Some things to mention:
(*) James Spencer (Original Lancelot) is alive in this fic and has assumed the codename "Mordred." I'm not really gonna explain how he survived. Mostly because I don't want to. I'm in denial. It's Phil Coulson all over again. He's just alive okay lol. \o/
(*) HARRY'S ALIVE, JAMES IS ALIVE, EVERYONE'S ALIVE. (Except Chester because wow fuck that guy amirite.)
(*) James is Roxy's biological uncle, though due to their relationship, she refers to Martin (Percival) as her uncle as well.

There are certain sights which Eggsy has grown used to in his time at Kingsman, one of which is—unfortunately—the sight of his fellow Knights pacing outside the medical wing's doors like caged tigers. In this case, however, he's not certain for the precise reason. No one is currently out on assignment and given that it's Harry who's doing the waiting, Eggsy's mind jumps to some very unpleasant possibilities.

"Harry," he calls.

The man looks up as Eggsy and Roxy approach, schooling his features into something more contained. Once he'd recovered following his near-death in Kentucky, Harry had adapted well to the role of Arthur, though he insists that Eggsy not address him by his codename unless they're in a formal setting. Eggsy doesn't believe this to be one.

"What's gone on?" Eggsy asks, nodding towards the medical wing's doors.

"I'm not certain," Harry admits. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I made my way down to Control for a meeting with Merlin and found him collapsed on the floor beside his work station."

Eggsy feels a sharp spike of panic, not simply by the news, but the way in which it was delivered. Harry seems calm enough, but having spent as much time with him as he has, Eggsy can see that Harry is rattled. He can hardly be blamed for that.

It wasn't until after V-Day, after Harry had been found to be alive and had been brought home, that Eggsy had come to understand what the two men meant to one another. Harry had struggled to come to terms with what he'd been made to do in that church and Merlin had been with him for every step of the way towards recovery. More than that, Merlin had been what held them all together in the ensuing mess, remaining calm and in control when they needed it most. But now, just as when Harry had been struck down by Valentine's bullet, Eggsy is given a grim reminder that his mentors are just as human as the rest of them.

"Is he alright? Was he conscious?" Roxy asks, mirroring Eggsy's concern.

"He'd been feeling under the weather recently but I hadn't thought it was this serious. We haven't seen much of one another this past week," Harry says, fingers reaching to massage his left temple. Eggsy doesn't miss the action, watching the way Harry's fingers gently knead the scar tissue beside his eye. "He wasn't conscious when I arrived but I was able to bring him 'round easily enough. I escorted him here not ten minutes ago."

"Does anyone else know?" Roxy presses.

"Not yet," Harry says.

Eggsy turns his head to catch Roxy's gaze when Harry falls silent, his eyes on the clouded glass doors separating him from his partner. They've come to understand that Merlin is something of a workhorse—often keeping hours that most would balk at—so the simple fact that he's here means this is no case of the sniffles. All the same, Eggsy feels a strong need to comfort Harry in some way; it's clear he's not taking this well.

"He'll be alright," Eggsy proclaims, bumping elbows with his mentor. "You know Merlin, he'll probably be complaining that you interrupted his work by the time you get in there."

Harry's mouth twitches in the barest of smiles. Apparently he's not convinced. Before Eggsy can think to say anything else, the doors part and Morgana emerges. When she motions for him to come in, Harry lingers only long enough to tell them he'd give them an update when he could before disappearing within.

By the time Eggsy gets that update, Merlin is no longer in medical. Only he's not in Control either. Frankly, Eggsy's not sure where else to look. He's so used to finding Merlin glued to his seat in Control or Merlin finding him that it's never been a problem before. He feels a bit foolish as he wanders aimlessly around the medical wing until he arrives at Morgana's office. The door is open, but he knocks all the same.

"Harry's taken him home," Morgana says, eyes on her screen as she continues typing.

"He didn't say nothing about it," Eggsy replies with a frown.

