Middle written with assistance from Sierra Sutherwinds

Chapter Twenty-Three: Epilogue

The bridge in Hammelburg had been blown up successfully, with all of Hogan's men and Nimrod (except for Newkirk, who was still recuperating in the tunnels) taking full advantage of their supernatural powers—namely, their speed, which allowed them to carry off the mission in record time. Kinch, LeBeau, and Nimrod employed their heightened senses, which allowed them to maneuver around the guards without even spotting them. Meanwhile, Hogan and Carter were able to use their night vision to see with more clarity the work that they had to perform. Many more missions would follow after that one—sometimes Nimrod would join in to help, and sometimes Hogan and his men would fly solo. By this time, Newkirk had completely recovered, and was back to his regular self. But things remained difficult for him and for Hogan. Each day, they worked hard at keeping their personal demons at bay—whether it was Newkirk's fear that he wouldn't be able to control his Scream of Death, or Hogan's that he would give back into his darkness. They found that when they had the time, yoga and general meditating was of great assistance. Often, Klink would join them, to make sure that he wouldn't lose control over Eagle.

Unfortunately, slip-ups did occur at times. That year, Halloween fell on both a Friday and a full moon, and Hogan, Newkirk and Carter had to keep Eagle from hurting anybody else as Klink had received a particular bit of nasty news from Burkhalter that afternoon that had sent him into hysterics concerning the loss of several Underground agents to the Gestapo. It didn't help that one of the agents matched Marie's description to a "T." Fortunately, Marie had been safe in Paris that day with her two children, performing another mission, and while she was saddened to hear about the loss of her fellow agents, Hogan was relieved that no harm had befallen her. Luckily, Klink had been able to stop Eagle before he could hurt anybody in Stalag 13 either.

Meanwhile, things between them would never be the same. For the sake of appearances, Hogan still had to pretend that Klink was nothing more than his Kommandant, while Klink had to pretend that Hogan was nothing more than his Senior POW officer. Still, they grew to love the times that they could be alone, without anybody else spying in on them. Whether it was a private night playing chess, or sharing a dinner with wine, the friendship between the two men, and spies, inevitably grew. Sometimes Klink would invite all of Hogan's men over for dinner, and once or twice Marie joined them too, bringing Wilhelmina along. Hogan often joked that she would be the first undercover infant, due to how quiet she was. None of the guards, not even Schultz, was ever aware of the fact that there was a baby in camp sometimes. Every time that all six men dined together, LeBeau would often prepare his finest meals for their team. Sometimes he was surprised at how everything had changed. He remembered how much he disliked cooking for the Krauts at first, but saw how necessary it was. Over a period of time, however, he grew to accept Klink as a valuable member of their team, though none of Hogan's men shared the same friendship with Klink that their colonel did. Still, LeBeau was often happy at serving up dinner for his Kommandant. He only wished that they didn't have to dine at odd hours, usually after lights-out when they didn't have missions to perform since they would never be able to explain their presence as a group in Klink's dining quarters.

Eventually, Hogan showed Wilhelmina off to the men that he could trust the most—Baker, Olsen, and Wilson. He didn't wish to make any of the other men in his barracks jealous, since he knew that many of them had families and missed them dearly. Thus, he made them promise never to tell any of the others that he had a daughter, or that he had a son six months later. Unfortunately, due to the odd timing, Hogan was never able to tell them that he was their biological son, but that Tiger had adopted an orphan whose parents had been killed in a bombing raid. Naturally, Newkirk told the rest of Hogan's men what werewolf pregnancies were like, so only they, in addition to Klink, ever knew the real truth.

