A/N: Sorry for being so late on this chapter, I've been having to catch up on school plus practice for auditions for the play earlier this week, so I had to temporarily abandon writing until I got everything else under control. Anyway, I'm back now, with Hogan and Newkirk and cute little Anna! :3
"I've got a message from London, Colonel." Kinch was sitting at the tunnel radio; he and the others had been waiting all day because Hogan couldn't carry out his plan until he knew where Anna's parents were.
Hogan was leaning with his back to the wall, his cap pulled slightly over his face, but now he stood straight, lifting his hat, which tousled his hair a little. "Great, what's the news?"
"They've located Anna's parents," Kinch responded, and a cheer rose up from the men.
"Did you hear that, love?" Newkirk bounced Anna softly in his lap, making her giggle and smile. "London's found your mum and dad!" He smiled but when the full truth of what he said resonated within him, he paused for a moment and swallowed. "Your mum and dad…" he repeated softly.
"They're in a Gestapo prison," Kinch elaborated.
"Oh, well that's bloody perfect." Newkirk frowned as he rocked Anna softly. "How do we get 'em out?"
"I've got some explosives to blow down the cell door!" Carter automatically supplied.
"Thanks, Carter, but the idea is to save Anna's parents, not kill them," Hogan told the young sergeant. "No, I've got a different plan entirely."
Kinch nodded. "And where does Sergeant Schultz fit in to this 'different plan'?" queried LeBeau.
"You'll see soon enough," Hogan replied, "first thing's first. Kinch, I need those names."
"On it, sir."
Kinch turned on the radio and tuned into London's wavelength. "Calling Mama Bear, this is Goldilocks. Do you read me, Mama Bear?"
"Loud and clear, Goldilocks." Few times before had the anonymous voice on the other end been so refreshing to hear.
Kinch smiled as he adjusted his headset over his ears and hat. "Do you know the names of Baby Bear's parents yet?"
The men fell silent and Newkirk looked down at Anna, who was now sleeping in his lap. Her little face was relaxed and peaceful, with a smile that indicated she was content to be in the Englishman's arms. Newkirk hated the thought of giving her up. He almost wished, selfishly, that he could keep her. But no, she had to have parents.
"Getting attached, Newkirk?" Hogan asked with a little grin, looking over his friend's shoulder at the sleeping child.
"I can't help it, sir. Just look at that face." Hogan did, and didn't want to look away. She was so cute…
"This is going to be a hard mission," he sighed, tracing his finger along Anna's soft cheeks. "Because it's the first one I'd almost rather not accomplish."
Scene Change (duh lol I should probably think of something more creative)
"Sergeant Schultz, you're just the man I was looking for," Hogan declared, walking up behind the portly German and giving him a hearty pat on the back like he was "one of the guys". Schultz was making his usual rounds about the barracks while most of the men were outside playing volleyball (other than Newkirk, who was inside tending to Anna).
"I am?" Schultz asked nervously, wanting to know nothing of what was probably Hogan's latest scheme. He swallowed when Hogan beckoned for him to stand against the wall of the barracks and talk.
"It's about the baby," Hogan told him softly. "We just found out that her parents were captured by the Gestapo- wrongly suspected of disloyalty to the Third Reich, of course."
"Of course." Schultz figured Hogan didn't lie about everything, but if he wasn't telling the whole truth in this case, he didn't want to know about it.
"Anyway, how can I get the poor kid's family back to her?" Hogan made his eyes large and sad. "I'm just a prisoner." He looked around as if he was making sure no one was listening and added, "I trust you, Schultz. Do it for Anna, if not for me."
"Do what, Colonel Hogan, do what?" Schultz' voice raised and Hogan motioned downward with his hand to denote a desire for a drop in the sergeant's volume.
"You don't wanna alert the whole camp, do you? Most of them probably think they're really enemies of the Third Reich!"
"Right!" Schultz stood a little straighter, saluting as if he was talking to Klink rather than Hogan. "I swear it, Colonel Hogan, my lips are sealed, I will say nothing, no-thing!"
Hogan grinned and patted Schultz on the back again. "Thanks, Schultz, you're really a pal. Now, here's what I need you to do. I need you to go to the prison where Anna's parents are. Tell the Gestapo you've been ordered to take them to Stalag 13. Can you do that for me?"
Schultz' eyes widened and he gripped his rifle nervously like a child holding onto a stuffed animal. "But Colonel Hogan, I don't have orders and you know it! How can I go behind Colonel Klink's back like that?"
"You won't, because I'll talk to him."
If this was Hogan's attempt at being reassuring, it failed. "Oh, you'll talk to him! Colonel Hogan, sometimes you go too far!"
"Let me show you something, Schultz." Hogan beckoned for the sergeant to follow him into the barracks, where Newkirk laid back on his bunk feeding Anna from a bottle.
Schultz couldn't help but smile at the heartwarming sight. Little Anna looked so peaceful and happy in the Englishman's arms…
"This is a sad sight, Schultz," Hogan commented.
Newkirk and Schultz raised eyebrows simultaneously. "A sad sight, Colonel Hogan? How is this precious scene sad?"
"Yeah, 'at's what I'd like to know!" Newkirk agreed, but then fell silent when he saw the "I'm-planning-something" look in Hogan's eyes.
"Here this precious, innocent child is learning to view Newkirk as her father," Hogan explained, gesturing to Anna, who was now asleep on Newkirk's chest. "But what if she grows too attached? Do you want to cause her all that pain of leaving Newkirk, Schultz, by getting her parents out too late?"
Schultz shook his head vigorously, the corners of his eyes misting as they beheld baby Anna. "No, Colonel Hogan, you are right! I will go get her parents, don't you worry!"
"Thanks, Schultz, I can always count on you," Hogan told him as he left the barracks. Once Schultz was gone Hogan walked over to Newkirk's bunk to look at Anna.
"I'm gonna hate to leave her," he admitted, stroking the soft peach fuzz at the top of the baby's head. "Well, I better go talk to the Kommandant." Newkirk didn't answer. He had fallen asleep holding Anna.