"Schultzie…" LeBeau sang to the tubby German sergeant from behind. Schultz turned around, knowing that the French corporal wanted him to do something for him before he ever heard him coming, because he could smell that heavenly strudel from a mile away.

"Is that… apple?" Schultz peered over LeBeau's shoulder at the dessert, his stomach growling loudly. No one made strudel like LeBeau.

"The finest apples you could ever hope to taste." LeBeau fawned over his creation like it was his own child. Made with a light cinnamon sauce, which I-"

"Cockroach, please! Tell me what you want, I'll do anything- a-ny-thing!" Schultz's eyes were fixed on the dessert and seemed to be incapable of looking away.

"It's time to reunite baby Anna with her parents," LeBeau explained, handing Schultz just a bite of the strudel.

The sergeant gulped the bit of strudel down greedily, his eyes rolling in sheer delight as he savored the dessert. "Of course, baby Anna!" he agreed, his voice slightly muffled. He swallowed and nodded. "I will go. But, LeBeau…"

LeBeau chuckled a little and handed him the plate that the strudel was in. "Yes, you can have the rest before you go. But hurry!"

It'll buy Newkirk a few extra minutes with his little princesse, he thought, smiling. He'd miss her, too- the men could get homesick sometimes in the camp and the infant girl had certainly brightened their days of late. He was glad she could go back to her family, but at the same time, he really hated to see her go.

҉҉҉

Newkirk was sitting on his bunk, holding Anna for the last time. She liked it when he tapped her on the nose or the stomach, and she would giggle and smile and move about. When he rocked her, she liked to nestle her downy little head in the crook of his arm and fall asleep. "I'm going to miss you so much," he sighed, letting her suck happily on his finger. "I wish you were mine, love, I'd take you home to England after the war and show you all the castles and take you to Brighton in the summer, and teach you how to pick locks…"

"Pick locks?" repeated a somewhat amused French accent.

"Hey, LeBeau," Newkirk said without enthusiasm, never looking up from his little darling.

LeBeau stood on his tiptoes to look over Newkirk's shoulder and smiled sadly. "I wish you were staying, mon Cherie," he told her, watching her little cheeks puff out and suck in as she continued sucking on Newkirk's finger instinctively in her sleep.

"That's right, sleep," he whispered gently to her, stroking her small head. He sang softly to her in French, using a song he remembered his parents singing to him. "Fais do-do, chér bebe, fais do-do… fais do-do, jolie bebe, fais do-do…"*

She wriggled in contentment at Newkirk's rocking and the sound of LeBeau's singing, and LeBeau thought he heard Newkirk sniffle but decided not to say anything. "Time to go?" he asked quietly after finishing his lullaby, and Newkirk nodded sadly. "I guess so. Blimey, I'm going to miss her."

Schultz came in just then and noted Newkirk's Gestapo uniform. His eyes went wide. "Corporal Newkirk, where did you get that?"

"I thought you saw nothing," the Englishman responded.

Sometimes Schultz' life was truly a torturous one. "Yes… nothing," he moaned, taking Anna into his arms. "I see nothing."

҉҉҉

It was a good thing Carter was in the barracks for this mission, because there were still plenty of sticks and dry leaves for the young sergeant to step on. Luckily, Newkirk was quick and light on his feet, and they had successfully followed Schultz unnoticed so far.

Hogan stood behind a tree at the edge of the woods and motioned for Newkirk to follow him. LeBeau was close behind, and hard to spot with his small frame. The three men watched as Schultz walked with Anna to the Gestapo prison, Klink's signature in his pocket. Anna was wrapped in blankets to keep her warm, but had started crying when she realized she was no longer with Newkirk.

"I'm right behind ya, love," he wanted to say, but of course, he couldn't. So instead, he silently followed his commander, looking behind him to watch out for LeBeau as well.

When Schultz reached the prison Hogan hid behind a fence and ducked, waving Newkirk and LeBeau over. They crouched in the dark and watched around the corner as Schultz walked in. Hogan swallowed. Schultz was not a commanding or intimidating man, hopefully he'd remember to state that he had orders from Colonel Klink and simply get Konrad and Liesel the hell out of prison.

The men all felt sick with apprehension after waiting for minutes on end, but at last, Schultz arrived with a disheveled-looking young couple and Anna.

"Now," Hogan whispered to Newkirk, who walked onto the scene with the serious air of a Gestapo major.

