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G sighed and shifted in the car. "No sign of anything. Z said they were all driving black cars. No black cars here."

"That," S admitted, "was the first thing I noticed." They were back on surveillance duty, but *this* go round, it meant checking all of the local hotels that Z, Dorian and Klaus hadn't gotten to in an attempt to locate the two missing men.

"Wait!" G gasped, pointing. "Look! Over there!"

'Over there' were two men, approaching at the pace of a leisurely walk. Not approaching, though -- just walking on the side of the road, talking casually. Klaus and Dorian, striding on the grass that ran along side the narrow road, apparently oblivious to the search.

"SIR!!" G realized that his window wasn't open and rapidly went about letting it down. "MAJOR!! LORD GLORIA!"

Klaus's head twitched up first, and he stopped walking, glancing across the street; a hand on Dorian's arm stopped the Briton from going any further. "I think that's G screaming at us!"

"I do believe you're right," Dorian agreed, one blond brow rising. "I guess that cuts short our little walk. Sorry, darling."

"You don't sound sorry," Klaus told him in an amused tone. He looked for traffic going either way, and with none in sight, started to cross to the parking lot where G sat. "You're hungry, anyway."

"The truth," Dorian admitted, "is the truth. I'm starving. I didn't get any breakfast and I didn't finish supper last night, either. I think I require sustenance, love."

A quick glance to his watch confirmed it. "It's nearly supper time, anyway -- G will drive us back to the house, and there's food left over. I'll tell Z everything, he can handle the CIA; the Bear Cub's had more than enough time to get away."

"THAT means we can finish our vacation in peace and then take care of business," Dorian finished with a sigh. Hm, that was a pleasant thought! "You know, I feel a little better for our foray, Klaus."

"I do, too," he said, starting up the sloped driveway towards G and S's car. "But we need more time to rest."

"And you haven't gotten to go swimming, yet," Dorian added.

"YOOHOO! Major!" G cried, stepping out of the car. He was dressed, heaven help him, in a suit, but it was *pink*. "Lord Gloria!! Oh, we're so glad to see you!"

"G," Klaus sighed with a nod to the approaching... man.

"Are you all right?" G said simultaneously with S's, "We'll take you back to the house!!"

"Take me where there's *FOOD*," Dorian prompted, smiling and brushing past them to climb into the back of the car.

"We're fine -- but we've been walking for a few hours now, so..." 'So let us in the car, shut up, and drive' was implied.

"Yes, Major!" G cried, slipping back into the car even as Klaus climbed into it. "We haven't found anyone yet, but C and M are out, too. The others... Z has already called the CIA to let them know what was discovered, and so everything should be taken care of by the time we're back!"

"There's more -- I can give a name to that agent, and the hotel where the KGB was staying should be investigated; the owners are at least sympathizers," the German muttered, as Dorian got into the car and sat beside him.

"For now, though, *feed* me. I don't care if we have to drive through somewhere or something," Dorian said, reaching for Klaus's hand. "THEN we can go back to espionage."

"Hmn, we're not too far, driving, from the house now," Klaus uttered, rubbing his fingers against the back of Dorian's hand. "Drive, S."

"Yes, sir!" the agent replied promptly, sending the car out of the hotel parking lot.

Once they were on their way, it wasn't so bad, and Dorian couldn't help but keep smiling. /We have names. Klaus will be able to close this off, and so will I./ He'd never wanted to hurt anyone before. He really didn't want to hurt anyone *now*, but killing the man would prevent anyone else from ever suffering at his hands the way that they had, and that was what was important to Dorian. /Good.../

"Which agents are still out?" Klaus suspected that they'd probably gone out scurrying aimlessly again, though hopefully not in a drove. "When we get back, I want them recalled. The KGB is pulling out now, or is already in the process of doing so; we've put them on edge already, and we don't need fatalities."

"Just C and M, sir. The others are still back at the house. Z said he didn't want us all scrambling around like idiots trying to get ourselves killed when what we needed to do was find you, Major!" G announced with some cheer.

THAT made Dorian chuckle. "Hm. Z. Eberbach in the making," he teased.

