A/N: And this is where the story starts to get good!

I must say, I've really gotten back into the swing of things when it comes to this story. I have ideas all the time and cant wait to come home so I can write and it feels damn good! Glad that so many of you are still on board!

Anyway, without further ado, here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

Hans Landa had always known himself to be a smart man.

He was quick witted, he was educated in the ways of the world, and he was, above all else, an excellent detective. He had trained and led many soldiers in his day, trying to morph them into replicas of himself, and had always had an eye for talent – it was easy for him to discern those who were skilled and would go far, those who were weak and would fall, and even those who would lose their nerve and someday betray the Fuhrer himself. His perceptiveness was one of his greatest allies and it was rare that anything would slip through the cracks under his supervision.

This was why he currently sat in his office, feeling absolutely frustrated and puzzling over two very disconcerting pieces of paper currently laid out neatly on his desk.

Landa leaned back in his chair, his fingertips pressed together as he rolled the worlds around his head and tried to make sense of it all. With a sigh he reached forward, snatching up the paper on the left and rising it up to eyelevel – this telegram had arrived on his desk barely three weeks ago, and while to most of the world the message would seem insignificant, any German soldier or anyone involved with the Nazi regime in any way would feel the exact same concern that he currently did upon reading it.

He only skimmed over the words now, having already read them many times before. The telegram had been sent by a soldier whose name did not concern him – the sender had been asked to get this message to Landa by another Nazi by the name of Emmerich Haugg. The name sounded vaguely familiar to him, though he could not place how, but it was the message, not the man, that was causing him distress. As Landa's eyes quickly darted over the telegram for what had to be the sixtieth time in two days, these were the words that stuck out the most:

Suspicious behavior. Late night activity. Klara Bathurst.

The rest of the message went on to explain to him that the sender had run into Haugg while on his way back to the military base in Paris – Haugg had seemed perturbed by an encounter with Klara Bathurst and asked the sender to get word to Landa, fearing that the woman was up to something, before leaving to pursue Bathurst and find out for himself. Landa stared at the paper for only one more moment before placing it neatly back on his desk, smoothing his hand out over the document to lay it flat before reaching for the telegram next to it. This one had arrived only two days ago and his frown deepened as he read over it again. After receiving the disturbing message from Haugg, Landa had requested that every piece of information from the soldier come directly to his desk. And this was the only piece of information to arrive:

Unterscharführer Emmerich Haugg found dead just outside of Paris. Appears to have been beat to death with blunt object. Hair on scalp has been removed. Believed to be victim of the Basterds, specifically the one known as 'Bear Jew'. Estimated time of death – two to three weeks ago.

There was something highly odd about all of this and Landa could not shake the feeling that there was something he was missing. First Haugg had been suspicious of Klara, then he had wound up dead. Now Landa knew Klara's brother well, trusted him like he trusted no other, and therefore he found that he not want to believe that the woman would be involved with any Nazi soldier's death. But in the end Landa had to remind himself that he could not be distracted by her lineage, nor his soft spot for her, and face the fact that he did not truly know Klara Bathurst. There was no glaring proof that she was a traitor but Haugg had wound up dead within days, maybe even hours, of sending the message because he had decided to follow her. This was not something to be overlooked.

A knock on the door pulled him from his reverie and he quickly hid the message from Haugg before straightening up in his chair. "Enter." He called out before setting down the telegram that had informed him of Haugg's death.

The door opened to reveal his right hand man, Kurt Bathurst. The thirty-year-old soldier strode in with all the confidence in the world, offering a quick, respectful bow to his fellow German, before settling into the chair opposite of Landa once he was motioned to do so. "You sent for me, Hans?" Kurt asked, settling in and getting comfortable as he watched his superior.

"Yes, I did." He confirmed. "I wish to speak with you about something." He continued, picking up the telegram again. "I have received a telegram, one that frustrates me greatly. I would like for you to read it and tell me what you think of it." Landa said before handing the message over to Kurt.

Kurt accepted the paper with a concentrated frown on his face, quickly skimming over it. Landa watched as his studious expression melted first into surprise, then into disappointment. His lips pressed together into a tight line and he heaved before holding up the telegram, looking to Landa with raised eyebrows. "When did you receive this?"

"Two mornings ago." Landa answered. "I asked that any messages involving the Basterds be sent to me." He lied smoothly, finding no need to tell his partner that he had growing suspicions against his sister just yet. "But the name in this message – this Emmerich fellow – sounds familiar to me, though I cannot remember how. Do you recognize it?"

"Yes. He is – or was – a soldier stationed outside of Paris." Kurt answered, handing Landa the message back. "I met him on a few occasions. He was attempting to court my sister, Klara." He revealed. "I had wishes for them to marry, make her settle down with a decent Nazi soldier. I believe I told you of this, perhaps that is why the name sounds familiar to you."

