A/N : It's still not mine, but I'd be willing to negotiate.
April 1944 - In the desert, somewhere in the north of Africa
Tom wiped his forehead with his dust-covered hand, and heaved a weary sigh. The last night had been a nightmare, and no one had slept much, if at all. And now, they were stranded somewhere in the desert. The whole German staff had managed to avoid capture by the Allies, going through the mine fields by ways only Rommel knew, and shunning bombs, grenades or bullets, but they were far from saved. They were still behind Allied lines, even though they could see nothing but the desert all around them, and soon they would need more water and food. In brief, they needed to find their own lines, and the sooner would be the better.
To make the matter worse, Aldinger kept throwing him suspicious glances from time to time, apparently not totally convinced by their previous discussion. Merhoff was to busy looking for directions to do the same, but the captain did it well enough for the two of them. So as to avoid them, Tom had chosen to sit as far from them as possible. Of course, in the process, he had found himself sitting near general Von Arnim, who still seemed to be in a foul mood, and was not exactly the best of fellow-sufferers. But as Tom was - once more - deadly bored, he decided that annoying the man could be a good way to pass the time.
"So", he started casually. "Still pouting, are you ? Do you know just how childish it is ?"
He had not spoken very loudly, and with the sound of the car's engines, only the general could hear him, which allowed them some privacy. Still, Tom's words seemed to struck a nerve, for the man slightly reddened and looked daggers at the teen.
"I am not 'pouting'", he growled.
So he had taken the bait and started the argument. Not so brilliant for a general, who was supposed to be a good tactician, but he had attenuating circumstances, as he had not slept for over thirty-six hours, and was not in the best state of mind.
"Fine, you aren't", Tom smiled evilly. "It just so happens you look quite a lot like it."
The man scowled, his dark eyes glittering with the dislike he felt for Tom. It was weird, the teen mused, that so much of the German staff seemed to dislike him like that. With absolutely no reason at all.
"What are you getting at ?" the German snarled.
He was starting to lose his temper, Tom thought at first, but then he noticed that in spite of his contracted jaw, he was otherwise slack, his fist unclenched and laying on his knees. So, he was playing an act... maybe he was a worthy opponent in a verbal duel.
"Just givin' friendly advices", Tom asserted lazily.
"I don't think I need any of your 'friendly advices'", Von Arnim said in a low, dangerous voice.
"No ? As you wish", Tom smirked. "After all, it's not like you were incompetant."
He had not chosen this word randomly, and was rewarded by a sharp glance from the German general. He let a small smile spread on his face ; either he would make the man his worse ennemy, or he would gain his respect. The outcome of the discussion would decide for it. Either way, he did not care much, though it was fun to test his persuasion abilities on him.
"Fine", Von Arnim growled through gritted teeth. "You have made it clear you can eavesdrop whenever it suits you. I would not expect anything else from someone like you, but don't think you frighten me, you or any of your friends."
Taken aback, but trying not to show it, Tom cast a sidelong glance to the dark-haired man. What exactly was he talking about ? Now the balance of power had clearly changed, as the German general knew obviously something Tom didn't. Or could he be ony trying to confuse the teen, maybe so as to make him reveal things he would have kept silent otherwise ? Tom's brain surveyed the different possible explanations, as he tried to find something to say.
"I am not trying to frighten you, whatever you may think of it", he finally said bluntly, but Von Arnim merely shrugged.
"Actually, I don't really care", the German said contemptuously. "I don't like your kind. You have no personnality, you have no life, you don't even have any freedom of conscience. You just do the bidding of your masters. You are not even worthy of my time."
Tom's eyes widened slightly, as he tried to keep his temper. But it was hard ; fear, he could understand, and even take delight in it. Hatred, he could put up with, and laugh at it. But scorn, that hit him at the deepest of his soul. He had known it all too well, he had lived with it his whole life, before he was strong enough to make people respect him, and he would never forget what a hell it had made of his life. How it hurt when people saw him as worthless, or made fun of him. It made him burn with anger. It made him want to kill someone, to spill blood, to hit until his victim would beg for forgiveness and after.
Yet, he kept cool. He could not allow himself to show the extent of his fury to the other men present. He would not allow Von Arnim to see he had hit a trouble spot.
"If that is what you think, you are sorely mistaken", he hissed in an altered voice.
The general sneered, amusement clearly visible on his face. No matter the teen's effort, he had seen the effect of his words, and was quite satisfied with it. He could tell the boy was ambitious, but he was too young to play with grown men. If he tried, he could only hurt himself, in the general's opinion. Better to show him what he was up against, before he was hurt beyond repair. It wasn't too late for him to chose another path, even if it was way too late for Von Arnim himself. He knew, all too well, that once one had had the occasion to feel the delight of sheer power, it was difficult to relinquish. Even if some who probably have been better off without it, he thought ruefully.
After that, Tom gave up talking with the general - who was much too clever for his own good - and kept silent, as did Von Arnim. Actually, no one talked much. No one had much too say ; the fall of Alam Halfa was weighing on everyone's thoughts, and morale was not very high. Besides, even if the highest ranking officers had avoided capture, the German troops based in the town had probably met a less lenient fate, and it was not good for they already lacked men before Montgomery's offensive.
