Chapter 10: Swastika

"Anna, what's wrong?" Basta felt his stomach roll at the sight of Anna's blotchy red and tearstained face. "What happened?" He approached the bars, so he and Anna were more or less right in front of each other. She sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye, but didn't look Basta in the face.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"That's a lie! Something happened!" His voice was stern, and he surprised himself. He actually felt for Anna. So his attraction wasn't just physical... it ran deeper. Never in his life had Basta really cared for somebody, other than his master. Even Roxanne was just a toy for him. The chase had really just turned into a game. He offered her money and jewels, things he didn't really have, to see if he could get her. She refused him every time, so technically, he had lost. But that only made him more competitive.

As he stood across from Anna, in that quiet cell of his, he felt his heart twisting and writhing in his chest. Anna was in pain, and he wanted to do something to make it better. He genuinely cared for her; and that... that scared him.

"Anna, tell me how to make it better" He frowned deeply and reached through the bars with his scarred arms, tentatively pulling her closer to him. She fell into his embrace, letting her body come against the bars. Their bodies touched through the gaps of the bars, and Basta did his best to hug her. Anna dropped her head, and Basta's forehead rested against her soft, sweet smelling hair. "Everything will be ok" he murmured soothingly. Anna's slender arms fit through the bars, and she hugged him back, gripping his tee shirt with her dainty hands. Her body shivered before she sniffed and sighed. Basta mentally cursed the bars, as he wanted to fully embrace the quivering body before him. "Come on" he coaxed, lifting his head. "Come on inside and sit down." Anna nodded, and eventually pulled away from his arms. She took a key from her purse, and unlocked the gate. When she came inside, Basta put a hand to the small of her back, and guided her over to his bed. She took a seat, and he sat beside her, studying her face with a grave expression. He gently wiped a cold tear from her cheek with his index finger, then gently rubbed her back. He had no experience with comforting women, none whatsoever, so he just did what he would want someone to do to him, if he were in that situation. And it must have worked, because Anna eventually relaxed, and the redness left her face. She wiped her water logged lashes with her hands, then turned to Basta.

"I'm sorry" she said, in a slightly injured tone. "I'm embarrassed."

"No, no. Don't be. Everything is ok now."

"No it's not" she said, her voice scaring him more than the tears had. It was low, shaking... venomous. "Today, the SS leader Heinrich Himmler ordered that Gypsies and part Gypsies be put on the same level as Jews. Treated like Jews, and put in concentration camps like the Jews." Fresh, hot tears ran down her cheeks. Basta blinked... what was a gypsy?

"Sorry, Anna, but who are the gypsies?" He frowned gravely, and Anna nodded.

"Of course, of course. You don't understand" her voice had lost its edge, and was soft again. "Gypsy is just a word for the Romani people, folks from Europe that trace their heritage back to Medieval India." This meant nothing to Basta, nothing whatsoever. What was Romani? What was Medieval? What was India? The only word he understood was Europe. "It's terrible" she murmured, burying her face in her hands. "More innocent lives will be lost."

"Anna, concentration camps are where they kill the Jews, right?" He asked. He remembered her telling him about this, but last time they spoke he had been very tired, and he sort of drifted out when she began talking about the camps. She nodded in response to his question.

"Yes." When she spoke next, her voice was barely over a whisper. Her tone made the short hairs on the back of Basta's neck and arms stand straight on end. "Auschwitz."

And then he remembered what Anna had told him. Jews were sent to Auschwitz to be killed, and now the Gypsies would be going with them. Anna explained that the Jews had no way out. They were trapped, and killed. And Basta realised why his hair stood on end, and why his stomach rolled.

"BASTA! Light the fucking fire, man!"

"Shut up, Cockerel! I've got it!" Basta watched as the smoke from the other black jacket's torches rose from the hut. The windows were boarded up, along with the door. Torch in hand, Basta shifted nervously from foot to foot. The house had already caught fire, and smoke plumed from under the door and through the chimney. All he needed to do was shove the torch into the glass window and the deed would be done... but the screaming... he couldn't bring himself to set fire to the hut. The people trapped inside screamed and cried, begging the black jackets to set them free. Basta even heard the cry of a baby in the house. He felt sick to his stomach when he remembered the baby's face. He had watched Cockerel shove a young lady into the hut. She had been holding a beautiful little baby, no more than five months old, he figured. He remembered the look on the young lady's face as she was shoved into the building, her child in her skinny arms. They had made eye contact- he wide, terrified eyes locking with his cold green ones.

"Help me please! My baby! Don't hurt my baby!" Her voice had been shrill, terrified. Basta had watched as she was shoved into the building with the rest of the group. He hadn't said a word. The baby had blue eyes.

"Throw the fucking torch, man!" And so he did. With a bitter expression, he thrust the flaming torch in through the glass window. The pane shattered, and he let go. He felt hot flames licking around the wall, but before he could turn and walk away, arms reached through the broken glass and wooden boards. Basta saw his reflection in what was left of the window, along with burning orange flames. The arms grabbed hold of his arms, dragging him towards the burning house. Basta cried out in agony as his arms were sliced on the broken glass. And then he felt the fire. He cried in agony as searing hotness burned over his slender forearms.

"OH GOD!" he screamed, as the blood pouring from his wounds boiled on his flaming skin. "FUCK! FUCKING GOD GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He screamed in terror and agony, his bangs gluing to the sweat pouring off his forehead. The arms from inside the burning house hauled him closer, until his entire body was pressed against the side of his house, his arms held strong inside the inferno. He heard the screams, loud and terrified, and above them all rose the cries of the blue eyed baby. Basta screamed, the sound foreign to his own ears. It was a cross between a sob and an agonized shout. Suddenly the baby stopped.

