Der Meißel der Seele

Author's note: Please, please, read the warnings for this fic. I do not want to be flamed by someone who didn't realize what they were looking at (Although, considering the site, I'd be surprised if this happened anyway). There are also some notes on the bottom that should probably be read.

DISCLAIMER: If my DVDs can be trusted, Hogan's Heroes is property of Parmount and, therefore, not mine. I am not making money from this so there is no need for legal action.

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"Kommandant!"


Colonel Wilhelm Klink looked up from his paper work and frowned. "Yes, Corporal Langensheidt, what is it?"

"General Adler wishes to speak with you, sir."

Klink felt his frown deepen. "What for?" He shook his head. "Never mind, show him in."

"Yes, sir!" As the Corporal saluted and left to do so, Klink felt the heavy sensation of dread. Something about the General set him on edge and he could not say exactly what it was. Compared to most of the Gestapo members he had met, the man bordered on pleasant. Charming, affable, well spoken. And the man was always smiling. By all accounts, Klink thought that he should enjoy the General's company.

But he didn't. Something about General Adler always made him feel as though he should be fleeing in the opposite direction. Maybe it was because he was Gestapo. Or maybe it was those strange glances the General sent his way when he thought Klink wasn't looking: calculating, almost cruelly cold and piercing.

Or maybe it was the fact that he was always smiling - Klink's father had told him on many occasions to never trust a man who smiles all the time: a smile is the easiest way to hide what you're thinking. Klink wasn't sure he even wanted to know what General Adler was hiding. Some things were better off left in the dark.

Whatever the reason, the source of Klink's unease didn't matter. The man was a general and, as such, he was Klink's superior and, as a member of the Gestapo, he had the authority to do just about anything he pleased.

Really, all Klink could do was pray that General Adler would decide the inspection was over and move on to another stalag. The sooner the better.

These thoughts flashed through Klink's mind as Corporal Langensheidt announced the General and the man came in. General Adler was in his thirties with the classic good Aryan looks that the Reich prized. He was tall (a couple inches taller than Shultz) but, unlike the Sergeant, the General was not over weight and, judging by the ease he had carried his luggage (which seemed to Klink to be a vast amount for a man who shouldn't be staying for more than a week), it seemed that the man was as strong as he looked.

All in all, an intimidating figure. General Adler smiled that smile that Klink had grown to despise during the past week as he stepped into the room. "Colonel Klink," he returned Klink's salute crisply, "just the man I wanted to see."

"General Adler, sir," Klink stood and smiled, hoping that his father had been right, "as always, it's such a pleasure to - "

The General waved Klink's greeting away, uncharacteristically impatient. "Yes, yes, if we can conclude with the formalities, Colonel, there is something I'd like to discuss with you." Then, eyeing Shultz standing in the corner, he added: "Alone."

"Of course, of course," Klink said quickly, "no problem at all. Shultz!"

The fat Sergeant saluted. "Yessir, Kommandant!"

"Why don't you and Langensheidt check on the prisoners in Barracks 2; Colonel Hogan has been much too quiet lately."

Shultz looked confused. "But I have already -"

Klink remembered too late that he'd sent Shultz to Barracks 2 once today already. Still, it wouldn't do to have his subordinate question him while the General was standing there and staring. "Now, Shultz!"

As Shultz and Langensheidt marched themselves out of the room (after giving a clumsy and clipped salute respectively), Shultz spared a look at the General as he passed him and shook his head slightly. It hadn't occurred to Klink to ask his Sergeant what he thought of General Adler, but it seemed that Shultz didn't care for the man any more than he did.

Klink briefly wondered why before deciding that whatever Shultz felt was hardly important what with the General about to discuss something with him. Who knew? Maybe he was here to say that he was done with his inspection and would be leaving soon.

The thought made Klink's mood brighten considerably.

After the two guards left the building, General Adler called out to Hilda. "Be a dear, girl, and make certain that we are not disturbed."

Feeling as though he should have some say when it came to his staff, Klink added, somewhat unnecessarily, "Especially not by Colonel Hogan!"

The General shut the door, effectively cutting off her reply. "Does this door lock, Colonel?"