"A kinder one, perhaps," Klaus granted with a shrug -- he was glad that some of his better senses had worn off on the younger agent, just as they'd done on A. "Good -- now, what's this I hear about you've finally stopped wearing dresses, G?"

Agent G smiled back at him, face lighting up at the question. "It's just not as much fun without you, sir!" he said, nodding. "Besides. Without you there, the Chief feels me up."

Everyone in the car heard a muttering in response to that, and Dorian was quite sure it was both nasty, and uttered in Russian. "Tell him to keep his nasty hands off of you -- because I'm not planning on staying in America for much more than a couple more weeks."

"Yes, *SIR*!!" Oh, the Alphabets were so rigorous in their replies sometimes! S and G both had spoken that phrase and they were beaming fit to be tied! "So you're coming home to Germany soon?" G asked, unable to help himself.

"When the month is over," Klaus told them, shifting a little the clasp of Dorian's hand within his. He wanted to pull the other man close and apologize for getting them caught because of his rash quickness, but that would wait.

"After all," Dorian said, "I'd just as soon not work with the Americans. They're a strange lot, and it'd be better to work in Europe..." And there were better museums to rob in Europe, too!

"Idiot yanks couldn't even solve their own mole problems," Klaus growled, shaking his head. That was the last thing said, as the car began to roll over familiar ground -- turned left onto Bull Hill, and then another left onto Sunrise Street, all the way down to the end, and over the gravel driveway.

"Now you can have food, Dorian."

"Oh, *thank* you!" Dorian told him effusively, smiling. It was a little bit of fun-making, but it wasn't meant badly.

It was agreeing with Klaus's good mood, though, and he took it the right way, opening the door for Dorian to run him out of the car first. "Come on! Get out, you idiot!!"

The man folded up out of the car, long legs stretching, arms reaching upward. "Mmmmm, that feels good!" he declared even as his stomach rumbled hungrily and G giggled.

Klaus pushed at Dorian, a hand on either side of his waist as he laughed wolfishly. "Walk. Up the steps, into the house."

THAT was a delight, and Dorian sighed with pleasure as he headed in the indicated direction, shivering slightly. G and S, on the other hand... Both mouths were wide open as they watched their Major, their *Major*, laughing with *Eroica*.

S shivered violently. "All's not right with the world," he whispered hoarsely to G once they were out of range.

"What... do you think is going on?" G asked in a tense breath. Lord, maybe Klaus had been rightfully dismissed for insanity!!

"I think," S gulped, "that Eroica must have *finally* gotten *laid*!"

"No!" G said in shock, starting to go in through the garage. "No that couldn't... I mean, it's the *MAJOR*!!"

"Did you see him SMILING!?" S hissed, stopping almost dead as he saw that the Major and Eroica had paused to talk with Z. "Really!" he whispered. "I mean... YOU know..."

"I... guess..."

"The hotel is in North Adams -- the 'Towne' Inn or some such foppery. It was crawling with Soviets. Mischa was... kind enough to let us just leave," Klaus was telling Z just then.

Z's blue eyes widened, all of the Alphabets looking at one another. "He... just let you go?" he asked, blinking almost audibly.

"He just let us go," Klaus confirmed. No need to tell Z about what had passed, or the information given to them. "Who knows his reasoning -- I won't question it. We walked here from North Adams, though -- until G and S spotted us. He's had enough time that he's gone, with the information he got from the Yank -- but I know that Yank's name, and the CIA can find him on their own." Of course, he and Dorian would have to talk to the CIA when they arrived, but probably not be for several hours yet.

"Yes, sir," Z answered, nodding, a smile settling on his face. "It only took you a day, Major. I think that ought to be enough to convince anyone you're a marvelous contractor!"

That got a slightly brighter smile from Klaus than the steady, casual one he was already wearing. "Old experience shouldn't be let waste -- keep the CIA from getting near Lord Gloria and I for a bit. I don't want to be debriefed yet." Which meant that something, some conversation had happened with Mischa, and they needed to collaborate on what had happened. "Come on, Dorian -- let's head into the house."

"And if I don't get something to eat soon, my stomach will gnaw through my backbone," Dorian said by way of agreement, waving as the two of them took off up the stairs, Klaus's hand at the small of his back along the way.

