Take Me Home

33. Turned down

Tap. Freya watched the soldier set his glass of water down as all four of them sat around a table at a nearby bar. Roger sipped on something that Freya wouldn't approve of while Axel sat next to her, staring at his glass of water and deep in thought. She rested her hand around her own glass of water, the coldness from the ice seeping into her skin.

"For you two, the names Ace." The soldier nodded toward Freya and Axel. Then, he turned back to Roger. "What brings you back in this mess of a city?"

Roger set his glass down and cleared his throat, getting straight to the point. "It's a long story. Uhm..." His eyes clouded and he looked over at Freya, tilting his head toward Axel. Freya nodded reassuringly.

"This man here..." Roger patted Axel's shoulder, "Is a German Paratrooper who fell out of his plane. He needs to get back to Germany. We were hoping you could give us a ride."

Ace stared at Axel, who calmly stared back. Ace chuckled, shaking his head as he sipped on his water and set the glass back down.

"Sure," Ace laughed. "You fell out of your plane, what'ya do? Trip?" He scoffed, looking at Axel, who just shrugged.

"Yes." Axel replied, completely serious as he met the exasperated gaze of the pilot.

Ace blinked, taken aback as he saw the seriousness in all three of their eyes. "Your kidding, right?" He looked at Axel. "Your a German soldier? You know I could turn you in right now."

"Please, please don't." Freya interrupted. "It hasn't been easy and we don't need more trouble. We just were open to the idea of trying to get to Germany with help. We know that you can fly and we don't expect you to do more." She added softly, eyes pleading as she stared at the pilot.

Ace blinked, sighing as he stood up and pushed his chair in. "You all have good interests at heart. But i'm not going to get involved with helping the enemy. I don't want to be part of this. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor," Ace shook his head, walking over to the bar counter and placing the glass on it, "I took it personnel. They attacked my country. The Germans have allied with Japan. I won't get involved." He stated calmly, returning to the table and standing behind the pushed in chair.

Roger looked up at Ace, "I know how you feel. The Germans attacked us. But Axel," He turned and looked at Axel, "Axel is different. He never even wanted to be in the war."

Axel smiled a little, nodding. "That's true." He looked up at the pilot. "I...understand. I'm the enemy." He replied to Ace.

Freya nodded. "If you don't want to help, its understandable."

Ace sighed, looking around the empty bar. "Look, kids, it's not that I don't want to help. It falls into many different reasons. Flying into enemy territory isn't safe, I can't just fly alone. We'd get shot down before we could even get over there." He stated. "I've already lost a lot of men to this war. I don't want to go on a suicide mission to save the enemy."

Roger stood up, pushing his chair in. "Thanks Ace. I just wanted to check. Is there any way we could get into Germany?" He asked.

"Well, yes."

"How?"

Ace paused, thinking while he reached his hand up and placed it on his chin. "You could come with me to the base and from there I may be able to get you on a specific plane. Or, you could take a ship there. Perhaps there are a few cruises still around, I don't know what you kids like." He adjusted his uniform a little, pulling out a few wrinkles. "But I can't guarantee you all safety."

Roger smiled, nodding. "Well, that works. Thanks. Which would be faster?"

"Plane." Axel answered Roger's question.