They finally stopped the cars, though they were still in the middle of the desert, on Rommel's order, and Tom took the opportunity to get rid of Von Arnim's company by getting closer to the Feldmarschal. He found the German wizard busy studying a man, and in no mood to be disturbed.
"What do you want ?" he snapped when he saw the teen.
"You could at least pretend you are pleased to see me", the teen scoffed.
"No need to lie. I am not pleased to see you", Rommel snarled.
It was not like him to be so brusque, and Tom stiffened at the rejection. His surprise and irritation at being treated like that (for the second time in a row) must have shown, for Rommel sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily.
"I apologize", he said. "I did not mean to be rude."
"We are all tired", the teen offered. "And, if I can trust how you look, we are in deep trouble."
"That we are", the Feldmarschal agreed in annoyance. "I have no idea how Allied lines are organized, if there are patrols, where... actually, I know nothing. If I had more time and men, I would send scouts, but we have barely enough water and fuel for the next two days. The only thing I can do is go and hope we don't encounter Allies. Maybe Caesar liked to play with dice, but I don't. Yet, I don't have a choice."
"It was the only way to avoid capture. We're still better here than in a prisonners of war camp", Tom said to cheer him up. His words of comfort did not seem to work, though.
"Bah !" the Feldmarschal growled. "I don't know why I'm losing time looking for a solution that doesn't exist."
He folded the map testily, and stared at the desert as if he hoped to see solutions appear out of thin air. He did not look well, Tom finally noticed. Well, none of them did, covered in dust as they were, but he looked worse. He had of course not had the time to shave, and his chin was rough with the first hints of a beard. His blue eyes were burning with weariness and tension, and his eyelids were dropping in exhaustion. The situation was taking its toll on him. And it would have been so easy, had they been able to use magic, Tom thought ruefully. What was the interest of sending wizards in Africa if they could not use their special abilities because of the presence of muggles ?
All right, maybe the possibility to defend against an Impero spell has something to do with it. And the skill to Apparate, or question prisonners with some more... effectiveness.
"A pity we don't have an animagi able to transform himself in a bird here", Tom joked.
"Hmm", Rommel absent-mindedly replied.
A little surprised by his lack of reaction, the teen suddenly understood why he had been staring at the desert so intently. Obviously, Tom was not the only one to know how to cast Farsight spells.
"See anything ?" he asked with interest.
"Only the sandy desert and the shining sun", the Feldmarschal replied testily.
Said in that tone, his words lost a lot of their poetry, Tom thought, deadpan. He followed the German wizard when he went back to his car, and this time remained close to him, as he did not wish to find himself near Von Arnim if he could avoid it. Even Merhoff and Aldinger's company was better than his, he thought with a remnant feeling of anger burning inside him.
They resumed their journey. From the position of the sun, Tom could say they were heading straight to the north-east. That way, they were certain to reach either the coast or their own lines, given enough time. But German positions could not have receded that much overnight ; they would probably not even need all their fuel and water. In the end, the only problem remained the Allies. A pity they had not think to take a wireless radio... but, at any rate, even if they had, they probably could not have used it so close to the ennemy lines, for fear of being located. They had been lucky so far that no plane had flown over them and noticed them.
The teen's musing were put to an end when the car suddenly stopped, shaking roughly the passengers.
"What the hell..." Tom started, but he abruptly fell silent when he saw the tracks.
They were clearly visible on the sand, which meant they had to be recent, otherwise they would be already fading because of the wind. The teen had no experience in car tracks, but even he could say, from the pattern, that it must be some kind of truck. What he didn't fully realise at first, however, was the importance these tracks had. In his opinion, rather than stop, they should on the contrary leave as quick as possible, and thank Merlin they had not been there minutes earlier, when the truck - probably an Allied one - had passed.
"We truly are blessed", Merhoff murmured, and Tom scowled ; the major obviously understood something he didn't, and he loathed that.
But they thought in a military manner, and he still didn't, so he would have to come to terms with it.
"What's the matter ?" he asked Rommel with resignation.
"If there are tracks, it means there is either an Allies or Axis truck", Merhoff replied instead of the German wizard.
"And so ?"
"If it is an Axis truck, then it's good for us, because it will give us more manpower, and maybe intelligence. If it is an Allied truck, then it's also good for us, because we will make prisonners."
"And prisonners are meant to be interrogated", Tom completed as he comprehended where the major was going. "It might give us the informations we need about the Allied lines."
"Clever boy", Rommel smiled. "We'll just have to follow the tracks."
"What if these tracks lead us to an Allied camp, or a town they have under their control ?" the teen enquired.
"That is a possibility, of course", the German wizard shrugged. "But that's a chance we'll have to take. Besides, we have field glasses, so we'll be able to check where we are heading."
Well, it still sounded better than going by guesswork, in Tom's opinion. It was not like their situation could get that much worse. If they were captured, they just would have to escape - which would not be all that hard for wizards. Of course, it would be bad for the German war effort in Africa, but if wasn't Tom's business. He was there as a spy, not as a supporter.
"Well then, let's go", he said. "I can't wait to take a shower."
Rommel sniggered, but gave the order, and they started chasing their unaware prey.