January 8, 2016
"How's it goin', baldy?" Roxy heard Eggsy's voice in her ear.
"Damn it! Shut up! Leave me alone!" He had been pestering her with the nickname since her last mission because they had to shave her head completely just so they could do their best job in the surgery. Fortunately it had been a success and she wouldn't even have a scar. She was glad for it but was still annoyed at her hair, which was pretty much a buzz cut nowadays, forcing her to wear a wig for this mission.
Eggsy's taunting only made it worse. "That's a no, baldy. Since Merlin had to go back to Japan and the IT team is spread out changing codes for nuclear devices, he needed to leave someone competent in charge. That could only possibly be me, of course."
She rolled her eyes, but decided to fire back. "Big talk for someone whose last mission was babysitting the King."
"If you must know, we had a wonderful time. He's a very cute kid. Take a left, it'll be faster."
She was driving a model-of-the-year Bentley and feeling exposed about it. But she couldn't much pass as someone who would be invited to a party like this in Dubai if she came riding a Kingsman taxi.
Her mission was merely to infiltrate Omar Maalouf's inner circle. He was the son of a former oil mogul that had been kidnapped by Valentine but, since oil prices dropped and with the worldwide fear of even leaving the house making the oil sales even lower, he seemed to have taken a side gig as a weapons dealer.
According to Merlin, that was to be expected, specially since a lot of countries had flat out disappeared, forming others or just small city nations run by either a militia formed by the people or a few former elites or mafias that had built their own armies.
The big powers had managed to ultimately survive, even the civil war in the USA had been completely averted -in big part thanks to Kingsman, they had managed to track and neutralize more of the last Caradoc's sympathizers- This was more of a problem for small countries.
For that reason, something like a weapons dealer would be below Arthur's radar these days, but there were rumors that some of the weapons Maalouf had in his stock were of the atomic variety and, thus, he needed to be dealt with quickly. But the first step was to confirm the rumors.
After getting clearance into the hotel, Roxy parked the car. She adjusted her wig and outfit -a simple yet opulent bulletproof cocktail dress, a purse with several gadgets and a Rainmaker- and stepped out. A valet led her till the fiftieth floor, where the party was already in full swing. A waiter immediately offered her a drink and she accepted a vodka martini ("urgh" came Eggsy's voice, to which she smirked at since she had ordered it just to bother him).
There were people from pretty much all over the world in there, which didn't surprise her. There were militias in every continent and subcontinent and this was pretty much a convention for arm dealers. They could form alliances and partnerships in this place. Her cover was an Italian socialite, daughter of a mafia boss from Sardinia).
She stroke up small talk with several people, waiting for her glasses to pick up Maalouf among the crowd but he seemed to be a no-show so far. She decided to skip the dance floor and was about to go upstairs and star searching for rooms but as soon as she opened the first door she almost crashed against her mark. The man lost his balance and reached up to Roxy's shoulder for support. On instinct, she moved away and grabbed his hand but luckily she noticed what she was doing before she could harm him. She instead twisted his arm and put it across her shoulders, making it look as if she had been the one to look at him for support.
"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry, I must be drunk." She said. After helping him regain his balance, she studied him.
He was far better looking in person than the pictures in Kingsman gave him credit for. He had obviously shaven since his last had been taken, was dressed in a simple grey suit with no tie. Brown skin and he clearly kept himself in shape. Usually thirty one would have been a little too old for her, but in this case she almost wished it'd have been a honey-trap mission.
"Oh no, it was entirely my fault." He said automatically in a heavy middle east accent. He then took notice of her too and immediately seemed much more interested. "But, my, what is such a pretty lady like yourself doing around here?"
"Oh, I was just visiting the country on my family's behalf." She said with a flirty smile but keeping enough steel in her face and tone to let him know she knew exactly what was being done in that hotel. His interest spiked at that too.
"I see. If that's the case, would you mind joining me for a drink?"
"Not at all."
They walked till the end of the hallway and went inside. The room was spacious and beautifully decorated, focusing on red shades.
"Careful, Roxy, he might notice your wig!" Commented Eggsy, half joking. Roxy made a mental note to kick him in the groin next time they sparred.
Lancelot kept her eye on him to make sure he didn't put anything on her drink. He offered her a glass and drank himself before sitting in the bed.
"So, what is this business that brought you this far?" He asked.
"Oh, my uncle is in dire need of some means to deal with a couple of issues that have turned up. He and some colleagues have been building an... organization, but they need a little extra protection." She recited, keeping the lighthearted tone but putting emphasis in certain words. She wanted to edge towards the matter at hand but couldn't be too blunt, it might blow her cover. She hoped he understood her meaning well enough.
"I see. And you think you can find this... protection, in here?"
