Chapter Text
1. The General
Gkika knew it was Higgs’s habit not to report in for days or weeks at a time – that some of his jobs were too sensitive to risk carrying a transmitter at all. It didn’t stop her from worrying. Higgs might have a few centuries on her but he was still one of her boys.
Tonight, the transmitter clicked to life just as the bar brawl was winding down. Gkika glanced at it, then looked again when she noticed the first letters printed on the ribbon: urgent
She seized the device and closed her office door, watching as the message came out, letter by letter. Confirm MW dead (grief) confirm MB alive (joy) confirm MA-F5-MW+LM (That one took her a moment – a girl child. Bill and Lucrezia’s) MB requests escort squad Istanbul W gate soonest. Booth Argo (Which looked like utter nonsense, unless one knew that booth stood for ‘by order of the Heterodyne’ and Argo was Barry’s authentication code.
The transmitter fell silent, and Gkika too sat silent for a moment. Master Barry was alive. Master Barry had called for the Jägers. She stood, went out into the Jägerhall, and began bodily collecting the chase squad. When they were all piled in her office, she handed the printed tape to Jorgi so he could read it himself. “General Higgs sent dot chust now.”
“This is – he really found them.” The rest of the boys snapped to attention.
“Ja, he found Master Barry anyvay. Und he vants an escort. Dots hyu. Hyu goes out ze sneaky gate, hyu goes fast und hyu goes qviet. Ve dun spread the vord until Master Barry is home safe.”
“Ja, mama!” they chorused.
“Eat hyu breakfast, I get your supplies together.”
***
Gkika didn’t even tell the other Generals until the morning before the Master was going to arrive. And even that was only to make sure that every Jäger was in the hall that night.
“Listen op! Ve is having a special guest tonight, so vhen he shows op – ”
“I’m right here, Gkika.” Master Barry stepped through the doors from the tunnels; Higgs was right behind him, wearing a slight but very smug smile. There was a startled hush, and then a cheer rattled the rafters. Barry lifted a child onto his hip. “And this is Agatha.”
“Is nize to meet hyu, Miss Agatha. Ve gets hyu some goot ginger beer, ja? Und a big dinner for hyu both.” She looked at arry properly – at how worn out he was. “Ve has missed hyu, Master Barry. Now sit down before hyu falls down.”
“Yes, mama.”
She’d held back the best cuts of roast for them. Barry ate two plates and then asked if there were any fried snails (“of cauwse!”) Agatha, meanwhile, was looking curiously at the Jägers who were also looking curiously at her. “Uncle, can I go say hello?”
“All right.” Barry handed her a Sparkwork device. “Keep that with you, and stay in the hall. No one here will hurt you.”
Higgs discretely signalled Ognian to trail after Agatha. The rest of the Generals looked on in wonder.
“You used to hate us,” Khrizian rumbled. Barry sighed.
“We barely knew you, Khrizian. We made conclusions based on biased information and didn’t bother to make our own observations. That was a significant error.” And strange as it was to hear one of the Masters admit fault, that just showed that he trusted them with that too. Khrizian patted his shoulder; Barry leaned into it. (And if he teared up at the taste of Gkika’s secret fried snail recipe, none of them mentioned it. They knew what battle fatigue looked like.)
“What was that gadget you gave Miss Agatha?” Goomblast asked as a change of subject.
“It’ll keep her from going into fugue while I’m not watching.”
“She’s five?” Zog muttered, confused.
Barry gave him a grin of pure Heterodyne mayhem. “She started heterodyning last week.”
“Should be fun,” Higgs commented.
Khrizian had seen a lot of Heterodynes come and go, but he could honestly say he’d never had one fall asleep on him before. Barry had put himself in their hands completely and without hesitation, with nothing in his scent but relief and gratitude. And that was more than worth twenty years of waiting.
***
There was something nostalgic about plotting to conquer Europa. Higgs sat with the rest of the Generals, chewing on his pipe and occasionally putting in a word on the plans to repair the Castle and rotate the Jägers between the Baron’s fleet and Mechanicsburg, but mostly watching the Master.
