Author's Note: I don't own Hogan's Heroes. This is a fictional story, any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.
Newkirk and LeBeau made their way through the woods until they reached the main road. Keeping to the side of the road, they walked quickly, but with a great deal of caution. They were nervous, but exhilarated. This was the first time on a mission in over two months, even longer for Newkirk. He was fighting butterflies as he approached the black, Audi 920. He walked around to the driver's side and opened the door. He checked to see if the keys were in the ignition. When he found them, he signaled LeBeau, "Keys are 'ere, this must be it."
LeBeau nodded reaching for the driver's door, "I'll drive."
"'Old on a minute, mate." Newkirk said, pulling him back, "You get to meet the contact. I get to drive."
LeBeau looked displeased, but reluctantly agreed by walking around to the passenger's side. Newkirk chuckled as he climbed into the car and started the engine. He pulled on to the road and drove towards Dusseldorf. "You know, I'm not gonna lose it." Newkirk said, keeping his eyes on the road.
LeBeau glanced over at him, in surprise, "Of course not, Pierre. Nobody thinks that."
Newkirk shrugged, "You guys sure 'ave a funny way of showin' it."
LeBeau rolled his eyes then scrunched down and put the fedora over his face. Newkirk glanced at him,
"What are ya doin'?"
"I am taking a nap." LeBeau answered, "We have a couple of hours until we reach Dusseldorf."
After a few minutes, Newkirk heard soft snores coming from the little Frenchman. He relaxed slightly, letting his guard down. He had one thought playing in his mind over and over,
I can do this...I can handle this.
1***************************************************************1
Klink stumbled into the sitting room, picked up the phone, and said sleepily, "Hello."
"What took you so long, Klink?!"
Klink pulled the phone from his ear, instantly waking up, "I was sleeping, Major Hochstetter."
"Never mind. Call Hogan to your office and have him stay there until the morning."
"I beg your pardon?" Klink said, not sure if he was hearing correctly.
"Order Hogan to your office and have him stay there until I get there in the morning."
"But, why?" Klink asked, confused, "Is there something wrong?"
"KLINK! DO AS YOU ARE TOLD!"
"Yes, Major, any thing I can do for the Gestapo..." Klink replied, as he heard the click indicating that Hochstetter had hung up, "What does that man have against sleep?" he grumbled.
Klink hung up the phone and went back to his bedroom. After dressing quickly, he went to his office, sending for Schultz as soon as he had settled into his chair. He was sitting with his elbow on the desk and his chin in his hand, his eyes were fluttering in an effort to remain awake.
"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant?" Schultz said, stepping into the room and saluting.
"Ahh, yes, " Klink said, jerking upright, "Schultz, you are to get Hogan and bring him here immediately."
Schultz looked at him, "Now?" he questioned, puzzled.
"Of course now, dummkopf." Klink snapped.
Schultz snapped into a salute and quickly left to get Hogan.
1****************************************************1
Down in the tunnel Hogan, Kinch, and Carter were seated in the radio room waiting for their European comrades to return with the package.
"What do you think the package is?" Carter asked, drinking the last swallow of his third cup of coffee.
Kinch shrugged, "Could be papers or plans...it could even be a prototype of some kind."
"I can't wait to see." Carter said, excitedly, "It's almost like Christmas."
"We aren't going to see what it is." Hogan interrupted, "If London wanted us to know what it is they would have told us."
"Aren't you even curious?" Kinch asked, with a grin.
Hogan chuckled, "Of course, I am. But we have orders." his gaze shifted to Carter, who had started to pour his fourth cup of coffee, "Ease up on the coffee, Carter. We won't have time for pit-stops."
"Colonel!" Sergeant Olsen whispered, urgently from the tunnel's entrance in the barracks, "Schultz is coming."
Hogan turned to Kinch and Carter, and motioned for them to get up to the barracks. He followed them up and had just lowered the bunk over the entrance, when Schultz opened the door and turned on the lights. The room flooded with light, revealing Olsen trying to climb into his bunk, Kinch standing beside his, and Carter had just gotten into his. Hogan prepared for some fast-talking as Schultz walked over to him.
