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However, it is that time of year when updates get more and more sporadic. I don't know when the next one will be, so please keep on being patient. Perhaps you could leave a review in the meantime. ;D
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Thank you to 80sarcades for Betaing this story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hogan's Heroes.
The now-revealed Allied Spy and the Nazi Major stared each other down for a moment before all hell broke loose.
A twisted look of utter rage gripped Steiner's face before his rough hand lashed out toward Katie's arm. She barely had enough time to gasp in pain before the officer yanked her back up the steps of the Kommandantur. Colonel Klink, to his credit, followed along and ordered Major Steiner to unhand the girl. Predictably, he was ignored.
The sound of the Kommandantur's wooden door had barely echoed across the compound before the Heroes made their way towards Barracks Two. Colonel Hogan's seemingly unhurried walk was paved with tortured questions.
How do I get her out of this? He wondered. For that matter, how do I get us out of this? If she talks, we're all dead!
He let out a slow breath before he walked into the barracks. The Coffee Pot, unsurprisingly, was already singing its depressing news.
Steiner shoved Katie into the chair she had sat in only moments ago before he rounded on the still sputtering Luftwaffe Colonel.
"Shut up Klink!" Steiner roared, sending the superior officer three steps back. "We have an Allied spy on our hands!" He glared venomously at his former secretary. "And I intend to squeeze every bit of information out of her!"
"Hope he doesn't squeeze too hard." Hogan muttered. His men merely nodded their agreement as they continued to listen.
"What is your name? Your real one?" Steiner demanded. Katie sighed.
"Katie Beck." The name sounded almost foreign to her.
"Your Rank?"
"Officially?" Katie sighed, feeling the smallness of her role. "No rank, Major. I'm just a spy." She paused and considered the drab surroundings. "Although, considering the circumstances, I should have taken them up on being a second lieutenant. It might have been useful."
A look of disgust passed over the Major's face. "And just how long have you been stealing from me?" he asked calmly.
"You might be better off asking how long I've worked for you."
Steiner gaped at Katie's brashness before he recovered. "Two years," he said through gritted teeth. "Nearly two years." His fingers absently caressed the cover of the notebook before he looked at the secretary again. This time, Katie would have sworn that the man's cold gaze chilled the air between them.
"What else have you stolen from me?" he idly, and rather dispassionately, wondered aloud before realizing his tone. "Tell me!" he demanded.
Katie shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, I don't know. Telegrams, documents, the usual stuff. Transcribing your phone calls." She paused for a moment. "But that notebook is by far the biggest thing I have pilfered from you."
"That doesn't explain how did you managed to get your hand on this," he said, raising the item in question once more. Katie continued on.
"I went through your desk. Not a very good hiding spot, I might add. You might want to consider locking it." She stretched her lips in a tightly formed smile while Major Steiner's face, once again, became filled with rage. Another voice piped up.
"So, you were going to bring the notebook to Newkirk. And you thought that he would get it out of Germany." Klink said, rising out of his chair.
Katie gave him a quizzical look. "Who? The Englishman? I didn't meet him until last night." Klink sat back down.
Steiner, however, was not easily discouraged. "You didn't meet before last night because you didn't know who your contact was. Am I correct?"
The Major was very close to the truth. Katie was getting nervous, but she didn't let her fear show. "Major, when you're a spy, you want to work with people you can trust," she lectured. "Especially with something as important as that notebook. I was supposed to meet my contact in the graveyard, it's true, but that Englishman wasn't it."
"Then who was your contact?" Steiner asked.
"Oh, now Major." Katie's voice came out quietly. "You know I can't tell you that."
There was a brief pause, and then the sound of flesh hitting flesh.
Carter frowned. "Did he just do what I think he did?"
In the office, Katie gingerly felt her cheek as Colonel Klink protested. "Major Steiner! That was uncalled for! Shouldn't we save that behavior for the, uh . . . Gestapo?"
The Major slammed his hands down on the desk. "Klink!" he spat. "This woman is an Allied Spy! And she has shown a complete disrespect for the Third Reich!" The enraged Major turned back to Katie before he slipped his pistol out if his holster. "Now who was your contact!" he roared, pointing the weapon at the spy. "Tell me, or I'll shoot the Englander. Now!"
"I can't tell you!" Katie's carefully managed façade cracked, showing her desperation. "I don't know my contact's name and it wasn't the Englishman!" Steiner snorted in disbelief. "It's true! Go ask him! He'll tell you the same thing!"
