Chapter Text
“Are you happy, Pete, truly?”
Maverick tilted his head to meet Goose’s gaze. “I really am, Nick–for the first time in forever I—I belong—I fit with Tom and the kids and—I am just so grateful.”
“Then I’m thrilled for you, honey,” Nick beamed, hugging his friend tightly.
“Me too,” Mav muttered, hugging him back.
He stepped back after a long moment, brushing the shorter man’s shoulders off and straightening his lapel. “Well—we’d better get you married then, huh?”
Maverick laughed loudly at that, fiddling slightly with the sleeves of his suit jacket. “I’m getting married, Nick—-”
“Well, only if we get you there,” Nick teased, leading him out of the small room towards the hallway. “Wouldn’t be right being late to your own wedding—Tom’s not that patient—”
“He’d wait for this one,” Slider interjected from where he was looming in a doorway at the front of the church. He offered the pair a wide grin as they drew near. “He’d do just about anything for this rascal here.”
“Wouldn’t we all?” Nick shot back, holding out a hand to the back seater. “Nice to see you, Ronny—”
“It’s been a long time, Nick,” Sli shot back with a handshake and a small nod. He turned to look at Maverick. “Well, kid—you ready?”
“Absolutely,” Maverick swore.
“Then let’s get going,” Slider grinned, pushing open the double doors that led to the church.
Jake, Callie, and Bobby stood waiting patiently for Mav at the back of the church. At least as patiently as they could— there were small tremors of excitement visible on the youngest two, but they were trying.
The other children stood near the altar of the great cathedral, on what would be Tom’s side once the procession was complete.
All that was missing was the actual couple.
Pete took a deep breath before he began to walk slowly down the aisle, his eyes never leaving the steely blue eyes boring into his from halfway down the grand carpet.
Tom—
This was it.
Maverick was walking towards this man, this incredible man who wanted to marry him. He was walking towards a family of children—a home of his own. He was walking towards his future.
And the second he places his hand in Tom’s steady, sure grip? They were walking towards it together.
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“You’re sure they didn’t say when they’d be back, Uncle Sli?” Callie asked for what felt like the dozenth time.
“Darling, I haven’t heard anything specific,” Ron insisted, running a hand over the girl’s dark locks. “The last telegram I got I read to all of you. It just said that they were enjoying France!”
“Do you think they’ll make it back to go to the festival with us tonight?” Javy voiced, taking the pamphlet from his uncle.
“Oh I wish!” Reuben frowned.
“Mav would love seeing our puppet theater displayed so beautifully,” Nat agreed.
“And father would hate that we were doing something so public,” Jake quipped.
Slider chuckled at that, bending a bit as his nieces and nephews formed a half circle around him. He took turns poking and prodding their faces teasingly. “Now, you adorable scamps—you are well aware that your father and Mav are on their honeymoon right now. They will return soon, I would imagine, but they wouldn’t wish for us to sit idly by in their absence, now would they? You said yourselves that Maverick would do all sorts of activities and games with you. That’s what we’re doing—we just happen to be doing it on a slightly larger scale! But mark my words–Your father and Mav would be so proud of the work you’ve put into this amazing production! Why, I imagine it will place quite well tonight—”
“Oh you really think so, Uncle Sli?”
“Absolutely,” he gently cuffed Mickey on the chin.
“Jake!”
All of the Kazansky children, and Slider, turned in the direction of the call. A dark haired teen was hurrying towards them, though he got a bit more hesitant as he spotted Slider.
“Bradley!” Jake grinned, moving across the square towards him. “I—I was hoping I’d see you again—”
“I have a telegram for your father—”
“He’s not home, he’s on his honeymoon with Mav,” Jake continued, reaching out for telegram.
“I know that—everyone knows that,” Bradley cut him off a bit sharply, earning a confused frown from the blond. Bradley winced. “I—I’m sorry, beautiful. I didn’t mean to sound that harsh—I just. Everyone is paying attention, J, understand? They make it their business to know everything about everyone—and your father is a particular interest of theirs.”