"Oh I'm just travelling really, but I heard very good things about this place." She sat on the bed, maybe a little too close for a friendly chat but she had already pinpointed some armed henchmen and wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.
He didn't miss her closeness and his demeanor became ever more confident and relaxed. "Well, in that case I might be able to help you. Assuming you have the means to pay me."
"Oh, be sure we can pay you in any way you want." She said, getting closer to his face and making a point to show him she was looking at his lips. She then retreated. "But we first need to know what you can offer."
She stood up, leaving him slightly disappointed, and walked towards the drinks, casually surveying the room and hoping that Eggsy might catch something through her glasses's video feed.
She pretended to pour some more and then take another drink. In reality she had barely touched the first drink he offered, she need to stay completely sharp. She turned around at caught him staring at her ass, which had been one of her purposes. Suppressing a smirk, she leaned on the mini-bar table and asked. "Well?"
"I need to know how dire a protection you need. I can offer you pretty much anything."
"Got him. Also there are some papers in the first drawer in the table to the right of the bed. If you can get them, that'll be the best." Murmured Eggsy.
"Well, our goal is to make our beautiful island a country of its own, but we have a feeling the big guys won't like that unless we have something as big as them to leave us alone."
Maalouf finally seemed to catch up to her meaning and his behavior became more reserved. She went back to the bed next to him and put her hand of top of his. Making her best show of desperation and need, she said, with tears in her eyes. "Please, we just want peace and freedom, we'll do anything if you give us what we need."
His eyes darkened and, to her surprise and Eggsy's, he kissed her. She opened her eyes in shock and, before she could stop herself, she karate-chopped him in the neck. He screamed in pain and dropped to the bed, groaning and grabbing his neck.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! You caught me by surprise." She said while helping him massage his neck. He looked at her wearily but still relaxed under her touch.
"No, it's my fault, I guess I overstepped a line." He said, sounding hoarse, and continued. "I think you might have come in just the right time. I got just what you might need just a couple of weeks ago."
"Oh, really?" She asked with pretend girlish excitement.
"Yes, it is very dangerous. And I got them from some contacts in the former North Korea. It's one of the few they had that actually worked. In the chaos some got lost, but some friends managed to locate one and transfer it to me."
"Almost there, Roxy!" Exclaimed Eggsy.
She blinked convincingly a few times and asked, trying her best to sound lost. "I have a feeling I don't follow you. I don't know much about Korea so I don't really know what you're talking about." To make a point, she placed a hand on his leg. He stared at her hand for a moment before looking back to her.
"Well, I don't know how they call it in Italy, but I believe in general they would be... nuclear devices."
"Yes!" Eggsy cheered, he transferred the last seconds of the feed to most major government intelligence agencies right away and then gave Roxy the clear to go.
"Oh!" Exclaimed Roxy, before smiling. "That sounds just like what I was looking for." She stood up. "I can't wait for my family to know!"
He stood up too, suddenly serious. "Where do you think you're going?"
She looked at him in surprise. "To tell my family about this so they can get in contact with you?"
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm sorry, miss, but that won't happen. You'll tell us how to contact your family and they'll come here. Until then you will remain here. You'll understand that I can't risk this information getting out."
Roxy pretended to be alarmed, but she was expecting it. "What?! You can't do that! If you keep me here we won't do any business with you!"
"That's fine by me too, I have plenty of buyers in line." She then remembered the papers. "And all the better for us, I thought we were having fun."
At this, he smiled wolfishly and stepped closer to her.
She pretended to be scared for a second longer and then smiled uneasily. "Well, I guess there's no reason to have a fight over this, is there?"
"Now you're talking, baby." He stepped into her personal space and put his hand on her hips. Not missing a beat she put her arms across his neck and, in a swift movement, fired an amnesia shot. Maalouf dropped to the floor, out for the count.
"Too bad he's a dickhead. He's cute." She said before removing the dart.
"I'm not your type but this prick is?!" Asked Eggsy, mocking offense.
"Awww don't be jealous, I'm sure you'll find a man like this some day too!"
She went to open the drawer while trading jabs with Eggsy and realized too late her mistake. As soon as she opened it, an alarm sounded.
"Fuck!" swore both Kingsmen simultaneously. Not wasting time crying over spilled milk, Roxy hurriedly grabbed the papers, stuffed them in her purse and went for the door.
"Is there another way out of this room?" She asked.
"No, sorry. You'll have your work cut out for you, Lancelot." Said Eggsy, now completely serious.
She inhaled deeply, took a vapor grenade from her purse, and threw it under the door. There was sudden yelling in arab. She didn't waste a second and forcefully opened the door, the Rainmaker in front of her absorbing most of the gunfire.
