A/N: Only two more chapters.

Chapter 48

Kinch failed to stifle a loud yawn behind the hand he held in front of his mouth while looking at the cards in his other hand.

"Tired, mate?" asked Newkirk closing his eyes momentarily and pinching the bridge of his nose. He then looked at the cards he held as well. The numbers on the cards was starting to blur.

"Yeah, just a bit. You?"

"Somewhat." He then glanced over his shoulder at LeBeau who was still seated at the table as well, his head resting on his bent good arm using it as a pillow. He then looked over his other shoulder at Carter who had passed out on his lower bunk. "Looks like LeBeau and Andrew didn't make it." He found himself chuckling.

Kinch glanced over to the other side of the table where Hogan, his head resting on both arms, was sleeping as well indicated by the sound of gentle snoring. The radioman glanced at Newkirk, a serious look on his face.

"Looks like the Colonel is finally getting some rest at least." He paused a moment. "You were in with him for a while. Is he all right?"

"He will be, mate," Newkirk replied. "What time is it anyway?"

Kinch checked his watch. "It's a little after midnight. Wonder what's taking London so long?"

Before Newkirk could respond, the lower bunk in the corner rattled upward and Baker's head could be seen as he climbed up the ladder. The noise of the lower bunk woke up Hogan and LeBeau immediately, but Carter remained asleep.

Hogan immediately noticed Baker stepping over the lower bed frame, and straightened up in his seat. Baker walked up to Hogan and handed him a single sheet of blue paper. The Colonel scanned the message and a tired smile appeared.

"Good news, mon Colonel?" asked LeBeau.

"Message from London. The plane arrived and all six prisoners are in custody. Also, General Butler was personally handed our depositions. Captain Wylie will be charged with treason, and three counts of assault against me which includes the poisoning of the cigarettes that ended up making Newkirk ill, along with any other charges deemed necessary. The others will face violations of Articles 64 and 93 of the Articles of War." Hogan found himself exhaling deeply while LeBeau and Kinch smiled and congratulated themselves; even Newkirk smiled. But he and Hogan knew the nightmare wasn't yet over, but for the sake of the others, they would pretend it was…at least for now. (1)

Then Kinch's eyes met those of his commanding officer. He noticed immediately the satisfied look of success on Hogan's face didn't reach his eyes. Something was still bothering the Colonel, and Kinch believed he knew what it was. He also suspected Newkirk knew too.

"Mon Colonel, what are Articles 64 and 93 in your military?" asked a curious LeBeau.

Hogan smirked. "Let's just say they both result in long prison terms in Leavenworth."

The Frenchman chuckled. "If I could have killed them all for what they did to you and Pierre, Colonel, I would get the Croix de Guerre." He drew his forefinger across his throat in a slicing motion to indicate what he meant.(2)

Hogan shook his head and studied his French Corporal. "You'll just have to go Croix de Guerreless then," he joked. He saw LeBeau chuckle at the joke. Hogan then became serious as he folded the paper and stuck it inside his inner jacket pocket. He slowly got slowly to his feet. "Well, gentlemen, I suggest we all turn in and get some much needed sleep. We've earned it. Also, it'll be time for roll call soon enough. And, we have a busy day tomorrow. Goodnight." Turning, he walked towards his quarters to a chorus of 'goodnight' from LeBeau, Newkirk, and Kinch.

After watching the door to Hogan's quarters close behind him, Newkirk, Kinch and LeBeau changed out of their uniforms into sleepwear, and settled down on their respective bunks. Newkirk had just started to nod off, when he heard a noise from the bunk beneath his.

"Newkirk?" It was Carter's thick, sleepy voice.

The Englander rolled his eyes and looked over the edge of his bed. "Yes, Andrew?"

"Did London call yet?"

"Go back to sleep, Andrew. I'll tell you in the morning."

Carter yawned loudly. "Okay. G'night."

"G'night, Andrew," Newkirk murmured with a affectionate smile as he fell back on his bunk and was soon asleep.