Nodding, Klink told him where it was and how it worked. As the General Adler started on the door, Klink's unease grew. If this little discussion he wanted to have was about as something as mundane as his inspection here, he would not be locking the door. Whatever it was he wanted to talk about . . . it had to be something serious.

And, frankly, since General Adler was involved, Klink was almost certain that he didn't want to know what this was all about.

"Is this room secure?"

How often had he asked himself that very same question! "This is the most secure room in all of Germany outside of Berlin, I'm sure, General," Klink enthused, trying his best to hide his own doubts on that score. "Anything that you say here will never go beyond these four walls, I assure you."

General Adler nodded in a distracted sort of way as he strode over to the window and looked through the frost covered glass. Seemingly unsatisfied, he pulled the curtain closed. His eyes swept across the office and lit on the other door out of the room. "Where does that door lead to, Colonel?"

"Just to my personal quarters, sir." Klink shrugged, resisting the urge to start fidgeting with difficulty. The tension was rising and the General was acting strangely - Klink was suddenly reminded of the way Hotchstedder would prowl around this office in search of listening devices. It didn't fit with the easy going personality the General had been affecting for the last week.

"Is there a lock for that door?"

Klink shook his head. "There's no need for one; the only way into my quarters is through the office."

"Ah," General Adler sat down and Klink took it as permission to sit down as well. "I apologize for being so exacting about this, but the matter I wish to discuss required the utmost secrecy." He leaned forward in his chair, speaking softly, as if afraid that, despite his precautions, he'd be overheard. "I know your secret."

Possibly the four scariest words in all of Germany - Klink was only glad that he was already sitting down. "Secret?" He racked his brain for anything he'd done or said that would possibly be of concern to a general. Unfortunately, there were a few things that leapt to mind - things that happened around here that he couldn't explain away.

Still, he thought to himself, it was best not to show his hand before the General showed what was in his - he might be worrying for nothing. "What secret?"

"Now that is the question, isn't it?" General Adler leaned back, lacing his hands behind his head.

Klink had a bad feeling about this. "Is it?"

The General nodded. "As you are well aware, Colonel, now a days one can't be too careful. Everyone is suspect and so it takes little more than the saw so of one man to ruin someone's career or to cost someone his life."

There was a definite sense of satisfaction knowing that he hadn't been paranoid all this time, that he'd judged the man correctly after all. That satisfaction was somewhat dimmed by the fact that General Adler was, oh so causally! threatening to ruin him. No doubt the General's plan was blackmail - regrettably for both of them (but more so for Klink), the Kommandant did not have access to very much money.

He was suddenly reminded of the last time he'd been blackmailed, by that Panzer division commander, somehow, Colonel Hogan had managed to come up with the money to pay it. It was not an incident that the Kommandant liked to think too deeply about because it involved a POW escaping from camp, dressing up like a German soldier and somehow getting his hands on five thousand marks. Never mind how the Colonel had learned of the blackmail in the first place or why he's come back to camp after escaping.

Klink still hadn't managed to come up with an explanation that made any kind of sense.

And he did not have enough time to find one now. General Adler was looking at him expectantly and Klink was not looking forward to disappointing him. "I'm afraid that I don't understand, General. What does that have to do with me?"

That was another thing his father had told him: "When in doubt, play dumb." When thinking of that advice, Klink usually disregarded the “it won't be too hard for you, son” part.

General Adler smiled tightly, his expression a strange mixture of amusement and annoyance. "I think you know, Colonel," he said, straightening up and putting down his hands, "but I'm willing to pretend this once.

"I'm sure you know that, as a Gestapo general, I have access to a vast amount of power. I have people who will take whatever I say as gospel." His smile widened, making him look like an animal that was baring its teeth. "Or at least, people who are too afraid to oppose me even it they doubt what I say.

"Now, let's say, for sake of argument, that I told the Gestapo that I heard you and someone else planning to pass information to the underground or, perhaps, planning an assassination attempt on our beloved fuhrer - what do you think would happen?"

Klink didn't have to think about what would happen in that case; he already knew what would happen. Interrogation by the Gestapo and, assuming that he lived long enough, death by firing squad.

