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Xander's POV

It's time. He thought as he double checked the equipment he'd been given by The Joy, Time to take back Stalingrad for good.

It'd been weeks since the fight with the Nachtkrapp on the Northern front and in that time she'd been sent on minor missions by the leader of the Cobra Unit. Eliminate a patrol here, sneak into a command tent to steal battle plans there and just two days ago detonate a munitions tent with no one outside the unit having a clue what caused it. Now though it was time for the final battle of the city and it centered on the top route for getting supplies: the port city of Rostov. Whoever controlled that would win the battle for the city and up until now it'd been firmly under the control of the Germans. Fortunately though the battle had dragged on long enough that the Nazi's were currently at their weakest and according to the papers he'd gotten a look at Hitler's boys were going for a final shove too.

Thus would they take advantage of 'Operation: Winter Storm' by aiding the Soviets with their own plan called 'Operation: Little Saturn' which was an attempt to punch through the Italian lines of the Axis army to take Rostov. The Cobra Unit however wouldn't be fighting alongside the Soviets but rather they'd be harassing the neighboring forces to prevent reinforcement. The Nazis weren't stupid, they knew how valuable Rostov was, so when the Soviets made a play for it the Axis powers would do everything they could to repel the offensive. The Russians might be tired and low on just about everything but the fact that this was the best chance they had to claim victory would make them fight as never before. So long as they didn't get hit on their flanks as they tried to push forward The Joy thought the Russians stood a good chance of succeeding.

That was where they came in.

Originally the leader of the Cobra Unit had intended to split the team into two groups of three but with him making the Unit an odd number it was decided that he'd go with The Fear and The End. While the former could handle mid-range and the latter long range it was decided that he would get right into the thick of things to sow confusion in the ranks. As such he was armed with a combination of grenades and a Mauser C96. While fairly well armed he couldn't afford to be too reckless with the ammunition for the latter or where he tossed the former. Still he could probably 'borrow' some guns and grenades from the Axis soldiers should he ever run out. If not he still had his claws and as long as he only popped one in each limb most people would jump to the conclusion that it'd been caused by an ordinary knife.

At least The Joy's stopped having the other Unit members ambush me during a mission. He thought wincing in recollection at some of his less than spectacular reactions to their attacks, I know I need to be more aware of what's going on around me but what if things had gone pear shaped?

Still he could only presume that since it'd been awhile since the last surprise attack that The Joy was satisfied that he wouldn't get blindsided or lose his grasp of the tactical landscape.

"Are you ready?" The Fear asked from his position next to the entrance/exit of the structure they were in.

"Yep." He replied as she finished loading the Mauser to capacity with bullets, "Let's get this show going!"

"If this is a show then I guess we will have to find out for ourselves who the star of it is." The End said from his wheelchair.

His gaze lingered on the elderly man and the method he'd be using to get to his designated sniping spot because given the lack of smooth roads as well as the abundance of mid he'd lay good odds at getting stuck along the way. That was why he'd suggested that he scout ahead for trouble so that if The End did get stuck The Fear would have time to get the old man unstuck before trouble found them.

Naturally he figured that if they heard gunfire and grenades going off they'd know to hurry up.

"Wait five minutes then follow." He said as he walked out of the building, "Any trouble I bump into'll be handled by then."

"You don't fear that you'll get in over your head?" The Fear asked sounding like he'd enjoy viewing the fear born of such a situation.

"If I do wind up biting off more than I can chew I doubt I'll have to worry about it for long." He replied with his best lopsided grin, "Then again with my healing factor I'll probably last long enough for you to rescue me assuming you don't drag your heels too much."

The Fear just gave her one of his creepy smiles and he knew that if any help he did receive it'd be at the proverbial last second for sure.

With that he did break into a run using cover as needed while keeping both eyes as well as nose sharp for signs of the enemy. With Laura Kinney's senses he could pick up things completely invisible to normal human beings but it was still possible to catch him unawares unfortunately. Indeed while you could give a person powers beyond those of mortal people it wouldn't make much of a difference if they let themselves grow careless. Given what was on the line with this battle she could not afford to be careless for while he did not believe that the entire outcome of the fighting depended on him he didn't want his claim to fame this day to be The Fear pulling his butt out of the fire.

Time passed as he moved and aside from a few random groups of Axis soldiers he didn't encounter any serious resistance on the way to the front The Joy had assigned to his group. He imagined that the bulk of every army was focused on the large confrontations elsewhere leaving only the small fry flitting this way and that for him to run into by chance. That would change however the closer he got to his assigned front so he figured that he might as well enjoy the light interference while he could.

It was as he reached eyesight of his destination though that he got his first glance of what he'd be dealing with.

Much like he'd been expecting a contingent of Russian forces was locked in battle with Nazi troops but it only took one glance to see that they wouldn't last long. The Soviets were making the most of what manpower and resources they had to slow their defeat but there was no chance of them winning the battle unless the Nazis seriously screwed up. Taking out the binoculars he'd been given he began to look for every Nazi soldier, crudely marking their positions on an equally crudely drawn map of the area, so The End as well as The Fear would have something to work with. He was sure that professional map makers everywhere would cringe at his efforts but he wasn't aiming to be perfect with his efforts. As long as The End and The Fear had a good idea of where to look for their targets that was all that mattered.

"So that's where they are?" The Fear whispered in inquiry into her ear out of nowhere.

He barely managed to keep from 'eeping' like a girl the age of the body he currently inhabited but he suppressed the instinctive reaction just the same.

"Best I can figure." She replied keeping her tone even and calm, "The End in position?"

"Yes and he likely has seen your map through his scope already." The Fear replied bringing out his unique crossbow, "How shall we proceed?"

"You're asking me?" he asked with no small bit of surprise, "Shouldn't it be you calling the shots?"

"I was never command material. Neither is The End." The Fear replied with a grin as he loaded one of his toxin covered crossbow bolts, "Seeing as how The Joy's been teaching you lately that makes you the boss."

For a moment he considered arguing the point but even though he hadn't known the man up until a few weeks ago he could tell that The Fear wouldn't budge from his position. With a sigh he took a look at his map and then the real battlefield debating inside his head the various ways they could tackle the situation. In the end the most efficient and the most practical one was to wait until the Axis forces wiped out the Soviets then attack the second they dropped their guard thinking that they were out of danger.

"Let the Nazis finish off the Soviets." He said with resolve in his tone, "Use the time until then to get into position then pounce when they let their guard down. Should allow you and The End to maximize your initial kills before the enemy figures out what's going on and where each of us are positioned."

"And when they do figure out where they're being attacked from?" The Fear asked sounding like he approved of the plan.

"I'll charge their ranks scattering my approach to make it harder to hit me. I can take what they can dish out and survive." He replied not relishing this part of the plan, "They'll focus on me since I'll be the biggest threat. You time your shots and choose your targets well and this'll all be over soon."

The plan was based on one he'd used before when trying to keep a war between African demon clans from spilling over into the public sight. They'd been too strong to take head on either one at a time or both at the same time without suffering serious Slayer casualties. So he'd hatched a plan to let the monsters do the heavy lifting and then finish off the survivors when they least expected it. The only difference in this situation was that the enemies were human and were only following their training through to the end. He might've managed a kill count in the double digits since arriving in this time but he couldn't say that he'd become numb to the act of killing human beings. He wasn't as squeamish about it as Buffy was but neither had he become completely desensitized. Thus leaving the Soviet soldiers to die was contrary to his code of honor but he was realistic enough to know that obsessively following the good guy rules was pointless. Reality didn't always reward the dedicated and so he'd do what he could with the hand he was given and hope he didn't go to bed with too many regrets weighing down his soul.