The Heroes glanced at each other, especially Newkirk. The RAF corporal was astounded. If push came to shove, he wouldn't admit that Katie was his contact, but the fact that she was dragging him into all of this was a bit unwanted. I hope she knows what she's doin' . . .
Steiner slowly turned around. "Klink, I need to use your phone."
"Yes, of course Major." Klink said automatically, his eyes on the pistol, before his brain caught up with his mouth. "Uh, what for?"
"To call the Gestapo . . . sir." He kept his eyes trained on Katie. "I have a spy here who won't cooperate."
Once she was back in her cell, Katie opened her mouth in a silent scream. She stamped her feet noiselessly up and down in an attempt to vent her frustration and anger. How could she have been so stupid? How? If only she had-
The now-familiar sound of stone grinding on stone caught her attention. She ignored Sergeant Carter's scowling face as she lowered herself into the tunnel. Understandably – and quite justifiably - she knew the Colonel would have some choice words for her.
Well, she thought. So be it.
As expected, Hogan greeted her with a set jaw and a pair of crossed arms. For a moment, he merely examined her with his brown eyes. Finally, his cross voice broke the silence of the tunnel.
"What were you thinking?" he finally exploded. "Pulling a stunt like that! All you had to do was get out of camp with the notebook. Instead, you're on your way to getting shot!"
"You think that I planned to do that?" Katie countered, her own anger starting to boil over. "Why on earth would I do that?"
"So you could get us in trouble!" Carter said indignantly. "You-you were just stringing us along, waiting for the right moment!"
". . . WHAT?" Katie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Guys! I'm on your side!"
"Sure you are." LeBeau scoffed. "Was that before or after you became German?"
"You could 'ave at least 'inted that you were American!" Newkirk said.
"Well, in case you didn't notice," Katie stepped right into the Englishman's personal space. "I didn't give you up!"
Hogan took a mental step back. True, Katie was directing her anger at them, but they weren't the source of it. No, Katie was angry at herself. It was a feeling he could identify with closely.
Kinch, the ever-present voice of reason, was the one who calmed them all down. "How 'bout we let Katie start from the beginning."
Katie took a deep breath. "I'm an American. German-American," she corrected. "My parents are from Dresden. Before the war started, I received an offer to come here. To return to the Fatherland and work for the glory of the Third Reich."
"And you took them up on the offer." Hogan said, his voice still slightly cold.
"Yes and no." she admitted. "I approached the War Department. They told me to go through with it." She glanced around the tunnel and shrugged. "Here I am."
There was a pause as the Heroes soaked this information in. "Is there anything else you're not telling us?" Hogan finally asked.
Katie hesitated. "I'm not really blonde," she confessed. "I had it dyed so I looked more German."
LeBeau muttered something in French under his breath. The secretary pressed onward.
"Look, I know how much trouble I'm causing you all, and I'm really sorry about it." Katie pressed her lips together. "Is that first class ticket to London still available?"
Hogan glanced at his men. "Well, we may have to bump you down to second class for the trouble you've caused us." Katie wasn't sure, but there seemed to be a hint of amusement in his eyes. "It's okay Katie." He nodded. "We know you didn't do it intentionally."
"Any one of us could've done it." Newkirk added. "'Specially Carter."
"Hey!" was the response from the accused.
"All right, fellas, settle down. Kinch, call London. Tell them we have a package that needs to be returned." H pursed his lips. "Also, let the Underground know that we'll need some help springing a special prisoner. We'll have to intercept her once she leaves the camp."
"Sure thing Colonel." Kinch nodded, stood up, and got ready to leave. The woman's voice stopped him.
"Wait," said Katie. "Can you tell London to contact someone for me?"
Kinch looked at Hogan for his approval. "Who is it?" Hogan asked, curious.
"My partner, Robert Petter. Alias Sergeant Major Dietrich Hammel." Katie was silent a moment. "We made a deal that if one of us got in over our heads, we would let the other one know as soon as we could."
Hogan nodded his approval at Kinch. "What should I tell them?" the sergeant asked, pencil and paper already in hand.
"That the telegram he sent can't be returned. There's been some complications." She took a deep breath. "He'll know what to from there."
Kinch nodded. "Right." With that, he left for the radio table.
Oh Rob, Katie thought. She knew he would get the message and start getting ready to leave, destroying any evidence they had leading to their operation. The question was, would he leave with her or without her?