Newkirk had known he was queer ever since he had been a boy. While all of his mates were looking at birds, he was looking at other blokes. He mentioned it once when he was too young to know any better, but the reaction he got was enough to make sure he never brought it up again. He pretended like he was joking, and then started talking about a girl that all the guys thought was attractive. He sure could get enough birds to make the guys jealous.

But that was then. Now that he was in dear old Stalag 13, he didn't have to worry about pretending to be interested in girls. He just had to pretend to be upset at the lack of them and try to woo the occasional one when his mates were around.

It had been nice when Louis discovered his sexual preferences though. He was an observant one, that was for sure. Newkirk had thought he was being discreet, the rare glance here and there, but he hadn't been discreet enough for the small Frenchman. He still blushed when he remembered how LeBeau cornered him and causally brought up how he wouldn't care who Newkirk preferred, as long as he continued to bring him food to cook with. That had been the start of their friendship.

Newkirk shook his head. But that was then, this was now. A new man, Andrew Carter, had recently been captured and had joined the men at Stalag 13. When the Colonel had heard about his skills with explosives, he had asked him to join the team as their demolition expert.

Newkirk wasn't too sure about him though. From the conversation they had Carter sounded like an idiot, saying strange things at the wrong time and mixing up his idioms. But Newkirk trusted the Colonel, and if he thought Carter was going to work well with them, well Carter must be pretty bright.

But, as usual, Newkirk was proven wrong. "What do you mean you can't talk? What kind of idiot gets sick and doesn't tell anyone?"

Carter looked guilty and tried to say something, but nothing would come out.

"Well that's just bloody fantastic, now I'm your babysitter." Newkirk sat at the table across from Carter and wagged his finger at him. "You listen here, next time you're sick you tell someone, so I don't have to be stuck here with you again." He sighed. He had some paper that he was saving to write a letter to Mavis, but he could always ask the Colonel to get some more for him. He headed over to his locker and grabbed some paper and a pencil.

"Here." He handed the paper to Carter. "If I'm going to be stuck here with you, I'd at least like to talk to you somehow." Carter started to write something on the paper and when he was finished pushed it back to Newkirk.

Thanks! :)

Newkirk mentally groaned. A smiley face? That was the kind of person the kid was? "No problem. Just don't do something stupid again."

I won't.

Newkirk shuffled some cards. "Do you want to play?"

I'm not very good at cards, but I'll sure try.

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Twenty games later and Newkirk could see Carter was getting tired of losing. Not that Newkirk blamed him. There was only so many times someone could loose before giving up. He was impressed he lasted so long though, most of the men only played five games before quitting. Carter was definitely persistent.

Carter slid Newkirk the piece of paper.

I'm getting a little tired of playing. You sure are good though.

Newkirk grinned. "Thanks. I've gotten enough practice playing all the guys here."

How long have you been here?

"About two years now. Louis was here when I got here, he's been here for about two and a half years. Kinch came soon after me, about a couple of months, and Colonel Hogan's been here for about a year now."

I'm sorry.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Newkirk shuffled his cards, unsure what to say. Luckily Carter could think of enough things to say for at least ten people.

Where do you come from? I'm from Bullfrog. It's a real neat place. My whole family lives there. I live with my little brother and grandmother. The rest of my family, aunts, uncles, and cousins, live on the same street as us. It's really nice living so close to them.

"I bet you're a real chatterbox when you can talk, aren't you?" Newkirk said looking over the note. "I'm from London. I live with me mum and little sister. I think you're actually about the same age as her. Where in the world is Bullfrog?"

North Dakota. How old is your sister? I'm 19. My brother's 11.

Newkirk looked at Carter in surprise. "You're nineteen? Mavis, my sister, is twenty-two. I'm twenty-four. You're probably one of the youngest here."

Really? I wasn't even the youngest in my town to join.

As Newkirk was about to reply, Hogan, Kinch, and LeBeau came through the door. "What have you two been doing while we were out shoveling snow?" LeBeau said, pretending to be grumpy. Newkirk could tell he had been worried about their newest member though. LeBeau was like that, always taking quickly to people.

