"While you were out yesterday with Galahad," Merlin began, walking beside Jemma down a corridor, "you missed something I think you might enjoy."
"Did I, now?" She raised a brow, curious.
He nodded, stopping in front of a set of mahogany double-doors. He offered the handles to her, and she frowned curiously. She pulled one, peeking inside. She took an awed breath, her mouth falling open.
It was a library, with walls high as the house, and rolling ladders leading up to high shelves of towering bookcases. The center space, between the archways of books and wrought-iron, was a marble floor. There were more bookcases separating desks and armchairs, with those classic green lamps that she'd seen in movies. Surrounding the atrium, there were two balconies, on the east and west sides of the building, with more dusty volumes. Each one had its own spiral staircase leading up to them, more books tucked in them too.
"Oh, wow," She breathed, she looked up to Merlin, and her face broke into a disbelieving grin. "This is all yours?"
"Yes—well, Kingsman's." Merlin replied, beginning to walk inside. "You are free to use it as you wish throughout your training. Here, we remember the past, to better influence the future. We have ledgers and mission descriptions in the west-side of the west balcony, only accessible to official agents or recruits with special permission and supervision."
"Got it." She nodded, touching one of the desks carefully.
"Dogs are not allowed in here." Merlin said pointedly. "Sign out books, and know that if you break it, you buy me a new one. That goes for the furniture as well."
She nodded. He began to walk again, as she glanced about. She passed an aisle of books and spotted Eggsy. He was standing in a dark polo and loose pants with a pair of meticulously clean sneakers on his feet. It was a far cry from the button-down and slacks she usually saw him in, but it still fit him somehow. He seemed to be on the phone with someone, but she could not see the how he was doing so; all he had on were those glasses. He began reading a passage aloud from a Russian-sounding book. She hadn't noticed that she'd stopped until Merlin came back and spoke to her.
"Come on." He said, waking her from her mild daze.
She nodded and turned, just as Eggsy looked up at her. She smiled and gave a small wave, then followed Merlin's footsteps, listening to him talk about the different sections.
"Is that it?" Roxy asked, making Eggsy turn quickly back to the Russian text as Jemma disappeared out of his sight.
"Uh… yes." He nodded once and closed the book. "You think that's the right edition?"
"Well, now that I'm using that one to decipher it, I think I'm getting actual words so I believe so, yes." Roxy said, talking as she worked.
Eggsy sighed and closed the book. "You need anything else, Rox?"
"No, thanks, Eggsy." She replied.
"Course." He nodded, "Talk later, yeah?"
"Mm," Roxy murmured absently, obviously taken by the task of decoding the cipher-text.
He took off his glasses with a smile and turned to put the book back. He came out of the aisle, looking about. He spotted Jemma following Merlin up a spiral staircase to the library's east balcony.
"So," Merlin stopped at the top, and turned to her, "I take you to be someone who would enjoy these books."
"Which are these?" She asked, and he smiled.
"Glad you asked. Follow me." He spun on his heel, and walked all the way to the eastern end of the balcony, and showed her the first wall of books. "They're organized by author. The rest of the library is mostly analytical, but this section has a variety of things that are a bit more about the human condition."
She laughed, touching a book, "What a fine way of putting it."
"The Oresteia." He said, surprised, raising a brow at the book she was examining. "Did you know that's the—"
"—Oldest surviving Greek trilogy." She smiled, nodding, "I've read it before, actually."
"Really?" Merlin blinked. "Well aren't you full of surprises."
She grinned, and then they both turned, seeing Eggsy standing at the top of the spiral staircase. He leaned an arm against the banister, smirking at her.
"I can watch this one for you, Merlin." He teased.
"Alright then." Merlin gave a small smile. He turned to Jemma, "Watch him, will you?"
"What do you mean?" Eggsy replied indignantly to the older man, making Jemma snort.
Merlin looked back to her, "I have never seen a man be so graceful and also so idiotic."
Jemma laughed aloud, making Merlin smile before he moved to leave. As he walked past Eggsy, he paused, whispering, "Be civil, please."
"Always." Eggsy smirked, but the senior agent didn't look so sure. "What?"
Merlin raised a brow, and Jemma turned down an aisle. She could not hear them, but she could tell she shouldn't be able to anyways.
"What, Merlin?" Eggsy asked brow furrowed defensively.