Morning came too soon as far as the inhabitants of barracks two were concerned; especially Hogan and his core unit. As Schultz burst through the door announcing roll call, there were moans and groans heard throughout the barracks. Newkirk was the first to wake up, yawning loudly as he jumped down from his upper bunk and noticed Carter slowly forcing himself into a sitting position with feet on the floor as well. Kinch and LeBeau, who had switched bunks because of the Frenchman's injury, were up as well. Kinch had believed it would be less difficult for LeBeau to get out of bed if he slept on the lower bunk instead. The Frenchman reluctantly agreed to the switch, apologizing for 'forcing' his friend out of his own bunk. Kinch countered by telling him no apology was necessary and he wasn't 'forcing' anything.

As the men began to change into their uniforms, the door to Hogan's quarters opened and a yawning Colonel Hogan emerged putting on his leather jacket. Despite having slept for several hours, he didn't feel rested whatsoever.

"Morning, Gov'nor," Newkirk announced with a tired smile. He noticed the weariness in the Colonel's eyes no matter how he tried to hide it from the men.

"Is it morning?" Hogan quipped. "I feel like I just went to sleep."

"You and us both, sir," Carter added, completely oblivious.

"You boys up to your monkey business again?" joked Schultz eying Hogan and his men suspiciously.

Hogan smirked and draped an arm around the large man's shoulders. "You want to know what we were really doing that has us so tired?"

"Nein," Schultz quickly announced. "Just get ready and be outside for roll call in five minutes." He hurried out the door leaving the prisoners to get dressed.

"Hey, Colonel?" asked Carter anxiously. "Did you ever hear from London?"

"Yep. The plane arrived and all are under arrest," Hogan explained briefly.

"Good, at least things can get back to normal now that this mess is over." The young Sergeant didn't see the look Newkirk and Kinch gave his commanding officer to the statement; nor did LeBeau.

The prisoners slowly emerged from the cozy warmth of their hut into the chilly early morning air. Hogan turned up his jacket collar and proceed to zip his jacket up to his chin against the chill as Schultz began his count. He hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jacket as he saw Klink march down the steps of the Kommandantur, his outer coat flapping in the breeze, gloved hands clutching his swagger stick tightly.

"Repoooooooooooooort!" Klink bellowed. He returned the salute of his guard who had just completed the count moments before he arrived.

"Herr Kommandant, all prisoners present and accounted for."

"Very good, Schultz," Klink replied. He then approached the formation until he stood nose-to-nose with his Senior POW officer. "And how are you feeling, Colonel Hogan, seeing as the five prisoners are gone just as I promised you they would be?"

"Thank you, Kommandant," Hogan said calmly. "I appreciate what you did. I really do." Hogan hoped Klink believed him because he really was telling the truth.

"I know," Klink smirked. "And Hogan, just thought you'd like to know that the Gestapo won't be removing you from here after all. General Burkhalter made sure of it."

"Thank you, sir," Hogan said.

"Schultz!"

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant?"

"Dismiss your men."

"Jawohl." Schultz exchanged salutes with his Kommandant before turning towards the prisoners. "Prisoners, dissss-missed!"

As Klink turned away….

"Oh, Kommandant," Hogan called out. He saw Klink stop and turn.

"What is it now, Hogan?" he asked sharply.

"I hope the General wasn't too hard on you about the phony."

Klink shook his head and walked away.

Hogan started following the men inside the barracks when Schultz approached him from the side. "Colonel Hogan, the Kommandant still feels badly about what happened to you in the rec hall."

Hogan shrugged at the large guard. "I know, Schultz."

After breakfast, Hogan climbed down into the tunnel and strode to the radio room where he found Baker seated at the radio reading. The young man looked up and smiled at seeing his commanding officer approaching and apparently looking more relaxed than he had seen him in days.

"Sir, Kinch is in another area of the tunnel with Olsen and Garlotti working on a replacement piece for the antenna."

Hogan merely nodded his head, then leaned a forearm arm on Baker's shoulder, hands clasped. "I need you to contact Bluebird for me," he ordered. "It's time to bring this entire mess to a close."

"Yes, sir," Baker remarked changing from the regular frequency to their friend's frequency. "Papa Bear calling Bluebird. Papa Bear calling Bluebird. Come in Bluebird." There was no response.

"Try again," Hogan replied.

"Papa Bear calling Bluebird. Papa Bear calling Bluebird. Come in Bluebird."