"Colonel Hogan, why are you all up?" Schultz asked, his eyes drifting from a fully-dressed Carter to the empty bunk above, "Where is Newkirk?" Schultz's eyes darted rapidly around the room as he did a mental check of the remaining prisoners, " And LeBeau? Where is the cockroach?"
"Now, Schultz, watch your blood-pressure." Hogan cautioned, "They just stepped out for a moment, they'll be right back."
Schultz's eyes widened, so that they rivaled saucers, "I must report this." he reached into his pocket for his whistle.
"All right, Schultz." Hogan said, sorrowfully, "I won't try to stop you...You do your duty."
Schult found the whistle and had it up to his lips, before he stopped, "You aren't going to talk me out of reporting this?" he questioned.
Hogan shook his head, "Of course not, Schultz." He clapped Schultz on the back, "Why, I think what you're doing is commendable." he smiled, "I don't know if I could have the strength of character that you have."
"Strength of character?" Schultz asked, completely lost in what Hogan was saying.
"It takes a man of great character to turn himself in." Hogan said, shooting Schultz a look of admiration.
"Turn myself in?" Schultz said, turning pale.
"You were on guard duty, Schultz." Carter piped up from his bunk.
"Yeah." Kinch said, "I hope they won't be too hard on you."
Hogan shook his head, "They won't be too harsh. I mean you reported yourself. The worst they'll do is send you to the front-line."
"Russia?" Schultz said, in despair.
Hogan looked down, struggling to control his emotions, "Be sure and write, Schultz."
Schultz glanced from one prisoner to another, who either met his gaze sorrowfully or looked away. He put his whistle in his pocket and turned to Hogan, "Come, the kommandant wants to see you." he said, grudgingly
Hogan looked surprised, but recovered, "What for?"
"I know nothing!" Schultz replied, "I don't want to know anything! Please, Colonel Hogan, come with me before we both get into trouble."
Hogan pushed the hefty guard ahead of him, "Then, let's go, Schultz. I'm dying to know what the old Iron Eagle wants." Hogan turned before he left and motioned for Kinch to go to the office. As soon as the door shut, Kinch went for the office followed by Carter and Olsen. Kinch grabbed the coffee pot and pulled the speaker out of the middle and connected the wire. They heard the door to Klink's office open and shut, then Schultz's voice was heard,
"Kommandant, Colonel Hogan as ordered."
"You may go back to your duties, Schultz." Klink said, dismissing the sergeant, "Hogan, have a seat."
"What can I do for you, Kommandant," Hogan said, "That cannot wait until morning?"
"Nothing." Klink replied, sounding bored and sleepy
"Then what am I doing here?" Hogan said, sounding perplexed.
"I have no idea." Klink said.
Kinch and Carter looked at each other, worriedly.
"He's off his rocker." Carter said, shaking his head.
"Was he ever on?" Oslen replied, with a smirk
"SHH!" Kinch said, trying to listen.
"Kommandant, quit playing games. It's late, what am I doing here?" Hogan said, tiredly.
"You aren't the only one who's exhausted." Klink snapped, irritably, "I was asleep in bed when Major Hochstetter called and said to bring you to my office all night."
"All night?" Hogan questioned, his voice raising.
"Yes, all night." Klink answered, "So get comfortable."
"According to the Geneva Convention..." Hogan started, but was cut off by Klink.
"I know what the Convention says," Klink cut him off, before he could get snowed by the American. "But, I have my orders. You can sleep for all I care, but you are to remain in my office."
"Very well, Kommandant." Hogan resigned, "Do you have a deck of cards?"
Kinch called into the other room for Sergeant Richard Baker, "Monitor the bug in Klink's office, let me know if they say anything interesting." he said, as the young man entered the office and sat down in front of the coffee pot.
Kinch turned to Olsen, "Keep an eye at the door, let me know..."
"If anything interesting happens," Olsen interrupted, waving him on. "You got it."
