A/N: Hmmm…lots of views, but not a lot of reviews. Interesting. Encouragement is always nice, cough. Anyways, this chapter begins the cursing and name calling, just as a warning. I'm not trying to offend anybody!
I don't anything, yada, yada. You know the deal.
Enjoy!
He was standing right on the other side of the door, so close in fact that he had to take a step back to avoid getting hit when Klara pushed the door open again. He stood with his arms crossed and with his bat still clutched tightly in his right hand. The glare he had trained on her was unwavering mask of suspicion and distrust. There was blood splattered on his clothes, face, and bat and his slightly gruesome appearance made him look incredibly intimidating, not to mention frightening.
She didn't dare to say even a word, knowing she'd need to choose them carefully around this particular man, and they stared at each other for a long, silent moment, both clearly sizing up the other. He let his eyes roam freely over her form, making blood rush into her under cheeks under his scrutinizing gaze, but the untrusting expression never faded from his features. When he met her eyes again she jutted her chin up in silent challenge, to which his response was to quirk a skeptical eyebrow at her.
Suddenly, despite the aura of hostility surrounding him, she found it very hard to overlook just how handsome the man before her was.
Klara had met plenty of men and plenty of suitors in her life but this one seemed…different. Maybe it was because she knew he was American, maybe it was the attitude exuding off of him right then, or maybe it was because his reason for being in France was one that she wholly supported – whatever it was, her interest was piqued. She took another moment to regard him, trying valiantly not to think too long on his attractiveness, and then finally brushed past him.
"They will be gone in a matter of minutes." Klara said in her thickly accented English. "You should be safe to leave then but you will have to be stealthy. No doubt you have alerted every soldier within a ten mile radius with your little fiasco."
He didn't say anything in response nor did he move from his spot for a long moment, but when he did he began to slowly walk around her living room, clearly inspecting the area. It was strange having him in her home and Klara eyed his back uncertainly as he paced the living room. Sure, she was used to Jews coming and going, but having just him made it feel much different, almost…intimate in a strange way. She couldn't help but notice he was studying her belongings with suspicious eyes, however, and Klara finally turned to head into the kitchen and set down the flowers in her hands, shaking her head to herself. She supposed she would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed – after all, he probably thought she was a Nazi.
The heavy trudging of boots against her wooden floorboards announced his approach and Klara turned to face him as he entered the kitchen, wanting to keep a careful eye on him. He looked around for a second then stepped up to the table sitting between them. Then he propped up the end of the bat on it and laid both of his hands on the end of the handle, resting his chin atop his hands in a casual way that completely contradicted the guarded, calculating look he sent her.
"Why did you help me?" He finally asked her slowly.
"It is what anyone in my position would do." Klara stated simply, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to shield herself from his doubtfulness. He was beginning to make her extremely nervous and she had the feeling that he knew it.
He scoffed. "Ya do know who I am, don't ya?" He asked disbelievingly.
"Of course – you are the Bear Jew. I would have to be blind or an idiot to not know who you are." Klara said matter-of-factly. She reached up to take off her hat, running a self-conscious hand over her hair to smooth it down, before dropping it onto the table. She inspected his dirty face again then grabbed for a damp towel by the sink to toss it towards him. He didn't move to catch it and watched as it bounced off his chest and landed with a plop on the table. "That was for you to clean your face." She informed him with a quirked eyebrow.
"I figured." He shot back, returning his gaze to hers and ignoring the rag. "You're obviously a Kraut, lady, so why would ya help little old Bear Jew?" He asked, tilting his head as he stared at her. "I'd think ya'd just be dancing at the thought of turning me over. Hell, it'd probably land ya a nice little Nazi husband. Isn't that what ya German girls dream of?"
Klara's eyed narrowed into a glare. "First of all, you may call me Klara, not Kraut. It's quite offensive." He snorted at this. "Second, I am not like most Germans." She told him, moving to her ice box to look for something to eat or drink…anything to distract herself from the man burning holes into the back of her head with his gaze just then.
"I've heard that one before." Bear Jew said matter-of-factly. "Right before I bashed their heads in with my little friend here." He added, thumping his bat against her table for emphasis. "They all got what they had coming to them." When she looked at him over her shoulder, he was smirking at her in a way that did not promote his sanity. He was clearly trying to intimidate her and she was well aware of it.
"What is your real name?" She asked, crossing her arms. The Bear Jew simply smirked and shook his head.
"Why do ya wanna know?" He shot right back at her. It was everything in her to hold back the biting comment on the tip of her tongue and she gritted her teeth in annoyance, meeting his gaze steadily. "Cat gotcha tongue?" His question earned him a withering glare from Klara but he only smirked in triumph and began to glance around her kitchen. "Got any food in this place?"