A few more moments of silence passed.

"This is Bluebird, Papa Bear. Sorry for the delay. I was finishing up a telephone call."

"Stand by for Papa Bear, Bluebird." Baker then handed the headset to Hogan who rested his cap on the table before placing the headset on his head.

"Just want to let you know the six enemy cubs have left the den. Repeat. Six enemy cubs have left the den. Proceed with your end of plan. Repeat. Proceed with your end of plan."

"Acknowledge, Papa Bear. Will contact you again once plan is completed and Big Bad Wolf notified."

"Roger, Bluebird. Papa Bear out." Hogan motioned for Baker to disconnect the call which he did. After removing the headset and grabbing his crush cap, Hogan handed the headset back to Baker. "Thanks," he said patting the Sergeant on the shoulder before he turned and walked away back in the direction of the ladder leading to the barracks.

Climbing back up into the hut, Hogan then poured himself a cup of hot coffee and walked back into his quarters to relax or at least give it a good try.

Bluebird, having finished his conversation with Hogan, immediately knew what he had to do first.

"Bluebird to Red Robin. Bluebird to Red Robin. Come in Red Robin. Come in."

"This is Red Robin, Bluebird. I read you. Haven't heard from you in several weeks. How is Papa Bear and his cubs?"

"Papa Bear and his cubs are well and safe, Red Robin. In fact, I need your help to put the finishing touches on Big Bad Wolf's plan against Papa Bear."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to place a telephone call to me in one hour, and this is what you are to say to me." Fuchs then outlined to Red Robin what he wanted her to say when she called.

"Understood, Bluebird. Anything else?"

"That will be sufficient, Danke. Bluebird out."

Finished, Fuchs smiled as he immediately switched the radio frequency back to the Gestapo's normal channel, then resumed his paperwork.

Now alone in his quarters, Hogan sat at his desk going over a map while occasionally taking a drink of coffee. After a few minutes, he put his pen and coffee mug down and ran both hands down his face before placing them on his thighs sighing. He then rubbed a rib area on his chest, grimacing. It hurt to breath. But he didn't want his men to worry. After a few minutes, he picked up his coffee mug and held it in both hands, elbows on the edge of his desk. He had to admit it felt good to only have to deal with the normal problems of running a sabotage and espionage unit, and to have access to their tunnels without having to sneak around within their own hut to get to them. But despite regaining the things they had temporarily lost, Hogan just couldn't feel relieved right now no matter how much he tried. He hated feeling this way, but as long as Wylie's words kept flooding his mind, there was still that nagging fear to deal with.

"After I arrive in England, I intend to contact the German underground there and have them pass on the information I have on you to Major Hochstetter."

Hogan couldn't shake those words despite having addressed the issue with General Butler hoping somebody other than a real Nazi agent would make contact with Wylie. He began to wonder how long he'd have to wait to hear something from London. He knew he couldn't wait too long because if worse came to worse, Hogan knew he'd have to order a mandatory evacuation of the camp and hopefully get everybody out safely. And to do that, he could only wait but so long.

But how long is so long? he thought to himself. Hogan could only hope London would give him enough advance notice in the hopes that he could get most if not all the men out in time. Even at the cost of his own life. He knew he'd have to arrange a mandatory evacuation plan and discuss it with the men when the time was right. A knock on his door brought him out of his nightmarish thoughts.

"Come in," he ordered sitting down his mug. The door opened and Kinch entered.

"Is something wrong, Kinch?" Hogan asked seeing the concerned look on his radioman's face.

Kinch closed the door and with hands stuffed in the pockets on his pea green jacket, approached the officer.

"Just taking a break from the work on the antenna. Colonel, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I'm not sure how to ask this question."

"Kinch, you know you can ask me anything," Hogan said. "Is something wrong? Are you all right?"

"Uh no, it's not me. I'm fine. It's you I'm concerned about."

Hogan arched both eyebrows. "Me? I'm fine."

"Begging the Colonel's pardon, but I disagree. And while I can't be sure, I think what's bothering you is either what Wylie said to you in the tunnel, or what he said to us on the plane about the German underground. And since you've been more out of sorts since we got back from putting Wylie on that plane to London, my guess would be what he said to us on the plane."