Fortunately for him it didn't take long for the Nazis to finish off the Soviet soldiers fighting against them because he just knew that an extra long wait would've been murder on his nerves. With a few hand signals he'd retained from his soldier position he informed The Fear that they'd circle around from opposite directions and catch the Nazis in a pincer movement. This seemed to surprise the man a bit and he cursed himself as he realized that his actions had put another layer of mystery on his past that The Joy would almost certainly ask him about when the opportunity presented itself. Turning away from The Fear so he didn't give away anything else he began to navigate the landscape to get to his desired attack point. He moved quickly yet carefully in order to ensure that the Nazis didn't see him coming but once he arrived he prepared himself mentally for what was about to happen.

In the comics Wolverine often got annoyed that his healing factor didn't come with a pain suppression factor as well and he was much the same.

Unfortunately not only had he committed himself to his present course of action but he considered it the height of unmanliness to hide somewhere safe when there were good people he could be helping so ducking out now was not an option.

Peeking over the cover he'd chosen to duck behind he tried to spot The Fear so they could time their attacks properly but either the man was late getting to his attack point or was concealing himself VERY well. As the seconds ticked by he realized that if they waited too long to attack they'd lose their best opportunity to take down Hitler's little minions so he plucked one of his grenades out of the bag he'd stuff them in, pulled the pin and threw it towards the largest group of enemy troops.

"GRENADE! RUN!" one of the Nazi soldiers yelled before putting action to his words.

BOOM!

With that blast he dashed around his cover taking aim with his Mauser to hit spots that would equal to one shot one kill for the enemy. He didn't rush his shots because his ammo was limited and he didn't want to put The Fear in danger of getting hit by a not quite dead Nazi's defiant shot. As he sprinted towards them on as erratic a path as he could manage without wasting time he lined up his shots aiming first for those who'd survived his grenade albeit with injuries. They were the least likely to be capable of dodging whereas their unharmed comrades were making for cover even as their returned fire with their rifles and submachine guns.

KOW!

And there's The End putting in his two cents. He thought even as his last bullet flew down his Mauser's barrel to successfully ventilate a Nazi soldier's skull.

Darting into the nearest trench that'd keep the people who wanted him dead from getting a clear shot he ejected the empty clip before reaching into the bag holding his ammunition for a fresh one. It was just as he reached the last stretch of viable cover that he was ready to emerge but he wouldn't just jump out. Using his sense of hearing and his sense of smell he did his best to accurately picture where both ally and enemy were before pulling the pin on a grenade then throwing it. Thus while his enemies were busy scrambling away from the blast radius he used the acute eyesight he'd inherited from Laura to peer through the temporary cloud of dirt created by his grenade.

One.

Two.

Three shots he managed to get off before there was nothing to block the view of the Nazi's that'd gotten far enough from detonation to be unharmed. Darting to the left he began to gradually make his way around them making sure to keep them twenty feet away at least while firing only enough shots to keep their attention focused on him rather than The Fear or The End. He was only peripherally aware of where the former was at any given time but every time one of the Nazis fell to the ground without a preceding BANG from a sniper rifle he knew the weirdo was still kicking ass.

It took a little over twenty-five minutes to finish off the last enemy soldier in their immediate area and once both he as well as The Fear were satisfied that all present were truly dead rather than simply dying they moved to the next target area. The number of Axis soldiers surrounding Stalingrad was a lot more than this and even if more than fifty percent were focused on the port city that still left hundreds of thousands of enemy troops still alive. Of course The Joy had made it clear that the Cobra Unit's objective wasn't to fight all of the Axis soldiers not currently attempting to block the battle for Rostov but rather to prevent those groups closest to the battle from reinforcing their allies. If the team could keep backup from arriving the Soviets would likely win their struggle to reclaim the port town turning things decidedly in their favor. Unless the Axis officer in charge of the Third Reich's forces was monumentally stupid he'd only try to fight the inevitable for so long before giving the retreat order.

True the man would probably be executed for both failure and cowardice but that didn't change the fact that retreat was the right call when defeat was inevitable.

Only when there was meaning in fighting to the last soldier was it permissible.

Russian Forces Camp

After the Battle

The Joy's POV

"So…how did she perform?" the man asked through the radio.

"I will admit that I had my reservations about her in the beginning she's proven herself a capable soldier." She replied after a moment's thought, "She can follow orders and whoever trained her made her good enough to handle three year soldiers without much difficulty."

"Any…interesting observations about her abilities?" the man asked obviously implying he wanted to know if Kinney had any other abilities besides accelerated healing.

"Her five senses are definitely head and shoulders above anything an ordinary human has." She replied recalling the chats with the Unit members she'd spoken to, "The few times that the targets weren't at the specified locations she was able to track them down by their scents alone. Considering how many smells cover Stalingrad at the moment picking out something that specific is impressive."

"And a potential weakness." The man said sounding speculative, "If her sense of smell is that acute then it stands to reason that she might experience sensory overload if exposed to a potent enough smell."

"Perhaps." She said not wanting to show her own personal opinion on the matter, "According to The Fear her claws appear capable of cutting through just about anything. He didn't see any sign of difficulty in either stone or steel."

"Interesting. I'll have some people look into what it could be made of." The man said sounding intrigued, "With a little modernization such a metal could tear through tank armor and sink German navy ships with a single strike."

Or make whichever country gains the right to develop such ammunition leverage over the others. She thought remembering all too well what her father had told her.

The Big Three might be working together now to battle the Nazis and their allies but the few meetings she'd learned of indicated that plans were already forming about what would happen AFTER the war came to an end. Oh they were phrased in such a way that it sounded like the one giving the proposal intended to share the benefits with all but the smart ones knew how it could be made to benefit only one rather than three. All of them would toe the line and remain allies so long as the war went on but once it was over she put it at less than three years before they turned on one another.

"If it's as durable as I think it is I don't think it'll be possible to get a sample from her claws." She pointed out indicating a potential flaw in the man's plan, "How will you know if you found what you're looking for?"

"I'll come up with something." The man said in a neutral tone of voice that just made him sound all the more suspicious, "So do you have any objections to her formally becoming a member of the Cobra Unit?"

"No. Her skills still need some polish but that can be done in the field well enough." She replied not bothering to shake her head in the negative for someone who couldn't see her, "Besides they say that experience is the best teacher and unlike most she can survive mistakes most people can't."

"Then it's time to give her a codename and I've got the perfect one." The man said sounding quite pleased with what he was going to reveal next, "The Desire. Pain, Fear, Death, Fury, Sorrow and Joy are all emotions that soldiers take with them into battle. However at the root of all of them is 'desire'. It might not be obvious and some people might not even acknowledge it but it's mixed in with the others just the same. What do you think?"

"While I can think of a few ways it might be misused it's as good a name as any." She replied remembering a few phrases some young men had used to show their interest in her.

None of which worked of course but she conceded that they were creative.

"Then be sure to let her know soon." The man said sounding like he was going to wrap things up, "Now for the time being your orders are to have the Cobra Unit leave Stalingrad for the closest safe house. You've all earned some rest but don't get too comfortable. After such a glowing success I expect your next mission will be quick in coming."

"Understood. Over and out." She said before terminating the connection and disconnecting the device that kept such conversations secure.