“Of—” Jake frowned deeper.
“Germany,” Bradley muttered quietly, eyes softening a bit as he looked at the younger man. “It–It’s really important that I deliver this to your father, J, alright?”
“Why don’t you come by to deliver it yourself, then?”
“I—I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Bradley seemed to deflate. “I—everyone is watching everyone now, beautiful. Be careful, please?”
Jake took the telegram with a confused nod, brow furrowing. “You too?”
“I’ll do my best,” Bradley shrugged, squeezing Jake’s hand as he handed over the telegram.
Before Jake could say anything else, Bradley turned abruptly and headed out of the square.
Ron and the other children looked on in amusem*nt.
“Who’s that, Javy?”
“That’s Jake’s friend—he delivers telegrams out to the house sometimes.”
“Jake usually goes for a walk those nights,” Natasha shrugged. “And he met him in the square a few weeks ago when we went to see Mav—”
“So?” Callie frowned.
“Isn’t it nice for Jake to have a friend?” Mickey asked.
“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Reuben smiled, ruffling his hair.
“Understand what?” Jake asked, hurrying back towards them.
“What it’s like to—”
“Who was your friend, J?” Slider interrupted.
“Oh,” he reddened. “That was Bradley—he’s a telegram delivery boy and he had—”
“Is he going to come over for your walk, Jake?” Callie asked innocently, earning chuckles from all of her siblings and uncle.
Slider grinned at them before leading them across the cobblestones towards the car. “Now—”
“Herr Kerner!”
Slider froze, flinching minutely.
“Herr Kerner, sir!!”
Ron cleared his throat before leaning to speak softly to his nephew. “Jake—take everyone to the car. Load up, please—”
Jake nodded and started leading the other kids away from the uniformed men who were approaching.
“Herr Kerner!”
“Herr Cain,” Slider greeted, though his grimace was barely contained.
“Oh, so you can hear me,” the man bristled. “I was beginning to wonder as I chased you throughout the square.”
“I apologize, I was caught up with the children I suppose,” Ron dismissed airily. “Everyone is so excited about the festival tonight. I do hope you plan to allow things to proceed as normal…?”
“Why shouldn’t they proceed?” Cain raised a brow. “Nothing has truly changed in Austria. Events such as tonight will show that to the world! We aren’t seeking the cessation of such events, merely the allegiance of the people participating.”
“Right,” the back seater nodded tightly.
“Have you heard from Captain Kazansky, Kerner?” Cain narrowed his eyes now.
“Not for several weeks, I’m afraid,” he shrugged vaguely.
“You honestly expect me to believe that he is not contacting his children?”
“How many men do you know who take time out of their honeymoon to contact their children, Herr Cain? Tom is in France, the last I heard, but they were planning on traveling for several months. As soon as he returns, I will have him contact you. Is that sufficient?”
“He must understand, Kerner. This is happening, regardless of his feelings. He is expected to assume his duty, as is an honor— it should have been you both.”
“To my utter dismay,” Ron sneered. “That prop fire Tom and I faced in one of our final flights left me unable to see properly, especially in lower light conditions. Not exactly a becoming ability for an aviator, I’m afraid. Fear not, however—I’ll tell Tom as soon as he returns home.”
“Now—”
“Well, I’ll be seeing you, Admiral,” he grinned tightly as he slapped the man on the shoulder a bit more forcefully than was needed. “I have children to see to. I’m sure you understand?”
Slider didn’t wait for the man to respond, walking swiftly towards the car where Jake was waiting, concern evident.
“Uncle Sli?”
“Not here, bud—we need to go home,” Ron dismissed gently.
The blond nodded tightly before climbing in the vehicle. Slider climbed in after him, starting the car and directing it back towards the Kazansky home.
They’d barely begun driving when Bobby suddenly chirped. “Unca Sli?”
“Yes, buddy?”
“Are tha’ spiders makin’ everyone mad?”
“Spiders?”
