Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else, and that's the way of it.

I'll Give It a Chance

He was sitting in a comfortable chair with a perfectly prepared martini in hand, surrounded by pack, and with a fire burning brightly nearby to keep him pleasantly warm. Ergo, Harry should have felt quite content and at ease with his lot at the moment. Some of the others around him were a great deal more unsettled, but they were the ones who still had a nominee in the running. Which Harry did not. Not that he would have cared if…what was his name again…Crispin? Cecil? Something British and pretentious starting with a C, anyway, were participating.

There hadn't been anyone he wanted to nominate, and Bors had asked to use his nomination so that the other man could nominate both his son and the son of a friend of his. From what Merlin had told him both lads were dead useless, so Harry hadn't felt he needed to worry about recommending either. His nominee hadn't passed the water test, and the other had failed already as well.

If Harry could have he'd have skipped this, it wasn't like he hadn't seen it a few times before. In fact the last time they'd had to hold trials his nominee had been the best of the bunch, coming closer to beating his own record than anyone else. Lee Unwin had had it all, and he'd been proud of him. Lee would and should have become a high ranking member of Kingsman.

But life, as was too often the case, was rarely so fair.

Lee Unwin position in the pack had been…fraught with problems. The man's mother had been a King by birth, and therefore the boy should have been born into privilege and high status. Would have been if not for the fact that he'd been born a bastard, his hardly more than a teenager mother refusing to name the father, though rumors had certainly abounded. Her behavior and the existence of the child had led to her disownment, the girl forced to take on her maternal grandmother's last name since that was the only one the family would let her have. She and Lee had lived on the outskirts of the pack, the King patriarch unwilling to leave the two packless and without funds, but otherwise the former alpha had wanted nothing to do with them. The boy hadn't helped matters by choosing to take as his mate a human woman, either. But Lee had been a great man and wolf, so much obvious potential, and when the opportunity had arisen Harry had nominated the man to give him a chance to realize that potential.

Only Lee had died as a result, leaving behind a widow and a child. A little boy who would never remember the man who'd spoken of him with such love and pride. Who'd accepted his offer of nomination for the boy's sake, really. To give his Eggsy the life he deserved.

Fate was so often a bitch.

So here Harry was, doing his best to ignore the conversations around him as he watched the current crop of nominees attempt to shave some time off their records for the obstacle course. The images were being broadcast onto the multiple screens mounted on the wall in front of them, Merlin using his electronic magic to make several of the screens all one picture as they followed the candidates through the course along with the security cameras in place.

The pups, for they were hardly more than that, had been testing themselves against the course long enough that they could all beat it, Harry observed. They wouldn't still be in the running if they hadn't managed that much. But their times overall performances on the course were less than stellar from where Harry was sitting. Percival and the alpha's candidates were the best of the bunch, with the former showing the most potential in Harry's opinion. Something their alpha was no doubt silently seething over, and not just because he wanted his candidate to win.

The man was not pleased at the idea of there being a female Kingsman.

They were all part of the King pack, of course, but only those with the highest status within their pack were referred to as a Kingsman. The best of the best. In theory.

Deliberately not looking in the direction of their current leader, who temporarily held the position because of bloodlines rather than worthiness, Harry reminded himself that starting something tonight would only lead to more headaches later. He needed to just watch the bloody screens and pretend he was paying attention.

So that's what he did right up until a hint of movement had him leaning forward in his chair.

"Did anyone else see that?"

"See what?" Percival asked with a frown, as his daughter was on the course currently.

"Movement. I think I saw something move in those bushes there, on the slight hill where the sandpit starts. Any members of the pack observing?"

"No." Pointing one of his electronic doohickeys at the screens and bringing up an enlarged look at the area mentioned, Merlin rewound the recording as everyone leaned in and saw, as Harry had, the shifting of something too large to be a rabbit or expected creature amongst the bushes. A shape that was much more in line with one of their kind in wolf form.

"Merlin, have Giles investigate whoever disobeyed orders to stay away from the course tonight."

"We don't know for sure this wolf is one of ours, Alpha."

"You're thinking he's an intruder? This deep into our territory? Preposterous. There aren't any packs nearby, least of all any stupid enough to think they could get away with trespassing on our land."

"Might I suggest calling an end to the exercise? Leave the area. See what he or she does." Harry wasn't ruling out their intruder could be female as King most likely was.

It would be mad for a wolf from another pack to trespass on their territory without permission, but not impossible. There were plenty of packs that would love to take them down, after all, and there was no shortage of stupid or foolhardy idiots in the world. There was also the possibility that this was a lone wolf, seeking to join them or driven mad because he or she had lost their pack somehow. Or a wolf that was plain suicidal…though really, there were much better, more humane was to die. Particularly with Chester King running the show.