Soon, the war ended, as was inevitably bound to happen. The day of the liberation was a joyous day for all of Hogan's men, who had been carefully listening into news from London on the advancement of the Allied troops. Even though Newkirk, LeBeau, and Hogan and Carter went their separate ways, they had managed to stay in touch, both through their letters and through the vampires' telepathy. Kinch had long ago been sent back to England, as the first werewolf representative in Anne's organization, and he served in his usual position as radio operator. By this time, Newkirk and Carter had told Kinch and LeBeau all about her, with her permission, making good on their "no more secrets" routine. While he was saddened to leave his friends, Kinch performed his duties as well as ever, and Anne often let them know, telepathically of course, how valued he was as a member of her team. Unfortunately, Hogan had to help Klink come up with an elaborate ruse concerning his funeral—death by heart attack—so that Klink's "no escaped prisoners" wouldn't be broken, due to Burkhalter's and the Gestapo's employment of him as Kommandant. Otherwise, Klink knew that there would surely have been snowflakes in his future. Hogan made sure to keep in touch with his men because he realized that beyond the fact that all of his men were spies, they also shared their supernatural secrets, and that they had seen and done things that no regular human could ever understand.

Hogan also made sure that during the Nuremburg trials, that Klink, Schultz, and some of the better German guards were given light sentences—only three months in jail. Hogan didn't wish to see either of them have to spend time in prison, but he knew that the only way this could be avoided was if he spilled the fact that Klink had really been a double agent all along. That, of course, was an impossible notion. In fact, London had burnt most of the paperwork concerning Papa Bear and his organization, and gave the rest of the files to Hogan for safekeeping upon his arrival in the city.

Three months later, Hogan flew back to Germany to see the release of Klink and Schultz. Fortunately, prison hadn't caused them to suffer anything that a week of bed rest couldn't cure, for which everybody was grateful. A short time later, Hogan and Marie began putting their plans together for their wedding, with all of Hogan's men, in addition to Olson, Baker, Wilson, and Klink being invited. The wedding was the most magnificent one that any of the men could have imagined, with another gown by Yvette, in addition to LeBeau's fine gourmet cooking. Kinch served as best man, and Wilhelmina, who was three years old by now, doing her best to act as ring bearer. The rest of the men served as regular guests. The wedding was rather small and intimate, with Hogan's parents attending, and Marie's own, scattered family. By this time, Hogan felt that he could trust his other three men enough to inform them that Klink had actually been a spy working on their side, so that they wouldn't question his presence at the wedding. Klink then gave Hogan permission to tell his other three men that he had actually been Nimrod. Naturally, they were all as surprised as Hogan had initially been at learning of this truth.

"And with this ring, I thee wed," Hogan finally said the words that he never could during the war. With a passionate kiss, their marriage was made official, and their family was complete. The next evening, Hogan and Marie celebrated as only they knew how—by asking the rest of his men, plus Klink, to join them on a midnight run across the Paris countryside. Newkirk could only smile looking down at his friends, both wedded and single, vampire and shape shifter, as he was finally free to fly as gleefully as he could before the war. All of them agreed that it was the best run of their lives.

HHH

Ten Years Later, After the Wedding:

Elvis Presley's Teddy Bear filled the entire living room and almost invaded the kitchen. Marie could hear her daughter jumping over the couch, bounding about like the half-wolf that she was.

"Wilhelmina, turn down that thing! The neighbors are going to complain!" That was Hogan fighting with his keys to get in the house. His dog ended his run with him and ran to the couch to cuddle up with the girl.

"Hi, Porthos!" She kissed the puppy on the nose. "Daddy is home!" Wilhelmina announced his coming without getting off the couch. Since she was often getting in trouble for jumping on the furniture, she superhumanly quickly picked up a book and pretended that she had been reading it all along. She would not allow anything in the world to interrupt her reading. Hogan sighed as he entered the room. I know she hasn't been reading he thought to himself. Still, she reminds me so much of us, how we used to do the very same thing whenever Schultz or Klink, or another Kraut would barge into the barracks unannounced. She's my daughter alright.

He walked to the turntable and turned down the volume. He still remembered her sitting on the floor listening to fairy tales that were coming from the radio... She was still too young for that Elvis, whoever he was. "This little dial works on both directions, you know? Too much volume bothers some people." Suddenly, another thought occurred to him, one that he had sometimes thought about during and after the war. And to think, it was just a simple, yet coded radio message from a mysterious Wings sent to Carter that started this entire thing he thought to himself while silently chuckling.

"What people? We live in the middle of nowhere." She did not take her eyes from her book. "The nearest neighbors live in Paris. It's such a drag."

