A/N: I'm happy with the response this story has gotten. I was pretty terrified to post it, but I'm always like that with a new story. I'm glad everyone seemed to like it. So yay!

Again, I'm just kind of going with the flow with this story. And if you see characters acting slightly OOC, there is a reason for it. I always have a grand master plan. Don't worry.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Don't sue me.

Enjoy!

Klara slept very late the next morning. It had been nearly a month since she'd been alone in her house so she took full advantage of not having to care for anyone by sleeping late and indulging herself some much needed rest. She sighed when she finally rolled over and glanced out the window just to see that it was overcast and looked rather chilly. Another beautiful spring day in France, she thought sarcastically to herself.

Once she'd bathed and dressed, making sure her hair and makeup looked presentable, she went down into the room behind her bookshelf to check on the clothes and supplies that she kept on hand for the families she housed. Not so surprisingly, the normally well stocked food supply was running low thanks to the large family she'd housed for the past three weeks. Klara knew then she'd have to make another trip to the market today.

Just as she suspected, she had to pull her coat tighter around herself when she walked out of her front door and paused to shake her limbs for a moment before turning around to lock the door. She smiled at her neighbors, waving politely as she passed them on the streets, but then turned her gaze straight ahead as she walked and tried not to call too much attention to herself. Kurt was well known amongst many Germans and everyone who knew of him knew that she was his sister – it wasn't uncommon for the SS soldiers inhabiting France to stop her on the street or pester her in restaurants with questions about her brother. These days, avoiding any unnecessary attention was one of Klara's top priorities.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle!" An older lady greeted warmly when Klara walked into a small shop, rubbing her arms to get the chill out of them.

"Bonjour!" She responded, smiling at the lady and making her way directly to the back of the shop. Klara and the woman working that desk had seen her a handful of times but hadn't questioned her too much on her reason for always coming in to buy coats, pants, and shirts. She was just thankful that the pace at which Jewish escapees came to her house was spaced out enough to where she could shop like this and avoid rousing suspicion with the business owners.

The bell dinged as another customer came in but Klara paid them no mind, grabbing pants, shirts, and jackets of all sizes before stopping to grab a few pairs of socks. The lady behind the counter wasn't paying much attention to her, obviously preoccupied with whoever had walked in if the blush on her cheeks was anything to judge by. Klara only spared the other guest a glance before finally setting her purchased down on the counter. The lady clucked her tongue in disappointment then finally turned her attention back to Klara with a long sigh.

"Too young…" She idly commented in French before smiling at Klara. "You sure do purchase a lot of clothing. Are you planning a trip…or a family perhaps?" She chuckled, eyeing her hands for any sign of a ring. Klara laughed and shook her head.

"No, no. I help out with my grandparents and do their shopping – the children's clothing is for charity." Klara said, waving a hand seemingly carelessly. "Lucky I have an allowance from my brother or none of this would be possible!" She added with a wink.

Her excuse seemed not only to have worked, but also to have warmed the woman's heart. "Oh, how sweet of you!" The lady gushed before finishing ringing up her things.

"It is the least I can do to help family and give back to the community." Klara said as she looked through her clutch, fishing out the correct amount of money to cover her purchase. She was happy for the distraction – Klara hated it when people did ask her about her purchases. It always made her nervous.

"And what does you brother do?" The woman asked conversationally.

"He is in the SS." Klara answered. The lady's eyes widened and she nodded, quickly counting out the change to give back to Klara and suddenly looking a bit tense. Klara only frowned slightly, as the reaction she'd received was a fairly common one. She did not, however, realize that the other occupant of the store had come up behind her and had heard their conversation.

"I thought you looked familiar." A deep male voice said in unmistakable German.

Klara turned around quickly to look at the stranger while the woman working the register looked slightly confused at the foreign language she obviously didn't understand. She knew she had never seen this man before, but the uniform he was wearing gave her no doubts as to how he knew who she was – he was clearly in the SS. She offered a small smile as he clicked his heels together quickly and offered a slight bow, reaching for her hand to lay a quick kiss on top before straightening up to his full height again. Klara didn't miss the fact that he didn't release her hand.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name Unterscharführer Emmerich Haugg. And you must be the one and only Klara Bathurst, yes? Sister of Kurt Bathurst?"

