Notes: While Merlin may have made his own notes about each recruit, I felt that he would probably consult the mole (in this case, Amelia) to get an insider perspective, especially since one could mask their true behavior and intentions in front of him. In this one shot, its presumed Amelia has done this before and has become very skilled at reading people. Her experience with the Royal Air Force is made up. It was not mentioned in the film that sponsored Rufus – the Kingsman name is made up.
This was her third, maybe fourth time doing this for Merlin – dressing to impress and pretending to act as someone's candidate for the Kingsman initiation, before exiting early in the process. Merlin had the idea for a while, seeing as he could only keep an eye on the recruits for a short period of time and in many cases, only saw one side of their personalities. It took a bit of persuasion, but Arthur grudgingly agreed that it would be good to have a different set of eyes on the recruits, reporting back to Merlin after exiting in some manner.
The last few times involved a faked death during the skydiving task or she purposely picked the wrong answers on the written exam. Merlin was concerned that while the skydiving incident was convincing, he was worried that the recruits needed the reality check sooner. They had discussed it in advance – she would be friendly to everyone, but keep a low profile. Unless none of the recruits could figure out how to escape the flooded room, she would pretend to panic, looking for a way out before succumbing to a lack of proper oxygen.
"Go on in," Merlin told her as she passed him with her suitcase.
She glanced over her shoulder at Ector, who was pretending to be her sponsor, and nodded before entering the room.
A trio of well-dressed men stopped talking and glanced over their shoulders when she arrived. Yes, it was mostly men – she was hardly surprised, given the way things had been for years. Amelia glanced at the wall of available beds and chose the one closest to the door on the right side of the room. She set her suitcase at the foot of her bed, before straightening up, adjusting her blazer. She thought she spotted a young woman to her left, but she turned her attention to the tall brunette of the trio who had made his way over to her.
Old money, she thought as she studied his appearance. He was clad in a neat fitting suit jacket, pressed slacks, designer belt, and classic loafers. Everything fit him well – almost as if it were perfectly tailored to his body. Certainly isn't afraid to flaunt it.
"Well, looks like Roxanne's not going to be alone after all," he remarked as he glanced over at the other woman. The other two men he had been chatting with looked at Amelia before looking at the other woman. She heard one of them make some petty remark about breaking up any catfights between the pair and the young man threw them a pointed look.
"Excuse them – they're being ridiculous," he said, turning back towards Amelia. He held out his hand, a confident smirk on his face.
"I'm Charles Hesketh, but please call me Charlie," he said.
She allowed a polite smile to cross her lips as she shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Charlie, I'm Amelia."
"Amelia? 'ello lovely, name's Rufus!" a dark haired male greeted her as he pumped her hand a little roughly.
"Hey, hey, hey Rufus, easy with the handshake there!" Charlie told him. "She's a lady after all."
Even though they had smiles on their faces, Amelia knew they were mocking her. While Merlin hadn't told her who chose whom, she had a hunch that Charlie was Arthur's (fitting really, as the man hand combed the best old money families to add to the organization) and that Rufus was probably Tristan's. Knowing Arthur, he'd probably try to keep Charlie around for a while. Rufus, she'd give him a few challenges before he screwed up and got sent home.
Another young man joined them and introduced himself as Digby. Bit of a weak handshake, but better than Rufus, she thought as she dropped his hand. Before she could introduce herself to the other young woman, the other two male candidates joined the small group and introduced themselves.
"Oh I thought it sounded better than a desk job really," one of the other recruits admitted.
"Of course it's going to be better!" Charlie chortled. "If you wanted an average desk job, you'd apply for one of the banks or something!"
Amelia nodded as she listened, pretending to look interested. The other young woman joined their group when they began talking about their experience prior to initiation.
"If you were in the military, I would have remembered you!" Rufus said when the other woman, Roxanne, told the group that she recently graduated from the Royal Academy.
"Rufus, maybe you weren't paying attention – after all, you barely passed!" Charlie shot back with a smirk. He looked over at Amelia and asked if she underwent training at the Academy as well.
She felt everyone looking at her when the question was posed. Now, she could go with the truth, which was she had training from the Royal Air Force, or she could give some other organization that these recruits hadn't mentioned yet.
"Actually, I –" she began before hearing a sneaker squeak on the floor.
Everyone had turned their attention away from her and was looking at the newcomer who walked in. Secretly, Amelia felt relieved. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Charlie and his friends whispering about the new guy's appearance before Merlin stepped into the room, calling them to attention. She assumed her normal stance – feet apart, hands clasped behind her back, and shoulders squared to the front.
She glanced out of the corner of her eye as Merlin said his piece about the secrecy of the organization and how people would be punished if they revealed anything. She had to resist the temptation to roll her eyes as Charlie shot his hand up first and smugly revealed that the item sitting on the foot of their beds was a body bag.
No one seemed fazed by the announcement but she couldn't see the new guy's reaction, as he was standing in front of her. He was dressed more casually than the others, but judging from his stance, she was guessing he had some Marines training.
