So, basically this plot bunny came to mind, after seeing no crossovers for Kingsmen and Maze Runner when I thought those two fandoms would be amazing together. (Eggsy and Roxy with Thomas, Newt, Minho and Frypan? You can't ask for much better.) So this three part story was born.

Many of the events are like how they take place in the Scorch Trials Movie, just because it works better with this story but how the Flare is and other things will be from the books.

Ages: Eggsy would have been twenty two when the flares hit, so now, eleven years later, he's thirty-three.

Thomas is eighteen. Newt, Frypan and Minho are nineteen. Teresa is sixteen. Roxy is thirty-four.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Maze Runner, or Kingsmen.

I can smell your fear
The only reason that I'm here
Is to wreak havoc
Everybody prayin' that I'll change, yeah
Maybe one day but tomorrow I'll be back at it
Cause bad habits they die hard
We live fast we die hard
Go against me you'll die hard
Die hard

- Wreck Havoc, Skylar Grey

| WICKED |

Eggsy's fucking pissed.

That's nothing new, ever since Eggsy defeated Valentine from carrying out his batshit insane plan tokill most of earth's population only to have the damn sun semi explode and do it anyway a year later, his emotions seem to shift to three extremes.

A) Extreme mother-fucking rage. (Brought on by anything/anyone to do with the bullshit organization called WICKED)

B) Damn near Depression. ( near since every time he feels he might succumb to the complete shit emotions he goes to deal with WICKED which always brings him point A and eventually C)

C) Mighty satisfaction. (Occurs usually after he has blown up WICKED labs and taken a few hundred bastards with it. He wishes it could also be when he got laid, but that hasn't happened in a while. Turns out the world ending by madness is quite a turn off.)

Right now Eggsy is fighting the urge to break everything in the fucking safe-house he is in if only to hear the sound of things smashing; classic point A. Roxy (thank god she was with him when the flares hit - deep underground in one of Kingsmen's strong holds. Screw immunity, without her he surely would have lost his mind by now.) seems to relate if the way her face tightens is anything to go by. "I know - I don't know how we didn't find out sooner."

"'Cause we're damn near fuckin' blind without Merlin." Eggsy states, wincing at the thought of their lost mentor and friend. "Our sources - good as they are - can only figure out so much. We knew WICKED was up to somethin' since this shit all started, we just didn't know exactly what."

That's why Eggsy's so angry - the fact that he hadn't been smart enough to figure out what WICKED has been doing to kids even within the six years he and Roxy had been in America (what was left of it) in hopes of striking them at their home-base. It did not help that the suspicious bastards who called themselves the Right Arm informed them that they have been picking some kids up here and there from WICKED's compounds, but Eggsy still hadn't been able to connect the dots despite having dozens of theories. "Motherfuckers - when I get my hands on whoever came up with this idea I'm going to..." Eggsy falters, inhaling deeply through his nose even as several brilliant, painful ways to kill certain individuals come to mind.

Since the flares hit, eleven years ago, he and Roxy have become a bit more savage. Oh, that is not to say they have lost any of their edge; no, no. Eggsy and Roxy, unlike many others nowadays (immune or not) still know how to use charm, their looks and pretty words to accomplish their goals rather than just relying on their skill of handling various deadly weapons. The savagery comes in with the fact that they have all those skills and now no longer give a flying fuck about using them whenever they simply wish to.

In cases such as this, such skills can include torture techniques that he and Roxy had only studied to know how to deal with them if they were ever captured. Eggsy is not a sadist in any way (he's more of a bullet-to-the-head/knife-to-the-heart kind of guy) however, it does give him a sort of satisfaction to see some of the really sick fuckers out there get a taste of their own medicine.

The fact that most of them happened to work for WICKED made it all the better - effectively smoothing over any guilt Eggsy would have felt otherwise. It was a harsh world - harsher than what it used to be. They had to adapt if they wanted to live. If they wanted to help others live.

So Eggsy grabs the files of the boys and begins to read through them if only to distract himself from his homicidal tendencies.

Naturally, it only makes things worse when he reads what the boys and girls nearly a decade younger than him have gone through. Really, by now people ought to have figured out that killing the people they need more of is not the best way of dealing with the dying human race. "Bollocks." Eggsy hisses, jaw clenching as he gets to the end of a file - Chuck's (a.k.a subject A-twelve) - to read the words: Terminated to activate A-two's Killzone.