As Landa's mind processed the information that Kurt had just offered up, he quickly recalled the day when his partner had told him of his plans to arrange the pairing. At the time it had made him rather jealous, even a bit angry, since he'd always been fond of the much younger but very beautiful woman. But now, as he realized that Emmerich had been involved with Klara (or at least had been attempting to be) his suspicions began to increase tenfold.

"Killed by the Basterds – such a shame." Kurt continued, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "Hans, I truly begin to fear for my sister's safety. This is the second problem relating to the Basterds that has occurred near her home. I worry she is unsafe being in Paris by herself." Kurt explained, frowning again.

Had he heard him correctly? There had been other problems with the Basterds near Klara's home? This was certainly news to Landa. "To which other incident do you refer?" Landa asked, cocking his head to the side as he studied the younger man in front of him.

"Klara told me there had been a sighting of a Basterd near her home about two months ago. It was The Bear Jew, if I recall correctly – he was running the streets near her home when she was returning late one night. It is lucky he did not take her into captivity, the barbarian." Kurt explained, his words taking on a tone of anger as he recounted the story.

Landa's mind immediately began to work at a rapid pace. The Bear Jew near Klara's home, Klara herself suspiciously wandering the streets of Paris at night, and then Emmerich Haugg, a man yearning for Klara's attention, turning up dead at the hand of The Bear Jew after following her.

Could it be true? Could Klara Bathurst actually be involved with one of the Basterds? It would be only too easy for her to scamper around under the radar – she was a beautiful German woman and just so happened to be the sister of the great Kurt Bathurst; she would need only mention her brother's name or use her charms to get herself out of a tight spot, especially where young, foolish, hormone-driven Nazi's were concerned. There was no way to know what she was getting up to just yet, but as he mulled over all of the things that he and Kurt had just discussed, he found himself beginning to doubt Klara entirely.

Landa tapped his fingers on the desk for a moment before pulling out his tobacco pipe and lighting it up, allowed the tobacco calm his thoughts and get them back in order. He would have to go to Paris. He'd have to see Klara for himself and see if he could find out all of her dirty little secrets. There were no other options.

"Hans? Is everything alright?"

Landa finally snapped himself out of his thoughts and nodded to Kurt with a small smile, his usual cool mask of indifference settling on his features again. "Of course. I was simply lost in my own thoughts." Kurt didn't look entirely convinced but didn't question Landa further as he began rustling through the papers on his desk. "I understand your concern for your sister's safety, Kurt, and though we shall be attending the premiere of Stolz Der Nation in Paris soon enough, I will assign a local solider to keep an eye on Klara's home until further notice. If the Basterds are targeting Nazi soldiers or their family members, I fear that Klara is far too easily recognizable. And since they have blatantly targeted someone involved with Klara, I think it is safe to say that she needs a guard."

Kurt pulled a face at this, looking a little unsure of what Landa had just said. "She will not be happy about that. She does not like to be coddled."

"It is for her safety. And she does not have to know." Hans retorted with an authoritative tone. Kurt nodded in agreement then and did not put up further argument.

There was something very odd going on in France, that much Landa was sure of. And with Klara unknowingly under surveillance, he was sure that he would find out just what the woman was getting up to while he and her brother were not in the country. Part of him hoped he was wrong and that everything was just a strange coincidence, but if there was treason occurring in Paris, then by God he would go there himself to remedy the situation. No matter who ended up having to pay the price for it.


It had been nearly a month, one glorious month, since the death of Emmerich Haugg and Klara had felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. In the back of her mind she knew that the impending return of her brother (and eventually Landa) would bring back all of her stress tenfold, but for now she could truly say that she was content with the way things were going in her world. Without the constant worry that Emmerich might turn up at the worst possible moment, everything had not only been running much smoother for her and her comrades, butfor her and Donny as well.

Surprisingly, Donny had been given more leeway to come and visit her on a more frequent basis whenever they were staying near her home, a development to which she had no complaints. Things had certainly changed between them since their argument and they had changed for the better – she knew now that their relationship wasn't just a passing fancy and that she was not just some unimportant woman to occupy his free time while he was in France, and that was more then she could have ever asked or hoped for from him.

Klara, of course, knew it wasn't wise to dream of a more permanent future for the two of them, but with every day that passed where she didn't get caught and where he didn't die only encouraged her further. She hadn't ever really allowed herself to think of the future or to try and see anything between them past the war, but recently she hadn't been able to stop the thoughts from entering her mind. Klara knew very well that Donny wouldn't stay in Europe once his job was finished, so that left only one option – if he wanted her to come with him, she'd go with him to America. It was a thought that had both terrified and excited her whenever she first thought of it but she had quickly tried to brush it off and not let herself get carried away. She and Donny first had to figure out how to make it out of this mess alive. Then they could begin to plan a future.

