TW: Violence

Albert Thalberg entered the room, which was small to the point where it felt cramped, and Albert forced himself to hide the discomfort he felt towards such a small space. The dim lighting in the room also made the room feel increasingly small. In the centre of the room was Otto Assing sitting in a wooden chair with his hands bound behind his back still unconscious. He saw Hermann standing in the darkest corner who shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze upon noticing Albert was staring at him. Suddenly, Albert heard a few clicks from his left, followed by an exasperated sigh. Glancing to his left he saw Hans attempting to light the small black pipe that was in his mouth. Stefan then grabbed his lighter from his pocket and lit Hans' pipe. Stefan put the lighter away and glanced over at Albert, then at Otto Assing, then back to Albert.

"Fucking Slav," Stefan said.

"He's not a Slav Stefan he's German," Albert replied.

"Traitorous bastard joining the filthy communists. I should just shoot him for betraying his country,"

"If you shoot him I shoot you, Stefan," Albert said as he put his hand close to the Walther in his holster. "I'm a good shot and trust me on that."

Stefan backed up a bit as he knew that Albert meant what he said. Hans snickered at what Albert said, removed the pipe from his mouth, and blew a large puff of smoke out of his mouth. Placing his arms behind his back, Albert walked over to Hans, stood a metre away from Hans, stood up straight, and puffed out his chest in an attempt to look intimidating as he wasn't under the command of Colonel Rosengarten he had never been under his command. Albert's superior had died long ago and he wasn't willing to be pushed around or humiliated by someone who had never commanded him.

"What is so funny Hans?" Albert asked.

"You think that you have the authority to threaten Major Eichmann," Hans replied.

"My commander is dead Hans.
"Stalins Slavs murdered him when Berlin fell and tried to take my life as well.
"I don't take orders from you I will only serve our leader and the one who can rebuild this country,"

"Heinrich Himmler is fucking dead Albert!"

Albert clenched his fists tightly digging his nails into his palms. He wanted to strike Colonel Rosengarten but he knew that would be undoubtedly foolish. Unclenching his fists, he placed his hands by his side and glared directly into Hans' eyes, noticing that there was no fear in his eyes, just the confidence of a man who had to deal with hot-headed officials in the past. A man who knew how to stand firm against them. Hans smirked and placed the pipe back into his mouth. Albert sighed deeply trying to release the rage that was burning and spreading through his veins like wildfire. A soft groan escaped Otto Assing's lips which caught Albert's attention, and he turned around and wandered over to Otto Assing, who was starting to stir from his slumber. Otto opened his eyes, and Albert gazed into them, and he could see that Otto was confused and disoriented.

"Who the hell are you people?" Otto asked.

"My name is Albert Thalberg.
"Former Captain in the SS could have ended up in a higher position if it wasn't for people like you.
"Filthy communist scum. Makes me sick what you did to this country,"

"What do you want from me you Nazi scum?"

"Information. Locations of important people.
"I know that you will have them as you are an important government official.
"You can't lie to me and I wouldn't think about it either,"

Otto desperately tried to free his hands, and Albert knelt down and yanked Otto's collar, almost dragging him off the seat. Albert wanted to choke Otto due to the comment Otto made. Although he knew that he would lose his chance at finding Heisenberg and Himmler if he did so. Albert releases his hold on Otto allowing him to sit up. He then stands up and gives Otto a backhanded slap across the face prompting a wince from Otto.

"Tell me where Heisenberg is,"

"I don't know. We think he is dead,"

"Lying bastard you do know where he is! I know you do!"

Albert clenched his fists and aggressively struck Otto's jaw. Blood slowly poured from the corner of Otto's mouth. Seeing this Albert was somewhat thrilled that he was inflicting a lot of pain on a person he considered to be scum. However, he had to keep reminding himself not to kill Otto even though he wanted to.

"What places haven't the Soviet Army searched?"

"Answer me now!"

"Please just leave me alone. I don't know where Heisenberg is," Otto replied, still trying to free his hands.

Albert slapped Otto across the face once again his patience wearing thin. Out of the corner of his eye, Albert noticed that Hermann was looking increasingly uneasy. Albert knew that Hermann didn't like watching the interrogations and preferred to get things done quickly. Albert locked eyes with Hermann who was fidgeting with his hands behind his back.

"Hermann, do you want to step out?"

"No, I'm fine, Albert. I'll stay," Hermann replied, still fidgeting with his hands.

Albert glanced back at Otto who had a slight smirk on his face. Albert wasn't amused by this and slapped Otto multiple times until tears were forming in Otto's eyes and Otto's cheek was so red it was as if it had been sunburned. Albert eventually stopped and watched the tears in Otto's eyes glistening in the dim light as they ran down his cheeks. Satisfied with what he had done Albert smiled and giggled a little.

