"I shouldn't be near British soldiers." Anna snuck a glance down the corridor. "I don't want the wrong impressions passed around."

"I understand." John nodded. "What if we met somewhere public?"

"I'll meet you outside this building at nine this evening." Anna removed her hand from the door to grip his. "I'm so grateful you came back for me."

"Always." John squeezed her fingers and backed away. "I'll be there."

"I hope so." Anna smiled at him, closing the door.

John returned to the car, climbing into the back as Talbot and Branson both tossed their fags to the ground and stomped them out.

"How'd it go?" Branson turned around in the seat to look at John as Talbot started the car.

"I'll need to be back here by nine." John peeked up at the building. "And we need to find Officer Grün."

"I love tracking people down." Branson deadpanned, turning in his seat. "Another trip to the archives?"

"Not this time."

Talbot nudged Branson with his elbow, "We've got to get rid of the husband or he can't take the girl home."

"I can't take her home anyway." John sighed, "She's the wife of a Nazi. They'll never let her out of the country with his name."

"Then we've just got to denazify her." Talbot caught John's eyes in the mirror. "And I've got a friend that can help us with that."

"You do?"

"You make friends when you're personable." Talbot shrugged, steering through traffic. "And I happen to know one of the American intelligence officers."

"I know a few of them too, what's the difference?" John frowned as Talbot halted at a four-way-stop.

"Because the ones I know are in charge of a little operation they're calling 'Paperclip'." When John's frown continued Talbot turned over his shoulder. "Taking Nazi scientists and bringing them to America."

"I don't want her in America."

"But they'll resettle her with you in England if you give them her scum of a husband." Talbot turned back to the road, driving toward the American section. "You'll see, it'll all work out."

"That's very confident of you."

"I'm a confident guy."

Branson rolled his eyes, "Annoying is a better word."

John did not respond, only spun his ring over his finger.

Berlin- Present Day

Anna blinked, sounds wafting into her ears. She pushed her head out of the pillow and blinked at the darkness only breaking into a gray. Her fingers caught the edge of the window cover and she noted the tinge of pink on the horizon before catching sight of the clock on the bedside.

With a shrug she went to bury her face in the pillow again but when she hand reached out for John she only met cold mattress. Putting a hand under herself, she turned in the bed and noted the light in the bathroom. Pushing the blankets off herself she shivered in the air and risked a second on the aircon to turn it down so it wasn't blowing the room into a frigid arctic climate.

She padded to the bathroom and pushed the door open to find it empty. Her frown persisted as she investigated the space and found nothing and no one. With a shrug, she advantage of the loo and then a washcloth to her skin to try and address the soreness of vigorous activities she had not had in two years.

Anna sniggered to herself, pulling her hair back and turning the light off before going back to the bed. On her way she saw John coming from the hallway, wrapped only in one of the hotel bathrobes, and stopped when he noticed her. He pointed to his phone and then the bed.

"Did I wake you?"

"I heard something but I think my body woke me." Anna shrugged, sliding back over the sheets toward the side she claimed as hers. "It's what happens when you've trained yourself to notice changes in your immediate environment."

"I forgot," John knocked his palm against his forehead, "I'm dating a soldier."

"Not sure how you could forget that when you've been tailing me for six months in my fatigues."

"They do make your ass look nice."

"Charmer." Anna laid back on the pillows, watching John rid himself of the bathrobe and charge his phone before crawling onto his side of the bed. "Who was on the phone, if I can ask."

"Contact in America."

"About?"

"Operation Paperclip."

"Oh," Anna turned in the bed, giving John a view of her back as she punched a pillow under her head. "I'm not listening to anything that has anything to do with a military operation until my boots hit the sandy dirt of Kandahar. I'll wait until I get there to be regaled with the details of that mission."

"You'd be a little late for it." John's lips kissed over her back but Anna forced herself to remain motionless.

"And why's that?"

"Because Operation Paperclip was what brought German scientists, engineers, and suspected Nazis back to the United States to work in their nuclear programs." His lips brushed the small of her back and Anna flinched when he licked at a scar there. "You never did tell me where you got this from."

"Does it matter?"

"It does when I want to know everything about you." John's hands smoothed over her back, massaging into the muscles there and moving lower and lower until his fingers dug into the flesh of her ass.

"There's not much left to tell about myself." Anna sighed into the sensation of his hands on her skin, opening her legs at his nudge so he could continue the massage down her thighs. "I've told you everything there's to know in all those emails I've written you."

"I'm sure that's not everything."

"Everything that mattered." Anna went to say something else but groaned when John dug his thumbs into her calves. "Why'd you become a journalist when you could be a masseuse?"

"I've only ever wanted to massage one person and I'm doing that right now." His hands sculpted back up to seek out the spot under her shoulder blades. "Based on your reaction, I think my only client would recommend me."

"Usually, yes," Anna's toes curled at the sensation of John's erection resting between the globes of her ass. "But when there's a chance I might get laid afterward I don't think I'd want to recommend you to anyone else."