"Nothing much. Just planning on going into town. Maybe stopping at a bar, meeting a few birds. You know the whole bit." LeBeau huffed at Newkirk.

"Yeah, meeting girls. That's for sure." Newkirk glared at LeBeau.

"Shut up Louis."

Hogan shook his head at the two men. "How are you doing Carter?"

Carter reached for the paper, wrote something down, and handed it to Hogan.

"Better, huh? Well that's good. Wilson says to get plenty of rest and to try to not talk. Your voice should be back by tomorrow."

Carter grinned. "Well that's going to be bloody fantastic, now he's going to be talking our heads off," Newkirk said, looking at Carter. Carter stuck his tongue out in return.

"Okay, children," Hogan said, patting Newkirk on the back. "It's time for all the good little soldiers to go to bed."

"I'm not a child! He started it!" Newkirk pointed at Carter. Carter pointed back at Newkirk, as if to say that he was to blame.

"I don't care who started it. I do care that it's time for lights out and one of us needs all the rest he can get."

Hogan headed to his room and Newkirk stuck his tongue out behind the Colonel's back.

"Real mature, Peter." LeBeau rolled his eyes at him.

"Well I'm pretty tired guys, how about we listen to the Colonel and hit the hay," Kinch said, already in his bed.

Newkirk saw Carter from across the table look around, probably looking for a bunk that he could use. "Hey mate." Newkirk tapped Carter's hand. "I know you'd rather not sleep near LeBeau, since he snores, but if you're looking for a bed feel free to bunk with me."

"I heard that!" LeBeau yelled from his bed. "Don't listen to him Carter, I do not snore."

Carter giggled at the playful argument the two men were having, but headed to the bottom bunk. "You might want to wait a minute there," Newkirk said over his shoulder. "Wait till I get in my bunk first. Then I don't have to worry about stepping on you."

Carter nodded and let Newkirk pass so he could get on the top bunk. When Newkirk was settled Carter got in the bottom bunk. Carter waved his hand up at Newkirk as his only way to say goodnight. Luckily, Newkirk understood.

"Goodnight Andrew."

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Newkirk always woke up early. He liked sleeping as much as the next guy, but it seemed like he was programmed to get up at the crack of dawn, no matter how late he went to sleep the night before. He had gone to bed at a decent time the night before, he was grateful for that. There were days that he only managed to get an hour two of sleep before going on another mission the following night.

Newkirk stretched, minding the ceiling, and started to get off his bunk. He looked down at the bottom bunk and nearly fell off. He gently pushed off the bottom of his bunk and landed on the ground with a soft thud. Newkirk looked at Carter, sprawled out on the bunk and drooling on his pillow, and shook his head. While he would have to get used to someone laying on the bunk underneath him, he was glad that it was this kid.

"I didn't know he was your type." Newkirk whirled around, relieved to see LeBeau standing behind him.

"Will you keep it down Louis? This isn't something that everyone needs to know about! And he's not my type!" Newkirk crossed his arms, uncomfortable with the subject. "I'm here to defend my country, not for romance. Besides, he's younger than my kid sister!"

"He's only five years younger, not twenty."

"It's still a pretty big gap."

LeBeau rolled his eyes. "Stop trying to convince yourself. I heard you call him Andrew last night. You didn't call me by my name until we had been friends for at least a couple of months."

"We just talked a lot yesterday, that's all. I felt like I should call him by his given name."

"Whatever you say."

"I'll just try to distance myself from him. It's just because I was so close to him yesterday. I'm sure if I treat him like anyone else I won't feel this way anymore."

LeBeau put down the coffee he was making and faced Newkirk. "Peter, it's fine if you like him. You're allowed to like people you know."

"I know that! I just don't want to betray his trust, that's all." Newkirk looked at the ground.

"How can you betray his trust? He clearly looks up to you. Why I don't know, but he does. And I'm sure something like that won't change his admiration of you. Just give him a chance." LeBeau patted Newkirk on the shoulder, trying to get him to look up.