All of this was said with a confident smirk on his young face. Klara supposed that if he wasn't in the SS she would have found him attractive, but knowing what he'd possibly been doing throughout his military career quickly overshadowed his charms. "Yes, I am. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Unterscharführer Haugg." She said politely, gently tugging her hand out of his grasp. He looked a bit embarrassed for a moment but then shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"I have heard from my other comrades that the great Kurt Bathurst's sister had been living in France for the past year. I have also heard stories of your beauty, all of which do you no justice. It truly is an honor to finally be making your acquaintance, Fraulein Bathurst." He rambled with a grin. Klara nodded slowly, resisting the urge to laugh, and again Emmerich shook his head. "Forgive me." Then he saw her purchase waiting in three large bags and went to grab them quickly. "Allow me to assist you."

"No, no, do not trouble yourself." Klara said with a shake of her head, grabbing one of the bags herself but watching a bit helplessly as he grabbed the remaining two.

"Nonsense. It is never a trouble to help out a beautiful woman." He said with a smile before quickly switching over to French in order to thank the lady for all of her help. Then he somehow managed to shift the bags in his arms around and then open the door for Klara. "And it is a good idea for a beautiful woman to have an escort with them in these dangerous times."

Klara watched him uncertainly for a moment before finally giving in and walking through the door with him hot on her heels. She had planned to take the clothes she'd just bought right back to her house before popping over to both her grandparents' house and Shoshanna's theater, but now that Emmerich was walking with her and talking her ear off, the last thing she wanted was for him to know where any of her family or friends lived. Should she ever be caught, she didn't want them being pestered. So instead, she turned right and headed towards the market to restock her food.

"Your brother is really a courageous soldier, Miss Bathurst." Emmerich complimented. This was usually how most of her meetings with SS soldiers went, so Klara plastered on the same fake smile she reserved for men like Emmerich and nodded her agreement. "The way he stormed into that house and captured all those Jews last week…even the Standartenführer was impressed and took him for drinks later that night."

"And which house was this?" Klara asked, even though she was cringing inside. She hated hearing about the things her brother did. It always made her sick to her stomach.

"A house in Beauvais." Klara looked up a bit sharply at this. "Found at least six Jews hiding out in the barn underneath piles and piles of hay." Emmerich said, looking very smug and even amused as he retold the story.

"Beauvais? I had not realized that he was so close." Klara said, feeling very alarmed to hear that Kurt wasn't as far away as she had thought. The last that she had heard, he and Landa had gone back to Germany for a short period of time and she had thought they were there still. The fact that he was so close to the area, which could then possibly lead to a surprise visit, left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Do you not speak with your brother, Miss Bathurst?" Emmerich inquired questioningly.

"Not as often as I would like." Klara lied with a smile, trying to wipe the worried look off of her face. "He is always so busy with the Standartenführer. I am lucky if I see him at all when he is in France." She explained as they neared the market.

"Ah, well, the rumor is that he will have a few days of leave for his efforts in Beauvais and is Paris bound soon, so you should see him shortly enough." Emmerich informed her reassuringly. Again worry zinged along her nerves, but she pushed them down and tried to offer Emmerich an excited smile.

"Well, that sounds wonderful." Klara said. "We are nearing my stop though and then I have more personal things to attend to…" She hinted. Emmerich nodded and handed over her bags as they walked.

"If you do not think it too bold, I would greatly enjoy taking you out for dinner sometime…perhaps tonight?" Emmerich asked as they stopped outside a door. Klara paused with her back to him, making a face, before forcing on a smile and turning around to face him.

"Maybe. Allow me to think on it." She said. Emmerich nodded, looking hopeful, and then clicked his heels together again before bowing slightly.

"It has been an absolute pleasure meeting you, Miss Bathurst." He said, grabbing her hand to kiss it once more. "I will count the minutes until I may look upon you again."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, too, Unterscharführer Haugg." Klara responded politely.

"Please, call me Emmerich."

"Very well. Goodbye then, Emmerich. Perhaps we shall see each other again soon." She said before turning and walking into the shop. Emmerich stood there for a moment or two (she could see him through the door) before smiling to himself and walking off with a bit more bounce in his step.

Klara huffed and rolled her eyes – she was not interested in the slightest. She knew that he would come to bother her again, knew he probably thought he'd made a great impression on her and that she would fall so deeply for his charms that he could someday be the brother-in-law to the one and only Kurt Bathurst. It was how it always was. Most men were only interested in her last name and who that would link them to.

Klara would just have to be careful. With the entrance of Emmerich and his sudden interest in her, plus the knowledge that Kurt was en route to Paris, she'd have to be much more careful. Klara didn't know if Landa would be joining him since Kurt would be on leave, but those two were practically joined at the hip and she could only assume that Landa wouldn't be far away. She'd have to let her contacts know about the new developments. And quick.


