(Hello again. This is the first chapter in a long fic about Hugo and Wick. This is SLASH so if you do not like you should not read. The fist part here is PG but the next chapter is M so if that makes you squeamish I suggest you stay away from chapter two. I'm throwing Donny/Utivich in there too….others possibly on the way. But the focus is on Hugo and Wicki and their past and such. Thanks to MakoRain for being my beta *giggle Hug and offers Cloud doll* Update! I have replaced my mistake *bows head in shame* Aldo is now back to his real rank Lt! If anyone notices any other mistakes please let me know!)

The forest was quiet for a change, a peaceful reprieve from the normal chaos Wicki was used to. The bastards had just made camp, each man moving off to find his own personal place to sleep. Or, in Wicki's case, a private place for him and Hugo. Not that him and Hugo were the only ones grouping off together. He had watched as Donny and Utivich claimed a space together a good distance away from the others. No one made comments, at least not to them; no one seemed to care or pretended not to. A very smart approach when dealing with either Donny or Hugo. All the bastards were tough, had to be, but there was something about Donny and Hugo that made you want to watch your step. Could be the fact that Donny's hobby was bashing in brains with his bat; or that Hugo had the unnerving tendency to pull the tongues out of peoples mouths when they said something he did not like. Wicki couldn't say. Either way the rest of the boys tended to give the two men space, leaving them to their own devices, something both men appreciated.

Wicki finally found a space he liked, a nice elevated spot between a grouping of trees. It was shielded from prying eyes from below, but from above you could easily make out the sights around. Perfect. He dropped to the ground letting his pack fall to his side. It was nice to sit for a change. He glanced around the camp quickly spotting the familiar figure of Hugo. The man was currently listening to Aldo. Wicki couldn't make out what they were saying from the distance. Whatever it was, it had Hugo's full attention. Wicki set his gun on the ground next to his pack. Hugo looked tense, could no doubt use a massage and a decent nights rest. Unfortunately a massage would have to do for now. Aldo had promised the men a stay in an inn in the next few days. That was something to look forward to. Wicki turned his attention back to his immediate surroundings, pulling out his blanket and laying it on the ground next to him. He and Hugo did not have to worry about watch until early morning, after Hirschberg. Hopefully he could convince the German to at least get four hours of sleep, if he was lucky maybe more.

The sound of leaves crunching from behind drew his attention back to the present. Expecting to find the familiar form of his German, he was startled to see Donny approaching.

Donny stopped a few paces before him glancing around the little enclosing.

"Nice spot." He said appraisingly.

Wicki nodded, but refrained from comment. He'd let Donny run this conversation, clearly the man had something on his mind.

Donny moved closer dropping down to the neatly placed blanket. They sat in silence for a few moments simply watching the men move around the camp. Aldo was still talking to Hugo, or more correctly talking at Hugo. Hugo was not speaking at all. Hirschberg had joined the conversation now, using hand gestures to animate his speech.

"Talking about his shooting." Donny supplied.

Wicki glanced to Donny. The man appeared to be watching the exchange as well.

"His shooting?" Wicki repeated in question.

His shooting seemed fine to Wicki. In fact the man never seemed to miss his intended target.

Donny smiled.

"Lt. wants Hugo to give the rest of the boys some pointers."

Wicki snorted. A novel idea to be sure. He couldn't guarantee it would have the desired effect. Although Hugo was normally pretty patient when teaching the men about the various uses of his weapons, he could see the veins popping in the German's jaw even from this distance. The man had no patience for Hirschberg's exuberance. Sad really, he himself found it refreshing.

"So," Donny said "Have you ever asked him?"

Wicki turned to the dark haired man beside him.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

Donny inclined his head in Hugo's direction.

"Have you ever asked him why he did it?"

Wicki cocked a brow, using his face to ask for clarification.

Donny sighed, moving his head closer to Wicki's.

"Ya know," Donny whispered. "Ask 'im why he killed all them?"

Wicki frowned. Why was Donny asking him this?

"Why are you asking me?" He said, giving voice to his thoughts.

A sly smile crept across the younger man's face.

"It ain't no secret," Donny said, his voice giving way to amusement. "What you and Hugo get into."

