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"Gentlemen, I am thankful to say that it's been 17 years since we last had occasion to use this decanter."
Harry stared through his spec feed at the flickering images of the other agents at the table and sighed. It seemed only Elyan had been near enough at hand to attend the toast personally. Likely it would be him assigned to investigate their fellow knight's death.
Secretly, Harry was glad of it. He'd rather anyone handle the job, so long as it wasn't him. His friendship with the late agent had been years in strong standing and his emotions at the moment felt rather closer to the surface than he was used to. James had been the third Lancelot since Harry's initiation into Kingsman and he'd rather hoped the younger man would outlive him. He'd been a good agent, if a bit brash and rather too enamored of his own sense of humor, but Harry had grown quite fond of the man who had shared the burden of Lee Unwin's death on his conscience.
Percival, Harry noted idly, seemed a bit worse for wear with the news and he wondered briefly if the rumors surrounding the pair had been true. Hard enough to maintain a relationship when only one of the partners was entrenched in the international spy world, let alone both.
Best not to dwell on it, he decided as he downed a mouthful of brandy only vaguely resembling that kept secure at Kingsman headquarters.
"I intend to start the selection process for Lancelot's replacement tomorrow. I want each of you to propose a candidate and have them report to UK HQ no later than 9 p.m. GMT. Thank you."
Harry thumbed his specs, closing the feed, and scowled as the lavishly decorated interior of Caerwyn Castle came into view. He'd been stuck in his oldest alias, Nolan Oscar, Earl of Caerwyn, for almost seven months trying to uncover what Harry was beginning to think had been a casual (if such a thing could exist) allusion to mass genocide and mind control.
He felt as though he'd done nothing but mingle and brown-nose since he'd arrived and had absolutely nothing to show for it.
He stood and regarded himself in the long, gilt-framed monstrosity of a mirror that dominated the left side of what only the very privileged would call a dressing room. His suit, of course, was impeccable, though not nearly to his taste. At first blush, it seemed fine enough: all black except for the snowy blouse and pocket square, but the damned thing included a double-breasted shawl lapelled waistcoat, a bloody bowtie, and patent oxfords. Harry sneered balefully at his reflection.
"You look fine, Galahad." Merlin commented wryly, ignoring Harry's ungentlemanly snort.
"I look like someone who spends almost as much time counting my money as picking entitled snobs' shit from my nose."
"Colorful." the tech wizard noted appreciatively before moving on. "Earl Bremley and his brother will be in attendance at your little party tonight, as well as the Marchioness of Orrinton, all of whom we have on record spouting just the elitist idiocy you've been investigating. I doubt they'll wind up being our lead in, but we've very little choice but to try at the moment."
Harry groaned. "Yes, lovely. Hours wasted courting the attentions of the High Hills dragon and the tittering twins. I should let you plan my evenings more often, Merlin."
"Perhaps you'll be more interested to hear that your argent Baroness and her eldest daughter have accepted invitations as well." the younger agent supplied blithely.
Harry raised a brow at his reflection. "Gwen and Clara? Well. Perhaps the night may be salvaged after all."
Merlin gave a put upon sigh. "Just remember to do your job between the flirting and innuendo, yes?"
Harry scoffed. "A gentleman does not engage in innuendo, Merlin. A bit of light banter, perhaps, but certainly nothing quite that forward."
"Of course."
Not for the first time in the last two years, Eggsy wished he'd stayed in the military. Being a body guard was not, he'd found, all about jumping in front of bullets and speaking into tiny earpieces.
Though, he admitted to himself, that was certainly part of it.
He stared up at the ivy-choked trellis attached to his client's summer chateau, the wan moonlight just enough to pick out his current charge's careful descent from her second story window. Leaning casually on the crumbling brick wall, he waited for her to reach the ground. Where, he wondered, did a nine year-old have to sneak off to at half three in the morning? The silvery gray Leowe cross duffel over her shoulder looked full to bursting and Eggsy considered the idea that she might be running away.
When her tiny ballet flats finally touched ground, he watched her meticulously brush the dust off of her no-doubt wildly expensive leggings and pat her brown curls back into place before turned and finally caught sight of him.