Putting the encryption module back into its secure pouch on her belt she left the communications tent to let her team know they had an hour to gather whatever they thought they needed before they'd requisition a vehicle. THEY had enough pull with the Soviet military that one truck wouldn't be missed. That being said she'd make sure her Unit didn't take too much from the Soviets because while the Nazis might've been driven away that didn't mean they wouldn't come back. Hitler was determined to portray his Reich as something that would last a thousand years so being turned back by the Russians here but a bit of a stain on that image. Of course the Germans in charge of propaganda would try to spin it in a positive way but that didn't mean that the Nazis wouldn't attempt some form of retaliation to reestablish their future's shiny image. That could mean anything from a simple bombing run to the release of one of the numerous chemical weapons Ally intelligence suspected the Third Reich were developing. The Russians would need all the weapons and equipment they could get if they were to stand any chance of thwarting such retaliatory schemes.

It didn't take long to get to the tent where most of her team was but they would have to pick up Kinney at the Institute on their way out of the city. All of them looked like they'd been anticipating her order to prepare for departure with their pouches full and backpacks likewise filled with the things they'd need to continue the fight elsewhere.

"So what's the word Joy?" The Sorrow asked taking a few steps towards her.

"We're to leave for a nearby safe house that's been prepared for us and await our next set of orders." She replied looking at each of them in turn, "I can see you've restocked your supplies and ammunition but I hope you didn't clean the Soviets out completely since they'll need whatever they have to keep Stalingrad safe."

"No worries there Joy." The Fear said with a normal smile instead of his usual one, "Most of what we have was salvage from the Germans and their allies. With it and the supply routes re-established they'll manage well enough."

True.

By now the top brass of the Soviet forces would know that Stalingrad had been liberated and would be moving swiftly to resupply and fortify the area. Like her they probably expected the Axis powers to make another attempt in the future to take the city so it was unlikely that they'd leave everyone in the area to fend for themselves.

"Then let's be off." She said casting her gaze about for a suitable truck.

It didn't take long to find and thankfully it had Soviet markings on it so the only people who'd likely try to take a shot at them would be Axis soldiers. If some did attack they could be used for training Alexis so as to sharpen the young woman's existing skills while also teaching her some new ones. While she didn't like HIM the man she'd spoken to minutes ago had made an interesting point with his choice of codename for Kinney. It also aroused enough of her curiosity that she wanted to see just how far the girl could go if she were instructed by the other members of the Unit. Any ability or skill that required surgical modifications or some other process would not be possible of course but that still left a healthy amount to work with.

"We'll be taking that truck." she said as she began to walk towards the vehicle she'd selected, "Get inside."

Without question her Unit began climbing into the truck but predictably a few Soviet soldiers objected to this but she just did as she'd been instructed previous to leaving for Stalingrad. Reaching into her front coat pocket she withdrew what to anyone else looked like an ordinary wallet but once she opened it up for the Soviet soldiers to look at its contents. What were its contents?

Credentials that put her authority right up to just below a Soviet General's power.

Naturally the soldiers recognized them and immediately saluted before finding something else to do.

Getting into the driver's seat she soon found the keys and once the engine was rumbling she pull out onto the primitive dirt road that would lead them in the direction she wanted. She didn't even have to tell the others in back to take up defensive positions in the back and to keep a look out for signs of ambush. Granted if some Germans fired an RPG at them or a tank shell they'd barely have enough time to dive out of the truck and that was assuming they saw either coming in time.

"Are we going to pick up the girl?" The Sorrow asked from his place next to her in the passenger seat.

"Yes. Based on her performance in the field and her abilities it's been decided that she'll be formally adopted into the Unit." She replied without taking her eyes off the road, "My superior even came up with a codename for her: The Desire."

"It fits in more ways than one." He said with an odd tone.

"What do you mean?" she asked glancing at the man out of the corner of her eye.

"While she does possess some discipline her heart is a powerful influence over her actions." He replied no doubt thinking back to the missions where he and Kinney were partnered, "I noticed several times when it looked like her desire to help others nearly got the better of her."

"Would she risk a mission based on these desires?" she asked considering the possibility of something that would need to be ironed out during training.

"No. I spoke to The Fear after the battle for Rostov." He replied shaking his head in the negative, "When Soviet troops were sliding towards defeat and death she chose to let the two sides finish their battle then finish off the remaining Nazis. I believe she'll adhere to mission parameters for the most part but if she believes that the mission can be accomplished and she can get what she wants she'll do it."

So she'd only act on her own if she believed that there'd be no risk to the mission or the Unit. Not the best situation considering that it would rely entirely on the young woman's ability to evaluate a situation and determine the most likely outcome for any course of action. If Kinney misjudged a situation or overestimated her skills it could threaten the overall success of the mission. Something to include in her training and she could use the downtime at the safe house to draw up some hypothetical scenarios to test Alexis on. It wouldn't be a simple test where the girl either passed or failed. If the young woman made a mistake she'd point it out and explain why it was incorrect. It did no good after all only to point out the mistake. You had to explain why the answer was incorrect as well as explain what the right answer was. It was the only way a student would learn.

"My superior also suggested that each member of the Unit pass on what skills they could to Miss Kinney in between missions." She said looking ahead to see the Institute getting bigger in the distance.

"It will be difficult to create an effective lesson plan for her considering we won't know when our missions will take place or how long the breaks in between will be." He said with some concern about the matter.

"We'll just do the best we can with what we've got." She said deciding not to discard the idea just because it'd be difficult.

After all if Alexis Kinney proved capable of mastering the new skills she was taught in combination with what she already had then the resulting soldier would truly be something to see.

She just hoped that the girl didn't become so impressive that she garnered THEIR undivided attention. She already knew that thanks to her pedigree and the investment they'd made in her training put her squarely in their sights but she did not wish that for anyone else. It was her hope that at the end of the war Kinney could just vanish and not warrant more than a few years of pursuit before THEY shifted their focus to something or someone else.

She shuddered to think of what THEY might do to the girl in an effort to replicate her healing ability in others.

Pulling up in front of the Institute she used the horn precisely once then waited for the last member of the Unit to emerge from what had been her hiding place since being 'killed' by Aldo. Fortunately she did not have to wait all that long since a few minutes later the dark haired young woman emerged from the main building sack slung over her shoulder and weapons in all the right places. Soon Kinney went out of view, no doubt to get into the back of the truck, but when she felt a slight shifting of the vehicles weight she knew it was okay to get moving.

"Sleep well Kinney?" she asked as she once more brought motion to the truck.

"Oh yes! It was like sleeping at a luxury hotel what with the near complete lack of heat, the noisy neighbors and beds that felt like they were made out of concrete!" Alexis replied with a mix of indignation and humor, "Please tell me that we'll OCCASSIONALLY get to sleep in real beds."

"While I can't promise the Ritz we are headed to a safe house right now to await new orders." She replied with a grin at the humorous words, "Still there will be times when we'll have to make do with whatever's available. Won't matter if it's tents in the woods or the basement of a demolished house."

"I know. I just don't have a lot of experience camping outdoors." Alexis said with acceptance, "I'm a city girl. Only time I ever camped out was in my best friend's back yard."

"Well you're going to get a great deal of firsthand experience." She said driving up the newly restored road out of Stalingrad, "There'll almost certainly be times we'll be far behind enemy lines and it'll be too dangerous to be anywhere close to a town or city."

"I know." Kinney said with grudging acceptance, "Just be prepared for a bit of whining and complaining. It's gonna take awhile for me to get used to it all."

She and the rest of the unit had a bit of a chuckle at that.

It looked like their youngest member would be a source of amusement for the foreseeable future.