Merlin dismissed them for the evening with his standard phrase, "Fall out" before locking them in their room for the evening.
The group began heading to their bunks to start filling in their body bags. Amelia fished out a pen from her bag and turned towards the wall adjacent to the door, propping her bag up so she could write on the card.
Wonder if Merlin's going to have me carried out in this, she thought as she finished writing the information in. She moved away from the wall and placed her bag at the foot of the bed.
"Roxanne, but call me Roxy," she heard the other woman say.
The newcomer accepted her hand and shook it. "Eggsy."
"Eggy?" she heard Roxy ask him.
"No, Eggsy," he corrected with a smile.
"Eggy? Where'd they dig you up from?" Rufus asked as he approached the pair.
Amelia busied herself with her suitcase, listening to the exchange between Eggsy and Charlie's group. She bit her lip when the boys began to ask Eggsy if he attended school at one of the prestigious locations they named and sighed, hoping the irritation wasn't too obvious with that sigh. It was childish – very grammar school behavior. Clearly they wanted to get a rise out of him to see if he'd fight them or play it off.
"Wait, did you wait on me at the MacDonald's?" Rufus asked.
Eggsy crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "Nah. But if I did, I woulda given ya an extra helping of secret sauce!"
Amelia had to hide a smile at his comeback – she could imagine that the other three were probably struggling to find something to say after that. Well, it served them right. She straightened up and retrieved her pen, which was sitting on top of her body bag.
She approached Eggsy who was staring down at his bag skeptically as Roxy reassured him that it was just scare tactics.
"Need a pen?" she asked as she held it out to him.
Eggsy turned around and shot her a grim smile as he accepted it. "Cheers!"
Roxy craned her neck to get a better look at her. "Amelia, isn't it?"
Amelia nodded with a smile and she glanced back at Eggsy as the other introduced him.
"Hi Eggsy," she said as she extended her hand. Once he took it, she stepped towards him, leaning close to his ear. "Don't listen to anything those guys say."
"That's what I told him!" Roxy sighed.
Eggsy was the first to notice the water rising steadily into their room, now up to the level of their ankles, if they stood on their beds. Amelia looked around the room, pretending to look as panicked as the rest of them.
"Everyone just stay calm!" Charlie ordered the group as he balanced on his mattress, trying to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.
"What do we do?" someone yelled.
"Showerheads!" Roxy declared as she glanced over at the showers.
"She's right!" Charlie yelled.
The other recruits save for Amelia and Eggsy, followed their lead and started swimming to the showers.
She pressed against the walls with her hands, jerking her head to the door and back. The last thing she heard was Eggsy yelling, "Showerheads? Guys, what about the fucking door?!"
The water rose up to the ceiling, submerging them completely. She continued to act panicked as she spotted Eggsy swimming for the door. He tugged on it, only to discover it was locked tightly.
She noticed that the others had turned their attentions to dismantling the showerhead tubes and were shoving them down the u-bend of the toilets. Eggsy, meanwhile, was starting at the wall across from the door and began swimming towards it.
Amelia stopped pressing at the walls as Eggsy began slamming his fist into the wall, which was actually a two-way mirror. She closed her eyes and floated on her back, the current beginning to pull her towards the tops of the sinks as the mirror broke and sent the rest of the recruits tumbling to the floor.
It was barely 2 minutes – she could hold her breath a lot longer, but she had a gut feeling this crew was going to figure it out quickly. The current slowed and she lay across the top of the wall for the sinks, eyes closed, arms lolling, and her head turned to the side.
She could hear Merlin calling out names – Charlie and Roxy for the showerheads and Eggsy for the two-way mirror. But it was a little muffled, thanks to some water in her right ear.
"However, in my eyes, you have all failed," Merlin concluded. He brandished his fountain pen at the crew as he continued, "All of you forgot the most important thing – teamwork." His pen stopped and pointed at Amelia's limp body, making the other recruits scramble to their feet to get a better look.
She heard faint whispers from some of the other recruits, along with Eggsy's south London accent murmuring, "So much for classic army technique."
Merlin had moved all of the recruits to a different room, passing out dry pajamas and their clothes for tomorrow, which consisted of the standard siren suit, white button down shirt, and lace-up boots.
Instead of having Ector and the others put her in the body bag, they stuffed a dummy bag and carried it out past the recruits, who watched in horror as it disappeared around the corner. Merlin made sure they were settled in before locking them in for the night.
Ector had given her the all clear and she quickly showered and changed clothes before heading down to Merlin's office. She knocked gently before Merlin replied that she could come in. She closed the door behind her and stood at attention.
"At ease Amelia," he replied. He gestured to the chair opposite him and she took a seat. "They seemed convinced – excellent work there."
"Thank you Sir, but I think I'll chalk my skills up to you," she admitted, tucking a strand behind her ear. "After all, I did learn from you years ago."
He nodded before picking up his clipboard and prompting her to give him a rundown on the candidates. She talked briefly about the other two male candidates, commenting that they seemed to be followers, rather than leaders. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember much about them, save for their names.
