SS-Sturmbannführer Alexander Von Herrmann.

SS Spezialeinheiten, 2nd squad.

Pierrou village (10 miles outside of Paris), France.

June 19th, 1941. 12:08am.

I walked up the stairs to the second floor and began to walk down the hallway searching for room number seven, the numbers started from the stairs so based on the length of the hallway I guessed my room was almost at the end, I opened the door, turned on the light and walked in.

The room was small but tidy and well organized, in the right far corner was a wooden-framed bed which was big enough for a single person, it had a single white pillow and a thick, olive-colored blanket with a white bedsheet and a metal footlocker in the end of the bed that wasn´t against the wall, there was a door right across that led to the bathroom and to the left of the entrance was a tall metal locker that had some spare shirts and pants, socks, underwear and 2 gray field uniforms with the proper rank insignias this time around, it also contained a G42 Rifle, some full magazines for both the rifle and my Luger and some ammo boxes, next to it was a wooden desk with a lamp, a small record player, a radio comms set and an ashtray, a coat hanger was beside the desk, the furniture was arranged in that order. Upon closer inspection I noticed there was a note in beautiful handwriting that read:

¨The room key is on the top drawer, keep the radio on and in channel 2 whenever you are in the room, your personal channel is 13 and the auxiliary channel is 9¨.

There was only a small rectangular window that almost reached the roof right in front of the desk and it gave view to the courtyard, the floor was concrete so I knew that I was going to have a bad time walking barefoot if it got even a bit cold outside, it was June but god knew for how long I was going to be posted here.

- Home sweet home. – I said to myself and got in the bathroom to take a quick piss.

I could hear a shower running next door and some humming, after finishing I flushed the toilet and jumped in the shower, soon after I heard a muffled scream, Must´ve been Helga being burnt by the hot water.

- Oh no. – I muttered and opened the shower.

I showered quickly and got out of the bathroom, I put on a white t-shirt and some black pants that were on the closet I checked earlier, apparently whoever arranged the room prior to my arrival knew my body measures, everything was the right size, I took a brown leather chest strap holster that I had found in the foot locker and placed my Luger in it and two mags on the pouches that it had, I cleaned my boots and put them on and got out.

I had started walking towards the stairs when Klaus´s words came back to me: I had to speak to Helga before going down.

I walked back and stopped at room number eight, I thought about it for a moment and then knocked, an instant later Helga asked:

- Who is it? –

- It´s me. – I replied.

- And who´s me? – She asked.

- It´s me, Alex. –

- What do you need? –

- I would like to speak to you Captain, It´ll take just a minute. –

- I said we´ll talk during dinner, if you have any questions save them for later. – She said.

- Look, I just want to apologize for what happened earlier, Klaus told me it´d be better if I did before dinner. –

- So Klaus told you to come talk to me? You´re not here by your own accord as a responsible man trying to mend his own mistakes? –

- No it´s not that… Can I come in? I´d rather have this conversation inside than to be shouting back and forth Captain. –

There was only silence for a moment.

- Captain? – I insisted, noticing that I was not getting an answer.

The door clicked and swung open, she stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and a slightly irritated expression, she was wearing brown leather boots, khaki pants and a light brown shirt buttoned up to the chest with the sleeves rolled up above the elbow, she also had a white tank top underneath, her short hair was arranged in a small ponytail, she stared at me for a moment, sighed and then said:

- You´ve got 3 minutes. – She walked back inside and left the door open, I followed her inside and closed the door behind me.

Her room was arranged just like mine, it just had a couple of books on the desk and some maps and pictures of people tacked on the wall in front of the desk. She took out a holster just like mine and strapped it on, then turned around to face me and crossed her arms again and stiffened up.

- So Klaus sent you? – She said bleakly.

- No Captain, he suggested me to come and I made the choice, I was a bit imprudent by making fun of you for trying to be nice, I just met you and know very little of you, Klaus helped me out a bit by telling me some of your background, I wish to integrate to this unit as best as possible and I don´t want to start with the left foot here, I apologize for being rude. -

She just stood there staring at me for about a minute but it felt like an eternity to me and knowing this woman and how temperamental she can be I knew she was thinking of a way to make me pay for my mistake, she finally uncrossed her arms and said:

- I never thought you´d come to offer an apology… It´s… - she made a pause and sighed.