During wartime the ability to make your comrades laugh and forget about their hardships, however briefly, was more precious than gold.

The Cobra Unit's Safe House

Hours Later

Xander's POV

I'm glad the safe house was big enough so we could each have our own rooms. He thought as he lay in bed looking up at the ceiling, I really needed some ME time where I could stop pretending to be Alexis Kinney and just be myself for once.

Now some people might ask 'why did you not simply tell them the truth' but those people would be idiots that had not even bothered to consider how the rest of the Cobra Unit would take that news. 'Oh I am a guy who got transformed into a fictional girl by magic and in order to save my family chose to get sucked into limbo and somehow wound up in the past with you guys' would not go over well. For one thing he was sure that unless a person had encountered the supernatural on their own or were part of an organization like the Watcher's Council tales of magic would be treated as nonsense. While Willow had confirmed through her own sources that Wilkins had erected a sort of mental fog spell to keep the citizens of Sunnydale from realizing the truth that didn't mean people elsewhere would believe in the supernatural. Since the world had formally embraced science as the best way to understand everything anyone who still believed in gods, magic and portals to different worlds were considered eccentric at best and insane at worst.

He had no desire (pun not intended) to be considered either.

Also while he had little doubt that he'd be able to break out of any Asylum they tossed him in he had a feeling that he'd more than likely wind up on some scientist's slab as their special specimen. It didn't matter what universe you were talking about whenever something popped up with the potential to be turned into a weapon governments pounced on it morals be damned. The possibility of gaining soldiers capable healing from almost any injury, resisting all known toxins and diseases, would be very appetizing to them. Giving them an excuse to remove him from the battlefield sooner and then place him on the dissection slab would not be to his benefit. Laura Kinney's healing factor might be enough to have him burn through most anesthetics or toxins quickly but that was only at the normal human dosages. If his potential abductors were smart they'd hit him with ten times the normal dosage and administer an increasing dosage during the trip to whatever lab had been assigned the job of 'examining' him.

All in all telling the truth would only make things worse for him not better.

As for when he'd bug out and vanish into the crowd it'd probably be just before the end of the war on April thirtieth nineteen forty-five. How far before would depend on when he thought the 'interested parties' would make a play for him. He supposed that it'd likely be when they thought he was no longer needed in the field with the Cobra Unit. If that turned out to be the case then he'd have to pay close attention to the importance of each mission and when one looked to be the last big one he'd slip away immediately after the objective was accomplished. He'd leave a note of course to explain his reasons for disappearing and drop what he hoped were subtle hints about how to get in touch with him in an emergency. He'd use bits and pieces of information that only The Joy or another member of the Cobra Unit would be able to recognize and understand the significance of. Hopefully they'd value the friendship that'd be forged in the next three years of camaraderie enough not to pass on the communication method to their superiors.

He'd make sure to be extra cautious about any messages he received and do a thorough search of any areas where meetings were requested the first dozen or so times. If nothing suspicious or incriminating came up he would conclude that they'd kept what he'd conveyed to them a secret. However if he spotted conspicuous people at the meeting sites or if they showed up wherever he decided to make a home for himself he'd be left with no other option but to conclude that it was no longer safe to remain in contact with his friends.

Feeling a familiar stirring inside of his now female body he sat up and got off the bed before heading for the door to his room. It was something he'd had to get used to pretty early on after arriving here but fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, living in the same room as numerous teenage girls had given him some clue as to how to proceed. Exiting the room he proceeded to the bathroom to relieve his bladder so he could get some sleep. Going to the bathroom as a girl was similar enough to how a guy did it when you had something to squeeze out the back door but when it came to taking a leak there was nothing to aim with. That meant either you sat down on the can or you squatted just right to make sure that the piss went where it needed to go. Fortunately he got enough practice early on that he almost didn't need to think about it anymore and by the time that the war ended it'll be completely natural.

Now there's a thought. He thought as he opened the door to the bathroom after making sure no one was inside, Will I even be here until the end of the war?

He'd assumed up until now that it'd be on him to find a way to get back to his proper moment in time but now he wondered if someone else would handle that. He knew that the second Willow got back to the castle she'd lock herself up in her lab to work on a way to get him back and if anyone could track him down to world war two it'd be her. While he hadn't heard of any recorded incidents what he had heard concerning magic made him all too willing to believe that opening a portal to the past was not impossible. There were probably half a dozen spells capable of the task and at least one of them would be in the Council library. The only thing in question would be how accurately his best bud would be able to open the portal to where and when he truly was. Would the spell just take them to the castle of the correct time period or would he see it pop up in front of him out of nowhere?

There was no way of knowing for certain.

I just hope that if they do show up it won't be in the middle of a battlefield. He thought as he reached under his nightgown to pull down his panties, The second or three it takes for them to realize where they were could get them killed.

A few minutes later and he was right as rain as well as on his way back to his bedroom.

He was about halfway there when he ran into but The Joy who appeared to be heading to her room with a book in hand.

"Couldn't sleep?" The Joy asked politely.

"Bathroom run actually." He replied with a grin, "Doing a little light reading?"

"Yes. It helps me relax so I can sleep." She replied holding up the book briefly so that the title could be read, "It came with the house so I'm not sure if it's to my liking or not but it's good to try new things from time to time to broaden your mind."

"A mentor of mine said the same thing to me once. All British and educated." He commented with the grin becoming a smile, "He tried to get me into it by reading a couple of dusty old books he had lying around but I never really developed an interest."

"I've found that all it takes is finding the right 'dusty old books' for that to happen." She said before resuming her walk to her room, "Goodnight."

With that the leader of the Cobra unit passed by him and he was once more alone in the hallway. Thinking a second or two more about what the boss lady said he put it on a shelf in his mind to be considered after he had a good night's sleep. Deep thinking and heavy reading was never something to do while fatigue was being poured into your mind.

Besides he figured that they'd be getting orders soon enough so it'd be pointless to become too invested in a safe house book he'd have to leave behind.

A Few Days Later

The Joy's POV

It's been nice these last few days. She thought before grimly looking down at the package in her hands, Too bad it's come to an end.

Indeed for the past three days her team had been on standby splitting their time between basic household chores and keeping their skills sharp for the next mission. She personally had been resuming Alexis' instruction focusing on what her instructors in the SAS had taught her both in terms of patrol skills as well as the basics of the various specializations team members often chose. From sun up to sunset she trained and surprisingly enough the breaks were being taken more for her benefit than for Kinney's. It'd been something she'd learned by the end of the first day that the girl had stamina that went far beyond what a normal human was capable of. When asked about it Alexis said she didn't know for sure but that she suspected that her healing factor was also somehow reducing the amount of fatigue toxins her body would've produced without it. The Sorrow had asked naturally how much longer this ability would allow her to push herself before fatigue manifested and Alexis replied that she didn't know.

Since her abilities first manifested Alexis stated she'd never pushed herself hard enough to find out.

That had resulted in a goal that she and the rest of the Cobra Unit had done their best to find out over the last two days and while not perfect they'd been able to determine that Alexis could push herself for almost twenty-four hours before signs of fatigue manifested. This would prove invaluable during times when sleep was not advisable and combat lasted from dawn well into the night. While three days was not nearly long enough to learn a skill beyond the basics it would have to do for the time being.

Taking the package into the kitchen she saw that the Unit had assembled in the dining room for the briefing. Setting the package down on the table she opened it up before handing out folders to each member with an unspoken request NOT to open them until she gave the word. She'd already given her folder a read through so she knew what the mission was but she wanted to be the one to explain it to the Unit rather than have them nose around only to immediately ask questions at the same time. With a nod she gave them permission to open the folders and so the briefing began.

