Chapter Text
The bandage around Sam Troy’s forehead was thick enough that even the blood seeping from the wound hadn’t stained it too badly. She’d been unconscious for several days, long enough that the nurses changed her out of her uniform and into a hospital gown and almost entirely unresponsive, and Dietrich hadn’t stopped hovering since they’d brought her in.
“She should wake up at any point,” the doctor said quietly, watching the captain work on his paperwork. “Are you certain you wish to be in here?”
“I do,” he frowned at the woman, the scourge of the desert and his enemy. She looked almost innocent laying there like that, not at all like the woman he’d been fighting over the desert for months.
He didn’t have to wait long. Not sure what woke her from her sleep, the scratch of his pen on paper, his shifting in his seat, or just the call to prayer, but he heard a sigh and groan, and when he lifted his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of Sam Troy's blue eyes filled with confusion.
“Who?” She asked, “who are you?”
“Excuse me?” He asked, tilting his head. “What sort of trick is this?”
“Trick?” She blinked, trying to raise herself up before settling back onto the pillows with a grimace. He noted her voice, softer and not at all with the grave voice he was used to. “What trick….where am I?” Her alarm was visible, and she stared suspiciously at him. “What happened? What’s going on? Who are you?” Her voice alerted the soldier’s standing guards, and they rushed into the room. “Soldiers? What the?”
“Soldiers?” Dietrich agreed, “please, my dear...do not panic.”
“What’s going on?” Troy demanded, one hand moving to her head and the other to the bedside table for a weapon of some sort. “Who are you?”
“Hauptmann Hans...Dietrich.” He stared at her, utterly bemused. “I will get the doctor; please do not aggravate your wounds.” He stood and paused, “truly...you do not remember me?”
“Should I?” She demanded, eyes darting around the room.
“I...it concerns that you do not.” He admitted, “excuse me.”
He found the doctor and the base commander deep in conversation, and as he cleared his throat, they looked over. “Sirs, Sergeant Troy is awake.”
“Excellent,” Colonel Freidrich looked pleased, “we shall begin questioning her as soon as we are able.”
“Sirs,” he looked at the doctor… “she does not remember.”
“Remember what?” Dr. Kohler asked, his voice sharper than he probably wanted it to be.
“She does not remember who I am, where she is, or why she is in the hospital.” He cleared his throat. “It seemed that the injury was much worse than it looked.”
“We must find out what she does not remember,” Colonel Friedrich gestured sharply at the doctor. “Go, find out what she is hiding, and do not stop until you have found out her secrets. Captain, remain beside him; you are most familiar with Sergeant Troy and her tricks. Keep a close eye on her.”
The doctor was ushered into the room, and Sergeant Troy had an unfamiliar look of panic on her face and seemed to be having trouble breathing.
“Ach!” Dr. Kohler scolded, “you’re aggravating your injuries! Calm down!”
“Calm down!” Instead of the controlled voice of a commander, it was the voice of a civilian. If she was lying, she was doing an excellent job of it. “I have no idea who any of you are! Where I am, or what’s going on!”
“Please,” Dietrich urged, taking some consolation that he managed to calm her down, “the doctor is only here to assist. You will only manage to hurt yourself if you keep this up.”
“Who are you?” Troy demanded her attention on the doctor now.
“Dr. Kohler, do you remember how you were hurt?”
“No...no...the last thing I remember was….was getting...out of the car. I’m not in Wyoming anymore? Where am I?” She let the doctor peer at her head and followed the movements of his hands.
“Well, you’re in North Africa.”
“North Africa?” Troy’s voice rose loud and clear, and Dietrich was amazed just how loud she could get. “What the hell am I doing in North Africa?”
“You,” Dr. Kohler looked over at Dietrich and cleared his throat. “Excuse us.” Dietrich and the guards were ushered into the hall, and the older man turned to Colonel Friedrich with a grin. “ Sir , she doesn’t remember!”
“Truly?”
“Her panic is genuine,” the doctor beamed, and a feeling of deep unease began to build in Dietrich’s stomach.
“I suggest we use this opportunity.” Colonel Friedrich mused, “I am certain that there are secrets in her mind somewhere.” He sounded pleased, “we must exact them...carefully.”
“How do you suggest that, sir?” His voice was low, and the man’s considering gaze didn’t help his nerves.
“Hauptmann, you were with Sergeant Troy when she awoke?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And did you address her as Sergeant Troy?”
“No, sir.”
“Have you given any indication that you are her enemy?”
“No, sir.” Perfectly innocent questions, but concerning nonetheless.
“Then you will return to that room,” Friedrich ordered, “and you will inform Sergeant Troy that you are her husband.”
“Sir?” Alarmed now, his own voice rose a great deal more than he wanted it to.
“Yes, it makes perfect sense. Tell her a convincing story and tell her that you are her husband. For the next few days or until her memory comes back, you are to remain at her side under the guise of her husband to see what information you can gain from her.”
“I do not think this is wise, sir.” He tried, but the colonel waved him down.
“You will do it, and when you have concocted your story, you will inform me of it so we may keep the charade up. Doctor, have one of the nurses bring spare clothes to the good sergeant; we want to have her keep up the part of an officer’s wife.” The man beamed, and Dietrich tried not to think of the many, many ways that this could go wrong. “Go,” the man ordered with a smile. “And comfort your wife.”
Going as ordered, Dietrich opened the door to find Troy sitting up, and her suspicious blue eyes fell on him. “Dietrich, right?”
“Usually,” he paused, “you call me Hans.”
“Why would I do that?” She demanded, and he slowly re-took his seat beside the bed.
“The same reason I call you Sam,” he said, “husband and wife should call each other by their first names.”
Sam Troy blinked a few times and then grinned. “Oh, that’s a good one. What the hell is really going on?”
“We are married,” Dietrich tried, “and you were injured in an attack on the convoy you were traveling with.”
“Really?” She touched her forehead and then stared down at the various bandages on her arms. She stared at her left hand. “Where’s my ring?” She glared at him. “Where is your ring?”
“Dr. Kohler removed it to bandage your hands,’ he said, wondering how quickly he could come up with a ring. “Mine I remove before going on assignment for safety.”
She blinked and stared at him a little more. “You were here when I woke up.”
“I was concerned,” he said honestly, and he met her eyes steadily. “You have been unconscious for several days, not just because of the injury, but the doctor needed to keep you under because you were aggravating your wounds.” She stared back at him, and whatever she saw in his eyes seemed to convince her.
“We’re really married?” He wondered exactly what was showing on his face that she could see, enough to convince her.
“Of course.”
“You’ve been here the whole time?”
“As often as I could have been, Dr. Kohler insisted I sleep in my quarters at last once.” That was not a lie.
“What...what is going on? What am I doing in North Africa?”
“I am stationed here,” he said, “and you came for a short visit while I am on furlough.”
“Visit from where?”
“Germany,” he said, quietly enjoying the bug-eyed expression on her face. “Truly, you do not remember?”
“I don’t,” she insisted and gave an uncharacteristic huff of frustration. “I….my head hurts.”
“Don’t strain yourself,” he told her gently, “please calm yourself. The doctor assures me that your memories will return, and you will be well again.”
“My memories will come back?” Sounding so hopeful that Dietrich had to lie.
“Of course.”
“Well...since I can’t remember too much,” she seemed calmer, utterly unaware of the power lurking beneath her skin. Soft blue eyes behind which a warrior of near-unparalleled abilities stalked. Her memories would return, and he certainly didn’t want to be within stabbing range when she did.