Chapter 3
Guinevere refused to observe any of the tests; she left the job for Merlin to fill her in how each of the candidates fared. She hardly cared at the moment, as she had sent Harry on an information retrieval mission to track down Professor Arnold, one of the contributors of the late Lancelot's death. She was currently on the phone with Galahad, who was on his way in the back of one of the service's armoured limousines. "We're just pulling into the university," Harry was saying.
"Good," Guinevere said. "Be careful; we're not sure just how dangerous he is."
"Merlin briefed me, not to worry. Are we on the secure line?"
Guinevere frowned. "Of course, why wouldn't we be?"
"I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't scold me for saying I missed you."
Guinevere could almost hear his smile on the line and it made her smile in return. "Hurry back, Galahad. I'll have a kiss waiting for you when you return, my gallant knight."
"Wouldn't dream of keeping you waiting, darling."
Guinevere hung up the phone, her heart warm. She looked at her pile of paperwork, then decided maybe it was worth travelling to Merlin's headquarters to watch the recruits complete their next task. Guinevere was already sad to hear one had barely made it through the first test.
She met Merlin on the outside balcony and looked out with him to the candidates below in the grass. They were in the process of choosing their dogs. Guinevere observed in silence as Merlin made his speech. Afterwards, they joined the group out on the lawn.
"Alright, now that you've chosen your dogs-" Merlin started, when an alert popped up on their glasses lens.
Emergency. Someone being airlifted from the university. Harry.
"Merlin," Guinevere said slowly.
Merlin rose from his myriad of screens. "I see it, too. He should be here within an hour. I'll meet you in the medical wing then."
Merlin turned to leave the group. "Wait, where are you going?" Guinevere asked.
"To see if I can get a feed uploaded from his glasses." Merlin sprinted towards the building entrance, leaving Guinevere alone with a confused group of recruits.
Guinevere couldn't move. She felt a sudden panic, her worry of Harry preventing any kind of action. And these kids, watching her with blank stares, confused and waiting for orders. Damn Merlin for leaving her with them. Trying not to show her tough exterior was cracking, she stood straight and ordered the group, "Um, laps. Around the courtyard until Merlin returns. Put your gear on, and do not carry your dogs. Go." Before they could respond, Guinevere turned and started towards the building after Merlin.
By the time she reached Arthur's office, Merlin had already arrived. Arthur waved her in; they standing near the portrait that served as their optical screen. "Can you see it?" Arthur asked, referring to the image that could only be seen with their special lenses.
Guinevere nodded. "Do we know what happened?"
"We won't have all the details until Harry gets here," Merlin said. "His feed is heavily encrypted. You may need to have a word with him about sharing his password."
"He's still alive then?" Guinevere hesitated. She looked around for the unfortunate decanter of brandy. "What's his condition?"
Not quite in answer to her question, Arthur replied, "He activated one of our lighter grenades. It seems he was trying to escape, from whom we aren't sure yet. Before the explosion, something happened that caused the death of professor Arnold. Harry survived, but our men seem to think it put him in a coma."
"Shit," Guinevere said to herself, then to Arthur, "How many do we have working on this now?"
"Maybe ten? Some of our interns are working surveillance."
"I want everyone on this. Now, Arthur."
"This is not the only threat, Guinevere-"
"I said now, Arthur! Merlin, page my office as soon as Harry gets here. I want to know who was following him." She stormed out of the room, her chest tight and her jaw clenched. She went to her office, but couldn't get any work done. She sat staring at her telephone, waiting for it to ring. Finally, after about 45 minutes, Merlin alerted her to Harry's arrival. "On my way," was all she said, racing out of her office.
Harry looked pathetic lying on the hospital bed. Merlin was the only other person in the room. Guinevere was glad, for it kept her tears at bay. She was careful not to let her voice quiver. "Any change?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not. But he's stable. Just a matter of waiting for him to come around."
Guinevere nodded, never taking her eyes off of Harry. "And you think he will? Come around, that is."
Merlin saw the concern on her face and frowned. "If I know Harry, and I feel like I do, he'll fight through this. Never known him to quit."
Guinevere took a deep breath. She looked over at Merlin, who was still looking quizzically at her. She hardened her stance. "Thank you, Merlin. Let me know when you have more information." As she exited, she could feel wetness on her cheek. She hoped Merlin hadn't seen it.
Outside the hospital room door, Guinevere almost ran directly into Eggsy. "Sorry, Miss- I mean, Miss Guinevere."
"Quite alright, Eggsy, I wasn't looking where I was going."
He looked up at her. "You OK?" he asked, pointing to her cheek.
Guinevere wiped the tear away. "Shit. Bit of dust flew into my eye."
Eggsy nodded, not buying it. "Hows Harry? I came to see him."
Guinevere couldn't stand him calling him Harry, and was about to correct him, but it would appear Harry saw the boy as a friend. "To be honest, Eggsy, I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see."
"Harry means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
Guinevere's heart skipped a beat. "I care about all of my agents. Many of them are the only family some of us have."
Eggsy opened the door to Harry's room. "Yea, he means a lot to me, too."
Guinevere finally broke down and cried when she returned to her office.