Behind them, silence reigned for a few long moments as the Alphabets stared after them, the lot of them shocked as much by the smile as the touch. Finally, S swallowed hard and said just loudly enough for the rest of them to hear, "Oh, yeah. Eroica finally got laid..."

"Shhhh!" A almost startled, shaking his head. "I... I don't know about that, so don't...!"

"NO idle gossip!" Z said firmly. "We don't know and it's none of our business, so!"

"We all want the Major back, don't we?" A asked the gathered agents. A chorus of affirmative answers came back to him, a fair babble of them. "Then don't start gossip," he finished. "It's none of our business whatever they do."

"Well," S said solemnly, "it's not so much gossip as..." He groped momentarily for the right words. "Wanting to see him remain this *happy*," he finally said decisively. Generally, the Major was scary, and if he ever caught them having THIS conversation, it'd be straight to Alaska with them all! Still, they wanted him to be happy. Everyone was terrified of the Major, true, but they were also very fond of him. If Eroica made him happy, all the better. They liked Eroica, too, even if he WAS trouble from the word go!

"I think he'd be happier if he didn't hear us talking about this," was Z's observation. "Now, start the reports so there'll be less to do when the CIA comes around..."

"Yes, sir," several of them answered at once, and then they went to work.


Upstairs, Dorian was delving firmly into the refrigerator. He'd found another of the sandwiches he'd been munching on last night and several other good things and with a satisfied sigh, he placed them all on the table. "There!" he nearly purred. "Ohh, I'm *starving*!"

"Then stop fussing, and start eating," Klaus said, grabbing the loaf of italian bread they'd bought a few days before; he broke off a piece and started to munch on that.

"I got out enough for you," he was informed around Dorian's mouthful of sandwich. "Mmmmmmmm!"

"It's been a good day," Klaus sighed, moving to sit down. God, how his body ached, the stumps of his fingers, still healing muscles of his chest; but it was a good ache, long missed. "Better relax now."

"Hmmm?" That sound was a questioning one, Dorian's mouth still full.

"We're on American soil, Dorian -- which means a CIA debrief once they get here. We'll be hauled to the nearest facility and questioned thoroughly," Klaus shrugged, not looking *happy* about it, but tolerant of the idea. "You going to be okay with that?"

The blond thief swallowed, shrugged slightly. "So long as they don't touch me," he decided. "If one of them touches me, I might hit them, but other than that." He wouldn't like going without Klaus, but there wasn't much to be done about that!

"Each of us will be done separately, so... so don't tell them the details of what's on the paper, why, or any of that. Save us both trouble," Klaus smiled.

"I'll tell them I slept through most of it," Dorian said. "It's true, so it's not like I actually saw anything, anyway."

"Good." Klaus finished the heel of thick crunchy bread, and then went back to get a drink of water. "Do you want a nap...? Otherwise we won't be able to sleep for another day."

That gained him a nod as Dorian finished off the first half of his sandwich and started on the second. "In that case, yes." Yes because he wasn't about to give up the opportunity to lay down with Klaus, CIA or no CIA!!

Klaus also wanted a moment to relax with Dorian, make sure he really was okay, that they were both still... "All right". He finished his drink of water and then sat down to watch the elegant thief eat in a fast, inelegant way.

"Done," Dorian declared, wiping his mouth quickly. "C'mon."

It didn't take the two of them long to head up to the next floor, and close the door behind them. Klaus finally took off his leather jacket, the piece of paper tucked carefully into his suitcase. Then he toed off his shoes. "Stay mostly dressed," he ordered, though he undid his shirt-cuffs, and unbuttoned his collar a few buttons.

The British man followed suit, only kicking off his shoes before climbing into the bed still wearing his clothes, watching as Klaus came closer. "I love you," he said almost helplessly, smiling at the other man.

"I know," Klaus granted, expression still a pleased one as he laid down on the bed, lean form stretched out on it -- and Dorian was soon pressed against him. "Hmn. We did well today."

"We'll do better next time," was the answer. Dorian wasn't particularly sleepy, but he enjoyed laying there next to Klaus. It was marvelous.

Klaus, however, fully understood the sense of sleeping before the CIA arrived. Allies' agencies were nearly as brutal as the enemies, sometimes. /Never as bad as... mmm./ "Ja." Klaus was already closing his eye, and Dorian soon felt him nod off.

