A/N Thank you so much to all the readers, favourite and reviews! It's lovely to hear if you're enjoying the story (or not!). It took me a while to do these last few chapters as I needed to check dates and details to make them more 'believable'

Hope you enjoy.

...

Landsberg

Tab couldn't find Fin anywhere. He knew the officers knew something considering the foul mood Speirs was in. He needed to find her, was her disappearance something to do with what he saw? Did someone else see Fin and Speirs together and had reported it? Had Fin been transferred out? He was worried. Fin winked at him, she tried to suggest it was her way of getting out of trouble, but it was more than that, Tab had heard the conversation as well. Bull never closed the door properly. Could he ask Speirs where Fin was? Speirs didn't know he had seen, unless Fin told him. Tab was in a bit of shock if he was being honest, he never would have guessed. Also, wasn't Speirs married? He guessed the normal rules don't apply when you're at war.

"Hey Tab! You seen Fin?" Luz asked walking over to him in the road.

Should Tab tell him what he knew? No he needed to speak to Fin first. The officers would need to release an explanation soon, it wasn't just him and Luz that had started to notice.

...

Berlin

Fin had easily exited the Führerbunker, there was very little staff left due to Hitler and Goebbels releasing them to make their escape before the Russians came. It was all planned, Hitler knew he would die here. Fin was a little surprised that Goebbels had humoured her, but he had bigger problems than her to deal with and by the looks of things, he was expecting her to be picked up by the Russians. The Russians were dangerously close. Although they were 'technically' on the same side, Stalin would be less than pleased if he found out the British didn't allow the Russians to enter the Führerbunker first, it would be a diplomatic disaster. Fin quickly and efficiently changed into her third outfit of the mission for Operation Sandtrap. Brown trousers, a cream blouse and a brown Cardigan. Some imbecile, actually no that was an insult to imbeciles had neglected to pack her civilian shoes. Luckily her trousers covered her jump boots well enough, but if she was stopped and the soldier had a keen eye, she'd be rumbled. Fin crouched down behind a pile of rubble and let her hair out of its bun and flattened it down, securing a couple of hair slides to one side. She hid Hitler's pistol and ring in her clothes and strapped her side arm and knife on the outside of her trousers but concealed by her knapsack.

Her plan? Why she was simply going to walk out of Berlin...

...

Landsberg

Speirs stepped outside and leaned against the wall of the CP, he lit a cigarette and took a long drawn out drag. He needed to try and calm down. His feelings were torn, how could he love someone so much but right now hate them just as equally, why did she feel she couldn't tell him? He was going to drive himself crazy turning the same questions over and over in his head. She needed to return NOW!

His attention was caught by the British private sat in a running jeep just in front of the CP, talking rapidly into his radio, cupping the receiver with his hand to conceal his words. Speirs watched in interest as he abruptly stopped and jumped out and ran past him straight into the CP, without acknowledging his rank, the British Private seemed to not even notice him.

Eve looked at her watch again, she needed to go, but she wanted to say a proper good-bye to Lew first, but he was still explaining things to Winters. Eve heard a commotion outside the office door. Private Wilson burst through the door with Winters' orderly standing behind him angry at the intrusion.

"Ma'am!" Private Wilson called "We need to go, now!" he said breathlessly

Eve looked over "Yes I was just..."

"Now Ma'am, code amber has been issued" Private Wilson interrupted his superior officer

Eve's face drained of all colour, she turned to Lew and Winters "If you'll excuse me gentleman" Eve sprinted out after Private Wilson.

"What do we have Wilson?" she called as they ran out of the CP entrance, neither of them noticing Speirs.

"We've intercepted Russian chatter Ma'am" he replied.

Speirs stepped forward as he heard the private.

"Eve!" Nix shouted as he came out of the CP door a couple of seconds after her and Wilson, but Eve didn't look back as she jumped into the jeep. Wilson wheel spun the vehicle round and they sped off down the road, kicking up dust as they quickly disappeared out of sight.

Nix looked at Speirs "What was that about?" Speirs asked

"What is a code amber?" Nix replied.

"I guess it's something to do with some Russian chatter the Brits have intercepted" Speirs stated, dropping his cigarette to the ground. It didn't sound good at all.

...

Berlin

Fin sniffed the air, it was a familiar stench burning bodies, although this time it was Hitler and his wife, Fin had took an educated guess. The artillery fire had resumed. Fin needed to make a move. Avoid the Russians Easier said than done when you're British masquerading as a German civilian. Being still too close to the Führerbunker, Fin had found herself completely encircled by the advancing Russians. There had to be a way through, she needed to use the defending SS-Waffen as an unexpected ally.