Wicki felt his face heat up. So much for hiding it from the other boys. Damn. How the hell did they find out? They both were careful, keeping the façade of friends in front of the men. How had they, slipped up?

Donny began to laugh, slapping Wicki on the back with mirth.

"Your face!"

Wicki glared. He shifted uncomfortably.

"No, I haven't." he answered quickly, hopping to steer the man's attention away from his embarrassment.

Donny frowned, though the merriment had not completely left his eyes.

"Why not?"

Wicki shrugged. In truth he was not sure why he had not. It wasn't as if the question had never entered his mind. There had been a few nights when the two of them had first gotten together that Wicki had devoted to trying to figure out what triggered the man's murderous drive. He often thought about Hugo before the war. What had the man been like before the red flags had been raised? Was he anything like the man Wicki knew now? Somehow he doubted that. No one could survive long with the way Hugo approached life. Mentally or physically.

"Never came up." He answered simply.

It was true in a sense. Hugo never brought it up and Wicki never asked.

Donny arched a brow.

"You never got curious?"

Wicki raised a hand rubbing his neck, a nervous gesture he never seemed to be able to get over.

"It's not something you just ask someone." He pointed out.

Donny nudged him with his shoulder.

"Well, if anybody could ask 'im, it'd be you." Donny pointed out.

Wicki had to agree with that. Hugo would get mad at him, but chances were he wouldn't kill him, maybe hurt him, but not kill. The other guys had no such assurance.

Wicki cleared his throat, deciding it was safer to turn the conversation back to him and Hugo.

"How'd you find out?"

The smile returned to Donny's face with brilliance.

"You're kiddin' right?"

Wicki turned to him shaking his head no.

Donny laughed.

"It's obvious really. The way you two's always look at each other, bunking up." Donny paused for a moment. "But it's the eyes that give you away, the way you look at each other." Donny's smile softened slightly. "It ain't just fuckin' between you two. It's love."

Wicki felt his face heat up to the point he was sure his head was completely red. He quickly looked away from the man at his side, his eyes going to where they always did when stressed, Hugo. The German seemed to feel the eyes on him and finally turned his attention away from Aldo, casting him a curious expression. The German's eyes widened slightly before moving to glare at Donny.

"I should scatter." Donny said rising to his feet quickly.

He whistled innocently as he made his way back down to the camp. Wicki smiled as Hugo watched Donny's retreat with a glare.

Hugo ended up being kept busy for the rest of the day light. He instructed the men in his broken English, telling them his tricks. Wicki kept himself at a distance watching but not really listening. Besides, he had gotten the shooting lecture from Hugo before, mind you it quickly morphed into sex, Hugo pounding him into a tree panting proper gun maintenance in his ear. But Wicki's mind was elsewhere, going back to his short conversation with Donny. Why hadn't he asked Hugo about his past? They had known each other for over a year, been together nearly as long. It should have been something they had talked about, even superficially. But no, hell, he didn't even know the man's favorite color, not that he was entirely sure the man had one. But still, the point was there. Hugo never spoke about it, not once. Then again, Wicki hadn't shared a lot either. He'd mentioned his family a few times, told him about his military career, but nothing more. Of course, he wasn't the same man he was before the war, or even before joining the bastards. No one was. It was hard to talk about the stranger you were before the war.

So maybe it wasn't a big deal that Hugo didn't share about his past. But his reason for killing all those Gestapos, that was the million dollar question that even he could not deny he wanted to know the answer to.

"Wicki!"

Aldo's voice pulled him from his musing. He quickly looked to the Sarge. The blonde was gazing at him with his squinted eyes.

"You alright son?"

Wicki nodded.

"Good. Then get the hell up and help Donny."

Wicki rose to his feet following the bear Jew off to gather fire wood.

By the time Wicki got back to camp Hugo had set himself up on his blanket. He set the wood down by the fire before making his way to the German. Hugo didn't look up as he approached.

"I grabbed food while you where away." Hugo muttered, fishing around in his bag.

"Thanks." Wicki said, settling himself down next to the man.

Hugo grunted in response.

They ate in silence watching the others mill about the camp by firelight. Despite his best effort, Wicki's attention kept going back to his earlier musings. A cough brought his attention to the man at his side. Wicki watched as the man took a sip from his canteen, watching as the throat muscles move as he swallowed. Even in the darkness of night he could make out the deep lines on his friend's face, lines gained from seeing the harshest forms of life. He wondered if he had those lines before the war. What did the man look like before this all started? Younger no doubt.