"Don't get attached." Merlin said.
With that, he stepped past to descend the stairs. Eggsy stood there for a moment, thinking. He turned then, and walked down a ways, looking for her. He found her with a stack of books already forming in her arms, a few rows down from where she'd started. She looked up at him with a warm half-smile as he came over to her. He noticed the author of a book she had in her arms.
"'There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.'" He recited. "That's Hemingway, I believe."
She raised her brows, an impressed smile on her face, "Are you a fan of him, then?"
"Nah." He smirked, leaning against one of the shelves, "A friend of mine was."
"Harry?" She asked. He blinked, and she realized she should not have asked, "Sorry, I just thought of, uh, the words on his headstone; 'But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.' That's a quote from him too."
Eggsy smiled sadly, "That it is."
She gave him a sympathetic look. "I actually didn't know that when I first saw it, I looked it up when we got back."
He watched her look a bit unsure about whether or not he would be upset. "You got any more?"
"Let me see." She said, opening the book she was holding by the author in question.
They ended up on the floor, sitting across from each other. He with a book called The Sun Also Rises, and she with A Farewell to Arms. Every once and a while, she'd stop, and read him a line or two she liked. His novel was a bit more difficult to quote without explaining the prior plot points.
"'All thinking men are atheists.'" She snorted at one point. He laughed softly in return. After a long time, she read to him solemnly, this passage: "'The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.'"
She looked up at him, and he stared back. She sighed and closed the book. Eggsy scratched his temple. "Smart man, that Hemingway."
She nodded, and then met his gaze again. She spoke after a second, "You really can't bring your dog in here?"
He smiled, "I don't know," he lowered his voice, "to tell you the truth, I really only used this for sleeping most of the time."
She laughed, covering her mouth. She looked about, and he smiled at her. Closing his novel, he asked, "You like books?"
"Yeah. I'm not very good at reading though—by which I mean I do it very inconsistently, not that I'm illiterate." She clarified quickly.
"I understood, Jem, don't worry." He chuckled. "Which is your favorite, then?"
"Too hard!" She cooed, "I do love, though, Jane Austen. She is a classic. How about you, then?"
"Well, I might as well be illiterate at the rate I read." He joked, making her smile again. "I fancied a bit of James Bond when I was younger, but I rather like tv and movies now."
She smiled, "Haven't got cable anymore, so I'm way behind on mine. What do you like?"
This lead them into a long conversation, in which he caught her up on all the new episodes and storylines of the shows they both watched. As they talked, they went down to get George. They continued talking, going on a walk outside during Jemma's lunch hour. They wandered about the back field, and he kept her company as she continued to train George. He didn't give her any tips, just watched. It reminded him of something she'd said to him the day before.
"You said your dad had dogs?" He asked.
She nodded, scratching George behind the ears, "He had a real knack for training 'em."
"Huh." He thought for a moment, "What was he like?"
"My dad?" She glanced up at him. He nodded, avoiding her eyes. She frowned, looking out into the field as George waddled around, sniffing things. "Well, he was a kind man. Stern, but still kind. I loved him very much."
"Don't remember my dad." Eggsy said nonchalantly, leaning back on his heels with his hands in his pockets, "Actually, he's the reason why I met Harry. He died saving Harry's life, and then Harry came to find me later to offer me this job."
She smiled, "Sorry about your dad."
He shrugged, "I'm over it."
He checked the time on his watch and smiled. She stood, and looked over his shoulder. "Time to go back?"
"Mm," He nodded, turning to her, "Combat training again today."
"Sounds good." She said evenly, her hands on her waist. She began to walk, excited for the class.
When Eggsy walked back into the house, Merlin met him and told him that Roxy had called.
"What did she say?" Eggsy asked anxiously.
"She'll be back in about an hour or so. She was compromised in Moscow." Merlin said in a business-like tone.
"Is she alright?" Eggsy asked quickly.
Merlin nodded, "Of course she is."
Eggsy crossed his arms, relaxing. "We're going to continue to train them while we wait, though, right?"
Merlin nodded again, "I'm going to make an offer to that recruit, Rusty."
"What kind of offer?" Eggsy asked.
"He has a scientific mind, and he doesn't seem to particularly like fieldwork. The agent who proposed him knows that I often pick people for other positions from this pool, so I believe he told Rusty to wait for me to ask him." Merlin brought up his resume on the clipboard, "He's a bit older than the rest of the candidates—older than you too, actually."