When he finds the picture of the kid - smiling, chubby, adorable - it reminds him so much of Daisy - sunshine, love, innocence - he has a internal battle with himself to not grab his gun and go WICKED hunting.

Both are dead - gone, destroyed - all because of the selfish, stupid wankers who continue looking for a cure they all know doesn't exist at the expense of others.

Again, Eggsy breathes in deeply - pretending he does not feel something burning behind his eyelids as he closes Chuck's file and reaches for the last file, already knowing who it is.

A-two.

Funny how a letter and number can piss Eggsy off so much; 'Are we back to fuckin' slavery now? Here I was, thinkin' we were advanced.' Angrily, Eggsy flips open the page to read the boy's name ignoring that it too was given by WICKED. Thomas - top canidate.

He reads, quite impressed with the young man's skills and feeling empathy tug at his heartstrings when he learns that Chuck had been like a brother to Thomas. When Eggsy sees Thomas's picture he is shamelessly captivated by the boy's dark brown eyes and the small unsure quirk of his lips.

He was already going to help the boys upon reading the first file - but if he did have any doubt Eggsy it quite sure it would have been thoroughly shot after both Chuck's and Thomas's. If the shit-eating, all-knowing smirk Roxy wears on her face when he marches up to her and demands: "What's the motherfuckin' plan, Rox?" is anything to go by (and it is) she knew it all along.

And if he does say so himself, he certainly will be cleaning up plenty of sticky messes with the way he looks in WICKED's janitor uniform.

| WICKED |

Thomas

| WICKED |

Thomas does not know what to think of this place. It's nothing like the Glade - green, open, dirty. Here, everything is so white, clean - too clean. It puts him on edge, although he does not understand why.

Different should be good. It should prove that they're away from WICKED; that they had really escaped -

It shouldn't remind him of the room where Chuck died.

Thomas grits his teeth, picking up his pace and putting all his focus into holding back the sudden onslaught of tears and reaching his room so that, if he really needs to, he doesn't break down in a packed hallway. So intent on these two tasks, Thomas does not register the person who just stepped around the corner until he plows into them.

"Ah - sorry, sorry!" Thomas exclaims, reeling back so fast that he nearly trips over himself in his haste. A firm hand wraps around his elbow to prevent it. Then, a warm chuckle fills Thomas's ears.

"Careful, don't want to damage your face more than ya already 'ave bruv." Flushing at the comment, Thomas glances up from the floor to see the guy. A croaked smile, strong jaw, short brown hair and mischievous blue eyes meet his gaze without objection. After a another minute of silence, the guy raises an eyebrow. "On second thought, maybe it ain't your face you 'ave to worry about."

"Ugh - sorry." Thomas stammers, pulling his arm from the guy's grasp. "I wasn't paying attention."

The guy snorts. "No shit. I think yea can come up with more creative ways of injurin' yourself other than runnin' into innocent bystanders."

"Maybe I needed someone to blame." Thomas shoots back. "You know, stir up some trouble while I'm here." He fights back a grin when the guy seems slightly surprised by his statement.

It doesn't last long; soon enough, he's smirking again. "Or maybe you wanted someone as dashin' as myself to help tend to your injuries, luv?"

Thomas gapes, his brown eyes widening as the man gives him a sly wink. Really, after everything that happened in the Maze and learning about WICKED, one would think that having an admittedly attractive guy (from an uninterested but not-blind perspective!) flirt with him should not have knocked Thomas off-balance in the slightest.

But it did. Shit, it really did.

"What?" Thomas flounders, trying to think of a better response only to find that his mind had become unusually blank.

The guy's smile merely broadens as he casually leans up against the wall; clearly enjoying this far too much for Thomas's liking. "You seem nervous, probably 'cause I figured out your big plan. Don't worry, red looks lovely on you, luv." Ok, if it wasn't clear that he was laughing at Thomas before, it sure as hell was now.

All embarrassment leaves Thomas at the realization, and he quips: "No, I'm uncomfortable. Some older dude just decided to hit on me - I've been through some freaky shit, but this is just weird."