"Fine. Do it."

In short order the obstacle course was shut down and the trainees ran off with their instructor back into the night. Per Merlin's orders they would be led a short distance away, be briefed on the situation, and then depending on said situation would be given a chance to show their skills in apprehending the intruder.

Harry had no doubt they'd be as thrilled as pups at Christmas over it.

)

The wait was about twenty minutes, the intruder wasn't quite the fool his or her actions suggested, but eventually the shadows and shapes moved on the screen, and a large, four legged animal slipped out of the bushes and cautiously made its way towards the start of the course.

Young and underfed were the first words to come to Harry's mind. Either packless or in one that didn't deserve to be called pack if this was an example of how they took care of their young. But not mad or suicidal, he didn't think. Not when their intruder was showing so much skill and caution in the way he moved and kept alert of his surroundings. The pup was good, and had at least some training.

"What's he doing?" That was Tristan.

"And if he's a spy why would the trainees and an obstacle course interest him?" Bors.

"How sure are we that that area of our territory has been marked and patrolled regularly?" Harry wanted to know, a thought having occurred to him. "It is on the outer reaches, no one really goes that way. If he isn`t from around here he could have just wandered in. Smelled the trainees and curiosity got the best of him."

"Be the death of him." Their alpha muttered, everyone's ears sharp enough that they heard it.

And then their attention went back to the screen as they watched the wolf shift into man.

A young man, as Harry had thought, doing his best to estimate height, weight and such. And he couldn't help but admire the man's ass since it was right there and all as he…why on earth was he…

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Lancelot laughed in delight.

"He is. He's setting up the course to run it." Percival chuckled. "Why that cheeky little sod."

"Nice cheeks." Lancelot observed with considerable cheek of his own.

Merlin was also looking a tad amused by this unexpected turn of events. "Well let's see how he does then."

Shifting back the unidentified wolf was wiggling like the pup he was as he ran over to the starting point once more. And then his movements stilled, suggesting the boy had the sense to get his head in the game, and was perhaps running it through his head one last time as he looked over the tunnel, the posts he'd have to zig zag between and the netting to crawl under. And so many other fun things meant to impede and slow him down.

After a minute or two of contemplation he was off.

Fast. Fucking fast.

Disciplined. Trained. Observant as well, to have learned so much simply by observing. No fear.

The boy was taking the course with more speed, skill, and sheer guts than any of the other trainees who'd cared more about finishing correctly than screwing up in Harry's opinion. Even Miss. Morton was too worried about doing things the right way, failing to look outside the box. Which was usually always a mistake. You often learned more from failing in training than playing it safe while you were in a reasonably safe environment to begin with. You had to trust your gut, risk it all, and push yourself always if you wanted to be the best.

And Harry had absolutely no qualms or reservations about clapping in appreciation when the boy cleared the course and leapt up in the air to sink his teeth into the dangling fake rabbit that was the 'prize' to finish.

Merlin whistled. "Well the lad just showed all the trainees up. And on his first try no less."

"Got more balls than the lot of them, at least." Gawain acknowledged with a nasty smirk.

That set off a barrage of protests and statements about beginners luck, Harry ignoring them all for a couple minutes of study before pointing out that the boy was going back around to do it all again, so why didn't they just watch and they'd all know soon enough how much luck had to do with it.

Not a bloody bit, as it turned out.

The cheeky little sod cleared the course every single time of the five runs he took at it. Which wasn't to say their intruder did it perfectly or improved on his time every time, because he didn't, but their uninvited guest threw himself mind, body, and soul into conquering it with a fierce determination that made him riveting to watch. This wasn't a game or a test to the pup, but a battle. An enemy to be defeated and left in the dust. And the boy was obviously determined to remain until he was satisfied.

That he'd bested the times of every man in the room save for Harry's on the fourth run wasn't sitting well with a number of them either, and King's order that Merlin send in the trainees to bring the intruder in meant there would be no sixth attempt.

Or element of surprise, since the boy obviously heard them coming.

)

Eggsy would have asked himself how he got into these situations, but that was as dumb a question as the situation he found himself in. And one he very much knew the answer to. He was an idiot. And a soon to be dead idiot if he didn't get his arse and gear and run for his bloody life. Cause he recognized enough of the scents ta know that the posh twats from earlier were back, along with the lone bird who'd been the best of the lot from what he'd seen. Which meant it was five again one, and that was only if the instructor and anyone else wasn't coming along for the chase.