"Really?" Eggsy looked over his shoulder, seeing he was right, "My god, he looks like a fetus."
Merlin nodded, "In any case, he has Ph.D. in physics and biochemistry, and a fair amount of knowledge about a range of other things."
"No kidding." Eggsy raised his brows, reading Rusty's resume, "And he's looking into another in criminology?"
"Apparently." Merlin shrugged, handing Eggsy the clipboard, "Why don't you go in and help the recruits get started? I've paired them up already."
Eggsy began to read the pairings Merlin had made as he walked downstairs. He walked into the gym, and all of the recruits stood at attention. He looked up and waved them off, making them relax.
"Alright, so, Merlin told me to come down and get you all started." He was frowning at the clipboard, trying in vain to figure out the piece of technology. He hit the side with his palm, and a guy snorted.
"God, he doesn't even know how to use a tablet." The recruit said aloud.
"Oh, fuck off, Will." Jemma snapped, crossing her arms tiredly.
"How come we're getting a lapdog, instead of the real teacher?" Will continued.
Eggsy raised his eyebrows, tucking the tablet under his arm. He was not really offended but he was more than happy to make an example out of this boy. He looked at all the recruits and then saw Jemma glaring up at Will still.
"I guess we'll just do this the old fashioned way then, won't we?" Eggsy put the tablet down on the ground. He slipped out of his sneakers and shucked off his coat. He stepped onto the mat in the center of the floor and then pointed to Jemma and James. "Can you two move this bag out of here for me?"
They nodded in unison and walked over. Eggsy turned back to the others as they worked together to remove the heavy punching bag. "So, instead of you fighting each other like before, you're all going to take your best shot at me."
Jemma's head jerked up. She and James shared a scared glance as they set the bag down in the corner. She straightened, and James followed. They walked back around, as Eggsy lifted a hand, telling Will to come closer. Will stepped up, and rolled his shoulders.
He put his hands up, and Eggsy let out a snarky chuckle, "Come on, then."
Will ran at Eggsy. He stepped aside easily. Will straightened, looking around for the Kingsman. Eggsy smirked, already at the opposite end of the mats, waiting for him to catch up.
"Really?" He asked cheekily.
Will leaped forwards, punching air. Eggsy hit him in the side. After this, the match went quickly; Will was on the mat in seconds. Eggsy shooed him away with a wave of his hand. The next boy got up and introduced himself as Nicholas. He was by far the easiest to knock down. Eggsy helped him up and offered him some tips.
"You're not striking enough." Eggsy said, "You've gotta be confident in whatever you do. You're thinking too much before you move. Alright?"
Nicholas nodded, and Eggsy clapped him on the back as he left the mat. He motioned for the next one to come up. A tall blonde boy stepped forwards nervously. Eggsy recognized him as Ari, the boy who Merlin had mentioned after they flooded the dorm.
"How are we then, Ari?" Eggsy offered him a hand.
"Uh, fine, I guess—" Ari made the mistake of taking his hand.
Eggsy cut him off. He twisted Ari's wrist, buckling his knee while he was distracted. Ari fell down, and Eggsy let go of his hand. He squatted down in front of Ari, smiling flatly. "Why would you think that shaking the hand of someone you were going to fight was a good idea?"
"Because I assumed you were being civilized!" Ari cried indignantly, cradling his wrist. Eggsy put a hand on his shoulder with a loud slap.
"You thought wrong." He said matter-of-factly. He stood, and looked back at the other recruits. "Who's next?"
James raised a hand, and Eggsy nodded, "Alright then, James."
They squared up. Eggsy lifted his hands, beckoning the recruit closer, "Come on, then."
"As you wish," James muttered, stepping forwards.
He began with a right head-hook. Eggsy ducked under his arm. James tried to follow with a kick to Eggsy's side. Eggsy caught his leg and rooted it to his side. James' eyes widened. Eggsy spun him about, making James lose his balance. He lifted the recruit up by the leg and slammed him down onto the mat. He let go of him and wiped his hands on his pants. It went on like this for most of the time.
