Otilia's return to Castle Wulfenbach caused quite a stir, the children crowding around her excitedly until she proved she was still Von Pinn by sending all the younger ones to bed for a nap and demanding the older ones sit down and do something quiet. The latter was, Barry suspected, writing to their parents about being taught by a Muse. With Agatha confirmed to be asleep, Barry and Klaus met for a rather belated lunch. It wasn't until they'd finished eating that Klaus said, "There's something I need to talk to you about before we leave Mechanicsburg."

Barry gave him a thoughtful look. "This sounds like something you suspected would ruin my appetite," he said wryly. "What's on your mind?"

"Before you returned I had a deal with the Jägers," said Klaus. "They would serve me until a Heterodyne was found. As that happened rather sooner than expected - to the relief of all of us - the deal is void. But I doubt you were planning to use them for anything, so I was wondering if I could hire them from you."

Barry stared without actually seeing his old friend for a moment, his vision caught up in faint red haze and old nightmare. He and Bill had discussed, once in their distant youth, the idea of releasing the Jägers from their service. But the Jägers had sworn lifelong service - for what often turned out to be a very long life. Their homes and frequently their descendants were all in Mechanicsburg. It wouldn't have been either fair or practical to break the agreement. And... what they might do if turned loose across Europe hadn't borne thinking about. The possibility that they'd take it into their heads to resume old raiding habits in his absence (to be fair, it likely wouldn't have been just the Jägers, but they'd have been the most effective) had been one of several things that had kept Barry awake at night and driven him to travel faster homeward.

He'd seen the Jägers at war before. Defending Mechanicsburg, yes, that was fine, but thirty years ago his father had dragged him and Bill on some miserable raiding journeys. He vividly remembered their joy in the fight and their callousness toward the terrified people whose lives and livelihoods they were destroying. "Klaus," he said, a little hoarsely, and then discarded both Hell no and Are you out of your mind? in favor of saying, "I'm not sure you've thought this one through."

...Well, that was a stupid reply. Klaus had certainly had time to think it through.

"They are soldiers and I needed an army," said Klaus. "I trusted them to hold to an agreement with me. With you here there's no need even to trust to that. Whatever you tell them will be obeyed."

"I'm not so sure about that," Barry muttered. "Klaus, you have an army. You took down Teufel already." Barry hadn't heard much about the Black Mist Raiders until after the fact; Teufel, or Kipp, had been operating farther to the west. Klaus had fought him on both military and technical grounds and won, which accounted for several regions eagerly clustering under the umbrella of the nascent Empire.

Granted, the Jägers might still beat Klaus's forces on the field. More likely yet from a walled town, although Klaus definitely would have had air superiority before Castle Heterodyne was repaired. Mechanicsburg had been reluctant to fight partly because the consequences of winning - with no Heterodyne, most of their neighbors less than pleased with the result, and against an old friend - might have been more troublesome if less embarrassing than losing. Of course, the Dreen would have been a problem. And why was he even thinking in these terms?

Klaus grimaced. "It wasn't exactly easy."

"And you're going to tell me a better army means fewer casualties on your side and probably overall than drawing things out, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Klaus. "This isn't relevant now, but that wasn't my only reason for wanting to take them. They are less vulnerable than most monsters, more able to think for themselves, but without a sense of purpose they are easily distracted. And their sense of purpose was always your family. People would have seen the chance to wipe them out before a new Heterodyne arrived to command them again." He smiled slightly. "Besides which, I do trust them, more than I trust a human army. They are predictable, broadly, if chaotic in the specifics. Merciless but not sadistic, with no particular desires beyond fighting, staying together and pleasing their masters. Very hard to subvert or lure away."

Only Klaus, Barry thought, in all of Europa, would come up with the idea that he needed to protect the Jägers. He had a point, though. The old Heterodynes had earned the hatred of their neighbors near and far, over and over again. He and Bill had changed, among other things, the popular view of the name and the town, but that didn't erase old grudges and they'd made enemies as well as friends of their own. And while the main responsibility had always been their family's and the enthusiasm pretty widely spread, the Jägers were both highly recognisable and in many cases actually the same people other towns were mad at. Which led to the other astonishing thing Klaus had said. "Not sadistic?"

"I suppose that's a matter of opinion," Klaus conceded. "They certainly enjoy beating their opponents thoroughly. But they don't attack people who can't fight back, or, usually, anyone who they haven't been sent to attack. They enjoy the fight more than the kill."

"They enjoy the kill well enough," Barry said. "I've seen them fight." But so had Klaus. In Mechanicsburg, where they'd all fought alongside them and Klaus had fought with them just for fun. All too likely he'd seen them fight in his own town. Their father would hardly have taken Bill to attack another fortified town without any Jägers.