She strongly considered refusing him and kicking him out onto the street, whether the guards were gone or not, but decided against it. He did, however, need to learn that he wasn't allowed to walk all over her just because he was the dreaded Bear Jew. "If it will shut that large mouth of yours for even a moment, then yes, I do." Klara responded with a sickly sweet smile, making sure to a use a tone that would let him know she wasn't one to be pushed around.
Something flashed across his eyes when he picked up on her attitude but he simply smirked wider and strode towards her, resting his bat casually against his shoulder. He stopped an arm's length away and studied her for a second before reaching around her to produce a small piece of cheese from her icebox, keeping his eyes locked on her as he popped the food into his mouth and then chewed it slowly. His close proximity put every nerve in her body on alert but she firmly stood her ground, silently attempting to convey to him how unimpressed she was with his behavior. He didn't seem affected by her terse attitude and merely reached around her for more food, his eyes silently daring her to say something in challenge.
Having grown tired with his rude and condescending actions Klara hastily skirted around him, happy to turn her back on his unyielding stare, and grabbed a few loafs of bread. Once they were securely wrapped up in a large towel she turned to shove them into his arms. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he had to juggle both the food and his bat for a second, but Klara offered no explanation for her actions and simply turned to walk out of the room – she could feel his eyes on her back the whole way.
"No need to get pushy." The Bear Jew finally called after her.
"Then say thank you next time." She shot back, rounding the corner and heading for her bedroom. "You may show yourself out."
Not five seconds later, she heard him storm out of her kitchen before the front door opened and then slammed shut with his departure.
Klara had to let out a sigh of relief, a bit glad that the awkward meeting was over and done with. Of course she'd wondered what it would be like to meet the Basterds, even dreamed that they would be impressed with her should they ever find out about her secret, but she hadn't expected them to act the way the Bear Jew had. The more Klara thought about it though, she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised by his behavior. He wasn't here to make friends; he was here to kill Germans. And she was a German. She was lucky he hadn't knocked her head off with his bat.
She had just begun to change from her daily clothes to her night things when she heard the front door open and close again. She froze in surprise then had to fight back a smirk when an irritated voice rang out.
"How the fuck do I get outta this place?" He called to her. "Can't exactly afford to be leisurely strolling around France, if ya know what I mean."
Klara tried not to look amused or victorious when she strode casually out of her bedroom and saw the Bear Jew standing at the end of her hallway. He did look rather conspicuous thanks to his attire and his bat, and currently he also looked positively annoyed that he'd had to come back and ask her for directions out of town. Klara had yet to say anything and put her hands on her hips, watching him expectantly.
"Listen lady, if ya not gonna help…" He started to say.
She held a hand up to silence him and was actually a bit surprised when he snapped his lips shut. "I will help you, but do you not have something you would like to say to me first? Perhaps an expression of gratitude for providing you with a safe hiding place and for giving you food?" Klara asked him. "I can think of at least one thing I would say if the roles were reversed."
The Bear Jew glared at her for a moment and she had the distinct impression that she was pushing her luck with him, but should they ever have another meeting like this one, he needed to know first and foremost that she wasn't someone to be taken advantage of. She walked took a few steps in his direction, raising her eyebrows at him questioningly, and he finally rolled his eyes with a heavy heave. "Thank you for all ya hospitality." He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Then he motioned, quite grandly, for her to lead the way. "Now show me how to get the fuck outta here."
Klara brushed past him, ignoring the way her body tingled when she made the briefest contact with his, and went to grab her hat again. He was waiting for her by the door when she reconvened with him and as she searched for the key to her house in her pocket, Klara hesitated when her hand brushed over the note she planned to leave for Dieter. If the man in front of her got his hands on the note and managed to decipher it, she knew she'd be in some serious trouble – him finding out about her secret mission of helping Jews escape Europe wouldn't bother her; him finding out about her brother and what he did, however, was a different story all together.
"Wanna hurry it up?" He asked impatiently.
Klara snapped out of it and shoved the note further into her pocket, hurrying to follow him outside. He waited for her while she made sure the door was locked and then wordlessly trailed behind her when she motioned for him to follow her to the alley. "Where must we go?" She asked him quietly. He snorted in amused disbelief, acting as though he didn't want to tell her, so Klara turned to face him with a pointed look. "If you do not tell me where you are hiding then I cannot show you the way out."
He regarded her for a long moment then sighed and rubbed his face, obviously struggling with an internal battle. "Fine." He conceded. "I need to get to the highway – or rather, the forest right next to it."