He tossed one recruit almost completely over his shoulder. He straightened and glanced over as the boy groaned. His eyes lifted, and he saw Jemma. Her arm was across her stomach, her elbow resting atop it. She was touching her lips thoughtfully, studying the boy on the ground. She felt his eyes. She looked up carefully and met his dark gaze. He stared at her, and then turned away, tugging the polo off over his head. He looked back at her, breathing heavily, and covered in a thin layer of sweat. She found the almost deranged look of pleasure and pride in his face strangely welcoming. This made her a bit anxious.
"Come on then, Jem." He jerked his head, asking her to get up onto the mats.
She swallowed, nodding and stepping up. She was quite good at keeping a level expression. She commanded herself to focus. She looked up at him, and then suddenly her face went slack. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she stumbled backwards, falling flat on her back. Eggsy's brows shot up, his face stricken. He ran over to her.
"Jemma?" He asked, squatting down next to her. Her eyes were closed, and she did not answer. The recruits began to gather closer. Eggsy waved them away, "Back off!"
He reached out, going to check her pulse on the inside of her wrist. Suddenly her hands flew up. She wrapped her fingers around his instead. He looked up to her face, finding her eyes open wide. She smiled wickedly. Sliding her legs across the mats, she swept his out from under him. He fell onto his side. She got above him and turned him onto his back. Her knees were straddling his waist, as she grabbed his wrists again, pinning them above his head.
He began to catch his breath as she paused, blowing some of the hair out of her face. His eyes fluttered open, an exhausted, but proud, smile on his face. He laughed, and she beamed. Shaking his head, he looked back up into her face. His hands snapped out from her grasp. She lost her balance and fell forwards. He gripped her ribs in his wide palms and lifted his right knee. He pushed off from there, using the momentum to knock her over next to him. He looked to his left, grinning and breathing heavily. She was on her back as well now, catching her breath. She laughed, touching her forehead with her hand, and then opening her eyes to look at him. He sat up, and she sighed.
"Damn it." She muttered, looking only half upset.
He grinned, standing, offering her a hand. "Nice try, Jem."
She smiled, "I'll get you next time."
He tossed his head back and laughed, "Someday—maybe, but I doubt any of you will be getting anywhere closer to winning the next time we fight." He addressed the rest of the class, which seemed to be thoroughly worn out.
"Galahad!" Merlin burst into the room, making them all spin about in surprise. He nodded to Eggsy, "Go on, then, go help Lancelot, I'll deal with this lot."
Eggsy nodded, bending down to scoop up his things. He hurried out past Merlin, who looked at all the recruits suspiciously. "What the bloody have you been doing in here? You look like you've all been run over by a train or something! It's only one o'clock, why're you all just standing there? You've got loads more to do! Get moving!"
Eggsy jogged to the tram, zipping up his hoodie over his bare chest. He reached it just as it returned from the shop. The door slid open, and Eggsy found a very tired-looking Roxy. She stepped out and looked up at him. She sighed and tugged a heavy-looking suitcase along behind her.
"Hey, Rox, you need a hand?" He moved to grab the handle, but she stopped him.
"Trust me," She said darkly, "you don't want to touch this."
He stepped back, hands up in surrender. He resigned to simply walking next to her as she lugged it to the infirmary, where they found Rusty was waiting, having obviously accepted Merlin's offer. She asked the two of them to help her lift the case up onto one of the examination tables. Rusty held out a box of latex gloves to Roxy, who took some without looking away from the bag's zipper. He turned to Eggsy who frowned but took two anyways. Rusty was already wearing some, of course, so he put the box back on the medical table at his hip. It was the first time Eggsy was seeing him in an element that suited him.
"I'm going to open it." Roxy informed them. She glanced from Eggsy to Rusty, who nodded. Roxy began to unzip the case, as Merlin walked in, making sure to shut the door behind him. Suddenly, Eggsy's nostrils were attacked by a rancid smell.
"Jesus fuck!" Eggsy cried, covering his face with his forearm. "Bloody hell, Rox! What is that smell?!"
She lifted the top, and Eggsy's eyes became the size of dinner plates. Rusty winced, looking at the contents, and Merlin just looked plain disgusted. Roxy stepped back and began breathing through her mouth. Eggsy stepped forwards, his arm falling away from his face as he took a closer look. Inside, there was a man. His body was so disfigured, they couldn't be sure who he was originally.
"Fuck me…" Eggsy breathed. He looked up to Roxy, remembering how Merlin had described the information she'd given him. "You said you were bringing cargo, Rox."