"Oh you'll get laid." John growled in her ear, leaning over her while pressing down with his hands and his erection. "Just not quite yet."

"Why? Do you have other plans?"

John did not answer with words. Instead he kissed down the line of her spine and over her ass before sucking her folds between his teeth. Anna buried her face in the pillow and moaned as John dragged his tongue through her and then teased into her opening. He kept up the taunting pace, gliding slowly over and around her while his fingers continued to massage into her thighs and ass.

Anna shifted onto her forearms and raised her hips off the bed enough that John's mouth shifted on her. He hummed in his throat, sending the sensation against her, and dragged his mouth down to her clit. There he pulled and nipped until Anna sagged her weight onto her forearms, pressing into the mattress as John adjusted position slightly to get her on her knees so he could reach more of her.

His fingers soon joined, pressing into her and running parallel to the efforts of his tongue as he played back and forth between the two to leave Anna panting into the pillow and writhing under him. Her legs shook slightly but she forced herself to stay spread and even counted at the back of her mind as she tried to time herself in the modified plank position. But none of it mattered when John breached her with three fingers, crooked inside her, and then sucked her clit between his teeth.

She cried out, thrusting her hips toward his face so he could take more of her. And he took as much of her as she gave, fingers and tongue playing over her until Anna's whole body trembled and squirmed. When she finally tipped over the edge, her vision dotted with black and she wondered if she passed out for even a fraction of a second.

But that did not matter a moment later. John's hands, as familiar on her hips as any pair of fatigues, held her steady and thrust into her. Anna almost pushed herself up but one of John's hands moved to the middle of her back and held her in place so he could kiss over her lower back. The snap of his hips against the skin of her ass worked into a beat that kept her at the edge. He waited, her ass cradled between his thighs, and then drew back until he was barely inside her before driving forward to seat himself as deeply inside her as he would reach.

Anna clawed at the sheets, thrusting herself back as much as she could but John held her at the tip, only responding when she whined for him to continue. His hands continued to massage or mold or maneuver until Anna hung in his grip. It was all she could do to chase the rising pleasure before John let it fade back only to ratchet it up higher. Each time he tempted them both to the peak before leaving her moaning into the sheets.

His fingers shifted around, playing over her clit, and Anna broke in a second. The squeeze of her vaginal walls kept him trapped so John thrust forward. His uncompromising drives took her through her second orgasm right to the edge of a third when he hitched up inside her before finally giving himself over to his own.

Anna is not entirely sure how they managed to land back on the bed without toppling into an undignified heap. Although, she grinned to herself as she moved to her back and partly wishing she allowed the aircon to continue its frigid temperature as the sweat on her body beaded and rolled over her, if anyone who held her in any regard saw her in the position she occupied only a moment ago there would be enough indignity for everyone. She laughed a little to herself and then turned to face John to share the joke but he was gone from the bed.

A tilt of her head had John rummaging around in his suitcase for something and Anna frowned, tipping herself onto a forearm as she stretched her legs. "Anyone would think you don't actually want to share a bed with me."

"That's not even the slightest bit true." John said over his shoulder, a little gasp of discovery echoing around the room as he left the suitcase and came back to climb onto the bed next to her. "Especially since this bed, as you said, is like a cloud."

"It's going to make going back to a cot miserable."

"Maybe not so miserable."

Anna frowned, laying back into her pillow. "What would make it not miserable?"

"This." John pulled a box forward and opened it. Even in the dim light the simple band, with the diamond glinting there, caught her eye. Anna covered her mouth and looked up at John as he swallowed to continue. "I want to marry you, Anna May Smith."

"What?"

John blinked at her, examining the ring and then meeting her gaze again. "I want to marry you."

"I got that part so let me rephrase my question." Anna took a breath. "Why?"

"Why?" John repeated and then tried to retract his hand holding the ring as if he could recover everything he just said. "I just thought-"

"John," Anna caught his wrist, stopping his retreat. "I wasn't asking why you want to marry me. I was asking why do you want to marry me now."

"Because…" John took a breath, "You're about to go back to a war zone for another six months. I'm about to go… wherever there's a story and while that could be somewhere as boring as Bognor Regis it could also be Bosnia or Beirut, or Bangladesh or Belfast or Barcelona or…"

"I get it." Anna smiled at him, stopping his rant. "And I don't need you to prove how intelligent you are by naming off all the cities in the world that start with 'B' and could be your next potential stops."

"Alright." John swallowed, shuffling on the bed as he stayed on his knees and Anna crossed her legs in front of him. "I want to marry you, right now if I could, because I'm not going to allow you to go back without me. We've been… The equivalent of together for two years now and I can't go bear the idea that I might have to be on the sidelines of your life anymore without the right to be kept informed if something happened to you."

"Nothing's going to happen to me."