"I guess you're right. But what if he hates me?"

"Who hates you?" Hogan walked out of his room, ready for roll call.

"No one sir. Me and LeBeau were just having a friendly chat this morning. Weren't we LeBeau?" Newkirk quickly turned to face Hogan.

LeBeau poured some of the coffee he had made into three cups. "Oui Colonel. It's just so typical of the English to not understand manners. He was talking so loud I was sure everyone was going to wake up."

"Oh, someone woke up all right." Kinch headed over to the table to join the three men. He looked behind him to where Carter was sleeping. "I can't believe he didn't wake up."

"Well he had a tough time you know. He has to rest," Newkirk said, trying to defend his new friend.

"He's right." Hogan stood up, and headed over to check on Carter. "Since when have you taken to anyone so quickly, Newkirk?"

"Well that's just bleeding nice sir. I sat with him yesterday, like you asked, and now everybody's ragging on me just because I got to know him."

"Calm down Newkirk, we're just teasing you." Hogan placed his hand on Newkirk's shoulder.

"Yeah, Newkirk," Kinch said. "We all know you actually don't like anyone."

"You keep talking like that and I'm not going to get any food for LeBeau to cook with. Then you'll be sorry."

"Would you keep it down over there?"

The four looked at the bunk the voice came from. Carter had rolled over and pulled his jacket over his head, trying to keep the noise out. Newkirk looked at the other guys. "Did you guys hear that too?"

"Oui. Do you think he's better now? Wilson said he would be better in the morning."

"Well there's only one way to find out." Hogan headed over to where Carter was laying and started to shake him. "It's time to get up. Roll call's going to start soon."

Carter rolled over to face the wall. "Five more minutes."

Newkirk definitely heard it that time. "Let me have a shot at him." He turned around to shake Carter. "Carter! Carter! Time to get up!"

Carter sat up and rubbed his eyes. "All right, I'm up, I'm up." His eyes grew huge when he realized what he said. "I can talk again!"

"Aren't you a bright one?"

"I can talk Newkirk!" Carter threw his arms around Newkirk. Newkirk stood there, unsure of what to do, before deciding to gently pat Carter on the back.

"We noticed that mate." Newkirk stepped back carefully, getting Carter to end the hug.

"Boy, I can't wait to talk to everyone! It sure was hard getting to know everyone when I couldn't talk." He turned to face Kinch. "Hey, I'm Carter. You're Kinch, right? You sure are smart. I can work with chemicals and everything, but electronics are a whole 'nother thing. A lot tougher." Then he turned to LeBeau. "And boy your cooking sure is good. Almost as good as my nan's." He then faced Hogan. "You must be one of the most creative people I've ever met. I sure would've never thought of a plan as good as yours!"

Newkirk enjoyed the look on the other guys faces. It wasn't very often something surprised them, especially the Colonel. He would have been surprised too if he hadn't spent yesterday talking to Carter. He had nearly used up all of his paper talking to him. It was a good thing he got his voice back so soon, a chatterbox like him would have probably gone nuts without his voice for more than a day.

"Well thank you." Hogan was always the first to react in any situation. "I'm sure you could have thought of something though. You couldn't have made Sargent for nothing."

Newkirk hadn't noticed that before. While he usually didn't care too much about rank, it still kind of annoyed him that a kid, five years younger than him, was ranked higher than him. But from what he heard from Carter's stories, he really did believe that he had earned it. Carter didn't seem like the kind of person who could fool anyone very easily.

"Colonel, it's almost time for roll call." As usual, Kinch was watching the clock, playing the mother of the group.

"Alright." Hogan got up from sitting on Carter's bunk and clapped his hands. "Don't want to keep Schultz waiting."

Newkirk waited for everyone to file out, preferring to follow the group rather than lead. He saw Carter looking around confused. Newkirk remembered when he first came to Stalag 13. He grabbed Carter by the shoulders and led him to his spot before going to his. Carter shot him a grin before facing forward and standing at attention. Newkirk rolled his eyes. The kid sure had a lot to get used to.