"Now I suggest you tell me what places haven't been searched by the Soviet Army. Unless you want me to continue punishing you,"

"Fine, most of the small coastal towns haven't been searched,"

"I need the names of the towns,"

"Wilhelmshaven, Bremerhaven, Brunsbüttel, Kiel, Rostock and Emden,"

"Well, it seems that you are quite useful. Even though you are a filthy communist,"

Albert roughly shoved Otto causing the wooden chair to fall to the ground with a crash and sending Otto tumbling backwards. Otto whimpered softly and once again attempted to free his hands. Albert wandered over to Otto and smirked as he looked down at Otto, who, to him, didn't seem like a politician at all. He just seemed like a frightened child. A child who is too afraid of lying otherwise they would be punished. Otto looked up at Albert with pleading eyes hoping for Albert to have some mercy. But Albert wasn't the kind of man to show mercy due to his past line of work. Albert kicked Otto in the stomach causing Otto to yelp in pain. Albert picked up the wooden chair, carried it to the centre of the room, and placed it down.

"Hermann, can you please pick him up and put him back on the chair? I don't want to touch the filthy communist,"

Hermann walked over to Otto, picked him up, held him under his armpits, and dragged him over to the chair as if he were carrying a dead body. Hermann placed Otto onto the chair and wandered back over to the darkest corner of the room where he still shifted and fidgeted uncomfortably. Albert gazed at Otto's eyes which were red from him crying due to pain. Albert could tell that it wouldn't take long to mentally break Otto if it were to take too long to gain information from him. Otto did indeed seem like a fragile and frightened child both physically and mentally.

"I have another question for you filthy communist,"

"What do you want from me? I don't understand why I'm here,"

"You don't get to ask the questions here! I'm the one asking the questions not you!"

Albert punched Otto in the face which caused blood to slowly run out of Otto's nose.

"Tell me where Heinrich Himmler is. I know that you communists are hiding him,"

"I don't know where he is and we don't have him. But we have heard of our soldiers going missing in The Black Forest,"

"A lot of people go missing in there,"

"There have also been reports of them just being picked off one by one when they search that place in the middle of the night,"

"Probably your soldiers having a poor sense of direction,"

"No, it's true. There have been reports of multiple of our soldiers dying there,"

Stefan suddenly started laughing a lot, and Albert glanced over at him, wondering what he was laughing about.

"What's so funny Stefan?"

"He probably thinks that the forest is haunted or something," Stefan replied while still laughing.

"I don't think ghosts exist Stefan your just being ridiculous,"

Albert went back to looking at Otto who looked slightly fearful now.

"Fine, we will search The Black Forest to find out if Heinrich Himmler is there. Until then we will keep you here in case we need more information,"

"Please let me go,"

"Not yet not until we have enough information. But we will give you the basic needs to keep you alive,"

"You will pay for kidnapping me. You will be put in prison or even worse,"

Albert turned away from Otto ignoring his comment, walked over to the door, opened it up, and exited the room. He stood in the hallway for a short moment feeling oddly glad that he was no longer in that room. Hans and Stefan wandered out into the hallway and Albert turned to face them.

"What do we do now Albert?" Stefan asked.

"We keep him here and look after him he needs to be alive so we can continue to get information from him,"

"But who do we search for first?"

"I don't know yet,"

"I still have my doubts that Himmler is alive Albert. It could just be a random crazy murderer in The Black Forest,"

"What crazy murderer would kill multiple Soviet soldiers one by one without being killed themselves?
"Whoever is killing them isn't going around in a blind rage and murdering them.
"But they are doing it strategically in a way that won't risk them getting caught,"

Stefan shrugged and awkwardly looked at Hans as if he would have the answer. Hans looked at Stefan with some agitation. They both eventually looked back at Albert and waited patiently for him to answer.

"I feel that Heinrich Himmler is still out there and he is probably in The Black Forest,"

"But what if when we do go find him he just wants to kill us,"

"I doubt that he would want to kill us. We could wear our uniforms,"

"But most of the SS started turning on each other after the war. I don't think wearing our uniforms would be a great idea he might think we are going to kill him,"

"You're right anyway I'm going to go think up a plan. Can you two please go and possibly get the communist scum some food and water,"

Hans rolled his eyes and wandered down the hallway with Stefan in tow. Hermann exited the room and Albert noticed that Hermann's face was incredibly pale.

"Hermann, are you alright?"

"Can I avoid watching the interrogations from now on?" Hermann replied in a shaky voice.

"Fine, you may stay outside when we are interrogating him since it makes you feel so uncomfortable,"

"Thank you, Albert. I'm going to go home now. I shall see you tomorrow,"

Hermann walked down the hallway leaving Albert alone with his thoughts. After a few moments, Albert wandered down the hallway until he reached his bedroom. Opening the door to his bedroom, Albert walked over to the window and watched the cars and people pass by, the sounds of the city slightly muted by the glass. The sky was filled with ominous dark clouds which reminded Albert of the dark days of the war and the times that he lost those close to him. He pushed those memories further back into his mind and focused on the plan that he needed to figure out.