A/N : Oh, yes. It was not mine in the last chapter. The odds it would have become mine between the last and this chapter are kinda low.
April 1944 - Alam Halfa, German Headquarters
"That is sheer incompetence ! Irresponsibility is unacceptable for a soldier of your rank !"
The bellowing resounded through the thick wooden door, and Tom sneered. It was highly amusing to hear Rommel get really angry every once in a while. But the teen had to admit, he had good reasons to be ; a general of his had commandeered supplies because he feared he would not be able to maintain his positions ; this had led to the failure of an attack ordered by the Feldmarschal, and the death of about fifty men.
Tom idly stretched, but winced when he felt a stab of pain in his back. That bloody Allied plane had only narrowly missed his shot, and the blow of the explosion had been powerful enough to push over Rommel's staff car. All the passengers had been ejected, and it had resulted in various - though fortunately minor - injuries. The most serious had been Aldinger's broken arm, but Tom's back was still stiff and sore, and Rommel had a nice bruise on his face. In spite of their being wizards, none of them was really good with healing charms, and trying one might just do more ill than good. So they just had to live with it. Besides, they should not complain ; apart from that, their trip to Alam Halfa had been uneventful, though the German lines were in a bad shape. They had been continually retreating for the past five days.
The door opened, putting an end to Tom's musings, and general Von Arnim went out, still flushing out of anger, irate as he was to have been reprimanded like that, even though it had been in private - Rommel was much too respectful of military procedures to do otherwise... or he would have to be really, really very angry. But there was nothing Von Arnim could say ; Rommel was the commander in chief for all Axis forces in Africa, and therefore the general was under his orders. Besides, he was the one who had been wrong, and as proud and conceited as Von Arnim might be, he was still clever enough to realize that. Otherwise, he could not have made it to the rank of general, connections or not.
Von Arnim strode past Tom without sparing him even one glance, as he considered him Rommel's lapdog - he could not know just how mistaken he was - and rushed down the stairs. Tom waited until the tall frame of the man had completely disappeared, and then turned away to head to Rommel's office. He found the Feldmarschal gazing through the window at the desert, thoughtful, and probably in a bad mood though he didn't let his face betray any of his anger.
"So", the teen said cheekily, "I take it you are in a predicament. If I can trust Von Arnim's face color, that is."
"You can say that once again", Rommel groaned. "We lack everything. Fuel, supplies... the only thing we've got more or less plenty of is ammunition, fortunately."
"What about Berlin ? Did you ask them for supplies ?"
"The communications have been cut since we left the bunker, because of Allied strikes", the German wizard replied fretfully.
Though, when he came to think of it, it was rather a good thing that they could not contact Berlin, Rommel mused. That way, Grindelwald couldn't release him from his duties for disobeying a direct order, as he had not stood his positions or asked his men to "fight to the last". The Führer would probably be angry - very angry - when he would learn of his disobedience. Rommel hoped he could explain him in person - the man could almost be reasonable when one knew how to talk to him. As reasonable as his twisted mind would allow, anyway.
"Then, what will happen ?" Tom enquired, trying not to let his anxiety show.
"For now, nothing. But we are to expect an attack on Alam Halfa very soon. Actually, I'm going to have a look at our defenses - mine fields and such - right now. You should stay here meanwhile", Rommel replied, shrugging.
"Yeah, I'll do that", Tom said in a bored tone.
He watched the Feldmarschal leave his office, then lazily went out of the room. He had nothing to do, no duties, and he had quickly finished to read all of Rommel's books - or at least all of those that remained, which meant the few that he had found in the remnants of the staff car. To cut a long story short, he was bored. What he did not know was that he would not be bored for a very long time, for he had barely wandered over half the corridor when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spinned round, to find himself face to face with captain Aldinger. The tall, dark-haired man had his left arm tightly bandaged, but other than that seemed fine. His face remained impassive, though, not even betraying the dislike Tom knew the man felt for him, which aroused the teen's curiosity. What could the captain want with him ?
"Herr Ritter, I was going to check on my guards and patrols. Would you care to join me ?" the German officer politely queried.
Tom's heartbeat slightly sped up, as he had not expected such a proposal, especially from Aldinger. And where was Merhoff ? The two officers usually spend most of their time together. The teen was certain Aldinger had something in store for him.
"Why, certainly", he gracefully replied, considering that accepting the offer was the quickest and the most simple way to get an answer to his questions.