After her supplies were restocked she paid a quick visit to her grandparents and then stopped by the theater to see Shoshanna, where she quickly brought up to speed on the new updates and informed her of both Emmerich and of Kurt's upcoming visit. Shoshanna had seemed slightly worried at first, having already known what Kurt did for a profession, but when Klara warned that Landa might also be coming along she looked as though she'd seen a ghost. Shoshanna had then cut their meeting short, telling Klara they would talk about everything later before walking off without another word.

Klara felt bad for her friend, but at least she had warning. Shoshanna was well aware of whom Landa was and that he was the man who had condemned her family to their death, so Klara understood exactly why she would be upset to learn of his possible visit. If their roles had been reversed, Klara would have been beside herself. She knew Shoshanna well though and knew that if she ever ran into Landa that she would be able to keep herself collected enough - hiding her true emotions from Nazis was something like second nature to Shoshanna by now.

As soon as it was nightfall, Klara donned her black pants and shrugged on her thick black jacket. She walked over to her desk to scribble down a quick message, using code words rather then the proper ones, before shoving it into her pocket and fitting a black hat over her low bun to cover her hair. As son as she stepped out of her house she ooked both ways, checking to make sure that nobody was being nosey. She had a strange feeling about that night; it felt…off, like something or someone was just waiting to present themselves to her.

So Klara kept her head down as she walked through the streets, not bothering too much for secrecy since she was alone. There wasn't anyone out anyway, just like there hadn't been the previous evening. Instead of taking a left down at the end of the street to head to the highway, she took a right and headed towards an old square that was only ever active during the nighttime. Usually the area was preoccupied with questionable people who had equally questionable morals and tonight was no different – she could already see prostitutes loitering on the corners and their patrons beginning to appear.

"Hello, pretty lady. Care for some company tonight?" A man slurred in French when she passed him. He stunk of whiskey and she made a face, not even bothering to respond. She was positive she heard him make a comment about her being a "snooty German bitch", though it still baffled her to this day how easily people could peg her heritage.

She went past the square slowly so as not to draw attention to herself then took a right down a small alleyway before walking up to an old door that had rotting wood and a rusty handle. Again, Klara looked around to make sure she was in the clear before opening the door and walking in, shutting it quickly and quietly behind her.

The place had once been a widely popular bar. The owner, however, had begun housing escaped Jews in his basement three years ago and had done so for over a year and a half. Once that had been found out by the public, the bar had been shut down and the owner had been "made an example of". No one had touched the area since.

Remy, the French contact who pointed Jews in her direction once they reached France, had been there already. She could tell because the cash register had a flag propped up on top of it, which was the signal that there was a message waiting for her. Normally it would have been a few more days before there would be a note for her so she was just the slightest bit surprised that he was already contacting her. She hurried over and popped the register open, pulling the note out quickly.

The time has been long, but I will not be week. A bath, three meals, and one long train ride is all that separates us…

Klara nodded to herself in understanding. The spelling mistake let her know the next group would be ready for her in a week and judging by the code words, there would be a mother, three children, and an aunt in the group. Another large group but Klara wouldn't complain – the more people she helped, the better. She took out her own note and stuck it under the draw in the register before closing it and removing the flag. She then put the bell on top of the register in its place.

Klara worried her bottom lip as she thought about the next family, feeling bit nervous about this particular mission. Kurt had begun to be more and more like Landa the last few times she'd seen him and she knew very well that Landa was an expert in finding hiding Jews. She had never given Kurt any reason what-so-over to believe that she would be helping Jews hide, but she couldn't be too comfortable around him either. She would have to warn the next group of his possible visit, something she was sure would make them very uncomfortable.

She made her way back to her house, taking her time as she wound through the streets, and decided to leave a note for Dieter the next night informing him of the developements. Klara couldn't gone then to get it over with but the funny that had been incessantly nagging at her since the moment she walked out of her house had yet to go away, so she wanted nothing more then to get to her house and stay there. Besides, Dieter wouldn't be back from the shore for at least another day and a half, so she had plenty of time to get the message to him.

It wasn't until Klara was at the bottom of her steps that she paused and frowned. There, sitting on her doorstep, was a very large and obnoxious looking bouquet of overly flowers. She leaned over and picked them up, finding a small note with fancy looking German scrawl. She frowned deeper when she realized that it was from Emmerich and that he had somehow found out where she lived, which could only complicate things even more.

In the next moment a noise from the alleyway caught her attention and she looked to her right curiously. Since she'd come from the main road her journey hadn't taken her past the alleyway on the side of her house. But as she listened to the scuffling sounds echoing off the dark walls, there was no doubt in her mind that someone was lurking there; or multiple people, if the echoing sound of multiple footsteps was anything to go off of.