"Holy Christmas!" she squeaked and Eggsy found he couldn't contain his bark of laughter at her outburst.
"What are you doing out here, Eggsy?" she demanded, but he merely shook his head, struggling to regain his breath.
After a few failed attempts, he finally felt calm enough to speak.
"No, love. What are you doing out here? Past your bed time innit?"
The girl drew herself up belligerently. "It's no business of yours what I choose to do with my time." she swept an imperious hand at him. "Run along."
Eggsy raised an eyebrow and grinned, not in the least intimidated by her clumsy attempt to shoo him off.
"Wow, you sounded almost exactly like Charlie there for a mo'."
They stared each other down for several silent moments, but Eggsy knew he'd won. He could already see the muscles quivering in her cheeks as she fought to hold back her laughter. A simple wink sent her over the edge and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands, glancing up at the dark windows of the chateu warily.
"Seriously, though. Where d'you think you're going this time of night, Finley?" Eggsy asked and she seemed to suddenly deflate, shoulders hunched as she leaned back against the bricks beside him.
"Daddy says we have to go to Switzerland." she answered morosely.
Eggsy frowned. "So? You've been there before. Why's it a problem now?"
The youngest member of the Hesketh family glared at him. "It's not a vacation! We're moving there. Selling the Estate and everything." she spat, throwing her arms up dramatically. "Forever!"
Eggsy's frown deepened. "I didn't hear nothing about that. When?"
Finley shrugged. "Daddy says when the time is right. Probably when Charlie gets back from wherever he ran off to from school."
Eggsy didn't like the sound of that. If the family permanently moved house, what would become of their employees? Of him? Would they expect him to come along, abandoning his own family in the process, or would they simply hire on new people once they got where they were going? His attention wandered back to the young girl beside him. She was well-traveled for a nine year old, but the Hesketh Estates had always been her home and she knew the grounds inside and out. He knew it had to hurt to contemplate leaving the place, never to return.
"So you're, what? Running away?" he asked seriously and felt his chest constrict when he noticed the tears welling up in her eyes.
"I don't know." She muttered. "If I run away, I can't ever come back anyway, so what's the point? I just..." she sighed defeatedly. "I don't know."
Eggsy contemplated the girl for a moment before holding out his arms. "Come on, love. Let's get you back inside and into bed. My head's too tired to have a serious talk at this time of night and I'm sure not letting you leave home."
Finley glared him down for a bit, but finally climbed into his arms. He carried her carefully into the house, mindful of those still sleeping. It occurred to him that his job had devolved into glorified nanny when he'd been assigned to the Heskeths' youngest child, but he really couldn't find it in himself to care most of the time. She was a lovely girl, if a bit spoilt, and inspired the same love and affection in everyone who got close to her. It was, Eggsy thought, very likely the only thing he and her brother Charlie agreed upon.
"We'll talk about it in the morning, yeah?" he said softly as he deposited the girl at her bedroom door.
Finley nodded, still obviously unhappy, but seeming willing to leave the theatrics for daylight hours.
"Mr. Oscar!" a lisped voice called out and Harry scowled.
The Earl Edward Bremley and his twin brother, Edwin sputtered beside him.
"I b-beg your pardon!" One of them (Harry still had trouble distinguishing the pair) gasped, scandalized as the other brother fluttered a hand at his throat, apparently speechless.
A tall, dark man in utterly inappropriate dress approached him, hand outstretched and face split in a wide friendly smile. "I'm Richmond Valentine! I've heard so much about you!"
The brothers Bremley glared at the hand as though it was diseased before turning matching expressions of disbelief on Harry when he reached out and shook it.
"Mr. Valentine." he greeted politely. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage as I've been woefully uninformed of your unique presence."
"Well I certainly didn't know he was here." one of the brothers muttered darkly, but both Harry and Valentine ignored him.
"Giuseppe Zanotti." Harry stated with approval, gesturing to the man's white and gold trainers. "An interesting choice for formal wear."
Valentine's smile warmed and he chuckled brightly. "You like 'em? I thought maybe they were a little down home for this kind of shindig, but I really like the design."
"Nonsense." Harry assured, viciously happy when the tittering twins took themselves away with a chorus of barely concealed insults. "They pair up perfectly with your Armani jacket."