Kinch motioned for Carter to follow him. The pair climbed down into the tunnel, and through to the radio room. Kinch sat down at the radio, he picked up the microphone, then paused.
"What are you gonna do?" Carter asked.
Kinch set the microphone down, "I don't know...I just don't know."
1*************************************************1
Newkirk pulled the car to a stop about a block away from the hotel. They were late, almost an hour late. Reaching over, he shook LeBeau, "Come on, mate. We're 'ere."
LeBeau sat up and ran one hand over his face as he yawned, "How do you want to play it?"
Newkirk shrugged, "You're in the lead."
LeBeau nodded, "I'll go in first, then you follow in about five minutes. Hang back, but stay close enough, in case I need you."
"Right."
LeBeau climbed out of the car and walked towards the hotel. He looked both ways and crossed the street, quickly. He went up the steps and opened the door to the hotel. Stepping inside, he made his way into the dinning room. Walking up to the bar, he ordered a schnapps. The bar-keeper set a glass on the bar and poured the drink. LeBeau handed him several marks, "Busy tonight?"
The bar-keep shrugged, "No more than any other night."
LeBeau sipped his drink and glanced around the room. A young couple sat on the far side of the room, they were absorbed in each other. Obviously not them. He thought, Ah, to be in love. Over in a booth beside the window sat a teen with white-blonde hair, smoking and sipping a beer. Why isn't he in the army? LeBeau started to feel uneasy, I know him...Where do I know him? He racked his brain trying to think of where he could have met him. He downed the rest of his schnapps and was about to leave, giving in to the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach, when he caught sight of a redheaded woman in the corner. Ladybird.
He couldn't see her face, as it was behind a book. It had to be her, though. She was the only redhead in the room. Glancing over at the young man in the booth, he shoved his suspicions aside and sat down at the table beside her's, back towards her. Picking up the menu, he pretended to study it. "Jack Sprat could eat no fat." He said, just loud enough for her to hear. He heard the book close,
"London bridge is falling down." Came the recognition code in a soft, French accented voice.
That voice! He thought, Non, it cannot be. "Is that you, Jocelyn?" He whispered, softly in French.
Ladybird glanced over at him, "Louis?"
LeBeau smiled softly, still keeping his back to her, "Jocelyn, don't look at me...don't call attention to us."
She picked up her coffee cup and gently sipped, "What are the chances? You are my contact, yes?"
"Oui, I am here for the package..." He paused, looking up when Newkirk stepped into the dinning room, "Where is it?"
Newkirk ordered a beer and pulled his hat off, setting it on the bar, "Danke." He picked up his beer and took a big swallow. He had seen LeBeau sitting beside a pretty redhead, who must've been the contact. He grinned, I wish I was on lead. His smile vanished when he looked over at the other end of the room. Wilburt! He suppressed a wave of nausea and turned his back to the young German, If 'e's 'ere, so's Lutzen. His mind raced, anything he did to warn LeBeau would just call attention to himself and blow their cover. He turned to the bar-keep, asking quietly in German, "Is there a back-door?"
The keep nodded, motioning to the door behind the young lovers. Newkirk paid for his beer and walked as normally as he could towards the back-door, hoping LeBeau would see him and get the message.
"Louis, I am being followed." Jocelyn said, faintly. "I have hidden the package upstairs. I..."
Suddenly, there was a loud whistle, causing Newkirk, LeBeau, and Jocelyn to jump. Several men in S.S. uniforms stood in the door way. One of them, a man in his late twenties, shouted out, "Halt! By order of the Gestapo, everyone is to remain on the premises until further notice."
Newkirk's gaze was fixed on the back-door. I could make it. He looked over at LeBeau. The Frenchman's mouth turned up, slightly, at the corners and he gave a faint nod. He wants me to go. Newkirk hesitated, I can't just leave him. He was still wrestling with the decision, when it was made for him,
"Englander?!" Wilburt cried out in disbelief.
All at once, Newkirk took off like a shot. Crossing the room in an instant and flinging open the door and exiting the building.
