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All he had felt for the last week was pain. Pure agony raced up and down the left side of his body, Captain Samuel Klenzendorf could do nothing but lay in his hospital bed feeling completely and utterly useless. Until he heard a familiar voice breaking through the hazy pain and addressing him in a manner that made him almost instantly relax back against the scratchy pillows and thin blanket.
"Captain…you're going to be alright. We're being sent back home to Falkenheim as soon as you're able to stand. We'll be going home." It was the calm and reassuring voice of his young sub officer, Freddy Finkle. They'd been serving together since this damn war had begun and had grown close over the years until they both realised they shared the same secret.
Their first kiss had been stolen under the cover of darkness in the Captains quarters of a dark and dirty trench on the Eastern Front. It was as far from romantic as a first kiss could possibly get, but it was theirs nonetheless. The first time they had shared a bed had only been two months ago after they were stationed in a small ruined village they had won in battle. It was a small single bed but it had a real mattress and thick blankets so the pair had taken full advantage and bundled up together for extra warmth.
The first time Freddy had felt real fear since they had gotten into this little routine, was when he had watched Samuel get blown up by an enemy hand grenade during an attack that could have been prevented if the other officers had just listened to Klenzendorfs advice and made a hasty retreat from the ruined village they were so hopelessly defending. He was almost sure that his Captain had been going to die out here on the snow covered streets of a Russian war zone, but the medics had gotten to him just in time. He would survive, just with one less eye and a lot of physical injuries.
Samuel opened his eyes and looked around, finally resting his vision on Freddy who had thankfully stood to his right side. The side he could still see clearly from. As he saw his partner standing there, a small smile spread across his face and he closed his eyes again, content that he was in good hands. "Sub Officer Finkle…" he said quietly, voice raspy and harsh from disuse. He addressed Freddy with his formal rank since he had no idea if someone was standing on his left side. He had to be careful with what he said, lest they get caught and executed.
"Back home to Falkenheim?" He repeated what he had heard Freddy say just a few minutes ago. "Why the hell would I want to go back home when theres a war to fight? Give me a gun, I can still shoot just fine even with one eye." He said, loud enough that anyone around his bed would be able to hear him. They would hear a proud military Captain kicking up a fuss because he wanted to defend his country. But that's not what Freddy could hear in Samuel's voice.
All Freddy could hear was a good performance.
Because Freddy had been there to comfort Klenzendorf when things got too much for the other man. The Sub-Officer had been the one who held Klenzendorf and whispered sweet words to him when the nightmares got to be too bad. He was the one who had found the Captain halfway through a bottle of Scotch on Christmas day 1943, begging for the war to be over so that things could be normal. So that he could stop killing the young Russian soldiers who could be no older than 16. He had seen Klenzendorf at his worst, at rock bottom. So he knew that the older mans words were lies. He didn't want to fight anymore.
"Sir.." Freddy said quietly, in a voice that reassured Klenzendorf that they were alone. "You're in no condition to fight. You need to rest and rehabilitate and the doctor has said the best way for you to do that is to return home." He glanced around to make sure nobody was watching before reaching down to gently stroke a strand of sweat soaked hair away from Samuel's face in a calming and reassuring gesture. "And I have to say I agree with him Sam. It's time for us to go home. Together."
-
Stepping out of the car and onto the streets that Klenzendorf had grown up in was much more intimidating than he had originally thought it would be. People rushed to congratulate him on his Iron Cross and he was given a heroes welcome by the people he had grown up with. He shook hands and chatted with people who he hadn't spoken to in years, people who hadn't given a damn about him before he became a 'War Hero.'
Freddy stood by his side during all of it. He made sure that people didn't crowd the Captain too much since he was walking with a crutch under his left arm to support his injured left leg, and he was a constant and reassuring presence on Klenzendorfs left hand side. Samuel had confided in Freddy on the journey here that he was afraid that bow he was blind in one eye it would mean he would be vulnerable to attacks from his blind side. Freddy had come up with the wonderful solution that he would always stand on his Captain's left hand side so that he could protect him from that side.
By the time they made it into Samuel's house, the Captain was truly exhausted. He collapsed down onto his sofa with a loud sigh and ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes for a few moments as he could feel a headache coming on. "Scheisse…" he muttered under his breath as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over his temple in an attempt to alleviate the stress. "Freddy could you be a dear and get me a drink. Something strong in its alcoholic content would be excellent." He muttered, but he knew that his partner had heard him once he could hear the sound of liquid being poured into a glass.
It was good to be home. He hadn't seen his house in a few years and the layer of dust that had gathered was frightening to say the least. Maybe he should have invested in hiring someone to clean while he was gone, but when he left he hadn't been sure if he was going to make it back alive so what would have been the point?
Freddy sat down beside him and handed over the neat glass of whisky. It was the proper Scottish kind that the Captain kept hidden away at the back of his cupboards, the type that was not allowed under the Nazi Regime. Klenzendorf was half tempted to knock it all back in one go, but hadn't drank liquor this strong in a long time so he knew that would be a terrible idea and decided just to take his time and savour the drink for a change.
The couple sat in a comfortable silence while Klenzendorf drank one glass, then smoked a cigarette and drank another glass. Freddy simply sat beside him reading the paper quietly and neither of the men said anything when their hands intertwined between them on the couch. The curtains were drawn closed, the doors were locked, they were safer than they had ever been in the trenches.
-
The hangover that Samuel woke up with the next morning was intense. He opened his eyes and hid his face in the pillow as soon as the sunlight hit him. Maybe drinking somewhere in the region of eight full glasses of strong whisky was a bad idea, but Sam seemed to be having a lot of them recently. Bad ideas, not drinking binges.
After attempting to open his good eye again only to flinch and groan as the sunlight made his already painful head feel even worse, the Captain decided that he would just roll over and go back to sleep facing away from the sunlight, it's not like he had anything better to do with his day. So he pushed himself up onto his elbow and twisted his body until he was facing the other way.
That's when he laid eyes on someone lying in his bed and got the fright of his life. He jumped and let out a string of curse words and was about to grab his gun from the bedside table when he realised who it was lying there. The messy ginger hair should have been a dead giveaway but he hadn't noticed it when he was in the midst of a hangover induced panic. Sub-Officer Finkle lay sound asleep under the blankets, in Captain Klenzendorf's bed.
After the adrenaline died down, Samuel lay back down on the bed, this time facing his partner. He gently wrapped an arm around Freddy's waist and pressed a soft kiss to the other mans shoulder, just watching him for a moment.
He knew he shouldn't get used to this, that if they were to get caught they would both be disgraced and publicly executed as criminals in the eyes of the German people. But right in that second, Samuel didn't care. As he drifted back off to sleep with Freddy wrapped in his arms, his hangover was all bit forgotten and his head was filled with thoughts of how content he felt in that moment.
He knows he shouldn't get used to this. But he could.