"Our new orders are to track down and eliminate a specific German military division that up until now has been regard as myth: the Totenkampf Unit." She explained turning to the first page in the folder, "The unit's been rumored to exist since before the war but no one's been able find concrete evidence that they really exist or even circumstantial evidence. So they'd pretty much been regulated to a story meant to scare young soldiers into taking their jobs more seriously."

"Um…seeing as how I…um…haven't been in the loop…what stories are we talking about?" Alexis asked showing her newness to the war and all it entailed.

"Supposedly they're in charge of developing advanced technology, conducting experiments that crosses into fields better left alone and there's even been rumors of monstrosities that even had some of the SS nauseated." The Sorrow said showing that some of the stories he'd heard had left him sick as well, "Like The Joy said though there hasn't been any evidence found to prove they exist. No paperwork, no witnesses and no captured Axis officer credible enough to believe even if he did claim to have encountered them. What's changed Joy?"

"About three weeks ago a member of an American unit thought to have been wiped out by German forces stumbled into a British camp looking half dead. Honestly he looked as though he'd been through hell and collapsed a few seconds after being spotted. He was pretty incoherent after that but he claimed he'd escaped from a lab where his unit had been taken and experimented on." She replied moving onto the second page in the briefing folder, "Apparently his friends had sacrificed themselves, used themselves as human shields, in order to ensure that he'd get away. Before the soldier died he claimed that the name of the Nazi group that'd held him was the Totenkampf Unit. Naturally no one believed the man since it was easier to accept that in the man's dying state his mind clamped onto the mythical unit told to everyone."

"I take it something happened to change their mind?" Alexis asked sounding like she took the sacrifice of brave soldiers seriously.

"Yes. After the soldier died most of the officers in charge dismissed the incident as an escape from one of the verified Nazi labs. As per established protocol an autopsy was conducted to determine what had been done to the soldier in order to get a better idea of the direction German research was going in." she replied turning to the third page which included sickening pictures, "What they found when they opened the soldier up was…disturbing."

"Oh god!" Alexis gasped looking like she was getting a little green around the gills.

"Indeed." She said looking at the others who were having similar reactions, "Entire organs had been replaced or surgically altered with the intent of enhancing the physical capabilities of the soldier. The examiner in charge believed that the escaped soldier had only been in the beginning stages of being altered but that it was likely due to the changes that he'd been able to make it to the camp."

"So what had them believing that the guy had been messed up by this Totenkampf Unit instead of some run of the mill Nazi psycho?" Alexis asked sounding like she'd show some enthusiasm for this mission.

"The commanding officer of the camp decided to send a platoon to attempt to retrace the American soldier's steps to find the lab. It took them a little over two days as well as some hunches but they managed to find the compound." She replied turning to the next page, "Unfortunately whoever had been running the show had decided to cut and run not long after the American soldier lost them. Set fire to everything and burned it to the ground. However they must've been in a hurry because they missed a few things. The troops managed to find a slightly charred map and a handful of documents that must've been blown clear of the flames. The documents belonged to a report on an experiment being conducted at the compound and the map indicated two other connected locations. Both had a coat of arms stamped on them that matched the descriptions of the Totenkampf Unit's symbol."

"Did the British troops follow the trail any further?" The Sorrow asked out of curiosity.

"The commander sent one of his platoon back to camp to radio in what they'd found and to take the evidence there but took the rest of his men with him to see if they could catch up with the Nazi troops. After a week without hearing from them a second platoon was sent to find them but all they found in the end was…a massacre." She replied as she got to the page with a picture of the remains of the first platoon, "While some of the British soldiers had died from conventional weaponry others had died from wounds that no one has ever seen before. Some looked like burns and others like they'd been fatally electrocuted but none of it matches known Nazi weapons or even suspected ones."

"O-KAY…my appetite's pretty much ruined." Alexis said sounding like she wouldn't be able to keep any food she ate down, "So I'm guessing that our mission is to follow up on the locations marked on the map?"

"Exactly. Given the unusual nature of the entire affair it was decided that any further investigation should be conducted by soldiers more capable than the rank and file." She replied looking at each member of her unit in turn, "We'll leave at sunset for the position on the map closest to where the bodies of the first platoon were found. Depending on what we find there we may need to pull back to request clarification of our orders."

"Just in case it's a bit more than we can chew." Alexis clarified for the rest of the Unit.

"There's no telling how well defended these locations are or what's being done there." She said with a nod, "Each of us have been trained to be the best, together to make the impossible missions possible, but we must never lose perspective. Never allow our pride in our abilities compromise our ability to take the proper measure of a situation. Start packing your things and tidying things up. Leave no trace that anyone's been staying here."

"I thought this safe house was owned by your boss. What's it matter if someone sees people've been living here a few days?" Alexis asked with a bit of confusion.

"Compartmentalization. Just because we all take orders from the same boss that doesn't mean our fellow 'employees' need to know about us or that we need to know about them." She replied letting out a rather harsh truth, "It's a safety precaution in case anyone gets caught. We can't tell under torture what we don't know. In the case of the Cobra Unit though the men in charge went one step further by implanting us with experimental explosives keyed to our hearts. With spies worming there way into top secret operations on both sides there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to security."

"And the reason they aren't putting me under the knife for some heart triggered KA-BOOM?" Alexis asked sounding like she'd put up a fight if someone tried.

"Everyone else in the unit, myself included, might possess significant skill but we're still human and can die like any other. However with the exception of myself each member of the unit has received unique enhancements. If the Axis powers were to capture one of them and find a way to put the alterations in their own men it could mean serious trouble for the Allies." She replied turning to face the Unit's youngest member, "In your case however your regenerative abilities make it very unlikely that you can be killed by conventional means. Add to that the fact that with sufficient training you'll be very difficult to capture and I don't think my superiors will see the need for implantation."

"They TRY and they DIE." Alexis declared in a tone that made it clear she meant every word.

"Hopefully it won't come to that." She said not looking forward to the order from her superiors telling her to take down Kinney and prep her for bomb implantation.

She wasn't sure the Cobra Unit could survive such an internal conflict.

A Few Days Later

Xander's POV

"While I wouldn't call this a cake walk I think we can handle this." He said looking at the compound they'd found after a bit of a trek through the woods.

"A wall twenty feet tall, guards patrolling the top, search lights every fifteen feet and patrols on the outside as well as on the inside." The Joy said evaluating the situation herself, "Add to that the likelihood of there being one of a kind security precautions in play and you're probably right."

"So how do you want to do this? Take them head on or sneak in and hamstring them without anyone being the wiser?" he asked trying to think up ways of making that happen.

"We need to do this smart. If we try to take them on with a frontal assault we'll just be making this harder than it has to be and increase the chance that knowledge of our existence could leak. The first phase of the plan will involve two people. One will locate their communications equipment and sabotage it DISCREETLY. I'd rather they not realize something fishy is going on until it's too late." The Joy replied looking at him specifically, "The second person will locate their armory and prep it to blow. Set the timer for twenty minutes. That should be time enough to disable their radio and provide a distraction for phase two."

"And what would phase two be?" he asked not entirely thrilled about sneaking into a guarded compound solo.

"The capture of compound's commanding officer and its head scientist." The Joy replied sounding like she'd thought things through before they arrived, "The former will know just how widespread the Totenkampf Unit is as well as anything about the other two locations on the map. The latter will give us an idea of what the Totenkampf Unit intends to accomplish with their efforts as well as any weaknesses in the prototypes ready to be deployed in the field elsewhere."