"I call it peace and quiet." He smiled, though he would never let his daughter see the sadness in his eyes. Sometimes he found himself dreaming at night how his life was supposed to turn out—with him back in the skies as a regular pilot, or finally being promoted to General. Still, he knew that they lived on a small farm for a very important reason. He knew that his family's secrets had to be protected. He knew that as a werewolf, Marie would often get these strong, sudden urges to run in the countryside, using all of her senses to explore both the ground below and the sky above as only she could. At the same time, Robert would often get the same urges, especially when he could feel his legs starting to cramp up. Since they possessed extraordinarily strength, Newkirk had warned him long ago about the dangers of muscle atrophy, and how important it was to use them to their fullest capacity every once in a while. Still, he had long ago let go of any anger towards Faust, his sire. A triumphant smile broke across his face as he realized that God had been good to him after all—he still had his family, and he would be back in the skies soon enough. Nothing has really changed in my life he thought to himself. Besides, I'm sure that the parties the brass throws are full of nothing but idle chatter and too much alcohol anyway. And who needs alcohol anyway? I never drink…wine. "What are you reading?" he asked her after a couple of seconds of rapid self-contemplation.

"Miracles on Maple Hill," [1]she said, showing him the cover.

Hogan noticed the author and asked, "Virginia Sorensen. Is it a children's book?"

"Daddy, I'm twelve," she grimaced.

Hogan smiled. "I know. Happy birthday, honey," he said, coming closer to kiss her on her forehead. "Getting ready for the party?"

"Who's coming?" she asked, trying to keep her energy level down.

"You know the guys, Louie, Andrew, James..."

"And Newkirk?" Her eyes glowed and her cheeks got pink.

Hogan sighed. "Yes, I called him this morning." He shook his head and went to the kitchen. "I asked Wilhelm if he could come, but unfortunately he's busy."

Still performing as Nimrod, working against the Soviet Union he thought to himself. He could see that his daughter wasn't too disappointed, even though she also considered him one of "the guys." Hogan had made sure to tell his daughter long ago how busy he was in his job as a bookkeeper. He knew that was only a partial lie, since that was often his cover on assignments. Sometimes, Nimrod would ask Hogan and his men to help out, which they did. Carter, being single, was usually the man that Klink called upon the most. He was well aware of the fact that like Hogan, most of the others had found either wives or girlfriends, and that LeBeau had started a family with the same girlfriend, Cecille, that he had before the war. As luck would have it, LeBeau knew that his seven-year-old son, Henri, was also going to be a werewolf, but like her mother, his five-year-old daughter, Adelise, would be human. Hogan was relieved that his girlfriend had always understood of his condition, which his corporal had informed her of before the war.

Likewise, Newkirk had finally gone on that date that Anne had asked him about, and everybody was glad that they seemed to be going steady. They had long ago against decided on adopting any children, though as luck would have it, an orphan vampire female teenager had almost literally fallen into their laps one day, trying to escape a human mob that was after her. Like Newkirk had once experienced with Mavis, she had been recently changed and had accidentally killed a man due to her uncontrollable bloodlust. Earlier, her parents had been killed by the Gestapo because it was suspected that they were Underground agents. As a final injustice, the same agent had taken perverse pleasure in feeding on her until she had been changed. This time, however, the mob had been easy to lose after a couple of days, and Newkirk was quickly able to settle back into his old house that he shared with his sister. However, since he now had Lucy to take care of, he, Anne, and their new daughter quickly moved into another house nearby. By this time, he had become used to helping vampires control their bloodlust, and Lucy never killed another human again. At the present time, he and Anne had been married for six years.

Kinch, meanwhile, had his own family to take care of. After the war, Kinch had received Anne's permission to return to America, which he did so happily. One day, while walking to his job as a radio DJ, his eyes fell upon the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. It was love at first sight for both him and Ella, and that very evening they shared drinks at one of Kinch's favorite local bars. As they got to know each other better, each one was able to pick up an unmistakable scent about the other. As it turned out, they were both werewolves. Even though the attraction had been quick, they made sure to take things slow and easy, and to find out more about each other before committing to a relationship. Fortunately, they found that they shared many things in common, such as the fact that she had been a spy working in America during the war. At the present time, they have been going steady for two years.