"You're staring."

Wicki coughed, shifting uncomfortably. He quickly removed his eyes from Hugo.

"If you have something to say, say it." Hugo said in his usual gravely voice.

Wicki cast a quick glance at Hugo. The other man's eyes remained on the camp. Wicki let his eyes follow Hugo's, looking for a distraction.

"I'm not sure I want to." Wicki admitted.

Hugo turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Why?"

Wicki shrugged a hand once again rising to rub the back of his neck.

"Don't think I'll like the answer."

Hugo absorbed this without comment. Wicki saw him nod out of the corner of his eye after a moment. Next thing he knew Hugo's lips were on his. He froze momentarily, startled by the sudden action before returning the kiss whole heartedly.

As the kiss ended, Wicki let his forehead rest against the other man's.

"Just ask." Hugo whispered against his lips.

Wicki swallowed, gathering his nerves.

"Why did you kill them?"

He felt Hugo's body stiffen beside him. He reached out his hands, clasping on to Hugo's arms, holding the man in place. He kept his eyes closed not wanting to see the expression waiting for him behind his eyelids. After a moment he was startled to hear a soft chuckle, the muscles under his hands relaxing.

"The boy's ask you to ask me?"

Wicki shrugged, a guilty smile crossing his lips.

"Maybe."

This received another chuckle from the man. He felt Hugo shift slightly before stilling again, his body moved closer to Wicki's.

"They know about us." Wicki whispered.

He felt the man's shoulders move in a shrug.

"Figured as much."

He opened his eyes, brow arching in surprise.

"And you didn't say anything?"

Hugo shrugged again.

"Don't care."

Wicki frowned.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't."

He let his hands drop form the other man, looking at his face. Hugo's expression had not changed since he had closed his eyes. The two men lapsed back into silence, Hugo's eyes cast skyward now, looking at the stars.

"Are you going to answer?"

Hugo's face tightened. He glanced over at the group of men by the fire.

"No." Wicki said quickly, a hand latching onto Hugo's arm, drawing the man's attention back to him.

Hugo looked at him, eyebrow raised in question.

"Not because of them, not because they want to know, but because I do." Wicki said softly.

Hugo grabbed the hand on his arm, holding it in his own. He examined it for a time before responding.

"Not tonight."

Wicki nodded. He hadn't really expected him to agree.

"But I will." Hugo muttered, adding. "Eventually."

He leaned forward pressing his lips to Wicki's once again. Thoughts quickly left the Austrian's mind as Hugo mover forward pressing his body flush against him.

Down at the camp the men sat laughing around the fire, telling jokes they had heard from back home. That was, all of them except Donny. The bear Jew was currently standing on a fallen tree, his eyes straining in the night. Most of them men chose to ignore Donny for the time being but curiosity finally got the better of Utivich. He put down his dinner, fixing Donny with a stare.

"Donny!" he called to the big man.

Without looking Donny responded.

"Yah Smitty?"

Smitty frowned.

"What are you doing?"

The men stopped their chatting, turning their attention to Donny.

Aldo pulled out his snuff tin from beside Smitty, opening it to take a few pinches.

"I think we'd all like to know that." He commented, before a quick inhale of powder.

Donny pointed to a patch of trees on the far side of camp.

Utivich followed Donny's finger with his eyes.

"Isn't that where Wicki and Hugo are?" Utivich asked.

The rest of the men nodded.

"I saw them set up camp there earlier." Hirschberg added.

Donny snorted shaking his head with a shrug.

"Who the hell do they think they are foolin'?" He asked incredulously.

Utivich rolled his eyes, going back to his meal. Last thing he wanted to do was incur the wrath of Hugo. If the German knew he was being watched he would have no qualms about 'punishing' them. And he had seen how the man punished people. The rest of them made exclamations of exasperation of their own, returning to the conversation.

"Son," Aldo said, closing his snuff. "Sit the hell down!"

Donny shrugged again before jumping down from the tree. He made his way to the other side of Utivich, joining him on his perch.

"I'm just sayin', we at least wait till everyone's asleep."