She shrugged, using both hands to indicate the body, "That is cargo, Eggsy."
He shook his head bewilderedly, muttering to himself, "Christ."
"Who is he, Lancelot?" Merlin asked in a business-like tone.
"I'm not sure, sir." She replied, "He was sent directly to the safe house in Moscow. No return address, no note, no prints."
Rusty examined a finger, and glanced up at Roxy, "Have you got any guesses as to who it could be?"
Roxy shrugged, obviously annoyed with herself for not knowing. Merlin suddenly spoke, his voice flat and unhappy.
"'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'" He said, making the agents all turned to him. He met their collective gaze, "I'm guessing you all know well what that means."
"Yeah, but what does it have to do with this?" Eggsy frowned.
Merlin used his pen to turn one of the man's cuffed sleeves inside-out. "It's these bloody awful cufflinks that gave him away. His name is Lionel Hammond. He does—did—some freelance work for us in eastern Europe. Last I heard, he was in Budapest."
"Alright, but again: what did you say 'an eye for an eye' for?" Eggsy repeated, mildly annoyed.
"Before being doused in acid or whatever they used to corrode his skin, he was shot, six times." Merlin pointed to each of the bullet holes Roxy and Eggsy had not noticed under the melted skin.
"Christ," Roxy breathed, looking a bit disturbed.
"You recognize the pattern?" Rusty asked, and Merlin nodded.
"Yes. Someone else we know what shot in those same places if I remember correctly." Merlin pulled out his tablet and turned to a monitor they had in the lab. He brought up an image of a body like one out of an anatomy textbook and asked Rusty to point out where every shot landed.
"The first bullet is in the center, soft tissue of the right shoulder, and the second is just below it, under the clavicle." Rusty touched the screen in the specific places. "The third bullet is in the sternum, here, a fourth to the top of the left shoulder, chipping the bone, a fifth passed through the chin and into his neck. The final bullet is in his left femur; not quite sure what the order was."
"Right shoulder, then leg, then left shoulder, then sternum and then chin." Eggsy said, looking down at the ground, his face hard and his arms crossed tightly across his chest.
Merlin looked back at him and Roxy. She met his stare, an idea dawning on her, "Isn't that—"
"—Exactly how Jemma killed Rufus? Yes." Merlin answered, nodding. He pressed some other buttons on his clipboard, and another image came up next to the drawing. "This is an image from the autopsy report of Rufus, filed by a Kingsman doctor."
"'An eye for an eye.'" Eggsy repeated softly, his eyes still trained on the ground, and his expression souring. He straightened, looking up at Merlin. "Is there any chance that an ex-recruit like him could find this place again?"
"Well, it's not on any maps, nor are recruits allowed to be brought by car without a blindfold." Merlin replied, "When you took Jemma to Jackson's funeral, I made an exception."
"Merlin, if it's alright with you, I'd like to take Eggsy and go to Budapest." Roxy asked, "Perhaps we can retrace some of Hammond's steps."
Merlin thought for a moment and then nodded. "Alright. Rusty here will examine the body further. I'm going to put in a command to post more security in all the most vital Kingsman properties. You can take the jet, but don't use more than a week, yes?"
Roxy and Eggsy nodded. He followed her out of the infirmary—now also being used as a laboratory. Eggsy looked at her, and she gave him a sympathetic expression in response. Whilst taking a corner, they came upon a small dog sitting in the middle of the hallway. Roxy stopped dead in her tracks beside Eggsy, and together they stared at the small pup. It looked up and seemed to recognize that they were people and waddled over to greet them, leash dragging on the ground behind.
"Georgie?" Eggsy frowned, squatting down to pet the terrier. "What the devil are you doing out here all by yourself?"
She spun and sat down on his shoe, lifting her foot to scratch her ear. Eggsy looked up, expecting to find Jemma not far behind her dog, perhaps too engrossed in a book or something to keep up. She did not appear. Eggsy stood, picking up George with him. Roxy could sense his worry form miles away. She did not ask any questions, simply followed his lead.
"Galahad!" A cheery voice called from behind them. Eggsy and Roxy jumped, turning around quickly. James raised a brow, his face and hair still wet from the shower he seemed to have just taken. "Uh, hi."
Roxy gave a nod of acknowledgment, "Lancelot."
