A/N: I took some liberties concerning events and their timing. Some of them would not have been known about till later in the war.
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"Hurry," urgently whispered the tall, gruff farmer who was leading Oliver and Jim through the pitch dark of night and away from the flames of the broken Archer and the German troops who were flooding into the village.
Oliver could only just make out the back of the farmer's blond head as they ran through farm fields and then along a winding river bank. The heat and golden glow of the burning aircraft debris became fainter and fainter as they fled.
Oliver struggled to hold Jim up as they ran together. Each abrupt and rushed step jarring and painful to the injuries of both men.
"Here!" said the man as he opened the door to a small barn and led them in before baring it with a long piece of wood. Oliver and Jim watched as he ran over and shooed a cow to the side of the stall it was in then started to push the hay laying on the ground around until a small trapdoor on the floor was exposed.
The man lifted the trapdoor and pointed into its darkness. Oliver didn't think, he just reacted and helped Jim down the ladder and into the hole with him.
"Stay," the man directed as the trap door was slammed shut and the scratching sounds of the man once again camouflaging the door and pulling the cow back over it could be heard. Through small slits of the trapdoor thin streams of moonlight dimly lit the four walls of the dug out hole in the ground.
"Oliver," Jim whispered as Oliver set him down and they both sat on the dirt floor in near total darkness. The damp smell of earth encompassed them as the adrenaline that had gotten them through the escape was quickly wearing off.
"Yeah," Oliver replied as he tried to move his left arm into a position that was less painful.
"Thank you," Jim said, his voice low and shaky with emotion.
Oliver swallowed back his own emotions and replied, "You would have done the same for me, Jim. You would have done the same,"
As his exhaustion, the pain though out his body, the darkness and the weight of their predicament settled heavily on Oliver, his thoughts were a jumble of fear, hope, and devastation. Did his mayday go through? Did his commander know they were alive? Did Tommy make it back to base? His mom, did she know about his crash? Did Felicity?
He couldn't bear the thought of those who cared for him thinking he was dead. That they were hurting.
He tried to focus on what was in front of him. What he could do to get home. He wanted to go home.
####
Felicity quickly learned that life didn't stop for anything. Even when most of her waking hours were filled with concern and worry for Oliver, she still had responsibilities. She still had to get dressed, eat and go to work and not think of the worse possible scenarios. She had to stay positive.
When the world was at war and people relied on you, personal heartache and worries had no place in it except to fill every crevice and private corner of ones heart till it struggled to beat.
Her supervisor didn't know her connection to Oliver and that he was MIA and that his friend Tommy was still recovering from an emergency landing, even though he would have offered words of care and encouragement if he did, as he called her, Laurel and the rest of their team in for an important meeting.
As Felicity sat down in front of his desk and glanced over at the chalkboard that was always full of the latest intelligence information, her heart accelerated at the words underlined in thick chalk.
RAMPS. WHAT ARE THEY FOR?
"We've been asked to review all new photographs coming in from the area of Usedom, northern peninsula of Germany. They are now our priority,"
Felicity knew that over the past month her department had identified the existence of long, narrow structures being built in several Northern Germany locations. Those structures had then been recently confirmed by British ground intelligence to be launching ramps that were all pointing towards Great Britain. In total, 96 ramps had been built within weeks.
"This is related to the ramps we had identified?" Felicity asked as she sat up straighter in her chair as the magnitude of their ramp discovery was revealed.
"Yes, once the structures were confirmed as launch ramps, the Strategic Aviation department reviewed and concluded that they may not be for missiles. The remote locations of the ramp facilities and their being nowhere near railroad lines would make the transport of mass missiles difficult. What they need from us is to look for any anomalies in the incoming photos with this information in mind."
"If not missiles, what could they be built to launch?" Laurel asked out loud what everyone else was thinking.
"That's our mission to find out. So, abnormal and unusual are what we're looking for," their supervisor stressed as he begun to assign tasks and responsibilities for the review.
####
Oliver couldn't tell how long they stayed in the hole, but they had both slept badly off and on waking to every sound or movement from above. Just like they were awake right now as someone was about to open the trapdoor.
Oliver and Jim didn't have any weapons on them, but had pulled the belts from the waist of their pants and wrapped them several times around their hands with the metal buckle cradled within their palms ready to be used as one.
The trapdoor opened and they both squinted up at the light of the lantern that was held above by the head of the man who had rescued them. The man made his way down the ladder and turned to stand before them.
Oliver finally got a good look at the farmer he owed his life to.
He was ordinary looking.
He had light hair with wrinkles on his face that spoke of hard work and determination, but he wasn't an...ordinary man. He was a man who dared to run towards a downed airplane and commit treason by helping an enemy of Germany.
"My name is Isaac and you are safe, for now. I am with the Dutch Resistance,"
Oliver never heard sweeter words than that. He lessened his grip on his belt buckle as he breathed a little easier with the news and looked at Jim. They both knew of the reputation of the Dutch Resistance and their work with rescuing and hiding Jewish families and especially Jewish children from sure death in the Nazi death camps.
"My men?"
"Separated and hidden all along the village,"
"Thank you," Oliver said as he dropped his belt on the ground then held his one good hand out. The man named Isaac grasped it and shook as he nodded back.
"Don't thank me yet. We are surrounded by the German garrison who is scouring your crash site. What injuries do you have?" he asked as Jim weakly sat back down as the pain in his foot had become too unbearable to stand upon.
Oliver and Jim told him about Jim's broken toes and Isaac was able to pull Oliver's dislocated shoulder back into place as Oliver bit down on the leather of his belt. Who would have thought his military issued belt would be so useful. The best they could do for Jim was wrap his foot securely and tightly with rags and put his boot back on over them to help keep the broken bones from being jarred too much.
Another man, much younger than Isaac named Hans, but no less intense and serious brought them cheese, water and a change of clothing as Isaac told them of the number of German's in the area and how some of Oliver's men had already been moved more than once as the garrison made their way through the countryside.
With the change of clothing, Oliver and Jim now looked like the locals and their uniforms were to be burned. The hole they were all in was surprisingly large. Obviously used for hiding whatever or whomever the Dutch Resistance was moving around under the German occupied forces' noses.
"You must remain hidden for now. We are working on details to transport you out of the country. It may take some time and will be dangerous."
"We are grateful and we understand the risk you and your families have put yourselves in to help us. We will do everything you ask,"
"This is good," Isaac said as he signaled Hans that it was time to leave.
Oliver and Jim remained in the hidden location in the barn for two more days before they had another visit.
The cow was making a ruckus of noise and German voices were coming closer and louder above their hiding place as German soldiers walked through the barn in a slow search.
Oliver and Jim could only sit quietly and hope the soldiers didn't notice anything out of the ordinary in Betsy's stall. Yes, they named the cow. Betsy was what Oliver and Jim decided to call her as they were forced to get used to the foul odors she regularly deposited on the floor above them.