Aftermath Ch 2
Eggsy stared at Merlin. "So we have to take out ten fully trained agents? Are you kidding me?"
"Two," Merlin replied. "Eight had chips. That leaves Kay and Percival." Merlin typed, pulling up pictures of the two men. "I've already temporarily disposed of Kay." He pulled up a third picture, showing a live feed of the inside of the private tube car. Kay could be seen taking something apart.
"Oh, hell no!" Merlin exclaimed. He typed in a few commands and gas began to fill the compartment.
"What is that?" asked Eggsy.
"Just sleeping gas, unfortunately. Just as well. I'll deal with that bloody wanker myself. It does give us 24 hours leeway before I need to worry about him."
"What about Percival?" Eggsy asked nervously. The agent had been Roxy's mentor, which worried Eggsy.
"Unfortunately, he has contacted Lancelot. Arranged for her pick up before I contacted her. I told her to go along with it. It does makes her future actions questionable."
"Come on, Merlin! It's Roxy!"
"Aye, and I would have never thought a Kingsman agent would have been in on this. Let alone Arthur and ten Kingsmen agents." Merlin rose from his seat and moved to the front of the plane. Eggsy trailed along behind him.
"What are we going to do?"
"You are going to go home," Merlin replied as he disengaged the autopilot.
"What? You got to be kidding me!"
Merlin glanced at Eggsy. "Would you like to come whisper that in my ear?"
Eggsy smiled and shook his head at the memory. "You have a plan, Merlin."
"Of course." Merlin glanced at Eggsy, and then continued to watch out the front window of the plane. "You are going to go check on your family, and move them to Harry's. That way, we know they are safe. Then you will meet me at this address." He rattled off a street address and made Eggsy repeat it twice.
"It will need to be our base of operations. You will wait there for me. I am going to return the plane to base. I need to check in with other branches, and pick up some tech. I instructed Lancelot not to mention you. I will send Lancelot to check on her family, getting her out with out Percival suspecting."
"What about you? How will you get out, Merlin, without Percival questioning?"
"I will simply tell Percival I need to make arrangements for Harry. We will regroup and go from there."
"Wouldn't Percival question you dealing with Harry, Merlin? I thought we had departments for that."
"We do." Merlin swallowed, beginning to look a little distressed.
"Merlin?" Eggsy asked. Never in all his training had he seen the senior agent show any real emotion.
Merlin continued to stare out the window of the jet. "The recovery team should be back tomorrow morning with the body. We always turn them over to the next of kin. In Harry's case, that would be me."
"Harry had no family?" Eggsy questioned.
"Stupid boy!" Merlin whirled in his seat. "Are you truly that blind? He had me. And I had him. It just wasn't ever supposed to end this way." Merlin turned again back to his controls as the plane dipped alarmingly.
"Oh…" Eggsy wasn't sure what to say. All this time he had been upset watching Harry be killed. He hadn't realized Merlin had watched his lover die. "I… I'm sorry, Merlin."
"Don't." Merlin replied. "Just don't. Right now, we need to take care of the other two agents. And rebuild. This… I canna do this yet, Eggsy," he ended in a whisper, his brogue so thick it was hard to understand the last part.
They sat in silence for a bit. Eggsy watched Merlin get himself back under control, put everything back behind the walls he had built to keep his emotions separate from him. Eggsy likened it to watch that guy from the old Star Trek shows who showed no emotion.
"Buckle in, Eggsy. We are beginning our descent. I am landing at a small airport in London to drop you."
Merlin quickly landed the plane. Unbuckling his seat belt, he sent Eggsy to the back to restock his weapons while Merlin released the stairs.
"Tell your mother not to let anyone into Harry's house." Merlin instructed the young man. "I installed biometric controls on it a long time ago. Once she and your sister are there, we will engage them, and key them to you and me. Knowing they are safe will help you, Eggsy. And it will keep them from being used against us."
Eggsy nodded, started down the stairs. He stopped, and turned back to Merlin. "Can I ask a question, Merlin?"
Merlin nodded.
"I failed the tests. Am I going to be kicked out after all this is done?"
Merlin flashed a brief smile. "No, Eggsy. You'll get your codename shortly. Not for Harry. I don't want you to ever doubt yourself. You are one of us because you earned it by realizing Arthur had turned traitor, and then stopping Valentine."