"Yet, you're still here." The man states calmly, still grinning widely. "From my experience, people run away from unwanted attention if they can, and I ain't doing anything to stop ya." The man looks up from under his eyelashes, and Thomas is taken aback by the unfamiliar, yet pleasant feeling that shots through him upon seeing it. "So, since you're still 'ere, I'm guessin' it's 'cause the attention's wanted." His voice practically ends in a purr, making Thomas briefly marvel at how his accent (similar to Newt's, but rougher) flowed with the words. It was fascinating, and not-at-all unpleasant to hear.

Rather the opposite actually -

Thomas stiffens, disbelief and anger rushing through him. 'No, no way. After all the shit I've seen, I'm not letting some janitor get to me. No, no...' Sending his best glare at the guy, Thomas snorts. "You wish." Before turning on his heel and walking away.

Thomas is actually feeling pretty good about himself; until the guy decides to call after him: "No, I know! See you around, luv!"

Thomas clenches his fists as he hears the guy chortling behind him, wishing he could punch the smug grin off his face. However, when he reaches the room and Newt asks him where he's been, Thomas cannot help but smile.

| WICKED |

Eggsy

| WICKED |

Eggsy is still quite amused by Thomas's reaction to his teasing when he effectively snaps one of Janson's goons neck. It's quick, clean. The guy never saw it coming. Eggsy then steals his access card and a gun tucked in the waistband of his pants before hiding the body in a nearby out-of-the-way closet where no one will find the guy until Eggsy is long gone.

Hopefully, with a certain brown haired young man (who was adorable, really), his companions and information for Roxy.

He smirks, pulling his old Kingsmen glasses from his breast pocket and placing them on as he fiddles with the lab coat's collar and then runs his fingers through his hair. Even if the glasses weren't connected to Kingsmen's headquarters any longer, they still were able to take pictures, recognize weapons and all sorts of other fantastic shit. They also look posh as fuck - making blending in with these people that much easier.

He smiles, greeting people with a charming smile and a "Hello." which they return with ease as he gets closer to the restricted area that he had been scooping for the past two days. That's the weakness of having such a large organization where the workers are divided into several different places spread across the continent and people show up and disappear on a regular basis - No one, especially not the higher ups, know everyone whose working with them. Honestly, it almost disappoints Eggsy how easy it was to remain undetected after getting through the main gates.

He reaches his destination without any trouble, and after a quick glance to make sure he is all alone, he swipes the card to quickly step in the room.

He swears: "Fuckin' wankers. This is fuckin' rank. "

Dozens of kids are strung up with tubes sticking out of their bodies. After getting past the initial shock and fury Eggsy steps closer to one to get a better look, "Fuckin' cunts..." he growls realizing that WICKED was draining these kids - no doubt because of their immunity.

And there was nothing he could do about it - the kids were pretty much brain dead, kept alive only by the machines. Even if there was a way to bring them back, it would take more time than he had here.

Even Valentine hadn't been this fucked up; and he had put fucking fireworks inside his followers heads.

He steps away from the blonde haired boy - fists tightening at his sides so much that his knuckles turn pasty white. Ok, now Eggsy really wants to kill someone. He swallows, taking a minute to gather his emotions before getting to work - taking pictures of the room and the panels that showed the kids slight brain activity.

Once that is done, Eggsy goes looking for any other information he and Roxy can use. He eventually finds a tablet left behind in a smaller room where he can see some shit-looking things hanging it liquid filled tanks through a window. Another picture and a quick hack later, Eggsy finds a few files that seem to contain important information. Knowing he doesn't have the time to go through it all, Eggsy sends it all to Roxy's temporary untraceable e-mail and thoroughly erases the evidence with a bit more expert hacking.

Seven minutes since he entered, Eggsy is walking back the way he came, fighting back a smirk when Janson doesn't spare him a second glance. That smirk drops when he sees the man accompanied by several others walking towards the boy's room six minutes after that.

He follows them at a safe distance until the last corner where he lingers behind, fingering his gun. He looks when he hears the sound of a door opening - a smile spreading across his face when he sees the bed sheet holding the door almost completely in place. 'Clever shits.' He thinks, knowing a distraction when he saw one.

So, while the WICKED busied themselves with breaking down the door to an obviously empty room (because who the fuck would think a bed sheet would stop guns?), Eggsy broke out into a light-footed sprint to try to find the guys.