Klara was surprised to hear of the location – the patch of woods by the highway was where she always led the refugees to and where she convened with Dieter. It felt almost like fate was teasing her just then and she had to wonder at the irony of the entire situation.
Showing The Bear Jew out of town was no different from the times she'd snuck countless people out of the city; they slunk around in the shadows, peeked warily around corners, and kept quiet (well, quiet on her part; The Bear Jew was about as inconspicuous as an elephant would have been) and alert at all times. Her companion kept close to her the whole time, so close that she could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck whenever they would stop, and she wasn't sure if his closeness or their sneaking was the cause for her pounding heart. Either way it took all of her effort to remain focused on the task at hand and not on the handsome American glued to her hip right then.
Klara came to a quick stop when the highway came into sight and halted him with a hand, peering around cautiously to check for any loitering German troops. Four guards patrolled the intersection, which was something she'd grown accustomed to seeing by this point, but other then them she could see no more soldiers in the near vicinity. Klara glanced back at The Bear Jew and he turned his eyes down to meet her gaze intently, waiting for direction.
Deciding not to risk causing a scene, she jerked her head to the right. "This way." She instructed, wrapping her fingers around his wrist to pull him quickly across the street.
The feel of his skin under her fingers made her heart thump a bit wildly but she repressed the feelings, trying to focus on getting him out of the city in one piece. Klara was happy to release her hold on him when they approached a short garden fence and she hopped over it with expertise, turning to look at him expectantly.
"Looks like you've done this before..." He commented, watching her with a cocked eyebrow.
"Just hurry." She hissed at him.
The Bear Jew made his way very ungracefully over the fence (since he refused to put down his bat or the food she'd given him) and stumbled once he made it to the other side, nearly falling onto his butt but managing instead to simply fall back against the fence with a grunt. Klara smirked at him in amusement, to which he glared at her and grumbled something under his breath, then motioned for him to move along. Once he righted himself again, he was hot in her heels. "Where are we going?" He asked her lowly, his eyes darting around as they began to trek across the small garden.
"To the forest, of course." She told him. "I merely assumed the garden would be less treacherous then trying to sneak past Nazis."
He scoffed and glared in the direction of the guards. "I could take 'em." He said haughtily.
Klara ignored him and hopped over another fence, resisting the urge to laugh when the Bear Jew followed her suit and then cursed as he nearly went tumbling to the ground for the second time. As soon as he was by her side again she continued on to the familiar tree-line looming ahead of them. She leapt over the small ditch separating the town from the forest then stopped once he'd cleared the ditch as well. "Here you are." She said with a wave of her hand. "The forest as requested."
He nodded as he took in the sight of the trees then turned his eyes back to her. "Ya not gonna run over there screaming ya head off to alert all those guards, are ya?" He asked her skeptically.
"Would I have really gone through all this trouble just to sell you out before you are about to escape?" Klara asked him with a smirk. "Besides, I thought you could 'take them'?" That made him shut his mouth and he pursed his lips at her before finally offering a quick nod of thanks. She returned the gesture and walked past him to leave, not wanting to linger in the area any longer then she needed it to. "Goodbye, Bear Jew." She said over her shoulder before hopping back over the ditch.
"So long…Klara." He responded.
There wasn't a hint of sarcasm or menace to his tone and it shocked Klara so much that she stumbled to a halt, turning to look back at him with surprised eyes. He, however, had already disappeared into the darkness of the woods. She gulped, crossing her arms around her body as her eyes did a quick sweep of the trees before casting a look back at the highway, where headlights could be seen going up and down the road. But when she looked back to the woods again an unexplainable sense of emptiness filled her, making her frown in complete confusion. Why was she suddenly sorry to see rude and crass man known as The Bear Jew go? She shook her head quickly before turning around and heading back to the fence, clearing it effortlessly and refusing to look behind her again as she began the trek back home.
Klara leaned heavily against her door once she finally within the safety of her house and looked around slowly, sucking in a steadying breath. It was odd, but now that she'd delivered the Bear Jew back into the trees of the French woods and now that her house was only occupied by her, it looked strangely vacant. It was absolutely ridiculous to have such thoughts when she'd barely known him for an hour, even more so considering that for the most part the Bear Jew hadn't seemed to like her very much.
Klara rolled her eyes at her own absurdity then yanked off her hat and jacket to deposit them carelessly on the couch. She crossed her arms as she surveyed her house again and began to wonder just what the Bear Jew had thought of her home – it was small but the furniture was new and polished and obviously expensive, which Kurt had insisted upon when moving her into the house. Most Germans would have proudly displayed anything that linked their family with the Nazi regime but Klara had carefully hidden any pictures she had of her brother in his uniform, choosing only to bring them out whenever he was visiting. And thank the lord above too; otherwise she would probably be dead where she stood at that moment.
