"Excuse me?!" Anderson didn't know whether to be furious or shocked- or both. It was the first time someone had actually come out and called him a traitor aloud. His stomach churned and grew tight. There it was- he was a traitor. And he hadn't even been the one to land the plane. A traitor by association.

The anger grew. Not against the cocky colonel in the next cell. No, this anger was towards his men- towards Dawson mostly. He were the one who orchestrated the plan to land the bomber in enemy territory. True, he didn't put up much of a fight, but what was he supposed to do with a gun pointed at his chest? Nothing. But then again, maybe he should've tried. Wasn't death better than this shame?

What made him even more angry was the fact that he just didn't get it. What had made Dawson turn? Sure, he had a little trouble with authority and his taste in radio programs was a little objectionable, but the kid was as patriotic as they came, or he had been. Anderson had flown several missions with him before the whole episode took place and not all of them had been milk runs. The corporal had obviously snapped, but why?

Anderson shook his head. He didn't care. He was tired of this whole mess. He just wanted it to go away. He wanted to go to sleep and wake up back on the ranch in Arizona. Or, at the very least, wake up at Mitchell Airbase, ready to face a new, mutiny-free day in the sky.

"Find someone else to teach you. I'm not a traitor," Anderson said quietly.

The soft declaration almost touched Hogan into leaving the man on the other side of the wall alone- almost. But he wasn't going to let Anderson off the hook. "Oh really? You were the pilot. You saying that your plane just landed itself?"

"No." The voice wasn't angry or spiteful but had a hollow resignation to it.

"I think it's about time you explained to me what happened Captain."

Anderson let out a deep breath. He couldn't, could he? Up to this point he wasn't a traitor- he knew it. A coward, maybe. But a traitor, no. But if he were to tell the colonel what happened, he'd be betraying his men.

The anger rose again. Why shouldn't he?! One good turn deserved another. And that went for bad turns too. His men betrayed him, it was time to return the favour.

"I didn't land that plane, Colonel!"

Hogan almost jumped at the loud outburst- so different from the quiet, defeated tones the captain had used a moment before.

"Well who did? The Germans by remote control?" Hogan shot back.

"No, my men did."

Hogan arched an eyebrow. "Your men? Men who take orders from you. Nice try Captain, but you can't hide behind your men if you gave-"

"I didn't order them to land. It wasn't my idea at all!" Anderson snapped, balling his fist.

"But-"

"If you wanna know what happened, then shut up and listen!… Sir."

Hogan repressed a smile at Anderson's last second addition of 'sir'. "All right Captain, I'll 'shut up and listen." For now, anyway, he didn't add. So far, antagonizing the stubborn captain had been sort of hit and miss. Hogan didn't want to push his luck. Another insult or sarcastic remark from him could stop the captain from explaining. And Hogan really did want to get to the bottom of this whole mess.

Anderson ran a hand through his thick brown hair. Where to start? The beginning… but where was that? The mutiny on the bomber? No. Something had led his men up to that point, but what? Anderson couldn't find the answer and so he decided to go with the bomber.

"That night we went down… it was supposed to be a milk run. Nothing to it. We were going to bomb a train station in Dusseldörf. We were just crossing into Germany and one of my men started spouting off-"

"Who?" Hogan wanted names.

Anderson pretended he hadn't heard him and started where he had left off. "-about how we were-"

"I asked who, Captain." The captain remained silent for a long time. Hogan couldn't really get mad at him for that. He probably felt he needed to protect his men- just as the colonel himself would do. But something Anderson had said earlier rushed to the front of his brain. He had said Dawson liked to listen to Berlin Betty. "Was it Dawson?"

Anderson was stunned. "How did you know?"

"Never mind," Hogan waved the question aside for now. "Just keep going. It was Dawson, wasn't it?"

Anderson let out a ragged breath as he felt his anger grow. "Yeah, it was him. Kept rattling on about how we were bombing civilians and how there was a glorious future for Germany, yada, yada. I kicked him out of the cockpit, but the others agreed with him and he came back with a gun and Lieutenant Richards landed the plane… The rest is history I guess."

Hogan considered what the captain had just told him. Under normal circumstances, he would be beyond sceptical. But the explanation was so absurd that Hogan found himself actually believing it. But he needed more proof than just Anderson's word.

"You expect me to believe all this?" Hogan asked, switching back to antagonizing the other man.