The only thing that Klara now had to complain about, as she awoke to the sound of chipper birds one sunny Wednesday morning, was the dreadful virus she'd had for over a week now. Shoshanna had been wonderful by taking care of her whenever Donny wasn't around to do it, but Klara just couldn't seem to shake the illness. Every day she felt exhausted and achy and it was nearly impossible to keep any food down. This morning, just as she expected, she found herself reaching quickly for the trash bin Donny had left her the previous night to empty out whatever was left in her stomach.

"Why God?" She asked miserably as she turned onto her back again and heave for air, not even bothering to wipe the sweat off of her brow. "What have I done to deserve this?"

Feeling thoroughly disgusted with the state of herself, Klara managed to crawl her way to the bathroom some ten minutes later so that she could rinse out her mouth before opting to just stay there and lay on the cool tile. The coldness of the floor felt wonderful against her achy body and warm skin, and though she was dreadfully uncomfortable lying on the hard floor, she didn't dare move from the only relief she'd had in days.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there, praying to God to end her misery, but sometime later she heard a key slide into the lock of her front door just before it opened and closed, signaling the arrival of whom she could only assume was Shoshanna.

"Klara?" Her friend called out. "I have come to babysit you! How are you feeling this morning?"

The woman's footsteps headed off for the kitchen and Klara listened as her friend moved around in her home, trying to gather up the strength to call out to her. She heard the sound of the tap in her kitchen being turned on before Shoshanna's footsteps finally drew closer a few moments later – she knew the moment that Shoshanna had found her because the approaching footfalls came to an abrupt halt just outside of the bathroom. Klara lifted her head just slightly so that she could see the concerned look on her friend's face.

"Oh, Klara. You look like death." Shoshanna said sympathetically, setting down the glass of water she had gotten before kneeling down to press her hand against Klara's forehead. "How long have you been here?"

"I am not sure…" Klara answered wearily. "I have never been so miserable or tired in my entire life. I barely get any sleep because I cannot stop vomiting and I am starving, yet I cannot hold down any food. It is as though God is punishing me, though for what I do not know."

Shoshanna smiled gently and then hooked her hands underneath Klara's armpits to help her sit up, leaning her back against the wall. "He is not punishing you." She told her matter-of-factly. "Trust me. If he were to punish anyone at this moment in time, it would not be you dear friend. There are far worse people in the world."

"Then my body is simply rebelling against me." Klara said with a dramatic huff. "This is the price I pay for turning into a scarlet woman." She added distatefully.

When Shoshanna laughed at this, Klara turned a weak glare on her. "Do shut up." Her friend quipped before helping Klara stand up. "Come on, then, back into bed with you." Shoshanna urged, leading her into her bedroom before helping her back into bed. "Listen…" She began to say slowly as she reached for the washcloth Donny had been using to cool her forehead down with the night before. "I do not wish to alarm you, but it appears that you have someone watching your house."

Klara frowned and looked at her uneasily as Shoshanna began pressing the cloth to her forehead and face. "How do you know this?"

"For the past three days that I have been coming here there has been a car parked down the street. I had never seen it before a few days ago yet it hasn't appeared to move since I first spotted it. And the man in the car always is the same." Shoshanna explained, looking a bit worried. "He finally only moved when I went to confront him just now. As soon as he saw me coming for him, he immediately left."

Klara sat up quickly with an alarmed expression but then immediately grabbed her head as the abrupt movement caused her to become rather dizzy. She allowed Shoshanna to usher her back down but Klara's mind was racing with this information. "Shoshanna, this is bad." Klara told her in a frightened tone. "What if he has seen Donny coming to my home?" She asked her. "They will think I am helping the Basterds and then come for me!"

"No, they will not." Shoshanna reassured her. "It was not easy, but I sought out Donny and told him what I had seen. He is being careful, though it was hard to convince him not to say anything to you about it."

Klara calmed down a bit at this and then sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Someone is suspicious of me, that is the only explanation. Otherwise there would not be someone spying on me." She mumbled before shaking her head. "Someone must suspect me to be involved with Emmerich's death."

"I would not get too worked up over this just yet." Shoshanna advised. "Not until you know more details. Until then, I suggest you maintain a low profile and do not take any more families into your home. It is not safe."

Klara almost wanted to laugh at Shoshanna's words – maintain a low profile? She could hardly move as it was. "Like I am in any condition to help anybody." Klara scoffed cynically. "I am barely functioning as is."

"Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, there is one more thing." Shoshanna continued on, pursing her lips as she regarded her friend warily.

"And what is that? The Fuhrer himself is coming to visit?" Klara asked sarcastically.