“The spiders on the flags,” Mickey translated. “Since they showed up, everyone’s been grumpy–”
Slider snickered. “The Spiders— ahhh I see. Well, no, my darlings. It is not exactly the, er, spiders that are making everyone upset. It is what they represent. But don’t you worry—everything is going to be alright, you’ll see.”
******************************************************************************************************
Tom grit his teeth as he tore the offensive red banner from the front of his home, taking great satisfaction in tearing the fabric to shreds.
“Of all of the—-” he cut himself off as a familiar car full of hooligans pulled down the drive. “Pete! They’re here!”
Maverick hurried out of the house, grabbing the red bundle from his husband’s arms and tossing it in the nearby bushes. “I took care of the one out on the back patio—Bernie said they came when he was fetching the groceries but—”
“We’ll handle it later,” Tom dismissed easily, plastering a grin on his face as the children suddenly clambered out of the car and hurried towards them.
“Papa!”
“Oh Papa!”
“You’re home!”
“Mav!!”
Soon the pair were surrounded by their children, pulled into tight embraces and asked dozens of questions as their excitement overwhelmed them.
“You came back!”
“Was France amazing?”
“Are you coming to our show?”
“Did you bring us anything?”
Tom chuckled, pressing a kiss to as many of his kids as he could reach. “Now hold on just a minute—one at a time!”
“We can’t possibly answer all of you at once!” Maverick agreed, hefting Bob up onto his hip.
“Did you have a good time?” Javy asked suddenly, earning a quick squeeze from Mav.
“We did, love, thank you—did you all have fun with Uncle Sli?”
“It was the best! He’s helped us with our play!” Callie cheered.
“Did you come home to see us in the festival?” Mickey asked excitedly.
Mav and Tom exchanged confused looks as Slider stiffened.
The children looked up at them eagerly.
“What festival?” Maverick said after a moment.
“The Salzburg Summer fest,” Natasha explained. “Uncle Sli helped us to put together a puppet show to preform!”
“We’re going to present it to the whole festival tonight!” Reuben beamed, spinning with Mickey.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Callie tugged at Tom’s sleeve, prompting him to swing the girl up into his arms.
“Is that right?” He asked a bit tightly, leveling a look at his friend.
“They’re the talk of the festival, Tommy,” Slider offered a bit sheepishly.
Tom sighed and set Callie on her feet after hugging her tight. “Why don’t you all run out to the patio and see what we’ve brought for you?”
“You brought us gifts?”
“Oh you shouldn’t have!”
“Oh thank you!”
In a flurry of giggles they were running up the stairs of the great house, leaving Maverick and Tom grinning after them.
Jake, however, hesitated in the doorway, looking a bit furtively towards Mav.
The man in question raised a brow before shrugging at his husband. “I suppose you want to speak to Ron? I’ll go see what J wants—“
Tom leant over to press a kiss to Mav’s temple before turning back towards the backseater, clearly unamused.
Maverick, meanwhile, ventured towards the house. He held an arm out towards the teen, grinning when Jake practically sank into his side. “Hello sweetheart—-ooooh I missed you.”
“I missed you so much, Dad,” he offered softly, tucking himself close. “I—is it okay to call you that? I— you are our dad now. Just like Pops and—“
Maverick pulled the boy in closer. Oh darling, I’m honored—-“
Jake hugged him tightly, relaxing a bit before tensing again.
“What’s wrong, J?”
“How—how do you know if you’re in love?”
“Telegrams?”
Jake shrugged.
Maverick sighed and led the boy over to a seat. He gently tilted his head up so that their gazes met. “It’s different for everyone, sweetheart, but I guess it’s when suddenly everything revolves around that person. They’re all you can think about—the first thing you think of when you wake and often the last you think of when you sleep. You smile as though they’re in the room, just from thinking of them.”
Jake flushed, causing Maverick to grin.
“Does it feel like that with your delivery boy?”
