chapter four
kill or be killed
IF THERE WAS anything Rory knew to do, it was to fight. And not just fight — but fight to win. Even after all those years being away from the Academy, she still knew the little quirks they taught her in order to win. The tactics, and techniques, in order to ensure that she would be the one to remain on the fighting pit.
(Kill, or be killed, remember Rora?)
"Again." Her head whispered, reaching forward in a swift motion as her fists jabbed into the rib of her opponent. Hugo. He was tall, efficient, had a sense of skill, and good strength. He knew when to duck, how to take a hit and even throw one — but the one thing he couldn't do was to beat Aurora Granger.
She was highly skilled in the art of martial arts, and a brilliant combatant while at it. Her hits were clean, as much as they were solid. Her style was efficient, somewhat creative, but overall ruthless. She was ruthless. She might look like she can't take a hit — but she can, and she'll give it back at a tenfold. Her head swiftly ducked, dodging another incoming punch and shoving it away with her bruised arm.
Her footing technique was another thing. It was highly complex. It bounced around, never staying in one position for too long — and before he knew it, her heel was diving right into the back of Hugo's knees, forcing the boy the kneel. Quickly, she stepped on his bent leg, and swung over his shoulders, effectively trapping his neck between his thighs. Then, she hauled them forward, without a second thought.
It was a classic.
Hugo's face turned into a deep shade of red, as soon as the thundering sound of their bodies colliding with the mat echoed across the sparring hall. She squeezed her legs and gritted her teeth. His head was locked into place, and hopelessly, he had no way out. Hugo groaned.
Rory pulled out his arm. "Ready to concede?"
"Fucking hell— argh— " Hugo was cut off by a sudden wave of pain.
"I forgot to mention," Rory started. Then, with her hands working with her legs, she pulled his sore limbs towards the opposite direction. Rory felt like she wasn't supposed to be slightly amused. But, she was. "I'm a little impatient."
She continued to stretch him out, and held him down in the same position, until his free arm shot out of the tangled mess and harshly slapped the leather material of the mat they were stood on.
" —FUCK! OK, I concede! I concede!"
Rory let out a breathy chuckle, releasing her death grip on the poor candidate as she got up. She could almost see the nods of approval, clouding her thoughts, the silent judgement passing by the remaining students that envied her success. She was always the best. Always succeeding. And so far, she continued to thrive, even at the hands of a different judge.
"Excellent work, Rory. You're done for the day," Merlin declared, a smile appearing on his face.
Rory stood tall. Proudly. "Yes, sir."
The man then turned to Hugo, with a completely opposite expression. "And Hugo."
He straightened up. "Yes, sir?"
"Better luck next time," said Merlin, before looking down to his clipboard. "Both of you, take your seats."
Rory walked off the sparring mattresses, reaching for a bottle of water from the small table of refreshments, before heading towards the empty benches off to the side. The bottle cap cracked under her grip upon opening, and the girl took a long sip. Today was the same, like any other training day, since the past couple of weeks. Morning jogs, breakfast (which consisted of the same old bread, fruit, and juice — at least, for Rory), then a training session. Rory thought that the daily routines would get old and repetitive around the fifth week, but after the small surprises that Merlin had laid out all throughout the course of training, she thought differently.
It didn't really matter, anyway. She knew how to fight, how to properly hold a gun, and even, how to answer the pressurised standard tests. (She didn't graduate at Oxford for no reason.) She could easily win this thing.
The only problem was making sure she was in full control of herself.
(You know... in case she accidentally got too excited and actually kill someone, for real. Not a fun experience, and definitely not new to Rory. She had the Academy to thank that for.)
The clock on the wall to her right told her that it was half-past four in the afternoon. Which meant, she had to wait another thirty minutes, until they were dismissed to take a break before supper. She didn't really know what else to do, other than wait. And it seemed, as though, Hugo — who sat on the other side of the room — didn't either. There was a part of her that kind of felt bad that she suffocated him, even though there wasn't really any other way to win the fight. If this were any other day, she'd just hang back and allow the guilt to eat at her. But, she was bored... and by the looks of it, so was he.
Rory huffed, and took another sip of her water, before making her way towards the other side of the arena. Aside from Roxy and Eggsy, Hugo was one of the other candidates that she found she could tolerate. He was strangely different, and sometimes an actually decent human being. Rufus and Digby were simply just carbon copies of Charlie, kind of like the Karen and Gretchen to his Regina George. Don't even get her started with that prat Charlie. And, the rest of the other candidates were simply irrelevant — especially after they've dismissed the fact that either Roxy or Rory could very much win this thing.
(Fuck the patriarchy.)
She was in the middle of watching (and laughing) at Roxy dominate her spar with her partner when a sudden screaming match had abruptly pulled her out of her thoughts.
