HANS' DECISION
"Well, I won't pretend it's not great to be back in action," Karl said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "But why now?"
Hans cleared his throat and gave his most honest answer. "Karl, I'm not ready for this whole husband-and-father thing. I've tried hard to get clean, go straight… it's just not for me. Maybe I've been stealing for so long, I can't do without it. I don't know, I'm not a psychiatrist or anything."
Karl nodded. "You do realise the boys won't have you back, right? We've moved on. We've got another dude in charge -"
"What?"
"Well, I realised the whole 'leader' thing wasn't for me, so I gave the job to someone more capable. Anyway, the boys from the Volksfrei are still pretty pissed off about you ditching us. It's going to take a lot of convincing that you aren't acting as some sort of spy."
"No need," Hans said. "We can make our own terrorist movement."
"What?"
"Well, we've got you and me. We can try and put together our own little team. It'll be fun, right?"
Karl's eyebrows were raised so high they all but disappeared into his hairline. "Now look, I'd love to start our own little 'team', but the boys will kill me if I just ditch them."
"Who said anything about ditching them? You can remain with the Volksfrei, and do a few… side jobs with me."
Karl's eyes lit up. "You'd do that?"
"Of course, Karl. Anything for a good friend of mine."
"You're alright Hans, you know that?" The blond playfully slapped Hans' arm, who returned the gesture. "Oh, and Heinrich's pretty pissed off with his assignments on the Volksfrei at the moment, as he's not working with any of the bombs - our new leader does all that. I'll see if he wants to join."
Hans beamed at his old friend. "Spoken like a true second-in-command, my friend."