"Frankly sir, I don't care whether you do or not!" Anderson snapped.

"I didn't think so." Just then, Hogan could hear the guards making their rounds. Both prisoners remained silent until they had left. Hogan glanced at the tile that hid the entrance to the tunnel. He had to go down and give Kinch an update. "Well, good night Captain," Hogan said with a fake yawn.

"I thought you wanted me to help you get outta here," Anderson replied, perplexed by the colonel's sudden change in attitude.

"Later. Night Captain." Hogan sat against the wall and silently waited until he could hear Anderson settle down in his cot. Then, he pulled aside the tile and lowered himself into the tunnels below. When he reached the main room, he tapped on the ladder and waited. A moment later, the entrance to Barracks Two opened and Hogan climbed up. He was greeted by Kinch, who still looked half-asleep. The other men were still asleep, but Hogan didn't bother waking them. Kinch would do.

"What's up Colonel?" Kinch asked, quickly shaking himself awake.

"I just had a nice talk with Anderson. He said he wasn't responsible for what happened. One of his men, Dawson, was." Hogan gave Kinch a quick synopsis of his conversation with Anderson.

"You believe him Colonel?"

Hogan shrugged. "Crazy thing is, I do. But we have to make sure. I want you to talk to Dawson tomorrow."

"Is that it, Colonel?"

"For now. Night Kinch."

"Colonel, before you go; have you given any thought to what you're going to do about General Burkhalter and that doctor?"

Hogan shrugged. "I've got a few ideas. But I'll need Anderson's help. And for that, I need you to prove his story right."

"Count on us Colonel," Kinch grinned as Hogan made his way back into the tunnel.

"I always do," Hogan smiled back before disappearing into the dark.

Roll call was uneventful. It usually was when Hogan wasn't there. Kinch waited until the Kommandant had dismissed them before gathering Newkirk, LeBeau and Carter together. "Okay guys, we've got two hours before 0900." Kinch gave them each two men to cover. He'd take Corporal Dawson and Lieutenant Richards, who was the co-pilot, himself. The group dispersed, each trekking across the compound to find their target.

Kinch found Dawson lounging outside of his barracks, watching a volleyball game that had broken out amongst the men. "Hey Corporal," Kinch greeted in as friendly a manner as he could.

Dawson looked away from the game and stood a little taller. "Morning, sir."

Kinch was momentarily taken aback. He hadn't expected Dawson to acknowledge his rank- many new prisoners overlooked it, concerned only with the color of his skin, not how many stripes he had. He especially hadn't expected it from a man who had surrendered voluntarily to the Nazis, a group that didn't exactly have a high tolerance of other races.

"Something wrong?" Dawson asked.

"Yeah, there is actually," Kinch replied, deciding he needed to come straight to the point before he started to like the corporal. "You surrendered to the Germans, and I wanna know why." Dawson paled but stayed silent. Kinch decided to give a little push. "We know you were the one behind it all, Dawson."

"How did you-"

"We've been talking to the rest of the crew. They said you pulled a gun on Anderson and forced Lieutenant Richards to land the plane."

"I didn't force him! He wanted to!" Dawson protested.

"Why?"

Dawson struggled to come up with an answer. He wasn't sure what to tell him. Finally, he decided to go with the truth. He only hoped Kinch would believe it. "It wasn't because I like the Nazis or anything. I don't. I just couldn't bear the thought of dropping any more bombs on people who didn't do anything to me- little kids, little old ladies… They didn't ask to be Germans, it's not their fault!" Dawson sighed. "And the Germans, they're so powerful, nothing can stop them! I just didn't see the point to it anymore. There's no point in trying to tear down the 'glorious Third Reich'." Dawson slumped against the barracks. "Either way, I'm a traitor," he admitted quietly.

Kinch regarded him for a moment before continuing. He sounded so sincere, Kinch had a hard time doubting it. "Why the sudden attack of conscience? That Berlin Betty finally get to you?" Kinch tried to make it sound like a joke, but there was an urgency in his voice that he couldn't hide.

Dawson almost laughed, but then his eyes grew wide, almost in shock. "You know… This is going to sound crazy, sergeant, but I really started thinking about all this when I was listening to her on the radio. But that doesn't really mean anything. Does it?" It struck Dawson as odd that the sergeant had asked that particular question as if he expected and knew the answer.

Kinch threw him a wry smile. "Maybe Dawson, maybe. You might not be the traitor you think you are after all."