Berlin, 1945

John interlaced his fingers behind his neck and tugged on it as he dropped his head between his knees. Branson and Talbot paced around the room with him as they watched through the glass into the room where Ross, with Slade standing vibrating sentry in the corner, questioned Grün in rapid German. A kick at John's chair had him raising his head to see Branson.

"Good evening?"

"I slept on a concrete floor. You?"

"Cot." Branson shrugged, stifling a chuckle. "I guess they don't make cots for two in military barracks."

"I don't know about that but I guess I got the proper payment for the suffering. You should try it sometime if you think you can get anyone who'll sleep with you." John handed back, smiling with Talbot as he laughed at Branson's frown. "How were the reports?"

"I can't tell if Blake and Napier are happier another Nazi's off the streets or if they're in the hands of the Americans so they're not the King' problem." Talbot shrugged, "But I don't think our friend is having much luck."

"His German's fine."

"It's not his German that's the problem." Branson waved his hand over his face. "The Jerry in there thinks talking to a black man is beneath his dignity."

"How much dignity can a Nazi have?" John snorted. "Awful high horse for someone who did what he did to talk about dignity."

"He didn't have much dignity when he was sobbing and pleading we'd let him go." Talbot almost spit. "Fairly pissed himself thinking we were taking him to a back alley to shoot him. I didn't have the heart to tell him we don't dig masses graves for bodies they way he did."

They all sobered, thinking the comment over, and then stood as Ross entered the room. He slapped a file on the small table and pointed at the window. "Bastard won't even speak to me. Keeps addressing Slade."

"Isn't he your translator?"

"I actually translate for Yiddish, Russian, and Salvic dialects." Slade giggled, giving Talbot and Branson twisted faces. "I don't speak German at all. Completely different language family and rather an interesting one if you-"

"Alright Slade, they're clear." Ross turned to John, "You speak German yeah?"

"Of course."

"Want a crack at him?"

"Is that wise?"

Ross shrugged, "We're catching Nazis. I'm not sure anything is wise about what we're doing to try and catch the agents of Satan."

"We've got a history," John wagged his finger between himself and Green, through the glass, while addressing Ross. "It could complicate matters."

"As long as he didn't bugger you and you didn't bugger him and you're not here to get your lover out of jail, I don't care." Ross ignored Branson and Talbot's guffaws and Slade's pale face blanching to a sickening white. "I just need someone he might actually talk to so we can find out where he's stashing those scientists."

"Before the Russians get them?"

"I'd rather not leave any gifts for Uncle Stalin, yes." Ross shuddered, "Honestly, we got I bed with a monster to get rid of another one and we'll just live to regret it."

"Russians or no Russians, he'll not talk to me."

"You're the only one who speaks German here, expect his wife, and since she's told us that the scientists are probably all starving to death, I'd suggest you get your ass in there." Ross stepped back and John stood, straightening his tie. "You look lovely, now go."

John rolled his shoulders back and left the room with the four waiting men. In the hall, between the two doors, he paused. At Anna's flat it had been so fast. One moment they saw him and the next Talbot and Branson had him between them to carry him away. They barely saw one another. But now here he was, confronting the man who raised Johann as his son, took Anna to his bed, and…

Shaking his head, John opened the door. Grün raised his head and frowned a moment, as if John was something at the corner of his eye or a confusing set of directions, before snorting. "I see they had to bring in someone they think could intimidate me since your negro couldn't."

"He's not my negro and the correct term is 'Major'." John took the seat opposite Grün and sat straight in the chair. "And I'm not here to intimidate you."

"Good because I would hate to think the Americans are wasting their time." Grün sat back, scoffing, "They already used the British to find me."

"One of them was Irish. He's very specific on that point." John waited for Grün to speak again.

"You have no questions for me?"

"Nothing that Major Ross didn't already ask you. In very fine German from what I heard."

"You're not a native speaker."