"But I would never do anything like that!" Klink knew that he sounded panicked but he didn't care - in his opinion, if there was ever a time to panic, it would be now. Considering the seriousness of his threat, what ever amount of money the General wanted from him would be much more than he could pay and Klink knew that he had nothing of value to give to this new blackmailer. All he could do was try to appeal to the other man's sense of patriotism.

"I have been nothing but loyal to the Reich - "

"Maybe," General Adler interrupted, "maybe not. The point is, who is the Gestapo going to believe? One of their own or a Luftwaffe Colonel who hasn't received a promotion in years?"

The answer was so obvious that Klink saw no reason to actually say it.

"But, I would be willing to keep my peace on the matter," the General said as he stood and turned away from the desk, "for a price."

Here it was. Klink had known it was coming but that hadn't made him any more prepared for the moment. "What do you want?"

General Adler chuckled. "Don't worry, Colonel, my price is nothing that you can't afford."

Something about the way the General said this did not make Klink feel any better. "Please, what are you talking about? What do you want?"

"Before I get to that, I want to make certain that this will be worth my while," turning back towards the desk, General Adler motioned to him, "come here, Colonel."

Klink wasn't sure what to make of the first part of the General's statement but, as for the second, Klink thought that he'd much rather stay where he was - at least the desk afforded him some protection. Although, protection from what exactly, he could not have said. It didn't really matter because, despite his misgivings, he'd been in the army too long to disobey orders for no reason.

And he was never in the habit of refusing generals anything.

Once Klink had come to where the other man stood, General Adler began to circle around him, inspecting him, almost as one might inspect a piece of furniture or a car before buying it. The whole affect made Klink uneasy and he could feel the sweat in his palms as he lightly clenched his fists. He hoped that the General got to the point soon - Klink wasn't sure how much more of this he could stand.

At length, General Adler stopped and nodded to himself. "You want to know what I want, Colonel?" he asked, pinning Klink with another one of those calculating stares.

Klink nodded warily, suddenly knowing how a fish felt once it had figured out that it was on the hook. Unfortunately, like that fish, he had already swallowed the hook; now all he could do was wait and pray that the General would be merciful once he reeled him in. Staring back at the General, Klink doubted that anything the man did could be counted as "merciful".

General Adler came closer and snaked an arm around Klink's waist in a way that reminded Klink of himself helping drunken friends back to the dorms during his academy days. While Klink was thinking of a way to ask the General to release him without causing any kind of insult, the General pulled Klink towards him, enveloping him in an awkward embrace.

Before Klink had a chance to ask him what he was doing - insulting the General be damned - the other man brought his hand to the Kommandant's face and drew him closer still, so close that Klink could feel General Adler's breath on his cheek when he spoke. "I want you."

"What?" Klink felt the monocle threaten to drop out as his eyes widened. "What do you mean?" It didn't occur to him to struggle or to try and free himself - he was far too busy trying to figure out whether he'd heard the General correctly and what it meant if he had. "I don't understand."

"Don't you?" General Adler chuckled. It was an ugly sound and it made Klink wish that he wasn't standing quite so close to the man. "How about a demonstration, then?"

That was the only warning Klink got before he found himself on the receiving end of a crushing kiss. For a long moment, all he could do was stand there in shock and disbelief. There was no way that this could be happening - it had to be a dream: some sort of crazy nightmare bought on by spoiled black market beef.

But, when General Adler started to force his tongue inside Klink's mouth, Klink could no longer deny the fact that he was awake and that the General, for what ever reason, was kissing him.

Klink tried to pull away but was held fast by General Adler's arm around his waist and the General's hand pressing his face closer to his. He tried to push his arms up and found himself unable to do so as the General tightened his grip. It turned out that Klink had been right: the General was a strong man.

In the meantime, the kiss continued. As far as kisses went, he supposed that it wasn't completely unpleasant in of itself. It was the fact that the person kissing him was a man who had, so casually, not five minutes before threatened to sic the Gestapo on him that made the Kommandant's stomach churn. The fact that he was pinned and powerless only made what was happening all the more repulsive.