Fin quietly ran from building to building, taking cover as she kept close to the Nazi's. It didn't matter if they saw her. She looked like an average German civilian to them.

Fin found an empty shop, it was deserted, she would radio in from there. Fin crouched down below a blown out window, the wall opposite peppered with bullet holes. She reached into her specially adapted knapsack she couldn't exactly walk through Berlin with a radio strapped to her back, and pulled out the transmitter and receiver.

"Easy tare, Easy tare, come in"

*static*

"Easy tare Easy tare come in"

A male voice came over the radio

"Easy Tare receiving, confirm identity"

"Able Love, over"

"Confirm status, over"

"Oboe Sugar is top of ladder"

"Ten Four"

"Roger Victor a go"

"Affirmative"

"Over"

"Good luck, over"

Fin packed away her radio and looked up and out of the window. Time to get the hell out of here.

...

Landsberg

Speirs and Nix returned to Winters office, deeply unhappy with Eve's departure. Even as an intelligence officer, Nix very much doubted he'd be able to find out what was happening. He was certain that the Americans would be aware of Fin's mission but he was guessing it would be at the highest level. Winters would need to speak to Sink. Nix and Speirs stalked past Winters flustered orderly, typing rapidly, still annoyed with the British Private's lack of courtesy.

"Don't ask!" Winters snapped as they entered staring him down "I've already phoned through to Sink, if he knows anything, he's not saying."

"I need to know what has happened to the mission!" Nix responded angrily.

"All I've found out is that it's called Operation Sandtrap. We know Eve is on the extraction team and we know that Fin needs to get out of Berlin, that's it, understandably, the Brits are keeping their cards close to their chest"

"So there is nothing we can do to help?" Speirs enquired keeping his feelings for Cara locked deep down inside. The more he heard the angrier he got.

"No, especially now we have new orders, we're moving out" Winters replied

"Without Fin!" Nix exclaimed "What do we tell the men?"

"We say she has temporarily returned to the Brits but will be joining us again at a later date. The Brits have liberated a women's camp and she was needed for translation and medical" Winters ordered.

Speirs turned to leave.

"Speirs, wait" Winters called "Nix can you leave us"

Nix nodded "I'll go inform the men"

After Nix closed the door, Winters turned to Speirs "Off the record because that girl means a lot to us all and this company. How long has it been going on?"

"Not long and it cooled when I became CO" Speirs replied without any tone at all.

"What are your intentions now?" Winters asked delving into the more personal side of Speirs, actually wondering if he would answer.

"None, I don't even know who she is" Speirs replied impassively.

"Look, I'm going to turn a blind eye, I feel we're at a position in this war where I can" Winters informed Speirs unsurprised by his icy reaction to the conversation. "We're going to see her again, she'll make sure of it, when we do, go easy on her... ok?"

Speirs remained silent.

Winters sighed "Remember she's been in this war a lot longer than us, she entered it very young and she was prematurely sent into combat. She's become conditioned. She probably wouldn't even answer to the name Churchill if it was shouted randomly at her in the street. She's Fin, Agent Loralie and she has been from the beginning." Winters gently advised, he realised Speirs had a lot to come to terms with, his wife had lied to him, his girlfriend had lied to him, he had a right to be angry. "She's a genuine girl, look at the relationships she built with the men! They adore her, they're going to be broken when they're told she's gone and they won't even know the real reason. If they did, every single one of them would forgive her, you need to as well"

Speirs without realising, shook his head, she was apparently also known as Ema, how many identities did she have?

"It's just a name, Speirs that's all it is! If we all knew, we may have treated her differently, compromised her and the company, think before you act"

"Can I go?"

Winters nodded having little hope that his words would have any impact at all. Fin couldn't help what she was born into. He was sure she was probably coerced into joining the SOE. She followed her orders to the bitter end and Winters hoped to God it wasn't the bitter end.

Speirs walked out of Winters office, he had absorbed everything Winters had said, he had a point, but none of it quelled his anger. She had let him down. She should have told him, he had no doubt about that regardless of her orders, her loyalty to her country. He wasn't the enemy and she should have trusted him. She was someone else and he wanted his Cara.

...

Berlin

Fin crouched back down ready to make her move, they were still firing at one another, but she could slip down the side of the buildings.

"Ist mit Ihnen alles in Ordnung?" (Is everything ok with you?)

Fin snapped her head back into the building. A young boy, no more than 13-14 years old stood in front of her, he was obviously terrified. He was dressed in black shorts and a tan shirt with a red Nazi arm band on his left upper arm. His blonde hair messily parted to one side, his arms hung at his side as he loosely gripped a rifle in his right hand.

"Ja" (yes) Fin replied trembling her voice a little, a civilian would be scared right?