"So I know I'm the number one person going in. Who's number two?" he asked wanting to know who'd be sharing the load of the sneaking with him.

"The Fear. His contortion ability will allow him to slip through air vents and other tight spots without difficulty." The Joy replied nodding towards the member of the Unit.

True.

He'd already seen proof that the man was double jointed in both arms and was quite fast as well as agile making him ideal for zipping past guards when their backs were turned. It'd be even easier since as far as he knew security cameras hadn't been invented yet so the only eyes he'd have to be wary of would be organic ones. Only guards or guard dogs would be able to detect him both of which could be evaded so long as he remained cautious and clever enough.

"And while we're inside doing that the rest of you will be…?" he asked just so he knew what to expect.

"When the bomb in the armory detonates there will be chaos as the Germans inside try to figure out what's going on. At that point The End will eliminate the sentries on the wall while The Sorrow and I use our own explosives to open a way past it. The Pain, The Fury and The End will remain outside to prevent any escapees from getting away." The Joy replied looking at the unit members as she spoke of them, "Our primary objective is to secure this compound and its personnel so follow up forces can pry information from both. If we can't secure it then we take the most important files and personnel alone destroying the rest. All of it."

The Joy gave him a pointed look with that last bit and he knew what it meant.

By 'destroying the rest' the leader of the Cobra Unit meant not only would they be destroying the inanimate objects but also killing any non-essential captives. He didn't like it but he understood the reason for it. If they couldn't secure the facility then they'd have to leave with what they could secure but leaving anyone alive would just give the people at the next location a heads up about what to expect. That'd only make the Cobra Unit's job harder either in the form of increased security or the abandoning of the other two locations and employing a 'Scorched Earth' policy. If these Totenkampf guys were as important as The Joy made them out to be they couldn't afford to be found out until they were primed to take the entire Unit down.

"Well since not managing a complete success would look bad in the report let's try to get the whole compound under lock and key." He said showing that he was in favor of the outcome.

The Joy nodded in agreement the woman said "Time to initiate phase one."

This got a nod from her and so she began to advance towards the compound keeping tabs on not just where the light hit the ground but also the area a foot or so further out. Just because you didn't get hit directly by the light that didn't mean it didn't illuminate things further out for a few feet. This reminded him a lot of some of the stealth videogames he'd played on the gaming console one of his Slayers had brought over from America for a little fun on the days off. In most of the ones set in modern times there was always a level where you had to make it past a series of searchlights without so much as touching the edge of the yellow circle. It wasn't the sort of game that he was the best at but he did on occasion manage to get through some of the tougher levels without getting spotted by the enemy characters.

This was real life however and there were no continues or saved games to work with here.

It was tense and more than a few times his concern spiked at the thought that he might have been spotted but he didn't let it hinder his movements. Hesitation would definitely get him caught and so he kept his movements quick as well as sharp crossing the gap between the outer perimeter and the wall surrounding the compound. Lady Luck must've been feeling generous because he managed to make it in less than a minute with no sign that the Nazis inside had noticed his approach.

Now however came the much harder part: getting up and over the wall without being spotted.

The soldiers guarding the tops of the wall were after all quite close together and with no vantage point close by that'd allow a look INSIDE the compound it meant that even if he zipped past the guards on the wall he could land in the midst of a group upon reaching the other side. Still there was no going back now so speed as well as on the spot thinking would have to be enough to see him through. Closing his eyes he reached out with his sense of hearing to try and place the guards on the wall by sound alone. It was something he'd tried to do during his brief training sessions back at the safe house and while he was confident it could be done it was far from second nature to him.

Wait…wait for it… he thought as he tried to imagine the top of the wall in his mind, …wait…NOW!

Without any time for hesitation to rear its ugly head he popped the metal claws in both his hands as well as his feet before using them to climb his way up the wall as swiftly yet as quietly as he could manage. As soon as he got close to the top he used the claws in his feet to leap the rest of the way and just managed to clear the top before touching down. He only spared a two second glance in either direction to see if he'd been spotted before leaping down to the other side of the wall landing in a roll to keep from busting his legs with the drop. It was still close but no cracking noise made it a success in his book and coming up from the roll he looked for the closest hiding place he could see. Seeing a patch of shadow being cast by a nearby stack of crates he dove behind it before quickly curling up so as to leave as little to be seen as possible.

His heart was pounding with the anxiety, the fear and the THRILL of what he was doing but he took half a minute to settle his nerves before he peeked up over the top of the crates to get a look at this side of the wall. Thanking the fact that The Joy had cut his hair to shoulder length and given him a cap to tuck it under it meant that it'd be harder for the guards to spot him. Looking about he could see three sets of guards patrolling the grounds outside the main building with two of them having guard dogs with them. Fortunately for him tonight wasn't a windy night so as long as he kept his distance from the dogs they shouldn't catch his scent immediately. They'd catch it eventually of course once they got close to his current hiding spot whether he was there or not but hopefully by then he'd be well on his way to the communications room.

Looking about he sought the nearest entrance into the main building as well as the least crowded with guards. It took a minute but he found one on the easternmost corner of the building and with the utmost stealth he began to make his way towards it making sure never to lose an awareness of the threats around him. It was tense work and more than a few times he feared that he'd misjudged the moment to move but when he reached the door and no alarm rang throughout the air he counted his blesses and moved on.

The lock on the door was simple enough and he'd been given picks to get past it but he was SO tempted at the moment to pull a Wolverine move by using one of his claws to destroy it. However a blade capable of slicing through metal with ease was definitely out of the ordinary and might raise a few eyebrows.

Something that the mandate of the Cobra Unit said was unacceptable.

Taking out the lock picks he drew on his own personal memories as well as what The Joy had shown him to begin working on it opening the door in front of him. Contrary to how it might look in the movies picking locks was not easy in the least especially since he had only limited experience in doing it. For a moment he thought that he'd wind up taking too long but with a satisfying click he managed to unlock the door so with slowness he opened it before slipping inside the second a satisfactory gap was made for him to slip through.

He gasped as he saw that a guard was just turning the corner ahead of him making him wonder what'd happen if he'd popped inside a minute or so sooner.

Probably fighting, yelling and possibly setting off the intruder alarms. He thought letting out a sigh of relief, Just gotta remember that stealth is equal parts patience, timing and quickness.

Yeah.

That was all.

The Joy's POV

Ten minutes.

That was how much time had passed since The Desire and The Fear entered the compound to enact their assigned measures of sabotage. While they did this the rest of them kept an eye on the surrounding area for any new arrivals that could force a shift in tactics. For her, The Pain and The Fury all it meant was keeping their eyes as well as their ears sharp. However for The Sorrow it meant opening himself up to the spirits with whom he could converse and considering what likely was going on inside the compound…he likely had all the conversation partners he could handle. Looking at him with his eyes closed for focus she could see that it was taking a considerable amount of his attention to manage all that he was being told. She wouldn't pretend to understand what he was going through or how much of a burden his abilities were but she knew that he would not be here if they didn't work.

"Learn anything of value Sorrow?" she whispered without letting her awareness of her surroundings falter.

"Not much Joy. Those that died within those walls did not leave their mortal lives peacefully." The Sorrow replied even as he seemed to metaphorically raise his head into the living world, "As a result I've only spoken to two that were coherent enough to have a conversation with. A man from France who used to be a member of the resistance there and a young woman taken from her village due to her connection to an ancient bloodline."