When the alarms start blaring three minutes later, Eggsy smiles.

| WICKED |

He blends in easily, everyone else it running and most hold a weapon or two in their hold. He runs, runs, runs for the medical bay, remembering that the girl who was with them had been in and out since her stay. Then he takes a sharp turn as a thought occurs to him: 'They'll probably be gone by the time I reach it. Better head for the entrance - '

Eggsy nearly rams into someone, shouting out apologies until he realizes who it is. It's the guy who had been with the girls, Aris and with him is Winston. They all stare at each other for a long minute, before Winston seems to gain his senses and lunges for Eggsy's gun.

The man jerks his arm out of his grasp and instinctively aims it between the boy's eyes. "I know I don't look it at the mo' but I'm on your side." Eggsy informs them quietly as they gaze at him in fear. "Now - if you and your friends want to get out of here alive and keep livin', I suggest you let me come with ya."

"Oh yeah? And how are we supposed to trust you?" Winston snaps, seeming to have gained some courage.

To that Eggsy merely smirks, removing one hand from his gun to pull out his stolen pass. "Who said anythin' 'bout trust bruv? I just 'ave somethin' you need to get out of this shit-hole, and I want to come with."

Winston's mouth seems to quirk slightly at that, although his eyes remain suspicious. Aris just looks completely dumbfounded, looking between Eggsy and Winston so much the man is afraid he might just snap his neck. Finally, Winston speaks. "Can you lower your gun?"

"You won't try to steal it?" Eggsy questions.

Winston shrugs, "If you don't try anything. Besides, I don't think I would figure out how to use it that quick."

"Fair enough." Eggsy concedes, lowering his gun but keeping his grip on his pass. Although he may look it, he wasn't born yesterday.

The boys don't argue at least - and they quickly make their way to the nearest vent. When they get out, Eggsy is quick to shoot down the three guards who turned at the noise.

Aris flinches, jaw dropping as he sees the men fall while Winston whispers: "Shit."

"Here!" Eggsy says, tossing Aris the pass which immediately snaps the boy into action as he goes for the panel. Meanwhile, Eggsy bends and quickly shifts through the guard's stuff - pulling out a gun which he throws to Winston who catches it in surprise. "Whenever you can - learn how to use it." He tells him, making the boy grin.

A second later, the door opens and Eggsy stands with his gun aimed at Janson's shiny forehead as five teens gape at him - his main focus, however, flickers to the person standing a little bit further down as the boy utters in disbelief: "You?!"

"I told ya I'd be seein' you around, luv." Eggsy states, mentally sniggering as a tall blonde boy - Newt, if the files are right - turns to face a steadily reddening Thomas in disbelief.

"Luv?" He repeats, even as another dark haired boy - Minho - pushes him towards Eggsy's side of the door .

Janson, on the other hand, does not seem so amused. "Traitor." He growls out, making Eggsy roll his eyes.

"Actually, wanker, I never worked for you in the first place - so you can spare the dramatics for when you rolepla' with yourself."

Thomas, bless him, takes Janson's shock as his opportunity to shoot. While Janson hides behind his goons, Eggsy manages to get in three shots. Each hits the three guards holding a blastshield in a leg which brings them down, while Thomas runs back towards them.

Eggsy steps to the side and uses this opportunity to aim at the remaining guy's heads. He gets two by the time the door starts lowering - and then he focuses on cheering Thomas on with the rest. The guy slides under the door just in time.

After Aris breaks the control panel, Eggsy smirks at Janson who was trying to open the door. When the bastard looks up, Eggsy's smirk broadens and he gives a mock salute, laughing when Thomas gives Janson the finger.

"You little shit." Janson yells and Eggsy takes that as their cue to leave.

"Alright, let's get the fuck out of here -"

Thankfully, no one bothers to disagree with him and does as he said.

| WICKED |

Naturally, as soon as they are hidden away in one of the buried buildings, that changes.

"Who the hell are you?" Minho demands, stepping forward into the moonlight once Thomas explained to Teresa about WICKED.

Before Eggsy can reply, Winston pipes up. "He's good, man. He gave us his pass."

"How do we know it isn't a trick?" Minho pushes.

Eggsy rolls his eyes. "Why the fuck would I bother trickin' you? If I wanted you with WICKED, I would've left ya with them. I definitely wouldn't have risked my neck by comin' 'ere with ya."

"He's got you there Minho." Frypan states, though he does eye the older man warily. "Still though, we don't know who you are."

