There's One in Every Generation

Disclaimer: None of the fun belongs to me.

*lvrg*hh*

Alec had started it, bragging to Parker about his great-grandfather that been in the all black WWII infantry division that had kicked ass. Sophie had added to the flames, citing a grandmother, Mary Linden, that had been the backbone of the French resistance and instrumental in getting downed pilots out of German-occupied France. Many of her stories resembled cons the team had pulled, only with bigger stakes on the line. Of course, both of Eliot's grandfathers had served with distinction during the war, in both the European and the Pacific Theaters.

"What about you, Nate?" Parker asked, fascinated with the connections to the past that she couldn't claim.

Nate hmmmed. "I had an uncle who was a prisoner of war in Germany for most of the fighting."

It didn't sound as exciting as Sophie's stories, so Eliot stood to get some coffee.

"He was the senior officer in Stalag 13," Nate continued.

Eliot tripped.

He didn't fall, of course, but he had stumbled. It was an obvious enough tell to get everyone's attention. Nate had his serious face on, but it was con serious face. Eliot wouldn't look at any of them.

Alec did what he did best and started looking for answers on the internet using the clues Nate had offered. "Huh, according to the Germans, they never had one successful escapee from Stalag 13."

Eliot didn't make a sound but his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

"Not very impressive," Sophie said carefully. She was watching Eliot and not Nate. "It's not as if he was Colonel Hogan. While imprisoned he and his team smuggled hundreds of spies, German civilians and Allied soldiers out of Germany."

Eliot didn't let her down. He chuckled.

"Hogan was in 13?" Sophie confirmed.

Eliot and Nate nodded. Sophie smirked now that she was in on the secret. Parker was just watching all the by-play.

"Okay," Alec grumbled. "How does one side have zero and the other side have hundreds? What's the truth?"

"Can you hack the Special Forces training manuals?" Eliot asked.

Alec glared, as effectively as a puppy. "Can I hack the Special Forces training manuals?" he mocked. "Of course, done."

"They have a nice chapter of Hogan. It's fun reading."

Parker immediately demanded that Alec put it on the screen so that she could read it too.

It didn't take the thieves long to realize, "It was one war-long con."

*lvrg*hh*