"Nice to make your acquaintance, Lancelot." James replied cordially. He turned back to Eggsy, "You alright?"
Eggsy nodded absently, "You haven't seen Jemma, have you?"
"Jemma? No." James' face suddenly filled with worry, "You can't find her?"
"No," Roxy answered for him, "we just found her dog and wanted to return it to her."
"Oh, well, I don't know." James said, holding out his hands, "I can take George and find her if you'd like?"
"Thank you that would be—" Roxy began.
"—Actually, you know what, that's alright, James." Eggsy interrupted. "Thanks though."
James looked back and forth between the two of them, a confused expression on his face. "Alright…"
After he was out of earshot, Roxy turned on Eggsy.
"What the hell was that?" She asked, clearly aggravated. "We have more important things to do than return some recruit the dog they should be looking after!"
"Nah, Rox." Eggsy replied, obviously thinking of something else. "There's something wrong."
"What do you mean?" Her voice softened slightly.
"Jemma loves this dog." Eggsy said blankly.
"So? I love my dog, you love yours; doesn't mean we aren't apart sometimes." Roxy said exasperatedly.
"Jemma loves this dog so much she risks Merlin's fury and sneaks her into the library inside her jacket." Eggsy said, trying to put some pieces together.
Roxy blinked; even she was mildly impressed by anyone who tried Merlin's patience on that front. She sighed, "I can tell you won't be letting this go until you find her, so let's just get on with it already."
They began to walk down the hall. It was strange to feel nervous and un-secure in this place. It might have been a small feeling in the backs of the minds, but it was there. Roxy followed without question, choosing to help him feel better than to try and convince him he was worrying about nothing.
Eggsy stopped in front of the computer room, his brow furrowing further. He looked down into his sweatshirt, where George was occupying her time by chewing on her leash. His eyes lifted back to the room, and he stepped across the threshold. It was a pretty average computer lab, with swivel chairs and long tables that multiple desktops occupied. There was a closet in the back left-hand corner, where servers and things were kept—Eggsy didn't really know what it was for. It was securely locked still, so he did not have to worry about that. Everything else seemed to be in order as well.
As he turned to leave, something caught his eye. He craned his neck, looking above the computers, and finding a foot. Like lightning, he yanked the pistol he had out of the back of his pants. Behind him, he heard Roxy pull hers out of her coat. They were not supposed to have live weapons around the recruits if they weren't training, but tensions had been running high recently. He walked around slowly, tiptoeing in his sneakers. He found that the foot was connected to a body underneath the table closest to the closet door. It moved drowsily, and he heard a soft voice groan: "bloody hell…"
Roxy pushed past him gently, and dropped to the floor, leaving her gun on the table top as she went. She moved a swivel chair out of the way and bent down under the desk. She offered a hand and helped a mildly frazzled-looking Jemma scoot out. She was holding the back of her head and wincing.
"What happened?" Eggsy asked, squatting down next to Roxy and letting George hop out of his sweater. Roxy began maneuvering Jemma's head about, examining the back of her skull gingerly.
"Hi, baby," Jemma cooed gently, scratching her excited dog's head. She looked up at him from under Roxy's arm and took a moment before answering. "I fell and hit my head."
"Under a table?" Roxy asked, mildly incredulous.
Jemma looked up at her, a blank expression on her face, "I was playing with my dog."
Eggsy frowned and looked over Roxy's shoulder as she turned back to Jemma's head. He reached out and touched a discolored patch of her scalp very gently, and she jumped. He froze, and looked back into her face, "That hurts?"
She nodded, and then winced, closing her eyes. She put a hand on her forehead, muttering, "Dizzy…"
"Alright, let's get you to the infirmary." Roxy said, pulling Jemma's arm over her shoulders, and helping her to her feet. Eggsy stood on her other side and called after them for George to follow.
As they walked to the med bay, Eggsy kept turning around to prompt George to follow them. He would turn back and tell Jemma what her puppy had gotten distracted by each time. She would smile in response, but only for a moment. There was something else on her mind, but neither Eggsy nor Roxy thought much of it.
Roxy went to speak with Rusty on the other side of the room, and Eggsy helped Jemma up onto the foot of a cot. He took a bag of ice from Roxy, putting it against the back of Jemma's head. She moved back to Rusty as Jemma took the pack from Eggsy. He put his hand down on the corner of the bed next to her. He glanced over, watching Rusty and Roxy talk, presumably about Hammond.