Eggsy smiles. "My name's Eggsy; Eggsy Urwin. There, ya know me."

"Eggsy?" Newt inquires, raising an eyebrow.

Eggsy raises one right back. "Newt?" He replies smartly.

"You know us." Aris says.

Eggsy shrugs. "I've read your stolen files. Don't think it's the same thing as knowin' ya...especially since we've only just found out 'bout your existence a week ago." His tone gains a decidedly angry edge to it, making the teens exchange glances.

"You mean - you didn't know about any of this?" Thomas pipes up, eyeing him strangely.

Eggsy meets his gaze, eyes flashing. "If I did, I would've done a whole lot more than killed some of the bastards I met."

That's all he says, his tone serious and cold, but it is enough to get a reaction. Even with only the moonlight, Eggsy can see Aris, Winston, Peter and Frypan's eyes all widen. Minho's stance becomes much less defensive; arms slacking like the strings holding them had been cut. Newt looks between horrified and awed, his mouth opening like he wanted to say something - only for it to snap shut. Teresa stumbles back, blue eyes betraying her fear -

Thomas merely gazes at him; expression showing barely any surprise except for his slightly parted mouth. But Eggsy can see the curiosity lurking in the boy's brown eyes; the dozens of inquiries and thoughts running through the boy's head. He is grateful when Thomas does not ask any of them - instead whispering with acceptance. "All right, you can stick with us."

"I would've even if you didn't want me to." Eggsy informs him quietly, feeling like he needed to say it. When they all look at him in shock, Eggsy straightens himself. "Are you takin' a piss? I ain't goin' to stand by and let you all walk to your deaths. Enough people 'ave died; enough innocent people. Standin' by an' lettin' it happen would make me just as guilty as WICKED."

The silence stretches for a long moment, Eggsy staring down the eight teens without so much as a blink. Finally, Thomas nods. "All right. All right." The boy takes in a breath, biting his lip in thought for a minute before meeting Eggsy's gaze. "Do you know anything about the Right Arm?"

"Those suspicious fuckers." Eggsy snorts. "Yeah, I know them. Got a bit of a partnership with them s'matter of fact. You want to know where they're at?"

"Yeah - yeah." Thomas stammers out, looking immensely relieved. "You actually know -"

Eggsy shrugs. "I can't make no promises that I know the exact location - they move around so often. But I know a couple of people who might -"

"That's great." Thomas cuts in, amusing Eggsy with his enthusiasm. "Really, it's a hell of a lot better than nothing."

Eggsy merely smirks in response, keeping eye contact with Thomas who gains a slight flush under his gaze. "So -" Minho speaks up, making the two turn towards them. "Now that we've got that settled, can we look for some supplies in this place?"

"'Course bruv." Eggsy states, beginning to make his way down the tunnel. "Just watch out for Cranks."

"Cranks?" All eight teens inquire at once.

Eggsy turns, looking over all the anxious teens. "Crazies. People who've lost their marbles due to the Flare. Don't try turnin' on any power, don't go explorin' or make too much noise unless ya want to meet them. If you do I warn ya, it'll be a real short visit..."

"Why?" Aris questions, his voice soft and nervous, although Eggsy can hear him clear as day.

"'Cause if you're lucky, they'll kill you. If not -" Eggsy shrugs, feigning indifference. "They'll be havin' a lovely dinner courtesy of your stupidity."

When he turns around this time no one says anything, they just follow.

|WICKED|

Thomas

|WICKED|

Thomas does not know what to think of Eggsy. The first time they met, he seemed pretty harmless if mouthy. The next, he's aiming to kill people without so much as a blink. Thomas remembers the look on Eggsy's face - the concentration, the determination and anger etched in every line as he shot in Thomas's direction but never came close to actually hitting the boy. It had been somewhat unnerving to hear bodies hitting the floor behind him - to have the thought that he was lucky that the man was on his side otherwise he'd be joining them.

Thomas keeps his eyes on the man; watching the way he carries himself as he navigates them through the building with only moonlight. His back is straight, his steps silent and sure, although Thomas notices how he keeps his gun out, and if he could see the man's face Thomas would not be surprised if his eyes were checking for any sign of a threat. He moved like a predator - Thomas realizes after a minute. All grace, confidence and full awareness.

