Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

He Nailed It

Just like before his mystery man was waiting for him outside Kingsman when Harry headed out for the night, the boy looking both edible and sexy in a wonderfully fitted suit, as per usual. The boy was all charm and swagger, Harry mused, holding the car door open for him and then suggesting an intimate little Italian restaurant for their meal, the place a ten minute drive away and just so happening to be a favorite of Harry's. Which begged the question of whether the suggestion was based on research of his habits or blind luck on the boy's part, Harry opting not to ask as he saved those sorts of questions for another time. Instead he asked the boy about his day as they drove through the busy London streets, Merlin having filled him in on where the tracker had recorded the boy going while away from him.

"No sign of my target, but it was a nice day for driving around the city." A grin flashed in his direction. "How was your day, Dear?"

"Keep your eyes on the road and don't call me dear, Darling. You'll live longer."

A slight jolt, most likely a reaction to being called 'Darling' after so long of just being called 'Boy', and then the boy tossed out the fact that he could drive backward too, if Harry wanted him to.

The driving backwards was something he wouldn't mind seeing, Harry wasn't that good of a driver himself, but as he was hungry and the roads were busy Harry contented himself with stating that to answer the boy's earlier question, his day had gone relatively well, thank you for asking.

That of course was a boldface lie, not that Harry was going to admit that. He'd been distracted all day thinking about the boy, harassing Merlin for updates and being just as frustrated as his best friend when no details continued to present themselves. They still knew basically nothing about the boy, and how was that even possible?

To change the subject Harry asked where the boy had all gone for his drive, though of course he already knew perfectly well where the boy had all gone because of the tracker that had kept track of him, except when it hadn't. They pretty much now knew for sure that the boy was both aware of the tracker and could cut off its ability to transmit at any time. It was still on the boy's person though, meaning that the boy was willing to let them know something of what he was up to, just not his current bolt hole or the place where he'd hid whatever he'd liberated from that barn the day before.

And as expected the boy did rhyme off all the places he'd been where the tracker was active, making comments about the neighborhoods and interesting people and things he'd seen in each. That took them all the way to their destination and then inside the restaurant, their drinks arriving before the topic was dropped and Harry moved on to the question of the list he was supposed to look at for the boy, since if there was anything interesting or telling on it he wanted plenty of time to pass the info onto Merlin.

Nodding after taking a sip of his wine, the boy retrieved his wallet from trousers, Harry making note of the large amount of bills the boy was currently carrying with him. The question of where the money had come from was just one more question Harry had as the boy retrieved a well folded piece of paper from one of the wallet's folds. That he passed over to Harry before returning said wallet to his pocket.

While the boy did that Harry unfolded the piece of paper, scanning the list as he and Merlin, through his glasses, got a look at the names neatly printed out on the generic white paper.

There were eight names listed with addresses included, three of the names not ones Harry recognized even though he knew those neighborhoods. The others though, he'd either visited while on assignment, been dragged to by others, or had at least heard of in his over three decades of life. Three of the names were strip clubs, the other two bars that all catered to those of his own social strata.

"So your target frequently patrons these places?"

"According to his dad, anyway. Poor bastard."

"Poor bastard?"

"Well you know you've fucked up when your dad knows where you're going to get pissed, high, and pay birds ta fuck you." Was the boy's smirked response. "I lost my dad young, but I sure as heck made sure my mum didn't know what I was up to if I could help it. There's just some things they don't wanna know, right?"

"I suppose so. I'm sorry about your father. I would imagine it's hard to lose a parent so early in life."

Something, some hidden knowledge was there in the boy's eyes for a moment and then it was gone, the younger man shrugging casually. "He died a hero, and one of his mates stepped up, so to speak, when I was in need of some guidance, you could say. So I did okay."

"And did you get into a lot of trouble as a boy?"

A wide, smirking grin was Harry's answer to that one, the boy giving him a look that said yes, he had found quite a lot of trouble in his youth.

"Maybe I'll show ya my record sometime."

"You have a record?"

"I do. Probably." A considering look crossing the boy's face, Harry cursed the fact that he found that particular look on the boy's face so adorable. "Huh. I'll have to ask if I still have one when I go home. They might have erased it."

The look on the boy's face made it clear he couldn't decide if he liked that idea or not.

"And who are they?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Another knowing smirk from the boy, which Harry continued to find endearing in spite of himself. "Now are you going to tell me if those places are actually where the addresses say they are?"

Taking another sip of his own wine, Harry smiled back with his own version of a smirk. "When you won't answer my question? That doesn't seem fair, does it?"