"Doesn't mean I can't tell the difference between an excellent accent and a poor one." John pulled at his cuffs. "Now my mother, she could never get her tongue around German. All the guttural sounds just drove her mad."

"You spoke German with your mother?"

"No, my father spoke it with me and my mother couldn't understand us." John smiled at the memories. "My father was from Munich and moved to Dublin to study. He met my mother, married her, and they had me."

"I'm sure he was disappointed his son joined with the British."

"Not as disappointed as he was with his own King for betraying them in the Great War." John shrugged, "My father was very patriotic to his adopted country."

"Traitor."

"I'm not sure God will care what country one served when they report before Him to account for their actions."

"And you think God would not take to my actions?"

"I know God doesn't look kindly on the men who round up Jews, the disabled, the Gypsy, and the 'undesirable' and load them into train cars."

Grün rolled his eyes, "You make it sound like I'm nothing more than a farmer herding cattle."

"A farmer tends not to kill his cattle in mass graves or large gas chambers."

"I had little to do with that."

"After you proved your worth in the ghettos I'd suspect they had bigger plans for a master Jew killer like you."

"The Reich never forgot their loyal servants nor those who served with honor." Grün crossed his arms over his chest, puffing it out slightly. "I received my reward and I acted on it."

"Did you?" John chewed the inside of his cheek, "I'm sure there's nothing to do in your position but fail upward, is there?"

"Failing upwards?" Grün made a sound in his throat between a laugh and a snort of angry. "Is it failing upwards to be entrusted with the care of scientists helping the Reich achieve dominance of the skies?"

"I guess you would've had to achieve dominance for that to be something respectable." John motioned with his hand like a plane being shot down. "Not very stable, as a rule, were they?"

"Not planes, you idiot." Grün leaned over the table toward John, "I'm talking about dominance in ordinance. Military might through the atomic weapon."

"And you're just sitting on one of those, are you?"

"I'm sitting on the minds who'll build them." Grün nodded emphatically, as if to lend credence to his words by his enthusiasm. "Don't believe me?"

"Anyone can say they know where those minds are. But I'm more interested in live minds, not the ones you've so obviously got preserved in jars somewhere."

"Jars?" Grün cackles his laugh at that, setting John's teeth on edge, and banged his fist on the side of the table. "I was in charge of fifty scientists all laboring like rats day and night to launch the Führer's vision for the Fatherland."

"And I'm sure they were all excited to make their way back to what was left of their homes when the Führer shot himself instead of face the reality that his grand vision failed him?"

"The vision lives on."

"Because you're here."

"Exactly." Grün gave a smug smile. "I kept them focused, fed, and dedicated to the end."

"And then what? Let them all go?"

Grün snorted, "They're still waiting for me."

"Then it'll be a shame for them to realize that you're never coming back." John stretched his shoulder, "Seeing that you're going to rot in a little cell if the Americans don't decide to shoot you first."

"They'd never do that." Grün shook his head, "They obey the rules of war."

"I'm not sure you've met enough of them but Americans don't even read their own rule books." John leaned forward, tapping once on the table to make sure Grün looked at him. "What makes you think they'll follow the rules of war?"

"They are…"

"Pissed off, tired, and just hoping to get home before their sweethearts marry someone else." John clicked his teeth. "It's not a good place to be."

"They'll want what I know."

"They don't play well when someone wants to 'play hard to get'." John jerked a thumb at the glass behind him. "They'll cut their losses, leave your scientists to die in whatever hole you left them, or they'll just bomb a general area and be done with it for good measure."

"But-"

"And do you know what happens to you?" Grün mimed the gun and John nodded. "Or, they'll hand you over to the surviving Jews and let them tear you to pieces."

"What?"

"There might not even be enough of you left to sweep up afterward but they'll take that risk." Grün blanched and John pushed his chair back to stand. "Major Ross was being polite before but I don't have to protect their reputation so I thought I should tell you the truth. One German to another."