"Then follow me."
Tom obeyed and they both went downstairs, before getting out of headquarters. Outside, the sun was shining brilliantly, and the heat was unbearable, which made Tom happy he had this cooling charm on his clothes. He squinted at Aldinger, who was profusely sweating, and with some difficulty refrained a snigger. Served him right. They walked in the shade of the buildings as much as possible, and headed to the first guard post. Aldinger kept silent, until Tom finally spoke.
"Captain, I take it you did not ask me to come along with you just for the pleasure of my company, whatever great this pleasure might be", he said with some insolence.
His provocation didn't work, though, as Aldinger merely eyed him dumbly.
"I was wondering, herr Ritter, whether you have ever heard of a man by the name of Wilkinson ?"
Tom's blood froze in his veins, and as quickly as he tried to hide his reaction, it wasn't lost on Aldinger - even more since he had been expecting it. However, the teen forced himself to reply in a sweet voice.
"I don't think I ever heard of anyone named thus. besides, it sounds like an english name to me. I don't have english friends."
And it was almost true.
"Oh, you don't, do you", Aldinger murmured.
Tom sighed. As funny as it was to make fun of Aldinger's paranoia, he knew he should not get on the bad side of the man, because sooner or later they would probably be side to side during a battle - and Tom didn't put it past the German officer to take advantage of an occasion to get rid of him.
"Captain", he resigned himself to say, "I feel we should clear up any misunderstanding you may have as to my intentions. I have no wish, whatsoever, to do any harm to my, hem, uncle."
The other man cast him a piercing glance. Tom had not yet had the time to really improve his legilimency, but he didn't really need it to fathom what Aldinger must be thinking.
"That's right, you have no reason to believe me. But remember that Rommel trusts me, and he knows everything there is to know about me. So, in the end, the question is 'do you trust your commanding officer ?' If yes, then there is no matter. If not, then you should see that with him, not with me."
"That was... quite blunt of you", Aldinger said after a silence. "I shall think about it."
He had lost none of his wariness, Tom noticed, but he was slightly less hostile as far as the teen could say. Well, that would have to do for the moment. But he didn't like the fact that Aldinger had so quickly, and so stubbornly, become distrustful of him. If the German officer had noticed a flaw in Tom's cover, so could others. And if the Gezaupo started to investigate... Yes, he probably should avoid as much as possible any contact with the Germans and stay close to Rommel. Apart from that, there was little he could do.
"If you will excuse me", Tom added, "I should head back now. The sun's not good for my complexion."
With that he left, and Aldinger thoughtfully watched him leave, obviously heading to headquarters. That conversation had been interesting, but he still knew nothing of this Ritter boy. Besides, it was somewhat knotty to bring up the subjet with the Feldmarschal himself. "Oh, by the way, sir, would your nephew happen to be a gestapo agent, or maybe a British spy ?" The first supposition would get him shot, and the second would make him wish he had been shot. He shook his head and resumed his inspection of his men. What else could he do ?
The following two days were uneventful, except for the sound of explosions and shooting that seemed to get closer and closer every minute. It made it difficult for everyone to sleep, and the result was quickly visible, most officers had bags under their eyes that showed their weariness. But, even Tom had to acknowledge it, the Germans were tenacious and brave. They all kept performing their duties, no matter what, and only a few of them ever complained, though there was quite a lot of things that would have justified the complaints, like the dusty taste of the water, or the heat, worse than ever. Several men had been sent to the infirmary after fainting while on guard duty. And they were veterans used to Africa and its torrid climate.
The third day was quiet enough, as the shooting had almost ceased, but this silence in itself was a bad omen, and the men, who knew it, were tense and nervous. Rommel himself was more silent than usual, as he inspected for the umpteenth time his soldiers and fortifications, followed by Tom - who had decided that shadowing the Feldmarschal was still better than lying idly on his bed with nothing to do. Sometimes, it was a little frustrating for the teen ; he was in the midst of military men, who had been fighting for month, or years, and most of the time he still felt like a mere visitor, though he had been in Africa for now almost four month ; even more so since he was the youngest, and as he had not made friends with anyone there, barring maybe Rommel, though he still hesitated to give him that status. But what made him feel the most foreign to them was exactly these moments, when everyone seemed to know something that he didn't know.
"What is going on ? Everyone seems like they are expecting something", he finally asked Rommel.