Of course at least three of the trainees weren't worth worrying about. They didn't have the speed ta catch him. The big one though, the obvious leader of the males, he might just be up to it in terms of endurance. Something Eggsy wasn't sure he had enough of at the moment. And then there was the girl.

The fact that he didn't know the terrain none wasn't helping him a bit neither as he ran away in the direction he'd come from. He was an urban man who didn't really know shit about forests and such. This was a treat for him and his wolf, not somethin he got ta do more than once in a blue moon, if that. Hell, it was the sheer novelty of it all that had drawn him deeper into the wood than he meant ta go in the first place.

All the smells!

He'd had no fucking idea there could be so many in such a small space. Plus all the living things ta find even at night. Rabbits and badgers and…well frankly he didn't even know what a tenth of the things he smelled was just cause it weren't like you'd find them in his neck of the woods. Not to mention it wasn't exactly safe ta be walkin around as a wolf in his territory. Urban jungle more like it.

And fuck, incoming.

It was the girl who caught up to him first as he just narrowly avoided getting his foot caught in a sodding rabbit's hole. She wasn't on him yet, but she was close enough that there was no question she'd be closing in soon enough.

'Stop running.' Came a voice inside his head, as posh and proper as could be. 'You're only going to make this harder on yourself.'

'Ta, Luv. But I've heard that before and listenin never ended well. For me.'

'Well really, what did you think would happen when you decided to trespass on our territory?'

'I didn't bloody well know it was your territory, now did I? Not like you lot posted signs or nothin. I was in these woods a good two hours before I scented ya, and I just came over ta see what ya was up to. No harm meant. I didn't do nothin ta your precious territory.'

Well technically he'd killed and eaten a couple rabbits, but that was cause he'd wanted ta hunt, and killin things just for sport or fun was wrong. And he'd been hungry…but it wasn't like they'd miss them. Right? They were every bloody where.

'You running isn't going to help convince the Alpha or the Kingsmen that you're just an innocent victim of circumstances.'

'Yeah?' Eggsy snorted at that. 'Well can ya give me your word I ain't gonna be harmed if I stop and let your lot take me ta your leader?'

Her silence spoke volumes, which was just as well as the majority of his attention was now on the rather large male wolf that thought he was oh so sneakily coming up to bookend him. And in this case Eggsy was willing to bet his life, since it wasn't like he had any money, that this one would relish the opportunity to make him bleed before turning him in.

'Look, Luv, I appreciate that you're only doin your duty, and it's pretty fucking obvious you're the brains of this operation, but I ain't goin down without a fight. And I ain't the sort ta hit a girl, even ones that can hit just as hard as I can. And…well…sorry bout this.'

And with that Eggsy dug his claws into the ground and flopped onto his belly, the brainless prat who'd been about ta body slam him into the girl sailing over him and crashin into her with a very loud thud. And that was followed by a great deal of cursing from the male and thrashing about, as the two had rolled right into some thicket of spiky stuff that Eggsy didn't know the name of…but figured was not FUN to be rolling around in.

Ouch.

But there was no time to be dwelling on that, there were the three stooges still out there after all and if he kept lying around like a sittin duck they'd get him for sure.

Bouncing up to his feet Eggsy leapt forward and ran as fast as his four legs could carry him.

)

They'd already placed their bets, Tristan would bet on just about anything, and now they were waiting to hear back from the instructor in charge of the trainees. Harry, Merlin and Gawain had bet on the boy getting away, while the rest had picked who they thought would bring the intruder in, how long the boy would be able to allude the trainees, and the likelihood that the boy was a spy or really just stupid enough to have wandered into their lands without a clue.

Ergo everyone came to attention when Merlin re-entered the room.

And then went still when rather than just announce what had happened, as it was obvious they were all eager to hear, Merlin walked over in the direction of Percival and Lancelot, who'd been sitting together on a sofa but now as one rose to their feet, a horrible combination of denial and knowledge in both their eyes. Their baby girl had been hurt.

"The lass took a hard hit, but she should be fine. From the sounds of it she and Hesketh collided when they went after the boy, and she bashed her head pretty good on a rock. The boy got away as a result. Roxy needed medical attention and Hesketh stayed with her. The other three he sent to track the unknown wolf, but they lost his scent. I've sent more experienced trackers out to see if they can't pick it up again."

"Where is she now?" Percival demanded to know.

"She's on her way in. ETA is ten minutes. Rachel is standing by."

"So we know nothing about the boy?" Arthur demanded to know, completely unconcerned about Roxy's condition. Which was just one of the million reasons why he was unsuited for the position of alpha in Harry's opinion. In anyone with a brain's opinion as far as he was concerned.

"Hopefully Roxy will be able to tell us more. She actually talked to him according to Hesketh."