- It´s not your fault, I overreacted, I must learn how identify when someone is joking and when not. – She stopped and took out a cigarette pack from pocket and brought it up to her lips pulling one out, she offered me one and I took it, I took my lighter out and offered her a light she leaned in and puffed it a bit and continued.

- I´m still learning, it´s kind of hard to hold such a rank while being a woman, the men in the army always look down at you and they are not happy when a woman is in charge, even if it was the Fuhrer who placed her there in the first place, I´m pretty sure Klaus told you how socially awkward I can be, don´t worry I´ll come around this whole thing eventually. – The captain said while taking out a couple of glasses and a bottle of wine from the footlocker, she poured some on a glass and gave it to me, then poured some on hers.

I was confused with her reaction, she had just shown a completely different attitude, another side of her persona.

- So… are we good Captain? – I asked, raising the glass.

- We are for now Von Herrmann, welcome to the Spezialeinheiten. – She raised her glass to mine and both drank the wine.

- That hits the spot. – I said, surprised at how good the wine was, she chuckled a bit.

- It´s French, but I would say that´s quite fitting. – Helga smirked.

- I agree, they may not know a thing about war but sure can make some fine wine. – I added.

- Let´s go get something to eat, I´m starving. – She said while putting her glass down and walking towards the door.

- Yes Captain, and please, call me Alex. – I replied and followed.

- Don´t push your luck Sturmbannführer, I´ll call you whatever name I see fitting… Alexander. – She opened the door and stood at the doorway waiting for me to walk out.

- Fair enough. – I said with a smile on my face while passing past her and out to the hallway.

She locked the door and we both walked down stairs, crossed the courtyard and went into the mess hall, Hans and Klein were already sitting at a table, they were in their officers uniform, Hans still had the dressing in his face and had a compass out, he was cleaning it with a small rag, the place was nearly empty, just a couple of soldiers here and there talking or finishing their meal.

- Hey you´re still alive, I´m glad. – Klaus said jokingly.

- He is a smart man Klaus, unlike you, why are you two dressed so formal? – Helga said.

- All my casual clothes are dirty and this was all I had, Klaus does have more clothing but he felt like putting on the uniform anyways, I´ve told the kitchen staff to serve the food after you´ve arrived so they should be here with the grub any moment now. – Klaus replied.

- Thanks Klaus. Hans after we are done eating I want you to go see the nurse and have that checked, it might need stitching. – Helga Said while sitting down, she and I were on one side of the table and Klaus and Hans were in the other, he looked up and simply said.

- No need Captain, it´s just a scratch. – He said without diverting his eyes from the compass.

- I´m not asking you, that is an order. – Helga belted right back.

- Understood. – Hans said.

A man with a large tray came to the table and served us beef stew and also brought a basket with bread, we quickly dug in but Hans was still looking at the compass.

- Hans, aren´t you hungry buddy? – Klaus asked.

- I am, I´ll just wait for the stew to cool down a little. – He replied.

- Of course, I keep forgetting you don´t like hot stuff. – Klaus said and kept eating.

Soon after Hans put the compass away and began eating, we all finished our meal in silence, but I knew the questions were coming, Klaus looked around making sure no one was within earshot and in a low tone he began talking:

- The man, the myth, the legend: Alexander Von Herrmann, Initially I was surprised that a soldier so young was being sent to us but I was even more surprised when I heard you hold such rank at, again, such a young age Alex, I mean your family doesn´t have a big military background and you lived most of your life in the United States right? –

- I guess I´ve been lucky. – I muttered with a piece of bread still in my mouth.

Klaus and Helga looked at each other and laughed out loud as if I had said a joke, I just looked at them trying to make some sense out of it.

- There is no such thing as luck in this war my friend, only skill and proper timing, I heard about you when we were in Poland, ¨Alexander the restless¨ that´s what some officers called you. – Klaus said while picking some meat off his teeth with a toothpick.

- Ah yes I remember that, only exaggerations and field rumors, don´t believe all you´ve heard. – I said while chuckling a bit. -

- Well in that case we are lucky to have you here, that way we can hear it from your own mouth… -