“He’s—-it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt,” Jake admitted. “He holds my hand and it’s as though—-I’d go anywhere he led me because I know he’d take care of me. Does that… that may not make sense—“
“No, I know the feeling,” Maverick smiled softly. “Sounds like your delivery boy must be something special—“
“He is,” Jake frowned. “But today—-“
************************************************************************************
“My children, performing in public, in a festival, Ron—what were you thinking?” Tom hissed sharply.
“Several things, if you bothered to ask.”
“I’m listening—“
“First and foremost, they wanted to do it. They heard about it when we’d shop and they were so excited. It was something that would be fun and distract them from how much they missed the two of you. Not to mention the fact that it helped to distract them from the Anschluss!”
“From the—!” Tom’s eyes were blazing now.
“It is here, Thomas. They are here—nearly every day now they knock on your door, searching for you and looking at the children. Jake and some of the older ones are figuring it out. The younger ones just think that the ‘spider’ flags make everyone grumpy—“
“What could they possibly—“
“Cain stopped me in the square today,” Ron cut him off, hands trembling lightly as he clenched his fists. “Wanted to remind me that you have duties to fulfill. That it is an honor I should be fulfilling alongside you. I did—I did what I could to allow the children to have something to focus on, and to give us reasons to leave the house. Explanations for our outings everyday—-“
“They’re watching that closely?” Tom’s shoulders were squared as he looked in the direction of town.
Ron nodded and then shrugged. “I’m not truly sure how closely they’re watching, Tommy. But we couldn’t just sit here pretending all was normal. I did what I thought was best.”
The blond nodded sharply before tugging the taller man into a sudden, tight hug.
“Thank you, Ron—“ he sighed. “I’m sorry. Sorry for my anger but also for dragging you into this mess. You could be in France by now, or Switzerland, if you hadn’t been here.”
“I was never going to leave you alone, you idiot. But we’re going to have to do something. Cain is insisting you take up your post—”
“Pops!”
Both men separated and turned as Jake and Mav came back outside, the youngest holding a telegram out towards his father.
“What is it?”
“I forgot—- this is for you. It was urgent, apparently,” Jake shrugged, seeming conflicted.
Tom shot a look at Maverick but the shorter man just shook his head minutely. Tom took the telegram and reached out to squeeze the back of his son’s neck gently. “Thanks, J—why don’t you go see what the others found on the patio, hmm? Brought you back some things too, you know?”
The boy nodded tightly and moved back into the house, leaving the adults to exchange nervous glances.
Tom made short work of opening the telegram, eyes racing over the lines as his mind whirred even faster.
“Tom?” Maverick gently gripped his forearm.
“I’ve been ordered to join the aviation wing of the third—-these bastards are ordering me to report to Berlin tomorrow to take up my rightful, honorable post. I am to be commandeering the air squadrons—of the German forces—“
“What’re we going to do?” Mav’s eyes widened.
“Get you out of Austria,” Slider said softly. “Tonight—“
“All of us,” Ice insisted. “We’re not leaving you here, Ron.”
“I can help hold them off a bit—give you more time to escape,” Slider argued.
“You’re just as involved in this as we are, Sli,” Mav shrugged. “You can’t honestly ask us to tell the children they won’t get to see you again, can you? You have to come with us—now we just need to decide how to do it.”
*********************************************************************************************************
“Why are Papa and Uncle Sli pushing the car?” Mickey frowned, tugging on Maverick’s hand.
“Quiet, darling—we must be quiet, alright?” Mav directed gently. “They’re pushing the car so that we don’t wake anyone up–”
“Is it very late?” Callie frowned from his other side.
“Late enough,” Nat offered, keeping a firm grip on Bob’s hand.
“I wish we could have done our puppet show,” Callie sighed, fiddling with Mav’s sleeve.
“I know, love,” he soothed softly, watching as Javy moved to open the large gate, Jake and the men keeping the car moving forward.