For a while, Dorian laid there awake, hand lightly stroking over Klaus's shoulder, his head cradled on the one opposite it. Finally, sleep took him, as well, and rest was a very good idea.


It was perhaps five hours later when the CIA van rolled up, and Lt. Col Bernard stepped out of the vehicle, marched up the steps of the sleepy-seeming house, and rang the doorbell. It was answered by a tall blond man, obviously German, who eyed them solemnly. "Come in," he said quietly, nodding his hello. "The contractors are asleep. They and I will require debriefing."

"Wake the both of them up, then -- we have a van to take you to the facility in," Bernard said, showing his ID clearly to the German as he stepped into the front hall. "You are...?"

"Z," was the clear answer. "A, go fetch Eroica and the Major."

Agent A moved out of the great room with a nod to the Lt. Col, and moved up the stairs to awake the two by knocking heavily on the door.

"Major?" Bernard asked in curiosity. "I was told they were both civilians."

"Eberbach was formerly of NATO," Z informed him. "The other was one of our contractors." Now, they both were, but there was no reason to talk about that yet.

"Eberbach... hmn. Name's familiar," Bernard shrugged, thinking for a moment. "Oh, yes -- the NATO man who fronted the intelligence agencies when our president and the Prime minster were nearly assassinated?"

"Right. The contractor's the one that helped him get the code and get the device out on time." That was a little bit of a stretch of the truth, but not TOO much.

"Then they must be a tight team," Bernard approved, while he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"They're the best," Z said simply, turning his head to watch as Eroica and the Major made their way down. The blond man was yawning and stretching, shoes in his hand, Klaus and A right behind him. Dorian wore neat, if close-fitting, tan slacks, and a brilliant pale blue poet's shirt, sandals for shoes; while Klaus looked semi-professional in crisp brown trousers and a white button down shirt, of which he was buttoning the cuffs, no tie. A plain leather jacket was tossed over one arm. They seemed normal enough, until Bernard got a look at their faces. The blond's scars struck him as particularly revolting, and the half-recognizable face of Iron Klaus was drastically altered by the patch over his eye.

"Get your coat, Eroica," Klaus told Dorian pleasantly enough

"'ll be right back," Dorian promised, moving to the kitchen to fetch it.

"Major," Bernard greeted with a nod.

A glance at the man's suit told Klaus nothing, so he just nodded in turn -- not recognizing this Yank. "Retired; do you foresee any hitches in this debriefing...?" He let that dangle, wanting to also be supplied with the man's name.

"Bernard." It was given him and the CIA agent shook his head. "We're curious as to why the KGB let you go so easily. It's the only foreseeable hitch."

"It's understandable, though the explanation of 'why' is very simple," Klaus told him, drawing back his right hand, and pocketing it almost immediately -- the shake had been brief, and *odd* feeling, too quick to register why. "I will request now that Eroica be treated carefully."

That brought a raise of eyebrows, the American looking at him. "Why?" he asked simply, needing the answer.

"Due to unfortunate circumstances of trauma he doesn't react well to strangers touching or threatening him in even the vaguest of manners," Klaus warned in a crisp, detached tone.

"We'll keep that in mind." That was the closest thing Klaus would get to a promise, and Dorian was coming back now, jacket on, so it was time to be quiet about the matter.

"Ready," the thief said promptly, slipping hands into his pockets.

Klaus looked to Z for a moment, nodded, and then started out ahead of Bernard, slipping on and zipping up his leather jacket.

It was a two hour drive ahead of them, at least.


Nervously, Dorian shifted upon the chair in which he sat. The room was lit by a single lamp. The pool of light didn't spill very far because of the shade over it despite its fluorescent bulb. The thing had a bad tendency to flicker, the sound of it buzzing. It was enough to drive him crazy, but the chair in which he sat was uncomfortable, to boot, and the battered gray table upon which his elbows rested was grimy. /Disgusting,/ he thought, trying not to sigh or shift nervously.

"Let's start by you telling us how you got involved in this?" The investigator, Agent Williams, began -- though Bernard was sitting in on it, note-pad ready. Dorian could hear, too, the hum of a running tape recorder.

