Chapter Text
Merlin and Eggsy made their way through the jungle at a steady pace, they took every step as equals and every obstacle as a team. It wasn’t quite what Eggsy had envisioned, the first time he’d let himself think of his future as a spy, but it was amazing and he wanted this moment to last. This feeling of surety and confidence in his partner. Poppy had razed Kingsman, but together he and Merlin could fix it up again- especially with the collection of Unfinished Business agents trapped on this side of the veil.
They could rebuild, once this was over.
‘Shit,’ Eggsy breathed, frozen in place as if that could undo what he’d just done, as if he could just believe really hard and suddenly the landmine would disappear. Well he reasoned to himself at least I tried. He took a moment to imagine an Indiana Jones styled solution, where there would just so happen to be a stone or something that was the perfect weight to keep the mine from going off. A deus ex machina where he got out of his stupid mistake alive.
‘This spray will freeze the trigger mechanism for a split second,’ Eggsy’s eyes snapped open, and Merlin gave the cheekiest look Eggsy had ever seen, ‘and what I want you to do is-’ Harry hissed in a breath as Merlin pressed the trigger, and yanked Eggsy away at the same moment he’d stepped forward.
‘What the fuck, bruv?!’
‘Eggsy, lad, our lives were shoved together the day your father did the same thing for us. You’re the future of Kingsman, Eggsy- now go save the world.’
‘WHO THE FUCK FOR?!’ Eggsy wished he could scream without jeopardising their location. He wished he could stomp and rant and somehow come to a different conclusion than Merlin had. He wished he had options. ‘Give me the can, Merlin.’
‘If you want to collect rubbish feel free, but it’s empty. One use product.’
‘Fuck you.’ The expletive hadn’t come from Eggsy, ‘Didn’t I just say, at the start of all this, that I couldn’t bear to find your body? Why the fuck would you think seeing your death would be any easier?’
‘I don’t- I just know that Eggsy’s the only way we’re getting the world through this. He’s the best of us, and that means he’s got to go on, because tomorrow’s always going to come Galahad. Even,’ Merlin whispered, eyes leaving Harry’s to look at Eggsy firmly, ‘if it must come without us.’
‘I sort of hate you right now.’ Eggsy took a shaky breath, refused to let his gaze waver- if there was one thing the man before him deserved, it was a witness. No matter how much it hurt.
‘That’s fine- I would, too, in your shoes. Now go- I’ll draw the guards to me, you go and get this shite done. Remember your training, or we’re all fucked.’
Eggsy didn’t quite know what to do on his own. Sure, he’d had loads of ideas but he couldn’t be sure of which was the right choice, which was the best option- it was something he’d relied on his senior agents to teach him. It was the thing Handlers were good at, making the distinction, and Eggsy was still mid-lesson, to be frank, so suddenly being left without a guiding voice in his ear was more than a bit jarring.
Well, not that he was alone but he certainly couldn’t count on actual backup. He was about to storm PoppyLand with nothing but his wits and the barely-there sensation of ice at his back. His dad and the Spencer trio were already scoping out the area, so at least he would have a vague idea of what he was getting into. But he had no plan. Everything he’d had was geared toward a duo and he’d arrived a solo act.
Now, as all surviving agents are present, we follow the doomsday protocol. When that's done, and only then, you may shed a tear in private.
‘Oh, Merlin,’ Eggsy sighed, one foot dragging after the other in a poor imitation of movement, ‘when will it ever be done?’ He knew Merlin was adjusting, was trying to play off his sudden arrival to the not-quite-afterlife with aplomb, and Eggsy couldn’t help the single tear that made its way down his face.
‘In some ways it never is- and in others, it’s already done. But,’ Harry gave Eggsy a look he didn’t fully understand, ‘the only way out is through.’
‘That’s some bullshit they wrote up for a sympathy card, bruv- it don’t mean anything.’
‘On the contrary,’ Merlin interjected, jumper a much better look than the suit they’d seen him in last, ‘the line’s usually attributed to Robert Frost, and people don’t like sentiments like that in their sympathy cards. They’re all about “we’re here for you” or “it’s okay to be sad” as opposed to acknowledging that mourning is difficult.’
‘Didn’ know you had such strong opinions about cards, guv.’
‘If there’s one thing you should know, Eggsy, about Merlin it’s that he has an insatiable need to be correct.’ Harry dodged a smack from Merlin, and Eggsy stifled a chuckle he didn’t think he had in him.
‘Weren’t he the one that bitched about you causin’ him shite from beyond the grave?’
‘I never said he wasn’t a hypocrite, Eggsy- just that he needed to be right.’
‘You’re treading a fine line, Hart.’
‘Oh, what’re you going to do? Kill me?’