Leaning forward, the boy didn't surprise Harry in the least when he suggested that he'd make it worth Harry's while to help him later. The biting of his bottom lip to draw Harry's attention to his mouth was a nice touch.

"And if I refuse that…generous offer?"

"Well I'm going with or without your help, Luv. Up to you how late you want me coming home to you tonight."

To say Harry was startled to be called the boy's 'Luv' and have his voice referred to as 'home' was an understatement, made all the more startling because he could see on the boy's face that he hadn't meant to say the endearment at least either.

Not wanting his own reaction to be any more obvious, that would hand the boy a weapon to use against him, Harry turned both their attentions to the list, his mind struggling to come up with whatever pertinent information he had on each one while hoping to himself that the boy would leave to scout out the places as soon as dinner was over. That and that the boy would be very, very late coming back to his place so that he would have plenty of time to get it through his thick skull again that he needed to stop letting himself be charmed by this boy before something happened that he couldn't undo later.

Let the boy cause someone else trouble tonight.

)

His back making it quite clear that he needed medical attention, a fact he was ignoring for the time being, Eggsy concentrated on checking out each of the six blokes he'd hopefully beaten into unconsciousness at this point. Especially the one who'd proven unfortunately handy with a blade. The two slices he'd received were minor, he'd been underestimated and shrugged off as some posh bastard with a hero complex at first, but Eggsy was very much aware that he wasn't wearing anything bulletproof at the moment. He was pretty sure sticker guy was out, though it was hard to tell. The lights from the mouth of the alley and the city buildings around them was dim at best, but the fuckers weren't moving and all had pulses which was the main thing.

Shifting his focus to the two girls who were currently huddled together, Eggsy did his best to appear as nonthreatening as possible given that he'd just beaten the shit out of six guys in front of them. He'd seen the birds being basically grabbed off the street as he'd left the strip club, and it hadn't been in him to turn a blind eye even knowing that he was supposed to let history play out as it was meant to whenever possible. But leaving the girls to be mugged, raped, or even murdered just hadn't been an option, and now here they were.

"You both alright, then?"

The two nodded after a moment's pause, the brunette asking in a quivery voice if he was alright. The one bastard had hit him pretty hard with that board.

"Yeah, I'm alright." It wasn't the board that had done the damage, but the no doubt rusty couple of nails sticking out of the wood which had punctured his fucking shoulder. Thank God he was up-to-date on his tetanus shots. "Do you two live near here, or do you need a lift home?"

"My car's nearby. You should really go to the A&E, get checked out. I can give you a lift. It's the least we can do."

"No, but thanks. You two go on, I'll clean up here and then get checked out."

It looked like the brunette wanted to argue, the fear having abetted enough that she was thinking a little more clearly, but the other girl was still obviously freaked and wanted to get out of there as quick as their high heels could take them. So in the end it didn't take that long to convince the braver one to just take her friend home and leave him be, though the redhead had to practically drag her out of the alleyway.

Once they were out of sight Eggsy turned his attention to the unconscious bodies around him again, not quite sure what he was supposed to do with them now. Calling it in was out of the question, he did not want to deal with the paperwork or draw that sort of attention to himself. And while a couple of the guys unquestionably needed medical attention they wouldn't die if they didn't get it, and he wasn't feeling particularly concerned for their wellbeing. So yeah, he'd leave them where they lay and walking away. The odds of his DNA or fingerprints being lifted from anything were miniscule, and even then they wouldn't be in the system. And if years later when he was in the system someone did make the connection…well no one would believe a kid had done this.

Decision made, Eggsy allowed his mind to turn to his injuries, immediately dismissing the cuts and growing bruises from his thoughts as he focused in on the damage done by the board. He'd misjudge the threat the board had presented, unaware of the nails as he'd opted to take the blow from behind so that he could focus on the opponents in front of him, one with a knife.

Snatching the now broken piece of wood from the trash covered ground, Eggsy carried it with him out of the alley to get a better look at what had hit him. Wincing when he saw that the nails were pretty long and filthy looking, which meant the punctures would be deep and the chance of dirt and stuff had gotten imbedded in the wounds was high. But he hadn't lost the use of his right arm, thank God, so the damage couldn't be too bad.

He could get away with not visiting a doctor, Eggsy told himself, the blood he could feel sliding down his back not gushing or anything. Shower and clean it up best he could, then patch it up and that would be that.