This had to stop. Beginning his struggles anew, Klink managed to slip his arms in front of him and push against the General's chest as hard as he could -

General Adler's grip tightened as his other arm looped around the Kommandant's torso but, to Klink's relief, the kiss ended. The smile on the General's face told Klink that it was far too soon to be relaxing. "What's the matter, Colonel? You didn't care for my kiss?"

"What are you doing!" Klink could feel his face flood with color as uncharacteristic rage overcame his fear. "Let go of me or I’ll -"

"Or you'll what?" General Adler asked, squeezing Klink closer to him. "Will you scream for help? I'd love to see how you would explain this to your underlings."

As much as he wanted out of the General's hold, Klink had to concede the General's point. He couldn't imagine how he'd even begin to explain this to whomever came to his aid. He was having a hard time believing it himself and he was the one it was happening to. It didn't make any sense.

Why was this happening? What had the General said before the kiss? He'd called it a ‘demonstration' - a demonstration of what he'd meant when he'd said what he wanted. And what he'd said he wanted was . . .

‘I want you.'

Klink suddenly felt as though he might be sick as the implications of that statement became clear. The very idea of it bordered on the ludicrous but he could not think of what else a kiss would be a demonstration of.

Still, there was always the chance that he'd come to the wrong conclusion again. Until he actually heard General Adler say that he wanted . . . what he wanted, there was still some hope. "What do you want from me?" He prayed that he was wrong about this.

General Adler smiled. It was plain to Klink that the General was enjoying this. And that he didn't care if Klink knew that he was enjoying it. It was frightening but no more so than his answer. "I've already told you, Colonel: I want you. For the use of your body, I keep quiet about any suspicions I have about your conduct."

Klink did his best to suppress a shiver at the General's cold description. "Wh- why me? Surely a man like yourself could have any woman you want - why would you -"

"I don't want a woman," General Adler interrupted, sounding almost tired, "they are so fragile and so used to being dominated. Do you know how easy it is to break a woman?" He spoke in a tone that asked Klink to sympathize. "It's much more of a challenge to break a man - men are made of sterner stuff."

"You want to break me?" Horror seized Klink as he saw what sort of devil he was dealing with. A monster. This man was a monster, pure and simple - though Klink doubted that either word, pure or simple, had much to do with General Adler.

The General shook his head. "Not exactly. I could easily take what I want - and I have on many occasions." He pressed himself against Klink and Klink could feel the General's arousal through his pants. "But this time, I don't want to have to take it: I want submission." Unwrapping his arm from Klink's torso, he traced a finger down Klink's cheek. "And I want yours."

Now free, Klink backed away from the General until he hit the front of his desk. He felt an insane urge to laugh hysterically. Well, there was no mistaking what General Adler wanted now, was there? Even if he was homosexual (which he most definitely wasn't!), he still didn't think he could do what the General wanted him to: the thought of that man touching him again was enough to make his skin crawl.

"I see you don't care much for the idea." General Adler sighed theatrically. "All right then." He reached for the phone on Klink's desk and picked up the receiver. "Hello, operator, please connect me to Gestapo headquarters in Berlin." He covered the mouth piece with his palm. "I'd decide quickly, if I were you, Colonel. What's more important to you? Your pride or your life?"

He leaned towards Klink and his voice lost its jocular tone. "Refuse me and I promise you that neither will be intact once I'm through." Then his expression softened and he reached out his hand to cup Klink's cheek. "Accept me, submit to me, and all it costs you is your dignity. I can be very gentle when I want to be." He rubbed his thumb over Klink's bottom lip. "Cooperate and I promise that you will not be badly hurt."

He leaned closer and whispered in Klink's ear. "What will it be, Colonel? This is your last chance to choose."

There was no choice. As Klink had once told Colonel Hogan when the American had suggested that Klink try for a combat post, he'd rather be a living failure than a dead hero. Here, General Adler got what he wanted either way except that, in one case, Klink would be dead at the end and, in the other case, he could get out of this alive.

And Klink would rather live. If cooperating with the General made this possible, then that was what he'd do. He didn't know whether or not this made him a coward and he wasn't all that sure he actually cared. Surely, his life was worth more than the humiliation of submitting to the General - of giving the General what he wanted.

Wasn't it?