He looked her up and down, Fin shuffled, trying to conceal her boots. She knew for certain he hadn't heard her radio transmission. His eyes met hers again. Fin needed to hurry this a long.

"Kann ich Dir helfen?" (Can I help you?) he asked

"Wie verlasse ich Berlin?" (How do I leave Berlin?) Fin replied forcing a tear down her cheek

"Folge mir" (follow me) he replied motioning Fin to get up. Fin obliged and followed him out towards the back of the shop. They stepped through the trashed store room and through a back exit. The boy lead Fin straight into a whole division of SS-Waffen!

...

Landsberg

Luz clambered up onto the truck assisted by Tab. "Can't believe she left without saying good-bye" he murmured sadly.

"I know, all seems a little sudden don't ya think?" Shifty replied sitting down.

Tab looked down off the truck "Sir"

"Yeah Sergeant" Speirs replied approaching.

"How come Fin left so suddenly? She didn't even take her stuff" Tab asked pointing at Fin's bag he had packed for her.

"She doesn't need that stuff, the British will give her what she needs" Speirs stated bluntly

"She didn't even say good-bye Sir" Perconte added

"Her departure was sudden, get over it" Speirs replied equally as blunt as before, stalking away to his jeep.

"Shit! That's the worst mood I've seen Sparky in for a while" Luz observed.

"Maybe she went and they didn't even ask, ya know him being her CO" Christenson took a guess.

Or maybe he's in a mood because he loves her Tab kept his thoughts to himself, they all loved her though. The feeling on the truck hung heavy in the air, they were definitely missing a limb. The truck rolled out of the town, heads down, the men fidgeting.

"I hope Fin finds her way back to us soon" Luz sighed.

Speirs could feel the men's sadness, he more than anyone was feeling her absence the hardest, despite his anger towards her.

...

Berlin

"Warten Sie hier" (wait here) the boy said to Fin holding out his hand to stop her.

Fin felt nervous, she was completely and utterly surrounded. She prayed no one would look down at her feet. She observed as the boy approached a superior. The division was darting around all over the place preparing their defence by the looks of things. Fin hoped that they didn't have time to pay too much attention to her.

Fin heard the officer bark orders at the Hitler Youth boy "Schicke sie so!" (send her that way!) the officer pointed in the direction Fin was to go, he didn't even look at her, much to her relief. The boy came back and ushered Fin to follow him. They walked right between the troops, Fin tried to step lightly, trying to disguise the heaviness of her boots, she kept her head low.

...

"Did you hear? martial law was declared, they're making all able-bodied civilians aged between 14-80 help with burying the dead at the camps" Webster informed the forlorn men sat with him.

"Good" Liebgott muttered.

The Convoy rolled into a devastated town. Luz looked over to see civilians milling around, tidying, collecting whatever use-able they could find amongst the rubble of the blown out buildings. They looked sad, tired. He wondered if they even realised what the rest of Europe looked like, it looked just like this, if not worse. The truck stopped. Speirs walked over as the men filed off "We're over seeing the clean up, then we'll be moving out again, stretch your legs" he informed "Christ, stop moping around!" he added before walking away.

The men sat on the balcony of a ruined building listening to a string quartet play down below. Shifty relaxed as much as he could. He missed Fin terribly. It didn't feel right that they were moving on without her. He hoped she was ok.

"Do ya think Fin would like this music?" Luz asked

"Yeah of course, Fin is educated" Webster replied

"All you need is a little Mozart!" Lieb added watching the Krauts making a good job of the clean up.

"It's Beethoven" Nix corrected joining them on the balcony. He sighed "Hitler's dead" he announced to surprised but quiet troops. He hoped this meant Fin was at the rendezvous point and that Eve and Fin were on their way back, if not back already. If Fin had still been in the bunker, he was sure they would have known something by now. "Shot himself in Berlin" Nix added.

"Is the war over then Sir?" Bull asked

"No, we're moving out, orders are sending us to Berchtesgaden" Nix replied.

"Should have shot himself three years ago and saved us a lot of trouble" Webster spat angrily.

"If only he had" Nix mumbled, Eve and Fin would be here...but they wouldn't, without this damn war, he never would have met Eve. What a fucking double edge sword if there ever was one.

Nix turned to leave "Sir, any news on when Fin will be rejoining us?" Luz asked stopping him.

Nix turned slowly " Soon hopefully, we can't very well knock on Hitler's front door without her, can we?"

...