Of course after that he had to go to Harry's to babysit him, Eggsy acknowledged with a grimace, not liking the idea of appearing weak in front of his former mentor. Harry wouldn't have gotten a scratch on him, taking on those blokes. But he couldn't risk not being there to watch over Harry as best he could, though this time he'd forgo joining Harry in his bed, as loath as he was to miss out on that. Harry's habit of cuddling him would not be so cute if the man accidentally put pressure on his wounds. That would not end well.

Wincing at just the thought, Eggsy took the piece of wood with him as he walked the two and a half blocks to where his car was parked. He'd wanted to be closer, in case he actually caught Junior, but now this was actually working in his favor since his car wouldn't be remembered as being anywhere near the crime scene.

Unlocking his car door as soon as he reached it, Eggsy threw the makeshift weapon into the back once he got inside. He'd dispose of it somewhere far away from the crime scene, just to be safe. There hadn't been any witnesses to the smack down he'd just delivered cept for the birds, and he figured they'd keep their mouths shut about it. The camera he'd spotted in the alleyway was likely just for show, and even if it wasn't it wouldn't have caught anything he needed to worry about.

Still ignoring his back Eggsy turned on the small device that intercepted Merlin's attempts to track him, and sure that he wouldn't appear on the man's radar until he was at Harry's Eggsy left the parking lot and drove the short distance from the club to his hotel.

Once he'd arrived and pulled into the hotel's parking lot, and after he'd done a half ass job of cleaning the blood off his front seat, Eggsy donned his suit jacket and tie with much wincing before heading inside. He could only hope that the jacket would successfully hide the large blood stains, mask the scent of said blood, and give him the appearance of being perfectly proper and harmless while he made his way from the lobby to his room. He'd deliberately picked one that was in the middle range, a regular chain where regular blokes and their families came to stay while on a holiday or on a tour. Not a dive, but definitely not something a posh bloke would stay at unless it was his only choice.

But no one paid him any real attention, and thankfully he got to his room without incident. Letting himself into his room and locking the door behind him, Eggsy stripped down, showered, and expressed his mood with much swearing and descriptive rants about what he wished he'd done to the bastard who'd nailed him, ha ha, before knocking the fucker unconscious. Plus it didn't help that he had Merlin's wife Rachel lecturing him in the back of his mind, reminding him of the importance of properly cleaning wounds and what infections could do to the human body.

But he'd lost skin and blood plenty in his old neighborhood, Eggsy reminded himself sternly, and he'd been just fine. His immune system was probably stronger and more badass than three posh blokes put together. A couple of nails in his back weren't nothing to worry about, rusty as they might have been. He was just getting a little soft, used to regular medical care and people actually dragging his ass to the doctor whether he wanted to go or not. They were all brainwashing him into thinking that he wasn't as tough as he was.

So yeah, he'd be just fine, put some cream on the wounds, put some bandages over them, then go to Harry's and hope the man was asleep, since once asleep Harry slept like the fucking dead.

Amused by that and what he'd learned about Harry's sleeping habits over the course of the past two nights, Eggsy managed to concentrate on that right up until he'd finished drying off and was in the process of trying to twist his body around so that he could dab the stuff he'd found in his mini first aid kit on the wounds. That hurt like a bitch, even more so since he couldn't really be gentle to get the job done. The large band aids were basically slapped on as well, which hurt like a bitch but also got the job done, which was the main thing.

Figuring to get all the pain over with at once, Eggsy struggled into a T-shirt and leather jacket for the trip to Harry's, taking a couple minutes after that to just sit on the corner of the bed and ride the pain out since he had that luxury at the moment. Then it was time to pack a quick overnight bag to use in the morning, as well as a couple minutes taken to make sure that nothing had been disturbed since the last time he'd entered the room.

Everything in place, Eggsy headed out once again after one last, longing look in the direction of the bed, locking up behind him before heading out a side exit since he didn't want to be seen leaving the lobby again so soon.

The drive to Harry's place felt longer than it actually was, the hour late and Eggsy well aware that he probably needed an infusion of blood on top of better medical care, possibly. But those would just have to wait and instead Eggsy tried to focus on how annoyed Merlin must be at the moment, trying to figure out why the tracker wasn't doing its job. After all, he needed to get his own kicks in now, Eggsy reasoned, as a sort of preemptive revenge against what Merlin was going to do to him for sleeping with Harry. Of course that reminded him of the fact that he wouldn't be able to do anything but watch Harry sleep tonight, and that was just depressing.

Maybe he'd just camp out on the ground floor, not even go upstairs to check on Harry. If he saw the man in bed, possibly naked, Eggsy didn't trust himself to walk away instead of crawling in beside him.