Bismarck carried the unconscious Wilhelm inside her superstructure. On deck, several Bulins worked on freeing the wreckage of the Catalina from Bismarck's anchor chains.
"Your arm... it's cut in several places." Bismarck said as she saw Wilhelm stir in her hold.
"What... happened?" Wilhelm asked, his voice holding strong, but with a hint of confusion.
"Did you hit your head, soldat?" Bismarck asked as she entered her medical bay and sat Wilhelm down as gently as she could.
"Let me look." Bismarck demanded before hesitating.
Wilhelm sighed.
"Please remove it... I have to repair the damage done to it anyway." Wilhelm said as Bismarck's hands slowly clasped the material on the back of his neck, undoing the latch that secured it to Wilhelm's head.
With one slow, yet graceful movement, Bismarck removed the gas mask, who's eyes were cracked and red with spots of blood.
Arizona stood by and watched Bismarck fumble the mask in her hands after hearing the crunching of loose glass from the eye pieces.
As soon as the mask came off, and Bismarck was able to look at the man she had saved, Bismarck gasped.
"W...Wilhelm? Is... that you?" Bismarck asked softly, her features softening from her usual stoic expression.
"Ja, Frau Bismarck." Wilhelm said, his deep voice uninhibited by his mask as his face met the light of the med bay.
"Sie sagten mir, du bist gestorben, Wilhelm." Bismarck said as she hesitated once more.
"Ja... it was to be kept a secret that I survived the test. I'm sure Graf Zeppelin knew. She made a face the moment she saw my uniform, but I didn't wish to raise any concerns." Wilhelm said as tiny trails of blood rolled down his stark white face, a face that hadn't seen sun in several months.
Bismarck slowly embraced the pilot.
"But you have returned to my... no... our ranks. Your rightful place. Willkommen zurück, Soldat" Bismarck said as she held the injured man in her arms.
"It's unlike you to be this emotional, Frau Bismarck." Wilhelm said as he relaxed in her hold.
"The one I sought before that dreadful day has returned to me. While emotions may not be my strong suit... I can at least do this much." The Battleship said as a healthy blush crossed her face.
Wilhelm cracked a smile. The first smile he had worn since before the accident that ruined his face.
"I see... well... I'm back, Frau Bismarck." Wilhelm said as she released him.
"Arizona. There is glass surrounding his bad eye. Please tend to that as well as his arm." Bismarck asked in a tone Arizona had never heard.
"I'll take extra good care of him, Bismarck. And I'll make sure to have him find you before he sets out again." Arizona said as she swore she saw Bismarck crack a smile.
"I eagerly await good news." Bismarck said as she left the room, taking one final look at her long lost pilot.
"Tirpitz has missed you as well, Soldat. You had better be ready to explain everything... to both of us." Bismarck said with a teary eyed smile. She then left the doorway and headed back on deck to handle the scrapping of the damaged Catalina.
"Danke schön, Frauline." Wilhelm said softly as he allowed himself to fall back into the pillows on the bed.
Arizona smiled.
"It truly is a small world, isn't it?" Arizona said softly as she sat on a small iron stool next to the bed and began using a pair of tweezers to remove the shards of glass surrounding Wilhelm's bad eye.
"Arizona was it?" Wilhelm asked.
"Yes. That's my name. I don't believe I ever got yours from the Commander." Arizona said as she worked.
"Please just call me Wilhelm. How… how has Bismarck been up to now?" Wilhelm asked.
Arizona smiled.
"She has acted as the diligent head of Ironblood, just as you would expect her to. She joined up with us back in New Guinea. She came to us, angry and full of vengeance. 556 had been mutilated by Strength and she wanted nothing more than to return the favor. But, over her time with us, she's mellowed out a bit. Her contact with the Commander has brought several different aspects of her personality to light." Arizona explained as Wilhelm winced following the removal of an inch long shard of glass from his face.
"I'm sorry for not putting you under. I did not bring any of the drugs with me. But I have some morphine for when I begin working on your arm." Arizona said as she bandaged Wilhelm's eye.
"Not a problem. This pain is nothing. I've had worse." Wilhelm said as Arizona removed a syringe from her blouse along with a small vial of clear liquid.
"I'm going to use a small bit to numb the pain. You may be a little groggy if I use too much." Arizona said as she filled the syringe before sticking it in Wilhelm's arm.
"Fine by me… I'd relish a bit of sleep after all that…" Wilhelm said as his eyes got heavy.
Arizona smiled softly as she began working on his arm.