"What the FUCK is wrong with me? The fuck is wrong with YOU?"
Rory halted in her spot, turning to look at the other side of the arena, just in time to see Hugo, Digby, and Merlin, himself, break up a fight between Eggsy and Charlie. Not a wise decision to put those two together...
Oh boy...
She rolled her eyes and jogged over to where they stood, seeing the other candidates do the same when the screaming got more intense.
"The fuck do you want, eh? You want a piece of me? You want a fucking piece of me— "
"Why the fuck would I want a pleb?"
"Oh— FUCK OFF, you dick!" Eggsy shouted. "If you wanted to fight dirty, you could've just said so!"
"What, so you could fucking win— ?"
"Enough!" Merlin's voice cut Charlie off. "You two are on probation, which means ten extra laps for the both of you, and clean up duty."
Eggsy's face screwed into anger. "But— "
"No buts!" Merlin snapped back. "Everyone's done for the day. Go back to your quarters, get dressed, and I'll see you all at supper. Six o-clock, sharp. Understood?"
Everyone let out a variation of yes sir's.
"Good. Dismissed," he sternly commanded, and the rest of the room shuffled towards the exit.
Rory unfolded her arms and began to do the same, taking her bottle with her and walking towards the exit. She was nearly halfway towards the exit, about to tap Roxy on the shoulder, when...
"Rory!"
She stopped in her tracks and spun around. "Yes... sir?"
Merlin gestured to Eggsy. "Take Eggsy to the Infirmary, make sure he gets that nose checked out."
Rory nodded. "Yes sir."
"He and I will have a little chat later... " Merlin gave him a stern look, before gently pushing him over to Rory. "Go on, dismissed."
"Yes, sir," Eggsy nimbly replied, walking towards Rory, who had her brows raised. He frowned. "What?"
Rory shrugged as they began walking towards the door. She placed a hand on Eggsy's back, half for support, and half because she didn't want him to turn around and look at Charlie again. The sight of him makes Eggsy's blood boil, which she could easily tell by the way the latter's nostrils flared at the sight of the prat. She wasn't much of a pacifist, but judging by the number of cuts and bruises all around Eggsy's face, she'd rather not have him running into another fight again. Things could end up much worse.
"Nothing, I'm just... nevermind," she shook her head, before directing him down the other hall. "The infirmary's this way."
Eggsy's frown continued to deepen. "Don't nevermind me," he said, before slightly smiling and gesturing to his face. "I'm the one with the broken nose, I think I deserve to mind."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Fine," she chuckled, "I was going to say — I'm impressed. If I were in your position, I would've finished off the dickhead."
He shrugged. "Nah, I doubt it."
Rory frowned. "Oh?"
"It ain't your style," he continued. "I think that you'd make him suffer a lot first, then you'd kill him. Seems more fitting and satisfying that way."
She chuckled. "How very observant of you, blondie."
He shrugged. "What can I say? I like what I see... "
"Smooth."
They both let out a chuckle, and turned to another hallway.
Rory memorised these halls. Over the past few weeks, she's visited the infirmary at least four times now — which wasn't something that she should be proud of, but what can she say? She's running low on luck. The first time was when her palms began to bleed a little too much for her liking, during a little shooting range test. She got a little antsy around guns and targets. The second time was when she punched the punching bag a little too hard and nearly broke her knuckles. It wasn't a pleasant experience.
The third time was a little bit different, though. A little less dark. Still painful, though. She supposed that Louie got a little too excited, after a long bath, and decided to run around the room chasing tiny J.B. Rest assured, she was caught by Rory, but at the cost of stubbing (and breaking) her toe at the corner of one of the beds.
Anyway, point being, she knew where they were headed.
"Here we are," she broke the silence and led him to a large room that smelt of metal, medicine, and rubbing alcohol.
There was a tiny bed, pushed up by the wall, and a shit ton of utensils and to use on injured patients. Despite the coldness of the room, Rory had grown quite fond of it. It was clean, there was no blood, and it kinda reminded her of her roommate. Luna's always wanted to become a doctor.
Rory frowned at the unusual emptiness of the room. "Huh," she thought to herself. "Lily should be here somewhere... "
Eggsy furrowed his brows. "Lily?"
"She's the nurse," said Rory. "We're on a first-name basis."
"Is it because of the time that you broke your toe, because of Louie and J.B.?" asked Eggsy, as he took a seat on the clinic bed. He wiped off the blood on his upper lip, using some tissue that he snagged from the box.
Rory sighed at the sight. She could feel her inner Luna instincts kicking in. "Bloody hell, where is she?"
"Bloody hell," he pointed to the crimson colour. "Get it?"
She shook her head. "Wiping it won't do jack shit, you have to lean forward."