To her complete and utter shock, just as she was leaning over her banister to peer down the alley a lone figure came running out of the dark. Klara let out a quick shriek of surprise before jumping back away from the banister and clamping a hand over her heart. The person stopped, breathing very heavily and looking around in alarm and she quickly took in his appearance – he was very muscular, wearing dirty clothes that had some kind of dark liquid splattered on them, and in his right hand was a bloodied baseball bat.

It only took a millisecond to realize what the dark substance decorating his clothes was and only a millisecond longer to realize who he was. She'd heard of him and his beloved bat plenty of times, as well as the troop he was in, and though the stories had only just started circulating a few weeks ago they had been making the rounds like wildfire. There was no doubt who was standing in front of her – the Basterd that German's referred to as The Bear Jew.

He started to leave, flashing her a disinterested look as he went past her porch. Klara couldn't be sure what sent her into the motion but before she realized what she was doing she had run up to the banister to address him. "Wait just a minute." She said in German, not thinking about who she was talking to right then.

He hesitated for a half a second. "I don't speak filth, Kraut." He spat at her hurriedly with a blatantly obvious American accent.

The name insulted her to the core and she had half a mind to offend him in return for the remark but just as she opened her mouth to speak more footsteps could be heard in the alley. They both froze and turned to look in the direction of the sound before she waved her hand at him hurriedly. "Come with me." She hissed in English, walking back to her house as she grabbed her key out of her pocket and hurriedly unlocked her door.

"Yeah fuckin' right." He hissed right back.

"Do you want to keep running and get caught or hide for a moment so you can make a quick getaway?" She asked him irritably, turning to look at him with raised eyebrows once her door was open..

The footsteps in the alley were getting louder and obviously drawing closer and they both knew it would only be moments before whoever was chasing this man would come out and see him standing right there. He hesitated for a second, looking back and forth between her and the alleyway, before clearing the porch steps in three long strides and walking right up to her. She resisted the urge to back away as he invaded her personal space, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"And why should I trust you?" He asked lowly.

He was so close that she could see the way his hair curled on his forehead, sweaty from running she assumed. His eyelashes were long and thick and framed two attractive brown eyes. There was a few days worth of stubble on his jaw, neck, and chin and it was then that she noticed the slight spattering of blood on his tanned skin. It was also easy to see from his close proximity how untrusting he was of her and the air around them immediately grew thick with tension and uncertainty.

"What choice do you have?" She finally asked.

He was much bigger then her and if he decided to end her life for being German, she knew she wouldn't stand a chance. But after a quick moment of thinking he finally came to a decision and brushed past her, walking into her house with an unreadable expression on his face. When she started to close the door again he opened his mouth to say something but she abruptly cut him off by shutting the door firmly in his face. Klara then quickly grabbed the bouquet of flowers, holding them so it would hide her face, and pretended to start unlocking her door just as three German soldiers came running out of the alleyway.

Klara put on a fake mask of surprise, moving the flowers so that she could see, and pressed her free hand to her chest. The soldiers immediately looked to her and moved in her direction. "Officers, what is wrong?" She asked in German, catching them by surprise.

"There was a renegade, one of Aldo the Apache's." One of the officers said between hard pants for air. They must have been running for a long time judging by how winded both they and the Jewish man currently standing on the other side of her door were. "Have you seen him?"

"Aldo the Apache?" She asked in surprise, feigning stupidity. Keep yourself together, Bathurst, she reminded herself in her head. "No. I surely would have alerted someone."

"No, not him." One of the other soldiers spoke up impatiently. "One of his troops – The Bear Jew." He went on to clarify.

Klara shook her head quickly. "The Bear Jew? No. I thought I heard someone running down that way…" She said as she shifted her bouquet and pointed down the street going away from her house. "…but these flowers are so large that I could not see around them. It was very sweet of Emmerich to give me so many flowers. I do not know how I shall keep them surviving though. They are a lot of – " Klara began to ramble.

Just as she hoped, the soldiers became annoyed with her and called out hasty parting words before taking off down the street, using their flashlights to look down every alleyway as they passed. Once they were out of sight she turned back to her door, feeling triumphant for having fooled them for only a moment before she remembered who was in her home. She took a steadying breath and placed a hand on the knob, silently praying she wasn't about to get her head bashed in. Klara didn't know what would be waiting for her on the other side of her door, but she finally jutted her chin up and opened the door bravely, ready to face the one and only Bear Jew.

A/N: You know what to do!