Deciding to stop thinking about The Bear Jew and head to bed for the night, Klara headed to the bedroom to change then settled in the cool sheets, rolling onto her side and pulling the covers up to her chin as she got comfortable.
As soon as her eyes closed, his face invaded her thoughts again. And against her will she found herself thinking about The Bear Jew again, wondering where he was and if he had returned safely to his comrades. She turned onto her back with a huff and shook her head, irritated beyond belief that this man was still invaded her mind. Why was she so concerned about him? It was unlikely that they would even meet again, so why was Klara letting him affect her so? She knew she needed to forget about him but somehow, she just couldn't seem to banish him from her thoughts.
Eventually, though it took a long time, she finally managed to fall into a fitful sleep. And even then it was with dreams centering about a bat-wielding, Jewish-American soldier.
"Forgive me for being late." Klara said apologetically in French to Shoshanna once she was seated at the café table the next morning.
Shoshanna waved a hand carelessly, flicking cigarette ashes over the table when she did so, before she leaned back a bit further into her seat. "You do not look very well. Did you not sleep last night?" Her friend questioned as she sipped her wine and gazed at her with slight concern.
Klara shook her head. "No, not well at least." She said as she removed her coat and moved to hang it on the back of her chair. Then she leaned closer, dropping her voice. "I met someone last night. And not just anyone, friend. I met –"
"Pardon me, would you like anything to drink, madam?" A brisk voice interrupted from her right. Klara looked up in surprise before smiling at the waiter and ordering a glass of cabernet while Shoshanna looked at him with a hint of annoyance for his interruption. The waiter nodded before walking away as quickly as he had come over, leaving them in silence once more.
"Continue." Shoshanna urged.
"I met The Bear Jew last night." Klara hissed very quietly.
"You what?" Shoshanna asked, looked at her in shock. She and Shoshanna had discussed the Basterds in length on more then one occasion, expressing wishes of being able to meet the men and shake their hands for what they were doing throughout France. But as much as they admired them for their work, neither of them had ever thought they would actually meet any of them. "Where? How?"
"He must have gotten separated from the others – he was running from SS soldiers and took the alley right by my house as I was returning home. I urged him to hide in my house so that he would not be caught, then I had to show him the way back out of town." Klara explained quickly. The waiter returned just then and Klara thanked him with a smile for the wine, sipping it quickly once it was in her hands.
Shoshanna was looking at her with wide eyes and it was evident that she was about to bursting with all the questions she wanted to ask. "Did you tell him about what you do?" Her friend finally asked.
"No."
"Why not?" Shoshanna asked incredulously. "They would be happy to hear it. It might even inspire them more if they knew that there are people like you trying to make a difference." She explained. "And perhaps they would even ask if you wanted to help in other ways, maybe ask if you had friends that wanted to help them fight!" Shoshanna rambled quickly, her French words almost blending together in her excitement and making it a bit difficult for Klara to keep up with her.
"Emmanuelle." Klara said sharply, using the woman's fake name and abruptly quieting her friend at the same time. "Getting involved with the Basterds is dangerous. And neither you nor I need to be involved in anything that will cause us even more trouble." She said very quietly, switching to English so that it would be harder for others to eavesdrop, just in case. "I have told you before and I will say it again, your time will come."
Shoshanna watched her steadily for a moment before nodding once in resignation. "I know."
They fell silent for a moment and both took long drinks from their wine glasses. After a few seconds Klara pulled out a small envelope from her jacket pocket and put it on the table in front of her friend. "There is one more thing." She said, nodding to the envelope. "I received it just as I was coming to meet with you." Klara explained as Shoshanna opened the envelope and began to unfold the yellowed paper slowly.
Klara watched her read it over, noting how Shoshanna frowned and how her hands trembled just the slightest as she took the words in. The blonde sat back in her chair and slowly lit up another cigarette, finding the task difficult thanks to her shaky hands, then turned her eyes to stare out of the window.
"I am truly sorry. But I wanted you to know." Klara whispered.
"It's alright. Thank you for telling me." Shoshanna said just as quiet, her gaze distant as she lost herself in her thoughts.
Klara reached across the table and scooped the envelope and telegram back up, not bothering to look at it again as she folded it up and replaced it back into the pocket of her jacket. She'd read it at least three times on her way to the restaurant and it didn't matter how many times she went over it, the words would not change or ease her anxiety in the slightest; her brother would be in Paris within a month and Landa would be following him not long after.
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