"Are you OK?" Anna's soft voice ripped Basta from his thoughts.

"I'm fine" his voice was different, cracked and broken. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"You can see why Hitler must be stopped."

"Yes, yes I can." Basta felt very put off. He found that he was in a terribly miserable mood, and he really wanted to smoke.

"Basta, you're very pale. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He sighed deeply, then massaged the back of his neck. "Terrible things" he managed to mumble under his breath. After clearing his throat, he changed the subject. "Landa stopped by."

"Did he?" This seemed to make her nervous.

"Yes, he said I have some reading to finish, and it's due tomorrow."

"In that case, let's finish it tonight. I don't want you to be in trouble with Landa."Anna bent down, picking up folders and booklets off the floor.

"What does he do, anyways?" asked Basta. "Is he a soldier?" As Anna thumbed through the manila booklets, she spoke with a flat voice.

"Hans Landa is an SS Officer."

"SS?"

"Schutz-Staffel. Or, shield squadron." She sighed and dog eared a page she found interesting. "Despite his dedication, Colonel Landa doesn't exactly believe in the Nazi ideology." Anna spoke slowly and quietly, her tone flat and void of showing any emotion. "He doesn't think he's a Nazi. And yet... and yet... he has been nicknamed the Jew Hunter."

"The Jew hunter?"

"Oh yes. He's the very best at his job." Anna's eyebrows raised. "It's his job to travel all over Europe, capturing Jews in hiding."

"Really..." Basta frowned.

"Landa is extremely intelligent" she said, and this time, her voice did reveal her emotion. It revealed a mixture of both disgust and admiration. "He speaks four languages, he is highly educated, and knows just a little too much." Anna's fingers were quivering. "That's why I have to be so careful" she whispered. "If he ever found out I'm working for the French..." her voice trailed off, and she seemed to shrink.

"Does he suspect anything?" asked Basta, the Colonel's charming smile passing through his mind.

"No" she said, her voice nervous. "He doesn't. And I want to keep it that way."

"No kidding..." Basta watched the brave young lady beside him. Then something caught his eye: a small golden cross necklace around her neck. If she had worn it before, he hadn't noticed; he had probably been too busy looking at her cleavage. "What's on your neck?" he asked quietly.

"Oh" she smiled. "It's just my cross." She put a hand to the high neckline of her dress.

"Oh" Basta liked it. The glinting gold necklace was dainty and thin, and fit perfectly around the young lady's neck, resting on her breast bone.

"Do you have religion in your world?"

"No." Said Basta, wondering what that meant. Anna sighed, and calmly explained to him what it meant to be Catholic. That the Nazis believed in angels, and so did she. Basta believed in angles. Anna was his angel.

"Alright" she murmured tapping the manila document on her lap. "All this talks about is the superior race."

"Superior race?"

"Yes, yes. The Aryan race. Arisch. It's referring to non-Jew Caucasians with blonde hair and blue eyes."

"Landa isn't Arian" said Basta, frowning.

"Neither is Hitler" said Anna with a smile. "This document also touches on the Swastika." She pointed at a picture of a crooked shape, like a squashed version of the cross she wore, only each arm was bent at a right angle. Basta recognized it as the symbol the German soldiers wore on the red band around their arms.

"I recognize that" he said, tracing the bent arms of the swastika with his finger. "That's the Nazi sign."

"Yes it is." Anna sighed once again, and closed the folder. "That pretty much covers all your reading" she said. Basta felt two emotions run through him at the same time. Happiness, and disappointment. It was good in a sense that he had kept his promise to Landa, doing his job and finishing his research. Bad in a way that his relationship with Anna could be coming to an end. Anna studied his face, her olive green eyes flicking over his features. He felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny. He was extremely self conscious, and felt like he needed to impress Anna. Surly she wouldn't be pleased by looking at my face! He thought, shifting in discomfort. But Anna smiled, and a dainty finger reached up to his face.

"How did you get this?" She asked, brushing a finger up the scar that ran from Basta's chin-making him look like he had a cleft- and to the base of his bottom lip. Basta gasped, and felt his body heat up.

"Fist fight" he murmured. Anna's finger drifted up to his bottom lip. Without much thought, Basta took in a breath, and very gently closed his teeth over the tip of Anna's index finger. He saw her expression change, her lips parting and her breath catching. Encouraged, Basta took the young lady's wrist in his hand, and closed his lips over the finger. He saw Anna's skin prickle with goose bumps, so he took more of her finger in his mouth, sliding his tongue over her skin. He took her finger out for a moment, sliding his tongue over his lips, and carefully studying Anna's expression. She didn't protest one bit, as a matter of fact, she seemed to be enjoying the moment. So Basta frowned slightly, and took both her index and middle finger into his mouth. He grazed his teeth over her fingers, along with his tongue. When Anna finally let out a little moan, he flicked his eyes up at her, and put his teeth down on her digits once again, adding more pressure. Anna took her fingers from his mouth, and cupped the side of his face. Basta's heart nearly exploded in his chest, and he felt embarrassed about the hardness in his fatigues. His eyelids began to droop, and just when he was sure Anna would lean in and kiss him, she just smiled and got to her feet.

"Good night" she murmured, fixing the hem of her dress. "You can tell me about your fist fight later" she took a very deep breath, then left.

Basta could only sigh loudly and bonk his head on the wall.

A/N:

Ok, guys: I would just like to remind everyone that Colonel Hans Landa is not, I repeat NOT my character. He is a creation of Master Director and Genius Quentin Tarantino.

So, how did y'all like the chappy?

Submit a review for the love of awkward sexual tension! HOORAH!