"I think Rufus and Digby might also fall into the same category as the other two," Amelia noted as she laced her fingers together. "They seem to default to whatever Charlie does. Very concerned with their appearances too might I add."
Merlin hummed as he scribbled his notes down. Amelia watched him write and waited until he finished before continuing.
"I sense Charlie will be there for a long time," she continued. "However, I sense his intentions are little…superficial. He certainly gives an air of being entitled and doesn't seem interested in teamwork or many of the principles of our organization." She tilted her head and lowered her voice, "I came to the conclusion that he's Arthur's choice – is that correct?"
"Perhaps," Merlin replied with a quick glance. He turned his attention back to his clipboard and continued to make notes.
Amelia leaned back in her seat and smiled faintly. She knew Merlin wasn't going to give her a straight answer, but she knew she was right.
"I also think that Percival recommended Roxy and Harry chose Eggsy," she added. "By any chance, is he related to that one recruit that passed away some time ago? Lee, I think?"
Merlin sighed as he pulled up Eggsy's file and called up Lee's to do a side-by-side comparison. Amelia skimmed the stats for both and nodded. Yes, she could see the physical similarities and from what she heard, persona seemed to match, based on her observations of Lee's son.
"Eggsy's a lot like Lee from what I could tell," Amelia said as she rested a hand under her chin. "He prefers to jump into action, but he's observant. Everyone thought about the showerheads and he tried the door like a normal person would. Even though that didn't work, he looked at the mirror and determined it wasn't real."
"Aye, sounds a lot like Lee," Merlin replied, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
Amelia tilted her head and she frowned a little when she saw a twinge of sadness in Merlin's eyes. While she wasn't with the organization when it happened, she had become familiar with the case, as Lee had not become a full-fledged Kingsman, but had sacrificed himself to protect the rest of the group during a tense interrogation in the Middle East. Poor Merlin had accompanied them and he was never a fan of close combat, unless it was an emergency. A psychiatrist from HQ had noted in Merlin's file that he underwent therapy after that incident, something he rarely told people. She knew because he shared it with her, warning her to know her limits when helping him with initiation.
"He's definitely the dark horse in this group," she said. "Yet I think he's got a good work ethic and he wants to excel. I'm sure Arthur's against him already, but I wouldn't count him out – I think he's going to go very far in this. I would say his one flaw is…he takes everything quite seriously – he was convinced that they were in grave danger and he wanted to help."
"All right, good," Merlin mused as he finished scribbling notes next to Eggsy. "Finally, we have Roxanne."
"Roxy," Amelia corrected him. "Yes, she's very prepared – she seems very smart with her book facts but she's capable of applying herself in the situations. Came up with the idea of the showerheads immediately."
"Yes, both she and Charlie were quick to figure that out," Merlin said as he reviewed his comments on the task. "How was she with the others?"
Amelia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and bit her lip as she recalled what she remembered observing from her brief encounter with the other young woman.
"She was polite and quick to not judge anyone, including Eggsy," Amelia said. "Everyone started whispering about his background just based on his appearance, but she simply went up, introduced herself, and told him to ignore everyone making fun of him."
Merlin scribbled a note about Roxy's acceptance of everyone, devoid of judgment before meeting Amelia's eyes. "Is it correct to guess that you're confident about her as well?"
"Absolutely," Amelia replied with a nod. "Charlie, Eggsy, and Roxy all seem to possess either the qualities and/or talents for going very far in this initiation. It's early to tell, but like I said, I fear Charlie might not handle the teamwork aspect very well, Eggsy might view everything very seriously, and as for Roxy…I have a feeling that she has limits and she's going to need to be pushed in order to get past them."
He finished making his notes on each candidate and put his clipboard down. He rose from his chair and extended a hand to Amelia. She stood up and shook it, smiling as he thanked her for all her help.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how disturbed did they look when they saw me lying there?" she asked with a wiry smile.
Merlin snorted and shook his head at the door. "Those smiles and smirks of confidence faded the moment they saw you," he recalled. "Charlie's smirk disappeared immediately and the others started talking amongst themselves. I'd say both Roxy and Eggsy bought your act and looked very concerned."
They hardly knew me, she thought with a sad smile. Then again, I doubt they'd want to know me. While she had been mum about her true status in past initiations, some of the inducted members figured out she was actually alive and expressed frustration or anger about her lying to them. They'd probably look at her like a ghost if she ever crossed paths with them in the future.
"Thank you again Amelia," Merlin said as he opened the door for her. He passed over a ticket for her return flight to Berlin, along with her suitcase. "My apologies for the eh, damp condition of your luggage, but I will make sure to have it replaced as soon as possible."
Amelia shrugged as she accepted the ticket and suitcase from him. "No worries – it was old and I only brought my jammies in it." She raised a hand and bid him goodbye before making her way to the company car waiting for her outside.
"Airport please," she instructed the driver.
"Certainly," the driver replied. "Do you think we're going to find someone as good as James to fill the position of Lancelot?"
Amelia smiled as she looked up from buckling her seatbelt. "Absolutely. Dare I say, maybe someone better than James?"