Berlin

Fin closely followed the boy as they weaved through the crowd of Nazi uniforms. Fin felt a bead of sweat roll down her temple, her heart beating faster as her body brushed against the Germans. She was nudged a few times as they rushed around preparing for another Russian assault. The division started to thin out, she was approaching the home run. The boy stopped "Weiter geradeaus fahren" (continue straight ahead) He directed Fin over to an alley way between some blown out buildings "Geh weiter und du wirst sicher sein" (keep going and you'll be safe)

"Danke…" (Thank you)

"Bertie"

"Danke Bertie" (thank you Bertie) Fin walked forward, quickening her pace she approached the alley way.

"HALT!" (STOP!)

That wasn't Bertie. Fin kept moving, she could pretend the instruction wasn't for her.

"HALT! Loralie!" (STOP! Loralie!)

Now Fin knew that there was no getting away with pretending the instruction wasn't for her. She didn't stop, she took off down the alley way. All Fin could hear was the heaviness of her breathing and several boots behind her. The bloody Nazis were battling for Berlin and they still felt it necessary to chase after her?! She had a decent enough head start on them. She was getting back to Ron and the men, the Nazis can forget about capturing her.

...

Easy Company once again boarded their truck now headed for Berchtesgaden. Luz looked to his side, Perconte was sat there, it should be Fin. Perconte looked up at Luz and struggled a smile, he knew as well. After what Bill had mentioned in his letter, Luz was unsure of Nix's explanation to Fin's disappearance. It all felt too similar to when she was captured in Bastogne. Nix just didn't seem believable. Luz thought Speirs would know something more too, but he was unreadable and Luz was too scared to ask him.

...

Outskirts of Berlin

Fin ran out into some trees, they were quite dense, the branches snagging on her clothes, how she wished to be in her field uniform right now. Her boots trudged through the mossy ground. She could still hear the Germans behind her, but she could now hear gun fire and it wasn't aimed at her. Russians! Ohhh! That is just not good. Fin hoped they would sort the Germans out for her and not realise who they were chasing.

Fin was in sight of the rendezvous point. That extraction team would be a very welcome sight right now. It was now dusk, Fin would have to run a lot further before she'd see them in such low light. Hopefully they would see her first and get going with that covering fire. Just as Fin finished her thought, the sound of gun fire was now aimed at her.

...

Speirs chose to drive the jeep to Berchtesgaden himself. He needed to concentrate on something, not that he was giving the drive his full attention. He was constantly wondering where she was. The news of Hitler's death and no news of a British spy had given him some comfort.

...

Outskirts of Berlin

It was now or never. Fin could just make out the extraction team line, there wasn't a lot of them, but they were SOE and the handpicked best from the Red Devils and Green Berets. Fin kept running, the SS-Waffen that had followed her were hot on her heels with the Russians hot on theirs. Caught by the Nazis, she could expect a quick death or they might even use her as a bartering tool with the Russians. Caught by the Russians... she would have to shoot herself, they couldn't know who she was and why she was in Berlin.

Fin jumped a hedge without hesitation, stumbling on the hardened ground on the other side. The firing increased as she was approached a clearing. As Fin stared ahead at the non existent cover between her and the extraction team she knew that maybe her luck might just finally run out. She entered the open grass and started to zig zag making herself a harder target to hit. She could now hear her extraction team shouting at her, urging her to keep going, to get to them, they provided covering fire. Fin ran, she ran faster than she had ever done before, 400 metres... Fin continued to run, zig zagging towards them...

BOOM!

A shell exploded to Fin's left as she luckily zig zagged to the right.

300 metres...

"COME ON!" they screamed at her "RUN!"

Fin was exhausted, adrenaline pumping through her body, she struggled to catch her breath, but she kept pace. She felt the whizz of a bullet slice past her head. Keep going you're nearly there, they are in reach...

"FASTER, COME ON! FASTER!" the team screamed. Their hearts were in their mouths, Agent Loralie obviously wasn't aware of the scene unfolding behind her. They kept firing, but soon they couldn't wait for her.. They would have to prepare to withdraw without her. They couldn't compromise Operation Sandtrap.

Eve fired her rifle, tears streaming down her face, she knew they would be pulling away soon, they needed to get back to the plane with plenty of time to take off. The Russians couldn't find a whole team of Brits, dead or alive. Please Fin find the strength, you need to run faster

200 metres...

Fin realised they were pulling back, she was late, she wasn't quick enough, she wasn't going to make it! The tears started, she didn't want to die, not now. Stupid, stupid girl, why didn't you just take the photos and leave, why did you have to mess with Goebbels? Fin may only have messed with Goebbels for a few minutes, but a few minutes right now would ensure that she would reach the extraction team. The tears flowed. She wanted Ron, she wanted a life with him. Please just wait a little longer, I'm nearly there...

100 metres...

Keep going girl, You can do this! A tree in front of Fin blew up from artillery fire, lighting the extraction team line. The covering fire had stopped.

She couldn't see them any more, they had left.

Without her.