Shaking his head to clear himself of another contemplation, Hogan found that the welcome committee was warmer in that part of the house. He kissed Marie on the neck and smelled her perfume. "Missed me?"

"You went out for twenty minutes." She grinned while pouring some milk over the flour. "Did you have a nice walk?"

"I suppose," Hogan sat at the table to see her baking a cake. Marie was not the best cook, but her cakes could compete with LeBeau's.

"Well, I see that my family is mostly present and accounted for. But where's my son at this hour?"

"Robert's reading about the RAF in his encyclopedia. He heard some of his friends talking about the Bristol Blenheim [2] and wanted to corroborate data, his words not mine," she laughed. "I should have known I'd have a pilot in my future."

"Two," Hogan grinned. "Give me a pair of wings, and I'll be up there in no time."

"Not for now, please. In this farm, I need an extra pair of hands more than a pair of wings, merci beaucoup." She took the finished cake out of the oven and left it on the table to cool. However, she had to turn away to keep her husband from seeing how misty her eyes had become.

Hogan realized his mistake almost immediately. "I'm sorry Marie—I know how sensitive the subject of our future is together. After all…"

"After all, you still look the same as the day when you first told me that you were a vampire, and I've aged twelve years," she said, bringing her hand up to wipe away her tears.

"You know, all you have to do is say the word, and we could have a future together for always," Hogan said, tentatively bringing up the subject of his immortal life versus her mortal one.

"One of these days, mon amour. One of these days I will let you do the act. But please, not now. Not today. Today is a day for the celebration of life—a regular, although supernatural, life."

"Then you need to promise me one thing, alright?" Hogan asked, holding her head in his while kissing her on the forehead.

"Yes, Robert?"

"No more tears for today." To that, Marie could only kiss him back.

Trying to change the subject, Marie abruptly asked, "Did you talk to LeBeau?"

"Yes, Andrew and Kinch arrived last night. They're driving together."

"And Newkirk?"

"You too?" He grinned. "Wilhelmina asked me for him and she got this funny look in her eyes."

"Oh, she has a crush on him, you know how it is."

"No, and I don't want to know. He's over two hundred years old and she's-"

"Twelve," she said. "Whether it's Newkirk or Elvis, she's growing up."

"Oh, well, at least she has claws to defend herself." He stared at her. "You've been talking to her about that, right?"

"Of course, no reaping heads off before the second date."

"Very funny."

Marie came to hug him. "Relax, honey. She's ready."

"I know... It could be worse..." he sighed. "It could've been two girls... two werewolves... two girl werewolves... Wow!"

"Wouldn't that have been something?" she asked. "But I think it's important that at least somebody in this family is normal," she said teasingly.

Ignoring his wife's remark, Hogan was still worried about the event that would take place that night. He knew how much he had tried to tell both his daughter and his son about the event that would take place that night. Still, sometimes they seemed to look at him as though he was crazy, trying to tell them that vampires and werewolves existed. At other times, he couldn't help but overhear them talking together late at night, trying to make sense of why their mother seemed to age but their father didn't.

"But not only is tonight a full moon, it's a Friday as well. What if she can't control her condition? What if she gives into the werewolf within?" he asked, still pacing around the kitchen.

"Well, that never happened to us during our first shifting, so I wouldn't be too concerned about it… sir."

Both Hogan and Marie turned their heads at the same time to see Carter and Kinch standing in their kitchen. Long ago, Hogan had made sure to give each of his men keys to their barn's door, while making sure that they were welcome any time of the day, or night.

"Andrew, James, it's good to see both of you," Hogan and Marie exclaimed at the same time. A quick kiss from Marie and handshakes from Hogan were exchanged between the men.

Seconds later, the last man invited to the party came walking in, with Wilhelmina trailing after him like a lost puppy dog. "It's good to see you too, Willie, but for now ole Newkirk 'as to speak with your father," he said, trying to let her down easy. It didn't take a telepath to see how much of a crush Hogan's daughter had on one of his men.