Barry was still quieter than he once was; more inclined to ominous looming than cackling. He’d lost so much – even some of his faith in heroics, perhaps. But he still had his niece, his town, and his Jägerkin, and he’d found new purpose in that.
And a purposeful Heterodyne was a force to behold. (And then flee from, if one was prudent.) The Jägerkin had caught on quickly that Barry wanted them as his shield, and they’d shred anyone who looked at him wrong.
“That’s decided then,” said Barry, while Goomblast folded his maps. “One more thing – a bit of personal business. Axel.”
Higgs stood to attention.
“You brought me home, and I don’t just mean geographically. I’ve been thinking of a way to show my appreciation.”
“Just doing my duty, Sir.” Seeing the Family thrive was reward enough.
“Still.” Barry sat forward. “You’re often in disguise, but when you’re in town,” He took the cap from his own head. “I want you to have this.”
Higgs almost dropped his pipe. A rare honor indeed; He knelt and removed his current hat; Barry’s cap settled on his hair.
***
“You asked to see me, Sir?”
Master Barry was in what he called his political science lab, leaning over the great map table of Europa, which was scattered with tokens and color-coded pins that showed the movements of Europa’s powers. The latest dispatches from Castle Wulfenbach lay at his elbow, so he’d probably just finished updating the map. Agatha, now seven yeas old, perched beside him, bouncing with excitement. “Hi, Mr Higgs!”
“Miss Agatha.” Axel tipped his hat to her.
Barry said, “Yes, Higgs. I have an assignment for you that’s a bit outside your usual line.”
“Anything, Sir,” Axel said sincerely. Barry smiled.
“Klaus writes that he’s finally set up his school to Madame Otilia’s satisfaction, and he’s planning to enter Gil under a fake name.”
“And I want to go too!” Agatha chimed in.
“I think it will be good experience, though Agatha will also need a cover identity. Higgs, I’m guessing you have an alias for yourself in the Wulfenbach fleet?”
“Yes, Sir; airman third class.”
“Perfect.”
Agatha jumped off her stool and ran up to him. “I want to be Agatha Higgs. And I want you to be my papa.”
It was the better part of a thousand years since he’d given himself over to the Heterodynes, and they still managed to surprise him. Axel’s first thought was that this was above his pay grade, but Master Barry was nodding approval. “Young Mistress, it would be my honor to offer you my name.”
Agatha cheered and threw her arms around him. Carefully (always carefully) he huggwd her back. The ruse would work; they looked similar enough to sell the story. A doting single father who called his daughter pet names like ‘princess’ and ‘m’lady’; the mother would be conveniently deceased. They’d need to lock down her Spark somehow, find an appropriate wardrobe. Was Klaus going to be read in?
“Axel,” Barry said softly. “I’m not just entrusting you with Agatha’s safety, but also her education. You know more about the Heterodynes than anyone alive. Make sure she knows all of it, the good and the bad.”
Red fire, he loved this family. “Yes, Master Barry.”
***
2. The Prince
“Papa!” Agatha leapt up from the reading circle and ran to the door, which drew Tarvek’s attention from his own book. It might be strange that he was envious of a common airman – remarkable only for his impressive whiskers – but he couldn’t help but watch as Higgs couched down to greet his daughter. “Good afternoon to you too, m’Lady. Reading anything good?”
“I got a book on the biology of bats! Echolocation is just fascinating, and then there’s hibernation …” Higgs nodded along as though he actually had any interest in bats.
“D’I ever tell you the story of the Red Heterodyne’s bat sandwiches?”
“Bat sandwiches?” Agatha wrinkled her nose. “Are those even good?”
“The Red Heterodyne must have thought so. What happened was …”
***
“Why do you hate my papa?” Agatha asked, poking Tarvek in the ribs.