"Someone's got an eye for fashion." the man observed happily.
"Always." Harry confirmed. "Incidentally, when one addresses an Earl, it's generally accepted to refer to him as Lord."
Valentine waved the information away with the flick of a wrist. "Y'all English and your titles. I can't ever get 'em straight."
"Then you must call me Nolan." Harry offered graciously.
"Nolan." the man nodded. "How do you feel about talking politics on a first date?"
Eggsy stared at the paper in his hands. There were six digits on it that he was struggling to accept were real.
"We would like to move away from subscribing to a security firm and instead employ certain gifted and...loyal individuals directly." Kemp Hesketh was saying from behind a mammoth desk off to Eggsy's right.
"You would, of course," he continued, not seeming to notice Eggsy's distraction, "be required to tender your resignation with Acacius Risk Management and enter into a contract with myself."
"Of course." he replied blankly.
"If you're seriously considering my offer, I've had a negotiable draft contract already drawn up for perusal." Hesketh stated, pulling a slim folder from a drawer and sliding it across the desk's flawlessly shining surface.
"What changes would be involved?" Eggsy inquired, returning his attention to the man who had made such an unprecedented offer, unwilling to let himself underestimate him.
The older man shrugged. "Your duties will vary little from their current pattern. You seem to have a unique ability to outmaneuver my daughter's histrionics and eccentricities which I would very much like to continue utilizing."
Something wasn't right. Eggsy could feel it, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what was setting off his radar. "Finley's concerned about the family moving." he finally stated baldly.
Hesketh leaned forward, clasping his hands together as his brows pinched in a slight frown.
"The move is temporary. We plan to come back once our interests have...settled."
Oh, Eggsy thought sarcastically, that didn't sound ominous at all. "And during this move, I'd be required to tag along?"
"Naturally."
Eggsy frowned, staring down at the paper cradled in his sweating palms. Money like that could mean a lot for his mum and Daisy. Hell, he could afford to let her study abroad when she got older with that kind of cash. His mum could get a car, a better apartment. Maybe he could find a way to get the pair of them away from Dean...
"My family-"
"Will be perfectly fine without you for a few months." the man said dismissively. "I'll give you until the end of the week to decide. I do apologize for the short notice, but we really must finalize all contracts before the move. Feel free to take the draft and have your solicitor take a look. I assure you the offer is quite generous."
Eggsy took a moment to consider, but there really was only one choice he could make.
"I'll do it."
Harry awoke groggy, but aware enough to know he was not where he was supposed to be. The room was small, but elegantly furnished around a plush sofa and the rather large bed he was currently sprawled across. The door, however, was what told Harry everything he needed to know: thick and metal and obviously locked. He sat up and patted his pockets for his specs as he tried to remember how he'd gotten here. There was the faint hint of a metallic taste in the back of his mouth and he analyzed the flavor, finally coming to the conclusion that he must have been drugged with Zopiclone or something similar.
He paused, eyes widening as he took a deep breath and began searching his pockets more earnestly.
Nothing. Nothing! His specs, his lighter, pen, even his shoes were gone!
Who on earth drugs a man and steals his shoes?
Harry closed his eyes and forced his body into a semblance of calm, trying again to remember what had happened.
"Nolan! You're awake!" a cheerful voice called from a tiny open window on the door.
Valentine.
"I brought you some dinner, since you got sick last time we talked. You remember?" the man asked, seeming genuinely concerned.
Harry stood and approached the door, frowning.
"Valentine. How did I get here?" he asked, voice low and unamused.
"Oh, well we had a talk and you might have said some things you didn't mean and maybe I did too, but it's all good. You look like everything's out of your system. We can talk again now that you should remember it all."
A tea tray appeared at the man's chin and Valentine slid it through the tiny window. "Here, you should eat. Don't worry, it's not drugged! I already got you here, no need to keep you knocked out."
Graciously, Harry took the tray, setting it aside as a vague memory of a party and Valentine's proposal washed up to the forefront of his memory. Ah. The proposal.
"Just what do you hope to accomplish by holding me here? Surely you can't think I'll change my mind? Or that you'll be able to ransom me?" he asked incredulously. "And why did you take my things?"