He may not be a soldier, and know nothing of war ; but he could learn. He was good at learning.
"It's because of the silence", the Feldmarschal explained. "It means the Allies have nothing more to fight, so they must have breached our lines. We are the last hindrance, the last defense ; once Alam Halfa has fallen, it will be an open door to the rest of Libya. So they are merely waiting for the good time to attack. They are also probably trying to find out more about the mine fields, to lose as few men as possible... I'd wager that they have spies right now on these sand dunes, watching with field glasses. But they will attack tonight."
"Why tonight ? It's not like we can do anything to stop them."
"Ah, but they don't know that. They probably fear we may prepare them a warm welcome, if given enough time, or maybe they believe I could escape. They won't take a chance ; they have nothing to gain by waiting. If not tonight, it will be tomorrow, but I don't think so", Rommel replied with a quiet laugh.
"That's great", the teen muttered. "So, we wait ?"
"There's nothing else we can do", the Feldmarschal commented.
"I don't understand !" Tom complained. "We are going to wait for them to come and take us as prisonners ?"
"Did I say that ?" Rommel asked back coldly. "Of course we won't let them take us. The whole German staff... It would be the end of the Axis war effort in Africa."
"So what are we going to do ?" Tom impatiently retorted.
"You'll know it when the time comes", the German wizard replied, shrugging.
"You won't tell me the..."
"Before you say what you were going to say, no, it is not a matter of trust. I need to think about it a little while longer, that's all", Rommel asserted in an annoyed tone.
"Hmm", the teen mumbled darkly, though he did not protest.
As the Feldmarschal had anticipated, the Allies attacked at dusk. There was no warning, other than the sound of the mines exploding. But the Germans had been ready for the assault they knew was to come for a long time, and they were far from taken by surprise. Tom, as he was not supposed to fight, had remained with Rommel, like most of the German staff officers, including general Von Arnim, but as the time died out, he realized it was probably not the best way to remain safe. Yes, the Germans were anxious to keep him safe and sound, but his natural recklessness made the task almost impossible. So, they were both just behind the first line when the Allied reached the town.
Tom sat down on a chair - they were in a small building, of which the thick walls made it a good shelter - and watched as Rommel went outside to have a look at the battle, but quickly retreated when a burst crashed on the wall near his head. Merhoff, who was standing near the British wizard, heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Rommel had not been wounded.
The teen heard the shouts, the explosions. So little hatred, in this battle... they fought, and they probably could not even have said why. What did Africa matter to them ? It was an arid land, dreamless, hopeless, from Tom's point of view. Patriotism was utterly foreign to his sheer core.
Hours went by, and they slowly started to retreat from building to building. Finally, Rommel clapped his hands behind his back, and Tom guessed he had made his decision - whatever it was.
"Aldinger, give the signal", he ordered.
Tom curiously watched as the officer went out, in spite of the danger, and fired in the air something that looked queerly like fireworks green and red, very visible in the darkness of the night.
"So ?" he said in a low voice to Rommel.
"The town is lost", the German wizard explained. "We inflicted as much loss as we could to the Allies, and there is nothing more we can do. They probably set some traps so as to prevent us from escaping the town, Montgomery is too efficient for not trying it. Probably commandos, with the order to capture as much high-ranking officers as possible in the expected rout that would follow the fall of Alam Halfa. We are going to retreat... Only, not in the direction they expected."
"Excuse me ?" the teen managed to say as he finally understood what Rommel intended to do. "You want to..."
"Clever boy", the German patted him on the head - Tom loathed to be patted on the head, but he was too dumbstrucked to protest.
"You want to go through Allied lines", he weakly murmured. "And here I thought you were crazy before. You are beyond crazy. You are utterly insane !"
The Germans cast him dark glances for daring to say such a thing to a man they all deeply respected, but as Rommel did not push it up, they could not say anything. The Feldmarschal merely smiled.
"I know."
Ending note : Well, I suppose you will think it's insane as well... but I found something interesting on wikipedia :
"During the confusion caused by the Crusader operation, Rommel and his staff ended up behind Allied lines several times. On one occasion he visited a New Zealand Army field hospital, which was still under Allied control. "[Rommel inquired if anything was needed, promised the British [sic medical supplies and drove off unhindered." (General Fritz Bayerlein, The Rommel Papers, chapter 8.)"