“Turn left, Reuben,” Tom directed softly, nodding as the boy moved the steering wheel accordingly. “That’s it—”
The car moved quietly into the road with little issue, and the children moved to start climbing in at Maverick’s direction. They were just about loaded when lights suddenly cut on, shining brightly into their faces.
“So you had returned after all, Captain Kazansky,” Cain drawled sharply, climbing out of one of the German cars that had materialized.
“Just this evening I’m afraid,” Tom shot back, moving to stand in front of the vehicle.
“Then I cannot imagine what you’re doing—with your children all loaded into a vehicle in the middle of the night?”
“If you must know—” Tom growled, jaw tight.
“Because you are aware that you are to be on transportation to Berlin in the morning? So I cannot determine just what you would be—”
“We’re on our way to the festival,” Maverick interjected suddenly, stepping out from behind his husband. “The children are performing in the square tonight and we are on our way there—Tom was doing his due diligence supporting them before he reports in the morning. Surely you can understand the desire of a father to support his children?”
“You expect me to believe that Captain Kazansky is going to be in the audience watching this folk festival?” Cain raised his eyebrows.
“Of course not,” Maverick chuckled mirthlessly. “We’re both in the festival—with the children. It’s a family performance. We were on our way there but the car wasn’t starting properly. At this rate, we’ll be fortunate not to miss it.”
The German commander glared at the outspoken man before him. It seemed to be a silent battle of wills before he suddenly snapped his fingers. “Lars— see to it that you get the Captain’s car working. We’d hate for him to miss such an important event.”
“Pop the hood, Tom,” Mav said softly before smiling at the approaching soldier. “Lars was it? We seem to be having a problem with the sparkplug— have you ever worked with those?”
Tom exchanged a confused glance with Slider from where he stood at the back door but he lifted the hood of the car anyway. Maverick led the German towards the car, gesturing vaguely to a part of the mechanisms on the one side.
“I think it’s something in there—can you reach it maybe? I’m too short I’m afraid—-”
As he was gesturing, he appeared to stumble, leaning suddenly on one portion of the car frame. Unbeknownst to Lars, Mav used that moment to disconnect a few wires as subtly as he could.
“It truly wouldn’t start?” Cain called sharply.
Kazansky raised an eyebrow in response.
“Try it,” the commander insisted.
Ice shrugged and climbed into the front seat, trying to get the engine to turn over. It sputtered and revved as though it wanted to, but nothing caught.
“There is some damage here, Herr Cain,” Lars called loudly. “But it appears to be with the engine, not the sparkplug.”
“Oh I must apologize,” Maverick sighed. “I was so certain—”
“Can you fix it?” Cain interjected.
“Yes sir— just a few minutes I believe.”
“Good. Then we’ll escort the Kazansky family to their performance. I’d hate to miss such an event,” Cain challenged, eyes never leaving Tom’s.
“That’s very kind of you,” Maverick offered, smiling gently as he slipped his hand into Tom’s. Both of them tried to ignore the way it was clearly trembling.
***********************************************************************************************
“They have the entire place surrounded,” Slider muttered softly as he and Tom rolled the puppet theater off of the stage. “Our only shot will be during awards I think—the kids are going to place, so when they announce that, everyone will expect you to return to the stage. Maybe during that small gap we can—”
“The trains are out now,” Ice offered just as quietly. “They’re going to be watching everything—”
“Nick’s shelter is around the corner from here,” Maverick pointed out, carrying a set of puppets. “It backs up to the mountains—maybe if we can make it there we can escape that way.”
“On foot?” Slider’s brow furrowed.
“We’ll look after the younger ones,” Tom insisted. “They’ll be okay.”
“They’ll have the foothills crawling with Nazis the second they consider we might be headed that way,” Slider shook his head.
“We could—-we could actually go through the mines,” Mav countered. “It would be dark, and we’d have to be very careful, but I know some paths that would lead us to the far side of the mountains easily, and we wouldn’t be seen by patrols—they’re not well used these days so—-”
He cut himself off with a shrug, earning himself a worried look from both Slider and Tom.
“Pete?”