Valentine grinned delightedly, but seemed inclined to answer only the last of Harry's questions. "We put everyone through a full body scanner, like in airports, to check if they have things like metal plates or pacemakers." he answered, crowding closer to the opening. "I gotta make sure all my guests are taken care of. But you!" he burst out, bringing a finger up to point at Harry. "You're like something out of a Bond movie! Where'd you get all that awesome stuff?"
Harry fought the urge to growl. "I had it made. I am a paranoid and fanciful twat with more money than sense. Hadn't you guessed?"
Valentine frowned. "Hey now. Don't you get all negative on me. We were having a nice conversation. Do you remember what I asked you? Why you're here?"
Harry nodded slowly as the memory came back to him. "I am here because I refused to subscribe to your ridiculous vision."
The frown deepened. "Ridiculous." the man repeated unhappily. "So you still won't agree to my conditions?"
"Afraid not, friend." Harry answered coldly, surprised when Valentine simply slammed the window closed, saying nothing more on the matter.
"Shit."
Eggsy woke to the jarring ring of his text alert. He rolled over and snatched the satellite phone from its charging cradle, opening the message and glaring at it blearily before the words began to make sense.
<[REPORT TO FOYER IMMEDIATELY. DEPARTURE WITHIN THE HOUR.]
Departure? Eggsy thought muzzily. Did that mean the move? Who moves in the middle of the night?
Still, orders were orders. Eggsy dressed quickly, grabbed the military duffel he'd kept packed for the last two months on his new boss' orders, stuffed his phone charger and the minimal scattered remains of his belongings into an outer pocket, and left the room that had been his since he'd come to work for the Heskeths.
Charlie, it seemed, had returned; standing off to the left of the rest of his family and looking as though he'd spent his entire time away sucking lemons. Eggsy avoided him, instead approaching Olivia, who had her daughter wrapped up in a blanket and fast asleep in her arms.
"Miss." he acknowledged and Finley's mother nodded silently in reply.
"That's all of us, then." Kemp announced, looking around the room at his son, daughter, wife, and the three bodyguards he'd taken into his employ recently.
Eggsy eyed the other two close-guards. They were American, both, and had been assigned to protect Kemp and Olivia. As such, he'd seen very little of them during his time with the Heskeths. Charlie, Eggsy knew, had been refusing such measures since he was old enough for his parents to listen to him.
"Right along, now." the patriarch called and all present were herded into a pair of cars and off to a private airport.
Eggsy spent the ride trying not to think of how dodgy the whole affair felt. Running off in the dark of night like criminals made him nervous enough to question Kemp's true motives for the move, but the thought of his sister kept his tongue glued firmly to the roof of his mouth.
Four hours later he felt his doubts come back tenfold as he watched several missiles turned away from their plane with just a mention of the Hesketh name.
Harry glared at the door from his seat on the sofa and swirled the whiskey in his glass. Two months he'd been here. He knew the room inside and out, knew every crevice, every corner. He knew there was no way out but through that damned door. He wanted for nothing, fed three times a day, provided with books and alcohol, even a chess board at one point. He could fashion any number of weapons, but he'd found the guards who provided these amenities were far more wary than their employer. They never, ever, opened the door and kept themselves at a safe distance when handing things through the tiny window.
How intelligent of them.
If they were wise, they would continue in this fashion, for as Harry's frustration grew, so did his desire to utterly destroy anyone and anything that got between him and strangling Richmond Fucking Valentine.
The place was like a mountain resort, Eggsy decided. Except for the numerous camo-clad troops and the fact that no one was allowed to leave once they'd arrived, he could almost believe the Heskeths had decided on a somewhat bizarre winter vacation.
Almost.
They'd been there for mere moments when Eggsy learned what was truly going on. The other entitled pricks here apparently felt safe enough to discuss their clout in front of the 'help'. He trembled in a combination of rage and abject fear. In three more hours, Richmond Valentine planned to release...something into the world that would kill nearly everyone in it.
He had to do something.
The door moved. It had been a tiny, almost imperceptible quake, but Harry was certain he'd seen it. Tense and primed for battle, he sat his whiskey aside and slid close to the cool metal.