"If you're a German you wear the wrong uniform."

"That's where you're wrong." John tapped his uniform, "This is the uniform that saved Germany my friend. You're the ones who destroyed it. You're the traitors to your country."

He went for the door as Grün called out to him. "Wait!"

John counted three before turning. "Some last request for me?"

"I want their immunity in exchange for the scientists."

"Alive?"

"Of course."

The door opened and John stepped out of the way as Major Ross entered, his white teeth visible with his wide smile. "Then welcome to Operation Paperclip, Herr Grün."

Kandahar, Present Day

Anna checked her hair in the mirror before stepping back for Gwen to give her a once over. "Think it'll do?"

"If he took you the way you looked in Bangkok then he'll take you now." Gwen tipped Anna's head down slightly, pushing in a final few bobbypins, and then raised her up to smile. "He'll be speechless."

"Hopefully not so speechless he can't say 'I do'."

"If he stumbles over every other vow he'll get that out." Gwen nodded at her and they exited the barracks.

The hot walk to the small chapel on base sent trickles of sweat down Anna's back but she could not find it in herself to care. Gwen managed her own sunglasses and then took Anna's for her before they walked to the front of the makeshift chapel. John stood there in a shirt and tie, where he found either was beyond Anna's comprehension, and could not stop staring at her. Their fingers intertwined as they stood before the chaplain murmuring his way through the words.

"Nervous there?" Gwen leaned around Anna to address the man and he laughed, swallowing. "They're not that frightening."

"I've…" He coughed to clear his throat. "I didn't think I'd be doing one of these while I served my country."

"Better than last rites though, isn't it?" Gwen winked at him, tipping to see the name on his uniform. "Lieutenant Harding I think you'll do just fine and they're too caught up in each other to give you too much guff about it."

"I heard that." Anna shot at Gwen before smiling at Lieutenant Harding. "But she's right, we don't bite."

"Then I think we'd better begin." He collected himself and it was as if someone drew a curtain over the nervous man from the moment before to trade him for the confident man of God who stood before them now. "Dearly beloved, we gather together today to bring together the beautiful souls of John Bates and Anna Smith."

It was the simplest, most beautiful moment Anna could remember having. No lavish party or eloquent phrases while wearing a large white dress. Just the simple white one she found in town, the heart-felt vows she and John exchanged together, and the soulful sermon from Lieutenant Harding. When he finished, the ring fresh on her finger to join the first one John gave her, he smiled at them both.

"You may now kiss one another."

John took a step forward, holding both of Anna's hands in his, and dipped his head down to place his lips gently on hers. They sighed into one another, breaking after a bit when they remembered their audience. With a giggle, she turned to Gwen and they hugged one another tightly before John shook Gwen's hand.

"Thank you for giving her away."

"She's the closest thing I've got to family." Gwen held Anna's arm, hugging close to her again. "We've been inseparable for a long time and it was my pleasure."

"Really?"

"I couldn't give her to anyone less worthy and you, Mr. Bates." Gwen winked at him before turning to the chaplain. "You have another wedding planned for later?"

"They're the only one."

"Then mind getting a drink with me?"

Lieutenant Harding blinked and Anna nudged his shoulder. "It's alright. She doesn't bite either."

"Well," Gwen grinned at him, "Not unless you ask nicely."

Anna laughed, covering her mouth quickly, and almost missed what John whispered in her ear. "If you ask nicely later I might do the same to you."

"Don't play with fire Mr. Bates." Anna warned and then squealed as John hauled her up.

"Is that a warning, Mrs. Bates?" He carried her to the door, pausing before they exited. "I believe I made you a promise about this."

"You did." Anna aimed her foot and managed to kick the door open. "You may proceed."