"We've been on holiday," Dorian said. "So we went hiking up Mt. Greylock. It'd been a beautiful day, and the weather was nice, so the hike wasn't bad. We got to the top without seeing anyone else and headed up the observation tower to look out, because the view's incredible. Klaus -- Major Eberbach -- happened to look down and see someone we recognized. Mischa the Bear Cub was exchanging information with a man in jeans and black t-shirt. I couldn't see anything descriptive on it, but he also had a denim jacket and a shaggy haircut, very late seventies, but most of it was covered with a 'New York Yankees' ballcap," Dorian told them, repeating what he'd told the Alphabet. "Cheap off the rack glasses and running shoes. They made the exchange and the man headed down the trail while Mischa went towards a parked car. From there, we ran down and caught the license plate. He saw us, but we hoped that it wouldn't matter. From there, we hiked back down, not seeing the agent, and went to dinner at a local diner, where we ran into the NATO agents who were here."

"How did you recognize the Soviet was 'Mischa'?" Williams requested of him, "And why, if you're on vacation, did you run to get that plate number?"

"Habit," Dorian replied. "Old ones die hard, and when Klaus ran out, I followed. It's pure habit. We recognized Mischa because we've run into him several times before -- it's one of the hazards of working for NATO, I think."

"Why has Major Eberbach stepped down from his position, only to do contractor work for the same place he left? Pardon me asking, but it seems a bit suspicious to *me*," the yank drawled. "And just why do you work for NATO?"

Dorian's mouth trembling slightly. "I work for NATO because Major Eberbach works for NATO," he said simply. "We were captured by the East Germans and tortured. Pardon me for saying so," he turned the man's words back on him, "but it was a highly unpleasant experience and I'd just as soon not tell you about it as it has no bearing on this matter."

"All right, all right," Williams said, putting his hands up into the air in a sort of 'surrender' position, though it seemed more flippant than truthful. "Tell me what happened at the restaurant, right up to when Major Eberbach reassumed control of his ex-unit?"

"When we ran into the agents, they'd just stopped for a quick bite before finding somewhere to stay, I'd assume. We offered to allow them to use the house at which we were staying and gave them the tag number of Mischa's car, they accepted and followed us home. After some amount of conversation that evening for which I was not present, the offer to contract the Major's services in helping find Mischa and the other KGB agents was made and accepted. After that, everyone got a good night's sleep to start the next morning fresh. Eberbach can be a demon of a slave driver when he wants to be." Oh, that was deliciously true sometimes, too!

"Why weren't you present for the conversation, and when were you told of the decision?"

"I'd already showered and dressed for bed. I'd left my book downstairs, and I asked the Major to fetch it for me, as he was still dressed. The conversation passed at that point, and I was informed when he brought the book upstairs to me."

Williams gave him a questioning look at that. "Does he inform you of everything, you think?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in that, no pause. "I believe he does."

"So I can take it that you trust each other's ideas. All right. What happened the next day?"

Dorian wished for a cigarette. He wasn't as much of a smoker as Klaus, but it might help settle his nerves a bit. "We got up and checked on the surveillance teams before going out with Z to search the local inns and hotels to see if we could find Mischa's car. We had checked several of them and it was nearing lunch, I think, when we spotted Mischa himself by luck in a cemetery. He was making an exchange with the man of before, so we pulled into a driveway farther down and made our way to see what we could see. Once we'd seen enough -- the packet in exchange for jewels -- Klaus stepped forward to try and get the documents back from him. That was when they caught us."

"And after that?" Williams prompted of him, sitting on the edge of the table near Dorian, just perched there lightly. "The Soviets caught you, but why were you so easily released?"

"I can't say for certain," Dorian replied, "but I think that Mischa discovered what had been done in East Germany and felt... guilty."

"You were released from the Soviets out of... guilt?" Williams asked with heavy incredulism in his voice. "I can't believe that."

A shrug came in reply. "You asked me, I told you what I thought. Mischa didn't *say*, 'Golly, gentlemen, I certainly feel bad for you! I do believe I'll let you go!'. He just *did*. There wasn't an explanation. That's why *I* think he did it, but he could just as well have done it to give them an opportunity to get away. They're a bit nervous about us. We've been known to steal planes, art and anything else we can get from them. Maybe they didn't feel like having anything stolen this week."