"Close. I rang for a doctor."

Klara immediately groaned in protest. "You know I hate doctors."

"Yes, I know, but this has gone on quite long enough." Shoshanna chastised. "You need medicine or this could be the death of you. Just look at you! Skin and bones." She said, fussing over her for a moment. Then Shoshanna glanced at the clock on Klara's bedside table and nodded. "He should be here any moment."

And, like clockwork, a knock sounded on the door a moment later. Klara released a long heave as Shoshanna left her side to go answer the door. The German woman listened as her friend greeted the doctor, vaguely explaining some of the symptoms as they made their way to the bedroom, before they both appeared in her doorway. The doctor was a portly gentleman in his mid forties and he smiled at her through a large, bushy mustache before settling himself on the edge of her bed.

"Good morning, Miss Bathurst. Your friend here tells me you are in a great deal of pain?" He said pleasantly to her in French. "Would you like to further elaborate for me?"

Klara shot one last withering glare in Shoshanna's direction before nodding and forcing herself to sit up a bit straighter. "I have been sick for over a week now. I cannot keep anything I eat down, I am exhausted, my body is terribly achy…I feel as though death itself is upon me."

"Well, I am here to help." He answered before pulling out a stethoscope and attaching it around his neck.

He went through the usual motions by checking her heart rate, listening to her breathing, and poking at her body with his stubby fingers. She winced here and there at his movements and watched him warily as he made a thoughtful sounds every now and again, staring at her with a calculating look as he tried to determine what was ailing her. He began to poke around on her stomach a bit and when he got to her lower belly, he pursed his lips.

"Miss Bathurst, I must ask…when was your last menstruation cycle?"

Klara's eyebrows shot up so high that they nearly disappeared into her hairline, and for a moment she could only open and close her mouth as she struggled to remember. With everything that had been happening since meeting Donny in the spring time, she hadn't really been keeping track. And with a sinking feeling, Klara realized that she couldn't pinpoint the last time she had actually had her cycle. Her heart began to speed up as Shoshanna's eyes widened.

"I…I…I do not remember." Klara finally admitted.

The doctor smiled and began to pack up his bags, clearly having made his assessment – she suddenly felt as though she might be sick again. "Miss Bathurst, I do believe that you are experiencing many symptoms of a pregnant woman. I do not wish to jump to conclusions so quickly without further information, so perhaps you could gather the strength to come into my office so that we may do further tests and be confident in our answer?"

Pregnant? She couldn't be! This wasn't in the plan, this wasn't something that she was prepared for. "But…sir, there must be a mistake. I cannot be pregnant!"

"You cannot be or do not want to believe you can be?" He retorted quizzically.

Klara gulped and closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath. She and Donny hadn't been careful and she knew that. This shouldn't be coming as such a surprise to her when this was a risk they had been taking all along. "I do not wish to believe I can be." She finally said softly, meeting his gaze guiltily.

"But it is a possibility?"

Klara simply nodded. Shoshanna looked like she may fall over from shock at any moment but when the doctor turned to her, she quickly pulled herself together. Klara, on the other hand, brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. How could she have been so blind to the obvious answer? This was why she had been so hormonal and moody as of recent weeks and this was why she had been so sick lately. What was she going to do now? And further more, what was Donny going to say about this when she finally told him?

Shoshanna agreed to bring Klara in to the doctor's office later that day and once the man had left, Shoshanna sat down next to her with a concerned look. "Are you alright?" She asked, reaching for Klara's hand.

"I cannot tell Donny." Klara said quickly. "He has so much to deal with already. This will be too large of a distraction to him."

"Klara, this is not something you should hide from him." Shoshanna said gently.

"I know!" Klara snapped before taking a calming breath. "I know." She said again, this time in a gentler tone. "I just need to wait for the right time. He will not be able to concentrate on what he has to do if he is worried about the woman he impregnated. If I am…pregnant," the word was hard to get out, "I have to keep this to myself until he is finished with his duties in France."

"And what if it takes him nine months?" Shoshanna asked uncertainly.

Klara sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "If I am indeed pregnant, I will have to deal with that circumstance if it comes to it." She answered with a nod. Then she looked to Shoshanna with a pleading gaze. "Do you think less of me?"

"Of course not." Shoshanna said, pulling her into a hug. When she pulled back, she pulled a face. "Forgive me, but I do think less of you because of the way you smell."

Klara forced a smile onto her face and nodded. "I do as well. Help me to the bathroom so I may wash. Then I will let you take me to the doctor." She said softly.

Shoshanna nodded before offering a comforting smile. "Whatever happens…I am here for you."

Klara smiled a genuine smile then and squeezed her hand. "Thank you."

A/N: Yessssssssss. Review!