A/N: As always, huge thanks to my beta 'ivefoundmygoldfish(melonpanparade)'! And I refer to Merlin as 'wizard' a few times (because of obvious reasons), just so you know ;)

"Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." - Oscar Wilde

Dawn of a New Day

The quietness that enveloped the plane was both relieving and unnerving at the same time. After the chaos of V-Day, trusting the calm felt somehow wrong and Eggsy couldn't help but expect another threat to arise at every moment.

But unexpectedly, nothing had occurred when Merlin landed to pick up Roxy, nor did anything else happen after that. The three of them just sat in the seats of the plane flying on autopilot, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Merlin and Eggsy hadn't really exchanged a word since leaving the base – that now resembled a massacre – to the local authorities and the fact that Roxy hadn't really said anything either only added to the heavy silence.

From the moment on Eggsy had exposed Arthur's intentions, his body had been running on adrenaline. To save the world and stop Valentine had been the most important thing on his mind, had kept him from thinking about anything else. He'd focused only on the danger, concentrating all his energy on taking out one guard after another.

Now that all the adrenaline had left his body and the events of the past two days had finally caught up with him – both physically and mentally – Eggsy felt hollow. His mentor, the one man he'd started to think of as a father figure, was dead. And even though he'd killed the man who'd pulled the trigger, Eggsy felt no sense of relief. Instead, grief made his vision blurry and he was overcome by nauseousness. All of a sudden, he found himself feeling such intense loneliness that it came as a surprise to hear Roxy's voice.

"What will happen now?"

Eggsy looked up to meet her gaze. She sat opposite him, wrapped in a navy blue jumper far too big for her size, looking frightingly fragile. Eggsy wondered if she felt just as lost as he.

He shrugged and they both turned to Merlin. The older agent was sitting on Roxy's side on the other side of the plane. The pilot jacket had been discarded long ago, revealing a rumpled white shirt beneath. His face was turned away from them to stare out the window, but Eggsy was able to see the sadness in his eyes nonetheless. It frightened him beyond anything else. Yet, he felt comforted knowing someone else shared his grief. And he wondered, not for the first time, just how close the two Kingsman agents had been.

"Merlin?" Roxy asked softly, shaking the wizard out of his thoughts. "What are we going to do now?"

"What needs doing," Merlin answered flatly, causing Eggsy and Roxy to share a concerned look. Then, after a few seconds, he sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly before facing them. "You two did very well today. You've both shown loyalty and bravery worthy of a Kingsman and" looking at Eggsy, he added, "I think you've earned the right to be one. Although I can't decide that on my own, of course."

Eggsy nodded, relieved he probably wouldn't be kicked out as soon as they landed. He didn't think it was possible to leave Kingsman behind after all that had aspired. "But what will happen now that Arthur is dead?"

"We will fly back to HQ and try contact all the agents, see who's still alive. I tried warning whom I could after Valentine's plans had become clear, but I was only able to send a warning to our outposts and reach Morgana."

"Who's Morgana?" Eggsy knew the code names of the ten active agents sitting around the table, but he'd never heard of Morgana before. During his training at HQ the mansion had been surprisingly empty. Only a handful of people – Harry had referred to them as stationed scientists and technicians – had crossed his path in the hallways.

"She's the head of the medical department. Her position is similar to mine; while I coordinate the technical research in our outposts abroad, she commands the medical staff that takes care of the agents on their missions. Morgana's usually one of the few people who stay at HQ, but Kay's and Bedivere's mission in Germany went south and she followed them. She left only an hour before us."

If Merlin had warned Morgana, there was a high chance she'd told Kay and Bedivere to prepare for V-Day. However, with Roxy here and Galahad and Arthur both gone they still didn't know what happened to Percival, Tristan, Bors, Gawain and Lamorak.

Eggsy frowned, trying to remember if Harry had mentioned any of their missions. "Do we know where the rest of the agents were heading?"

Merlin shook his head. "I didn't monitor their missions. Normally, I'm informed where they are and briefed regularly, but I guess Arthur kept me in the dark on purpose. We don't know how long he'd been working on Valentine's side and if he used the agents to fulfill his goals."

A dark thought crossed Eggsy's mind at that. "He could have sent them on death missions for all we know. He knew they probably wouldn't betray Kingsman, so he tried getting rid of them instead."

Roxy suddenly turned very pale, her hands clutching desperately at the fabric of her jumper. "Percy," she whispered, turning to Merlin with a terrified look. "You said you couldn't warn him. What if – "

Reaching over to lay a hand on her arm soothingly, Eggsy looked at Merlin for an explanation. He knew Roxy was very close to her mentor and could comprehend her fear.

"Ever since the previous Lancelot's death we tried to locate his body, without much success. However, shortly before your last test we heard rumors of his whereabouts and Percival immediately volunteered to go." He stopped for a moment, rubbing his forehead with three fingers of his right hand.

"I advised Arthur to send someone else, partly because the mission proved to be very dangerous and I wasn't sure Percival was in the emotional condition to be aware of the risks involved. But Arthur declined my objections, probably hoping he'd run into trouble."

They remained silent for a moment. Merlin's explanation confirmed Eggsy's suspicion that Percival and the previous Lancelot had been more than just colleagues. Judging from Roxy's reaction she knew about her mentor's feelings, but he felt now wasn't the time to ask for further information.

"I texted him after I passed the test. He was already on the plane to Tehran," Roxy declared absently. Although obviously still worried sick, she was returning to her confident self, determined to do whatever was necessary to help resolve the situation.

"Iran," Merlin added upon seeing Eggsy's questioning look. "We've been monitoring the activities of a terrorist group dealing with heavy weaponry in the Middle East for several months and were able to infiltrate the organisation a week ago. We think Valentine might have hired them to find out who Lancelot was working for."

Eggsy could see why Roxy feared for her mentor's well being. Solo missions were always risky, especially when the opponent was as dangerous as a fully armed and trained group of terrorists. He only hoped Percival didn't run into a trap while being too distracted by his task. Although cold and distant, he'd liked the overcorrect agent with the glasses, not least because of the friend Eggsy had found in his candidate.

"So we'll find him and the others when we're back at HQ," Eggsy stated. He looked at Roxy reassuringly, not saying 'we'll try' but 'we will' on purpose. She smiled at him in response, thankful for the encouragement.

Merlin stood and crossed the space to the computer desk, conjuring one of the familiar Kingsman tablets from one of the drawers. He handed it to Roxy while motioning Eggsy to sit beside her.

"I can't do much from the plane since the mission files can only be accessed and downloaded from one of the Kingsman servers. But the two of you can try to find out the situation on the ground. Who knows in what state Valentine has left this world."

The emotional conflict Eggsy had witnessed on the quartermaster's face earlier was gone, overshadowed by the conviction to deal with the mess at hand. Instead, Merlin turned to the cockpit with a determined look in his eyes and a set jaw.

"I'll take over the plane again. We should be at HQ in no time."

The jumper Roxy wears is one of James' which she took with her to HQ after his death.

I have the first five chapters written out, so I should be able to update regularly. I'm planning to publish every three to four days, depending on my time schedule...