So they had an enemy combatant and a woman who would only be of interest to someone studying bloodlines.

Not exactly promising sources.

"Did they reveal anything useful to you so far?" she asked hoping for an early promising start.

"The man from France spoke in broken sentences that implied that he'd been subjected to numerous experiments possibly without the benefit of anesthetics. Indeed I got the impression that the scientists involved did this on purpose in order to learn something." He replied before something she could not see caught his attention for a moment, "The young woman however made even less sense. This was most likely because she did not have the willpower and pain threshold to endure the pain of the experiments."

"So nothing useful from her?" she asked not surprised that a civilian's mind would crack under the strain of experimentation.

"Only a phrase: the path of the dead." He replied sounding like he was pondering the meaning, "She repeated it over and over again. I got the impression that whatever the phrase's meaning she was terrified of it."

"Most likely part of the dominant religion of her village." She said dismissing it as unimportant, "The pain and trauma she went through probably made her think she'd been sent to hell."

"Possibly." He said in a manner that made her think that he was taking the information a bit more seriously than her.

She supposed that being a spiritual medium made one reconsider what was real and what was myth.

For her though she'd wait until she saw conclusive evidence with her own two eyes before she'd consider believing in something other than what could be quantified by science.

Still at least through the two spirits she'd gotten confirmation that the compound did house a lab that was conducting human experiments on both civilians as well as POWs. While she'd like to think that there was a point to the refusal of anesthetic she could not discount the possibility that it'd been done so that the scientists could indulge in a little sadism. Given the level of secrecy and resources devoted to the Totenkampf Unit its members likely felt that they could do whatever they wanted so long as they continued to produce results with their work. It was the way things went when the power you possessed made you feel untouchable. They'd have to be careful to keep from being seen by any surviving prisoners since she'd prefer not to have to kill any of them save those whose suffering was too great to be allowed to continue.

Looking down at her watch she could see that there was only two and a half minutes until The Fear's explosives were due to go off.

"It's time. Get to your positions." She whispered to those to be stationed outside the walls.

With a nod the three men scattered at varying rates of speed leaving only her and The Sorrow.

For him only a nod was needed before they began to advance towards the outer wall of the compound using their skills to evade the search lights much like The Desire had a quarter of an hour ago. Once they had their backs to the wall they took their backpacks off in order to retrieve the explosives that they'd use to make a 'door' for them to pass through. Setting the timers for fifteen seconds she kept her eyes on her watch as the seconds ticked away and when it all matched she placed her charge next to the wall before getting clear of the blast radius. Not looking to see if The Sorrow was doing the same she covered her ears and prepared for what came next.

BBBOOOOMMM!

BBBOOOOMMM!BBBOOOOMMM!

With three explosions that almost went off at precisely the same time the stealth portion of the mission was over and so bringing her submachine gun to the ready she followed The Sorrow through the hole on the wall. As soon as she had a clear line of sight she began to dispatch the soldiers inside after checking their rank insignia to see if they were important or not. Those that held rank of any worth she shot to wound making sure that they would not be in any condition to fight. Those that were mere foot soldiers however were swiftly killed as the opportunity to do so arose since they were both potential threats as well as witnesses neither of which could be tolerated.

The benefit of surprise didn't last long as Nazis varying from a single soldier to groups of three began to work to repel those they perceived to be intruders. It did not phase her since it was indeed part of her training that the number of enemies thrown at her increased until she'd been able to competently hold her own against seven before being overwhelmed. With The Sorrow adding his skills to her own the battle was not nearly as lopsided as one might have first thought. It only grew more in their favor when The Fear began to pick off opponents of opportunity either with immediately lethal shots or with flesh wounds. All of the crossbow bolts The Fear used were coated with a very virulent poison so even a scratch would be enough to incapacitate then later kill whoever received the scratch.

It was only when gunfire erupted INSIDE the main building of the compound that she learned where The Desire was and she mentally nodded in approval. By raising a ruckus inside there would be a sizeable delay in the Nazi forces being able to establish a coordinated defense and that could only help her Unit. Still it would be in her best interests to move inside as swiftly as possible in order to prevent the destruction of important paperwork or the suicide of key enemy personnel.

"WE'RE GOING IN!" she yelled before throwing a grenade at the front door of the main building.

Leading the charge she entered the building confident that she and her two subordinates had successfully immobilized the important enemy personnel outside and eliminated most of the cannon fodder. Any who remained could be taken out later and any who attempted to flee would be cut down by The End, The Fury or The Pain. Upon passing through the doorframe she could see that The Desire had been busy for there were dead bodies littered about the entranceway killed either by a bullet, a bomb or very sharp blades.

I hope Alexis remembered to keep the important people alive. She thought she began to move towards the sounds of combat on the upper floor, It would be something of a setback if a piece information not recorded on paper was lost.

Her concerns turned out to be groundless for once she reached the second floor she began to come across soldiers of rank and while some were unconscious others were attempting to prevent themselves from bleeding out. A few had broken legs that made it impossible for them to do more than crawl and every jarring motion only caused the pain they felt to spike. One of them thought it was a good idea to point a gun at her but with a loud bang The Sorrow shot the pistol out of the man's hands before she delivered a kick that rendered the fool unconscious. After seeing this she could tell that any of the other conscious Nazis that might've been considering following the moron's lead were now rethinking their next move.

Smart.

It was a little over two minutes later that the sounds of battle went silent but by then she and The Sorrow were outside the room where it had been taking place. When they entered she beheld a sight that both confirmed Alexis' ability to follow orders and would likely give the surviving Nazis nightmares for years to come. Covered in blood, bits of flesh and damaged clothing Alexis held what likely was the compound's commander by the shirt and looked to be ready to render him unconscious soon.

"That will be quite enough." She said alerting her subordinate to her presence, "The commander and I have quite a bit of talking to do."

Looking over her shoulder The Desire seemed to contemplate her options before lashing out with her right foot and breaking the man's left leg to the point where it was plainly obvious to the naked eye.

"AAARRRGGGGHHH!" the Nazi commander cried out as he fell into the floor in great pain.

"Desire?" she asked hoping for an explanation.

"What? This way he can't run off plus now he knows I'm the bad cop." The Desire said before walking out of the room, "I'm gonna go make sure those scientists I locked in their labs haven't done anything stupid. Okay?"

A nod of permission was all she gave though she'd have a word with The Desire later about the liberties she took with prisoners. Depending on the constitution of the Nazi commander he might've been rendered unconscious from the pain of having his leg broken and waking him up would've taken some time.

Time she'd rather not waste.

Turning to the man she did her best to school her face to match the expression her instructor had used when he was being dead serious with what he told her.

"Now then herr commander." She said as she picked up an overturned chair off the floor and sat down on it, "I have some questions about you and the Totenkampf Unit. You will answer them."

"And why would I do that, American Dog!?" the commander asked still trying to be the good soldier despite his circumstances.

"Because if you don't answer my questions the young woman who just broke your leg will come back and break some more bones." She replied not showing any sign that she'd been emotionally affected by the question in the least, "There are two hundred and six bones in the human body herr commander and only a couple of them actually need to be in one piece for us to talk. The question then becomes how many will need to be broken before you see the wisdom of compliance."

There.

The spark of fear and uncertainty in the eyes of the Nazi commander was all she'd need for leverage to get the answers she needed.

And once she had what she needed?

Well THEY said no witnesses didn't they?