"I'll do it." His mouth was dry but he managed to force out the words.

"Do what?" General Adler countered, looking at him expectantly, "be precise."

Klink closed his eyes as much to pretend that he wasn't here as to avoid looking at the General's face. "I'll submit to you."

His words had been little more than a soft whisper but, when Klink opened his eyes, General Adler seemed satisfied with them anyway. Smiling, he hung up the receiver. "I'm so glad that you've decided to see it my way." He pulled Klink's face to his and kissed him lightly on the lips. "We'll work out the details tonight; be here at eleven."

Klink only nodded, afraid of what his voice would sound like if he tried to speak.

General Adler gave Klink's cheek something that might have passed for a reassuring pat had the General been someone else before he turned away and headed for the door. After he undid the lock, he turned back to Klink and gave him a salute. "Until tonight, Colonel."

Without waiting for a return salute (which Klink hadn't been about to give him anyway), he exited the office.

Klink stood there a moment before he slumped to the floor as his legs gave up the fight to support him. Oh God. What had he done? He leaned back against his desk and closed his eyes. He could feel himself shaking and he thought he could do with a stiff drink to settle his nerves but he didn't think he could get up now to save his life.

What was he going to do? How could he possibly keep his word? While he didn't know for certain what cooperation with General Adler would entail - Klink was not as worldly as he liked other people to believe and, honestly, he'd never given this matter much thought - he was sure of this: General Adler would be touching him and not just on the face.

Wrapping his arms around himself, he tried to forced the thought from his mind but found that impossible. He'd agreed to let the General touch him, defile him, humiliate him - how could he possibly forget about that!

Why was General Adler doing this to him anyway? Had he done something? Had he said something? Did he remind the General of someone he hated? Was God punishing him for all the mistakes he'd ever made? What?

How was he ever going to get through this?

He was aware of his office door opening but he couldn't bring himself to care very much about it. He wasn't even interested in looking up to see who it was. So, he just sat there and wondered if his visitor would leave if he ignored them long enough. He certainly hoped so.

"Colonel Klink?"

Colonel Hogan. Just about the last person he wanted to deal with right now. Klink had been about to tell him to go way when he realized that the man already had hold of his arm and was pulling him up.

"Are you all right, sir?"

Was that concern in his voice? Klink shook his head at the ridiculous thought - Hogan? Showing concern for him? Laughable. He tensed as he became aware of the fact that Hogan was still holding his arm. "I'm fine, Colonel Hogan - just let go of me." He wrenched his arm out of Hogan's grasp, ignoring the confused look on the American's face. "What do you want? I'm very busy right now."

The other man obviously didn't believe him but he seemed willing to let it slide. "Right, Kommandant. It's nothing major; it's just that Escape Committee." He leaned his head towards Klink, as if sharing a secret. "They're planning an escape - they say the place is starting to feel like a POW camp."

Klink shook his head. With everything that had happened today and everything that he had to worry about, he was in no mood to play the American's mind games. "Colonel Hogan, whatever it is that you’re going to ask me for, the request is denied. Dismissed!"

While it would have been nice if that was all it would take to make Hogan leave, Klink knew better.

"But, Kommandant," Hogan protested, "all they want is some wallpaper - some nice floral prints - you know, to make the place more homey."

Klink restrained a sigh with difficulty - where did Hogan come up with these things! "This isn't a resort, Colonel Hogan." He walked around the desk and sat heavily into his chair. "Your ‘Escape Committee' will just have to find some other way to make themselves feel at home."

Hogan nodded. "I'll be sure to tell them that, sir." Then he smile, a sudden gleam in his eye. "Of course, nothing would make them feel closer to home than escaping Stalag 13."

This time, Klink did sigh. "You do that," he said, too drained to take Hogan's bait. "Just tell them to escape quietly; I'm going to want to sleep after tonight."

For a moment, the other man seemed uncertain but he recovered quickly. "All right. I'll just have them finish knitting that blanket for you before they leave - so you don't catch cold."

The Kommandant blinked. "A blanket? For me? That's nice of -" he broke off as the rest of the statement penetrated. "Catch cold?"