"They might enjoy it, but they will forgo it," said Klaus. "They fought differently under you and Bill than they did under your father. And I've seen them fight each other. I've seen them fight human friends too, and not leave anything more than bruises."

Barry had... known that, or should have known that. Obviously Klaus's scraps with them hadn't led to anything that bad, although Klaus was - of course - tougher than an unaltered human anyway. Even for a Spark. Barry didn't think of the Jägers as likely to show restraint on their own, but there were times they did. "You... know them better than I do, in some ways, don't you." It was quiet, and not quite a question.

"I always rather liked them," said Klaus, which was not quite an answer.

"I know. That always puzzled me."

"Why not? I enjoy a good fight too," Klaus said flippantly, then continued more seriously. "They asked me for stories. Because you never took any of them I became a sort of honorary Jäger for them, I think. They demanded news of you they way they would from any of their own who had been taken on a special mission."

Barry had enjoyed fighting, once. Against mindless enemies, and not because they were easier. Against people, if they could win without killing. The matching of wit and skill. He thought the danger itself, the challenge of winning when lives were at stake, had appealed to Bill in a way it hadn't to him. But Bill would have done it and Barry would have gone with him even if none of it had been any fun. And had still, when it wasn't. The last few sickening years, against revenants who hadn't been mindless before the wasps got them, against the Geisterdamen and their devotion... "I didn't know that."

"You should talk to them," said Klaus. "I don't know whether you'd find it reassuring but you'd probably find it instructive."

"You're right. I should have done it more a long time ago, probably." Barry sighed. "I do know they'd enjoy going with you, a lot more than staying here. I'm worried they'd enjoy it a little too much. They have... in some cases literally centuries of habitual brutality, in real fights. And we didn't leave them home solely because we were afraid they'd get out of hand. A Jäger army is going to bring up bad memories for a lot of people, mostly not the ones who actually wanted to start anything."

"That is a point," Klaus admitted. "I was planning to use them as something of a last resort, at least when it wasn't a case of clearing up slavers or someone's feral creations, and to threaten to send them in more often than actually do so. Which might be less interesting than they were hoping for, but you are right that I couldn't send them in without people expecting the worst."

"I suppose they'd actually be thrilled to be turned loose against stray... anything, really," Barry said, then paused, thunderstruck and not sure whether to be horrified. "Or the... Klaus, they'd eat the wasps for lunch. Literally. I'd better ask if they tried it already, if anyone was affected, I haven't seen all of them since I got back-"

"They prefer them cooked," said Klaus. "But they are immune. A few wasps managed to get down their throats and they just swallowed. They assure me there were no effects."

"Okay," Barry said slowly, alarm fading. "That's good." A little perplexing, but certainly good. Maybe the Jägerbrau's own modifications were too extensive for the slavers to handle. "In that case, we'd better set them against the wasps, at least."

"Does that mean you'd be willing to let them come with me? I'll be travelling to places where that's needed more than you will," said Klaus. "Not that they'll all come, with a Heterodyne in Mechanicsburg I expect some will insist on guarding you whether you want them to or not."

Barry's mouth twitched. "Now that you mention it, with Agatha aboard Castle Wulfenbach, I'm not sure how far you'd get without any."

"They might trust me to keep her safe. Or more likely Otilia," said Klaus, sounding amused. "But yes. I expect they'd sooner keep both of you close right now. There's a difference between sending bodyguards, though, and trusting me with the greater part of the group."

"I do trust you. I always have. Even when we didn't agree."

"I appreciate it," said Klaus. "Perhaps I should have said, whether you trust the greater part of the group to go with me and still behave when you're not there."

How much did he trust them to behave when he was there? Could he in good conscience send Jägers into other people's lands, and with Mechanicsburg otherwise defended, could he in good conscience refuse to send them against wasps? "I'm thinking about that. I'm..." Barry smiled a bit ruefully. "Trying to think about it rationally."

"I won't demand an answer right now. If necessary it can wait until after we've been to Beetleburg, since I'll be returning you here," said Klaus. "But I will need an answer then."

"Fair enough." Barry suspected he shouldn't be amused by being given a deadline. "You're right that I should talk to them," he said, more briskly. "And I'm not fool enough to think we can still fight every battle personally with no more than half a dozen friends along." Strictly speaking, they hadn't quite done that, even back in the day. But taking Jägers would have sent entirely the wrong message no matter how well they behaved.

...He wondered if he could change that.