The Hallways of the Nazi compound

Xander's POV

Yep! It's official! He thought as he proceeded to the wing of the compound that housed the labs, Nazis are officially douche bags.

Sure he'd sorta known that going in but a part of him had pointed out that not all Germans could be raving genocidal lunatics or sadistic amoral sociopaths. There had to be a handful of good people. After making his way through the compound following the detonation of The Fear's bomb though he'd heard enough 'superior race' and 'FOR THE FUHRER' trash talk to silence that part of him. He concluded that if there were any good Germans they were likely kept out of the military with only those displaying absolute belief and devotion towards Hitler's policies being admitted. As a result he'd only just remembered The Joy's orders to let the ranking officers live while eliminating the cannon fodder.

Whether by luck or by chance he'd been near the labs when the bomb had gone off and on a whim had immediately done what he could to lock the doors shut. It'd only been later that he'd determined that locking the doors would make the scientists easier to handle then chasing them all over the compound. Now though it was time to see if the eggheads had done anything stupid to free themselves resulting in getting one or all of them seriously injured.

O-kay! Let's see what's behind door number one. He thought as he braced himself for the occupants to try and rush the door.

With a turn of a lock and a twist of a doorknob he opened the door to find no one living in the lab but one seriously dissected corpse lying on an examination table. Tools no doubt used in the dissection were on wheeled carts around the table some of which were clean while others obviously had bodily fluids drying on them. Deciding to focus on a single task rather than the room as a whole he strode about trying to find paperwork that might explain what'd been going on in the room. He'd be satisfied with some doctor chicken scratch notes or a set of forms with results written into the blanks. Unfortunately it looked like whatever experiment had been going on in the room the paperwork had been relocated someplace else whether it was in the compound or someplace else.

Once his chosen task came to an end though he reflexively began to breath through his nose and almost immediately was inundated with the various scents in the room causing his stomach to do a loop de loop. Dashing out of the room and slamming the door shut he hoped that the other rooms were less potent but just the same conscious changed from nose breathing to mouth breathing. Considering the senses he had it probably wouldn't be too much better but he'd take what he could get.

When she opened the next door he could see a pair of scientists turning away from the barred window that they were apparently trying to get through so he figured he was safe enough. However after he took two steps into the room something was smashed against his head and he had just enough time to define it as a liquid before the pain started. It felt like something that'd make scalding hot water feel like room temperature by comparison. The pain was great but he still had presence of mind enough to reach out instinctively towards the source and grab on a clump of cloth. A few seconds later the pain began to fade and apparently he managed to regrow his left eye not having been aware up to that point that it'd been destroyed.

When the pain dropped to a tolerable level he turned to see what he'd grabbed ahold of to find a man in his late fifties wearing a pair of glasses and looking like he'd just seen the impossible.

"Now normally I'd have no problem with someone using any and all means to stay alive. I'd do the same in your place." He said only partially caring that he was now speaking German, "However that caused me quite a bit of pain so I'm not in the best of moods right now. So right about now the only thing that'll keep you alive is convincing me that you're worth keeping alive either by telling me everything you know about what's been going on here or letting me in on your boss' plans."

He let that faint hope hover for a moment then delivered a warning.

"Keep in mind that I am very good at telling when someone is lying to me." He said in his best 'do NOT fuck with ME' tone of voice, "If you lie, even once, your life is forfeit. Nod once if you understand this."

The man nodded.

"Then start talking. What experiments are you conducting here?" he asked figuring that he wanted get some good info and getting it from someone scared shitless encouraged honesty.

"We are conducting glorious work in augmentation procedures to turn our fine Aryan soldiers into Übermensch. We are but one of three compounds conducting this research with each one taking another approach." The German scientist replied sounding quite afraid, "We are given unique biological matter and told to determine a means by which it can be integrated into ordinary human beings."

"You mean like taking animal organs that can do more than human organs and surgically implanting them?" he asked remembering how in his time using animal organs had been rumored.

"I know not from what creature they come from but it is no animal." The German scientist replied shaking his head in the negative, "It came from something-"

BANG!

Before his scared prisoner could say more the side of his head exploded leaving a half ping-pong ball indentation wound that was gushing blood and dribbling grey matter.

BANG!

Turning his head he looked to see one of the two people who'd been trying to get out the window unsuccessfully shooting the other one right in the head before pressing the barrel of the gun against the side of her own head.

Recognizing what was going to happen he let go of the dead man in his hand and moved to bring his own pistol up to fire but it was too little too late.

"Hail Hitler!" the woman said before pulling the trigger and blowing her brains out before falling to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"Well shit." He growled before holstering his pistol, "Mental note: if there's anyone left alive in the next room make sure they're unarmed."

Hearing the sound of fast approaching feet he turned around just in time to see The Fear come to a stop outside the room and look about the interior. He knew what the first question would be so he decided to beat the multi-jointed-man to the punch.

"I was questioning the scientists when one of them decided that 'death before dishonor' was the way to go." He explained before walking out of the room and past The Fear, "Learned a little bit but since I'd rather not get a repeat would you mind helping?"

A nod was all he got in response so without further delay he moved on to the next room but this time flattened his back against the wall to the right of the door before reaching over to undo the lock. Looking over to confirm that The Fear was ready she got a nod as the man held his crossbow loaded and ready. With a click the lock was undone and with a twist of the knob the door opened allowing him to peek inside to see if any ambushers were waiting for him.

None.

Gesturing to The Fear that he cover the right side of the room while he covered the left she waited only a few moments before giving the signal to move. With a roll that took her well clear of any ambushers that might've been waiting just inside the room she immediately brought her pistol to bear to take out any Germans entertaining suicide. However much to his dismay he was too late.

"Shit. Must've heard the crazy lady in the other room and decided to follow the trend." He said as he looked at the five people in the room all of whom were quite dead.

Slicing open your own throats with a sharp piece of metal tended to do that.

The wounds were clearly fresh since he could still see blood pouring out of the wounds so this hadn't happened more than a minute ago.

"O-kay. What do you think the odds are that there're any people alive in the other two rooms?" he asked wondering if they should even bother looking.

"Not very good. Still we must try." The Fear replied looking half as disappointed as he should considering the drop in potentially useful prisoners, "Perhaps if we are lucky one of their test subjects will still be alive and will have overheard something useful."

"Yeah you keep hoping for that." He said as he began to look about the room for paperwork, "Me? I'm thinking the only information we'll be getting out of this place is the printed kind."

"We still have the officers to interrogate." The Fear pointed out sounding like he was optimistic about the odds of getting something good from them.

"I doubt anyone but the commander and his second in command know anything good." He said finding a filing cabinet before pulling one of the drawers out, "The rest are probably just rank and file soldiers doing what they were told to do."

As he grabbed folders at random and skimmed through them he found evidence that confirmed what the recently deceased German scientist had told him. All the files he looked through were focused on subjects that had been subjected to implantation or grafting but in the area where he'd hoped there'd be info on WHAT was being implanted all he got was a series of numbers with a symbol at the end. Based on this and what he'd been told in the other room the Nazis were big on the whole compartmentalization thing. It was pretty much a certainty that unless you were of a high enough rank in the Totenkampf Unit you never knew the whole picture.

So short of attacking one of the two remaining compounds while a V.I.P was visiting it'd likely be awhile before they came across enough information to make a guess at the Nazi Unit's overall plans.

Shouldn't be anything too big to worry about. He thought as he put a folder back into the cabinet before taking out another one, After all the Allies win the war in the end so the Totenkampf's plans must've been stopped.

All his presence would mean would be that the their plans would be ended that much sooner.