"I thought you're supposed to like, lean back," said Eggsy. He followed her, anyway.
"Trust me," said Rory. "I live with a girl whose family is basically made up entirely of doctors. She knows her shit, and therefore, I know my shit."
"OK," he replied. "Why don't you fix me up, then? It looks like Lily's currently out of the planet, anyway. And, you know, I might die... "
"Spare me the gaslighting, eggshells. You won't die just yet," said Rory. "But I'm not fixing you up."
"Why not?"
"Because... " she stopped for a second, unsure of what to say. It's not like she hadn't fixed up a broken nose before. It wasn't exactly the first time she's dealt with someone, other than herself, that had a hot-headed temper. What's the harm in doing it for the hundredth time? "Fuck it. Lean forward."
Eggsy obliged, and Rory darted off towards the fridge. She dug around for a moment, before getting her hands on a cold compress, then tossing it right next to grab a pair of latex gloves. By the sheer amount of times she'd been here, one would think that she knew where everything was stored. And, one would be correct.
Rory snapped the gloves onto her hands, then going towards Eggsy and moving his hand away from his face. "If it hurts... " she started, looking him dead in the eye. "Just know, this is all your fault."
Eggsy chuckled. "All right. Fair point."
Then, she began the treatment. First, she checked if his nose was broken, and if needed to be broken into place. When it didn't, (much to their relief) she proceeded to wipe out any of the excess blood, and checked if there was any left gushing out of his nose. When there wasn't, (again, relieved) she gently placed the cold compress on his face and told him to hold it there.
"Done?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said, throwing away the gloves. "But, I'd wait for Lily to make sure that nothing's wrong if I were you."
"All right then, boss," he nodded.
Ironically enough, the doors had suddenly busted open, to reveal a frantic looking Lily. Rory could tell something was off. Lily was usually so... poised, and well-reserved. Years of working with the Kingsman, she figured. The lady tucked her frazzled hair behind her ear, and swallowed heavingly — like she was out of breath — before turning to the two, who were bewildered.
Eggsy began first. "Wha— "
"It's Galahad," Lily simply replied.
Rory felt her head spin. Her chest started to tighten, and then, she reminded herself. Breathe in. Breathe out. In and out, Ror.
Eggsy frowned. "Who— ?"
"What happened?" Rory stepped forward.
Lily was at a loss for words. "We don't know, yet. They just brought him in, and Merlin and Arthur are looking at him right now. They thought it'd be best to tell you both."
"Hang on, who the hell is Galahad?" asked Eggsy.
Rory could feel her chest constrict. Like all the air in her lungs had gone radio silent. She felt like the world was crashing around her like it was suffocating her and every cell in her body couldn't move. Then, she forced herself to turn to Eggsy. She forced herself to pull herself together. And the next words that left her mouth was enough to drag Eggsy into the same agony of fear — and force the two to break a sprint into his room.
"It's Harry."
💋
RORY FORCED HERSELF not to cry, upon entering the room.
She felt at a loss, like all of a sudden, the crashing feeling was back. Eggsy sent her a reassuring glance, gripping her hand tightly, just as he did moments ago when he offered to hold her hand on the way there. She said yes.
"What happened?" was the first thing to leave Rory's mouth, as soon as they entered. She couldn't help herself. That's her uncle.
For a moment, it was like Merlin wanted to tell her everything they knew. Then, realisation struck that his boss stood literally two feet away from him, and Rory had been nothing but a candidate at the moment. So, instead, he stayed silent. He gave her a sorrowful look, and it was enough for her to know that it was something not good.
"I'm afraid... that's classified information."
Rory gave him a curt smile. "I understand, sir."
Eggsy took a glance at Harry's sleeping form, before turning to Merlin. "Is he gonna be all right?"
"We need to have patience, Eggsy," said Merlin. He then turned to Rory. "But there's hope, OK?"
She nimbly nodded. Eggsy's thumb brushed against her own. "OK, sir... "
"And if I were you two, I'd concentrate on your training," he continued. "Make it through the tests. Make him proud. That's what he'd want for you two... to succeed."
She nodded, once more.
Then, she thought, fuck it. She could easily succeed in this thing.
And, she will.
💌
this chapter's sort of new? the first half isn't, it's the fighting scene between rory and hugo because it's a classic and i don't ever wanna delete it,, the other half is COMPLETELY new and it slightly changes the direction of this book.
at first, our girl rory was scared to win bc hello "academy" demons, they still exist in her head (because it's totally ethical to breed literal child assassin, am i right?) — but now, in this new version, she's fuckin' determined. and hell hath no fury, like a girl who's got nothing to lose.
anyways, let me know how this was bc i honestly have mixed emotions for this chapter.
x