They ducked into the back of a car, Anna arranging herself in the backseat as John hauled the bulletproofed door shut, and curled their fingers together as they drove off. Weaving through the traffic of the city, the car stopped in front of a hotel and Anna giggled the at the sight of it. John ducked out of his side of the car and offered her a hand to help her out as well.

"When did you arrange this?"

"When I also got you a two-day pass for leave." John kissed her quickly on the cheek before turning back to the driver. "We'll be ready for pick up no later than noon tomorrow Andy."

"I'll be back then." He saluted Anna, "See you tomorrow Major."

"Thank you Corporal." Anna held close to John. "I've not got anything."

"Lieutenant Dawson was helpful for that." John led Anna inside the building, past the lobby, and right into the lift. "You'll have your uniform and everything else you need to go right back to work tomorrow."

"Part of me wishes we'd waited to take holiday to Berlin until we could use it as our honeymoon." Anna leaned her head on his shoulder. "Wouldn't that've been fun?"

"I definitely would've gotten luckier faster." Anna swatted at him as John laughed. "What? You threatened me with the sofa."

"I took pity on you."

"Yes you did." John dipped his head down, capturing her lips with his.

They stumbled out of the lift, almost colliding with a group of men in suits, and managed to recover themselves enough to get to their room. John flashed the card before getting it into the slot so the door opened for them. Once it was closed they held nothing back.

Anna dug her fingers into John's shirt and one of her hands fisted in his tie to drag his lips to hers. Her back hit the door, firmly knocking it in the frame, and John pressed his body along hers to keep her pinned there. A twitch of her hips moved the skirt of her dress up enough to let her leg slide up his thigh.

John's fingers reached down to grip her thigh and hold it tightly to him as he adjusted in their kiss. Their tongues batted against one another, tangling in their energy to try and taste more of one another. Shifting and straining against the door, heedless of whatever noise they were making echoing into the hallway, Anna only stopped her attempt to swallow John whole to take a breath.

He rested his forehead against hers, breathing hard in time with her, before gliding his hands to her waist. It only took a gentle urging from him to have her jump into his arms. With her legs tight about his waist, John pivoted and managed the short walk from the door to the bed.

Laying her back on the surface, not quite the cloud of their Berlin room but still more comfortable than the cot of her billet, Anna looked up at her husband. Her hand traced over his face, following the contours and lines there while urging him to bend over her so their lips could meet again. But he did not sink into her kiss as she planned. Instead he pulled back and set to work trailing through her hair to pull every pin loose.

"Do you remember, that first night, in Bangkok?"

"How could I forget the first time I was your wife?" Anna smoothed her hands over his arms, dipping and tracing where the muscles bunched and stretched with the simple movements of searching and retrieving pins from her hair. "That woman thought I was your prostitute."

"She was confused." John shook his head. "Like I could ever have afforded you as a prostitute."

"It's true." Anna giggled, twitching when John brushed a ticklish spot. "I'd be far too expensive for you."

"Maybe I'd just have to get you to fall in love with my charm and innocence and take enough pity on me to let me seduce you with my awkwardness."

"There are very few things awkward about you." Anna trailed to his hands, allowing him to place hers above her head so he could find the zipper at the back of her dress than an arch of her back revealed. "You're one of the surest men I've ever met."

"Then I'm a better actor than I thought." John kissed along her neck as he slid the zipper down her back. His hands ran over her skin, pressing and kneading into it as he peeled her out of the dress. "Because whenever I'm around you I'm afraid that I've just babbled myself to embarrassment."

"Never." Anna assured him, tugging his tie to pull it over his head and play with his buttons as he freed her from her dress. "You've enthralled me since you 'rescued' me from the Red Light District."

"I'm still shocked you told Robert about that." John laughed, yanking at the skirt to get it off her hips and drape her dress over the chair. "Feck me."

Anna pushed herself up on her elbows, crossing her legs at the ankle to stretch herself out enough so John could see everything. "I bought it in Berlin."