'We're lucky he's on our side.' The traitorous voice returns. Thomas ignores it with all his will.

|WICKED|

Once they finished gathering stuff to take on the road, Eggsy looked at all of them: "Alright, we're goin' to get out of 'ere 'cause they tend to hide out in places like this. We'll be safer outside."

"Outside?" Minho exclaimed, disbelief etched in his voice. "In a sand-storm?"

Eggsy looks over at him and raises an eyebrow. "Well, when ya put it that way, 'ere are your options: Huddle under a bridge to escape the worse of the storm and manage to get at least a few hours of sleep, or stay 'ere overnight and pray Cranks don' find yea. Pick."

"Who do you think -" Minho began, stubborn as ever, and that's when Thomas thinks it will be a good time to speak up.

"Minho, can you lay off man? He's just trying to help."

While Minho visibly deflates at Thomas's point, his dark eyes fixing on Eggsy. "Right. Sorry."

"No problem bruv. I get it, you don' know who ya can trust except each other. Just make sure you don't start seein' all your friends as enemies. That's just as dangerous as thinkin' your enemies are your friends." Eggsy tells them all firmly, yet a fair bit kinder than before.

Minho snorts. "What are you, a fortune cookie?"

"No; just been 'round enough to know how things are." Eggsy says with a small smile. "Besides, no fortune cookie actually gives helpful advice."

"Too true, shank." Minho agrees with a slight grin. "Too true."

With that the group begin navigating their way through the halls to find another way out. Eggsy leads the way with Winston, since they are both armed and Thomas falls at the very back of the line with Teresa who keeps shooting him odd looks. Finally Thomas looks at her, "What?"

"Since when are you so trusting of strangers?" Teresa responds, her blue eyes meeting his while a frown tugged down her lips. "Even before you knew they were WICKED, you didn't trust the people who rescued us."

Thomas sighs. "Yeah, but none of them risked their lives for us, did they? It was just weird that they came for us as soon as we got out."

"Oh, but having a guy who has perfect aim and has our files isn't?" Teresa pushes in a soft whisper, grabbing Thomas's arm to stop him. "Yeah, he probably isn't with WICKED. But for all you know he's working for someone else -"

Thomas gazes at Teresa, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Yeah - he's working with the Right Arm. And even if he is lying," Thomas plows on seeing Teresa roll her eyes. "He's still helping us out right now when he doesn't need to be."

"So you trust him now?" Teresa inquires disbelievingly.

"No I just -" Thomas pauses, sucking in a breath. "I just like having some help, all right? We're way out of our depth here, Teresa. We don't have a damn clue what we're dealing with now and I've seen enough people - enough friends die."

Teresa flatters at that for a minute, then she murmurs. "If he's lying more people could die."

"We would be dead already if that's what he wanted, which means he wants us alive. That gives us an advantage if we find out he's lying later." Thomas takes in another breath, fixing Teresa with a look of puzzlement. "Why are you so against him, anyway?"

Teresa bites her lip. "I'm not against him - I just don't get why you would defend someone who we don't even know we can trust."

"Right now, he's helping us. I don't think that would continue if we kept questioning outloud everything he does." Thomas tells her patiently, despite getting the impression that he was only getting part of the answer.

She nods. "All right." Then moves to catch up with the others.

Thomas follows, ignoring the tightening of his gut that tells him that things are not "All right."

| WICKED |

The worse of the storm has actually died down when they exit the building. Enough so that they only need one flashlight to help see where they are going once they make they're way under a bridge. Soon enough, Eggsy finds them a nice little nook that they can all fit in comfortably snug and well out of sight. Eggsy lets them all crawl in first, eyes scanning the area with calculation up until the minute he crawls next to Thomas. Even then, his grip on his gun does not loosen. "Alright, you all try to get some sleep, ya hear? It's goin' be a hell of a long day tomorrow."

There are murmurs of understanding, whispers of "Night." and the sound of bodies shifting into more comfortable positions. Ten minutes later, Thomas can hear the sound of soft breathing emerging from everyone -

Except for Eggsy.

He sits at the entrance of their nook, back slouching against the wall while Thomas can guess that his eyes remain alert, staring off into the sand and darkness. His grip is still tight on his gun.

Sitting up, Thomas shift a bit closer to the older man, the noise making the man face him. "Hi." He whispers softly, staring at the outline of Eggsy's face.

Eggsy snorts slightly, but his voice is soft. "Hi, luv. You should sleep."