"Sergeant Schultz, I presume?" he asked coldly in a German accent. The young woman, who must have been Liesel, gasped as Schultz nodded. "I'm ordered to escort you outside of the property."

Schultz saw Newkirk's face and his eyes widened again. "I know nothing," he mouthed, letting out a small whine. Newkirk nodded and walked with Schultz and the couple behind the fence, Anna's crying having ceased now that she was back with her parents.

When Schultz saw Hogan and LeBeau, he waited until they were all out of earshot of the real Gestapo and then blurted out, "That is it! You know there are some things I have to report!"

LeBeau gave Schultz a pleading lip, his lower lip stuck out in a pout. "Come on, Schultzie, you wouldn't report your strudel connection, would you?"

"What is going on?" demanded Konrad.

"Colonel Robert E. Hogan," Hogan introduced himself, reaching out to shake Konrad's hand. "'Papa Bear'."

Newkirk and LeBeau introduced themselves as well, and Liesel sighed in relief as she held Anna close to her breast. "I cannot thank you all enough," she expressed, smiling down at her child. "Konrad and I were so worried about our little sweetheart."

"Well, you won't have to worry anymore," Hogan assured her. "We'll get you all safely on your way to Switzerland and nothing will separate you from Anna again."

Anna yawned softly and looked at Newkirk. Suddenly her little lip trembled and she began crying all over again, reaching out her tiny arms to the Englishman. Liesel chuckled softly. "Well, sir, it seems she wants to say goodbye."

She let Newkirk rock her one last time, and he enjoyed every second of it, wishing he never had to give her up. He kissed her head and at last handed her back to her mother. "Be good, love," he whispered, "be good for Uncle Peter."

He swallowed and wiped his watery eyes with his sleeve as they took Liesel and Konrad to the rendezvous point where another underground agent would pick the couple up. They all waited until they were sure Anna and her family had safely gotten on their ride before heading back to camp.

"And what am I supposed to say when we get back to camp?" Schultz demanded as he walked the prisoners back. "You will be in Gestapo uniforms, and how do I explain that to the commandant?"

"Tell him we tried to escape," Hogan replied simply. "You'll get the credit."

Schultz nodded, murmuring something under his breath about forgetting the prisoners, he was the one who wanted to escape sometimes. "Now tell me, Colonel Hogan, what is really the whole story behind baby Anna?"

Hogan flashed his most amiable grin. "Well, if you want the whole truth we run this underground operation where we gather information and send it to London with this handy little radio beneath the barracks, and Anna's parents were part of it all!"

Schultz scoffed. "Jolly joker," he muttered, though he asked no further question. Surely, Hogan was kidding.

҉҉҉

"Message from London, Colonel," Kinch announced, putting down his radio headset. "Anna and her parents made it safely to Switzerland."

Hogan smiled. "That's great, Kinch. Hey, where's Newkirk? I know he'll be glad to hear his Anna's safe."

"Did someone say my name?" Newkirk descended the ladder into the tunnel. "Sorry, Colonel, I was… occupied."

"That's all right, just wanted to tell you that Anna and her family are all safe and sound in Switzerland." Hogan's eyes traveled down to Newkirk's coat pocket when he heard a small squeak. A kitten poked its soft, orange head up and looked at him curiously.

Hogan rubbed his temples. "Newkirk… don't tell me you've already found someone else to get attached to."

Newkirk picked up the kitten and looked at Hogan pleadingly. "Come on, Colonel, 'e won't cause us no harm, 'e wont. 'E can be our little mascot! Surely a kitten's easier to take care of than a baby!"

Hogan sighed. Usually, when a task would "surely" be easy, it wasn't. But maybe Newkirk was lonely, and the kitten was cute…

"Oh, all right," he caved. "We can keep him."

Newkirk smiled down at the tiny cat. "Did you hear that?" he asked. "You're our mascot!"

Hogan studied the kitten closely. He was very young. Great, he would be crying or hungry or wanting to play during all hours of the night. But there was no way he could say no to a kitten. "Newkirk, next time you find another potential mascot, try not to find a cute one, okay?"

Newkirk grinned mischievously. "No promises, sir."

FINIS

*That was an old lullaby my dad used to sing to me. It meant something like "go to sleep, dear pretty baby", so I thought it would be a sweet song for LeBeau to sing to Anna. :3