"I'm hardly surprised," Morgana proclaims, looking at Eggsy over the rims of her glasses. "Come in."

Morgana is an older woman, having been with Kingsman before any of their current Knights were ever recruited. Even sitting at her desk, looking over the medical reports coming in from their other branches, there is a matronly air of grace and respect about her. She's stern when she needs to be, but Eggsy has seen her mother every one of them from himself and Roxy right up to Harry. Even Gawain—that great mountain of a man—may as well be one of her children for the way she looks after him. Eggsy had liked her from the moment Merlin had first introduced them to her and if that's changed in the time since, it's only because he finds he's come to like her even more.

"What's wrong with Merlin?" Eggsy asks, flipping the vacant chair in front of her desk and straddling it. "Sounded serious from what Harry said."

"It is serious," Morgana says. She clucks her tongue, an unhappy frown forming on her face. "It could have been a simple case of bronchitis but Merlin's done as he always does and now he's got himself pneumonia on top of it."

"He'll get better, though," Eggsy says.

"With proper rest, yes," Morgana agrees. "Not that he's particularly happy about it. I've put him off work for a minimum of two weeks."

Eggsy whistles low at the declaration. "I don't think I've ever seen Merlin take two days off."

"Which is how he got himself into this mess in the first place," Morgana huffs in agitation. This turns into a slow, heavy sigh of the longsuffering sort as she regards Eggsy with a thoughtful look. "With everything that's gone on since V-Day, it was only a matter of time. Much as I wish it hadn't happened like this, the time off will do him good. "

When Eggsy thinks back, he can't really pick any point in time where Merlin had truly taken a break. After V-Day, with his brief stint as Arthur, then helping Harry through his recovery and since then working alongside him to rebuild Kingsman, his responsibilities must have been enormous. The more Eggsy considers it, the more he realizes that Merlin had really never taken time to do anything other than… well… be Merlin. He feels a bit guilty at that, but apparently this behavior isn't anything new based on what Morgana has told him.

"It's all been a bit much," Eggsy agrees.

Morgana offers him a noncommittal hum in response. As the tapping of the keys continues, Eggsy wonders if perhaps the conversation has come to a close. Until Morgana abruptly stops. Her fingers pause over the keys of her computer, eyes fixated on one point on the monitor. After a very long few moments, she draws her hands away and folds them in her lap. Leaning back in her seat, she abandons her files in favor of giving Eggsy her full attention.

"Merlin will be fine, Eggsy," she says slowly. "You needn't worry. I've been watching over him for thirty years and this is hardly the worst that's happened."

"Yeah, alright, but with the way Harry looked—"

Morgana waves him off. "He's hardly on his deathbed, regardless of Harry's behavior."

"You're sure about that?" Eggsy presses with raised eyebrows.

"There's a conference Harry has to attend that calls together all the branch leaders. As Arthur, he can't miss it, but it will mean being away from Merlin for the week," Morgana explains, pushing the jar of sweets on her desks towards Eggsy encouragingly. "Because he can't take care of Merlin himself, he's all tied up in knots."

"I get that he'd want to be around for that himself, but it's not like we won't look after him while he's gone," Eggsy says with a shrug.

"I'm counting on it."

Eggsy twists in his seat at the sound of Harry's voice and finds him standing in the doorway. Despite the deep circles beneath his eyes, he looks marginally more at ease compared to when Eggsy had seen him last. Morgana makes a displeased noise as he enters the room.

"And how much sleep did you get last night, Harry?" she asks pointedly.

"Well…" Harry says, staring down at his shoes and clearing his throat.

"I thought so," Morgana drawls.

"I wanted to be sure," Harry says. "I wondered if he might have difficulty breathing in the night and wanted to be awake in the event that he did."

"He'll be fine," Morgana assures him as she rises from her seat. "I drained the fluid around his lungs and set him on a course of antibiotics and intravenous fluids. Just let it do its work. How was he when you left?"

"Sleeping," Harry replies. "Would you—"

"I have my bag packed and a car waiting at the door," Morgana interjects, walking from around her desk.