“It’s not that I hate him …” She should be safe to talk to; there was no way she had an agenda beyond family feelings. “I just wish my father was as nice as yours.” According to Aaronev, the Baron’s school was a transparent ploy to gather hostages from Europa’s noble families. It was also a prime opportunity to get eyes inside Castle Wulfenbach, so off Tarvek went, even though he’d much rather continue Smoke Knight training with Cousin Violetta.
Agatha and Gil were anomalies among the Sparks at Baron Wulfenbach’s school, they were the only two who were neither Sparks nor nobles. Agatha had the excuse of her airman father. Yet surely many of Wulfenbach personnel had families, and no one else had enrolled their children at this school. As for Gil, if pressed he would say he was the Baron’s research subject, as an orphan who was likely to break through as a Spark. Tarvek wasn’t sure he believed that story, and said so. “But I’m not going to pry about it.”
“Why not?” asked Gil.
“Because friends keep each other’s secrets.” Because he had no reason to manipulate them, and neither of them had tried to manipulate him. Because he thought, against all his family’s training, that they might be safe. “And that way, no one can say I’m pushing you around.”
“As if I’d listen to you just because you’re a Prince,” grumbled Gil.
“If anyone thinks you can make me do anything, they don’t know me very well,” added Agatha.
***
Then, when Tarvek was fourteen.
“Just what were you doing in the records room, young Stormvoraus?”
Tarvek stood before Baron Wulfenbach and Barry Heterodyne, and tried to keep his hands from shaking. This would be terrifying enough if he’d simply been caught spying, but he had intended this. He’d timed his excursion for the Heterodyne’s visit, so he could claim to his father that he tried to take advantage of the distraction, but Jäger security would also be tighter. Father couldn’t complain if the Baron made him stop spying.
“Tarvek,” said Barry. “Not only were you caught red-handed, you were also looking at the file of one of your friends. The other students are convinced you have ulterior motives for getting so close to Agatha and Gil.”
Agatha was sitting off to the side; Airman Higgs leaned on the wall beside his daughter, unfazed by the squad of Jägers behind Barry. Despite the situation, Tarvek felt a little calmer.
“I never meant them harm. I only looked at Agatha’s file because I was sure there’d be nothing to find.” If she was anything but an airman’s daughter, her story was airtight. And it didn’t matter, because he would do anything for Agatha (even put up with Gil, ugh), just because he could give her anything and know that she wouldn’t take advantage of him.
Not that anyone would trust the word of a Valois descendant. Tarvek groped for a way to convince them he was telling the truth. “I swear on the Doom Bell!”
The Jägers all went still. Barry raised an eyebrow. “Have a care, young man. Such an oath is considered binding beyond death.”
He heard that, and knew that this was his path. He straightened his spine. “I, Tarvek Sturmvoraus, swear on the Doom Bell that I will never knowingly harm Agatha, or act against her interests.”
Barry nodded solemnly nodded. “I witness your oath, Tarvek. There will be no mercy if you break it.” He said it gently, more a warning than a threat. The Baron opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. The Jägers were all grinning .
Agatha seized him in a hug. “You didn’t need to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to.”
***
That night, Tarvek thought long and hard about hat exactly Agatha’s best interests were. (He’d turn his notes over to the Heterodyne, he decided; he could tell his father they’d been destroyed in a plumbing accident.) He took a walk around the school area to clear his head. As he passed a broom closet, an arm whipped out and pulled him inside. He was already reaching for a knife when he recognised Higgs.
“Ah. Hello. Is this about my intentions towards your daughter?”
“No. This is about oathkeeping.” Higgs leaned over him with a serious scowl. “Keeping an oath in secret ain’t easy. You won’t drop hints or carry tokens. Keep your excuses ready. Practice them.”
That wasn’t actually far off from what he’d concluded for himself, based on his Smoke Knight training. “I understand Sir.”
Higgs scrutinised him. “Huh. Guess you do.”
“Agatha is plotting revenge.”
The airman’s expression softened. “She’s a smart girl. Now, this conversation.”
“Excellent shovel talk, Mr Higgs.”
“Good lad.” Higgs patted his shoulder and sauntered out the door.