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Chapter 2

When Hogan arrived at the kommandantur, he sped up ahead of Schultz and burst into the room unannounced. He found a robed and slippered Klink angrily berating a thoroughly confused looking Newkirk in his nightshirt. Luftwaffe Corporal Mueller stood to one side looking as bored as he ever did.

Hogan didn't waste time, interrupting Klink one step inside the office door. "I must protest, Kommandant!"

Klink rounded in on him, as Hogan intended. "Colonel Hogan, I am not interested in your protests! A prisoner was caught outside the barracks, obviously trying to escape and that is grounds for punishment!" He turned back to Newkirk. "Tell me! How were you going to escape? Go through the wire, hmmm? Sneak into one of the trucks? Tell me or it's sixty days in the cooler for you!"

Hogan tried to intervene again. He didn't like the fact that Newkirk seemed unable to answer. It wasn't unusual for the man to get caught pulling some sort of stunt, whether something Hogan ordered or some prank of his own. It was strange for him to not have a glib explanation ready. "Kommandant, don't be ridiculous, if Newkirk were escaping, he would hardly have been trying it while not even dressed!"

Newkirk had both arms wrapped around his ribs and was visibly shivering. At Hogan's words, he made an effort to look more pitiful, but it was hardly needed. "Y-yes sir... I wasn't t-trying to escape, herr Kommandant."

"Then what were you doing outside of the barracks?!" Klink stomped his foot, forgetting he was in slippers. He hopped slightly on one leg, favoring the foot for a few seconds. "You will tell me what you were up to!"

Newkirk almost cringed backwards. "I don't know! I don't remember leaving the barracks. Mueller said I was sleepwalking!" He turned to appeal to the stoic guard standing in the corner. "Tell the kommandant! You said I was asleep!"

"Ja, herr Kommandant. He looked asleep." Mueller shrugged, disinterested now that he'd done his part in finding the prisoner and taking him to the appropriate officer.

"That's ridiculous!" Klink waved his arms. "You expect me to believe this man was sleepwalking around a prison camp?"

Schultz finally spoke up. "The Englander did it before, Kommandant Klink. He was sleepwalking and I found him. He didn't even wake up when I called his name." He gave Newkirk a look. "Maybe he was sleepwalking again."

Hogan seized on the bizarre excuse. "See? That explains why he wasn't dressed. Obviously if it were an escape attempt, he would have on warm clothing. So he was just sleepwalking." He stepped over and put a hand on Newkirk's shoulder. He could feel the shivers through the flannel cloth. "I should just take him back to his bunk. We'll make sure he stays in it the rest of the night, Colonel Klink." He looked over at Mueller with a grateful expression pasted on his face. "Thank you Corporal Mueller for finding him. I mean, he could have hurt himself wandering around the compound at night! It was good of you to bring him right to Kommandant Klink too! We all know how the kommandant cares about making sure all his prisoners are safe at all times. You knew he would want to make certain poor Corporal Newkirk wasn't injured." Hogan turned his look onto the officer. "We're just lucky to have you as our kommandant. Who knows what sort of brutal treatment he could have had!"

Klink's expression was wavering now. The man craved approval, despite the approval coming from one of his prisoners. Colonel Hogan was a master at giving him exactly the right mix of praise and irritation so that he was flattered but still wanted to simply end the interaction as soon as possible. "Well, of course I never condone brutal treatment..." His gaze sharpened as he turned on the nervous Englishman. "You would do well to make certain you stay sleeping in your barracks from now on. Not all the guards would be so forgiving as Mueller." There was a soft sigh of annoyance from the guard in question. "Hogan... take him back to the barracks and make sure he doesn't repeat this again." Klink dismissed them and returned to his quarters without even waiting for his office to empty of people.

Schultz immediately shooed them out, leaving Mueller to shut off the light and close the doors. The big guard spoke quietly. "I will take them back to the barracks, Corporal Mueller. Resume your patrol." Mueller nodded and hefted his rifle up onto his shoulder and disappeared into the night without any more response than a salute. Schultz waved at the two prisoners. "Come, back to the barracks. Newkirk, you cannot be wandering the compound at night. It is much too dangerous." he scolded gently. "Please, no more walks tonight."

"I didn't bloody well mean to be out 'ere in the first place, Schultz." Newkirk's teeth were chattering loud enough to hear. "If I came out on me own, I would 'ave me sodding boots on at least!"

Hogan glanced down, startled to see the man in nothing but wet socks. "You were sleepwalking?"