“You— kid, are you sure you can do that?” Slider asked softly.
“We can find a different way,” Tom agreed, gently squeezing Maverick’s hand.
“No, this—” Mav clenched his jaw. “This is going to be the best option. I know I can do this. For the children.”
“For the children,” they both agreed.
“I’ll go make sure they’re ready,” Maverick nodded sharply to himself. “How many acts are left, Ron?”
“Three.”
“Then we’d better be ready, hmm?”
Ice and Sli watched as the brunet hurried off to the backstage area to check on the children.
“This is going to be a hell of a night, isn’t it, Tommy?”
“You can still back out,” Ice offered lightly. “Turn over what you know, save yourself from former inquiry maybe—”
“Don’t insult me,” Ron scoffed.
“Are you going to be alright going into the mines, Ronny?” Tom asked seriously. “It’s gonna be—-”
“Dark, I know,” Slider agreed. “But somehow, I feel like I’m going to handle it better than Mav is. Just don’t let me walk into a wall or something, okay?”
*********************************************************************************************************
Frantic knocking on the Center’s door for the second time in a few minutes instantly set everyone’s teeth on edge.
Nick reluctantly released Maverick from the tight hug he’d pulled his friend into, nudging him gently towards the back of the center.
“Go, hurry— you know the path that’ll lead you to the mines, Petey. Leo gave Tom and Slider lanterns to light when you’re close enough,” he bit out a tight smile. “Go with your family, honey—”
“What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me—write when you’re safe, alright? Promise me that—and promise me to be happy—can you do that, Pete?” Nick squeezed the back of his neck.
“I will,” Mav swore, tears stinging the corner of his eyes.
“Good, now go on, get out of here!”
“Dad!!”
Both of them whipped their heads around to see Bradley climbing clumsily through a busted back window.
“Bradley?!” Nick said incredulously.
“You have to go, Mav—right now. The Germans are here—they’re—we have minutes at most. I—I pulled a spark plug from one of their cars and a wire from another at the theater but—”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Nick demanded. “How did you even know they were following Mav—You haven’t seen him in years!”
“They’re coming,” Bradley insisted, grabbing Maverick’s arm and dragging him towards the back door where the children were waiting with Tom and Slider.
“Bradley?!” Jake suddenly gasped.
“You’re the delivery boy,” Maverick realized suddenly.
“You came here to warn us?” Tom frowned.
Bradley nodded sharply, breathing heavily.
“You understand—if they find out what you did,” Maverick reached out towards the teen.
“I don’t care—I need—You all need to be safe, Jake needs to be safe,” Bradley insisted.
“We have to go,” Slider reminded everyone, gently pushing the kids out the door into the night. “We don’t have time for this—”
“Take him with you,” Nick suddenly insisted, earning confused looks. “I can’t—Pete, take my boy with you, please— if he stays here and they—”
“Dad—” Bradley borderline whined.
“I love you, Bradley— I will always love you, but I am not going to watch you die—” Nick pulled him into a tight hug before he pushed him after the others. “Tom, Pete, please— take him and get the hell out of here—We’ll see what we can do to slow them down.”
Tom nodded sharpy before leading both Mav and Bradley out into the night. “C’mon—we have to get to the mines—”
“The mines?” Bradley’s eyes widened as he turned to look at Maverick in shock. “Mav— you— it’s been years—”
“Well then I hope you still remember the way to the seventh peak,” Maverick offered tightly, grabbing the arm of the kid he once knew. “You can help me, B—we’ve gotta get them out of here. Deep enough that they can’t follow us—”
“I think I remember the way,” Bradley nodded.
“Good, then you and Jake can help Nat and Javy, alright? Reuben and Mickey can go with Tom, Sli can help Callie, and I’ll take Bobby—let’s go.”
Silently, Kazansky children grouped themselves accordingly and began to follow Pete into the dark foothills that led to the mines.
They walked for several minutes in total silence, each of them understanding the severity of the situation, if not the reason.