Thomas scowls slightly at the nickname, despite the heat flaring in his cheeks. "Can you stop calling me that?"

"I can." Eggsy responds, and Thomas can envision the smart-ass smirk on his lips. "But I won't. It suits you."

Thomas frowns: "How -" He cuts himself off, breathing in the dust as he realizes that asking how an endearment suited him would only earn him another smart-ass comment. Instead, he whispers. "Well, why aren't you sleeping?"

"Keeping watch." Eggsy responds quickly.

Thomas sits up straighter. "You said it would be safer out here."

Thomas sees Eggsy's shoulders move up and down in a shrugging motion. "Safer ain't completely safe, Thomas. You can never be too safe anymore."

The brown eyed boy is somewhat taken aback by the sadness that was underlaying in the man's tone, the bitterness that doesn't fit his years. Subconsciously, he scoots closer till there was only a couple inches between them. "What was it like?" Thomas asks, clarifying when Eggsy looks at him in silence. "The world, I mean. Before all of this." He gestures around him and Eggsy snorts.

There is a brief moment of silence, then, the man speaks. "It wasn't perfect - people could be just as horrible as they is today. There was still sickness, unnecessary death, poverty, and pollution - " Eggsy takes in a breath,as if to steady himself. "When I was younger, my mum would sometimes take me by the ocean. It wasn't like the beaches in Florida; the beaches were rocky and the waves would pull you under most days if you went swimmin'." His voice had gotten considerably softer, lost in memory and Thomas clings to every word. "But we would stay until the sunset - the orange sun turnin' the clouds and sky pink and purple and reflectin' off the water. After my dad died, we went more often - my mum wasn't religious, growin' up the way she did didn't leave much room for faith - but I think when the sun set, for just a moment at least, she could believe in heaven and that my dad was up there, smilin'..."

Eggsy trails off, and Thomas didn't dare suck in the ragged breath he was holding or rub his burning eyes in fear of breaking the moment where he could see all that Eggsy had described - the incredible beauty of it all.

"The world wasn't perfect, but people had more hope then, Thomas." Eggsy whispers. "Even in the most awful situation, people still managed to grasp onto hope, no matter how little it was. Now, more people are too afraid to do that - they have lost too much - and so they try to take from others." Eggsy sighs, and Thomas can feel his gaze cutting into him like a knife. "WICKED took you all to try to fix their superior's fuck up. They had good-intentions in the beginnin', I'll give them that; but they ain't ever goin' find a cure and they know it. They've known it for awhile now." Eggsy shifts, his arm brushing against Thomas's. "But, instead of perservin' your life. Instead of savin' all the immunes and even the unsick they can and puttin' you someplace safe - they've taken your memories, your life for fuck all. They're killin' whatever hope is left Thomas."

Thomas lets out his breath then as Eggsy visibly crumples slightly at the confession, like paper. He stares at the man through the darkness and wonders about him, about the life he lived before the flares and WICKED; how the man's smile had become bitter. But this is not the time for more questions, instead, Thomas slowly places his hand on the man's shoulder. It stiffens briefly under his touch, then relaxes, and Eggsy even leans a bit towards him. "I don't know much about hope." Thomas admits quietly after a few moments of silence. "But - what you're doing for us..." he breathes in, sharp and heavy with honesty. "It's the closest thing to it."

He hears a sharp intake, feels the man's gaze on him and that familiar but unknown feeling running through him as Eggsy murmurs with a slight chuckle. "You gettin' deep on me, luv?"

"Shut up and don't ruin the moment." Thomas replies shortly, unable to help the small smile pulling up the corners of his lips.

Despite the darkness, Thomas thinks Eggsy somehow sees it - 'Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the guy had night vision.' - because a second later Eggsy's lips are brushing up against his ear. "I'll try not to." A soft laugh, fanning across Thomas's face. "You're somethin' special luv. Really you are."

"Just sleep." Thomas replies, after a long moment of silence, voice unusually soft. "You have plenty of time to be paranoid tomorrow."

He hears a chuckle. "You're one to talk." In response, Thomas elbows the man on his side, making him let out a grumble. "Alright, alright. But you better sleep too luv; so you look nice an' pretty tomorrow mornin'"

By the time Thomas can think of a clever reply, Eggsy's head is resting on his shoulder - the gun loose in his hold.

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