"When you get sent off to the Russian Front, you'll need every blanket you can get!" Hogan sighed and shook his head. "Imagine how it'll look for you if a bunch of prisoners escape now - what with the General here and all." Hogan didn't wait for a response; he had more to say. "What were you guys talking about, anyway?"

The question was asked in an innocent tone (well, as innocent as Colonel Hogan could manage) but Klink suddenly felt like it was getting harder to breathe. "H-how did you know I was talking to General Adler? What do you know about it?" Oh, God. If anyone found out about that deal he'd made -

Hogan raised his hands as if in surrender and Klink realized that his questions had some out a bit shriller than he'd intended. If Hogan hadn't been suspicious before . . . well, there was no reason to think that he could possibly guess what was actually going on. At worst, Klink had given Hogan something to be curious about but nothing more. He was just being paranoid.

"I don't know anything: I tried to see you earlier but Hilda wouldn't let me. She held me down so long, I wasn't sure if I'd ever get up again!" He stared at Klink with a scandalized expression, "I thought I told you that using Judo on the prisoners was against the Geneva Convention."

It was a definite relief to Klink to find himself presented with a familiar topic, a safe topic, of discussion "I don't believe that the Geneva Convention says anything about Judo." Actually, he knew for a fact that it didn't: the last time Colonel Hogan had made this complaint, Klink had made it a point to read through the document again and find out.

With the same scandalized expression, Hogan argued: "Of course it does; it's in the same section that deals with every prisoner's right to one manicure a month." Then the gleam in the American's eye returned. "You and the General talk about anything interesting?"

Interesting? That wasn't the word Klink would have chosen to describe that particular conversation. "Nothing I want to discuss with you, Colonel Hogan." He couldn't imagine ever wanting to discuss it with anyone - least of all the senior POW.

"Aw, come on, Kommandant! It's not like we get a lot of news around here."

God, he was tired. "And you won't be getting any from me. Now, if all you want to do is harass me, then I suggest you leave before I call for Shultz and have him remove you."

Hogan was unmoved by the threat. "What about the wallpaper?"

If nothing else, the American was persistent. It was a trait that the Kommandant secretly admired on most days. However, today was not most days and he wondered why the man had to be so difficult. And over wallpaper of all things!

The easiest way to rid himself of Hogan would be to agree now. But, in truth, he wasn't sure how much this wallpaper would cost him or where he'd get it and he was in no condition to negotiate terms with the American at the moment. He ran his hand over his face and sighed. "I'll give your request some thought and we'll discuss it tomorrow." Before Hogan could object, he added, "I will be more likely to decide in your favor if I don't see you until then."

"Uh, all right, sir." At any other time, the uncertain expression on Hogan's face would have amused the Kommandant greatly - it wasn't often that the American looked or sounded anything less than confident - and he would have wanted to laugh about it. As it was, Klink only stared back without feeling much of anything except weariness. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Fine, Colonel Hogan," Klink replied, forcing a note of civility into his voice that he did not feel, "Now, please leave - I'm very busy. Dismissed." Satisfied that the conversation was over, he focused his attention on the paper work in front of him. Might as well pretend that he wasn't lying about having work to do until he heard Colonel Hogan leave.

Once the man had shut the door behind him, Klink set his head down on the desk and closed his eyes. One problem settled. Now, his only problem was General Adler and that deal he'd made.

On the whole, he decided, he'd rather deal with Colonel Hogan and the craziness he caused any day.

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End Note: And that's the beginning. This story does not lend itself well to chapters so, different chapters may be very different lengths.

Now that the intro's done, there are a couple things that need to be discussed.

First, this story will contain male rape - I will do my best to treat the subject with the proper amount of seriousness (and under no circumstances with the rapee fall in love with the rapist - the idea is sickening and, whenever I've seen it in fics, it always rings false).

And second, there will be some uncomplimentary things said about homosexuals - I have no problem with gay people but, considering the time and place that this is set in, well, I doubt that there was an overflowing of tolerance.

Lastly, at the moment, this story is shaping up to be a solid R. Rating may go up depending on how more graphic elements fit into the story.

Anyway, if you've enjoyed this chapter, please review. If you've hated this chapter, please review. Thank you.