More pleasantries were quickly exchanged, and all six of them sat down at the table. Soon, they were exchanging war and spy stories as though they had happened only yesterday, with each of Hogan's men taking turns filling him and Marie in on how much their families had changed since their last visit.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by another voice, who seemed to be rather excited. "I knew it! I knew that John didn't know what he was bloody well talking about!" Robert exclaimed, who was about to quickly rush over to show his father some exciting and interesting information that he had found in his book. However, he stopped himself in his tracks upon seeing all of his father's friends gathered around the table. "Sorry, Dad, didn't mean to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting," Hogan reassured his son. "Why don't you come and show us what information you found?"

"Well, for starters, the Bristol Blenheim…"

However, he was interrupted by Newkirk, whose ears immediately perked up upon hearing the aircraft's name. Before either Hogan or his son knew what was happening, Robert was becoming engaged in a long conversation with his family friend over the specifics of the aircraft.

Let them talk Hogan thought to his men. Kinch, LeBeau, I need to have a few words with you concerning my daughter. With that, Hogan called his men into his study, and they soon saw how nervous he was concerning his daughter's transformation that night. It was a look that they had seen several times before, when he was up against a particularly thought-provoking mission.

"Sir, relax, everything is going to go fine," Kinch tried to reassure him, and Hogan stopped his pacing long enough to look his man in the eye.

"I know I shouldn't be worried, but I've been thinking about this night for weeks now. You know how important tonight is, right?"

"Oui, but stressing out about it isn't going to do you any good," LeBeau said. "Besides, isn't that why you invited us? To make sure that your daughter would be able to control herself?"

"Yes, under the disguise of a birthday party. My children don't know the real reason why you're here, though Marie is well aware of it." Taking a deep breath, Hogan tried to regain his composure. Gathering his strength, he walked back into the kitchen and tried to enjoy that day's festivities. There was the cake, of course, which came after LeBeau's children-friendly version of his cooking. Each man had also brought along a gift for the birthday girl: a Perry Como record from Kinch, a children's chemistry set from Carter, a grown-up set of pots and pans from LeBeau, and a children's magician set from Newkirk.

Dusk fell quickly that night, and Hogan knew that the bewitching hour was close at hand. Taking both of his children aside, Hogan tried let again to tell them about vampires and werewolves. But this time, he let the other shoe fall where it may. Holding his daughter's hand in his, Hogan tried to say, matter-of-factly, "Willie, I'm sure you must have known, or at least felt this about yourself all along. You're…different from other girls your age."

"I know," she said simply.

"No, I mean really different," Hogan tried to explain.

Looking her father straight in the eyes, Hogan was slightly taken aback as he noticed that her eyes had become yellow. "I know" she repeated. "I must admit, daddy, that I was surprised at first. It didn't seem to make any sense to me how werewolves and vampires could exist. But one night…" She let her voice drop.

"Yes?" Hogan asked. "Go on."

"Well, one night I was coming downstairs for a cup of water. I don't think Mom saw me, but I saw her take off her clothes and shift in front of my eyes, and then she took off running."

"And another night," Robert said, trying to gather his courage, "I, too, came down for a cup of water. I saw you drinking something, but it didn't look like water. You turned to the window for just a couple of minutes—maybe you were making sure that Mom was alright? Anyway, it was just long enough for me to slip downstairs and quietly make my way to your cup. I drank some of it, and…well…it was blood!"

At first, Hogan didn't know what to make of his children's revelation that they had known what their parents were. At the same time, he couldn't be more relieved. "How long have you two known?" he asked simply.

"For a couple of years," they said at the same time.

"Dad, if Willie is a werewolf, does that make me a vampire?" Robert asked.

Hogan couldn't help but smile at his son's question. "No, Rob, you're a regular human. Unless…?"

"No thanks Dad, I enjoy being me—but at the same time I couldn't ask for a better father" Robert quickly answered. Hogan could only nod his head at his son's honesty.

Suddenly, Wilhelmina started feeling a warm sensation in her body, and it started feeling extremely warm and tingling. She also noticed an intense abdominal pain, which caused her to clutch her stomach and bend forward, moaning.

At first, Hogan was terrified at seeing his daughter in such agony. However, he soon recognized what was happening to her. With Kinch and LeBeau watching, Hogan quickly carried her upstairs to her bedroom, as she started convulsing in his arms. If I need you, I'll call for you he thought to his friends. Marie, who had been in the kitchen talking with Carter and Newkirk, immediately knew that something was amiss when she heard her daughter moaning. Still, Hogan called out to his wife, "Marie! It's time, so you better come upstairs!"