"And you accused me of planning the whole week to seduce you." John could only stare at her in the black lingerie. "I… Feck me."

"You said that already." Anna crooked her finger at him, "And I can only obey your request if you actually get over here."

John leaned over her and Anna set herself to the buttons on his shirt while he tried to distract her with kisses over her neck. She hummed, nails teasing over the skin she exposed until she could finally let the sides of the shirt hang free. Ducking to avoid another kiss, and trading one of her own, Anna set her hands to roam over his chest before letting her lips do the rest. He groaned and stood up straight again to escape her grip.

But Anna just spread her legs and scooted to the edge of the bed so John stood between her knees. Her hands went to his belt, snapping it clear of his trousers as he hurried to work the cuffs of his shirt open. Enough so Anna could get her hand inside his pants and stroke over him.

"Shit." John's shirt clung to one arm, the button still half in the cuff as he threw that hand out to grab the bedside table. "You're going to make me fall over."

"That's the plan." Anna got both hands under the elastic of his waistband and shoved down toward his knees. "There's an edge to manage here."

"Not what I-"

Anna did not allow John to finish his thought. Her hand wrapped around him and she licked at his head. John stuttered, almost knocking into the bed while his fingers tightened to whiten his knuckles on the table he still gripped. She flashed a leer in his direction before letting her lips take him over.

John's ability to get himself out of his shoes, socks, the last cuff on his shirt, and kick away any other encumbering clothing was beyond Anna. Then again, she was enthusiastically occupied with her tongue wrapping caresses around his head. The taste of him, so familiar and yet so infrequent, bloomed on her tongue. Each stroke left him shattered and groaning over her as his fingers dug rivulets into her hair but Anna found herself addicted to his flavor until he jerked harder toward her mouth.

In the moment Anna took to breath, John laid her flat against the bed and spread her legs. His fingers did not even bother to remove her lingerie as he held her wrists above her head and bucked his hips into hers. Anna's eyes fluttered shut at the sensation of him rubbing over her. And the added friction of the lacy knickers designed to drive men mad only had her writhing against him.

He traded his two hands for one, Anna's fingers curling over to hold his hand close to her own, and the other pushed aside her knickers enough to run over her. Each gliding touch left Anna shivering until neither of them could take more. She surged upward, capturing his lips with hers in a desperate plea to urge him forward and faster, and he took her cue to drive himself into her.

They slid over the bed, the friction of the blanket proving no barrier to the force of them. Their hips bucked hard against one another, twisting and rising to try and find the places that would leave them completely sated. Anna brought up one leg, digging her heel into the bed while the other dug into John's ass. His hands left hers to hold her hips still enough to guide his thrusts until the piston of his hips settled into a rhythm. A rhythm that set the beat for their heartbeats and their breathing until they came over the edge together.

Anna clutched John to her, keeping him as close as she could manage, and ran her hands over his skin as if she could memorize him for a recreation later. He sighed into her skin, body moving ever so slightly until Anna let him go. They maneuvered themselves, John using his discarded pants to clean them both up a little, and settled on the bed.

John ran a finger along her bra, chuckling slightly so Anna turned her head to him. "What?"

"When'd you get this?"

"When you were busy in that one store looking through all the old books." Anna tilted her chin down to appraise herself. "It is nice isn't it?"

"I'd be a fool to say no to that comment regardless of what you're wearing but, in this case, I should be committed if I say otherwise."

"Not sure there's a Nutter Center that'll take you." Anna tapped the end of his nose. "But I wish I could thank the clerk. She was sure black would do the trick. Said it was the sexiest of colors."

"There is a bit of seductress to it." John let his fingers wander over the skin from the edge of her bra to the top of her knickers. "But I'd think you were tempting without it."

"I think you're just a fan of my naked body."

"That too." John kissed under her chin, "But I meant it wouldn't matter what color you'd gotten."

"I think it might've." Anna pushed herself up slightly, clawing her fingers through her hair to get all the strands out of her face. "Imagine if it were neon blue."