"Thank you, Mags," Harry sighs, his shoulders drooping.

"I'll see you when you get back," Morgana says, patting his arm on her way out the door. "And do try to nap on your flight at least?"

Eggsy offers her a little wave as she leaves, popping one of the sweets from her desk in his mouth as he does so. Harry stands by the door, eyes on her retreating back. Even after she's gone, silence hangs between them, though Eggsy's sure Harry had come here looking for him, otherwise he would've left with Morgana.

"A word, Eggsy?" Harry says at last, looking to him expectantly.

"Yeah, alright," Eggsy says.

Rising from his seat, he replaces the chair as he'd found it and follows Harry out of Morgana's office. They're out of the medical wing entirely before Harry deigns to say anything. Their pace is slow, less leisurely and more deliberate as they walk through the halls side by side.

"Morgana has told you that I'm to be away for the duration of the week," he declares.

"Some conference, she said," Eggsy affirms with a nod. "All the branch leaders and such."

"Yes. Quite unavoidable," Harry says, managing to look thoroughly put-out by the fact. "Although Morgana will be checking in on Merlin daily, I wondered if I might ask you to do the same. I understand it's not the usual assignment for you, but I would feel better if I knew you were there to make sure he wasn't straining himself and to update me on his condition."

"What about your condition?" Eggsy prods, biting down on the candy in his mouth.

Harry looks to him with a raised eyebrow, silently prompting for clarification. Eggsy crunches on the sweet, swallowing and licking his lips before answering.

"I'm not the only one who's noticed you're winding yourself up," he says.

Harry frowns at that, but doesn't deny it. "I don't care to be away from him when he's like this."

He hesitates, as though trying to decide if he should speak what's on his mind. Harry is a traditional Englishman, raised to keep a stiff upper lip and bottle up any particularly strong emotions. His recovery in conjunction with the ability to enjoy his relationship with Merlin openly had softened some of that, Eggsy thinks. Harry has always been warm and inviting, but he seems far more willing to share thoughts he might normally keep private when it's only himself and Eggsy.

"We have always done our best to care for one another. Even periods during which we barely spoke for years outside of work, there was a certain understanding that whatever quarrel we'd had or whatever disagreement there was between us, when it came to matters of health and well-being all of that was put aside. After I returned home, Merlin was… Well, without him I don't believe I would have ever been able to return to Kingsman, much less as Arthur. He is my partner in every sense of the word. And so to leave him now when I ought to be caring for him myself does not sit well with me."

"Merlin ain't keeping score, Harry," Eggsy remarks. "'s not like he thinks you owe him one or anything."

"I'm quite aware," Harry says with a patient smile. "It does not, however, negate the fact that I should be with him."

"But you can't," Eggsy reminds him. "So we'll do it for you."

Harry's smile widens a fraction, and though he doesn't say anything, Eggsy can sense the gratitude that rolls off him in waves. He reaches over, laying a hand on Eggsy's shoulder and squeezing fondly, bringing a smile to Eggsy's face in the process. After a moment, Harry reaches into his pocket and produces a plain white business card with an address handwritten in a tidy scrawl in the center. On the opposite side, there is a simple, unassuming silver key stuck to the card with an adhesive.

"Our address," he says.

"I don't think I've ever been to your house," Eggsy notes.

"You're living in my house."

Eggsy rolls his eyes. "I mean your new one."

"Well, now is as good a time as any," Harry says, still looking amused at his own joke. "I'll apologize in advance for being unable to give you a tour."

"Can I bring JB?" Eggsy inquires.

"I believe Merlin would be affronted if you didn't," Harry chuckles.

The rest of their conversation is smooth and amiable. Eggsy can't help but notice how Harry seems to have come away from it appearing just a tad lighter. He understands, of course, how Harry feels about all this, but there's really nothing for it. As he sees Harry off in the car parked out front, Eggsy assures him again that Merlin will be in good hands.

After all, they take care of their own.