Barry spent much of the rest of the afternoon deep in thought, in between the involved processes of catching up on recent developments in Mechanicsburg and attempting to discourage Castle Heterodyne's suddenly renewed interest in getting him married off. Somehow he'd thought introducing it to Agatha would have the opposite effect, but no.

Just after sunset, he walked into Gkika's. It smelt of smoke and alcohol and Jäger - this last being the equilibrated result of vigorous good health and rare bathing, something like vinegar and leather - and by the turned heads and flared nostrils it was clear that none of that pungent mixture disguised his arrival in the slightest.

"I'll buy the next round," he said, when he reached the bar. "Old Hypothesis for me."

Gkika poured it for him herself, while the clank waitresses set about pouring out the round he'd just bought for everyone else, and handed it to him with a grin. "Here hyu go, Sveetie. Velcome home."

"Thank you." Barry sipped at his drink. "It's good to be back."

"Hyu gun bring hyu niece to meet us sometime? Der Kestle likes her spirit," she said, grin turning outright wicked for a moment.

What in the world had Agatha and Gil been doing with the dragon clanks? "I'd say I think she's a little young for this place, but after I let the Castle babysit, I'm not sure I'd have a leg to stand on."

"Tch. Hy keep her behind der bar, not out dere," she said, gesturing to the bar itself. "Not fair on der customers to haff people dey got to vorry about breakink."

"Right." Barry looked at her thoughtfully. That was a pretty good segue, probably on purpose. "Speaking of whether to worry about breaking people, Klaus mentioned the deal I interrupted."

Around them ears were pricking up, both literally and metaphorically. "Ve vondered vhether he'd mention dot," she said. "He still hoping to get hyu permission?"

"Oh, yes. Most of the same reasons still hold. I told him I'd think about it."

She rested one hand on the bar, painted claws tapping a lazy rhythm. "Hyu vanna tell me vot hyu iz tinking about it?"

Barry raised his eyes to meet hers. "I'm thinking that there are a lot of people, a lot of towns, that need help out there. The wasps are horrors, but they're really just the start."

"Grr." For a moment she looked feral, lips drawn back in distaste. "Dose tings are der vorst."

"They are," Barry said, looking at her curiously. "I've seen - far too many of them, the past few years. Klaus tells me the Jägerkin are all immune, which is certainly a relief."

"Yah," she said, relaxing. "Vouldn't vant any of dose tings controlling my boys. Zo, hyu tink is okay to send uz after dem?"

"They all need to die," Barry said darkly, "so yes, most likely."

"Zo, at vorst ve get a modified agreement to go after bogz," she said.

"I imagine Klaus would agree to that." In the unlikely event that he didn't, Barry thought he might have to take them out himself, once things were a little more settled here. At the rate he'd been running across hive engines just on the journey with Agatha, if even a small percentage of the ones that had fallen were still viable... "Everybody was looking forward to it, weren't you?"

She turned away slightly, resting one hip on the bar. "Iz not so simple as that. Hy vasn't going anyvay. But, yah, Klaus vants uz to fight, ve vant to fight, it vorks out nize."

"Why weren't - ah. Anyone who needed serious medical attention would have come back here?" With no Heterodyne to provide it, but if they'd survived the trip Gkika could probably at least keep them relatively comfortable.

"Yah." She smiled at him, this time not her fangy grin but an oddly serious smile. "Ve vas looking forward to it, but not as much as haffing hyu beck."

Barry blinked at her, taken a little off guard. "Despite my longstanding habit of spoiling your fun? Not that I haven't felt welcomed, but..."

"Hy said it vasn't simple. Ve vould haff gone vit Klaus, but it vould haff felt like giving op on hyu. Dere vas talk of volunteers, sending some of uz out to look for hyu or hyu heirs." This grin was sharp in at least two senses of the word. "Ve dun giff op on our Heterodynes, Sveetie. Und effen hyu haven't yet giffen op on uz."

That was... touching, and stinging at the same time. "I'm not planning on it," he said, a little sharply in his turn. But had he, had they, all along in one sense? They'd spent so much time trying to talk everybody else around to their point of view, but the Jägers... did what he and Bill told them, even though they didn't like it, out of loyalty to the ancestors whose behaviour the new Heterodynes were rejecting. Arguing with them had always felt more than a little awkward, somewhere between bullying and being humoured.

"Do hyu vant Klaus to succeed in vot he iz doing?"

"Yes." Barry raised his eyebrows. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be trying to help."

"Den trust uz to do vot hyu vant, not chust vot hyu say," she said, seriously. "Hy ken't promise perfect judgement from der boyz," she added, rolling her eyes. "But Klaus knows dem, he von't ask for vot dey ken't manage."