"Galahad." Jemma whispered suddenly, making him turn to her. Her eyes flickered to the other agents, then back to him. "I didn't hit my head."
Eggsy frowned, "What do you mean?"
She looked about nervously, and then back to him. "I've been noticing that you usually leave the computer lab door open when you leave—"
"—Why've you been noticing that?" He asked, and she shook her head,
"Because… I don't know!" She replied indignantly, "Sometimes I see it shut, in the middle of the day. It was closed when I was walking past it with George, and so I decided to go in a see if it was just you lot talking or something. The last thing I remember is seeing that closet in the back was open."
"Well, then what?" Eggsy leaned closer.
She shrugged, "I believe someone hit me over the head with… something metal. It was the corner of something, or maybe the end. It was small, maybe about ten centimeters wide, and when it hit me, it made a sound, but not… it wasn't hollow like a gun." She frowned to herself, scratching her chin. He smiled suddenly.
"You know," He said, "even though you got hit over the head, your attention to detail is quite good."
She blinked and looked up into his face. She gave him an abashed smile, turning away again.
"How come you didn't tell me right when I found you?" Eggsy asked gently, and she glanced over at Roxy again.
"I don't know who she is, and as much as I trust you, Galahad, I was just knocked out by someone." She replied pointedly, watching Rusty pull up something on his tablet. Eggsy's eyes did not stray from her face. He kept looking at her, suddenly overcome by a rush of self-assurance that obviously stemmed from her complete confidence in him alone.
"You can trust her too, you know." He said gently, leaning closer to her ear.
She turned to face him and remained unfazed by the close proximity of their noses. "I just got attacked the same day she appeared."
"I've been with her the entire time since she got here." He said, glancing at Roxy, "You can trust her."
"I don't even know her name." Jemma crossed her arms.
Eggsy smiled, "You don't know my name."
She looked back into his eyes, and gave him a tired look, "I know your codename."
"Right, but that's my codename, not my real name." He pointed out, "You said you didn't know her name as if that should be a qualifying factor."
She leaned back slightly, raising her brows, "You must think yourself quite clever right now."
"I always do." Eggsy said, a cheeky grin on his face, "Probably how I've gotten myself into so much trouble."
She laughed softly just as Roxy and Rusty glanced in their direction. Eggsy waved a hand at them with a facetiously cheery smirk. They turned back to one another. She looked at him with a content smile on her lips and then adjusted the bag of ice she had balanced precariously on her head.
"Are you sure the closet was open, Jem?" Eggsy asked softly.
She nodded, "Positive."
His frown deepened, his hand moving to scratch a spot behind his ear. "Hm…"
"You keep anything important in there?" She smirked up at him. He looked down at her, surprised by how good of a mood she seemed to be in, despite the circumstances.
"You know, I don't think so." He grinned, replying with the same joking tone.
They stood in silence for a long while, and then Eggsy pulled the ice off her scalp, examining it. He told her that he was going on a trip for a few days, and he could've sworn her face fell slightly—but it was probably related to her headache. He straightened, having given her a new sack of ice. She smiled and nodded gratefully. He watched her for a moment and then turned to look about the room casually.
"It's Eggsy, by the way." He said suddenly, relaxing against the side of the cot.
"What is?" She frowned.
He looked at her, smiling gently. "My name."
Her expression softened, her face breaking slowly into a smile. She turned away, meeting Roxy's eyes as she came back over to them, Rusty in tow. After a moment, Eggsy gave Jemma a look and she reluctantly told them the truth. Roxy had an excellent poker face, and so she did not reveal to Jemma the anxiety brought on by what she was saying.
"Thank you for telling us." Roxy said, trying her best to be encouraging. Eggsy winced slightly behind Jemma's back, and Roxy rolled her eyes at him. "Merlin has some questions for you, but then you'll be free to return to your training."
Jemma nodded. "Alright."
Roxy jerked her head towards the door, "Come on then, Galahad."
He smiled and walked over to her. As they left, both paused simultaneously to pet George—who'd been sleeping peacefully on the floor, and whom they'd rudely disturbed during their departure—without the least bit of shame. Roxy nodded goodbye one last time, and Eggsy gave a wave. And with that, they were off to Hungary.