"How long were you held, and then what happened once you were released?"

"Maybe as long as four or five hours. I fell asleep where they were keeping us, and when I woke, Mischa was saying they were going to let us go. He walked us down to the lobby and set us to walking, which we did for nearly three hours before we ran into two of the NATO agents who picked us up and returned us home."

"And what then?" Williams, it seemed, was intent on squeezing him dry of information, even when he had so little to take from him.

"And then Z called you while we ate and we had a nap before you came," Dorian answered primly.

"A nap? You sleep an awful lot," he observed. "Why did you have a nap, if you already slept when the KGB had you?"

"Because I was tired," the interrogator was informed. "Have YOU ever been tortured for information? It doesn't exactly leave you in the best state of being, physically. The Major and I are both still recovering. We sleep when we can." Which was together and often, much more so than ever before.

"All right -- you might be brought back again. Don't go anywhere until we're done with all of you -- tell the retired major to come in when you get into the hall," Williams uttered, moving back from the table to flip through Bernard's notes.

With a sigh, Dorian gladly stood and abandoned the room, heading out to the hallway again. "They're ready for you," Dorian told him, giving him a faintly relieved smile.

Klaus flicked his cigarette into the ashtray, rising to his feet. "That was quick."

"They seemed happy with a synopsis," Dorian told him, shrugging. "I don't know how they'll be with you, though. You weren't sleeping, and I was."

"Ignorance is bliss," Klaus sighed, handing Dorian what was left of his cigarette pack, and the lighter. "Otherwise I'll just get ash everywhere." And then he entered the little room. It was gray, dingy, lit by a single lamp -- about what he had expected.

"Have a seat, Major Eberbach," the interrogator said. "I'm Williams. I'll be conducting this debriefing."

"I hope this will be short, Agent Williams; I've missed two doses of medication, and don't care to miss a third," he said seriously, moving abruptly to sit down in the empty chair. Iron Klaus was not the sort of man to be scared by a dingy trick with a cheap light.

"I doubt it should take too long. There are only a few things we need to go over. I'd like you to begin by telling me how you first became involved in this matter." It was more or less the same question first asked to Dorian.

"Eroica and I had hiked Mt. Greylock that day, and we'd entered the observation tower to see the view; I happened to look down and see the Bear Cub being given an envelope by a yank dressed up as a bad tourist," Klaus replied simply. The briefer the better, so he could get home sooner. "When I realized who it was, in *America*, consorting with a Yank, I went down the stairs -- and caught sight of his license plate number. After that, Eroica and I hiked back down, and decided to get dinner."

"Did the Russian see you?"

"Yes; the hike back down was a wary one. I was aware Mischa could have circled back and ambushed us then."

"What happened when you finished hiking down?"

"We got into the rental car and I drove us to a restaurant," Klaus said, just as crisply as everything else -- omitting completely the revelation he'd had when they'd *been* driving, the way he'd pulled off to the side of the road for a moment or five.

"And when you got there?"

"Ten members of the Alphabet were there, hunched over a map. the imbecile of a Chief sent them over here without accommodations set up, so I offered the spare rooms and basement to them, and Eroica ordered food to be sent to the house. Once we were there, Eroica and I kept away from the Alphabet and let them set up in the basement without interference."

"Tell me what happened from then until you were captured," Williams asked him. The steady scritch of Bernard's pencil continued to sound, though he remained silent.

"When I went downstairs that evening to get Eroica's book, I met agent A -- A told me how the men missed me, and how they needed help to better organize themselves. He asked, and I agreed to aid them -- told them all to go to sleep, and that in the morning I would head their investigation. In the morning, Eroica, Z and I went out, after I was filled in on the mission, with a phone book. Hotel to hotel to find the car with he tag we'd seen; we passed a cemetery on the way, spotted Mischa and his man. There were children there, though, so we drove past, and then doubled back on foot. The three of us waited in the bushes until the schoolchildren were gone, and then I moved in. Not long after that, we were captured."

"Why?"

"Why were we captured?"

"Yes."