"Fuckfuckfuck." He heard quietly muttered on the other side.
Certainly not a guard, then. Not Valentine either. Harry slammed his fist against the metal and heard a satisfyingly choked gasp filter through. The window opened and Harry felt himself blink in surprise.
Well. Hello there.
"Who're you?" Oh, the voice was just as lovely as those bright green eyes. He swallowed.
"Have you got a mobile?" Harry asked, finding himself smiling when the young man merely stared at him in disbelief.
"Sorry, what?"
"A mobile. Do you have one?"
There was a long pause during which the young man seemed to consider Harry before shrugging and handing over a- Oh yes!- a satellite phone! Perfect.
He'd been snooping for a while before he realized he was lost. Slumping against on of what had to be hundreds of doors in the long hall, Eggsy muttered to himself.
"Fuckfuckfuck." What was he going to do? He had no clue where he was, no clue how to get out, and no fucking clue what to do with the information he had once he did.
A boom right beside his ear nearly stopped his heart and he turned to the door, flipping the lock on the window and peering inside.
Well. Hello there.
Eggsy stared, dumbfounded for a moment before his wits caught up with him.
"Who're you?" he asked, hoping that the fact that the man was locked up in an evil bad guy's lair meant he was one of the good guys. When he asked him for his phone, though, Eggsy frowned.
The world was going to end and he wanted to make a phone call? It occurred to him, however, that good guys might have contact with other good guys. Preferably with brains that could form actual, working plans.
So he gave him his phone.
>[FOLLOW FOR G]
Harry sent the text to the only encrypted number he could remember off the top of his head. Almost as soon as the message went through, he grinned in triumph. Merlin was coming.
>>>SECURITY REQUEST ALLOW Y/N
>Y
>>>SATELLITE LOCATIONS SERVICES REMOTELY ACTIVATED
<[REPORT.]
>[HALE/SECURED]
<[KING RETIRED.]
Harry's hands tightened on the plastic body of the phone. Arthur was dead? How? Was it something to do with Valentine?
>[MORDRED?]
Had Valentine gotten to someone in Kingsman? Harry shuddered at the thought that one of his fellow Knights would commit such an act against their code.
<[FALLEN KING.]
Harry felt a numbness overtake him. Arthur had betrayed them. Darkly, he acknowledged the twisted sense it made. The man had always subscribed to a saccarine, elitest ideal of the Knights. Valentine would have found him an easy target.
<[HOUNDS RELEASED.]
Good. Merlin was on his way. He quickly deleted the texts and handed the phone back through to the young man.
Then an idea rose in his mind. He'd heard the guards open various doors during his time here and it seemed they all had the same code. What need had they for more when the only people on the other side were guards? Easier to remember just one.
"Might I ask you a favor?" he asked the boy.
"Yeah, alright."
"Could you press the keypad buttons? In order, please."
Those expressive eyes regarded him again doubtfully before he finally nodded.
The key tones were distinct and Harry concentrated on their sounds as the boy pressed each one in turn.
"Now, 2725, please."
The boy obeyed. Nothing happened.
"Perhaps 2625." Harry corrected and was rewarded when the unmistakable sound of the locking mechanism releasing reverberated through the metal beneath his hands.
"Nice." the boy complimented with a raised eyebrow and a crooked grin as he turned the handle and the door that had kept Harry trapped for so long finally, finally, opened.
Eggsy couldn't stop the appreciative hiss as the man on the other side of the door was fully revealed.
Jesus fuck, they didn't make 'em like that anymore. All long elegant limbs and dark eyes and hands that Eggsy really shouldn't be imagining on his body at a moment like this.
"Er."
The man smiled and held out his hand. "Nolan Oscar, at your service."
Eggsy felt his brain kick back online as he shook the man's hand with a grin.
"Eggsy. So, Nolan," he began, glancing into the 'cell'. "You comin' out or am I comin' in?"
The cheeky little shit.
"Out, I'm afraid. I have friends coming to visit and I'd like to meet them at the door." Harry passed Eggsy into the corridor before turning back, considering.
"You're welcome to join me, of course." he offered, continuing on down the hall.