Newkirk cursed softly as he walked through a patch of snow accidentally. "Yes! Yes, for the last bleeding time, I didn't come out 'ere on me own!" He was obviously trying to hurry without running. Running through the compound after dark was the easy way to get shot. Even mostly tame guards would get antsy over that.

Hogan lengthened his stride to speed up their progress. "Well, with your reputation, it's always a question, isn't it?" His attempt at humor fell a bit flat.

Not particularly in a joking mood, Newkirk snorted loudly as he reached the door of Barracks 2. Before he could open it, LeBeau snatched it open and began berating him in French. The Englishman winced and shouldered his friend slightly aside to enter. "Bloody well leave off, Louis! I'm freezing and..." His voice suddenly rose in anger. "...and if you're going to yell at me, do it in bloody English!"

Hogan's voice cut through both of theirs to silence them. "Quiet down, both of you." He turned to nod at Schultz. "Thanks Schultz, we'll keep him inside." He closed the door firmly and then sighed as he ran one hand through his hair. "Newkirk..."

"I didn't bloody well walk out there on purpose!" The Brit was standing and shivering violently by their stove. "I swear, sir, I was asleep and then Mueller was shaking me like a dog with a ruddy bone and next thing I know, Klink is yelling at me!" His distress was evident and although he was a very good actor, Hogan was nearly as good at catching him out if he lied to them.

"Calm down." Hogan's eyes went around the room. "Everyone just calm down. Newkirk was sleepwalking apparently and he's fine and everyone is going back to bed. Right now. That's an order." He picked up one of their few chairs and wedged it under the door handle. "That should keep you in, if you manage to get back up."

LeBeau frowned and then grabbed the empty coffeepot and a saucepan to set on top of the chair carefully. "There, if Pierre tries to move the chair, it'll fall down and wake up someone." He still looked upset with his friend. "No more scaring everyone! You'd better have been sleepwalking too, instead of some stupid prank." His eyes flickered away for a moment before he reached out to squeeze the man's arm. "You could have been shot."

"I know." Taking a deep breath in, Newkirk nodded at him. "I know. I wasn't pulling anything. And I never walked in me sleep before." He did manage a half smile for Hogan then. "Well, not for real, anyway. I swear, sir, I wasn't pranking."

Hogan chuckled softly at him then. "I know you weren't. If you'd planned on going outside, you'd have boots on. Go on, go back to sleep. Better to talk about it in the morning." He gestured to the door. "And whoever gets up first, other than Newkirk, move the chair so Langenschiedt doesn't break down the door in the morning trying to burst in here to get us for roll call." He gave a pat to Newkirk's shoulder and went back to his office, yawning widely as he did so.

As soon as the door shut, Olson rolled to lean half off his bunk. "Seriously, did you sleepwalk? Where were you going?"

Carter lifted up from his bunk. "Were you dreaming about something? Maybe you were dreaming you were running and so you ran in your dream? I bet that was it!"

Kinch's deep voice came from the far side of the barracks. "If Newkirk was running, he was probably chasing pretty frauliens in his sleep." Soft laughter ran around the barracks.

Hogan's door opened back up. "Turn off the lights, boys, it's a school night."

"Yes sir." Newkirk hobbled over to shut the lights off and climbed up into his bunk.

Carter noticed his limping and levered himself up to look at him with concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." His voice was already sleepy. All the adrenaline was seeping out of his system leaving him exhausted. Newkirk mustered up a tired smile for his friend though. "I walked through a bunch of snow. I'll be fine in the morning."

"Are you sure? Here, I can get your coat and put it over your legs, that'll keep them warmer!" Carter was already dragging the English greatcoat down and shaking it out to drape over top of the blanket. It was big enough to act as a second blanket all by itself. "There, that should be better."

"Thanks Carter." Newkirk had learned long ago it was easier to just agree and move on than to argue with Carter over small things. "Go to bed before the guv'ner 'ears you and yells at us all."

"Sorry!" whispered Carter. "Good night!" He clambered back down into his own alcove and curled up under his blanket with a great deal of flopping around and movements. Eventually the shaking of the bunks stopped as he found the most comfortable spot.

Although part of his brain was still worried over his actions, Newkirk fell asleep quickly again. He wasn't a sleepwalker. It must have been a chance thing. Maybe he'd dreamed about providing a distraction again and acted it out in real life. His eyes closed and he was asleep before he could reassure himself any further on it.

The barracks quieted as everyone slipped back into the interrupted sleep for the night.

End Chapter

Well, at least he's not hurt! Thank you for reading. Next chapter soon!