In the midst of the dying firefight outside, Bismarck made her way over to the Tirpitz, using her rigging to scan the sky.
Once on the deck of her sister's ship, Bismarck quickly found her sister.
"Sister?" Tirpitz asked, more surprised than anything to see tears in Bismarck's eyes.
Bismarck smiled softly, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Sister, are you alright?" Tirpitz asked, concerned.
Bismarck nodded.
"What happened that has brought tears to your eyes?" Tirpitz asked.
"Wilhelm has returned to us." Bismarck said tearfully.
The moment she spoke his name, Tirpitz's eyes went wide.
"OberKommando der Kriegsmarine said he had been killed in a training accident!" Tirpitz replied, tears welling in her eyes as well.
Bismarck shook her head.
"Nein. More lies from the top. He's alive. He was the one who crashed into my deck just now." Bismarck said as she hugged her sister.
"Take me to him!" Tirpitz cried as she pried herself from her sister's embrace.
Bismarck nodded.
"Come. He is in the med bay being cared for by Arizona." Bismarck said as both Bismarck class battleships leapt from the Tirpitz and onto the ocean's surface.
"There, all done." Arizona said softly as she finished stitching up the gashes on Wilhelm's arm.
Wilhelm was asleep, resting peacefully on the bed in the Bismarck's medical bay.
Two sharp knocks on the door were heard before the door opened and Tirpitz was visible in the doorway.
"Where is he?" Tirpitz asked before her eyes settled on the man laying in the bed before her.
"Shhh. He's resting. His injuries were moderately severe. Deep lacerations to the arm with tendons and ligaments exposed to the air. And several large shards of glass in the area around his eye from the broken gas mask." Arizona reported.
"Will he be alright?" Bismarck asked softly.
Arizona nodded.
"He's a very lucky man. If one of those cuts had gone any deeper, he could have lost all blood flow to this arm via rupture of the Brachial Artery. And I pulled a piece of glass in excess of one inch from just above his eye. All in all, I'm surprised to say, he'll not only make a full recovery, but he will easily be able to return to active duty." Arizona said, wiping sweat from her brow after removing a pair of bloody gloves.
"That sounds just like him. He always had unnaturally good luck." Tirpitz said as she looked at Wilhelm, several happy memories flooding her mind.
"Do you know him as well, Tirpitz?" Arizona asked.
"I do. When he wasn't being forced to fly by the upper echelon of the Kriegsmarine, he would spend time with us on base. My sister and I actually had a bit of a bet going back before we got word of his death." Tirpitz said as Bismarck turned beet red.
"Tirpitz! You will shut your mouth right now!" Bismarck cried.
"A bet? What kind?" Arizona asked, her curiosity peaked.
Tirpitz smiled.
"I bet my sister that I could get him to fall in love with me first." Tirpitz said proudly.
"Oh wow!" Arizona said as she covered her mouth.
"Of course, my sister refused to let her pride sit still, and said that she would beat me hands down." Tirpitz said as Bismarck's face turned an even deeper red.
"I see. So a sibling rivalry for the heart of a hardened warrior?" Arizona said, causing Tirpitz to nod.
"Well, it looks like you two can keep that bet rolling." Arizona said in a cheeky tone.
"Aye. I plan on it. Although… I will have to talk to Illustrious. She and I have gotten… involved." Tirpitz said as she scratched her neck.
"I'm sure neither Illustrious or Wilhelm would mind. After all, you know how we kansen operate. We don't feel the need to hog our loved ones." Arizona said.
"You do have a point." Tirpitz said as Wilhelm stirred.
"Oh wow. He pulled through that Morphine really quick." Arizona said as Wilhelm opened his good eye.
"Wilhelm." Bismarck said as she made her way to his bedside.
"Frau Bismarck. Frau Tirpitz. Guten Tag." Wilhelm said in a relaxed tone.
"Wilhelm. I see that the reports of your death were… exaggerated." Tirpitz said.
"Ja. Hell didn't want me, and Heaven couldn't claim me." Wilhelm said with a fist to his heart.
A flutter in the hearts of both Bismarck class battleships made itself known as they both breathed a happy sigh.
"I can see why you two like him. He's quite the image of determination. He might even be on par with the Commander." Arizona whispered in both of their ears as she packed up her medical kit.
Both Bismarck sisters blushed healthily.
"It's good to have you back, Soldat. I want to hear it all." Tirpitz said as she and Bismarck sat on Wilhelm's bed as Arizona closed the door.
"Good luck, Wilhelm." Arizona thought to herself as she smiled at a job well done.