She fired a shotgun round directly at the main in front of her, who was thrown back on top of two others. She repeated the process twice more and proceeded with stun rounds. One of the guards managed to dodge the hits and came close to her. She simply jumped and kicked him square in the neck.
She took the rifle of one of the fallen crooks and waited for reinforcements. She cleaned the first group one by one as soon as they doubled the corner but after a few minutes they stopped coming, forcing her to change her glasses to heat vision. They were accumulating in the hallway doubling the corner, apparently too afraid to go on and have her shoot them.
She considered her options. The longer this drew out, the less likely she was of getting out of there alive. She took her lighter grenade and, calculating her angle, threw it right at them. Their screams were drowned out by the explosion. Roxy swore and changed her glasses back to normal since the heat of the grenade had pretty much blinded heat vision.
To Eggsy's amusement, she took off her wig and threw it the same way she threw the lighter. There was no fire. Carefully, she peeped at the hallway and saw that she had completely ignited the night. Careful not to step on any bodies, she approached the door, noticing that everything had gone quiet at the party.
"Galahad, do you have access to their video feed? What is happening out there?" She asked Eggsy.
"On it. Most of the guests were thrown out and there are 23 armed men with their guns trained right at your door."
She took the second vapor grenade from her purse and, with all the force she could muster, threw it under the door. She had a plan.
As soon as she heard confused voices, she stepped out, holding her umbrella upfront and then throwing it at the center of the group. She cartwheeled twice to her left, avoiding gunfire and, using one of her standard issue guns, got two of the men square on the head. By then most had noticed she was no longer among the vapor cloud but, before anyone could fire at her again, she charged at them.
She grabbed the barrel of the gun of the man closest to her and hit him in the face with it while at the same time shooting another in the head. She jumped over the man she had just knocked out and hit four of them simultaneously with her four limbs. She was moving too fast and careful to keep one of them in front of her at all times so that they were afraid to shoot and just hit one of their own.
She punched the next man in the groin, took his gun and, using him as a human shield, shot another, before rolling over and kicking one across the knee. Not missing a beat, she backrolled and then made a side aerial to her right, avoiding another two rounds and getting another two in the head. She landed next to another man who immediately went to grab her but she put her whole weight while twisting his arm, breaking it. She used the man's body to block another gunshot round and then fired at her shooter and charging against him.
The next man tried to hit her with his gun but she dodged, grabbed his shoulders and jumped, putting her feet on his chest before jumping back, forcefully throwing him to the ground. While spinning midair lengthwise, she unloaded the rest of her magazine in the three gaping men that remained. The other five had seemingly made a run for it.
"That was really nice! Good show." Congratulated Eggsy.
"Thanks." She smirked, looking at the group of dead or groaning men all across the room.
After making sure, using heat vision, that the other five weren't just taking cover and aiming at her, she approached the door just to find it locked. This meant that they couldn't run away so she went all across the apartment, shot each of them with amnesia darts, went back to the main room and also shot the ones she hadn't killed with amnesia darts.
"You made sure to erase the show from their footage, right?"
"Affirmative"
"Good, so how do I get out now?"
"I already tried unlocking the door, but no cigar. I think you'll have to use the window." Eggsy sing-sang.
"Damn it."
She shot the window after reloading her gun and was ready to make the jump when she caught movement in the corner of her eye. Omar Maalouf had woken up and was at the door, surveying the carnage and holding a rifle. He then noticed her and started shooting at her while coming down the stairs.
Roxy took cover and waited. She couldn't kill him because his weapons would just go to one of his contacts and this whole mission would be to waste since then it would be needed to look each of those contacts up. After a few moments, she jumped out in a cartwheel to avoid his gunshots and, with two dive rolls, she came near him, hit him in the stomach with the butt of her gun and took his. He yelled in pain and grabbed his belly, before looking at her in contempt.
"Don't be mad, baby, I just wanted to do some business with you." She then considered that he had no way to know that she had caused all this other than the fact he was staring at her right now, since she had put him down before the chaos started. Making her mind, she grabbed his chin and, to his complete surprise, kissed him the way he kissed her before and shot him with another amnesia dart.
Eggsy laughed out loud before she jumped, using the hook in her purse to drop several floors and, when the wire ran out, shot the window in front of her. Thankfully it was an empty suite.
She fixed her clothing, holstered back her gun and, muttering under her breath about her hair, walked out. She noticed a swarm of policemen climbing the stairs, asked some of them what had happened and finally walked towards the parking floor like nobody's business, ignoring the stares at her head.
AN: Like I said in the first chapter I don't like Author Notes but I'll make an exception this time because I was given a shout out! So you guys should check out Google Girl11 's fic. She's awesome.
