Chapter Text
Harry's proposal entered the room last, right as he was beginning his speech. Blond hair, pale skin, huge blue-green eyes lined with kohl, delicate bone structure and a cocky half-smile on her lips. Merlin couldn't look away. Although to be honest, he hasn't been able to look away since the moment she looked into Harry's eyes, swearing secrecy. It wasn't fear reflected in the lenses, but honesty, understanding, and resignation. Eggsy understands, and respects Harry's secrets, and the lengths he would go to to protect them. He had no doubt she would be able to hold on to the secret. Judging by the show that Harry put on for her in the bar, Harry himself had high hopes in her ability too - more so than he realized.
She attracted the wrong kind of attention from some of the candidates immediately, namely Oxbridge boys with a glint in their eyes as they noted her faded baggy street clothing. Her fluid gate faltered slightly as she noticed the attention for what it was, a hint of steel straightening her spine. Her easy cockiness didn't falter either, although she seemed to wince minutely when she moved her left side. If Harry's words were anything to go by, her stepfather must have roughed her up more than even Harry himself expected.
"You are about to embark on what is probably the most dangerous job interview in the world. One of you, and only one of you, will become the next Lancelot."
He could feel her eyes as they move keenly over his body, pausing at his thighs and arms. A hint of appreciation for his physiques, but more than a healthy dose of respect for his coiled potential to do physical damage beneath the sweater and khakis. Smart girl. Merlin is a Kingsman after all, and regularly Harry's sparring partner at that.
"Can anyone tell me what this is?"
"A body bag, sir," replied Charlie Hesketh, Arthur's proposal, superiority shining through in his excitement.
"Correct. Charlie isn't it?"
"Yes, sir."
"In a moment, you will each collect a body bag. You will write your name on that bag. You write the details of your next of kin on that bag. This represents the acknowledgement of the risks that you're about to face as well as your agreement to strict confidentiality, which incidentally if you break, will result in you, and your next of kin, being in that bag. Is that understood?"
Victoria Unwin, Eggsy as she calls herself, pales significantly at his words. He could see no fear in her eyes though, green now that she has shifted more into the light, but rather, guilt. She looks confusedly at other trainees, understandably puzzled as to why they have no reaction to the possibility of putting your kin into a body bag. Eggsy knew what her mother went through, her father going back to her in a coffin rather than the body bag itself. To deliver herself back to her mother in a body bag must be unthinkable. Merlin can see it is not the prospect of death itself that bothers Eggsy the most - the idea of having someone else suffer for her actions must not sit well with her. Compassionate Eggsy who has quit opportunity after opportunity to take care of her mother as she spirals into destruction, who swerves to save a stray puppy knowing she will end up in prison, visibly steels herself. Her loyalty to Harry will not let her walk away. Her absolute silence will ensure that her mother does not end up in that bag, after all.
"Eggy. Where did they dig you up?" Charlie rounds in on Eggsy, not really able to reel in the interest in his eyes, or hold back from crowding Eggsy's space with his larger body.
"Eggy. So are you Oxford or Cambridge?"
"Neither."
"St Andrews? Durham?"
"No wait. I think we may have met. Did you serve me at a McDonald's at a Winchester service station?"
"No," juts out Eggsy's chin.
"Wait, I think I know. Eggy can't work at McDonald's if she's busy working the street. We may have seen you in passing. Bet you must be pretty fast running from cops in those sneakers. You know what they say about prostitutes and wearing sneakers. Maybe that's why you're here, hard-learned skills and all."
Charlie and the others sweep their eyes down her body, clad in a plain baggy t-shirt, black jeans and loud gold sneakers with wings.
"Well, innit flattering that ye think people would pay money to have sex with me? Can't say the same for you. Must be your face. Shame. Not like ye can help it."
Charlie's body tightens in anger. Eggsy's eyes shine with something like humor as she smiles languidly and somehow, still brightly, at Charlie. She turns away from him in favor of talking to Roxy and Amelia, ignoring him and his goons completely. Charlie can't hide his annoyance. God who thought that boy was good for being a spy? A smile from Eggsy and he's confused between his disgust of her lower class accent and clothing, and his guttural attraction to the sunshine that is Eggsy. She doesn't make it any easier for him either, leaving him uncomfortably aware of the attraction. Charlie stews awkwardly on one side of the room while she makes herself comfortable for bed. Smart girl.
Eggsy throws a furtive glance at the mirror on the far wall behind the shower, right at where he is standing. A coil of pleasure bloomed in his stomach, and it's indecent how fast he got hard. Merlin doesn't know if this is what she's learned while casing places to rob, but awareness of one's surrounding is a must in the business they are in. Delicate-boned as she seemed, Eggsy is steel and gazes and sharp as a razor's edge, all wrapped up in half open pink lips and bright eyes.
Delicious anticipation fills his body and limbs. Merlin aches to spar. Would Eggsy prove to be a fair sparring partner? Loose limbs, graceful, adrenaline pumped smiles and bright eyes. Would she be agile and bendy still, after quitting gymnastics for so long? Merlin sure hopes she hasn't gotten rusty, but he should probably stop thinking about Eggsy in a split right now.