Hogan stared at Kinch and remained quiet. He always knew Kinch, like Newkirk, could read him like a book; and it was difficult for him to hide things from either of them.

"You're thinking we may have to shut down and evacuate, aren't you?" Kinch asked quietly. "I can see the look in your eyes."

Hogan sighed wearily. "Kinch, don't worry about me. It's my job to worry about my men, not the other way around. It's part of a Colonel's job description. And believe me when I tell you I have everything under control." He saw Kinch open his mouth to protest and held up his hand stopping him. "I promise you if I need to talk, I'll seek you out."

"But you're considering it, aren't you?" Kinch wasn't letting the issue drop. "Colonel, I'm not Newkirk, Carter, or LeBeau. You can talk to me and whatever you tell me will stay in this room. I promise."

Exhaling through his mouth, Hogan bowed his head and shook it sadly. Wylie said I would lose this command here as well. Could this be his way of seeing to it? He thought to himself. He finally looked at his second-in-command. "We may have to evacuate if Wylie makes contact with a German underground operative while he's locked up since it's possible there may still be spies there. General Butler is following through on a plan which hopefully will prevent that from happening. But all we can do now is wait." Hogan sighed. "I would appreciate it if you don't mention this to the men. I don't want to have a panic on my hands."

"Of course." Kinch shook his head sadly. "It's just that with everything Wylie's put you through, now that he's gone, you should be able to relax until we get a mission from London. It isn't fair that he's still torturing you from a cell in London."

Hogan wrapped his arms around himself. "He isn't, and I have everything under control I hope."

Kinch smiled. "Okay. I won't push. Guess I'd better get back to working on those repairs on the antenna."

"How's that coming?"

Kinch shrugged. "With any luck, we should be able to have the antenna permanently repaired in about seventy-two hours."

Hogan only nodded. "Keep me advised."

"Will do." Kinch turned and started towards the door.

"Kinch?"

The radioman paused and turned to look at the American officer. "Yeah, Colonel?"

A smile slowly appeared on Hogan's face. "Thanks for being concerned enough to ask as well as a good friend."

Kinch smiled back. "You're welcome. Anytime. And uh, Colonel. Regarding something you said before about worrying about the men under your command being your job. Just so you know, worrying about our commander is an unwritten rule in our job description." That said, Kinch smiled and opened the door preparing to leave and saw Hogan turn back to his desk and accidentally bump against a corner. The Colonel immediately hissed, putting a hand to the injured area, and squeezed his eyes shut, a grimace on his face. He suddenly heard the door close and looked around to see Kinch standing in front of the closed door with arms crossed.

"You forget something, Kinch?" Hogan asked, hoping Kinch hadn't seen anything, and his command face in place.

"Colonel, why didn't you say anything about being hurt? Have you seen Wilson since we've been back?" His eyes narrowed with concern.

"I don't need Wilson," Hogan replied exhaling. "Besides, he's seen my bruises already."

"I'm not talking about your bruises from being shot. I'm talking about the injury to your ribs from when Captain Wylie jumped on you from the truck."

Fuchs was still going over reports when his telephone rang; he picked up the receiver. "Captain Fuchs, Gestapo."

"I can't tell you my name, Captain, but I am a loyal German." It was a woman's voice. "I was out for a walk and stumbled across two dead Gestapo soldiers; one of them is an officer. I…I think it was Major Hochstetter." Fuchs eyes narrowed hearing this.

"Who is this?" he asked, the hairs at the base of his skull bristling. "Why can't you tell me your name?" he said a bit harshly.

"The bodies are in the woods off Schellenberg Road." The caller hung up.

"Hello? Hello!" Fuchs raised his voice. Hearing only a dial tone, the Gestapo officer slammed down his receiver, got to his feet, and grabbed his cap and outer coat from the coat tree. Hurrying from his office, he knew he had to get a patrol and head to Schellenberg road and see if his boss was indeed one of the deceased. He hid the smirk on his face from those he passed in the hallway.

(1) Article 64: Assaulting or willfully disobeying superior officer.

Article 93: Various Crimes involving assault with intent to do bodily harm with a dangerous weapon, instrument, or other thing.

(2) Croix de Guerre is a military decoration of France.