Klaus finally made a movement -- a shift, recrossing long legs. "I failed to notice the KGB agents in the opposite tree-line. We were outnumbered, and I didn't want to risk either of my allies being shot. On the way to being walked into the Bear Cub's car, Eroica inadvertently provided a distraction, which I aided in -- during that, I gave the signal to Z and he ran for the car."

"What did the KGB do then?"

"I had... snarled at them, I suppose, after one of them pushed Eroica; they just herded us into the car carefully, and then Mischa watched us the entire drive to the hotel."

"So there was no use of overt force?"

"No, unless you count the obvious unspoken firearm as overt force."

"What happened when you reached the hotel?"

"We were told to get out of the car. Mischa told me that if I ran, Eroica would be shot; after that order, I assumed all guns were trained on him, so I didn't make any stray moves. In the hotel, we split into two groups at the elevator, and went up; Mischa questioned me about my... missing fingers -- oh, I'd punched him with my right hand at the cemetery. I forgot to mention that."

"Why did you punch him?" was the next question, skipping back to that action.

"He mentioned why I was dismissed from my position -- not dismissed. 'Retired'." Klaus made another shift, folding his arms in a manner that shielded that right hand.

"And why was that?"

"It doesn't apply to these circumstances," was the cold response.

"It does as the Bear Cub saw them," the interrogator said firmly.

"Mental instability." It stung his pride to admit that to the *fucking* idiotic Yanks, but he managed.

"What happened when you got out of the elevator?"

"One of the Soviets pushed Eroica out of the elevator. I saw him trip, and... yelled at them. I told them I'd kill every one of them if he was touched again. After that, they just herded us to a suite, where Mischa told us to sit down. He ordered half of his men to do something I can't remember, the other half to look through any recent Stasi reports for mention of myself or Eroica. We talked a little until the report arrived, he stepped into the hall, and Eroica fell asleep in there somewhere. When the Bear Cub came back in, he told me to wake Eroica up, and that he was going to escort us to the lobby."

"Why did he do that?"

"He felt he owed us for prior treatment committed in the name of the communist cause."

"So you believe he let you go out of some form of guilt." That sounded sarcastically spoken, and not at all as if he'd been believed.

"Not guilt -- honor, which right now I'd believe you idiots Yanks don't know shit about," Klaus uttered in a low tone of disgust.

"Why do you say that, Mr. Eberbach?" Mister, and not Major.

"It doesn't pertain to this mission, Agent Williams." That was flat, amused a little, and Klaus wished he hadn't given his cigarettes to Dorian.

"Let's go over what Mischa might have said to you while you were captured..."

"What do you mean?" Klaus asked, glaring at the agent. "'Go over' how?"

"What did he say to you while you were at the hotel?"

"We talked about the run-in with the Stasi -- how hard it is to learn how to shoot left handed after so many years of doing it the other way; how Eroica could fall asleep at the drop of hat; honor; the Geneva Convention, and then he left the room. Then he came back, he told me the report was going to be removed from KGB records, because it was a mark of shame for the Soviets." Some of it was added in to save himself embarrassment, some paraphrased, and some left out. The paper... /Too important to let the Yanks know about./

"And then he just let you go."

"Then he just let us leave, yes; It wasn't as stupid of him as it seemed. He knew I had a weapons on me and that I could use it before he could get it away from me. By releasing us and having us walk back, he bought himself hours of time to leave," Klaus drawled.

THAT made more sense than their being let go out of guilt, so the interrogator nodded. "And after that?"

"We walked and jogged some back towards Pittsfield; then we ran into G and S -- they drove us back to the house."

"And the rest of it? Until we arrived."

"We told Z what happened, I told him to contact your agency, and then Eroica and I left the Alphabet in the basement and went to rest for a while, until you arrived." Which clearly gave them time to collaborate on their stories, if they weren't supposedly resting. Klaus nearly winced as he realized that.

The CIA agent snorted. "There's a lot of resting going on in this story. I wonder why that is?"

"Because both of us have injuries that are still healing," Klaus snapped at the man. Very similar to what Dorian had said, so it could have been another collaboration... it was an explanation that could be checked on, though so the interrogator went forward.

"Let's go back to the conversation with the Bear Cub..."

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