The man at the door pulled his pistol, "After him, Fielderbach!"
"Yes, Lieutenant!" Wilburt called, over his shoulder.
The Lieutenant walked over to LeBeau and Jocelyn, "You are under arrest for treason against the Third Reich."
"I don't understand..." Jocelyn tried to spin her way out of the situation.
"Where is the film you stole?" The Lieutenant asked, stiffly.
"Now, let's not be hasty." A voice boomed, from the door. LeBeau looked up, and paled. Lutzen. The general strode over to them, oozing confidence, "So you are the infamous Papa Bear?" he chuckled, "I would have thought you would be over two meters tall and have sharp pointed teeth."
"I don't understand." LeBeau said, with a nervous smile, "I am not a bear."
"You aren't Colonel Hogan, either." Lutzen smirked, turning to address the Lieutenant, "You'll be sure to tell Hochstetter that he was wrong, won't you?"
"You aren't taking them to Hammelburg?" The Lieutenant asked, in surprise.
"Nein, they will be taken directly to Berlin." Lutzen said, his face contorting with anger, "Last time I didn't take a prisoner to Berlin, he got away."
1*********************************************1
Newkirk heard the footsteps behind him. He ran faster, knowing only one thing, I can't let 'im get me...not again. He took a turn, into an alley, hoping to trick the young man. It would have worked, had Newkirk not caught his foot on a trash can, sending it flying with a loud clatter.
No...No... He thought, as he came to a stop. The alley ended with a brick wall. He jumped up trying to catch the top of the wall.
Hearing the clatter, Wilburt ran into the alley way. He stopped short as he saw the Englander frantically trying to climb a ten foot, brick wall.
Newkirk spun to face the kid, ready to fight. Wilburt paused, as he took in Newkirk's appearance. His eyes were wild and frightened, like an animal that was backed into a corner. An animal that knew this could only end one of two ways, escape or death.
Wilburt pointed the gun in the air and fired twice, causing Newkirk to jump.
"Go," Wilburt said, pointing the way they had come, "Run! Quickly, before they get here."
Newkirk looked uncertain, but took off in a run, back down the alley towards the car. He expected to be shot in the back, but much to his surprise, he made it to the car. Sliding into the driver's seat, he started the motor and stepped on the gas. The car lurched forward, speeding down the road. He ducked down as he heard shots fired behind him.
1************************************************1
Hochstetter picked up the phone as soon as it rang, "Hello? Yes, Friedmann." He listened carefully, "Ja...Ja..." he sprang to his feet, and shouted, "How is that possible!?" Hochstetter slammed the phone down, angrily. Klink will be a private, by the time I'm through with him. He picked the phone up, "Colonel Wilhelm Klink, Stalag Thirteen." As he waited for the operator to connect them, he thought of how much he despised Lutzen. Hogan was his prize, he had been after the American for well over a year. Lutzen had no right invading his territory, bagging his trophy.
"Kommandant Klink."
"Klink, you dummkopf!" Hochstetter shouted, into the phone.
"Major Hochstetter? Whatever is the matter?"
"What is the matter?!" Hochstetter screeched, "I gave you strict orders to have Hogan under your personal watch, all night! You disobeyed me!"
"Nein...I...I did not. I would never disobey an order from the Gestapo."
"Then explain how it is that Papa Bear was captured in Dussefdorf tonight!" Hochstetter said, calming down slightly.
"What?!"
"That's right." Hochstetter said, smugly, "Colonel Hogan was captured at the Dusseldorf Hotel."
"No, he was not, Major. I'm sitting with him, as we speak."
"What?" Hochstetter said, sitting down slowly.
"Colonel Hogan is right in front of me."
Hochstetter's eyes were wide with shock, "Put him on."
"Colonel Robert Hogan speaking...Hello? Major?"
Hochstetter hung up, without saying a word.
Could it be that Hogan isn't Papa Bear?
Have I been chasing my tail for almost two years?
P.S. Next chapter, hope you enjoy it. Much love!