As they came upon a dark opening in a deep crevice of an outcropping of rocks, Maverick began seemingly feeling along the edge to determine if it was the right opening.
Jake grasped Bradley’s hand tightly, relaxing minutely when Brad’s thumb traced over the back of his hand.
“You—you came for me,” he said softly. “You didn’t stay and become German—”
“Someone I care about told me that all I needed to be was me,” Bradley whispered back. “So—that’s what I’m going to be.”
“You really know how to get through the mines?” Jake asked a bit nervously.
“Yes,” Bradley nodded sadly. “I do. Used to play with Mav some—help him find his way out when he got stuck in his head. This isn’t going to be easy, J—but we’re going to do this together.”
“Hang tight to me, Bobby,” Mav whispered as he picked up the small boy. “We’re going to go on an adventure, but we must be quiet, alright?”
“Yes, dada,” the boy whispered back, tucking his head in Mav’s neck as he held him close.
“Pete?” Tom asked softly, holding a lantern to his husband as Slider lit the second one.
“We have to get going,” Mav deflected shakily, taking the light and starting into the dark shaft. “This path leads on straight for a bit. We need to get through it to the turn off so that we can’t be seen from the entrance before any Nazis follow.”
He led them into the darkness, Slider and Callie following behind as Bradley and the older kids stayed in the middle of the group. Tom followed up the rear with the second light, looking over his shoulder seemingly every few steps. What if they did follow them into the mines? What would they do then?
It was slow going, and it involved far more scuffling and stumbling than any of them had previously imagined, but they’d finally made it to what appeared to be a series of turn offs in the mine.
It was dark, even with the lanterns, and part of Tom’s chest clenched when he remembered Maverick used to spend days or even weeks at a time down here when he was barely any older than Bobby.
“Left, isn’t that right, Mav?” Bradley asked softly. “Has the bigger drop but the ceilings stay taller.”
“I think it’s the best route,” Pete nodded, gesturing towards the leftmost tunnel. “If we go about 30 meters, we’ll find another turn and we can—“
There was suddenly a loud clamoring and a dim glow appeared behind them.
“Go,” Maverick urged suddenly, hurrying down the tighter tunnel.
The others followed the shorter man as well as they could, tripping and stumbling along the way as they did. The Nazis were clearly in the mine now, the loud echoes of their voices and stomping reverberating all around them. Adrenaline flooded Maverick’s system as he rushed through the painfully familiar labyrinth of tunnels and side shafts. He had to find somewhere to hide them, to help them stay out of the German—-there.
Maverick suddenly darted to the right, finding a partially collapsed portion of an old tunnel vent.
“This could work…” he whispered, gesturing frantically to the rest of them. “Hurry, if we all squeeze in here and snuff out the lanterns… they may not even come down this path, or if they do—“
“They won’t be able to see us if we can squeeze past that outcropping,” Bradley pointed. “It’ll be tight but—“
There was a sudden loud rumble somewhere behind them.
“Come on,” Bradley insisted, extinguishing his lantern and grabbing Jake’s arm, leading him into the dark.
He in turn grabbed Javy who tugged Nat and one by one the children squeezed into the pitch black gap. Slider carefully carried Callie in after them, grunting as he had to squeeze past the rough rocky outcropping.
“Christ,” he muttered, keeping his hand on the little girl’s dark hair.
“Go on, Tom,” Mav insisted, voice shaking.
“You first, Pete,” Tom shook his head, gently taking the light from his husband’s trembling hand. “I’ll be the last one out, just in case.”
Mav froze for a second, staring at the dark gap he was supposed to be squeezing into. He felt his heart thudding in his throat and he swallowed thickly. God, it was going to be dark—so dark…
“Pete, love—“
Mav shook his head to clear it and cradled Bob to his chest before slipping far more effortlessly into the jagged crevice than Slider had. He then shot his hand back out for Tom’s, grabbing tightly as the Captain extinguished the final lantern, plunging them all into total and complete darkness.