"We savin' the world then?" the boy asked, trotting gamely along to keep up with Harry's long stride.
"That's the plan." he replied dryly.
"If we save the world, do I get a kiss? Isn't that what you do when you rescue the princess?"
Harry stumbled to a halt. He was a Knight for pity's sake! "I beg your pardon? In what world am I the princess?"
The grin was back. "Well, all locked up in the tower an' all, I thought..."
Harry sighed. Very well. Apparently he was the princess. But no shrinking violet, he.
"If we save the world, I'll give you more than a kiss, dear boy. I'll bloody ruin you."
Nolan kept walking. Eggsy felt as though all of his blood had suddenly run south and the dickhead who'd caused it just kept walking, seeming supremely unaffected by the chaos he'd sewn in Eggsy's body with those simple words.
"Fuck me." he groaned.
"Something like that." came the smug reply.
The man was going to kill him.
Eggsy heard him curse foully when the sound of gunfire exploded into the quiet hallway. He darted to the side, reaching out to pull Nolan with him only to find the older man already moving in the same direction.
He listened to the shouting orders and gunfire, deciding there were only two assailants and figuring he could handle that as long as he could avoid the bullets.
"Stay here." Nolan ordered and Eggsy bristled.
"Nah, bruv. I've got this." he snorted before sprinting at the nearest guard, taking the man by surprise and giving himself enough time to clock him hard in the jaw and liberate his gun.
Harry allowed himself a moment to admire the way the young man moved, approving of his attack even as he disabled the second guard. He hefted the gun in his arms and grinned at Eggsy ferally.
"Good God, you're bloody gorgeous."
The boy grinned right back, offering a wink before moving on.
They made their way through increasingly defended corridors, new guns picking out weak spots and helping each other cover blind spots. The pair worked together like they were made to be partners, working around each other rhythmically as they took down the assembling forces and Valentine ranted viciously over the intercom.
Guards fell like leaves in autumn before their grace and Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd come to respect anyone so quickly.
"Your friends." the boy began, huffing a bit in exertion and Harry noticed the flush of his face, the bitten swell of his lip, and found himself unable to follow the rest of Eggsy's words.
"Come again?"
"I'll hold you to that." came the quick response before he began again. "No, your friends. They wouldn't be the kind with guns, would they? Because Valentine's got missiles at the mouth of this place."
"Lovely." Harry groaned, popping two bullets between the eyes of a too-slow guard. He held out his hand and Eggsy wordlessly handed him the satphone. Slipping into an alcove, Harry listened to the boy hold off several armed men while he shot a text off to Merlin.
>[BE ADVISED: ARROWS IN USE]
<[ALREADY TAKEN CARE OF.]
Harry frowned at the phone and nearly dropped it when a almighty crash shook the walls around him.
"Ah. They're early." He stated calmly in answer to Eggsy's confused look.
"Oh, I already like your friends.
Merlin led a contingent of Knights and lesser agents into the newly widened mouth of Valentine's bunker. The end of the mogul's plan was all but anticlimactic when they overran the facility easily and Bors placed two well-aimed bullets into the man and his girlfriend's heads.
He found Harry and the owner of the sat phone he'd used to contact Merlin in what looked like a party lounge, holding the people there hostage. The boy had a little girl wrapped up in his arms, hiding her face in his neck and shaking.
"Galahad." he acknowledged and Harry nodded.
"Merlin."
Merlin nodded and gave the order to cuff and evacuate all civilians to the charter plane on its way.
"You were voted in as Arthur in your absence." he said casually, watching his agents work.
Harry frowned fiercely. "You know I've no desire-"
"It doesn't matter, Harry. The decision's made."
The older agent sighed, but perked up visibly when the boy approached.
"Eggsy! This is Merlin."
Merlin blinked before his manners kicked in and he offered a hand to the boy.
Eggsy took it and smiled. "You're the friend with the guns."
"So it would seem."
Harry seemed far too happy for Merlin's comfort.
"Well!" his oldest friend began, clasping his hands beatifically before him. "It seems we have an opening for Galahad to fill. Eggsy, how would you like to become a secret agent?"
Merlin groaned, dropping a hand over his face. It was going to be a long day.