Barry sat back, definitely surprised this time... a little chagrined, and rather more fascinated. "Well, I can see why he thought I needed to talk to you more," he said. The Castle didn't even pretend it was going to do what he meant if he wasn't careful enough about what he actually said.

"Uz Generals should haff spoken to hyu too. But hyu vas goot boys, and haffing fun fighting hyu own way."

Of course it would have looked to the Jägers like he and Bill were hogging all the fun. Barry rubbed his forehead and rested his elbows on the bar again. "Honestly, regardless of how they acted, I think taking Jägers with us early on would have panicked everybody we wanted to stop and listen to us. But I am starting to think we should have asked for a squad to come meet us once the wasps started showing up." They hadn't even exactly decided not to; it just hadn't crossed their minds. Not his, anyway, and he was pretty sure Bill would have done anything he thought of that looked like it might speed their search and destroy more of the wasps. Slowly, he continued, "There's still a considerable risk of panicking people now. Which is partly what Klaus has in mind and... in some cases might be necessary. But I'd like to minimise it." A wry look. "Especially when you're actually there to fight wasps or runaway clanks or grapevine-piranha hybrids or something. I speak from experience, it's easier to rescue people who don't think they need to be rescued from you."

"Hmm." Gkika tapped a claw against her chin and contemplatively turned blue. "Gun be difficult. But, vell, it vorks around Mechanicsburg und some of der villages. Pipple who iz used to uz being on their side iz less scared. Und pipple who fight alongside uz..." She gave the crowd in the bar a calculating look. "Vell, dot ken depend. Some of der boyz extend 'Jägers dun't leave anyvun behind' further den others."

Jägers didn't leave each other behind out of a mix of long - often very long - camaraderie, and protectiveness of the Heterodyne secrets involved in their biology. Barry found it encouraging that they did extend the former, in some cases, to their relatively ephemeral companions. "I'm fairly good at convincing people of things," he said. It had taken significant work to persuade people that he and Bill were not, in fact, bloodthirsty maniacs out to conquer or lay waste to Europe and perhaps significant swathes of Asia. This might be somewhat more complicated, but hopefully his reputation was solid enough. "If I tell people you're not actually there to destroy everything, word will get around." So long as they backed him up, of course.

"Ve haff managed minimal destruction in der past. But dot vas usually for Heterodynes who vere tryink for another Empire und vanted der cities relatively intact."

"That applies here," said Barry. "Approximately, anyway. I want..." He rocked his glass in a half-circle, thinking. It was asking a lot, maybe, of the Jägers and the universe. That didn't mean it wasn't worth asking. "The past Heterodyne Empires never lasted all that long. A few generations, maybe. Granted, sometimes that was because the next Heterodyne got bored with the idea... but basically, the problem was that people really didn't want to be in them." This was not exactly the only problem from his perspective, but it was a reasonable summary. "The Jägerkin would be very different, if you weren't volunteers."

"Hyu ken tell hyu vas raised in Mechanicsburg after all," she said. "Iz asking a lot to vant der whole vorld to be der same vay."

Barry couldn't help grinning at that. "I'm not going that far," he said. "But I don't want everything we do to fall apart in a few decades, either, and I do believe it's more likely to hold up the more people join in willingly."

"Vell. Iz not up to me to say vot a Heterodyne ken't achieve if dey try," she said, smiling back. "Vill be plenty of fightink vitout terrorising anyvun, und it vould be interesting to see an Empire dot ecktually lasts."

"So far, 'Heterodynes are terrifying' hasn't kept any of them going that long - for us or the Storm King." Klaus being terrifying seemed likewise temporary. Most likely there would always be somebody they had to fight, but if they could get people to try cooperating again - and Barry was willing to use charisma and reputation and Bill's memory if necessary to sweep them off their feet, where sound argument wasn't enough - then hopefully the real benefits would convince them to stick with it. Barry lifted his glass of Old Hypothesis. "Seems to be worth testing something else."

"Zo how much of dis does Klaus know?" she asked. "Ve gun be vorking vit him or around him?"

She caught him mid-swallow, and Barry put his drink down rather hastily and coughed. "With," he said. "What he doesn't know yet, he will."

She gave him a rather wicked grin. "Sounds goot. Hyu vant me to tok to de other Generals?"

"Please. We should probably all get together to work out the details at some point." Barry offered a grin of his own, a little wry but with a hint of mischief in it. "And decide who's coming to Beetleburg."

"Hy ken tink of a few who vould like dot." She poured a drink of One Mean Mead for herself and held it up. "To new plenz."

"New plans and old friends." Who warn us when the new plans are getting a little out of hand. Barry clinked his glass against hers and drained it.