Bobby whimpered against his neck as Callie and Mickey gasped tearfully. Tom carefully used Maverick’s grip to guide himself through the tight gap, maneuvering himself to sandwich Mav against the rocky wall, Bob tucked safely between them.
“Shhh darlings,” Sli soothed softly. “You have to be quiet for just a few minutes.”
“J-j-j-just a bit longer, loves,” Maverick agreed, though he was certain his racing heartbeat was louder than any noise the children could be making.
“You’re okay, darling,” Tom suddenly murmured in his ear, and Mav felt himself relax minutely. “I promise—-I’m right here. We’re getting out of here—“
Maverick unashamedly latched a fist in Tom’s shirt, tucking his face into his husband’s neck just as Bobby did in his own. Smelling the earthy musk that was so clearly Tom and not salt helped some.
They could do this—-
“Shhh,” Tom instructed suddenly, tensing as the echos suddenly grew louder.
Someone was closing in on them!
The eleven individuals tucked deep within the shaft found themselves clinging to one another, holding their breath as the faint glow of a light passed closer and closer to their shelter.
Tom could feel Pete practically convulsing in his arms and vowed to never again let his family, his husband, be in this sort of position. Not if he could help it. The second the Germans moved their search elsewhere, they needed to get the hell out of these mines.
“—they could not have come down this way! It is partially caved in! They must have taken a different path!”
“Let’s go back—“
Tom felt himself start to relax a tiny bit as it sounded as though the Germans were making their way back towards the intersection of paths. It was possible they truly would go undiscovered!
“S’not caved in,” Maverick breathed, and if Tom had not been so close, he never would have heard the other man. “I know the way.”
Tom didn’t offer any words, choosing instead to duck his head and press a soft, lingering kiss on his husband’s temple. They were going to be just fine.
******************************************************************************************************
It took the Kasanzky family hours to leave the mines, to the point where it was actually the early light of dawn at a shaft entrance that guided them out, not the lanterns.
They were exhausted and covered in salt and dirt by the time they all crawled out into the early morning sunlight. Callie, Mickey, and Bobby were each sound asleep, carried by one of the adults as the group staggered into the warmth of the rising sun.
Bradley pulled Jake into a tight hug as Javy did the same to Nat and Reuben.
“We did it,” Jake gasped, eyes wide as he looked at the mountains surrounding them.
“We did,” Bradley agreed softly, pressing a kiss to his temple. “We’ve got a long way to go but Mav gave us the best route to avoid the patrols. We should be able to get to Switzerland from here—”
“Just another several hours’ walk that way,” Slider said softly, running his hand through Callie’s hair as she snuggled closer.
“More walking?” Mickey groaned suddenly, sitting up in Tom’s arms.
“Just a bit,” Tom chuckled softly, setting the boy on his own two feet. “We can rest for a short while first but we want to get moving soon. Why don’t you follow along with the others down the hill a bit? Looks like there’s a stream that way.”
“It’s not too far,” Bradley agreed softly. “I’ll show you the way.”
The children and Slider began to slowly make their way after the young man, intent on resting or at least splashing water on their faces to clean off some of the salt.
Tom, meanwhile, turned back towards the mine entrance, where Pete still stood, shakily grasping a sleeping Bobby to his chest.
“Pete?” Wide green eyes shot up to meet his and Tom reached a hand out to gently tuck him, and Bobby into a proper hug. “Oh darling— it’s alright, you were magnificent. Do you know that? You did this, Pete—you brought us all through the mines—all of us safely into the mountains so that we might reach Switzerland. You incredible man—”
Mav trembled against his husband, pressing a soft kiss to Bobby’s downy hair as a few errant tears slipped out. “Tom?”
“Yes, love?”
“I think we’re going to be alright now,” Mav shrugged a bit shakily before pulling back to meet his gaze.
He looked a bit more together now, and offered a small smile. Tom laughed gently and nodded easily. “I think you’re right, darling—thanks in a large part to you, my darling Maverick.”
