THE STALAG 13 LONELY HEARTS CLUB

by

Candy Apple

Hogan rounded the corner, with Schultz behind him, on his way to visit LeBeau on his first full day in the cooler after returning from their far-fetched rescue of Wilhelmina. Some grumpy old lady, Louis, Hogan thought, smiling faintly. LeBeau's "escape" had earned him a thirty-day sentence, which was no surprise. Hogan knew in his heart he should have let it stand, since LeBeau defied his orders in going back to rescue the beautiful young agent. Still, Hogan felt that no one had emerged from this operation with a bigger hurt to nurse than LeBeau, and as usual when it came to the little Frenchman, Hogan found himself thinking with his heart and his compassion more so than his sense of military justice.

"Call to me when you're finished," Schultz said, unlocking the door of the cell for Hogan to go inside. LeBeau was sitting on the bunk, knees drawn up, chin resting on his crossed arms. It might have been possible for him to look more dejected, but Hogan wasn't sure how he'd do it.

"Thanks, Schultz." Hogan sat on the end of the bunk, a small distance from LeBeau's feet. "You know, Louis, I don't expect a formal salute or anything, but some sign that you're awake would be good."

"Sorry, Colonel," LeBeau said quietly. "Thank you for coming to see me."

"What do you want first? The good news or the bad news?"

"Let's get the bad news over with."

"I couldn't get you sprung," Hogan said.

"I'm surprised you even tried. I don't deserve it. I disobeyed your orders."

"Yes, you did." Hogan was quiet a moment. "You weren't exactly honest with all of us from the outset. Wilhelmina wasn't exactly a crabby old lady."

"If I had been honest, I would have never had the chance to see her again after the first time. By the time all the others took their turns going..." LeBeau sighed. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'll never see her again."

"We won't be here forever," Hogan said, troubled by how hard it was for him to encourage LeBeau to have hope for reuniting with Wilhelmina after the war. The thought of saying goodbye, at this moment, hurt more than it should. "If it's meant to be, she'll wait for you."

"She's a beautiful girl, Colonel. There'll be someone else before we can find each other again. I just hope she makes it out of Germany safely."

"The Underground'll do all they can for her. She was a big help to us for a long time." Hogan sighed. "You know, maybe that order of mine was kind of half-baked anyway."

"Rescuing her was a big risk to the operation."

"True, but she risked her life passing a lot of information back and forth. Even if she had been a gnarled, crotchety old crone, we owed her more than throwing her to the wolves. I guess I was feeling that one old woman had to be expendable rather than risk the lives of who knows how many fighting men if our operation went up in flames."

"If you'd known she was young and beautiful, would you have gone after her?"

"Personally, or as the commanding officer?" Hogan asked, smiling a little.

"As the commanding officer."

"No, not initially. When I made that decision, it was a painful matter of cutting losses. One agent lost–or at least left to her own devices to escape–to protect an entire Underground network. If I had known you were in love with her...I don't know what I would have said."

"That I was an idiot for getting involved with someone on a mission."

"Yeah, well, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

"Do you ever think about Michelle?" LeBeau asked, referring to the girl Hogan had fallen for, at first sight, on a mission over two years earlier.

"Not much anymore," Hogan said honestly. "It was hard at the time. I think it was just infatuation. I won't be looking for her after the war."

"What if you saw her again?"

"I don't know. I spent so long trying to bury that thought, I guess I did a good job of it."

"I'm sorry I lied to you, and that I snuck out like that."

"I know you are." Hogan rested the back of his head against the wall. "You never did let me get around to the good news."

"What is the good news?" LeBeau asked obligingly.

"I did get your sentence reduced to one week."

"How?"

"Klink's having a dinner party next week."

"Merci, Mon Colonel. I would have understood if you didn't do that."

"I don't think an extra three weeks in the cooler is going to make you feel much worse than you do now. I don't need to pile on the punishment." Hogan was quiet a moment. "Louis, it does get easier. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but it does."

"It got easier for you, I guess."

"It had to, but the point is, it does. Besides, a friend of mine worked pretty tirelessly at cheering me up after that mission was over," he added, smiling at LeBeau, who smiled back, straightening his legs and turning so he was sitting next to Hogan on the bunk.

"I was the only one who really knew how you felt about her. The others knew a few sparks flew, but they didn't know that you were...that you cared for her more than the others."

"And you didn't blow my cover, either."

"I didn't need to pile on punishment either, Colonel." LeBeau smiled. "Besides, good friends keep confidences."

"It's chilly in here. I'll send Newkirk through the tunnel with a couple extra blankets. You want anything special for dinner?"

"Little hard for me to cook in here," LeBeau said, snorting a little laugh.

"We've got a few provisions in the tunnel. I think we have some decent canned soup down there. I'm not too talented in the kitchen, but I can heat soup."

"You would bring me soup in here?"

"How many times have you crawled through the tunnel with food for somebody stuck in the cooler?"

"I don't know. Quite a few I suppose."

"Then you've got a lot of markers to call in, so don't worry about it." Hogan patted his back and stood up. "I should probably get going."

"Thank you for talking to Klink for me."

"All part of the Senior POW job," Hogan replied, heading for the door of the cell to call Schultz.

"Colonel?" LeBeau rose and walked over to where Hogan stood. "Thank you for getting me out of here and..." LeBeau paused, looking down, "for not being too angry about me leaving camp that way."

"You're welcome, Louis. We'll smuggle you some food and blankets," Hogan said, smiling as he patted LeBeau's shoulder before calling for Schultz.

As he watched Hogan walking down the hall with Schultz to return to the barracks for the night, LeBeau thought he felt just a slight lifting of the yoke of sadness over losing Wilhelmina. The absurd thought crossed his mind that it would be harder to say goodbye to Hogan someday than it was to send a beautiful woman on her way. That was nonsense. He was just feeling blue and Colonel Hogan made him feel better and he was letting himself get carried away.

It would be hard to say goodbye to everyone here someday, even if he would be elated to see the end of the war and the chance to go home. That day was bound to be bittersweet.

And some goodbyes are more bitter than sweet...

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