Upstairs, Marie helped her daughter to undress, and she saw how terrified Willie was as the convulsions had started to turn into seizures. "Mommy, what's happening to me?" she managed to get out between sobs.

"Honey, relax, this is completely normal. Do you know how to do it, or do you need me to help?" she asked, trying to stay calm for both her daughter and her husband. "The convulsions and the pain will stop as soon as you shift."

"Mommy, I can't do it! I'm scared!"

"Ssh, I'm right here, and I know you know how to do it. I haven't met a natural werewolf yet who wasn't born with the basic instinct of knowing how to shift. But we'll do it together," she said, as Marie quickly began taking off her own clothes.

Marie made sure to take the lead, and her screams quickly matched her daughter's moans as the pain of the transformation began to overtake her body. Looking over, Tiger was glad that her daughter seemed to be struggling with the initial transformation, but that the rest of it was becoming easy for her, as she let her basic instincts take over.

After a couple of minutes, any sign of the human Wilhelmina had vanished, and a beautiful, young gray wolf had taken her place. The wolf looked around at her new body, and she concentrated on letting her tail shake. Looking down, she lifted her paws and sniffed them, at first distastefully, but then happily. Suddenly, before Hogan knew what was happening, mother and daughter were quickly chasing each other around the bed, and then down the stairs.

However, Hogan's daughter stopped as soon as she saw her family friends, and she quickly hid behind her mother. Coming down the stairs after them, Hogan tried to reassure her that everything was fine, and that she had nothing to hide from or be ashamed of.

"Oui, your father is correct," LeBeau said. To prove his point, he and Kinch quickly disrobed and shifted into Loup and Golden in front of her.

Meanwhile, Carter allowed his eyes to become green, and his fangs to emerge. Next, all of Hogan's men looked over at Newkirk. "Oh, alright," he said in resignation. Taking off his shirt, Newkirk allowed his skin to become white again, with both his wings and his veins completely visible.

All the while, they had almost forgotten about another member of the household. Their entire attention had been focused on Wilhelmina that they didn't seem to notice that Robert had emerged from the kitchen in time to see his family friends change into their other appearances. However, all eyes quickly fell on Robert when he could only exclaim, "Wow! I knew that vampires and werewolves existed, but I didn't know that all of you were one or the other!"

"Yes son, they are. I want you to meet Golden and Loup, and Carter and Newkirk are still themselves."

Tentatively approaching Hogan's oldest man, Robert couldn't help but stare in wonder at the sight that lay before him. "Can I…touch them?" he asked, his voice full of curiosity.

"Sure, why not?" Newkirk replied, getting down on his knees so that Hogan's son could feel his wings. "Do you like them?"

"They're beautiful!" Robert exclaimed. "I assume they're functional?"

"As functional as any Bristol Blenheim known to man," Newkirk proudly replied. "Would you care to be co-pilot for tonight?" he slyly asked, and as soon as Robert nodded his head, he picked him up and allowed his wings to carry him a couple of feet off the ground.

By now, Wilhelmina had emerged from behind her mother. Marie could sense that she was ready for her first run, and looking at her husband, she knew that Hogan could sense the same thing.

"But we need a name first. For now, how about Petit? It means cub, or baby tiger, in French."

Petit wagged her tail vigorously, and Hogan knew that his daughter approved of the name. As they left to go on their run, Hogan felt completely happy for his family. As he and his men enjoyed the countryside, Hogan would look up every couple of minutes, smiling as he saw his man safely holding onto his son, while still managing to fly with ease.

"Welcome to our world," Hogan said to his daughter, while Newkirk said to Robert simultaneously. "We think you're going to enjoy it."

[1] Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson 1957, ( After her father returns from the war moody and tired, Marly's family decides to move from the city to Maple Hill Farm in the Pennsylvania countryside where they share many adventures which help restore their spirits and their bond with each other. )Source Google Books

[2] Bristol Blenheim British light bomber aircraft, Source Wikipedia