"Maybe not, and I pray to God nothing will, but I don't want to risk that anything happens to you or to me while we're apart without the right to know if anything does happen." He took another breath, "I want to be there for you in whatever way that is and, for right now, it's about knowing we're going to be together through it all."

Anna put her hands on either side of his face, his hands having dropped to rest between his knees. "Did you plan this whole trip to propose to me?"

"No." John shook his head, "But I did book this room to propose to you."

"How romantic." Anna kissed him, pulling at his lips until he tried to take control of the kiss before she pulled back to leave him wanting more. "And the answer, by the way, is yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." She grinned, "How fast could you find someone to marry us?"

"I've got another three weeks in Kandahar…" John winked, "I'm sure Robert'll give you permission if he gets to officiate."

"He would." Anna held out her left hand, "If you'd do the honors, Mr. Bates."

"Gladly, future Mrs. Bates." John slid the ring onto her finger and then used his leverage to kiss there. "Unless you want me to be Mr. Smith."

"So we'd be Dr. and Mr. Smith?" Anna looped her arms around his neck, her fingers immediately going to play with the ring. "I don't know. You're the famous reporter, John Bates, are you sure you can handle being married?"

"I could be your arm candy." John's hands ran over her sides, tickling and then stroking toward her breasts. "But since we've not got much time here, I think we need to use it wisely."

"What did you have in mind?"

"The shower." John tugged her toward him, taking her into his arms and walking into the bathroom. "We've got more jets in here than we need and I think we should use them all."

"I quite agree." Anna tried to get down but John held her fast. "Is this going to be a pattern in our marriage?"

"What?"

"You trying to assert dominance."

"No." John shook his head and stepped into the shower, tipping the heads to on with his elbow. "I just want to treat you like the queen you are and that requires you allow me the opportunity to treat you."

"Then you might need to rethink marrying me." Anna slipped loosed, "Because I'm no one's damsel in distress. If there's a problem then I rescue my own damn self."

"I didn't say damsel." John steered them under the water, "And I've no doubt you'd rescue my damn self too."

"Then what?"

"I," John adjusted the water and then moved them under the spray. "Want to adore you every minute of every day and that might require that you accept my adoration."

"Like carrying me across the threshold."

"I'll let you kick the door in first." John teased and then bent his head to kiss her. He pulled away a moment later, "Remember the promise I made you about the shower?"

"Yes."

John sank down to his knees on the shower floor and Anna wove her fingers into his hair as he spread her legs to lick at her. Like before, he showed no restraint when it came to finding every crevice and cranny that left her crying out and quivering. Each motion sent her fingers deeper into his hair until she was sure there would be bloody marks all over his scalp. But John continued until she broke and sagged into his waiting arms.

"The steam." She breathed and John frowned at her. Anna laughed, pulling his head closer so she could kiss him and remove her taste to get at his. "You said the steam would be from how hot I am."

"You are hot."

"I'm about to get hotter." Anna pressed at his shoulder, not stopping until John's back hit the wall. Then she pushed him down to sit on the ledge there while she took her turn on her knees. She rubbed over the indentations from the tile on his legs as she wrapped her lips around his rising erection.

"Anna?"

It took all of her willpower not to listen when he called out to her. But with each motion of her tongue to lick over him, chasing the water down him, and then trying to take him as deeply as possible, Anna could not afford to be distracted. Instead she swallowed around him, massaged his legs as he had what seemed like a lifetime of sensual experience ago, and then maneuvered her fingers over his sack until he grunted.

His hips bucked into her grip and Anna only smiled around him. The scrape of her teeth had him quivering and squirming but she pressed her thumb into a pressure point to keep him from stopping her as she sucked him to the edge. And then over the edge to swallow him down.

John's head hit the back wall, his body sagging in place, as Anna tipped herself back under the stream. She rose, her knees berating her decision, but washed over herself and then John as he tried to regain his strength. His hands caught hers and he pulled her close to kiss her.

"I'm ready for the next part." He whispered and Anna's brow furrowed.

The water shut off and John toweled them both dry, snapping the towel from her grip when she tried to control the action. Anna surrendered to his plan and jumped into his hold as he carried her back to the bed. He laid her over it and the vague promise came back to her.

"Now that you're spread over the bed," John manipulated her limbs until she was as comfortable as she needed to be and as open as he wanted. "I'm going to close my eyes and learn you with my tongue."

John stayed true to his word and Anna noted, even in the haze of the orgasm he left there, he did not open his eyes until their lips part. But when he entered her again, responding to the lift of her hips and the clutch of her hands, his eyes never left hers. Even when Anna rolled her eyes back into her head at the final orgasm he wrung from her oversaturated body, John's gaze did not waver.

When he came, leaving Anna feeling sated and satisfied beyond any comprehension she ever had of the feeling, John settled them on the bed. He lay partially on his side so his fingers could run through her drying hair. Anna curled toward him, keeping enough distance to watch his face, and they dozed with her ring glinting between them until their alarm sounded.