"Okay, that might've been a bit much." John quirked an eyebrow at her. "What about a deep green?"

"Only if I get the knickers in matching, gaudy orange."

"What?" John frowned and Anna shook her head.

"Call yourself an Irishman?" Anna pointed to the bra, then her stomach, and then her knickers. "Green, white, orange?"

"But that's only if I'm reading you from left to right." John tipped over her body, holding himself perpendicular to her so he could teethe along the line of her knickers. "What if you were laid across the bed the other way?"

"Who lays opposite the pillows?" Anna went to turn but John flattened his hand against her stomach and let his fingers slowly urge her knickers down her legs to leave her open to him. "They're at the headboard for support."

"What if the bed and the door are on the opposite sides?" John lifted one of her legs, twisting under it to kiss the inside of her thigh and toward her center. "That'd make it a bit hard."

"It'd make you a bit hard if I told you I'd mix and match them." Anna tried to tease but John's tongue ran a line from her perineum to her slit and she could only toss her head back onto the pillows. "Bloody hell."

"I hope it doesn't come to that." John trilled against her sink and sank his tongue into her.

"Shit!" Anna arched her back, her shoulders digging into the mattress, and tried to force air into her lungs.

"Language."

"Says the man-" Anna almost bit her tongue when John delved deeper, tasting her from the inside out. When she finally managed to get a breath, Anna ground out the rest of her response. "Says the man who kept repeating 'feck me'."

"You were kind enough to oblige." John ran his tongue up to her clit, sucking it between his teeth while his fingers took the former occupation of his tongue. "I thought I could do the same."

"Charming and considerate." Anna shivered when John added another finger to his efforts. "How'd I get so lucky?"

"I'll ask myself that every day." John sucked hard and Anna came harder.

Her fingers relaxed in the sheets and tipped her head to see John, tracing his fingers over her stomach, watching her. "You've every right to be proud of yourself."

"I'm just grateful." John crawled over her, kissing along her jaw. "I get to be with you for the rest of my life."

"And I get to be with you." Anna pulled herself up, tipping John back onto the bed as she straddled his waist. "My dreamy, journalist husband."

"Not sure if I'd describe myself with dreamy."

"Then it's a good thing I didn't ask your opinion about this." Anna rubbed her thumbs over his cheekbones. "You're everything I could ever want. Everything I'd never even dared to dream about."

"So are you." John kissed her slowly before Anna drew back, unclipping her bra to let it drop back over the side of the bed. "You're… indescribable Anna."

"I've rendered the writer speechless." Anna leaned over him again, her hair curtaining around them. "Lucky me."

"I'm speechless around you all the time." John kissed her again, pulling at her lips and tongue until she broke away. He tipped up, following her as she sat straighter, and kissed over her breasts before sucking a nipple into his mouth.

Anna dug her fingers into his hair, rolling her hips against him to keep him as close to her as she could. His hands held at her hips and her other breast until Anna moaned. In the moment that he paused, trying to give her a self-satisfied grin, Anna pushed him back to the bed and sheathed him in a single stroke.

"Since you're leaving tomorrow," Anna gyrated her hips against him, adjusting to take him even deeper while grinding against her clit. "I want you to remember me like this."

"As a goddess in her passionate glory?" John kept his hands lightly on her hips to steer her movements.

"No," Anna shook her head, nails digging into his chest. "As your wife."

"I couldn't forget that."

"But I want you to remember this," Anna rode harder, digging into his skin as his fingers dug into her hips. "Remember me riding you to completion and hoping this isn't the last time."

John rose up, stopping them long enough for their eyes to meet. "This isn't the end Anna." He held her closer, thrusting deeply into her. "I promise you that."

"I'll hold you to it." Anna pulled his lips to hers, kissing him as they moved together. "Now, please, feck me."

"Happy to oblige."